1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:09,480 In my tireless pursuit of answers, I found fresh questions of terror. Comfort 2 00:00:09,839 --> 00:00:15,640 is an alien notion to me. I've always been afraid, always failing to 3 00:00:15,679 --> 00:00:22,160 still my brains, everwhearing cogs. But from a young age I aimed to 4 00:00:22,199 --> 00:00:28,199 cease my minds endless worrying. I poured every ounce of my energy into becoming 5 00:00:28,239 --> 00:00:34,679 an engineer. It has always eased my nerves to fix things. Of course, 6 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:41,600 nothing was ever enough. I needed absolute certainty, and I wasn't going 7 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:47,960 to find that on our little green rock. Naturally, I looked to the 8 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:55,240 stars. In the early two thousands, shortly after graduating from Cambridge University, 9 00:00:55,880 --> 00:01:00,200 I moved to America and secured a job at NASA to be part of something 10 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:06,680 bigger than me, an organization focused on exploring the deepest crevices of the universe. 11 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:12,200 The date was January second, twenty twenty three. It was a day 12 00:01:12,359 --> 00:01:18,920 unlike any other. The office was filled with the excitable chatter of my colleagues, 13 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:26,159 folk who typically would have their heads silently buried in paperwork. The air 14 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:30,239 on this particular day, however, was filled with a jittery magnetic energy. 15 00:01:32,719 --> 00:01:37,959 Connor You'll never guess what just leaked, Adam eagerly said, motioning for me 16 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:44,680 to follow. I shrugged and followed my friend out of the office. What's 17 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:49,799 happening, I asked, You're going to lose your mind, my colleague replied. 18 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:56,159 We made our way into one of the compound's main facilities, a building 19 00:01:56,239 --> 00:02:01,560 which housed NASA's assembly line of rockets, hunch that Adam's exciting news might be 20 00:02:01,599 --> 00:02:08,120 related the DM fifty a dozen minus rockets. After all, the Baulky vessel 21 00:02:08,319 --> 00:02:15,199 was nearing completion. No low level employees had been given any inkling as to 22 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:20,479 what purpose the spacecraft would serve. My colleague and I rounded the corner of 23 00:02:20,479 --> 00:02:27,120 the vessel and we found doctor Stanley Jacobs talking to a few physicists. He 24 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,319 was a graying, pale faced fellow with chapped skin, the sort of man 25 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:37,800 who had physically aged beyond his years. He could have been sixty four or 26 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:43,719 forty six. The wary faced man groaned at the sight of Adam, but 27 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:47,960 my friend didn't care. He was fixated on the screen behind the physicist. 28 00:02:50,479 --> 00:02:57,319 It depicted various graphs and charts a foreign language. To me. Everybody who's 29 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,000 been biting Stanley zerof After a mistakenly forwarded an email to Jenny in accounting. 30 00:03:01,879 --> 00:03:07,120 Last year, Jacob's discovered an anomaly at the edge of our galaxy. Adam 31 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:15,479 gleefully whispered an unidentified phenomenon that vaguely resembles a black hole, though its physical 32 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:21,479 makeup is unlike anything previously discovered in human history, and NASA has been intercepting 33 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:28,120 frequencies from the other side using telescopic data. They've created musical tones which sound 34 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:34,240 like, well, who knows, storms on unseen planets, forms of alien 35 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:38,680 communication, a parallel version of our reality. Perhaps this sounds like fiction. 36 00:03:39,319 --> 00:03:43,680 Why didn't we hear about it when Jacobs found the anomaly a year ago? 37 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:49,280 I asked, My colleague shrugged, you know what the media is like. 38 00:03:49,919 --> 00:03:54,199 This could be huge or it could be nothing. But Jacob's is suggesting that 39 00:03:54,319 --> 00:04:02,400 it might be a tear between universes hypothetically, I scoffed, though secretly my 40 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:08,560 interest was piqued. Come on, Connor, you're always talking about the mysteries 41 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,599 of the universe. Well, it turns out that there's more than one universe, 42 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,160 Adam said, and Frank heard that the planner and an expedition were the 43 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,879 d M fifty. I told you something big was happening. Why else would 44 00:04:20,879 --> 00:04:30,439 they have contracted dozen minus? It's unofficial, highly classified technology. My heartbeat 45 00:04:30,519 --> 00:04:36,000 started to quicken as I contemplated what my friend had said. Parallel universes? 46 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:41,480 I thought, could these distant worlds? After the answer I've always wanted? 47 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:48,439 The small group of physicists eventually dispersed and Adam nodded his head at Stanley talk 48 00:04:48,519 --> 00:04:53,040 to him about the expedition. He didn't want anything to do with me, 49 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:58,399 but this could be your shot to see space, my friend whispered before walking 50 00:04:58,439 --> 00:05:05,480 away. May I help, doctor Jacobs asked, overhearing us. I does 51 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:13,360 the DM fifty expedition have any openings for engineers? I asked? The man 52 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,519 sighed, you shouldn't know about that, but you're not the first person to 53 00:05:17,639 --> 00:05:23,600 ask. This day has been You're going to explore the anomaly, aren't you, 54 00:05:24,319 --> 00:05:29,000 I asked, eagerly, interrupting the physicist. Did you hear something? 55 00:05:29,759 --> 00:05:33,120 Wait? Are you even an engineer? You're some government servant and a mission 56 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:38,120 to shut down this project? Are you, doctor Jacobs asked, lifting an 57 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,959 eyebrow. No, I just need to be on that ship, sir, 58 00:05:42,639 --> 00:05:46,879 You likely already have plenty of engineers attached to the project, but we do 59 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:51,360 so I wouldn't get your hopes up, the man interjected, hacking his briefcase. 60 00:05:53,399 --> 00:05:57,680 I won't pretend to be some indispensable genius, I said, but this 61 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,120 is more than a job to me. I don't really care about NASA. 62 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:13,319 I just I've always wanted answers to well everything. The man carefully examined me. 63 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,279 What's your name, doctor Jacobs asked, pulling a piece of paper out 64 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:26,120 of his coat pocket. Connor Bridges, I said, composing myself. The 65 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:31,240 physicist nodded and scrupled my name. There aren't any official openings, Connor, 66 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,519 but I know that look in your eyes. It's what guided me to this 67 00:06:35,639 --> 00:06:42,639 place too. It's what prompted me to chase Harriet's eye. Harriet eye, 68 00:06:43,199 --> 00:06:49,959 I asked. The man solemnly nodded the name of the anomaly my late daughter, 69 00:06:51,639 --> 00:07:00,439 Sorry, I quietly replied. Jacobs cleared his throat. The d use 70 00:07:00,519 --> 00:07:06,120 an extra engineer. My eyes glistened, and I immediately accepted the offer. 71 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:13,800 I couldn't quite wrap my brain around the idea of going to space now. 72 00:07:13,959 --> 00:07:18,519 Of course, months after my voyage of terror, I tried to pretend it 73 00:07:18,639 --> 00:07:28,519 never happened. After ten months of training, launch day arrived. Doctor Stanley 74 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:33,079 Jacobs and doctor Elizabeth Farrow, his research partner, had been developing the logistics 75 00:07:33,079 --> 00:07:38,680 of the mission for the better part of two years. Our stealth vessel, 76 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:44,360 the D fifty, would venture to the edge of the Milky Way, undetected 77 00:07:44,399 --> 00:07:48,720 by the people of Earth, and we would send various automated research vessels into 78 00:07:48,759 --> 00:07:56,240 Harriet's Eye. Given promising results, a manned mission would follow. It was 79 00:07:56,279 --> 00:08:03,720 an air tight plan. Launch was a surreal experience. Sitting in a near 80 00:08:03,839 --> 00:08:09,120 silent ship equipped with cloaking technology, we left Earth behind. Not a soul 81 00:08:09,199 --> 00:08:16,240 on the ground watched. It was a week long journey. Using dozen minus 82 00:08:16,279 --> 00:08:22,160 technology, we achieved the impossible. We not only traveled to the farthest reach 83 00:08:22,199 --> 00:08:26,120 of the Milky Way, but we did so within an unthinkably fast time frame. 84 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:35,600 The reason for doctor Jacob's hurry would eventually become horribly clear. From within 85 00:08:35,639 --> 00:08:39,200 the window of D fifty, the crew surveyed Harriot's Eye with Doe eyed, 86 00:08:39,639 --> 00:08:46,080 blissfully unaware faces, a gaggle of school children dazzled by the mysteries of space, 87 00:08:48,399 --> 00:08:52,320 and as we approached the eye grew from a blacken blemish on the horizon 88 00:08:52,960 --> 00:09:01,600 into a ginormous wound that had splintered the very fabric of reality. Hauntingly spectacular 89 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:07,799 sight, The unman vessels were launched. Once we reached a suitably near yet 90 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:13,159 safe distance from Harriet's eye. We watched as the tiny metallic blobs jettison from 91 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:20,039 DM fifty. Then, one by one, the three vessels were swallowed by 92 00:09:20,039 --> 00:09:24,399 the blackened mouth. We found ourselves hovering in space, at the edge of 93 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:31,320 oblivion, waiting for the robotic explorers to return. The majority of low level 94 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:37,279 workers had nothing to do but twiddle thumbs. We couldn't proceed until the data 95 00:09:37,399 --> 00:09:45,039 from the unmanned vessels had been retrieved and analyzed. Not quite the adventure you 96 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:50,240 imagine, mister Bridges, Stanley Jacobs asked, grinning. The two lead physicists 97 00:09:50,279 --> 00:09:56,000 sat on the opposite end of the canteen table. I smiled at the pair 98 00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:01,519 of them, was hurriedly finishing my mouthful of food. It wasn't often that 99 00:10:01,639 --> 00:10:07,320 lowly crew members would have the opportunity to talk to the ever elusive lead physicists. 100 00:10:09,279 --> 00:10:13,320 Actually, it's no different from a day in the office, sitting around 101 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:18,519 waiting for something to do, I said, Stanley laughed, Well, it's 102 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:24,679 just as tedious for Elizabeth and me too, right, But I enjoy lunch 103 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:28,200 breaks because I get to spend some time with people other than him. Doctor 104 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:35,399 Elizabeth Farrows chirped. I hate to pry, but well, have you made 105 00:10:35,399 --> 00:10:39,879 any progress? I asked. I won't pretend to understand the physics of this 106 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:45,200 expedition, but don't be so modest, Connor, Elizabeth said, you're an 107 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:50,399 engineer. I'm sure you understand more than you pretend to know. He's a 108 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,200 mysterious egg. Jacobs chuckled. Did you know that he twisted my arm to 109 00:10:54,240 --> 00:11:00,879 get on this mission? He was almost as determined as me. Almost. 110 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:07,559 Elizabeth raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Yes, I seem to remember him showing up 111 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:13,399 quite late in training. Were you keen to see action? Connor? The 112 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:18,919 woman had kind eyes. Elizabeth was middle aged, possibly the same age as 113 00:11:18,919 --> 00:11:22,759 Stanley. For the years had been kinder to a soft skin, rosy cheeked 114 00:11:22,759 --> 00:11:30,240 face. She reminded me of my late mother. Something about a velvety voice 115 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:37,320 encouraged me to open up. It wasn't about the adventure. Doctor Pharaoh I've 116 00:11:37,399 --> 00:11:43,679 just always been afraid, I said, I've always wanted answers to unanswerable questions, 117 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:52,440 and this phenomenon seems fundamentally juxtaposed to the reality which surrounds it. Before 118 00:11:52,519 --> 00:11:56,519 either other physicists could reply, our food trace slid to the right as we 119 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:01,360 did, and everybody cried in confus usion. As the bodies were limply flung 120 00:12:01,399 --> 00:12:07,879 to the side of the unexpectedly leaning vessel. My temple connected with the edge 121 00:12:07,879 --> 00:12:11,600 of the table, drawing blood, and I gripped either side of the canteen 122 00:12:11,639 --> 00:12:18,200 bench onto my knuckles whitened. Dozens of dazed, injured workers clambered to their 123 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:22,200 feet. We all hurried to our respective stations, ready to assess the damage. 124 00:12:24,039 --> 00:12:28,759 Though the ship corrected its balance, it continued to quake uncontrollably, and 125 00:12:30,159 --> 00:12:33,399 as we ran to the engineering office, my crew members and I shuddered at 126 00:12:33,399 --> 00:12:39,919 the sight of complete blackness beyond deem fifties windows, the stars and planets. 127 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:46,799 It disappeared raised for impact, A voice shrieked over the ship's intercom. The 128 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:52,600 ship's outer body groaned under the strain of seismic pressure, and I tumbled at 129 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,440 the office's metallic floor. The other engineers, and I clutched that any fixed 130 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:00,919 thing we could find, and we raced for a line waves. As D 131 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:09,200 fifty finally came to a blunt, jarring hold, everybody lay as still as 132 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:15,440 possible. Moments of pain echoed around the office. Light fixtures flicked unstably, 133 00:13:15,919 --> 00:13:20,840 and various alarms sounded in a climatous cacophony. All personnel report to the main 134 00:13:20,879 --> 00:13:28,200 bridge, her voice announced over the Turnoi. My fellow wounded engineers stumbled weakly 135 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,519 to the corridor outside our office, but we did not walk to the main 136 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:37,279 bridge. We speechlessly filled the corridor, and each of us stared out of 137 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:41,559 the window, and each of us stared out of the windows which lined the 138 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:50,080 walkway. Beyond DM fifty there lay a near colorless healthscape. The only light 139 00:13:50,159 --> 00:13:56,960 stemmed from a luminous blue orb in the distance, a white dwarf. One 140 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:01,720 woman said, gasping to the hue, they looked like that, a man 141 00:14:01,759 --> 00:14:07,080 asked. The edges of the orb seemed to dance erratically, and the ocean 142 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:11,480 beyond us ship was littered with tidal waves of crumbling rocks. Stray pieces clattered 143 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:16,399 against the windows of fifty, And then I realized that one of the larger 144 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:22,360 distant rocks was a planet. It appeared to be cleanly split down the middle, 145 00:14:22,879 --> 00:14:28,799 as if it were two halves of a cracked coconut shell. This foreign 146 00:14:28,879 --> 00:14:33,360 place was not the Milky Way. The very laws of physics seemed to contradict 147 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:41,480 our reality. We entered Harriot's Eye. A man whispered, it's another universe. 148 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:46,440 Somebody muttered, all personnel to the main bridge. The tannoy voice repeated, 149 00:14:46,559 --> 00:14:52,320 urgently, snapping out of the existential fever which had seized our bodies. 150 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:58,559 The engineering crew hurried through the walkways of the ship, and we joined everybody 151 00:14:58,639 --> 00:15:03,399 in the main bridge area. Beyond the chatting crowd, I could see Doctor 152 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:09,639 Jacobs and Doctor Pharaoh standing sheepishly behind Captain Polton. Quiet. The captain bellowed. 153 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:16,440 The entire crew immediately complied. We tried to fixate on a bearded, 154 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:22,159 stern faced leader, but our eyes kept wondering to the swirling kaleidoscope of collars 155 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:28,440 and bombardment of rocks beyond the bridge's main viewpoint. An unidentifiable force has pulled 156 00:15:28,519 --> 00:15:35,120 us into the anomaly. Captain Pulton said, we're working towards immediately returning home, 157 00:15:35,759 --> 00:15:39,120 and we do not know what we might find here. The data has 158 00:15:39,159 --> 00:15:45,279 not yet been retrieved from the un manned vessels, so these are uncharted waters. 159 00:15:45,919 --> 00:15:52,559 Anxious murmuring resumed enough, the Captain shouted, Before we attempt to enter 160 00:15:52,559 --> 00:15:56,879 the anomaly again, we must deem DM fifty to be ship shape. I'll 161 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:00,200 leave that to our engineers. But time is of the essence, isn't that 162 00:16:00,279 --> 00:16:06,559 right, doctor Jacobs. There was a disquieting tension between the lead physicist and 163 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:12,399 the captain. Doctor Jacobs cleared his throat. The anomaly is shrinking. We 164 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,120 should have told you, though. We have a limited window in which to 165 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:22,320 explore what lies beyond it. That's not all, Captain Bolton growled. Stanley 166 00:16:22,399 --> 00:16:27,240 cleared his throat nervously, but Elizabeth placed a delicate hand on his shoulder. 167 00:16:29,559 --> 00:16:33,639 We have entered her dying universe, one that is collapsing on itself, she 168 00:16:33,759 --> 00:16:38,360 said, prompting a gasp of horror from the crowd. The anomaly is our 169 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:45,799 only exit, and it will soon be closed for good. Doctor Jacobs sighed, 170 00:16:45,799 --> 00:16:49,240 I believe that Harriet's eye might well be more than a rip in the 171 00:16:49,279 --> 00:16:55,159 lining of reality. It might be the crunch point for this universe. All 172 00:16:55,320 --> 00:17:03,039 matter in this reality will colyde here. Anarchy ensued. Crew members hurled abuse 173 00:17:03,079 --> 00:17:08,359 of the physicists, and a few furious individuals lunged at Jacobs. The captain 174 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:14,960 and several security officers restrained the enraged crew members. We can't change what has 175 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:19,319 been done, Captain Bolton yelled, shoving the mob backwards. When we returned 176 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:23,039 to Earth, doctor Jacobs and doctor Pharrer will stand trial for their crimes. 177 00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:30,440 Until then, we have one objective, save every last person aboard this ship. 178 00:17:32,279 --> 00:17:37,480 A crew worked tirelessly over the following hours, but things only worsened. 179 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:42,240 We were sitting ducks at the entrance to the anomaly, the ever closing seal 180 00:17:42,319 --> 00:17:48,200 between two universes that became apparent as the ship's body began to wail painfully. 181 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:56,119 The onslaught of rocks aloudened against the metal work and reinforced glass panes. D 182 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,559 fifty began to quake on a near constant basis, and whenever I would glanced 183 00:18:00,559 --> 00:18:06,400 out of the ship's windows, I became acutely aware of a burgeoning light in 184 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:12,839 the distance, the sinister, swirling glow of a trillion galaxies converging the incoming 185 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:22,400 flurry of long dead planets and moons. The universe was collapsing and we were 186 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:29,599 at the epicenter. I eventually slumped into my bunk bed at the brink of 187 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:34,880 exhaustion, but I found myself unable to shut my eyes. Eager to busy 188 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:40,359 myself, I switched to my terminal to run a few diagnostics for the evening. 189 00:18:41,279 --> 00:18:44,319 The sooner we could give the captain the green light to go, the 190 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:52,640 better. I was surprised to find a notification in my in box. It 191 00:18:52,759 --> 00:18:57,039 was a day old video message from Adam. Hey, Connor, I've been 192 00:18:57,079 --> 00:19:02,160 bored out of my mind. I still upset that doctor Jacobs wouldn't let me 193 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,960 join the crew, so I decided to do some research on the Big Man. 194 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,200 I talked to Frank in it because he owed me a favor, and 195 00:19:10,279 --> 00:19:12,519 he let me look at some of the transmissions that Jacobs has been deciphering. 196 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:19,119 NASA received signals from the anomaly that seemed communicative, Connor, and it was 197 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:26,680 a two way flow. Jacobs responded, he talked to something you need to 198 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,799 ask him about that. The thought of receiving a message from alien life, 199 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:37,680 whether in our universe or another, had once filled me with such excitement that 200 00:19:37,799 --> 00:19:42,319 I was filled with the inexplicable dread by the idea of Jacobs communicating with some 201 00:19:42,559 --> 00:19:49,720 unseen intelligence. It could have been the secrecy surrounding the communication. Jacobs hadn't 202 00:19:49,720 --> 00:20:00,359 told anyone that he'd already found something sentient beyond Harriet's eye. Why my gut 203 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:07,079 instinct was to confront him. I slid out of bed, got dressed, 204 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:11,599 and left the engineering quarters. The ship was eerily quiet, and I walked 205 00:20:11,599 --> 00:20:17,480 to the main laboratory. Other than the roar of space debris, which had 206 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:23,160 become a form of white noise, as expected, I found Doctor Jacobs hunched 207 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:29,000 over at his desk and busying himself with work. The white glow of the 208 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:36,720 screen illuminated the man's gaunt, possessed face. He hardly looked human. Why 209 00:20:36,759 --> 00:20:41,960 didn't you tell us, I asked, The expedition would never have been green 210 00:20:41,039 --> 00:20:48,079 lit. Doctor Jacobs muttered, without looking up. Good I said, we 211 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:52,880 never would have faced such horror. Doctor Jacobs removed his glasses and eyed me 212 00:20:53,079 --> 00:21:00,240 with disappointment. What happened to that young man who wanted answers? Were going 213 00:21:00,319 --> 00:21:03,200 to get any answers here? I said, certainly, not about that thing 214 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:10,359 you heard in the darkness, Stanley. Jacob's froze, eyeing me for a 215 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:15,519 few seconds as droplets of sweat collected on his forehead brow. How did you 216 00:21:15,599 --> 00:21:22,599 know about that? He whispered, He only spoke to me. I shivered. 217 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:30,599 He Stanley's frown lifted as he realized that I knew nothing. Go to 218 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,839 bed, mister Bridges, he said, returning his gaze to the laptop. 219 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:42,359 What were you hoping to find? I asked? The man scoffed another universe, 220 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:48,759 connor something greater than us, and I calculated that we had no more 221 00:21:48,799 --> 00:21:55,359 than a couple of years before Harriet's eye would seal forever a couple of I 222 00:21:55,359 --> 00:22:00,000 stopped Hi mid sentence. How long do we have before this reality collapses? 223 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:08,759 Jacob's months? Weeks, days, Stanley whispered, fists clenching of their own 224 00:22:08,799 --> 00:22:14,240 accord. I stormed across the lab and towed over the man, who quickly 225 00:22:14,279 --> 00:22:18,079 shrank into his desk chair. What could we possibly learn in day? Stanley? 226 00:22:18,519 --> 00:22:23,519 You brought us here to die, I barked. I wanted this to 227 00:22:23,559 --> 00:22:30,200 happen sooner, he retorted, But the airheads and NASA had to plan carefully. 228 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:36,880 On official projects are always messy, especially when the resulting countless deaths, 229 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,920 I said, they normally almost tore the ship in half. We might not 230 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,640 even be able to fix it. We might die. Don't you care. 231 00:22:45,799 --> 00:22:49,319 I have every faith in you, doctor Jacob said, returning his gaze to 232 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:53,680 the numbers on his screen. And I have every faith in you, I 233 00:22:53,759 --> 00:23:00,480 replied. You're lucky to even be here, the physicist snarled. As we 234 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:07,400 continued the back and forth discussion, our voices gradually raised. It was only 235 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:11,960 after ten minutes of running in circles that we realized we were competing not with 236 00:23:12,039 --> 00:23:18,200 each other, but with the growing sound outside the ship. And when we 237 00:23:18,279 --> 00:23:22,240 turned our heads to the laboratory windows, Stanley and I gasped in unison. 238 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:30,319 The dying Universe's void was filling with light at an increasingly rapid pace, and 239 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:37,240 d M fifty's trembling foundations felt less stable with every passing second. No, 240 00:23:37,799 --> 00:23:41,079 this isn't right. We should have time, Stanley breath as he cried, 241 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,640 I still have so much data to collect. I need to all personnel to 242 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:51,680 stations. The voice announced over the intercom. Flight to Harriet's Eye will commence 243 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:56,200 in five minutes. Brace for impact. We've barely run fifty percent of the 244 00:23:56,279 --> 00:24:00,599 necessary diagnostics, I said, who cares about the ship? Hip Connor. 245 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:06,000 Doctor Jacob's manically cried, this is greater than anything in human history. This 246 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:12,440 is what are you. The whispy, disembodied voice rattled sharply around my skull, 247 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:18,519 like a coin stuck in a jar. It's me. I'm here, 248 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:25,920 Stanley whispered. I did as you asked. The physicist noticed my horrified expression, 249 00:24:26,599 --> 00:24:30,079 and he realized I had heard the voice too. He was in a 250 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:36,880 special as he thought himself to be. I became aware of the fact that 251 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:41,720 all sound outside the ship had ceased. The terrifying convergence of galaxies continued beyond 252 00:24:41,759 --> 00:24:49,039 the window, but there was quiet. Only that haunting whisper permeated the silence. 253 00:24:51,599 --> 00:24:56,599 A new land to conquer. The voicest thank you for showing me the 254 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:02,480 door. I want to say, see her, doctor Jacob's wailed, throwing 255 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:07,880 his arms outwards. You said I'd see Harriet. She is still in the 256 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:14,799 place of all dead things. Come closer. Let me show you, the 257 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:22,799 chilling voice said outside the window. Amidst the multi colored glare of approaching galaxies, 258 00:25:23,759 --> 00:25:30,599 I saw two forming bodies, red gassy spheres of biblical proportions, and 259 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:37,640 as black specs emerged from their centers, I realized what they were, eyes 260 00:25:38,039 --> 00:25:47,759 of unfathomable enormity. I tried to scream, but my quivering, narrowing throat 261 00:25:47,839 --> 00:25:52,799 was unwilling. Could have have been strangled, perhaps by that paranormal deity. 262 00:25:53,200 --> 00:26:00,000 Black tendrils emerged from the abyss of the universe's everneering edge. They called forwards 263 00:26:00,319 --> 00:26:06,440 and took the shape of colossal godlike fingers, fingers I were reaching towards us. 264 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:11,440 The ship suddenly lurched forwards. The captain, who had looked upon the 265 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:17,839 horror in the depths of space, commenced our voyage into Harriot's eye. Thankful 266 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:23,279 for the slightest hope, I looked to the sobbing physicist beside me. Harriot. 267 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:32,079 He cried, you promised. With a thunderous clap, the tremendous, 268 00:26:32,279 --> 00:26:37,960 ear shattering sound of the collapsing universe returned, as if the terrifying entity with 269 00:26:37,079 --> 00:26:42,079 eyes like blazing gateways to Hell were roaring in fury at our attempted escape, 270 00:26:42,759 --> 00:26:48,599 whose devastrating fingers soared towards our spacecraft and D fifty began to jolt from side 271 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:53,599 to side. A trilliant, swirling light soared towards our ship. As the 272 00:26:53,680 --> 00:27:00,480 universe's collapse quickened. I screamed as I finally fathomed the horror of being crushed 273 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:08,279 by a universe. But then the pulling began, the pull of the shriveled 274 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:15,799 near closed anomaly. Blackness began to envelop our ship. We were entering Harriet's 275 00:27:15,799 --> 00:27:22,920 eye. As Stanley and I stated ourselves against the nearby desk, I closed 276 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:27,599 my eyes and thought of home, a little green rock that I had shunned 277 00:27:27,599 --> 00:27:33,359 for my entire life. In that moment, it was the only thing I 278 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:41,119 wanted. Following an explosion of sound, everything stopped, all sound, all 279 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:47,720 movement, and when I opened my eyes, we were surrounded by life. 280 00:27:47,799 --> 00:27:52,799 We had returned to our universe. There were bright burning stars in the distance, 281 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:59,640 fully formed planets, serene tides of space had gladly carried us home along 282 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:06,640 quiet journey home. I rushed to the laboratory window to either fading anomaly. 283 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:15,079 Did it close or simply fade from view? I still don't know. Part 284 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:21,200 of me believes in the darkened distance of space I might have seen those terrible 285 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:26,400 black tendrils slinking through the tear between realities, the hand of a god fleeing 286 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:33,839 its dying universe to claim another. Doctor Jacobs and doctor Pharroh await trial for 287 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:40,480 what they did. I've been denied visitation privileges, but I need to see 288 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:48,880 them. I need to understand the last thing he said to me. It 289 00:28:49,240 --> 00:29:02,119 lives sa seats