The world feels empty and silent. No vehicles on the roads. The whole city is covered in dirt, and now plants are starting to take over the planet because more than half of the human population has been wiped out.

  It’s been five years. The whole agency is still shut off from the outer world. The people aren’t working on this mission for money anymore, but for hope - a hope that Proxima may save the remaining humanity.

  For millennia, humanity's struggle wasn't survival, it was conquest. Now they'd made survival harder than conquering ever was. For the first time in human history, they were fighting the universe itself.

  Alex steps inside the training area in the lab in a formal suit with a soft, fake smile that everyone wears in situations like this.

  “Mr. Morgan…”

  “Pleasure to meet you.”

  “Reed's cleared everything - finally. Though he still blames the Cold War for the contamination rather than his own team's oversight.”

  While Morgan jogs on a treadmill, he suddenly feels a pinching pain in his head, a voice echoing again.

  “Charles!!!!!!!!”

  Morgan stumbles, catching himself on the treadmill rail. “Charles?”

  “Charles? Who is he?” asks Alex as he supports him.

  “I don’t know. I just hear someone scream his name. It was too damn loud.”

  “I've heard that name in a few slasher films”

  “No… I don’t watch movies. I don’t think it’s deadly. Might be schizophrenia or strokes…”

  “Don’t worry about it. Take some rest. Leave Reed to me, I’ll check it out. We've developed laser tech. In deep space missions, you may run across asteroids, so this tech collects data of the surroundings and eliminates any threats. It can also be handled manually.”

  “Thanks, Alex, for putting your heart into this.”

  There is a genuine smile on Alex’s face. “It’s my job.”

  In the Hyperfield hall, Jay, Harrison, and Sofia plan the aftermath of passing through the Hyperfield Aperture’s “tear.”

  “Yes, the spacecraft is complete. Minor testing and we will be set to go,” says Harrison, determined but nervous.

  “Do you guys also… fear the Hyperfield Aperture? It will take three seconds to create a tear we can pass through, and it can only stay open for at most 0.8 seconds. The timing has to be extremely accurate. Any errors or mismatched speed will result in mission failure. We could hit the aperture or the spacecraft could break apart. It’s a life-or-death situation,” says Sofia nervously.

  “I’m the pilot. I’ve thought about it. Even though I don’t have enough confidence, my hands tremble and I can’t sleep. Still, we can’t just back off. Until the spacecraft is complete, we have to prepare ourselves mentally. We have to trust ourselves and all the people in this agency. Doubt will bring only defeat… only… defeat.”

  Jay stares at nothing. His voice is loud and proud, but no matter how strong the words sound, the resolve still isn’t strong enough.

  They continue discussing the plan after going through the tear. Their confidence slowly rises. Even though they all have too many doubts, each of them keeps on a mask of confidence and reliance. Even a fake mask gives hope, which is most necessary at a time like this.

  “Hey, this is Reed. The final testing from our organization is done, and this time it was done more than once by different people, so I don’t think there should be any problem,” Reed speaks on his phone.

  “Hmm, I think everything is set. We should test the suits and get Morgan and his team ready with the final tests on them.”

  “Not my job. You want hand-holding, hire a therapist.” Reed hangs up.

  Alex stares at his phone. "Asshole."

  He looks up at the huge rocket, his eyes scanning it carefully. “ *We have got this.* ”

  “ *We have got this,* ” says Sofia as she trains in the training room, mentally and physically.

  “ *We have got this* ,” says Jay, inside the rocket, preparing to pilot it.

  “*We have got this*,” says Harrison, observing the habitat module.

  Morgan sits alone in the medical lab, eyes closed. Not meditating but searching.The name feels both foreign and familiar. Like a word he's forgotten how to pronounce. Like his own name, spoken by someone else's voice.

  “ _Ja… James_ … _who are you_ … _why did I hear you_ …?”

  Outside the whole space agency, sandstorms engulfed the city. Harrison walks through the lanes, enjoying his beer, observing the broken and dead city where few humans could be seen, heading towards his bike. He laughs with tears in his eyes while talking to himself.

  Moments ago at the agency,

  "Morgan, I've scanned the whole habitat module. I'll take a short break. My home isn't too far away. I might just take one final look. I don't know if I'll even survive."

  "Don't worry about it, Harrison." Morgan smiled.

  At Present, Harrison picks up his bike outside the agency, driving through the dusty city. The emptiness pressing in. No horns and no voices. Just wind and dust and the echo of his own engine.

  Harrison feels strangely proud.

  "There are two feelings that define what kind of person they are. Fear and curiosity - that's what separates people. I had the fear. She had the curiosity. She wanted to know everything, see everything. And I..." He laughed, bitter. "I just wanted her to keep smiling. Lives are so fragile, they just end so quickly. Her smile, her curiosity brought so much light into me...."

  Harrison steps inside the apartment. The whole building was abandoned, spider webs everywhere, and everything was covered in dust. He walks inside, staring at the dining table, picturing his past, before the pandemic.

  "I waited so longgggg!**" She quickly turned heading towards him on a wheelchair.

  Harrison bent down and hugged her gently. She couldn't lift her hands properly. Two maids were kept for her care.

  "It was my first space mission, to the moon. It seems life-threatening, to be honest."

  "I'm so proud of you... love!" she spoke with a wide smile.

  Harrison took her to the bed as he kept talking about the mission.

  At present, Harrison, with a painful smile, walked through his dusty apartment without his wife. He stared at the bed as he visualized the past again.

  "Hey, Harrison, it fills my heart listening to you... I wish I could be... I could be with you... no matter how much I studied... it isn't possible for a dying disabled person like me... "to pursue astronomy with you...."

  Harrison quickly lifted her face gently with both hands, looking into her eyes filled with self-hatred.

  "I'm yours. Just picture yourself as me. I'll take you wherever possible, and even if I can't take you to missions, I can at least explain everything. Just imagine it like you're seeing through my eyes. I'll always be with you and explain each and every experience all night so you aren't curious anymore."

  At present, Harrison simply stood near the bed staring at it.

  "I wasn't so curious, not as much as you. You wanted to see a lot, but it wasn't possible. I saw the world in your place, not with curiosity but with ambition. I'll go beyond this galaxy, for survival and my ambition. I will keep believing you are looking through my eyes. And when I look at certain things, I wonder how wide your smile would be. I wonder how many things you would say. God, I wish I could see that. This mission is the most life-threatening, with the lowest chance of survival. I don't wish to survive. I don't want to be a hero for saving this already messed-up world. I'm doing it for ambition. I don't wish this, but when I'm dying in space because of any one of the countless possibilities, I want you to see _something beautiful through my eyes_ ."

  He stood there in the dust and silence, holding a promise to a ghost. Then he turned and walked back to his bike. The agency was waiting. The mission was waiting. She was waiting to see.

  "I should be honest with myself, I really like Morgan," says Sofia as she sits in the flight deck, checking each and every surrounding with Jay.

  "Isn't it so hard to accept your feelings, right?" Jay says while checking the RHC and THC controls.

  "What if we can't even cross the aperture? We may come across some... unknown problems or something that we haven't thought of. Then we will all die," Sofia speaks nervously.

  "I don't have proper words to explain it. It's like a sheet, or I can say parallel branes. The fourth dimension is the space between sheets. Each sheet is a different state of our universe."

  "They might not be alternate timelines,or i can say different moments of the same universe, separated by dimensional space."

  "Time is the box that collects each of these sheets. To be precise, they might not be alternate timelines. We just happen to understand some part of it. The Hyperfield aperture just pinches this space-time sheet and brings two points close. To be honest, we don't really understand it. The man who made it knows... and somehow Morgan."

  Sofia pauses the inspection and looks at Jay. "Who is that?"

  "Oh... you joined the agency after Proxima was abandoned. His name is—"

  Jay's phone rings. He quickly pulls it out and sees it's Morgan calling.

  "The administrator and Alex confirmed all the final tests are complete. The CAPCOMs are ready. We will begin tomorrow morning." Jay agrees, stating that his inspection is complete.

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  The sun sets. The agency is almost empty, everyone off to rest for once before the most important mission in history. Sofia works out in the training room. Morgan, lost in thought, sits on a nearby bench. Sofia, walking on a treadmill, steals glances at him.

  "Morgan... are you okay?"

  Morgan doesn't reply. His expression doesn't change, making her wonder if he's ignoring her or just didn't hear her.

  "Hey! Morgan!"

  Morgan quickly turns to look at her. "Yes?"

  "Who made the Hyperfield aperture?"

  Morgan looks at her for a moment. He thinks to himself, 'Why does she want to know this now?'

  "It was James."

  Sofia blinks. "Who?"

  "I don't know." Morgan's voice is distant. "The complete blueprint came from someone named James. The agency just built what he designed."

  "How is that possible? Who is he?"

  Morgan shakes his head slowly. "I wish I knew."

  He thinks to himself, Why did I hear him? Was it even him? Who... is he...?

  "So the aperture was made by the agency, but the blueprint was made by James," Sofia mumbles.

  "Yes, but why do you ask now of all times?"

  "I talked about it with Jay. Also, one day you were so enthusiastic and drew the Hyperfield aperture's detailed structure, so I always thought you made the blueprints."

  "No... I understand it more than anyone else. It makes me wonder too. It feels like I made it." Morgan stands up. "I'll go sleep. Tomorrow is the day our mission starts. The fate of the world and many lives depends on us."

  Sofia walks toward him as she mumbles, "W-wait."

  Morgan turns around to look at her.

  "I don't know if I'll ever find a chance like this after today. But... I have feelings for you, Morgan."

  Morgan's expression softens. "Sofia..."

  "You're a good person. After losing everything, normally people just drown in alcohol or take their own lives. But you took the burden and decided to save whatever is left. I know it's useless... but I wish if things ever go back to normal, I want to marry you," Sofia says as she stares at the floor, eventually lifting her eyes to glance at him.

  Morgan smiles painfully. "We're not heroes. We're just desperate. This mission is like a desperate attempt to save something we already ruined. But the thing is, we can't turn back. If I have to sit and spend my remaining life in this rotten world, I'll choose this mission. You know my favorite comic? Where a team of heroes lose, but they weren't there to defeat the supervillain. They just wanted to save lives, and that they did."

  Sofia chuckles. "You'd be a good dad. Telling stories like that will build character. Well... you need to rest."

  "Sure..." Morgan walks away. Sofia's smile completely fades when he is out of sight.

  "I wish I could be a hero."

  Sofia walks out of the training room, turning off the lights and shutting the door. Almost everyone in the agency went off to rest, but they were all restless. One question kept circling Jay's mind:

  "_What is the Hyperfield Aperture?_ "

  ----------

  6 years ago, a wall-mounted screen showed breaking news — a report about a UFO sighting near Antarctica.

  Blurry footage. Shaky camera. Speculation everywhere.

  Morgan barely reacted as he stirred his coffee slowly.

  “It’s way too common to hear fake stuff like this everywhere.”

  At present, Alex leaves the advanced physics lab, heading toward the operations room. He takes out his phone and dials the incident director, Linden Vale.

  “Are they all prepared?”

  “Yes. The tech lead, safety officer, communications lead, and security chief are all in the operations room.”

  Alex hangs up and walks faster toward the room.

  He steps inside, his eyes scanning the room.

  “Morgan and his team should be prepared by now. Proceed with the redundancy verification.”

  Everyone checks the sensors and systems. Multiple power readings spread across the screens. They confirm that all systems are running fine, with the lowest probability of sensor failure.

  The administrative staff reviews the final financial statuses and pending bills before leaving the agency.

  The lab teams and junior researchers remain in the underground lab as they monitor the ongoing process of the mission.

  People gather outside the facility to witness the launch. Everyone holds hope. They imagine themselves somewhere far away, in another place where they can start a new life. Away from their own faults and consequences.

  Morgan is ready. He is wearing the suit called Astro-Shell. The medical team stands ready on standby.

  A few hours are left before launch. Weather balloons are launched to measure upper-atmosphere winds, and the telemetry streams activate. Cryogenic fuel is transported, and fueling begins.

  Morgan, Jay, Harrison, and Sofia head out of the quarantine halls. They are seated and strapped in. Their biometric telemetry becomes active. They receive the Trans-Interplanetary injection burn confirmation - meaning there is no return. Fighting down their fear in silence, preparing mentally. There is no quick return once.

  Ten minutes before launch, the rocket switches from ground power to internal power, and the flight software enters terminal sequence mode.

  The engine ignition sequence begins. The rocket shudders. A roar builds beneath them. The rocket climbs, tearing away from Earth.

  Everyone’s eyes are fixed on the launch - some believing it may fail, others filled with trust.

  The rocket successfully leaves Earth. A sudden wave of relief washes over the operations room. Alex exhales, he didn't realize he'd been holding his breath. Faint smiles appear on faces that haven't smiled in years.

  They head toward the Lagrange gravitational balance zone. The spacecraft stabilizes within the gravitational balance zone. Alex stands. Around him, the operations room erupts in quiet celebration - first stage of the mission is successful.

  The CAPCOM communicates with the astronauts to check their condition. Morgan and his team confirm that all systems are stable.

  Alex speaks through CAPCOM.

  “Morgan? The next stage has the highest probability of failure.”

  Morgan replies with a sigh, “You’re saying it like I can return to Earth if I want to.”

  “The nuclear power should be enough to activate the Hyperfield Aperture. You know we can’t do anything from here to help you.”

  Sofia immediately responds, “We will do it. The systems are stable, and if we time it right...” She looks at Morgan. “Then we may not be _Lost in space_ .”

  The flight dynamics team calculates orbital perturbations. The physics advisory group runs simulations of the Hyperfield Aperture in real-time. CAPCOM communicates with Morgan and his team consistently.

  After the simulation is done, the advisory proposes the method of Power Beaming.

  Power Beaming is electromagnetic radiation. The laser that was installed isn't only for defense - it will be used to power the Hyperfield Aperture.

  Morgan communicates with CAPCOM, “We are at Lagrange point L1. The Hyperfield is at L4. We are not stable, I repeat...”

  The advisory responds, “You are currently 150 million km away from L4, or the Hyperfield Aperture. Approximately 1 AU.”

  “Roger,” Morgan says. “Jay, check the thermal control.”

  Jay quickly checks the thermal control systems because L1 is between the Sun and Earth. One half can freeze while the other overheats due to solar radiation. After approval from Jay, Harrison, and Sofia, the mission is ready to proceed to the next stage.

  Using the ion drives, they slowly move toward L4.

  Meanwhile on Earth, CAPCOM and the engineers discuss the stage ahead.

  “Alex, we may lose contact once they pass through the Hyperfield Aperture.”

  “I know. Let them handle the rest. We can't control the Hyperfield Aperture, and whatever happens will be left to fate.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  Forty-five hours later, they reach L4, near the Hyperfield Aperture. They scan different meteoroids in the region.

  Jay pilots the spacecraft, checking every minor detail. His nervousness rises steadily. Harrison enters the cockpit and speaks quickly.

  “Before the Hyperfield Aperture, reaching L4 is a trap. We will stabilize, but that region is full of meteoroids. We have multiple ion drives for constant speed. If we use three of the ion drives simultaneously, we can achieve 2G of constant acceleration.”

  Jay answers, “And we don’t even know what the ‘Tear’ will do to L4. The intense gravitational force could either attract meteoroids or cause the beam to deviate. We don’t have enough energy to fire Power Beam more than twice.”

  Sofia activates the lasers to deflect the meteoroids from their path. Jay uses propulsion to apply braking thrust, successfully reaching the desired position.

  The Hyperfield Aperture is now visible. It is enormous — almost three times the size of the rocket, which is 140 meters wide.

  It consists of three poles attached to a large central structure that must be powered to activate the “Tear.” Fortunately, the meteoroids are no longer in their direct path, and they can proceed with Power Beaming. The Tear occurs within a second, so they must be moving at full speed during activation. Continuous Power Beaming may result in a Tear lasting 1.4 seconds.

  Morgan commands his crew to move forward. Alex and the agency staff continue scanning for faulty systems and monitoring the crew’s vitals.

  Jay powers up the propulsion system. Using fuel propulsion and ion drives, they accelerate at 3G constant acceleration. Sofia initiates the Power Beam — a beam traveling at the speed of light, fully concentrated at a single point, gradually powering up the Hyperfield as they rapidly approach it. The stability of L4 begins distorting, but the effect is too brief to cause major disruption.

  They head straight ahead. Meteoroids move closer due to the sudden gravitational disturbance. The Tear begins — large enough for the spacecraft to pass through if piloted with extreme precision.

  They succeed.

  They enter the Tear.

  Light bends. Everything distorts. The surroundings appear incomprehensible. They move rapidly, yet feel suspended in slow motion. Logic and science seem shattered before their eyes.

  Meanwhile on Earth, as they enter the Tear, the agency loses all contact. No communication. No signals. No telemetry. It becomes impossible to determine what happened to them. Alex grips his fist tightly. He needs to know what is happening in space.

  Morgan and his crew stare in stunned silence. Two paths stretch before them - not a straight tunnel through spacetime, but a fork. They have always believed the Aperture would instantly transport them a few light-years ahead. The spacetime pinch was never expected to create two separate routes.

  "What the hell..." Harrison whispers.

  Morgan's training, his intuition, James's blueprint in his mind - none of it prepared him for this.

  The moment feels eternal.

  Morgan chooses to move forward and selects the left path. They reach a junction and turn left. Moments later, they find themselves near L4. Everything is stable — but they cannot communicate with the agency.

  “It’s... it’s all wrong. What we thought about the Hyperfield Aperture is completely wrong,” Morgan shouts.

  Jay yells back, “You said you understood this machine. How do you explain what just happened?”

  Morgan stares into nothingness. Panic sets in.

  "Mission commander?"

  Jay's voice cracks.

  "A fucking joke. You had ONE job - understand this machine. If you didn't know what it would do, you should have SAID SO before we all..."

  Sofia calms both of them down and kneels to wipe Morgan’s tears.

  “We all did what you asked. We trusted you blindly — not to jump into a machine that no one truly knows who built.”

  Harrison restrains Jay and calms him down.

  A week passes. They are now completely lost. They travel straight toward Earth in hope of landing and forming a better plan.

  As they approach Earth, they scan it from a distance. The planet does not appear affected by the pandemic. Morgan grows suspicious.

  “Jay, just this once — let’s wait. I feel something strange. Let’s check Antarctica.”

  Jay seems annoyed but agrees as everyone insists. They have no better option.

  As they orbit, Harrison runs the ice measurements.

  "The ice sheets... they're wrong."

  "What do you mean wrong?" Sofia leans over his shoulder.

  "Antarctica should be smaller. Six years of warming - the ice should've melted significantly. But this..."

  He pulls up the comparison data. "This looks like Earth from six, maybe seven years ago."

  "The ice levels are wrong. The pandemic trajectory is different. This isn't our Earth six years ago. This is a different Earth entirely."

  Morgan's hands shake.

  "The two paths... they didn't lead to different points in space. They led to different realities."

  Ground-based radar systems detect the spacecraft. Not knowing what it is, they label it a UFO. The news spreads rapidly.

  Morgan sits in a café, watching the news as he stirs his coffee.

  “It’s way too common to hear fake stuff like this everywhere.”.