Overtaken - a BFB/II2 fanfic (very slow updates)

~~ [Interude 3] Harnessing the Light ~~

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

...well, ok, not THAT long ago. And the galaxy's actually pretty close. But the point is, this is still taking place in space...

2007 A.B. (~13 years ago), somewhere within the Goiky Way galaxy

Seekayaitch tapped his fingers against the control panel nervously, waiting for his brother to finish gearing up and enter the chamber. What they were attempting was not only risky beyond belief, but it was also thought impossible.

Humanity had been around for ~10,000 years on earth, and close to 5000 years in space. During that time, both they and other sentient species had done enough science combined to cover almost anything you can think of, including the multiverse theory. Yet, it's never been proven that any other universes actually exist outside of theirs, despite multiple scientific papers claiming that it most likely does. If there were other universes, there were no known reports of anything or anyone traveling between their universe and another one, or vice versa.

The Aitchtwins, however, thought otherwise. Years ago, when researching one of the planets that used to be inhabited by the Agclusidae (before they all migrated to the planet Tlep and met their untimely demise), C had come across an old research station originally set up by the Agclusidae. After the Blueshift, many different species had scoured planets which the Agclusidae had previously tried to settle on, trying to relearn and save as much information about the extinct species as they could to honor their memory. But even though (mostly) everything about this particular research station had already been documented by others years before, C wanted to see the place himself.

He had never expected to stumble upon a hidden room with a nearly-finished machine inside...

Knock knock knock.

The sound of a fist rapping on glass jerked Seekayaitch back to the present. He glanced up to see his brother, Emwhyaitch, knocking on the condensed glass pane that currently separated the two. An older spacesuit model protected his body; a loose but airtight outfit with a large oxygen tank on his back and a reinforced glass visor that allowed him to see. It was by no means modern for their time, but this specific model was necessary for what they were doing.

Are you ready? Emwhyaitch spoke in his mind, communicating telepathically.

Seekayaitch sighed. As I'll ever be, I suppose...

Em nodded and turned around to walk towards the object dominating the room. He was inside a repurposed airlock in the brothers' spaceship. The object in question was a large cylindrical machine, about seven feet in height, four feet across, and brown all over. It was unassuming from the outside, but one glance at the inner workings — impressively compressed within the three-inch thick walls — revealed that this was one complicated contraption.

While C began flipping switches on the control panel to activate it, he continued to think back to when this all started.

The Agclusidae were an alien species of arachnids, and probably the most technologically advanced race known to anyone residing within the Goiky Way galaxy. However, they were misfortunate enough to lose their home planet to an asteroid collision, and their unusually specific set of needs for survival made it very difficult for them to locate a new place to live, even with the help of other alien species. They attempted to settle down on dozens of planets before finally finding a temporary home on Tlep... which, in the end, didn't quite work out either.

C had visited one of these planets in the past. Although there was likely nothing more to learn from the abandoned Agclusidae research station on its surface, he still wished to see it for himself. And through a series of frankly quite bizarre events he still didn't fully understand himself, C had come upon a small, hidden, and long-forgotten underground section of the station. That place was more like a lab, really. Most of the experiments in there had fallen apart due to the passage of time, but there was one thing that was still almost completely intact.