In A Flicker

by George R. Lopez

  The remaining committee members were support staff, more involved with the ongoing time trials in The Valley. So many project requests being submitted from all over the world, The Consortium could afford to be selective, downright picky. It took years to get to the go ahead point in the process and the importance of trial runs at The Valley factored heavily into the equation, essential to it once a research submission was approved. The fact that it was in England on the grounds of Oxford University mattered little to influences of the opposition against the project overall, as it was only preliminary “plays” and not the real thing, located in neutral Switzerland. However, to The Consortium and its candidates, the play was the thing. The critical element of recreating specific moments in time allowed them to witness the event but also acclimate to the conditions surrounding it. Likewise, it allowed for further contemplation and questions to arise that may not have been considered prior to the trials, asking all the “what ifs” remaining before the actual event became a reality.

  On July 4, 2012 the LHC posted the detection of a new elemental particle called Higgs boson so it became their new cover story. This critically important discovery provided the justification for expansion of the Flicker project, buying enough time to obtain considerably more magnets intended to enhance a depth, length and reach through time. If The Consortium’s acquisition of additional materials for the still clandestine Flicker project was the easy part, attaining the doorway’s cooperation required two full years of calculations, coaxing and coercing to open the portal at a specific point in time. Then, to convince it to remain open as long as necessary was the objective, no small feat. The electromagnets actively pressuring a doorway to obey a human command, the huge magnets increased the functioning of the particle accelerator, reinforcing both the structural integrity and stability of the portal. As was theorized and anticipated, developing the ability to manipulate the doorway, to control the collider to such an extent was a significant breakthrough, a catalyst for all future Flicker endeavors. From that moment on, a new element of “control” was established. Submissions were being accepted from various fields of expertise and The Valley test trials at Oxford began.

  On February 14, 2014 the LHC announced an extended “shut down” to prepare the collider for a higher energy and luminosity. It was the second public cover story released as The Consortium’s covert program became fully integrated with the LHC published project directive. Then, on March 20, 2014, the time trials went public. A release of information was simply a matter of going through the motions for The Consortium that had all of its security measures and primary protocols routinely in place. Well-prepared, public relations representatives were there to handle any and all concerns regarding various implications of disrupting the time continuum. Any biased reporting was contested, scrutinized long before reaching the court of public opinion. They had an answer for everything when questions arose.

  Then it became about money and power. What a surprise. People of wealth and influence wanted access to the publicly-funded project, some, all but demanding to be granted permission to submit their proposals. Permission granted! (All that was granted.) These forthcoming submissions soon revealed secret agendas, banking on Flicker to be used for personal gain. Once their hefty contributions were transferred, secure in The Consortium accounts, “The Donors” (affectionately known in-house) were bombarded with reams of paperwork, overwhelmed by stipulations, rules and regulations as requirements of the program. From the Legal and Ethics departments to the prerequisite military clearance necessary to go forward, it was made clear to the fortune seekers, those pursuing access to Flicker, this was a commitment unlike any other. Those accustomed to maintaining their privacy at all cost were suddenly thrust into a new reality, their personal lives scrutinized with good reason, read like an open book. In spite of their investment, any attempts made in earnest to buy their way into the program, it was shocking how fast they would abandon ship once they realized the depths of its intrusion and duration of the process, a seemingly endless ordeal. No refunds were allowed. There was nothing altruistic about their proposals. Self-gratifying submissions were never destined to see the light of Flicker. Since humble taxpayers had been footing the bill for the research all along, it seemed only fair for the rich and famous to start kicking something into the coffers, an excellent way to subsidize the project without jeopardizing it and at the expense of those who could most afford it.

  As they held back going public, The Consortium had daily conferences off-site to discuss every nuance of intent, scrutinizing those who would utilize this portal, revisiting the reasons why they’d be going and for what duration. The team created nomenclatures for every department of review then broke down various duties and responsibilities of each oversight committee during the specific trip taken. Overall, the primary ideology was to function as an “Objective Observer”, a.k.a. Scope when referencing the candidate who’d met all the criteria for approval to go back in time. Above all else, the understanding was consistent: no matter who was chosen, they were not to do anything that might affect the timeline as recorded in history. In fact, it was so driven into the psyche of every selectee, it became almost religious fervor. It became their belief system, their creed and code of honor.

  Ethan LaPierre had as much faith in his trial submission as he did in the Flicker. He was one of the few original selectees handpicked by Anson Van Ruden who had met and exceeded the criteria. They’d been introduced at Oxford back in 2008 after Ethan’s graduation, with honors. His curiosity piqued by the chronic over-achiever, Anson was interested in knowing more about this man, specifically why his course of study appeared so eclectic, having earned several degrees in Theoretical Physics, History and Philosophy. Anson attempted to recruit him into their research program at that time, to no avail. Ethan had other plans which included teaching, continuing to walk the hallowed halls as a professor at the same institution where he had spent his entire adulthood attending class. Turning down his initial offer, he instead chose to accept the adjunct professor position available in the History Department. Ethan LaPierre was satisfied, prepared to wait his turn to rise in the ranks of academia, no higher aspirations haunting him. Nothing was lurking in the back of his agile mind. Anson would not take “no” for an answer, approaching him persistently, reminding his acquaintance and new colleague of the real opportunity awaiting him.

  It was not until The Consortium went public with the program that Ethan took notice, reconnecting with Anson Van Ruden at that time, still firmly entrenched in the project. Anson was delighted to hear from him, his graveled voice exclaiming: “Well! Doctor, I knew you’d come around!” Truthfully, Ethan never discarded the invitation extended nor did he shrug off the concept. He simply never expected this rocket to launch. Now, with their project in orbit, how could Ethan pass up such an incredible opportunity to witness history firsthand then be able to report on it? To rewrite history from a first person perspective seemed sinfully self-indulgent, were it not for the pertinence of his unique proposal, the intrinsic meaning regarding the time and the events addressed in his submission.

  They’d had a number of promising trial scenarios submitted to The Consortium but most would never be realized because the selectee ultimately proved to have a rather questionable, perhaps unscrupulous past. Choosing somebody to be a Scope was serious business, indeed. To assign such a position to someone without them enduring the long, painstaking process of intense scrutiny, without knowing every nuance of their psychology and morality would be the height of irresponsibility. It would be as dangerous as someone wielding a loaded gun in a drunken rage. Were it not for some of the most brilliant minds on the planet converging on this project, a collection of characters as diverse as their fields of expertise, Flicker would not have progressed past the point of theoretical inquiry. Anson at the helm, there were many other hands at his disposal to help steady the wheel of history when it turned. Without their learned participation there would be no possible way for
this program to be fully embraced by the scientific community, let alone beyond its parameters. Powerful voices provided the credibility required, igniting the spark of curiosity to move Flicker forward.

  From March 20, 2014 to present, August 2020, one thousand and sixty-four trial submissions from various individuals or organizations around the globe crossed the desks of those designated to receive them. It was a little too popular a project! Many from the ultra-rich were intending to satisfy a debt, including business and property disputes, ancestral lineage, several financial entitlements and even one who wanted to catch his wife in the act of infidelity. There were governmental submissions, too. No preferential treatment was extended.

  There had also been a slew of passionate pleas, heartbreaking submissions from people who were looking for their lost or missing loved ones. These applications to the project were limitless and these issues had to be handled delicately. None of the proposals ever made it to a selectee status, processed out of contention because of the emotional nature of the trial requests. Should any of these scenarios forge some steely resolve for revenge once facts formerly shrouded in secrecy were revealed, should such knowledge result in an act of blind rage, the ripple effects that followed would be devastating. No one was allowed to travel through time subjectively.

  The Legal Department handled all the political jargon when a submission was denied, accompanied by a rather large stack of assessment forms, files and reports, all submitted by the Review Board in response to applications, explaining a “cause and effect” regarding the trial rejection. Keeping it all in perspective wasn’t always easy but it was a necessary evil done in the name of doing something good for all of humanity. Judging by the number of appeals and resubmissions or the attempted lawsuits, there was nothing frivolous about it. The Consortium paused to reflect on the process, considering the concept of doing more harm than good. Many members of their team had taken the Hippocratic Oath and intended to uphold it. Reviewing the body of evidence, they finally declared themselves entirely justified, absolved of blame for refusing emotionally charged submissions. One thing could rightfully be said of the members of The Consortium. They always maintained their integrity and always had the best of intentions.

  After six years and over a thousand submissions, only seventeen made the cut, having met the criteria to move onto candidate interviews. Of these, only eight went on to time trials in The Valley and from those, only three received final approval to proceed on to Flicker. The first two selectees had thus far passed through the portal, objectively recording their chosen time frame in real time. The first successful run of the project coincided with the public announcement of the second startup of the particle collider in April of the year 2015.

  “All the experiments conducted at the LHC so far are part of ‘run one’.

  This week, after several years of upgrading the LHC’s magnets (which speed up and control the flow of particles) and data sensors, it’ll begin ‘run two’: a new series of experiments that will involve crashing particles together with nearly twice as much energy as before.”

  Vox.com news article: 16 April 2015

  Though the public statement was regarding the source energy being doubled for particle discovery, the impact for Flicker was far greater and remained Top Secret. The additional magnets used to coerce the doorway were actually installed late in 2012 and the potential for length of time and location seemed boundless. As if they had invented an endless battery, an exhaustive array of experiments and probes had confirmed that the window into the past was wide open with a virtual reach of two millennia or more. Over the next eighteen months, test trials continued with a focus on perfecting the collaboration of all three aspects of the time jump. Formula after formula written on chalkboards was then fed into their supercomputers to exact the equations so a date, location and duration of Flicker’s projected target was executed flawlessly. Once its precise calibrations and subsequent calculations were presented to The Consortium they could proceed with the true nature of the research, sending an explorer back in time. The first was a brilliant gent from Cambridge by the name of Dr. William Fontaine, a linguistics professor and archeologist. A man of superior moral fiber and impeccable reputation, known personally by a number of top brass in The Consortium, his soaring intellect and adventurous spirit caused the decision makers to label him as “good stock” then passed the word around. He sailed through the approval process.

  Dr. Fontaine’s event for Flicker was so intriguing, benevolent in nature, its only obstacle, mastering the language through phonemic awareness of ancient Egypt, so to grasp the intrinsic meaning and true substance of what he might hear and witness during his excursion. Flicker took an intrepid traveler back in time testing the limits of the doorway’s reach to an era during which the Great Pyramid of Giza was being created, circa 2570 BC, a project “currently” under construction. There were a great many test “jumps” made prior to the actual project approval, all of which transpired without incident. Dr. Fontaine’s first words upon his return through the portal:

  “Sorry, chaps. No aliens in sight!”

  The success of man’s first walk on the metaphorical moon of time left FTCOC members popping the corks of champagne bottles in celebration! The world? It was still intact. Planet Earth did not stop spinning on its axis and explode (or some other fearful manifestation of Hollywood filmmaking at its worst) but continued on. With a collective sigh, they cried and sang songs, a festive occasion. None of them were so naïve as to believe every Flicker episode would go as smoothly but it was a check in the win column for the process that was still very much a mystery. Their ALICE project and subsequent phenomena it created was all accidental, its origin unknown. How could a particle collision not only be coerced but controlled? Deemed “a force of nature” by the team of scientists who could barely comprehend it, they were all well aware that, historically, forces of nature are not something mankind has had much success controlling. Everything hypothesized from cloud-seeding to HAARP turned out to be another fruitless endeavor, wasted attempts to control the elements. Delving into the smallest particles known to science, man should rightfully expect a few surprises along the way but nobody anticipated opening up a vortex as a portal to the past. With one tiny flicker of light, a new world was revealed.

  The second mission launched on July 19th in 2017 was, well, yet another hiccup. A situation arose that, in spite of all the time trials and criteria requirements for the candidates, was never considered. A famous billionaire philanthropist had become selectee number two. He had performed exemplary charity work lifelong, donating much of his time to global causes. Canadian born, David James Cox had passed all pre-trial formalities with superlatives. As their time trials in The Valley produced hard facts, formatting all the necessary guidelines for his Flicker project, this man’s pragmatic rationality and level-headed approach made it easy for every committee to approve his submission. Allowed to proceed, on the day he had been scheduled to go back in time, to step through the gateway, he froze in place at the threshold. Like somebody facing the anxiety of their first rollercoaster ride, David Cox could not have been dragged, pushed or pulled through it. Sometime during an exhaustive selection approval process the burden of personal responsibility got to him, fear he associated with any potential altering of the timeline continuum. He told no one of this feeling during his early screenings, even in The Valley trials. Cox truly believed his innate intelligence would gradually override this anxiety so he could rationalize the newly developed phobia and press on. His subconscious mind had other plans.

  David managed to disguise his trepidation with their prep team earlier that day. However, from the moment he stepped toward Flicker, Cox was overwhelmed with fear. Although he could not visibly perceive the gateway entrance, it was designated by a series of lines on the floor leading to it. From his unique vantage point he could see all of their monitors, thermal imagery of himself displayed on multiple screens simultaneously as these dramatic ev
ents unfolded, being recorded from every angle. Never let them see you sweat? One could hardly miss it! Alarms ringing in his head signaled a sense of urgency. Cox panicked. Suddenly overcome with raw emotion, drenched, nauseated, a veritable tidal wave of terror swept over him.

  He stopped. Suspense rising in the lab, David Cox broke his momentum, staring at a computer monitor, an alternate perspective. Everyone could see the heat rising, radiating off his body. Petrified, he began again, focused instead on the line leading up to an open portal unseen by the naked eye. Walking toward this invisible vortex, following the trail, his gaze never deviated from it as he approached the final mark. Nearing the threshold he paused to reflect on his precarious predicament. No. There were too many variables in this equation. No. Operations were immediately halted.

  Unprepared after all, fear triumphed. A stoic pragmatist succumbed to a human emotion. Though they wanted to try it again, before he could, Mr. Cox had to revisit the psychiatrist, a physician required to address this underlying issue. If there was any hope of him achieving his desired objectives, they’d first have to successfully rewire his thought process so he could identify then confront his insidious nemesis. It took nearly two months of mental restructuring to reveal the culprit. Defeating it took some effort. When his “fight or flight” mechanism kicked into high gear, Cox flew the coop. It was time to fight the feeling. Fear stopped him dead in his tracks.

  During this reprogramming, the Flicker door remained open into the past as a team of scientists took the glass half full approach, using this down time to test the stability of the vortex. It never flamed out. This window of opportunity to test the extended duration the doorway could remain open was a serendipitous contribution to Ethan’s project which required more than two months to complete.