Chapter 1: The Chosen Ones

The human mind is a very intriguing thing. No one knows the limit of it. Some say it has no limit, and some say when it reaches its limits, humans will be considered Gods. Needless to say, humans have definitely progressed in utilizing their minds. In the year 2100, the first human expedition was authorized to travel near a black hole to study dark matter. It was a very dangerous mission, and humanity chose a team of five people. These five people were regarded as the chosen ones. Each member of this team was a specialist. Well, not all.

beepbeep~.....

Another morning. I look out the window. The sky looks unusually beautiful today. I don't know why. I glance at the alarm clock. 7 am. Sigh. I need to go now.

My name is Ken Williams. Just another normal human being. I am not smart, not strong, have no specialization, yet I am one of the so-called chosen ones. I should have never filled out that form.

Four years ago, the United Space Organization (USO), an organization comprising developed countries coming together for space exploration, gave out a notification—a chance for a normal human being to be part of a space expedition. It was really fascinating at the time, and I was a 16-year-old with no ambition at all. So, I filled out the form. What attracted me to it, you ask? Well, an opportunity to go to space, needless to say, but also the prize amount one would get if chosen. It was a whopping $500,000. Well, some say it's not that much, but for me, it was a lot. My younger sister could get a better education with that money, and the money would be paid upfront, so I didn't have to worry about getting cheated. But the thing is, I had no idea what type of exploration it was until they sent me a congratulatory message four months after I applied. And it turns out I had to go near a black hole. I got scared. I knew what that meant. So when I reached the headquarters to get briefed and trained, I thought to pull out of it, but they straight out rejected me and threatened to fine me and put me in jail. I had no choice. But when they gave me the last form to fill out and an affidavit to sign, which said if I died it was my responsibility, I knew the shit had just gotten real.

Anyway, I shouldn't have drunk that night.

beepbeep~

"System check."

"Get the engine ready," said another guy.

"Alpha to the command center, we are ready for takeoff," said the team leader. He was a bulky guy, an army man so to speak, but if you looked into his file, he was one of the lead scientists of this project. What a guy.

"Command center to Alpha, you have a go-ahead."

"Maximum throttle. Takeoff in 10, 9, 8, 7,..." The system-type sound rang in our cabin. I was scared shitless. I don't know why, but I felt like throwing up because I knew this was a suicide mission, so to speak. I looked at the cabin. It had everything you could think of in a space aircraft I'd seen in sci-fi movies. It was kind of exciting, I guess. Let's just hope I don't die here. "3, 2, 1..."

boom Shack, and that's how I got into space for the first time and probably the last time.

Currently, we are traveling to our destination. It has been eight months since we got here, and I just got out of the toilet. What a shitty toilet it is. When I came out, I looked at my team. They were smiling. We all knew the risks of this mission. We could die. But still, one way or another, we were here. The captain said we had two more weeks until we reached our destination. Pressure is slowly building. Because we are closer to the black hole, where gravity seems to work differently, we hadn't noticed it until it was too late because we are currently being pulled by something, presumably the black hole. But we have some technology working that can act when we get near our destination, which will repel the pull force. I don't know how it works, but well, who cares. I was tasked with cleaning and other jobs. Not that I complain. I was currently cleaning the cabin area when I heard something soul-shattering.

boom boom

Two explosions and the red lights went off. Sirens were ringing here and there. Some kind of object had made contact with our ship, presumably blasting some part of it. I mustered up the courage to get out of the cabin. As I was going out, I noticed the gate automatically locked, and the ship's AI told me it was an automatic defensive function because the pilot cabin is the most important part of the ship. I looked out through the transparent window in the gate after removing the metallic shaft. When I looked outside, my eyes went wide open. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Nothing. Absolutely nothing was out there. I was alone. All alone now. My mind went blank. Somehow I knew I was going to die, but I was not ready yet. It was too sudden.

THACK shoom~~~~

The aircraft, or should I say the pilot cabin I was in, suddenly sped up at an unprecedented speed. I couldn't keep up with it as I got thrown away from where I was. I noticed everything was spinning around me, and then I realized the ship was spinning. Somehow I didn't lose consciousness. Weird. Then I saw it. Like a gigantic mouth, it was open. When you looked into it, you could see nothing at all. This was a black hole. HOW? I heard we were two weeks away from it. And still, the place we were heading towards was very far away from here. HOW? I couldn't comprehend the situation. And before I could realize it, I was into the black hole.

Surprisingly, when I entered the black hole, my cabin's speed reduced and stopped suddenly, as if there was nothing to it anymore. It was completely dark. I couldn't see anything. All I saw were the lights in the cabin, which were slowly dimming. I guess without batteries they would run out soon. Then suddenly, a portal-type thing opened before me, and I realized I was no longer in the cabin. What the fuck is happening? And before I could think of anything, I lost consciousness.

I DIED.