Sharp stood at the entrance of the opening formerly known as his exit and fondled the fur collar on the overcoat nearest to him. He stared at it with a look of incredulity as he fingered each individual hair between his index finger and thumb, then he rubbed the fur against the nap. Despite how much he wanted to write all this off as an elaborate prank intended to get him to say something stupid for lulz on social media, he couldn’t deny the texture in his hands.

This wasn’t here a moment ago. This isn’t the hallway either. Where is this?

“What are you doing? We…we have to do something,” said Lady Primguard with an edge to her voice. She was standing on the left side of the portal, clutching a leather overcoat in her very tight hands.

“That’s leather, you know.”

“What?”

“It’s a leather jacket, probably…cowhide,” Sharp offered. She turned in reply and stared hard at her hand.

“I know it’s cowhide, you dunce! All our coats, overcoats, jackets, and gloves are made from cows.” She shook the jacket with emphasis. “We eat them and wear them and…and…this isn’t my closet.” She looked over at him in desperation.

Sharp wasn’t a sensitive guy. He was proud to tell people that he missed his own mother’s funeral when he was under a deadline. It was one of the legends he helped build about himself—the hard working, dedicated entrepreneur—but even Sharp couldn’t ignore her shivering bottom lip, her quavering voice, and the sound in her voice of somebody on the verge of losing their mind.

“I know,” he said. “I don’t understand any of this, either. I just want to go home, too, and the doorway is yet another closet. Let’s just stay calm and figure out what we can.”

Why did the closet change? And whose closet is it? What in the world is going on here?

“Mr. Hikoboshi?” Isabelle’s voice came over the intercom.

“Please, can you just call me ‘Sharp’? Mr. Hikoboshi is so formal.”

“Um, right. Okay. Ah…Sharp then.” If Sharp was as observant as he was sensitive, he might have guessed that Isabelle was blushing, but Sharp wasn’t paying attention anymore.

“Where did this lady’s closet go? We should let her go home. Then we need to get me home. I’ve had enough with your wormhole.”

“We don’t actually know what is happening because the network connection to the wormbox is down.”

Sharp gazed over at the cable which was still smoldering on the dark red floor.

“Right, got it. That makes sense. And this isn’t part of your experiment?”

“Mr. Hiko…Sh,Sharp, as Isabelle just said, we don’t understand why this is happening. None of this was part of the parameters of the experiment. Our goal was to create a large, stable wormhole by starting with a tiny speck of a wormhole. Build up from there, you know?” Kyle laughed nervously. “We never anticipated opening a doorway to another world.”

Sharp looked up at the observation window at the peering silhouettes and realized he was still on the job.

They can’t get me out of here until I rebuild the stupid network. It never ends…

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“First things first, then. We need these annoying emergency lights off and the regular lights back up so that I repair the network. What are you doing to get power back up?” Sharp stomped at the red embers still glowing on the cables.

“Mister Hikubowshee?” asked the horned lady with reservation.

“Oh, you can call me ‘Sharp’, too.”

“That would not be proper.”

“Well, ‘Sharp’ is a lot easier to say. You already called me it anyway.” Sharp laughed and walked back over to the portal. The woman let go of the overcoat and brushed her bathrobe down. When she looked back up at him, Sharp noticed a glistening at the corner of her eyes.

“Once we get power back on, I can…” Sharp began, but a notice popped up on his AR display. The color was bright and orange and hurt his eyes due to the dimness around him. Novell was calling in. Sharp glanced over at the observation window again and came to a decision. Trapped in this fishbowl, they’d eventually realize he had miniaturized AR tech, but for now, responding to Novell shouldn’t reveal anything. Nobody knew that his earpiece didn’t connect to a mobile phone. He took the call.

“Hey, Sharp here.”

“Sharp! What’s going on with the mining rig? You haven’t confronted anybody about it, have you?”

“Sharp, this is Darity. We’re both worried about you. What’s the latest? We haven’t heard back from Surak yet.”

“Right, well, I doubt Surak can get down here. The lab’s under quarantine.”

“Who are you talking to?” asked Lady Primguard. Her brows were furrowed as her tail wrapped around her waist.

“Lady Primrose, I’m on a call right now. I’ll be right with you.”

“It’s Primguard, and what is a ‘call’?” she replied.

“Who’s Lady Primguard?” his friends said in unison.

“Okeh, hold on you two. Just listen in,” said Sharp as he pondered how he’d explain his tech without spilling the beans to eager listeners. “Do you have any long distance communication in your world?”

“World?!” shouted Novell.

“Quiet you.”

“How rude! I’m not saying anything!”

Sharp held up his hands and bounced them gently to calm her down. She seemed at the extreme edge of her ability to cope.

“What is long distance communication?” She looked at Sharp with a conflicted look while clutching her tail with one hand and wiping away her tears with another.

“Oh, boy…” Sharp waited a beat to compose himself, then continued. “You’re going to be alright, but I have to explain a few things to you. I’ll try to keep it simple.” He pointed to the wormbox and then to the massive generator at the back of the now dark room. “We were experimenting with advanced man-made power, but something went wrong. We don’t know why our experiment connected with your dressing-closet, or why the, um, Traveler’s Door changed, but we’re working on it.”

“Sharp, what on earth are you talking about? What’s a Traveler’s Door?”

“Novell, I need you to wait. I’ve got a situation here. Just hold on.”

“Novell, just let him handle it. It’s what he does.”

“Thanks, Darity,” Sharp said almost to himself.

“Who are you talking to?! There is nobody else here but me!” Lady Primguard straightened her shoulders, lifting her pointy horns into the air.

“We’re here!” a small voice piped up from the intercom, followed by a babble of shushing noises. It sounded oddly like radio static. Sharp gave the observation window a dirty look, then turned back to Lady Primguard.

“Miss…”

“Lady.”

“Yes, Lady. I have a device on me that lets me talk to friends who aren’t physically here right now.”

“You’re talking with invisible friends?” Her eyes looked at him wild and fearful. “I need to leave this madhouse.”

With that, she walked into the portal and slammed her shins on something. Giving Sharp a parting glare, she stepped up into the closet and pushed her way through the coats.

“Stop her. You’ve got to go after her!” shouted Isabelle.

“We don’t know if the portal will change again. He could be trapped in there!” Kyle shot back

“Sharp, I would really like to know what is happening in my own company.”

Sharp looked back and forth from the observation window to the avatar of Novell in his virtua display.

He’s adding video now? I don’t have time for this. The wormbox is quiet. The generator isn’t making sounds. That means it’s safe, right? Yeah, right…

On one hand, Sharp didn’t owe the horned lady any further consideration. He didn’t lock himself in here; he didn’t ask her to enter the WMD lab; and he certainly didn’t ask her to charge into somebody else’s coat closet. Yet, he couldn’t forget her shaking voice, her pouting lip, and her plea for help from those very large eyes.

I must be out of my mind.

Bracing himself, he climbed up into the portal and followed Lady Primguard inside.