Upturn

Olodon, a mysterious planet located in the Cygnus arm of the Milky Way, almost an entire galaxy away from Earth. The massive planet - its radius being nearly four times that of Earth - remained shrouded from Earth's civilization for thousands of years, even once humanity turned its obsessive gaze onto the stars above their world. Olodon's elusion faltered when the two planets were fatefully linked by massive two-way wormholes: portals which had somehow originated from within Olodon itself. What laid beyond the portals had surprised every nation on the planet: Olodonese civilization, waiting behind the dimensional curtains. A strain of humans with similar biology to our own, but with completely different technology. Mankind, on two fronts, had discovered one another.

In the state of New York, a city bustles with activity. Many people rush to and fro towards their workplaces: before, a many of them even worked between planets, taking the portals between Olodon and Earth as if they were morning subways, though, with the increased cost of interplanetary travel, that has become less frequent. Even years after the linking of the two planets, the economy of Earth still has not yet settled. Many individuals find themselves in troubled situations, and are usually forced to quit - or are fired - and are sent to scurry towards new occupations.

A particular young man stood waiting outside of a police station, surrounded by the blurred movement of the afternoon rush. He looked around impatiently. He then glanced down at his watch, keeping track of the time. He remained idle at his post, letting a few minutes past, then half an hour, and then - someone was late. By the forty minute mark, his patience was just about strained. The man almost took out his phone, when he was interrupted.

The man looked up, and instantly spoke, "You're almost an hour late. Did something happen?"

The man's untimely friend replied simply, "Nothing much."

The man looked at his watch again, walking slowly towards the station's entrance.

"You're forty-six minutes late."

"There was traffic. Nothing I could have done."

"…You walked here." The man stopped for a moment, "Let's just get this over with. We've planned this for almost two weeks now."

The two made their way into the station and headed past the lockers, past the lounge, and past the interrogation room; straight towards the chief's office. The officers in the building looked at them nervously, noticing their destination.

"…And you've postponed this the entire time." The man added on.

They entered the office, and headed straight towards the desk, oddly missing a certain person who often sat behind it. The two were stopped short in their bickering by another person eventually entering the room: the chief. It took the chief a second to analyze the two that stood in front of his desk.

"Ah, my two finest men." The chief greeted, before momentarily hesitating, "What brings you two in on your days off? Is there an emergency?"

"Well, you got the letter didn't you?" The man said a bit awkwardly.

"Oh, about… about you two quitting," the chief said in a somber tone, "I almost forgot about that. Especially with Fredrick, so soon?"

"Don't worry about it, sir. The people coming in from Olodon have got us covered." Fredrick said.

"But will they have your experience and craftiness?" The chief asked, "But, I understand. I'd hate to see any of you two leave in a less… pleasant note. Especially with the sudden rise in crimes as of recent."

"Again, I regret having to do this, but the stress was taking its toll on us."

"Yeah, even on me as well. The moment another person comes up as a viable replacement, maybe I'll run off as fast as you guys. Maybe even faster." The chief laughed, "But for now… you two, its an honor to have been the leader of such capable officers. Hopefully your next job is more peaceful and involves… less crime."

"Its been an honor as well, sir, to have had you as a chief." The man replied.

"I'm sad to leave as well, sir. But someone has to keep him in reigns." Fredrick said, motioning towards his fellow quitee.

The chief laughed, "It's both of your dynamics that I will miss the most."

"Well, I'm pretty sure we'll see each other soon. I'm not a cop anymore, but I'll still respect you no matter what."

"Its going to be hard to manage the rest of the bunch without you two to help me out. But, indeed, farewell."

August 15, 2025; the situation seemed peaceful in America, despite the war that was brewing across the Atlantic. At the start of the war, work had opened almost everywhere, offering new employment opportunities for many people. Back when the worlds were linked by a sudden storm of portals a year before, a huge economic upsurge happened. For civilization in general, this was great; but for the citizens, with the population upsurge that came with it, it meant "good luck finding a job."

Very few people have managed to get by as luckily as this one man. This particular person, however, is of a rather normal origin. He has a normal house, a normal job, a normal daily routine; a normal life. And for now, he will be referred to as "C."

"Gonna miss him." Fredrick said as they left the station.

"I will too," C responded, "Spend three years with a guy like that and he'll probably never disappear from your mind."

The two stopped before a crosswalk, with cars of around a dozen variants rolling by in a somewhat jovial manner.

"...So, where are we going today, the bakery?" C asked as they waited among a sizable group of people.

"Nah, let's go to the coffee shop instead." Fredrick answered, "We already went to the bakery twice in a row."

The stoplight signal briefly turned white, allowing C and Fredrick to cross before it started to blink red seconds after. The brief walk towards the shop was accompanied by a relative lack of dialogue, as the duo focused more on avoiding the incoming crowd.

"What about all the paperwork and stuff that you fill out after you quit?" Fredrick finally asked as they neared the coffee shop.

"I'll do that later. Probably tomorrow." C quickly answered back.

The duo entered the shop, with C pulling open the dimly colored door. C approached the employee at the register, but stopped when he noticed Fredrick staring blankly at the menu.

"Fredrick? 'You okay?" C checked.

Fredrick's focus turned to C, "Just checking what they have…"

"You could go find a seat. I already know what you'll get."

"You sure?" Fredrick said with a questioning tone in his voice.

"Definitely."

Fredrick walked off towards the tables, muttering to himself, "Better get me a frap'…"

In a few minutes, C's order was ready. He went up and took the two coffee cups by their handles. C arrived at the table, placing a cup down next to Fredrick before sitting down with one of his own.

"It's a mocha…" Fredrick grumbled.

"Hm?"

"So about the new job. Have you found anything yet?" Fredrick said, changing the topic.

"Uh huh. Office workers."

Fredrick threw a sharp glance at C, "Thats significantly less exciting and more mundane. At the same time."

"Better than dealing with APCs."

Fredrick paused for a moment, "I wasn't there y'know. At least mention an incident I was there for."

"Anyways, it's good that the job isn't as stressing." C said, moving back to the subject, "Less gray hairs that I have to deal with. Can't say the same on your case."

"You're just jealous of my lush hair." Fredrick retorted, noticing C's remark, "Your hair just makes you look like a run-of-the-mill movie protagonist."

"What's up with your hair anyways. Is really naturally silver?" C asked, continuing before Fredrick could answer, "On that note, people at the station had been calling you 'Fredrick the Great,' after that one guy who also had silver hair long ago."

"Hey, I don't-" Fredrick raised his voice, before pausing, "On second thought, that gives me an idea. You'll have to start calling me Fredrick the Great from now on, got it?"

"That's unnecessarily long."

"Your face is unnecessarily long." Fredrick said quickly.

C let out a sigh, before taking a sip of his coffee. The two went on through several subjects, mostly random topics - about the latest action movies or old myths, or even about the other incidents at the station.

"When will our shifts start, anyways?" Fredrick asked as they left the shop.

"Two days from now. Around seven or so."

"Really? Why's it so early? We already did so much stuff today!"

"That's why I told you that we had to quit by today. Unfortunately, we had to quit by today." C repeated, emphasizing the 'had.'

C looked up, and noticed that the sun was already below the horizon.

"It's getting late already. I should head home." C told Fredrick.

"Geez, did time pass. We arrived at the station at four!"

"You hurry home too, and be sure to get a lot of sleep today and tomorrow." C said through Fredrick's comment.

The two started off back to their homes, with Fredrick parting ways with C a block away from the shop. C walked back towards his house alone, and eventually found himself staring at the sky. He spaced out for a while, before he shook himself; he was acting oddly again from his lack of sleep. "Good thing I have two whole days of rest ahead of me," he thought to himself. The rest of the walk home seemed like ages, with Fredrick absent on providing background chatter. Upon reaching his house, he stumbled to get his keys out and almost dropped them. He was a bit more tired than he thought, somehow. C entered his house, went up the stairs and almost immediately passed out once he went onto his bed.