Anirudh Annavajjula

*The man nodded. The shuttle doors shut as the engines roared, ready to take off.

The shuttle flew into the night. As it gained some altitude, Arno made the mistake of looking down through the window.

The enormous facility erupted. Explosions equivalent to nuclear detonations sieged the facility. Along with half a trillion dollars, two entire years of thousands of people’s lives were wasted. Hundreds of lives were simply lost. The hope of the discovery of exotic matter, along with mankind’s hopes of interstellar travel disintegrated in a matter of minutes.

Arno witnessed his dreams go up in flames.*

It’s not over. It can’t be. Not yet. Not ever.