Chapter 5 – New Beginnings

1/26/2020 10:00 AM

Professor Davis led Ryan through a series of brightly illuminated white hallways. The inside of the building had a filtered, sterile smell. Mr. Davis finally arrived at his and Ryan’s destination. The Professor again typed in a code into a keypad then opened the door.

Inside this room, Ryan saw a rack of radiation suits inside a closet. “This is where you will change into one of those suits and wait here until further instructions. First, we ask that you sign these liability papers and these documents swearing you to secrecy about what you witness here.” Ryan quickly signed the proffered documents.

Ryan’s dad then exited the room through the door he and Ryan had entered. Ryan, hearing the door close and lock behind him knew there was no turning back now. Nervously, Ryan stood there for a while fidgeting before donning one of the Radiation suits that fit his small frame. Ryan felt a shiver skitter up his spine as he sat there waiting.

Suddenly, Ryan heard a voice blare through a speaker in the room that made him jump. “Ryan Davis,” the female voice blared over the intercom, “Please proceed through the door marked red.” Ryan hustled through the door and found himself on a scale. “Please hold still” the voice asked Ryan.

After a few seconds a light above Ryan turned green. “Okay, you are cleared for transport.” Another door in front of Ryan slid open with a hiss. Ryan then stepped through the automated door into a giant reinforced chamber. The chamber was huge and spherical in shape. In the center of the chamber was a large, reinforced, spherical capsule. On either side of the capsule were two giant projector-like devices.

“You may now enter the capsule” the voice over the PA intoned. Ryan complied and found upon opening the heavy capsule door how tiny it was inside, there was barely enough room for him to roll over in. After he lay down, the capsule door closed and locked behind him. “Ryan,” the voice said, “Please buckle yourself up.” Ryan found the straps resting on the seat on either side of him. When connected, the straps formed and X over his body.

“You might be wondering how we will send you through time.” The voice said. “We are going to fold the fabric of space and time via gravitational warping then rip a small hole or rift in it. We will then proceed to send you through the rift.”

“What?” Ryan asked, befuddled.

“We basically fold the fabric of time, tear it, and then send you through the tear into the past. If you are still having a hard time grasping this concept, please look at the diagram displayed on your monitor.” Ryan looked at the screen in front of his face.

“Imagine time as a line which runs infinitely in each direction” the voice said. “Now, when we bend time it is like folding that line at any point. We then break the line at your location and send you through the break down into the past.”

“Oh I think I understand now” Ryan said with sudden realization.

“Alright, your job is to go one day into the past, and do what you want to save your friend. Then go to our lab, and use the card we gave you in the pocket of your radiation suit to get into the lab. You will then talk to a lab associate and identify yourself by handing him/her the card. You will then explain what your journey was like to your father.

“Okay.”

“By the way, if you see yourself or any of your family members, make sure not to make any contact. In fact, it would be better if you do not make any contact with anyone who knows you.”

“Got it.”

“We are going to warp gravity to make a small black hole. Are you ready?”

Not giving himself time to rethink things, Ryan said yes. Ryan then felt a rumbling. Wondering what was going on, Ryan watched the image on his monitor projected from the cameras on the outside of his pod. He watched as the cameras showed the giant projector things beside the pod start to rotate and glow.

Suddenly he felt a jolt and vibrations as a black hole started to form around his pod. Everything went dark outside the pod as the black hole began to suck all available matter and energy to sustain itself, including light. The capsule creaked and groaned. Ryan’s monitor screen went blank as the cameras were destroyed by the intense gravitational pressure.

Ryan also lost all available communication to the lab as he felt himself tumble around inside the capsule. With a heavy jolt, the capsule ended its journey, and Ryan was knocked out by the airbags deploying. When he came to, Ryan found himself inside the capsule with empty airbags all around him. Finding a glowing button that said “Open,” Ryan pressed it. The door to the capsule fell off with a hiss.

Unsteadily climbing out of the capsule, Ryan glanced at his watch which read 11:30 AM. Since arriving at the lab at 10:00AM, and hour and a half had passed. Wondering where he was, Ryan looked around him. He stiffened with fear; he was in a dark, dusty, damp building. Ryan started to feel his heartbeat accelerate. It was then that he started to hear the purring growl.