One (One Universe)

fire moving it to land beneath the kid’s feet.
    I gasped. It was a freaking hover board!
    A thrill of excitement made my skin prickle with goose bumps. Maybe Quantum Technologies wasn’t just a research facility. Maybe this whole trip wouldn’t be completely wasted. If I could bring one of those back with me to school...
    Mom stopped at the light in the middle of the downtown area and I scanned the rest of the street. A young couple picnicked under one of the large oak trees, while across the green, a kid was playing catch with her golden retriever. I smiled as the dog leaped and bounded after the ball.
    And then ran right through a big blue mailbox like it wasn’t there, catching the ball on the other side. The dog’s plumed tail wagged frantically as it trotted back to the little girl. Through the mailbox again.
    I pressed a hand to my eyes. No. Not possible. I looked again and the image of the dog flickered briefly, pixelating before it snapped back together.
    Oh my god. A hologram.
    “Mom?” My voice was barely a whisper.
    “Yes, dear?” her eyes stayed focused on the line of slow moving traffic through town, but a muscle jumped in her jaw.
    “What is this place?” my voice quivered and she looked up with a small smile. The one she used when she was trying not to freak out herself.
    “Oak Ridge is a very…interesting place. Quantum Technologies develops a lot of really new inventions you won’t see anywhere else.”
    My head had started to pound and I rubbed the back of my neck. My headache was back. But a headache was the least of my worries right now.
    I still hadn’t told Mom about the weird flashes of knowledge that popped into my head, or being able to solve problems I didn’t even know I’d been thinking about.
    What was the air-speed velocity of that swallow’s flight? Ten meters per second.
    It was amazing and scary at the same time. I knew things I had no idea I’d even learned. Had I read it somewhere once, and now it was popping into my brain at random? Unexpected photographic memory maybe?
    But whatever it was, it was freaky enough that the metal security robots patrolling the sidewalk and talking to the people sitting at the outdoor café almost seemed normal. Like dining with freaking Cylons was perfectly ordinary.
    I winced as I got another brain jolt and blurted, “Mom, why did they design the robot’s ankle bolts like that? The angle’s all wrong.” With just one glance, a series of images and plans had popped into my head and shown me the bolts should be cut differently to optimize movement.
    A whimper escaped my lips as panic reached up and tightened the muscles in my shoulders.
    Mom’s eyebrows rose to her hairline and she squeezed my knee. “It’s okay, Lexie. Relax. Everything’s going to be all right. We just need to get to your dad’s and we’ll explain.” She followed the signs toward Quantum Technologies headquarters, but turned off the main road into a small subdivision of post-war track housing before I could get a glimpse of the facility.
    She pulled up in front of a shabby ranch-style house and parked the car. I stared at the empty flower boxes and overgrown front garden and tried to breathe. The place looked abandoned.
    “This is Dad’s house?” My voice rose in shock. Evidently, his neglect didn’t just extend to his only child.
    Mom’s lips thinned but she nodded. “Just remember your dad’s very busy at work. He doesn’t have time to focus on gardening.”
    “He could have gotten a Cylon to do it,” I muttered.
    I pushed open the car door and a wave of sticky heat instantly turned my dark hair frizzy and coated my skin with sweat. I tugged at the strap of my tank top and slowly turned in a circle to check out the rest of the neighborhood. It was full of houses just like my dad’s, though most of them looked neat and tidy. Half a dozen kids played basketball in a driveway down the block, but otherwise, the hot, humid afternoon was silent. Even the trees felt like they were asleep, their leaves heavy and still.
    “Grab your bag.” Mom struggled up the front walk with my suitcase. She’d packed light, just an overnight bag, and I frowned at it sitting on the back seat before gathering the rest of my things.
    Mom grabbed the key from under the front mat and went inside. A bead of sweat trickled down my back and I squared my shoulders to follow her. Then I paused. She knew where the key to Dad’s house was? Robot security guards weren’t