Chapter 10
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Zuman just smiled sadly at them.
"Thank you Karina. I'll give you an answer if I survive this."
"No. Professor, please focus on what you're doing right now."
Nurse Karina's hologram came into being, probably because she's in range of the visual detectors.
"No worries about that. I'm focusing."
True to his word, his hands are flashing on the panel, inputting commands, bypassing securities and locks, attempting to again manually bypass the lockdowns.
"Ya know, I kinda regret right now putting so much safeguards in place in case the bloody lock gets loose. Now we want it loose, but the system had to lockdown in a situation like this. Oh wait. There goes 1 layer."
And yes, they all can see that from the visual feed, the outer ring rotation has unlocked at 1 part.
"Good. More."
Even though he says that, Zuman is painfully aware of just how little time he has left. As if to hammer that into his awareness, an announcement came on the speakers.
"Alert! Shockwave will hit the station in 15 minutes! Please ensure all projects are halted in 5 minutes to reduce danger of systems cascade failure."
"I guess that's my cue. AI! Activate Research Hab Thrusters! Give me full thrust for 2 minutes and then apply reverse thrusters to cut inertia immediately after. On my mark."
"Order received and processing. Confirmed. Waiting your signal."
"Alright. Engage now!"
And with that order, the research hab thrusters started pushing at full power. Don't underestimate these small plasma engines. At full speed, they can propel a small probe at 500 000kmh. And there's quite a few of them on the station. While the station mass means that the engine power doesn't quite reach even half the maximum speed, he just wants the Research Hab away from the station.
"AI! Activate navigation shields and warn me about any impact from the surrounding asteroids."
"Affirmative sir.
At the sudden thrust, Zuman stumbled on the floor before regaining his footing. Hurriedly getting back to his feet, he resumed his work of unlocking the systems.
"Alright. Another layer unlocked!"
"You're doing it man."
Dalbir encouraged him.
"Alert, thrusters will stop in 10 seconds before immediately engaging reverse thrust. 8.7….. 3.2.1. Stopping!"
Warned by the AI announcement, Zuman had already prepared himself by anchoring his hands to the panel. Even then, the inertia wasn't able to be fully nullified by the station lifesupport, and he ended up banging his face on the panel.
"Ouch!!"
After venting to that pain, he focused on the panel.
"Alert, due to the earlier acceleration, structural integrity of the Heaven's Gate has been compromised! It is recommended that you stop the experiment immediately!"
"Tsk. When it rains it pours. AI, belay that warning. After this, only warn me once for every different alert."
"Acknowledged, sir."
-
After 10 minutes of extremely fast overrides, Zuman has just managed to get to the 2nd last layer when…
"Alert! Shockwave arrival imminent! Brace for impact in 10 seconds!"
"!!!!"
Zuman only had time to digest this warning before unlocking the 2nd last layer and throwing himself on the floor.
"5. 4. 3. 2. Impact!"
BOOM. There were no explosions. But the whole Research Habitat is shaking violently. It's as if a small fishing boat is being tossed and turned by a violent storm on the sea.
"Shields holding. Alert. After shocks arriving in 1 minute."
"Tsk."
Zuman had to claw himself up the panel so that he can resume overriding.
"Unlocked! Inner ring rotation slowing down!"
True to the announcement, the inner rings are visibly slowing down.
Zuman heaved a sigh of relief.
Suddenly.
"Alert! First after shock arriving!"
BOOM!
Zuman is again thrown to the floor. But he's already glad that the rings are slowing down.
"Alert! Anomaly detected!"
Zuman's face changed upon hearing this.
"Alert! The exit portal has been hit by the shockwave! Detecting inverse polarization of the portal! Recommend immediate stop of the experiment!"
"SHIT!!!!"
Zuman cursed, as this was the worst news he could have expected. He looked grimly at the portal. Due to the inverse polarization, the portal is visibly unstable.
"Dalbir. You there?"
"Aye. We're shaking and getting tossed like spaghetti out of the cooker but otherwise still in one piece."
"Bad news. I don't think I'm gonna make it."
"!!!! Don't talk nonsense with me man. I thought you had it under control just now?"
"I did. But the bloody wave hit the exit portal and that resulted in an inverse polarization. Long story short, the damned portal is very unstable right now. Best case scenario, it dissolves harmlessly. Mid scenario, it explodes and takes me with it. Worst case, it forms a bloody singularity!"
Hearing that last part, Dalbir's face paled immediately. 300 years of socializing with a scientist tend to make one pick up some stuffs.
"You're talking about a goddamned black hole aren't ya?"
"Yes old friend. Glad to see that some things managed to stick on your mind."
"Get off the station now man! Evacuate!"
" I can't. That last shock fried some of the station circuitry, so I'm temporarily locked in this Hab for a few hours. So now it's either I live through this or I don't."
"Goddammit. Why you had to be so stubborn before?!"
"Dude, it's kinda late for an 'I told you so' right now. I'm working on making the portal dissolve faster, but it's all up to luck now. And hopefully the next aftershock doesn't ruin that plan."
"Tsk."
"Also, Nurse Karina, I'm sorry I can't give you an answer after all."
Zuman smiled sadly at the holoreceiver.
"No sir, don't worry about it."
Nurse Karina bravely smiled back through tears.
Zuman resumed his attempt to bypass more lockdowns. He just wants to cut power to the portal so that it'll dissolve naturally now.
However. Some plans are not meant to be.
"Alert! Shockwave imminent! Brace for impact in 10.9.8...3.2.1"
BOOM!!
Another tremor hit the station, and again Zuman was thrown of his feet. As if that wasn't enough, another announcement came.
"Alert! Shockwave has hit the exit portal!"
Zuman can see that this particular shockwave has effected something on the portal. What he doesn't know, but it's definitely nothing good.
"Alert! Portal unstable! Isolated horizon bleed imminent."
"Well. Here goes nothing then."
Zuman directly keyed in the manual release for whole structure.
"AI! Give me manual authority over all components!"
"Transferred!"
"Good."
Saying such, he ran to the console situated just behind the portal. There's a manual override there where it will immediately cut power to the rings and at the same time forcefully stop the rings by locking them in place using magnetic cranes.
It was never tested before even though it's a safety feature because such drastic measures mean that anything can happen to the portal.
"Well. Good luck to me."
Whispering to himself, he smashes the glass lock over the lever. Pulling it out harshly, he twisted it to the lock position before slamming it back in.
Immediately, all power routed to the machine was stopped. However, due to all the shockwaves interference, the power remaining is enough to rotate the rings.
After that, magnetic cranes exited the walls, floors and ceilings. The cranes twisted and aimed towards the rings before locking on. Then, each crane fired their magnetic locks on rings and attempted to hold it in place.
"There we go. Please, just work!"
"Alert! Shockwave incoming! Brace for impact in 10.9.8.7…..3.2. Impact!"
"SHIT!!"
The last impact pretty much sealed the habitat's fate and with it, Zuman's. The intense tremor jolted some of the magnetic cranes loose.
Zuman could only watch in despair as the ring rotation continued unabated.
"Dalbir. Get out of here now. Send a recording of what happened and all that I did to try to stop it. Tell them to put more safeguards in the future and to find out what went wrong today. I don't want this project to stop. I want it to resume. I want it to finish. I want humans to be able to jump the stars in 1 step!"
"…. I hear you. Old friend, it's not fair you're leaving me alone like this."
"Tsk. Don't bullshit me, you have your lovely wife with you. Cherish her, you idiot. Also, you remember that thing you had planned a few months back? Do it."
"What happened to all that loving her so much and stuff?"
"That was before I know I'm dead now. Not too bad mind. Just let her know what she lost when she made her choice. From the looks of it, just realizing my identity and wealth would make her regret a lot. Golddigger. Tsk."
"Alright. We're engaging HyperLight engines soon. Anything else you want to say?"
"I only regret today's incident. I don't regret my life and my research. I knew what I wanted and I knew what I was in for the moment our Government gave me the full offer. Tell them to make sure my inheritance goes to my sis's descendants."
"Okay old friend. Godspeed."
The comm channel abruptly terminated, replaced with an exterior optical zoom view of Dalbir's shuttle disappearing in a flash as they engaged HyperLight engines.
"Well. That's it then. Just waiting for the end huh."
"AI! Play me some music."
"Affirmative. What music sir?"
"My favourite one."
A haunting tune slowly fills the air.
Nodding, he hums the song.
'Times of glee,
Times of mourn,
Vainly I searchy for you,
Are you the same?'
"ALERT! Portal expanding! Please evacuate the Research Habitat!"
(Well. That's my swan song I guess.)
Smiling, Zuman just lay down on the floor and waited.
-
Blackness consumed him.
-
Elsewhere on Earth.
"We are here to do a post-mortem on what happened with the Heaven's Gate incident. Specifically, on what happened and what steps to take next. Any comments before we begin?"
"Just one. The project has been given a once over by our other researchers. They have confirmed that what happened was a freak accident that was not accounted for. They have also gone over the records of what happened and have confirmed that project is very much workable and can begin human testing immediately."
"Thank you for that input. Anyone else?"
Silence reigned around the table.
"Alright. Let's begin. As noted earlier, the project is viable and can begin human testing immediately, provided we take further precautions to insure something similar doesn't happen again. I concur with this conclusion. Everyone?"
"We concur."
A chorus resounded.
"Noted, as such, the Heaven's Gate project is resumed. Credit for the project will fully attributed to Professor Zuman Raph as the Project Founder, Lead Researcher and the one that brought it to success. Any objections?"
"None."
"Thank you. Also, as you are well aware ladies and gentlemen, Professor Zuman is, sorry, I meant was, an Immortal. In fact, he is one of the oldest, being among the first batches of Immortals. Due to this and due to his nature of not spending carelessly, his assets has accumulated quite handsomely. Doctor Dalbir gave us his last testament to allow his late sister's descendant's to inherit them. Is there any problem with this last request?"
"Only that we will need to force them to sign an NDA regarding his full status. Currently, only 1 branch of the sister's descendants are aware of his actual identity and they have already signed the required NDAs. The other branches assumes that he is an adopted son from a deceased family member."
"This is acceptable. So I motion that this be passed. Any objections?"
"No."
"Any other issues?"
"None."
"Then we are adjourned."
With that, the meeting was concluded.
-
Humanity entered a golden age from there on. Massive Heaven's Gate was constructed in orbit of all the planets selected for colonization and terraformation. This has accelerated the speed of human expansion. No longer do we need to wait years before hearing news from other planets. 1 step and we have moved from Earth to another planet.
The name Zuman Raph was entered into the Humanity's Shrine of Science, to be mentioned in one breath with Adrian Lock and Kazuya Mashiba as one of the biggest contributors to space travel, exploration and colonization.
Everyone knew that unlike Adrian Lock and Kazuya Mashiba, Zuman Raph died on the eve of success, claimed by the fickleness of fate and forever unable to enjoy the fruits of his labours.
And one person found out who Zuman Raph was. Or rather, she found out who he really was. Not a minor technician exiled to a far off terraformation project. No, she found out his name was gilded in gold. But it was too late. And people knew. Somehow, people knew she was the one who abandoned him for another man thought to be more worthy. She was scorned. She was insulted. She is known as a byword for the person who cannot differentiate between dross and gold. And this was the worst torture for her. To know she willingly let go of such a catch in exchange for a normal person.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Zuman just smiled sadly at them.
"Thank you Karina. I'll give you an answer if I survive this."
"No. Professor, please focus on what you're doing right now."
Nurse Karina's hologram came into being, probably because she's in range of the visual detectors.
"No worries about that. I'm focusing."
True to his word, his hands are flashing on the panel, inputting commands, bypassing securities and locks, attempting to again manually bypass the lockdowns.
"Ya know, I kinda regret right now putting so much safeguards in place in case the bloody lock gets loose. Now we want it loose, but the system had to lockdown in a situation like this. Oh wait. There goes 1 layer."
And yes, they all can see that from the visual feed, the outer ring rotation has unlocked at 1 part.
"Good. More."
Even though he says that, Zuman is painfully aware of just how little time he has left. As if to hammer that into his awareness, an announcement came on the speakers.
"Alert! Shockwave will hit the station in 15 minutes! Please ensure all projects are halted in 5 minutes to reduce danger of systems cascade failure."
"I guess that's my cue. AI! Activate Research Hab Thrusters! Give me full thrust for 2 minutes and then apply reverse thrusters to cut inertia immediately after. On my mark."
"Order received and processing. Confirmed. Waiting your signal."
"Alright. Engage now!"
And with that order, the research hab thrusters started pushing at full power. Don't underestimate these small plasma engines. At full speed, they can propel a small probe at 500 000kmh. And there's quite a few of them on the station. While the station mass means that the engine power doesn't quite reach even half the maximum speed, he just wants the Research Hab away from the station.
"AI! Activate navigation shields and warn me about any impact from the surrounding asteroids."
"Affirmative sir.
At the sudden thrust, Zuman stumbled on the floor before regaining his footing. Hurriedly getting back to his feet, he resumed his work of unlocking the systems.
"Alright. Another layer unlocked!"
"You're doing it man."
Dalbir encouraged him.
"Alert, thrusters will stop in 10 seconds before immediately engaging reverse thrust. 8.7….. 3.2.1. Stopping!"
Warned by the AI announcement, Zuman had already prepared himself by anchoring his hands to the panel. Even then, the inertia wasn't able to be fully nullified by the station lifesupport, and he ended up banging his face on the panel.
"Ouch!!"
After venting to that pain, he focused on the panel.
"Alert, due to the earlier acceleration, structural integrity of the Heaven's Gate has been compromised! It is recommended that you stop the experiment immediately!"
"Tsk. When it rains it pours. AI, belay that warning. After this, only warn me once for every different alert."
"Acknowledged, sir."
-
After 10 minutes of extremely fast overrides, Zuman has just managed to get to the 2nd last layer when…
"Alert! Shockwave arrival imminent! Brace for impact in 10 seconds!"
"!!!!"
Zuman only had time to digest this warning before unlocking the 2nd last layer and throwing himself on the floor.
"5. 4. 3. 2. Impact!"
BOOM. There were no explosions. But the whole Research Habitat is shaking violently. It's as if a small fishing boat is being tossed and turned by a violent storm on the sea.
"Shields holding. Alert. After shocks arriving in 1 minute."
"Tsk."
Zuman had to claw himself up the panel so that he can resume overriding.
"Unlocked! Inner ring rotation slowing down!"
True to the announcement, the inner rings are visibly slowing down.
Zuman heaved a sigh of relief.
Suddenly.
"Alert! First after shock arriving!"
BOOM!
Zuman is again thrown to the floor. But he's already glad that the rings are slowing down.
"Alert! Anomaly detected!"
Zuman's face changed upon hearing this.
"Alert! The exit portal has been hit by the shockwave! Detecting inverse polarization of the portal! Recommend immediate stop of the experiment!"
"SHIT!!!!"
Zuman cursed, as this was the worst news he could have expected. He looked grimly at the portal. Due to the inverse polarization, the portal is visibly unstable.
"Dalbir. You there?"
"Aye. We're shaking and getting tossed like spaghetti out of the cooker but otherwise still in one piece."
"Bad news. I don't think I'm gonna make it."
"!!!! Don't talk nonsense with me man. I thought you had it under control just now?"
"I did. But the bloody wave hit the exit portal and that resulted in an inverse polarization. Long story short, the damned portal is very unstable right now. Best case scenario, it dissolves harmlessly. Mid scenario, it explodes and takes me with it. Worst case, it forms a bloody singularity!"
Hearing that last part, Dalbir's face paled immediately. 300 years of socializing with a scientist tend to make one pick up some stuffs.
"You're talking about a goddamned black hole aren't ya?"
"Yes old friend. Glad to see that some things managed to stick on your mind."
"Get off the station now man! Evacuate!"
" I can't. That last shock fried some of the station circuitry, so I'm temporarily locked in this Hab for a few hours. So now it's either I live through this or I don't."
"Goddammit. Why you had to be so stubborn before?!"
"Dude, it's kinda late for an 'I told you so' right now. I'm working on making the portal dissolve faster, but it's all up to luck now. And hopefully the next aftershock doesn't ruin that plan."
"Tsk."
"Also, Nurse Karina, I'm sorry I can't give you an answer after all."
Zuman smiled sadly at the holoreceiver.
"No sir, don't worry about it."
Nurse Karina bravely smiled back through tears.
Zuman resumed his attempt to bypass more lockdowns. He just wants to cut power to the portal so that it'll dissolve naturally now.
However. Some plans are not meant to be.
"Alert! Shockwave imminent! Brace for impact in 10.9.8...3.2.1"
BOOM!!
Another tremor hit the station, and again Zuman was thrown of his feet. As if that wasn't enough, another announcement came.
"Alert! Shockwave has hit the exit portal!"
Zuman can see that this particular shockwave has effected something on the portal. What he doesn't know, but it's definitely nothing good.
"Alert! Portal unstable! Isolated horizon bleed imminent."
"Well. Here goes nothing then."
Zuman directly keyed in the manual release for whole structure.
"AI! Give me manual authority over all components!"
"Transferred!"
"Good."
Saying such, he ran to the console situated just behind the portal. There's a manual override there where it will immediately cut power to the rings and at the same time forcefully stop the rings by locking them in place using magnetic cranes.
It was never tested before even though it's a safety feature because such drastic measures mean that anything can happen to the portal.
"Well. Good luck to me."
Whispering to himself, he smashes the glass lock over the lever. Pulling it out harshly, he twisted it to the lock position before slamming it back in.
Immediately, all power routed to the machine was stopped. However, due to all the shockwaves interference, the power remaining is enough to rotate the rings.
After that, magnetic cranes exited the walls, floors and ceilings. The cranes twisted and aimed towards the rings before locking on. Then, each crane fired their magnetic locks on rings and attempted to hold it in place.
"There we go. Please, just work!"
"Alert! Shockwave incoming! Brace for impact in 10.9.8.7…..3.2. Impact!"
"SHIT!!"
The last impact pretty much sealed the habitat's fate and with it, Zuman's. The intense tremor jolted some of the magnetic cranes loose.
Zuman could only watch in despair as the ring rotation continued unabated.
"Dalbir. Get out of here now. Send a recording of what happened and all that I did to try to stop it. Tell them to put more safeguards in the future and to find out what went wrong today. I don't want this project to stop. I want it to resume. I want it to finish. I want humans to be able to jump the stars in 1 step!"
"…. I hear you. Old friend, it's not fair you're leaving me alone like this."
"Tsk. Don't bullshit me, you have your lovely wife with you. Cherish her, you idiot. Also, you remember that thing you had planned a few months back? Do it."
"What happened to all that loving her so much and stuff?"
"That was before I know I'm dead now. Not too bad mind. Just let her know what she lost when she made her choice. From the looks of it, just realizing my identity and wealth would make her regret a lot. Golddigger. Tsk."
"Alright. We're engaging HyperLight engines soon. Anything else you want to say?"
"I only regret today's incident. I don't regret my life and my research. I knew what I wanted and I knew what I was in for the moment our Government gave me the full offer. Tell them to make sure my inheritance goes to my sis's descendants."
"Okay old friend. Godspeed."
The comm channel abruptly terminated, replaced with an exterior optical zoom view of Dalbir's shuttle disappearing in a flash as they engaged HyperLight engines.
"Well. That's it then. Just waiting for the end huh."
"AI! Play me some music."
"Affirmative. What music sir?"
"My favourite one."
A haunting tune slowly fills the air.
Nodding, he hums the song.
'Times of glee,
Times of mourn,
Vainly I searchy for you,
Are you the same?'
"ALERT! Portal expanding! Please evacuate the Research Habitat!"
(Well. That's my swan song I guess.)
Smiling, Zuman just lay down on the floor and waited.
-
Blackness consumed him.
-
Elsewhere on Earth.
"We are here to do a post-mortem on what happened with the Heaven's Gate incident. Specifically, on what happened and what steps to take next. Any comments before we begin?"
"Just one. The project has been given a once over by our other researchers. They have confirmed that what happened was a freak accident that was not accounted for. They have also gone over the records of what happened and have confirmed that project is very much workable and can begin human testing immediately."
"Thank you for that input. Anyone else?"
Silence reigned around the table.
"Alright. Let's begin. As noted earlier, the project is viable and can begin human testing immediately, provided we take further precautions to insure something similar doesn't happen again. I concur with this conclusion. Everyone?"
"We concur."
A chorus resounded.
"Noted, as such, the Heaven's Gate project is resumed. Credit for the project will fully attributed to Professor Zuman Raph as the Project Founder, Lead Researcher and the one that brought it to success. Any objections?"
"None."
"Thank you. Also, as you are well aware ladies and gentlemen, Professor Zuman is, sorry, I meant was, an Immortal. In fact, he is one of the oldest, being among the first batches of Immortals. Due to this and due to his nature of not spending carelessly, his assets has accumulated quite handsomely. Doctor Dalbir gave us his last testament to allow his late sister's descendant's to inherit them. Is there any problem with this last request?"
"Only that we will need to force them to sign an NDA regarding his full status. Currently, only 1 branch of the sister's descendants are aware of his actual identity and they have already signed the required NDAs. The other branches assumes that he is an adopted son from a deceased family member."
"This is acceptable. So I motion that this be passed. Any objections?"
"No."
"Any other issues?"
"None."
"Then we are adjourned."
With that, the meeting was concluded.
-
Humanity entered a golden age from there on. Massive Heaven's Gate was constructed in orbit of all the planets selected for colonization and terraformation. This has accelerated the speed of human expansion. No longer do we need to wait years before hearing news from other planets. 1 step and we have moved from Earth to another planet.
The name Zuman Raph was entered into the Humanity's Shrine of Science, to be mentioned in one breath with Adrian Lock and Kazuya Mashiba as one of the biggest contributors to space travel, exploration and colonization.
Everyone knew that unlike Adrian Lock and Kazuya Mashiba, Zuman Raph died on the eve of success, claimed by the fickleness of fate and forever unable to enjoy the fruits of his labours.
And one person found out who Zuman Raph was. Or rather, she found out who he really was. Not a minor technician exiled to a far off terraformation project. No, she found out his name was gilded in gold. But it was too late. And people knew. Somehow, people knew she was the one who abandoned him for another man thought to be more worthy. She was scorned. She was insulted. She is known as a byword for the person who cannot differentiate between dross and gold. And this was the worst torture for her. To know she willingly let go of such a catch in exchange for a normal person.
Zuman just smiled sadly at them."Thank you Karina. I'll give you an answer if I survive this.""No. Professor, please focus on what you're doing right now."Nurse Karina's hologram came into being, probably because she's in range of the visual detectors."No worries about that. I'm focusing."True to his word, his hands are flashing on the panel, inputting commands, bypassing securities and locks, attempting to again manually bypass the lockdowns."Ya know, I kinda regret right now putting so much safeguards in place in case the bloody lock gets loose. Now we want it loose, but the system had to lockdown in a situation like this. Oh wait. There goes 1 layer."And yes, they all can see that from the visual feed, the outer ring rotation has unlocked at 1 part."Good. More."Even though he says that, Zuman is painfully aware of just how little time he has left. As if to hammer that into his awareness, an announcement came on the speakers."Alert! Shockwave will hit the station in 15 minutes! Please ensure all projects are halted in 5 minutes to reduce danger of systems cascade failure.""I guess that's my cue. AI! Activate Research Hab Thrusters! Give me full thrust for 2 minutes and then apply reverse thrusters to cut inertia immediately after. On my mark.""Order received and processing. Confirmed. Waiting your signal.""Alright. Engage now!"And with that order, the research hab thrusters started pushing at full power. Don't underestimate these small plasma engines. At full speed, they can propel a small probe at 500 000kmh. And there's quite a few of them on the station. While the station mass means that the engine power doesn't quite reach even half the maximum speed, he just wants the Research Hab away from the station."AI! Activate navigation shields and warn me about any impact from the surrounding asteroids.""Affirmative sir.At the sudden thrust, Zuman stumbled on the floor before regaining his footing. Hurriedly getting back to his feet, he resumed his work of unlocking the systems."Alright. Another layer unlocked!""You're doing it man."Dalbir encouraged him."Alert, thrusters will stop in 10 seconds before immediately engaging reverse thrust. 8.7.. 3.2.1. Stopping!"Warned by the AI announcement, Zuman had already prepared himself by anchoring his hands to the panel. Even then, the inertia wasn't able to be fully nullified by the station lifesupport, and he ended up banging his face on the panel."Ouch!!"After venting to that pain, he focused on the panel."Alert, due to the earlier acceleration, structural integrity of the Heaven's Gate has been compromised! It is recommended that you stop the experiment immediately!""Tsk. When it rains it pours. AI, belay that warning. After this, only warn me once for every different alert.""Acknowledged, sir."-After 10 minutes of extremely fast overrides, Zuman has just managed to get to the 2nd last layer when"Alert! Shockwave arrival imminent! Brace for impact in 10 seconds!""!!!!"Zuman only had time to digest this warning before unlocking the 2nd last layer and throwing himself on the floor."5. 4. 3. 2. Impact!"BOOM. There were no explosions. But the whole Research Habitat is shaking violently. It's as if a small fishing boat is being tossed and turned by a violent storm on the sea."Shields holding. Alert. After shocks arriving in 1 minute.""Tsk."Zuman had to claw himself up the panel so that he can resume overriding."Unlocked! Inner ring rotation slowing down!"True to the announcement, the inner rings are visibly slowing down.Zuman heaved a sigh of relief.Suddenly."Alert! First after shock arriving!"BOOM!Zuman is again thrown to the floor. But he's already glad that the rings are slowing down."Alert! Anomaly detected!"Zuman's face changed upon hearing this."Alert! The exit portal has been hit by the shockwave! Detecting inverse polarization of the portal! Recommend immediate stop of the experiment!""SHIT!!!!"Zuman cursed, as this was the worst news he could have expected. He looked grimly at the portal. Due to the inverse polarization, the portal is visibly unstable."Dalbir. You there?""Aye. We're shaking and getting tossed like spaghetti out of the cooker but otherwise still in one piece.""Bad news. I don't think I'm gonna make it.""!!!! Don't talk nonsense with me man. I thought you had it under control just now?""I did. But the bloody wave hit the exit portal and that resulted in an inverse polarization. Long story short, the damned portal is very unstable right now. Best case scenario, it dissolves harmlessly. Mid scenario, it explodes and takes me with it. Worst case, it forms a bloody singularity!"Hearing that last part, Dalbir's face paled immediately. 300 years of socializing with a scientist tend to make one pick up some stuffs."You're talking about a goddamned black hole aren't ya?""Yes old friend. Glad to see that some things managed to stick on your mind.""Get off the station now man! Evacuate!"" I can't. That last shock fried some of the station circuitry, so I'm temporarily locked in this Hab for a few hours. So now it's either I live through this or I don't.""Goddammit. Why you had to be so stubborn before?!""Dude, it's kinda late for an 'I told you so' right now. I'm working on making the portal dissolve faster, but it's all up to luck now. And hopefully the next aftershock doesn't ruin that plan.""Tsk.""Also, Nurse Karina, I'm sorry I can't give you an answer after all."Zuman smiled sadly at the holoreceiver."No sir, don't worry about it."Nurse Karina bravely smiled back through tears.Zuman resumed his attempt to bypass more lockdowns. He just wants to cut power to the portal so that it'll dissolve naturally now.However. Some plans are not meant to be."Alert! Shockwave imminent! Brace for impact in 10.9.8...3.2.1"BOOM!!Another tremor hit the station, and again Zuman was thrown of his feet. As if that wasn't enough, another announcement came."Alert! Shockwave has hit the exit portal!"Zuman can see that this particular shockwave has effected something on the portal. What he doesn't know, but it's definitely nothing good."Alert! Portal unstable! Isolated horizon bleed imminent.""Well. Here goes nothing then."Zuman directly keyed in the manual release for whole structure."AI! Give me manual authority over all components!""Transferred!""Good."Saying such, he ran to the console situated just behind the portal. There's a manual override there where it will immediately cut power to the rings and at the same time forcefully stop the rings by locking them in place using magnetic cranes.It was never tested before even though it's a safety feature because such drastic measures mean that anything can happen to the portal."Well. Good luck to me."Whispering to himself, he smashes the glass lock over the lever. Pulling it out harshly, he twisted it to the lock position before slamming it back in.Immediately, all power routed to the machine was stopped. However, due to all the shockwaves interference, the power remaining is enough to rotate the rings.After that, magnetic cranes exited the walls, floors and ceilings. The cranes twisted and aimed towards the rings before locking on. Then, each crane fired their magnetic locks on rings and attempted to hold it in place."There we go. Please, just work!""Alert! Shockwave incoming! Brace for impact in 10.9.8.7..3.2. Impact!""SHIT!!"The last impact pretty much sealed the habitat's fate and with it, Zuman's. The intense tremor jolted some of the magnetic cranes loose.Zuman could only watch in despair as the ring rotation continued unabated."Dalbir. Get out of here now. Send a recording of what happened and all that I did to try to stop it. Tell them to put more safeguards in the future and to find out what went wrong today. I don't want this project to stop. I want it to resume. I want it to finish. I want humans to be able to jump the stars in 1 step!"". I hear you. Old friend, it's not fair you're leaving me alone like this.""Tsk. Don't bullshit me, you have your lovely wife with you. Cherish her, you idiot. Also, you remember that thing you had planned a few months back? Do it.""What happened to all that loving her so much and stuff?""That was before I know I'm dead now. Not too bad mind. Just let her know what she lost when she made her choice. From the looks of it, just realizing my identity and wealth would make her regret a lot. Golddigger. Tsk.""Alright. We're engaging HyperLight engines soon. Anything else you want to say?""I only regret today's incident. I don't regret my life and my research. I knew what I wanted and I knew what I was in for the moment our Government gave me the full offer. Tell them to make sure my inheritance goes to my sis's descendants.""Okay old friend. Godspeed."The comm channel abruptly terminated, replaced with an exterior optical zoom view of Dalbir's shuttle disappearing in a flash as they engaged HyperLight engines."Well. That's it then. Just waiting for the end huh.""AI! Play me some music.""Affirmative. What music sir?""My favourite one."A haunting tune slowly fills the air.Nodding, he hums the song.'Times of glee,Times of mourn,Vainly I searchy for you,Are you the same?'"ALERT! Portal expanding! Please evacuate the Research Habitat!"Well. That's my swan song I guess.Smiling, Zuman just lay down on the floor and waited.-Blackness consumed him.-Elsewhere on Earth."We are here to do a post-mortem on what happened with the Heaven's Gate incident. Specifically, on what happened and what steps to take next. Any comments before we begin?""Just one. The project has been given a once over by our other researchers. They have confirmed that what happened was a freak accident that was not accounted for. They have also gone over the records of what happened and have confirmed that project is very much workable and can begin human testing immediately.""Thank you for that input. Anyone else?"Silence reigned around the table."Alright. Let's begin. As noted earlier, the project is viable and can begin human testing immediately, provided we take further precautions to insure something similar doesn't happen again. I concur with this conclusion. Everyone?""We concur."A chorus resounded."Noted, as such, the Heaven's Gate project is resumed. Credit for the project will fully attributed to Professor Zuman Raph as the Project Founder, Lead Researcher and the one that brought it to success. Any objections?""None.""Thank you. Also, as you are well aware ladies and gentlemen, Professor Zuman is, sorry, I meant was, an Immortal. In fact, he is one of the oldest, being among the first batches of Immortals. Due to this and due to his nature of not spending carelessly, his assets has accumulated quite handsomely. Doctor Dalbir gave us his last testament to allow his late sister's descendant's to inherit them. Is there any problem with this last request?""Only that we will need to force them to sign an NDA regarding his full status. Currently, only 1 branch of the sister's descendants are aware of his actual identity and they have already signed the required NDAs. The other branches assumes that he is an adopted son from a deceased family member.""This is acceptable. So I motion that this be passed. Any objections?""No.""Any other issues?""None.""Then we are adjourned."With that, the meeting was concluded.-Humanity entered a golden age from there on. Massive Heaven's Gate was constructed in orbit of all the planets selected for colonization and terraformation. This has accelerated the speed of human expansion. No longer do we need to wait years before hearing news from other planets. 1 step and we have moved from Earth to another planet.The name Zuman Raph was entered into the Humanity's Shrine of Science, to be mentioned in one breath with Adrian Lock and Kazuya Mashiba as one of the biggest contributors to space travel, exploration and colonization.Everyone knew that unlike Adrian Lock and Kazuya Mashiba, Zuman Raph died on the eve of success, claimed by the fickleness of fate and forever unable to enjoy the fruits of his labours.And one person found out who Zuman Raph was. Or rather, she found out who he really was. Not a minor technician exiled to a far off terraformation project. No, she found out his name was gilded in gold. But it was too late. And people knew. Somehow, people knew she was the one who abandoned him for another man thought to be more worthy. She was scorned. She was insulted. She is known as a byword for the person who cannot differentiate between dross and gold. And this was the worst torture for her. To know she willingly let go of such a catch in exchange for a normal person.
