Initiating launch in 10.. 9.. 8..
Sitting in front of the control and navigation system above the launch pad area in the facility of the extended reality, I watched with great excitement as Ego-proxy 001 prepared to launch. The announcement was made by the AI itself and the sky scrambled to show each count.
3..2 .. 1
*Wheeze!*
I could feel the intense heat from the elevation as the Spacepod launched into the distant skies and from the glass window, I had a clear view of it all. Despite having seen so many documentaries that were of this nature, It felt different to launch a spacecraft that I built myself as in this case, and I could say with all that I had that this was one of the best experiences.
"woo hoo! Yeah!"
I successfully built a spacecraft and launched it, I just couldn't help but feel as though I was Space Prime Drake Fordham who had the same backstory, only that his was in real time... He is a renowned space technologist of my era.
After Failing to make Ego-proxy 001 launch three times, I finally was able to configure it's components and successfully launched it at the fourth try. Thankfully, there seemed to be no time limit, else I would have failed this test considerably. Astonishment overwhelmed me as I watched my creation rise above in a matter of seconds at tremendous speed and In a matter of minutes it was gone from sight.
"Congratulations, you have successfully finished the first test." The AI praised once the pod was out of sight and even though I was happy at the success, I felt slightly annoyed at the fact that my creation was nowhere to be seen again, and lost somewhere in the space of this extended reality, I really had high hopes of traveling in it.
"Next. Training phase 2..."
Ting!
"User will be transported in 5..4...3..." I frowned subconsciously when the AI mentioned transporting me, probably into the space without fully equipping my space suit. However, before I could make out anything, I was more or less transported into a space, I knew from the way I floated. I already precedented that this would happen and it wasn't really a big deal since the experience had to feel real, but my main concern was that my results might be impaired since I hadn't been readily prepared and I was caught off guard by the AI. It could also be a test and I didn't want to lose points just for something as trivial as such. However, it already happened and I wouldn't know for certain until I saw my results in the end.
Sensing that the scenery had changed, I looked about to see where I was and then I realized that I had been projected into a white world that was as plain as day. Although surreal, the world itself felt much better and especially of less density than the real world.
Ting!
the beeping sound resounded suddenly and then I could see the hologram hovering in front of me again.
"Objective. Users Theoretical knowledge of the aspect, origin and conceptual thoughts on space shall be tested by the Trainees' cognitive thoughts and imaginations which shall be used to develop corresponding answers... Preparing questions."
*Beep*
"Question one, What do you believe is the origin of what we know as space?" As soon as the information ended, the world dimmed into a pitch dark void and only the distant sparkling lights remained. However, that also disappeared subsequently. I was left alone in the deep dark void space and I looked around only to find myself in the center and right in the very middle of the vast nothingness.
Not meaning to waste too much time questioning the void, I set out to task. From the AI's words, my thoughts on the concept of how space came to be was going to be used to answer the questions.
I thought of a massive hot ball composed of massive amount of light and energy compressed to the point that;
Bang!
A very loud booming explosion resounded and a huge, no, overwhelming ray of white bright light that I deemed to be cosmic radiation shone through every corner of the dark void that seemed endless to me in a fraction of seconds. My face constricted and I could tell that it paled as I've been forced to shut my eye close by the burning white ray of light that loomed and I subconsciously had my arms crossed afore me for protection. In search of a way out of this dilemma, my thoughts raced as to a way to save myself from the approaching disaster and literal chaos, and thankfully, the answer appeared to me but then, it was too late.
"Aaah!" I was flung away by the rapid radiation wave and I cried out my lungs in fear for my life. However, after a short while, I was stopped by an invisible hand and I subsequently regained control over myself.
I opened my eyes slowly to find myself still amidst the chaos and I quickly checked if any part of my body hadn't evaporated and to my surprise, I was fine. On the contrary, the heat I felt earlier seemed to be minimal in comparison to that of a true cosmic radiation of such a massive light and energy combustion which literally is the birth of the universe, the heat was slightly above that of a boiling water. It wasn't until then that I realized how scary the extended reality device could be, everything felt so real that even the most stone-hearted person, coupled with the fact that they knew forehand that this wasn't real would falter. It must have been a test to inspect our tolerance for heat that might be above usual and I believed it was necessary. The cosmic radiation in space was very dangerous and I had to admit that it was a good way of conveying warning. Nonetheless, a frown formed on my face as for a minute there, it felt like I would be going back to that abyss that I so much resented.
I was still amidst this when my earlier thoughts while finding a way to save myself took effect.
'The universe cools itself'
In less than a fraction of light, the space changed into something that led to my earlier dread being subdued by the sight in front of me. The space became a portrait painted with tiny molecular gases and light particles of different color that I made to be elements fusing together, the imagery well-depicted. However, what baffled me most was the big ball of light that stood at the far center of everything.
'could that be?' I thought staring at it. But then I shook my head, putting the thought in disbelief since all of this wasn't real.
"wow" I marveled at the sight before me. As I put my cognitive knowledge to test, every of my thoughts were projected in front of me, causing different reactions to be manifested. The gaseous matters swirled about and expanded in tiny bits under the command of dark matter and dark energy, the two concepts of what is known to be the core of the continuous inflation and stability in space. Soon the elements formed the first protostar solely made of hydrogen, and many other more protostars of helium and hydrogen property later on. Molecular clouds were formed all about afterwards and they soon conformed into open clusters of different protostars combining. And it all happened again and again resulting into nebulae and subsequently into many main sequence stars of massive and low mass were formed, as well as brown dwarfs.
This process in the documentaries and from my knowledge took millions of years but in here all it took was my thoughts to hasten the whole procedure. I let this take place severally with different thoughts as to the growth of these stars, making them collapse on either their gravity or pressure, using the nuclear fusion and fission method to procure the evolution of the stars.
Soon galaxies of stars tainted the darkness in spiral arms of different irregular shapes. Much isn't known about other galaxies yet as space scientists haven't even finished exploring the Milky way yet, hence, I focused on the Milky way Galaxy precisely. I was transported by the AI into the Orion spur arm and surprisingly as I knew it to be, there was nothing, the only way I know where I was is the fact that I could faintly see the Alpha centauri; the binary system stars that are the closest to our solar system.
This simply seemed like it was another test and thus, I awaited the AI's announcement for confirmation. However, seeing that nothing changed and no announcement was made, I set to create the solar system which for some reason got me excited. I thought of there being a cloud of gas and stellar dust at a far distance nearby a massive star reaching the highest stage of evolution that had begun to run out of hydrogen to burn into helium at its core and had begun to cool off. Subsequently, leading to low pressure and gravity taking its toll, suddenly making the massive star collapse in a matter of seconds, leading to a massive explosion known as a supernova. A smirk formed on my face setting sight on this, not caring about the wave of radiation that approached from the huge combustion.
All that was left after this was remnants of the supernova which I made to conform with the prior nearby nebula. This resulted into the nebula collapsing in on itself and becoming a disc of bright yellow with tinges of orange; The yellow dwarf star, which is the Sun... was born.