The rest happens quickly. The ground around the ship erupts, including the crater wall I’m hidden behind. The dirt and stone hurtles into the air in an explosion of movement, instantly eradicating my view of the ship. Buildings behind me go too. An ocean made of concrete, glass, and even the wild and growing plants from the overgrown farm tower goes hurtling toward the glowing hole in the world. Much of the debris passes straight through my ghostly form, increasing in volume until I can no longer even make out the details of individual pieces. It’s just one continuous stream of matter. I close my eyes against the visual onslaught, unable to handle the rush of colors and the continuous, endless roar of sound. I run, staggering blindly against the wave of memory.
And then it’s gone.
I open my eyes and find all of the destruction has vanished. Zurvan’s memory has ended, and in its place I’m now back in my own version of the city. The 2009 version. Sunlight and palm trees, Fourth Street, and the Tijuana Flats Mexican restaurant. In my haste to escape the destruction of the future, I’ve left the safe location of my hiding place. I’ve lost my concentration. I’m not back in the fog. I’m in the wide open, in plain view from the street and the neighboring houses.
I’m exposed, and I’m not alone.
Zurvan is standing in the center of the street.
He’s staring at me.
And he’s smiling.
<><><>
London, UK, 2165
“We’re going to need some help,” Doctor Quickly says.
Carson, Tucket, and I have followed the scientist into a room of his safe house where he’s installed a lot of fancy-looking electronics. He gestures to a few screens and pulls up a directory of names.
“There aren’t a lot of people in this century I can count on, but I do have one.” He taps a name on the list and a profile expands on the screen showing an attractive, thirty-something Asian woman.
“That’s Professor Chun,” Tucket exclaims. “She taught me timestream geographical history at the Academy.”
“She’s a knowledgeable historian, and I’m sure she’s an excellent professor, but she’s also one of the ASCOTT members who has charted the various timestream endings.”
“I thought no time travelers were allowed past the restricted line,” Tucket says. “I learned that in her class. How could she go beyond it?”
“ASCOTT’s restricted line is there precisely because scientists like Noelle Chun have been beyond it,” Doctor Quickly replies. “That information has simply been kept from public knowledge.”
“No one knows that the world ends?” Carson asks. “Isn’t that dangerous? What happens to all the people who live near then?”
“That’s what I’m hoping Professor Chun might be able to enlighten us about. In general terms it hasn’t been an issue because, for the most part, it was believed that there were no people up that far.”
“So when you say ‘end of the world,’ are you talking about the end of humans, or the end of the planet?” I ask. “Is it just us, or animals and plants and everybody? Like extinction stuff? Another meteor or something?”
“It’s a bit worse than that.”
“Worse? What’s worse than a planet-ending meteor?”
Doctor Quickly straightens up from the screen and puts his hands in his pockets. “I can think of quite a few things actually, but in this case it’s a temporal anomaly. A massive singularity in space-time.”
“What’s a singularity?” Carson asks.
“There are actually a few different types of singularities, and the earth experiences two near its end, but it’s the second one that does the most damage. In layman’s terms, it’s a black hole. A big enough black hole that it consumes the solar system.” He lets the severity of the statement speak for itself and doesn’t explain further. As I stare at him, I realize I’m waiting for some sort of ‘but’ statement, something to qualify the disaster and offer hope, but there is none.
“Well that fucking sucks,” Carson says.
“I suppose I have to agree with you there,” Doctor Quickly says, though he doesn’t seem particularly distraught. He goes back to browsing the information on Professor Chun, then, seemingly satisfied, scribbles himself a few notes.
“How long have you known?” I ask. “Is there anything we can do about it? Like, stop it somehow?” My brain is struggling to picture the end of the entire planet—millions of years of evolution getting sucked into a black hole a mere thousand years into the future.
“It’s rather unavoidable, I’m afraid. The singularity exists at a point in space-time directly in the path of the planet’s trajectory. Unless we come up with a way to reroute the entire solar system and change its course, there’s no chance of avoiding it. There has been research into that option, but I’m afraid it’s a bit of a dead-end. We simply won’t develop that capability as a species in time to attempt any feat of engineering that immense.
“The information about the planet’s end is only a secret till around the end of the third millennium, but trust me when I say that some of humanity’s greatest minds have given it a great deal of thought. Keeping the secret from the public was simply decided to be the best choice until after the millennium. At that point, it is rather moot, as far as the human race goes. Most of humanity is gone by then.”
“Evacuated?” Carson asks.
“In a manner of speaking,” Doctor Quickly replies. “Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me for a few minutes, I’m going to retrieve Professor Chun and bring her back here. I should return shortly and we can get her input on this new information. I’d like to know what she thinks of this date sequence you’ve discovered. It may be a clue we can use to rescue Mym. I want to avail ourselves of every opportunity for success.”
Doctor Quickly consults his notes, then exits the room with swift, efficient strides, one hand already dialing a time into his chronometer. Carson, Tucket, and I are left staring at each other, trying to process this new turn of events. It’s not unlike the scientist to casually drop some bit of reality changing news on us and leave, but this particular information is harder than most to process.
Carson runs a hand over his unruly red hair. “Wow. Bit of a downer, right?”
“You didn’t know about this?” I ask Tucket, whose eyes are still wide.
“I heard rumors spread from alumni about trouble beyond the restricted line, but nobody really knew anything for sure. I thought they just meant some of the human-synth wars that we think happen after the millennium. I didn’t know about the singularity.”
The prospect of a human-synth war sounds like a terrifying prospect on its own, but in light of the larger problem, I don’t question Tucket about it. I do my best to concentrate on the issues at hand. Carson plops himself down in one of the room’s swiveling chairs, and I turn to him. “What else did you learn while you were traveling around with Quickly? Any other clues about what the Eternals are up to?”
Carson raises his gaze to mine slowly, as if coming out of a different train of thought, then nods. “Yeah, a bit. It’s a larger group than we thought. We found some more references to the symbol you saw. The Lost Star? It goes way back. Only shows up in some obscure texts and not in all the timestreams, but it seems like The Eternals have been at this thing for a while.”
“Have you heard from Francesca? Any word from home?”
“Not too much. We stopped by there again on the way up, just before we got your distress call. Had to keep moving though. The Doc didn’t want to stay in one place too long in case there was another attack.”
“Is she doing okay? And Blake and Mallory?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Carson frowns. “Francesca didn’t say much. Kind of gave me the brush off a little bit.”
“Why? I thought you guys were close again. From what Fresca said, I kind of figured you might be getting back together or something.”
“You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“She’s dating you now. Well, not
you. But the other one. Other you.”
“WHAT?” I stare at Carson, my mind incapable of processing what I’ve just heard for the second time in the last ten minutes.
“Yeah, man. He moved right in there after you left. Doesn’t seem like he wasted too much time.”
“Hold on. Benji? I thought he was dating Kaylee. They were pretty much living together when I left.”
“Yeah, well. You gave him your place, I guess maybe he decided he didn’t need Kaylee anymore after you said he could have your life.”
“What the hell—I am going to have some serious issues with this dude when I get back.” I try to imagine a scenario where I could possibly behave as badly as Benji seems to be doing in the life I’ve left behind. He’s me, so clearly if the circumstances were right, I could have ended up that way, but the situation is hard to wrap my mind around. It rapidly seizes my concern, in spite of the end of the world scenario I’ve just heard. Going strictly off my personal feelings, I’m not sure which news is more shocking.
It’s the look of distress on Tucket’s face that brings me back to reality. I rest a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, are you all right, man?”
He nods but doesn’t look especially convincing. “It’s just, I thought Professor Chun really liked me. I got top marks in her class. I wish she would have told me what was going to happen to the world.”
As distraught as he looks in this moment, I can somewhat understand her decision to keep it secret. He looks about ready to break down. I don’t have time to ponder her choices further because a moment later, Doctor Quickly and Professor Chun walk in the door.
“Gentlemen, Noelle Chun,” Doctor Quickly waves her forward and we make our introductions. Professor Chun is perhaps 5’ 3’’ and athletically built. Her firm handshake and professional demeanor are accented by what I take to be this century’s equivalent of a business suit—a short, pocketless jacket layered over slacks and a loose-fitting top.
“I’m surprised to see you here, Mr. Morris,” Professor Chun says. “Last trace report we had on you said that you were bouncing around the twenty-first century visiting a bunch of Olympic badminton games. You may want to get your equipment checked.”
“Um, okay,” Tucket replies. He rubs the spot in his forearm where Grid travelers get their tracer implant. “I don’t know what would be wrong with it. The school said it was brand new.”
Professor Chun’s eyes linger on the bracelet of Bob’s hanging around Tucket’s wrist. “Glad to see you’ve made yourself some new friends. An inventive bunch of guys.” She appraises me and Carson. “Just make sure they can get you home. Time travelers moving off-Grid have had a shaky safety record lately.”
Tucket nods and merely mumbles something unintelligible in response while rubbing his arm.
“I’m sure any of Mr. Morris’s tracking technology that is malfunctioning can be easily remedied.” Doctor Quickly gives me a wink, then directs us back to the sitting room where we defrock the furniture, setting the air conditioning system humming as it rapidly vacuums up the now-airborne dust. Once the furniture covers are balled away, Doctor Quickly offers the professor a cup of tea, but she turns the offer down, clearly ready to get to work.
“Do you mind if I see the sequence?” Professor Chun asks.
I turn over the journal, keeping a thumb in the proper page for her.
She runs her finger down the column of numbers, much as Doctor Quickly had and chews her lip in thought.
“Noelle has brought me up to speed on a bit more of her research,” Doctor Quickly says. “The Academy historians have done quite a few tests of the space-time singularity and turned up some interesting results. Namely that it occurs in slightly different months and years across various timestreams, but they believe that is because it is bleeding over from this one. Noelle, perhaps you can give Benjamin and Carson the basics.”
Professor Chun pulls her gaze from the journal and closes it, but keeps her finger stuck between the pages. She rests her other hand atop the book and considers us. “We’ve learned a great deal. We’ve logged data from almost all of the central streams. Covertly of course.” Her look implies that we would understand the need for this level of secrecy, but our faces must not be registering much in the way of understanding, because she pauses. “How much do you know about the future?”
I merely shake my head and Carson likewise stays silent. Professor Chun looks back and forth between us and then turns to Doctor Quickly.
“I suppose I have been a bit lax in that department,” Doctor Quickly says. “So far I’ve had them staying a bit more local in their temporal geography.”
Professor Chun frowns but doesn’t seem to be deterred. “Okay, in that case I’ll give you the broad strokes first.” She shifts to a more comfortable position in her chair and recrosses her legs. “I assume you’ve been introduced to synthetic intelligence and the advent of transhumanism. That’s present day. We’re seeing the rise of synthetic persons and a growth of synthetic intelligence, but that growth hasn’t been exponential. We haven’t hit the technological singularity yet. That won’t happen until—” She pauses, reading our faces and backs up. “I know I’m getting into some advanced concepts, but if you have questions, you can stop me. I’m not completely sure what you know so far, so let me know.”
“Perhaps you can just clarify the singularity thing,” I say. “There’s the black hole, but there’s also another singularity? A technological one? Or are they the same thing?”
Professor Chun nods. “Right. Singularity in its simplest of terms just means the point at which something becomes infinite or, in some cases, begins to increase without limitations. The black hole singularity refers to matter becoming infinitely dense at its center. The technological singularity is a different term, unrelated, but similar. It’s the moment when artificial or synthetic intelligence overcomes its limitations and advances at an exponential rate.
“It just so happens that in terms of the future of humanity, we encounter both of these events in relatively short order.”
“Obviously the technological singularity happens first,” I say. “Is that somehow what causes the second one? Do synths create the black hole?”
“No. From what we know, the synths have evolved to a level of extreme complexity by the time the black hole arrives. It’s clear that they recognize its existence, because they abandon the earth well in advance of the event. What we don’t know is how the event begins or what causes it.”
“You keep saying, ‘they,’” Carson says. “Where are the regular humans at this point? Did they evacuate?”
Professor Chun seems to consider her words carefully. “Generally speaking, at that period of time, the synths are the human race. It’s not complete. The majority of humanity becomes trans-human over the next few decades, and from there they continue to become more and more synthetic. It’s then that the last of the real safeguards fall.”
“What kind of safeguards?” I ask.
“Countermeasures against synthetic intelligence,” Professor Chun replies. “It was never a secret that synthetic intelligence would one day surpass the capacity of the human brain. It was even recognized in your time. You’re probably familiar with scientists like Stephen Hawking who warned against the dangers of artificial intelligence and the need for beneficial technology versus ungoverned A.I. It was that movement that led to the countermeasures. It’s why today, even though synths are a functioning, beneficial part of human society, they still look and behave like humans. They don’t need to look like us, or behave like us, but they have been engineered that way.”
“You stunt their growth?” Carson asks.
“We manage their potential,” Professor Chun replies. “And we take care not to let things get out of control. When time travel became a scientific reality, it gave us a window into the future as well as the past. And it gave us a warning. As a result, we were able to prepare. We began the Academy of Temporal Sciences, trained as many competent researche
rs as we could, and set about redefining our future. I know your experience with ASCOTT has not been ideal, but our organization is not just Big Brother, out to regulate the fun out of time travel. It’s a vital shield, protecting the human race from what’s coming.
“The rise of synthetic intelligence happens in nearly every one of the timestreams ASCOTT has investigated. There are three outcomes. In many cases the entire human race goes synthetic. Organic humans are either eliminated or put on reservations. ASCOTT keeps time travelers out of those streams. In other streams, usually ones in which ASCOTT has already determined the presence of too many time travelers, synths are kept under control via our own technology.”
Professor Chun looks to me. “I know you’ve had contact with some of our members, and some of their methods have been extreme, but imagine what would happen to human history if the ability to travel in time was acquired by a supremely intelligent synthetic race. How might they change us? What might they do if they had unlimited time?”
“So synths in ASCOTT-controlled timestreams can’t time travel?” I ask. “How did you prevent them from doing it?”
“In the short term, we use the countermeasures,” Professor Chun replies. “We have regulations. We insist that all synthetic tissue advances continue to make it genetically pure, actively purging contaminants. Synth pseudo-skin purges all foreign particles, even gravitites, if it should somehow come in contact with them. We also control the manufacture of Temprovibe technology—limit its use to organic humans. A Temprovibe won’t work on a pseudo-skin host. An all-metal synth could make a jump if it’s not using synthetic tissues, but those are easy to spot and they can’t really jump back more than a few years without scaring the locals.”
In Times Like These Boxed Set Page 141