Kairos – Chapter 4
DISCLAIMER: Most of these characters are not mine at all, but they are memorable. Thank you, Mr. Marlowe. The others? Yeah, they're mine.
.
Friday – April 26, 2013, 5:08 p.m., Seven floors below street level at a warehouse in South Brooklyn
.
Dr. Sandra Windholm smiles as she takes a seat in one of the six chairs that sit atop the raised platform on the large basement structure at Kronologix. It never fails. Regardless of where one falls in the time travel conundrum – believer or skeptic – the reaction to the 'mega block party' as one of her graduate assistants dubbed the demonstration process is always constant.
Total, flabbergasting awe. Followed by a bit of fear.
As she has learned to do in the past, the doctor simply sits, and observes the couple. She has told them – in boring but descriptive terms – what they have just witnessed. Experience with countless past demonstrations has taught her to now shut up and allow her 'audience' – if you will – to process what they have just witnessed. It's no small task as both Castle and Kate Beckett are now seated across from the doctor, both almost falling backward into their chairs, trying to square in their minds what they have just seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears.
"That toy block just went back in time, landing at this very spot on April 26, 2009. Four years ago. It then spent exactly five hours sitting in that spot before automatically bringing itself back to a space-time point exactly twenty seconds after it left."
It takes a few more seconds before Castle finally speaks up. He is obviously talking to Dr. Windholm, but his gaze is planted firmly on Kate Beckett.
"I . . . I don't believe it," he says aloud. "I mean, I want to believe it . . . I do . . . but Doctor, that's . . ."
"Impossible," Kate completes his sentence, and now turns her attention to the doctor who sits across from them, watching them with a curious, calm detachment.
"Say that again," Castle finally requests, after another four or five seconds of silence from Dr. Windholm when it becomes clear that the doctor isn't offering any further explanation. "Please."
Dr. Windholm smiles, stands, and walks to the table and opens the box. She retrieves the red toy mega block and brings it back to the chairs. She tosses the block toward Kate, who catches it easily. She pulls her chair closer to the couple, so that she is now sitting less than two feet across from them.
"That block was deconstructed."
She goes silent, staring at the couple, waiting for an acknowledgement. She gets it a few seconds later.
"Okay," Castle replies.
"Once deconstructed – broken down into digital data – it was transmitted through a wormhole that we opened.
"What wormhole?" Kate asks. "Where was the –"
"The box," Castle whispers, suddenly putting the pieces together in his mind, as if it were a scene in one of his books. If only he could have conceived of such a scene.
"Correct, Mr. Castle," Dr. Windholm replies in response. The glass box – which is far, far more than just a glass box – contains the wormhole. Stabilizes the tunnel allowing the transmission to proceed. Then tears it down."
"But how did you deconstruct the block?" Kate asks, still skeptical but not willing to totally dismiss what she has seen with her own eyes.
"The bracelet," Castle replies quickly, as his mind continues to piece together what his eyes have seen.
"Correct again, Mr. Castle," the doctor nods, impressed. It is rare that one of her 'witnesses' begins to put it all together so quickly. "The bracelet . . . well, it is easier to just show you first, then explain."
She stands and walks to the edge of the platform. Just when it appears she is ready to fall off the edge into a four foot plunge to the floor deck below, she stops, her hands raised and obviously coming into contact with something along the wall. Except there is no wall.
Is there?
"We're inside a glass structure?" Kate asks in realization.
"Very good, Detective," Dr. Windholm answers. "A very remarkable glass. Completely transparent. Neither of you saw it. And I still don't see it, even though I am standing right next to it," she marvels.
"Another golden egg?" Castle muses aloud.
"In a manner of speaking," the doctor replies with a sudden look of sadness. It disappears as quickly as it appeared.
"This . . . it is . . . this is from a . . . an ex-colleague," she finally manages.
Before Castle or Kate can ask for an elaboration, the doctor swings the conversation into a different direction by moving her hands toward a large red button. Castle stares in wonder, realizing that until she moved her hand to the button, he didn't even see it, even though it is 'on the wall' right next to her. It appears to be floating in the air.
"Curiouser and Curiouser," he remarks.
"Far closer than you think, Mr. Castle," the doctor chuckles as she hits the red button. Suddenly, black metal walls rise out of the platform and rise up some fifteen feet into the air. At fifteen feet, they intersect with a black ceiling – the top of the box in which they have unknowingly been seated. Castle nods his head, realizing that the entire raised platform is – in fact – a self-contained box in itself.
The final click in place throws the room into complete darkness, save a holographic image resting in the hands of Kate Beckett, who almost drops the block in her hands in surprise.
"Okay, now that is totally cool!" Castle exults, to the amusement of Dr. Windholm. He stares with Kate at the holographic image of the red mega block that hovers about a foot above the real block still in Kate's hands.
"What you are seeing is a virtually accurate – and recall our discussion on the word 'virtually' – a virtually accurate representation of the block in the detective's hands," Windholm tells Castle.
"Detective, the bracelet around the mega block reads the chemical organization, physical attributes and physical appearance of the block, and recreates it in the holographic image you see – which is invisible to the naked eye in normal lighting. Here in the darkness, however, you can see exactly what the bracelet is doing. Toss it to me."
"But – the image," Kate begins.
"The image is simply that for now," Dr. Windholm explains. "An image. A representation. It will not be harmed."
Kate complies, tossing the block toward the doctor. It is a surreal sight, watching the holographic image of the block spin in the air as it travels toward the doctor along with the real block. Windholm catches the block and moves expertly toward the table, using the light from the holographic image to light her way. She places the image back in the glass-like container.
Dr. Windholm walks back toward the computer keyboard, still using the light from the holographic image and the computer monitor on the table to guide her, humming a tune. She stops at the keyboard and enters the same commands.
"Okay, now that you have seen the magic act," she chuckles, "watch closely so you can see what is actually happening."
She clicks the same icon to launch the process. Now, in the darkness, they can see the holographic image of the mega block seemingly waver for a brief instant, then collapse back into the bracelet that surrounds the red mega block. At the same time, the mega block itself disintegrates into a tiny puddle of white dust at the bottom of the container. A second later, the bracelet itself disappears.
"Time travel occurs through a wormhole," Dr. Windholm begins. "Digital representations – copies, if you will – are created and sent through a curvature in space-time that we create. The digital copies are created by the bracelet. The curvature is created by the container you see.
Suddenly, the bracelet reappears inside the 'glass' container, and almost instantaneously, the mega block reappears. A second later, the holographic image of the mega block reappears, hovering a foot above the block itself.
Each time an object – or a person – goes through, however, we are tearing that object or person down and putting it – or him or her – back together."
She turns, and using the light from the holograph, walks back to the now black walls and finds the large red button. There is a circular space cut out in the wall, corresponding with the location of the red button. Depressing the button, the black walls smoothly slide back down into the floor below, bringing natural light back into the room.
"So – if this had been a real person – had this been you, Mr. Castle – you would be wearing the bracelet," she continues, walking back toward the couple. "The bracelet creates a replica – an image – of you. Using patented 3D technology, it creates a virtually identical version of you. Then it breaks its host – you, physically – down into data, a digital representation of you. Now – at that precise instant – everything you are is now contained within this bracelet," she tells him as she pulls a second bracelet from her white lab coat pocket.
"The storage capabilities of this bracelet have to be . . . it has to be massive," Castle marvels.
"Right again, Mr. Castle," the doctor nods, then continues. "The holographic image captures your physical attributes, which is the final piece. Once all of this is loaded, so to speak, the bracelet deconstructs itself and collapses inside the wormhole. It now contains you – everything about you – how you look, how you think, your memories, everything. Along with that, it contains its own program. Inside that program – which is already nothing more than ones and zeroes – digital information – are the instructions on how to traverse the wormhole, and how to reconstruct itself – and its inhabitants – once the journey is complete."
She stops, checking for understanding.
"Say that last part again, one more time please," Kate requests, her eyes squinting in a quizzical manner. She's trying to understand this. More, she is trying to believe what she has seen.
"Certainly, Detective," Dr. Windholm replies. The bracelet – in addition to housing the deconstructed version of you – also houses its own instructions on what to do. Which specifically tells it how to traverse the wormhole, how to reconstruct itself on the other side, and how to reconstruct its inhabitant –"
"Me," Kate interrupts.
"Yes, you," Dr. Windholm confirms. "Once it gets to the other side, it reconstructs you. It keeps itself contained on your arm. And this part is crucial," she tells them, looking back and forth between the two as she sits again across from them.
"You must keep the bracelet on at all times while you are back in the past, on the other side. The bracelet keeps contact with you. That contact tells the bracelet that you are okay. That contact tells the bracelet – which is the conduit now – that contact tells the bracelet to continue running it's program."
"What program is that?" Castle asks.
"Once you are reconstructed, the bracelet is programmed to automatically return after a precise, specific and pre-determined amount of time. This is a very exact process. If the connection is broken – if the bracelet senses loss of contact – it assumes that its host is no longer viable."
She pauses, watching their heads nod in understanding.
"If the contact between you and bracelet is broken, it assumes you are dead. And it terminates the program, and automatically returns itself to the programmed coordinates – which are the latitude and longitude of its starting position before traversing the wormhole."
"But there is no glass container . . . er, box . . . on the other side, Doctor," Castle argues. "Therefore, there is no wormhole there for it to return through."
"Very, very good, Mr. Castle," Windholm acknowledges, pleased with his deduction. "But remember what I told you. The mega block spent five hours back in 2009. Four years in the past. But how long did the wormhole here – inside the box you see – stay open?" she asks, pointing back at the box.
"About fifteen seconds or so," Kate says aloud, now nodding her head in understanding.
"Actually twenty seconds, detective, but you are understanding, which is good," Windholm tells her. "Five hours passed in real time for the block, in the past. But here, in the present, only twenty seconds passed." She stands up and walks to a white board hanging on the wall – the wall that is transparent. Only now are Castle and Kate beginning to see these things – red buttons, white boards . . . and a door! A door leading, apparently, into the earth rock structure.
"The wormhole was opened, and the bracelet – and its cargo, if you will – were transmitted, for lack of a better term, through the wormhole," Dr. Windholm tells them, completing the discussion. "The wormhole stays open – and stable – for twenty seconds before terminating. Before closing."
"And so the bracelet," Castle begins, "which is now on the other side, is programmed to return within twenty seconds of elapsed time in our . . . our –"
"Our space-time, Mr. Castle," she tells him, and is pleased to see two heads nodding.
"So, here are the caveats. The bad news, if you will," she smiles strangely, picking up a blue marker and writing on the board. She writes the number '1', and writes the word 'Bracelet'.
"First of all, the bracelet is the conduit. Contact must always be made between you and bracelet. If that contact is broken, the bracelet terminates the program, and immediately returns without you."
"That means we're stuck," Castle says with a note of alarm.
"That means you're stuck," the doctor concurs.
"How does one get back?" Kate asks.
"One doesn't," the doctor replies. She allows another moment of quiet to fall in the room, allowing Castle and Kate to reflect on what they have just head.
"That's a big problem," Castle decides.
"No," the doctor argues. "That is a caveat. Nothing more. It is a known entity that must be avoided."
Castle opens his mouth to speak, but she raises a hand, politely silencing him.
"Mr. Castle, put yourself on the beach. You are standing at the edge of the ocean. You are out of breath. You have been swimming in the ocean, and you have seen incredible sights under the water. But you can only hold your breath for so long before you have to come back up. The solution to your problem is an air tank with a diving regulator, allowing you to breath underwater. The caveat – however – is that you cannot take the mouthpiece out of your mouth, and you can't stay down longer than your air supply. Those aren't problems, Mr. Castle. Those are simply caveats that accompany the solution. In this case, the bracelet, which contains knowledge of your DNA, must remain in contact with your DNA during the entirety of the journey. If that contact is broken, then you are effectively marooned."
Reluctantly, the novelist nods his head in understanding, if not agreement.
"The second caveat," Dr. Windholm continues, as she writes the number '2' on the board, "is the time frame. So far, the longest we can allow a person to stay back in time, as it were, is twenty hours." She writes '20 hours' on the board, then turns to face the couple.
"How did you find that out?" Kate asks.
"The hard way," Dr. Windholm replies, and her firm gaze does not invite – or allow for – any further questions.
"The third caveat," she continues, now writing the number '3' on the white board, "is one that we placed upon ourselves, one that we put in place, in code contained within the bracelet."
She writes the word 'Failsafe' next to the number '3', and continues speaking.
"In order to minimize the likelihood that a time traveler will attempt to alter their own past, we have implemented a failsafe. The closer one gets to his or her doppelganger from that time period, the more the bracelet will attempt to repel you away from that person."
Seeing the confusion in their eyes, she elaborates.
"Only one of you can exist within the same time continuum. The bracelet will ensure that it destroys the DNA provider – the wearer of the bracelet – if proximity to the original owner of that time period is breached. You cannot come within fifty feet of your doppelganger, or you will be destroyed. So the time traveler will always be extinguished at the expense of the original owner of that time period when traveling to the past. Despite some scientist's negations of the grandfather paradox, if the original is killed, then the time traveler will cease to exist upon their return to their time period. The bracelet will always protect the DNA of the resident of the oldest space-time period. If you go back to, say, 2010, the bracelet protects the resident of 2010. If you go forward to 2020, the bracelet protects you, the original. And to answer your question – no, we have not sent anyone forward in time."
"But what if – and just go with me on this, I just like to see all angles," an excited Castle asks, drawing a chuckle from his companion. "What if I go back and accidently kill my . . . my doppelganger in the past? Not that I would want to, mind you, but just the idea –"
"That's where the second failsafe comes into play, Mr. Castle," Dr. Windholm interrupts. Caveat 2 is tells us that the longest you can stay in the past is twenty hours."
"Yes, you mentioned that," Kate agrees. "I assume at twenty hours, the bracelet automatically brings you back."
"No, Detective," the doctor tells her. "At twenty hours, your body disintegrates. For reasons we have yet to discover, the body's stability in the past is altered. It is the return journey back to our present time which seems to re-establish full stability."
"So you're saying that if one goes back and stays beyond twenty hours, one dies," Castle says aloud, asking for clarification.
"Yes," Dr. Windholm replies.
"And if one takes off the bracelet, the bracelet detects that and automatically returns to our present time," he continues.
"Yes," the doctor confirms again.
"And . . ." Kate pauses for a moment, offering a glance at Castle before continuing.
"If the bracelet is taken off, then that person is marooned, stuck in the past," Kate repeats.
"Yes," Dr. Windholm confirms yet again.
"But only for twenty hours," Castle remarks.
"And then you disintegrate," Kate finishes his thought.
"Yes, and yes," Dr. Windholm replies.
The trio is quiet for a few seconds, before Castle breaks the silence.
"Well, that's one hell of a caveat," he says, wiping his now-furrowed brow, and bringing nervous laughter to the room.
"We want to be able to go back into the past and observe, document, record – nothing more," Dr. Windholm reminds them. "If scientific history has taught us anything, it is this: Nature, or creation, has its own order. The more you mess with creation, the more you have to mess with creation. The more you mess with the natural order, the more you must continue to mess with that natural order."
"I'm not sure I understand," Kate asks, glancing at Castle who seems to understand, based upon his facial expression.
"Maybe that's obvious to a scientist or a writer . . . but I'm just a cop" she chuckles, and Castle laughs with her. It's a theme he has heard from her numerous times, dating all the way back to their earliest cases together. When he was a thorn in her side . . . a pain in her ass. Her words, not his.
"What this means, Detective, is the more you alter nature, the more you are forced to continue altering nature," Dr. Windholm tells her. "We add chemicals to our foods, which leads to unseen consequences for us –"
"Which forces us to add more chemicals to foods," Castle muses in understanding. "We alter the oceans with trash, with excessive fishing, with chemicals –"
"Which forces us to further alter the oceans," Dr. Windholm continues his thought process. "Our food, the animal habitats, the oceans, the very air we breathe, the water we drink . . . the more we alter these things, the more we must continue to alter these things. Now put that into the context of time travel. You make one change, one small alteration, and you will be forced to make hundreds of other alterations – all in an attempt to reset the status quo . . . which, however, will never be re-set," she warns.
"The natural order of things – people, places, events – they all must be preserved," she continues. "We are not encouraging the change of that natural order in the past. We only wish to observe."
The trio falls into a comfortable silence again, while Kate and Castle ponder things, unknowingly grasping the other's hands, allowing their fingers to intertwine. Finally, Castle raises his eyes, and glances at the door on the transparent wall, which seems to go right into the rock structure.
"So Dr. Windholm," he asks. "Where does that door lead?"
The doctor smiles broadly, pulling herself upright out of her chair.
"I thought you would never ask," she tells him, smiling. She walks to the door, and stops, turning to face them.
"Well? Are you coming or not?"
.
A/N: Again – my disclaimer for this story. The science / science fiction in this story is completely, 100% my take on different facts, theories and suppositions that have been postulated. They are – under no circumstances – to be considered or argued as scientific fact. This is just a science fiction story starring our favorite couple. So – I hope you are enjoying / intrigued by the possibilities as it relates to them – not the science.
As always, thank you for reading. On to chapter 5 . . .