“Arif, this is Javeria. I am writing to you from year 2032. Have you heard from the others?” it was from an unknown sender with no subject line. His mail box peered at Arif with the curled up intensity of a small child; it had found a chest drawer that morphed and conjured a myriad of new objects. Just as the child with a boxful of picaresque items extended her unfolded palm exhibiting one object after another; the mailbox did too with the click of a button. Arif was presently pursuing his higher studies in Hyderabad; running an observing eye over Google News on his Dell laptop, he reread the mail. Google header read 18th August 2010, mail header sported an abbreviated 772032 for 7th July 2032. His android phone buzzed and wheeled on the black table cloth to paddle a Vaseline tube before the ventriloquism began.
Two minutes later, nipping the pale brown cushion ends between his thumb and index finger, Arif explained to Javeria “A dubious mail is sitting on my mail box…” she was in a hurry and hung up on him. Arif had met Javeria in TIME coaching centre; slim built, she sported dark wavy hair with maroon hue; her long waxen eye lashes flapped sharply before the blue irises making it almost impossible to look away; a narrow innocent chin rested between pink brushed cheeks and supported two soft ornamental lips that stayed pursed until such time as it was necessary to part them. She wore a scarf in the sun, her two eye lids gravitated to the ground only to look away when an opportune moment presented itself before her. Skin on her hands, Arif recollected presently, washed in sun when she shook his hand, gleamed with pearl white brilliance.
“Dial your own number and you will get to me” message was clear, no harm in doing it. Arif dialled and a connection was established. one hour later, Arif slumped in his sofa trying to make sense of the things he had just heard. In the year 2032, people of planet earth had invented the time machine; group of scientists, in an undercover operation funded by the the Govt. of India worked laboriously for over twenty years. The services of time machine, located in the secret underground parlour of Birla Science Museum near Tank Bund, Hyderabad, were made public following an outcry; people believed that an opportunity to communicate across time was not to be controlled by the government. However, the feasibility of the machine to travel back in time extended only till the day of its making-2010. In a sea of time, multiple universes existed sporadically like islands; People of the universe from where Javeria wrote, believed that they were among the first ones to have invented the time machine.
A worm hole was dug in the space-time fabric to allow for information exchange; this required packing up all the information in time dilated capsules and dropping in the black hole that formed the mouth of the worm behind it; the worm hole opened into another black hole and regurgitated information in the intended year. Javeria from future urged Arif that he leave her in the present time, for the marriage had not been a fruitful one. She expected that very soon, the others would follow suit; by the month end, a dozen Javerias from the future (respective universes) would had contacted Arif; some would have begged for him to leave the present one, others would have referred to a future event around the time of November 2010 when he would be required to act in such and such fashion to avert a major catastrophe. But this did not happen. She was the only one who had contacted Arif; after weeks of trepidation, Javeria finally reasoned with herself – perhaps there aren’t any other universes around; if there are, they haven’t found the time machine.
The event in November, referred to as Point Of Insemination by the people from future was to be the first of its kind. A POI occurred when the fabric of time was abused; the resulting rupture rippled across the space-time continuum giving birth to multiple universes. An established POI in the present time spawned nascent universes in the fecund sea of time; post the inception, universes, as babies torn from umbilical cord lived volitionally, grew separately on their own accord. Most of these child universes eventually died if they were not sufficiently suckled by the mother universe – the installations such as the LHC, CERN, Geneva , although spawned nascent universes, never accomplished the feat of providing for the infants. The inherent nature of these experiments did not account for accidental birth of universes, neither did they apportion energy to establish contact by means of a worm hole or otherwise. But the time machine in the underground parlour of Birla Museum, Hyderabad, which eventually succeeded to drill worm holes and establish contact, by virtue of its finding, accounted for energy to maintain contact with the nascent universes. The whole process, many believed, mimicked the human childhood; just as the human infant has to be provided for, in the initial days, for about three years; energy was expended by the mother universe in establishing contact. Then, the umbilical cord or the energy connection had to be withdrawn, for the spawned universes grew so large as in the stead of enjoying passive provision, they exhibited active suction of energy that threatened to deprive the mother universe of its core energy.
“Have you made your choice yet” Arif read through the one liner, looked all over the screen hoping for an elaboration on the question. The first POI, which was to be the primogenitor of many such, was to take place inside the Birla science museum, two days from now. The team conducting archaeological survey in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh state had found something strange – a titanium slate pitted with flakes of tungsten the size of a two wheeler; engraved on it were numbers 2,0,3,2. It was transported to Hyderabad last year. Apparently, the first POI was to involve an accidental interaction of this slate with the time machine; a group of thugs were to gain access to the museum and run off with the titanium slate. An unlikely event was to fire up the time machine, still under construction, and an interaction of tungsten with the laser beams of the machine was to excite it leading to the birth of an idea. Without this idea, Javeria explained to Arif, the time machine will never materialise into reality.
“to absorb this idea, a scientist has to be present there, you will see to that” Javeria wrote “a delay of interaction of the slate with the machine, would mean a catastrophe. For, the next interaction would occur in 2043; the umbilical cord that supplied energy from your universe to ours will be removed around this time. It is 2031 here, our universe is priming up to separate from the mother. We can only survive for another year or two without the mother universe’s energy provisions. Our universe would cease to exist as an option for you in 2043, because you would be in our future. We are trying to convince you to accept us as your future; if you don’t we will be left wandering in the limbo till our residual energy is exhausted and eventually lead to our death. We cannot let that happen, I warn you that we will perform a suction of energy and cause irreparable damage to the mother universe”
Arif picked up the android phone and dialled his own number “Hi Arif. Javeria here…” the sound of the inside of a hosepipe survived those few words. Then a mail arrived from Javeria “work on telephonic connection between 2010 and 2032 is still in beta stage. Reply to the email” Arif thought for a while- There are multiple universes and only one of them have made contact which essentially indicates that a time machine has been invented in that universe alone. The present is incentivised in choosing the universe with a time machine as the future and establish permanent energy fixtures along space-time continuum. But laying the foundations of permanent fixtures would rule out any flexibility; present will be interspersed with future as two coils of a DNA and the foundation is irrevocable; a repair would mean irrecoverable damage to both the sides. People of Javeria’s universe realise that although in the nascent ages their universe was supplied for, now it no longer is. Their time is running short, either they are to become the future and permanently seal their position in the space-time continuum or perish altogether.
The decision rested in Arif’s hands. But why him? In her next mail, Javeria clarified “although the time machine’s findings were made public, information regarding a chief component, one that was made of tungsten and titanium, were withheld from public….announcement of the machine’s access to public ensued pandemonium resulting in mayhem; public went haywire and men killed each other….the army was deployed in Hyderabad to put things into order, but a certain major tried to put the machine to use secretly for his personal benefit and this lead to further aggravation of rioting and unrest….two months down the line, people realised that they could not get the machine to work despite the killings and despite the dutiful following of procedures…..a notorious gang of rebel army began killing the scientists one by one, it is at this stage that my father, one of the six men who worked on the project, left all the details regarding the time machine including the hitherto withheld information with me”
Arif intently read the last five lines “In the documents, there was the mention of how the titanium slate was to be made a source for the worm hole that was planned….Hyderabad was reduced to rubble in the next two weeks; my father was killed and so were the other scientists and their kin…how I survived is a mystery to myself, a man from the rebel group tricked his own people into believing that I was killed….the deception cost him his life” Arif squinted here. could it be that the man was him in the future? This future certainly appalled him. it was a future of the greatest invention man has ever made, but it was not the one of peace and tranquillity. It was the future where he was married to Javeria, but it was not a happy communion.
Should he present himself at the Birla science museum and make sure that the future is secure with a time machine albeit a chaotic one that reels with moral decay. Indeed, one cannot let go of the greatest invention of our civilisation, even if it comes at a cost of mayhem.
It took him a while, but at the end of it, Arif had a clear mind. He wished for a future with time machine but not a future that wedded panic stricken people. He realised that now he knew how to secure the time machine for future – he should interfere at the Birla museum.
To unchain the panic stricken future from the peaceful present, he has to untether the only connection that has been achieved from 2032 to 2010- Javeria.
On the morning of November 14 2010, Arif killed Javeria. She was the only one who contacted from 2032. killing her made sure that the present was open for a future, not necessarily locked into the one with moral decay; one with people threatening to suck out the mother’s energy.
Also, he interfered at the Birla museum and made sure that future was secure with a time machine.
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