Mila sighed as she browsed through the menu. So many choices, and she was feeling a bit adventurous today. She scrolled down; her attention grabbed by a dancing bubble on the screen.

“Hmm, Bubble Tea?” She mused, tapping on the listing. “Sounds interesting, wonder what it is.” An image of the beverage appeared, showing a milky white drink with silvery pearls in the bottom.

“Ooo… tapioca balls, and zero calories? I’ve got to try this!” She clicked on the screen again, ordering the code for her drink.

“Might as well try out the Tele-Refill too, maybe this will satisfy my sweet tooth for a bit!” She giggled, grabbing the receipt from the kiosk and heading over to wait for her drink. Several others milled about the coffee shop, carrying the special Tele-Refill cups with them. Little antennas on the bottom of the cups blinked each time they refilled, cutting down on the

“Order number 416F-D157, your Tele-Refill cup is ready!” A chipper voice from behind the counter called out. Mila perked up, that was her drink! She shuffled over to the barista, who handed her a Tele-Refill cup with a comical smile on her face.

“Just push the button on the bottom to refill! It’ll work until you set it down!” The barista’s voice was so gleeful that Mila wondered if it was authentic, or just part of the act for the job. The thought vanished from her mind as she grabbed the cup and pushed the button on the bottom. She could feel the weight increase as the Tele-Refill kicked in, filling up with bubble tea. The little pearls made a soft tapping sound as they settled in, and the filling stopped just before the cup was full.

Mila raised the straw to her lips and took a quick sip. Her eyes widened as the sweet milk tea washed across her tongue, followed by a trio of small orbs. The pearls fit up the straw! Mila gently pushed one between her teeth and slowly bit down. The pearl distorted slightly under the pressure of her molars, then suddenly burst open. A new wave of flavor coated her taste buds, and Mila could feel the bumpy texture of the pearl’s contents dribble across her tongue. This bubble tea was delicious! She smiled as she sauntered out of the coffee shop, straw to her lips as she slurped down another mouthful of tea.

********

“Hey, Ralph,” Mick called into the radio on his shoulder. “Looks like the circuit in Departure Tube 3 is acting up again. Can you check it out? Over.” He looked at the long row of chrome orbs lined up on the single rail leading to the departure tubes. The rail split below the terminal where Mick was seated, a red flashing X on one of the Tele-Pod status screens in front of him. Each orb, or pod, had one or two occupants inside, visible through the front canopy of the pod. Mick could tell from his vantage point that the pod riders were not happy with the delay, and the last thing he wanted was to hear from his supervisor about another delay.

The radio crackled in Mick’s ear. He winced at the sound and dialed the volume down a bit as Ralph responded.

“Circuit reset, Mick. You ready for the initialization code, over?”

Mick tapped on the blinking X, then gestured a few times to pull up the appropriate screen. The X stopped flashing and turned blue, a prompt appearing in front of the icon.

“Yeah, go ahead, over.”

“Alright, it’s 416F, dash T157”, over.”

Mick keyed in the code, then pressed enter. The code flashed onscreen for a moment, 416F-D157. Mick quickly tapped the confirmation button, eager to get the growing line of pods into the tubes. He rolled back in his chair as he glanced over at the teleportation tubes. The light from Tube 3 flickered once, then a steady orange glow poured out of the tube.

“Thanks, Ralph. Tube 3 is back online, over.”

The radio crackled again as Ralph replied, his voice barely audible over the hum of the pods rolling forward again. He sighed, hoping nobody had complained this time.

********

Mila rounded the corner to her street as she finished off the last sip of her tea. The sweet drink had been better than she anticipated. She was so glad she had chosen the Tele-Refill option for this one, it was so good! Her finger wandered to the bottom of the cup, ordering a refill with a quick tap of a button. The cup hummed; a faint orange glow visible through the straw if Mila had cared to look. She could feel the cup refilling though, the weight in her hand increased as it worked. Suddenly, the cup chirped, and a small voice spoke from a speaker below.

“Warning, drink ingredient: ‘tapioca pearls’, depleted. Please press the refill button to try again.”

Mila sighed; the tapioca was the best part! She quickly clicked the button a couple more times, craving more of the small pearly treats. The cup chirped twice, then spoke again.

“Reconnecting, new input detected. Standby...refilling.”

The cup hummed again, followed by the gentle tapping of the pearls falling into the cup. It seemed slower this time, only one or two entering at a time. Mila shrugged, figuring the refill must be catching up since it was empty only a moment ago. She raised the drink back to her lips and drew another sip up to her mouth. A gentle sigh of satisfaction rippled through her mouth as she tasted the sweet tea once more.

********

Emily looked down at the pod’s dashboard and pressed the blinking green “Confirm” below her destination. The screen chirped twice in response, followed by a quick animation showing the pod blinking across the screen. Emily turned her attention back to her phone, leaning back slightly as the pod gently rolled forward in the line. “About time,” she muttered to herself. The electrical whir of Tube 3 hummed a bit louder as she approached. The faint orange glow from the event horizon trickled through the pod’s canopy, casting horizontal shadows across the back of the compartment.

The dashboard chirped to life once more, a friendly robotic voice indicating for Emily should upright and head back for the jump. She leaned her head against the back of the chair as instructed and watched as the pod breached the edge of the portal. The pod lurched forward as the gravity well within the portal took over, and the teleportation began. It was almost instantaneous, the lurch through was the only notable event before it was over. The glow of the other end of the portal quickly faded, replaced by a dark grey blanket of color.

Emily was immediately annoyed. First the delay at the departure dock, and now this? This obviously wasn’t the downtown arrival dock. The rows of lights that lined the arrival docks were nowhere to be seen, and the few pods she could see ahead of her weren’t lined up like they should be. Where the hell had she been sent, where the docks were designed this poorly? It was also eerily quiet; the bustle of a pod dock was notably absent. The dashboard in front of her was useless, simply flashing a message, “Destination not found”, over and over. She tapped the screen several times, frustrated that all it seemed to do was beep in response to her touch.

Something caused the pod to sway, triggering the safety restraints on Emily’s seat to tighten and pull her into place. Her eyes widened as she slowly realized why the world outside her pod looked so burry, she was underwater! Another pod floated past her, missing her canopy by mere inches. Emily saw the occupants inside, clearly terrified and trying to unlock the door on the back of their pod. The pod stopped moving, then began to pull away from Emily, headed back towards wherever it came from. The riders seemed hysterical now, and Emily swore she could barely hear their screams through the thick canopy walls for just a second before they disappeared. Then she felt it too, something was pulling her pod backwards!

Emily reached for the emergency release on her seatbelt, the straps over her shoulders popping loose with a soft hiss. She stood up, her footing a bit shaky as the pod seemed to list to the side slightly. There was no way she was on the rail; pods were always supposed to be upright. She pushed her face against the glass, trying to see where the other pod went, or where her pod was heading. Below her, several more pods floated around. Emily could see others inside them, some still seated while others tried to look around like her or open the door like the first couple had.

She let out a scream as her pod lurched backwards, a surge of pain shooting through her waist as she slammed into the dashboard. The murky water around her clouded her view of the other pods as she was pulled away. The motion shifted from backwards, to upwards. A tube shot into view around Emily’s pod as it was pulled up by some unseen force. Emily’s heart rose, she was being rescued!

********

Mila slurped on her bubble tea as she watched TV. Her arm was growing tired from holding her cup for so long though. She leaned forward to set the cup down but remembered the words of the barista from earlier.

“If I set it down, no more refills,” she pouted, wanting to enjoy the drink for as long as possible. Thinking for a moment, she leaned back slightly on the couch, then pulled the neckline of her shirt down slightly. The Tele-Refill cup nestled perfectly between her ample breasts, the straining fabric of her shirt pushing her boobs together just enough to hold the cup in place. Mila shook her hands in glee, it worked! Now she could relax her arm for a bit without having to give up her drink refills!

She smiled and took another long sip, drawing a dozen pearls into her mouth. Some of the pearls she chose to bite down and split open, but a few were errantly swallowed down with the tea. Mila didn’t mind, the bubbles went down easily enough, and the firm texture felt pleasant all the way down her throat. She could feel the bubbles sitting in her stomach, slowly piling up like they did when her cup refilled.

********

Emily shrieked as her pod flew out of the tube that she believed was her savior. The new area surrounding her was dark, save for bits of light that trickled in from somewhere behind her. But what dim lighting was available painted a terrifying scene for Emily. The landscape was all red, with two rows of massive white pillars on either side. Emily screamed in horror as she realized they weren’t pillars, but teeth. Massive teeth, each one at least the size of her pod. She didn’t have long to admire the scenery though, as the ground beneath her quickly shifted, pulling her and several other pods deeper into the cavernous maw.

One pod to Emily’s left was pushed up between the teeth. She could see the lone rider pounding on the canopy for a few seconds, then the upper row of molars descended. The pod buckled in an instant, shards of debris splintering in all directions. The rider was a doomed, there was no way to survive that. Emily’s blood turned to ice as the realization hit her, she was nothing but food now, just like that other pod. Her pod lurched forward, carried in a river of milky liquid that sloshed around her and a few other pods. It was pulling her deeper, towards the dark abyss of the throat.

There was a momentary feeling of weightlessness as Emily and her pod were tossed backwards towards the waiting gullet. She stumbled to maintain her balance as another pod bumped against hers, the pulsing esophagus holding the two pods together. It was like an ominous elevator ride, straight down to the pits of hell. The pod in front of her was vacant, the door open and the interior partially filled with the cloudy water that surrounded the pods. Emily briefly wondered where those riders were, but her morbid pondering was cut short as the pod dropped away from her. The pod’s exterior lights provided just enough illumination for Emily to see the sphincter leading to the stomach snap shut behind the pod, only for her pod to gently push into it. The slimy ring of muscle slowly oozed around her pod, sending a sickening squelching sound through the compartment. Emily screamed as she braced against the dashboard and her seat, her pod slipping through the sphincter and plunging into the waiting pool below.

The canopy cracked on impact, and Emily wretched at the foul liquid that seeped in. The smell was thick and acidic, and burned her lungs with each breath. Her pod was partially submerged and surrounded by other pods. Most seemed crushed and empty, but Emily could see some were still occupied. She watched in horror as one pod slid forward, slipping towards the entrance to the intestines. The sphincter swelled open, drawing in a pod, and screaming rider who had left their pod and was trying to swim away. Emily’s hand flew to cover her mouth as she gasped, the gurgling sounds of the sphincter closing drowning out the screams of the rider beyond it.

She desperately tapped across the dashboard, hoping for some sort of emergency function to help her. The screen lit up as she smacked it, just in time to hit “Destination Reached” on the screen.

“No no no!” Emily shrieked, trying to undo the confirmation. A friendly voice chimed over the speaker, welcoming her to her destination. She screamed as the door to her pod hissed, and slowly extended open. Dribbles of acidic stomach juices flowed into the pod, and Emily screamed more as it ran across her legs. The fluid stung on contact, and she scrambled to get away from it.

Her frantic movements caused the pod to shift, sinking further in the churning lake. She let out another shriek as a drifting pod slammed into hers, sending a torrent of milk tea mixed with caustic enzymes through the door. The stinging fluids drenched her, and she could faintly hear her clothes sizzle as the acid began to dissolve them. The pod shifted again, now weighed down with more fluid inside, and pushed against the twitching sphincter. Emily coughed and gagged at the noxious air that filled that pod and didn’t notice the looming portal until it was too late.

A brief shriek echoed through the hellish atmosphere as Emily and her pod disappeared, followed by muffled screams as the pod’s journey through the intestines began.

********

Mila felt her tummy rumble, filled with three cups of bubble tea, and slowly filling up with a fourth. She patted her gut, a small bulge under her ribs where dozens of tapioca pearls sat. The gurgles and groans from her digestive system were almost loud enough to hear over her show, but Mila didn’t mind. She savored every sweet sip, and the fullness in her belly was rather soothing. It was filling though, and Mila finally decided she had consumed enough. She set the cup down, which immediately chirped and declared that her refills had expired. Mila sighed, and leaned back to enjoy our show on a full stomach.

“This Tele-Refill was awesome,” she commented to herself. “Definitely doing this again!”