The Portal: Solomon Islands

The Lost Language

Dr. Alice Kere, Dr. Ben Talo, and Dr. Lucy Nara were the most brilliant scientists in Solomon Islands. They worked at the National Institute of Multiverse Research (NIMR) in Honiara, where they had developed a device that could open portals to alternate realities. They called it the Reality Shifter, or RS for short.

The RS was a large metal ring that emitted a blue light when activated. It could scan the quantum signatures of different realities and create a stable wormhole to one of them. The scientists could then enter the portal and explore the other world for a limited time before returning to their own.

The RS was a revolutionary invention that had the potential to change the world. It could reveal the secrets of the multiverse, the infinite possibilities of existence, and the consequences of choices and events. It could also provide valuable resources, knowledge, and insights that could benefit humanity.

However, the RS was also a dangerous device that had to be used with caution. It could expose the scientists to unknown risks, such as hostile environments, deadly creatures, or unfriendly inhabitants. It could also create paradoxes, anomalies, or disturbances that could affect the stability of the multiverse. Therefore, the RS was kept under strict security and supervision, and only authorized personnel could access it.

Dr. Kere, Dr. Talo, and Dr. Nara were the only ones who had the clearance and the expertise to operate the RS. They had been working on it for years, and had made dozens of successful trips to various realities. They had seen worlds where dinosaurs still roamed, where magic was real, where aliens had invaded, and where history had taken a different turn. They had documented their findings and shared them with the NIMR and the government, who had funded their project.

But they had also kept some secrets. They had discovered realities that were too amazing, too bizarre, or too dangerous to reveal. They had also developed a personal curiosity and a sense of adventure that drove them to explore more and more realities. They had become addicted to the thrill of the RS, and had started to use it for their own purposes.

They had created a secret code that they used to communicate with each other. They had also modified the RS to bypass the security protocols and the quantum scanners. They had made a pact to never tell anyone about their unauthorized trips, and to always cover their tracks. They had become the reality shifters, and they loved it.

One day, they decided to try something new. They wanted to visit a reality where their own language and culture had never existed. They wanted to see how the world would be different without them.

They chose a reality where the Central Solomon languages, a group of languages spoken by about 120,000 people in the central and southern parts of Solomon Islands, had never developed. They wanted to see how this would affect the history, the society, and the identity of their people.

They entered the code for this reality into the RS, and activated it. A blue portal opened in front of them, and they stepped through it.

They found themselves in a forest, near a river. They looked around and saw that the landscape was similar to their own, but the vegetation and the wildlife were different. They saw plants and animals that they had never seen before, or that had gone extinct in their world. They also noticed that the air was cleaner and fresher, and that the sky was clearer and brighter.

They walked along the river, until they reached a village. They saw that the people there looked like them, but they wore different clothes and had different ornaments. They also spoke a different language, one that they could not understand. They realized that it was a variant of the Oceanic languages, a large family of languages spoken by millions of people across the Pacific islands.

They approached the village, and tried to greet the people. They used their own language, Central Solomon, but they also tried English, Pidgin, and other languages that they knew. However, the people did not respond, or responded with hostility. They looked at them with suspicion, fear, or anger. They realized that they were not welcome there, and that they had to leave.

They retreated to the forest, and tried to find their portal. They hoped that it was still there, and that they could return to their own reality. They wondered why the people had reacted so negatively to them, and what had happened to their language and culture in this world.

They soon found out. They stumbled upon a monument, a large stone slab with writing on it. They recognized the writing as English, but they could not read it. They used their smartphone, which they had brought with them, to scan the text and translate it. They were shocked by what they read.

The monument was a memorial, a tribute to the victims of a genocide. It told the story of how, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a colonial power had invaded and occupied Solomon Islands, and had tried to eradicate the native population. It said that the colonizers had used brutal methods, such as massacres, enslavement, disease, and assimilation, to kill or displace the indigenous people. It said that the Central Solomon languages, along with many other languages and cultures, had been wiped out, and that only a few survivors had managed to escape or resist. It said that the monument was a reminder of the atrocities that had been committed, and a vow to never let them happen again.

The scientists were horrified by what they read. They felt a surge of sadness, anger, and guilt. They realized that they had come to a reality where their ancestors had been murdered, and their heritage had been destroyed. They realized that they had come to a reality where they did not belong, and where they did not exist.

They looked at each other, and saw the same expression of horror and regret on their faces. They knew that they had made a terrible mistake, and that they had to go back. They ran to the portal, and jumped through it.

They returned to their own reality, and deactivated the RS. They breathed a sigh of relief, and hugged each other. They were glad that they had made it back, and that they were safe. They were also glad that they had their own reality, where their language and culture were alive and thriving.

They decided to never speak of what they had seen, and to never visit that reality again. They also decided to stop using the RS for their own amusement, and to only use it for official and ethical purposes. They realized that the RS was not a toy, but a tool. They realized that the multiverse was not a playground, but a responsibility.

They realized that they were not the reality shifters, but the reality seekers. And they vowed to seek the truth, and to respect the diversity, of the multiverse.