The Threshold

“They didn't die. They were transported.”

Lance stared at Isis. "Transported to where?"

“Fucked if I know,” Isis muttered, crossing her arms and leaning back against the cold metal wall.

Lance turned to Opal, their lead scientist and resident physicist, for answers. “Is that even possible?”

Opal hesitated, her hand instinctively reaching up to push a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “A traversable wormhole might be able to do something like that,” she said cautiously. “But you'd need exotic matter to stabilize its throat. And as far as we know, that's still just a mathematical concept, not something we’ve ever physically encountered.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Could they have access to some of that stuff?”

Opal shook her head, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Its existence is purely theoretical. We don't have anything remotely close.”

Isis rolled her eyes in frustration. “Sounds to me like you have no idea what’s going on.”

“I don't,” Opal admitted with an apologetic shrug. “None of this fits the known laws of physics.”

Lance turned to Isis. “Can you figure it out?”

“Give me a few.”

***

Isis leaned forward, her voice more insistent. “Well, they succeeded in creating a traversable wormhole. The containment field failed, the wormhole collapsed, and it swallowed the entire control room. But before it did, I swear, I saw something. They weren’t killed—they were pulled in.”

Opal rubbed her forehead, exasperation clear on her face. “That’s not how wormholes work. I’d need a lot of suspension of disbelief to buy this.”

Lance sighed. “It is what it is.”

Opal snorted. “A meaningless platitude.”

“Not meaningless,” Lance countered softly. “It’s a reminder to live in the moment.”

“I literally can’t do anything but live in the moment right now,” Opal shot back.

Lance smiled at her. “Are you sure you aren't on the spectrum?”

Opal smirked, rolling her eyes but unable to suppress a chuckle. “Everybody’s on the spectrum. That’s the whole point of a spectrum.” Her smile faded as reality set in. “We have to go after them, don’t we?”

Lance looked her in the eye and let out a resigned sigh. “Let’s not waste any more time then.”

***

Lance and Opal stood back-to-back, scanning the thick blackness that enveloped them. There was no light, no discernible horizon, but they could feel pressure on their skin and the tug of gravity underfoot—just enough to suggest they were standing on solid ground. Somewhere.

“Can you see anything?” Lance asked, his voice low, almost reverent, as if afraid to disturb the darkness.

Opal shook her head, though Lance couldn’t see it. “Negative. Where the fuck are we?”

“Are we on a planet?”

Opal looked at her scanner. “Gravity is point-seven gee. Could be a planet, maybe a moon, a really large asteroid… a rogue planet, perhaps.”

The silence stretched between them before Opal spoke again. “Should we shout for them?”

Lance nodded, though he still felt uneasy. “Dr. Ansera, can you hear me?” His voice echoed strangely, reverberating off what seemed like invisible walls, but there was no response.

Just as they were about to give up hope, a presence surged into their minds—ancient, vast, and incomprehensible. The words that followed didn’t come through sound, but through sensation, burning themselves into their consciousness with a force that left both of them reeling.

“You have created your first traversable wormhole,” the voice said, a presence more than a sound. “With this, you are ready to join the interstellar community.”

Lance and Opal exchanged a glance, fear and awe mingling in their eyes. They had prepared for many scenarios, but this—this was something beyond their wildest imaginations.

“We have determined that there is no other sapient life within your galaxy,” the voice continued, as if their thoughts were irrelevant. “By intergalactic law, the galaxy known to you as the Milky Way will be your exclusive jurisdiction.”

Opal opened her mouth to speak, but the words were lodged in her throat. It was Lance who finally found his voice. “Who—what are you?”

For a moment, there was silence, then a faint, almost imperceptible shift in the air, as if the being was considering the question.

“We are a collective that has long transcended the boundaries of physical existence. You have taken the first step, but you are not yet fully aware of what you have created.”

Opal took a deep breath, her mind racing. “And what happens if we’re not ready? If we misuse this power?”

The being’s presence seemed to swell, a cold certainty settling over them both. “Then the galaxy will be yours to destroy.”