Transcription

[[Nick has just told the assembled group that the MUTEX is somehow responsible for bringing D.C. Smythe, Valerie Smith, and the Inexplicable Speck! to their universe. The response is unanimous surprise.]]
Trudy: So does that mean the MUTEX is operating on its own?
Ki: That's disconcerting...
Nick: No, I think it's simpler than that.

Nick: The Gamester said "the cosmic boundaries between universes are failing". We've been punching holes in those boundaries, and now those holes are starting to... leak.

Smythe: And we apparently "leaked" through one of those holes...
Smith: But why would that happen after we encountered your counterparts in our universes...?

Nick: [Turning away from the group in defeat] I don't know, but it might be that, since I created the MUTEX, I'm the center of those disruptions. Any person around me--in any universe--may be at risk.
[[The group collectively shares an uncomfortable glance.]]