Laws of Time

by Jeff Yee

  Kris was not going to be able to avoid the subject, so he continued with the rest of the history, “I was able to grow revenue most years or at least hold them steady. That was not the issue. Tace continued to expand and we developed a lot of great products. I believe you saw some of them this morning in your tour.”

  “Yes, quite impressive.”

  “My issue was the bottom line. We kept the expense ratio at five percent of revenue for time travel research. Analysts began to wonder if the research would eventually have a payout.”

  Sean felt bad for his son. Now he understood. He had left Kris in a bad position by mandating the research and development budget before his departure.

  Before Sean could say a word, his son continued, “It got worse. After a couple of breakthroughs in development, I knew we were getting close about six or seven years ago. I also knew that we were near the age deadline where we would bring you out of life suspension. So I made the call. I increased the R&D expenditures slowly to about twenty percent of revenue. I tried to cut costs in other areas and increase revenue where I could, but ultimately it resulted in operating losses for the company.”

  “Wow, I’m glad you managed to hold on as CEO. It must have been a difficult time.”

  “I was very close to being removed. Believe me, there were many discussions in the boardroom about my removal. About three years ago, I intentionally leaked some of the progress that we were making on time travel research and the excitement helped the stock to rebound. Once it started to climb again, the Board backed off on their threats.”

  The former CEO lectured the current CEO, “It worked out in the end. But what a gamble to increase the spend to twenty percent. You are fortunate to have survived.”

  He looked his father in the eye, but Kris did not answer. Indeed, he was fortunate and he already knew it.

  The pair arrived at their destination, Building Twelve, the most secure building across the Tace campus and one that would rival the U.S. government’s intelligence centers. Two layers of security requiring sophisticated authentication techniques protected the company’s highly prized asset. To enter the lobby from the outside, Kris had to pass the first layer of security by scanning his corporate badge. Once inside, four cameras mounted from the ceiling captured every move they made. In addition, two security officers provided on-site protection inside the lobby.

  Kris approached the receptionist. “I have a temporary badge for Mr. Harrison, the founder of this company, to enter Lab Murray.”

  In honor of the company’s first time-shifting product, the laboratories in Building Twelve were each named after the original rats that were used in the cryogenic experiments. Mr. Murray was the first successful rat to be frozen in time and hence one of the major labs used for the time travel experiments was named Lab Murray.

  They were given a positive acknowledgement with a wave of the hand from the receptionist, who pointed towards the door to a hallway connecting four labs. The second level of security was much harder for an outsider to penetrate. Kris scanned his badge a second time on the inside door. This triggered a fingerprint sensor and an eye scanner. He was instructed to place his right hand on a device to read his prints while simultaneously looking into a retinal scanner that would match his eye pattern. After being confirmed, Kris and his father were allowed through the secured door.

  Kris explained the need for incredibly tight security to his father while they walked down the corridor to Lab Murray. Everyone seemed to want to either steal or destroy the technology including: fanatical religious groups worried about the potential of changing nature, or the competition that wanted to profit from their research, or political or terrorist organizations that would use time travel for personal benefit. In fact, there had been an unsuccessful bombing attempt killing three protestors on the Tace Campus only five months prior, although it had no affect on Building Twelve. The small bomb accidently went off as it was retrieved from a car belonging to members of the radical group Time is Now. Tace had seen interest or heard threats from many other groups prior to the public announcement and now they expected even greater attention post-announcement.

  It was exhilarating for Sean to walk through the double doors of the entrance to Lab Murray. Everything in the room was state of the art technology. Scientists, who were busy performing calculations in preparation for the next experiment, manned computer workstations that surrounded the room. Cameras recorded every angle of the room for both security purposes and to document the experiments. And in the middle of the lab, Sean found what he had been waiting a long time to see. The time machine.

  Sean looked amazed, yet uncertain. “Is that it?”

  “Yes, that’s the time machine.”

  While Sean stared at the final product with glazed eyes, Kris added, “We’re beginning to build another one in Lab Nelson, next door. It will take a while to complete, but the second one will be necessary for a roundtrip to the future and back.”

  The eight-foot diameter, iron sphere time machine was equal in height and width. The perfect spherical design was critical for its purpose. The iron sphere sat gently on a contoured Kevlar base – preventing the iron from touching the floor. Four braces, also made of Kevlar, protruded from the base and connected the sides of the sphere to keep it stationary. A round door, cut into the iron, was open and exposed the sphere’s interior. Inside, Sean could see a smaller, second iron ball in the core, held by another Kevlar stand. The Kevlar helped to minimize electrical conduction between the outer iron sphere and its smaller core.

  “How did you arrive at this from the research of Dr. Zhao?” Sean asked his son. “The one that you referred to in the press conference?”

  Ryan Graves, the Chief Scientist at Tace Technologies was busy preparing for the next experiment when he saw the Harrisons enter. As he walked over to greet Sean, he overheard the question and jokingly provided an answer, “Luck. We got a fortune cookie telling us the answer to our question lies in a round ball.”

  “Good afternoon Ryan,” Sean laughed as they shook hands in greeting.

  The Chief Scientist provided a serious answer to the first question. “Dr. Zhao suggested with supporting equations that energy itself was a dimension. It helps to tie what we know about relativity together with many of the unknowns of quantum mechanics. Anyway, without boring you with the details, we immediately theorized that if the energy of a system were changed it would affect the pace of time within that system.”

  Sean interrupted. “Like the universe before the Big Bang. Time did not exist until the energy in the universe was created.”

  “Exactly. Now think back to relativity and Einstein’s famous equation.”

  “E equals m-c squared?”

  “Yes. We’ve known that ‘E’, energy, and ‘m’, matter, were connected for a long time now. In fact, the atom bomb proved that a century ago. But what is the connection with the universal speed limit for light, or ‘c’? Has the speed of light always been the same, exact constant that it is today? Was it the same speed limit even in the early years of the universe?”

  “I’m not following, but go on. I’m listening.”

  Ryan stopped asking rhetorical questions and got to the point. “The speed of light is our reference to time. Our perception of time is what we see. When we look at the sun, we see its past. It takes about eight minutes for the light from the sun to reach the Earth. So we’re looking back in time. This was another suggestion by Einstein, as you’re aware, that if an object could travel from the Earth faster than the speed of light, and then look back to the Earth, that he or she would be looking at the Earth’s past.”

  “That part I know…”

  “But we quickly realized after Dr. Zhao’s research that we did not need to affect the speed of light constant to travel in time. Instead, with the old laws of thermodynamics being rewritten, we could focus on changing the energy of a system.”

  Sean’s head was spinning. “So the speed of light constant is not exactly a
constant?”

  “Yes and no. In our observable universe, it is fixed. However, there are dimensions in our universe that we are not able to observe. Energy is one of these dimensions. If we can control the dimensional shifting of energy within a system, we can control the pace of time. If the pace of time of one system is faster or slower relative to a second system, the result is time travel.”

  Kris looked at his father to read his face and decided to try a simpler answer to the question, “If the man inside the sphere has a faster pace of time than those of us in the room, he is traveling into the future relative to his point of view.”

  “I think I’ve got it,” Sean said. “I’m assuming the ‘m’ in the equation for matter has to remain fixed if the man in the sphere wants to have his body parts functioning in the future.”

  Kris and Ryan laughed and gave a nod that he was correct.

  Sean continued, “So that means if I increase the energy to the man inside the sphere, that we are affecting the speed of light. Or I should say the pace of time, in this case.”

  “That’s right. He is traveling into the future,” said Ryan.

  “And the opposite effect if I decrease the energy?”

  “You’ve got it,” answered Ryan. “To travel to the future, two changes in energy are required. One shift in energy causes the pace of time to be different relative to the surroundings outside of the sphere. The second energy shift must be exactly the reverse to make sure that the user returns to the current pace of time at a point in the future.”

  To explain the last point, Ryan walked over to a table with two toy cars and a track. The example demonstration was intended to simplify the complex answer for guests and journalists that were expected for Press Day. With two hands, one on each car, he raced them side-by-side around the track. “Imagine that these cars are both traveling at a hundred miles per hour, analogous to our sense of time today. Then, suddenly, this second car uses more energy and accelerates to two hundred miles per hour.” Ryan sped the second car along the track faster until it completed a lap and caught up with the first car. “Once I have reached the first car again, I need to decelerate exactly to match the pace of the first car and travel at a hundred miles per hour again. Note that both cars are once again traveling together at the same speed. But there is one difference. The second car has already completed an extra lap.”

  Sean thanked Ryan for the visual demonstration and looked back to the giant iron ball sitting in the middle of the room. “So that’s the car that can speed around the track faster than anyone else?”

  “Yes,” smiled Ryan.

  Astonished, Sean stood and stared at the time machine. He understood its potential. It’s the biggest scientific development in human history, he thought. Now, who will be the first man to use it?

  Sean’s eyes wandered from the iron ball to the men and women working busily in the room. The scientists preparing for the Press Day experiment were programming complex math equations into the computers in the lab. In a cage along the back wall was a lone rat, waiting for his turn to be a time traveler.

  “Thanks for the demo and thanks very much for your explanation Ryan,” said Sean. “Very exciting stuff. We’ll leave you and the team to prepare for tomorrow. But, I have a quick question before we go. What’s the rat’s name in the cage back there?”

  Kris snickered. “Mr. Harrison.”

  “I get the hint,” Sean laughed. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 16

  It was thirty past ten in the morning in Washington D.C. when Senator Rob Cordeiros addressed the members of the Senate. The Senate convened to debate the creation of a Time Regulation Committee proposed by the senator from Texas.

  Cordeiros said emphatically, “We will vote shortly on the creation of a committee that will investigate the impacts of time travel to our world and to our nation. It is critical that we give this investigation the necessary resources to appropriately determine the parameters of time travel and to propose any potential laws required for its regulation.” He pounded his fist on the table as he spoke.

  The Senate was used to outbursts from Senator Cordeiros. A polarizing figure at six-foot two, he had many allies within the halls of the building – most of which he had briefed in advance to garner support for his measure.

  “Imagine some of the possible scenarios of our enemies gaining control of time travel. What if they could change the destiny of the United States in their favor? What if a thwarted terrorist attack was replayed over-and-over until they finally got it right? Let’s suppose that England had the power to go back in time and assassinate our founding fathers? If this had happened, the U.S. might not be an independent country today! The control and regulation of time travel is a matter of national security. It is no different than nuclear power. It is a weapon itself, which in the wrong hands could have serious consequences to our nation. Therefore, we must investigate the appropriate laws by creating this Senate committee immediately.”

  Cordeiros took his seat after his final plea, slowly returning his buttocks back to his chair so that he was able to survey the entire room and his colleagues before sitting. Now it was time for debate, something that Cordeiros considered bureaucracy. Life was simpler in the days of kings and queens, he thought to himself.

  Nevertheless, his arguments were compelling and ultimately successful. At five minutes before noon, the creation of the committee passed with ease in the Senate and Senator Cordeiros was named Chairman of the Time Regulation Committee, with a mission to investigate the possible effects of time travel and to propose any necessary bills back to Congress.

  Cordeiros had just scored a major victory in his political quest. He had grabbed what he believed to be a coveted seat in a highly public issue. He also knew that it would put him in the spotlight, and more importantly, that he would be in the driver’s seat of the regulation of time travel technology. The Senator hid a devious smile as he left the halls of Congress, shaking hands with his colleagues along the way. He knew what he had accomplished.

  Chapter 17

  The Public Relations team at Tace Technologies scrambled to complete the setup in preparation for Press Day at Tace headquarters. They had five minutes remaining before the start of the event that was scheduled to begin at nine in the morning at Building Twelve. Special guest passes were printed for the ten journalists that were selected to cover the first demonstration of time travel technology to the outside world. The lobby of the building was transformed into a temporary pressroom, with folding chairs placed in the reception area where Kris Harrison would address the press.

  At exactly nine o’clock, the journalists were allowed into the building. The fortunate news agencies that were selected by Tace to cover the event were limited to only ten members because of space considerations in the lab room where they would eventually watch the demonstration. Reporters and their camera crews set up in the lobby as Kris Harrison provided a brief introduction.

  Kris began, “Today, you will witness a spectacular event in the history of mankind. Today, we have the ability to see history and visit our future. Today, we break down the barriers of linear time.”

  Without a long explanation, Kris pointed towards the door to the laboratory. “Please follow Maile into the lab where we have a demonstration prepared for you.”

  Quickly, reporters covering the event walked excitedly down the hallway into the lab and reassembled their equipment to cover the demonstration. There in the room, already waiting for his own chance to witness his first time travel experiment was the former CEO, Sean Harrison. He sat quietly in the back of the room while his son led the announcement.

  Kris continued his introduction. “In just a few moments, we will transport a living creature exactly one hour into the future. We are executing a test that has been performed here in the lab previously and thus we have a high degree of confidence that it will be successful once again.”

  As Kris spoke, a lab technician placed a rat inside the time machine. />
  “This is our machine,” Kris said pointing towards the iron sphere in the middle of the room. “And this is our fearless little time traveler,” he said referring to the rat. He pulled a watch from his pocket and continued. “Also, to demonstrate the stoppage of time, I have an antique pocket watch here with me. Like the clock behind me, it is nearly twenty minutes past nine. Notice that the watch is operational and functioning correctly.”

  The rat scurried away from the door when Kris delicately placed the watch in the interior of the time machine. Next, the door was closed, isolating the rat and the watch inside the sphere. The required calculations for time travel had been programmed into the computers a day earlier, so the machine was ready to begin as soon as the exterior was secured.

  “This is the moment you have been waiting for. If you are not already recording, this is the time to begin.”

  Flashes of light from cameras capturing photos blinded Kris.

  “As you may have already noticed, the monitor behind me shows a view inside the time machine. Here is our little rat running around. Since we cannot open the machine for the next hour, you may watch the monitor to track his progress.”

  On the screen, the rat ran breathlessly around in a circle at the base of the sphere. It was not his first time – he knew what to expect next.

  Kris looked at Ryan Graves, who had his fingers on a computer keyboard controlling the time machine. “Let’s begin.”

  Other than a slight humming sound radiating from the machine and a light indicator at the top of the sphere that changed color briefly to red and then to yellow, it would have been difficult for someone to realize that the rat was on his way to the future. The LED light on the sphere was green before the test, indicating that no test was in progress. For a split second, the light turned to red, indicating that an energy shift was occurring within the sphere. A yellow light indicated that the machine had stabilized and that the transportation was in progress. During a red or a yellow light, the exterior door was locked and could not be opened.