Stress tensor

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"You're late, Freeman."

"Had a problem with the microwave in the canteen." Gordon muttered in response.

The scientist crossed his arms,
his labcoat blending in with the sterile white backdrop that was so common in Aether Paradise.

"You better not have blown it up again. Now get your suit on and get into the portal chamber. We've got a brand new sample to use today, and it's the purest specimen to date."

Gordon never forgot the sound that an Ultra Wormhole portal made when they ripped one open, and not just because he'd heard it over and over in these damned experiments. It was distinct, a low energetic crackle coupled with the visceral sound of rough fabric being torn by a vicious, blunt instrument. The hole yawned at him, it's bounds unsteady and shaking as the strings that made them up were stretched to their limits.

"Reading one-one-two... All right, Gordon." The team leader cawed through his earpiece. He was safe up in the monitoring office, peering down at him through the skinny windows that were perched high above Gordon. "Take the specimen and hoist it into the boundary of the portal."

The "specimen" whined and vibrated and clattered against the metal caliper had held it by. It was a Z-crystal, and largest and most misshapen he'd ever seen. What had started as a low resonant hum from it had been building to a high, strained, panicked screech...

"What are you waiting for? Hold the specimen in the portal. We've got to get a good reading on the maximum resonant--"

The calipers blasted out of Gordon's hand the moment it met the portal's membrane. A thunderous clap levelled him to the ground as the yawning blackness slammed shut around the crystal, leaving a strained singularity of crackling energy and chaos.

"Gordon! Get away from it!" "What happened?!" "We've lost stability! Shutting it down!"

Gordon pushed himself up. The dark crackling dot pulsed with a palpable force.

"Sh... Shutting it down..."

It pulsed again. Stronger. Black-purple arcs of dimensional tension scorched the ground at Gordon's feet.

"It, it's not shutting down!!"

Another violent throb of energy. The crackling dark lashed upward, smashing the upper windows of the monitoring station with a crash and a panicked shriek in Gordon's earpiece. He backpedaled, his back to the impenetrable blast doors of the test chamber, staring in panic at the singularity.

It roils, contracts, and for a breathless iota of time it seemed to freeze. Motionless.

And then his eyes dilated as it exploded outward, the walls and floor swallowed in its path--

Gordon wrenched himself up in bed, his panicked senses making him claw away the blanket that was still clinging to him. Those damn dreams again... He slumped forward and sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hand. That makes the third time this week...

[Video]

[Gordon looks like hell this morning. It's fairly obvious he hasn't been getting a lot of sleep lately. He sits at his desk, leaning towards a mug of coffee.]

Out of curiosity, has anyone here felt a sense of... unease, lately? I mean, beyond the fact that it's the holiday season and all the fun that comes with that.

Barring that, does anyone have any suggestions on how to sleep better?