Experiments--Prologue
#1 of Experiments
First Story! Yay!
This story takes place in the Half-Life Universe, long before the Black Mesa Incident occurred. Specifically, it occurs before the Combine can even get to our universe. They are currently experimenting with several different types of teleportation technology in order to carry out the requests of an Earthling named Wallace Breen (you Half-Life fans should know what I mean).
This is my first story that I've been willing to post on the internet, so it's likely to suck. Comment PLEASE!
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I looked at the machine with disdain. It was a jumble of wires and moving parts that looked as though it would eat you if you got too close. As unlikely as it was, this was the Combine's best shot at upholding our end of the bargain with Breen. If this maiden voyage worked, we would have a sure-fire way of getting the Earth and all its lush resources. The only problem was that past experiments have miserably failed, leaving people stranded on other planets and, in rare cases, other universes. I, being a stupid young scientist, decided I would do my part to help design the next incarnation of the teleporter. Unknowing to me, the Advisors wanted ME to be the test subject. So here I was. The big day.
"Are you sure this thing is safe?" I asked Dr. Powers.
"Um...you created it, sir," he replied.
"I know," I said, "but, in my mind at least, it looked a lot...safer than this."
"Sir, this machine is the pinnacle of Combine technology," said a lab tech (whose name wasn't important), "It takes everything within the field of transport and--"
"I know how it works; I invented it"
"Oh..."
I cautiously approached the machine. A wire sparked and I jumped. If I didn't know any better, I'd say someone was messing with me. I took a deep breath. "All right, let's do this." I stepped onto the machine. Another wire sparked as the machine began to power up. Stop that, I thought, Don't you dare fail on me.
The machine was an extremely complicated affair. A charged dark energy pulse was fired into a series of amplifier rings, which opened a small hole in time-space. A dark energy field, generated by small projectors inside the platform, propelled any matter within the field through the hole. Residual dark energy attached to the matter would then guide the matter to its destination, ripping open another hole and unceremoniously dumping the matter on the other side. Unless the destination had another teleporter, the matter could not return. That last part made me nervous. I was supposedly going to teleport to a Combine outpost in Galaxy N2-47S, where a ship would bring me back. I sincerely hoped that this worked; the other teleporters had a bad habit of missing by a couple of yards. We were using the remains of the other teleporters to build this one, and since a couple yards could put me inside a wall, it made me very nervous.
The pulse emitter swung down as the amplifier rings began to twirl around me. The sound the rings made was unique, a high-pitched squeal that most people would cover their ears for. My ears hurt. I heard Dr. Powers talking about the power levels and "a small fluctuation" but I couldn't hear anything else. The emitter charged and...stopped. You piece of shit, I thought, I told you not to break. As the machine's "punishment," I kicked one of the rings. Big mistake. A wire sparked, and the rings began to whirl so fast that they were a blur. The emitter charged from a deep blue color to an angry red, and the squeal was now a full-out roar. Dr. Powers and his tech could only watch as I was flung from the confines of this area of time-space. I remember thinking, HOLY SHIT, that was NOT supposed to happen... before I saw a bright red flash and passed out.
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I woke up in a grassy meadow. I didn't know what had happened at all. All I knew was that the teleporter had NOT worked. And that someone was in trouble when I got back.
IF I got back, that is.
I stared at the sky for a few minutes and pondered the star patterns. I couldn't find any relationships (that was never my strong point). I pondered how lucky I was to be on a planet where the atmosphere wasn't fatal to breathe. I pondered why I felt so naked, lying on my back looking at the stars, while my paw traced lazy circles in the grass...
Wait, what?
My paw?
I leapt to my feet and looked at my hands. They looked vaguely human, but had pads and were covered in a thin layer of orange fur. My arms had thicker orange fur, and my chest had white fur all over it. I reached up to my head tentatively, not knowing what to expect. I found a muzzle and two fox-like ears. My feet also looked human, and some part of my brain noted that I was still bipedal, not like a real fox. The rest of my brain, however, was concentrating on something else. That something else was a loud scream.
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Well? Is it good? Comment and rate my first story!
(If it's unclear, the main character was originally human and is now an anthro fox.)