Searching Far and Wide

[intricate_engineer]

Glen was creating a prototype for a new gate design. It was meant to be affordable and provide quick transport between individual homes. She tests several objects and a rat and everything seems to be working.

She steps through. Instead of finding herself in the room next door, she finds herself standing on a sidewalk in an empty city. The buildings are tall and perfect, colorless with doorways far too tall for any human. The roads have no straight lines and twist in on themselves. There is no life or sound.
Glen tries to stay calm. She begins to walk along the road, randomly opening doors and exploring buildings that are as silent as the rest of the world.

She opens a door that she hopes will lead onto a roof and is instead met with warmth, and soft noise, and color.

Comments

[the_very_best]

"Sure."

And Bella goes and holds the door.

[intricate_engineer]

Glen gets a trolley, and lugs one of portals outside the door. She rolls a marble through, then runs upstairs.
She comes back holding the marble and grinning.

[the_very_best]

"Next test should probably be if it works while the door's closed, just in case that affects something."

[intricate_engineer]

"Close it and I'll put it through upstairs."

[the_very_best]

Bella steps back into Milliways.

[intricate_engineer]

Glen runs back up the stairs, and then back down.
"Alright! Let's see if it worked."

[the_very_best]

And Bella opens the door again. (People are looking curiously at the gate from across the street but don't seem all that interested.)

[intricate_engineer]

The marble lays on the ground outside.
"Yes! Now usually I would test a worm, and then a rat, but I don't have any on hand and I doubt the Bar sells life."

[the_very_best]

I do not, Bar confirms.

"And you can't hold the door for me to go buy a potted plant and if I hold the door you won't speak the language," Bella says. "If you test on animals because it's too dangerous for people I don't really wanna send a 'mon."

[intricate_engineer]

"Actually, I've been using the same rat for years. I'm starting to get attached."

[the_very_best]

"It's really really safe?"

[intricate_engineer]

"Yep. This same technology is used on thousands of worlds, it's just not usually assembled by hand. We always test, just to be safe, but there aren't any biology specific bugs that we've found."

[the_very_best]

"I guess I can send a 'mon through then..."

[intricate_engineer]

"Or I can stick a hand through. I have more reason to trust it than you."

[the_very_best]

"If you feel all right about doing that, yeah."

[intricate_engineer]

"Sure."
Glen goes outside, sticks her hand through, and pulls it out intact.
"Seems to work."

[the_very_best]

"Cool, now I don't have to worry about getting doors!"

[intricate_engineer]

"I know! I can actually explore instead of hearing everything second hand."

[the_very_best]

"We are going to have to figure out where to put the gate, we can't just leave it in the street."

[intricate_engineer]

"Could we rent a storage space?"

[the_very_best]

"I can't afford one long term, you could go change some currency with Bar?"

[intricate_engineer]

"Sure. How expensive are they? Do people not need long term storage?"

[the_very_best]

"Storage units exist and we can totally get one but I have a tight operating budget. I guess I can turn over my life plan from legend-hunting to Milliways-based research and accordingly spend more time picking up paying work, but legendary-hunting very much isn't paying work."

[intricate_engineer]

"I'm happy to pay, just wanted to make sure it wasn't a disproportionate expense."

[the_very_best]

"I don't think they're astronomical but I have not actually priced one."