DIVINE ESSENCE

Black Hole

—Charles, Charles, wake up, Charles- I heard the base's voice resonate like an echo across the beautiful landscape. I must return.

I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was the cold stars with their trembling lights. The first twenty-four hours flew by.

—What a lovely moment you chose to wake me up. I was just about to savor a delicious rainbow trout.— I replied.

—I'm sorry for interrupting your sleep, Charles. How are you feeling?— replied.

—Let's say I'm ready to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at once— I replied.

—Alright. You can get up and have your first meal. After eating, remember to rest for thirty minutes. During that time, you can read the day's newspapers available in Simon's database. Then, begin your daily exercises— replied.

—Okay, guys. It seems you leave nothing to chance— I replied.

—We do our best for you, Charles— replied.

—So much humility touches me. See you, guys. Over and out.

I get up and stretch. Thanks to artificial gravity, I don't have to float like the early 20th-century astronauts. I head to the large screen and gaze at space, the monotonous yet captivating space. I never tire of looking at it. It's a spectacle that only a privileged few can appreciate from my position.

 Seeing the stars from Earth or through a telescope is one thing, but experiencing it from space itself, feeling completely surrounded by that infinite magnificence, is something unique. I'm overwhelmed by a sense of absolute smallness, and it truly is. Trying to comprehend the infinite is impossible; it's beyond our capacity for reasoning.

Calculating the distances to those tiny points of light emitted by the most distant stars is a matter of numbers translated into thousands of light-years, but measuring the universe... How far does it all go? Where does it end? What lies beyond the beyond? How to understand that there is no limit? How to comprehend it? A philosopher from the 20th century once said that infinity hides in smallness and immensity, and in these two extremes lies the incomprehension of our existence.

It's better to leave my abstract thoughts behind and focus on eating and then my physical training session.The days pass quickly, and I gradually approach the designated goal. It all comes down to eating, exercising, and sleeping, with a hygiene routine every five days. The journey to the vicinity of the "black hole" proceeds smoothly, with no technical hitches in the spacecraft or physical issues on my part.So we arrive on the fifty-third day since this journey began, perhaps my last day among mortals.

—Well, Charles, it's time to say goodbye! Let's not be hypocrites and not acknowledge that your chances of survival have significantly decreased. From now on, when you're inside, we won't be able to communicate; so we wish you the best of luck.

—Oh, come on, you're not going to tell me you've become sentimental now, guys!

—It's not for you, Charles, it's for Simon. Haha!

—Very funny! Well, guys, thanks for the farewell, and I hope to see you soon. Over and out.
—Well, Simon, here we are, just you and me. What does the future hold for us? That, I do not know.

—If you want, I can give you a list of probabilities and theories.
—Oh, no, Simon. Thanks. When you go into scientific mode, you're really boring.
—It seems you don't hold me in high regard, Charles.

—Don't be offended, Simon. You're very didactic. The thing is, I'm getting too old to endure explanations and teachings, whether they come from a human or a machine. Maybe, after this journey, I'll consider retiring. But let's stop chattering and continue the journey. Go ahead!

The MAV-1 moves toward the abyss. During the first few minutes, everything goes smoothly. The absolute darkness envelops the spacecraft. Suddenly, a strong jolt shakes it.

—What happened, Simon?
—A meteorite passed very close to us. They are being pulled by the black hole's gravitational force, while we advance more slowly because we're braking. I'd advise you to turn off the engines and let us be dragged freely to match the speed of other potential meteors and avoid any collision risk.

—Very precise report, Simon, but why didn't you report the presence of the meteorite before it passed us?

—I had already performed the calculations, and they indicated that the ship was not in danger.

—It seems I'm at a disadvantage in an argument with computers. Turn off the engines.

The MAV-1 is pulled by the gravitational attraction of the "hole." The speed indicator in the upper left corner of the screen shows we're at twenty-five thousand five hundred eighty kilometers per second, a speed constantly increasing. Suddenly, I feel a strong suction. The speedometer jumps from the twenty-five thousand six hundred it showed at that moment to forty thousand, sixty thousand, eighty thousand, and increasing. It's just a millisecond when I'm exposed to extreme acceleration, but it's enough to feel my body sink into the seat, as if a great invisible foot is mercilessly crushing me. The protection system activates automatically, and a protective bubble descends over me, equalizing the pressure I'm enduring. I feel myself fainting and take several minutes to recover.
—Are you feeling alright, Charles?

—Am I feeling alright!? Why didn't you activate the system earlier?!

—The system activates just past 65,000 kilometers per second, but the change in speed was very abrupt at that moment.

—Forgive me, Simón, it's not your fault; it's the fools who created you. Now I know what a mosquito feels like when squashed.

—Look at the speed, Charles.
I glance at the screen and am amazed: one hundred ninety-seven thousand nine hundred thirty kilometers per second and increasing!
—My God! How long will this keep increasing?

—I don't know, Charles, but if we surpass the limit, we'll turn into debris.
—Can't we at least stabilize the speed?

—It's impossible. The retro-thrusters would be useless; they'd overload in an instant, causing an immediate explosion.

I have no choice but to wait. The alarm flashes red, and we approach the theoretical limit that the spacecraft can withstand: two hundred forty thousand kilometers per second. I check the dashboard, two hundred twenty-five thousand and increasing. Suddenly, everything starts to vibrate; it's like a giant cocktail shaker of lights.

The MAV-1 has exceeded its own theoretical limit. All interior lights go out. The speed indicator disappears from the screen. The control panel disconnects, and the oxygen supply to my bubble is cut off.

—My God, Simón, what's happening?
Simón remains silent. All systems are offline. I activate the oxygen in my suit, it's all I have left. I can manually open the bubble, but if I do, I'll disintegrate. I have no choice but to wait and pray that the journey through the tunnel ends before the oxygen in my suit runs out. I fall asleep...I'm still immersed in darkness. The oxygen is running out, and desperation takes hold of me. I can't bear it any longer. I open the bubble, and everything happens in less than a second. But that's enough to make me realize and suffer the consequences of such madness. This time, the invisible foot crushes me with all its might.

My eyes are the first to implode; the suit adheres to my skin and tears apart, exposing the flesh. It pushes through my crushed ribs, forming a bloody pulp that is splattered against the seat. A final, horrifying scream erupts from my cadaverous mouth until, finally, my skull shatters.I wake up from that horrific nightmare, drenched in sweat, to a reality not much different from the dream. Everything remains the same. 

I check the clock on my suit; I only have one hour of oxygen left. I'll wait until the last second before risking leaving the bubble. The only thing indicating we're still inside the hole, traveling at an impossible speed, is the constant jolts of the ship. But this is just speculation; being without Simón is like being blind and deaf, and there's nothing I can do but pray and wait.

There are five minutes left before it all ends, and suddenly, the ship shakes more violently. I think of the end, but at that moment, all the lights on the MAV-1 come on, as well as the central screen showing a speed of 230,000 kilometers per second and decreasing. I no longer need the air in my suit to breathe; the bubble is filled with life-saving oxygen once more.