Time Travel Society

chapter seven

The next couple days were full of painful healing.

The first day I woke up with throbbing all around my middle, I rose slowly groaning and got dressed. I lumbered to the kitchen to find some breakfast. Elizabeth stood in front of the stove stirring something in a pan. "Morning Elizabeth." I sat on a stool.

Elizabeth turned around, "hey Allen how are the ribs."

"The ones I had last night? Delicious." I smiled sweetly.

"Very funny, smart-"

"You asked."

Elizabeth turned back to the stove. She had an apron over sweat pants and sweat shirt.

"What are you making?"

"Eggs and bacon, would you like some?"

"Don't mind if I do." Elizabeth scooped a serving of scrambled eggs on my plate and a few stripes of bacon.

"Thanks."

"No problem I like to cook." She poured me a glass of grape juice then fixed a plate for herself.

"I would have never guessed."

"Well," Elizabeth sat next to me. "It's like mechanics with flour and eggs."

"Did you cook a lot at home?"

"Nah, the cooks did that." She poured coffee into a mug, I almost spit eggs across the table.

"You had cooks?"

"My family is rich."

"That's.....um?" the um part escaped when a human red puff ball sauntered into the room. Anna's hair was so curly it created a halo around her head.

"Good morning." She whispered hoarsely.

"Holy hair girl!" Elizabeth exclaimed

"No, I would say her hair is everything but holy." I laughed

"I can't help it, okay!" she took a swig of my grape juice and sat on my other said.

Elizabeth started giggling, then laughing. I couldn't help but chuckle.

Anna playfully punched my arm.

"Allen are you sure it's safe for you to sit by her, the hair might bite." A voice sounded from around a corner.

"Yes Samuel I'm sure she's safe."

"Yeah, right." Samuel lumbered around the corner.

"Besides you don't look to great yourself!" Elizabeth murmured

"What was that?" Samuel glared

"Nothing, Nothing. Know feast on my lovely breakfast I so kindly offered you."

¥

Tap Tap Tap I bounced my pencil on the desk; I was pondering the life of Einstein and his theory for relativity. Really I was supposed to be thinking about time travel but that was so ten minutes ago. Einstein's life and theory of relativity is so much more interesting. 1905 Einstein publishes five papers on the theory of E=MC2. 1907 applies the laws of gravity to his theory of relativity. 1913 works on a new theory of gravity, and in 1915 completes his theory of relativity.

"AL, stop tapping the pen, it's an inanimate object it's not a live so stop tapping it to death." Anna said

I paused mid tap. "Terribly sorry, liebling."

I got back to my work. To spare you the details that would burst a couple brain cells, I got a lot accomplished. I had an idea of an algorithm that we could use.

¥

For the next weeks Anna and I worked diligently side by side in the conference room, I gave her algorithms to run through a program she created to simulated the effect of our theories. On a Monday two months after I arrived in Washington DC I had what my brothers call Episodes. My episodes can be extremely dangerous, mostly to myself; I will go days without eating, drinking or sleeping. I am so focused on what I am working on I am oblivious to the world around me. This is how this particular Episode played out.

I was working on my newest algorithm to give Anna when it started. It starts by my deafness to people speaking to me. Anna put her hand on my shoulder; startled I turned and saw Anna's concerned face. "AL are you okay? We have been calling your name forever."

"Ummm....sorry, I didn't hear you. Is there something you needed?"

"We wanted to know if you wanted to go eat?"

"No, actually I'm not hungry." I turned back to my math.

"Alright." Anna turned and left. I continued into a nebulous state of mind as I worked.

That night I didn't realize I had fallen asleep until the next morning I woke to find a blanket placed over me. I automatically jumped up and continued working. I was still working when Anna entered the room, I knew she was speaking but I didn't care. I scribbled away on a dry erase board.

"Allen, are you listening to me?" She prodded my shoulder.

"WHAT! Can't you see I'm working?" I automatically felt bad. She look hurt and frightened.

"Well, I'll just leave you alone." She turned back around

I'm so sorry. I thought but couldn't say, so I continued working.

¥

I knew Anna had forgiven me. Every morning I would walk up from where I passed out, with a blanket over me and a bottle of water and a box of crackers on the table. Days passed. On the fifth day of my Episode, by then I was irritable and hostile, I had worked out an algorithm that would work better then all my work before.

I snuck to my room and showered, combed my hair and went into the kitchen to commune with the others.

"So the dead walks again, eh?" Samuel mused when I walked into the kitchen.

I ignored him. "I have something to say." I made eye contact with each person.

"First is I am so sorry about how I was the past five days, I cannot help it sometimes, especially when I am given such a problem as time travel. Second, Anna I think I got the correct algorithm."

"Really! Let's go try It." she jumped up grabbed my hand and drug me to the computer, the others following behind us.

Anna pulled up the correct screen and I typed slowly making sure I put the correct algorithm. With a lot of whirling and beeping, the computer posted the results.

65% accuracy

Anna yelled and hugged me, then Samuel, then Elizabeth. We had been getting around the accuracy of a 5% to 12% rate range.

"This calls for some celebratory Ice-cream, I suppose!" Elizabeth hooted. Amused I shook my head and followed my friends out the door.