How miniature are we compared to this universe? We are just a small particle of an atom in this vast universe. I didn't really understand that until we went on the mission to the edge of the universe. Our story continued with the launch of our spaceship. Our spaceship took off from the surface of Earth hidden behind a conventional space shuttle. Official report to the public that 'it was a space probe sent into space to study Pluto'. The takeoff from earth felt like the weight of a thousand horses put onto this fragile human body. It was only the 1st step, but I was having doubts about the mission. 'I should have stayed at home,' I thought during the takeoff. Then everything went calm along with my mind; it felt like calm in the midst of chaos when we exited the earth's atmosphere. Everything went quiet at the moment when we exited the earth, like the universe itself holding its breath. Our spaceship exited from the rocket slowly detaching and leaving behind Earth. Our captain, Valtor Kane, set the course for our journey. 'Setting coordinates, check engines,' he said. Then a sound started to slowly fill the ship. It was the engines that were firing up. He and his vice captain of the ship, along with the head engineer, started the ship and moved it towards the target. 'Engines check, reactors check, core temp stable,' the chief engineer said. 'Firing up the engines to maximum capacity, moving towards coordinates in 3...2...1...0,' the captain said, and the aid and ship started moving away from the earth with unbelievable speed. 'Wait a minute…. What is the target location? I know this mission is towards the edge of the universe, but that is 20 billion light years away. Even with our speed, it would take billions of years for that journey,' I thought. mind was in complete confusion. My mind wanders like a boat in the endless sea of questions. At last my curiosity got out of control, and I asked the captain, 'Excuse me, Captain, I had a question.' 'Yes, Doc, what is it?' he replied calmly. 'Captain, how are we supposed to travel 20 billion light years in 2 months?'. Before the captain could answer, Dr Adrianna Holt replied in a rough tone, 'Seriously, how is this guy in the mission without knowing a thing about it?' And she started laughing. Something in my heart told me that she did not like me. Sam goes for me; there was something about her attitude that I didn't like. 'I am sure everyone who is present here has their reasons, so please stop making these remarks, Dr Adriaana,' the captain replied to her without even a delay. 'And Dr Vale, do you know about wormholes?' he asked me. I nodded 'yes' and said, 'A little bit.' He started talking and told me, 'Wormholes are like shortcuts between the two points of spacetime. Our team at Earth had mapped 6 wormholes we need to take to cut short our journey from billions of years to 2 months.' Our captain's patience, his leadership, and his communications told me why he was chosen as the captain of the mission. 'Where is the first wormhole?' I asked. He replied, 'Near the Venturus 18, an exoplanet just near Pluto, we will use Venturus 18 as a reference and thereafter steer manually towards and inside the wormhole. But it will take 10 days to reach there. I suggest you take a good rest and start working on your research; each second is important in this mission,' I replied, 'Okay,' and started going towards my room. 'And, Doc, a word of advice: a trip through a wormhole will not feel smooth,' he said to me from behind. I nervously smiled and nodded 'okay'. There was something about the way the captain said 'not smooth' that made me uncomfortable. Nevertheless, I ignored my feelings about it and headed towards my room. My room was next to the head engineer. I went to my room to relax for some time. As soon as I lay down on my bed, I heard a knock at my door. I opened the door, and it was . 'Hey neighbour, just here to welcome you here,' he said. 'Oh, thank you,' I replied confusingly. 'I hope you are a fun guy; the guy next to me in the last mission was a total douche,' he said with a smile on his face. I awkwardly replied, 'Yeah! Hope so. He chatted with me for a moment. He was an awkward guy but fun to hang out with. I asked him, 'Do you know how it feels inside a wormhole?'. ' Must be like hell, he replied and started laughing. Then he said, 'I don't know much, but it is a rough experience on your body. Luckily, we have specialised suits for that, so it will be fine.' Thinking of that wormhole and what will happen made me anxious, so I changed the topic. We chatted for a little bit, then he left. 'I should get going and take some rest. Take care, bro,' he said and left.

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  I was in my room alone after that, resting for a while. I picked up the glass of water and a bottle of water. Before I started filling the glass, something strange happened. The glass was already filled, 'but I never filled the glass, I thought. Well, that was strange; it was like a piece of my memory of filling the glass faded somehow, but I didn't make much of it. Maybe my brain needed rest after that overwhelming experience of leaving the earth, or was it the start of something bigger? I got my answers now, but I am not sure I wanted to learn that answer.

  Anyways, I drank the water and rested for a while, and then after some time, I went to my laboratory to analyse the tools and started working. I did some brainwave scans of my own for control purposes and took them as reference; I had planned to do a full brainwave and MRI scan of everyone before we reached the wormhole as control and reference. After completing my own scan, I told the captain and everyone that I needed `every one of them for the scan.' He agreed, and everyone showed up one by one; none of them had any objection, of course, except Dr Adriana. 'At last, let us rest, scientist,' he said when it was her turn, and I didn't say anything and started scanning her brain.

  When I looked at her results, it was something weird; her brain showed excess alpha and delta waves on the scan , a pattern not seen while waking up. I rechecked her and scanned her again, but it was still the same. I was confused, but I told her everything is fine and kept it to myself. 'Maybe a machine malfunction,' I thought. Everyone else's pattern was normal, and then came the captain; his EEG showed the same pattern as Dr Adriaana's. This weird pattern confused me. But why only two of them? Is there any connection between the two of them? As I wrapped my head around the situation , the captain asked, 'Is everything okay, Doc?'

  I wanted to ask him the same question, but what do I tell him? That his scan showed he is sleeping? I asked him, 'Are you feeling okay, Cap?' He said with a small pause, 'Yes, Doc.' Why?' Nothing, just asking,' I said. 'I felt a little dizzy during our last mission, but not now,' he smiled. 'Last mission?' I asked spontaneously. 'Yes! The singularity', he said. My mind filled with questions, and with the nervousness, I asked, 'Was Doctor Adriaana also in that mission? His next words confused me but also provided answers partially. 'Yes,' he said, 'but why? He asked, and I replied casually, 'Nothing, just asking, cap.'

  There was the connection I was looking for between them. I found the connection but not the cause, as I thought, and thought one thing was clear to me: this mission holds more mysteries than are coming along the way, and I will be the one unravelling them.