The room they were taken to looked like a sterile white boardroom. It had a white oval table with fourteen white chairs surrounding it. At one end sat seven men and women wearing lab coats. It was apparent that Alex and his teammates were supposed to sit on the other side.

They fanned out, and everyone took a seat as far away from the scientists as they could get. Alex sat at the “head” of the table with Bree on his right and Nick on his left. Urie sat next to Nick and Trin next to Bree. They sat at the same time as if this was a coordinated military exercise. A few of the men in lab coats raised their eyebrows in surprise.

No one spoke.

Finally, The man at the far end of the table who sat opposite of Alex stood up. “Thank you for meeting us. My name is Dr. Mitch Smith. Please call me Mitch.”

Alex and the others nodded in acknowledgment but still didn't talk. They had all agreed that the less they said, the more of a chance they had of getting out of here at the end of the “meeting.”

Dr. Smith smiled wanly at the reception his words received but continued to talk. He waved his hand, and the wall behind him projected a scroll of parchment. “The thing you see behind me was a missive we were sent from...”

The doctor cleared his throat and took a breath before continuing, “another dimension.”

Alex found himself blinking and looking at his group. They all had equally blank looks of surprise. Another dimension?!

Dr. Smith continued, “I know what you're thinking, but this is no hoax. There are other versions of our world superimposed upon each other. Worlds that are so similar yet dissimilar. Others that are so far beyond your imagination that it would astound you.” As he spoke, the parchment faded out to be replaced by countless copies of Earth, all slightly different in appearance than the others.

The man was really warming up to the topic now, “This is the first time our theories about multiple dimensions has had any concrete evidence, though. It's a breakthrough that all scientists have celebrated. Communication with another world.” He smiled brightly.

Silence was his response. Finally, Alex spoke, “But what does this breakthrough have to do with us? We're just Esports players.”

Dr. Smith looked at Alex as if he was a star student, “Because they asked for you. They want their first physical contact with our world to be team Eclipse.”

“What?!” The team called out in shock together.

This was bad. This was very bad. There was no way they were all getting out of this. Alex gripped the side of the table in panic, as his mind frantically looked for a way out.

All the people in lab coats nodded their heads earnestly. Dr. Smith waved his hand again, a document with strange lettering replaced the picture of different worlds. A woman in a lab coat stood up.

“I'm Dr. Mai Anders. I'm the leading linguist in the world. It took many months to properly deconstruct their language, which seems to be written in an archaic form similar to, but not exactly like, futhark, the written language of early Germanic peoples including the Norse Vikings.” She smiled, a giddy light entering her eyes. “It's truly amazing. I could go on and on about this,” She glanced at Dr. Smith, who raised his eyebrow, and she cleared her throat, “but I should simply get to the main point.” She walked to the wall and touched a part of the script, highlighting it.

“This part of the missive describes our virtual contest. It says the winners of the contest will be the ones who will be compatible with the transference device. It also says that they will be the only ones who can keep...” She trailed off for a moment as if she'd talked herself into a corner and didn't know where to go from there. Then Dr. Anders huffed out a laugh, “They will be the only ones who can keep up with the differences of their world.”

Alex looked at Bree. He wasn't the only one who caught the doctors' tension when Dr. Anders paused in her speech. It was obvious they weren't telling the team everything. But what could they do? These people were from the science branch of the damned government.

“You spoke of a transference device? Exactly what are you asking us to do?” Nick spoke into the momentary silence. His hands gripped his knees, the nails digging in.

Urie and Alex both noticed at the same time and reached out to grip the man's hands. Nick latched onto them with trembling fingers. Without a doubt, Alex had to find a way out for the man. Even if it meant sacrificing himself.

Another lab coat stood, “I'm Dr. Bellmont Von Strauss.” He nodded his head at team Eclipse. “The missive included blueprints for a transference device that can... well, to put it in layman's terms, it can move five people from this dimension to another particular dimension. The only issue with this device is that it is keyed to five specific individuals. No one else will be able to use it.” He looked at the five teammates. “In this case, those individuals are you.”

Alex felt the blood drain from his face. This was even worse than he thought.

As they sat, stricken looks on their faces, Dr. Smith stood up again. “This isn't without compensation. And the term is only five years. Each of you will be given compensation before you leave, of fifty million credits each.”

Fifty million credits would keep a pod of twenty people fed, clothed, sheltered for around ten years. It was an astronomical sum to be dropped on each of them. Alex didn't trust the five-year term that the doctor had stated. But that money left them all reeling.

Bree was the first to speak. “I'll do it, but only if you allow Nick to bow out. He has a baby on the way, and their family is too small to survive without him.”

“Same,” Urie and Trin said together.

As expected of his family. Alex smiled painfully, as a few of the unnamed doctors sputtered and protested.

Alex stood up, and all eyes fell on him. “I agree with my team. Four of us will go. Nick will be allowed to go back to his family. If you agree, we will do our best as goodwill ambassadors. But, if you force Nick to come with us,” His eyes narrowed, and many of the scientists gulped and looked afraid, “then we will become anti-ambassadors. We will carve such a bad name for the people of this dimension, that the beings over there will want to annihilate us all.”