Chapter 4
It had been one week since the scientists had said they could repair the timeline device to get Pam back. Eric had forbidden Ralph from going back to the quantum generator building. All the scientists were afraid of Ralph, knowing how he could be when he got angry, and his presence would have made them unable to concentrate on their work fully.
Ralph stayed in his room at the Hero facility or walked around the grounds, mumbling. Everyone at the Hero facility was afraid to approach him, knowing how angry he could get if anything happened to his wife. Ralph was so preoccupied with worrying about Pam that he didn't notice that other Heroes were avoiding him. Eric and Dr. Clayborn were the only two who would walk with him and make sure he was eating.
Ralph was sitting in a chair by the pool, rubbing his hands together and staring at the water, when Eric walked up and said, "They are ready to give it a try."
Ralph jumped up and super ran to the quantum generator building. A flashing red light above the new heavy-duty door and a sign that said DO NOT ENTER WHEN LIGHT IS FLASHING. Ralph entered anyway. Eric was right behind him. Ralph and Eric walked over to the group of scientists, all wearing their red super suits.
Arnold Burns stood, walked over to Ralph, and explained, "We have all the equipment calibrated, and the quantum generator has fully charged the timeline generator. The computers have been programmed to open the transverse portal at the same timeline location point Pam disappeared into. When the portal opens, you have ten seconds to pass through the portal, and then the power will be drained, and the portal will close. You will be on the other side. It will take one week to reverse the polarity, recalibrate, and recharge the generators. Then we will open the portal again, and you and Pam can return. If you do not come through, it will take another week to recalibrate and recharge to try again. We will continue to do this every week for one month. If you don't come back by then, we will assume that something catastrophic has happened and you cannot get back. When the portal is open, you can also send a telepathic message and let us know what is going on so we can make other plans. Do you understand everything you have been told?"
Ralph nodded and said, "Yes, I'm ready."
Arnold said, "Okay, go and stand ten feet in front of the two transverse portal columns. We will start the process. When you see the portal open, you can start to walk toward the portal. At some point, it will pull you through."
Ralph walked around the control panels and stood ten feet in front of the center of the columns. The power was switched on, and the walls began to vibrate in the building. Bluish-white sparks shot out of the toroids at the top of the columns. The blue sparks got more intense, the noise got louder, and the electrical flares extended, meeting in the middle, creating one sizeable sparkling rod from one toroid to another. The smell of ozone filled the air. Smaller sparks came off other areas of the toroids. A thin slit of light appeared between the two columns. The slit got more expansive in the middle, and images began to appear and finally came into complete focus from the other side. Ralph could see the other side. He started walking toward the transverse portal and could feel it pulling on him. He felt strange and could feel his body stretching toward the portal. Everything looked distorted and bulbous. He now had no control over moving forward and was being pulled. To the scientists, it looked like he was stretched to a two-dimensional flat version of himself and pulled in pieces through the portal.
At some point, he must have come through to the other side because he could feel himself stretching away from the portal, and finally, a snap, and he popped back into three dimensions and fell to the floor. His head hit the concrete floor when he landed and blacked out.
Several MIB agents immediately surrounded Ralph, all pointing weapons of various types at his unconscious body on the floor. The portal closed and disappeared with a loud crackle.