past.
It would be the only place she would be safe but there was still the question of how she was going to escape from her warehouse unnoticed, for she couldn’t allow herself to be followed. She needed to distract the soldiers guarding her warehouse then she needs to run before they know that she is gone.
She got up then walked over to the door as her guard trailed after her. She knew they were going to try to incapacitate her as soon as she attempted to leave but she also knew that the mechanical cop that she controlled was made for protection so it was equipped with a limited range force field that she could use to shield herself from their non-lethal fire. If she was lucky she would be able to eliminate them with the Taser gun, her guard carried, before they could get a clear shot of her.
She opened the door in the back of the warehouse then stepped out into the open with her guard towering over her. A Taser bullet hit the force field before dropping onto the ground. She looked in the direction the bullet came from as she led the way toward the hidden assailant. In fear of further exposure she sent her guard to take him out. The robot managed to get a clean shot when another one of her foes appeared in front of her with his Taser gun raised. She leap out of the way, the bullet missing her by a margin of inches, as her guard returned to her side then fired a rubber bullet at his temple. He was knocked out as she hurried away.
She knew they were going to wake up soon enough and that the others were going to come looking for her. She needed to distract them, she thought, when she set off the alarms. Hopefully that would add some confusion, she thought, as she ran toward the street, leaving her guard to face the military alone, needing to blend in with the others.
She slowed when she reached the streets, keeping her head bowed as she clung onto Snickers. Everyone she passed was too focused on the warehouse alarm to notice her. She dove into a parking dock in search of an auto-flyer, relieve that she was finally alone.
She got into the nearest auto-flyer then commanded the craft to take her to the Historian Exploratory Research Center, allowing the craft to guide itself out of the tight quarters and onto the streets. She watched the city slip past through the window when the craft stopped along with the others around her. Bright lights flashed by as a stream of cop cruisers raced by her, their sirens screaming as they sped toward the warehouse.
Maria smirked to herself as the craft eased forward as traffic proceeded after the cruisers passed. The auto-flyer gathered speed, swiftly transporting her to her new home, ferrying her away from that dangerous warehouse.
A Nearly Impossible Goal
Maria got out of the auto-flyer then walked over to a large stone building. A classic car sat near the walkway, where many stared at it in wonder. Its boxy designed frame rested on four wheels of inflated rubber. Large planes of glass covered both the front and the back along with a thin wheel that imposed itself on one of its passengers, sitting in their lap. Its ancient mechanics were exposed by its lifted hood, revealing a complex of tubes and hoses.
Maria made her way up the steps, figuring that she was going to see a lot more cars in the past. It did not matter if that was the first one she has seen up close.
She opened the door then entered a med-sized lobby where there were many displays about the time period and the complex physics that allowed a stable wormhole to exist for generations. There was even a large holographic projection of the wormhole itself. There was a screen that announced the next tour through the facility but she had no intention of waiting for that.
She hurried across the room but paused when she saw a simple hologram of her great grandfather Rico Rivera. She neared it to read the caption although she already knew what it said. It simply mentioned how her great grandfather was a philosopher who was intrigued by the human brain and later theorized the Artificial Cerebral Processing Chip and its effects on society. He unknowingly challenged his scientific minded students to create the technology based on his ideas. Her great grandfather was famous for helping create the era of knowledge that she currently lives in, though not for long.
She continued to the back of the room, where there was an electronic gate to prevent tourist from wandering beyond that point. She forced the gate open then continued down the wide hall. There was a room where the historians compiled their information in folders filled with messy hand written papers.
“We are almost done with the second wormhole. It should be done by the end of the year. We just need to stabilized space time to ensure that it is safe for the historians to use then we should be able to venture into the future as well as the past.” one of the scientists explained to his boss waited as they passed, as Maria hid in far the corner, not even daring to breathe.
“I am sure the historians will be pleased and that we will have a lot to learn from our future selves.” his boss agreed as they headed back toward the lobby.
Maria slipped into the room they exited, keeping to the walls in case there were other scientists in the vicinity. The room was luckily empty but the wormhole was left on. She knew it was the right one because the other one they were working on was in the corner in pieces.
She could hear someone coming, most likely a group of historians planning on using the wormhole, so she quickly stepped over the threshold, within the shimmering sheet of solidified air. Her lungs emptied as she staggered forward into the unknown hoping there was something beyond the haziness that had settled over her eyes.
She inhaled as her sight cleared. The sheen had vanished as she turned back to the wormhole. She hugged Snickers pleased for she had made it to the other side.
She walked over to the door when she saw the portal begin to flex as the historians followed her through. She hurried out the room mildly surprised to realize that everything was different. The lobby was filled with work desks with a dry erase board adhered to the wall. Everything familiar was gone, lost in another time.
She opened the front door to see that the building was now well guarded and that the city that she had just left was mysteriously missing. She waited until they looked away then rushed out the door and leapt over the side landing behind a bush, where the ancient car once sat.
“Did you hear that? One of the guards asked.
“No,” answered the other.
“Do you think it was a local because we can’t let them in.” he reminded the second guard.
“I know. It was probably just one of the historians.” the second explained.
“Yeah I guess you are right you have been doing this longer,” the first agreed as Maria crept along the wall to a high fence with a metal sign that proclaimed it as being private property.
She turned back when she saw an elongated car enter the facility. It vibrated slightly as its noisy power source gurgled softly. The historians emerged then boarded the odd vehicle. The guards waved them out as the gates opened.
Maria, who had edged toward the gate while the guards were distracted, slipped out before the gates closed behind the odd car. She hid in the bushes briefly before following the road through the forest, soon out of sight of the guards. The trees formed a dense mass unlike any clump of trees in a park in her time. Only the road remained clear of leafy debris. Its bare soil lacked grass which she imagined would be plentiful in a wilderness such as this one.
Then she stopped, for there was another, much larger road that ran perpendicular to the road that she was currently on. A weak stream of cars rushed by, as she watched them enviously. She had no control over their velocity or their directions. She could not disrupt their automated systems. She almost suspected that their autopilots must be deflective or inactivated. Maybe people of this time actually guided their crafts manually.
She followed this new road pleased that the forest had cleared. Luckily, she made it without being attacked by any wild animals that she knew inhabited such habitats. She saw something in the distance, a small city, a civilization then she remembered that the other end of the portal was made as a physics experiment long ago. That must be the small
town that encompassed the university where her great grandfather taught. She was almost there.
She walked for what must have been a mile because her feet suddenly felt tender and her legs began to ache. The town was still quite a ways off. It was like she had not moved at all. She leaned against a sign that was stationed in front of an unimpressive store. She pressed Snickers against the pole as she bowed her head in defeat. It was useless she thought when she saw a long car noisily pull up beside her. Its doors folded outward as a man looked down at her.
“Do you need help?” he asked as she nodded.
“I need to find Rico Rivera.” she muttered as he nodded to her surprise.
“He is a professor at the university.” he answered her as she nodded.
“Well I could take you. This is a free shuttle for students and I am sure Rico would be pleased, knowing that you are safe.” he told her as she smiled then climbed up the humming steps before turned down a narrow aisle. She took a seat near the front as the inefficient vehicle grumbled as it pulled itself forward.
The small store was jerked away as the oddly shaped car sped down the road. In only a few minutes, the flat landscape had been transformed into a clean campus. Students lounged under trees with books situated in their laps or strolled across the smooth lawn
The Paradoxical Nature of Knowledge Page 22
