A young brown haired man in a elite uniform stood before a large console, projecting what appeared to be a visual feed of a large seated congregation of noble leaders, each in modern dress. The image was in the center of a large bridge, surrounded by hundreds of other people seated at computers and electronic devices. The man cleared his throat and began to speak calmly. "Members of the United Federation Council, this is Commander Franciscus Hawkins, aboard the the REV Mercury. All seven thousand crew and volunteers are accounted for, and we are finalizing our preparation for the main testing procedure."

Among the noble leaders, the one appearing the most experienced of them all was seated in the middle point of the other members, and he replied with an old, but very deep and particularly wise tone. "We have made it at last. All of earth now watches as mankind makes it's steps into the future, one where death no longer threatens us, war over resources, belief, and fanaticism does not divide us, and soon, we will be able to place our feet into the farthest reaches of the universe. We are all brothers, and sisters together now. We are united as people, as human beings, we have thrown away our desire for greed and have finally worked hand in hand together to create a future, of safety, and of wonders. Proceed, Commander Hawkins."

"Of course, Supreme Councilor. The special forces company is now aboard the Mercury and we are ready to commence the test."

"Before we begin, the world is before you and awaits your words of courage, young one." The wise leader replied softly.

A short pause follows, and the Commanded opens a different channel on the console, broadcasting to millions of news centers across the globe.

"My friends, my family. We are here. It has been almost a hundred and fifteen years since we first looked up into the night skies and set forth to begin our first voyages into the cosmos. It has always been a mystery. A beautiful universe that has always been just out of our grasp. We still give the credit to the bravest heroes of history. Those of the Apollo Missions, who destined to set foot on our own very moon. To all of the research and exploration by sending our electronic eyes across the solar system. We are in debt to those who came before us and gave us the keys to the future. And for centuries, humanity has suffered from the rewarding deception of greed and the lust of selfishness. And we remember, the billions who have fallen in war, fallen to disease, and to pure hunger and thirst. They will always be remembered, because their descendants stand among us today, and they walk with us as we step into the future. This is Commander Hawkins of the newly constructed Mercury, a starship equipped with the first prototype of the White Propulsion System, signing off."

The young commander turned off the communicator and faced his second hand man, who was seated at a large control station in close proximity. He spoke his orders quickly and precisely. "Brekon, give me a status report."

"Fifty-seven to the eighth total, gigawatt is at balance on power consumption and production, life support and gravity alteration is nominal, heating and ventilation are running at full efficiency." The blonde haired crewman replied, tapping on a virtual screen in front of him. "Network is smooth at the total mark of seventeen-hundred TBpms. In navigation, our target has been marked in NGC two-two-four, and we are currently priming the core for firing, Commander."

"Distance to target, Brekon?" The officer asked sharply.

"Seven-hundred-eighty kiloparsecs, sir, give or take a few light days for gravitational nebular delay. We should hit right in the center of N2/S2."

"Any issues with the transfer to be expected?"

"Though we might clear some other celestial objects and possibly carve through another branch of M31, we should just phase through." The crewman answered with a slight smile on his face.

"What's the ETA to Messier 31?"

"Fifty five seconds at tops."

"Fire the drive, Brekon, we're a go."

"Affirmative sir. Countdown to test launch."

A computer console in the bridge spoke numbers in a female voice according with the countdown from T-minus twenty seconds.

At about thirteen seconds in the countdown, alarms suddenly sounded and flashing red lights saturated the bridge. Countless crew members seated at their consoles jumped in surprise, and frantically began to tap the keys on their stations. Commander Hawkins quickly shouted to his second hand man. "Brekon, what's the fuck is going on! I need a conflict report immediately!"

Sweating, the blonde haired naval worker jabbed into his console, his eyes darting back and forth to different messages and scans on his screen. "The W.P.C. is experiencing some sort of hardware overload! We might be at risk of a destabilization in the power singularity, commander!"

"Dammit! If the propulsion core collapses, the detonation will push out enough radiation and critically-charged gamma energy to wipe out everything that is alive in the entire local cluster!" Hawkins yelled, his eyes bloodshot from the ferocity of the degrading situation before him. "Disengage the W.P.C. immediately!"

After pressing a number of keys on his interface, Brekon turned to his superior with a expression of terror across his face. "C-commander! The Core is n-not responding— we c-can't disable it!"

"Continue the drive core procedure!"

"B-but sir!-"

"Listen to my fucking orders, lieutenant! We're going to be screwed in the damn ass no matter what! But if we can successfully make the departure to M31, at least we can save the people back home!"

"Commander! What if the Core does not activate?"

"That's a chance we're going to have to take, Brekon!" Hawkins yelled angrily.

The lieutenant nods hastily and faces back to his console. "Do you want me to establish communications with UFC central command, sir?"

"No."

The female countdown voice, after being halted due to the efforts to diagnose the disruption aboard the Mercury, continues.

"13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4—"

Silence..

In an instant, space and time were smashed into one another, and the universe as the people of earth and the Crew of the Mercury knew it, was no longer.

...but rather, a new duet of space and time has emerged.

And the Mercury.. set to explore distant galaxies.. finds itself not at home, nor anywhere familiar.

The memories of the past.

They have been shattered.

And the events of the future are now very uncertain.