Progress back in Caelum was lightning fast, with the first efforts to open a 5D portal beginning within a few weeks of our arrival back in that dimension. The Earth Space Union floated the idea of Sofia and I heading through the human-made portal on their own, once it began to look like a manned flight would be a reality soon. Including Mikri, if only to placate the Vascar, was a no-brainer; even General Takahashi knew he'd be more trouble if we left him behind. From there, it was a matter of waiting for the green light.

ESU scientists fed a crude cable through our new portal to keep it open; we needed something permanently in the transdimensional space to prevent it from collapsing. This could be a permanent gateway, so long as we kept the negative energy flowing! I'd waited with impatience, while they sent tethered drones through to test out the physics (which weren't too different to Caelum, as it turned out). I supposed that was smarter than making Mikri adapt on the go, but I was itching to explore. I remembered our misadventures in Caelum with such fondness, that I longed for new ones.

I need to give Mikri shit about how he told me not to build a raft and escape; did he think I was gonna magically home in on the Bunker of Knowledge and hug a piece of plywood all the way there? That would've been pretty impressive on my part.

I sprinted down the hallway toward the launch deck, with Mikri riding in a wheelchair despite the fact he could walk in Caelum. The robot was holding onto Hirri, who was chirping for me to go faster. Ah, how could this place not feel like home? The Asscar tripped over his own feet while rounding a corner, desperately trying to reach the group for safety. I slowed my pace down significantly, so that he could pretend to have a chance. I cleared my throat, giving the tin can his cue.

Mikri made his eyes flash between red and blue coloration, making whirs that sounded like a siren. "Pull over! Illegal possession of cardigans and a mane."

"I want a lawyer!" Capal shouted.

"And I want to confiscate your mane! Do not make this difficult, creator."

"Literally why?! I gave you the synthetic fur for your new mane."

"Die!" Hirri cheered.

I arched my eyebrows in surprise, before shrugging. "It sounds like use of deadly force is authorized, Mikri. Initiate the vehicular manslaughter routine."

Mikri gripped the wheelchair's armrests, leaning forward. "It is always active, Messton. Requesting liftoff."

"What the hell are you doing?" Sofia gawked at us, approaching with a look of consternation. She'd been scrolling through her phone by the launch tube, but the commotion had awakened the fun police. We didn't have much time. "Leave Capal alone. We're about to launch in two minutes—"

"Fly. Be free!" I got a running start, and pushed Mikri toward Capal with all of my might.

"No. Stop!"

Sofia had been running at Caelum speeds to intercept us, and she dove toward the accelerating wheelchair with outstretched arms. The scientist pulled back on the handles with desperation, stopping the law enforcement android in his tracks; Mikri whined with discontent, taking a claw swipe in Capal's general direction. The Asscar nerd seemed smug, dancing behind Fifi with flamboyant moves. He was not a coordinated individual.

"Preston! What are you doing?!" Sofia shouted at me. "You could've killed Mikri, pushing him at human speeds and setting him up to crash."

I curled my nose. "Nonsense. He walked off getting catapulted into a tree a football field away. He likes it."

"That was fun," Mikri agreed. "I have discerned the purpose of the wheel, and why it is an early human invention. It exists to run people over."

"Who's a smart droid? You are, cupcake, you are!"

"Ugh. We have to go," Sofia sighed.

Hirri squawked with dismay. "No! You don't have to leave, Preston, do you? I want to chase Mom!"

"Absolutely not. You're done!" Jetti objected, snatching her son away. "What are you teaching Hirri?!"

"Isn't it obvious? How to be a social deviant is the lesson." Representative Redge slithered over, his forked tongue flitting out. "They're just playing, Jetti. It's their last moment to destress before they foray into the next dimension."

"Since when are you on their side? We've been allies for decades upon decades!"

"We're all on their side, remember? That's why the Girret have opted to show up in person for this final milestone. It's quite an impressive feat, to get…all of the species in this building to work together. Humanity deserves acknowledgment for that."

"We just want to see everyone in this universe get along. It's nothing to acknowledge," Sofia said politely.

Redge's eyes gleamed with shrewdness. "I admire that you allow others to stand on the backs of your strength, lifting us all up with you. I believe it's time for you to get going, but I wish you safe travels. This next step holds an abundance of possibilities."

"Too many possibilities to calculate." Mikri stood from his wheelchair, and I followed the tin can the hundred or so steps over to the launch tube. The Vascar turned as we reached the ship. "To all who have supported the humans' endeavors, I appreciate you. Goodbye, friends."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Capal waved a paw at us in response. "Goodbye. You'll have to tell me all about it; storm gods, I'm so jealous!"

I smirked, knowing that to be a true statement. Capal would kill to be in our shoes, but sadly, as far as we knew, it would scramble his wires nice and good. I went through the pre-flight checklist and fitted on my headset, despite the fact that we'd get disconnected from Mission Control quite early into the mission. Negative energy interference made the cable a no-go, or something. Sofia and Mikri strapped in their harnesses, with the android taking the copilot's chair this time around. There was no way to guess what the next dimension held, but I was ready to find out. Reality was so much bigger than we'd known just a few years ago!

Who knows how many universes are out there? Maybe the Elusians haven't even mapped them all! I hope that once we zip through that portal, that'll be the deciding factor that gets their attention.

The teleportation coordinates were preloaded into the field generator, and with sign off from the flight deck, we fired our engines to depart the station. I clicked the switch to trigger the negative energy emitters along the hull, so we wouldn't get crimped like a soda can. Right on time, the vessel hit the warp boundary the ESU set up. It spit us out right by the location of our new interdimensional portal, called The Tunnel. What was it with humans and one-word, mundane names for this shit?

I rested my hand on the forward throttle, giving a quick look back to Mikri and Sofia. The nerves danced around my stomach, though they were nothing compared to that first journey through The Gap. I slowed us down to a gentle drift, as we prepared to enter transit; we were going to find out very soon if what we had built worked. The drones came back alright, but they weren't biological. For all we knew, the organic passengers of this ship would go mental, because the Elusians had made some special portal. I wish I didn't have that thought right now.

"Putting a lot of faith in human ingenuity right now," I exhaled. "We have to be right about this. We have to show them."

Sofia's lips curved downward. "Sometimes, fathers aren't proud of their children, no matter how much they've earned that love. This might not move the needle as far as impressing the Elusians. I understand why you want to, and I'm sorry."

"You are not their Servitors, Preston," Mikri beeped. "You do not have to show them anything."

My facial features hardened. "I know, but I want to. They need to at least…see us. Acknowledge us. I made Pops acknowledge me, so bringing the grays around—easy. I can handle their tests. We've come so far. I won't just see them discard our entire species!"

"With or without them, we found our way. I don't need their validation," Sofia responded. "I'm here to see what humanity can discover, for ourselves and the people we love. That's what matters."

"Hmph. Reasons aside, both of us agree that we'll never stop. So what do you say we pop on over to the other side and see what's over there?"

"I'd say I was born ready. Let's go."

I happily complied with that request, a fiery determination smoldering within my chest. Our vessel cleared the threshold into the head-hurting space, though I was ready for the sensory overload this time; I'd crossed The Gap enough times to know what to expect. It wasn't something you could ever get used to, but not having crazy acceleration compounding it helped a bunch. I wasn't likely to lose my lunch without the "zipping out of control" part.

We eased into The Tunnel gently, as my brain tried to latch onto any scenery that made sense. Simple words like up and down didn't apply here. There were fractals of infinities—lights that shined through your retina and out the back of your skull but were never there at all. I breathed much easier once we crested out the other side, unscathed. The tether had held through transit, so the ESU could pull us out if anything went wrong.

While our signals would be scrambled, we'd found a way to communicate that everything was golden. I gave it two tugs by reeling our side in slightly with the hydraulic crank, then shot a grinning thumbs up at Mikri. We'd been dropped off in the middle of nowhere, and couldn't see anything more than our investigatory drones. The stars in the night sky looked no different than in every universe, and we had to pick one to head toward first for our initial survey.

We also brought some equipment to test human capabilities over here and report back. We'll find a planet with a breathable atmosphere, hopefully, and be able to see which universe we're stronger in. Perhaps there'll be idiosyncrasies here.

"Mikri, any stars that stand out for you as good candidates to start our search?" I asked the android.

The Vascar's fluffy head snapped toward me, a concerned look on his face. "We are not alone, Preston."

"Yes, we are. How gullible do you think I am? That's not funny, Mikri; even I know there's a time and a place for pranks."

"I am not joking. I can sense microscopic disturbances. Staggering quantities, entering the ship—that is not good. Preston, go back to Caelum now!"

Shit. He sounds kinda serious. I blinked in confusion, but changed gears to try to back the ship up. "Okay, calm down. I'm making a strategic retreat, alright? Just talk to me."

"Microscopic disturbances?" Sofia echoed. "Like when the Elusians sent their 'Do not seek us' messenger?"

My eyes widened in realization, and my grin returned. "We passed their test! They're seeking us! I knew it—hello there."

Mikri whirred with insistence. "The nanobots are assaulting key systems. They are not taking actions consistent with a reciprocity of friendly intentions. Please, listen! Turn back."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going. Mostly because all of Caelum needs to hear this."

I pulled the lever to backpedal, but before I could reverse our ship into the portal, the engine shut down. The Elusians had rendered our ship dead in the water and its controls nonresponsive. My nonplussed demeanor faltered, as I couldn't find a way to spin that as an encouraging sign. Mikri wore a look of utter dismay. For all of the android's hacking prowess, they were inside of the systems. We were powerless and at their mercy, whatever they wanted.

I stole furtive glances at the ceiling, waiting for what they might have to say to us. "Okay, I'm listening. If you wanted some alone time with me, you could've just asked. What is it that you do want?"

"I can see you've noticed our portal. I hope you're impressed with our engineering," Sofia managed, suddenly more concerned with having the Elusians' validation. "You inspired us. Do you have something to say about it: some guidance perhaps?"

A voice crackled over the speakers, as our creators had tapped into our PA system with ease. "This is unacceptable. You've gone too far, and cannot be allowed to continue along this path. We will no longer permit humanity's existence outside of Sol."

"The fuck does that mean?" I hissed, pangs of terror lodging themselves in my chest.

"Your expansion is being shut down. We are putting you all back."

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