I want to warn that I'm a first-time author so if some things are rather confusing, I'm sorry. And cherry on top my native language is not English, so if I completely destroyed the spelling and grammar, I'm sorry too (If you can give me some advice in comments I'd be glad to listen to it). On the other hand I guess this work will take a lot of time to write, I hope to release a chapter per week but with the English translation it takes me longer, so I guess it will be more like every two weeks. Notice of non-possession: I do not own any of the rights to the Kung Fu panda franchise, they all belong to Dreamwork.

"Project New Horizon. Experiment number 54-357-AD. Trial number 245..." I began to yawn, moving my hand in front of my mouth reflexively. I stretched next, "growing" as much as I could, cracking my cartilage in my lower back. Damn it! I really need to get some rest... But that's for later, the New Horizon project is far too important to stop now! "...is a complete success!"

I put my Dictaphone back in my research coat and began to watch the computer slowly, but surely do its work of analysis and calculation, occasionally drinking my black coffee to stay awake. It was late, maybe two or three in the morning, most of my co-workers had gone to the dormitory to rest. I was watching my computer carefully when all of a sudden someone knocked on the door of the lab. I turn around, a little surprised I must admit, to see the door open.

"Director Dubois?" I asked, "What can I do for you?" He was dressed as usual in a white lab coat and white pants as well. He had no specific physical characteristics, white, European type, of French origin. The only characteristic was that he had graying hair and was slightly bald due to his age, about forty-eight if I remember correctly, a pair of glasses was inside his front pocket, just below his employee badge where all the necessary information was written during the security checks.

Director DUBOIS Richard

H.F RESEARCH INSTITUTE

SECURITY LEVEL 10

I got up to shake his hand, he moved as usual slowly through my laboratory, the room was nothing special, the walls were bluish white, the floor was charcoal gray surely to create a difference between the floor and the walls, but who knows after all I'm not a decorator, I'm just an engineer. The room is rectangular and the layout of the different desks was made in a circle so that everyone could see everyone else working, one of the many ideas of director Dubois to boost efficiency at work. Each office had different computing and analytical equipment, but no microscope. I never understood why people who knew my work asked me if I had a microscope or any other such device. I am not a geneticist or a doctor, this kind of device is of no interest to me, it would only gather dust! It is surely a fantasy due to the profession of scientist, people can sometimes believe and imagine so many things, when they don't know something, and they can think about it for good or in most cases for bad. Dubois continued to move around the lab, his hands clasped behind his back. I must say he had a certain charisma, due to his position of course, but... I don't know, there was something about him that made anyone believe him and follow him, he always managed to rally people around him in times of trouble and even those rivals always ended up joining him. He is someone I respect and admire since I was younger, he is the one who gave me the vocation to do research, especially in quantum science.

His gaze focused on my computer, and he turned to me with a friendly smile while shaking my hand.

"Professor Cooper, have you finished studying your calculations?" He asked me in his characteristic French accent.

I walked over to my desk, moving my various spreadsheets laid out on top of it, showing him all the results. I admit, it was a little (a lot) messy. I wasn't ready for him to come to me, especially now. But after all, I'm not that surprised, the project had already been cancelled no less than ten times, which put him in a bad mood each time, it's better never to see him when he's angry, it's to end up with a letter of dismissal for even minor misconduct. Strangely Dubois was tolerant of failure not so long ago, every time I or my team made mistakes he was always there to say.

"As long as it doesn't kill you! It will make you stronger! Trials as well as failures are part of it." Dubois had partly changed. I guess the New Horizon project was the main reason, it was his life's work ! Fortunately for me today, I had some good news for him.

"The calculations are good ! As far as I am concerned, the New Horizon project is safe. We can launch the operation ! "

He raised his head, a radiant smile gracing his face. He said with contentment.

"Good! That's what I wanted to hear, Professor! I'm going to wake up the team and launch the project, come join us." He gestured with his right hand toward the door to invite me to follow him. I sat back in my seat, and pointing to my computer, I said sadly.

"That would be with pleasure, but I still have to wait for some minor calculations that the computer processes" He looked at me for a moment and said no words, he only nodded and walked away from me, as he was about to leave the lab, he looked at me again.

"I congratulate you on your dedication, Professor Cooper! We have made tremendous progress thanks to you and your team, humanity will enter a new era."

Unconsciously, I started to blush at his words, shaking my head in refusal

"No! No! Sir, it was you who had this idea... The New Horizon project would not exist without you. All honors go to you." He quickly moved his hand in the air in refusal.

"You have brought a lot to us Professor, you are promised to do great things. And maybe even take my place one day, who knows." He gave me a wide smile and added, pointing at me, "Never forget who you are!" Then he left before I could add anything else. Unconsciously, I got up from my seat and stood in the middle of the room thinking. I was deep in thought about what he told me. Was I destined for a great future? Or was it just a comforting word or gratitude? There were no words, no sounds, no noise in the silent room. I was standing there! What! For a good five minutes. I can be silly sometimes! Then, a notification sound snapped me out of my trance, I turned around to see that my computer had finished its analysis. I quickly sat back down in my seat and began to read and study the data. This will take a while.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! I have to redo my calculation! There must be a mistake."

I would write to myself, while flying my spreadsheets in anger. It had been almost two hours since the computer had finished, and I was struggling with an error of the order of 0.001. I had already done and redone my calculations a hundred times, but I had to find the cause!

Then a horrible thought came to my mind

"And... And what would be the consequences if such an error were to occur?" I went back to my computer to do some more tests. I entered the same data that I had provided to Dubois, my hands quickly slid to the keyboard, I waited a few minutes, the stress increasing more and more. I gave my consent to launch this operation if a catastrophe were to occur. I... I can't even imagine the consequences of a potential particle gas pedal accident, which could very well be a local incident, just as it could be an incident several miles away, or even in a worst-case scenario, worldwide! This thought terrified me. Then came the result! My hope grew, I rushed to the computer screen and looked at it with a haggard look.

TEST 346

34682-ER-239

NEW HORIZON

General System

Unmeasurable risk

Internal System

Unmeasurable Risk

Internal system particle accelerator

Unmeasurable Risk

Advise against the activation of the New Horizon project, risks of unmeasurable human, material and environmental damage.

Risk of damage UNMEASURABLE, it was... The worst-case scenario that could happen to me. I collapsed on my chair, my mind broke. At that moment a huge pressure came on me as if the weight of the whole world had come crashing down on my body. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to think, I was lost...

"What does that mean, unmeasurable!" I would write to myself, even though deep down I already knew the answer. I had to do something, I… I had to do something! Pulling myself together, I got up from my chair, gathered all my notes and results as well as the test I had just performed.

"I can still stop this catastrophe, it's not too late!" I walked out into the hallway at a brisk pace, colleagues I passed would greet me and ask me how I was doing, but my only answer I would give them was an apology, or I'm in a hurry. I walked from corridor to corridor, all of them having the same color and design as my laboratory, from time to time the logo of the institute was displayed on one of the walls, it's a kind of white hexagon with the letters H.F. in the center all in a very futuristic style. The meaning of these letters meant HUMANKIND FUTURE, the future of humanity ... A little arrogant when you think about it, even if everything is true. Continuing my mad dash, I finally arrived at the elevator. My finger began to hammer the call button countless times. I must admit that I was in a state of intense stress. In fact, the guard standing next to the elevator door realized this.

"You know, it's not going to get here any faster if you keep pressing." He said with a wide smile.

Being totally confused by my problem, I didn't even bother to answer him, too focused on what to tell Dubois. The elevator door opened, I rushed inside before pressing the button for the test areas, where the New Horizon project facilities were located. The doors closed, and the elevator began to slide down, heading for basement -54.

"FASTER... GO FASTER, DAMN IT!" All the while tapping his foot on the floor out of impatience, but mostly out of stress. Horrible thoughts began to run through my mind. What if I was too late? That the project had already started? It had been almost three hours since Dubois had come to see me and said he was going to activate the project... This thought haunted me, I could no longer think rationally. What if this world went into chaos because of me? It would be MY fault! It is ME who gave my consent by transmitting MY erroneous data! It will be MY fault! The doors of the elevator opened, taking me out of my reflection... Of my overwhelm would be a better word. I throw myself in the corridor continuing my desperate race passing from one corridor to another. Damn, this facility can be labyrinthine sometimes! To think that on my first day I got lost! Fortunately now I knew each corridor like the back of my hand. Then, slowing down the pace, I finally arrived in front of Dubois' office, where he is when he is supervising an important operation. My hand shakily moved in front of the control panel, I breathed out to refocus by mouth, hoping to evacuate my excess stress. Pulling myself together, I pressed the button to open the door, and it slid open on the left side, opening the entrance to his office and giving me a view of the entire room. It was a medium-sized room, with Dubois' desk in the middle, of course, but also two chairs to welcome visitors. Apart from that there was nothing else, it was surprisingly empty for the size of the room, except for a few screens on the right wall to display the different data of a project, I could see some data that were starting to appear. Inside, Dubois was standing reading some paper, but also four of my colleagues and two security guards. When I heard the door open, everyone in the room turned to look at me.

Dubois continued to look at his notes, I could see a smile forming on his face. But before I could say anything, he spoke up

"Cooper! What a pleasure to see you again, have you finally finished your calculations and decided to come and see your magnificent project implemented?"

I looked at him with completely wet eyes, if I didn't hold back I would burst into tears. The worst part is that I was so caught up in my emotions, that I didn't know what to say or do. I froze for what seemed like an eternity. I think Dubois realized this, he started to walk over to his desk and put his notes on it.

"All of you! Get out, I need to talk to Professor Cooper!" He said with such seriousness that no one questioned his order. I breathed a sigh of relief. So he understood that it was important, thank God! The others looked at each other in surprise and nodded, the six of them left the office one by one, leaving me alone with Dubois. My gaze fixed on him. My mouth became pasty, I swallowed a little before finally, a sound came out of my throat.

"Is Project New Horizon up and running?" He sat back in his chair, pushed his notes a little farther back on his desk with one hand, and with the other picked up a glass that was filled with a brown liquid I couldn't tell, probably alcohol. He began to drink it, after a brief moment, he put it back on his desk and crossed his hands between them.

"Yes, the project started ten minutes ago. We will get the first results in no less than twenty minutes." Turning my head to the screens on the wall to my right, I saw that new data was still being displayed. At his words, my legs twitched. I was too late! Dubois saw my discomfort and reached out to present me with the chair in front of him.

"Professor Cooper? Are you all right? Sit down, are you pale?" He asked me with a voice full of compassion.

I walked over to the chair and collapsed on it, my mouth was getting pasty, I couldn't breathe properly, the emotions started to take over me, my chest felt like it was in a vice.

"I... We have to... Stop the project NOW!" I shouted while choking back a sob. Dubois was confused, he looked at me in surprise.

"What, but what are you saying! Is everything okay?"

I handed him my notes with a hand that shook like a tree leaf in the middle of a storm.

"Lo... Look! And see for yourself." He took the notes from me and began to leaf through them, carefully observing all the elements. I don't know how long it took him to read everything, but my stress was only getting worse by the second. To calm myself down, I reassured myself.

Time is of the essence, yes ! But you trust Dubois, he can stop the process !

Everything will be fine...

Everything is going to be okay...

Everything is going to be alright...

Everything is going to be okay...

I repeated the same sentence over and over again.

Dubois put my notes on the desk, pulling me out of my trance. He got up from the chair

"I understand your concern, Professor Cooper... "AH! Thank God we're going to avoid a catastrophe "But I already know that."

This last sentence made me freeze, I was expecting anything but that.

"What!?... I don't understand!... How... How do you know?"

He slowly moved in front of his desk clasping his hands behind his back, he looked at a screen on his wall.

"I've been following it for a few months... It's not a big deal and can even be avoided!" he said to me with determination, pounding his right fist on his left hand to support his argument. He believed in what he was saying, he had almost convinced me. But the results were there! There was no denying it. I swallowed before speaking, I had to weigh every word I said.

"Sir, with all due respect. Wouldn't that be taking a big risk? Many things are at stake, a catastrophe could well occur, and afflict us only at the local level, but it could afflict the whole earth!" He turned to look at me

"This risk is only about 5%! Mankind has always taken risks when it discovered new things. Electricity! How many people have died trying to master this technology! Nuclear energy... Marie Curie and her husband died as a result of prolonged exposure to radiation, yet without their sacrifice! We might still be running on coal!..." I was beginning to understand what he was getting at.

"There is no progress without sacrifice." I muttered.

He looked at me and a wide smile appeared on his face

"I see you understand Pr. Cooper, and I'm glad that this incident didn't put an end to..."

"I refuse!"

He looked at me with a confused expression

"What are you saying?"

I stood up from my chair with such force that it tipped backwards, a sound of metal echoed through the room, and I looked him straight in the eye.

"I said, I refuse! I can't consciously put people in potential danger because you have to take 'risks'! We need to stop the project NOW!"

Damn it! I stood up to Director Dubois, no one had ever done anything like that before! I could see in his eyes the anger that was beginning to form, he slowly walked to his desk, and sat down on the chair. I must admit that, at that moment the fear began to come over me, not the fear of the possible imminent catastrophe, but the fear of Dubois' reaction, he had the power to fire me on the spot, he had already done it for many colleagues who had not found favor in his eyes, and although I had known him for years. Since my university days, I knew that he did not show favoritism, even though our relationship had gone from being a working relationship to a friendship. Dubois raised his head to look at me.

"The project has been in progress for no less than 15 minutes, if an incident were to occur... Then he is very late." He said mockingly.

My anger began to rise within me. How could Director Dubois take such an important subject so lightly!

"Sir, this is too important, we have to stop the project while there is still time! We have to find a way to secure the process. And then we can start the project again!"

Dubois was getting more and more irritated, he opened a drawer to take out a report that he threw on his desk. I approached and looked carefully at the paper Dubois had just shown me, I could see the logo of the government services.

Government Report

N°2345

Secret Defense Project New Horizon

We regret to inform you that in view of the numerous postponements of the New Horizon project and the little progress that has been made, for almost eleven years. We inform you that we regret stopping the financing of this project if no significant progress has been obtained within six months from the reception of this message…

...Once this period has elapsed, we will ask you to stop the project immediately and to redistribute all the scientists on various ongoing projects that we will transmit to you in due course…

...If after this delay, the New Horizon project would still be in progress ! Know that we will not hesitate to use armed force if it is deemed useful, and you will be charged with high treason against your government!

Please accept, Director Dubois, our best regards

General Machan

I put the report back on the table, while looking at the date the letter was issued.

April 10, 2023

"Do you know what date we are today? He asked me.

Raising my head, I started to think

"I think it's September 29, sir..." He took the report and reread it.

He took the report and put it back in his drawer. He then extended his arm towards a carafe where alcohol was contained, at the same time he moved with his left hand a second glass and filled his glass with the second one that I judged to be for me. He handed me the glass. With all these events, I needed it. I took it and began to drink the contents. It was whiskey, I had not drunk much of it before, but I could tell that this one was of very high quality. The alcohol began to slide slowly down my throat, warming my body at the same time.

Dubois broke the silence

"Do you understand now? If we stop now, the New Horizon project will stop, all our hard work put on hold by a stupid government! He took another sip of his drink, "We can't afford to stop now!" he said to me while pressing his finger on the table to emphasize his point.

Taking another sip of my drink, I began to prepare my words. I totally understood Dubois on that, this government can't see in the long term and the New Horizon project could open up a lot of possibilities that humanity can't even imagine! But does that mean we have to risk everything to get there? No, that seemed unthinkable to me! This is not how Dubois taught me to do things, I have to help him remember who he was before!

"Sir!" He looked up, I had caught his interest. "I... I totally understand the urgency of the situation, but it shouldn't be at the expense of what we are trying to help! I..."

He stood up from his seat and angrily pointed at me with his free hand.

"NO! I don't think you understand! If we stop the project, it's all over! So many years of research lost! Doesn't that mean anything to you?" I looked at him with a face full of compassion.

"I understand you completely, sir, believe me..." He huffed in mockery before taking another drink from his glass. "But if it happened to me, I wouldn't put innocent people in danger to keep my job or for a project that took me years to develop. That's not what I've learned, what...you've taught me." I pointed to Dubois, "Many of the technologies we know today were at one time stopped before being picked up years later. Many of the technologies we know today were at one time stopped before being resumed years later! Like the flying machines, or the mechanical automatons, that Da Vinci created! The next generation will succeed! And will remember you as a pioneer!" Dubois was silent, "Sir... We, we have known each other for years now..." Raising to the ceiling, I reflected on how many years of collaboration we have achieved "... What! 10 years now? You have taught me everything and I sincerely thank you! But today I have to disobey you, for the good of all! I'm... I'm sorry sir".

I looked at Dubois hoping to get an answer, to get his agreement to stop everything, not to feel like I was betraying him, but nothing came. He sat back in his chair, his head down, looking at the floor. Putting my glass on his desk, I turned and moved toward the door.

"I'm going to ask for an immediate halt to the New Horizon project. I'm sorry, sir." Even with all the power he has, he can't stop a project for major risk. Dubois' hand tightened on his glass, he squeezed it with all his strength, and it began to crack. He raised his head.

"NO! The project must go on!" I continued to walk towards the door, he was yelling behind me.

"WAIT!" I wasn't listening to him.

"JULIAN! I SAID WAIT!" I wanted to stop and soothe him, calm him down... He had given me everything, he was the one who took me in, he was the one who taught me everything, who offered me this job, but I had already wasted too much time. Now I didn't have a minute to lose. I am so sorry...

"I SAID STOP!" He rushed to his drawer, but before I could turn around a bang filled the room, then silence and an immense pain shot through me as if someone had stabbed me in the back. My body slumped forward and hit the door with force. I tried to keep myself upright, but I was too full of pain to do so. I felt a warm liquid running down my back, and then I saw blood on the floor. I looked up to see Dubois with a gun in his hand. He... He had shot me, he who had taught me everything, he who had given me my vocation, the one I admired whom I considered a friend, like... a father, had shot me.

"You shot me! What's the matter with you?" I shouted at him. Tears of pain and sadness began to stream down my face.

Suddenly, two guards entered the room, pushing me roughly in the process, I grunted in pain.

"Is everything okay, sir? We heard a gunshot!" Asked one of them, before Dubois looked at me and pointed.

"He tried to sabotage one of our biggest projects! Stabilize him, and take him away, until the project is complete!" He said with extreme authority, one of the guards lowered himself on me and started to work with my wound, the other one watched me carefully, probably because he thought I could still try something, but I couldn't do anything considering the current state of health. The other guard unbuckled my belt and put it around my left shoulder, before tightening it with all his strength. My teeth gritted from the pain. After a few minutes of checking the rest of my body, he stood up and turned to Dubois.

"Everything is fine, sir ! His condition is stable for now." The two guards helped me up, I looked into Dubois' eyes, there was only anger.

"I couldn't let you destroy everything we've worked so hard to build, Cooper! You will witness our triumph, and you will admit that..."

But before he could finish his sentence, an alarm rang through the complex. He rushed to a communications terminal and called security.

"Report! What's going on?" The two guards looked at each other with concern, before glancing at me. Did they think I was in charge?

"What do you mean a problem in the particle gas pedal? "My worst fear was founded, an incident had occurred. I could see the look on Director Dubois' face, he was expressing fear. Dubois tapped a little more forcefully on his terminal.

"STOP EVERYTHING! And I want a full report to be..." A loud explosion was felt, the shock wave was so violent that it threw all the objects and all the occupants to the ground. I was propelled to the right on the other side of the room, my two guards found themselves projected on the desk and Dubois fell backwards and shouted in pain. But before I could regain my senses, a sort of purple portal opened on my left and began to suck in all the objects near it. This thing emitted an indescribable sound, one of the guards was dragged inside, under the horrified look of his colleague who could do nothing. The ground began to give way under his feet, chasms began to form all around us. The underground electric cables broke and crackled in all directions, the second guard fell into the chasm that had formed, falling into the abyss, his frightened scream echoed throughout the room. The ceiling above me partially collapsed, the earth rumbled, objects flew, worse than in a nightmare! A great chasm of several meters now separated me from Dubois. But before I could do or say anything, a portal opened below me, dragging me in. I tumbled through, seeing absolutely nothing, nothing but darkness. There was no light, it was absolute nothingness, emptiness...

Was this death, then? This thought crossed my mind.

Was I doomed to fall into a bottomless pit for eternity? Some kind of divine punishment? I was not a believer, but the thought did cross my mind. I could still feel the pain, my wound still hurt terribly. So I was not dead. But then where was I?

But before I could think of anything else, a huge shock went through my whole body. I closed my eyes, darkness enveloped me. I didn't feel any pain anymore.

Everything is going to be okay...

Everything is going to be alright...

Everything is going to…