The Silent Guardian — Chapter 21, Part 3: Inside the Project
This installment continues The Silent Guardian Series. Previous: Chapter 21, Part 2: The Contractors.
The woman hesitates, then surrenders, raising her hands in submission. “Okay,” she says. Her gaze darts nervously between us.
When we return, I rummage through the back of the truck and find a coil of rope. I hand it to Xia, who sets to work tying up the man. Clara binds the woman and forces her to sit on the back bumper. They shiver with fear.
It’s nearly one a.m. on July 1st. We have less than two hours left before we must shift back in time.
Clara speaks first. “What did you deliver?” she demands, arms folded.
The woman hesitates, lips trembling. I step closer, raising my hand as if to strike. She flinches and blurts out, “Okay, okay. Don’t hit me. I’m a physicist.” Her voice is shaky. She glances at my fist and swallows hard. “It—um—utilizes a rotational mass-energy tensor akin to Gödel’s rotating universe solution, effectively enabling clo—”
Clara rolls her eyes. “In English, please. I’m not a physicist. Spell it out so we can understand you.”
The woman exhales shakily, glancing between Clara, Xia, and me. “Alright,” she begins again, trying to steady herself. “Gödel once theorized that, under the right conditions, you could twist spacetime so it loops back on itself. Imagine rewriting a few pages in the middle of a book. The device I worked on helps create a miniature version of that twist. When the rotation is stable, history in that localized region can be edited, so to speak.”
Xia’s lips press into a thin line. “Edited? As in removing events that already happened?”
“Or inserting new ones,” the physicist says, casting her gaze at the ground. “I overheard one of them say it was for something called the Convergence of Dominion. I—I don’t know the details. My role was to develop a system that keeps the loop from collapsing. If it’s too unstable, the rotation breaks, and you can’t overwrite anything.”
Clara looks ready to unleash hell. “So, you’ve basically allowed them to rewrite history.”
The physicist nods. “Yes, essentially. It’s what Gödel predicted could be done if you rotate spacetime fast enough. It’s dangerous, but they don’t seem to care.”
Scribbling over old text to change reality? That should never have been conceived, let alone attempted.
Clara echoes my sentiment. “You realize how insane this is, right?”
The woman’s eyes brim with regret. “They paid us too well. I never thought they’d actually—”
Clara interrupts, “How do we stop it?”
The physicist swallows hard, her voice faltering. “I don’t know. The part I worked on—what I saw—it was just one small component. With all of the equipment in that fortress, I don’t know how it all works together. Whatever they’re building—it’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
Xia cuts her off with a curt nod. “That’s enough,” she says, stepping away. “At least we know what it is. Now we need to figure out how to stop it.”
The physicist exhales, relief and dread mingling as she stares at us. Clara ushers her toward the truck, where she and her companion remain bound. We don’t have time for more. If rewriting history is genuinely on the table, every minute counts.
My knife feels good in my hand. Part of me wants to finish this, to tie up loose ends for good. They are part of the Phylax’s deception. They deserve it. I lift the blade, weighing my options.
Clara steps between me and the prisoners, her tone unwavering. “That’s not the best option, Adam. We don’t need more blood.”
I hate that she’s right. I roll my eyes, then slide the knife away. We leave them alive, bound in the back of the truck.
Another flash arcs over the Acropolis as we move away, followed by a deep, unsettling hum. It scrapes at my nerves, reminding me that time is running short.
Clara says, “It seems this machine is at the center of our problems. Is the Sigma Event the same as the Convergence of Domion?”
Xia replies, “I suspect it is. There’s one way to find out. We stay to see what happens.”
I do my best to write with the notepad resting in my hand. That’s a terrible idea. It isn’t even a real plan. It’s just a guess.
Clara shrugs. “Sometimes we have to take chances.”
Xia adds, “True. It’s risky, but our options are limited.”
Taking this plunge is no different than stepping into a storm blindfolded. The Phylax has resources, while we barely know anything about the Sigma Event. I shake away the fear that gnaws at me. I can’t let it win—not now.
I’ve spent my life under their control, their lies shaping my every step. If I hesitate, I’m no better than the broken child they created. If we fail, we lose more than our lives. We lose the future.
After a long pause, I decide to take the chance with them. It is a little after two in the morning. In less than an hour, the world as we know it will end before our eyes.
Continue with Chapter 22, Part 1: The Acropolis. New installments publish daily at 5:00 AM.
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