The TIG

"Behold, the Transdimensional Interstellar Gateway!" Reese exclaimed, sweeping her hands in an operatic gesture. "We like to call it the TIG."

"Cool," Mars murmured. "Great."

They were standing in the alleyway behind Mars's favorite coffee shop, the Grind Haus. Mars had already stepped on a rotten banana peel. She was pretty sure she could see two rats fucking in the corner of the alley, just past the swirling luminescent vortex.

Oh, yeah, and there was a hole in reality in the alleyway, too. It looked like a whirlpool in the air, glowing bright blue and purple and opening into a black void through which Mars could see twinkling stars.

It looked kinda cool. But the whole situation was stupid. Reese was explaining something or other about the TIG, but Mars was tuning her out, to be honest. She'd never been a huge sci-fi fan, and this shit was hard to follow. God, Reese was still talking.

The door to the back of the shop opened and a 90's grunge reject emerged carrying a bag of trash. He walked right past the TIG and stopped at the dumpster Mars and Reese were standing near. As he lifted the bag it ripped open, spilling trash all over the ground.

"Ah, shit," the guy said, as he knelt down and started sweeping the trash together with a paper plate. Mars and Reese watched him for a moment. He wasn't making much progress.

"Dude, can you not?" Mars finally asked, a little harsher than she'd intended. "We're in the middle of something."

"I'm at work, man," the guy said. "Gotta clean this shit up."

"Did you not notice the gaping hole in the fabric of time and space?" Reese asked, looking a little dismayed.

"Uh," the guy began, lingering on the utterance. "No? Don't know what you're talking about, man."

Mars pointed at the TIG. The guy turned around. He seemed mildly concerned. "Huh, guess I didn't see it." He sniffed. "Well, whatever." He looked down at the fruits of his labor. He'd been able to throw most of the trash, but a big pile of coffee grounds and used napkins were sitting in front of the dumpster. "That's probably good enough." Mars and Reese waited for him to leave. He did not. Instead he sparked up a joint and stared at the TIG.

Mars rolled her eyes. "Go back inside!" she suddenly exclaimed, making the employee nearly drop his joint. He caught it, took a big puff.

"Fine, dude," he said as he walked back to the employee entrance, puffing away.

"Jesus Christ," Mars muttered, rubbing her temple. "Reese, are we gonna go into the portal or not? I have shit to do today."

Reese raised an eyebrow. Her glasses were slipping down her nose. "Like what? You don't seem like someone who's busy a lot."

"Like... laundry?"

Reese snorted. "C'mon."

Mars rolled her eyes. "Fine. Let' just get it over with."

"Let's go!" Reese declared, stepping toward the TIG.