Jubilee, Chapter 8: Breakthrough
Jubilee, Chapter 8: Breakthrough
"You just need to tell the pilot who sent you, and he'll take you to Winters."


Stalwart as ever, the four who had come through the Hibernos Portal now followed the staircase that Tony had suggested they follow. As they descended deeper and deeper into the unreality they found themselves in, they realised something was logically wrong.
No matter how far they walked, the apparent distance to a particular object would never change. And if they descended into what they conceived to be a valley, or climbed one of the mountains, they would lose their balance; however, the stairs seemed to obey the rules of gravity.
"If it weren't for the fact that it's not possible," Tony observed, "I would be half-tempted to say that we're in a game of some sorts."
"It's a good thing that you were only half-tempted," Jeff retorted, "considering that that would be an impossibility, no matter what."
"Oh, be nice," Paula murmured. "Do we need another problem? We've already got plenty, remember?"
"Paula's right," Ness concurred. "Let's just leave that situation where it is now, and then we can focus on finding the Abstract Act."
Tony sighed. "This is becoming exhausting, you know. All these events are making me feel like we're just pieces in a chess game."
"Tony?" Jeff said.
"Yes, Jeff?" Tony asked, his voice raising a bit -- perhaps as if in fear.
"Do me a favour: stop making analogies that compare this to any sort of game, literary work, or any related derivative work."
"Whatever you want, Jeff," Tony muttered.

The Thief emerged from the dynamic Wesmarins Portal. As he pulled himself up from the gap where the Innerworld side of the Wesmarins Portal was presently located, he neglected to consider that his Master had ordered him to open the Hibernos Portal. Not truly knowing the exact layout of the terrain of Innerworld, he neglected to consider that the Hibernos Portal might have its Innerworld gate where the Wesmarins Portal currently opened.
Hearing the call of his Master -- a call only he could hear, the Thief made his way through the mazelike continent of Lauros. His goal was the central island of Pangon, where the Master based himself. As he wandered through the mysterious continent, he neglected to see the Four who had seen him and who had begun to follow him.

"Quiet," Ness warned the others with him. "We don't want whoever that is to realise that we're following him."
"Sssh!" mocked Paula.
Jeff rolled his eyes. He understood the seriousness of the situation, but couldn't comprehend why someone would try to joke about it. He motioned to Tony, Paula and Ness to follow him as he chased the Thief -- although he didn't know that at the time.

The Thief would, occasionally, make moves that suggested that he knew he was being followed: he would make sharp turns, one after the other. However, as Jeff noted, these dodges of sorts tended to come in spurts, and most often when they were at a medium distance from each other: not too far away, not too close. For these reasons, Jeff reasoned that the Chased still didn't know that he had a tail.
Quietly, he revealed this to his friends. They all agreed that, for the moment, they would try their utmost to keep out of the Chased's vision. They followed him with the utmost secrecy.


"Stop it, you two!" Linda Williams yelled, running over and pulling Ken Tremblay away from Jonathan Falken, whom, although now conscious, Ken continued to beat. Somewhat thankful, Jonathan stood up.
Patricia Fitzroy came over and helped Jonathan struggle to a chair. Linda threw Ken into another chair.
Ellen MacGilvray and Alexander Grisham confronted Jonathan and Ken.
"Your arguing is getting us nowhere!" Alexander insisted. "Look at it this way, you two. If you argue, we stay here until Cornwell lets us leave, whenever that is. But if you work out your differences, we can probably leave; and Cornwell won't be able to hold it against us."
"You may be right," Ken said. Of course, his agreement with Alexander's speech may have been a result of the fact that Linda was making sure he didn't escape.
"Of coursh, he's right," Jonathan slurred, feeling around in his mouth for a loose tooth or two. "I can't shee why we're fighting."
"I undershtand perfectly," Ken said mockingly. "We're fighting because you're jusht a crony for Cornwell."
To Ken, the slap came out of nowhere. He reached for his now-sore cheek. He glared at Linda, and demanded to know what that was all about.
"You know very well why I slapped you, Ken," Linda snapped. "Mocking Jonathan's slurring."
"I can't mock him any more?" Ken asked, then cringed, realising he just earned another slap.
"Of course you can't!" Lisa Eliot said. "Even though he's a complete jerk."
Caleb Patterson looked up from his console. "I'm picking up strange radiation readings, people," he announced.
"Where from?" Jonathan managed.
Caleb looked. "Based on the rate of dissipation, the shape of the radiation, and the distance from two points that meet on a perpendicular of the circle that the radiation is forming in, I'd have to say it's at 10°E and 50°N. That is, Winters."
"Winters?" Ken wondered. "How could that be?"
"The shame way that conshtellations go into V-fluksh," Jonathan said. "We shouldn't try to ekshplain it, or figure out why. We jusht have to go with it."
"Do you think that something's going on in Winters?" Caleb Patterson asked.
"Probably," Ellen MacGilvray admitted. "But could it be related to the V-flux?"
"It likely is," Lisa Eliot mused. "We just have to figure out how to get there."
"I can do that," Jonathan said.
"How?" Linda Williams asked, turning to him.
"Yes. How?" demanded Ken Tremblay.
"My mom is rich. She could probably arrange a plane for ush to take to Winters."
"Even after the way we treated you?" Alexander Grisham asked.
"It wasn't your fault. I was too afraid of losing thish job. I love the job, and I didn't want to jeopardize anyone's job shecurity. Wouldn't you have done the shame thing in my plashe?"
Ken's face dropped. "Yes, I would have done the same thing if I were you," he acknowledged. "I apologise for over-reacting to your concern about the security of your jobs?"
Jonathan looked at him. "That's ancient hishtory, Ken. Let'sh jusht get to Winters."
"Yeah!" came the cry from the AVMO department. "To Winters!"
Jonathan walked, in pain, to the phone. He lifted the receiver and dialled the number of the Topolla Theatre. With luck, he reasoned, his mother might still be there. He asked to be put through to his mother, and yes, she was still there.
"Mom, can you do me a favour?" he asked.
"What do you want, Jonathan?" his mother asked.
"I want you to charter a plane sho I can go to Winters."
"Are you drunk, Jonathan? You're slurring your words."
"I'm not drunk, I jusht had a tooth knocked out by accshident."
"Are you okay, son?" she asked worriedly.
"Yesh, mom. All I need is a plane."
"Hmm. I own a charter plane; it's docked at the Fourside Airport. You just need to tell the pilot who sent you, and he'll take you to Winters. I'll hang up now so I can arrange it." The click ended the phone call.
"So, we're going?" Ellen MacGilvray asked Jonathan.
"Yesh, we're off to Winters. I think that we should dressh warmly. After all, it getsh very cold there."


TsuramiSea and Cyan walked into Snow Wood. A few games of paper-rock-scissors had chosen them to enter the boarding school.
"Do you think we should ask Maxwell where Jeff's lab is?" Tsurami asked of his friend.
"We might as well," Cyan responded. "It couldn't hurt."
They began to search for Maxwell. A few minutes later, they found him, in the cafeteria.
Tsurami sat down across from Maxwell. Cyan took up a seat between them and the door. They had decided that his prowess with a sword would be best used to keep Maxwell in.
"Hello, Maxwell!" Tsurami cheerfully said.
Hearing Tsurami's greeting, Maxwell looked up from his cucumber and watercress sandwich and saw Tsurami. "Hello..." he responded rather shakily. "Do I know you?"
"No, you don't know me," Tsurami responded. "But I've heard of your school, and therefore you."
This piqued Maxwell's interest. "Please, tell me more," he urged.
"I've read of and seen the amazing scientific exploits of one of your students," Tsurami explained, "and I was wondering if I could talk with him, perhaps learn how he does everything that he does."
Maxwell rested his chin on his knuckles.
"And who might this student be?" he pressed. Of course, this question was obviously a moot point; no matter what, it had to be Jeff. And therefore, Maxwell reasoned, this strange person whom he felt he had somehow met before could lead him to Jeff
"His name is Jeff Andonuts."
Maxwell's suspicions were confirmed. "Oh, I'm sorry, young man, but Jeff has suddenly left the school."
"He has?" Tsurami asked, unwilling to reveal that he did know that Jeff had left.
"Yes, he has. Regrettably, he left only days before our Jubilee celebrations."
"Jubilee celebrations?" Tsurami pressed.
"Two hundred years ago, Snow Wood Boarding School was founded by Tobias Le Rhone. The two-hundredth anniversary of its founding is this January. All the students are designing some sort of project to display at the celebrations, and I'm afraid that he and his friend Tony might fail the project assignment, as they haven't shown up for a few days now."
"Would you happen to know of places in the school where Jeff can most commonly be found?" Tsurami wondered.
Hearing this, Cyan perked up his ears. This was something he'd want to know about.