Center for Science, Foresight, Creativity and Fiction
Broken time
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Part I
The sun was slowly rising in the west sky, defying every known law of the sky. People watched in amazement at this impossible phenomenon as the sky swirled chaotically above them. In the underground labs, scientists were desperately trying to find an explanation, but their computers were giving increasingly bizarre errors.
Only one man knew the truth. MaRa, the sole survivor of a time travel experiment, had returned from the future with a dire warning: time itself had begun to unravel. The sun no longer followed its natural course because there was no longer a clear direction of time.
And that was just the beginning.
Part II
As the hours passed, the chaos became more palpable. Day and night blended endlessly, the seasons seemed to flow backwards and forwards, sometimes in mere minutes. Forests blossomed and withered in an endless cycle, and rivers sometimes flowed in reverse, as if the earth itself were rebelling against all logic.
Deep in the labs, MaRa explains to the horrified scientists, “Time travel is not a simple distortion of the temporal order. We have torn the very fabric that defines our reality. Time as we know it is no longer a straight line, but a messy spiral that can collapse at any moment."
"We need to find the time node," MaRa said. “The exact point where everything started to fall apart. Only there can we fix what we broke." But how do you locate something in a dimension that refuses to flow in a natural sense?
Those present listened to her with tight hearts. They knew their technological solutions were useless in the face of such a disaster. The question was only one: was there any way to save the world? Or, with the dissolution of time, was everything doomed to disappear into an infinite vortex of contradictory possibilities?
Part III
MaRa and the team gradually discovered the terrifying truth: the temporal rift was not just a distortion of time, but a dissonance in the very fabric of the Universe. Analyzing the data, they understood that what they called Time was merely a manifestation of the fundamental vibrations of strings—the infinitesimal filaments that make up reality at the quantum level.
Every temporal event, every moment, was tied to these strings that had vibrated in harmony until their experiment.
"Time travel didn't just break a timeline," MaRa said. "We have thrown the entire network out of balance multidimensional. Time is just one of the vibrations of this fabric of reality."
The temporal knot was more than an anomaly; it was the point where strings from multiple dimensions had chaotically intertwined. The temporal instability they felt—the sun rising from the setting sun, the seasons flowing uncontrollably—was a reflection of the disorder of the thongs.
“To repair the break,” she continued, “we must find the exact frequency of vibration of these strings and resynchronize them. Otherwise, not only our time will collapse, but all dimensions.”
The journey into the node thus became not just a correction of the temporal course, but a realignment of reality itself. An error in calculation could destroy the harmony between all existing dimensions, but a success would mean saving not only the present, but also the foundation of existence.
Part IV
The laboratory was plunged into an oppressive silence, disturbed only by the dull hum of the supercomputers mapping the temporal chaos. MaRa, eyes fixed on the string vibration maps, felt the pressure of time – a paradox in itself, given that time, as they understood it, had fallen apart.
"Time was never linear," she said softly, more to herself than to the others. "It's a resonance, a vibration of dimensions we're only now beginning to understand."
The screens in front of her revealed the temporal knot—a chaotic interweaving of strings from multiple dimensions, a point of collapse. Each frequency picked up by quantum supercomputers was a branch of reality, a chance to reset order or tear it apart entirely.
“If we don't recalibrate our vibrations correctly,” she continues, “it's not just our time that will collapse. All dimensions, all possibilities will collapse together.”
The scholars watched her in silence. Everything depended on MaRa. She was the only survivor of the first voyage, the only one who seemed to understand not only the temporal rift, but the true nature of the Universe. What he had to do now wasn't just fix time – it was rewriting the harmony between dimensions.
With each frequency identified, the calculations seemed to deepen the chaos and, paradoxically, increase the chances of success. The time node pulsed across the screens, calling her. If he missed, it would all be over.
"So we're going back to the node," the lab chief said, as if trying to accept the inevitable. "What if we get the frequency wrong?"
MaRa did not answer immediately. Her gaze was fixed on the thong pulse. A sound barely perceptible, like a musical note vibrating at the edge of hearing, filled his mind.
"Then," she murmured at last, without looking away, "there will be nothing left to save."
Then the lights flickered again, as if the Universe itself was waiting for her decision.
Part V
MaRa focused all her attention on that faint sound, like a distant echo of a Universe far vaster than the one they knew. Traveling through the time node was not just a foray into the past or future, but a leap into the very essence of reality. Although the lab's technology had been created to control these jumps, no one had foreseen the magnitude of the phenomenon they were now facing.
She took a deep breath, trying to align her thoughts with the vibrations of the thong. She could feel her mind begin to detach from the linear flow of time. She had always had a gift – her perception of time was different from others. A rare intuition, which he had developed after the first trip. But now, that gift had become the burden to save all that existed.
"MaRa?" the lab chief's voice broke through her thoughts, a sudden reminder of pressing reality. "We only have a few minutes left. If the frequencies are not stabilized…”
She held up a hand for silence and looked back in the direction of the screens. The pulse of the temporal node was intensifying and the supercomputers seemed to be struggling to maintain the coherence of reality. The vibrational maps were becoming more and more chaotic, but somewhere in that chaos, MaRa detected a common thread, a subtle harmony. A note lost in the chaos.
"It's here…," she whispered, though no one in the room could really understand what she meant. He began typing rapidly, manually adjusting the parameters of the supercalcs, ignoring the warnings that flashed on the screens. The vibrations in the knot grew stronger and time seemed to bend, stretching and compressing simultaneously around her.
MaRa understood in that moment: it wasn't just a time recalibration problem. The universe was a symphony, and they had stepped in without really understanding the score. Each dimension, each reality was an instrument and with each journey through the knot they had disrupted this cosmic symphony. Now he had to right the wrongs, bring harmony again.
"Prepare the time accelerator," she ordered, her eyes glowing in a strange way, as if she had seen more than anyone else. “We will set the correct frequency. We will correct everything."
The laboratory was filled with frenzied movement. The noisy machines were ready, the energy fluctuated in the air, and the lights continued to flicker, as if reflecting the instability of the Universe. MaRa remained motionless in front of the screens, the only constant in the deepening chaos. Her eyes precisely followed each shift in frequency, adjusting the energy fields until, at a critical moment, all the vibrations seemed to synchronize.
Then, without warning, the lights went out completely. A complete silence fills the lab, more oppressive than the constant buzzing earlier. All the scholars had stopped moving, held back by fear of the unknown.
"MaRa?" someone asked in a trembling voice in the darkness.
He didn't answer right away. At that moment, he felt like the entire Universe was in a precarious state of balance, like a tightrope between collapse and salvation. His breathing was calm and his heartbeat resonated with that subtle note, that frequency that seemed to be the key.
“Now,” she said, almost in a whisper but with sharp firmness, “it all depends on one thing: the choice we make at this moment. Shall we reset the frequencies or let the Universe find its own balance?”
Another paradox, she thought. In an attempt to control, they risked destroying everything. If they intervened again, they could continue the destructive cycle. But if they did nothing, all realities could collapse.
"What do we choose?" the head of the lab asked again, but MaRa, deep down, already knew the answer.
"We choose to listen," she said, her voice as if it had become part of the vibrations of the Universe. "And let the symphony rewrite itself."
With a light gesture, disable all controls. The lab was left in total darkness, and the silence that filled the room seemed different now—no longer oppressive, but full of potential. The thong vibrations aligned themselves without intervention. The temporal node pulsed slower, more steadily, like a heart that had found its rhythm again.
MaRa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The choice had been made. Time, in all its complexity, was finding its balance.
Born on January 31, 1978, in Bucharest. Diplomate engineer of the "Politehnica" University of Bucharest, Department of Engineering Sciences, Francophone Branch, Electrical Division, specialization "Electrical and computer engineering" (courses in French), in-depth studies in the field of electrical engineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland ( courses in French and English), postgraduate specialization in pedagogy at the Department for the Training of Teaching Staff of the "Politehnica" University in Bucharest. Doctor of engineering with the qualification "very good" (magna cum laude) in the field of electrical engineering of the "Politehnica" University of Bucharest, Faculty of Electrical Engineering. University teaching staff (preparator, assistant, head of works) for 21 years at the Faculty of Energy, "Politehnica" University of Bucharest and member of the Commission for the Development of Creativity within the Romanian Academy of Scientists (AOSR). Advisor to the Ministry of Education, the National Center for the Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas since 2007. Member of the General Association of Romanian Engineers (AGIR), of the Association "Scientific Society ICPE" (SS ICPE), of the Center for Sciences, Prospective, Creativity and Fiction (StrING Center) and volunteer within the TROM project.