Connection Established

“Phh.. sigh okay. Will this work?” Digital whirring sounded from the Sequence Harmonizer beside Him, lighting up the stuffy closet-of-an-office packed to the ceiling with equipment.  “Alright, stabilization is green.  Voltage… ugh, could be better.  The beam is steady… enough.”  He muttered heading over to the door to prop it open, the hardware overpowering the AC system.  The decryption processor was chugging but keeping up.  There wasn’t much he could do about that without Tellurius.  The laboratory was under a security lockdown.  He lifted a small palm-sized external hard-drive from his overcoat and connected it to the console.  Running a scan on the solid-state drive, he found the source code for Nathan’s Watch device.  If he could find the tuner algorithm, he may be able to determine its call frequency pattern.

He read aloud from Nathan’s notes, “I can’t conceive of a way this unit should fail but the reconnection backward. It’s a simple matter to calculate an address, our time and location, even into a different dimension, however how do we establish a connection retroactively? It seems to be akin to leaping into a river with a rope at your waist but tethering yourself to the shore requires you to land in the river first”.  He sat and pondered, then continued, “how do you physically do that might seem like the difficult question, but it’s more like, only being in the river can inform one onto the proper way to tie the knot, but my calculations are incomplete.  I’m dreading the possibility that the equation can only be complete with information from my destination.  I have a unique gift of having someone in the river, but I don’t know how to talk to him.  Do I throw him a telephone? How? Maybe I’m overthinking this.”

“I can’t connect without a way to talk… I can’t talk without being informed of the frequency patterns.”  He sighed once more, wiping sweat from his brow.  Digital signals sound out as the harmonizer initializes. The console lit up the dark room with a green glow.

The screen printed:

INPUT: datafreq(variance_54, homogenation_true); procession_25step
      >Initialization:_

He thought for a minute, skimming Nathan’s final note pages. “Where is the second watch?”

INPUT: datafreq(variance_54, homogenation_true); procession_25step                                 
      >Initialization:null_                                
      >root/algorithm/call_Back print

The hardware spun up, pulling data from the external drive…

INPUT: datafreq(variance_54, homogenation_true); procession_25step                                 
      >Initialization:null_                                 
      >root/algorithm/call_Back print                
 Processing…                 
 Processing Complete                                 
      >Call_Back(modular01, encode_print)                 
Modular 01 encode datapack 34 printlocal_                                 
      >Y/N?: Y

Printing…

An ancient printer started screaming in the back corner of the room, the kind that had those long spools of paper that were connected by perforated edges.  It printed line by line, chopping and squealing like the digital typewriter it was. He tore off the print job, scanning its information. “Well, here is the encoder datapack.  That should tell me how I can identify his watch…”

Hours pass as he deciphers the print out, working diligently between breaks in the main room.  The attempt at extracting unit identification sequence is similar to doing a crossword puzzle but with a cipher you don’t know, but can be worked out with the questions.  First you work out the cypher, then the answers to the questions, but answer via the cypher.  With the highly sophisticated software that is inconveniently locked behind a security breach lockdown, a computer can work this out immediately.

“Phew, finally… I never forgot why we wrote software for this.” He hurried to the console.

INPUT: datafreq(variance_54, homogenation_true); procession_25step  
      >Initialization:null_
      >root/algorithm/call_Back print                 
Processing…                 
Processing Complete                                 
      >Call_Back(modular01, encode_print)                 
Modular 01 encode datapack 34 printlocal_                                 
      >Y/N?: Y

Printing…
Printing Complete

      >datafreq_input(54,true);25 INPUT: datafreq(variance_54, homogenation_true); procession_25step 
      >Initialization: $H0-D%(mJT)#:// 
INITIALIZATION ATTEMPT 1… [failed] 
INITIALIZATION ATTEMPT 2… [failed] 
INITIALIZATION ATTEMPT 3… [failed]

 ERROR: Initialization Failed

He slammed his hands onto the keyboard.  Checking his notes, it appears he entered it incorrectly.

      >datafreq_input(54,true);25 INPUT: datafreq(variance_54, homogenation_true); procession_25step
      >Initialization: $H0-D%(nJT)#:// 
INITIALIZATION ATTEMPT 1… [success]

The machines started up in a symphony of digital whirring and mechanical chatter. The lights flickered as the sequencer electrodes started up and the Chamber creaked into motion.  Hiding this space within a massive skyscraper was a safe way to conceal the power load behind an already massive electrical load of a downtown metro.  This type of activity sends off certain signals that often attract unwanted attention.  “If this is correct, Nathan’s watch would need to do is dial home if I can contact him.” Information outward in a broadcast is fairly easy, but the response is hard. “Nate… come on, man; just send out an SOS to the world… Unless, he felt that it would compromise his situation.”  If Nathan were to simply broadcast his shadow zone side equations, they could establish a connection, ‘tie the rope’, and his watch can yank him back.

      >Call_Back(modular01, encode_datapack34) 
PARAMETERS MISSING: encode_datapack34(deviance, resonator_corep)

He paused for a moment. Thinking back, he remembered when Piotr managed to broadcast from the shadow zone almost 3 years ago and went dark.  He runs the transmission sequence save file, into the posiform wave harmonizer to infer the missing parameters.  The computer chugs and groans, spitting out the solutions to the data printer.

“The resonator_corep value returns 0x0532764.  The Deviance, 42 microns 7324 Angstroms.”  He is bouncing his left leg with anticipation, anxious beyond belief. 

      >Call_Back(modular01, encode_datapack34) 
PARAMETERS MISSING: encode_datapack34(deviance, resonator_corep) 
      >Call_Back(modular01, encode_datapack34)/parameter/deviance(42,7324) 
PRAMETER ACCEPTED 
      >Call_Back(modular01, encode_datapack34)/parameter/resonator_corep(0x0532764) 
PRAMETER ACCEPTED 
      >Call_Back(modular01, encode_datapack34) 
PARAMETERS VALIDATED: Continue Y/N? 
      >Y

The lights went dim and the Chamber hummed with energy.  The electrodes repositioned and the capacitor bank charged up with an intense electrical hum. The middle of the Chamber’s empty space began to warp and distort. It grew misty, hazy. The air became heavy around the chamber, echoes of magnetic reverberation snapping like cracks of thunder. Stricken with apprehension, he sat back in his chair watching intensely upon the Chamber.  The Machine reached a crescendo, and he stood to his feet, resting his right hand on the pistol on his hip.  Terror gripped the back of his mind with uncertainty.

The Machine paused for a clinging moment and then erupted into an angry vortex. Black plasma energy snapped and whipped around the rim like long tongues of negative flame.  The floor shook at the screams pouring forth from the Portal.

A shadowy form approached the Portal.  It drew near, resolving further. It was a man. He grasped his pistol, prepared to draw.  The man emerged from the Portal, bewildered though excited.

“What happened? I-Is this…?” The man walked down from the Portal, into the room. His eyes squinted, darting around the room at the machinery.

“I can’t believe it worked…” He said.

“It’s you?”

“Welcome back, Mr. Whipple.” He lifted his hand from his Pistol.