Knowledge

Knowledge is power... or is it?

Knowledge

By Elijah Sullins

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It was dark again.

The red dot of light in front of him blinked slowly, reflecting off his glasses and illuminating the soft blackness with its pulsating glow. He focused on it, struggling to get a grip on himself as seconds ticked away. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to think, and digging his fingers into his palms as his mind churned.

His glasses were starting to fog with his breath in the confined space, and the molded plastic hugging his back was sticky with sweat. The white metal walls inches from his shoulders began vibrating as he watched the numbers on the glass display hovering before his eyes climb with increasing speed.

He took a deep breath and held it, forcing himself to gain his composure in his last moments of solitude. He released his breath, slowly, and faced the reality that an hour before he never imagined. He still couldn't imagine it, but he was almost back, and even though he couldn’t come back soon enough, it was too soon. He wasn’t ready, how could he be after what he had seen?

The lights stopped flashing, and the motion in the walls around increased. New lights suddenly flashed to life at his feet, simultaneously with more at his head, and he winced in the darkness. Then the hum around him slowly died, he was back, and he knew in a moment the door would open. The decision was easy, and he surprised himself, realizing he had already made it unconsciously as he had stood stricken with horror, moments, a week before. Latches within the door clicked loudly in the new silence, and as the door opened, he dismissed the lurking idea of cowardice that suddenly nagged at him.

Light poured in, and with it, a tense silence that erupted into cheers as he stepped out into the air, cold after the confines of the machine.

He saw Darwin’s scruffy face first, but lost sight of it as Morris rolled forward in his wheelchair. His English accent was as heavy as ever, and wasted no words as he said: “Welcome back, Victor. And how was the future?”

He summoned enthusiasm that didn’t exist. “It was exactly as you said. Flying cars—“

Behind him, Margaret interrupted sharply. “Victor, what was it like?”

He turned. “Everything was the same, what can you expect? It was a field test, we only went forward a week.”

The small crowd split and Darwin emerged, his beady eyes peering steadily at him. He reached for his hand and shook it firmly. “Excellent job, doctor.”

***

Hours later, he was back. This time, slipping through doors and staying in the shadows instead of being escorted through them with with anticipation in his stomach and jealous, nervous colleagues around him. Even now, he was sure he was being eagerly awaited at the bar down the street. He dismissed it from his mind, after a few drinks no one would miss him.

He raised his badge to a door handle and winced inside as the clicking of the lock echoed loudly down the dark hall. He turned the handle slowly, as if being quieter now would make up for the sound of the lock. Then he was inside, and he closed the door softly behind him.

There it was, the machine, a vertical coffin held by tentacles of steel and wires. No swimming pools of blue energy to step into, just a box the size of a man. A magic box that had taken the most brilliant minds decades to build, a box that hours before had sprung him into the future.

He was suddenly back inside, seeing the door open on the future for the first time, stepping out on the other side for the first time, being the first man to go into the future. And now he would be the last. He stood in the darkness, remembering the circumstances of his election. A piece of paper in Darwin's upturned bowler hat, an unlucky choice that had made him an ambassador of the future. A future, he decided, that no one would ever know.

It didn't matter though, he told himself. If someone else had taken place, the future would remain the same. Even if no one had gone, today, a week would still be ticking away. Knowledge is not power, he thought. I have knowledge, and I'm powerless.

He moved forward in the darkness.

The tiny light in his hand wobbled as he fumbled with a panel on the side of the bulk looming in the darkness, but his experienced finger had done it a hundred times. Now he was undoing it. He leaned it softly against his leg, then produced a screwdriver, a primitive tool beside this technological wonder that moved time.

He made short work of the fragile needle-like components so critical to the function, and was reaffixing the exterior panel when the light in the room flipped on.

The screwdriver in his hand disappeared as he whipped toward the door, assuming the look of polite annoyance he was known for. Darwin's stiff form and narrowed eyes greeted him, his hand still on the light switch. He said, "Darwin, you're here late."

Darwin narrowed his eyes at him. “Apparently, so are you,” he said.

Victor nodded. “After the test today, I.. couldn’t go home yet.”

Darwin said, “I see. So you’re in here - doing what?”

“Adjusting the machine. The test was far from perfect, as you know.”

There was silence between them, and he abandoned the machine and moved with lingering steps out of the room at the unspoken summons. Darwin followed him, locking the door behind them. They moved down the dark corridor together.

Darwin broke the silence first. “Everyone else, Morris, Margaret, Edwin, all down at the bar, celebrating the test today.”

There was silence again as they walked slowly on. He waited, caught between the uncertainty of speaking and the realization that either decision left him in the same position.

“And you’re up here, at 2200 hours, adjusting the machine in the dark.”

Darwin continued, tangentially, thoughtfully. “Morris doesn’t drink, you know, but tonight, I think he will."

There was nothing to say, he let Darwin ramble on, vaguely aware of a subtle point to his statements.

“Do you know how long it took us to build this machine? Of course you do, you were right here with us."

Victor interjected, slowly, almost painfully. “All that work, it paid off today. We can see the future now. No more surprises. Imagine, no more Pearl Harbors, no more 9/11. Everything that is going to happen, we can know.” He thought to himself, "And none of it matters."

Darwin said nothing to his pronouncement, and the silence dragged on again as they continued down the dark corridor.

Victor was in no rush to have Darwin speak, feeling his silence beside him, still sensing an impending blow.

Darwin's sharp voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "Victor, you told us this morning everything was the same. That's what we expected to hear, what we knew is true."

"But it's not true, is it? When you came out of the machine, you lied to us. I watched you today. And now you're here alone, in the dark, and I just watched you sabotage your life's work."

Darwin's tone dropped, and his voice became a strained whisper. "So tell me, what did you really see a week from today?"

He stopped walking, and Victor looked into Darwin's suddenly desperate eyes. Between his teeth, he said, "It's like you said. Everything is the same." He found he couldn't look Darwin in the eyes, and he cast his glance down.

Darwin again allowed the silence to stretch out. Finally, he said, "What are you going to do?"

He replied too quickly. “I’m tendering my resignation, and I’m driving back to Ohio tomorrow.’

Darwin asked, “Ohio; that’s where your family lives, right?”

Victor swallowed. "Yes, that's right." He looked up again, and held out his hand. "Goodbye, Darwin. These years working with you, they've been the best I've had."

Darwin reached for his hand and shook it slowly, as if he were in a dream, realizing suddenly that this was the last time he would see the man he worked the last ten years with.

And then he felt his hand released, and he was alone in the darkness with knowledge he couldn't grasp, but somehow knew was the end.

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Usually I don’t like to include time travel in my writing, it feels overused and is often hard to believe, but I made an exception because I thought this was an interesting idea.

I debated on whether or not to include exactly what Victor saw in the future, but decided in the end to leave it a mystery.

Thanks for reading!

- Elijah

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