An essay by Dr. Strangehate, presented by Jetse de Vries
Photo provided by Eleanor Leonne Bennett
PLEASE DELETE THIS UNREAD.
You didn’t, did you? Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. So don’t pretend reverse psychology doesn’t work. Let’s chat. Anyway, as I have perfected this virus you simply won’t be able to delete it. The ultimate tease, if you like.
You like a challenge? A very involved puzzle, running a mental maze? Then click the “CHAT”-icon. Ah, I thought you did. Read on, and think this through before you type your next comments. It will explain a lot …
Let’s begin with the one thing you will find very hard to believe: I invented a time machine. Some of my old colleagues will argue that I found its underlying theorems more by chance than by my own inventiveness. But I recognize the hand of God in here. No, of course I won’t explain its working principle: I rather keep that to myself. I have my reasons, given from above, you see.
This machine gets me both to the past and the future. There is a little catch to its use, though. It’s one of those things the Creator put there to sift the chaff from the wheat, so to speak. Because there’s no telling what could happen if this fell into the wrong hands. But I’m running ahead of things a bit now. Anyway: moving from a certain present to the past is no problem. Moving back from that past to exactly the same present from where you came is only possible if you didn’t make any significant changes. If you did, you would only move to the new future you created. Of course, you could go back and try undoing what you did the first time around, but it’s not as easy as that.
On the other hand: from personal experience I can assure you that the Multiverse is real. All those different worlds branching off at every choice: you think they make incessant mazes in virtual reality? Not even close to the real thing.
To read the rest of this story, check out the Mad Scientist Journal: Spring 2012 collection.
An active member of ‘Science for Intelligent Design’, Dr. Strangehate eventually learned to stop worrying and hate the world (yet love the Multiverse). Previous research included “Extreme Longevity Development in Enlightened Stem Cells”, “The Fake Order in Chaos Theory” and “The Cloning of Jesus from the Turin Shroud”. After his marriage with Prof. Coldheart ended in a divorce on grounds of ‘incompatibility of religious beliefs’, Dr. Strangehate retreated from the scientific commuity to pursue his latest project in his own garage. Showing great promise while wildly eccentric, Dr. Strangehate mysteriously disappeared while finalizing his so-called ‘reality-jumping time machine’.
Jetse de Vries is a technical specialist for a propulsion company by day, and a science fiction reader, editor and writer by night. He was part of the Interzone team from 2004 to 2008, and recently edited the Shine anthology of near-future, optimistic SF. His stories have appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, Escape Pod and Flurb, amongst others. He’s also an avid bicyclist, total solar eclipse chaser, beer/wine/single malt aficionado, metalhead and intelligent optimist. Sometimes, after fighting the good fight, he sleeps.
Eleanor Leonne Bennett is a 16 year old internationally award winning photographer and artist who has won first places with National Geographic, The World Photography Organisation, Nature’s Best Photography, Papworth Trust, Mencap, The Woodland trust and Postal Heritage. Her photography has been published in the Telegraph , The Guardian, BBC News Website and on the cover of books and magazines in the United States and Canada. Her art is globally exhibited , having shown work in London, Paris, Indonesia, Los Angeles, Florida, Washington, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, Spain, Germany, Japan, Australia and The Environmental Photographer of the year Exhibition (2011) amongst many other locations.
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