First a shout out for the editor: Finchley.
What would happen if we discovered an omniscience device?
Finding Time
Chapter 1
Stars in my Eyes
It was a fuzzy black ball of mystery. When we poked our sensors into it, they all came back frozen. The containers we sent into it captured vacuum, while the camera showed what looked like a rapidly shifting star-field, we were also disappointed to discover that while we could safely insert non biological objects, it killed all forms of life, from the higher forms right down to viruses." I explained, looking over the few new faces."
"Eventually we consulted with the astronomers," I went on. "It was a bit distorted and from a strange perspective but they were able to identify the prominent stars. With the help of the astronomers, we developed the understanding that looking into it was actually looking out. Our little fuzzy ball had somehow twisted inside out into a sphere that would normally be light-years across out in the depths of space.
I was telling the tale for what seemed like the hundredth time, or at least an edited version of it. I'd been investigating the nature of the Higgs field and its relationship with gravity when I'd made my serendipitous discovery - they didn't need to know that though.
The development came when I switched the frequency range up to the next. The instruments went crazy and the monitor showed random snow. I thought we'd had some sort of failure but when I looked into the booth, the fuzzy black ball was there.
First and foremost, it seemed to guarantee a Nobel Prize. I'd stumbled onto a new branch of physics by collapsing a crystal of iron into a quasi-temporal wormhole.
That was, of course, only the start. It didn't give off any measurable radiation; there was no measurable resistance from its surface to probes. We all recognised that we'd stepped into the unknown, and as a result, I don't think any of us had more than a few hours' sleep over the next week.
News of my discovery was an unofficial secret at the Head of Department's insistence, but the grapevine had me talking to physicists from some of the most prestigious institutes as they sought to understand its implications for quantum mechanics.
Even though I was well versed in my branch of physics I was completely out of my depth with most of the mathematics they were using and fielded most of the questions off to our Head of Department who was basking in the reflected glory of the discovery his department had made.
With the help of the astronomers, we developed the understanding that looking into it was actually looking out. Our little fuzzy ball had somehow twisted inside out into a sphere that would normally be light-years across out in the depths of space.
We discovered by varying the parameters that the frequency shift controlled the time displacement and the amplitude of the signal correlated with distance, we now had the means to see across time and space.
With the astronomers' help, I adapted a telescope mount to give us precise control and a stable focus, then we began a series of calibration experiments. I saw them push the boundary out millions of miles, then tens of millions, then out to hundreds of millions of miles as the amplitude of the wave increased.
The theory behind my discovery was way beyond my understanding but its applications were interesting. We could gaze through the camera lens and zoom in on all of the suns and planets inside of the sphere.
I built another device, in part to check that we could replicate it, and in part to tidy it up a bit, but mainly so I could conduct my own experiments. There was no one as delighted or excited as I when we fired it up and an identical fuzzy black sphere appeared.
It was then that the intelligence community took an interest in my findings. How they found out I don't know, but someone there with the smarts figured out that its lower limit of around two hundred miles was ample to covertly observe your enemies. The agent had me give up my notes and explain the construction to a very excited American scientist. I was cautioned against talking about their visit, and they encouraged me to brand it as an astronomical instrument.
The focus on direct viewing started me thinking along different path. While they were interested in using it to see current events, I wondered how far back into history it could go. I got out my phone and made a few searches on Wolfram Alpha. It worked out that our sun moved just over half a billion miles a year in its orbit around our galaxy.
The factors limiting our picture resolution were going to be how small a step size we could get in adjusting both the frequency and the power output of the generator. The Tunnel was also going to need a complex program to keep it focused on one spot. Though my training in physics had included some programming, writing a program for that was well beyond my capabilities.
If I was going to pursue the concept, I would to need to find a suitable collaborator. The logical person to ask would be Sally, the undergrad student who wrote the program that stabilised the time tunnel the Astronomy department was using. I stopped by the next morning and found her observing the live feed with the others. Walking over I slipped into the seat next to her.
"Sally," I asked, attracting her attention. "If I have a word with your HOD, would you help me write a program to track the solar system?"
"Yeah sure, we've got a few programs I can adapt, what do you want?" she replied, turning to me.
"Let's go grab a coffee and I'll explain it?" I parried. "I don't want to broadcast my plans here,"
"Okay, you've got me intrigued now," she replied, starting to stand.
"What I'm thinking of," I began as we strolled out into the empty corridor. "Is something a lot more complex than the one you've already done. I want to focus on our solar system, and use the temporal controls to view it in the past."
Her brows furrowed in thought. "Temporal--" she queried, then, as understanding dawned. "You mean find the spatial location of earth in the past?"
"Yes, we know the sphere extends out fifty light years, so if we tweak the frequency to look back thirty thousand years and focus on those coordinates -- we'd see earth as it was then."
"Yes," she exclaimed, "We'd see a good portion of mankind's adolescence - his change from hunter gatherer to the first settlements."
"History in 3D, solving the riddle of Atlantis, the first Olympic Games, building the pyramids, everything." I added.
She nodded as she realised the possibilities.
"That will delight the historians: exploring Greek and Roman culture, following Genghis Khan, Napoleon...," She said thoughtfully.
"There's a downside too," I cautioned. "History is also about the truths of the Bible. Either the atheists or the believers are in for a shock."
Her eyes widened as she parsed the thought. "Oh God, it'll show they're all fake. Joseph Smith finding his golden tablets, the miracles of the saints - even ghosts and spirits."
"You can also say goodbye to privacy. With this anyone can peek anywhere they want to, They can see into bedrooms, bathrooms: there'll be nowhere to hide," I said flatly.
"They can't allow that," she said, her voice betraying her growing alarm."
"That's going to be their major argument: they're going to claim that the minuscule proportion who will misuse it make it too dangerous for the rest of us to have. I am more afraid of the government than I am of voyeurs."
"No!" she said firmly, taking a half step away from me.
"I don't like it either, but for that loss of privacy we are gaining so much that will be of benefit to society. This is going to mean total transparency. We can watch every move the police and politicians make, listen in on all those back room meetings. It will literally force everyone—politicians, police, hardened criminals, school kids, everyone,—to be completely honest."
"Yes, but everything you say or do can be spied on, even in the toilet."
"I know. There will be a few who'll abuse it, but you'd have to be pretty unlucky to pick up a personal stalker. I imagine most people will focus on the celebrities, the rich and famous will probable pick up stalkers; I don't think anyone will want to be famous in the future," I said with a chuckle, trying to calm her.
She still looked unconvinced so I continued. "Let's look at it logically. Stalkers and voyeurs make up a very small percentage of the population. Now I don't mean this personally, but there are a lot of young, attractive people out there to pick from; neither of us would make a top ten. That leaves a voyeur picking your bedroom at random; the chances of that happening are very slim."
A thoughtful look formed as she digested what I was telling her. "It's the thought that disturbs me. Someone from the future could be watching and listening to us right now."
I nodded as I started us walking again. I didn't want to mention it, but I was pretty sure we were probably being spied on by future historians even now. This was going to be a key to a turning point in history. My whole life was going to be under the microscope, even the way I wanked in the past would probably get commented on.
It was better they got into the hands of ordinary folk despite the disruption it would cause. If the government had it, the people needed to have it, or it would become the ultimate 'Big Brother'.
I was sure I wasn't the only one considering the implications either; the scientists with the intelligence people should have thought it through by now. Hopefully they'd be more focused on catching their baddies than thinking through all the ramifications, but I couldn't expect that to last.
