Athena was looking up at the stars, hugging her arms tight through her over-sized sweater, the last time she would see space from her vantage point on Earth. She went inside the space station, donned her space suit, and made her way to the rocket waiting to ship her off into space. "Any last words for the people of Earth?" one of the scientists asked over the comms.532Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttPdFE4KkX
"I hope I'll be back someday. And if I never come back, I hope to be remembered."
When the rocket took off, Athena held on to her seat with an iron grip. Even after she went weightless, she refused to let go. After a while, she finally set the co-ordinates she was flying to. Just a year away was a black hole. Her mission was to go in it.
She was forced into sleep most of the time. The scientists called it hyper-sleep. She called it a coma. When the ship shuddered, however, she bolted awake. The black hole was right in front of her; she could see the particles of light being bent around it. Another shudder, and she was in a spiral towards the center of the black hole. No going back now. She saw the ship start to stretch, and then she felt herself stretching along with it. She screamed, and felt bad for the poor scientist who had to hear her when her transmission made it back to Earth. She was stretched longer, and longer, and then she shut her eyes, felt a massive jump, and then all was still. Athena opened her eyes, and pushed open the door behind her in the rocket. Outside was purely nature. Hills, a few wildflowers here and there. Soft clouds. A gentle breeze that made her hair fly behind her.
She stepped outside. There was nothing, only her. "Oi! What happened to you?"
Athena turned and saw a man standing next to the rocket. "Wh-where am I?" she asked.
"You're inside that black hole you went into. Technically, you're on the other side of it. You just jumped between dimensions. It's been quite a while since anyone has done that."
Athena stepped out of her space suit and hugged herself like she had on Earth a year ago, only this time she was more self-conscious, wearing nothing more than a T-shirt and a diaper. "Am I stuck here?"
The man nodded. "But don't worry. It's rather nice, and you'll never age a day. Something about how the mechanics of the black hole edit you, or something. I'm not a scientist who researches that field. Come on, let's get you some actual clothes."
Athena sidled up next to the man and tried to not focus on the fact that while coming through the black hole, she had been so scared she wet herself. She was an astronaut, and used to the feeling, but not to the cute men greeting her while she needed to change. "What's your name?" Athena finally asked.
"Tony. Yours?"
"Athena," she replied. "How long until I can change out of this?"
"Shouldn't be long. The nearest settlement is just over the next hill."
Athena nodded. "So this is what's behind a black hole."
Tony nodded.
Athena took a deep breath and smiled. "I could get used to this."
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