Chapter 1
The Neon Expanse: Genesis of
The Pink Rooms
By Amy Sadler © 2026
Authors Notes:
This is the Prequel story to the original Back Rooms novel
CHAPTER 1: THE COLLAPSE
THE GATEWAY FACILITY. GERMANY (1936)
The room vibrates. Massive copper coils wrap around a central void. Dr. Allan Bernstine aged 45 years old. grips the edge of a steel console. He is in a huge lab, that is part of the Gateway facility, a top-secret facility for the purpose of tapping into Space Time, to create portal to another dimension, using the power of Nuclear Fusion. His knuckles are white.
“Increase the fusion feed. Ten percent. Now!”
Ordered Dr. Bernstine.
“The thermal readings are spiking, Doctor. The containment field is shaking the floorboards.”
Replied the field assistant.
“Vibration is a sign of transition. Push it to fifteen.”
Remarked Dr. Bernstine, with eager determination.
“But-Sir, the magnetic stabilizers are screaming. We have hit the red line.”
Replied the field assistant in a matter-of-fact tone.
“The red line is where the physics ends and the discovery begins. Do not hesitate. Push it!”
Commanded Dr. Bernstine with a stern tone of voice that broke no argument.
Then suddenly-
A blinding flash of white light erupts in the centre of the coils. The air ripples like a stone thrown into a still pond. The technicians lean back, shielding their eyes.
“It worked. My God, it really worked. Look at the rift!”
Gasped the field assistant in shocked surprise.
“Space and time, peeled back like a grape. We are looking into the throat of the universe. Look at the curvature. It is beautiful.”
Sid Dr. Bernstine with excitement.
“The rift is shifting. The edges are turning jagged. Doctor, the frequency is dropping. We are losing the lock.”
Remarked the field assistance with worry.
“Hold the feed! Stabilize the oscillation! Do not let that aperture close!”
Roared Dr. Bernstine with fury.
“I can’t Sir! The vacuum is pulling back. It is not expanding anymore. It is sucking the air out of the room!”
Retorted the field assistant, his worry increasing.
“Reverse the polarity! Shut the fusion core down immediately!”
Roared Dr. Bernstine in sheer anger.
“Sir! The controls are dead! The console is fusing to the desk! The core is collapsing into the rift!””
Shrieked the field assistant, shaking with tension.
“Get back! Everyone get-back from the ring! Run!”
Commanded Dr. Bernstine with instance in his tone of voice.
“It… it is too late!”
Screamed the filed assistant, as the whole room was— A deafening crack that splits the air. The light vanishes into a single, microscopic point of infinite blackness.
Then, a massive implosion. The steel walls buckle. The ceiling caves inward. Everything within the facility is crushed into a silent, empty void.
SVERAL YEARS LATER…
MARA’S RESIDENCE
A military man stood looming over Mrs. Mara Bernstine, (35) Dr. Allan Bernstine’s wife. The military man was seven foot tall with grey hair, crew-cut style and his name was Colonel Vance. Mara had soft brown hair, and she was wearing a floral-patterned dress with beige coloured shoes.
“You are telling me that the boy simply vanished? For sixteen years?”
Asked Colonel Vance in sheer disbelief.
“He ran away, Colonel. He was a spirited child. He could not bear the weight of the legacy that you had wanted to force upon him.”
Said Mara.
“The legacy of Dr. Allan Bernstine is not a burden, Mrs. Bernstine. It is a mandate. Your husband discovered the doorway to the stars and the seconds of the past. He did not leave behind a vacuum; he left a blueprint.”
Remarked Colonel Vance, quite bluntly.
“My son is not his father. He is just a boy.”
Retorted Mara, sounding cross.
“He is a Bernstine. That makes him the only living key to the Gateway. The fact that he has spent his life avoiding the inevitable. That ends today.”
Retorted Colonel Vance in a very firm tone of voice.
“You cannot simply take him. He’s, my son.”
Cried Martha in sheer despair.
“I am not taking him, Mara. I am recovering government property. The intellect in that boy’s brain belongs to the state.”
Remarked Colonel Vance, very coldly.
THE FEDERAL FACILITY
16-year-old Artimus Bernstine was being held at a Federal Facility, which were being used by the US Forces.
“Where am I Why is the room so bright?”
Asked Artimus, who tried to shield his eyes.
“Welcome back to the world of the living, Artimus. Or should I say, welcome to your inheritance.”
Said Colonel Vance in a cheerful tone of voice.
Artimus who looked very uncomfortable.
“I don’t know you. I want my mother.”
Replied Artimus, sounding upset.
“Your mother is right here, though she seems quite keen on pretending you didn’t exist for sixteen years. Tell me, what can you remember?”
Colonel Vance. I-I remember running away from home, I stayed in a cave and I fended for myself, then one day I for some reason ran over a lake, covered with ice. But it was weak in the middle and it cracked from under me and then I fell, after that, everything all went black until I got rescued. I was confused for a while, and I got help to get my memories back. Though not all of them, I can’t remember the time I had spent with my mother. I’m afraid Sir, that’s all I am-able to remember, as it states so in my medical file.”
Said Artimus.
“Yes. I have it right with me. You’re an important asset son to the government, and to the US Forces in particular. Your father, built under the combined effort of the government and the US Forces, a very special machine. I am not at liberty to tell you the details just yet since you are underage. Not only that, we have-to also wait until technology advances enough for us to be able to build a new and even better machine. One which will aid us for special covert operations. In the meantime, you are to study long and hard in science and in Space Time Physics. Your father left you a legacy, for you to uphold.”
Said Colonel Vance.
“I don’t want to be a part of some stupid legacy. I want to go home. Please. Sir.”
Replied Artimus in sheer desperation.
“Your father’s legacy is not stupid and I’m sorry son; you have no choice in the matter.”
“Why?”
Asked Artimus in an upset tone of voice.
“You are an asset son, both to us and to the government. Your life belongs to us, whether you like it or not, you will do as you are told to do and when the time is right. You will help us with our covert operations.”
Said Colonel Vance, quite flatly.
