CHAPTER TWO

        It’s a funny thing living life without gravity. The being able to get from Point “A” to Point “B” with hardly any effort at all. For the first few hours, it leaves you feeling almost euphoric. But as is the case with most great feelings, that euphoria eventually takes a turn for the worse; and that’s when all the paranoia and the anxiety begins to set in, making you susceptible to horrific hallucinations. Still, the worst doesn’t come until hours later when you finally start to believe that the walls are actually closing in around you; and that, at any second, you’ll run out of what little oxygen remains. For most people, that’s the breaking point.

        For me, it wasn’t. Before the walls could finish closing in around me, my smartphone reached out for me with its insistent buzzing; cutting through my hallucinations with deadly precision before dragging me back to the world of reality.

        Surprised, and a little baffled, I search for my phone; eventually finding it on the other side of my apartment, hovering just above the kitchen counter. Wondering how it got to be all the way over there, I push off from the nearest wall; using my hands to guide my forward momentum.

        As soon as I reach the counter, the first thing I do is check the Caller ID. When I see who’s calling me, my heart nearly skips a beat. What the hell! Why on Earth would Grav-Tech be calling? It hasn’t even been twelve hours since I threw their technician – Dan, if you must know his name – out of my apartment. Still, there’s only one way to know for sure.

        Dreading what’s to come, I wait until the second-to-last buzz before answering; all the while bracing myself for the worst possible outcome. When it comes, it hits me like a bulldozer; tearing past my barricades to steal my breath away.

        “W-what happened?” I stammer, not quite sure I want to hear the answer.

        “Zero gravity,” says the woman on the other end of the line in a chirpy, bittersweet tone.

        “Zero gravity?” I ask, rolling the words around on the tip of my tongue. “What’s that?”

        “It’s a type of gravitational anomaly.”

        What? “I thought those things weren’t supposed to happen anymore.”

        “Me too,” says the bittersweet woman, sounding a little timid all of a sudden. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

        “Thanks,” I say. “There isn’t a body, is there?”

        “No. When the anomaly occurred, it ruptured Grav-Tech’s interior hull; sucking Dan straight out into the unknown along with eleven other technicians.”

        Oh God… “I-is there anything I can do to help?”

        “No, but as soon as you feel up to it, I’m going to need you to pay my office a visit. There’re some legal matters that need to be discussed, some paperwork that needs to be signed, and some personal items of Dan’s that need to be collected. Okay?”

        “Okay,” I murmur, trying to maintain my composure long enough to say a proper goodbye. But I can’t, so I don’t; deciding to instead end the conversation right then and there with a simple tap of my finger.

        There's no going back.