⛩️

In the vastness of endless space, a space station floated beside a colossal blue planet, the planet where evolution became the main factor that differentiated it from most others.

The planet Earth.

But this small planet was irrelevant at the moment.

The true focus was on an astronaut, who outside the space station, was too busy with some wires in his hands, using pliers to cut and reconnect them.

While other astronauts were too busy relaxing inside the station or occupied with their own business, a single astronaut was doing maintenance outside.

But, while most people would be annoyed to do the work alone, that astronaut couldn't care less. In fact, he enjoyed going out of the station, letting himself float in space while he had the opportunity to look at the immense blue planet he knew as home.

It was refreshing. The infinite stars covering all the darkness of that space, close enough to see them, but far enough to know they might never be able to reach them.

Scary, but at the same time, intriguing.

"How are you doing, Mark?"

Mark, the astronaut outside, suddenly blinked when a voice sounded in his headset, immediately recognizing the voice of the woman responsible for monitoring him while he was doing maintenance.

"Bella! I thought you had abandoned me out here; I was getting lonely."

Mark joked with the woman, hearing a sigh from the other side of the line.

"Stop joking, besides, you hate it when I interrupt your music."

Mark, who couldn't deny that fact, just focused back on the wires in his hands, briefly returning to answer the woman's first question.

"I had to change the communication system wires; for some reason, they were in a deplorable state."

He reported, and not hearing any response from the other side, closed the panel in front of him when he finally finished.

"I'm returning to the interior of the station." He declared, not waiting for a response as he started moving toward the station's entrance.

But, while Mark thought his return would be like the hundreds of times he had done it, something strange caught his attention.

A light, one so faint it could easily disguise itself as a star, but Mark easily noticed it.

This made him frown, after all, a strange light in the middle of the void of space was not really something common to see.

So, spotting something like that was intimidating, even for someone like him, who had risked his life just to get to space.

"Bella, tell me, you're seeing this too, right?"

He asked with a bit of tension. He couldn't be going crazy; living in space could make astronauts paranoid, but Mark was someone who never had problems with that.

"Mark, return immediately."

Receiving a response, his eyes widened upon noticing the urgency in the voice of the woman he knew as the calmest person on the station. This made him move immediately.

But, making him freeze, his eyes widened as that strange light suddenly expanded, growing to become even larger than the space station.

"Damn."

He realized that whatever was happening, it was not orchestrated by humans in any way.

Because in the next moment, that light, which had been at a safe distance, suddenly appeared in front of the station, moving closer and closer as it threatened to engulf it.

Mark, completely ignoring the desperate screams in his headset, stared at that light with a frightening fascination. His eyes now emitted a strange glow, the glass of his helmet preventing his face from being seen.

"So this is it?"

Taking his attention away from the light that was centimeters away from engulfing him completely, he gave one last look at the planet Earth.

Mark had a peaceful life. He graduated, married a beautiful woman, and got to work in his dream job at 27.

He had no regrets, and death did not scare him. The only thing he might have wanted at that moment was the chance to say goodbye to the important people in his life.

But unfortunately, as his body was engulfed by that light, he realized that this would be impossible.

So he could only be content with what he had at the moment.

His last memories of the great life he had.

"Well, I couldn't have asked for anything better."

As his face was about to be engulfed, a confident smile appeared on his lips.

"Bring it on."

Silence

On July 23, 2028, the space station and its crew had completely vanished.

.

"Good morning."

With a strange voice greeting him, a drowsy Mark slowly opened his eyes, his head lifting to find a figure in front of him, his vision blurry enough that he was unable to distinguish its features.

"Ugh... What the hell happened?"

Muttering, the confusion in his head prevented him from noticing when his words came out completely different from what he was used to.

"You are in a rather delicate situation; let me introduce myself."

Mark closed his eyes for a moment, opening them so his vision was finally clear.

"I am Gojo Satoru, a teacher in charge of freshmen at the college of magical techniques."

"Now, answer me: Which one of them are you now?"

.