Rob bought his immortality at an old flea market located at the intersection of 1984th Street and the five-dimensional marketplace. It always unsettled Rob that he could never seem to recognize the indistinct form of the marketplace, which is why he often got lost, and on that day wandered into the flea market. With his purchase of immortality came the cosmos package of services, which included WowSpace company’s endless pass for transports and teleports. Rob was 89 when he became immortal, and, unfortunately, a rejuvenation procedure wasn't included in his cosmos package. His benefits wouldn’t cover rejuvenation and no loan he could get would provide the funds required. Rob had never liked to work, which he now realized had left him with no further options. So, the immortal old man stuffed his pills in his pockets, picked up his walking stick, and set out to conquer space. 708Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxNSCKRbO8
First, he visited the rings of Saturn, where the famous Indian spice market was located, and then walked around the depopulated Mars. He watched the naked girls who walked on the surface of the sun for a long time but didn’t dare go down himself. Rob didn't like interstellar travel by ship, though watching the private ships making gravitational descents fascinated him. He much preferred travel by portal, even though that meant a lot of time standing in teleport queues. And grumbling. 708Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCjSgOTOZa
During his tour of cities at the centres of interstellar nebulae, Rob realized each seemed the same to him, and he began to feel bored. Boredom. The disease that struck immortal humans everywhere who’d decided to remain in the three-dimensional world. After three or four hundred years of immortality, they would fall into a melancholy lasting nearly half a millennium, then experience a slight emotional lift lasting perhaps two or three hundred years. Eventually, however, the senselessness of endless existence would creep back in and crush them entirely. To continue life in the three-dimensional world was voluntary and making the “Angelic Transition” was always an option. But many – very many – were afraid to make that transition. 708Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl20Mm29qJi
For immortals such as Rob, there was another, more preferable way out – to be launched into a black hole. Launch stations were located on planets already being warped by their gravitational tidal forces or on asteroids in far orbits around inactive ones. Rob thought for a long time and then travelled to a launch station in the constellation of The Whale. The manager of the launch station helped Rob fill out the paperwork, assigned a launch date, and put Rob in line. 708Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCWG1Z1jS3
Rob’s launch is now in 5 days. As manager of this installation, I’m keeping an eye on him. Deep in thought, he’s sitting on a rock near the launcher, sometimes looking into the black hole and sometimes at his hands resting on his walking stick. According to protocol, I have to try to talk him out of launching three times. I've already tried twice and have no idea what he will decide.
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