From what Ethan could tell, the device was called a "Dimensional/Interdimensional Multiverse Explorer" device, or D.I.M.E.
His grandfather's journal was filled with hundreds of pages of encrypted logs documenting his experiments with the D.I.M.E, but Unfortunately there didn't seem to be any way to decipher the code.
All he had learned from a few hand-drawn diagrams was that the device could be broken down into three independent nodes labeled 'Projector', 'Control', and 'Tether', but there wasn't a whole lot else to go on. If he was going to figure out what his grandpa had been up to all those years, it was going to have to be by trial and error, but Ethan was determined to try; he loved his grandfather and he never accepted it when practically everyone wrote him off as crazy…
He palmed the object in his hand and idly adjusted the controls on the control node at random. He figured it didn't even matter what settings he used on the first trip, so long as there was a way to get back home, and he was pretty sure that the 'rtn' button on the projector node was intended to do just that. (Fingers Crossed.)
Once he was satisfied with the settings he turned the D.I.M.E on for the first time, instantly bringing to life its tiny status displays and blinking indicator lights. None of the indicators meant anything to him, of course, except for a simple countdown timer on the projector node... If his intuition was correct, when that countdown ended, he was going to see some serious shit…
Just then Ethan's roommate Gabe burst into the room with their friend Chuck and some random girl in tow.
"Hey, man. Chuck says you've got one of those kitchen mixer machines, and Stacy's gonna make us cookies, so… Is it cool if we borrow your thing?"
"Yeah." Ethan said quickly, with a nervous glance at the timer. "It's in the kitchen under the counter... In that cupboard where we keep the potatoes."
"What's that you got there?" Chuck asked. "Looks like some kind of crazy laser sword or something."
The countdown timer was getting dangerously close to zero, "It's nothing, really. Don't you guys wanna go make those cookies?"
Gabe gave a knowing smirk while the others crowded around, "Dude… Is that a FLESHlight?!"
Ethan turned bright red. He was almost out of time! "Just get out. PLEASE!" He shouted, but Gabe wasn't going to be deterred now that he was convinced he'd caught his roommate with a kinky weiner techno-tube from outer space.
"Lemme see it!" Gabe exclaimed with delight, holding out his hand.
"Come on, Gabe." Stacy said. "We should go. We shouldn't have barged in -"
Just then the counter expired, the device whirred to life with a low, resonating hum and the dimensional projector burst into a swirling vortex of shimmering colors that cast a kaleidoscope of otherworldly images around the entire room. An invisible force tugged at the group, gently lifting them into the air like ragdolls. With shocked expressions of fear and confusion, they each struggled helplessly to right themselves while the invisible force continued to draw them into the middle of its swirling vortex.
Ethan was the first to reach the center where he was crushed down to the size of a muon in a fraction of a second. The others screamed in panic as one by one they were each forced into the event horizon...
When they each emerged on the other side and fell limply to the ground, they were completely disoriented. A brief moment later, the light-show dissipated and the travelers slowly found themselves strewn around in an empty alley in the middle of a city.
"Wha-" Chuck struggled to speak.
"The fu-... Ethan? Dude… What?..." Gabe said, unable to do much better…
Ethan sat up and clutched at his head. It felt like his skull was going to explode. "I'm sorry. I was just trying..."
"Trying what?!" Stacy demanded. She already appeared relatively composed compared to the others. "What was that? Where are we? Why are my clothes all different?!"
The guys all looked her and themselves over.
"You weren't wearing that before?" Gabe asked, sounding confused. "Are my clothes different? What was I even wearing before?.."
None of the guys could remember what any of them had on earlier, but Stacy was adamant that her clothes were different. Now they were made of a much nicer material than she'd ever seen before, though she could confirm that the guys' clothes all looked the same…
"Who cares about clothes?!" Chuck yelled. "What just happened?!"
Ethan did his best to calm everyone down and explained what little he knew about the D.I.M.E and admitted that as far as he knew, they were in an entirely different dimension. At first they didn't believe his story, but there were striking features to their surroundings that were very difficult to explain by any other means. The alley was paved not with asphalt, but with some sort of unblemished gray acrylic material, and the alleyway was spotless like some kind of futuristic sterile setting from a movie set. Out in the street there were people walking around completely unimpeded by cars while autonomous pod vehicles carried people silently along on an elevated system of platforms.
"This is stupid." Gabe said. "There's no such thing as dimensional travel. We probably got drugged or something and took a bus into the city."
"What city? Look at this place!" Stacy said. "Have you ever seen a city so clean?"
Gabe looked around with a shrug. "Maybe it's Toronto." To which everyone rolled their eyes and groaned… "Well, I'm not just going to sit around doing nothing." He said, turning to leave the alley.
"Woah, hold on, Gabe. You can't just stroll into the open without knowing what's out there. If this really is a new dimension it could be dangerous! Haven't you ever watched 'The Twilight Sector'? This could be a world where the Nazi's won world war two, or a place where the punishment for sneezing is death!"
Gabe rolled his eyes. He wasn't into all that sci-fi stuff. "Whatever. I'm checking things out. Come on Stacy."
Stacy pulled back quietly, "I don't know, Gabe. Maybe we should lie low for a while and figu-".
"Screw that." He said with a scowl as he set off towards the road. "I'll go see what's what and come right back."