Prologue

The man in the white coat accompanied the three to the end of the corridor. There, a security guard, way too armed to be just a normal security guard, blocked the entrance to a room.

“Good afternoon Jerry” said the man, handing over his ID card.

“Good afternoon to you, Dr. Robinson. I imagine that they are…”

“Exactly” the doctor interrupted him “the prodigies, as you called them”

“I think the word you were looking for was rats”

“Talk about a warm welcome…” whispered the girl on the left.

“Shut up, Lucia!” quietly answered the guy in the middle, stepping on her foot “It’s nothing short of a miracle that they are letting someone visit their labs after the Red Moon happened and I will not lose my once in a lifetime chance just because they’re not kind enough for you!”

“Did you say something?” said the guard, interrupting his talk with the doctor. He had been watching every single one of their movements since the moment they arrived, expecting suspicious behavior.

“Oh, I suggest not to lose your time on them” quickly responded the guy on the right, preventing the girl from uttering some more insults “Gabriel and Lucia have been bickering nonstop since they met four days ago. I was honestly surprised they could stay quiet until now”

“That better be it” replied the guard, noticing how the student was fidgeting with a bracelet on his right arm.

*Is he using it as some kind of anti stress?* the doubt growing in his mind *Could he be hiding something…? No, I’m probably overthinking it. It’s obvious that he would be stressed in such a situation, especially if his companions are bickering. Also, we run multiple background checks on all of them. They’re clean, they’re just young*

“Now” continued the guard “hand me your documents as you pass through the metal detector”

“They already searched us, like, five times! And there are metal detectors before every single door. How am I even supposed to have something on me at this point?” silently protested Lucia.

“Lucia. Silence.” whispered Gabriel, pushing her toward the metal detector.

“…Moreau and Lucia Martinez. Yes, it all checks out, you’re free to go”

“Perfect, follow me” said the scientist, as the automatic door opened.

Inside, the walls of the small room couldn’t be seen, covered as they were with servers, wires, screens and some whiteboards. Talking about the wires, not tripping on them was an hard task, as they covered a good portion of the floor too, looking just like snakes. All the whiteboards were filled with notes and numbers, but they were nowhere near enough to contain the genius of such a magnificent invention, so the calculations had to be continued on the white floor and on the some parts of the ceiling, those you could reach standing on the computers. But the reason such a room existed in the first place was in the middle of it, and it was breathtaking.

“So this really is…” said Lucia, her hands covering her mouth, barely believing her eyes.

“I didn’t think it would actually be possible. But it is. They created it” added Gabriel, trying his hardest to rationalize what he was seeing.

The third student remained silent, like he was paralyzed in shock, or deep in thoughts about the implications of such an invention. The only visible clue of his emotions was his fidgeting with his bracelet.

“I’m glad to see you all so thrilled about this” said Dr. Robinson, coming closer to the machine “but, honestly, it would be absurd if you weren’t. This is the prototype I told you about this morning, while we were in the briefing room. This invention will revolutionize the world of transportations, and consequently all the others. Some could even call it a new step for human evolution. But I’m talking too much, so let’s just get to the point. Students, behold: the Teleport!”

In the middle of the room stood two empty cylindrical structures, similar in shape and size to two elevator cabins, but without doors, connected only by a plethora of wires and with an infinite amount of electronic circuits and chips welded on them.

The three remained silent, unable to articulate their thoughts, almost as if they wanted to listen every sound produced by the machine in order to understand it. Almost as if they expected that it would talk to them.

After a handful of seconds, which seemed like an eternity to them, Gabriel was eventually able to utter “How does it work?”, not caring if he could be making a bad impression anymore.

“Unfortunately” answered the doctor “I cannot tell you that. Those are reserved information. Just the simple fact that you know about its existence and that you could see it’s a great exception. The real prize to your efforts, in a way. But, if, after the end of the visit to the lab, you were to decide to send your applications, then, once hired as part of the research team, you would have to know how it operates in order to perfect it. I mean, as you know, the whole point of this event and of the tour is to convince you to join the lab”

“Then, can we at least see it in function?” asked the third guy, coming back from his trance.

“That can be done. Even if it’s still in developing, the results we’re getting lately are very promising. The only downside is that it only works on living beings. We are still incapable of teleporting inanimate matter”

“Why? Shouldn’t it be easier to teleport small objects than a complex life form?” replied Lucia, visibly confused by this information.

“That’s a great question, however, as I said before, I cannot tell you anything more than that” kindly answered the scientist.

“I have another question” said Gabriel, leaving his state of awe and remembering to be extremely polite and professional, in case Dr. Robinson was taking notes on their behavior to report to HR for when they would have sent their applications “Has it been tested on humans?”

“Multiple times, actually” responded the doctor “And they were all great successes. The last one who tested it was one of the lead researches of the project, Dr. Reeves”

“So, would it be fine for one of us to try it?” said the third guy, fidgeting with his bracelet.

“Wait, wait, wait: WHAT?!?” replied Lucia, shocked by the suggestion.

“Are you out of your mind!? There is no way they would let THAT happen! Normal people can’t even know that such a thing exist and YOU believe to have the right to try it?!” added Sam, terrified that such a lack of education and respect could have consequences on the whole group.

“Well, in reality” said the doctor, deep in thought “there is nothing you could learn about the mechanisms of the Teleport by physically using it and the machine hasn’t been modified since Dr. Reeves tested it three days ago, so it’s theoretically safe. Furthermore, the papers you signed guarantee us no responsibility even if something DID happen and…”

*We signed what?* Lucia didn’t exactly remember that part of the fine print, but no one on Earth had time to read all those pages. That was what she thought, at least. Now she was starting to regret that decision.

“…so, adding that to the equation, no, there shouldn’t be a problem” concluded the scientist.

“Huh?” murmured Gabriel, feeling way too many emotions at once to pick just one.

“Then” continued the third student “I’d like to go first, if that is okay with you two, obviously”

Lucia and Gabriel, however, were too astonished by the absurdity of the whole situation to be able to speak.

“First of all” explained Dr. Robinson “I have to ask you to undress. Completely. We can’t teleport clothes”

While the guy did that, Jane couldn’t help but cover her eyes. *Don’t those three have any sense of shame?” she wondered.

“Good. Now, enter the left capsule”

The boy got inside of the machine and exchanged a gaze with Gabriel, unclear to both of them who was more excited. Lucia was watching too, not having time to be ashamed if that meant losing the chance to see the Teleport at work.

“Okay” continued the doctor “Before I activate the machine, listen carefully: close your eyes during the scanning process and, whatever you do, DO NOT exit the capsule after it has begun. Everything clear?”

“Yes” replied the third guy, fidgeting with his bracelet.

Without another word, Dr. Robinson pressed a button and the Teleport activated. A green light illuminated the capsule, scanning the boy’s body from top to button.

“Almost there…” whispered the doctor.

“Wait, Steven, you still have your bracelet on!” said Lucia, abruptly.

“Oh, right” he noticed, removing it from it wrist and giving it to her, extending his hand outside of the capsule.

“WAIT, NOOO!!!!” screamed the doctor.

But it was too late.

In a green flash, Steven’s body was incinerated before they’re very eyes, leaving behind only a handful of dust. His left hand, however, still holding the bracelet in his grip, dropped severed to the ground.

And in another flash, his same body, having both hands, fell lifeless outside of the other capsule.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”

As the guard entered the room, only Lucia and Gabriel’s screams could be heard.