In the year 2037, the Earth had become so technologically advanced that most technological concepts had been realized, easing the lifestyle of most people living on Earth. Most chronic diseases and viruses mostly had permanent cures, and even cancers were treatable with the help of sophisticated technologies and research materials from ancient times.
After achieving this, scientists made a breakthrough in transportation with the creation of the first portal. These portals allowed intercontinental travel, as they were placed on significant earth nodes and coordinates, which scientists believed were all interconnected and were on the same wavelength of vibration or frequency.
The introduction of these earth node portals greatly reduced the dependence on carriers, which greatly reduced the carbon footprint in the atmosphere. Although all these reduced the major carbon footprint of the atmosphere, only a selected few were able to afford this mode of transport, as its reliability and low risk were almost a hundred percent. The price tags were on the higher side, which made those who couldn't afford it stick to the old way.
In 2040, scientists started exploring the depths of the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic, and Arctic oceans. During their explorations, they discovered several advanced ships, scrolls, corpses of what seemed to be mythological creatures, and metals that didn't exist on the periodic table. All these things were brought back to the surface world for study. In the course of their study, they discovered that magic truly existed on their plane two thousand three hundred years ago, and it was on a special frequency, but the industrial revolution period with its emissions and wars slowly distorted the magical frequency, making it difficult for the present-day earthling to sense that special frequency and use it in awakening their magical abilities.
This shocking discovery shocked most of the leading scientists who read about this lost knowledge. But some things became very clear to them: what science couldn't explain, they knew the only answer had to be magic when it came to certain intricate designs and molds. These scientists opted out to study the lost magical scrolls, putting a halt to their scientific findings and works.
After several days and weeks of studying magic, they got a grasp on the basics, which was how to control frequencies and different wavelengths. These scientists went back to their colleagues to show them the progress, which greatly impressed them. As in the nature of every human, they wanted more of that power, so they colluded with their fellow scientists to upscale the abilities of the portals—that is, to open the interdimensional rifts that were obscured from humanity over the years.
They then started working together on a new gateway constructed from the unknown metals they acquired. With the knowledge of science frequencies and the magical control and tuning of frequencies, they were able to create a more advanced gateway that made the old ones on the nodes of the earth pale in comparison.
After the construction, it was hidden from the public, and only a selected few elites knew of it. The scientist called it Project Contact Lens. This project was formulated to aid mankind in making contact with interdimensional beings who lived on Earth but were on a different plane of existence parallel to theirs.
Reading through the magical scrolls, the scientists who used magic opposed the idea, as they saw it to be a risky gamble, because from the scrolls they learned that the beings on the other side could be very violent and did not understand the language of humans, so a powerful being sealed them on the other side to protect the humans.
The science community of Earth was told to cast their votes on whether they should proceed with the project Contact Lens or not. Most of the scientists in the community getting to see the gateway portal of the project contact lens all agreed for the project to be carried on. While a few of the scientists getting to know the consequences disagreed on the project, although they disagreed, they still helped in the control and operation of Contact Lens. With in-house testing and experiments, Project Contact Lens seemed to show great potential with almost no to negligible variables during the times it was being tested.
The science community officially posted on its webpage that the place and time project contact lens would be launched in Croatia for the general public to witness. The people of Earth were all eager to witness this milestone that humanity achieved; tickets were being sold for people to get a spot and have a firsthand experience.
On September 20, 2041, the big day of the project contact lens was set to be launched for the whole world to witness. At 2:35 am, the disassembled parts of the device were all transported in ten large aircraft carriers to the launch site together with the engineers, scientists, and magicians. They began working on assembling the parts of the device and tested it before the main event commenced. Five months before the event, the website posted a search for a hundred volunteers across the world who would venture into the opened dimensional rift leading to the other side. The hundred people were all camped in a luxurious underground bunker where they received training on the mission.
The volunteers were all dressed in protective gear and driven to the site an hour before the main event started. Upon reaching their destination, they looked through the window of the bus, and they could see a massive halo erected from the ground into the skies; it stood four hundred feet tall and 152.4 m wide. With its shiny metallic surface, it stood out from every structure within a thousand-meter radius. The magicians and scientists checked if everything was set and ready for the launch.
At 8:30 am people started trooping in to find a place to sit because the event was set to kick off in an hour. Before the huge halo, a platform was mounted on which the elites and the head researchers were all seated. A skinny old man walked in front of the researchers and scientists with a small microphone attached to the collar of his lab coat. He began addressing the crowd by saying, "Good morning, everyone. I am Prof. Emerik, and we have gathered today to witness another milestone in the history of humanity. Today we will have a live feed from the cameras installed on the helmets of our volunteers." Prof. Emerik clapped his hands, and the engineers and technicians turned on the device.
The moment the device was turned on, the ground vibrated for a brief moment and stopped, and a water screen appeared within the large halo. The water screen became tranquil, and the scientist gave the go-ahead to the volunteers to step through the water screen after monitoring the energy levels of the portal.