A.N

1. This is a re-post of a very old story.

2. I have tried very hard to comb for errors of all types but I am a struggling writer who is very, very open to serious and constructive concrit.

Disclaimer- the members of Linkin park are real people and I do not own them, nor did I create them out of my twisted little head. All other characters, are whoever, mine.

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Joseph turned off the TV and shook his head. The world was changing. Reality used to be something you wanted to escape from, something banal, boring and predictable- for the most part anyway. For Joe, the occasional surprise usually came in the form of Starbucks changing their drink menu, and that didn’t happen often (thankfully). However, the recent news update had once again shaken up his comforting conception of reality. In fact, the news had been resembling the sci-fi channel more and more lately. Scientists were discovering new dimensions filled with things people only dreamed of. At first, it had been a joke. Or at least that’s what the majority of the country took it as, Joe included. However, soon very in depth electromagnetic fields were detected, pockets where it wasn’t just some instrument going wonky- where repeated readings showed that the very basic make-up of atoms and molecules wasn’t quite right. From there, even the media had been having a very hard time dumbing things down for the average American watching channel five. The point was- even though they couldn’t understand it, people were coming to believe that it was true- science had discovered evidence of pockets in time and space that where worlds in themselves. Of course no one had been able to actually make a connection with these new dimensions beyond the scientific proof that they existed. But the idea of such endless possibilities was exciting and new and the public was enamored.

Joe sighed and decided not to dwell on it, it didn't affect him so he was fine. Sure, he knew this was an ignorant state of mind to take but it was preferable to admitting how unsettling the whole idea was. As much as he loved fantasy and science fiction- he preferred for it all to stay fiction. He was never a kid who wanted to explore the unknown, and even now, Star Trek reruns were as close as he got to being interested in other worlds. After all, in his little world things were going great with his band Linkin Park. Sure, they had been recording for what seemed like a century and then some, but Mike kept reassuring everyone that the finished product would be worth the wait and to ignore the record company’s pressure.

Unfortunately, ignoring that pressure wasn’t so easy when they called the whole band in for a meeting to discuss future albums. He knew they were going to push for the next albums to be coming out faster. This whole part of the deal was really where Mike shone, most of them just sat there, trying not to text under the table like bored teenagers. But if this was his biggest worry- a boring meeting he had no reason to be at, Joe supposed life was pretty good.

He got in his car whistling, something he only did when no one was around- after all he was over thirty now, and he was sure there was just some point after which whistling was not flattering he mused as he headed towards the new multi use center in down town L.A. It was a huge new building that had over a hundred floors. Of course, Warner had jumped at the chance to move in, keeping up with the Joneses and all that Joe supposed. The record company took up four of the floors somewhere in the middle- for what he hadn’t a clue. In fact, Joe wasn't sure exactly which floors yet, he supposed he would just ask once he got there. He also knew that many of the floors were occupied by the scientists researching new ways to come into contact with the other dimensions. For some reason the whole fiasco was annoying him- it was unnecessary and he was sure if anything they‘d have the luck to come across the most advanced warriors in existence and get their asses taken over. It would be worse than aliens. The things he used to dream about- the monsters and creatures- were becoming a possible reality all too fast, and he didn't like it. They were safe coming from someone’s imagination, stuck on paper or the big screen, but when these unknowns became reality, it didn’t seem like so much fun anymore. For a rock star- Joe was rather boring. He liked to create monsters out of special effects, direct and paint them- but it ended there. Otherwise, Joe liked life unexciting. Unfortunately, and much to his surprise, so far the whole thing didn’t seem to be getting much heat from like-minded folks who thought these things should best be left alone.

Joe pulled carefully into a parking space reserved for clients and visitors to the record company’s "sector" - as they called the divisions of the building, which sounded like something out of area 51. He thought it was cheesy and probably somehow influenced by the large chunk of the building being dedicated to dimension research. Joe decided he really needed to get over whatever issue he had with the whole dimension discovery as he made his way into the crowd of people hurrying in and out of the massive building, it was occupying too much of his thoughts, especially for something that would hopefully never directly affect him. He looked around the entrance searching for some sort of directory. Finding none in the huge lobby he figured they hadn't put any in yet since the building was still extremely new. He looked towards the information center but groaned at the line twisting throughout the lobby, he was NOT standing in that.

Looking around the bright lobby he squinted against the sunlight that filtered in through the glass walls. The building was mostly glass on the outside which caused it to be all too bright on this inside on sunny days. Like today. Joe frowned wishing he had brought his sunglasses. Maybe someone around here would know which floors he needed to go to. He approached a woman who didn't look like she was in too much of a hurry and asked her if she knew which floors the record company was on.

"Um- I'm not sure but it's something like the 25th- I think. I'm pretty sure..." she said before hurrying off. Joe shrugged and decided to give it a try.

Outside the building the woman muttered "or was it the 35th?"

After waiting 15 minutes just to get in a damn elevator Joe checked his watch. He was already ten minutes late.

"Shit," he swore softly, lest one of the yuppies sharing the elevator send a glare his way.

Finally getting off on the 25th floor he immediately knew it was not the right floor but the elevator had already closed behind him. He swore again. Maybe someone who worked here would be able to tell him where to get decent directions. He began to wander down the hall cursing the fact he had also forgot his cell phone. For such an in demand building the corridor was completely empty and the doors on either side closed. He wasn’t sure which floor he was on but it didn’t seem to house very friendly people. Clearly, this was just not his day.

Suddenly he saw a tall skinny man with large glasses and a lab coat coming towards him. The man had orange hair that would have been comical if not for the professionally close cut it had. The man had a somewhat long face and no freckles that usually accompanied such red hair. He had just darted out of a door and was walking full speed towards Joe. His face was stern and his mouth set in a firm line. Joe inwardly groaned, of course he just HAD to have landed on one of the research floors. The universe was not only a cruel place but apparently it read minds.

"Sir, this is a closed floor- you aren't authorized-" the man began.

Joe quickly interrupted him, "Yeah, I know- I'm just lost- can you just tell me where I can get some directions around here?" he snapped, frustrated and annoyed. This guy was obviously the kind of man who didn’t have time for anything but his work and held three doctorate degrees. Joe didn’t really care to be overly friendly, he had places to be.

The man blinked back at him a mixture of annoyance and, surprisingly, pity on his face. Joe guessed even geniuses got lost sometimes.

"I have a listing of the floors in my office- come on I'll give you a copy" he said finally motioning for Joe to follow him down another long bland hallway. Joe was surprised at the man’s willingness to go on a detour back to his office but followed gratefully, carefully avoiding looking at his watch. He was becoming very late.

Before they reached their destination one of the doors burst open and another, shorter, scientist came through. Seeing Joe’s companion, the shorter man sighed in relief.

"Sir you've got to see this" he said, not noticing Joe. How he managed to do that, Joe could only guess, as he wasn’t small by any means.

"Well I have to give this man directions and I can't leave him unattended here-" The scientist began in a hurried voice. Joe hated when people talked about him as if he wasn't there but kept his mouth shut. This guy clearly wanted to rid of him and quickly as Joe wanted the damn directions and to be on his way. He just wanted to get to the damn meeting.

"Well- bring him with you- this is urgent! We NEED your expertise- we may have a break through!" the smaller man exclaimed tugging the taller man into through the doorway. Clearly it was something that couldn’t wait if a grown man was tugging on a co-worker’s sleeve like a toddler. Joe debated just going back to the elevator but god forbid something go missing and he had just happened to be “unattended” among valuable and top secret information. Sure, it was just a hallway, but Joe had awful luck. Best to stick to the scientists.

Inside was a huge machine that was beeping and flashing different colored lights. Joe really didn't care about directions at this point- the damn thing looked like it was going to explode. He tried to get the scientist's attention but found he was lost in a sea of men yelling frantically and rushing around. Whoever had taught them the rule of not panicking had done a pretty crap job. Sighing, Joe just leaned against a wall staying out of the way, hoping the chaos died down soon and that the record company bought this ridiculous story since it looked like he would be missing the meeting completely.

Finally, he caught sight of the man who had first found him, and chanced taking his eyes away from the whirring beeping machine to try and get his attention. Well, he succeeded at the same moment that the machine gave a large whirr like the Godzilla of all computers turning on and shot a beam of green light right towards the wall Joe was leaning against. Before Joe could register what was happening, the green light found his chest and within seconds he was gone from sight.

The room, if possible, broke out into even further chaos.