A young man
on a college campus goes to class, plays intramural football, etc. He learns in astronomy that it is believed
that in a black hole, time and space reverse roles and space becomes fixed
while time becomes navigable (this is actually widely accepted as true). He learns a lot in many classes.
During his
first semester of freshman year, his parents are both killed in a car
accident. The accident is covered well
on the news as it is the 100th accident fatality in the county for
that year. The man is on the roof of a
building arguing with his friend. He
claims that life is useless. Nothing is
unique, not even death. When you die you
are remembered as a statistic, and even if you are remembered for more, memory
is finite so what does it matter in the long run? He jumps.
He lies on his back, not dead. He
stares up at the stars.
Months
later he has fully recovered. He starts
a non-profit organization to promote driving safety. He stars in a few commercials for his
organization. His organization picks up
steam, and is eventually endorsed by a famous Hollywood producer. The man co-writes a movie script about
insurance adjustors in California. He
meets Hollywood stars and shifts into film production, still supporting his
non-profit. 5 years later he branches
out. He produces a line of environmentally
friendly products made from recycled goods.
He begins investing heavily in the stock market. He stops directly working on movies and
reverts to the role of executive producer.
Also a substantial chunk of his money disappears to some sort of
secretive lab in Colorado. This entire
time the man is perpetually studying and learning, and never does he show any
interest in women.
Years
later, the man has become a multi-billionaire, but he still lives in the same
middle-class house. All of his money is
being put to use somewhere. He still
maintains all of his previous investments.
The man is
in his forties now. He closes all of his
projects and flies to Colorado. The lab
is enormous. Massive research buildings,
and most notably, a launch pad. He goes
to the launch bad and boards the high-tech shuttle waiting there. They launch him into space, the trajectory
aiming him at black hole. People on
Earth discuss what he has done and looking at his will realize that he has left
none of his money to charity. It is all
to be divided among the people who worked at his lab. He has no heirs and has made no arrangement
for any of his belongings.
The man is
in his shuttle. From a great distance we
see the shuttle flying through space towards the gargantuan black hole. The shuttle suddenly stops dead. It has hit the event horizon, so its motion
is no longer visible.
The end
credits roll. During them we see
variations on the man’s life. He gets
married and his parents attend the wedding.
He has kids who carry on his projects while he grows too old to work,
etc. Whether these are his
regrets/wishes during his infinite moment on the event horizon, or the actual
events that he is living in his new reality, free of time, is completely
unclear.
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