"Is it working?"

Seneca finished on her grand masterpiece: a portal to other worlds. But not only that. A portal to go forward or back in time. Her assistant stood by in case anything happened, as the woman turned the portal on, aching to see if it worked. It had taken her so many years, so much time and materials, and the criticism of everyone around her. Them saying it was impossible; a portal couldn't be made, it's science fiction, all a silly dream of hers. She would prove them wrong. She'd prove all of them wrong. It didn't matter what it took, she would make it work in her favour and do what she wanted. Seneca would never let them win.

The gold encasing the portal glowed from the bright flash of neon blue light that flooded the small encasing room around the two people. It lasted for just a moment before settling down to a more subtle and soft greyish-blue colour. It illuminated the gems around the gold, showering the room in a dull array of rainbow. The portal itself had the appearance of crackling thunder, or small ripples on a wave of water. Constantly shifting between a variety of destinations for one to go to. Mountains of snow, flower fields, beaches that smell of salt, deep caverns or a bright open canyon. So many possibilities.

Seneca giggled and smiled with triumph over this huge feat of science and personal growth. She couldn't believe it really worked! Sure, she showed that the words of everyone never bothered her, but deep down it did. It stung to know that nobody was on her side. But now. . .now she knew it worked. She proved everyone wrong. Even herself. After recovering from the brief flash of light, she threw her hands up in the air, laughing victoriously.

"I did it! I actually did it! It works!"

Her assistant gave a smile of their own and nodded, agreeing that this was a momentous occasion for everyone. They weren't just fiction anymore. Seneca made a functioning portal that could transport a person anywhere, at any certain point in time. There weren't any limits now to what science could accomplish, what this meant for the world as a whole. The assistant wrote down everything that had happened thus far in their notebook to document and test later on. They'd have to test a lot of things out before opening it up for public use, as Seneca didn't wish to risk injury to anyone besides herself, which is why she decided to be the first one to try it and see if it would really work.

"Alright. Now. . .hmm. . .how many years ahead should we go?"

~~~~~

Seneca packed a small bag filled with essentials, as well as things to help her test out the world beyond the portal. She knew it would be the same Earth she lived and grew up on, but there was no telling what may happen going so far ahead. A first test and she was pushing her luck. Most rational and smart people would probably start small, with making sure it sent them just a block away from home, then going from there. Most would play it safe for their sake and lives. A portal was a dangerous thing to try, even if it was for testing. But she wanted to see how far she could push the boundaries before it broke, then work from there. It was how she did a lot of things. And, for the most part, it worked for her. She never had much trouble with that logic, besides relationships. But whatever. She'd do just fine on her own.

She gave a nod to her assistant, who gave a hesitant one back, knowing how dangerous it was. She typed some things on a keyboard next to the portal to set it to where she needed it to go, which made the portal start up again with a flash of life and light that then settled into a more white-gold glow, instead of the previous stormy grey. Seneca checked to make sure she had everything before going in front of the portal, and took a deep breath. Now she was starting to have a few second thoughts. What would happen if the portal broke down when she's gone? There's no-one who could fix it besides her. What would happen if she got lost? She didn't know if it would send her to the same place, so landmarks would be confusing. What would happen if she got hurt? Sure, she's got a first-aid kit, but if it was dangerous or she caught a lethal disease, how could she be sure she would make it back alive and not infect anyone else?

"Hey. . ."

The assistant looked up from their notes and gave a curious tilt of their head.

"If I don't come back in. . .let's say. . .3 days, send a search party for me. If the portal breaks down, have them refer to my notes. If something happens other than that, or it breaks completely, well. . .it was nice knowing you. ."

Seneca jumped through the portal without a second glance, nor giving any more instructions to the confused and worried assistant. They made sure to write it down, then looked around slowly, before sitting down and waiting for the woman's return. Pure silence apart from the static hum of the portal. It was quite eerie.

~~~~~~

After what felt like a few simple seconds, Seneca appeared on the other side of the portal. As was likely, she was hesitant to open her eyes, afraid of what lay ahead of her. Just from the smell however, she could tell that something was wrong. It was an unmistakable smell to her. She'd experienced it many times before.

Blood.

Her eyes shot open and she felt her psyche shake.

Everything was a wasteland. An absolute wasteland.

No buildings, no plants, no discernible life. It was grey and desolate, with so much decay around her. She had a strong stomach, the smell of death nor rot bothered her, she wasn't much fazed by it. The sighting of such was actually quite fascinating to her.

Seneca removed her notepad and pen from the bag, and began to write down all she'd seen so far. It would go a long way for when she returned back home. Her hazel eyes caught sight of an almost completely rotted corpse, and she trotted over to it, kneeling next to it to have a closer look. Again, the smell didn't tip her off. She had no problems with it, which said a lot as it was very apparent this close to the body.

It's teeth had rotted away goodness knows how long ago, and she wouldn't bet that it was all time's doing, as bone wouldn't this soon. It would take longer than 8 years. Maybe? She didn't know everything about post-mortem and the effects it had on the body. It was fascinating, but not her forte. The hair was gone, most of the skin too, and the muscles and nerves were currently being eaten by many vermin and insects. No clothes remained, which she assumed had been consumed by moths or similar cloth-eating creatures. Though, they did have a notebook by them that was surprisingly kept intact. Seneca wasn't a nosy person in the sense of reading those things, but it may shed light on what happened. Her hand reached for it.

An unknown creature sprung forth from underneath the pads of paper and growled at her, which made her shrink back in confusion. It then took the notebook in what she could only guess were it's jaws and ran off. This prompted her to stand up and chase after it.

"Hey! Give it back! Now!"

They ran for a mile or so before the creature dropped the notebook at the feet of someone. Seneca panted, her back arched as she put her hands on her knees, hoping to catch her breath before speaking to whomever this new person was. Her eyes glanced over to try and maybe recognize the person, as she thought if it was someone she knew, they could tell her what happened. But it wasn't.

Instead, she saw what seemed like. . .fluffy white slippers and black socks. Her eyes glanced up at thinking she would see skin, but there was none to be found. Rather, anatomically correct leg bones covered by black shorts. She continued to look upwards, now curious at what this was. Or who. She saw a dark blue jacket with fluff on the hood and sleeves, which led to uncovered skeleton hands, joints and everything. Her eyes quickly glanced up to see if maybe the person had a head, and if so, what it would look like. A smooth round head, white like a pearl and glowing as such. The expression held seemed like a serious, contemplating one, the eyes hollowed out and black with simple white pupils to compensate. Upon realizing Seneca was staring, the animated. . .skinless corpse took their eyes from the notebook and looked directly into hers.

"It is quite rude to stare, you know?"

They. . .he. . .talked? It seemed male, from the baritone voice and tone. Deep and commanding, but also a hint of softness. It made her blush some and stand up straight. Her hands raised up to try and wave away any wrongdoings.

"I-I didn't mean to, I swear. I was just. . .curious. I've never seen something like you before."

He didn't give much of a response, not even with a change in expression. At least for a moment. The man then gave a small chuckle and nodded, understanding that she must not know anything, much less him. To anyone it would be a shock.

"It's alright. Name's Sans. Or, Abyss, if that's easier to remember."

He reached out his hand for her to shake, which she did. It was weird and fascinating at the same time, feeling pure bone against her skin. She was enamoured by it too much to shake his hand, alternatively stepping forward and taking a closer look at it. She ran her fingers along the ridges and joints, curious and confused, as most humans were or would be. Who knew bone was so. . .soft?

She couldn't tell if he was getting uncomfortable, so she looked up and tried to gauge it on his response. But he seemed the same. Nothing changed or added other than a small tint of blue on what she could only guess were his cheekbones. A blush? Maybe? She didn't know. It was pretty hard to tell with his rather inexpressive gaze. He wasn't mute though.

"Don't mind me too much. I don't want to ruin your fun."

Patience. . .

And he was so calm when he spoke.

It made Seneca a little more embarrassed, her blush deepening, a deep crimson by this point. She was so caught off guard by this that she hadn't even noticed the sun setting, but Abyss did, and he gestured for her to follow him. It seemed he had somewhere for her to stay. She had wanted to go back before this, but. . .it could wait. She needed to figure out what happened first.

'8 years ago, a young scientist created a portal. The human left to test it, then came back with amazing, wondrous results. It sparked curiosity within the public. They wanted to try it themselves. But the scientist warned against it, as the human knew it would only lead to injury or death. No-one knew what would happen or what it would look like on the other side. They refused to listen, soon breaking in and arresting the poor scientist, saying that it was property of the government and that their owning of it was breaking the law. The human pleaded for them all to not do this, but alas, it fell on deaf ears. 5 years ago, the world was in turmoil. 3 years ago, they destroyed the portal. 1 year ago, war broke out between everyone and all that was left was a desolate, crude remembrance of a world once so full of life and hope. Nobody existed for a while. Then, a trio of helpful, hopeful friends showed up and made it their duty to rebuild what they could, enlisting help from others that they knew would help with the cleanup and restoration.'

~~~~~

(I apologize it taking me so long to post. As an apology, I'm doing two chapters today. But this one will be the longer of the two, just for my own sake. It took way too long to type this out, even on my computer. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it.)