Drastic: The Change

Family moments

Cass and Mark knew they could never be perfect parents, the truth was they went even qualified as good parents.

Every time their daughter told them about her month their heart hurt badly. How they wished they could experience it with her.

It hurt so much that the little time they had with her had to be structured to give a false sense of family. Bratty behaviour, teen fits of anger, temper tantrums. All of it was missed.

It sometimes felt like a dream cause every time they came home she looked different somehow. Their granted week was like a haven a false hope before it came crashing back into reality.

After a few years of continuing and managing the same schedule, they were able to cope with the arrangement.

" Cass, whatever we do is worth the sacrifice. It is worth everything." Mark said remembering how hard they strived.

It seemed like yesterday they were planning out their precious daughter's room and how they would raise her.

Where they wanted to take her. Cass held her chest as it felt stuffy; sometimes she did not even want to think about it. Sometimes she would remember every brush stroke she used on the walls and the smell of the fresh paint. The fresh paint was gone so were the hopes of having a normal family.

" Is it. Is it, that we failed as parents. What is the use? Cause to be honest I don't see it anymore." Cass cried out.

" Cass, pull yourself together. Even if we regret it let's at least finish what we started."

" Fine" she sighed.

" Do you think we should tell her?" Mark asked.

A silence fell upon them, Turmoil of emotion swam in their eyes.

" What else could we do apart from telling her?. Is she supposed to wait one week every month for maybe years. Only to find out we.. …... We might never come back. " Cass choked back her sob.

" I don't want to see her sad" Mark sighed heavily. Sometimes he regretted joining the field and for one moment would not mind what happened to the world. If they could have a normal life.

" It is okay Mark, we tried our very best. "

Lana stood on the stairs listening to everything her parents said with tears streaming down her face. She raised her hands and wiped off the tears, ore kept streaming down.

' Why do not I have normal parents' she thought.

Wiping her face with her hand she walked down with slightly swollen eyes.

" Lana" Cass called out to her.

" Coming"

Her voice trembled a bit.

" Here is the rock"

Lana stretched out the cloth bag.

"So this is the stuff that got Diane mad" Cass teased her daughter. " Have you shown it to her"

" Nope. I wanted to but she was too angry" Lana said.

Cass handed to bag to her husband and looked into Lana's eyes.

" Mum why are you staring at me"

" Lana, tell me why are you crying. " Mark asked.

" Umm... I was not crying my eyes were just itchy"

" Lana please do not lie to me" Cass pleaded " Lana whatever it is don't shut us out "

" Nothing really. .. I only heard of your plan to leave me all by myself. "

Lana had no idea why she phrased it that way even though she knew that was not going in she could not control her emotions.

" Lana, your mum and I would never abandon you. We wished we could stay with you. "Mark said.

He looked at his wife and saw how hard she held back her emotions. He changed the topic.

" Hey, Lana how about we check out the rock."

" Okay" She knew enough of her parents to know they were not ready to discuss it with her.

The father and daughter pair walked towards the dark basement. Cass adjusted her emotions whatever was meant to be hidden would not stay hidden forever.

" Remember what I said about dimension and how dangerous it could be"

" You said all dimensions are dangerous."

" Yes but thanks to our advanced tech we can isolate some of the stables yet split space from the cracks into objects. Some are called pocket dimensions. It houses living things, unlike the cloth bag."

Mark pulled out a cube-shaped box.

" So am I jumping on it or into it" Lana was confused about how was she supposed to enter a fist-sized cube.

" You jump into it by relaxing your muscles and sensing it with your mind then let yourself be pulled into it."

Sensing with mind ' how does that work, I know it is supposed to be a wireless connection but how do I know I am connected. ' Lana thought.

Maybe it was like sensing Mech. A few years ago her parents and an NGO had donated two huge Mech suits and a hundred battle Mech heads to supposedly train their senses.

Using the same principle she tried to feel the cube.

She felt a huge vacuum pulling her through Panicking she tried to cut off the connection but her body was pulled through the vacuum. With so much fear in her lungs, not a single scream escaped her mouth

Her feet touched the cold tiles as she wobbled trying badly not to fall. A smell wafted through her nose. Reminding her of strawberry with a hint of Vanilla. The ice cream flavour smell filled her senses prompting her to squeeze her eyes open.

Her mouth watered as she tried hard to locate the smell.

His lips creased into a smile as he watched her search around cutely for ice cream. Soon he remembered why the lab smelt like that and hurriedly relied on the Labs pressure causing the scent to dissipate.

The moment Lana opened her eyes she blurted out "where is the ice cream "

Mark laughed " The last experimental monster was under pressure that causes the release of a poisonous gas that of course smells like ice cream."

He explained.

" So what's going to happen to me," Lana asked.

" You are fine. The gas was not that active it is non-fatal if inhaled for less than 30 min " Mark explained while leading her into a building.

The laboratory was lined with tiles on each side of the walls, the interior was sparkling clean. The room had three tables of the same size with machines heavily placed on one. The shelves lined three edges of the room about six feet tall with various sizes of the locker. One of the open shelves was a display for lab coats.

" Wow, Dad this place is amazing." Lana smiled.

" Obviously, It is equipped with all the latest tech but this is not the only room here. Your mother and I placed all our private research work here and a lot of books are in the library which is another building."

" We also ensured they are a lot of animals but it is in a higher section"

" About I inspect that precious rock " he teased.

Lana felt upset and handed over the rock. She was not mad that he teased her but that her parents always prepared everything in advance just in case.

Maybe if she had not overheard them she might not have thought too hard.

Pushing her thoughts back she watched her dad prep for experiments and wore one of the coats he handed to her.

Time passed by and it seemed to have been a whole day.

" Dad the rock is rather invisible and mum would start to worry we have spent too long in here."

" It has only been four hours outside and twelve in here. " Mark pacified.

" Wait so .. Thi... This does not follow the time on earth as it is an independent space of its own. Does that mean other dimensions can either be slower or faster. Also, can I enter everyone's dimension" Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

" well yes but you cannot use anyone's Pocket dimension if it has bound. Neither can you forcefully enter. It would cause your soul to collapse with the space. Not everyone can own a pocket dimension it is rare. "

" This is yours, there is also an unrefined pocket dimension in one of the cupboards for you.

Refining a pocked dimension without enough mental energy is death" Mark warned.

"Let's focus on the rock," He said turning his attention towards an even shinier rock. It had gained more lustre and shone more but its characteristics were unreadable.

Though it showed a reaction with space attributes.

There was simple tranquillity that fell upon them when they were together.