========== Quiet nights were common where Susanna and Kali lived. Often nights, it was hard for Susanna to get to sleep. The same thing happened with Kali on occasion. One night was one where both couldn't sleep. They didn't have anything to do. They quietly sat in their beds. Susanna was thinking deeply. Her father had shown her to the unfinished teleportation device, but she had only been able to really see it closely for a little bit. She wanted to get a closer look. Susanna would quietly leave her bed, bringing her plush cat, Coco with her. She would enter Kali's bedroom, seeing if she was awake. She was, and looked back at Susanna as she entered her room. Kali would stand up from her bed, walking over to Susanna, who spoke in a soft voice, as not to wake up her father. "Wanna go look at dad's teleportation device again..?" Kali thought for a moment, seemingly hesitant. Susanna spoke up again, taking her cousin's hand. "Only a quick look! I just want to find out how it works." Kali would then nod, as the two ran off to Haltmann's lab. Susanna opened the door, quickly closing it after the two entered the lab. It didn't take long for them to spot the device, which was set in the back of the lab. The girls approached it, looking at the glass, the tubes, the buttons, the wires... Susanna walked inside the device, looking at the glass. Kali seemed worried. "Are you sure that's a good idea..?" Susanna nodded. "I'll go back out in a second, I promise. I just wanna see it from the inside." Kali would keep looking at it from the outside, walking around the device from up close. She should've paid more attention, because at one point, she bumped into the door of the device, accidently shutting it. Susanna turned to the door, hearing the "click" of it closing. She didn't think much at first, assuming she could just open it. She pushed on the door... and it didn't budge. That's when she started to panic. Kali saw this, starting to freak out too, and the two tried to open the door, to no avail. Kali looked at Susanna with a fearful look. Susanna spoke up. "Don't get dad, we can figure this out..!!" She didn't want to get in trouble. Kali, who was just barely able to understand her, nodded and looked around at the device, trying to find anything that could open the door, noticing the buttons on a small box right next to the device. She looked at Susanna and pointed to them, Susanna nodding, signaling that it could probably get her out. Kali looked at the device again. There was a big, red button on it. Susanna gestured for her to press it, which she did. The device made a loud whirring sound, the two girls instinctively covering their ears. The machine shook, a few lights inside the machine lighting up, the whirring getting louder by the second. Just as Haltmann would burst in the room, looking tired and panicked, Susanna would disappear from the machine in a flash. Haltmann's eyes widened in fear. "No, no, no, NO, NO-!!" He rushed over to the device, pushing Kali- who was terrified of what she'd done- away from it. In a panic, he mashed the red button, but he knew nothing could be done. He slammed his hand against the box in frustration, causing the wiring inside to spark. After collecting his thoughts, he turned to Kali, his panicked expression turning into anger. "What did you do..?!" Kali, in fear, took a step back and stammered for a moment. "She-she went into the machine... got stuck, an-" Haltmann's hand curled up into a fist, and he slammed his hand against the box again, harder this time, glaring at Kali. "WHY DIDN'T YOU COME GET ME?!" Kali flinched, tears filling her eyes. "Sh-she told me not to..!!" Haltmann raised his voice. "IDIOT!! WHY WOULD YOU LISTEN TO HER?! NEITHER OF YOU KNOW HOW THIS WORKS!!" Kali covered her ears, bursting into sobs as she ran off in pure guilt. Haltmann looked back at the device, covering his face with his hands as he looked down. "Goddammit, Susanna..." He didn't know where she was. She could be planets away, for all he knew. She was alone, wasn't she? She was terrified, wasn't she? ... she wasn't coming back... wasn't she...? ==========
{@drKirby55 for VL Haltmann} Pt. 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1224388018 Pt. 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1233866939 --- Pt. 4: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1243240650 Pt. 5: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1304436662