Chapter Text
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.
From under the pile of blankets, a hand flopped at the nightstand in search of the offending machine to silence it’s screams. Upon finding it’s target, the hand slipped back into the fabric cocoon in which it’s owner was currently coming to terms with the truth that it was time to get up.
“Ugh.. Morning already? Wait.. Today’s the day!”
Leona was never a morning person, today was different though. She’d gotten promoted to a new position. A position she’d dreamed about for years. “Project Tester.” It was a position that carried considerable risk but the pay was good and, most importantly, it gave her the chance to travel the world. Something she’d never be able to do on her own.
Once the last vestiges of sleep had faded, she was out of bed in a flash. Shower, clothes, breakfast, and she was out the door. She’d be early but the sooner she got through orientation for the position, the sooner she could be on her first assignment.
She barely registered the walk to work. Her body seemed to be on autopilot as her mind wandered to all the places she imagined she might see. Tropical beaches, snow-capped mountains, deep pine forests. She felt as if she could almost smell the damp wood and moss from an early morning fog drifting quietly upwards. Before she knew it, she was there.
The building was rather unremarkable. Plain white walls broken up only by a single set of glass doors that were guarded by security day and night. The company was developing experimental new transportation technologies after all. It was only to be expected that they’d keep such groundbreaking tech under lock and key.
“Hey Dave,” She chirped in an almost singsong tone as she waved to the guard she actually knew. “Oh. Hey.. er.. Leona, right? Got that promotion I hear.” Dave shook his head with a quiet chuckle, “You’re a braver soul than I am.. I’d be terrified of being beamed into a village of cannibals or something.”
Leona chuckled and waved a dismissive hand, “You watch too many movies. Besides, the system already works. They’re just fine tuning now.”
With a shrug, Dave scanned her ID card and waved her through the doors, “Well good luck with your first assignment, girl!”
She waved at the receptionist at the front desk as she made her way to the elevator and swiped her freshly printed access card. With a light hiss, the doors parted, allowing her to step in and press her card to the reader inside.
“DING. Card Identified. Welcome to the team miss Svitani.”
She loved the elevators. They moved so smoothly and quietly you couldn’t even tell they moved. The doors seemed to merely close in one location and opened in another. This was no exception. A slight whoosh of the doors closing, a faint hum, and then a light hiss as they opened.
“DING. Testing floor, level 4.”
Stepping from the elevator, Leona found herself in a corridor lined with windows overlooking the main test floor. The machines were still rather large and bulky but once the system was perfected, the research and development team would start working on condensing it to a more manageable size for practical applications. She watched through the window, marveling at the work being done as everything was being prepared for testers who would be venturing out today.
The tingle of excitement started creeping up her spine again. She was ready. With a silent nod to herself, she hurried down the corridor to the locker room where she’d store all her personal belongings. The testing was still early enough that all testers had to be ready to rough it in the wilderness should they find themselves far from civilization. Each tester traveled in only their clothing with a receiver and the universal translator implant that had become commonplace among travel based companies for it’s ease in allowing for communication without the trouble of learning another language.
After securing her locker, Leona quickly headed to her designated chamber for briefing. The man waiting for her was probably in his 50s. She had talked to him before, briefly, when he brought paperwork to be filed at her old position. He seemed nice enough. Polite and stern but not stuffy about his job. He smiled and nodded to her as he gestured for her to take a seat.
“Good morning, Miss Svitani. Welcome to the team. I trust you are aware of the dangers inherent to this position. While we take every precaution to prevent accidents, there is always a chance, no matter how small, that things can go wrong. Before we continue, you will need to sign this waiver acknowledging you understand and accept the risks.”
A sheet of paper was removed from his clipboard and placed in front of Leona along with a pen. A slight twinge of doubt poked at her mind but she shook it off and signed the paper with a nod.
“I’ve read the terms. It’s worth the risk. Part of the reason I put myself on the waiting list for the position is the fact that I have no family. Should the worst happen, there’d be no real loss.”
The man frowned, stamping the paper and sliding it back onto his clipboard. He silently ushered her down another corridor to the lab containing the unit that would transport her. The technician was eager to greet her and started into the orientation before she even had a chance to sit down.
“Okay so.. Here’s your receiver. When the timer runs out the system will automatically pull you back. Always keep the receiver on you or you run the risk of being stranded. The system is currently set for approximately forty eight hours.” The tech quickly stuffed what looked almost like a tablet into Leona’s hands before continuing, “Oh and you probably already know this but for insurance purposes you need to use an alias in the field. Something about international travel laws that don’t really apply to this mode of transportation yet. You know. Being experimental and all.”
The technician rushed about, checking readings, making sure parameters were within acceptable ranges, and inputting information into the main terminal as he spoke. “Everything looks good here. Since this is your first assignment, the target range is only set to 200 miles. You’ll most likely experience some nausea upon landing. It’s nothing to worry about and usually subsides within about fifteen minutes. Any questions?”
Leona shook her head, giving him a thumbs up, “I don’t think so.”
The technician adjusted his glasses and smiled as he opened the hatch to the teleportation chamber, gesturing for her to step inside. “Very good then. Let’s get you on your way then.”
Leona stepped inside, watching as the thick, glass hatch was closed and latched. A loud buzz echoed as the technician’s voice came through on a small speaker built into the side of the inner wall of the chamber, “Just stand on the designated panel on the floor and hold still. You might want to close your eyes. I’m told the flash of light can be quite blinding.
Teleportation range test number tango, tango, five, three, four, four.
Initiating sequence now.
Teleportation in..
Three..
Two..
One..”
The machine started to hum as it powered up, the hum building into a squeal, then a blinding flash of light. She had a split second to second guess her life choices before everything went black.