Alternative technology

Lien stood in front of the checkpoint. He was looking around the building of the research center, where he had not been for quite some time.

Lien passed the checkpoint and began to approach the entrance to the building.

Through the window, Kelis was watching him.

When Lien went inside, he was surprised to see the silence that reigned there.

- “After we announced the start of our project, some of the employees quit,” Kelis said, approaching Lien. – “Although, I can understand them. Our activities have no official approval. And it goes against the agreements to invest all resources in the Ark project. Those who work here will most likely lose the opportunity to get to the Ark as soon as our activities become known.”

- “Then who is sponsoring all this?”

Colonel Nix, 35, came out of the corridor. He quickly intervened in the conversation. – “Officially, we no longer have funding. Unofficially, those representatives of the authorities who believe in our project.”

- “Lien, this is Colonel Nix…” said Kelis.

- “So you are, our translator?” - Nix asked in a serious tone.

However, the seriousness quickly disappeared from Nix’s face. He relaxedly extended his hand to Lien, and with a slight smile greeted him.

- “I will be your shield!”

- “A shield?” - Lien clarified in surprise.

- “This is a forced security measure for all of us. Under the command of Nix, thirty people are ready to protect this place and this project,” Kelis added.

Kelis walked further down the corridor.

- "Come on, say hello to old friends," Kelis said.

Kelis led Lien to the main project room and opened the door.

Inside the room sat Axel, Tera, and Eno. Axel was 30 years old and worked as an integrator technician. Her job was to replace the non-working parts of the TDC with modern analogues. Tera was 28 years old and worked as a geophysicist. Eno was 40 years old and worked as a mathematician and analyst.

They all happily greeted Lien. Although they had only known each other for a year, while Lien had been working at the research center as an intern, they had already become good friends.

- "It's nice to see you all," said Lien.

Lien caught sight of an empty seat.

- "Who's sitting there?" - Lien asked.

- "Zorak" - answered Kelis.

Lien just looked at Kelis in surprise. He didn't know the name.

- "He's working on collecting information about the Ark project," - Kelis clarified.

- "Is he spying for us?" - Lien asked.

- "In general, only part of the information about the Ark is displayed. The real situation is happening behind closed doors. And we can't afford not to know something," - Kelis answered.

- "You've approached the task seriously... Well, it's time for me to find out what technology we'll be working on?" - Lien asked.

Kelis, Lien, Eno, Axel, Nix, and Tera entered the elevator. Kelis pressed the fourth basement floor. The microphone in the elevator said, „Show your pass.“

Kelis placed her pass card on the scanner. The elevator started moving.

- "This is my first time going down to the underground floors. Is that where we keep the TDC?" - Lien asked.

- "Not only that. But right now we are only interested in the TDC," - Eno answered with a smile.

The elevator stopped, and its doors opened. Everyone who was in the elevator got out on the fourth basement floor. They found themselves in a huge room at the end of which the TDC was kept.

The technology that Lien had been led to was itself of great size. These were four huge pillars filled with inscriptions, cavities, levers and other structures that Lien still had to look at.

- “Before you is a TDC that can move us in time,” Kelis declared.

Lien looked at Kelis in surprise, and then at the pillars.

- “Are you sure about that?” - Lien clarified.

- “Hundreds of years have gone into the restoration and translation of what is written on these pillars… For hundreds of years we have been studying ancient records that have survived from disappeared civilizations… Everything indicates that these pillars are capable of moving what we want in time,” Eno answered.

Lien thought for a moment.

- “How exactly do you want to use this technology?” - Lien asked.

- “We will move the entire Earth into the future…, in time, after the Rebirth,” - Tera declared.

- “The future… Why not the past?… Although wait… If we move an entire planet into the past, even for thousands of years. Then it will simply appear in the place where the planet Earth of the past already stands…” - Lien began to think.

- “The planets will overlap each other and… it’s even scary to think what will happen…” - Tera interrupted and added.

- “But if we talk about the future, then immediately after the rebirth there will be a void. And our planet can easily move into this void,” - Lien thought.

- “But it’s still risky. After all, we don’t know what awaits the universe and space after the Rebirth. We can only hope that our planet will be able to move and exist,” - Axel added.

- “If you think about it… this whole project is a complete risk. We don’t know if the pillars will work. We don’t know if people will survive, not to mention the whole earth, the time travel. And even if we succeed, no one knows what will happen after the Rebirth and whether the Earth will survive there… This project… now it’s clear why they voted for the Ark!… It has a chance to survive at least part of humanity, and this… this is a risk for all of humanity!” - declared Lien.

- “You are absolutely right. We have before us the riskiest project that can be chosen. But, it is this that can save everything! All our loved ones, all our history, our heritage, and ultimately, our entire planet,” - answered Kelis.

- “And yet… the Ark project…” - Lien added thoughtfully.

- “The Ark will not work!” - declared Kelis confidently.

Lien looked at Kelis in surprise.

- "What?" - Lien asked.

Lien looked at the confident Kelis. Everyone else present silently looked away.

- "What are you talking about? What happened?!" - Lien asked in surprise.

- "I was in the future... Checking the work of the pillars..." - Kelis said.

Lien looked at Kelis in silence and surprise.

- "Maybe we are all here and madmen going against the whole world, but we have good reasons for this," - Nix said.

- "I would not risk humanity if I did not know that the pillars work. The only option that could be tested is to move in time myself," - Kelis said.