How far?

“How far can you go before you hit the mark?” Jake yelled down the pit
         
“How in God’s name should I know?” was the witty response. Jake’s partner, Chris, was currently rappelling into a dark hole, in the middle of nowhere. The two of them had been hand-picked by a special committee to do what many considered the most important thing in the history of mankind, perhaps even the universe. The entire ordeal had begun with the grand theory of everything. A breakthrough in the physics community proved that universes could be born out of black holes, and that that had been the origin of our own. We were merely a break in time of another universe. Of course this could not satisfy human curiosity, the next logical step was to see if we could find our parent universe, our “God”, if you will, and that’s where Jack, Chris, and what was being casually referred to as the tower of Babel project come in.
         
Jack and Chris were perhaps two of the most extraordinary men in existence, and that had earned them the honour of being able to take the mission. They each had incredible intellect, graduating top of their respective classes from esteemed schools. Both had logged in over 5000 hours of space flight. They were physically perfect, 20/20 vision, impeccable hearing, and having passed rigorous fitness tests. Military duty was also a requisite they had fulfilled, and were decorated veterans on top of it. One of the few differences between them was that Chris was an atheist, where as Jake was a deist. The population of people had a near 50/50 representation of theist and atheist, and equal representation on this journey was a must.
         
The mission required them to take a ship out to a black whole which was believed to be able to serve as a portal back to our father universe, and that’s what they were currently hovering above. Chris had been designated to be the one to descend down the pit, a nick name for the long, drill like tunnel protruding into the black hole, designed to keep Chris in one piece while rappelling into the abyss. Jake was left in charge of the controls.

“Oh wait, I see it, 350 metres” Chris yelled back up to Jake.

“Alright then, I guess this is it. I’m engaging the pneumatic drive, you should launch down in 5, 4, 3, 2… see you on the other side” And Jake threw the switch.

A massive gush of air and gut wrenching sensation rendered Chris speechless, preventing him from replying with a witty remark. He shot down into complete black at breakneck speed, until finally he halted abruptly in mid free-fall. He felt this was odd. Of all the things he had anticipated, instant death, being torn to pieces, some sort of technical failure followed by explosion, he hadn’t expected to be left floating still in the dark. It was peculiar feeling, like sensory deprivation, but without ground, no gravity even. He had no idea what to make of it. No sight, no sound, and no way to move. He felt completely naked. His only game plan was to wait for something, anything.

What felt like days had passed, although there was no way to tell. He decided it was pretty much over, whatever universe he had been taken into wasn’t comprised of much. It was time to swallow his suicide pill. The scenario took him back to his childhood, when he was talking to his grandfather about what he wanted to do with his life. His Grandfather had been a famous astronaut, and Chris wanted nothing more than to follow in his footsteps. He remembered being told, “You know becoming an astronaut takes a lot of hard work. More than you can imagine. And there’s a lot that you have to give up in your life if you want to get all that hard work done. Not to mention space isn’t all adventure; it’s a cold, endless dessert. So you really need to know how far you’re willing to go to achieve it”.

“I’d do anything to become an astronaut, I’d go anywhere” was young Chris’ response.

That’s what he thought about now, what he would’ve done if he knew the ‘How far’ his Grandfather had said entitled swallowing a death pill floating in a dark abyss. But thinking back on his career, the beautiful things he had seen, he figured it might just have been worth it. With that thought, he went to reach for his pack. Then the voice spoke.

“All this way and you’re going to give up just like that?”

Chris nearly jumped right out of his skin. “Who’s there?!” He screamed.

“No one important” the voice replied lazily.

Chris composed himself from the initial shock, and now attempted to contain his excitement. “What are you? Where are you? How do you understand me, and what else do you know about humanity? Do you know about humanity?”

The voice chuckled softly. “I suppose it’s that same sort of curiosity that led you to jump into a pit of death in search of me?”

“So, you do know. Well… are you, um… are you God?” Chris’ usually confidence and articulation had seemed to fail him in the present circumstances.

“You may call me what you wish, but I do not care for labels much”.

“So this is it then? They were right. This is the universe which ours comes from. Everything began right here. We did it” Chris spoke the last line with wonder. Everything he imagined, perhaps there even was a God…perhaps he was speaking with it.

“Hmmm… you’re very excited to be here, aren’t you?” The voice continued in its lazy drawl. ‘Well, I suppose you should
be, after all, this is what you looked for; this is the birthplace of your universe.”

“Wow. There’s so much to know. So much to ask." Chris hesitated for a second, and then remembered what he was sent here for. "But that’s not my mission. I apologize, but I was sent only to discover if this would work. I need to go back now; I need to tell them that the passage is safe, that there are others through the hole. How did you create our world? How can I get there?” asked Chris.

“There is no going back now”.

“There must be” Chris responded matter of factly. “There is a portal connecting out worlds, it was used to create our world, and worked to send us back over here.”

“Perhaps I spoke too quickly,” The voice continued, “Your universe no longer exists. When you went through the black hole, an infinite time passed for your universe, it has collapsed into nothing, everything is gone. Surely you realized this would happen. You’re supposed to be the brightest of your race.”

“Oh.” Chris was speechless. He had never been too emotional, looking to reason first. But this was a big pill to swallow. The whole universe, gone, in the blink of an eye.

“Well, if that’s all, I should really be going. I hope you have a nice time.”

“But wait. Where are you going. I can’t see anything. Can you show me where to go?” Chris was getting a little frustrated now, if this was God he sure was abrupt and unhelpful.

“Go? You? You haven’t noticed yet?” The voice responded, a little more impatiently.

“Noticed? What haven’t I noticed?” Panic was beginning to show through his voice.

“How long have you been here? 18, maybe 20 hours you think? And yet you aren’t hungry are you? When was the last time you blinked? Why can’t you feel your spacesuit? Do you even feel your lips moving, or are you just thinking these words? Why don’t you reach for that suicide pill you were going to take.”

Chris made as if to thrash around, but nothing happened. He couldn’t touch himself, he couldn’t move. “What the hell is going on here!” He was getting angry with the voices coy way of speaking.

“Took you long enough to figure it out.” The voice finally seemed to be pleased. “Ironic, isn’t it? You came in search of heaven and found your own personal hell. But, come now, you can’t really say your disappointed. After all, when asked how far you would go, you said anywhere” The voice paused for a while, as if to let enjoy his moment in the sun longer. “Well, you have an eternity to think it over now. Enjoy your life, or afterlife, or whatever you want to call it.”

The last thing Chris heard was the sadistic chuckle of that voice fading away. He was abandoned, alone in the dark, with nothing but his thoughts for the rest of eternity.