Rosalind rubbed her face as she examined the readout from the atom she was observing. A week ago she'd happened to witness an anomaly in the atom, and it was so far being reticent in repeating the anomaly. She wondered if she'd truly seen anything, or if she'd been too tired. Her back ached, her eyelids felt heavy, and she had some studying to do before the test she was taking in the morning. It was her true final test before graduating with her bachelor's degree. She had already secured a school to attend for her masters. Radcliffe was one of the best colleges for women in America. Rosalind was eager to see how the attitudes toward women there compared to those at Oxford. She thought ruefully of her first day of class, laughing softly to herself. It could hardly be worse.
She put pen to paper, noting the time and date with a sigh. No anomaly. In half an hour it would be exactly the time she'd observed it the previous week. In an hour she assumed she'd be in bed, dreaming of the fruits of her labors. She wrote down the rest of the day's observations, including a small bit about her hopes for the Lutece Particle. She made a note in the margin to come up with a better name for the thing, then settled in to while away the last part of the night.
The anomaly happened again five minutes to midnight. She gasped, clutching her viewer tightly. It was blinking on and off. She shouted with triumph, pleased to have been right about the anomaly. It went on for quite some time. At first she assumed the motion was random, but the flickering was almost too precise. It seemed to turn off for either a short or long span of time, but those spans were all uniform in length. She gasped after a moment and hurriedly started to note the flashes. She was almost certain she was wrong, but it looked like Morse code. After writing down a good portion of the code she rushed to her bookcase, drawing books off of it in a mad dash to find the one about cryptography. She found it between the organic chemistry book and the edge of the shelf, then rushed back to translate. She couldn't recall feeling this amount of childish glee even when she'd been a child. It felt like the universe itself was talking to her. For all she knew it actually was.
She looked at her notation, then carefully deciphered it. (Ou i see you i see) She gasped again, her heart pounding in her chest. She looked at the atom again. It was no longer blinking. She dashed to the dynamo that powered her machine. She had never observed the atom and worked with it at the same time. She flickered the machine into motion, bouncing nervously on the balls of her feet as it wheezed to life. Hopefully she wouldn't overpower the viewer. She was desperate for a response. When she had the machine running she rushed to the controls, working a lever to send her message. It began with a full stop. She rushed to the book again and repeated the code she'd been sent once in the correct order. (I see you)
She rushed back to the viewer, breathless with anticipation. Her hands clutched her book so hard she thought she might damage it. She didn't care. This was possibly the moment she'd been waiting for since she had the dream that showed her she could be more than a housewife or a mother.
The atom began to flicker again and Rosalind was careful to note the sequence. (What's your name?)
She laughed at that. The delight she felt was more than she could possibly describe. She wrote out her next message, then went back to work the lever again. The machine protested to be used in this manner. She'd have to be careful if she wanted to avoid breaking it. (Rosalind Lutece. What is yours?)
She ran back and watched the screen. There was a slight delay, she saw the full stop at the end of her message flash, then a somewhat long pause. (Robert Lutece. You don't know how long I've been looking for you)
Rosalind felt her stomach tighten as the implications set in. She stared at her neat handwriting, making sure she'd deciphered the note correctly. She wrote a brief message, flying through it as though she might forget midway, or lose her nerve. She worked the lever without a thought for the safety of the machine, she was so desperate to communicate with this man. (I do. I have searched for you all my life)
She realized that she would have to move the viewer closer to the lever if this was to keep up much longer. Her body was already aching from the effort. "I must remember to participate the next time I am invited to play a game." She noted, rubbing her arm. Her ached were forgotten when the blinking began again. (I have so much to say. Where can I begin?)
She laughed when she read what he'd sent, nodding in agreement. "What can we say to each other? What words could possibly be adequate for what you represent to me?" She thought for a moment about her next words, then translated them and began to work the lever again. (Share your notes with me, and I shall share mine with you. Together we can find a better way to communicate)
She sat at the viewer this time, thinking that he might send a long message in return. She hoped he wouldn't be suspicious of his motives. His research was almost certainly as dear to him as her own was to her. Still, they would get farther working together, so she waited. The message she received was much shorter than anticipated, and quite disappointing. (No time. Test tomorrow. We'll talk tomorrow night?)
She sighed softly. She remembered her own final and realized she didn't have time to send her own notes by this slow method, anyway. She stood again and went back to the lever. (Yes. Same time. Good luck.) She wondered if he'd reply again, and went to peer into the viewer.
He did indeed reply, and she found herself smiling widely when she saw it. (I'm so happy to meet you, Rosalind. Good night. End of transmission) She shut her book, slumping in her chair as she considered what this meant for her work. The proof of alternate universes was something she'd thought she'd find shortly before dying, not shortly before starting her master's program. She was overwhelmed by the possibilities this would give her, the knowledge she'd obtain. iShe wasn't alone anymore./i The knowledge sent shivers down her spine. She looked around at the mess she'd made in her haste to find the cryptography book. For once she let chaos reign, shoving the books off the bed before preparing to sleep. Her future was already decided: tomorrow's test was just a formality.