The Paradox Corridor

Chapter 24: The Omega Project

The next morning, Stephen came in earlier than usual, and we began doing tests right away. However, I could tell that something was off. Every single scientist present looked at me with foreboding, and the usual chatter was reduced to practically nothing. It was very clear that they too had figured out at last what I could and was about to do. As for me, I pretended that everything was A-OK. I did exactly as Stephen told me, and I was rewarded (surprisingly enough) by Stephen, who told me about halfway through the day that I got a well-deserved break. He confused me further by saying that I was allowed to move around, and offered to give me a tour of the lab (finally). We began by simply leaving the lab that I had been housed in for most of my "life", and entered an extremely large hallway, with countless doors on either side, the white light reflecting nicely off of the white walls. He showed me countless rooms. Of the many rooms I remember that I could fit in, the two I remember the most was the black hole room (where three scientists were testing on a baby black hole the size of an orange. Normally that would have been enough to destroy Thalidia without so much as a stomachache, but this one was man-made and extremely controlled.) The other room I remember was a room where a rabbit chased around a couple of scientists breathing fire. (Yes, Andrew, I get that it's a funny picture. Shuddup. I'm "talking") We saw plenty of rooms, and they were fun and all, but then we went through a giant set of doors, and I found myself in the most majestic place I had ever seen.

Strips of green stretched from either side, going as far as the eye could see. Yellow flowers bloomed, giving the grass even more vibrant beauty. White clouds soared overhead, seeming to paint a masterpiece in the sky. I looked to my left and saw a silver metal strip, with hover cars all over it, zipping to and fro, each with it's own driver and own destination. I looked ahead of me and saw an even more incredible sight. I saw the skyline of an enormous city, with silver, brown, black, and even blue buildings piercing the midday sky. Hovercars flew all around, the hubbub of people resonated through the air, and the life of all who lived there was practically tangible. There was only one word for it...majestic. I spun around in a circle, taking in a massive forest to my right, and the regal, white, and crisp building behind me. Stephen smiled and patted my side.

"Welcome outside, Paradox Corridor. From the people of Thalidia, I formally greet you to our planet." I "smiled" at that. I was finally able to see the world that I was a part of for what it truly was, and that put joy into my mechanized heart. Then I remembered Stephen's lie, and my true purpose in serving this world. So, with a heavy heart I replied with a polite "thank you", and we headed back inside. After seeing it the first time, it was a surprise to me when I re-entered the lab and the walls were all black. A red carpet had been laid on the ground, and it was with great caution (and confusion) that I slowly hovered forward through those grand, now-ominous halls. The doors to the lab opened slowly, and I gasped. The red carpet continued forward toward the area that I usually stayed resided. However, on either side of the carpet there stood people. As I slowly wheeled past them, I recognized the Thalidian Court, every member accounted for. They all stood emotionlessly in a straight line on either side, always staring right at me. I glanced at Stephen, and to my surprise I noticed that he had hung back in the hallway. He saw me looking at him, looked embarrassed, and gestured that I keep going. So, against my will, I did. After what seemed like ten minutes I finished my slow float toward the center of the room. The sentient machines turned subtly towards me, and the Projector 'whispered',

"Good luck..." And on that note, I heard a drumbeat, very low, echo from the corner of the room. I turned on my hi-res camera and saw a simple boy with a drum, drumming an ominous and rather haunting beat. My confusion levels slowly began to rise, as, at once, the entire Thalidian Court turned to face me, and bowed. The tension in the room was so thick that, as a machine who had only recently gained consciousness, I could barely handle it. The drum beat slowly escalated as Stephen stepped out of the shadows and calmly strode towards me, his face now emotionless. He stopped about halfway across the room, and raised his hand. The drum beat ceased, but the note lingered through the air a bit longer than it should have. He stared at me for a while, and then spoke;

"Have you ever heard the history of this planet?" he asked. It was such an out-of-place question that I simply said nothing. He continued on regardless;

"This planet has not always been called Thalidia. Before the drastic discovery that changed everything, this planet was called...Earth." I simply stared, wondering where this was going. "Earth before life was discovered on other planets was said to be...wonderful. (He said this part rather sarcastically). We believed that we were God's special people, the chosen ones to preserve and rule over all of creation. And we believed it too. We knew that no creature on Earth could ever outwit us, and soon we were able to do and create such beautiful things. We thought we were the Alpha and the Omega, our own gods. We thought we had it all. And then, with new technologies being created everyday, we began to explore space. And then the cold, hard, undeniable truth, of which we had always thought was impossible, hit us. We were not alone. We were not special. In fact, we weren't even strong. We were simply the new kids on the block, the newbies, the weaklings. After centuries of thinking we were IT, we suddenly realized that we were nothing. So our ancestors decided that, although we had lost our purpose, it didn't mean we couldn't find it again. A second industrial revolution began, which ended up harmonizing all the peoples of Earth to the new cause: the ability to make a name for ourselves among the stars. With this revolution came a few wars, now know as the Birth of Thalidia, the name we choose for our planet after we were forced to move out of our own solar system after an enemy attack put our sun in critical danger. We were forced to use all of our fuel resources to move the planet (using gravity) to a new solar system. We eventually recovered our energy sources, and we began to make a name for ourselves. Unfortunately, during the process we made a few enemies. The biggest of those enemies were; sorry, are the Sorratakans, another race of humans from the Andromeda Galaxy. We accidentally took over one of their outposts, and that accident ended up in a full scale war. Unfortunately...," he said, glancing at all of the Thalidian Court, who looked at their feet, "we had bitten off quite a bit more than we could chew. The Sorratakans are far more advanced than we are at the moment, and we were not ready quite yet for a war on this large of a scale. That war is still going on to this day." He looked at me solemnly, and I noticed with surprise that he was crying. He continued;"...we don't have much time left...The end of the war is upon us, and this won't be a mere defeat. It will be the genocide of the entire Thalidian race. And I HATE IT!" He screamed suddenly, causing everyone in the room including me to recoil. "All of history! All of OUR history! All of our battles, all of our successes, all of our advances.......is this where it all ends? IS THIS WHERE ALL OF IT ENDS?!? ALL OF THE PAIN, TRIUMPHS, SWEAT, TEARS, AND JOYS OF THE HUMAN RACE?!? WAS IT ALL FOR NAUGHT???" He screamed, tears now pouring from his eyes;"All of the ghosts that have passed, sacrificing their lives for the advancement of the Thalidi-no, Earthling race. All of those who fought for a cause greater than their own, and died for it. Was it all in vain? Was the culmination of all of the human race so frail, that once we met opposition we were destined to fall???" He paused, trying to keep the tears at a minimum."As you could imagine, Paradox Corridor, we have become very, very desperate. We needed a way out. We need a way out. So the Omega Project was started, the culmination of all of Thalidia's advances in technology, to try to create something, anything, to get out of the war. We tried moving the planet again, but we stopped right before take off, because we lacked the fuel. We tried creating a teleportation beam and a wormhole in another attempt to move Thalidia. The technology was far too advanced for us, but we were able to create a wormhole that lasted an hour before collapsing. We scanned it for that entire hour, and what we found changed this planet forever. We found out that time travel was indeed possible, although only, at least, so far, for small objects. We have spent the last 100 years building upon the formula emitted by the wormhole. I worked on it for so long that the initial team that had started the project where all dead; except for me. Strangely, most likely due to the exposure to the wormhole, I lived on, aging slower than others. The reason why it affected me and not everyone else has not be discovered. However, I used this to my advantage, and I experimented on my own body, and as the new head of the team I redoubled our efforts to survive. I built and built and built and built, until the culmination of my life's work, and furthermore the people of Earth's, ended with you. I powered you on for the first time, and when you first sent that transmitter back in time I suddenly saw the one thing that we as a people haven't seen in a long time: a chance."