{"id":2401,"date":"2022-07-09T14:55:28","date_gmt":"2022-07-09T21:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2401"},"modified":"2022-07-09T14:55:28","modified_gmt":"2022-07-09T21:55:28","slug":"mobius-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2022\/07\/09\/mobius-space\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00f6bius Space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write a story featuring an element of time-travel or anachronism.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the key in the fossilized human hand was found in a fossil-rich layer from the late Cretaceous, it was first believed to be an elaborate hoax. Then the device was discovered, not far away, partially embedded in the fossilized remains of a torosaurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To say it was kept secret would be a massive understatement. The crew that found it and dug it out disappeared, along with the device \u2014 fossil and all \u2014 and a select few scientists and engineers. The dig site itself was covered with a hangar in which was built a lab to study it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freed of the torosaurus, the device resembled a fancy, metallic door frame with a half-circle top. The metal showed little wear or corrosion, though the fossilized mud encasing parts of it still obscured any markings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your thought, Wendy? Alien?\u201d Dr. Allen Gardner, geologist, stared at the device while he sipped coffee, taking a break from removing the fossil crust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Wendy Alcott, physicist, looked at the device. \u201cIt would mean that they are remarkably similar to us, so I doubt it. Besides, the hand\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI doubt the aliens use ASTM standards for their alloys.\u201d Dr. Alisha \u201cWeb\u201d Webber, engineer and materials science professor, interrupted. \u201cIt\u2019s Ti-6al-4V, ASTM Grade 5. Titanium alloy; six percent aluminium, four percent vanadium.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wendy turned to face their interloper. \u201cHi, Web. Just random thoughts. Until I see evidence to the contrary, this is not likely alien, supernatural or deity-derived in origin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019re certain about the age?\u201d Web asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen nodded. \u201cThe way the left beam was embedded in the torosaurus, it\u2019s like it materialized there. If this was planted, it would have required carving the fossil to fit the beam perfectly, with no tool marks, then assembling it, then doing the same with all the fossilized mud around the rest with the undisturbed coal seam above in place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA simple yes would\u2019ve sufficed.\u201d Wendy put her safety goggles back on and picked up her hammer. \u201cLet\u2019s get back to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Web stopped her and handed her a heavy sledge. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to tap-tap-tap with that anymore. You\u2019re not going to break it, and there\u2019s nothing to blow up, so go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the stone casing removed, the markings on the device were legible. \u201cAlcott-Weber-Gardner Gateway #1.\u201d Below it, a date less than a year in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took a few days to determine how to open the device. The interior was lined with rotted electronics, wires of an undetermined nature, and a spent betavoltaic nuclear battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working together, Wendy and Web recreated the wiring, discovering it was a room-temperature superconductor in the process. Allen spent the days comparing photos and schematics of nuclear batteries to the husk of the one left in the device and narrowed it down to one of two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you think it\u2019s a gateway to<\/em>?\u201d asked Web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBased on the evidence, I\u2019d say it\u2019s a time gateway,\u201d Wendy said, \u201ceven though if you\u2019d asked me last year, I\u2019d have said it was impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be able to build it if we hadn\u2019t found it first, and we wouldn\u2019t find it if we hadn\u2019t built it and sent it back in time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen chimed in. \u201cThat\u2019s only true if isn\u2019t jumping to an alternate universe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs in, we built it in another universe, sent it back in time with some poor schmuck, and it ended up in this universe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat still begs the question,\u201d Web said, \u201cof how the three of us ended up working on it together, and how we figured out things like the superconductor and circuit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToo true,\u201d Wendy said. \u201cUntil I got the call to investigate this, I hadn\u2019t even considered the possibility of either time travel or inter-dimensional travel beyond the paradoxes they posed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen grunted. \u201cYeah. I wouldn\u2019t be involved at all if they didn\u2019t need a geologist to confirm dating, so how my name came up makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know I\u2019m going to build it whether you help or not, right?\u201d Web asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen grabbed her arm and released it as soon as he realized. \u201cWhat happens if we don\u2019t build it? Does it just disappear? Does this timeline collapse and we cease to exist?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAllen, you watch too much science fiction. We are here, and this\u2026gateway<\/em>\u2026exists whether we like it or not,\u201d Wendy said. \u201cOur actions don\u2019t change any of that. At least, I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Web moved to the dry-erase board and grabbed a marker. \u201cMaybe this only makes sense if we could see it from a higher dimension.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow so?\u201d Allen turned his focus to the board, waiting for one of Web\u2019s diagrams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She drew a quick sketch. \u201cLike a M\u00f6bius strip. A three-dimensional object with a single, two-dimensional surface.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confusion crossed Allen\u2019s face. \u201cSo, we could be in some sort of M\u00f6bius\u2026time\u2026thing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore like a M\u00f6bius space.\u201d Wendy took the marker and began writing formulae on the board. \u201cWeb, you\u2019re a genius. If we twist three-dimensional space through a fourth dimension, we end up with a single, continuous space existing in two times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their copy of the device was complete a few months later, matching the date laser-engraved on the original. Web set up the engraver, and was set to mark it, when she stopped. \u201cWhat if,\u201d she asked, \u201cwe called this one number two?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy hypothesis,\u201d Wendy said, \u201cis that it wouldn\u2019t change anything. In fact, you could call it anything you like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Web keyed in the directions for the engraver and let it do its work. She put the engraver aside and said, \u201cIt\u2019s ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho wants to turn it on?\u201d Allen asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do it,\u201d Wendy said. She turned to the power switch. \u201cThis requires a key?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust like the original.\u201d Web handed her the titanium key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The device powered up with a low hum. The air in the opening shimmered, and a new landscape appeared through the portal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook, there,\u201d Allen pointed. \u201cThat\u2019s gate one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Web shuddered. \u201cGruesome. It\u2019s through that dino. Does it look like the other gate is operating?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wendy squinted. \u201cMaybe. Hard to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Web grabbed her phone and taped it to a broom handle. She turned on the camera and stuck it through the portal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGetting a better look,\u201d she said, pulling the phone back in to look at the recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUm, doctors,\u201d Allen said, \u201clook at the original.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They turned to look and saw that it looked only partially substantial, as though it was there and not there at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt looks like it\u2019s here\/not-here and active\/not-active at the same time,\u201d Wendy said, moving closer to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t put your hands anywhere near it,\u201d Web said. \u201cRemember what we found first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeesh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd you might want to see this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen and Wendy turned toward the open portal to see their doubles stepping out of the original and examining the skewered torosaurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Web stepped out and waved at her double, who waved back. \u201cThis is freaky,\u201d they said in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Web stepped back into the lab and turned off the portal which shimmered, then disappeared with a thunderous bang of air rushing into the sudden vacuum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy did you do that?\u201d Wendy asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to know which one of us loses a hand in that iteration.\u201d Web sat down and leaned against the once-again solid original device. \u201cAny guesses what happened to gateway number two?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we\u2026as in other timeline we\u2026dig it out of the ground from right here, and build number one,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe M\u00f6bius space,\u201d Web said. \u201cIt\u2019s a continuum where that<\/em> reality, and this<\/em> reality are joined in a twisted loop. Maybe even more. The paradoxes are hurting my brain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wendy thought about it for a moment. \u201cMaybe. The biggest problem with time travel being impossible, is we now know it isn\u2019t. Time travel doesn\u2019t create<\/em> paradoxes, time travel is<\/em> a paradox; at least until we have a solid understanding of M\u00f6bius space\u2026or whatever it actually is. Everything else follows from that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

prompt: Write a story featuring an element of time-travel or anachronism. available at Reedsy When the key in the fossilized human hand was found in a fossil-rich layer from the late Cretaceous, it was first …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[210,228,209],"class_list":["post-2401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-fiction","tag-science-fiction","tag-short-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pxT7i-CJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2402,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401\/revisions\/2402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}