Science Fiction Story_Time

No human experiences anything identical to another. We may search the ends of the earth attempting to make my experience your own. It is as if to make you see what I see through my eyes is some unwritten obligation of the human way. Nevertheless, it is impossible. We are too individual as a people. Progression of ones’ self no matter how we try to deny it, is at the forefront of human focus in life. And this so called life is nothing but a collection of decisions made in an allotted time by people who choose to live.

Life day #25185 Events:

• Completed daily morning routine
• Wake
• Fulfill standard hygienic requirements
• Eat breakfast of 1 multi-vitamin tablet, oatmeal topped with rehydrated assorted fruits, and 2 liters of water, and 1 protein supplement.
• Left home and traveled to the university
• Conducted three lectures and lessons on Time Travel 101, Future Time, and Human Time
• Left lecture hall for the Rhoneart’s Sciences Auditorium and accepted the Stielgermier’s Award for Advancement of the Human Race Award
• Returned home and consumed an evening meal and medications intravenously 
• Journal until overcome by sleep

This schedule is my fathers life and he follows it too the letter. When a new event is introduced to the entire schedule it is documented for future research purposes. My father was was a man that lived through his work. As a child I begged for his attention, cried even. I remember at my most desperate moments, I would hold my breath and threaten suicide. Even when I was on the verge of death, his work was his priority.  It was my hope that uniting them change that. I am still hoping. 

Skhi-Lee walked into the doors of her mentor’s office expecting the worse. She was late and knowing his obsession with time, he was bound to scold her. 

“Time, Ms. Smith,” he said as he briefly peered above the pages hiding his face, “ May occur different to you than it does for me. In order for this relationship to work, you must learn to operate on my time. One o’clock means one o’clock. I operate on the time that humans have universally agreed upon. Normal time. One-fifteen is not one o’clock. Your time with me has passed. You are dismissed.”

“Mr. Smith, I”

“ You mean Dr. Smith,” he corrected, “Again, if you are expecting this relationship to be beneficial, things must be done in order.”

“Dr. Smith, my mother is extremely ill and I was on the phone with her doctor in Sacramento. Her kidneys are failing and they are looking at me as a donor. I apologize for being late for our first meeting but you must understand. She is the only...”

“Quite frankly Ms. Smith, Aarina’s health is no longer my concern.”

  “How did you know her...”

“You are dismissed Ms. Smith,” he said sternly

As she walked out of his office she could not help but think that he did not like her. The semester had not even officially started and her mentor and professor already did not like her. Great start to the school year, don’t you think?

“Time, class as you will learn is relative to the human who is experiencing time,” Professor Smith said at the lecture hall podium. “You all  are here because you have demonstrated an accelerated understanding of physics and shown promise,” he continued, “ on your applications that you are the best the world could offer. In this class you will be experimenting with my discovery of high speed time travel. Unfortunately, because I have simply proved its existence, it now becomes time to prove its applications for the human race.”

A student rose his hand. “So basically what you are saying is that we are igors for your scientific endeavors. And hear I was thinking that is would be an honor to learn from Father Time.”

“Your insubordination will not be tolerated in this class!” he said as he slammed the podium with a fist. “If igors are what you would like to consider yourselves, then so be it. I have no time for human emotions. Time is science. Humans have carelessly muddied the waters between science and emotion.”

Skhi-Lee attempted to sneak to her seat.

“A prime example of this is your fellow igor, Skhi-Lee. She again is late to an event where she is to be engaged with me because her mother’s time on Earth is coming to an end. Look at her class. She is in tears. Take Ms. Smith as an example, if you are late or insubordinate in any way you will be dismissed and this opportunity to work alongside the award winning Jarold Smith,” he briefly paused to scan the room of students. “ Ms. Smith this is your last opportunity. If you are late again you will be dismissed from my company.”

As a girl Skhi-Lee was the happiest of people. She was funny to. When ever someone was down or she saw the need for a smile, she would be right there with one of the jokes she found on a popsicle stick. My daughter was the light was the light of my life. 

“One day when I get real big and go to college, I am going to invent a money tree and I will wrap it up and give it to you for Christmas Mommy,” she’d say. “But, only you and me would know I invented it. So, then only us would have money forever and ever.” Money was the least of our problems. When I got sick the light drained from her eyes. She became remote from all things joyous. I wished there was something I could do, but my illness had made me weak and all I could do was try to stay alive. The only thing she seemed to find purpose and remnants of happiness was in her work. She and I used to do mini science experiments. The last one we worked on awarded her the Young Physicists of America award and a full ride Umkington University. UU was all she talked about. I was her dream school and now we didn’t have to worry about student loans and scholarship hunting. She was set. 

In the following weeks of class Skhi-Lee was on time and on point. She lived right under Professor Smith’s wing and for that, other students seemed to resent her. They would often go out to eat.

“Well that was exhausting, come on everyone. How’s Thai sound tonight?” one of the students said.

“I love Thai,” Skhi-Lee said. 

The other students turned to her and sighed. She understood. Her only friend was her work and I was no longer there to cheer her up. My baby was on her own. Life can be a scary place when you have no one. It can change a person, force them to do things that contradict who they are.

“Today we will be transporting small invertebrates with timers,” Prof. Smith announced.

Students immediately went to their assigned stations. Skhi-Lee worked alone.

“You will need to make sure that both the timer at your station and the one being transported transported are started at the same time,” he continued, “You will do this nine time and record all data. I will need all quantitative and qualitative data for my records. I will return in one hour, twelve minutes, and twenty-four seconds. Begin.”

Time travel had become common knowledge to the students, it was the speed at which an  object could travel that would set one students findings apart from another.  Skhi-Lee was the only student who was seeming to show progress. The rate at which her invertebrates were traveling doubled every other trail and her invertebrates were demonstrating less abnormalities. The worked diligently for one hour, eleven minutes, and  twelve seconds. At that time Skhi-Lee’s phone rang. It was the hospital calling about me. The nurse told her to come immediately. They needed to talk about other donor options. Immediately, she broke into tears and darted to the door. By this time, one hour, twelve minutes, and twenty-four seconds had passed and Prof. Smith was walking in. He grabbed her by the arm.

“Where do you think you are going Ms. Smith?”

“The hospital called. I have to go. It’s an emergency.”

“Our time is not finished here. You will stay,” he replied.

“ All you talk about is time!” she nearly shouted. “  Time this and time that. Sir, my mother is very low on time and I am all she has left. Her time is my time and because of that, today my time is finished here.” She walked around him and out the door.

“Your time with me is finished Ms. Smith.”

At the hospital the nurse explained that Skhi-Lee was not match and could not donate her kidney. Without a donor, I had only three days left to live. Time was not on our side. 

“Are you sure that there is no other family?” the nurse asked.

“No,” I replied “The last of my family abandoned me a long time ago.”

“Mom , they died.They didn’t abandon you. It was just their time.
My medications got the best of me. “No Skhi! Yo don’t understand. He turned his back on us. His work was his life not his wife and daughter.” By now i was sitting straight up, my eyes blood shot red. “ He is alive and doesn’t even care that I am on the verge of death!”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“That man is horrible. Every time I hear you on the phone nearly in tears because of him. it brings back the nightmare that was my childhood. I can’t bare it.”

“Who are you talking about. Nurse can you come in here please.”

I was panting like a dog, gasping for air. “Your professor...”

“ Step back ma’am. we are going to have to sedate her. Don’t want her to go into shock,” the nurse said.

“... is your grandfather,” I whispered as I slipped into a medically induced sleep.”

Through her tears, Skhi-Lee some how found her way back to campus. For a day and a half she did nothing but cry. Her body was heavy with the weight of what now lay before her.  Should she ask the callous man that turned his back on his family for science for a kidney to save his daughter’s life, or live not knowing his response, without a mother.

Covered in tears, but dressed as if she were about to be interviewed, she dragged herself to Prof. Smith’s office.

“I can’t believe that in all this time, you knew and still you punished me,” she started.

“I am not sure why you are here Ms. Smith. I dismissed you all of two days ago. Why are you in my company?” He never removed his eyes from the documents before him.

“My mother lies on her death bed and the only one who can save her is you, her father.”

“My daughter has run her course and her time is coming to an end. That is something that I can not avoid. Something I will not avoid.”

“You can not possibly be that heartless she is your daughter! I am begging you.”

“I chose a life, Ms. Smith, that was detached from emotion. That means that I have no family. Those ties were slashed at my discovery of high speed time travel, at my success as a professor, at my superiority in the scientific community. I have no family. You have no grandfather. And my daughter has no father.”

Within an hour of that conversation I was dead. My funeral was brief, Skhi-Lee my only attendee other then the minister. Her life went to a dark place after that. Prof. Smith let her back on is team of igors and she began to excel even beyond her master. But, the dark of my death clouded her mind. She blamed  my father for my death and dreamed in revenge.

He claimed to have removed all human emotion from his life. To him sadness, regret, and true loneliness were irrelevant human creations. To make him feel this things would cripple him. But, how do you make a man with no heart feel? You attack the one thing that he does love. His work. With the research that she was already breaking into, Skhi was already ahead of Prof. Smith’s research. High Speed time travel would soon be a thing of the past.