Teleportation gone wrong!

In an era of flying cars and huge skyscrapers towering over the city of neon lights, there was one laboratory in forgotten slums that sprawled under the shadows of the shining city. The laboratory is so worn down that it could use a makeover.

In this lab, I am working towards my goal, the machine that I spent everything I saved, my job, my life, and even the laboratory renovation funds I received from the government.

My idea feels unrealistic to normal people, and for me, it's a gamble too. But if I win, then everything in this world will be mine. And this time it will work! Then I will be super famous and rich! This will be the revolution of the decade, no, no Century!

“It's finally ready, my teleportation Machine Model number ‘Mark 35’- or 36 maybe?!” Toki was confused; his brain was melting with overwork. His mind was focused on his work for so long that he forgot everything else, it seems.

“Oi, take a break, or else you will die!” His friend Toma walks into his lab, with 2 brown paper food bags in his hands. “I have bought us lunch. Let’s eat together. And these are all the unpaid bills pasted on your door.” Toma shows Toki a bunch of paper bills, he picked from the lab’s door.

“Throw the bills somewhere in the room, anyway, I don’t have any money to pay them. And for lunch, yes, but first let me install this safety switch.” Toki insists to Toma and continues to work on his machine, shaped like a capsule with two seats, a transparent glass door that pops open vertically from the capsule’s metal hull.

“Let it be, there are only two of us, nothing will happen, hurry up! And I have written software for that, it will be perfect without a doubt!” Toma tries to pull him away from the machine, waving food bags.

Toki agrees and sits in front of him at the dining table.

“Look, what I have got today! Special instant chicken noodles!” With his cheerful aura, Toma even hypes up the instant noodles.

“You always have this positive point of view, always taking happiness in small things! You are the same as always!” Toki says in his tired tone, his eyes have developed dark circles around his black, lifeless eyes, he scratches his head through his messy curly black hair, but was still driven with a single motivation that he wanted to complete his machine.

“As long as it helps you, Toki, I am happy! We are childhood friends, it’s our duty to watch each other's backs! And if that machine works, I will be there to grab half of its glory!”

“But, for now, I am taking half of the fried chicken! He he!” Toma grabs one large piece of fried chicken from a bucket.

Both silently start eating their lunch, and after eating, Toki’s brain starts working on things other than his machine.

“Toma, what do you mean by that? ” Toki asks.

“What?” Toma replied with a poker face.

“That! That poker face! Don’t make up things! I wrote Software! You were just present there, blabbering about some random anime! I remember now!” Toki wagged his finger at Toma, screaming from the top of his lungs.

“What? It took you much longer this time to realise. And, I was there, right? That means I was part of your group!” Toma says with a wide grin on his face.

“It’s not our college project!” Toki exclaims.

“What? Don’t be so angry, I was just kidding! See, all gloomy mood of yours is gone now!” Toma laughs, still chewing food in his mouth.

“Don’t laugh while eating,” Toki calms down a little. “I can give you 5% of it as a token of keeping me alive,” Toki says as he walks out of the room.

“Just 5, ” Toma teased him.

“Take it or leave it! ” Toki exclaims.

“Anyway, I am going out to buy us juice. Can you screw this panel inside the machine till I come back? And lend me some money for juice too…” Toki extends one palm of his hand, asking for money from the Toma, and the other hand points at the panel.

“Yes, take this.” Toma gives money from his pocket to Toki and walks inside the capsule, picks a panel from the floor to attach to the machine. Toki walks out of the room.

Not even 20 in seconds.

“Let’s see, I think this panel will go here.” Toma tries to figure out the task at hand when he sees a mouse running around the machine.

“Huh? Where did the mouse come from? If he eats any wire, then Toki will blame me for the damage. Shuu! Shuu!” Toma tries to shoo the mouse away from the machine.

The frightened mouse jumps around and walks onto the external control panel, and some random buttons get pushed.

The machine starts to hum, “No! No! NO! How it started!” Then Toma remembers that he stopped Toki moments ago from installing the safety switch, and the regret of it was clear on his face.

“Whatever, first I need to get out of the capsule! That damn rat!” he tries to open the hatch, but it doesn’t budge.

“Shit! It’s stuck! Damn Toki, why did you use such high-grade lock and glass!” he shouts.

The machine starts to emit a bright white glow, and Toma gets completely blinded by the light. He covers his eyes. “Damn! I don’t want to die like this!”

Toma thinks, This machine is going to explode, I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!

Toma blindly kicks and punches around in the capsule, thinking maybe the hatch of the glass will break, or the lock will get unstuck, but his efforts were fruitless.

The room grows Brighter and brighter, so that nothing is visible, not even shadows; a ball of light engulfs everything.

Toma thinks, He is done, this is the end of his life. It was not great, I spent my youth years grinding in for grades, then grinded in a software firm day in and out. His social life was so scarce that, except for Toki, he never made any other friends, girlfriend was a myth for him.

“At least, I can now rest. Goodbye, world!” Toma mutters, accepts his fate, and leaves his death and life at the mercy of the universe.

In the next moment, Toma feels a breeze in his messy, silky black hair. He feels the soft green grass in the palm of his hands.

"Uhh! Did I die? Looks like I am in heaven! This is so peaceful!" He thinks, and spends some more moments enjoying the freshness of nature for the first time, that his whole life was spent in neon city lights, away from nature; this was a completely different experience for him. It was truly heaven for him, you can say in a way.

He slowly peels his eyes open, “Huh? I am alive!” and he feels awe at what he sees, his yellow eyes sparkle like gold. “Whaa-? What is this place?” He sees a castle in the middle of the city on the horizon, fortified by huge walls, surrounded by forest. And he is sitting on a hilltop, only with the clothes he was wearing, a Lemon color T-shirt, and black trousers, barefoot, and some metal coins in his purse.

This was the start of the Journey of a Toma in another world.