1.1: Luther Fails To Set Out On His Journey
Location: The Red Baron – Teleport Bay
Day:0
Luther stepped into the teleporter and tapped his foot as the door clicked shut. He stared idly around at the oak panelling as the familiar hum grew in intensity. This unit had been subtly graffitied by a previous occupant. Luther made a mental note to inform maintenance about it when he reached his destination, The Lazy Susan.
The hum of the teleporter reached a consistent pitch, and Luther clenched his fists ever so slightly.
And..., he thought.
There was a sudden crash from behind the panelling. The portrait of Charles Darwin was torn from the wall, revealing a mass of circuitry behind it. Luther threw himself to the floor and wrapped his arms around his head, humming loudly to himself. Sparks cascaded around him, occasionally burning through his four piece suit. They blistered where they landed. Luther couldn’t think. He couldn’t even-
He felt himself begin to melt away. He began to relax. The alarm sounds became less harsh and the sparks began to burn less, beginning to feel more like the kisses of an angry lover.
It’s the smoke, a small part of his brain thought. Probably got about ten seconds before-
The door was wrenched open. Luther’s arm was grabbed and he was hauled out. He dreamily watched as two figures in hazard suits drenched the inside of the teleporter in foam that extinguished any fires and acted as a local electromagnetic dampener, temporarily killing any local circuitry to prevent damage to the whole unit.
A medical tech scanned him and then sealed an oxygen unit to his face. He heard one of the technicians talking frantically to someone, but couldn’t make out the words. He looked down at his legs. They were covered in scorch marks. He thought about the pain for a second or two as everything started to lose its focus.
