Chapter 2 – Jinling

A.D. 2300

"What is time?" Professor Balthasar asked his class.

Miss Ashtear and Miss Lan raised their hands.

"Miss Lan may answer this," said the Professor.

"Time is an extension of space into four dimensions. We sometimes call it spacetime."

"That's the right track," said Professor Balthasar, "but it's not exactly correct. Would Miss Ashtear like to try her luck?"

"Indeed I would," said Miss Ashtear. "I read the book. The nature of time itself is not well understood, but we can say a few things about it when we model it, with space, as a four dimensional manifold carrying with it a Lorenz metric, which satisfies the Field Equations."

"Good, Miss Ashtear," said the Professor. "Now, what does that have to do with gravity?"

"Gravity is a manifestation of the curvature of the Lorenz metric."

Miss Lan pouted. "I knew that, you know."

"You will speak when called upon, Miss Jinling," said Professor Balthasar. "You had your chance."

Miss Lan bowed her head. Her hair slipped in front of her face, masking her shame.

"As for the rest of you, everything Miss Ashtear said is, indeed, in the textbook. I assure you it's an interesting read. After all, I wrote it. I would know. I just hope you agree with me, if you wish to pass the exam."

A few students groaned. A few others opened their book bags and put their copies of Temporal Mathematics, 12th Ed., on their desktops.

"Next class's reading is on the nature of Nu. Does anyone here happen to have read ahead? I'm interested. The subject still fascinates me."

Two hands went up again.

"Miss Ashtear?"

XXX

A.D. 2200

"Lucca?"

"Nu is what you called the blue guys we ran into throughout the time stream, isn't it?"

"It is," said Balthasar, "but there's more to the concept than that."

"There is?" Lucca looked puzzled. "Maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. Those guys always creeped me out a little."

Balthasar chuckled. "They'll do that because they are, in the end, related to the essence of everything."

"No kidding?" said Lucca. "That's what you said in your journal, isn't it?"

"My journal?"

"Back in… Oh, you didn't know I read that, did you?"

Balthasar blushed. "You found my secret rooms in Zeal, didn't you? Clever girl."

"It wasn't that hard," said Lucca.

"I'm disappointed, then. If you're right, then dozens of people probably broke in and snooped around through the years. That creeps me out!"

It was Lucca's turn to chuckle. "Nice, old man. What about Nu, though?"

"Nu," said Balthasar. "The beginning and the end. It's actually just part of the equation."

"Part? You said everything began and ended with just Nu."

"That was my belief back then, but I have since learned more."

"Do tell," said Lucca. "Nu is only part of it, and?"

"Calabi is the other half. I don't suppose you ran into any of them?"

"Not that I can remember."

"Of course you didn't. They're only theoretical, but they're important. They're important to the structure of matter."

"Why is that?"

"Remember my book?"

"Which one?"
"Temporal Mathematics."

"How could I forget? That's your masterpiece."

"Then how did you forget about Calabi?"

"I… oh!" Lucca almost jumped out of her seat.

"You get it now, Lucca. Calabi-Nu manifolds."

"Yes, of course. What about them, though?"

"Aren't you at all curious why I named them the way I did?"

"Come to think of it, I glossed over that when I read the book. Why did you?"

"This is something I haven't yet published, but I'm sure of it. Remember, if we model spacetime with a traditional four-dimensional manifold, we get results we want from Relativity, right?"

"Right. And if we add the six-dimensional Calabi-Nu manifold, we can say a lot about the observable dynamics of quantum field theory."

"Correct. But reconciling everything is problematic. At least, it was until now."

"Really? You've… you've come up with a unified field theory?"

"I'm on track to get one." Balthasar clapped his hands together in triumph. "See, if we assume that the Calabi-Nu manifolds, or varieties, exist in three complex dimensions…"

"Ooh, I remember my complex analysis."

"Yes, we might have room to talk about two completely separate realms of timeless creatures. The Nu come from one, and the Calabi come from the other."

"Does this have anything to do with the mirror symmetry of the Betti numbers?"

"Hodge numbers. And I'm still working on all of this. All I know is I'm getting very close to being able to build something incredible. Something beyond my wildest dreams. Something you've seen before."

Lucca stroked her chin for a moment before blurting out, "A time machine!"

XXX

A.D. 2300

Professor Balthasar addressed his class one final time before dismissal.

"I want you all to think about what we discussed today. The geometry of time is a complex subject in many senses, but are our current models complete? I mean complete in the non-mathematical sense, not the analytic sense. Could there be anything beyond the Calabi-Nu model? These are open research questions. I want you all to consider what you've learned, and I want you to become the next generation of temporal scientists. I want you to explore new frontiers. I want all this, and I also want… some lunch. Class dismissed."

The Professor abruptly stalked out the door, leaving his class murmuring. Most of the students merely shook their heads at what they heard, passing all the romantic notions off as the ravings of an old man, well past his prime. Two, however, were eager to continue thinking about the subject on the way to lunch.

"Sam!" said the first, Lan Jinling. "You want to have lunch together?"

Samsara Ashtear replied, "I would very much, thanks. Where?"

"The usual. And I want to talk about today's lecture."

"That's good to hear. With Balthasar so old and ill, it's hard to find anyone interested enough to talk about his work. Outside of class, anyway."

Jinling giggled. "I'm always here for ya, you know."

"I know," said Samsara. "That's a friend for you."

"Friends, yes," said Jinling. "Friends with dreams."

"Dreams?" Samsara gave a quizzical look.

"Talk as we walk," said Jinling. "I'm famished."

"Fine, but what dreams?"

"Dreams of surpassing Balthasar."

"That's my dream! You can't take up my family's mantle."

"The Ashtears can be the scientists, but I want to be an engineer," said Jinling. "Or an explorer. Once I make my breakthrough, I want to build a ship that can travel places even Balthasar's Epoch couldn't reach."

"Lofty, indeed," said Samsara. "I don't even think Mother got that far."

"She and Balthasar came awfully close to something big. Heck, they might even have found something. I always got the idea that they weren't telling us everything. Like they were holding back some discovery that was too frightening to reveal."

Samsara smirked. "She was an arrogant hothead, Mother."

"She had a good heart, though. Taking in those orphans."

"Yeah, but why was she in such a hurry to ship me off and settle down?"

"Obviously, she wanted you to get a better education than you would have gotten in the 11th century."

"Obviously," said Samsara. "Still, she always seemed a little afraid of something, like a giant clawed had was going to pop out of nowhere and snatch her away, never to be seen again. She had to be the most nervous person I had ever met. I think some of that rubbed off on me."

"Some tofurkey will calm you down, I think."

"Eww, they're serving tofurkey again?"

"Importing real birds is expensive. You know how much tuition would be if we had every meal shipped up from the planet?"

"Still, eww."

XXX

Beyond Time

Dripping. Dipping. Then a rush, then a flow, and then a pouring. Chrono drifted behind Disenchantment, feeling like a log on a river, speeding up on the approach to a waterfall. Even the sky looked liquidy. Inky black, red waves, violet ripples. Below, the Sea sloshed around as if in an agitator. Everything looked the same in all four directions.

"Disenchantment?" Chrono asked.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Where are we going?"

"I already told you. Hang on now! Bumpy spot."

Disenchantment's worlds seemed to summon an even rougher patch of timeless ocean. Chrono felt himself swept away by his fairy guide, faster and faster. His feet left the surface of the Sea, and he felt as if he were floating. Then falling. Disenchantment held fast, but she, too, began a descent into a blackness where, suddenly, there was no Sea.

"This is our first stop on the way to the Castle," said Disenchantment.

"Stop? We're going to stop?" Chrono asked hopefully.

"Not for a few minutes," said Disenchantment, "but we are nearing a place of relatively safer passage."

"Relatively?"

"A storm brews. We must seek shelter."

"Storms out here? This place is…"

"This place is my home and, now, it is yours. Do not speak ill of it."

Chrono winced. A windlike noise filled his ears as he and Disenchantment continued their downward journey. After what seemed to Chrono like an hour, they landed softly on a wet, mossy rock. Behind them, the Sea sat at an impossibly steep angle, like the foot of a watery hill. Chrono tried not to think about it.

"Ahead of us," said Disenchantment, "is where we shall now travel. This is your first real landmark since you have arrived in this place. Treasure it."

"Where are we?" Chrono let go of Disenchantment's hand and sat down on the stone floor, panting.

Disenchantment's dangerous smile crossed her face. "We have come to Jinling Caverns."