Starship of Destiny-A Sci-fi LitRPG Adventure: Episode 2 (RPG Universe) by Baxter Zeph

Author:Baxter, Zeph
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zeph Baxter Press
Published: 2024-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

11

Twin Monsters

Between twin giants, shadow-bound,

Where light is lost yet echoes found.

A spark of quantum’s silent breath,

Reveals the guide ‘twixt life and death.

Seek the path where stars don’t tread,

Where hawks of light from darkness shed.

Galactic West, Nine by Nine,

Cross the threshold, stars align.

In void’s embrace the compass hides,

To those who dare the space divides.

Nadia studied the riddle displayed on the console screen, the first of two cryptic items they had received from the authorities.

“That sounds insane,” Bree muttered, eyes wide. “You’re saying we’ll get the Compass, but only if we pass through these coordinates…which lead us right between the event horizons of two monster black holes?”

Nadia nodded, her gaze distant, as if she could see the hidden mechanics of the riddle in her mind’s eye. “Exactly. Whoever put the Compass there had immense powers—the kind that could shape the fragments of my ring.”

Bree scoffed, still half in disbelief. “Immense powers and insane creativity, if you ask me. Even if we manage to fly through that sliver of space between those two giants, how will we actually retrieve the Compass?”

Nadia leaned closer to the holographic map, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “If I understand the coordinates and the puzzle correctly,” she said, tapping on the display, “it’s hidden within Hawking radiation. Black holes aren’t completely ‘black’—they emit a faint glow called Hawking radiation. It’s a quantum effect at the event horizon. Matter and antimatter particles appear and collide, and one particle escapes as radiation. The Compass is anchored to that radiation, almost like a quantum projection.”

“So,” Bree raised an eyebrow, “we’re banking on ghost particles?”

Nadia cracked a smile. “Sort of. The Compass will materialize from the radiation itself when we pass through the exact midpoint, close enough to feel the gravitational pull of both black holes. The riddle describes it as a ‘spark of quantum’s silent breath,’” she continued, her voice low as she read aloud:

‘Between twin giants, shadow-bound,

Where light is lost yet echoes found.’

“That line describes the black holes—massive and light-consuming. Between them, only faint echoes of energy remain, like whispers. And that’s Hawking radiation—a ‘spark of quantum’s silent breath.’ It’s nearly invisible, but it’s there if you know where to look.”

Bree’s skepticism softened into intrigue. “So…the Compass will only appear in that narrow space between them?”

“Exactly,” Nadia confirmed, scanning the next lines:

‘Seek the path where stars don’t tread,

Where hawks of light from darkness shed.’

“This line refers to that empty, starless corridor between two black holes, a place so dense that stars can’t survive there. And the ‘hawks of light’ represent Hawking radiation—light escaping from the darkness, like hawks flying out of shadows.”

Nadia’s fingers moved down the hologram, tracing the next part of the riddle:

‘Galactic West, Nine by Nine,

Cross the threshold, stars align.’

“This gives us coordinates—a narrow, exact line between the two event horizons where space warps perfectly to reveal the Compass. When we pass that point, the radiation will peak, illuminating the Compass for just a few precious moments.”

Bree gave an impressed nod, absorbing Nadia’s logic, then asked, “And the last part? The bit about ‘daring the space divides’?”

Nadia’s eyes narrowed.

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