Points In Time Saga #3: The Time Machine - Time Dilation
The Time Machine: Time Dilation
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A sudden moment of pain and then...
I don't know how I could describe it; nothing? tranquility? nirvana?
All I know it's that I no longer felt pain yet at the same time, I felt... lighter.
A lot lighter.
Like if I no longer had a body. Like if everything about me not required for this process was removed.
Like if I was massless...
I looked around and I saw a bright barrier surrounding me and out of it, there was... nothing.
It was black yet for some reason; it felt like I was travelling somewhere.
Still, there was still something off... I felt there was movement but it wasn't mine. It seemed like if I was standing still and yet everything around me was moving exceedingly fast.
That couldn't be right, could it?
But what if it was?
I hadn't thought of testing my limits ever since the machine was activated. I was under the impression that I couldn't do anything but just go through the motions.
But what if I could push some sort of limit here?
I'd be the first human in recorded history to do so.
Well, assuming I was still human at this point...
Whether I was or not wasn't important; I decided to focus on the beam of light where I was at the moment and the blackness of what surrounded me.
Could I go faster than this?
I'm not exactly sure how but I felt like my velocity increased. I had absolutely no reference to confirm this, all I know is that it just felt that way.
I could sustain or increase my speed as long as I kept my attention focused on it. If I thought of something else, there was a noticeable drop. I never stopped completely; I just went back to the speed I was travelling at before pushing it.
To be honest with you, it felt liberating. I didn't know where I was nor where I was going, but I was definitely enjoying the journey. I can't recall the last time I actually did that before this.
I felt light, I felt instant, I felt like if I was travelling at the fastest speed I could imagine.
I focused into it even more until I completely forgot I was actually focusing on it; I just was being ever increasingly fast.
For some reason, the faster I travelled, the more resistance I felt. It couldn't be wind resistance because I was in a vacuum but there definitely was a sensation of... heavyness.
I decided to press on despite that; I was really curious and interested in finding out how much I could push it and how fast I could go.
"DO NOT INCREASE YOUR ACCELERATION ANY FURTHER" yelled They at me... somehow. The voices who did so sounded like 5 angry generals trying to stop the newest recruit from blowing the entire barracks by smoking next to the main armory.
"299,792,458 meters per second is your limit. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GO BEYOND THAT LIMIT" They continued yelling.
Why couldn't I go beyond that limit? What was so special about that number anyway?
"So you can't control how fast I go?" I asked curious.
"No, that is within your control; but you will be stopped if necessary" They said in a calmer yet firm tone.
"So what happens if I go beyond that limit?" I asked defiantly. "What is there to stop me from breaking it?"
"You will reverse time. Such an event will not be allowed to happen ever again" I was told in the coldest of tones I had heard They use yet.
My focus was completely thrown out the proverbial window. It took me a while to do the math of what was happening... I was experiencing something that was thought to be impossible by mankind.
"Am I travelling at the speed of...?" I tried to ask before They interrupted me with a blunt "Yes".
Wow, so it was indeed possible after all...
But another question popped in my head after realizing the grand picture before me: They said time reversal would not be allowed to happen again.
So when did it happen? What happened then? Did They do it?
Before I could even ponder about those questions, I suddenly came to a complete stop and I could see the entire universe rushing past me: stars, planets, space, star dust, light, galaxies, black holes, asteroids, civilizations, darkness, satellites, the entire history of time.
Everything passed me by so quickly... In a way I felt again like I used to back on Earth whenever my friends or relatives would get married, have children, change jobs, change cities, go on adventures and I wasn't.
That feeling always sucked the energy out of me. This time, however, it didn't. It just made me feel... sad.
It was dark where I was. I couldn't see anything.
Then a thunder broke the silence.
What followed brought tears to my eyes...
Rain...
"My God, it's full of stars" said Dr. Bowman upon entering the Monolith on that mission to Jupiter in the year 2001.
That was more than a millennia ago, at least when I was still on Earth.
At this point I had no idea how much time had elapsed between the last point where I had reference of a date and where I was at the moment...
I don't know exactly what Dr. Bowman saw inside that monolith but what I was witnessing was probably the most beautiful yet dramatic event in nature that my eyes laid their sight upon: a star exploding.
That includes witnessing the birth of my own child, which was a miracle on its own right due to the circumstances. I just never expected to see something more beautiful than that during my lifetime.
Yet, here I was...
Yet, here I was...
It was a festival of light and color. Everything unfolded so slowly and gracefully.
I forgot to mention: my current direction was right towards it.
"What happens now?" I uttered towards the infinite vacuum around me, hoping They were still there.
"You transcend your current form and become one with the light" said They in a tone that sounded rather ominous.
"Is there any chance or way to abort?" I forced myself to ask. The amount of uncertainty was becoming too much for me to handle.
"The only way out is through" replied They in its characteristic monotone voices.
I guess I was committed...
My body accelerated drastically towards the star. I couldn't help but feel like an insect stuck on the bumper of one those sports cars that could travel at 1000 kilometers per hour.
Once I had the chance to take a ride in one of those. A McLaren XA 9. The experience inside the vehicle was so intense and overwhelming. It was clear to me now that any insect stuck on the bumper felt an identical experience as I was right now.
Then something happened that I felt it shouldn't have... the star began spinning on its own axis. Like if it was a galaxy. That was wrong, wasn't it?
My skin began feeling really hot; I must have reached the outer rim of the star's radiation.
It didn't get any better after that...
The star's gravitational pull was so intense that I felt that my organs were going to be ripped out of my body at any second. At this point, all this felt like a really bad idea.
The heat was unbearable now. I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I said I began to boil alive.
The pain was unbearable... It felt like being boiled, then frozen, then broken in pieces, then gathering those pieces and poking them with needles then sucking the life out of them and then repeating the whole process all over again.
Maybe I was right; maybe the eye of darkness that creeped out of the machine was trying to destroy me in the most painful way possible.
What I didn't understand at the time is why I felt infinite pain and yet I never lost consciousness. That's not how the human body works but here I was.
The center of the star began spinning at a different speed from the rest of it. It slowed down. While the rest of the star was bright white and yellow, the center was a mixture of pale yellow and dark orange.
I still don't know if I was hallucinating from the pain but the closer I got, the more the star resembled the time machine.
What was going on?
My acceleration increased even further. I headed straight to the center of the star or machine or whatever it was at this point.
I couldn't think anymore due to the pain. The heat was just impossible to stand, my eyes were melting and I could barely see anymore.
Having resigned myself to the fact that I couldn't stop the process, I just closed my eyes and waited to die.
I felt my consciousness boil away slowly as I approached the center.
The last I remember before losing consciousness was hearing They uttering the words: "Interdimensional time port engaged".
Wait, what? Interdimensional?
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ACTIVATED
I went through the machine and it felt like a moth going through the flame of a lit blowtorch.
A sudden moment of pain and then...
I don't know how I could describe it; nothing? tranquility? nirvana?
All I know it's that I no longer felt pain yet at the same time, I felt... lighter.
A lot lighter.
Like if I no longer had a body. Like if everything about me not required for this process was removed.
Like if I was massless...
I looked around and I saw a bright barrier surrounding me and out of it, there was... nothing.
It was black yet for some reason; it felt like I was travelling somewhere.
Still, there was still something off... I felt there was movement but it wasn't mine. It seemed like if I was standing still and yet everything around me was moving exceedingly fast.
That couldn't be right, could it?
But what if it was?
I hadn't thought of testing my limits ever since the machine was activated. I was under the impression that I couldn't do anything but just go through the motions.
But what if I could push some sort of limit here?
I'd be the first human in recorded history to do so.
Well, assuming I was still human at this point...
Whether I was or not wasn't important; I decided to focus on the beam of light where I was at the moment and the blackness of what surrounded me.
Could I go faster than this?
I'm not exactly sure how but I felt like my velocity increased. I had absolutely no reference to confirm this, all I know is that it just felt that way.
I could sustain or increase my speed as long as I kept my attention focused on it. If I thought of something else, there was a noticeable drop. I never stopped completely; I just went back to the speed I was travelling at before pushing it.
To be honest with you, it felt liberating. I didn't know where I was nor where I was going, but I was definitely enjoying the journey. I can't recall the last time I actually did that before this.
I felt light, I felt instant, I felt like if I was travelling at the fastest speed I could imagine.
I focused into it even more until I completely forgot I was actually focusing on it; I just was being ever increasingly fast.
For some reason, the faster I travelled, the more resistance I felt. It couldn't be wind resistance because I was in a vacuum but there definitely was a sensation of... heavyness.
I decided to press on despite that; I was really curious and interested in finding out how much I could push it and how fast I could go.
"DO NOT INCREASE YOUR ACCELERATION ANY FURTHER" yelled They at me... somehow. The voices who did so sounded like 5 angry generals trying to stop the newest recruit from blowing the entire barracks by smoking next to the main armory.
"299,792,458 meters per second is your limit. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GO BEYOND THAT LIMIT" They continued yelling.
Why couldn't I go beyond that limit? What was so special about that number anyway?
"So you can't control how fast I go?" I asked curious.
"No, that is within your control; but you will be stopped if necessary" They said in a calmer yet firm tone.
"So what happens if I go beyond that limit?" I asked defiantly. "What is there to stop me from breaking it?"
"You will reverse time. Such an event will not be allowed to happen ever again" I was told in the coldest of tones I had heard They use yet.
My focus was completely thrown out the proverbial window. It took me a while to do the math of what was happening... I was experiencing something that was thought to be impossible by mankind.
"Am I travelling at the speed of...?" I tried to ask before They interrupted me with a blunt "Yes".
Wow, so it was indeed possible after all...
But another question popped in my head after realizing the grand picture before me: They said time reversal would not be allowed to happen again.
So when did it happen? What happened then? Did They do it?
Before I could even ponder about those questions, I suddenly came to a complete stop and I could see the entire universe rushing past me: stars, planets, space, star dust, light, galaxies, black holes, asteroids, civilizations, darkness, satellites, the entire history of time.
Everything passed me by so quickly... In a way I felt again like I used to back on Earth whenever my friends or relatives would get married, have children, change jobs, change cities, go on adventures and I wasn't.
That feeling always sucked the energy out of me. This time, however, it didn't. It just made me feel... sad.
It was dark where I was. I couldn't see anything.
Then a thunder broke the silence.
What followed brought tears to my eyes...
Rain...
To be continued...
Points In Time Saga index:
Chapter #1: The Time Machine - Ignition
Chapter #2: The Time Machine - Black Hole
Chapter 4: Realm Of Universes
Chapter #2: The Time Machine - Black Hole
Chapter 4: Realm Of Universes
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