Anxiously walking through the corridor, Dr. Borston Green Junior was on the brink of sprinting, constantly looking at his handwatch. Still, despite being awfully late, he couldn’t run as there were too many cameras watching every single action he did. And being the senior scientist and the head of his own project who got it less than a week ago, he didn’t want to ruin his reputation in such a short time frame after being appointed. The current delay could have no less dire consequences for his career than dancing nude at a loud party after celebrating the epic failure of his project. Luckily, when Borston finally managed to get through several armored doors with multiple scanners to confirm his authorization and identity, the guests were only halfway to the meeting room. Signing with relief, he quickly found the nearest reflection in an attempt to make his appearance better.
Crumpled coat, greasy messy hair, noticeable bristle on his tired face that barely had any sleep in the past days – Borston had an image of the classic mad but genius scientist. To follow such an example of dedication to the assigned role, the guests from the government wore dark gray suits and dead expressions on their faces. Unrealistic neat to the point where Borston failed to notice even the tiniest flaw, the group consisted of three men and one woman.
The latter was the leader, standing in front of others. Very tall, reaching two meters height (6’7’’), she could be described as pretty… if her expression wasn’t so serious, turning her facial features into a motionless mask of the statue of some kind of antique goddess of justice. Her blonde hair was tied into a bun, hiding a real length from onlookers. Dressed in a formal skirt, white blouse, and a blazer, the woman surprisingly had massive army boots instead of potential heels or any other more elegant options. This fact caught all Borston’s attention, resulting in failing to greet them in time.
“I am sorry for being distracted… Good day to you all. I am Dr. Green… you can call me Borston, and today I will be your guide through our facility,” returning to reality, the scientist started his speech only to meet the very same cold gazes and a few barely noticeable nods. Swallowing the saliva that appeared inside his mouth in absurd amounts from anxiety, he continued. Knowing that the whole institution was financed by the government and the current group was its representatives who came from time to time to check the progress, Borston did his best not to spoil anything because it was his first time. Especially, because it was his first time.
“We are here not for the usual inspection, Mr. Borston,” the woman interrupted him, speaking with a suddenly deep voice. The scientist could easily see how many could fall for it even before seeing the appearance of the owner. Unfortunately, her expression would be a cold shower to anyone with such thoughts. Despite the beauty, this seriousness that seemed to radiate from her brown eyes would be a big stopper to any intentions.
“Then why are you here… if I may ask?”
“We’ve got info that there may be an attack on the facility today… So, I need to know what projects are already close to finishing, are finished but not stored into the Storage, or are currently most perspective,” the woman explained, “We must know what their goal may be.”
‘Well, the most perspective is mine, but I only started it…,” Seeing how his attempt to joke had failed miserably, Borston started to recall the latest schedule, “currently we are running another test for the Door, “noticing the absence of understanding, he dived into details.
“The Door is an attempt to open a gate to interdimensional space… Then there is the Clock – a similar project that deviated from the Door. As you know, space-time is always connected to each other… The Virus was cut down a month ago, and all samples were destroyed. The Purple Queen was also banned from further research and is on standby to decide what part of this AI is going to be used, and what has to be wiped… Both Ice Age and Nuclear Alloy are in the initial phases… The Drill failed not long ago, showing no results after a decade of efforts. If you ask me, the idea was stupid to begin with! Can you imagine that… Sorry, back to the topic.”
“Do you have anything weapon-related?”
“Basically every research can be turned into a weapon of mass destruction in the end, ma’am,” Borston answered with a smile, “The nearest to completion but still in the middle phases is the Broom – handholding disintegrator that can overcharge organic cells in the body to the point they will self-destruct into nothingness. What is left can easily gathered with a broom, thus the name… But it’s still far from stable work. Roger’s team needs at least…,” his words were interrupted by a sudden signal coming from his smartphone.
“What is it?” The woman immediately reacted, readying her posture and putting her hand on the blazer's side.
“Oh, the Door – the test just started. Do you want to see it?”
“No, we need to be sure that nothing will happen to any research – they are too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands,” the woman declined the order after a short deliberation. Noticing the hesitation of the scientist, she added, “Don’t worry. We gathered around a hundred agents and asked Demonologist to be nearby if something happened. There is nothing he can’t handle. Other heroes are also on standby in case we need more helping hands.”
“Demonologist? Potentially the most powerful superhero? Wow,” opening his mouth, Borston whistled from a surprise. His mind was already trying to decide whether such news could calm him or not. One of the strongest superhumans was always great to have but a need in him led to a much bigger threat.
“Just a precaution… The info might be wrong. So, don’t worry… And maybe lead us to the Broom – it seems it's the easiest thing to steal at this moment,” the woman commanded, making Borston obediently nod and point in the direction. It didn’t take long to leave them at the right sector before his own curiosity pushed him to the location of the Door.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The test was already in the final phase when the scientist entered the huge room. All his colleagues were too occupied to greet him, but personally knowing how important it was for them, Borston stayed silent, finding a free spot to the side so as not to bother others in the moment of truth. That gave him enough time to observe the enormous machine that took up most of the hall-like area. Supported by a cold fusion reactor, dedicated solely to the task, it was already finishing the process of piercing through the veil of the realm.
It wasn’t the first time the group managed to do it, but it was the first time they tried to grab something from the other side of reality. There were too many theories about what to expect, but none had any facts to support it. Still, in case of an unexpected outcome, the energy shield enveloped the space inside, preventing any object or subject from getting out from the other side of the realm. Developed by the group of Sages with their inhuman level of intellect and abnormal ability to make things work, the shield was powerful enough even to stop a class five super for some time, being a completely unbreachable defense for lower ranks. Obviously, if there was no psionic involved.
Borston hated Psions because of their unnatural ability to break the law of physique, to which he dedicated his whole life. The absence of logic in their capabilities was too unpleasant and disturbing to his mind, which tried to systemize everything. Paladins were only slightly better, being a mixture of raw strength from Brutes and the wielders of the same “magical” skills, just on a weaker level. But the worst was the Tricksters, whose capabilities gave him the very same possibility to throw away the laws of nature, while their improved mind made even the dumbest ones as clever as Borston himself. The only other deviation from the Sages he could accept was the Athletes, who often used self-created inventions in direct combat.
“Attention! We’ve got something… This is the first time, so be ready for any outcome.”
The loud shout interrupted the scientist’s line of thoughts about the classification of superhumans to a more important thing – the ongoing test of the Door. The latter was in full swing, forming an odd whirlwind that started to twist reality, bending even the light. Looking like constantly rotating pieces of mirror that had old images of the surroundings, the weird vortex started to expand. Covering the whole area under the energy shield, it suddenly turned into a white mist, obstructing the view. The group of scientists were already shouting at each other different data, trying to use the scanners, while keeping in check the machine, but Borston wasn’t listening.
Looking at several sparks that appeared inside the dense haze, which turned into multiple red lightings, the man strained his eyes not to miss anything. And then he saw it – an enormous humanoid figure that was slowly rising from the floor. The fast-dispersing mist started to uncover the sight of the unknown creature, showing it in the process of recreating itself from the previous formless base. The half of the skull, the parts of the arms, the tens of awful-looking holes – everything seemed to be quickly growing to create something akin human.
The ending of the process coincided with the complete dispersing of the side effects from opening the door into interdimensional space, opening the full picture of the standing figure. Gigantic, almost two with a half meters tall (around 8’2”), it was bulging with muscles on the massive nude body without a single strand of hair. Not defined, but huge and strong, they made him several times bigger than any human. But the differences didn’t stop on this. The very light gray skin on the verge of making him an albino of the bold human-like creature didn’t have a trace of any marks or scars, looking like some kind of artificial material than human skin. Too rough, too metal-like. Surprisingly, the face looked nothing strange, just not beautiful with its crude facial features. Still, the inhuman nature couldn’t be missed, even if not noticing the sheer size or color of the skin, as the weird pitch-black matter was crawling on the skin of the “thing”, periodically diving inside as if in water.
“I think it copied our appearance,” one of the junior scientists suggested.
“We can’t be sure, Robert. Don’t jump to conclusions before we get more information,” the head of the group shook his head, before ordering, “We will try to communicate. All attention is on the energy shield. Scan everything you can…”
This was the moment when the creature finally opened his green eyes, loudly taking a first breath. The mad grin immediately appeared on its face as if this action was a long-awaited meeting with someone precious after a long parting. Turning its attention to the surroundings, the human-like creature calmly observed everyone before looking at his hands with a visible surprise. A moment later the weird matter moved, covering his groin with something akin black codpiece that was holding without any ties. The other part formed knee and elbow pads together with small plates on the back of his hands. However, the bigger piece crawled across his chest through the skull only to appear in the form of seven tiny horns on its bald head. Short and thick, they looked like a crown, especially considering its black color.
“Hello, fellow humans! My name is Robert…,” The creature tried to smile, but taking into account its appearance the reaction was a caution and worriness that was raised in most of the currently present scientists. Quite a few felt fear, perfectly knowing how dangerous similar twisted humans could be, not speaking about something potentially from the outside of the realm. For a moment Borston even expected to see the row of sharp teeth, but there was nothing like that. Still, the emotions from the massive “thing” looked awfully fake as if it never used any friendly expression in its existence.
“I told you it’s copying us… Even using my name,” the same scientist muttered with absolute confidence, failing to keep his thoughts to himself.
“Could it be from the same place as the Demonologist’s source of power? He has horns like a typical demon,” the other immediately added, causing an expression of displeasure on the face of the group’s head. However, before the latter opened his mouth in an attempt to stop messing up the first communication with a dimensional creature, a loud explosion sounded from above. An instant later the trembling came, shaking all facility. There was a short pause before it resumed. This time it didn’t stop on a single act as more and more shockwaves came, bringing the primal scream of the hungry beast from above.
The whole group scattered immediately, running for their life and abandoning the result of their work for the past years. Even success with the Door was instantly forgotten as everyone knew the real danger of being stuck in the middle of the battle between superhumans. The deeply trained procedures of emergency retreat were there not without a reason. Borston was one of the last to react. Exhausted mind failed to compete with others, leaving him behind. Maybe this delay gave him the possibility to hear a loud sigh and the last words of the potential demon before the creature disappeared into the dust.
“I fucking hate my luck!”
The end of part 3