--------- Some random scientist POV ---------

  "Let's get this pre test started..." I say with monotone into the intercom, not feeling super psyched about this test as I had with the first 20. 50 tests over the course of 2 years and 5 months with nothing to show for it.

  My helpful assistants do their jobs like little busy bees. Typing away here, running off with paper there. Some of them are still excited for the tests but most have stopped caring for the data. There is something we all love to do in one of these tests though, and that's looking at the blackhole. The one we create with a sequence of buttons and key turns, and the one we simply snuff out with the press of another. It's an amazing sight. The feeling we get when we play God is nice too. However... That's still a long ways off. First we have to pre test for the pre test. Then make sure our cameras are working properly. 'We are NOT recording it in 360p again.' I swear to myself.

  We don't have a typical window, for safety reasons. Something about the risk of a spying satellite or something. Just sounds like bogus to me. With no windows, we rely on the exterior cameras. Which is why the things recording in 360p is such a terrible thing. Because we couldn't see the blackhole properly even from the live feed.

  I glare hard at the assistants in charge of the cameras. I'm not mad anymore, it was almost a year ago now, but it helps keep them in line if they can feel my glare.

  I sit back in my comfy directors chair, seated all the way at the back and top of the room. The observation deck is more like a small auditorium or theatre. With the chairs and desks a sloped incline with flat large stair like platforms. I do love my chair, but sitting here and watching my minions storm around and do there tasks is boring. It won't be for a couple more hours until we actually turn the thing on.

  "Just a few more hours..." I sigh to myself. Resigned to waiting for the beautiful spectacle again.

  --------- Greg POV ---------

  "Finally!" I shout as loud as I can. My voice echoing through the hall. You'd think that there would be a chance for some kind of conversation with someone by how far the echoes go, but by the time they reach someone else's ears, or when they reach mine anyway, they are so distorted that they sound weird. You can tell it was a word or someone yelling but you can't understand it. It doesn't sound like a bump or bang though. I've heard those and they have a different feel to them. I'm kind of an expert on them now.

  But since I don't have to worry about anyone hearing me, or giving enough of a shit to tell me to stop, I can be as loud as I want. The first couple of days I tried to talk to anyone was really sad. I'm man enough to admit that every echo that came my way I called out to. Never did get a response. I do talk to my own echoes though. Sometimes. Parking the strange little cart that is the love of my life, I get out and stretch my arms as high as they'll go and let out a guttural scream.

  I stand there for a bit, just enjoying the sound of my voice. Literally. With a smile I enter my room and prepare. I toss the dumb fucking watch onto my desk, then deciding I don't even want to see it I slide it into a drawer and seal the evil away for another 100 years~! Well, at least another 10 or so hours until my next shift. With a smile I take my recycled water shower, that does come with heat thank God, and put on a fresh pair of undies and my very soft sleeping jumpsuit. It is not a Onsie or pajamas, shut up. Who cares if it looks like a dog and that I brought it from home? Not like there's anyone to judge me, so stop judging me!

  "..."

  "...hehe" I giggle to myself like a loon for a bit.

  "Time to get started!" I say at a normal level as the yelling kind of hurt my throat. I grab the box of st- salvaged cameras. "I did not steal them, I simply salvaged them. Ok yeah I stole them from storage. But no one was there and it's not like anyone is going to even care so... Actually, this should be overtime. Yeah! Overtime~! I'm going to fix up some cameras, so I should really be paid for this. Be grateful I'm not asking to be paid~."

  After my musings I leave my room and load the cameras into my cart. Still wearing my 'Sleeping Jumpsuit' because that's what it is. It has pockets like the regular jumpsuit so that's what it is.

  It takes 30 entire minutes of driving in a straight line but I arrive at my destination. "The spacewalk airlock!" I call out in victory as I hop off the cart. I do a small dance as I take my box of goodies and make my way inside. It's a spacious room. Surprisingly so. It could fit an entire 'elevator' from outside, and judging by the massive doors that's probably why. I set the box down on the ground because there's no tables or counters. Just a big empty room with 8 suits. 4 on each side of the massive door. I take the one from the furthest on the right and begin to put it on. My 'Sleeping Jumpsuit' folding and stretching as it is awkwardly forced into the space suit. Once it's on I do some weird maneuvers to make the 'Sleeping Jumpsuit' get out of my ass crack.

  it takes a bit but I get there eventually. "Nice and comfy~." I'm probably breaking several rules but I don't care. There is no one even remotely close by to even report me and I doubt they would even care.

  The space suit, and the rest of them, are pretty much what you would expect. Big bulky white and gray juggernaut type things. Not nearly as big as the first ones used but it definitely makes you seem bigger than you are. I actually quite like the look of them. They have that classic retro style. They pretty much look like the ones used for the first moon landing but smaller.

  I look at my reflection in the visor of the helmet as I take it off it's holder. My hair has gotten a bit long and my facial hair is a mess. I stopped caring about what I look like so I have that disgusting neck beard look with the side burns and patchy mustache.

  "I'll have to shave later. It's getting annoying." I mutter as I do faces in the reflective bronze gold visor. i reach up and rub my neck hair like some wise kung fu master.

  "In a land long before time had a name... ohohoho~." I do the old man laugh and put the helmet on at an angle, then twist it into place. The locks doing the work as the seal, well, seals.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I do some more stretching, I do this a lot, to get comfortable in the suit. The mobility is good, not great, but good. It can also take rifle rounds. For some reason. I think the nerds who designed it got a little too excited but who cares? I'm a nerd and I think it's cool. Better to have it too strong and not need it than the reverse.

  With some humming I grab the box off the ground kind of awkwardly as the suits torso doesn't like to bend as much as the limbs do. I enter the very large airlock and initiate the sequence. The air being sucked out of the room and the pressure meeting the vacuum outside. Once the exterior door opens, I just stare at the stars for a bit.

  Despite the vizor being tinted and reflective outside, the inside is crystal clear. It even has this neat auto dimming, so when you look at the sun you don't go blind. It's not instant though so I've been blinded by it before, but it's quick enough to no permanent damage can be done.

  After my little stupor of staring at the stars, I walk toward the edge. Finding a tether spool, I clasp it onto my belt and simply walk off the edge. Gravity instantly vanishes and I float there. A long couple of feet from the door and mere inches from the empty void of space.

  "Damn, I love this feeling." I say with a smile as I look around for the walk way. It doesn't take long to find it. It's called a walk way but it's really a type of zip line, but much faster. What? You think I'd be slowly making my way to the cameras literal miles away? No I'd die from asphyxiation like halfway there. The oxygen in the suits last a long time but not long enough for that.

  I grab the little doodad thing, it's a hook that I put on my belt like the tether but it's for the zipline gadget and I can't remember the name for it. I hook it to my suit and unhook the tether, letting it reel into the hole it came from like a snake. Holding the box tightly with one hand, and gripping the gadget with the other, I pull the trigger and start accelerating down the line. Slowly at first, but quickly building up speed as there's not much resistance. I cap out at around 5 miles per hour. Either by some safety feature or that's just as fast as it'll go.

  Thankfully I don't need to travel the entire distance to my room, as the cameras are only 2 miles away from the door. Slowing to a stop, I turn on the magnets in my boots and stand up on the hull. I'm technically sideways but in space, there's no real right direction. Before standing, I did unclasp the doodad and get another tether hooked to me. There are a lot of tethers out here. 2 on each side of the ring and at a distance of 300 feet of the next tether.

  I begin my selfless task of repairing the camera. "Here I am working overtime~, they should give me a raise!" I praise my efforts as I work for no pay. Totally not doing this for my self. The cameras were designed to be easily replaced so it only takes maybe 5 minutes to replace it. While putting the old one in the box, I start thinking of the other side of the ring. The inside of it. The part I was told many times not to go to.

  "Hmm... it can't be that bad to just... look around..." I mutter as I slowly turn to look at the side I definitely should no- I started walking. Peaking over the edge, I see another camera!

  "Oh~? What. is. this?" I ask myself as I walk over the edge and start making my way to the camera.

  "I've never seen the station from this view... It's nice. I think I'll add it to my window~." I say with an even bigger smile. I'm completely oblivious to the light show above me as I fiddle with the camera. The blue lasers and red alarms as something grows in the center of the ring. The spot in the middle turning into nothingness as light and reality begins to warp around itself.

  --------- That random guy again ---------

  "Finally." I mutter as the test can actually start. We locked the air locks 3 minutes ago, got the location data from every H.U.D. watch and everyone is on the station. Everything is green and ready to go.

  "Fire the capsule." I order one of my 'subs'. They hate it when I abbreviate the word subordinate and they don't tell me why. I know why. I just like making them uncomfortable and acting like an oblivious boomer. Now isn't the time for that though, as a small silver pill about 6 feet long and 2 feet in diameter is sent toward the center of the ring. Our displays hooked up to every interior camera on the ring, giving us a nice view of it flying.

  "Firing Singularity Beam in 3... 2... 1." Another 'sub' calls out and the live feed is filled with light as 4 blue lasers are perfectly timed to hit the capsule in the center.

  "Sir! There's someone in the ring!" Just as the blackhole begins to take shape and solidify itself into our reality, a nervous voice calls out.

  "What?!" I yell, standing quickly and staring at the man behind the voice.

  "Phil, pull up the feed on the main display!" I order and he does so. Everyone goes silent as someone wearing a space suit saunters up to the camera, very clearly happy about something.

  "Who is that?! Every one is accounted for!" I nearly scream as I demand someone to find out who this could be. Everyone on board should be wearing their watches, it's in the contract! Why would they even take them off when they are so nice?!

  I look down at my own H.U.D. watch. 'It's a luxurious shiny silver with a sexy female (or male, up to the user) voice, so who in their right mind would take it off?!' I think to myself, not knowing that non-scientists got something much worse.

  Looking back at the feed, I catch the screen going black as the stranger takes the camera out.

  "FUCK! Switch it over to a new view!" Losing all professionalism I order the room, and the view switches to one farther away and it zooms in. Showing his back as it looks like...

  "WHY IS HE REPLACING IT?!" I put my face in my hands as I scream at the ceiling. I looking back at the feed, I can only watch as this oblivious dumb fucking idiot doesn't notice the growing blackhole above him.

  "Shut down the FUCKING HOLE! NOW!" I yell out, but I know it's useless. We can't deactivate it until it becomes stable. If we send the aptly named 'Turn It Off Capsule' too early it might just make it worse.

  "God... DAMN IT!" I slam my fist against the desk as the bumbling fool, hereby referred to as 'DUMBFUCK 1', is pulled up by the strong gravity. It's clear he's panicking. Swinging his arms around like crazy. Thankfully, he has a tether. So he might just survive thi-

  "..." I don't even have the energy to scream as I, and everyone else, is forced to watch as the tether snaps. Putting both of my hands on my face I plop back into my chair and sit there as I hear gasps from everyone around me. I don't have to look to know he just died.

  "We are so losing our jobs..." I mutter darkly in the silence that comes after.

  --------- Greg POV ---------

  I was most certainly happy about this camera angle. Anything to help make this life of mine on the station more interesting. Just as I got the camera in place, I suddenly felt lighter.

  "Huh? Wait... I should be weightless though?" I muse as I ponder about the feeling. I turn and look at the movement in the corner of my eye. Oh, it's my box of goodies and gadgets floating up...

  "Oh my FUCKIN-" I don't have time to finish the words as I'm suddenly torn off the surface. The magnets not strong enough to hold me down.

  I was... perfectly calm. There was no way I was panicking. I mean, I'm a strong guy after all. Why would I-

  "OH MY GOD NO!" I screamed like a bitch. Voice crack and all. I was panicking and it was not pretty. I am quite confident that I was crying. Ugly crying. Snot and slobber as I yelled and hollered for my mommy.

  My hand caught onto the tether and held for a bit but the gravity grew stronger and pretty soon all I could do was let it ragdoll me around. My heart was struggling. Not from the panic, it certainly didn't help, but from the g-forces making my blood stagnate in my arms and legs. I was going to pass out. I should be ok though, hopefully I'll wake up just floating around with the tether keeping me safe.

  I didn't notice the tether snap as my vision grew darker. Either from passing out or just the fact that all light was being eaten and I was too. It didn't take long for everything to stop.