The Gate Is Ready!

It was one day at the beginning of the weekly High Science Club meeting where Alexander and Pho both sat in wait. As of this point, they were the only other members of the club due to Terrance’s extremely strict criteria for entry. The two had their history of not liking each other, with Pho seeming just as turned off by Alexander’s do-good be-good personality as Alexander was turned off by Pho’s more devious and manipulative one. It was the first time they sat in a room alone together and for the most part, they tolerated each other. Terrance came running into the room to interrupt the complicit silence as he shouted “It’s working! It’s working! It’s actually working, I can’t believe it!”

Alexander couldn’t help but be intrigued. It wasn’t common to see Terrance be so riled up about something that he was at a loss for words. Pho wasn’t nearly as intrigued but figured this was just another perfect opportunity to be the devious flirt he was, especially with knowing how susceptible Terrance was to his charm. He stood up and slyly walked his way over to Terrance and cooed in his ear. “What’s working, hun?” he asked in his feminine, seductive voice. “Calm down and tell us what’s going on.”

Alexander wrinkled his nose at Pho. It was always difficult to watch whenever he acted all lovey-dovey and personable with Terrance, despite not actually being his boyfriend, er, girlfriend. It just made him want to wretch as he knew Pho wasn’t serious and it was messing with Terrance every time he did it. Terrance simply mooned over Pho every time he was talked to like that, so Alexander never intervened since he seemed to enjoy the manipulation. For him, it was an interaction.

“The gate has picked up a frequency! A strong one too!” said Terrance. “Everyone said it wasn’t going to work but it’s working beautifully now!”

Pho blinked. Gate? He didn’t know of any gate. Alexander knew what Terrance was talking about. It was a large round device that Terrance kept on the school grounds that most people assumed was some kind of giant science fiction art piece or an ornament. What he didn't realize was that the thing was actually functional. Pho didn’t seem to think it was. He always believed Terrance was just off his rocker and disregarded all of the claims to his intellect. Pho was of the mindset that IQ doesn't equal intelligence, and just because Terrance could remember a couple of academic books to pass on a test didn’t mean he was any smarter than anyone else.

Terrance calmed himself down as he caught his breath. “If I respond to the frequency… maybe I’ll be able to connect…” he muttered loudly to himself. “Yes, I could… I could connect the realms with this setup. But would it put our own realm in peril? Mm, that is the question.”

Alexander and Pho both looked at each other. They may have had their differences, but they were on the same page about one thing: Terrance was nearly impossible to take seriously. Alexander couldn’t comprehend the logistics of something as wild and fictionalized sounding as ‘connecting to another realm’. It sounded like Terrance was living some kind of real-life fantasy. Pho was beside himself. He had to encourage Terrance to go through with whatever it was he was planning. It sounded too good not to do. He didn’t see what there was to lose to watch a potential mad scientist go insane when his project doesn’t work out. “You should definitely connect them,” Pho said with a sultry smile leaning into Terrance. “Do it for me.”

“Yes...I-I will babe!" shouted Terrance with a embarrassed albeit excited look on his face.

Alexander sighed as Terrance forgot that Pho wasn't a girl just like he did with Alexander from time to time. It was difficult to tell without knowing him as well as Alexander knew him. Terrance leaped up and ran out of the room, beckoning for them to come to the gate with him. Alexander followed with Pho to the closet-sized room where the ‘gate’ was kept. They watched as Terrance activated the gate and it started up making sounds and clicking in a way that made Alexander incredibly nervous. He was convinced this thing was basically a prop and nothing more, but now hearing it actually operate made him unsure. Pho seemed to think the same as he stared in bewilderment as the gate started to do all kinds of strange and unusual things with lights and sounds.

“I think we should stop now, Terrance,” warned Alexander. The noises were getting so loud he had to yell to be heard. “This doesn’t seem safe. Those noises sound like the thing is going to explode!”

“Oh, Alex, don’t be such a baby,” laughed Pho. “We’re making history right here, right hun!?”

Terrance looked at both of them with a concerned look on his face. “Uhm, well, I don’t think I can stop it now,” he said as he watched the machine start to vibrate and shake.

“Huh?” Alexander and Pho both replied, barely able to hear Terrance as he was a low talker an the noises were drowning out everything else. Terrance didn’t even have time to finish before all three of them were enveloped in a white light emitting from the ring of the gate. It was so bright and overpowering, Alexander felt nauseous as he collapsed to the floor along with Terrance and Pho.

When Alexander woke, the light was gone. He sat up slowly and looked himself over. He found himself relatively unharmed aside from his usual blouse and long skirt which were torn to shreds. He looked over to see the same happened to Pho’s. “Well, that is an improvement from that slut ware you usually have,” he laughed.

“I could say the same to that gaudy thing you wore,” said Pho as he rubbed his head and sat up curiously. Terrance was the last to wake up as his clothes were completely intact. He looked around to get his bearings on the situation and his eyes landed on Pho’s and Alexander's largely exposed bodies. He flushed and gasped as he found it impossible to just look away. Alexander covered himself while Pho looked at him and smiled. “Seems like you went through a lot of trouble just to try and get our clothes off,” he said.

Terrance bumbled in his response. “I, uh, no! I mean…” he stuttered.

“It makes me wonder what you would do just to sleep with me,” said Pho with a smirk.

“N-none of this was my doing though!” explained Terrance. “Something happened! It was the gate, something about that white light… did you two see the white light?”

Terrance had asked only for Pho and Alexander to shake their head no. “Just the white light and we fell asleep,” said Alexander.

Terrance looked back over at the gate and curiously approached it to investigate the tiny computer panel connected to the main hub of the machine. The screen flickered with a warning message on it. Terrance looked at it for several seconds and breathed out. “Something came through,” he said. “And if I’m going to be honest with you, I think it will be safe to assume it is nothing friendly.”

“What do you mean something came through?” asked Alexander. He blinked with a sudden realization. “Do you think it did this to us!?”

Pho shook his head and shivered. “No way is that possible,” he said. “This is just not real right now. It can’t be.”

Alexander looked at the screen, unable to interpret the symbols it used as it flickered. “Is there a way you can tell just what it was that came through?” he asked.

Terrance looked at the screen for a long time, quiet and dumbfounded. He breathed out and looked at Alexander first, then Pho, then back to Alexander. He twiddled his thumbs nervously as he knew all of this was his fault. “It was an uh... Accidental miscalculation,” he stated as he averted the question to look back at the gate and stare into its ominous and vacant maw.