[Teaser] Low-Earth Orbit

[The Void]

Space. Or at the edge of it. High enough that no oxygen exists here. No heat. No ambient light. No sound. Even the thousands of satellites don't even begin to fill up the vast empty space that stands in stark contrast to the blue, white and green of the planet below. Above. Irrelevant. Gravity only exists as an abstract concept, not as a force in any appreciable way. A mechanism that traps objects between the ephemeral veil of the atmosphere on one side and the yawning emptiness of absolutely nothing on the other. The view is absolutely stunning, but Void has no appreciation for the Northern Lights dancing above the polar ice caps or the intricate beauty of the clouds swirling in complex patterns. Void only knows anger.

She has no need to breathe. Nothing can touch her. In many ways this isn't even all that different from how she exists in the world. Gravity is one of the few things that even registers to her at all and now gravity has flung her out and then trapped her in orbit. She's spend week at the bottom of the ocean, just walking in absolute darkness, but this is different. This has no end. Cutting through the impossible weight of millions upon millions of tons of water, it served as proof. Proof of her existence. Of an impact. Not as much as the terrified look on the face of the little blonde telepath or the imprint of her closed fist on Adamantium bones, but an impact none the less. But now she just drifts. No amount of flailing, swimming, screaming will move her out of the endless circles above a world she is entire apart from. Unstoppable force and immovable object in one. And utterly powerless.

Occasionally a piece of debris passes close enough for her to notice. A tiny rock or broken satellite pieces. Some almost a mile away, others only a couple meter, either only exist to taunt her. Once she saw a glimpse of a space-station below her. A shiny little jewel filled with at least a couple of people. And tech to return to the surface. She hasn't seen it since, different orbits, angles, speeds. But she likes to think that somebody looked out a window at just the right moment and for the briefest of moments saw a row of teeth glint against the blackness of space. The thought is like a little treasure out here. One that keeps her company as she drifts even if it can't keep her sane. She abandoned that long before she was flung into space.

Everything right above her is light brown with streaks of white and the occasional splatter of green. Craning her neck she sees the Mediterranean Sea. That means she's soon going to pass over the British Isles again. She pulls herself into a ball, every muscles tensed to the point they would snap if they could. She screams her countdown into space in complete silence and when she reaches the end she throws her limbs outwards, away from the planet. Every fiber of muscles, every tendon and bone hurts from the sheer force she brings to bear on herself even as they remain pristine. And her orbit decays by just a few millimeters...