Black Hole
Ralph had already decided his fate. Jeremy squawked wildly behind him, begging him not to go through with this. But Ralph had to do this, if not for science, but for himself. He floated closer to the black hole, it’s pull on him growing ever stronger. Eventually, he lurched forward uncontrollably. He had reached the magic zone. As he rocketed into the inter-galaxy anomaly, he passed through the radiating layer of Hawking Radiation, his tether to the ship snapping. This, however, is where our story splits.
-Jeremy’s Perspective-
Jeremy’s tears stain the inside of his helmet uncontrollably. He looked at Ralph, hoping, praying that this is all just a horrible, horrible nightmare. Ralph slowly seems to start moving slower, slower, slower, yet slower. Just when he reaches the Event Horizon, Ralph comes to a complete halt. Jeremy’s jaw drops, and the tears increase ten-fold. Some small, blue flames begin at Ralph’s feet and hands, and start crawling up to his core at a quickening pace. The Hawking Radiation being put out by the black hole was burning him to a crisp. Eventually, Ralph becomes a pile of ashes. Or, rather, a cloud of ashes in his image. Jeremy stares for a few solid minutes, before tearily pulling himself along his tether back to the ship and flying away.
-Ralph’s Perspective-
Ralph quickly falls closer and closer to the event horizon. He passes through it, and floats there in silence for a few moments. He feels... no different. No squashing, stretching, crushing, pain. At all. Not even a slight warmth due to any Hawking Radiation. He turns around to look at Jeremy. He sees only him floating there, the tears literally pooling in his helmet. He waves, but Jeremy does not respond. After a few moments, Ralph sees Jeremy pull himself back to the ship, and fly off. Ralph put his hand to his chin in thought. Had Jeremy experienced something different than he had? Ralph found pondering this question to be a worthless endeavor, given his circumstances. He turned back around, waiting for when he reached the Singularity at the center of this behemoth. Would there be death or an alternate dimension on the other end? Ralph knew not. But he was glad, nonetheless. If there is an afterlife, he would be sure to tell whoever he found what he experienced when he got there.
