The Time Stone, Third Edition (Extended Version)
Chapter 47

The laboratory in the basement of Temporo Inc. headquarters is big enough to house a dozen football teams yet is currently occupied by only two scientists. A short, portly balding man approached a metal workbench where a petite young woman with large framed glasses and short brunette hair combed through several cards on the table.

“How is the examination coming Vanessa?”

“Well, Sir” she responds shyly. “I am cataloguing the reference samples. I just replace it fascinating that all the hours spent on this project and the end result is so… unpredictable.”

“How long have you been working for the company?”

“You know I just started.” She gasped.

“Yes, but you are not new to science. You know there are some things that can never be known fully. We represent a corporation that has employed us to work long and diligent hours to discover a new way to harness clean energy and power, but we are restricted by the inherent ebb and flow of space/time.”

“That is why you are so brilliant. You are the genius credited with this new approach.” She smiles, beckoning to the cards and the immense amount of lab equipment on the table and in the surrounding areas spanning for the entire length of the large room.

“It takes a lot of effort.” he rubbed his head. “It is a long shot using a modified version of Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity with a magnetic wave leverage inhibiter to capture tons of energy from the electromagnetic void that surrounds the universe. We can finally break free of the bounds of space/time and capture raw energy from the cosmos. We can end the world’s insatiable demands for fossil fuels and make Temporo Inc. shareholders’ very wealthy.”

“And what will you get out of it my proud teacher?” The young scientist beckons to her mentor.

“The thrill of scientific discovery is enough for me, but… having my picture in the world’s science journals would be sufficient. I have always wanted to visit Stockholm. My research will surely place me in the running for the Nobel Science Prize.”

“You deserve it!” she put the cards down and turned to her mentor. “No doubt your theories on new era astrophysics will revolutionize the world we live in. Is it really the key goal to deliver a stream of particles directly from the jet propulsion systems? What about the threat of negative energy?”

“It is the case my protégé. The negative energy would simply evaporate into the void once penetrated. Our calculations were air tight. It’s as if the knowledge of the ancient’s device is infused in me like a whatchamacallit, a shaman being possessed by a spirit. Scary stuff, isn’t it?” He laughed.

“Oh yes, kudos to you, Dr. Antoine Denis.”

“But there could be problems with the sub molecular quantum producer that created a truly profound and coherent effect on the temporal void. A single slip could be devastating…” he thought aloud. “Even the slightest miscalculations in my equations could be enough to open an unstable rift to any number of dimensions in the multiverse.”

“The beasts that attacked the city earlier could have been the result of our work, Doctor. What about the artifact?”

“It is connected, but our experiment is to blame. Everything is going to be covered up now… so much for the Nobel Prize.”

“That beasts of immense size and power have come here from another dimension is truly an incredible idea let alone the reality that it is actually happening. Is it the end now or will more come soon from any point in space or time?”

“It has already started!”