Chapter 1: An Ordinary Monday

Monday, as usual, began for Alex with not the most pleasant awakening. He was jerked out of his dreams by the unaccustomed loud and shrill sound of the alarm clock. Alex reluctantly opened his eyes and, yawning, went to the bathroom. Looking at himself in the mirror, he sighed heavily: ‘Well, it’s the same again: puffy face, dark circles under the eyes, uncombed hair. I probably didn’t sleep well at night again because of those nightmares.’ Alex had been suffering more and more from insomnia and nightmares lately, and it couldn’t help but affect his appearance.

After a quick shower and shave, Alex headed to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. On the way he looked into his wife Natalia’s room to make sure she was sleeping soundly. Seeing the peaceful face of a sleeping Natalya, Alex relaxed a little and smiled: ‘At least one of us got some sleep.’ After that, he continued on his way to the kitchen.

Opening the fridge, Alex found it completely empty except for a can of ketchup and an empty carton of milk. ‘Wow, I forgot to go to the shop this weekend,’ he thought as he closed the fridge. Looking round the kitchen, Alex saw on the table the half-eaten slice of pizza that Natalia had brought with her from work yesterday. He decided that it was just what he needed for breakfast and took out the unfortunate slice.

Slowly chewing the cooled pizza, Alex sat at the table and thought about how he was going to spend today. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the ringing of his mobile phone. Glancing at the screen, he saw that it was his boss calling.

— Hello? Yes, Boris Petrovich, good morning. What? A meeting? Now? Oh, I just forgot… Yes, yes, I’m on my way, sorry. Okay, I’ll be there soon.

Alex hurriedly finished the rest of the milk straight from the bottle and, grabbing the keys, ran out of the flat. Hurrying down the stairs, he thought: ‘Damn, I forgot about the meeting, I’ll get in trouble again. I should have set my alarm ten minutes earlier.’

Getting into his old Ford Focus, Alex immediately drove out of the courtyard of the house. But on the way out of the car park he was overtaken by a big black SUV, whose driver started honking his horn unhappily. Alexey waved his hand guiltily in the direction of the irritated driver and continued on his way.

The road to the office was short, but because of the morning traffic jams Alexey was still very late for the meeting. As he flew into the meeting room, he smiled guiltily at his colleagues and quietly took his seat. All day after the meeting Alexey had to listen to reproaches from his boss Boris Petrovich. But Alexey had already got used to such reprimands and took them for granted.

Having finished work, Alexey, as usual, went home, thinking on the way about the forthcoming dinner. When he finally reached his home flat, he opened the door and shouted hopefully:

— Natash, I’m home! Have you cooked anything for dinner?

But the flat was silent, and no one responded to his greeting. ‘Probably still at work,’ thought Alexei, taking off his shoes. Walking into the kitchen, he found it as empty as it had been in the morning. Sighing, Alex decided to make himself a sausage sandwich. After eating, he went into the living room and switched on the television. Hoping to find something interesting, he started switching channels. One of the last things he came across was a documentary about space.

Chapter 2: Falling into the Abyss

For some time, Alexey sat on the sofa, mesmerised by what was happening on the screen. The announcer was telling about the latest discoveries in the field of astrophysics and the structure of the Universe. Alexey listened attentively, being always interested in such topics.

However, then the plot of the film abruptly changed, and the image of a huge black hole appeared on the screen. The announcer began to tell about these unique formations, about their influence on the surrounding space and about the fact that some of them can become incredibly dangerous for any objects falling into their sphere of attraction.

Alexs at there, not averting his gaze to anything, completely immersed in the narrative. His imagination drew pictures of how objects, succumbing to the powerful gravitational field of the black hole, with great speed fall into its bottomless maw, distorted and refracted under the influence of giant forces.

At some point Alexey felt a slight dizziness and weakness in his whole body. It seemed to him that the sofa beneath him began to sway smoothly, as if it were rocking on invisible waves. He tried to focus his gaze, but the walls of the flat suddenly moved and began to blur.

Suddenly Alex felt a strong pull, as if something was sucking him uncontrollably into an unknown abyss. His body began to lose weight, and he felt himself floating in weightlessness. Panic-stricken, he tried to get up from the sofa, but nothing worked — it was as if he was glued to the place. From all sides Alexey was surrounded by absolute darkness, in which multi-coloured lights sparkled ominously.

Time for Alexey as if stopped, and he could not understand how long this strange state lasted. It seemed as if hours had passed, but at the same time it was only seconds. He called desperately for help, but his cries were drowned in the ringing silence.

At one moment everything around Alexey spun in a mad whirlwind, and he felt himself falling somewhere rapidly. The feeling of weightlessness was replaced by the opposite — now his body felt as if it were filled with lead, and gravity was pulling him down with incredible force. Alex screamed in terror, unable to understand what was happening to him.

Suddenly everything stopped abruptly. Alex hit the hard surface with a loud thud and lost consciousness.

Chapter 3: A New World

Coming to his senses, Alex cautiously opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling made of dark grey metal panels. Propping himself up on his elbows, he looked around the room he was in.

It was clearly not his flat. The walls were panelled with the same metal as the ceiling, and in the far corner he noticed a large window, through which he could see some unfamiliar sky. Alex tried to remember how he got here, but his mind was a complete blank. The last thing he remembered was watching TV and being pulled into a black hole. Was this really not a dream, but reality?

Carefully lowering his legs from the narrow bunk he was lying on, Alex stood up and took a few stiff steps to the window. When he looked out, he was stunned by what he saw. Outside the window stretched some completely unfamiliar landscape — huge metal structures, like buildings, floating in the air, as if suspended on invisible threads, and in the endless dark purple sky slowly floated bizarre glowing clouds.

Alex stood with his mouth open in amazement, trying to realise what he was seeing. Could this really be some other planet? Or even another universe? A thousand questions swarmed in his mind, but he couldn’t find an answer to any of them.

Suddenly the door opened, and a tall, thin man in a strange, tight-fitting, silver-coloured suit entered the room. He wore a dark transparent mask on his head, hiding his face. The man silently approached Alexand held out his hand and placed a small device like a metal circle on his chest.

Alex watched his actions with anxiety and apprehension, but the man did nothing, only concentrated on the readings of the device. Then, with a nod, he turned round and left the room, closing the door tightly behind him again.

Left alone, Alex went to the door and tried to open it, but it was tightly locked. Then he went to the window and stared at the view, trying to see where he was. But no matter how much he looked, there was nothing familiar about the landscape.

Soon the door opened again, and this time two people entered the room — a tall man in the same tight-fitting suit as the first, and a girl dressed in looser white clothes.

The man said something, but Alex didn’t understand a word he said. Then the girl pressed a small device attached to her shoulder and said in the purest Russian:

— Don’t be afraid, we wish you no harm. My name is Ariana and this is Gris. We brought you here to give you medical attention. You were unconscious when we found you. Don’t worry, you’re safe now.

Alex froze, digesting what he had heard. He could not believe that these strange people in unusual costumes were speaking to him in his own language. After calming down a bit, he replied:

— I’m sorry, but I don’t understand at all what’s going on. Where am I? And how did I get here?

Ariana looked at him carefully and replied:

— ‘You are on Space Station Alpha in the Parallel Universe. How you got here is a mystery to us. We found you in a coma near one of our orbital platforms. You were brought here for medical examination and recovery.

Alex stared dumbfounded at the girl. He clearly understood everything, but it was incredibly hard to believe it. A parallel universe? A space station? Was all of this really real?

Gris, who had been standing silent until then, suddenly spoke up:

— We need to do further examination to understand how you came to be in our dimension. Come with us.

Alex took another look at the room he was in and, after a moment’s hesitation, nodded. He was so stunned by what was happening that he no longer doubted the truth of their words. Seeing no other choice, he decided to trust these strange people.

Ariana smiled at him and opened the door, inviting him into the corridor. Alex took a few hesitant steps and followed them out.

Chapter 4. New acquaintances

The corridor Alex stepped out into was quite spacious and illuminated by soft diffused light. On the walls there were multiple panels with incomprehensible signs and indicators. Alex followed Ariana and Gris, trying to look at all the details of the unfamiliar interior.

Soon they came to the large double doors, which silently slid apart as they approached. Behind them was a rather large room that resembled a medical block. There were strange medical devices along the walls, and a wide diagnostic table in the centre.

Ariana gestured for Alex to come over to the table and lie down. When he obediently laid down on it, some thin metal structures began to slowly descend around the table from above, and wrapped around his body without causing any discomfort. Alex tensed involuntarily, but Ariana calmed him down:

— Don’t worry, these are just medical scanners. They will help us diagnose your condition.

Meanwhile, Gris walked over to one of the consoles and began rapidly typing something on the touch panel. A few minutes later, holographic projections with various medical data began to appear above Alexei.

After carefully studying the results, Ariana turned to Alexei:

— Your vitals are normal, no serious abnormalities have been detected. However, your blood work shows that you are not native to our Parallel Universe. Your genetic profile is different from ours.

Alex listened to her with bated breath. Everything that was happening seemed to him a surreal dream, from which he could not get out.

— So, I’ve really gone to another world? — he said, looking hopefully at Ariana.

— Yes, you did,’ she nodded. — We’re still trying to figure out how it could have happened. Perhaps you have somehow managed to cross the boundary between dimensions. Such a phenomenon is known in theoretical cosmology, but there are very few practical cases of travelling between universes.

Alex was digesting what he had heard, trying to get used to the idea that he had somehow found himself in another world. Gris, who had been silent until then, suddenly intervened in the conversation:

— We need to conduct a more thorough examination to determine the nature of your interdimensional movements. Perhaps it will help us find a way to get you back.

Alex perked up when he heard these words. He desperately wanted to return home to his wife Natalia. He could already imagine how happy she would be when he returned.

— Yes, please do everything you can so I can go back,’ he said hopefully. — I really want to get back in.

Ariana gave him a reassuring smile and said:

— Don’t worry, we will do everything we can to help you. But first, let’s get to know each other better. What’s your name?

— My name is Alexei,’ he replied. — And who are you? And what is this place where I find myself?

— Well, it’s nice to meet you, Alexei,’ Ariana said. — I am, as I said, Ariana. And my companion here is Gris. We are scientists working on this space station Alpha. Here we are engaged in the study of space and interdimensional interactions.

Alex listened to her with undisguised interest. He was eager to learn as much as he could about this new world.

— A space station? — he asked. — So you live and work right in space? I can’t believe it!

— Yes, that’s exactly what it is,’ Ariana smiled. — This station is our home and our laboratory. Here we do our research, study new technologies and observe space processes. It is truly an amazing place.

Alexey began to imagine what this incredible space station looked like, and he could hardly believe that all this was real.

— And where exactly is this station? — he asked.

— Right now, it’s in geostationary orbit of our planet Renar,’ Ariana replied. — But we regularly move it to other points in space for various research.

Alex nodded, mentally trying to realise the scale of what was happening. Having entered a parallel world, he found himself on a real space station flying around an unfamiliar planet. It all seemed so fantastic and unreal.

While he was thinking, Gris came closer and said:

— Alexei, we would like to run some more tests with you to better understand the nature of your appearance here. It will help us find a way to bring you back.

Alex nodded readily. He couldn’t wait to get home, and he was ready to undergo any tests to get back.

— Sure, let’s get started,’ he said. — I’m willing to help in any way I can.

Ariana and Gris exchanged glances, then turned to Alex again:

— Good, then we’ll begin immediately. We have a number of additional scans and analyses to run. It may take some time, but we’ll try to meet the deadline as quickly as possible.

Alex nodded again, feeling the anxiety and excitement give way to hope that he would return home soon. He was determined to help these strange but kind people as best he could.

Chapter 5: Research and Discoveries

Alex spent the next few hours undergoing various research and diagnostic procedures. Ariana and Gris literally examined him from top to toe, using a variety of technologies that Alex could not have imagined.

The scanners and devices surrounding him emitted multicoloured beams and fields, gently examining the structure of his body and brain. From time to time, he felt faint electrical impulses run through his body, but they caused him no discomfort.

In between examinations, Ariana and Gris discussed something, gesticulating vigorously and constantly glancing at the holographic displays. Alex watched them, trying to guess the course of their thoughts, but everything was incomprehensible and unfamiliar to him.

Finally, after several hours of intense work, Gris approached Alexand said:

— Alexei, we have conducted a comprehensive analysis of your data and have come to some important conclusions.

Alex looked at him carefully, feeling his heart beating frantically with excitement. At last he would find out what they had found out.

— What have you discovered? Have you found a way to bring me back? — He asked hopefully.

Ariana walked over and, smiling softly, replied:

— Yes, we were able to determine the mechanism of your interdimensional travel. Our research has shown that you have somehow activated a natural portal between our universes.

Alex listened with bated breath. He barely understood what they were saying, but the important thing was that they had discovered a way to get him home.

— So, you can send me back? — he asked.

— That’s right,’ Gris nodded, ’We’ve scanned the energy fields and identified the point where you got here. Now all we need to do is activate the return portal and you can return to your universe.

Alex was incredibly relieved. He would finally be able to return home to his wife Natalia. He already imagined how surprised she would be to see him alive and well.

— When will you be able to do it? — he asked eagerly.

— We will try to prepare the portal as soon as possible, Ariana replied. — But it takes time to make the necessary calculations and set up the equipment. It will probably take a couple of days. Are you ready to wait?

Alex nodded. A couple of days was nothing compared to the possibility of returning home unharmed.

— Yes, of course, I’ll wait as long as it takes,’ he assured him. — Just bring me back, please.

— Don’t worry, we’ll do our best,’ Ariana reassured him. — In the meantime, rest and know that you are perfectly safe on our station.

Alex nodded gratefully. It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Now that he had a real chance to go home, he felt much calmer.

Ariana and Gris went about their business, leaving Alex alone in the medbay. He lay on the diagnostic table, staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything he had experienced in the last few hours.

He still couldn’t fully believe that he was in another universe, on a space station inhabited by strange but friendly people. It seemed like a dream come true. And yet the reality around him proved inexorably that everything that was happening was true.

‘I wonder how Natasha is? — he thought. — She must be worried and looking for me. How am I going to explain to her where I disappeared to? She simply won’t believe me if I tell the truth.’

Alex sighed. He couldn’t wait to get home to hug his beloved wife and assure her that everything was all right. He really hoped Ariana and Gris would keep their promise and find a way to bring him back.

As he thought about it, Alex dozed off, lulled by the quiet sounds of the medical devices around him.

Chapter 6. Returning home

Alex woke up and found himself in his flat, in familiar surroundings. Looking around, he made sure that everything looked exactly as he remembered — familiar furniture, family photos on the walls, his favourite things.

Sighing with relief, Alex ran his hand over his face, as if shaking off the remnants of sleep. Was everything he had experienced — the trip to the parallel universe, the meeting with Ariana and Gris — just a dream? Had he never found himself on that space station?

Then the door to the room opened and Natalia, his wife, appeared on the threshold. Her eyes were red from tears, but her face reflected great relief.

— Alexei!’ she exclaimed and rushed to him, hugging him tightly. — You’re all right! I was so worried about you!

Alex hugged Natalia back, trying to calm his racing heart. He had really come home! That incredible adventure in the parallel universe was behind him.

— Natasha, I’m so glad to be home again! — he exclaimed, pulling away. — You have no idea what has happened to me….

Natalya looked at him with tearful eyes, not daring to ask anything. Alex stroked her cheek and continued:

— Remember, I was leaving for work that day? At first everything was going as usual, but then something inexplicable happened….

And he began to tell her his fantastic story — about his strange fall into nowhere, about waking up in another world aboard a space station. He described meeting Ariana and Gris, their attempts to find a way for him to return home, and the amazing technology they had used in their research.

Natalia listened breathlessly, occasionally rounding her eyes in surprise. At times she shook her head in disbelief, but Alexei’s sincerity left no doubt that he was telling the truth.

When he finished his story, the room was silent. Natalya said slowly:

— It’s… it’s unbelievable! I would never have believed it if I hadn’t heard it from you. Other universes, space stations… It sounds like science fiction!

Alex nodded with an understanding smile.

— I can hardly believe it myself. But that’s exactly what happened. I had to go through many trials until Ariana and Gris found a way to bring me back.

Natalia hugged him again, pressing her whole body against his.

— The important thing is that you came back unharmed. It doesn’t matter how or why, I’m just happy you’re home! — she said with feeling.

Alex nodded in agreement, blissfully dissolving in the embrace of his beloved wife. A quiet and measured life on Earth, away from galactic adventures, awaited them both. And Alexey was unspeakably happy about it — at last he returned to the place where he really belonged — to his home, to his loved ones. The ordeal was over, and now he could just enjoy every moment of happiness.