Portal Panic: Chapter C5

-----------------------------------------------------------C5--------------------------------------------------------------

>Back in the lab…  
>”Okay, we can probably turn it back on again.”
>Another one of the assistants scratched his head with a clipboard.
>”And why are we turning that back on?”
>The two turned to the portal generator, or, what was left of it.
>The machine had blatantly seen better days after the hasty shut down procedures.
>A large piece of the inside had been soldered and duct-taped back together
>”In case you didn’t figure it out, there’s aliens now.”
>”Radio said they were horses.”
>”Alien horses, whatever. We can suck them back out through the portals.”
>After everything that had happened today, he could still hear the other lab technician sucking in air in surprise.
>”We haven’t tested something like that and you know it!”
>”You got any better ideas?”
>This must be a motto around here.
>Like last time, there was no counter-idea.
>Most of the assistants started shuffling off towards their stations.
>”Bring ‘er back online, nice and slow.”
>Various points of data flooded the computer screens as the lights on the machine started coming on one by one.
>That is, until everything went blank seconds later.
>The team had varying degrees of a panic attack.
>There was no way the power could’ve gone out again, could it?
>Everything else was still working, though, so that clearly wasn’t the case.
>They powered down the machine and started it back up.
>This procedure had to be repeated twice before it went fully online.
>Each technician wasn’t above giving it worried looks even while it whirred loudly to life.
>”This thing’s more stubborn than my car in the winter!”
>Those techs that could hear it over the humming nodded in agreement.
>”Readouts?”
>”Green across the board and holding steady.”
>”Alright.  Reports indicate that the aliens were last seen at the park closest to the bay.  Get the coordinates for it, and place the first portal there.”
>A nearby assistant nods and starts clicking away with his mouse.
>Seconds later, he types a stream of numbers into his computer.
>He then looks up at the chief’s stand-in.
>“Second link?”
>”Anywhere, just put random values.”
>He was about to dispute it but doesn’t want his ear talked off again and inputs a second stream of numbers.
>”Coordinates set.”
>”Do it.”
>The tech hits his enter key.
>The red sphere atop the machine begins glowing brightly once more.
>The humming also increases considerably.
>With no direct visual indicator of success, everything relied on what came back in the readouts.
>”Anything?”
>”Data’s coming in now.”
>The information is pouring across the screen, but the tech’s trained eyes pick up every character.
>”Portal is stable.  Readings indicate it’s…. Wait, that can’t be right...”
>The main assistant looked annoyed.
>”What, can’t be right?”
>”The portal generated over the bay instead!  We missed!”
>”I thought I told you to place it over the park!”
>”I did!”
>”Let me see!”
>The assistant is over the tech’s shoulder in an instant.
>He looks carefully between the two windows snapped on the monitor.
>One gives a google search result for the park’s coordinates, with the numbers highlighted.
>The other has a snapshot of the coordinate feedback from the generator, with the location given along with the numbers.
>The assistant looked between the number sets five times before he conceded to his eyes.
>”They’re…. exactly the same!  Augh, the generator didn’t recalibrate properly!  Shut it down!  We’re going to have to figure out why the numbers are off, first.”
>”Deactivating.”
>The machine began powering down with little fanfare.
>The readouts on various monitors stopped pouring in.
>”I thought we had ironed out all of the machine’s kinks!  Could this day get any worse?!”
>Something clicked and popped from deep inside the portal generator.
>Suddenly, the machine roared back to life, its second wind not unnoticed by anyone in the room.
>The main assistant’s hand found its way to his forehead at a breakneck pace.
>”Was the portal at least dispelled?”
>”Nope.  It’s still there.  Even worse, according to the data it’s expanding.”
>”How?!”
>”Remember those other two that managed to stabilize because something big was coming through?”
>This got everyone’s attention and they all crowded around the nearest monitor.
>The room collectively stared at a warning indicator.
>MASS-STABILIZED
>”Uh oh.”