There was no real reason for it. Sometimes, it was just fun to watch the stars shoot by your ship as you pushed the limits of humanity’s technology yet again. There was a certain satisfaction to gripping your fingers on that throttle lever and cranking it up as high as it would go. But to Hemlock, that wasn’t enough. Hemlock had an itching desire to see how far he could stretch those silly laws of physics inside that cruiser of his. To break the light barrier. He’d never done it, but just the idea of travelling past the speed of light gave his daredevil side innumerable chills. 

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He’d never taken it to heart when people said he was a reckless asshole, but he knew it was probably  true. Not that he took offense to it, it’s just that the reckless asshole in him was the fun part. Not the rest of him, worrying about his dumb desk job he despised so much. 

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Bringing this to mind, a wave of anger filled Hemlock. Damn, who did they think they were, treating him like that? He didn’t listen to no boss of his. The only thing stopping him from anything was himself, and that was it. Turning the steering wheel, he maneuvered his craft into a place devoid of stars. He placed his hand on the speed control and cranked it to the max. 

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The ship shook with the immense amount of power being pushed out of its thrusters, and Hemlock was shoved back into his seat. G-forces climbed and climbed. The dim glows of the few stars around him became streaks along his window, growing longer and longer. Hemlock felt that high, that rush of adrenaline and dopamine he searched for every day. The excitement inside him grew, until it began to diminish. He still could go faster, he still hadn't broken light’s speed limit. Today would be the day he did. 

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Hemlock glanced to his right, where he saw a green-plated throttle. It was still covered in thin plastic wrapping. He’d gotten the new light-speed throttle installed just days ago, and to his dismay it wasn’t finished yet, wires and electronics still visible from just around the handle. No matter. Wrenching himself from off of his seat, he reached a hand to the unfinished throttle and ripped the thin plastic off. It reflected the glimmer of the stars in the windows with a bright sheen, tempting Hemlock even more to use it. Now eyeing his speedometer, he shoved the lightspeed throttle to max. 

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Then he felt a strange sensation. Instead of getting thrown back into his seat like before, it felt like he was slowing down to a stop, as if he’d slammed on the brakes. But, his speedometer did show an increase in speed. A massive one, in fact. Before, he’d been cruising at around 0.9c, 90% of the speed of light. Now, it was at 4c, and counting. Now, 5c. 6c. 7c. Hemlock felt so alive  as he watched this, the already long streaks that were stars getting longer and longer, becoming stripes he could see outside his ship. He gave a laugh of satisfaction, growing louder. He’d broken light’s limit. He was going faster than the universe itself. 

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Fast enough not to see the meteor. 

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Hemlock’s ship impacted the meteor at 11 times the speed of light, turning the meteor, his ship and him into a mass of vaporised quarks. The atoms that remained slammed into each other, causing an explosion like thousands of nuclear bombs going off at once. 

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And now, Hemlock found himself tumbling through the black. He had hardly even registered what had happened to him with how fast he had died. The colossal explosion that he’d caused was far behind him now, and he flew through space, alone. Where was he? Still in space apparently, but he could somehow still breathe. There were still the dim glows of stars visible all around him. Before he could take in any more of his surroundings, he landed on something hard, cold, and made of the darkest color he’d never seen, suddenly gaining a sense of gravity. 

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What in the hell was going on? 

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And slowly, the dim lights of the stars began to vanish. He was in an entirely new location now, and the hard surface underneath him was gaining substance and shape. Even though everything was black, he could barely make out the shape of what looked like mountains and hills in the distance. He began to walk. 

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And then, a footstep behind him. 

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YOU’VE BROKEN THE LAWS 

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It was a voice, but it wasn’t. It was so loud, but he could hardly hear it. It was all around him, but in his head, but behind him. He felt a warm liquid dripping onto his neck. His ears were bleeding. 

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YOU’VE BROKEN OUR LAWS 

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Hemlock very, very slowly looked behind him. It was an infinitely black humanoid abomination, far taller than him, with blank eyes sunken miles into its misshapen head, each eye glowing with the brightness of every sun. Its arms and legs were fading in and out of existence, and every finger was sharpened with searing clarity. The creature was beyond description. It began to approach him. 

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Was this Hemlocks punishment? For breaking the laws of the universe? 

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YOU ARE DEAD

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THIS ISN’T HELL

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YOU WILL WISH YOU WERE THERE

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And he ran. Hemlock ran towards the darkness, away from the darkness, the creature’s infinite light, towards those mountains, miles away. The terrain he stumbled over was vibrating, creating a hum that bounced across the walls of everything. And the mountains got closer, but farther, and he could see a light peeking above them. Another abomination, hanging in the air, rising above the peaks of the cliffs. It was a planet wide and a planet tall, with trillions of eyes that stared at Hemlock. 

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The last thing he heard was his own scream, echoing into the void.