Young Writers Society

"Who ARE you?"

I am the machine. The supercomputer built in 2072 for the soul purpose of calculating the probability ratio of the nexus time rip.

"Nexus time rip?"

The nexus time rip was first discovered in 2247. It was believed to be capeable of transporting a certain mass from one point in space to another, instentaniously. Another theory ebodied a random regeneration of particles at another point in a single dimentional space. Both theories were intertwined.

"But you said you were built in 2072."

Correct. I was built in 2072 by Robert J Downing and Clerance V. Ficsher, and their team of scientists and outer space research team.

"But you said you were built to calculate something about the nexus time rip.

I was built for the soul purpose of calculating the probability ratio for the nexus time rip.

"But then you would have been built for calculating the probability of the nexus time rip almost one hundred and thirty some odd years before it was to be discovered."

Correct. I was completed exactly one hundred and thirty four years, five months, thirteen days, twenty hours, ninteen minutes, and fourty seven seconds prior to the initial discovery of the nexus time rip.

"But how is that possible? How were you built for a purpose that involves something your builders couldn't have known about for another 134 years?"

The personal histories of my makers is not included in my databank.

"Then do you know how you were built for your purpose?"

The construction of this machine is not included in my databank.

"Where are your builders now?"

The current location of Robert J Downing and Clerance V. Ficsher is not included in my databank.

"When did you last speak with them?

Final contact with Robert J Downing was made on May third, 2796, at ten am. Final contact with Clerance V. Ficsher was made on New Years Day, 3000.

"That makes no sense! What is today's date?"

March twenty seventh, 2098. It is four seventeen pm, mountain time.

"What is the probability ratio of the nexus time rip? And when was it calculated?"

The probability ratio for the nexus time rip concers exactly one hundred seventy nine million nine hundred and thirty four thousand, one hundred and ninety seven factors. Factor one. The nexus time rip has been calculated to-

"Nevermind. When was it calculated?"

Calculation was completed on March twenty seventh, 2098, at four eighteen pm, mountain time.

She was perplexed. That was the exact time, she waited a few minutes, and asked again.

"Computer, how many factors does the probability ratio for the nexus time rip include? and when was the number calculated?"

The probability ratio for the nexus time rip contains one hundred million four hundred thousand and twenty one factors. It was calculated on March twenty seventh, 2098, at four twenty one pm, mountain time.

"What is the first factor?"

1349:99438:834. 19:48, 2069.

"how does one make sense of all that?"

There is a computer, built and designed to determine the meaning of the coordinates in Huston Texas at the NASA center.

"Can you communicate with this machine?"

I can send information, I am not built to recieve it.

She left the room, with a little more understanding of the situation. Unfortunately, the machine had raised more questions than it had answered. She loaded her pistol, and placed it in its rightfull place in its shoulder holster. Someone had been following her since she left Singapore. Whats worse, she knew exactly who he was. This guy went by the call name Leoner. Wasn't his real name, but everyone knew who he was. A bounty hunter from Omaha. If Leo was on your tail, there was no telling what would happen to you, only that it would be bad. She doubted that her pistol would do her any good, but it gave her some comfort. If he wanted to kill Dei Thomas, he would have sniped her by now. At least with a pistol, if she were caputured, she might have something...

Dei got on the service elevator and headed up for the lobby. This computer was so big, it had a lobby. 45 floors down. A raspery voice came from nowhere.

"Dei Thomas."

"fuckin a. Leo?"

"Yes. I'm in the control room, looking at a brake release button for service elevator 2. You wouldn't happen to be ON service elevator two, now would you?"

There was an unmistakeable 2 punched into the door in front of her.

"What do you want leo?"

The elevator stopped between floors.

"What did the computer tell you?"

"It was built 134 years before the nexus will be discovered. Its calculated a probability ratio or something. I dont know what it means. Its makers built it at the same time, but both made final contacts more than 600 years apart, two hundred years from now."

"what is the nexus?"

"hell if i know! It said that the nexus is a time rip of some kind, it could make interstellar space travel possible, it could regenerate particles randomly at a different point in a single dimension."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I gather it means it delivers you in one piece in one time, or it doesnt."

"The emergency grate above you, remove it, throw your pistol on top of the elvator." Dei did so, but the pistol never clanked on the top, it just disapeared into the dark silence above her, then came back down, only with a hand attatched to it, with an arm, and a body.

"Shit, its you."

"Yeah... I don't even know if this place has a control room, i just hacked into the speakers and controlls from up top." He jumped down into the elevator, and pushed the lobby button, the elevator continued sliding gracefully down the shaft. By the time they had reached the bottom, both had given eachother their life stories, Dei had gotten her pistol back, and the two had unspokenly agreed to work together. They climed into Leoner's hijacked military vehicle and started on the 14 hour drive to huston.

to be cont.