The Black Eye

"You don't think that the lives of the elites are very comfortable and pleasant, do you?"

Yu chuckled. "Isn't that how it should be? At least, we all think so. You are rich, you have big and luxurious houses that protect you from the heat and the rain."

"I don't know, Yu," Alina sighed heavily and long. "Life is not just about wealth."

And one minute later, Yu entered a phase where what he saw with his open eyes was not the simulated room but pitch-black conditions at a point in outer space.

Along with that, the hexagonal pieces that supported his body moved dynamically, each piece following the movement of every part of the man's body.

"Hey," said Yu, "I think I'm back where I first started!"

"Is that so, huh?"

"Hmm, just a minute!" Yu looked around, trying to identify every object he could see in the infinite darkness. "Well, I guess it's just me."

Alina smiled, she stood up and approached the thin and transparent screen on Yu's left. The tablet was still in her arms.

"Then, what kind of situation do you see now?"

"At first, I thought they all were stars in a galaxy," Yu said with a laugh as he activated the jet pad function on his outfit.

"What did you find?"

"A collection of free-floating meteors," Yu replied as he approached the space rock field. "They vary in size."

"Maybe you mean meteoroid field," said Alina.

"Is that what it's called?" Yu smiled widely. "Sorry, I'm not very aware of these kinds of things."

"Yeah," Alina stifled a laugh. "You've said that before."

"Is this really how it is?" asked Yu as he moved from one floating rock to another. "From the size of a marble to the size of a house, all in one very vast area."

"Is there a planet there or maybe a parent star?"

"Not a single one," replied Yu. "Only this collection of space rocks as far as I can see."

"Oh, I see?" Alina nodded, she made sure all the devices attached to the man's body were in stable condition before deciding to sit on her chair. "Keep looking, Yu. Maybe there will be interesting things you can find there."

"Very well, Doctor Alina."

Alina laughed softly while shaking her head.

Yu explored the seemingly limitless meteoroid field. To find a single life form there was something impossible, to be sure. He's just trying to find something unique that could be the one thing he can learn.

"You found something?"

"Not so far," said Yu. "Only rocks that seem to contain metal, and so on—I don't know! I've never studied the nature of a meteoroid."

Alina smiled. "You should get used to this, Yu."

"I know," said the man. "Speaking of the Ark-03 being prepared in China."

"What's in your mind?"

"Where are they headed this time?" Yu chuckled, they never seem to get tired of sending people into space, those scientists and rich people, he thought.

"Planet Gliese 667 Cc," Alina said, "is twenty-two light-years from Earth."

"Oh, I see?" Yu nodded as he jumped up and down on the big rocks. "First Planet Kepler-22b, then to the Andromeda Galaxy, and now to Planet Gliese 667 Cc. Wow…! They really have a lot of money!"

Alina giggled while shaking her head when she caught a strange smile on the man's lips.

"You're ridiculous!" she said.

"I just feel so sorry for the money to be wasted, that's all!"

"No,' said Alina. "Not everything goes to waste, Yu. In fact, all of this is for the sake of science and mankind, of course. Take for example what you're going to do."

"Well, I guess you're right. Hey!"

"What is it?"

"I think I found a piece of diamond among these rocks!"

"Ow, really?" Alina again had to hold back her laughter. "Are you sure?"

"Hmm, I can only deduce from its crystal-like shape and it shimmers in the light of my flashlight."

"Oh, my, Yu," Alina couldn't hold back her laughter anymore. "Wouldn't even ordinary glass have the same characteristics? Even metal surfaces will look like that, Yu."

Yu laughed because he agreed with the doctor's words.

"Then," said Yu after he left the shiny object he found earlier. "What will the black hole I am about to enter look like? Can you tell me a little about that?"

"Of course," said Alina. "That's how it should be."

"I'll try to listen carefully."

"Good boy!"

"Hey, come on now!"

Alina laughed until her large breasts swayed. "All right, all right," she said. "Hmm, where should I start?"

The black hole that Yu was about to enter appeared about 300 years ago in one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy. More precisely, on the Arm of Norma which is at the southern point in Earth's sky.

They named it the Black Eye.

The Black Eye appears after a star in the Norma Arm loses its radiation and gravity, causing it to undergo what is known as a stellar collapse and then explode. This event is known as a hypernova—an explosion ten times more powerful than a supernova explosion, also known as a collapsar. And in the end, the Black Eye was born.

The hypernova event that emitted gamma-ray radiation was blamed by scientists as the cause of the destruction of some of the Earth's surface at that time. Although the real reason for the destruction on the surface of the Earth is due to human activity itself.

And since then, the Black Eye became the object of research by many scientists. Including, Hidetoshi Akimura who even dedicated all his wealth and life to researching the young black hole.

It was also this that sparked the idea of ​​'Into the Hole', which was funded by Akimura Tech—a scientific study-based company that was owned by Hidetoshi Akimura himself.

"Wow…!" Yu nodded in admiration, at the Black Eye, at the dedicated Hidetoshi Akimura.

"You know," said Alina. "I heard, the 'Into the Hole' program has been broadcast since three years ago."

"Aah, then there have been people before me who joined this program?"

"No, you're wrong!" said Alina. "Didn't I tell you? You're the only one crazy enough to want to sign up to volunteer."

"That's because it's not just an ordinary volunteer."

"Yea, yea…" Alina took a deep breath.

The doctor wasn't about to say that Yu had traded his life for fleeting luxury, she thought. Although, in the end, Alina understood the reason behind Yu accepting the offer, from the conversations in the last three sessions of the two.

"I know what you're thinking," Yu said.

"Oh, really?"

"But it's okay." Yu smiled blandly and the girl saw this. "If only I could choose, I would be happy to join the group that will ride the Ark-03."