Earlier that day, at the Hololive ID Headquarters, Jakarta
Meanwhile, the ID branch had been conducting their own experiments...
The ID branch building was a marvel of engineering and, frankly, over-engineering. What had started as a standard idol agency headquarters had, through a series of unusual circumstances involving Kaela's obsession with efficiency and Moona's architectural ambitions, evolved into what could only be described as a mega-complex.
The building stood at an impressive sixty stories tall, but that was just the above-ground portion. The underground levels went down at least another twenty floors, housing everything from advanced manufacturing facilities to what was essentially a small military armory. The ID branch had somehow, almost accidentally, transformed from an idol agency into something that resembled a construction company with idol activities as a side hustle.
On the roof of this magnificent structure, Kaela Kovalskia and Moona Hoshinova stood before their latest project. It was a massive portal frame, easily fifty feet tall and thirty feet wide, constructed from materials that seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly quality. The frame was covered in intricate circuitry, glowing runes, and what appeared to be crystallized moonlight—Moona's specialty.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ayunda Risu asked, standing a safe distance away with a clipboard. She was here in her capacity as "voice of reason," a role she'd reluctantly accepted after one too many ID projects had gone sideways.
"Of course it'll work," Kaela replied, not looking up from where she was making final adjustments to a control panel. The blacksmith's calm confidence was either reassuring or terrifying, depending on your perspective. "I've triple-checked all the calculations."
"Triple-checked?" Risu raised an eyebrow. "That's not like you. Usually you're at, what, twelve-checks?"
"I wanted to finish before dinner," Kaela explained simply.
Pavolia Reine stood nearby in her business attire, holding her own clipboard. The elegant peafowl had insisted on being present for the activation, citing "proper documentation" as her reason. Vestia Zeta, the secret agent, was also there, ostensibly for security but mostly because she was curious.
"So explain to me again," Zeta said, leaning against one of the portal's support structures, "why exactly do we need a portal to a Minecraft-like dimension?"
Kaela finally looked up, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "Resource gathering. The ID branch has contracts with multiple idol agencies across the world. Everyone wants custom equipment, modifications to their buildings, special effects for their streams. We're running out of conventional materials."
"And a portal to a sandbox dimension solves this how?" Risu asked.
Moona stepped forward to explain, her purple eyes gleaming with enthusiasm. "Sandbox worlds operate on different physical principles. Resources regenerate, the laws of physics are more... flexible, and most importantly, they're uninhabited. We can gather materials without ethical concerns about displaced populations or environmental damage."
"We've already done proof-of-concept tests with smaller portals," Kaela added. "This is just scaling up. With a portal this size, we can bring through larger quantities of materials, even vehicles for transport."
"And the safety measures?" Reine asked, her pen poised over her clipboard.
"Multiple redundancies," Kaela assured her. "Emergency shutdown protocols, stabilization fields, and if something goes really wrong, Moona can collapse the portal using her moon powers."
Moona nodded in confirmation. "I've woven my own energy into the portal's structure. I can sever the connection instantly if needed."
"Alright then," Risu said, making a note on her clipboard. "Anya should be here any minute with the final safety inspection sign-off, and then we can proceed."
As if summoned by her words, Anya Melfissa emerged from the rooftop access door. The ancient keris—an Indonesian wavy-bladed dagger given human form—approached with her characteristic quiet grace.
"I've completed the inspection of the lower levels," Anya reported in her soft voice. "All structural supports are reinforced. The building can handle the energy output."
"Perfect," Kaela said, straightening up. "Moona, are we ready?"
Moona moved to her position at the main control panel, her hands hovering over a series of crystalline switches. "Ready. Initiating power-up sequence on your mark."
"Wait," Zeta said suddenly, squinting at something in the distance. "Is that..."
A pigeon was flying toward them. Not unusual in itself—they were on a rooftop in Jakarta, after all. But this particular pigeon seemed to be flying erratically, as if disoriented or confused.
"It's fine," Kaela said dismissively. "It'll fly around us."
It did not fly around them.
The pigeon, whether through poor navigation skills, bad luck, or cosmic malevolence, flew directly into one of the portal's antenna arrays. The impact wasn't hard enough to hurt the bird, which immediately veered off, squawking indignantly. But the antenna was now bent at an odd angle.
"That's... probably fine," Moona said uncertainly.
The pigeon, still disoriented from its collision, proceeded to fly directly into one of the large glass panels that surrounded the rooftop observation area.
SMACK.
The bird bounced off, somehow still flying, and careened wildly across the rooftop.
"Okay, that's just impressive survival instinct," Zeta commented.
The pigeon, in its panicked flight, crashed directly into a small table that had been set up for the activation ceremony. On this table was a congratulatory cake that Reine had ordered to celebrate the successful portal activation.
The pigeon hit the cake, which launched into the air.
"NO!" Reine cried out, watching in horror as her perfectly decorated cake flipped through the air.
The cake, following a trajectory that seemed almost deliberately calculated for maximum chaos, landed directly on a cup of coffee that Moona had set down near the control panel.
The coffee cup tipped over.
Hot coffee spilled directly onto the control panel.
"Everybody BACK!" Kaela shouted, but it was too late.
The control panel sparked, crackled, and then began to emit an ominous high-pitched whine. The portal frame lit up, energy arcing between its various components. But the energy signature was all wrong—instead of the stable, controlled activation they'd planned, this was wild and chaotic.
"Emergency shutdown!" Moona called out, reaching for the manual override.
But the coffee had fried the controls. The override wasn't responding.
"Kaela!" Risu shouted over the growing noise.
"I'm on it!" Kaela was already running to the backup control station, her fingers flying over the keyboards.
The portal's frame was now glowing bright purple, and the air in the center of the frame was beginning to ripple and tear. But the tear wasn't clean—it was jagged and unstable, and the energy readings were spiking far beyond safe levels.
"That's not pointing to a sandbox dimension!" Moona said, her eyes wide as she read the energy signature. "Those frequencies are all wrong!"
"Then where is it pointing to?" Zeta demanded.
A portal ripped open in the air.
For a moment, everyone froze, staring at what lay beyond. It wasn't the colorful, blocky world of a Minecraft-like dimension. Instead, they saw a dark, ruined cityscape under a gray sky. Buildings crumbled and broken. Streets filled with abandoned vehicles.
And shambling figures. Lots and lots of shambling figures.
"Are those..." Anya began.
"ZOMBIES!" Risu shrieked as the first undead figure stumbled through the portal.
Reine reacted instantly. Her peafowl heritage wasn't just for show—she was a trained mage of considerable power. She raised her hands, and brilliant projections of light burst forth, taking the form of armored peacock soldiers. The constructs were beautiful, gleaming with iridescent light, and they immediately engaged the zombies that were beginning to pour through the portal.
"Kaela, shut it down!" Moona shouted.
"I'm trying!" Kaela's fingers were a blur on the keyboard. "The system's not responding! The coffee damaged the failsafes!"
More zombies were coming through. Reine's light constructs were cutting them down efficiently, but they were starting to be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
"We need to contain this before it spreads to the building!" Zeta said, pulling out a combat knife from seemingly nowhere. As a secret agent, she was always armed.
But then the portal began to pulse, and the energy readings went critical.
"It's going to explode!" Moona warned.
"Not explode," Kaela corrected grimly. "Multiply. The energy feedback is going to create additional portals!"
As if to confirm her words, space began tearing open in multiple locations around the rooftop. One, two, five, then ten portals ripped open, all showing the same zombie-infested wasteland.
Zombies began pouring through every opening.
"We can't fight this many!" Reine said, her light constructs starting to flicker as she strained to maintain so many at once.
"We need to evacuate!" Zeta called out.
"If we evacuate, the zombies will spread throughout Jakarta!" Anya said, her form beginning to shift. As a sentient weapon, she could transform fully into her keris form, but she was more effective in combat if she maintained a hybrid state. Her hands elongated into gleaming blades.
"Then we don't evacuate," Moona said, her voice taking on an otherworldly quality as her eyes began to glow with purple light. "We relocate."
"What?" Risu turned to her.
"We take the building with us!" Moona explained rapidly. "My moon powers can manipulate space. Risu, your forest magic can create a barrier. Together we can create a containment field around the entire building and transport it!"
"Transport it where?" Risu demanded, even as her hands began to glow with green light.
"To wherever those portals lead!" Moona pointed at the zombie dimension. "We can't let the zombies reach Earth—or Alter Earth, or whatever we're calling our version. But if we go TO them, we contain the problem!"
"That's insane!" Zeta protested.
"You have a better idea?" Kaela asked, still frantically typing. "Because I'm fresh out!"
Anya moved to join Moona and Risu. "I can contribute. My essence is that of a sacred weapon. I can help stabilize the barrier."
The zombies were getting closer. More portals were opening. They were running out of time.
"Do it!" Reine commanded, her light constructs forming a defensive perimeter.
Moona didn't need to be told twice. She raised her hands, and purple moonlight exploded from her body, flowing outward in a massive wave. Risu joined her, green forest energy intertwining with the purple light. Anya drove her blade-hands into the rooftop, and silvery light erupted from the points of contact, joining the growing energy field.
The three powers—moon, forest, and sacred weapon—merged and expanded, forming a dome of shimmering light that grew larger and larger, encompassing the entire rooftop, then the upper floors, then the middle floors, then spreading down and down until the entire sixty-story building (plus the twenty underground levels) was encased in a bubble of magical energy.
Inside the bubble were the ID members and all the zombies that had already come through the portals.
"Close the portals!" Moona shouted, straining with effort.
Kaela finally managed to activate an emergency protocol. The original portal frame exploded in a shower of sparks, and the multiple tears in space began to seal.
"Now!" Moona commanded. "Anya, Risu, with me!"
The three of them poured power into the dome, and reality itself seemed to twist. The rooftop, the building, the very ground beneath them began to phase out of existence.
In Jakarta, from the perspective of anyone who might have been watching, the Hololive ID headquarters simply vanished in a flash of purple, green, and silver light.