(author's note: the first paragraph just sets up the characters.)
Ally and Sarah had been best friends for years. The two had bonded over their shared love of television and learning. Granted they were in kindergarten at the time but their friendship stood the test of time. Years had passed and the two were now 16 with Ally having just celebrated her birthday a month ago. They now went to Greenwood High and were promising students. The two shared history, science, and P.E. so they would hold study groups. Ally was brunette with a medium build and striking blue eyes. She wore a blue headband, a blue sleeveless shirt, and shorts. Sarah was a bit taller than Ally with red hair and green eyes. She wore a grey shirt, jeans, and a red leather jacket.
Life has thrown some curve balls their way in recent years. Ally lost her dad in a car accident. It hadn't been anyone's fault, he'd hydroplaned on the road and hit a tree. It hit Ally hard as he had been rushing home from work. Not all the curve balls were bad like that though. For example, Sarah met her boyfriend. She and Billy had been going strong for the last couple of months. They had met at the football game. The two bumped into each other that night. Billy was a football player but he mostly sat in reserve. After a while, the two had begun to date. They found they had common interests besides football. About a month later his best friend and ally had become friends, although Sarah felt she wasn't admitting there may be more to the story. She saw the way Ally would look at Max sometimes, usually when he wasn't looking. Then whenever she saw him turn his head she would look away. Given how busy their lives had gotten it was hard to find time to hang out. Thankfully however an opportunity presented itself. Alley's mom had to stay late at the hospital. Being an ER doctor can do that to you. However, she said the two could study for their history test at Ally's.
Being an only child and not having pets meant the two could finally chill. Sarah had briefly thought about calling her boyfriend and his buddy Max over but didn't want her friend to think she was shallow. The two had set up in the dining room with them taking turns to ask questions written on cards. Ally read the final card out loud. "okay which colony was the first permanent English established settlement in the us" Ally asked. Sarah looked down at the dining room table and tried to remember. "first settlement... that's... Jamestown right?". Sarah was worried she had gotten it wrong. Ally nodded as she put the cards away for now. "hey, let's take a break" Ally said while scouting the card box away. "now what?" Sarah said. Alley got up and headed for the living room. "let's take a break. My mom bought a new TV remote so we can watch something for a bit before studying more".
Sarah remembered Ally telling how the previous one got ruined by a spilled drink. "sounds good to me" Sarah then saw Ally hold up a remote. It looked like a normal remote but not one from any brand she heard of. On its backside were the initials of T.M.S. whatever that stood for. "okay let's see what's on" Ally said as she powered it on. The TV powered on but showed nothing but static. "maybe the input is off?" Sarah said taking the remote out of Ally's hand. "that's weird, I could've sworn it hadn't been changed" Alley said. Sarah then pressed the input button only for the screen to turn into a blue swirl and begin to glow. Removing her thumb she saw the button she had pressed was called the 'input you'. She looked back up and was surprised to see Ally's form turn into a static-filled silhouette before being sucked into the TV. Before she could do anything the same thing happened to her.
After both girls were sucked in the TV went back to grey static before turning off. Sarah blinked and saw a dark void around her. "Sarah," Ally said drawing the girl's attention. Both seemed to float in the black nothingness. "where are we" Ally said. Tears welled up as she looked around. "I don't know. I saw you go into the TV and I'm with you now. so maybe..." Sarah stopped as she saw the black void change. From below their feet, static appeared and spread around them. Both girls felt themselves slowly drop and land on the static. "what's going on" Sarah said. Ally then pointed in front of them. They were shocked to see a loading bar that said 'updating software' ' As the bar moved the world around them became much more visible.
Sarah went to touch it out of curiosity, her hand went right through it causing it to ripple. Ally did the same thing and felt the static tickle her skin. "this can't be real?" Ally said pinching herself. This only resulted in a yelp as she felt pain. "okay it's real, Sarah can you please undo this" she said rubbing her arm. Her eyes widened seeing Sarah's other hand. "hey where's the remote? Looking down Sarah gasped to see her other hand was empty. She then realized a terrible thing. "the remote's gone!" she yelled. She had to have dropped it when they were dropping it down.
Ally grabbed her head realizing what that meant. "that thing put us here, we have to find it!". The two tried to find it to no avail. It was a grey remote with white buttons. Each button had black writing on it. So it was essentially camouflaged in the static environment. "Hey, this is starting to look familiar," Ally said. She saw objects protruding from the disappearing static. The vague shapes begin to take familiar objects. This of course was making it both harder and easier to look for where the remote might be. Color soon replaced the static as they searched the ground. Sarah soon realized where they were. "Ally we're in..."