Upward Mobility

Ready to engage the swap drive a necessary, I piloted the ringlet toward the opening as the sealing mesh split open. Pulling a tight turn just after entry, I put the ringlet into a spin to dissipate momentum, kicking One-Eight-Ones out of the way in the process. I light touch on the swap drive, and I scanned my position just as the seals closed on the entry portal.

There is always an eerie pause before the next event occurs. The timing is never quite what I expect, but so far, they have always happened. It's just strange to be sitting here, idle, about to — whoosh — and off me and the ringlet surged forward, down a broad and wide parallel membrane. The dimple packets were a little out of shape from the force of the surge, and now I had to make a choice.

Ahead, arching, are several passages, three to be exact. The third scans slightly smaller and curves back, and I think I just missed my chance at the first. Pitching the front upward with a pulse of the forward Eight-Ones, I tugged the trajectory to catch the flow upward into the second passageway off the main. After having been in the previous direction for so long, it was time to move onward and hopefully, upward.