There were two people in line ahead of me. I wished there were a thousand.
With a whoosh they were vaporized and the teleportation operator waved me forward.
“Don’t worry, they were delivered safe and sound. And you will be too.” She said, seeing my apprehension. I took a deep breath and stepped onto the platform.
“Beam me up!” I said. She just rolled her eyes and pushed the button.
The world around me exploded. I was everywhere. I was nowhere. I was in the transmission center. I was in the receiving center. I squeezed my eyes shut, my head spinning.
After taking a few breathes I slowly opened my eyes. Something was wrong. I was seeing double. Only, not double in the usual way.
“Arrival confirmed.” I heard the receiving operator say. His voice echoed oddly.
“Oh shit! We have a negative derez!” The transmission operator said. Her voice was echoing too.
That’s when I realized I was seeing both the transmission and receiving areas. I was actually at both places, simultaneously.
There were two of me.
Originally published on Ficly – A flash fiction social network now, sadly, defunct.