Déjà vu; In 2024, a man pushes a button that changes the world; past, present, future

**dawesbr** · 10-23-2009

Well here it is, another story. Don't worry, Evolution is still on the go, I've just had the idea for this in my head for a while and wanted to get out of my head and out into the open.

Spoiler - Prologue

It is 2024, and by a lake in Northern England, a man stands facing a metal tower. It rises towards the sky, twice his height, buzzing gently, hiding its true nature. The man is tired – he has huge brown bags under his eyes from many sleepless nights, and his face is coated in salt and pepper stubble that shines with sweat in the mid-afternoon sun. He looks across the lake to the north, and up past the peak of the nearest hill, into space – into the area of sky that the large structure is pointing. The man, with a rising sense of anticipation, dials up a knob on the side, and listens carefully as the machine buzzes stronger, rising in pitch.

A green light flashes on above the knob, and the man’s brow crinkles in a frown. An LCD output screen reads off reels of information that he takes in; numbers, dates, universal coordinates, data that flashes by and that he studies with care. Satisfied, the man turns the knob again, and straightens up. The sky is clear, a brilliant blue, light by the bursts of radiation emanating from the sun. The man is overcome by a sense of déjà vu, a feeling that he has been here before - or perhaps, he thinks to himself with a smile, déjà verrai, the feeling that he will be here before. Time will tell, he thinks.

It is 2009, and another man stands simultaneously by the same lake. He stares at the sky as well, which is a similar cloudless blue, the same sky, across time. This man is clean-shaven, with bright eyes, eager to see the world, to take in all he sees and remember. He too feels a feeling of constant being, as if this place will be important to him at some point in his life.

It is 2024, and the man in the trilby is looking at his watch. He reruns the calculations through his mind, defining time and space as numbers, checking once again that he is right with his calculations. This experiment is essential to him, the culmination of a decade’s work. He looks round at the world, savouring it.

In 2009, the other man looks round at the world as if seeing it for the first time. Golden leaves lie gently on the ground around him, still in the heavy air. The man gets a sudden feeling that someone is watching him, and stares around, but he is alone in his silent world. He turns back to the lake.

Fifteen years in the future, the man in the trilby is finally ready, and, with a sense of drama, reaches towards a large blue button, and holds his finger above it. In 2009, the other man feels the hairs on his neck rise up with static electricity, and he whirls around, sure that someone is near. The leaves that had remained still began to whirl around too, flying in great plumes of gold and brown, while the man in the trilby closes his eyes. In 2024, the man presses the button that will change the world forever – past, present, and future.

Spoiler - Chapter 1

Light has always been one of human being’s essential limitations. A key stage in our evolution came when we discovered how to create it by means of fire, but that in itself leads to problems. Without it, without the sun and the stars, we would not live at all, and yet light still restricts us. Electromagnetic spectrum messages allowed us to send messages at the speed of light, but mankind’s greatest urge – to travel into space – has always been withheld by the fact that it has always been physically impossible to travel faster than or at the speed of light.

If we could travel faster than the speed of light, then mankind’s possibilities would be endless. The resulting distortions in spacetime could allow for incredible creations – cities could be constructed before the plans for their construction are even drawn up, astronauts could arrive at planets aeons before they leave Earth.

Such travel was deemed impossible, until the discovery of tachyons – particles which travel faster than the speed of light. If information could be sent to the past, let alone any sort of matter, the world could change dramatically. Parallel realities could fuse; time quandaries could cause catastrophic universal collapses. As such, research into such particles is extremely dangerous.

In 2024, the first ever information to travel faster than the speed of light was fired from a metal tower, with only one man to observe it. The concentrated beam of particles was unobservable – lost in quantum realities and travelling universes. The information it carried was innocuous enough, but its ramifications would be astronomical.

---

Site Zero – Hamilton Close, Bildesdale, England, 2009.

Saul Greer sat on the back porch of his rural town house, staring at the overcast sky. Towers of grey and white streaked the heavens, the occasional shaft of golden light striking a brilliant path down onto the Earth beneath. Saul nursed the beer in his hand, pondering his life as it was – unemployed, single, living in a small house with his dog.

It was days like this that he wanted to change his world; the days where the boring monotony of everyday life feels like a never-ending circle of soul-crushing boredom, when you feel like ending it all just to escape another hellish hour. He took another slug, and stared at the overcast sky.

Shane and Heather Andrews were sitting in their back garden too, in the adjacent house. Shane was busy building a castle out of sand, whereas Heather was preoccupied with a miniature doll of a famous model. Both were unaware of the world around them.

Claire Stiles was sitting down too, four streets away. She, however, was travelling at 100 miles an hour, chasing a car thief in her unmarked police car, siren blaring, blue lights flashing, heading at twice the speed limit towards Hamilton Close.

Liam Schindler was speeding too, being chased by some stupid bimbo policewoman. Idiot woman had been in an unmarked police car, he’d had no idea. The brand new Honda Civic he had stolen hardly seemed worth it now.

Saul, staring at the violent sky, felt the hairs on the back of his head begin to rise. Shane and Heather were blissfully unobservant of their own hairs rising, and Claire and Liam were too engaged in respectively chasing and avoiding each other to notice. Only Saul saw a circle of cloud evaporate above the street, as an unknown energy burned away a clear ring of water. The air buzzed, physically shimmering with an all-present energy. Saul leapt from his chair, clambered through his house, and burst onto the street. Above him, the gap in the clouds shimmered with evaporated water.

All of a sudden, the earth began to shake. Cracks appeared in the street, breaking the tarmac for its full length. The lamppost to Saul’s left collapsed with a loud crash, and sparks flew into the air. The sparks all sped upwards into the sky, speeding towards the gap in the clouds. The gap began to grow larger, and then, like something out of Independence Day, was lit bright by a shaft of blue light.

The beam of light hit the earth with a huge thunderclap. It was as wide as the street itself, and sent chunks of tarmac flying, smashing windows and cars. Liam and Claire pulled onto the street at high speed, and swerved violently to avoid the beam. Liam’s car hit the kerb and flew upwards. The left hand side passed through the beam, shearing straight off, leaving just half a car, which slammed into the ground, with Liam inside.

Shane and Heather were curious about the noise, and skipped into the street. What they saw was like something out of a fairy tale – Saul stood at the base of the towering beam, his face lit by the bright neon glow, staring upwards into the sky, looking as far up the beam as he could. The shimmering beam began to fade, the neon glow seeping away, growing thinner and thinner.

After a few seconds of shrinking, the remaining concentrated beam remained, a mere centimetre wide. Then, it too disappeared. Two heartbeats ticked past before the world exploded. From the point that the beam had hit, a huge burst of energy was thrown out, sending Saul flying twenty metres, slamming Shane and Heather into their front door, and tipping Claire’s car fully over. Shafts of the blue light were flung out; cutting swathes of matter out of the houses that surrounded the street.

Then this too began to fade. The street was now a crater – steaming earth, melted pipes, and stagnant water. Saul began to pick himself up, shaking. He stumbled slowly to the lip of the new crater, and stared at its epicentre.

In the epicentre of the crater, Saul Greer stared back.

Spoiler - Chapter 2

In the Tachyon Research Institution of American Scientists, Utah, the computer floor was in uproar. Scientists with salt and pepper stubble and sweaty brows rushed between terminals, shouting out the latest reports. Today was the day that TRIAS came into its own – only twenty minutes ago, an extended beam of tachyons, billions of individual particles, blasted down in the centre of a rural town, and already TRIAS had sent thirty members from their London-based UK division to the site, designated Site Zero.

The operation so far had run fairly smoothly – three helicopters had been loaded up with testing equipment and Hazmat suits, as well as de-contamination equipment for all those nearby. They had arrived moments ago, landing in a small park three blocks away. The first few people were arriving on scene.

On the huge projector screen that lined one wall of the computer floor, a total of ten video feeds were being displayed. Each was coming straight from on or near Site Zero; four of them were images of the inside of a helicopter, with various pieces of delicate equipment being lifted out; two were currently on their way to Site Zero, carrying Geiger Counters and decontamination foam. The remaining four were already on-site, speaking to several people on the side of the street.

One of the scientists turned to look up at the sky, his camera swivelling with him, just as three jet-black military helicopters flew in. Their whirling blades bent trees double as they touched down in the crossroads positioned at the end of the street. With military precision, ten men in black suits with huge gas-masks and goggles leapt out of each helicopter. Three of them carried a large sheet of canvas, which they placed on the ground, and began to construct. Half of the left over soldiers went over to talk with the people on the side of the street.

The remaining soldiers ran over to the various scientists, shouting at them through megaphones built into their masks. The video feed from the scientist who had looked at the helicopters’ landings showed one soldier getting closer. The soldier was waving at him, telling him to move back to a safe distance, under government orders. He did not look friendly – the scientist turned tail and ran.

Dr Lawrence Kubrick, PhD. stood at window of his office in TRIAS headquarters. His wild grey hair was pushed back from his forehead to allow him to watch the screens closely. The wrinkled face that he had been rubbing with anxiety for years was now taut with stress. He turned to no-one in particular, and said, “What the hell is that? We finally get a lucky break, and some military bozos are kicking us out?!”

His assistant, worried at his outburst, was timid in his response. “Sir, I...I think I know why, sir. Listen to this.” He opened an audio file that he had just recorded, a call from one of the scientists.

“This is Dr. John Bradley speaking. The...the military guys...they’re here because...because there were people in the crater. Where the beam struck. They appeared in the wreckage...and...well, guys...they’re clones of the people who were on the street.” The recording was interrupted by a burst of static, followed by the noise of helicopter blades whirling above the scientist’s head. It resumed, “The military, they’re putting the guys from the crater in a separate holding tent, and the guys that they’re copies of in another one.” The scientist paused, unsure of himself, and then continued. “Jesus, guys...what the hell is this? These guys...they could be from anywhere...how did they get in the crater?”

The recording shut off, and the few people in the sound-proofed office were silent. Dr. Kubrick removed his half-moon glasses, and pinched the bridge of his prominent nose. “Will someone tell me why there were PEOPLE in the crater?” His frank outburst was responded with an equally blunt silence. Lawrence sighed, and replaced the glasses back over his eyes, bringing everything back into focus. If only that were the same for the situation at hand.

“Okay. This is how it is,” he began. “We’ve got a major situation on our hands. For the first time ever, we have seen evidence of a concentrated tachyon beam. The concentration was so large it was picked up from detection stations half the world away, and left a crater the size of a house. And now, apparently, it left behind some carbon-copies of a bunch of people on the street. Are we clear?”

The top scientists of TRIAS nodded in unison – they knew how frustrated Dr. Kubrick got when things didn’t go according to plan. They could tell in the bright flash of his heavy-set eyes, set into the gaunt skull of a face.

“Right. To top it all off, we’re being denied access at the crucial moment, because the British government, or whoever those bozos were at Site Zero, are trying to keep it all to themselves.” He paused, considering the options. “I’ve considered the options,” he said, “and there are two things we need to do.”

Everyone leaned in – the boss might have a ferocious temper, but he was head of the multi-million dollar organisation for a reason.

“Johnson,” Kubrick said, pointing with a stern, gnarled finger at a fresh-faced man in a long white coat, “You organise a team to start plying the British to grant us access.” Johnson nodded, and darted out the double doors and down to the computer floor.

“Michaels, you take Phillips and Clearwater and get together as much equipment as you can to get the data we need from a distance of at least a kilometre. Satellite imagery, helicopter equipment, you name it, get it together and load it all up.” The three men nodded in agreement, and left the room, the tallest pulling a mobile out of his pocket as he went.

Kubrick sighed again, and pulled a handkerchief out of his breast pocket. He dabbed at his forehead with it, saying as he did so, “As for the rest of you; go help out where you can. Collate all the data we have, and organise the rabble down there.” He gestured with the handkerchief out the flat window towards the shouting men and women and the banks of computers.

Everyone left the room, and Kubrick sat in his swivel chair, and began polishing his glasses. He flicked a switch on the top of his desk, and the glass of his office turned opaque with electricity. It was time he spoke with their funders.

Spoiler - Chapter 3

Miles Pyre strode through the pounding rain in Prague, heading back towards his apartment. His gloved hands were planted firmly in the pockets of his body-length beige trench coat, which flapped about him in the gusting winds. A thick wool scarf was wrapped tightly round the bottom half of his face, and only his piercing blue eyes were left showing after the addition of a grey trilby hat. Striding through the heavy rain in such a conspicuous outfit made him look like a shady character out of a James Bond book.

He clambered down Main Street, and turned into a small side-road with a row of apartment blocks. He withdrew one of his gloved hands to insert a small key into the lock of the black door for one of the blocks, swung open the door, and took a quick step into the hallway. He stood, dripping, at the metal doors to one of the four lifts, before, with a small ping, the doors opened. He withdrew from his pocket this time a gold keycard, which he swiped on a magnetic reader on the lift panel. The penthouse button blinked on, and he pressed it with a wet finger .

The metal doors pinged open this time on a sprawling apartment, complete with shag pile rug and leather sofa, and a full length window with expansive views over the rest of the city. Miles removed the trilby and trench coat, and hung them each on a coat holder by the lift door. Underneath, he was wearing a full business suit, which was bone dry. He opened the door to his study with a click This room had no windows, instead it was a small room with a wall monitor, a desk, and two walls which were lined with bookcases, piled high with copies of Einstein’s works and Newton’s manuscripts, as well as a few romance novels for light reading.

Miles seated himself in his hardback leather seat, and pushed a button on his desk panel to switch on the wall monitor. He was greeted by the face of Lawrence Kubrick, who looked frustrated and worried.

“Mr Pyre, I am sorry to bother you, but as you may well know, a major event occurred earlier this afternoon in England. I do believe that this is quite unprecedented.” As Kubrick spoke, Miles pressed another button on his panel to bring up a picture-in-picture image of CNN. The marquee read “Unexplained ‘death laser’ leaves crater in street”.

Kubrick continued, “As you probably know by now, the event was a concentrated beam of energy that struck the middle of a rural street. What, however, is not being reported on the news, is that the event left behind roughly twenty people standing in the street. Five of those were easily identified, as they were identical copies of people found on the street that day. The other fifteen or so people are not The other fifteen or so people are not yet identified, and I regret to inform you that we have no photographic identification of them, and are being confined to a 1km radius from Site Zero – the, ah, event site.”

Miles took this all in his stride, as if random bursts of energy that come from the heavens and leave identical copies of living human beings behind in a smouldering crater was like a piece of toast popping out of the toaster to him.

Miles let Kubrick squirm for a while as he pondered what to say. “Did you see the faces of any of the people? Could anyone there pick them out of a line-up?”

Kubrick looked surprised. “Ah, no, I don’t think so. We were hassled out of their before we’d had time to wipe our glasses.” At this, he removed his glasses and began to wipe them subconsciously.

“Good,” Miles almost purred, “good...very well, Dr. Kubrick. I shall pull some strings in the British authorities and see if I can’t get you access. I hope to hear a report from you soon.”

He shut off the video call, and sat back in his chair. He was growing weary – he’d spent enough ****ed time in this world to have to deal with chumps like Dr. Kubrick. Oh well, he thought, it will all come full circle eventually. He picked up the phone and began to dial.

I hope you like what you read, and if you'd like to subscribe to updates when I release another chapter &c., just ask in the thread.

Subscribers:

Astrosimi
ARD
KernelM
Chezhead

**RockSauron** · 10-23-2009

Time Travel Story!

I like it... especially if the future him is trying to destroy the world to see what would happen (like in mai story <_>). Anyway, I like this, so, um, yeah

This reminds me... I want to write my story, but can't on ps3. Dangnabbit

Ah well, this is good ;o

**dawesbr** · 10-23-2009

Glad you liked it! I haven't read your story, perhaps you could linky it?

Also, I put up another chapter :P

**RockSauron** · 10-23-2009

Interesting...

And if you mean the story I am writing, haven't published it yet. If you mean the time travel story, can't, on ps3... or maybe I can but too much work, dangnabbit. Just search for In the Name of Science, should be front page of Creative Writing :/

**Astrosimi** · 10-23-2009

What, no subscription service?

Every-time I think about my story I think about how much awesome-r yours are

**dawesbr** · 10-23-2009

Rock, I meant the already published one, I'll take a look when I'm back from Wales.

Astro:

I hope you like what you read, and if you'd like to subscribe to updates when I release another chapter &c., just ask in the thread.

I presume that means you've signed up?

**CyberSora** · 10-23-2009

Oh Jesus! Are you Stephen King (author of many books)!

Just kidding. I like what I read, and I write to. I just don't post it here because it will amaze people so much, they'll faint from its glory.

**dawesbr** · 10-23-2009

Haha, CyberSora, wow, being compared to Stephen King, that's a whole new level! If you liked this, you'll probably like Evolution too (see my sig), why not give it a read? :P

**CyberSora** · 10-24-2009

Originally Posted by dawesbr

Haha, CyberSora, wow, being compared to Stephen King, that's a whole new level! If you liked this, you'll probably like Evolution too (see my sig), why not give it a read? :P

I will!

*Reads for 2 seconds, but faints*

Oh... what just happened?

**ARD•** · 10-25-2009

Haha epic as hell.
Subscribe pl0x

**Kern•** · 10-25-2009

make it into a proper book... NOW!!

subPleezThx

**dawesbr** · 10-26-2009

Huh, oh wah? Oh, hey guys. Oh, new chapter? I'm sure I have one lying around here somewhere...aha, here we go!

**chezhead** · 10-27-2009

Dawesbr's Greatest hits: A 3 lb book of epicwinsause. BUY YOURS TODAY!
And by the way, Here's MY SOUL. You know what I mean.

[SPOILER]I'm Subscribing, OK?[/SPOILER]

**dawesbr** · 10-27-2009

Chezhead, you sound like a zombie! Or, wait, a human, I get confused with DotA now :P

**ARD•** · 10-27-2009

Awesome. There goes my theory...
I thought the...Saul, was it? Yeah, the Saul that appeared in the crater. I thought he was a future version of the Saul in the street, and he was the guy who pushed to button to **** everything up.

You see, I thought the tower thing took him back in time or something, you get it?
Yeah, well, that was my theory. Now it is not.

**dawesbr** · 10-27-2009

Hehe, didn't expect there to be more than one "clone" in the crater, ehh?

**dawesbr** · 10-28-2009

New Chaptarrrrrrr

**chezhead** · 10-28-2009

YAY! Theres a new chapterrrrrrrrr!

**dawesbr** · 10-28-2009

You're darn right there is! Have you read it yet? Thoughts?

**Kern•** · 10-30-2009

its good, id read it better though if it was in real book format, you know, with the lovely crisp pages, and black ink... like a book,

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