Mom arrived at dad's office about 20 minutes later; she quickly found a parking spot and got everyone out of the car. We met dad at a side entrance a few minutes later; he looked as if he was excited about something. With a smile, Eric said, "Morning dad; so, uh, what are we doing here?"
"Follow me and I'll show you." Smiling, Dad said, "It's going to blow your mind."
We quietly followed dad inside the building; walking down a series of hallways until we came to a closed door. Seeing the signs warning of radiation, Aaron said, "Should we be wearing protection in there?"
"Don't worry; any radiation in there is well below dangerous levels."
Getting impatient, Eric said, "Are you ever going to tell us why we're here so early in the morning?"
"I guess now is as good a time as ever." Smiling, Dad said, "For the last year, among other projects, my team and I have been working on a device that lets us communicate with people in a parallel universe."
Eric's curiosity piqued, he said, "Did you get it to work?"
"You bet we did; we made contact with another universe where things are nearly identical to our own; save for some minor differences." Pausing, Dad said, "I brought you here; because I've arranged with the version of me in the alternate universe to have our two families meet each other."
Aaron's interest was piqued when he heard that. Looking at Dad, he said, "You mean we can actually talk to the versions of us from the other universe?"
"That's right." Nodding, Dad said, "Come on inside; they're about to make the connection."
Everyone followed dad inside the room to find that a room situated in the middle with what looked to be power generators around it. Eric noticed a large screen on the outside of the room; currently filled with static but the image seemed to be clearing up.
The group followed dad over to the monitor; watching as he waved to some people in hard hats on the level above them. By the time they'd arrived at the monitor, the static had disappeared and coalesced into an image of the other side; complete with another version of Eric's parents.
But it was what Eric saw next that made him think Dad had contacted the wrong universe. Instead of seeing two boys on the screen, he saw two girls; one of whom was dressed in capris and a matching top while the other was dressed in a rather revealing top and skirt.