THE MOMENT
"Hey, Ruby?" Josh stopped outside the open door and knocked. He could see that Ruby was with someone; but, he also knew she would not mind him interrupting this particular meeting.
"Oh, yes, I'll be right with you, Josh," she replied. She did not need to end the meeting; but, she did anyway. She turned to the ancient, lean bag of wrinkles sitting in front of her desk. He had long, stringy, black hair that flowed down over his shoulders.
"Please, excuse me, Mr. Van'Droth, I have another client," she replied. The old man grumbled; his skin turned black and jagged like scales while he complained; but, it became pale and wrinkled again once he sighed. He rose from the seat and nodded at Ruby.
"Until next time, then," he said. He turned and walked past Josh; he took a left in the narrow hallway to head towards the exit. When Ruby said Josh could move in with her as a favor to his grandfather, he did not expect to be moving into an office building. She had set aside a room and remodeled it with a working bath and kitchen to be his apartment for as long as he needed. But, Chroma Corp. owned the rest of the building and the offices inside. It was weird at first; but, he adapted quickly and Ruby did what she could to make it easy.
"Thanks for that," Ruby said once Josh came in and sat down; he closed the door behind him.
"You know, I thought I would have figured it out by now," Josh chuckled. "I thought a month would be enough time, but... I still have no idea. I see you meeting other dragons and fae all the time but I can't figure it out. What does Chroma Corp. do exactly?" he asked.
"Everything," Ruby grinned.
"Huh?" Josh tilted his head.
"I gave you contact info for Mundo, did you ever use it?" Ruby asked.
"Oh yeah...," Josh hung his head apologetically. He'd had a full month just getting used to seeing strange sights on a daily basis, on top of learning how to be a college freshman. "..no, sorry."
"That's fine," Ruby said. "It would be a good idea for you to meet with him as soon as possible though, you'd get a lot of your questions answered."
"Okay..," Josh nodded. He was finding his groove and had more free time now than a month ago. But, he still didn't know what that had to do with his question.
"Unfortunately, I don't have time today to give you a more complete explanation," Ruby said. "So, I will explain what I can with the assumption that you've already visited Mundo. He'll answer any questions you have after our talk."
"Sure.. okay..," Josh said. He began to wonder why so much background information was needed to know what Chroma Corp. did.
"Alternate universes exist, and in each alternate universe you'll find an alternate Earth," Ruby said. "There are an infinite number of Earths in the multiverse and on many hundreds and thousands of those Earths, Chroma Corp. exists. I don't mean each Earth has its own Chroma Corp., I mean Chroma Corp. itself serves hundreds and thousands of individual Earths."
Josh's eyes widened as he heard the explanation. Despite what she was saying, if he'd learned anything in the last month it was that he didn't know everything. And, he assumed Mundo would explain the idea of alternate Earths better. If nothing else, Ruby was always honest.
"Chroma Corp. uses advanced knowledge to always be on the bleeding edge of technology on any Earth we serve. On some Earths we manufacture automobiles, on some Earths we make fossil fuels, and on some Earths we make the parts for everything else. We are entirely integrated; vertically and in parallel. We do EVERYTHING."
"Wait...," Josh finally had a thought that he could make sense of. "..alternate universes are real?" he asked for confirmation. Ruby nodded. "..and.. Chroma Corp. has companies like this on thousands of other Earths??" he asked.
"At least," she nodded again.
"Really...," Josh was awed and lost himself in thought for a moment. Ruby glanced at the clock; but, otherwise seemed patient. Unfortunately, the patience did not last long; she was a busy woman.
"So, what did you come knocking for?" she asked. "Not that I don't appreciate it."
"Oh yeah...," Josh chuckled. "..um I was going to ask you a question; but, now I have a different one," he said. Ruby giggled.
"You can ask more than one question," she said. But, Josh shook his head.
"I came to ask for a little bit of leniency on the rent this month; I haven't been able to find a job yet," he said.
"Oh, that's not a problem," Ruby grinned. Josh continued anyway.
"But, now I'm realizing there are thousands of other Earths out there... I don't want to be stuck here going to school, I want to see what there is out there. So, my new question is... can I work for Chroma Corp.?" he asked. "On another Earth?"
"Of course," Ruby nodded. "Most people have that realization once they know there's more out there. Mundo has all the paperwork to get you started if you want to work for us instead."