Chapter Seven: Time Shares
Dr. Robert "Dr. Blankenship" Blankenship has returned from whatever peregrinations he departed on so unexpectedly last year. This writer cannot help but wonder if, like the McRib, his absence and subsequent return was not as unplanned as rumor claimed.
-"Filling In the Blankenship", in Glib and Phillip, Winfield Phillips's alternative independent student newspaper
(No more startup funds remaining, which isn't great for your research)
Dr. Ellison's at your and Dr. Blankenship's side before you even think to call her. "I felt the summoning." She kneels on the cold concrete. "Bob. Where have you been?"
Robert Blankenship turns his dirty, bruised face towards Dr. Ellison. "Chloe. My summoning research—it was an accident—" He gathers his thoughts. "I moved between universes."
"How did he do that?" Alex wails. "No sapient practitioner can move their corporeal body through a rift!"
Dr. Ellison takes in Blankenship's ragged appearance. "Goodness." With your and Dr. Ellison's help, Blankenship struggles to his feet. A gust of cold wind makes him stumble. He's a kite made of bone and skin, so light that you're worried that he'll blow away.
"You have to ask him!" Alex says. "I have to know!"