"There you have it folks," the enthusiastic reporter was shouting into the camera, "Stay tuned to BNN for the latest updates on the Tunnel."

The camera panned away from her face to zoom in on the gaping hole in the ground behind them. The news was calling it The Tunnel to Nowhere, shortened to the Tunnel.

A month ago, the forty feet wide Tunnel had appeared in the middle of the town square.

It had put Burwool on the map of contemporary fame.

By now, the locals were accustomed to the constant glare of the cameras. Some individuals, and  local cafes, had even set up makeshift food and beverage stalls to take advantage of the spike in traffic.

The Central Rapid Action Force had set up a red tape zone. They warned civilians against trespassing.

However, that did little to stop the people as over half the town was inside the danger perimeter. Not to mention the insurgency of TV channels trying to get the latest coup. Several had tried to bribe the military, to get closer to the actual thing.

No light from outside penetrated the inner reaches of the mysterious Tunnel. 

A team of researchers had attempted to explore it.

Team Zero had entered the Tunnel two days ago. The cameras on their heads transmitted live recordings of their surroundings.

On entry, they had remarked about the strange smoothness of the walls.

No known digging equipment could replicate the effect. It was as though a circular slice of earth had been removed from the ground, abruptly cutting off underground pipes and electricity lines in the space around the hole.

Their last message came at the end of seven short minutes –

"Reached ground. No changes detected so far. And... wait, we can hear sounds," One whispered the last part, "...Voices. We're going in for a closer look."

After that the lines went slack. All team members had been cut loose. When the surface team reeled back the lines, the cord had been cut clean, the steel fibers did not have enough time to fray or uncoil.

Since their disappearance, the media was rife with speculation and conspiracy theories.

*****

A team of physicists were scrutinizing the footage recorded by Team Zero. They had argued for hours on the strange way the recordings ended.

Each camera had closed in on the wall seconds before everything went dark.

The cameras were placed on their helmets, so the images should have been recorded at the same speed as their owners' movements.

Would a person not change their speed if they were approaching a wall? Why did they not stop? Did the team walk into the wall?

The theories grew wilder until the possibility hit Dr. Zayce.

"There was no wall!" 

"What?" their supervisor was incredulous.

"But we all saw it!"

"What if reality is a simulation?"

"It makes no sense. You mean...?"

"The Tunnel's a glitch. All we saw were three men walking out of the frame of reality."