Gate of Time

II

Adrien prefered ambulatory methods of travel, or at the very least methods that left him vulnerable to the outside. It wasn't because he was open to nature, but rather that he could take in the progress that science has made in the past several decades. He didn't care if where he was headed was several kilometers from his starting destination (all the more time to take in the progress). He just wanted to absorb everything and hopefully gain some new ideas.
    Many famous scientists gained ideas from simple observations. Isaac Newton discovered gravity from a falling apple, Copernicus observed the sky to determine that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe, and so on and so forth. Adrien always walked from place to place instead of driving in hopes of having his "Eureka!" moment. It hasn't happened yet, and he is losing hope of it ever happening. He is, of course, studying time travel. How could his field be deduced from simple observations of the world?
    He ended up leaving the house early to head to the New California University of Technology, which was just four kilometers from his apartment. Grace always understood his wanting to walk instead of letting her drive, but even she doubted that he could observe anything useful for their experiments. She always wondered why he still had hope.
    In the library of the NCUT, Adrien looked at the seemingly endless rows of books. From the checkout desk of the library spanned fifteen rows of shelves split into two columns on just the first floor of the library. Each shelving unit had six rows of books and the units themselves spanned 8 meters in length. Down the middle of library floor were tables for visitors to read books they had just checked out or found. Between row seven and eight was another resting section for reading. The carpet in the very middle had the symbol of the school implanted in it: a shield with the letters NCUT on it and  a strand of ribbon going around the shield saying live, learn, prosper in Latin.
The second floor of the library contoured the library with balconies that went out two and a half meters from the wall. The balconies themselves were seven meters above the library floor. The shelving units on second floor lined the back wall of the balcony with each end touching the end of another shelving unit. On the outside part of the balconies were areas where one could sit down and read in comfortable armchairs next to a potted, plastic plant sitting on a table. Each side of the second floor of the library was connected by three sets of catwalks with railing that reached seventy centimeters in height. The railing itself was made of glass and genuinely carved wood. Even if they don't seem sturdy, these railings have lasted many years without even a sign of them nearing their breaking point.
Adrien stayed on the ground for two reasons. The first was because most of the nonfiction and scientific research papers and books were on the first floor. The second reason was because he wanted to avoid the capricious behavior of students who joked around on the second floor frequently. Adrien had been here enough times to know where he need to go. Row 11, Side A and Row 12 Side A. Even though he had been here so much, he still was discovering new ideas and new experiments. He was nowhere close to reading through all of them, but there was one thing in common with all of the books, articles, papers, and experiments.
None were successful.
Most made a breakthrough in the field, but none of the experiments were successful. No one has travelled through time yet. Will anyone ever travel through time? It has yet to be seen. Will it be safe for the future of humanity? Most likely not. So why do we still try?
Because we want to succeed in conquering time itself.
"Why do you still try, Dr. Cooper?" Adrien turned around to see his rival in the science of time.
"Dr. Brecker, always a pleasure." Adrien held out his hand to him. Dr. Becker took it.
Dr. Wilson Brecker is a slightly stout and short man of 58 years. He wears round rim glasses and has a bushy moustache to go with his long untrimmed side burns. He is half bald and has slightly curly hair on the sides of his head.
"Always a pleasure to see a young, recently graduated man working in this moribund field. Our field of study has been stagnant for many decades. Why do you still try to revive this stagnant field?"
Adrien has wondered this himself for a few years. When he went into college, he was so sure about wanting to study time and progress the field. As for why he wanted to do it, he is unsure of it even now. He was caught up in wanting to do it that he forgot why he wanted to join a dying scientific field.
The best answer he could give Dr. Brecker was this: "Because I still have hope for conquering time."
Dr. Brecker shook his head disapprovingly. "I'm sorry to say this, but with how quantum theory is progressing, Time Travel may be discontinued or proven impossible, or at the very least a few hypotheses will be proven impossible."
"Quantum back reaction ruining us?" Adrien asked the wizening Dr. Brecker.
"It has been a problem for over a century, and just when we thought Time travel was in our reach by means of a wormhole, quantum theory discovered more in their field that has made wormholes impossible." Dr. Brecker gave a shrug. "I'm not a man of quantum theory, and even if I learned it a long time ago, I have forgotten enough by delving too much into time."
Adrien groaned at this revelation. He wondered if there even was hope for his experiment on wormholes. Wormholes were the method that scientists have tried to make time travel a reality for decades, and it was recently ruined and rejected by quantum theory.
"Don't give up, Dr. Cooper. I'm not giving up. In fact, I'm giving a lecture on time travel this Tuesday. Why don't you come?" Adrien, being the slightly stubborn person he is, wanted to avoid outside help. He wanted to come up with the ideas on his own. With great reluctance, he agreed to go to the lecture because he was getting nowhere himelf.
"Alright, I'll go," he said with a sigh.
"Outstanding! It'll be great to have you, a young mind full of ideas, attend. With your attendance, the stagnant field could be propelled forth into the future!" Dr. Brecker said excitedly. He slapped Adrien on the back. "It starts at 10:30 on the dot. Don't be late." With that, Dr. Brecker left the scene in a jocund mood.
What started as a research mission ended up with Adrien attending a lecture in a few days.
"Yeah, I totally have a mind full of ideas," Adrien muttered to himself sardonically. "That's totally why I'm attending that lecture."
Grace and John rounded the corner after Dr. Brecker's leaving. "He looked happy," John said looking back in Dr. Brecker's direction.
Adrien quickly went back to looking for some books for research, not including wormholes anymore. That in itself was bad because a large portion of the books on time were based on wormholes. "No. No. No. Not here either. No. Too many wormhole books; not enough books on other theories," he said to himself while scanning the shelves. "Aha! Here's one." He took it out of the shelf and kept looking.
Grace saw what he picked out and what he skipped. She grew a bit curious as to his choice of books for research. "Is there a reason you skipped books on wormholes? Aren't we experimenting with wormholes?"
"Not anymore. Dr. Brecker, with whom I just talked a minute ago, said that quantum theory has proven them impossible." Adrien scanned through some more books until picking another one out. "Until recently, all quantum theory was able to do was make it seem more and more implausible, but now, time travel by means of a wormhole is now proven impossible by quantum theory." He picked out another book, and with full hands filled with about ten, large books, he turns to face Grace and John.
"I guess we're back to square one," John said without losing his cheerful nature. "Any ideas?"
"I'm guessing that's what the books are for," Grace pointed out in a slightly sardonic tone.
"Speaking of which, can someone help me with these books? They're quite heavy right now." Adrien was struggling to keep the books balanced and to keep them from falling onto the floor. John takes four books and Grace takes three from him. "Thanks, guys. Oh, and that reminds me. Grace," Adrien says. She looked over at him curiously.
"What is it?"
"Thanks for always doing my hair. It always turns out perfectly."
Grace had a smile on her face, contrasting her serious nature. He hasn't seen a true smile from her in years. He has only seen contrived smiles from her in pictures, but never true ones. Not since that one terrible day eleven years ago.
Even Adrien has found it hard to smile since that day.
Is that why I want to traverse time? Adrien thought. To change that day? If it wasn't his reason then, it has now become his motive for conquering time.
"I will conquer time," he muttered to himself.
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Here's chapter two for you all. I may be a bit busy for the rest of this winter break, maybe not. I have a little bit of homework to do, but not too much.