In Between

This is my first post here. Hope you all enjoy.
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[Undisclosed Location. Asia] April 15, 2051 a.d.

"I've finally done it!!" exclaimed Dr. Brenridge
He looked up from his computer to acknowledge the praise of his peers. No one was there he was alone. As he had been since the scientific community shunned him for being a mad man.

Ha, There was always someone who would fund a mad man.
And now his benefactors would be paid back in spades. And when he became the adulation of all the scientific world, he would use his position to exact his revenge.

He leaned back in his chair. "Ten years working in obscurity in this third world squaller". He laughed.
"And now I will usher in a new age for our world, and possibly more." He continued to laugh, it took him a few moments to gather himself to make the call.

He reached for the phone, it was a land line connected to a satellite, and the only phone within a hundred miles. It had one button, black and round, placed perfectly in the center. He picked up the headset, strangely his hand was shaking as he pressed the button.

Instantly a voice answered "Yes Doctor?"

A little quiver entered his normally strong voice. "Ive finished"

"Thats good" came the reply. The line went dead. The doctor replaced the headset. Thunder rattled the building he was in.

"Damn another typhoon" the rush of completing his worked had faded in the face of his brief conversation. He waited for the door to open.




[Undisclosed Location. Asia] December 6, 2051 a.d.


"These calculations look accurate, but this is still a hypothetical, we cant really be expected to attempt this. I don't care how much money is behind it, or what the hell Brenridge says. Attempting to open this rift will have effects none of us can anticipate!" exclaimed Dr. Kazzem

"Look I agree that there is a chance for disaster but imagine what we will learn if we succeed. Brenridge is crazy i agree, but he ran these calculations alone, when everyone else had shunned them. And I mean look at this...its brilliant.
Nothing will go wrong." Replied Dr. Richardson

"Andrea I think you are not seeing the big picture, this nano tech is the closest thing to sentient AI ever created.
And lets not forget Mr. Murpheys law." Kazzem continued whispered " I cant do it Annie, I have to go to the authorities on this."

"And just who do you think you will tell Dr. Kazzem?"

Kazzem spun. In the doorway was Dr. Brenridge. 'How long had he been there' thought Kazzem

"Long enough" came the unexpected answer.

Dr. Kazzem's eyes were huge, heart pounding as Dr. Brenridge drew a pistol. "I see you completed your work on my tech, thank you. Your services are no longer required".

The flash of the antiquated weapon was the last thing Dr. Kazzem witnessed.




[Undisclosed Location. Asia] December 21, 2051 a.d.


Dr. Brenridge sat in front of a bank of large monitors. In moments he would begin his final address before The Conclave.
He was sweating. He knew they heard him now, in his own head, but what could be done? A scientist had to think right?
It mattered not if this visual conference was unnecessary, all that mattered was he receive the final authorization to begin.
He imagined that if it didn't come his time was up in this life.

In sequence each monitor turned on. Seven in all. He had touched nothing. On each monitor subsequently appeared the symbol of each of the seven Tribes that made The Conclave.

'At least I don't have to see their faces' thought Brenridge.

"We would have to take your eyes" came the reply, from all monitors simultaneously.

"I am ready to proceed" choked Brenridge.

"Tell us" came the reply, each voice had its own qualities but was spoken perfectly in sync.

"The nano's will break apart the matter of our universe inside the plasma shield." started Brenridge.

"Will the rift remain stable?" inquired The Conclave.

"The nano's will continue to replicate at a rate that will sustain the rift, I anticipate it will hold here four to five minutes. In the Gap that will seem like an eternity, so time on this end shouldn't be an issue." replied Brenridge.

"Once the nano's have a stablised rift they will enter the Gap and use the deconstructed matter to construct the bridge. The bridge will then instantaneously attach itself to the other realm. They will then begin deconstructing a rift to complete the connection. The matter will become a permanent temporal bridge once the second rift is stabilized."

"How will you test the viability of this bridge?" came the response.

"There is no test. The only way to breach the rift is as the most basic matter. But as Dr. Richardson discovered matter can be manipulated by consciousness while in a temporal state. I will use a modified matter transporter to enter the rift, coalesce my physical state and attempt to traverse the bridge. That is why i needed a sentient nano tech. So i can influence it while in the temporal state. The tech will then integrate its self with my physical matter and allow me to breach the other rift and enter the other realm."

"Shall I proceed?" he asked The Conclave. A moment passed, then came his answer.

"Begin"




[Undisclosed Location. Asia] December 22, 2051 a.d.




Dr. Brenridge stood before the command console. He was alone again. At his feet lay Dr. Richardson. No one was allowed to know of this attempt to change the course of human history. If he succeeded and made it back he suspected someone would be here waiting for him. But it mattered not. He will see the other side, and they knew that if he could return he would. That was why he was chosen. He had to get his revenge.

"Time to go, pardon the pun" he bent down and typed. Starting the nano tech to work.

The rift would be infinitesimally small and contained behind the plasma shield, but there was still a sense of fear when the nano's made the breach. A flash of light that was strangely absent of intensity was the only thing that was visible.
The sensors however were going crazy, the rift was attempting to expand, but the nano's could replicate at an exponential rate and quickly stabilized the rift.

Brenridge swallowed. "Their in."

Though it had only been about a minute for Brenridge, time would not exist the same way in the temporal bridge.
The nano's should have completed this stage and sent a report back through, but hadn't.

"If the nano's had failed the rift would have either expired or expanded, but it remained stable." Brenridge told himself.

He took a deep breath. "my turn" He stepped into the matter transporter and began the transport sequence. As the transporter started to break apart his molecular structure Brenridge had a thought. "what lies in the gap?"

As consciousness returned to him Brenridge couldn't see as much as perceive his surroundings. He was in the temporal bridge.
He perceived what appeared to be a trail of light, out of focus and some how there but not. He concentrated. His conscious was learning to control and interpret the nano's. He looked again down the path of light. it became clearer, he could almost sense each nano as it worked. He sensed they had connected the bridge but why was the other rift not open? He tried to focus more. don't think just feel. He could sense the nanos at the connection point struggling. They could not deconstruct the matter there. Then as he gained a real perspective of his situation the nano's at the connection point stopped. He instructed them to continue but there was no response. They were still there but they were not operating.

Bam!!

A searing pain struck his consciousness as he attempted to control the nano's.

Bam!!!

Again..the nano's were changing, and fighting his influence.

BAM!!!!

They struck a blow so sever that he almost lost himself in the temporal flow of the bridge. The nano's at the connection were gone. Then he noticed that the light path was changing. Fading. Not at once but from the far end. Blackness was coming.

He had to get back. He abandoned the attempts to have the other nano's open the rift. He began to have them connect to his form to take him back through the rift to his realm. He focused. Black, black. Was all he managed to think.

"Brenridge" he heard a voice in his head, not a real voice. A black voice.

He focused, all his sentient energy into controlling the nano's. "C'mon" he begged. The nano's began to break the matter of him down and retreat back through the rift. go. go. he pushed.

"Banished...Blackness" was the response in his head.

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The assassin waited in the darkness for Brenridge to return. If he completed his journey the assassin was to kill him, take control of the nano's and the rift. If he didn't he was to activate the self destruct and make sure no one survived.
As he watched the point in the plasma shield for any activity there was a blinding flash of light. The assassin fell back blinded raising his arm over his eye. 'Was this an attempt by Brenridge to escape?' he thought. As he regained his composure he wheeled to face the rift. He couldn't understand what he was seeing. The rift was becoming black, now wait. A blackness was coming out of the rift!!

It was the last thing he would witness.





[Shaanxi Province - Asia] January 1, 1 a.r.



"Colonel what is the situation?!" screamed the Chinese President

"Analysis of the tower shows it consists of a nano tech designed by Dr. Hreeum Nazzem. But it appears to have taken on some other qualities. The tower seems to absorb light and energy. Nothing we have can touch it. I suggest a total cleanse." replied the Colonel

"If that is our only option" The President of the United Chinese Nations disconnected. He turned to his aide
"May our children survive."

Very nIce. I read it in a hurry before work, but had no time to reply. It's a nice start for a story. I wonder where or if your going to take it further. After posting about the nano virus in the other thread, my imagination started flying. I think it is an interesting thought for an exercise. If you are interested in taking this story any further, We should shoot some ideas back and forth sometime.

reply to post by Quauhtli


Sounds like a plan. I had no intent on taking this story any farther but we could come up with something on the topic im sure. I have been in writing since I was a kid (even won a "up and comer" award once) but had not written anything in years. Someone posted a link to creepy pasta the other day and that kinda got the old juices flowin again. The In Between idea was the first to jump in my head and I diddnt spend as much time on it as I should have, but it came out okay.