Nexus of Time

by Mark Riverstone

  "Ok, goggles off. Everyone back to work."

  Walter walks over to the suit and metal sheet. Nemolopolus follows. There are dozens of tiny holes in the suit. Walter lifts the suit to expose the metal plate behind it. The holes go completely through the suit and the pellets have bored holes into the metal plate.

  "Those pellets went through the suit into the metal. How?" asks the captain.

  "They aren't pellets. They are nanobots. Burt created micro construction bots that can link together into a solid object. I coded his nanobots to build these nanobots, whose solid formation was a shotgun slug. They detect when they are moving at very high speeds and break apart. On impact, they cling to the surface and begin a deconstruction process, taking apart the material or solid metal into particles. It's not just for metal; they will do that to any surface, inorganic or organic."

  "That ammunition is very effective," says Captain Nemolopolus, rubbing his fingers over the holes in the suit.

  "It is. However, from notations that came with the research, I discovered it was effective in injuring Greys, but with their regenerative abilities, did not incapacitate them. So, I am making an addition to the nanobots, giving them a miniscule automated storage compartment, a micro payload area on their backs that I can put something into for secondary damage."

  "What kind of payload?"

  "Something that is extensively damaging in small amounts; a chemical or phosphorous that air ignites when released. The Greys wear these puncture-proof suits, which the nanobots can penetrate as you see, but the Greys also have regenerative abilities and portable healing devices. I need to counter that by designing the nanobots to react after digging into the Greys' flesh. I'll do that by programming the bots to release their micro payload once they detect organic material. The payload needs to counter any regenerative abilities the Greys have, prevent healing, thus incapacitating or killing the Grey. These slugs fit into a shotgun, so no special weaponry is needed to use them. We, I mean Burt's nanobots, just have to produce the ammunition."

  Captain Nemolopolus nods impressed, "This could be vital if we end up in an infantry style confrontation. Even though my scientists developed incredible assault weapons that can puncture any human body armor and shred a person, we weren't able to get our ammunition to penetrate one of those Grey protection suits. One out of every ten shots broke the fabric surface, but even those became snagged in the weaving. Our best infantry weapons can keep the Greys pinned down or occupied, but translate to zero kills. With your smart nano-ammunition, the combat dynamic completely changes."

  Walter calls out as he moves back to his workbench, "Makah, get someone to help you remove the target. And dig out the nanobots from the metal plate. I want to see the condition of the bots. Also, measure the hole depths. I want to know how far they bored in before deactivation."

  While setting the air gun aside, Walter smiles to Captain Nemolopolus, "Once I figure out an effective payload, I'll have made our first discovery in this timeline that will be added to the research we received from the previous futures, eventually transmitting it back to ourselves in the past of the next timeline. Hopefully, we'll make a few more significant discoveries so we don't have to continue these time loops much longer."

  "Well, maybe something in that video that will shed light on that," points out Captain Nemolopolus.

  Walter considers, "Possibly. Sandy said the additional data contained tactics and notes from the future 'you' regarding how we can or need to engage the Greys in battle. How's that coming?"

  Captain Nemolopolus sighs, "It's been helpful with simulation scenarios I am running, and where I am falling short. It has helped me try new tactics, saving time not repeating attack plans I already tested in the future. And...Walter, can we speak in private for a moment?"

  "Sure."

  They go into the adjoining observation room and close the door.

  "What's on your mind?"

  "Walter, I left instruction to myself that no one on this ship is to hear what I'm about to say except you. In my attack plans are ones I tried and failed. We were defeated. Many times. Saying that, Walter, rattles me."

  "Wait, you said tried and failed? If you failed an attack plan, how were you able to get it to a future you?"

  "I didn't. You did. A 'you' in a previous loop told you in a current loop what the outcome was, and then you tell the current me the result of the previous loops assault, which is always a failure because we are still going through loops. I know the failed tactics from two loops ago and the loops before that, but I don't have the outcome of the last loop. From the plans, I was attempting to ram into or dock with a large Grey craft. I am assuming that failed, because we are here, but I don't know if it was a complete failure, partial failure or a success that turned to failure after ramming or docking. I'm hoping your video will reveal the outcome of the last attack so I can update the information and come up with something new this time...around...sorry, this is difficult.

  Captain Nemolopolus shakes it off and continues, "It's one thing to go into a battle against the odds, but another thing to be told ahead of time that you lost that battle time and time again. I can't let anyone on the crew know this. The future 'us' decided the only way to ensure each time my crew goes into battle and fights to win is that they not be aware we lost the battle every time. If they did, they might lose morale, not fight as hard, leading to failure even if we could succeed."

  "That makes perfect sense. How are you handling it?"

  "No one but me has reviewed the tactical information sent back from the future. Instead of running the ideas with my crew, I'm in my cabin running simulations with new scenarios in the computer. But I keep colliding into the same issues that came up in the simulations I got from the transmission. As powerful as this Barge is, we cannot win if we engage with the Greys in a direct craft-to-craft confrontation. Their large craft will out gun us, as will multiple small crafts. The only confrontation we could win is if we go one-on-one with a Grey ship after docking or attaching ourselves to it, which I apparently tried the last time around. The strategy I had last loop was if I dock my ship to their ship, any of their photon, plasma or impulse weapons fired on the Barge will also damage their ship, forcing them not to use their big guns. Thus, they are either forced to board us, or defend if we board them, turning the battle from our ship against theirs to our men against theirs. Combine that with these shotguns, and we've got ourselves a viable attack plan."

  "How can we dock with them? How does our ship penetrate their shielding to dock?"

  "Walter, you came up with a way to meld our docking clamps into their hull. There are probably notes in your research. See if something in your video sheds light on the outcome of our last battle with the Greys. We need to know what went wrong if we want to succeed this time. If that is even possible. What I can tell you is if we can't force our confrontation with the Greys into a man-to-man combat situation we are doomed, because the Barge won't stand a chance in a prolonged air battle."

  "Right. Okay, I'll watch this video."

  "I'll leave you to it."

  Captain Nemolopolus exits the observation room, closing the door behind, leaving Walter alone. Through the observation window, Walter watches the workers assembling the rift coil on the outer edge of the transmitter head. He looks at the memory card in his hand, then back out at the workers. Although he is nervous about the weight of what could be on this recording after talking to Captain Nemolopolus, he can't avoid watching it any longer.

  Walter takes a seat in front of a computer, puts the memory card in the computer, and sits back as the video plays. On screen, Walter is alone inside a tiny cargo room, wearing the same uniform he has on.

  "Hello Walter, it's me, you. If I transmitted this to the correct time, and the encoding decoding went as I planned, you were just demonstrating your nanobot smart ammunition to Nemo when I, you, stepped aside to watch this. As you can see, I am in the Mantis craft. The only person with me is Dr. Black. She is in th
e crew room recording a message for herself. I'm conserving ship power because I will need every last amp from the Mantis to power the transmitter and get this video back to you. This is the fourth time, that I am aware of, this message has been sent back. I received a similar message from a future 'me' when I was in the past moment you are in now. First, I need to tell you what the future me told me, before I tell you what is new.

  "Right now, you are busy trying to create tech and build the tech sent from the future you, and you are not thinking about the time loop you are in or what it means. Each time loop you pass through, you hit a point that I call the 'elliptical nexus' or what you refer to as the nexus of time. The loop you are in is not a circle, but an ellipse, a curve in a plane surrounded by two points, in this case, the past and future. This ellipse has a nexus point. The nexus is the time where the past becomes the future, when the transmissions stop, the loop ends, and the destined outcome of that loop occurs. That is the point where the past me, you, breaks free of the loop and becomes a new future. When the Greys found and began destroying the Committee Grey bunkers, that was the future that came from the nexus of the time loop Seventeen created. I can't tell you when the elliptical nexus will be for you, but at that nexus you will need to be sending back a video to yourself like this one. Each time we go through this loop, I...you, change history, and the nexus point changes. You must prepare ahead for that moment because once that moment hits, the measure of everything you've done, the tech you discover, the actions you take, will be solidified, and your future will bear the fruits or poisons of what you created.

  "When I received this video from my future self, the warning to me was to not wait so long to act against the Greys. That previous 'me' was uncertain, tried to create too much, didn't know what action to take against the Greys, and as a result, the Barge was eventually located and attacked by the Greys. Nemo and the crew gave their lives to allow me to escape in the Mantis craft. I recorded a message to myself not to wait to act, but the tail end of the video was missing. I'm assuming I destroyed the transmitter before the transmission was complete to prevent the Greys from getting a hold of it, since future 'me' was running from them.

  "This time I made sure to act faster. I picked a Grey target with Nemo, focused on tech that could help the mission succeed, and acted. This time was more successful, in that we didn't wait for the Greys to come destroy us. We located and attacked an isolated Grey craft which we named a 'Grey Fabricator Craft' and docked with it. It took us longer than expected to cut through the Fabricator craft hull, but we eventually broke through. Then, we boarded and used shotguns with my smart nano-ammo to battle with them. We held our own at first, but the tide quickly changed and we started to lose. What is not in the nano schematics I sent back before implementation was that I added a nanobot payload compartment and filled it with phosphorus, assuming it burns under the skin and prevents healing. But what happens is the burn cauterized their wounds, which stops Grey bleeding, and allows them to regenerate.

  "Another problem was once we were on the Grey ship, we didn't know how to use any of the equipment or understand what the ship did, so unless you can use or do something to the Grey ship once on it, you've just docked the Barge to a stone. If you win the battle this next time, but can't follow through and take control of the craft, you will be overcome by Grey reinforcements.

  "Do what I did this last round and stick to moving faster, picking a target, and acting before they find the Barge. It is necessary you come up with a payload for the nanobots that the Greys can't cure. You need to do what I wasn't able to do: get over my own ego. I don't have the answers, and I don't know if I...you ever will. Open yourself up to the ideas of the other scientists on the Barge. One of them might offer the solution you needed to allow us to defeat the Greys. I was so caught up in having myself solve the problems, I never thought someone else on that ship may be the one to save the day.

  "There are two things you must do. Succeed or fail, you must make this video when sent off on the Mantis with Dr. Black, and send it back as an attachment to the earlier transmission. Dr. Black must make a video, too, keeping her research moving forward. The second thing is, if you do fail, you must escape before being defeated by the Greys. If you don't, the entire loop will start over as if the first time through, a solution will never be achieved, and humanity will fall again and again endlessly.

  "Keep in mind the tech and research from the transmission was unaware of this post message, which was recorded later. That transmissions did not know the outcome of the information sent, but you do. That transmission was aware we failed the first three times through, but not this fourth time. This video contains an additional channel containing detailed text of what went right and wrong, so be sure to retrieve it. Remember the advice I am giving you to not make the same mistakes and end up exactly where I am now."

  On the video, Dr. Black enters the Mantis control room through a cabin door. Her hair is pulled tight into a bun and she wears the same style of uniform as Walter.

  "Walter, I'm finished with my video."

  On the video, she hands him a memory card.

  "Thank you. I'll finish mine and then transmit it. Give me a minute."

  On the video, Dr. Black nods and leave the control room, closing the door.

  "As you see, Dr. Black is with me. She didn't record a video with the first transmission loop, but we added her video the second loop onward. I'm hoping her message will lead to success with her research. She's been getting stuck and making little progress. However, she is a brilliant doctor, so hopefully she will figure something out.

  "Once I transmit these videos, I will destroy the transmitter and receiver to prevent the Greys from discovering them and uncovering our plan. The final transmission will use the last of the Mantis' power. Everyone we left behind on the Barge at this point is dead or captured. And here, at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean my journey ends. I wish you luck, and may your timeline be the last. Walter, I...you, always believed any problem could be solved with enough time. There will be a last loop, and time will be up. You must succeed before that happens."

  The video ends. Stunned and trying to absorb the message, Walter sits back with a blank stare, looking through the observation room window.

  Facing Herself

  Chapter 37

  Dr. Black's Laboratory, The Barge.

  Dr. Black sits hunched over a digital microscope, analyzing a small piece of Ying's skin biopsy sample. Underneath her white lab coat, Dr. Black wears one of the crystal blue uniforms. She lifts her head and looks at a magnification of his blood cells on a nearby monitor. One by one, cell walls collapse. After a long moment of observation and thought, she types into a computer keyboard.

  A knock comes to the lab door. Dr. Black responds without looking.

  "If it's not an emergency, I'm busy!"

  Sandy opens the door. Dr. Black turns around.

  "Sandy, what is the emergency?"

  "I don't know."

  "You don't know? I said only an emergency! Sandy, I'm in the middle of...I'm sorry, so much...my mind is just overwhelmed."

  Dr. Black lowers her head and rubs her scalp.

  "Dr. Black, you need to look at the video on this."

  Sandy hands Dr. Black a memory card. Dr. Black takes it, not sure what to make of it.

  "A video? What's on it?"

  "You are on the video. A future you. You made this video for yourself. It was with the last transmission we received. I just finished decoding it. Captain Nemolopolus is under the assumption that if you sent a video back to yourself, it must be of the highest priority."

  "You didn't watch it?"

  "No. A message that came with the video is that it was for you, no one else. If other people see it, it might affect what they do, and that might undermine what you do."

  "When I try to wrap my mind around the logic of time loops and altering time, my head hurts, Sandy. I'm still trying to accept that I've been through this before."
<
br />   "That is the point of the time loops."

  "Yeah. Which requires that we be a smarter, more driven, and stronger willed versions of ourselves because we failed previously despite our best efforts."

  "I don't know how to answer, Dr. Black. I'm not getting communications from myself to inform me I am to do anything different than what I am doing, have done, or will do. And I'm forbidden to discuss what I do know with anyone other than you, Walter, and the captain. Watch the video. I'll leave you to it."

  Sandy leaves the lab. Dr. Black sits for a moment, staring at the memory card, uncertain what to do. She sets aside her current work, goes to her desk at the side of the room, and inserts the memory card into her computer.

  A video plays. Dr. Black sees herself in the small crew room of the Mantis transport ship. She looks nervous and disheveled on the video. Her hair is in a bun, like the one she currently wears, but many stray hairs broke free, drooping around the edges of her face. The video starts off with Dr. Black talking to herself.

  "Ok...is it recording? Am I recording? Why am I asking myself questions? So weird leaving a message for myself. Now, I know how the other me felt...ok, do this."

  On the video, she takes a deep breath, exhales, then begins.

  "Hello Dr. Black, or should I say, Virginia. I'm proving to you I'm you, because who else knows your birth name? I, we, never liked that name. Too close to vagina, right? Sorry, this is weird, but I...it was difficult for me to believe I was me when I got a video of myself from the future. I'm guessing you think that way right now. I had to watch that thing ten times before I believed it. That's why I said my name. I don't want you to struggle like I did. Just know that I'm you. Or as I am to understand, a version of you. I think? Now I'm confusing myself. Just believe that I'm you, and don't waste your time trying to figure it out, because you have no time to waste.