Tempus Fugit II
Aug. 15th, 2003 04:38 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
caddyman.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
just_writingI shouldn't be showing you these, they'd have my hide if they knew I'd brought this out of the facility. At the moment, I've just been able to get these three pieces out, you'll have to make copies so I can return the originals. I need them back before eight tonight, otherwise there's a strong chance I'll get found out.
I don't know what's going on, but something happened five years ago which they don't want us to know about.
Don't let me down. If we play it carefully, we can blow this whole thing wide open. Have to go now or I'll be missed. I'll meet you back here at 7.40 that shpould give me time to put the stuff back before anyone notices...
Report on incident in electronics testing laboratory, 03.06 hours. May 3rd 1998 (excerpt)
Witness Statement given by WE Tomkins, Duty Security Guard staff # 001356234/93: Preliminary Text Transcription
It's hard to describe precisely what happened. I was making my rounds as usual, a full circuit of the facility, every hour on the hour. That's what I do; there's never any trouble, and rarely anyone working at that time of the morning - unless there's a big deadline coming up, of course. But that night it was quiet. Dr Menlove was the only person in the building except me. Robbie and Bill were outside touring the grounds, so I know it was only the two of us inside when I started my rounds. And the main doors were locked; always are when I do my rounds.
Anyway, I'd checked the doors in corridor C and they were all locked, as they should be. As I turned into corridor A, I heard voices - or at least a voice coming from Dr Menlove's room. I couldn't hear what he/they were saying, but Dr Menlove should have been on his own, so I walked across to his door to see what was happening. Through the frosted glass, I could see the outlines of two people in the room - in the middle of the room - and as I opened the door there was a flash like I'd looked into a million bulbs all at once. I don't quite remember what happened next, all I know is that I couldn't see a damned thing and that my eyes hurt.
Well, next thing I remember is hearing Robbie and Bill talking to me. They found me in the corridor with my hands over my face. I must have blacked out, because they said it took them six minutes to get into the building and up to the fourth floor where I was, once they'd seen the flash of light from the lab window. But it seemed to me as though they were there immediately.
I still couldn't see properly. There was a very bright purple blob across my vision, but apart from tears running like I'd got hay fever, my eyes didn't hurt anymore. So we went in to the office.
It was empty.
Bill and Robbie tell me that it was just like it is now. Everything facing the middle of the room was bleached out as if someone had taken all the colours, and there were outlines, like shadows etched into the walls in the shape of the furniture. Except all distorted. The colour was normal there. Course, it was a couple of hours before I got to see it for meself.
Bill says there was a scorch mark on the floor and a length of computer cable. I didn't see that. By the time my eyes had properly cleared up, your boys were all over the place and a lot of stuff had been taken away.
The debrief (excerpts) test # 06:
"That.. that was really quite unnerving."
"I know what you mean - you should try it wearing the device rather than just watching. The whole world looks wrong, and going back is like walking up a steep hill in the face of a hurricane. After a few minutes, relatively speaking of course, you just have to stop and rest."
"What about going forward, what's that like?"
"Yes, well. Forward is an entirely different proposition. Going back, you see, is in some way offensive to the natural order; it is... draining. And when you stop moving, you can't afford to wait very long, relatively speaking, to recover otherwise you're back where you started, so to speak.
"But going forward, that's completely different. You're going the way you're supposed to, but faster. Each move is amplified and the result can be quite staggering. Literally. I guess it's like trying to walk normally in low gravity. You know, without doing those slow motion ballet jumps the astronauts use. Or running down a very steep hill - you can easily get to a point where you have to keep running and if you're not careful, you can end up further ahead than you intended. And it's easier to spin off."
"Can't you just sit down and operate the device stationary? I mean that would do away with the worry about tiredness in one direction and limit the possibility of an overshoot in the other, wouldn't it?"
"Well, yes, except that this process doesn't make the user intangible, you know. And then there are relativistic effects. If, going back, I choose not to move, I instantly collide with myself in my previous position, and the energy discharge that would create would be catastrophic. I mean I haven't actually tried it, but the early experimental tests in the lab were enough to convince me that while the device is operating, movement is a must. Forwards is different, if you don't pitch the speed of movement just right you will spin off, and even if the user deactivates the device as soon as he notices the spin, the result could be a fall back of five or six miles, or instant smearing across the pavement, depending on the geographical orientation. Easy it ain't."
Operator's Personal Log (digital voice recording); test # 05 (excerpts):
Before final activation I can feel the device against my back and limbs, warm and humming - or vibrating slightly. I can't decide which; it is just on the edge of the senses. To look at it must seem like some odd fashion statement, as though someone has taped old PC bus cables to my skin under my clothes. There is no outward indication that there is any function beyond decoration, and even less that it is a device powered by the small power packs slotted under my belt. In fact, with gloves and a scarf, or my collar turned up, I doubt would notice it at all.
Of course, no-one will explain to me how it works (I don't think they understand the principles fully themselves). I just need to be able to operate it, remain objective and report back. Note: tidy this up in final report; gossipy observations are for private files only!
The digital read out shows that the power reserves are full and power usage is low-to-nominal. There should be no immediate drain until the process begins.
Through the glass shield I can see Dr Henrikson and Professor Brooks checking something on the main monitor. I can't see what. Professor B looks up and grins at me; it looks a little forced, he's nervous - but then no-one's ever tried this before. I see his hand go up, counting down the seconds with his fingers, 5-4-3-2-1. The pitch changes on the device - it's definitely a hum, now. Ten seconds and then move; one last check of the read out - power consumption is up 450%. Why isn't the damn thing hot and burning my back?
Four-three-two-one.
Bloody H.....>dissolves to static<
I don't know what's going on, but something happened five years ago which they don't want us to know about.
Don't let me down. If we play it carefully, we can blow this whole thing wide open. Have to go now or I'll be missed. I'll meet you back here at 7.40 that shpould give me time to put the stuff back before anyone notices...
Report on incident in electronics testing laboratory, 03.06 hours. May 3rd 1998 (excerpt)
Witness Statement given by WE Tomkins, Duty Security Guard staff # 001356234/93: Preliminary Text Transcription
It's hard to describe precisely what happened. I was making my rounds as usual, a full circuit of the facility, every hour on the hour. That's what I do; there's never any trouble, and rarely anyone working at that time of the morning - unless there's a big deadline coming up, of course. But that night it was quiet. Dr Menlove was the only person in the building except me. Robbie and Bill were outside touring the grounds, so I know it was only the two of us inside when I started my rounds. And the main doors were locked; always are when I do my rounds.
Anyway, I'd checked the doors in corridor C and they were all locked, as they should be. As I turned into corridor A, I heard voices - or at least a voice coming from Dr Menlove's room. I couldn't hear what he/they were saying, but Dr Menlove should have been on his own, so I walked across to his door to see what was happening. Through the frosted glass, I could see the outlines of two people in the room - in the middle of the room - and as I opened the door there was a flash like I'd looked into a million bulbs all at once. I don't quite remember what happened next, all I know is that I couldn't see a damned thing and that my eyes hurt.
Well, next thing I remember is hearing Robbie and Bill talking to me. They found me in the corridor with my hands over my face. I must have blacked out, because they said it took them six minutes to get into the building and up to the fourth floor where I was, once they'd seen the flash of light from the lab window. But it seemed to me as though they were there immediately.
I still couldn't see properly. There was a very bright purple blob across my vision, but apart from tears running like I'd got hay fever, my eyes didn't hurt anymore. So we went in to the office.
It was empty.
Bill and Robbie tell me that it was just like it is now. Everything facing the middle of the room was bleached out as if someone had taken all the colours, and there were outlines, like shadows etched into the walls in the shape of the furniture. Except all distorted. The colour was normal there. Course, it was a couple of hours before I got to see it for meself.
Bill says there was a scorch mark on the floor and a length of computer cable. I didn't see that. By the time my eyes had properly cleared up, your boys were all over the place and a lot of stuff had been taken away.
The debrief (excerpts) test # 06:
"That.. that was really quite unnerving."
"I know what you mean - you should try it wearing the device rather than just watching. The whole world looks wrong, and going back is like walking up a steep hill in the face of a hurricane. After a few minutes, relatively speaking of course, you just have to stop and rest."
"What about going forward, what's that like?"
"Yes, well. Forward is an entirely different proposition. Going back, you see, is in some way offensive to the natural order; it is... draining. And when you stop moving, you can't afford to wait very long, relatively speaking, to recover otherwise you're back where you started, so to speak.
"But going forward, that's completely different. You're going the way you're supposed to, but faster. Each move is amplified and the result can be quite staggering. Literally. I guess it's like trying to walk normally in low gravity. You know, without doing those slow motion ballet jumps the astronauts use. Or running down a very steep hill - you can easily get to a point where you have to keep running and if you're not careful, you can end up further ahead than you intended. And it's easier to spin off."
"Can't you just sit down and operate the device stationary? I mean that would do away with the worry about tiredness in one direction and limit the possibility of an overshoot in the other, wouldn't it?"
"Well, yes, except that this process doesn't make the user intangible, you know. And then there are relativistic effects. If, going back, I choose not to move, I instantly collide with myself in my previous position, and the energy discharge that would create would be catastrophic. I mean I haven't actually tried it, but the early experimental tests in the lab were enough to convince me that while the device is operating, movement is a must. Forwards is different, if you don't pitch the speed of movement just right you will spin off, and even if the user deactivates the device as soon as he notices the spin, the result could be a fall back of five or six miles, or instant smearing across the pavement, depending on the geographical orientation. Easy it ain't."
Operator's Personal Log (digital voice recording); test # 05 (excerpts):
Before final activation I can feel the device against my back and limbs, warm and humming - or vibrating slightly. I can't decide which; it is just on the edge of the senses. To look at it must seem like some odd fashion statement, as though someone has taped old PC bus cables to my skin under my clothes. There is no outward indication that there is any function beyond decoration, and even less that it is a device powered by the small power packs slotted under my belt. In fact, with gloves and a scarf, or my collar turned up, I doubt would notice it at all.
Of course, no-one will explain to me how it works (I don't think they understand the principles fully themselves). I just need to be able to operate it, remain objective and report back. Note: tidy this up in final report; gossipy observations are for private files only!
The digital read out shows that the power reserves are full and power usage is low-to-nominal. There should be no immediate drain until the process begins.
Through the glass shield I can see Dr Henrikson and Professor Brooks checking something on the main monitor. I can't see what. Professor B looks up and grins at me; it looks a little forced, he's nervous - but then no-one's ever tried this before. I see his hand go up, counting down the seconds with his fingers, 5-4-3-2-1. The pitch changes on the device - it's definitely a hum, now. Ten seconds and then move; one last check of the read out - power consumption is up 450%. Why isn't the damn thing hot and burning my back?
Four-three-two-one.
Bloody H.....>dissolves to static<
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-08-17 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-08-25 01:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-08-25 02:49 pm (UTC)It's still a work in progress - I intend to extend the story through the use of clips from reports and newspapers etc.
I think I'll be workingt on the dialogue from the guard, too. It's been suggested by someone who helpfully didn't leave a comment, that the content is OK, but the style needs to be differentiated a little from the more 'official' excerpts.
no subject
Date: 2003-08-25 02:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-08-25 02:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-08-25 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-08-28 11:15 am (UTC)