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]

"Pokémon are really strong."

[intricate_engineer]

"But physically, it shouldn't be possible. She shouldn't be able to move enough air without larger wings."

[the_very_best]

"...what about airplanes?"

[intricate_engineer]

"They have engines."

[the_very_best]

"And she can flap really hard. I don't really know physics though."

[intricate_engineer]

Glen shrugs.
"I'm not an expert on aerodynamics. It just seems a little unlikely, but then again, so is teleportation."

[the_very_best]

"Which you will probably get to see at least one Abra do today."

[intricate_engineer]

"Looking forward to it! Maybe we can compare methods."

[the_very_best]

"You can teleport?"

[intricate_engineer]

"Not now, but there is a variation on the portal technology that moves you directly without opening a door."

[the_very_best]

"Ooh, cool."

[intricate_engineer]

"There's no reason it couldn't eventually work here, but it'd be tough to set up by myself."

[the_very_best]

"Tough how specifically?"

[intricate_engineer]

"Without an anchor on each end, you need some pretty sophisticated computers."

[the_very_best]

"I bet Bar can get you some of those."

[intricate_engineer]

"Maybe. I don't know if she can replicate the simulations though."

[the_very_best]

"Maybe not, worth asking though."

[intricate_engineer]

"It would still take a lot of work. Maybe several months? I don't know how different the computers are here, but it would be a lot faster if I could hire someone to help."

[the_very_best]

"We have computers, I don't know how sophisticated they are on an interdimensional scale."

[intricate_engineer]

"Teleportation is significantly more risky than opening a portal. Sometimes, there are fatalities, usually exposure or starvation. It doesn't happen often, but the destination isn't as reliable and you can end up somewhere you won't survive."

[the_very_best]

"Yikes."

[intricate_engineer]

"It's part of how I ended up here. I wasn't teleporting exactly. I created a portal without an anchor at the other end and landed somewhere unexpected."

[the_very_best]

"Why'd you do that?"

[intricate_engineer]

"It's the only way to find new worlds."

[the_very_best]

"Can't you send some kind of... probe, first?"