Babble - Beyond Dimensions

Interlude 1: The one where they worry

Standing in front of a from police cut off area stood a lone woman with a microphone in her hands. She was middle aged and well dressed and she spoke about the gigantic black portal that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, swallowing the back half of a bus and causing the disappearance of ten people of different ages.

She spoke about how scientists frantically tried to figure out what this portal was, where it came from, where it led to and why it appeared.
The camera’s viewpoint swung to where an armada of flowers and cards laid in front of the forbidden zone. It lingered on the wishes for the people’s safe return.

Then the view cut back to the studio where they announced the running expert’s theories about the portal’s appearance and the ten people’s disappearance.

And the wall sized TV went black.
“That’s it” a blonde young man with clear sky-blue eyes announced, stopping his pacing through the ridiculously huge room to theatrically wave the TV’s remote in front of the two young women’s faces that were seated on the very comfortable and expensive looking couch.

The slightly older of the two women, a pretty redhead, wearing a simple jeans and T-Shirt with a horse’s head printed on it, frowned: “What do you mean?”

“I’m going in” the man elaborated.
The younger woman, a dark blonde with strikingly green eyes, wearing a short but pretty fancy dress, frowned at that: “Uh…You did hear that they just said don’t touch, don’t even get close to it?”

“I don’t care” the man said, frustrated balling his fists. “This is my little sibling we’re talking about here. I’ll be damned to hell and back if I leave them alone to die out there.”

“But not by risking your life!” the redhead exclaimed, jumping up from the couch and rushing to the man. “You cannot risk your life, not for this. We don’t even know for sure if they’re really lost inside the portal. Maybe they simply lost their phone and…”
“It’s been over a day since they went missing, Malin” the man whispered, his eyes softening. “I just…cannot lose them.”

“Me too, they’re like family to me, too. But you are my fiancé and I cannot bear the thought of losing you. Please, reconsider” Malin now practically begged.

When his face stayed stoic, the other woman quickly jumped in: “Okay, breath. Both of you. Let’s not do anything rash. We should have a little trust in them. They’re incredibly resourceful and clever after all.”

“You don’t know that, Zelda” spat the man at that. The now as Zelda identified younger woman glared and stemmed her hands in her hips: “But I know them. I have been friends with them after all ever since we were in our pampers. If anyone can get out of that mess on their own it is them.”
The man said nothing. Instead, he stormed off, probably to pack his bags for this suicide mission.

Both women exchanged glances.
Then Malin said: “I’ll get the chair, you get the ropes.”

…

“You can’t do this! You can’t hold me here against my will, that is illegal according to Paragraph…” screamed the man, who was now - thanks to the team tagging of both Zelda and Malin – chained to a chair in Zelda’s fancy living room.

Malin, who sat next to him on another chair reading a newspaper, looked up, utterly unimpressed: “Actually, yes I can, dear. If you might remember I’ve studied law as much as you did and if you’re about to commit suicide I am allowed to do anything in my power to stop you.”

“Well, you shouldn’t! That’s the life of my little sibling you’re playing with” he bit out as an answer.

Zelda, who sat in front of her ridiculously huge TV with a gaming console in her hands, didn’t even look up: “You don’t know that! They could be fine! Have some faith!”

“I have faith that they’re not coming back on their own! They might as well have been abducted by aliens! And then we’ll never see them again!” the man argued angered.

“Okay, let’s strike a deal. If they’re not back within the next week, you can go get them. We’ll even help you become a criminal and to cross over” Malin offered, voice placating, hating when she fought with her fiancé.

“I’ve never heard of anyone surviving a week without food and water” he answered at that.

The videogame paused on the picture of a green clad youth slaying monsters as Zelda carefully put her controller down.

“Then how about three days?” she then spoke, coming closer. “The average human can survive without food or water three days under normal conditions. Give them at least that leap of faith.”

The man caught her eyes, his own hard, before he finally sighed and looked away: “Okay, fine. That’ll make it 46 hours left for them to give us a life sign until I go in, deal. And now get me the duck out of this chair.”