Chapter 1
The lab is in chaos right now, not because of anything bad, but because of the first-ever teleporter discovered. Since one hundred and sixty years ago, humanity has developed psychic abilities. Around the same time, Earth was under occupation by an alien empire that called themselves the Sun Lords. Their true name is something unpronounceable in any language so we did the best we could. After a short civil war, the Republic of Earth was founded out of the far eastern half of the world with the rest remaining in occupation. We’ve been in an uneasy truce since, with both sides arming themselves with new weapons and soldiers every minute. Today we finally get to see the first ever psychic teleporter in history. If we succeed we could be able to teleport soldiers behind enemy lines or bring them back during retreat. This could redefine our way of combat against the Sun Lords.
“So captain…” a young soldier who looks fresh out of the academy pulls me from my thoughts.
“Another question Private Saliem?” I keep my tone curt, he’s been asking questions since we arrived. Questions that I already answered in the briefing before the mission started.
“N-o sir, sorry sir.” He visibly deflates but the anxiety in his eyes rages on. Truth be told I’m pretty nervous myself, being one of the first to witness history is terrifying.
“Stop worrying, we’ll be fine. The scientists are here to prevent anything from going wrong and if it does they can fix it.”
With that out of the way, my attention falls back to the scientists scurrying around again. They seem to be putting the finishing touches on the setup. Machines and monitors line the room giving off different readings that I can’t even begin to understand being to scroll across the screens. It takes another ten minutes before they finally give an all-clear to bring in the teleporter. A group of lightly armed guards march in with two on either side of a short teenage boy. No older than fifteen, he looks as nervous as Private Saliem. I can’t help but chuckle a little at the absurdity of placing the world's weight on a child’s shoulders. The guards stop short outside the center of the testing chamber. The boy steps onto a slightly raised platform with a pair of intersecting arches over it. The head researchers take positions at four corners of the center each in front of some kind of computer.
“The first official test of the ‘Light Speed Project’ will start in thirty seconds, all personal to your posts! I repeat all personal to your posts!” A couple of stragglers bustle to the remaining empty places. The seconds seem to tick by like hours as we soon reach the last ten seconds.
“Last ten seconds everyone. All psychic dampers are online and ready to go. Beginning teleporting in ten.. nine..eight..seven..” The tension in the room thickens almost instantly as the countdown begins. The soldiers stationed near the center grip their weapons tighter, and my soldiers fidget behind me. Even I am starting to sweat from the pressure.
“Stop messing with your weapon!”
“Sorry, I’m nervous right now!”
“Well so is everyone else in this room but no one is messing with their weapon!”
“Alright, I’ll stop!” The hushed whispers of a couple of my men reach me. The last thing I need is some idiot playing with his gun right now. I let out a frustrated sigh as I turn to the soldiers behind me.
“Which two of you were just talking right now? And which one of you is the idiot messing a gun in the middle of an experiment involving teleportation?!” I hiss out the last sentence causing some of my men to shrink. If there’s one thing I always need to do it’s fix someone's bad habits. Though bad habits don’t typically have a chance of causing a catastrophe.
“Four..three..two..” The countdown reaches just one second away as my eyes sweep over my men. Then as if to answer who it was a firearm goes off cutting out the final second as the blast of the gun causes my ears to start ringing. Funny enough, the only sound I can hear now is the bullet bouncing across the room. Everything seems to happen all at once, the boy releases his psychic power right as the bullet hits one of the arches. Sparks rip through it as an alarm begins to blare overhead. The boy panics from the sudden commotion, causing the psychic energy to fluctuate violently.
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“Deploy the psychic dampeners immediately!” Chaos erupts all around me, and a couple of my soldiers spring into action. I rip the gun out of the hands of Private Saliem, should have known he would be the problem maker this time. Scientists sprint from one station to the next as the psychic energy in the room begins to warp the equipment nearby. The arches twist as the damaged portion buckles under the pressure. The boy is still standing in the middle of the platform, clutching his head as energy pulses out. The amount of power he has is incredible considering his age. The sound of the dampeners screeches through the room as only a third manages to function.
The energy is still rising, it’s almost suffocating. I grit my teeth as I push back with a thin layer of psychic energy around my body. I can barely see as the energy gets thicker.
“Dampeners have failed, all personnel evacuate!” My shout is strangled as I push through the pressure crushing me. The scientists scramble for the exits with the guards trying, and failing, to keep some semblance of order still. My soldiers begin escorting the remaining scientists outside near the far opposite side of the room. I flare my psychic power pushing back against the tsunami of energy. The other captains in the room follow suit, each pushing back enough that my head stops feeling like it’ll explode. Blood begins to leak from my nose dripping into my mouth as I struggle to keep up. The tang of iron mixes with the salt of my sweat, my every muscle and bone crying in pain.
I don’t have the large amount of psychic energy that other captains do, but my control over my power is one of the best. I tighten my energy to create a thick layer around myself, protecting me from the brunt of it. I take a heavy step forward, it feels like a bag of weights is on me. My next step is even heavier as I strain to make my way to the center. Each step feels as if another hundred pounds is added on. Once I reach the center I can barely blink let alone take another step.
“Hey, kid! Listen to me!” The boy has tears streaking down his face and panic set in his eyes.
“I-I can’t s-stop it.” He sobs out his response as his energy flares again, inching me back a couple of inches.
“Hey, I know it’s scary but you can do it I promise. This is your power, a part of who you are. I was scared just like you when I was first developing my power.”
“R-Really?” The energy seems to calm down, though only a small amount.
“Yeah, everyone is trust me. But you can control it, I’ll give you a little hint on how to.” He stands a bit straighter, though I can tell that’s all he can do.
“O-Okay..”
“Alright, here's the trick. You can’t use just force to make it happen, I know you want to and it seems like you should. You already know how to control it, so just trust yourself.” His breathing starts to become more stable, and his body relaxes. The pressure starts to lessen more and more as the boy gets more in control of his power. I let out a gasping breath, the weight lifting off me slowly. Taking the chance I check my radio, getting static in response. I curse under my breath and make my way closer to a terminal. Scorch marks line the room and most of the equipment. The terminal is mostly busted with the screen flickering periodically. I try to make sense of what’s there only for the screen to cut out. I slam my fist on it hoping that will fix it like it does my old computer.
Instantly sparks explode out of the terminal causing another cocophanie of noise to rip through the room. The boy startles again from the sudden commotion, his power flaring strong this time. My body slams down to the ground turning my vision blurry. All around me, pieces of equipment start to shake and twist. Some simply twist and crunch into rubble while others vanish completely. They were teleported. Despite the situation, I can’t help but feel a bit excited. We can teleport now, this will change everything for us. My excitement is cut short as my body screams in pain, my bones creaking and muscles straining. The air shifts and twists in front of my eyes, my body feels like it’s being crushed and burned. A primal cry of pain rips through my throat as my vision turns white.
Then I feel weightless like I’m floating in zero gravity. Fresh grass and fruity scents fill my nose while a warm breeze flits across my face. Oddly enough, the pain in my body disappears as if it never existed. It takes a bit for my hearing to start coming back, birds chirping and voices. The voices grow louder and more clear as if coming towards me. My white vision starts to clear, blue skies and trees meet me as I stir on the ground. A groan escapes me as I try to get up only to not be able to move an inch. The voices are right next to me, they’re speaking a language I’ve never heard. Blurry shapes appear on either side of me. My eyes become clear enough to make out a pair of beautiful people, a man and a woman. Both are of Asian descent but wearing outfits that were said to have been worn thousands of years ago. Before I can make a sound my vision begins to fade before I finally pass out.