Ego exchanged a perplexed glance with his friends, a knot forming in his stomach. The absence of any visual record of their experience only deepened the enigma surrounding their venture into the XXXX Zone.
The school had moved to a nearby console and initiated the playback of the footage. The screen flickered to life, displaying the familiar setting of the laboratory. They watched as their figures appeared on the screen, moving with purpose towards the portal leading to the XXXX Zone.
However, as the scene progressed, the footage abruptly halted, freezing on their forms. The visual feed dissolved into a blank screen, void of any imagery. The only audio that accompanied the empty screen was a cacophony of distant screams, haunting echoes of their terrified voices.