I showed up a few minutes early to Professor Moreau's lab. There was a large, rounded chamber in the center of the room. The professor was elbows deep in a panel on the side, turning a few screws little by little. "Oh, good morning Alex. I hope you're ready for this… Hey, can you give me a hand over here-" He gave me a tuning wrench. "-Need to get this dial set right." "Sure" I replied, "But can you tell me more about what to expect this morning?" The professor went inside the chamber, but I could still hear his voice clearly. "Well, see... That's the thing- A little to the left. Despite years of trying to research what could be existing in an alternate reality- Too far, about a sixteenth turn back. Despite years of trying... We just don't really know anything. Ah, perfect, thank you." I handed the professor back the wrench when he stepped out. "Any audio or visual feed we get back are only from this exact location, and it just shows a near barren snowscape. The snow is too soft for any rovers to go and the glare makes it difficult to see all that far, so we've decided going there ourselves is the best way to find out. Well, kind of. We won't actually be going there, as much as peering through a window." Some students had started to arrive. "You'll see soon enough. What time is it?"

"It's about six fifty-five, sir." Said one of the students who had just shown up. More were coming through the doors. "Then it's about time to begin! Now, everyone inside!" A side panel into the chamber was pushed open. The dozen or so students hurried into the space inside, each finding a place to sit. Professor Moreau sat in front of a console. All sorts of lights blinked or stayed solid, indicating all sorts of different pieces of information. In the center of the chamber sat the core components of the Homeric Drive, situated to have the portal generated in the center of the donut-like space. 

"Who can tell me what Einstein's theory of relativity tells us?" The question broke the silence. All the students were busy taking in the dark and somewhat mysterious interior of this contraption. I raised my hand. "That all matter is energy?" "Correct! So, let me explain a bit more how this drive works. It vibrates local space at the background resonance frequency. Normally, this would be such a high frequency, it'd be nearly impossible to achieve, but this crystal you see in the center has such a special and intricate molecular lattice, that it vibrates at higher and higher frequencies as more energy is put into it, and not a thermal vibration, though it does get quite hot! Anyway, the crystal will cause the air around it to vibrate as well, and when the proper frequency is achieved and maintained, a small pocket of superimposed reality will form as the crystal breaks down the barriers of reality from the resonance." He paused as he started to fiddle with the meters and gauges in front of him. "Any questions?" There was silence. "Then, I believe it is time to begin!" Punctuating his final statement, the professor flipped a switch, and the device in the center of the chamber we were in hummed to life.

A few moments later the pressure in the chamber started to increase. It seemed to be spinning, with a constantly increasing force pushing me back against the wall. I felt a concentrated pressure in my head, and as the humming got louder and louder, it felt like my head was going to crack. The pressure grew so intense it was nearly unbearable. My vision started to blur and everything seemed to compress to a single line. My head was going to burst at any moment. One of the other students passed out from the ordeal. The sensation kept growing and growing, until an inaudible 'pop' and everything seemed to work in reverse. With the pressure, my vision decompressed and unblurred, the intense pressure was lifted, and I could breathe again. The center of the chamber was gone, and in its place were white-capped mountains as far as the eye could see. The device itself was the anchor point to this other place. It was beautiful. Light snow fell, ensuring a pristine, fresh blanket enveloped the mountain stones. 

The student who had passed out during the transition started to come to. He reached for the railing he thought was still there and slipped outside of the chamber, falling nearly fifteen meters. Fortunately, the snow was soft enough to break his fall, and though he was still groggy, he seemed to be mostly unharmed. "We'll find a way to get him, don't worry!" The professor's voice broke through the hushed murmurs. "I should be able to maneuver us further down, and we can recover him that way." Professor Moreau worked a few dials, and the ground started moving towards us. We all watched the student as he struggled to find stable footing. "Look! There's movement in the snow!" Someone suddenly cried out. We all saw it then, surrounding the fallen scholar. Small piles were starting to form like something was trying to claw its way out of the snow. The mounds burst open, and six roundish ape-like creatures emerged from the snow. They were covered in white fur and had long digits on both their hands and feet which they used to stay above the snow. They started for the student, who was starting to panic. As the first one closed in, we all looked in frozen anticipation. The creature slashed at the student, and streaks of crimson stained the snow. He screamed as another reached him. None of us knew what to expect by coming here, but it wasn't this. Those creatures all tore at the poor student, ripping his body apart. The anticipation we had turned to dread. Some of us looked away. Some of us couldn't. His agonized screams continued for what seemed like an eternity. When they finally stopped, there was nothing left. The creatures had taken everything. All that was left was the scarlet stain with scraps of cloth in the snow.

"I… I think that's enough for today…" The Professor's somber voice pierced the brooding silence, and I couldn't agree more.