Chapter 1 - Where the Light Can't Shine

Time has stopped.

That was Hector Richt's sole conviction as he stared down at his lifelong fascination from his plane. A colossal dome of darkness that defied all explanation, engulfing a sizable territory of the North Pacific.

It was an abyss that held no depth or contours, as if a caffeinated klutz had spilled black paint that absorbed 99.5% of light onto a world map. 

It kept the region firmly on its knees all these years. The surrounding weather was raging and turbulent, unsuitable for flight. Dark clouds blocked all sunlight as lightning crackled and grazed the wings. The waters below were fierce, towering waves and erratic whirlpools threatening to sink any ships that dared sail close.

The Black Sphere had claimed countless vessels like this. Dozens of craft unprepared for the conditions went missing, as did the hundreds of people aboard them. Anyone who braved the odds and tried entering the sphere was never seen again.

Today would be no different. The weather, and coming back.

"Are you sure about this?" Asked the pilot, their voice strained from keeping their plane steady against the intense atmospheric pressure.

"Was my life savings and waiver not enough for your second thoughts, pilot?" Hector gruffly replied as he opened the door, his space-grade suit shielding him from the storm that came crashing in.

The pilot probably said something else, but he couldn't hear them over the roaring winds, and didn't care. They were more than compensated to fly him here, and now their part was done. They could crash the plane at this point, and it wouldn't matter.

There was no trajectory it could take that wouldn't end up inside the Black Sphere.

The anomaly of his dreams, and where the final answer he could have awaited.

---

Hector had one theory, as the scientific community was embroiled in debate over the Black Sphere when it first appeared.

Nobody could even begin to gather evidence. All boats that sailed in crashed and sank. Everyone who went in from above disappeared. Drones immediately lost signal upon entry. Satellite imagery failed to yield any results, and not even radiography could pierce through the endless black.

The only data they got from the various probes was that the sphere wasn't solid matter. The conclusion was that somehow, light was being completely absorbed, but no one could agree on how.

Some scientists were ready to unironically concede to 'extraterrestrials' or an 'act of God'. Outside academia, the crowd that would normally jump for joy at the possibility believed it was a hoax or cover-up. Presumably, to justify the outrage over the spike in import fees and travel prices across the Pacific.

To Hector, though, he had his own theory.

"The Black Sphere encompasses a space in which the flow of time has completely stopped."

It made sense to him. The hypothetical absence of time was the cessation of all movement and processes. That included everything the human eye couldn't see. 

The oxygen they breathed, the sound that reached their ears, and light itself.

"The human eye can only observe what the light brings as it hits our light receptors. Color is but the sum of how much light has been reflected or absorbed, which is our current framework for the Black Sphere.

"However, I propose this: what if the sphere is not absorbing light, but rather light itself is unable to travel at all? Not being absorbed, not being blocked, but the particles themselves are frozen in place. If there were no light entering our eyes to begin with, then the only way we would perceive that space is as a black, featureless void that spans the area it covers. Like a sphere."

He had the breakthrough of the millennia. And yet,

"The merit behind Doctor Richt's...'proposal' not only hinges on the expectation of the scientific community, and the public, to look to metaphysics over more reasonably supported explanations, but would require evidence that would fundamentally challenge our understanding of the law of physics and time itself. Evidence that is impossible to procure."

That was the response he got.

Yes, due diligence and all, but how could they not see what he was getting at? Some of them touted aliens and God, but he was the one spouting nonsense?

Some conspiracy theorists liked what he had to say, but their approvals weren't the ones that mattered. In hindsight, he probably spent too much of his time telling them to sod off.

Before long, years had gone by without any resolution to the Black Sphere as the world adapted to its existence.

And life happened.

---

There were many more aspirations he had, but as Hector gazed down at the darkness and the roaring tides surrounding it, this was his final chance to see if his assertions were right.

He cleared his throat as he prepared his parachute and engaged the cover on his helmet.

"Good work." Was Hector's parting word to the pilot as he leaped off their plane, not waiting for a response.

The wind whistled past him as he aimed for the apex of the dome to phase through its center. But the unexpected feeling of solid steel on the surface had other plans, as he collided with it at full speed before continuing to fall under.

His now ruined parachute dangled uselessly above him as he fell endlessly, his consciousness giving way before he could see how far he would go, and what was around him.

---

Hector groaned as he roused himself up from a rock-solid floor, preemptively wincing for pain that never came.

His suit had no sign of critical damage, but the whirring of his life support wasn't there, nor the rustling of the material as he moved his joints. His comms had no signal.

But he had somehow not only survived his fall but avoided even a single scratch, let alone severe injuries.

His surroundings were those of a beach bright as day, facing an open body of what should be the Pacific. Behind him was a forest at the base of a bare mountain.

An island?

There were no records of land in this part of the Pacific Ocean, let alone one with a single mountain at its center. The Black Sphere wasn't anywhere near the Aleutians, Hawaii, or any atolls.

But something else was off.

Nothing was moving.

Clearly defined waves out on the water were stopped in place. Frozen, without any sign of ice.

The far horizon was cut off by a chaotic and jagged wall of blue that curved endlessly in both cardinal directions. It was like a megatsunami that towered over any man-made creation, except it was also perfectly still.

The foam that met shore didn't create new lines, didn't pull back, didn't form new bubbles, and didn't dissipate. The sand meeting it never dried or soaked further.

Hector abruptly looked at the 'rock solid floor' beneath his feet. It was also sand, not particularly compact in look. But his boots failed to move even a single grain as he kicked and stomped.

The sand was holding better than the concrete of his institution.

"What in the world?" He couldn't hear his own words of disbelief.

Everything was like a snapshot of one precise moment in time. A painting where nothing could be changed or moved from within. It was as if...

Time wasn't flowing.

Hector's eyes widened as he scanned his surroundings once more to confirm his observations.

And then began laughing.

"I KNEW IT!" He hollered with a manic intensity, still unable to hear his own voice. "I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG! TIME HAD STOPPED! TIME CAN STOP!"

Of course, the sand would be rock hard! It didn't need to be compacted if the absence of time wouldn't let any grain move to begin with! What else could something locked in place feel like if force was applied to it?!

And that megatsunami wall, that must have been the waves that entered the Black Sphere! The waves would come in from outside, immediately freeze in place, and subsequent waves would stack continuously over the years until they reached these heights! It was like the geological layers of the Grand Canyon, but with water!

No wonder nobody could enter by boat; they all would have just immediately hit that vertical wall of ocean! Did they crash into it like the sand and sink? Did they enter the formation as if it were water and drown? If the waves were able to stack upwards, then they must have had a few seconds of movement before freezing in place entirely!

Was a similar thing happening in the sky? Was that why he got wrecked as soon as he touched the Black Sphere? Oh, he should've known!

He had so many more questions, it's only a shame there'll be no audience to hear of this.

---

Except for some suited-up corpse under one of the trees that Hector had just noticed.

The poor rotund fellow was probably part of some research group or past probe. He had no external wounds, but must've become part of this timeless space when he died. Who knows how long he's been lying there?

"Hey, can you keep it down? I'm trying to sleep."

Hector immediately jumped back as he heard a masculine, mellow voice from the direction of the alleged corpse.

He couldn't even hear himself, how...?

The chubby individual rolled onto his stomach, stretching his limbs out before getting up, all with minimal concern or care for the place he was in.

"Who are you?" He yawned nonchalantly, standing a head taller.

"That's my question!" Hector shot back.

"Hold on first." He suddenly pulled out what appeared to be a booklet and a pen. "Oh, right, can't write here. I'll just make a mental note then. Let's see..."

He rubbed his hand against his helmet as if he were self-grooming as he spoke, completely ignoring Hector's existence.

"The silence is like the level where you can hear your own blood flowing, except you can't even hear that. Many would most likely have sensory deprivation, but for me, it's quite comfortable. However, all surfaces staying solid is quite uncomfortable, and it's impossible to enjoy a fluffy pillow or bed.

"The lack of time is also both good and bad. It lets you sleep for as long as you like without losing any hours, but it also means you cannot skip time by sleeping."

The odd individual made one more lengthy pause. "I'll rate it a C+."

"...C plus?" Hector finally got a word in. "What are you evaluating?"

"It's a sleeping tier list."

"Tier list?!"

"For the best sleeping places." He repeated the part that didn't need clarification. "Actually, what do you think?"

"What?"

"Since you were sleeping too."

Hector's eye twitched. "I was unconscious, you twit! Did you not see me fall?!"

He tilted his head. "I was sleeping."

Unbelievable.

This oaf was in a place that defied the laws of physics, and this is what he was concerned with? His naps?!

"Who even sent you here?" Hector jabbed.

"Why? Aren't you also not from around here?" He inexplicably deflected with another yawn.

A vein would be forming if it could. "Do I even need to answer that question?"

He leaned in, as if he needed careful observation.

"Oh, silly me. I couldn't tell."

"Lemongrass!" A feminine voice suddenly called out from the direction of the mountain before Hector could rip into him some more. "Are you done with your sleep tiering?"

The new figure revealed herself in a similar suit with a more petite frame.

"This place got hit pretty bad," She said calmly. "There's an opening near the peak of the mountain. We can get inside that way, and we should be able to reach the—Oh, god damn it."

She stopped in her tracks as she did a double-take at Hector.

...

"God DAMN it! Are you KIDDING me?!"