Twin Earth

“It’s not the neutralinos we’re dealing with at all,” Hayden continued.

“It’s not?” Yuki asked in surprise.

“I’m sorry, I’m confused. What isn’t the neutralinos?” James asked. “The message?”

”Oh no, the messages we’ve received have been embedded within the fluctuations of the stable lighter neutralino particles, there could even be more messages encoded into the other far less stable heavier neutralino particles, but that isn’t what is controlling the binding of these particles or emitting them in the first place.”

”So what are you saying?” I asked, leaning in to look closer at Hayden’s computer screen.

“The neutralinos are not the dark matter itself. They’re just living within it. I started to detect ionisation tracks and initially I put it down to outer interference, but when we moved the detector closer to the rocks it grew stronger.”

”Isn’t that just from the magnetic field being generated around here?” James asked confused.

“At first I thought the same, but there was no information coming from within the radiation to suggest it was from matter around us, so I delved further and realised that the neutralinos were being affected by gravity particles.”

“Gravitons? Within the detector? That’s impossible,” Yuki exclaimed in disbelief.

“Yes, but more interestingly I think I’m detecting gravitinos, their super-symmetric partners, and super heavy ones at that.”

”So what are you saying? There’s a black hole in there? Isn’t that what causes gravity particles, waves, whatever?” James asked.

“Not quite, but similar. It’s hard to pin down exactly what it is. It’s like nothing I’ve detected before and to be honest the data here is beyond even my comprehension, but there is something in there that is acting like what gravitinos are theorised to do and they seem to be spontaneously appearing and disappearing as we speak into some kind of vortex. I… I really can’t get my head around it at all,” Hayden continued rubbing his head in bewilderment.

“This is astounding,” my father commented, pushing me aside and looking at the computer data himself. Even Yuki had grabbed Hayden’s notes and was now pouring her attention into them.

“This somehow makes sense to me,” I mumbled, as a memory suddenly flicked into my mind.

“It does?” James asked.

“Yes, I remember Adom, one of the Mochuvians talking about the ellipses being like black holes. Just before I was about to jump through one of their ellipses for the first time it morphed into this black void. It was terrifying, and at first I thought I was expected to jump into it, thankfully he did something and the destination became a little more palatable, but I remember Adom talking about the ellipses using intensely controlled mass dilation, the equivalent of many solar masses, which created something called zero infinite time, like a black hole and particles are absorbed into it. To us they look like they’re suspended in time or appearing and disappearing spontaneously, but in reality they’re being forced through to another location.”

“Wow, okay,” James mouthed staring at me. “So what are you saying, that this is one of those ellipse things that can travel to another dimension?”

”Well, to our own dimension at least and by the looks of it a very small one, but yes. I honestly believe Hayden has detected a minute ellipse. Some kind of dark matter controlled ellipse.”

”But we can’t travel through this,” Yuki interjected, looking up from Hayden’s notes and flinging them down to her sides in exasperation.

“I can increase the field parameters though,” Hayden replied.

For a second none of us spoke.

“What would that mean?” my father replied, finally turning his attention to Hayden.

Slightly flustered and sweating profusely now, Hayden shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

“I’m by no means understanding any of this any more than you all here, but I can increase the field parameters within the detector to produce a stronger effect on the rocks around us. In theory, this should increase the neutralinos and I guess, subsequently the gravitinos and whatever that black mass is inside.”

“This doesn’t sound like a safe idea,” James replied.

Deep in thought we all remained quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time. Even the wind was deathly silent now as if what was happening inside the snake cake was affecting the weather too. If it wasn’t for the bright midday sun beaming down on us, it would be as spooky as hell.

“Do it,” Yuki finally announced, taking us all a little by surprise, more so from her aggressive tone.

We all waited as Hayden nodded at Yuki and then motioned for one of his colleagues nearer to the machine to do whatever he had to do and taking back his laptop he nervously hammered away at the keys.

“I feel like nothing is happening,” James stated.

“Did you before?” I asked surprised.

“Well no, other than the headache, which now I come to think of it, is still there.”

”I’ve increased the level of activity and I am beginning to detect an abnormal amount of electroweak particles, but they seem to be losing cohesion,” Hayden replied. “The neutralinos are losing their structured formation.”

“What about the gravitinos? The dark matter?” Yuki asked, running over to Hayden’s colleague and pushing him aside. “Yes, yes, I can see the effect it’s having. The void inside is affecting the neutralinos somehow. It seems to be forcing them to become sporadic. They’re disappearing and reappearing much more frequently.”

”It’s growing,” Hayden added. “The void is growing. I’m detecting more and more gravitino effects.”

“It is?” James asked.

“Whatever this thing is, it’s exceeding the confines of the detector. We should stand back.”

”But I can’t see anything?” James asked nervously, taking a large step back.

“I’m not sure I even have control of this anymore. It seems to be running exponentially,” Hayden panicked.

”That is not what I want to hear,” James replied.

We all stood back from the snake cake and waited for something to happen, but unlike the ellipse I had seen appear on Mochuvia, there was no black void or worm hole appearing anywhere around us.

“Are you sure your calculations are correct?” I asked.

“I can only state what my data is telling me,” Hayden replied, slightly offended.

“Even if we are creating a black void, Adom on Mochuvia had to do something to turn it into something we could travel through. None of this feels quite right,” I stated.

“I don’t understand,” Hayden mumbled, tapping at his laptop and staring in confusion at the machine.

“It’s the stones,” I realised. “I know why this isn’t working, it’s the friggin’ stones. We’ve been doing this all wrong.”

”We have?” Hayden asked, looking at me.

“You said the neutralinos were coming from the stones, just like the meteorite, not the machine itself. All the snake cake is doing is agitating what is already here around us. Whatever the snake cake is doing, we need to be opening it up to around these stones. Not confining it inside a machine.”

”Yes, I am detecting the particles outside of the machine now too, but I don’t understand what you’re saying?”

”The particles are becoming disorganised and are dissipating back to their natural state as they become distanced from whatever that black void is inside the snake cake. The detector has started the process, but we need to allow the black void, gravitinos or whatever is happening in there to leave the machine. We need to open it up.”

Hayden looked confused.

“But the detector shouldn’t be a barrier to anything. If the neutralinos can escape back to their natural state then surely the gravity particles can too. None of this makes sense.”

“Tom is right. The machine is designed to block any outside magnetic or electromagnetic fields from interfering with the experiments. It’s possible that the black mass needs those fields to grow,” Yuki replied.

“What have we got to lose?” I added.

“Will it still work? The snake cake I mean? If you open it up,” James asked.

“I guess… in theory, but the outside effects should diminish any activity, not accelerate it. It would effectively switch off the experiment due to too much interference, the weather… the wind…”

“But will it? You yourself said whatever this is, is reaching beyond the confines of the snake cake already. Maybe it will take on a life of its own when it hits those fields?”

“Open it up,” Yuki stated.

Dumbfounded, Hayden’s colleagues stood motionless staring at Yuki and then back at Hayden.

“Open it up! Just do as I say,” Yuki shouted.

Nodding nervously, Hayden’s men proceeded to frantically unscrew the metal box around the snake cake and take off various bits of mechanical parts. What any of them were for I had no idea, but clearly they weren’t integral to the functioning of this experiment because whatever was happening inside was now finally becoming visible. Tiny, brightly coloured lights began to appear and disappear around the machine, growing in volume and swirling and spinning as if pulled by hidden hands. Then a black void, darker than any black you could imagine began to warp like an uncontrollable jelly inside the centre of the machine. Too scared to continue taking any more of the machine apart as the black mass grew, Hayden’s men retreated, with one constantly measuring for dangerous levels of radiation.

“Is this safe?” James asked nervously.

No-one answered him. Instead, we stared as the black mass grew from its confines, with the sparkly lights creating a pretty show, offsetting the oppressive nature of the void.

“So now what?” James continued, to no-one in particular.