There was the sound of someone clearing their throat. Suddenly both ARD Jon and Karyn froze. The hairs on the back of their necks were standing up. Karyn still hand her hand down Jon's jeans. Likewise he had his hand under her top. Instinctively they both turned their heads slowly in the same direction. Five faces each with a different expression, were staring at them.
DTH Jon was surprised, not as surprised as DTH Karyn though. Zoe was grinning and Athena looked a little disgusted. After everything he'd been through and due to his general exhaustion, Prisoner Jon was too tired to be emotional any more.
When their brains had finally worked out what was happening ARD Jon and Karyn quickly pulled their fingers out of each other's clothing. They both sat up on the bed. ARD Jon recognised the DTH in the other Jon's hand.
"This isn't what it looks like." ARD Karyn told the group. ARD Jon looked a little unhappy.
"It isn't?"
"Well kind of." She said.
"Do I embarrass you Karyn?" He asked her. He was genuinely concerned. This next stage of the relationship had only just begun and she was already backtracking.
"No, of course not Honey." She said smiling at him.
Zoe wanted to have a laugh at Jon's expense. She knew Jon or Karyn wouldn't appreciate it, which unfortunately left her with Athena. "Oooooh, it's Honey now." Zoe said to her in a high pitched voice.
"Don't you find this icky? We just hopped in on your brother making out?" Athena said.
"Nope, not my brother. None of them are." She neglected to mention what she had said to Sage Jon.
"Only by a quirk of fate. They are still technically your brother. It's not even like a step-brother, you actually have the same parents, the same DNA." Zoe blew her off.
ARD Jon stood up. "Look I, " he looked at his Karyn," we were busy."
"Oooh 'busy', this is hilarious." Zoe was in hysterics.
"Shut up Zoe." Both ARD and DTH Jon said to her at the same time. This did in fact, shut her up.
"Why are you here?" ARD Jon asked his counterpart.
"I needed to ask some questions about the ARD." DTH Jon said. ARD Jon looked stunned.
"You mean, you interrupted...." He shook his head. "Okay what do you want to know?" He asked.
"As I understand it, you create a 'what if' world. You then go there. If a version of you exists in the 'what if' world you possess their body until you decide to come back. Is that correct?" ARD Jon nodded.
"That's right. I'd like to know, how you know all that though." A curious ARD Jon asked.
"I interacted with a different version of you."
"So why did you come to me?" ARD Jon asked confused. In his mind DTH Jon could have stayed with the other ARD Jon and he wouldn't have missed out on his special time with Karyn.
"I kind of, upset him." DTH Jon admitted.
"What a surprise." ARD Jon said sarcastically. DTH Jon decided to move on.
"Can you take other people?" He asked.
Again ARD Jon nodded. "Yeah but they travel with me. If I leave they leave."
"That's unfortunate. I was hoping to be able to send someone independently." He looked at Prisoner Jon. DTH Jon found it a little hard to hide his disappointment. DTH Karyn put her hand on his shoulder.
"Never mind, we'll think of something else." She told him in a sympathetic tone. Her other hand touched his arm. He noticed she seemed to be acting more affectionate than normal. He wondered if this was related to what they had seen when they arrived. He also noticed there wasn't a lot of free space in his bedroom. This could also easily have explained her physical proximity.
He looked up and smiled at her. "It's all right, I already have. I'll need some paper." He said.
ARD Jon looked at the sheet of paper. "Just activate the ARD and read it." DTH Jon explained.
ARD Jon read it silently to himself. "You want me to get 'it' for you?" He asked about the mysterious item mentioned on the sheet of paper.
"No, no. You can't bring physical objects back. I know that." He recalled the trouble he had with the other ARD Jon. "You don't even have to go to that world. Just create it. I've set the DTH to automatically log any new dimensions. I was doing it manually before."
"Yeah whatever." ARD Jon told him, already bored with his explanation. He opened the ARD which glowed green and started reading out loud. "What if the world is identical to this one except the ARD can also create portals to send people into worlds created by the ARD. The owner of the ARD could choose to let individuals return by using extra controls on the ARD." The ARD started to glow brightly. He shut it again before he was sent to that world.
DTH Jon examined the screen of the DTH. As expected a new red line had appeared. ARD Jon looked at him in anticipation, DTH Jon nodded confirming the world had been created.
DTH Jon's group hopped as quickly as possible, so they could leave ARD Jon and Karyn in peace.
