Writing

"Theirs someone on the coms trying to call us, It seems like its one of the sector researchers. Should we answer?"

"Message them that we are currently in a mission and that we will call back to give them a debrief once substantial finds have been made"

"Yes sir!"

The man in the Corporal neo-exploration uniform dragged a salute across his heart and then walked back to the communications area of the ship.

Two men in glossy silver chairs sit looking out at the abyss of space. They both wore similar garments, Lieutenant neo-exploration uniforms. They are reminiscent of a bygone time, one in which wars were waged over land and not planets. The drab green juxtaposed against the minimalist-futurism of the ships main cabin made both men standout. As if they were old plastic army figurines placed inside a child's new favorite toy. Time was of no consequence out on the last frontier, I.S. Humans had conquered that for the most part. People lived much longer thanks to the bioengineering done on the primals long before both of these men were born. Because of this dead silence was the norm, especially in space and especially when you are an explorer. The whirs and whines of the ship collecting data was what was most important. The only spoken words were those of importance, small talk was a rare occasion and this was one such occasion between these men.
"We've been aboard this ship together for at least 100 years and yet i've never asked you, why did you become an explorer in the first place?" The younger man rotates his chair away from the glassy abyss and looks directly at his co-lieutanant.
"I hated being on planet, simple as that." The older man says tersely while squinting out at the stars.

"I hated being on planet too but I definitely wouldn't have chosen to be an explorer if that were my only motive. We sit at one of the most dangerous positions someone can have on the UNNSF."

Silence breaks the conversation and an indeterminable amount of time passes in-between the older lieutenants response.

"Isn't that the point though?" The older lieutenant rotates his chair to his co-lieutenant.

"We both chose this position and knew the risk. We must have been attracted to that risk somehow"

"I wouldn't call it attracted lieutenant, more like fascination. Ever since I grew up in the Floodlands I always had a fascination with discovering whats out there."

"Well there it is."

"But, what about you. What drives you to be out here in this abyss for centuries?"

"Same as you, I wanted answers so I decided to join the UNNSF and work torwards being an explorer."

"Answers on what?"

The sterile sound of silence buzzes back into their conversation. Time passes...

"I wanted answers that I knew I couldn't find on planet, My life wouldn't allow for it."

"What type of life did you lead on planet?"

"One that was not noteworthy, I worked for one of the five new corpos as a security officer. It was easy work, you tell where the mercs to be and who the target was. It brought home good money which satisified the wife and kids."

The younger man staring directly out of the glass looking at distant galaxies and stars flickering says, "I assume it didn't satisfy you though?"

"No, no it did not. It was too cozy, too mundane. Sure the thrill of seeing dots on a screen being there in one instant and then gone the next was exciting but eventually it all felt so trivial. The mystique of death was gone for me."

The younger man cocking his head while still staring intentively out the cabin shield said, "what do you mean the mystique of death was gone?"

The older man breathes out a large sigh, "We go our whole lives fearing death. The biggest unknown, The true final frontier. We live longer then ever and yet researchers are still trying to find a key to immortality. The life I lived on planet was nice but it lacked that fear. That morbid curiousity that all of us have when it comes to our own demise."

"So, you set up hits on people for a living and that got boring so now you want to put yourself at risk for the same demise that you gave to those you targeted?"

"More than that though, Death is just the new beginning. It's completely unknown but that!" The older man blurts out excitedly, "That is the mystique of it all. Death leads to infinite possibilites just like this abyss we are traveling through does. The unknown can hold wonders beyond our thinking capabilities. It can hold the answers to questions we never knew we should have asked."

This time the Silence sucked all the noise out of the ship and time crepted in taking the spacemen to further objectives in this sector.

"You're out of your mind you know that?" The younger lieutenant whispered as the sound of an alarm went off

"Emergency lieutenants! We are currently Rapidly closing in on the orbit of a undiscovered blackhole, I advise you maximize power output and rotate thrusters backwards"

"Ha, I guess I belong here then. Where we are is out of this world so being a little out of my mind means i'm right at home."

The younger lieutenants seat slides over to the pilot controls at the front. Above him looks like a massive black spot that is obscuring everything else that could have been. As he pilots the ship the older lieutenant collides into him and pushes the thrusters towards the massive spot.

"We need more data, Which requires us to go further into its orbit!"

"We can gather data from a safer distance!" The younger lieutenant says as he tries to wrestle for control against the older lieutenants more firm build.

"We have to get closer, The answers are right there! We just need to peer deeper in."

"We gain nothing from this except for the potential loss of your life, my life, and our crews life!"

"Never before has a ship of our caliber entered into a blackhole, The data we, the UNNSF, and the world could gather from our continued push into the void would be invaluable"

"Invaluable is not the same thing as useful though! We are more useful to the UNNSF and the world alive than dead."

"Death is only the next step on our exploration."

The two men continue to argue as the ship whirls deeper into the darkest of nights. The crewmates rush in saying there prayers as the cartographer knows that the ship is passed the event horizon.Those final years are spent in silence as the ship continues to collect data, slowly fading into the void and phasing from this world to the next.

A man enters the penthouse of a luxury upscae hotel. The entire front wall is made of bullet-proof glass and below that is 76 stories of open air. The city below shrouded in a deep gray haze with the twinkles of neon signs and lights reaching out, reminding those above that they are still there. Covered in the masculine shadow of her patron a women wearing a silk silvery slip is guide by his firm hands to enter there place of worship.

"Lets take a seat by the couch so I can warm up, I usually like chatting before we get into all the fucking"

"Yes daddy whatever you say"

The man grabs two glasses and calmly places an ice rock in each. The glasses thirst to be filled with the elixer of socialites and the poor. So it is done.

"Do you like the view of the city? Be honest with me." The man whispers to his escort.
"It's a wonderful view daddy, Do you get to see this type of view often?"
The man grunts and says, "When you climb to the level of affluence that I have all you see is the tops of buildings and others heads."

The girl nods

After a few moments of silence and caressing the man continues in a whisper, "What makes this view so full of wonder to you?"

She smirks playfully "it's glamorous, like me. It sparkles even when the haze is above rate. I like seeing the twinkling of lights as shops close and open. Its so entertaining to my eyes"

"Hm. I see now why the boys at the office recommended you, you fit right in with this echelon if thats how you view the city."

She giggles to herself and moves closer to her patron,"you think? I would hate to remind you of something that's already plaguing you. Right now the only thing I am worried about fitting in, is you."

"and your a decent sweet talker too."

The escort gets closer, almost touching her lips to her patrons ear and hums under her breath, "Do you like that, is this pleasing too you?"

Laying his hand on her cheek and looking into her cybernetic eyes the man proclaims softly, "Pleasure is all I feel nowadays hun, things being unpleasurable is the abnormal."

"Is that what you want then, for us to get alittle unpleasurable here on this couch?"

He leans back and takes a sip of his elixir,"What I want hun is to feel."

Reminded of the currency at stack here the escort crawls into her patrons lap and says, "what do you want to feel daddy?"

Drinking and staring out at the city completely still the man says, "enough talk and questions. i'm warm now."

"Someones avoiding my questions?" she disguises as being coy.

"No, their's no reason to chat now. I feel like i've already spoken enough in this life. Words have failed me and I can only speak with my body now."

He leans in. Kisses her and the ceremony begins.