Wormhole

Feeling an odd sense of familiarity, Adam felt up the engraved patterns and frowned. He struggled to remember where he had seen such symbols, but the specifics eluded him.

The jolly, but easily terrified twin looked around and stuck closely to her sister. She said, almost in a whisper, "I think we've seen enough. Maybe we should just leave?"

Adam was about to respond when the familiar, automated artificial intelligence voice resounded throughout the vast lab.

"Target verified. Project Capsule will be set in motion in 10 seconds."

"Initiating Wormhole sequence."

At the same time, the seemingly dead machines whirred to life and bright lights flickered on, coating the lab in a blinding colour.

"What the hell…" Adam frowned slightly and spun around, eyes falling on the two girls. "Did you do something?"

"No. Let's leave!"

At that moment, before either of them could take a step forward, a piercing, staccato sound bombarded their senses, stunning and dealing immense pain to their very psyche.

"Ah!" All three yelled out in pain, clutching the side of their heads.

Then, the huge "ring" before Adam suddenly lit up, emitting a low buzzing sound. The sound intensified rapidly, immediately followed by a low grunt. Gears shifted and the steel pipes embedded in the huge ring began to crackle with electricity.

The automated voice announced, "Wormhole sequence is nearing completion."

Ah… Adam grimaced and covered his ears, trying desperately to block out the damaging noise. It felt as though his brain was being dragged across broken shards of glass, wanting him to dig his fingers into his ear holes and rip out the drums.

A few feet from where he stood, both girls had passed out, unable to handle the noise reminiscent of a banshee's shriek.

"Wormhole sequence, completed." The voice announced after a full minute.

Then, the space in front of the enormous ring suddenly caved in with a sharp crack. It felt as though the air was frozen, before being struck with a heavy hammer.

Adam's ears had begun to bleed. His head felt light as he staggered backwards. As he struggled to stand straight, his eyes naturally fell on the unfolding phenomena before him. A fracture had occurred in space, birthing a pulsing vortex that gleamed with a darkish red colour.

Then, with a whoosh, everything began to float towards the vortex.

"Oh, fuck.." Was Adam's last words before completely blacking out.

The magnetising vortex expanded and swallowed all three humans whole. Then, it collapsed in on itself and vanished into nothingness.

The various objects that were floating fell with loud clangs.

Everything returned to normal– almost as though Adam and the girls hadn't been here in the first place.

…

In a strange land of vast plains of tall, green grass. An aged figure draped in a brown robe walked along the tiny path in between the grass. Behind him, various sheep followed obediently.

His old, wrinkled face bore a slight frown as he tried to understand the revelation that had just been bestowed upon him.

The elderly man sighed and set his gaze on the small tent ahead. He was a tall man, with a rather profound look. He had long, white hair and appeared dignified, despite his wrinkles.

In his right hand was a wooden staff that bore strange text and a curved tip.

As he neared the end of the path, he suddenly felt an odd sensation. His sheep also began to bleat repeatedly, as though sensing a disturbance in the world's flow.

Then, the air tore apart and a gap appeared right before the elderly man. The gap grew into a reddish vortex and it spat out three figures, before vanishing completely.

The disturbance in the air reverted to normal immediately.

"Hmm," The elderly man took a step forward as he observed the three figures.

"So soon, my Lord?" He muttered and shut his eyes for a quick prayer. Then, he pointed his staff towards the three figures–children in odd attire–and magically raised them from the dirt.

He entered the tent and carefully placed all three of them on a wool mattress. Afterward, he left the tent, giving them time to rest.

…

From an undulating incorporeal sea, it emerged. With the combined features of unfathomable creatures, it laid waste to everything in its path and devoured entire civilizations.

The scene shattered.

Another replaced it.

An elderly man with grey, almost white hair, lay sprawled on the battlefield with a gaping wound in his chest. With his dying breath, he reached for a small capsule and screamed in agony.

The scene shattered again, and another quickly replaced it.

It was the scene of a young boy, playing in his room, when suddenly, a lady walked in with tears streaming down her face. The boy froze, and the words he heard next broke him.

…

Adam slowly opened his eyes and felt the watery substance flowing down his frame. He wiped his eyes, wondering why he had been crying. He seemed to have been dreaming about something, but he failed to remember.

Suddenly, Adam winced in pain. His head ached terribly, making him feel as though there was a steel pipe stabbed into his temples.

With a slight grunt, he raised his upper body and looked around in a daze. He observed the unfamiliar surroundings and fear coupled with confusion, washed over him.

The only thing that kept him relatively calm was the presence of the two girls from earlier. They were both next to him, seemingly unconscious.

"Wake up," Adam tapped them continuously, after checking their pulse and confirming that they were still alive.

The gloomy twin rose first. She frowned and looked around, showing the same reaction as Adam.

"Where are we?" She asked in a whisper, smart enough to keep her voice low and not yell unnecessarily.

"I'm not sure," Adam shook his head and shuffled to his feet. He said, "Wake your sister. Something is not right."

He could tell they were in some sort of tent. But from what he could see around, these weren't items used in New Earth. Furthermore, he recognized a few objects that he had previously seen in recordings of Old Earth.

What the hell was going on?

He observed the moonlight softly seeping in through a hole in the tent and tapped on his wristband.

"Begin Recording." He said, and the wristband beeped once.

By now, the other twin had woken up. Adam turned to look at the two of them and said, "I don't think we're in New Earth."

"What?" The outgoing twin was shaken to her core, whilst the gloomy one nodded agreeably.

The girl racked her brain, searching her memories for the last thing she remembered.

"Right, that painful sound." Merely thinking about it made her body shudder.

Adam crouched and neared the hole in the tent. He cautiously peeped, trying to gather as much information as he could, before making any attempts to leave the tent.

Outside, he saw a lone tree in a sandy area. Beyond the sandy area was nothing but tall grass.

Leaning on the tree was a figure in an attire that Adam wasn't familiar with.

This definitely isn't New Earth…. He sucked in cold air as a feeling of uneasiness took over him.