"You mean... this one is inhabited?"
Your colleague nods, inviting you to peer at the screen he had been looking at. Leaning over her shoulder, you feel your jaw drop ever so slightly.
"My god, we've finally done it... We've finally found an inhabited world..."
You lick your cracked lips and swallow heavily. Glancing around at the impeccably tidy workspace, you fidget slightly.
"Have you sent the data to the high-up's?"
You colleague nods once again, now examining a different set of data.
"This truly is a landmark achievement. We're probably going to be flooded with camera crews any minute now..."
Your colleague is too engrossed in her data readouts to reply. Leaving her to her work, you begin making your way through the complex to the portal itself. You were one of the scientists selected for the ground team in case of a First Contact scenario, and you were going to finally undertake the mission of meeting a new civilisation with the other members of your team.
---
"I love the Yanks as much as the next person, but why do they always get all the fancy toys?"
Sighing, you turn to the man next to you. You weren't sure of his name, bit his skin was pale, his hair dark, and he was just slightly shorter than you. Other than that, he was physically unremarkable.
"I've already explained this to you," you begin. "Three reasons: one, that recession a few years back hit Europe hard. Secondly, the Americans have a fusion reactor. Granted, the Torus in Europe is arguably more suited to powering the Portal, but this leads on to my third point; empty space."
The man - what was his name? Ah, that was it! Steven quirks an eyebrow at the last point, inviting you to continue.
"Europe tends to have a very high population density. America, on the other hand, tends to have a lower population density. Thus, this compound being a good distance away from the faintest signs of civilisation. If something goes wrong we'll probably all die, but hopefully it'll just be us."
Steven bites his lip as you finish the explanation. "I see your point. Thank you, doctor... Uh..."
Taking a short breath, you inform him of your name.
"Ah! My apologies, I haven't had much sleep lately. I'll try to remember it in future."
---
"Initialising QUAKE Network. Please stand by."
A great humming fills the air as the portal is powered up. The humming builds and builds, tiny sparks of electricity arcing off of the great metal arch. Suddenly, the humming... It was hard to describe, the noise it made. Suffice it to say that the humming reversed, grew lower in pitch, and then collapsed in on itself.
Filling the portal's frame is a scar in the fabric of Spacetime. Through this scar, you can see another world, the one where sapient life had been located. But what can you see beyond the portal?  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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