The Strange Physics of the Heidelberg Laboratory

by David Kristoph

  You continue for another hundred feet or so before reaching a dead end. There's one last grate right at the end, and nothing else. "Here's hoping this is the right room," you say.

  You kick away the grate, which bangs onto the ground below. Lowering your legs first, you hold onto the side of the vent with your fingertips and drop, hanging in the open air like you're on the monkey bars.

  There's nothing to do but let go. You fall through the dim air, bracing for impact. A jolt goes through your ankles and knees as you strike the ground.

  Penny lands next to you a moment later. "Not afraid of heights?" you ask.

  She grins. "Nope! Just mice. Now, are we in the right Maintenance Room or not?"

  You now have PART FOUR of the shutdown sequence! Be sure to write it down.

  Take a look around ON PAGE 100

  87

  "We've only found four steps," you say. "Steps one, three, four, and five."

  Penny says, "We're still missing step two!"

  Jay considers the computer. "We have about thirty minutes. It will take ten minutes to climb into the reactor and initiate the sequence. So that leaves twenty minutes to search the laboratory and find step two. But you'll have to be fast. I need to stay here and monitor the core, so it's up to you guys. Think you're up for it?"

  You flash a thumbs-up. "Anything to help." Penny gives an emphatic nod.

  "Where do you want to look? Jay asks. "Your guess is as good as mine where the missing step could be."

  "Why don't we split up?" you ask.

  "That's not a good idea," Jay says. "You only have one CS Rifle. Someone would be defenseless."

  You realize he's right. There's no way you'll let Penny run around without protection.

  "There's probably only enough time to search one half of the facility," Jay explains. "You could scour the west side, with the Engineering Bay and the Physics Lab and the Animal Enclosure. Or you could explore the east side."

  "What's on the east side?" asks Penny.

  "That's the living quarters for the scientists who work here around the clock," you tell her. "There's a recreation room, a kitchen, some bathrooms..."

  "Either way sounds good to me."

  Which way do you choose?

  To search the west side of the facility again, HEAD TO PAGE 50

  Or, explore the east side ON PAGE 26

  88

  "You're talking about time travel!" you blurt out.

  Jay nods grimly. "Indeed I am. Chaotic time travel. You see, Causality Neutrinos are paired with atoms in nature. But what we did was unnaturally create one ourselves. It didn't have an atom to pair with, and all the other atoms in the vicinity had their own Causality Neutrinos to pair with, so..." He puts his hands together in a ball and brings them apart in an explosion gesture.

  "Why didn't the physicists know it would happen?" you ask.

  "Some of us did know. Or at least, we theorized. But we weren't listened to. Good. Now that you're up to speed, young Mr. Heller, we have work to do."

  You nod. "Yeah. We need to get out of here."

  "That's not what I mean. First, we need to look for survivors. I think we should check the Observation Lounge. There were several visitors in there during the test, like Kessler's daughter, Penny. They may have been unaffected."

  You hesitate. "Are you sure? Shouldn't we leave that to the professionals?"

  This seems to greatly bother Jay. "No! We need to do what we can. We have a duty to help. That girl--if that girl is in the Observation Lounge, we need to save her, and fast! That's Kessler's daughter. She's important."

  As if on cue, the intercom crackles to life. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"

  It's Penny!

  You run to the wall intercom and press the button. "Penny! We're here in the Control Room. Are you okay?"

  There's an agonizingly long wait before she responds. "I've been better. I could use some help, actually. I'm pinned beneath some wreckage."

  Your heart leaps into your throat. "We'll be there soon! Just hang tight."

  Jay looks at you approvingly, arms crossed over his chest. "That's more like it."

  "So, let's go get her," you say. "I think we should..."

  "Wait!" Jay throws up a hand. "It might be a good idea to grab CS Rifles from the Physics Lab first."

  "What's a CS Rifle?"

  "Causality Smoother Rifle. It, uh... sort of fixes problems in the space-time continuum. It's complicated. But trust me, we might need one."

  Penny's hurt, and Jay says you might need protection. What do you do first?

  To help Penny first, JUMP TO PAGE 29

  Or, grab one of those CS Rifles ON PAGE 38

  89

  You type the command to extend the flood tubes, and then press enter.

  The text disappears from the screen, and all that remains is a blinking cursor. You wonder if anything is happening.

  Then the groan of machinery can be heard. You realize where it's coming from: doors have opened on three walls, below you, halfway to the floor. Slowly, a few inches at a time, the flood tubes are being extended from each of the three coolant towers. They crane across the open space beneath you until they connect to valves on the outer surface of the core.

  The moment they touch, there's a flash of electricity. One by one, all of the lights in the room go dead, plunging you into darkness.

  "What did you do, young mister Heller?"

  "I extended the flood tubes from the three coolant towers."

  "Ohhh," Jay moans. "Oh, that was very bad. Very bad indeed. You have to power up the backup system first, because as soon as the flood tubes extend all power drain on the main reactor ceases!"

  Oh no.

  "Okay, we'll start over," you say. "Can I retract the tubes and start over?"

  "Of course you can," Jay says darkly, "In twenty minutes."

  "Twenty minutes?"

  "Yes! That's how long it takes to power up the backup system from scratch, and get all the other systems online. I can't even open the blast doors with the power out..."

  The blast doors.

  Penny reaches out from the darkness to grab your arm. "Jeremy! What are we going to do?"

  Jay is still squawking in your ear, but you've stopped listening to him. The darkness magnifies your fear. You turn toward the reactor core, which stills glows green, the only light in the room. Penny is talking to you too, but you're frozen, thinking about what it will look like when the meltdown occurs.

  You failed to punch in the abort sequence, and it's too late to escape. This is very bluntly...

  THE END

  90

  "Put the weapon down," someone shouts. It takes you a long while to realize they're talking to you. You're still holding the CS Rifle.

  You drop the weapon like it's a rattlesnake. The men don't lower their guns, though. Why don't they trust you? Behind them on the mountain top sit two helicopters, with men unloading gear from inside. In the distance you see three more approaching your location. Wow, this is a big deal! It's like a military invasion.

  "Penny? Penny!" Someone pushes through the ring of SWAT members. It's Penny's dad, Doctor Kessler. He runs forward and embraces her. "Oh, Penny. I thought you were gone!"

  She frowns and pushes him away. "How did you get up here? You left me down there!"

  "Sweetie, I don't know what happened." He looks confused. "The Causality Neutrino went haywire, there were papers and debris flying in all directions... it felt like I was flying through the air, even though my feet stayed planted on the ground. Then suddenly... I appeared here. Up on the surface. We called the emergency response team, but everything was locked down. Even the elevator, until just a few minutes ago."

  "The Causality Neutrino displaced you," you say. "You were stuck in time."

  Kessler sees you for the first time. "Stuck in time? Who are you?"

  "This is the man who saved me," Penny says. "His name is Jeremy Heller."

  "He's just an intern," Kessler says dis
missively. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

  "Sure I do. Jay told me..."

  91

  You trail off as another rumble shakes the mountain. Up high, with the other mountain peaks in the distance and the valley below, it gives you the feeling of being near a volcano when it erupts. The shaking goes on for several seconds, and knocks a few people to their knees.

  Finally it stops. "I think that was the big one," Penny says.

  "Jay was down there!" you say.

  "Who is Jay? What's his last name?" Kessler asks.

  "Jay, one of the physicists. I don't know his last name. He stayed down there to try to stop the core from melting down. We were collecting parts of the shutdown sequence..."

  Kessler scrunches his face up. "And did you succeed? The sequence is printed in manuals all over the facility!"

  "I... we tried, but... there was so much damage and debris everywhere it was tough to find..."

  Kessler rolls his eyes. "This is why I don't trust interns. You had a chance to save the facility and you failed. Come on Penny, let's go." He takes her by the shoulder and leads her away, despite her protests.

  You want to run after Penny, but someone wraps a blanket around your shoulders and starts asking you questions. You answer them numbly as you watch Penny get on the gondola and disappear down the mountain.

  You got out in one piece, so overall this was a success. But you regret leaving Jay, and wonder what will happen to the other Phase Beings stuck in time. Could you have saved them if you had hacked the system? You also wonder if you'll ever see Penny again. Somehow, letting Penny go feels worse. It's a deep sadness in your chest, like you've lost something more important than you will ever know.

  The Heidelberg Physics Laboratory is no more. But you're alive, and that's all that counts. One of the medics gives you a cup of warm broth, and it tastes salty and delicious. You put your face close to the rim to let the steam heat your face, and accept that this is...

  THE END

  92

  You follow Jay into the next hall. Ahead of you is the long corridor leading to the Reactor and the Control Room. The ceiling has collapsed, blocking the entire hall with debris. There's definitely no way through that from the other side.

  Fortunately, the door to the Observation Lounge is just ahead on the left, with no wreckage in the way. Jay glances at you, stares off for a moment, then punches in the code.

  Normally, the Observation Lounge is set up like the Control Room: the far wall is one long window giving a view of the large loop particle accelerator, and televisions are mounted in the corners so the physicists can show the guests different screens of data. A few couches and lounge chairs are spread throughout.

  The room is a disaster. The glass is cracked in half a dozen places, but not broken. Most of the chairs have been overturned. One television has fallen off the wall to smash on the floor, while the other television still mounted has its screen shattered, the glass all over the ground below. Little pieces of debris and paper are everywhere, like after a tornado.

  You see Penny to the left, far from the glass wall. She's pinned underneath one of the leather couches. "Hey there," she says with a weak smile.

  You and Jay rush over and lift the couch. It's ridiculously heavy, and you can see why Penny was trapped! You manage to lift it enough for Penny to crawl out.

  Jay stands back while you go to her. "Are you okay?" you ask.

  "I think so. My legs feel alright, they were just pinned." She has a few cuts and scrapes on her face and arms, but nothing bad. "What happened?"

  You and Jay share a look. "The experiment went poorly," you say.

  Penny snorts. "Are you sure? I thought it was supposed to blow everything up."

  It takes you a long moment to realize she's being sarcastic.

  93

  "It was strange," Penny says as she gets to her feet. "There was a glowing blue light, which excited the investors. They pressed their faces to the glass like kids at the zoo. But then the light began flickering, and then there was a blue sphere inside the room with us, and that's when everything started crashing around."

  "The Causality Neutrino," Jay says.

  Penny looks around the room. "So... I didn't really think about it before, since I was pinned beneath the couch and all, but... Where did everyone go? Where are the investors?"

  Jay shares a look with you. "That, my dear, is a complicated question."

  "Why? First they were here. Then they were suddenly gone. How is that possible?"

  "The test was a success," you explain, "in the sense that we did create the Causality Neutrino. But it was unstable. We think it jumped all over the laboratory, disrupting everything near it."

  "Yes, but where did the investors go?" Penny crosses her arms. "And what about my father? Have you seen him? You're avoiding the question. Is it because they..." She leaves it unsaid.

  "You probably wouldn't believe us if we told you," Jay says.

  "Try me."

  You take a deep breath. Might as well come out and say it. "They're stuck in time. The Causality Neutrino disrupts an atom's time signature. So the people might be here, or a year from now, or way back in the dinosaur era."

  Penny stares at you for a long while. Then she looks between you and Jay. "You're right. I don't believe you."

  "Told you," Jay says.

  "We'll explain it more later," you say. "For now, we need to find a way out of here."

  Confusion suddenly spreads across Penny's face. She points over your shoulder. "What's that?"

  Turn and see ON PAGE 133

  94

  You retrace your steps back to the Control Room. Jay looks up, surprised.

  "No luck. Maintenance Room #1 had the radiation monitoring system. Not networking."

  "We need to verify the inside of the core!" Jay shakes his head. "We need the networking system up!"

  "I know, I know. We're going to try Maintenance Room #2 next."

  Jay points to the wall. There's a square metal grate screwed into the wall at the corners. "You can crawl through the air ventilation system. I don't know if it's faster, but you'd probably avoid any Phase Beings along the way."

  Penny smirks. "The air vents? Seriously?"

  Jay shrugs. "Why not? It worked in Die Hard."

  To take the vents, CRAWL TO PAGE 111

  To use your feet, WALK TO PAGE 14

  95

  "Red seems like the obvious answer to be carrying an electrical current," you say, "but that seems too obvious."

  Jay frowns. "What do you mean?"

  "Well, things are rarely that obvious in real life. It feels like a trick."

  "I don't know. I think you may be over-thinking it..."

  You turn away from him. Just to be safe, instead of jumping straight in you bend down and touch the water with the tip of your--

  BZZZZZZZZZT

  All the muscles in your arm tense as they're blasted with electricity. There's a loud pop and you're thrown backwards away from the puddle.

  For a long while you simply lay on your back, staring at the ceiling. Huh. I guess you thought it wouldn't be that simple, that red would actually be safe. That's why you chose to study physics instead of electrical engineering.

  Jay's face appears as he stands over you. His grey hair is standing on end strangely, and he holds up his hand to his face. The finger is black on the tip, with a tendril of smoke coming off. He must have gotten shocked too, somehow.

  You'll probably end up being fine, but you're definitely too woozy from the shock to continue now. And that means this is...

  THE END

  96

  You grab her arm and pull her over to the nearest animal cage. It comes up to your waist. "Here, jump up!"

  She scrambles onto the cage, and you quickly join her. As you turn around and look down you see that the mice are already where you were just standing.

  Penny is practically shaking. "I hate mice!"

  "Thankfully, it
looks like they can't fly," you say.

  "Yeah, but we're stuck up here. Now what? Wait for them to leave?"

  You take a look around the room. Along the wall to the right is the door leading into the Maintenance Room. If you try making a break for it, the mice will almost certainly get you.

  The cages extend that way for a bit. You could walk along the tops of them for a while, though you would need to climb because more are stacked on top. But then what? There's nothing over there but--

  You smile. "There's another air vent up there. It looks like it goes in the direction of the Maintenance Room."

  "I don't know," Penny says. "If we slip and fall we'd land on the ground next to those mice..."

  "What other choice do we have?"

  "We could stay here forever? And never move?" She gives a weak smile.

  "You know we can't do that. Come on, Penny. I know you're brave. Just follow me."

  Your words seem to invigorate her. You climb along the cages and she follows behind, slow but steady.

  The screws in the corner of the grate come away easily. You look inside: there's a few spiderwebs, but that's it. "Here we go."

  You crawl up into the vent.

  See where the vent goes ON PAGE 81

  97

  Maintenance Room #2 looks the same as before: systems humming and beeping, lights flickering across the computers like a Christmas tree.

  Penny looks around. "Where should we search?"

  There's not much. No cabinets or drawers like the Test Simulator or Physics Lab. Just the computers and instruments.

  Penny points to a clipboard hanging from a peg on the wall. "What about that?" She grabs it and begins flipping pages over.