I am not the type that likes dangerous activities like an adrenaline junkie. I like the comfort of my home and spending time with my family, and I like to work on my research, but when N.A.S.A. came to me with a mission to the edge of the universe, my thirst for knowledge got the best of me, and I agreed. Maybe my curiosity for understanding the human mind is more important than my comfort for me.

  The two "men in black" asked me to pack my bags in two hours. I went home right away. I called my mom and told her that I will be going to a remote part of Africa for 3 months, and I called my dad and told him the same. They don't really understand my work, so it was easy to lie to them. 3 months – what a joke! It feels like a joke after bearing the weight of reality.

  I packed my bags and got ready for pickup. The two men pulled up outside my house and stood there. They stood there like statues without moving or talking. I came out of my house. I nodded at them; of course they didn't reply. I sat down in the car. When I was in the car, my mind was racing with thoughts. "Am I doing the right thing?" "This is too dangerous." But more than that, I was excited to learn new things about our minds, about the endless knowledge I was going to unfold.

  My heart pounding like a drum in my chest while sitting in the car. The two men then sat in the car and started driving. I calmed myself down and started thinking about the things I was going to learn. My heart slowed down. I started listening to music to calm myself down.

  We reached a place that looked like a warehouse in the middle of nowhere. I got out of the car and stretched my body after this long drive. "Now what?" I asked. One of the men looked at me, then took out his walkie-talkie and started talking in the walkie-talkie: "We're here." Completely ignoring me. Then they directed me inside the warehouse. They directed me to an old elevator. When we got inside the elevator , the elevator started, and it got us inside an advanced base.

  The base was filled with people. Everyone wore a coat with N.A.S.A. written on their coat. The men directed me to a room.

  The room was empty. A man in a white suit came to me; he looked at the men and said, “Is he the new guy?“ The men nodded yes. He told me, “I am your training instructor; for the next month, you will be trained for outer space missions.” Then they asked me to rest for a while and gave me some clothes. The man in white asked me to change and meet him in 2 hours.

  Now I will not go into the details of my training, but it was brutal. They trained me in anti-gravity chambers and fed me ready-to-eat foods. Trained me for everything that I will be experiencing on the mission. They also taught me the basics of how the spacesuits work and basics about space shuttles.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Then the day of the mission came. It was the 24th of April, as much as I can recall. I met other members of the team. We formally introduced ourselves to each other. First was Valtor Kane, our captain and head of the mission, then co-captain Marcus Thorn. Next was Paul Fisherman, our head engineer. Then Dr Adriaana Holt, chief physician on the flight. Then there were two tech guys, Stephen Haul and Paige Rider. Others were assistants to the captain, and then there were workers for minor work on the ship.

  Then came my turn to introduce myself. I said, “Hello, everyone. I am Dr Caesseian Vale. I am a neuroscientist.“ “Neuroscientis“t?" A voice interrupted me. “Why do we need a neuroscientist on this mission?“ Dr Adriaana Holt said jokingly, “Is this a science project? What's he going to do, teach us about neurology?“ Something in her tone told me that she doesn't like the idea of me being on board. The captain replied, Each one of you is carefully and strategically planned for the mission. There is no need to ask questions about each other now; I am sure we will get all the answers when the time comes, right, Dr Vale?“ He said so while looking at me.

  I nodded “yes”.

  After the formal introduction was over, we were directed to sit in the car. The car took us to the “takeoff site”.

  And there it was. The spaceship we were supposed to go to the edge of the world with, “The Astralis”. Its name written in big letters on the outside.

  It was nothing like I imagined. To be honest, it was even more majestic. It doesn't look like any conventional spaceship. It was something designed not just to travel but to bend the fabrics of space-time. It was shaped like a M?bius strip. No outside visible engines, just smooth curves painted in matte black. There was no cockpit, just cameras and AI working for the navigation of the ship. The material of the ship was nothing like I had ever seen before. It was completely made of henotassium, the strongest material known to mankind. It was something straight out of a sci-fi movie.

  It had four nuclear fusion-powered engines, a technology I didn't even know could be used for engines. I didn't know they had found a way to control this form of energy.

  We got ready in our special space suits with N.A.S.A. written on them. We got into the spaceship. I looked around the spaceship upon entering. I looked at my room and my laboratory. It was equipped with the state-of-the-art machine I needed for my research. Machines I could only dream of. If not for this mission, I would never have worked on these machines.

  As we settled in. We got ready in a room for the takeoff. The captain was doing some modulations with the controls, getting ready for takeoff. Our spaceship was inside a conventional rocket to cover up our mission and ship.

  As we sat there, the voice started echoing in the ship. “Prepare to take off in 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1,” and then I felt the rocket lifting us from the ground, and here I go to explore the new possibilities of understanding new things about our human mind , a thing I had wished for all my life, but I think we should be careful for the things we wish for; sometimes we are not ready for answers.

  Looking back, I still get visions of the ship; the numbers 10…9…8 still echo through my mind vividly, like “it was all real”. Oh, I really wish it was!!!