Contact Pending
Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Because The Looking Glass Is Looking Back
Previous Chapter Next Chapter“Mr. President, this is a matter of grave importance to not just you and the American people, but the entire world itself,” the scientist said. “I just want to be sure you are prepared for this. What you’re about to see is unlike anything ever viewed or thought of before.”
The President crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat, looking over the table he sat at to the mysterious device in the center of the room. Glancing over at the scientist, he said, “Miss, I’m pretty sure I can handle whatever whacky doo-hicky you NASA boys and girls can invent next.”
Nodding, the scientist pressed a finger against her touchscreen which turned the device on. It was a metal framework in the shape of a large ‘o’ from the ground up, with some type of complicated metal-alloy and cords in the shape of a swirl pattern in the back, where a large, crystal-like ball stood in the center. The ball began to spin rapidly, sparks of electricity shooting off from it to all sides of the circle the device formed, until a flat, blue colored disc of electrical energy hung in the air, a static hum filling the room.
Eventually, the blueness of the electrical disc petered out to hues of orange and red, with green, purple, and numerous other colors following with it. Now a hazy image that was too hard to discern properly came into view.
“What am I supposed to be seeing, exactly?” the President asked, rubbing his flabby chin.
The scientist pressed her touchscreen a couple of times, looking back at the device every few seconds. “What you’re about to see is a look into another world entirely.”
The President barked out a laugh. “That’s preposterous.”
She looked at the President over the frames of her glasses. “Is it?” she asked, just as an image clearly flickered into view.
“My little pony, my little pony, ah, aah, aah, aah…”
The President’s jaw hung open, words unable to be heard past the blubbering of complete and utter shock. There, right before his eyes, were colorful, miniature horses, talking and even singing like intelligent human beings. Not just horses, but unicorns, pegasi, and even a few who had both horns and wings.
After a few more seconds of the song the midget horses were singing, the scientist muted the sound and muttered, “Dear God, is that annoying beyond belief or what?”
“Is this supposed to be some type of fancy television system or what?” the President asked, pointing with disbelief at the device. “How in tarnation did you get all that electricity to get a show made for little girls?”
“Sir, this isn’t a show made for little girls. This…” the scientist said, performing the customary five second pause for dramatic effect, “is a view into another world.”
The President nodded his head solemnly, leaning back in his seat while tapping his knee with a finger. “...Are you bullshitting me right now?”
“Sir, this was originally a multibillion dollar project to create a device to spy on the Chinese with. Instead, we received strange frequency from another source entirely, producing a literal viewpoint of a world not of our own. I cannot stress the amount of seriousness put into this project and the shocking revelations we’ve made right now.” The President scowled, and was about to open his mouth before the scientist raised her hand. “Also, we gave up using the technology to make virtual reality sexual simulations for this. Do you seriously believe NASA scientists would rather make a TV projector of a cartoon show rather than finally get laid… kind of?”
“By God, you’re right.” The President slammed his fist on the table. “Quick, I want as much information about these different dimensional beings as you can give me! Their likes, their dislikes, how they go to the bathroom, preferences for soft drinks, everything! On the double!”
The scientist pressed another button on her touchscreen, the view from the device changing to that of an overhead view of grassy plains and a village filled with the strange creatures from before.
“From what we have gathered, there seems to be three different races of these ‘miniature-horse’ breed. Unicorns, who can use magic, pegasi, who can fly, and the regular variety, who appear to be a forced labor working class working under the other two races to grow crops for their superior masters.”
The President snorted. “Magic? Flying horses? This can’t possibly be real, can it?”
“Sir, we witnessed one of these unicorns turn a bird into an orange.” The scientist tapped a few keys and in image of a purple unicorn with wings came into view. “That was only a few months prior. We didn’t want to alert you until we were sure what we were witnessing was truly an alien species.”
“Well, how can you tell?”
“The device implements an experimental technology that hasn’t gone down to extensive testing. We thought this project was our best chance at trying it out. Plus, the billions of funding from taxpayer’s dollars help out too. What we think this device can do, given a study of its capabilities, is create rifts into other worlds.”
The President held up his hands. “Okay, first you expect me to believe these creatures can use magic, and now you’re telling me you can actually make a portal between our world to theirs?”
“Not make, Mr. President. Made.” Reaching into her lab coat, the scientist withdrew a large topaz gem. Sliding it across the table to the President, she said, “We managed to open up a small hole into their world and get back a sample from a bowl of gems one of the mini-horses keeps lying around for its pet lizard. You can get the FBI, CIA, or whoever to analyze it, but the results will be the same. Its molecular structure is far different than any topazes we have here on Earth. If anything, it proves that this other world exists.”
The President held the topaz in between his fingers, staring deep within its shiny surface. Sighing, he set it down and ran a hand through his thin hair. “Oh Jesus… magic. Goddamn magic. Christ… how is that even possible?”
The scientist shrugged, flipping through a few digital pages on her touchscreen. “We’re still not exactly sure either, Mr. President. Since the molecular structure of something such as a topaz is so vastly different from one of our own, our best guess is that their world is in a different dimension entirely, with different laws of physics and rules to the universe as well. For all we know, they can switch off gravity in their world with a simple… ugh, spell. Or even control the stars and moon.”
“What are we now, stupid hippies? Don’t be ridiculous! If they could do that, that’d completely throw out the window the only things in this world that truly make sense!” The President drummed his fingers on the table, a few tense seconds passing by in the room with the only noise coming from the static hum of the device. “Okay, we can push magic to the side, for now at least. It’s going to be a witch hunt once the major religious factions and Harry Potter fandom get wind of this. Tell me… how their government is structured?”
“They have what is known as princesses ruling over them. Mini-horses with both horns and wings, vastly more powerful than the regular population, and immortal as well. So, our best guess is an oligarchy of never ending tyranny.” The image fuzzed and blurred, slowly changing to that of a large, white horse wearing a golden crown and necklace with a multihued mane that seemed to move in some nonexistent breeze of some sort. “So far we know this one is the main leader. Better known as Celestia, she apparently controls the sun and promotes the spread of friendship and harmony throughout the land.”
The President facepalmed. “Oh Christ, they are hippies! Every other nation on Earth will run them over in an instant.”
“Sir, what would be the best course of action?” the scientist asked. “Do we introduce ourselves to them? In a few weeks’ time, we could alter the power output to the device and create a bigger portal to their world.”
The President sighed, resting his forehead against the palm of his hand. As dreaded thoughts filtered through his mind, the scientist stood still, silently waiting for the most powerful man in the free world to come to a decision.
“Can we nuke them?” the President asked. The scientist furrowed her gaze at the President, who held up his hands in exasperation. “Hey, it was only a suggestion, geeze!” Huffing under his breath, he rubbed his chin with a hand and shrugged. “We could simply not even contact them in the first place.”
“But sir, what about the amount of knowledge we could learn from these mini-horses. Their culture, their magic, their entire world, all so vastly different from our own!” the scientist said. “We could be sitting on the predecessor to the biggest discover in the history of mankind, and you want us to simply ignore it?”
“Ignore? Who said anything about ignoring?” the President asked, chuckling. “I said we merely shouldn’t risk the dangers of contacting them. Think of how the American people would react to knowing there’s intelligent life out there that resembles livestock! Not to mention that damnable magic business. It’d get every book-loving preteen a run for their money to move to horseland. There’s also the fact they’re godless communists, except much cuter. That won’t help world affairs one bit.”
“Then what do you suggest we do instead?”
The President clapped his hands and got up out of his seat. “Simple. We’ll film these mini-horses, call it something like ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.’ Then we rake in the big dough from toy line sales and plushies to little girls. We’ll make millions!”
The scientist’s hands fell at her sides and her touchscreen nearly slipped from her hand. “Sir, you aren’t serious?”
“As serious as I’ll ever be!” The President began to walk away, not before calling over his shoulder, “I’ll get a heartless corporate children’s company on the line, and you get the cameras set up! By the end of the week, children everywhere will be bankrupting their parents just for a cheaply made plastic toy! It'll be beautiful!” Next Chapter: Chapter 3: So Just Step Back, Relax, And Look Estimated time remaining: 4 Minutes