Later that night, Lina found it hard to fall asleep. She rarely had this problem, as she was used to spending nights in hotel rooms, and the current one was actually pretty decent for the price. It was also normal for her to learn surprising and sometimes dark things as part of her job. Usually, she could compartmentalize it easily, after all, this was only her job, and she was paid for it very generously. But this alien business…

After a lot of tossing and turning, she sat up with a deep sigh, and switched on the lights. Picking up the tablet and the stylus, she started making a mindmap. This was an old technique back from her time at the university, when she learned that making an idea sheet helped her to organize big chunks of information.

“SURVIVALISTS!” - she wrote, then added an idea bubble - “Earth environment?”

Another idea child from this one: “Next abstraction!”

Then, a new base idea: “Consciousness travels to somewhere else”, and a child node: “Impossible to separate it from the brain?”. And another: “Can come back”. One more: “What if the body dies?”

The map was steadily growing as she noted the different facts and ideas. Once the page was full, she started browsing through all the nodes, and marked a few for further research. Then, she opened her laptop, and started typing…

In the morning, she decided to stay in bed until late. As a result of working till the small hours of the night, she now had a much better understanding of wilderness survival and first aid, a bunch of old myths and legends, and sleep deprivation. Two of these will come handy, she was sure of it, but going to a new world with less than her top mental capacity seemed to be unwise.

After having an early lunch in the hotel, and checking out, she arrived at the site shortly after noon. The agents, still polite and professional, led her to the medical room for the check up, and carried her luggage away for storing.

A short time and a copious amount of prodding later she was back at the hangar, shivering in her thin sport top and short. She was surprised when the colonel approached her with a soft blanket, and offered it for her, not expecting kindness from the hardened soldier.

“I was worried that you won’t turn up today after everything we told you yesterday, Ms. Thompson.”

“Thanks, Colonel. I stayed up late to research some things.”

“Did you find anything interesting?”

“I think so, yes. Did you ever consider that this is not the first time in history when the artifact appeared?”

“Can’t say I did. But I assume you found something?”

“Yes. I was just searching on google, nothing more serious than that, but I nailed down a few interesting stories. For example, it seems that a few events in the Bermuda triangle might be connected to an artifact, but we need more research on that. But, more importantly, the story of Ann Willard from 1774, who lived in a village called Oaks-on-Sea.”

“I am not familiar with that story, Ms. Thompson.”

“I’d be surprised if you were, it’s nothing special. She went to the forest to collect mushrooms one day, and somehow hurt her leg. On the way back she stopped for a rest at a weird multi-colored rock, and she had a strange dream. In the dream she was somewhere else, a forest with plants she couldn’t recognise, and unusual looking critters. She spent several days there, looking for anything familiar. At the end, she met a man called Jonathan Miller, who told her that he lived there for several years or possibly decades, but still looked about twenty years old. He guided her back to the point where she appeared, and then she woke up. Apparently, she was asleep for a few hours at most, and arrived home on the same day.”

“Yes, this could have been a travel in an artifact dimension, but the same way, it could have really been just a dream. The time can be messed up in both.”

“I totally agree with that. However, we have another name: Jonathan Miller. Guess what I found when I looked that person up.”

“Several million hits on google?”

“Well, yes, of course. However, after narrowing down the search, I found one Jonathan Miller in that same area, who disappeared 15 years earlier, with some curious circumstances. First of all, he also went to the forest. He didn’t return, so the next day his friends started looking for him. When they found him two days later, he was unconscious, but still alive. They took him home, but two days later he died, without waking up once.”

“And you think he went into the artifact, got lost, and kept living inside for 15 years after his body died? Without aging?”

“Well, it sounds like it, doesn’t it? Hard to believe though.”

“Alright. I will play along: so, what if this is the case?”

“My assumption is that this is not a unique case, therefore we can expect dozens, or possibly hundreds of humans living over there. Most of them would be arriving from the previous centuries, making them more suitable for being able to live off the land and laying down the foundations for settlements. So, we can expect some form of civilization to exist.”

“Okay, let me play the devil’s advocate here: We have no idea how big this other world is. So, there are a dozen huts somewhere there, or even, a village of two… How do you plan to find them?”

“I have no idea. But, if there is a will there's a way.”

“Wow. Quoting me proverbs makes you look so smart.”

Lina couldn’t help herself, and stuck her tongue out. The Colonel laughed, and bowed his head slightly.

“Sorry for the sarcasm. I get your point, it is worth running this by the top brass. I will do that. You, on the other hand, should get ready for your first dive.”

“Sir, yes sir!” - she said with a mock salute, and started walking towards the technicians, holding the blanket like the finest cocktail dress. Throwing a look back above her shoulder she saw the Colonel grinning widely.

“I didn’t expect this from a soldier” - she murmured to no one in particular.

Then the life support team took over, and Lina was shown the capsule she will spend some time in. They explained - twice - what she needed to do, which was nothing more complicated than: “Go close and touch the core”. She had to drink a weird tasting liquid that was supposed to help her transition, and finally, she was standing a dozen feet away from the artifact, blanketless, shivering from the cold and the expectation. She felt like her feet were rooted in the floor, unable to take a step forward.

After a few seconds a warm, quiet voice break her fright.

“I know this is hard, Ms. Thompson. If you want to do it tomorrow, just let me know. There is no urgency.”

“It’s... fine… I’m fine. Just give me a second.”

“Take all the time you need.”

Encouraged by the kind words of the Colonel, she took a step forward, then kept on walking. As she approached, the “fluffy” part withdrew - as promised - and revealed the small, melon sized yellow sphere, that the technicians referred to as the core.

Raising her hand, she stopped once more, then put it on the surface.

“It feels like...”

And blackness.