by kzooblue is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
December 10, 5010 World Government Section 17
With the new discovery of time travel a new horizon of possibilities became a reality. Scientists from NASA and all over the world have been able to use and harness the power of black holes and light to bend space and time. With this, different parallel timelines began to appear in the universe as different people began to jump for one time to another, the problem with that was, people began to lose track of what timeline they were from. Now multiples of the same person began to appear at the same time causing a shift and merging of the parallel universe, this is where I come in.
“Hello my name is Doctor Arthur Clover and my job is to destroy mankind’s greatest invention in order to save it.”
A slender, brown haired man in the typical white lab coat and goggles walked down the long corridor of the new Time Alternation Unit also known as the TAU to enter on of the contained black holes and move to a different timeline to begin his journey.
“TED what’s our status?” I asked my personal computer watch. TED or Time Editing Device was my personal computer assistant and dare I say my only friend.
“We seem to be clear sir, there are no TAU employees online or in the vicinity,” TED replied.
If anyone knew what I was about to do I would be apprehended by the World Government and be exiled into space or worse. I walked into the containment room and scanned it to make sure no one was hiding. The long lines of glass containers each holding a black hole lined to bright white walls. I scanned my card and the glass door clicked open the mechanism whorled to life as I walked into the room.
“TED can you disable the security system and clear the recent log memory?”
“Done sir.”
I held my breath and set the machine to the determined time June 17, 5000 that was the date that I made all of the designs for this cursed machine. As the black hole began to spin I walked inside, but as I did I took one look back and I am glad I did. A person in a black cloak changed the date sending me to a different time and place. I was sucked into the black hole and traveled to that time.
May 15, 2200 New York City
I fell to the ground with a thud in an ally way. I let out a groan as I stood up and dusted myself off looking around I saw the high glass buildings and metal streets.
“TED where are we?”
“We seem to be in the ancient city of New York sir, May 15 2200.”
“New York City?” I said in disbelief, I never really used the time machine to go back this far in time. This was a place that was only talked about by historians and in history books.
“Now I wish I had paid attention in history class,” I mumbled.
I looked around and walked out to the main street my eyes began to adjust to the light.
“Oh that’s right they still used the sun, gosh it is so warm here, back home we used artificial sun since the real one went out hundreds of years ago do to the World Government trying to harness the heat and turn it into a black hole to help jump start the realm of time travel.”
The street was littered with people walking and running to get to their place. Proto type jet packs were used by some of the wealthy, but not made available to everyone. My real problem now was finding the open black hole and hope that no one from this time would enter. I need to get back home and get to the time I need, but who was that person that changed my time and why where they not picked up on the scan?
“Sir, I would advise you to keep moving so we do not stick out,” TED said.
“You’re right TED and idea about the open worm hole?”
“Not yet sir, but we do have some trouble.”
“And what would that be?”
“It seems that person that changed the date on the time machine had warned the TAU security and they are here.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a sigh, “Of course I would expect nothing less.”
I began to walk down the main street weaving between the people trying not to attract to much attention and looking out for members of the TAU. As I was walking I felt a tug on the back of my coat collar and I froze.
“Dude if you are looking for the costume convention it’s that way”
I turned around and came face to face with a young girl with red hair and glasses. She was smiling and had her thumb pointing in the opposite direction. My face turned red with embarrassment I forgot that my outfit made me stick out that much, but thank goodness it was New York from what little I read it was custom for people to dress up and walk the streets.
“Oh thank you, but I am not looking for the costume convention,” I said looking down at my clothing.
“Oh my God I am so sorry it’s just that you looked lost and the clothes you are wearing looked different and so many people today asked where it was, but I guess I shouldn’t judge someone’s looks, I mean it is New York after all…” She rambled saying it all without taking a breath.
“It’s okay, I was actually wondering if there has been any other people that looked like they were in costume and looked lost.”
She thought for a moment thinking if any other person seemed to be in my situation.
“Actually yes there were five other men that seemed to be like that, but they looked more like police officers with futuristic weapons. Are they your friends? Because if they are I can help you find them, I think they went this way.”
Again she kept rambling on and on. I looked around as she spoke making sure that they were not around watching me.
“No they are not my friend and they are actually very dangerous, so if you see them do not interact with them,” I warned.
“So you mean to tell me that the weapons that they had were real?”
“Yes.”
“But how they looked like something from a sci-fi movie?”
“Listen what I am about to tell you is going to change everything that you know so I need you to believe what I am about to say, okay?”
She nodded her head.
“Okay so I am not from here, I am from the future,” I stopped for a moment and waited for her reaction, I have heard horror stories from other people who went back in time and told others that they war from the future most got laughed at, but some were almost killed, one guy was almost burned at the stake for being a “witch”.
“That’s cool.”
“What?”
“I said that’s cool, I mean come on man we have people using jet packs to get around the city so I guess it was only a matter of time before we had time travel.”
I was shocked she didn’t think I was crazy, but accepted it I guess it was good that I didn’t go back that far so I guess luck was on my side for that one, but I also realized that doing this I just created another timeline.
“So what time are you from? Are we getting time travel any time soon?”
“Believe me it’s no time soon and you don’t want it.”
“Why not”
But before I could answer TED began to talk.
“Sir it seems we have a problem.”
“What was that?” the girl asked.
“That was TED my personal computer assistant, what is wrong TED?”
“I t seems like the worm hole has opened up in what they call Central park, but there are different TAU security around and they are looking for you.”
“I know where Central Park is, that is where my husband proposed to me the other day.”
“That is very nice do you think that you can take me there?”
“Yes, follow me,” she said as she grabbed my hand and stated weaving between people pulling me along.
After a long awkward silence I decided to make conversation.
“Umm, I never got to ask what your name is.”
“My name is Anna Clover.”
Anna Clover that name stuck in my head I knew it somewhere, then I remembered, my senior year of high school they made us do a family tree and the farther back you went the more points you got, Anna Clover was my so many times great grandmother, married to John Clover.
“I have to ask is your husband’s name John.”
“Why yes it is why do you ask?
I thought for a moment did I really want to tell her who I was and create a new timeline? Did it really matter? Did any of it really matter if the time machine was destroyed?
“My name is Arthur Clover and I am you so many times great grandson.”
Her eyes lit up and she gave me a hug stopping for a moment standing in each other’s embrace, I had not remembered what it was like to truly care about someone and hug them close.
“Come we must get you back to your time I will not allow anything to happen to you.”
Just as we were about to enter the park we are confronted by three TAU agents.
“Dr. Clover by the order of the World Government you are under arrest come with us or we will take you by force,” one of the agents said holding up his weapon.
“Over my dead body” Anna said standing in front of me.
“That can be arranged” another said holding his ray gun at her.
“Don’t, if you kill her Dr. Clover will not exist and we need him alive to make time travel possible.”
As I was about to slip away I felt a tug on the back of my lab coat again and was pulled backwards. The familiar whirl of the black hole surrounded me and I was sucked in again. I was dropped in another dimension another version of my time. I was about to ask TED where we are when a voice interrupted me.
“Don’t bother he doesn’t work here,” a voice said and it sounded very familiar.
I turned around and came face to face with myself. The man in the black cloak that had made me go back to the wrong time was me from another dimension.
“What are you doing? Why am I here?” I asked.
“Because you are the main timeline and if you get rid of time travel all my accomplishments crease to exist and I will not allow you to ruin my life. All my fame and fortune I am a star here and people know who I am, they worship me!” he yelled. “Here I am a God and people love it.”
“I don’t want to live like this anymore I just want everything to go back to how it was when I was younger. I was so naïve to think that people would not use something others create for their own agenda. My parents died because of my creation people everywhere are hurt because of what I did and the world is just as cruel as it has always been, well no more.”
I run to myself and push him into an electric circuit that powers the black hole frying his body.
“That is where you are wrong about being a god there are no gods only science and we are all still mortal.”
I open another black hole and set it to my original time.
June 17, 5000 Clover Family house, Arthur’s room
I open the door to my old room and looked at my desk. It was the blueprints and proto types for the first harness black hole that I had been working on for NASA. I took a pen and changed some of the numbers so the experiment will fail. I also look down at some of the scraps at the other end of the desk and see the beginning of TED. I smile some things might change, but not all. No more new time lines and the world and time can continue going how it always meant to, forward.
December 10, 5010 World Government Section 17
I returned back home or to what my home would be now, the last worm hole that will be used, for now, closed behind me and I walked along the streets looking at the world that is now around me. As I walked to my house I saw my parents sitting there and smiled at me I walked through the door.
“My name is Arthur Clover and I destroyed humanities greatest creation that they never knew.”
Works Cited
“Black Holes.” NASA, NASA, 2019, science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/black-holes.
NASA explains what a black hole is and how it functions in space and how it is created.
Garner, Rob. “NASA Visualization Shows a Black Hole’s Warped World.” NASA, NASA, 25 Sept. 2019, www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-visualization-shows-a-black-hole-s-warped-world.
Visual representation of a black hole and how it moves in space.
Rayman, Mrac. “Is Time Travel Possible?” NASA, NASA, 31 Oct. 2019, spaceplace.nasa.gov/dr-marc-time-travel/en/.
Dr. Rayman from NASA explains how time would work and how fast a person would have to travel, faster than the speed of light “or faster than an hour per hour”, to travel in time.