Rip and Blair’s next stop was at the Lyceum. They walked slowly toward Dr. Oggolopoli’s laboratory. By now the rain had subsided, allowing them to pick up the pace a bit outside. Rip felt less concern about Blair slipping. Even though the grounds were still wet, the lack of rainfall made him feel better.

The door to Dr. Oggolopoli’s lab was open, so they walked on in. The scientist sat at a desk with a dozen books spread out all around him. Three piles of punch cards and several clipboards holding notes were also scattered about.

“Ah! There you are. Yes, yes, yes.”

The squat scientist stood up and hurried around his desk to greet them. He took off his thick round glasses and absently cleaned them on the lab coat.

“I am so glad to see you two.”

As Blair sat down in a huff, Rip said, “You mentioned in your letter that you have come to some conclusions. I presume we’re talking about the project to open a door into my world.”

“Yes! Yes, indeed.”

Oggolopoli hurried back around his desk and pulled over a tripod holding a large display board with various equations and other notes scrawled on it.

“I have most of it here. So . . .”

He paused and looked at them.

“Ah. Well, you are hardly my colleagues here at the Lyceum. I will try to make this as less technical as I can.”

“We appreciate it,” Rip said.

Blair snapped, “Just get on with it.”

“Yes, yes. So, when I pulled you in, Sir Ripley, you were in an electronic environment. What you have called a puppet theater. I don’t fully understand all the ramifications of that, but I’ve learned a lot, oh yes. So, when you were pulled into our world, the . . . electronics in your head . . . another thing I don’t fully understand, but no matter. Your electronics pulled your body over here. But we are not in an electronic environment. We are in reality. Your electronic version . . .”

“My avatar.”

“Yes! Your avatar simply went away, while your physical body transferred here.”

“Okay. I’m with you so far.”

Oggolopoli grimaced.

“Going back is much harder, I’m afraid. At least for us. I have ported to the coordinates in your electronic puppet theater three times now.”

“What?”

Rip looked alarmed. Oggolopoli’s eyes grew wide, magnified behind his glasses.

“Yes. You see, when I go over to your world, I show up in the electronic . . . environment. By manipulating certain variables on the punch cards, I can also show up in what I presume to be different theaters. Unfortunately, I cannot show up in the ‘real world,’ for lack of a better term. Not yours. Not in full.”

“Wait a minute. You have gone over to the metaverse? Multiple times? You went to Online USA?”

“I’m uncertain of the correct terminology used by the locals. But if you are referring to the exact same coordinates I pulled you from in your world, then yes. I have done just that. It appears you must have been flying because I seem to appear about 8,000 feet in the air every time I do it. Some very pretty flying machines come out to visit me. I tried to relay to the nice young woman who leads them that you are hail and in good health.”

“Great. I’m surprised they haven’t blown you out of the sky. They probably think you’re a weapon of some sort.”

“I must say, it’s a rather interesting way to fight wars, your people have.”

“Oh, we do it the old fashioned way, too. But anybody who dies online, at least in the place called Continent, dies in real life.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Now to resume, when I show up there, my body is completely electronic. When we try to show up in the real world, as you saw down in the Calais vault based on your report, bodies from this world are not fully corporeal in yours.”

“Okay. So, you’re saying they are . . . corporeal when showing up online in the metaverse, but only partially there in real life.”

“Correct. My current hypothesis is that without the electronics in your head to interact with the environment and the real world, we cannot make the transition. At least, if we can I have yet to figure that out, and I’ve no idea where to start if I’m being honest. However, I theorize that you could make a return journey.”

Rip rubbed his chin in thought.

“So you’re saying, if I were to pop into existence back in Continent, in O-USA, my real body would also appear in meatspace?”

“Precisely. At least, if I’m following your nomenclature correctly. Your electronic body would co-exist with your physical body. Because you have the necessary electronics.”

Oggolopoli stood there smiling for a moment.

He said, “So how about it, Sir Ripley? Would you like to go home?”

Rip looked down at his pregnant wife. Blair locked eyes with him, a note of alarm creeping into her face.

He smiled and said, “No. I’m not going back.”

“Not even for a visit? I can put you on a three-second timer, if you like.”

“What if pulling me back didn’t work? No. It’s too risky.”

He reached down and lightly grabbed Blair’s hand, looking into her eyes.

“Not even for a visit.”