The swirling portal pulsed like a living thing, casting an eerie glow that danced across the walls of the lab. Maximilian Kron stood frozen, his breath shallow, as the impossible scene unfolded before him. The alien structures beyond the portal loomed like sentinels, their jagged forms carved from some ancient and unknowable material.
Dad was here, he thought, a realization as exhilarating as it was terrifying.
He clenched his fists, steadying himself. Years of questions—of quiet, gnawing doubt—had led to this moment. His father wasn't dead. Or at least, he hadn't simply disappeared. Whatever answers Viktor Kron had sought, they were through that portal.
The console emitted a sharp beep, snapping Max from his thoughts.
USER PRESENCE CONFIRMED. CROSSING ENABLED.
The words on the screen glowed with a cold precision, and the portal's surface seemed to shimmer in anticipation. Max hesitated, his instincts screaming at him to turn back. But something deeper—a need for closure, or maybe just his father's ghost—pushed him forward.
He grabbed a flashlight from the workbench and stuffed his father's journal into his jacket pocket. If this was a mistake, it was one he had to make.
The air grew heavy as he approached the portal, the swirling energy pulling at him like an unseen tide. He reached out a hand, hesitating for the briefest moment before touching the surface.
It was cold.
And then, everything shifted.
The world twisted around him, a nauseating blur of light and sound. Max clenched his teeth, his vision flickering between fragments of images—endless black voids, fleeting glimpses of glowing runes, and distant whispers that felt too close.
When the disorientation subsided, Max stumbled forward, his boots crunching on unfamiliar ground. He straightened, blinking rapidly as his surroundings came into focus.
The air was thick, tinged with a metallic taste. He stood in a vast expanse of rocky terrain, the sky above a swirling canvas of dark clouds shot through with streaks of green and purple light. Towering structures rose in the distance, their forms jagged and unnatural, as if grown rather than built.
Max turned, expecting to see the portal behind him—but there was nothing. Only the barren landscape stretched endlessly in all directions.
"Great," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Stranded in another dimension. Fantastic start."
The flashlight beam cut through the murky air, illuminating the ground ahead. Strange symbols were etched into the rocky surface, faintly glowing with the same green light that painted the sky. They seemed to pulse in response to his movement, as if guiding him.
Max followed the symbols, each step cautious. The oppressive silence was broken only by the distant hum of the alien structures. The further he walked, the more he felt a presence—a sense of being watched.
He stopped abruptly, shining the flashlight in every direction. The beam caught movement—a flicker in the shadows.
"Hello?" he called, his voice swallowed by the empty expanse.
No response. But the flicker came again, closer this time. Max's grip tightened on the flashlight, his heart pounding.
A figure emerged from the darkness. It was humanoid, but its form was wrong. The figure's skin was pale, almost translucent, with faintly glowing symbols etched into its flesh. Its eyes were featureless orbs of light, and it moved with an unnatural grace.
"Who are you?" Max demanded, taking a step back.
The figure tilted its head, its expression—or lack thereof—impossible to read. Then it spoke, its voice a low, resonant hum that echoed in Max's mind rather than his ears.
"You should not have come."
Max's blood ran cold. Before he could respond, the ground beneath him trembled. A deafening roar split the air, and the symbols on the ground flared brightly. The figure vanished into the shadows as cracks began to form in the rocky terrain.
Max turned, sprinting away from the widening fissures. The alien structures in the distance loomed closer, their glow intensifying as if responding to the chaos.
He had come here searching for answers.
Now, all he could do was survive.