Deeper Than Expected

Yuki showed up in eighteen minutes driving a sensible sedan with a PAS parking permit on the dashboard. She looked like she'd come straight from work. Slacks, button-up shirt, ID badge still clipped to her belt. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail that said she meant business.

She also brought coffee. Two cups. She handed me one through the window.

"You look terrible," she said.

"Thanks. You look employed."

"I am employed. That's what people who make responsible life choices look like."

I took the coffee. It was still hot. Actual good coffee from an actual coffee shop. Not the gas station sludge I'd been living on.

"You didn't have to do this," I said.

"The coffee or the drive across town to validate your latest terrible decision?"

"Either. Both."

She looked past me into my back seat. At the blanket wadded up in the corner. The bag of clothes. The collection of empty energy drink cans.

"You're still living in here."

It wasn't a question.

"It's temporary."

"You said that three months ago."

"It's still temporary. Just longer temporary than I thought."

She sighed and took a long drink of her coffee. She did that when she was trying not to lecture me. Buying herself time to decide if I was worth the effort.

I waited. I was good at waiting for Yuki to decide I was worth the effort.

"Show me what you found," she finally said.

I pulled the travel mug from my backpack. Handed it through the window.

She turned it over. Examined it like she examined everything. Methodically. Looking for clues the rest of us missed. She unscrewed the lid, looked inside, screwed it back on.

"You went in already."

"How did you know?"

"Because you're you and you have a death wish disguised as curiosity."

Fair point.

"I just checked it out," I said. "Quick look. Made sure it wasn't toxic or vacuum or something immediately fatal."

"Did you test the air composition?"

"I used my lungs."

"That's not testing, Dex. That's Russian roulette with atmospheric conditions."

"But I'm still alive, so it worked."

She gave me a look. The look that said she was reconsidering this entire friendship.

"Come on," she said, getting out. "Equipment's in my car."

I followed her to the sedan. She popped the trunk and pulled out a hard case. Flipped it open on the bumper.

Inside was about ten thousand dollars worth of surveying equipment. Dimensional measurement tools, atmospheric sensors, thermal imaging, electromagnetic readers. The real stuff. Not the garbage the weekend hunters waved around pretending it meant something.

Yuki knew her shit. She'd been a surveyor for five years. Worked for PAS authenticating pockets for rich people who wanted to make sure their dimensional real estate was stable before dropping millions on it.

She hated it. But she was good at it. And she made enough money to own a car and an apartment and coffee that didn't taste like battery acid.

"Tell me what you found," she said, pulling out a tablet and powering it up.

"Small cave. Maybe ten feet across. Low ceiling. Nothing special."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

She looked at me. Really looked at me. Reading my face the way she read dimensional data.

"You're lying."

"I'm not lying."

"You have that look. The one you get when you think you found something big and you're trying to play it cool."

I took a drink of coffee. Didn't answer.

"Dex."

"There might be more space than I initially thought."

"How much more?"

"I don't know. I didn't go deep. Just saw what looked like another opening in the back wall."

She set down her tablet. Picked up the mug. Held it up to the parking lot light.

"Pockets don't have doors."

"I know."

"They're self-contained spaces. Single dimensional anomalies. There's no 'back wall with an opening.'"

"I know."

"But you saw one."

"I think so. Maybe. Could have been shadows."

She went back to her equipment. Started setting up sensors. But I could see her mind working. Calculating possibilities. Running through everything she knew about pocket dimensions and coming up with nothing that explained what I'd described.

"I'm going to scan the exterior first," she said. "Give me ten minutes."

She worked in silence. I stood next to her watching her move through her process. Efficient. Professional. Everything I wasn't.

The sensors beeped and chirped. Data scrolled across her tablet. Her frown deepened.

"What?" I asked.

"The readings aren't making sense."

"What does that mean?"

"It means the dimensional measurements don't match the physical object. The mug should contain maybe 500 milliliters. The sensors are saying the space inside is significantly larger."

"How much larger?"

"At least fifty cubic meters. Probably more. The readings get unstable past that."

Fifty cubic meters. That was huge. That was a decent-sized room. Maybe a small apartment. That was worth real money. Like twenty thousand dollars black market. Maybe fifty authenticated.

My hands started shaking. I shoved them in my pockets so Yuki wouldn't see.

"That's good, right?" I said, trying to sound calm. "That's a valuable find."

"That's unprecedented readings from exterior sensors. Could be equipment malfunction. Could be interference. Could be a dozen technical explanations."

"Or it could be exactly what it's reading."

"Or that."

She saved her data and started packing up the exterior equipment. Stored the sensors back in the case. Pulled out different sensors from another case in her trunk. These ones were for interior use. Waterproof. Shockproof. Designed to function in hostile environments.

"I need to go inside," she said. "Get proper measurements. Map the space. Verify what you saw."

"I can go back in. Tell you what I find."

"Absolutely not. This is my job. I have training. I have equipment. I have insurance that covers dimensional incidents."

"I have a death wish disguised as curiosity, remember?"

"Not funny."

But she was smiling. Just a little. The smile that meant she was starting to feel what I felt. That electric current of maybe discovering something real.

"I'm going in," she said. "You're staying here. If I'm not out in fifteen minutes, call emergency services and report a pocket incident. Don't try to come in after me."

"What if you need help?"

"You can't help if you're dead. Just call for rescue."

She was right. I knew she was right. But watching her tilt the mug and push her head through the opening made every part of me want to follow.

The transition looked wrong from outside. Like watching someone fold themselves through space that was too small to fit them. Her head went in. Then her shoulders. Then she was through and I was alone in the parking lot holding a travel mug that contained my only friend.

I checked my watch. Started counting.

One minute. Two minutes. Three.

At five minutes I started getting nervous. At ten minutes I was considering breaking my promise and going in after her. At twelve minutes I had my phone out ready to dial 911.

At thirteen minutes she emerged.

The transition back looked just as wrong. Like space spitting her out. She stumbled slightly. Caught herself. Took a long breath.

"Holy shit," she said.

"What did you find?"

She didn't answer. Just pulled out her tablet and started reviewing her sensor data. Her face went from confused to shocked to something I'd never seen before.

Fear.

"Yuki, what did you find?"

She showed me the tablet. The numbers meant nothing to me. I wasn't a surveyor. But I could read her expression.

Something was very wrong.

"The cave you described is there," she said slowly. "But it's larger than you said. And the opening in the back wall? It's real. It leads to passages. Plural. At least three that I could detect from the entry chamber."

"Passages to where?"

"I don't know. I didn't follow them. But my sensors picked up more space beyond. A lot more space. Dex, the dimensional readings I'm getting suggest this pocket extends at least a hundred meters in multiple directions."

A hundred meters. That was impossible. That was football field sized. That was worth hundreds of thousands.

That couldn't exist inside a travel mug.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"I'm sure my equipment is reading something. Whether that something is real or a sensor malfunction or some kind of dimensional anomaly I don't understand, I can't tell without going deeper."

"So we go deeper."

"No. We need to think about this. If those readings are accurate, we're looking at something unprecedented. Something that could be unstable. Dangerous."

"Or it could be stable and worth a fortune."

"Or that." She looked at me. "But we need to be smart. We can't just go charging in. We need proper safety protocols. Better equipment. Maybe backup."

"Backup means reporting it. PAS will take it. FDA will seize it. We'll lose it."

"Or we'll properly authenticate it and get fair market value instead of black market rates from Roux."

She had a point. But fair market value meant waiting weeks. Meant fees and authentication costs I couldn't afford upfront. Meant other people getting involved in my discovery.

"Just give me a day," I said. "Let me map it first. Figure out what we're actually looking at. Then we decide whether to report it."

"You want to explore an unknown pocket network alone?"

"Not alone. With you. Tomorrow. With all your equipment. Proper safety protocols. Whatever you want."

"Dex."

"One day. That's all I'm asking. Twenty-four hours to understand what we found. Then we do whatever you think is right. I promise."

She looked at me for a long time. Seeing past the optimism and the jokes and the desperate enthusiasm.

Seeing the obsession.

"One day," she finally said. "Tomorrow morning. I'll take a personal day from work. We go in together with proper equipment. Safety tethers. Communication gear. And you don't go in alone between now and then. Not even once. Deal?"

"Deal."

"I mean it, Dex. If I find out you went in solo, I report this immediately to PAS and you can explain to them why you were conducting unauthorized explorations."

"I won't. I promise."

She studied my face. Trying to decide if she believed me.

"Where are you staying tonight?" she asked.

"Here probably. Or another parking lot."

"Text me your location. I want to know where you are."

"Why?"

"Because I don't trust you. And if you go radio silent, I'm going to assume you did something stupid and I'm calling it in."

That was fair. That was probably smart.

"I'll text you," I said.

She packed up her equipment. Loaded everything back into her trunk. Made me promise again. Made me swear I'd wait for her tomorrow.

I promised. Meant it at the time. Really did.

She drove off around eight PM. I sat in my car watching her taillights disappear.

Then I looked at the travel mug sitting on my passenger seat.

I'd promised not to go in alone. I'd given my word. Yuki was trusting me.

But those passages were in there right now. Unexplored. Unmapped. Waiting.

Twenty-four hours was a long time. Anything could happen. The pocket could collapse. Someone could find out about it. The FDA could show up.

I needed to know what was in there. Needed to see it before anyone else. Needed to prove to myself this was real.

Just a quick trip. Thirty minutes inside. Ten outside. That's assuming things worked like before.

Yuki wouldn't know. I'd text her my location right after. Everything would be fine.

I picked up the mug.

Tilted it toward me.

Felt that familiar resistance at the boundary.

And pushed through.

The entry chamber looked exactly like I'd left it. Small cave. Smooth stone walls. Cool air. That opening in the back wall that led somewhere impossible.

I pulled out my flashlight even though the ambient light made it unnecessary. Having it in my hand made me feel better. More in control.

I walked to the opening. Looked through.

A passage. Narrow. Low ceiling. Smooth walls that curved gently to the right.

I'd promised Yuki I wouldn't do this. Sworn I'd wait.

But I was already through. Already inside. Might as well see what was there.

I stepped into the passage.

The walls were the same smooth stone as the entry chamber. Natural formations. Or something else. I couldn't tell. I ran my hand along the surface as I walked. Cool. Solid. Real.

The passage curved right and opened into a larger chamber. Maybe twenty feet across. High ceiling disappearing into shadow above.

Three more passages led off this chamber. Three directions. Three choices.

I pulled out my notebook. Started sketching a rough map. Entry chamber. First passage. Second chamber. Three exits.

This was it. This was proof the pocket was massive. Connected spaces. A network.

I checked my watch. I'd been inside maybe five minutes. Time to go back. Show Yuki tomorrow. Do this properly.

But one of the passages looked wider than the others. Easier to navigate. Just a quick look.

I took the wide passage. It led to another chamber. This one had water. A stream running through it. Clear and cold. Flowing from one wall directly into another with no visible source or drain.

That was impossible. Water didn't just appear and flow perpetually.

I knelt by the stream. Tested the temperature with my hand. Cold but not freezing. Drinkable probably.

This chamber had four passages leading off it. Four more directions to explore.

I picked one at random.

It led to a chamber full of crystal formations. Growing from the walls. From the ceiling. From the floor. Clear structures that caught my flashlight and threw it back in a thousand directions.

Geological processes that took thousands of years. Millions maybe. All inside a travel mug.

I kept going. Chamber to passage to chamber. Mapping as best I could. Losing track of time. Losing track of direction.

Eventually I stopped in a chamber that looked like all the others. Checked my watch.

I'd been inside for what felt like maybe forty minutes. Time to head back before Yuki got suspicious.

I turned around. Followed my mental map back the way I'd come.

Except the chambers weren't quite where I remembered them. The passages didn't curve the way I thought they did.

I retraced my steps. Ended up in a chamber I didn't recognize.

Tried a different passage. Led to another unfamiliar space.

I'd gotten turned around. Lost in the maze I'd been so excited to explore.

This was fine. This was totally fine. I just needed to backtrack carefully. Find the stream chamber. That led back to the three-way chamber. That led to the entry passage. That led out.

Twenty minutes later I still hadn't found the stream.

Thirty minutes later I was starting to panic.

I'd broken my promise to Yuki. Come in alone. Gotten lost. And now I might not make it back out.

This was the kind of stupid that killed solo hunters.

I forced myself to stop. To breathe. To think.

I had a flashlight. I had my notebook. I had to assume there was a way out because I'd gotten in.

I just needed to be systematic. Pick a direction. Follow it consistently. Mark the walls so I didn't backtrack.

I pulled out my pen. Started marking arrows on the stone. Small ones that wouldn't damage anything but would show me where I'd been.

I followed my arrows. Kept moving. Stayed calm.

Thirty minutes later the arrows led me back to where I'd started marking arrows.

I'd walked in a circle.

The pocket wasn't just large. Space folded in on itself. Passages led to places they shouldn't lead. Normal navigation rules didn't apply.

I sat down in one of the chambers and took stock.

I was lost in an unknown pocket dimension with no way to communicate with the outside world. My flashlight would last maybe another hour. I had no food. I had water from the stream if I could find it again.

I'd made a very stupid decision and now I might die here.

This was embarrassing. This was the kind of death that would be used as a cautionary tale. "Don't be like Dex Holloway. Dex Holloway died alone because he was an idiot."

At least they'd spell my name right.

I sat there for maybe five minutes feeling sorry for myself. Then I got up and kept walking.

Because sitting and waiting to die was even more pathetic than dying while trying to escape.

I tried different passages. Marked different walls. Eventually found the stream chamber again. Then the three-way chamber. Then the first passage.

Then the entry chamber. The opening back to reality.

I didn't run. Didn't rush. Just walked to the opening and pushed through.

The transition spit me back into my car. The parking lot was exactly as I'd left it. My coffee was still lukewarm in the cup holder.

I checked my watch. Then my phone. Then the dashboard clock.

I'd been inside for what felt like ninety minutes. Every clock outside said I'd been gone for twenty-seven minutes.

Twenty-seven minutes.

Time inside moved differently. Much differently. Roughly three to one if my math was right.

Yuki was right about everything. The pocket was massive. It was unprecedented. And it was dangerous.

I should text her right now. Tell her what I found. Apologize for breaking my promise. Let her take the lead tomorrow.

I picked up my phone.

Put it back down.

I'd text her later. After I reviewed my maps. After I processed what I'd seen.

I wasn't ready to admit I'd lied yet.

Wasn't ready to give up control.

Tomorrow we'd explore together. Do it properly. But tonight was mine.

Tonight I'd discovered something impossible.

And for once in my pathetic broke life, I'd found something that made me feel like I mattered.

Even if I'd almost died doing it.

Even if I'd broken every promise I'd made.

I looked at the travel mug. Sitting there. Innocent. Dented. Just a piece of junk from an estate sale.

Containing something that could change everything.

I should text Yuki my location. I'd promised.

Instead I started my car and drove to a different parking lot. One she wouldn't think to check.

Just in case she decided to come looking for the mug while I slept.

Just in case she tried to take away my discovery before I was ready to share it.

I told myself I was being smart. Taking precautions. Protecting my find.

But really I was just scared.

Scared she'd realize I couldn't be trusted.

Scared she'd report it before I could understand it.

Scared I'd lose the only thing that made me feel like my life meant something.

I parked in a 24-hour grocery store lot. Far corner. Engine off. Check engine light glowing.

Pulled out my notebook and started reviewing my maps by phone light.

Tomorrow I'd explore properly with Yuki. Tomorrow I'd be responsible.

Tonight I just stared at my terrible drawings and tried to figure out how something so impossible could be real.

And whether finding it was worth losing the only person who still believed I was worth helping.