Speculative Limitations

An amalgamation of wire, coils, tubes, and metal uses half the floor space of a workshop turned laboratory. A man in dressed in welding gear fuses the final pieces of metal together. Another man wearing a lab coat and welding goggles supervises from behind. Before the last incandescent particles from the welder cool, the welder stands and turns to the scientist. The scientist, Russel, puts his hands on the welder’s shoulder and smiles. “Shall we give it a try?” he asks. 

The welder, Bertrand, lifts his welding goggles and glances at the machine. He looks down and rubs his chin, “Maybe tomorrow. I am exhausted. If it fails again, I don't want to repair it anymore.” 

“Failure, Bertrand? Science is about exploration. Each failure is insight into how things actually work!” Russel says. 

“I know, but it... wait!” 

Russel pulls a lever, and the machine's armature starts to turn. The loud grind turns into smooth rotation. Bertrand rushes to the red emergency stop lever. The sound of zapping static raises the hairs on Bertrand’s arm. Russel looks at Bertrand and says, “Remember, only on my signal.” Bertrand nods in acknowledgement. 

Russel pulls the next lever. The zapping of static cracks into purple plasma around the machines coils. The armature starts to spin faster. Bertrand tightens his grip on the lever but does not pull. The machine is holding together. This is the farthest the have come. The lights in the lab dim and flicker. The gas tubes on the machine start to glow a bright blue. The noise grows from a loud engine into a painful whine. Tables start to slide on the vibrating floor. The static lifts objects in the lab. A pulse of energy is released from the machine. 

“Everything that exists is an echo of disorder!” Russel shouted, “The universe started as limitless possibilities. The dissonance of all things faded when eventualities aligned themselves into outcomes.” Russel pulls the next lever, and another pulse rips its way through the lab. Everything is pushed away from the machine and Russel is knocked to the ground. Bertrand steadies himself with his grip on the emergency lever. 

Bertrand and Russel met while attending college. Bertrand was studying to become a mechanical engineer while Russel studied electronics. They both had a love of physics and shared those classes. When they discussed theories, Bertrand would be contentious to Russel’s ideas. Their entire endeavor for time travel started with a conversation between classes. 

“When the universe reaches maximum entropy wouldn’t all objects fall toward the largest one, eventually creating a singularity?” Russel said. 

“I suppose, but the universe has limits. The Chandrasekhar limit is an example. It only takes a white dwarf to be one point four four solar masses for reaching critical mass.” Bertrand contended. 

Russel stopped walking and thought aloud, “Then that could mean there is matter in existence from the prior big bang.” Russel sighed, “There is no way for us to reach the edge of existence. Space expands faster from any origin point in all directions. No matter how fast we travel, the edge moves away faster. What if we found a way to reverse entropy? Doing this in the smallest system could cause a chain reaction in a localized area.” 

“What if it is not contained in the system? What if it does not stop?” Bertrand replied. 

“They didn’t know the first nuclear test would either. Like you said, everything has its limits.” Russel said as he started to walk. Bertrand and Russel made it their sole mission to understand and manipulate time. 

Russel stands up and adjusts his goggles. He looks toward the machine and smiles. His lab coat whips around in the maelstrom. His hair is now static, he pulls another lever. Weaker pulses start to discharge every second. Russel says, “The possibilities that cannot follow the new rules ceased to be and the patterns that emerged govern all that exists; without influence from what does not. We had one path to follow in one direction. We will change that direction!” 

Bertrand looks at the machine, then to Russel, who is grinning and saying something that is drowned in the machine's noise. The grin made Bertrand’s muscles tighten. He wanted to throw the switch, but his arm would not budge. He knew their time travel experiment was important for so many scientific reasons, but it was not worth their lives. With that thought, Bertrand flipped the lever.

Russel turns to Bertrand after the switch is flipped. With that same grin he shouts, “It’s beyond our control now! We are pushing against the flow of time!” 

The pulses started to grow in frequency. With each pulse, everything in the lab appeared in different places. The greater the frequency, the more stable the objects became. Bertrand and Russel’s movements became like a cartoon flipbook. The gas tubes on the machine shatters and the gas solidifies into crystals. A plasma arc flashed brightly, blinding Bertrand and Russel for a moment. The machine quiets down into a stable engine. The glowing red coils start to cool. 

Bertrand looks at the machine with an open mouth. “What happened?” he asks. He did not hear an answer from Russel. He turns to Russel, who is staring at what is behind them. Bertrand follows Russel’s gaze and sees something that makes his eyes go wide. In all directions are mirror images of themselves repeating infinitely as if they had mirrors placed on all sides of their bubble of space. 

Russel looks to his left, and so does his reflection. He then takes a moment to observe what he can of the others. They each mimic his motion. The farther the reflection is, the later the image reacts. He walks toward the reflection in front of him and it seems to move a larger distance. He looks to the reflection behind him but continues forward. The rear image seems to be getting closer. “I have no idea...” Russel says. 

Bertrand moves toward the machine to look for clues. His distant reflections seem to converge as he does. Russel takes notice and moves toward the machine. “It seems our machine is the point of origin for these reflections.” Russel says, “I think we pushed so hard against time that we popped out sideways into our own little bubbleverse.” 

“Bubbleverse?” Bertrand asks with a pale face. 

“I can’t think of a better name for it at the moment. It’s conjecture, but I think we are looking at different timelines.” Russel says softly with an open smile. 

A faint thud seemed to echo from the machine. Then another a moment later, this time louder. Now screams can be heard alongside explosions. Bertrand and Russel looked at each other and shared the same thought... A limit has been reached. The pockets they created were collapsing. Their visible reflections are blinking from their view. Their counterparts were running from their respective machines. However, the explosions are happening with more time between. This gave them time to think. All their reflections were now gone. The bubble they were in started to close on the machine. Instead of running, both clung to the metal of the machine. Without protective equipment, the heat sears Russel’s flesh. They both close their eyes, feel a whoosh of air and their stomachs drop. Silence fell upon them. 

The pain is too intense for Russel, and he drops to his knees. He opens his eyes to see his blistered hands and blackened lab coat. He looks toward Bertrand, who is still holding the machine with a clenched jaw and eyes hard shut. Russel still grimaces while he looks around. They are back in their lab. The furniture is different, but it is the same room. Russel moves to Bertrand and pushes him with a forearm. “Bertrand...” Russel grunts in pain, “I think we’re good.” 

Bertrand opens his eyes and peels himself from the machine. Some leather from his welding suit sticks to the metal. He looks around the room, then to Russel. “Russel!” he exclaims while grabbing Russel’s forearm to inspect the wounds. Russel recoils in pain. 

“For science’s sake, Bertrand!” Russel yells. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t see the first aid kit anywhere.” Bertrand says. 

Russel composes himself and with a shaky voice says, “I don’t think we are in our lab. It’s the same room, but we may have managed to actually travel through time.” 

Bertrand rushes over to a desk to search the drawers for a first aid kit. He notices papers on the desk and pauses. “I don’t think so...” he says, “These papers are dated from a couple days ago.” 

Russel walks over to the desk, holding his hands in front of him. He looks down and furrows his brow. He looks toward Bertrand, and again they both have the same idea. At the same time, they say, “Alternate timeline.” 

“We may have entered a parallel reality.” Bertrand says. 

“The other realities must have been destroyed. The explosions and screams, I don’t know. Maybe we were put into a reality we did not exist.” said Russel. 

A woman’s voice comes from just outside the door, “Who’s there? I am armed and the police are on their way!” 

A woman with a baseball bat appears in the doorway. She sees the machine first, then the two men rifling through her desk. She drops the bat, turns pale, then gasps, “Dad?”

Bertrand turns to Russel and says, “Or once did...”