Personal adventure part 1

*Knock Knock Knock...* The sound of rain pours all around you. the awning is small but you do your best to crouch under it and keep dry. You try again *Knock Knock Knock* thumping against the heavy solid oak door. Deep in the lonely house, or rather, mansion, you hear the faint voice call...

"I'm coming! I'm Coming!" footsteps are heard on the other side of the door, approaching. The door opens and a tall thin fellow stands in front of you wearing some ridiculous outfit. It is your friend Dutch "There you are.. The weather has been looking worse I was beginning to wonder if you were even going to show up to my odd invitation. Come in quickly. Come in..." Dutch ushers you out of the rain. "I am sorry I hope I didn't leave you outside in the cold rain for too long. Here let me take your coat. Oh, you must think I am crazy don't you?" Dutch takes your coat and disappears down a hallway for a few moments leaving you to look around the familiar room, the only room in the house that you had ever been in, well other than the kitchen and the bathroom once. The mess hadn't been touched since you were here last. The burnt out bulbs in the ceiling lamp had not been replaced, the thick layer of dust undisturbed but ever threatening an allergic fit or sickness. It is all there just like it always was there.

Dutch comes back "You must understand, I was downstairs and it is sometimes hard to hear knocking on that thick old door. As soon as I heard it, faintly as I heard it, I ran to check if you had come. I am sorry if I left you long. But that is unimportant now. I bet you are wondering why I called you here on such short notice?"

You indicate the room.

"No, we've had plenty of that, no need to talk over random matters today. Today I wanted to actually show you what I am up to."

You give him a confused look.

"Oh come now, you must have suspected something. You must have noticed that I have never spoken of a job or any other sort of income. You must have been curious to know why I live in such a rundown old shack like this." Dutch motions toward the room. "None the less, We have to hurry our window of opportunity may close any moment. We have to get you suited up."

Dutch grabs your arm and tugs. "Oh Come now.. What is the matter? You have nothing to worry about, and I will explain everything along the way." You follow his lead even though you aren't sure what you are getting yourself into.

"Remember a few weeks ago we had that conversation that I brought up about the possibility of other worlds, other civilizations. You wouldn't budge on the position that speculating about such things was merely a useless endeavor. But still you humored me because we didn't have anything more pressing to speak of at the time. Do you remember that conversation? Well you see, I wasn't bringing it up because of mere speculation. I have actually been doing several experiments... oh here we are." Dutch stops in front of a sliding door which he pulls aside to reveal a closet in which hangs several pairs of identical odd clothing, the same as Dutch is now wearing. He fingers through a few then pulls one out, this one looked new while the others looked a bit worn. "I have been planning this for weeks, but you know how I am. I loose track of time, absorbed in my hobbies and habits so you say. I almost forgot to invite you over, that would mean a complete waste of a good opportunity. What a shame that would have been. But I am rambling... the point is, I hope this fits you, I had to guess on your measurements, I made it as soon as I made the decision that I could trust you." Dutch hands you the suit and opens another door, an old bedroom with the same sense of discord that possessed the front room you were familiar with. "You can change in here but do so quickly, time is of the essence."

You walk into the room and stop to think a bit. Dutch has never exhibited any trait of a scam artist. You've seen him try and lie before, he was right, you had suspected that there was more to him than meets the eye. During your conversations in the past he had tried to cover up what he is now sharing to you now, telling you that he has normal hobbies just like everyone else, He tried to tell you he likes to make boats in bottles, You confronted him on the fact that there were no boats in bottles to be found in the main room, he caved and told the truth about that. You scour your mind to see if there were any other incidents where he tried to lie. Could he be pulling a scam now? You look at the suit and realize that there is only one way to find out, but that you had better be cautious, you begin to try on the suit.

It is a loose fit, and the legs are a little longer than they should be, you roll up the pant leg into a cuff. The suit feels a bit scratchy and stiff. you realize there are thin wires woven into the fabric. You try to ignore the scratching of the wires and eventually it subsides as the suit warms up a bit from your body heat. There is a stiff piece in the fabric on your side, you feel it and there is a handle, you pull the handle and there sitting in your hand is a knife. There are also bits of shiny metal plating on the outside of the suit, You realize with a slight shock that this is supposed to be an armor of some sort. You begin to question what is going on here. If worse comes to worse you at least have a dagger to defend yourself with. You sheath the dagger, but just to be sure, you pull it free and re-sheath it again a few times just to make sure you won't be fumbling for it if this does turn out to be a trap by some deranged man who you thought you knew. You begin to realize that your stress levels are rising. This situation is not in your control at all. You breath a few times, in... and out... in... and out... You repeat in your mind, whatever happens tonight... *Knock Knock Knock* Dutch knocks on the door at exactly the wrong moment, almost like it is on purpose.

"Are you done, I don't mean to rush but... well we need to rush..."

You take one last breath and open the door trying to repeat in your mind that whatever happens tonight you are not going to loose control of yourself.

Dutch takes a look at you in the suit and frowns innocently, "You are shorter. Oops, I should have trusted my instincts. That could be a bad thing, I am going to have to trust my instincts better. Come we haven't got a whole lot of time." Dutch began to move down the hallway, you follow tensely. "If all goes well tonight I can fix those pants up when we get back."

Dutch opens a door leading to a staircase that descended into darkness. "I keep forgetting to change the light. don't worry, just hold onto the railing and trust your feet to guide you, the first step is a bit deeper than the rest." Dutch descends into the darkness and before you know it you can't see anything but the occasional glint of light off his armor. You follow cautiously down. With every step you take downward, the temperature drops. You begin to shiver slightly, but you can't decide wither or not you are shivering more from the cold or the nervousness. You never really liked the dark.

Soon enough you can see lights. They are at the end of some hallway. You hear Dutch ahead of you, "We're almost into the light again. I hope you don't mind the cold too much. It is necessary for my equipment. When we get into the main chamber it will be warmer."

As you exit the hallway you see a room full of odd tanks and machines, there is a pungent smell in the air of car exhaust. "Most of these are generators, I had to make some adjustments on many of them to be more fuel efficient, most of them are pretty decent if I say so myself. then I had to work on the ventilation. That was a doozie, almost killed myself cause I didn't get it right the first time... come on... You will soon see why I chose this house to live in." at the far corner of the room there are more stairs down. They look as though they were not part of the original plans of the house. "This house was built partly over an underground cavern, a sink hole opened up, that is why the original owners left. I took advantage of it. I have been running all sorts of experiments down here. I've been at this for several years." Dutch presses forward, the electrical cables from all the generators run down the hole and along the ceiling. "I am sure you are wondering how I am getting away with all this? Where I am getting the funding and material? My parents were old money, they had all sorts of stocks and other sources of cash. Foolishly though, they followed the current social trends and only had one child, a curious child with a passion for the fantastic and otherworldly." Sure enough, the air begins to warm as you continue along the passage till finally Dutch and you round a corner and happen upon a fairly open cavern thirty feet across and nine feet high. The whole space is crowded with a maze of all sorts of computer and electronic equipment and cables. Lights blink like a night sky of colored stars.

"Come quick, I'll explain more when we are there." Dutch leads you through columns of electronics to a central part of the room where stands a tall black device which looks like a door frame. Its surface polished and reflecting the thousands of electric lights in the cavern, it truly does remind you of space. "It's magnificently beautiful is it not?" Dutch sighs, "We'll have more time to admire it after tonight." Dutch moves to a small monitor and presses a few buttons. The whole room comes to life, fans begin to whirr and machines begin to beep. Four boxes labeled with hazard signs begin to move toward the black device.

"This is where it can get a little dangerous some times. Put this mask and helmet on, quick." Dutch thrusts another piece of cloth and a helmet into your hand and you quickly pull it over your head. The four boxes open and you feel some strong force, electrical in a way, spark through your skin, all your hair stands on end. A loud popping noise erupts as lightning shoots from the four devices into the center of the device. It seems as though they are striking the same point of air. Your brain reels, nothing you know could possibly explain what is happening right now.

The lightning from each device breaks in two and begins moving toward the four corners of the device. But beneath the device, there is nothing, empty air. You look at Dutch wondering if it is working right. Other than being electrocuted there was no evidence that anything else was happening with the black device. Dutch only has a grin on his face, a look of triumph. When the lightning reaches the four corners of the device Dutch yells "Go, It's safe now. Go."

You look back at him worried, "It looks like nothing is going on." You yell your first words of the night.

"Trust me, Don't worry, Just run through the portal. I'll show you."

Dutch pushes you and runs through the portal and disappears in a flash of light. Nothing is stopping you now from turning around and going home. You think about it for one long moment. Few people ever get to have a truly out of the ordinary experience. "Because they Die." the thought crosses your mind. You stand undecided for a few moments then decide Dutch could be in danger, somehow, and that propels you forward and through the portal.

You black out...