WHAT IF / I WISH

WHAT IF -the test

Dr. Mark Windleham is a brilliant scientist and a novice inventor . Most of his inventions work fine but aren't very useful . Although his latest invention is a sure winner . He had been working on a device that can read a persons mind and alter the reality of the persons thoughts just by thinking about a particular point in time they think would have changed their lives . They can experience that reality like it really occurred in their mind while asleep on a table he had set up in a small room in his basement .
He had been working on this machine for 10 years and he is ready to test it . He calls it "THE WHAT IF" machine . In order to trigger it to work the subject needs to state into a small microphone "what if" followed by what they wanted changed in their life . He also has a second machine he has built called the "I WISH" machine . This machine is way more complicated. He had thought of this idea just shortly after starting the what if machine .
The I Wish machine will actually take any past life and turn that life into a reality by stating "I wish" followed by an event the individual wanted changed in their past .
These breakthroughs will certainly change the world . He had decided to test it first on himself as to not cause harm to anyone if these machines malfunctioned . He set up video camera and also surveillance to monitor how he reacts while under .
Mark hooked himself up to all the wires and had a remote start button he had to push . Then he had to ask the machine a what if scenario then it automatically injects a cyclopyrrolone solution into the body sending him into instant state of hypnosis where the machine is able to alter his reality by making him believe he is living the life as if his event didn't happen .
After hooking himself up , He said the duration timer for four hours, He wanted to give this machine a good test then he looked at the clock and presses the button on the remote and asks "what if I had gotten married to Linda Carter?"
He feels a small prick in his thigh and immediately his head goes swimmy and he starts to see visions . He sees his marriage to Linda Carter , and the birth of their son Jason .
All of a sudden his eyes open everything in the room becomes clear . Immediately looked at the clock and only a couple minutes had actually passed . He thinks to himself the drugs should've worked longer than that . He sets up from the table and unhooks himself .
He hears a voice coming from what looks like an intercom . A Woman says "Mark you need to hurry so we can make Jason's parent teacher conference."
             What in the hell is going on here , he never had an intercom in his lab before and he was certain he was testing the What If machine . Had he hooked up to the I Wish instead by accident ?
           "Ok I'll be right up ." He said trying to make heads or tails out of this situation .
           He went upstairs to see his "wife and child" sitting in his living room waiting on him so they could go . He gave himself a slight pinch to see if this was real and sure enough it hurt .
           Playing along until he could figure out what has happened he told them "ok let's go ."
          "Really Mark , your going like that ." Linda said
          He looks at himself and he is dressed in his lab coat . He takes it off and luckily he had decent clothes underneath it .
          "This better ?" He asked
          "It will have to do ." She told him
           They head out to the driveway and she gets in the passengers side of a minivan and Jason climbed into his booster seat in the 2nd row .
           "what the hell is this ? A damn mini van? When did we get this ?" He asked
            "Oh about 6 years ago when Jason was born . Are you ok ?" She asked looking at him weird " do I need to drive ?"
             "No no I'm sorry my head is just back in my lab . I've been working on a very special project ." He said
             "Well let's try and get your head back on getting to the conference on time , ok ."
              "Yes dear" He said with his head hung low .
              The moment he laid eyes on Linda and Jason a flood of memories came over him . He now remembers his wedding all vacations they took and the birth of his son . He is 6 years old and goes to kindergarten. They are going to see Mrs. Kingston .
               "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Windleham  ." Mrs. Kingston started . "I would like to tell you Jason is one of my most gifted students I've ever had in my career of teaching . He's helpful and very intelligent ."
             Hearing this made Jason blush and he hung his head slightly . Mark couldn't help but puff out his chest in pride and Linda beamed with joy .
            "He is reading at a 5th grade level and his math skills are unreal for a 6 year old ." Mrs. Kingston stated . "I feel he would be better off  going to a school that offered more challenging work for gifted children ."
            This was more than Mark could handle . This morning he was a Bachelor with no kids or a wife and a BMW  and now he has a gifted 6 year old and he's driving a mini van . This was meant to be an experiment but everything was all to real to be anything but a new reality . He needed to get home and fix his machine or figure out what happened .
            Mrs. Kingston went on and on about a special school for the really gifted children , Mallinckrodt Academy of Gifted Instruction , telling the Windlehams of their expertise in helping gifted children like Jason to achieve their highest goals in life .
           After what seamed like an eternity to Mark they finally got to say their goodbyes and headed home . All Mark could think about was getting to that machine and getting it fixed . Linda had other plans though . 
            When they returned home Linda had Mark set down with her to discuss Jason's future . Linda wanted to send Jason to that school . It was only an hour away and was supposed to be the best in the country for gifted children . Mark just agreed so she would end the conversation and he could return to his machine . Of course when he agreed she was bubbling with excitement and then wanted to bring in Jason and let him know . Before Mark knew it it was after 10 pm and Linda announced she was going to bed that Mark should tuck his son in for the night .
            "I suppose I could work on the machine tomorrow" he thought to himself and decided to go to bed .
             Linda was so excited about sending Jason to the gifted school she talked to Mark till midnight . Mark went to sleep wondering what he was going to do if he wakes up still in this reality in the morning .
               Mark woke the next morning to Jason staring at him at the edge of the bed .
            "Daddy , are we still going fishing today ?" Jason asked "Its Saturday and you said we could go fishing , remember ?"
            Fishing ? He hadn't been fishing in years then he heard Linda say from her side of the bed " please go , it will give me a chance to have some alone time today ."
           "Damn it ." He was thinking "when will I ever get a chance to work on my machine ."
            " get the gear ready son and I'll be down in a moment ." He stated .
            Jason ran off to get the gear in the He minivan . Mark remembers a time when he used to be that excited to go fishing with his father . Well if he is stuck in this reality he might as well enjoy it he thought to himself .
             Fishing with his son went very well . They talked and he could see just how intelligent he really was . Mark was beginning to enjoy his time now in this reality. Maybe this won't be so bad if he can't fix his machine .
             They got home late in the afternoon and Linda had supper already cooked .
         "I see I should have waited to cook supper ." She said "Well go clean those and we can have them for tomorrows lunch after church . Mark took the fish into the kitchen and began cleaning them thinking the whole time when will he ever get time to work on his machine .
            When Supper was over Linda had Mark help with the dishes and then Jason wanted a movie night with his parents .
           "Damn , I just can't seam to catch a break ." Mark was thinking
           Sunday came and more of the same happened . After church they had the fish for lunch then some of their old time family friends showed up and he ended up sitting around talking with them until supper . Linda offered for them to stay for supper and they didn't leave until it was later in the evening .
              This type of activity happened every day and Mark never got to fix his machine . They moved to St.Louis and sent Jason to the gifted children's school .
              Jason graduated with honors at the young age of 13 and went on to Harvard and by the time he was 18 he was top scientist at the same place his father worked at the Washington university in St. Louis .
            Mark had become accustomed to his life he thought was supposed to be just an experiment. He loved his wife and son . He had made many friends and he got to work with his son at the university in the science lab .
           One day after his retirement , Mark was in his basement looking at the machine he was determined to fix . He now had the time to look at it but no longer had the ambition . He shut the light off and went back upstairs . He wrote his son a note about what the machine was supposed to do and where he thought he went wrong and one day after his death he could possibly fix his fathers mistake .
            That night Mark fell asleep with Linda by his side . He was holding her and he felt his heart . It was beginning to hurt and when he tried to open his mouth to tell Linda he felt the sharp pain and his heart stopped beating . He lie on the bed still with his arm around Linda and everything went blank .
            Next thing Mark knew his eyes open and he hears a computer voice say "simulation complete ."
           He has no pain , he looked up and he is hooked up to his machine . He looked over at his clock and only 4 hours had passed .
           He had just experienced a lifetime of memories , and not just memories , these memories felt so real he truly believed he was living this life .
          Mark wept at the thought of what he could have had . He no longer had a son or a wife . He was angry at himself that what he had just experienced was the "what if" in his life and he now wished it would have happened  . The machine worked better than he had ever imagined it could . 
            Mark almost thought of dismantling the machine still angry at the thought of loosing his wife and son even though he knew it was just a simulation planted in his mind .
           Mark slowly collected his thoughts and decided he would find someone else to test the I Wish machine . That machine was made to specifically bend and transform reality into what a person wished for not just a simulation . If he was this distraught over a simulation then how would he handle a true bend in time and reality . 
     
To everyone who reads this . Please , if you like the chapter , vote . If you thought it could show improvement please comment . I take criticism very well . For this story I have dozens of chapters planed if the book is liked well enough . Coming chapter THE I WISH TEST .