"Test #84208. Beginning in T-13 seconds."
[A scientist, stared up at the ceiling, leaning back in their chair. Their face was covered in a mix of exhaustion and despair.]
[Another person walks into the room, holding a clipboard. They stop right beside the desk, mentally taking note of the caution tape placed directly on the floor in front of them.]
S2: "Are you sure this will work?"
S1: "Of course not."
[The scientist sat upright and put their arms on the desk in front of them.]
[About 10 meters across from the desk were 2 small boxes, each a couple of feet apart. They were both comprised of tempered glass, and had a few tiny holes to allow any organism placed inside the ability to breathe.]
[Another assistant walks in, holding a small, grey, tabby cat. The assistant promptly places the cat inside the leftmost box and closes the door.]
S1: "Make sure the door is locked tight. I don't want blood spewing everywhere like last time."
[The assistant ensures the door is locked tightly and leaves the room.]
S1: "Test commencing in T-3."
"T-2"
"T-1"
"T-0"
[The scientist pulls a lever. For a split second, nothing happens, but the second after produces blue sparks, forming out of thin air in the center of the left glass box.]
[The grey cat inside stares at these sparks, utterly terrified. It begins to claw desperately at the glass box, hyperventilating, trying to get as much air in its lungs as possible.]
[Suddenly, the sparks form into a large, pitch black circle with a light blue ring forming along the edge of the circle similar to a razor blade.]
[It was a portal.]
[The sparks of lightning grew stronger and became more and more frequent as energy radiated out of the portal. Slowly, the cat was pulled in closer and closer to the origin point of the portal until it was completely engulfed by its seemingly endless void.]
[The scientists watched, in awe.]
[After a slight delay, a similar portal opened up out of thin air from inside the other box. After a tense moment of silence, for what felt like an hour, the cat was spat out through the portal and was inside the other box, seemingly unscathed.]
[All the hairs of the cat were standing straight up in shock and the cat itself was frozen in time with a blank, wide-eyed stare painted on its face.]
S1: "It.. worked."
S2: "It worked."
[The second scientist slowly walked over the caution tape, opened up the right box, and brought out the cat. They examined the cat and found no trace of harm or injury. It was perfectly intact.]
S2: "Nothing. No scars, no bruises, no cuts. Nothing."
S1: "Finally. After 2 years. We've done it."
S1: "We've figured out a way to safely teleport objects from one place to another."
S1: "This will revolutionize society as we-"
[Before the statement could be finished, a portal appeared behind them. It was the exact shape and color as the portals that were used in the experiment mere minutes earlier.]
"STOP!" [A voice could be heard coming from the portal.]
[A tall figure stepped through the portal. It was... the scientist.. except taller.. and they had a prosthetic right arm.]
S1: "Wh- Who are you?!"
"I am.."
AS1: "You.. From an alternate universe."
AS1: "Listen, you have to shut this entire thing down."
S1: "That portal you walked through.. its the same one that I used in my experiment."
AS1: "Yes, but-"
S1: "That means my experiment worked then."
AS1: "No-"
S1: "It did revolutionize technology."
[Just then, the entire building began to shake. It felt like an earthquake had suddenly hit.]
[The initial blue ring of the portals had turned crimson red. Lightning sparks were emitted out of each portal at a rapid rate.]
AS1: "That."
AS1: "That shaking."
AS1: "The portals caused that. You need to turn this off."
S1: "Okay. Okay. Okay."
[The scientist reached for the lever, hoping to pull it down and cut the power, but.. the lever wouldn't budge.]
S1: "Its.. not.. moving!"
[Just then, the portals grew smaller and smaller until they disappeared.]
[The moment after, 2 black spheres took their place.]
[Black holes.]
AS1: We're too late...
[The black holes grew at a rapid pace. Engulfing everything nearby and becoming larger as a result.]
[The force was so strong that it began to suck the color out of everything within its grasp.]
[The cat, unfortunately, was closest to the black hole and was sucked in almost immediately. The scientist holding the cat was taken soon after.]
[Moments later, the hole grew to the size of the building that had contained it. Not long after, it grew to the size of the city.]
[It could be seen from miles away, and it continued stripping the color from anything close enough to see it. People fled in a panic, yet, no matter how fast they ran, it was never fast enough.]
[The earth was soon engulfed.]
[Then the solar system.]
[Then the galaxy.]
[Until there was nothing.]
[Nothing at all.]
[The cat slowly opened its eyes.]
[They had survived...]
[...barely.]
[They had already been subjected to the forces generated by the portal, so they were the only thing that could survive.]
[They did not survive unscathed, however. The forces from being sucked into the black hole had resulted in the cat's arms being torn off forcefully.]
[They were still alive though, alive in an endless void of darkness.]
[Hours passed.]
[Days.]
[Weeks.]
[Years.]
[Nothing.]
[Nothing but floating in an endless void.]
Soon...