The screams and sounds of pedaling awoke Jumoh, one of the members of the organization set to research the emergence of technology. Just beside where he lay was a structure that looked like a block wall wired with electrons. The further he moved toward it, the farther it went, and this made his curiosity heightened.

"Pele, come take a closer look, I've never seen something like this" he called out to Pele who was busy fixing an antenna. Pele stared at him puzzled, and waved his hands demanding an explanation when all he could see was a wall beside him. Jumoh pushed his hands into what seemed like a wall and his hands sank to Pele's amazement.

"This could be it," one of the members said, "but we don't know what lies on the other end, and what if it's a portal of no return?" He asked. Just before anyone would think of answering, they saw a trail at the other side from where they stood. They moved closer and noticed the footprint wasn't that of humans, more like that of an alien with six fingers. They traced the footprints and it landed them in a cave where they saw two figures that looked like humans but nothing like it. They spoke with a language that was not deciphered by any of them.

"This could just be something to distract us," One of the members said.

"Shhhh! Look!" One of the members pointed out, "They just mashed into one" they all looked amazed. It was at that moment they noticed the effect it had brought on their metallic instruments

"This could be the answer to our research," one of them says.

"There's more to this creatures and we need to figure out"

On the other end, the creature looked in all directions as if it smelled the presence of humans. Then turned around after a few minutes and walked into the wall.

"This must be a portal" they said as Pele brought out a device to test what it could be, but it only left them with sparkles and a signal that dictated the presence of electrical current.

"I don't know what this is, but it's safe, we can all go in together". Pele told them.

"I doubt if this would give us the result we are looking for, this might be a troll " One of the members said.

"Let's know what this is, we have not gotten any significant result from our past experiments, why not we try this?" One of them suggested.

While they were still contemplating on their next move the rift opened revealing a scene that made them speechless, a world just like theirs as two of the creatures stepped out and walked in the other direction of the cave. Soon the rift closed.

"It's another world in here, this is a portal" Jumoh whispered. "Let's get closer," he added. They walked into the rift which gave way and saw a world where the economy functioned like theirs and creatures that looked like humans , and technology that was less sophisticated, more like those of the 80s.

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Humans weren't strange to them. They know of their technological advancement except the fact that they had no ability to fuse like them.

"You're welcome, we've long expected humans in our little world and we have a deal that will be of benefit to us both" the leader of the pixelians said.

"Deal?" They asked in unison.

"We are building a pixelverse but our resources are limited. We fetch the few things that are within our reach daily but can't go farther in fear of humans like you, what you can do to us. In 1790, our world was larger than this until humans saw us as a threat. We had started building the pixelverse at that time but something remained missing, the advanced tool in technology"

"What would you offer us in return if we join the group to build this pixelverse?" They asked,

"A secret to our fusion. We look more like you and we are always surprised to know you lack the secret to what brings about fusion. The answer also solves the puzzle to your research. " The leader mentioned.

This deal sounded like a good one, the humanoid seemed friendly, if they wanted them dead they should have done that a long time.

"What do you know we are researching about?" They asked.

"The secret to deep-web technology , a secret that we have held for centuries. Let's work together for our benefit".

The deal looked tempting but the fear of betrayal still troubled them. They knew little about these creatures that looked more like humans but these creatures knew them better.

"We don't trust you. Give us any valuable item of yours to seal a contract. If you break this deal, you'll lose it"

They looked at each other doubting if to trust humans again.

This is in response to the Contest by scholar and scribe writing contest. The contest is still valid for 24 hours.