Rick and Morty: Dimension A-144

Chapter 1: Jigsaw Falling into Place

Rick Sanchez was beaming from ear-to-ear, so to speak. He threw his golden and teal tasseled graduation cap up into the air. He'd finally graduated with a PhD in Quantum Physics, a Master's in Chemistry, and an RN liscence in an insane 4 and a half years. He had always been described as remarkably gifted, and those who made that assumption weren't wrong: he had a brain like no other.
Five years spent doing absolutely nothing but school, and having no life to speak of, he thought to himself, humoring the idea of a relationship. Hell, even a friendship, he'd walled himself off from practically every other human being during that time.

Then it hit him. He had spent so long focusing on only accumulating the knowledge required for his ambitious goals that he wasn't entirely sure what to do in the meantime. Get a job? Where was he supposed to find all of the resources he needed for single-person spaceflight? Let alone inter-dimensional travel? It's not like those were common things, and he couldn't obtain those resources with a license alone, and nobody in their right mind would fund research for either of those... right?
NASA seemed like a good place to start, though he would have to devote any new findings to the public or the government, which was the opposite of what he wanted. Though it seemed selfish, he knew that breakthroughs like a single-manned spaceflight capable vehicle could be devastating in the wrong hands.

---
It only took a few weeks work, blood, sweat and tears- actually, copious amounts of blood and tears from the numerous cuts and gashes he'd gained, but that was easily fixed- before a sturdy, insulated hull was crafted from a strange alloy of elements and solutions. He'd already had the engine built: that was the easy part. Everything had come together perfectly. The ship was complete.

Now time to test it.
He was confident in his creation after witnessing it withstand rigorous, unforgiving testing without so much as a scratch. He could improve it later, but now was as good a time as any.
Besides, he had a good enough backup plan if this indeed failed.
---
"Three.. two.."
He hesitated before clicking the keys into the ignition.
Now or never
"One."
It was a suprisingly underwhelming launch sequence, the thing just hovered off of the ground. The radio clicked on.
Gary Wright's  Dreamweaver started playing.

He nervously drove the car upwards. It was a bit sensitive, but he could work with this.
Is this actually working? Am I dreaming? What the hell, this is amazing!
He flew the "Dreamweaver" farther up, which caused the signal to reach out of range. It operated similarly to a cross between a stickshift and a jet plane, with some miscellanious unique buttons here and there.
Now, time for what this thing was built for. Can we break the atmosphere?

11km/s. Here we go.

---
He'd closed his eyes for most of the process, giving into paranoia of a firey death. When he opened them again, he was among the stars, Earth's atmosphere behind him.

He clicked the back of his Nokia off after reaching beyond Earth's gravitational pull and placed a small chip in the back. It went from no signal to almost full.
He dialed a number. It went to voicemail.
"Hey sis, you'll never believe what I did today. Gone into space. I probably won't be back for a while, like a few years, I'll try to update you when I can but I have to be somewhat near Earth's atmosphere for this thing to work. The radius on this is really boosted, probably not good for my brain." He laughed. "Anyway, I'll talk to you soon, if you call back in time."
Just a minute later he got a call back.
"You're WHAT?!" the dialer asked.
"I'm in space." he responded.
"Are you crazy?! You could die up there!"
"Beth, I'm fine. I packed plenty of food and water- a year and a half's worth-, this hull is far beyond bulletproof AND it can withstand crushing depths."
"Why didn't you tell me before you got up there! You could've died in launch and I never would've known!"
"Hey, I left a note on my desk telling you where I would be should I never return. Besides, you would've only tried to stop me."
"Yeah, and for good reason! If you died I'd've put all the blame on myself! You can be such a prick."
"For science, my only love."
"I take it back, you're just a dork. How did you even get- No, you know what? I'm not suprised, and I'm not going to ask. You are something else entirely. At this rate, I doubt you're even human, really."
"Signal is starting to break. I'll talk to you soon, ok?"
"Love you."
"Love you too. Bye."

He clicked the "End Call" button, then powered off the device and left it in his dash.

Time to explore.