Time and Space

Science

It's me Darin again. I thought I would let you follow the story as long as possible without interrupting but the time has come for more math and science. Maybe you figured out already that I am the scientist explaining things to Paul in the story. I called myself D just because it seems easier for me that way. I don't normally like to get attached to the subjects and at this point in the story I had done this song and dance three separate times so I saw each of them as little more than lab rats. We would bring in 50 people, primarily men, every six months. We would host them in our warehouse and put them through the process. About half would exhibit physical or mental signs of incompatibility within the first week. Another 25 percent would not last a month. So from every new batch of subjects only about 12 would be able to handle the physical and mental stress of the jump to 2058. The other 38 are disposed of - I'm sorry but that's really all I can tell you. It's not that I don't want you to know more, but I really don't know. I don't want to know. By the time I see those subjects for the last time they are unrecognizable. Symptoms range from severe depression to outright drooling and rabid behavior.

The 12 that make it past that first month are finally released from the warehouse and given some training. These select few have demonstrated over the years that they are exceptional candidates for long-range travel for our company; let's call it an import/export company.

How do we go back in time and get them - that's really the big question for you isn't it? Well, I do have some answers there. Maybe you have heard of the Einstein-Rosen bridge? In the 20th century it was a remarkably advanced idea. When a black hole collapses on itself it creates a ring. This ring allows travel from different points in the same universe. It's actually quite elegant, and not at all like the noisy, violent transfers through time expressed in the movies. Think of it as a wormhole, because scientifically that is exactly what it is; but please do not confuse it with what you think a wormhole is. In fact, let's not use the word wormhole again. Hollywood ruined that word.

The thing about these rings, or ERB's as we call them, is that they are very delicate and hard to find. The first, and only, one known to exist close enough to earth to make travel possible was not discovered until just 4 years ago - in the year 2054. The man who discovered it, and later mapped it's great potential, has kept it a closely guarded secret. He is the owner of this company and the genius behind our recruiting scheme that you have stumbled upon. He is a lover of history and when he reads old news he chooses potential candidates for jobs here. The bad news is that reading cannot tell us everything. We don't know how each individual will react to time travel. Sometimes we get scrawny nerds who thrive in the future and big strong men break down and cry like babies for their mother. It's rather a large risk we take with each batch, but the needs of humanity in our new global situation quite makes it a necessary one.

We never let the candidates make the trip back into the ERB, we have a special crew for that - less than ten people on the planet know how to find it. It's the most important secret we keep, because you can travel forward and back in time through the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, and you can also move through space in this universe. Time and space co-exist in the ring of a wormhole. We lost many men in our testing phases from 2054 to 2057. It's not something we consider lightly.

So now we travel back and find men who history tells us will begin a downhill slide. We pinpoint the time where their troubles began and if we can catch them before they have given up hope we can use them. Sometimes it's women, I keep saying men but there are some women. In each class of 50 we normally have two or three women. And the women have much better odds of surviving that first month. 25% of men make it while women are around the 80% range. It's a remarkable difference that we have not had time to evaluate yet, it's on my list.

These men and women are not missed by any immediate family. They may have a parent left, but no dependants and no ties. We snatch them when they are alone and nobody is the wiser. No trace. Clean and simple.

So I think you are up to speed now. Or did you want to know more about this job? I guess you will have to find out when Paul does.