<strong>Character:</strong>NPC Researchers<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Research Station Orion, Human Colony "Perseus IV"<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Any; open<br/><hr/>The colony on the small planet dubbed "Perseus IV" was established nearly twenty years ago.  To date, it remained the farthest colony from Earth - a fact that drew a decent bit of tourism and influx of new colonists.  The local government took pride in its own technological developments.  Being positioned so close to the edge of the known universe allowed the research teams to reach out past that border to the unknown.<br/><br/>Their latest development did just that: the single most powerful Q-tube - quantum singularity "hyper-speed" engine.  According to all the projections and claims of the developers, the new engine would allow humans to finally expand their horizons into a new section of the galaxy, one that just might reach beyond their own arm of the Milky Way.<br/><br/>The engine had been set up in one of the testing labs and was prepped for its first full test.  Only the developers and scientists who worked on it - along with standard military protection - were allowed in the observation room.<br/><br/>"Reading green across the board," said the head developer.  "Ready to fire this baby up."<br/><br/>"Initializing quantum engine," replied the head of the science department.<br/><br/>She pressed a button and a red light began flashing, alerting all personnel to stay clear of the testing lab.  The engine, roughly the size of a small truck, began to hum.  The humming grew louder, and a number of lights of lit up along the side and front of it.  The engine vibrated lightly, powering up.  In practical use, the engine would power up and open the quantum singularity in less than five minutes, but the test was designed to operate the engine slowly.  The test would run through a gauntlet of clearance checks before actually ripping open a black hole into the testing lab.  They needed to be absolutely certain they could contain and control the singularity.<br/><br/>"This is it, boys," the department head said.  "This is what we've worked for."