Chapter 3 — The Memory Problem
771 Words
Elias began keeping records by hand.
It was the only thing he trusted.
Digital files changed too easily.
Computers were built to preserve information, yet somehow the universe had found a way to rewrite their memories along with everything else.
Paper was different.
At least, Elias hoped it was.
He filled an entire notebook within two days.
Every page contained dates, times, coordinates and descriptions of events.
He drew pictures of objects that changed between realities.
He wrote the names of people who disappeared.
He recorded conversations.
Most importantly, he recorded himself.
My name is Elias Vey. I am thirty-six years old. I am an astrophysicist. I work at ORION. I remember at least seven versions of reality. If you are reading this and do not remember writing it, believe the notebook.
The sentence appeared on the first page.
The second page contained another instruction.
Never rely on digital clocks.
The third:
The reset occurs every 780 seconds.
The fourth:
Mara does not remember every version.
That last sentence disturbed him.
Mara had begun noticing changes, but she couldn't remember them consistently.
Sometimes she remembered previous realities for a few seconds.
Sometimes she remembered nothing.
Once, she remembered a childhood that didn't belong to her.
Another time, she claimed that Earth had two moons.
Elias believed the phenomenon was affecting human memory differently depending on the person's position in spacetime.
He couldn't prove it.
But there was something else.
His own memories were becoming stronger.
Instead of forgetting each version, he was accumulating them.
That should have terrified him.
Instead, he was becoming addicted to the certainty of remembering.
At 4:10 in the afternoon, Elias and Mara entered the underground archive.
The room contained decades of astronomical observations.
Elias had discovered that the oldest records were changing less frequently than modern digital files.
"If we can find the first anomaly," he said, "we might find the beginning."
Mara scanned the shelves.
"How far back?"
"Thirty years."
"Why thirty?"
"The first unexplained gravitational distortion appeared thirty-seven years ago."
Mara stopped.
"That's the same year as the astronaut."
Elias looked at her.
"What astronaut?"
She frowned.
"You don't remember?"
"Remember what?"
"Never mind."
She opened an archive box.
Inside were printed astronomical reports.
They searched for hours.
At 6:21, Mara found something.
"Here."
She handed him a document.
It described an experimental space mission conducted in 2110.
Mission name:
AEON-1.
Crew:
Commander Adrian Vale.
Flight engineer Lena Oris.
Mission objective:
Testing a prototype spacetime propulsion system.
Elias read the final paragraph.
The mission had failed.
Both astronauts were presumed dead.
He looked at Mara.
"Adrian Vale."
"Yes."
"That's the voice."
Mara nodded.
They continued reading.
Then Elias found something strange.
The AEON-1 mission had lasted fourteen minutes.
Not fourteen hours.
Not fourteen days.
Fourteen minutes.
At 03:12:00, the spacecraft disappeared from tracking.
At 03:26:00, it reappeared.
But its onboard clock showed that only thirteen seconds had passed.
The astronauts were gone.
No wreckage was found.
Elias felt a cold sensation move through his body.
"Thirteen."
Mara nodded.
"Exactly."
He looked at the report's date.
Thirty-seven years earlier.
He turned the page.
A handwritten note had been attached to the report.
DO NOT REPEAT THE EXPERIMENT.
Below it was another sentence.
The spacecraft returned from a universe that had already ended.
Mara stared at him.
"Elias..."
The lights flickered.
He checked the clock.
6:34.
Thirteen minutes.
The underground archive shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
A deep vibration moved through the walls.
Then every emergency monitor switched on simultaneously.
A transmission appeared.
A man's face filled the screens.
Older.
Scarred.
Tired.
But unmistakably human.
Elias recognized him.
Adrian Vale.
The astronaut who had supposedly died thirty-seven years ago.
Vale looked directly into the camera.
"If you're seeing this, the experiment worked."
He paused.
"But we made a mistake."
Mara whispered, "Where are you?"
Vale's eyes shifted.
"I am not where you think I am."
The screen distorted.
"Your universe is already collapsing."
Elias stepped closer.
"How do we stop it?"
Vale looked frightened.
"You don't."
The transmission began breaking apart.
Elias shouted:
"Adrian!"
Vale's final words came through the static.
"Find the planet beyond the black star."
The screen went dark.
A new message appeared.
RESET IN 780 SECONDS.
Elias looked at Mara.
"What is the black star?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Elias opened the astronomical database.
There was only one object matching the description.
A gravitational anomaly beyond known space.
It had never been classified as a star.
But now its coordinates were glowing.
And beside them was a planetary signature.
A planet that had not existed thirty seconds earlier.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD