The Reluctant Dweller

“Dr. Harris,” Mr. Baker said as he knocked on the open door to Dr. William Harris’s laboratory. Mr. Baker was accompanied by a tall man who attempted to mask his unfamiliarity with labs by adjusting his fashionable tie.

“Mr. Baker!” William exclaimed as he lifted his head from his workbench. “To what do I owe the pleasure of a surprise visit from the C.E.O. of these facilities?”

“Surprise visit?” Mr. Baker was confused. “I was sure my assistant contacted you about my introducing your new supervisor today.”

“What’s that?” William stared blankly just beyond Mr. Baker and his guest before the memory of speaking with Mr. Baker’s assistant returned to him. “Of course! Now, I remember! I was working on this presentation for you. If you’ll have a seat by that clear acrylic box we can begin.” William gestured toward two empty chairs by the aforementioned box, which was empty.

“Before we do that, Dr. Harris,” Mr. Baker interjected, “I’d like to introduce you to Frank Cirello. He will be taking over my duties at this facility. The company’s expanding and my presence is needed elsewhere so Frank here will be your new boss by the end of the day.” William shook his hand and was less than appreciative that Frank saw handshakes as a variation of arm wrestling.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bill,” Frank said, a smile plastered on his face.

“William, if you don’t mind, or Dr. Harris,” William responded.

“I didn’t mean any offense,” Frank replied.

“I’m sure you didn’t, but I just prefer William to Bill,” William explained. “I find it’s less confusing since there are so many Bill’s around. There’s Bill in accounting, Billy the intern, Bill the postal worker who comes by--”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Harris,” Mr. Baker interrupted, “but we’re on a rather tight schedule so if we could please continue with the presentation.” William nodded in the positive and gestured for them to take their seats. Frank noticed that the box was no longer empty. There was a block of wood in it with some scribbling on one side.

“How did--?” Frank started but William held his hand up, asking for quiet. He held up a wooden block, the same size as the one in the box by Frank and Mr. Baker but there was no scribbling on it.

“If you’ll please just sign your names on this wood sample we can proceed,” William handed the sample and a felt pen to his guests. They signed their names and William took the block and placed it in another clear box located on the other side of the room.

“What I have here, Mr. Baker, Mr. Cirello,” William said as he raised the contraption he was working on before his former and new bosses arrived, “is what I call a ‘spatial-temporal displacement apparatus.’ In effect, it shoots out a form of radiation that sends its intended target back in time.”

William placed the block in the empty box and aimed the temporal displacement ray at the sample. A low hum emitted from the device and the block seemed to melt into the surrounding air.

“I have calculated for the block to appear two minutes ago in that box besides you which I have applied a vacuum to just hours ago.” William explained. “As you can see through the box, the wooden sample arrived two minutes ago when you sat down. You’ll find that those are your signatures on that wooden block.”

“That’s fantastic!” Mr. Baker exclaimed. “But why did you need to apply a vacuum to the second box?”

“I’m still working out the details but it seems that, on the molecular level, anything that gets sent back is rather unstable. Even interaction with oxygen molecules will cause the subject to deteriorate into nothingness.” William released the vacuum seal on the second box and as the air hissed back in the particles of the wooden sample dissolved into the air.

“That seems pretty useless,” Frank commented, “What good is going back in time if you end up splitting apart like a dandelion on a windy day?”

“It still needs work,” William explained, “But I assure you, this successful presentation is a step in the right direction.” Frank was skeptical that the spatial-temporal apparatus was worth investing in but fortunately for William, it was Mr. Baker who had faith in the absent-minded scientist’s work.

Fortunately the following weeks would quell the would-be rivalry between William Harris and Frank Cirello. During the usual work day, Frank would go out of his way to avoid being in contact with anything that would make him look idiotic, which it turns out meant he wouldn’t be seen much in the facility at all unless it was in front of the mirror in his office. William had the same policy for contact with other human beings with the exception of one: the receptionist Rachel Sherman. Underneath the thick glasses, mismatching wardrobe, and messily done hair was an exceptionally attractive woman, a small detail that would not go unnoticed by Dr. Harris.

However, the mousy genius lacked the wherewithal to start a conversation with anyone let alone someone like Rachel. William had chosen the day that he would make a convincing attempt to talk to her. He was nearly late for the first time as a result of practicing what the rest of the world would consider normal social protocol. It only took him thirty minutes to figure out which smile he would greet Rachel with. It wasn’t too eager, not too happy, and, most importantly, not very “toothy.” During his morning rituals, he would rehearse his opening line and would debate the best way to go about casually talking about the weather. William didn’t find the weather particularly interesting until he saw rain clouds roll in on his drive to work. The fates made it easy for him to convincingly ask, “Isn’t this crazy weather we’re having?”

William confidently stepped out of his car and took a deep breath as he heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. There was no rain as of yet but the chill in the air was enough to motivate the awkward out of him as he walked in through the door. Before the door closed behind him he was already uttering “Isn’t this cr--” before he stopped in disbelief.

“So it’s a date, then,” William overheard Frank say to Rachel at the front desk. Frank and Rachel turned to William as he froze on the welcome mat of the facility, just staring at them. “Ah, Bill, I’m glad you’re here, I’ve got some good news. Well, good news for the company, probably not good news for you. Mr. Baker’s given me the go ahead to cut funding to your research. But don’t worry; you’ll still have a job with us, just not designing useless machines.”

“But my research is progressing,” William pleaded, “I actually think I can start experimenting on live samples. The implications--”

“The implications are that you don’t know for sure if this thing will actually ever work and it would be a waste of time to waste your talents and the company’s money on it.” Frank’s voice was dripping with sarcasm at the utterance of the word “talents.”

William had no response. He stood there hoping that his alarm clock would go off in the distance and he would wake up in a world where Rachel hadn’t made a date with Frank and he still had his research to continue. But no such alarm would sound. Just more thunder in the distance and the gentle fall of rain on the parking lot asphalt.

“I’ll be in my office if anyone needs me,” Frank said all smug and content then turned to Rachel, “And I’ll see you tonight.” He adjusted his tie and jumped into the elevator leading to his corner office.

The rain came down harder now, the thicker clouds rolled in blocking out more sunlight. Lightning speared across the gray sky followed by an explosive boom of thunder. The fates have a funny sense of humor, William thought to himself. He walked past Rachel who barely noticed that William was still there and muttered under his breath, “Isn’t this crazy weather we’re having?”

William sat at his work bench just staring at the spatial-temporal apparatus for at least an hour. All his life’s work had culminated to this moment just mere moments of making his dreams of time travel a reality only to be thwarted by the petty misdeeds of Frank Cirello. He had perfected temporal displacement for the wooden samples and knew that live experimentation was the next step. However the molecular makeup of a living creature is much more complex than that of a wooden block. There was no way that Frank would allow live specimens to be purchased for experimentations and William refused to give up on his creation. Just then, Rachel walked in to hand him the forms declaring that all his research should cease by the end of the day.

“Thank you, Rachel,” William said. It seems his coyness subsided along with all his hope. “Rachel? Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Of course, William,” she answered. William never heard her voice directed at him before. He smiled without smiling, a bit of the shyness creeping back in.

“Do you like Mr. Cirello?”

“He’s all right, I guess. Why do you ask?”

“I see. No reason,” William said. He had much more he wanted to say. He wanted to know if she would have agreed to go out with him if he had asked her first. But he just said, “I see. Thank you, Rachel.”

He read the forms over and over again until the words blurred together into a gray mess on the paper. Looking around at all his equipment, he knew there was no way to continue his work without this particular lab. And he was not allowed to work in it. He took the spatial-temporal displacement apparatus and made some minor adjustments. William’s calculations showed that he would be able to send a living thing back in time but without experimentation would be unsure if a living organism would survive such a jump. Perhaps, William thought, Mr. Cirello would like to help in that respect.

William took the apparatus and modified it for a single blast large enough to send a full grown man an hour before getting shot with the radiation. His intended target: Frank Cirello. William’s heart raced as he walked to the elevator leading to Frank’s office. He was careful not to let Rachel see him carrying the device with him. As the elevator went up, William’s palms grew sweaty and his thumb trembled as it rested by the activator switch. All calculations indicated that Frank would disintegrate just minutes after being sent back. The elevator doors opened and William saw his target.

Frank’s back was to William who took the spatial-temporal apparatus and aimed as he stepped out of the elevator. He pushed a sequence of buttons on the side and the device hummed gently. William’s heart raced, a bead of sweat trickled down the back of his neck as he took aim. One eye was watching Frank, who had not yet seen William just outside his office. The other was waiting for the green light to flash, indicating that it was ready to fire. William slowed his breathing in anticipation for the green light and as it did, he quickly flipped the activator switch. The radiation emitting from the apparatus seemed to do so in slow motion until at the last millisecond, Frank stepped to the side revealing the mirror he was standing in front of. The radiation, acting very much like a laser, reflected directly back to William who’s last word was a desperate gasp.

It was as if nothing had happened but upon peeking into Frank’s office, he noticed that Frank was nowhere to be seen and there was a brighter glare on the mirror. Impossible, William thought, it was raining just a second ago. There was a gentle rumble of thunder. William zipped back into the elevator and realized that he could undo his predicament by recalibrating the spatial-temporal displacement apparatus to malfunction when he attempts to use it on Frank just an hour later. When the elevator doors open, he hears Frank talking to Rachel at her desk.

William was disgusted at hearing anything that came out of Frank’s mouth especially one’s aimed to “flatter” the object of his affections. He hid just around the corner, careful not to be seen before the other version of him arrived. It hadn’t started to rain yet, so he knew that he would have to wait. As he reluctantly listened to Frank and Rachel’s one-sided conversation William realized that there were only two things he envied about Frank: his looks, and his ability to become impervious to the effects of social awkwardness. Perhaps, William speculated, confidence is merely embracing the blissfulness of some forms of ignorance. But then his mind focused on the task at hand: to sabotage his own device in order to create a paradox to save himself from himself.

He waited until Frank had asked Rachel out. It frustrated William that he could not change that particular time line. It would only be a few more seconds before the other William walked through the front doors to be greeted with the two worst pieces of news he could have gotten that day. The rain poured and the thunder sounded, seemingly more quiet than the first time around. Frank went back to his office and the other William went to sulk in his laboratory. The William who was sent back in time finally emerged from the corner he was hiding and knew there was a limited time in which he could act. But then he remembered something.

“She called me William,” he said to himself, “Everyone calls me Dr. Harris unless I ask them to call me William.” He was just a few feet from the lab where he kept the apparatus but he couldn’t help but wonder when he told Rachel to call him by his first name. William shook his head and diverted focus back to the device attempting to sneak into the lab.

“Good morning, Dr. Harris,” Rachel said.

“Um,” William said, “Morning, Ms. Sherman.”

“You can call me Rachel, Dr. Harris,” she said, smiling at him.

“William,” he responded, “You can call me William.”

“Isn’t this crazy weather we’re having?” she asked him. He smiled at the irony.

“Definitely. Very crazy.”

“I’m sorry about your research. Mr. Cirello said he’ll send down the paperwork in a bit.”

“That’s all right, I guess. It probably would have ended up killing me.” William was surprised at how much easier talking to her was becoming.

“Don’t say that. That’s a horrible thing to think!”

“I overheard that Frank asked you out.”

“He was pretty relentless. But I haven’t been out in a while so I thought, ‘Why not?’”

“It’s hard to believe you’re even single.”

“Why’s that?” Rachel asked, smiling up at William as she looked away from whatever it was she was typing up on her desk.

“I hope you don’t find this too forward but I’ve known you for just over a year now and one of my biggest regrets in that year is not having a chance to get to know you.” William wasn’t sure where this bout of courage was coming from. Rachel smiled, her cheeks just barely turning pink.

“There’s always time for that. There’s no need for regret. Like my mother always said, ‘It’s not healthy to dwell on the past.’”

“Sometimes we don’t have a choice.”

“So you’re some reluctant dweller of the past?”

“You can say that.” The two looked at each other like two long lost friends reunited.

“You can always change that. It’s never too late to become present-minded.” Her printer buzzed and the paperwork that Frank had mentioned earlier was printing itself out. She looked at the sheets quickly and looked back at him as if to say she’s sorry that she has to give those forms to him.

“I suppose it never is too late,” William said, ignoring the printer. He grabbed the edge of Rachel’s desk feeling instantly dizzy. The effects of time travel were wearing on him. His molecules were destabilizing and he could almost feel them peeling off of each other.

“Hang in there,” Rachel said to him, “Maybe we can have lunch together.”

“I’d like that,” William answered, trying his best to hide the burning pain in his gut. “But I’ve got to step outside for just a minute. You can bring those forms to me in my lab. I should be there by the time those finish printing.”

“Okay. Have a nice day, William,” Rachel smiled at William who smiled back as he walked out the front door into the rain.

The water poured down on him and he could feel each individual drop. His current state made the rain feel both exhilarating and painful at the same time. His body was disintegrating very much like the wooden blocks just weeks before. He peeked back at Rachel and saw his past-self sneaking into the elevator. He knew he had just a few more seconds and he thought about what Rachel had said. He was a reluctant dweller of the past but was given one last opportunity to live in the present. While the once mousy scientist said all he wanted to say to Rachel, he regretted not being able to meet her for lunch. William screamed as his body pulled apart into the atmosphere but no one could hear it over the sound of thunder and rain.