Thursday June 28th 2018
Pulling the key from my pocket I quickly and quietly unlocked the apartment door.
Glancing over my shoulder I gave the man behind me a nod as he urged me on. I pulled the door open and held it for him as he entered. The other man was pushing a large wheeled suitcase ahead of him. After he was in I slunk in behind him.
I shut the door and locked it before turning on the lights. The apartment was still swathed in caution tape with triangular police evidence markers placed throughout.
We were breaking into a closed crime scene. A murder had occurred here.
Three days ago the owner of this apartment, Frederick Farias, had been killed.
The person with me was Dr. Harris Bloch and he believed the victim wasn’t supposed to be murdered.
Of course nobody should be murdered, but Dr. Bloch felt that there was more to it than that.
In fact Bloch intended to undo the events that lead to this particular murder, and thus prevent this murder from ever happening.
It sounds crazy, I know.
But Harris Bloch is an experimental physicist of some renown and he has spent the majority of his scientific career unlocking the earliest forms of practical time travel.
I’ve recently seen his results first hand, and it’s all pretty extraordinary.
Two days ago Dr. Bloch hastily invited me to witness a display of his research progress.
At his lab he showed me the machine which he believed would allow him to bring time travel out of science fiction and into reality. It was a rectangular device about 4 feet tall by 2 feet wide. It was constructed of four main vertical supports with several smaller horizontal supports. All of the pieces were made of a bronze looking metal and the entire thing appeared rather unimpressive, like something made with a fancy erector set.
But the true power of the device came from a series of intricately placed laser emplacements that attached to the vertical supports and faced one another in a precise grid formation.
When Dr. Bloch showed me the device in his lab I was skeptical, to say the least. He eagerly powered it on, and awaited my response.
I’m sure my lack of reaction disappointed him. But when the thing was turned on nothing really happened.
The lasers couldn’t be seen with the naked eye and the only sign that they were working at all was a low frequency humming sound.
After a moment he drew my attention to the center of the device. There, within the small tower of the coppery structure, I could see a slight shimmer; a wavering of the air within.
It was like the shimmer of heat emanating from hot asphalt.
The doctor then produced a long metallic rod with a grasping claw on the end. Reaching the claw under the table he used it to pick up an apple that was there.
With his free hand he adjusted the frequencies of the lasers on the machine before using the grasping rod to delicately lower the apple into the device.
To my amazement I saw the apple and the rod disappear as he lowered it into the shimmering center of the structure. Instinctively I reached out to see if it was a trick, something using mirrors perhaps, but he was quick to dissuade me, stating that the machines effects on living subjects had not yet been tested.
But he allowed me free reign to examine every angle of the lab for any trickery.
After a few moments he extracted the grasping rod with the apple still held in its claw.
To my amazement the apple was now wrinkled, sunken, and rotten.
Harris presented several demonstrations using various produce – an orange, a stalk of celery, and a bunch of grapes.
Each time after the items were extracted from within the device they were rotten.
He explained that the effect was because the items had in fact gone back in time.
Bloch attempted to explain the phenomenon to me using as simple of terms as possible.
He said that the lasers attached to the outsider were the key to machine.
The lasers were of his own special design and operated on an extremely high frequency pulse. Which meant the lasers essentially formed a high speed loop around the outside of the structure.
The speed at which the lasers travel, in conjunction with the high heat at which the lasers are emitted begin to supercharge the air molecules within the device. The molecules that are effected reach such high speeds that they come near to reaching the speed of light.
Harris explained to me that it was like stirring a cup of hot coffee.
When the coffee is stirred a vortex at the center of the liquid forms and if the coffee could be stirred fast enough and evenly enough, you could see the bottom of the mug.
Somehow the principle was the same here.
I didn’t completely understand, but the rings of lasers were like the spoon and the particles within the device were like the coffee. And due to the speeds which he had achieved within the device a small gateway to the past could be opened.
Harris Bloch explained that the deteriorating effect I witnessed on the fruit was due to the items being sent into the past. Once those fresh fruits were extracted again, they were rapidly aged to match the span of time between the past and our present.
Dr. Bloch told me that from his experiments he’d been able to adjust the frequency of the lasers to open a pathway to as recently as a few days ago and as distant as hundreds of years.
He detailed experiments that had brought back nothing but traces of dust once the items return to the present, having been completely decayed and entirely decomposed by the great spans of time they traversed.
After all these incredible demonstrations and Bloch’s explanation of the technology, I was convinced.
But I still had no idea why Dr. Bloch had decided to share this amazing information with me of all people.
When I asked him his reasons, the man grew gravely serious.
“A tremendous tragedy has been committed.” He explained to me. “A man has been murdered, but not merely a man but a very dear friend.” He told me. “Frederick Farias was a grassroots political organizer working diligently for the greater good of this nation and he has been assassinated. Killed before his good works could be fully realized. Frederick was a true visionary and an advocate for a greater society.”
To see this doctor, someone who had just shown me the wondrous things that his mind had created, refer to anyone else as a ‘visionary’ was inspiring to say the least. And the sincerity with which he spoke about Farias was palpable.
Harris Bloch had been a longtime acquaintance of mine who I had no reason to distrust and the more he spoke the more he convinced me.
Dr. Bloch was looking to use his fledgling technology to make a real difference in the world by bringing back the victim of a crime and undoing at least one injustice in this world that seemed to be a mosaic of inequity.
“To have Frederick Farias back.” Dr. Bloch told me. “Will undoubtedly make our world a better place, of that I am certain.”
Harris knew that my position within the District Attorney’s office could allow me to bypass the crime scene and grant him access to Frederick Farias’ apartment, which was crucial for his plan to succeed.
For although his device could transcend time it could not transcend space. The plan he had conceived required that his machine be at the site of the crime.
The plan was simple.
Dr. Bloch would use his time machine to send a small canister into the past.
Within the canister would be documents of the crime, along with an explanation of what exactly was happening.
He would also send along a gun. So that if the crime could not be avoided, he told me, then at least it could be defended against.
As simple as it seemed the plan still made me rather uneasy.
To abuse my position as assistant District Attorney in this way was a tremendous breach of trust. And the inclusion of the gun sent my mind reeling, thinking about the potentially murky legal waters we would be entering with this kind of technology in the world.
Ultimately my worries were overthrown by my raw curiosity at this entire prospect.
The wonders of science got the best of me and I was like a child with a Bunsen burner. My thoughts raced with various benefits and novelties for such technology.
I think I was finally committed to the plan after I asked Harris what the consequences of this experiment would be.
I questioned him about the possibility of tearing a hole in the universe, or erasing existence, or whatever other innumerable tragedies books and movies had warned us were possible when dabbling with time travel.
Bloch only shrugged.
“I can’t be sure.” He told me. “But I assure you our existence won’t be erased from such a simple act. The space time continuum is made of hardier stuff than that.”
He went on to elaborate. “We may not see any visible reaction at all.” He explained. “The successful altering of the past may create a parallel universe. An alternate reality where Frederick goes on to live, while remaining murdered in our reality.”
“Or we may wake up with no knowledge of these actions whatsoever and find ourselves living our lives of several days ago before any of these events ever took place. We would simply be living in a world where Frederick continues to be alive and we have no knowledge, that we are the reason he does so.”
He put a hand on my shoulder and smiled.
“I am confident however, that whatever the results we achieve today, you can rest assured there won’t be any earth shattering consequences.”
My worries were mostly put at ease by the prospect of nothing happening at all or a complete erasure of the events all together.
As much as I dealt with crime and evidence in my everyday life, those sounded like the best prospects for my enormous breaches in protocol.
Either way any evidence of our tampering would travel through the gateway of the device and disappear never to be seen again.
As we prepared the experiment in the deceased Farias’ apartment I impatiently watched Dr. Bloch set up his device.
Harris finalized his preparations and turned the thing on. Almost instantly the open center of the machine began to shimmer.
The low hum of the lasers was the only noise breaking the silence between us.
Harris reached into his suitcase and pulled out a green banana.
Adjusting the lasers one last time he used the grasping rod to lower the banana into the device. When he extracted it again, the fruit had gone from a fresh green to a ripe yellow.
He looked at me with a knowing nod.
Turning back to the case he pulled out the sturdy looking cylinder he’d fabricated for the task. It was solid steel with thick knobby aluminum caps which screwed onto either end.
Within it were the documents he’d hoped would convince his friend, Frederick Farias, of his own impending doom along with the weapon he thought might be able to prevent it.
Standing up Dr. Harris Bloch dangled the canister over the time bending device.
Forgoing the grasping rod, perhaps out of impatience or perhaps from haste, Bloch gingerly dropped the canister down into the shimmering center of the device.
Together we watched as the canister vanished before our eyes.
For a moment there was nothing else.
Just the shimmering air between the bronze struts.
Then something changed. Everything started to change.
The light was different. I can’t explain it.
The light in the apartment just didn’t look right anymore.
I looked around and saw that sections of the apartment remained the same but something was emanating outward from the machine.
It was some sort of distortion – I don’t know if it was radiation or light or what, but it was coming from the device itself and spreading outward through the apartment.
Harris saw it too and we looked at one another stunned.
Harris gasped.
- - -
Saturday June 23rd 2018
When I woke up this morning there was a banana on my nightstand.
Which is very strange because I have absolutely no memory of putting it there. Have I started sleepwalking?
Too much stress at work perhaps?
I’ve read that stress can affect your sleep patterns in ways you wouldn’t expect. Strange dreams, grinding your teeth, and even sleepwalking.
But as strange as it seemed a piece of fruit was nothing compared to what I found after I got out of bed.
On the coffee table in my living room was a brightly painted yellow metal box. It was long and narrow and reminded me of a repurposed safety deposit box.
I’d never seen the thing before in my life, yet there it was sitting in my living room.
My heart raced and I immediately suspected there was an intruder in the house. Clearly someone must have brought the box in, because I’d never been in possession of such a thing.
I quickly did a search of the house, checking each room as I gripped a baseball bat that I’d pulled out from the living room closet.
But I was definitely alone and the all the doors remained securely locked.
Confused and relieved I returned to the box.
Opening the lid I was surprised to see a newspaper inside.
Unfolding the newspaper I read the headline “DEVISIVE POLITICAL ORGANIZER DEFENDS HIMSELF FROM MURDER ATTEMPT: ATTACKER KILLLED IN STRUGGLE.” Looking it over I was even more surprised to see that the paper had today’s date: Saturday June 23rd.
I didn’t understand.
Why would someone go through the trouble of sneaking my newspaper into my house, tucked inside this yellow metal box?
On a whim, I went to the front door and flung it open.
Not knowing exactly what to expect I was surprised to see the carrier plodding down the sidewalk on their way to my door, and with a practiced nonchalance they tossed the newspaper onto my stoop.
Quickly scooping it up, I looked it over. It was the same paper that had been inside the box. But why?
Tossing the freshly delivered copy aside I returned to my living room and opened the version of the newspaper that had been in the box. After flipping through a few pages something fell out, it was a note.
It was hand written and the message looked to be scrawled quickly:
None of this will make much sense yet, but you have to believe me that this is important!
There’s no time right now for details, just know this –
Dr. Harris Bloch must be KILLED
Frederick Farias must be KILLED!
In that order and as soon as possible!
It’s the only absolute way to guarantee their future does not happen. Their future CAN NOT happen! And you are the only connection close enough to both of them to ensure that it doesn’t happen!
More will be explained. Take the gun! Stay where you are until you understand the rest of the info! Look over the other documents included – hopefully another box will arrive soon.
But this MUST happen as soon as possible!
There had been something familiar about the handwriting of this note, which became shockingly clear when I looked at the bottom of the page and saw my own signature.
Where the rest of the note was sloppy and hastily penned the signature, my signature, was perfectly written.
I could almost feel the strokes that made it.
The slight flourish near the end, the indentation of the pen on the paper. All of it recalled muscle memory within me, even though I had no memory of writing any of this.
I would have scoffed at the signature as an elaborate forgery, if not for the rest of the note perfectly matching my handwriting as well, regardless of the rushed nature of the writing.
It was like waking up from a dream to find myself already engaged in some ongoing plot.
Looking for answers, or at least more information, I reached further into the container.
Inside was a small handgun which I carefully looked over before setting down on coffee table.
Near the back of the box I extracted a tightly packed manila envelope that was crumpled and folded in half. Inside was a bevy of stacked pictures and documents.
Atop the stack was a torn strip of paper with the single word “Evidence” written across it with black permanent marker.
This fragment was the only other form of instruction to accompany these materials.
I sat down on the floor and quickly flipped through the documents. There were pictures of Dr. Bloch, an acquaintance of mine over the past several years. He appeared to be at some sort of political event with another man who I didn’t recognize.
There were papers – a lot of papers - showing financial records for some sort of donations or contributions.
I passed over more of the wordy materials, instead seeking more photos or something else that might stand out in helping me figure out what this was all about.
I came across several more pictures of the unknown man.
However he appeared older, more distinguished, more polished. In some of the pictures there were large banners seen hanging in the background with the name “Farias” printed on them in bold letters.
I found several newspaper clippings – headlines mostly with unsettling messages.
And the dates, the dates of these papers made no sense!
One headline was dated 2022 and read: THE PARTY OF FARIAS, BECOMING THE PARTY OF AMERICA – BUT NOT WITHOUT DISSENT
Another clipping was dated June of 2036 and stated: FARIAS GRANTED EMERGENCY POWERS AFTER CAPITAL BOMBING: NATION’S LEADERS SCATTERED
A clipping of a magazine article seemed to be portrait of Dr. Harris Bloch – entitled PROFESSOR BLOCH: MYSTERIOUS FARIAS DEVOTEE AND LEADER OF HIS SCIENTIFIC CABAL
There were more, so many more, thickly stacked together. More articles, more documents, more pictures of unspeakable things that defied logic.
I was seeing images of fighting and destruction, uprisings and massacres and at the center of it all was this Farias character. A man who I’d never heard of in my life.
And what did Harris Bloch have to do with any of this? I only barely knew Dr. Bloch as an acquaintance but even from that I would have only ever suspected him to be a person of the most modest and evenly tempered scientific mind.
I was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer strangeness of this whole thing.
It had to be some sort of trick. An elaborate and confusing hoax.
It was the only explanation, how could information from the future reach me now? More importantly why would it be sent to me?
I was on the edge of a panic attack when my thoughts were suddenly broken by the sound of a loud metallic clang coming from somewhere down my hallway.
Leaping to my feet, I ran around the corner to see the source of the sound.
To my horror it was another of the yellow metal boxes.
This new arrival had my name written across it in red letters. Below that it said “YOU ARE THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.”
I knew if I opened that box my life would be changed forever. But I feared that if I didn’t open it whatever remained of my life might be far worse.