The Laptop - Ch.33 - Doorway to Elsewhere (Patreon)

** note: this chapter marks the beginning of Book 2, and it picks up immediately after Book 1 left off **

"What do you mean, adventure?" Gwyneth asked with a confused frown. "You're not making any sense Lisa."

Chelsea sounded just as confused as she added, "You woke us up in the middle of the night to go camping? We've all got classes in a few hours. And we've got finals coming up soon. We can't drop everything and run off for no reason. So if it's not my dad then what's wrong? What's got you so freaked out?"

I was only half dressed as I moved to my closet door. Wearing nothing but panties and a pair of black jeans I gave them a very abbreviated explanation to try and get them moving. "I'll go into more details later ok? Right now the most important thing you need to know is if we're still here when the sun comes up we're going to die. We need to get out of this realm as fast as we can."

Both my partners' eyes widened in surprise and the catgirl's ears folded back in alarm as my words sank in.

"We're going to a place called Daearen," I continued. "Think of it as a swords and sorcery type of world, which means Gwen your magic will work there. And demi-humans are normal there, so Chels you'll fit in just fine."

"Holy shit," Gwyneth mumbled to herself. Then she asked, "So we're going to some sort of medieval fantasy world? I guess that means no tech, definitely no computers or phones."

I replied, "Sort of? It's complicated and we really don't have time to go into all those details right now. So please can you two just get ready like I asked?"

Chelsea sounded serious now too as she responded, "Ok but we need more information so we know what to bring. You said to prepare for camping, what's the climate going to be like? Summer? Winter? Something in between?"

"I've been camping before," she added as her tail swished back and forth behind her, "And I have a sleeping bag but I don't have a tent. Do you two have sleeping bags? If not then you'll want to pack blankets or a duvet. Something warm and comfy, but not too heavy or bulky."

She continued, "What about food? And water? Are we going to end up in remote wilderness, or will we have access to stores? What about money? I doubt we can use our bank cards or credit cards, and our cash probably won't be any good there either."

I sighed and ran a hand over my forehead. "Those are some good practical questions Chels. I don't have all the answers yet, but I'm bringing the pink laptop with me so we should be able to get our hands on some mundane supplies after we get there. Same with local currency."

"Right now the main thing is to get packed and get ourselves out of here before it's too late," I added. "So like I said, Gwen grab all your mage stuff and anything else you think you'll need. Chels, same thing. Pack for camping. We'll meet in the kitchen to figure out what food to bring. Ok?"

"Alright Lisa," my best friend agreed, while Chelsea just nodded.

The two of them hurried out of my bedroom and up the stairs, while I went back into my closet to finish getting dressed. I picked clothes that I knew would be comfy but fairly rugged, so in addition to the jeans I went with a sports bra and a cotton t-shirt. I had plenty of options for footwear, but most of them weren't going to be any good where we were going. That left sneakers and boots, and for now I went with a pair of low-heeled ankle boots.

I'd only been camping once, about four years ago when Gwen and I spent a half year in the boy scouts together. I had no idea what happened to the sleeping bag I used back then, but it was long gone. The duvet on my bed was too big and unwieldy, but I had a blanket I could roll up and tie to the outside of my backpack. First I dumped out all my school books and the mundane laptop onto my desk to empty it out so I could start stuffing it with more clothes.

A pair of sneakers, some socks and panties, bras, leggings, more tees, and a jacket all went into the pack. I grabbed my hoodie too, and put it on rather than pack it away. More out of habit than anything else I also made sure to grab my phone and my wallet and keys, all that got stuffed into my backpack's side pockets. I even grabbed my phone charger, again out of habit.

Finally I ducked into my washroom and rounded up my tooth brush, a tube of paste, hair brush, soap, towel, and a bunch of hair ties. By that point my little backpack was absolutely stuffed, so I finally closed it up. Then with that in my left hand and the pink laptop in my right I hurried upstairs to meet my partners in the kitchen.

Chels and Gwen were both still in their rooms getting packed, so I left the laptop and my backpack on the kitchen table then moved to the cupboard to start gathering food for our trip. Before long I had a few cans of ravioli and a couple cans of meat stew lined up on the counter, along with some tins of tuna. I was focusing on stuff like that since it didn't need a fridge, but it was a very small amount of food for three people.

"Hey Lisa," Chelsea greeted me as she came into the kitchen. Her ears were angled forward as she added, "Good idea, but cans are bulky and heavy."

She was dressed in faded blue jeans that had a slit at the back for her tail, which was slowly swishing back and forth behind her. She also wore a pair of white sneakers, a pink t-shirt, and a dark grey hoodie. She was lugging a big bulky backpack in one hand, although it only looked to be about half full. And in her other hand she was carrying a full package of toilet paper.

Gwyneth followed behind her, and like I suggested the tall attractive elf was in her mage outfit complete with the wide-brimmed black felt hat. She had her backpack in one hand and her staff in the other.

I sighed, "I know the cans are heavy but they don't need to be refrigerated. They don't even need to be cooked, if we get desperate you can eat this stuff cold."

Chels and Gwen both put their packs next to mine on the table, then Chelsea moved to join me by the pantry.

"Speaking of cold, did you think to grab matches or a lighter?" the little catgirl asked. "And a can opener?"

I grimaced, "Crap. I'll find the can opener. I don't even know if we have matches or a lighter though."

Gwen spoke up, "If you're right about magic then starting fires won't be a problem. That's just a simple cantrip."

"And speaking of bulky, do we really need a dozen rolls of toilet paper?" I asked as I dug the can opener out of one of the kitchen drawers.

"You girls will thank me for the TP the first time you need to go in the woods," Chels replied. "How much of it we'll need depends how long this trip's going to take. You forgot to mention that Lisa, how long can we expect to be gone for?"

"We'll need cutlery too by the way. And a cooking pot, and some bowls and cups," she added as she pulled a bag of rice from the cupboard.

"And maybe you can elaborate on what we're running from?" Gwen added. "I know you said we'll die if we hang around, but what's coming for us? And why? And how do you know about it?"

I cringed slightly as I stared at Chelsea for another couple seconds. I hadn't even thought about the lack of modern plumbing we'd probably be dealing with. Then as I pulled open the cutlery drawer I replied, "Ok I'll try and make this quick, but please save any more questions until we're not facing possible imminent death."

"I finally got in touch with Annie after you two fell asleep," I explained as I grabbed some spoons and forks and knives. "She warned me that there was an automated routine looking for unauthorized SysAdmins. If it finds me, it'll delete me. And it'll delete both of you as well, because you're tied to me. The scanning routine follows the rising sun, which is why we have to be out of here before dawn."

I added some bowls to the growing pile of stuff on the kitchen counter as I continued, "Annie said we need to be out of this realm before then, and she suggested we go to Daearen since all three of us should fit in. As for how long, she said it might be ok to return after a few days? But it could also take a couple months."

"Months?!" Chelsea gasped. "So in other words, we're all dropping out of school right before our exams. You two are only losing your first year, but I'm almost three years into my program. That's a lot to walk away from."

I sighed, "I'm sorry Chels. I'm sure we can fix it when come back, but for now we need to focus on not dying."

"And this is too much stuff," I added as I gestured at everything we had stacked up on the kitchen counter.

In addition to the canned food and the dishes Chelsea had added a large pot and a lid, two loafs of bread, jars of peanut butter, jam, and honey. There were also a couple packages of sandwich meat from the fridge, along with bacon, butter, and a dozen bottles of spring water. There was even a jar of instant coffee, a box of tea bags, and a bag of sugar.

Gwen agreed, "We have no way to carry all this stuff. You're the only one with a full-sized backpack, mine and Lisa's are just for carrying books and things."

Chels gestured at the bottom shelf in the cupboard, "Start stuffing things into shopping bags. Right now the priority is to haul all this stuff to wherever we're going, but it doesn't have to be comfortable."

"I'm assuming you have a way to get us to this Planet Darren place?" she added as she looked to me. "Once we're safe over there we can try and figure out a better way to carry everything."

I nodded as I grabbed a handful of shopping bags, "Good thinking."

"And yes I'll open a gateway with the laptop," I explained as the three of us started loading up the bags. "The realm is called Daearen, as in 'Dah-ear-en'. I think that translates to 'earth' or 'land' in their old language."

Chels frowned, "That's another thing. Will we be able to speak the language when we get there?"

"I might have a spell for that," Gwen responded. "Although I think it only works for me. I can act as translator though."

I sighed, "Let's just worry about getting there first, ok? We can deal with everything else after we're safe."

Chelsea's ears were folded back again and her tail was down low as she nodded nodded, "Ok Lisa."

It took us another couple minutes to get all the food and supplies bagged, and to make sure none of the bags were too bulky or heavy. Chels took another half minute to load some more stuff into the empty space in her backpack, then we turned out all the lights before hauling everything back downstairs to my bedroom. Although none of us said it, it seemed like we all agreed that's where we'd be leaving this world.

"Maybe we should all use the washroom before we go?" Chelsea suggested once we were downstairs. "May as well take advantage of indoor plumbing while we can."

She had a point, so we all took turns visiting my ensuite. Then we carefully gathered up all the gear and supplies. Gwen ended up wearing the big backpack since it was too bulky for the little catgirl, while Chels took Gwyneth's pack. I had mine on my back as I opened up the laptop and launched the Expeditions app.

"We'll want to go through together, like at the same time. And we need to do it in one trip," I added. "No going back and forth through the gateway."

Chels asked, "Do we have to hold hands or something? To make sure we don't get lost or separated?"

I hesitated, "I don't actually know? Maybe not, but it's probably a good idea. We definitely don't want to get separated."

"How are we going to do this with all the grocery bags?" Gwen frowned. "I'm assuming you'll be carrying your laptop, and I've got my staff. So how are we going to manage more than a half dozen bags and hold hands at the same time?"

Chelsea rolled her eyes, "Stick your hands through the bag handles so they're hanging off your wrists. Then we can all hold hands, and you can hold your staff."

"Oh right," the cute mage grimaced.

I looked back and forth at the two of them then asked, "Are we all set then? If so, I'm ready to open the gateway."

"Ready," Chelsea replied, while her tail flicked back and forth behind her.

Gwen took a deep breath then nodded, "Yeah. I think I'm ready."

"Then here goes," I said as I tapped the keyboard.

My companions were both watching me while I kept my eyes on the laptop. I didn't actually know what to expect, but an alert on the screen indicated it was establishing a connection to the other realm. The blue and yellow LEDs both flickered a couple times, then they both came on and stayed on. At the same time the doorway to my ensuite bathroom seemed to shimmer and warp.

"Oh wow!" the little catgirl gasped, as her ears folded back and her tail puffed up a bit.

All three of us ended up staring as reality seemed to tear open, leaving a doorway-shaped hole where my bathroom used to be. The surface was an opaque shimmering swirling glow, that was almost hard to look at. I was positive the portal was something normal people simply weren't meant to perceive. The laptop screen said this was our gateway though, fully open and stable. All we had to do was go through it.

I picked up the little pink computer as I got to my feet and announced, "That's it. Let's load up all the bags, link hands, and go."

A few seconds later I had a couple shopping bags hanging off each wrist, while my left hand held tight onto Chelsea's right. Gwen stood on the other side of the little catgirl, and they were holding hands too. Finally, my friend clutched her magic staff in her left hand, while I had a tight grip on the laptop in my right. And all three of us were loaded down with packs and bags.

"Let's go on three," I suggested. "One."

We all moved closer to the gateway.

"Two."

Both Gwen and Chelsea closed their eyes as the three of us all braced ourselves.

"Three!"

We stepped forward together, through the swirling light and into another world.