"Here," Gomez said, "You'll need to wear these clothes and luckily your
hair is about the right length. You'll also have to wear contacts. We got
your latest prescription from about 3 months ago. Hopefully that will be
strong enough since you won't be able to wear glasses, especially not
those." She motioned to the thick plastic frame. "Ms. Winston. You'll need
this." She tossed a wig to Margot.
"Do I have to wear it?" Margot asked meekly
"Not unless you want to cut your hair and go as a guy," Evelyn said before Gomez had a chance to. They had been in countless meetings and training sessions for the past few hours and Evelyn was glad that they were finally going, despite her uneasiness about it. Gomez was about to change into her costume, but Evelyn stopped her. "Where in Middle-Earth are we going to end up? That affects how we need to dress you know."
"We're not exactly sure where in Middle-Earth the machines end up. The one person who might be able to tell us is hooked up to a respirator, and what we did get out of him was hard to get."
"Great. Just great."
"I think it's kind of neat," Margot said, surprising both Evelyn and Gomez. She hadn't talked all morning since Evelyn had confronted her. "Excitement. Adventure."
"The possibility of getting killed," she said under her breath, but not unnoticed.
"You took on this mission and you're afraid of dying?" Gomez said unbelievingly.
"I'm not afraid of dying. I'm afraid of not keeping my promises." No one had the guts to shake Evelyn out of her daze by asking her what she meant, so they all started to get ready.
Evelyn had saved the worst for last, the contacts. She had gotten some for work since it was sometimes easier, but she still didn't like them or wear them often. She wore them so rarely that all of her friends on the crew made a point of teasing her when she did wear them, which only added to the reasons for wearing them less. Now for the worst part, putting them in. She hated wearing them, but she hated putting them in and taking them out more.
"Okay. I can do this," she said in front of one of the mirrors in the small locker room.
"Worried about the trip?" Gomez asked.
"No, rather about putting my contacts in." Gomez had no response to that other than a shake of her head and a small laugh.
"It's a rather simple process really," Gordon said. "You'll be shrunken down to the subatomic level and transported through the quantum foam and into this world. Although technically speaking it would be the parallel universe self that will be doing this, but if that self is killed it call back the machines and you're dead, so try not to think of it that way." Evelyn understood what he was saying completely. Unfortunately the same could not be said about Margot.
The next part he said more to Evelyn. "We need you to find three of our men who we believe are still alive there and bring them back. They were sent with a machine to help track data in the quantum foam and maybe see why we are getting sent back to Middle-Earth. We need the machine, but unfortunately the only people who know where it is are those three. You'll have exactly 36 hours back there before the machines automatically return and you'll be stuck there."
"Alright, Alright," Doniger said impatiently. "Are the machines ready yet?"
"Doniger just have patience. We don't want anything to go wrong, do we?"
"Fine," he said abruptly.
"You'll have to be extra careful back there. You'll have Gomez and de Kere as your guides, but still be cautious. Ms. Combe, we're relying on you. Be careful." With that said, Gordon and Doniger went through the door that would lead to the observatory room.
The entire room that they were left in was covered in water shields, thick glass tanks filled to the brim with water. De Kere and Gomez gave them instructions on where and how to put in the small ceramic into the machine. Normally the ceramics would sent you to the destination in which they were programmed, and they helped to set order into the company.
There were three ceramics made, or so it is said, for destinations at a site of mass destruction. One was programmed for Pompeii at the time of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Another was set for Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped, and a last one was programmed for Chernobyl when the nuclear power plant exploded. If you caused problems you could be sent to one of these locations on your next trip since ceramics were hard to tell apart from one another. No one knew if this was a myth or truth, but no one wanted to find out. Now it was a bit more relaxed and tense. If the machines weren't fixed the company would fail, but if they were there were fixed there was the danger of upsetting the boss and getting sent to one of the locations.
All of the scientists watched anxiously, and that included Evelyn. She watched as the doors closed around her automatically. A recorded voice came on, "Stand still-eyes open-deep breath-hold it.Now!" A circular rim descended quickly from the top of the machine to the bottom. There was a click and then bright flashes of light. The machines across the room seemed to be getting larger and farther away from her. The rubber floor had a pattern of circles, which soon rose above her like tall black plateaus with steep cliffs. All the while there was blinding flashes of light, and then there was nothing but darkness.
"Do I have to wear it?" Margot asked meekly
"Not unless you want to cut your hair and go as a guy," Evelyn said before Gomez had a chance to. They had been in countless meetings and training sessions for the past few hours and Evelyn was glad that they were finally going, despite her uneasiness about it. Gomez was about to change into her costume, but Evelyn stopped her. "Where in Middle-Earth are we going to end up? That affects how we need to dress you know."
"We're not exactly sure where in Middle-Earth the machines end up. The one person who might be able to tell us is hooked up to a respirator, and what we did get out of him was hard to get."
"Great. Just great."
"I think it's kind of neat," Margot said, surprising both Evelyn and Gomez. She hadn't talked all morning since Evelyn had confronted her. "Excitement. Adventure."
"The possibility of getting killed," she said under her breath, but not unnoticed.
"You took on this mission and you're afraid of dying?" Gomez said unbelievingly.
"I'm not afraid of dying. I'm afraid of not keeping my promises." No one had the guts to shake Evelyn out of her daze by asking her what she meant, so they all started to get ready.
Evelyn had saved the worst for last, the contacts. She had gotten some for work since it was sometimes easier, but she still didn't like them or wear them often. She wore them so rarely that all of her friends on the crew made a point of teasing her when she did wear them, which only added to the reasons for wearing them less. Now for the worst part, putting them in. She hated wearing them, but she hated putting them in and taking them out more.
"Okay. I can do this," she said in front of one of the mirrors in the small locker room.
"Worried about the trip?" Gomez asked.
"No, rather about putting my contacts in." Gomez had no response to that other than a shake of her head and a small laugh.
"It's a rather simple process really," Gordon said. "You'll be shrunken down to the subatomic level and transported through the quantum foam and into this world. Although technically speaking it would be the parallel universe self that will be doing this, but if that self is killed it call back the machines and you're dead, so try not to think of it that way." Evelyn understood what he was saying completely. Unfortunately the same could not be said about Margot.
The next part he said more to Evelyn. "We need you to find three of our men who we believe are still alive there and bring them back. They were sent with a machine to help track data in the quantum foam and maybe see why we are getting sent back to Middle-Earth. We need the machine, but unfortunately the only people who know where it is are those three. You'll have exactly 36 hours back there before the machines automatically return and you'll be stuck there."
"Alright, Alright," Doniger said impatiently. "Are the machines ready yet?"
"Doniger just have patience. We don't want anything to go wrong, do we?"
"Fine," he said abruptly.
"You'll have to be extra careful back there. You'll have Gomez and de Kere as your guides, but still be cautious. Ms. Combe, we're relying on you. Be careful." With that said, Gordon and Doniger went through the door that would lead to the observatory room.
The entire room that they were left in was covered in water shields, thick glass tanks filled to the brim with water. De Kere and Gomez gave them instructions on where and how to put in the small ceramic into the machine. Normally the ceramics would sent you to the destination in which they were programmed, and they helped to set order into the company.
There were three ceramics made, or so it is said, for destinations at a site of mass destruction. One was programmed for Pompeii at the time of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Another was set for Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped, and a last one was programmed for Chernobyl when the nuclear power plant exploded. If you caused problems you could be sent to one of these locations on your next trip since ceramics were hard to tell apart from one another. No one knew if this was a myth or truth, but no one wanted to find out. Now it was a bit more relaxed and tense. If the machines weren't fixed the company would fail, but if they were there were fixed there was the danger of upsetting the boss and getting sent to one of the locations.
All of the scientists watched anxiously, and that included Evelyn. She watched as the doors closed around her automatically. A recorded voice came on, "Stand still-eyes open-deep breath-hold it.Now!" A circular rim descended quickly from the top of the machine to the bottom. There was a click and then bright flashes of light. The machines across the room seemed to be getting larger and farther away from her. The rubber floor had a pattern of circles, which soon rose above her like tall black plateaus with steep cliffs. All the while there was blinding flashes of light, and then there was nothing but darkness.