They felt the sensation of weightlessness, their bodies turning feather-light as though gravity itself no longer held sway. The real world seemed to drift away, left behind in their wake, replaced by a swirling vortex of light that enveloped them. A strange breeze whispered around them, though they were not truly in the open air.
Slowly, the vortex began to slow down, and they could see the walls of this tunnel starting to shift, leaving behind trails of light like fireflies dancing in all directions. Gradually, the tunnel transformed into a room with blue holographic walls, complete with tables, screens, and chairs emerging from the surface like fragments of a puzzle coming together into a coherent image.
But then, something strange began to happen to Mike's body. The light surrounding him started to flicker, and his form slowly turned into a hologram, like a shadow perpetually losing its glow. The light around him dimmed further, as if Mike's very essence was being erased bit by bit.
"Mike!" Erika cried out, her voice trembling with panic. Everyone called his name, but he continued to fade, growing fainter and fainter until he vanished completely.
Irvan turned to Mr. Pope with eyes full of questions. "Where did he go?" he asked, his expression a mixture of confusion and worry.
Mr. Pope merely shrugged, his smile calm, though his eyes hinted at something indecipherable. "I suppose… he's simply begun to play his part," he replied curtly, his voice laced with a cryptic tone that left the students in silence, exchanging puzzled glances with one another.
Meanwhile, Mike, now vanished from his friends' sight, felt himself hurled into a deeper, darker space. It was a realm that felt empty yet filled with boundless possibilities. Slowly, he began to see a glimmer of light in the distance.