Chapter 3

Two months has passed since Conor received news that he was visiting the Unknown reality. He was now stark ready for pretty much anything, even being subjected to Spaghettification.

Moments before he was set to depart for the nearest hole (which was a good 50 kilometers away), a short meeting was held at the conference room.

'Conor, we wish you good luck. God bless you and God bless us. May Earth and all lives in it be saved.' Prof. Brent said.

'I tell you Brent, I don't believe in God. But I'm going to try my best to rescue Earth and also the people in that reality. If I die, don't send people there- try work out another way to save the crops. Happy living, I'll be going now.' Conor expressed his message.

'Good luck and one more thing, you have zero comms with us when in that reality, we can't explain stuff to you. Be safe there.' Dr. Maria said in a concerned voice.

'Okay guys- don't worry, I know how to take care of myself.' Conor said and felt like he just told a big lie. Without any more words, he proceeded to walk out of the room towards the garages. However, he moved only a few steps before stopping on his tracks.

Conor turned around and walked towards Prof. Brent, before pulling him aside to a corner.

'Listen, I'm sorry I shouted at you that other day. I was just nervous about this mission.' Conor apologized.

'Nah man, it's okay. I understand it. Go now, or you'll be late. Good luck!' Prof. Brent said with a smile. Conor smiled back and shook his friend's hand. Whispering another goodbye, he walked away.

One hour later, Conor arrived at the hole location. He looked around a bit to identify the hole but saw nothing. That means, the hole is invisible- but it's there.

He walked to the exact location portrayed by the latitude and longitude on his GPS. Once he was only a step away, he took a deep breath to steady himself and plunged into the ground. But instead of hitting soil- he just went through.

The next few moments was a blur to Conor. He remembered seeing flashes, and somethings were bumping into his body. At last- he felt like he wasn't in a free fall and was slowing down.

Suddenly, Conor's feet hit ground and the light came into his eyes. He looked around at the odd place. Well, not really odd. He was in front of his apartment complex. Behind him was the restaurant where he used to go when he was too lazy to cook.

The air looked a shiny red- with hints of pink too. Instead of clouds on the sky, there was literally a layer of red lava-like substance. Conor suddenly felt like he was beneath the mantel of the Earth.

He took a few steps forward and walked around a bit. That's when it happened. A sound. It sounded like a cat's meow and a lion's growl mixed together. There was scuffling noises.

Suddenly, a big animal the size of a large dog appeared, chasing a smaller version of him. The animal looked like a dog, had stripes like a tiger, had a lion's mane, and it meowed. Also- it ran very fast.

The animal thing passed in front of Conor while it's jaws were open, giving Conor a full view of it's dangerously sharp teeth. Conor also felt like the animal saw him.

True enough, the animal had ran only a few more meters when it stopped and turned around to face Conor. Without a word, it started bolting towards Conor while sounding it's vicious meows.

'Oh shoot. Oh sh**!" Conor swore and ran as fast as he could. This was hard as his suit weighed like half of his own mass. Luckily, he saw a small gate between the fence and went through there. Just as he closed the gate, the animal slammed into it.

Conor thought there was no way this animal can climb that huge fence which was at least 3 meters high. But he was proven wrong when the beast jumped up and started climbing the fence.

Horror-struck, Conor ran again- but to no avail. He could sense the animal running behind him. He could feel it's footsteps hitting the ground.

The animal pounced on Conor's back from out of the blue. It's weight caused Conor to lose balance and fall on his face. The beast turned him around and opened its jaws to attack. Not knowing what to do because of panic, Conor just reached up and held the animal firmly to prevent it biting his face off.

But- all was black. His eyes stung. And he felt pain. Real pain.