Thomas carefully reviewed all the data and documents related to his work, hoping to find an explanation for the mysterious portal that had appeared in his room. He was baffled by the phenomenon, which seemed to defy all logic and reason. He had a hard time accepting that it was a mere accident or coincidence. He had a strong suspicion that his Nexusgate, the device he had invented to open portals between parallel universes, had somehow established a connection with the portal created by the AK07 people, the extraterrestrial civilization that was planning to invade Earth. But he didn't understand how this connection had occurred or what it meant for his project and his planet.
Thomas wondered if the Nexusgate had not been functioning, would the portal have opened somewhere else on Earth? And if so, how would that location be determined? He considered the possibility that the AK07 people had deliberately chosen his place as their target, but then he dismissed it as improbable. Why would they pick a small room that would be difficult for them to attack through? He concluded that it must have been random and somehow related to the Nexusgate's connection to the portal.
Thomas wanted to learn more about the AK07 people and their portal technology, so he searched NASA's database of planets for any clues. He had previously found out that AK07 was the name of the planet where the alien civilization lived, and he wanted to know more about it.
He discovered that AK07 was a planet in a galaxy called NGC 4414, which was 30 million light-years away from Earth. It was similar to Earth in size and composition, but it had a much harsher environment. It had very little water, a very hot temperature, and a high atmospheric pressure. It also had a strong magnetic field and a fast rotation speed, which caused frequent storms and earthquakes.
Thomas was curious about how NASA could learn so much about a planet that was very far from Earth. He found out that NASA used a clever method to guess how the planet looked like now, using the pictures they got from their big telescopes. The pictures they saw were very old, because the light from the planet took a long time to reach Earth. It took 30 million years for the light to travel from the planet to Earth. That means the pictures showed what the planet looked like 30 million years ago, not now. NASA used a sophisticated algorithm to estimate the changes that had occurred on the planet since then, and created a simulation of how it looked like now. But Thomas knew that this fake picture was not very close to the truth, and that there could be many things that were different on the real planet.
To understand this better, imagine that you are watching a video of a birthday party on your phone. The party is happening in another country, and the video is sent to you by your friend who is there. The video has to travel through wires, satellites, and towers before it reaches your phone. This process takes some time, maybe a few minutes or more. So when you see your friend blowing out the candles on your phone, it actually happened a few minutes earlier in reality. You are seeing the party with a small delay.
The same thing happens when NASA looks at the planet, but on a much bigger scale. The planet is about 300 billion kilometers away from Earth. Light travels at about 300,000 kilometers per second. So to calculate how long it takes for light to travel from the planet to Earth, we have to divide the distance by the speed:
This also applies to other objects in space, such as stars and galaxies. The farther they are from us, the longer their light takes to reach us, and the older they appear to us. For example, when we look at the Sun, we see it as it was about 8 minutes ago. When we look at the nearest star other than the Sun, Proxima Centauri, we see it as it was 4.2 years ago. And when we look at the most distant galaxy ever observed, GN-z11, we see it as it was 13.4 billion years ago.
This means that when we look up at the sky, we are not only seeing space, but also time. We are seeing a picture of how the universe looked in different moments of its history. We are seeing the past of the cosmos.
Thomas was puzzled by the images of AK07 that he had retrieved from NASA's database. He had expected to see a barren and lifeless planet, as the previous photos had indicated. But to his astonishment, the latest images showed signs of vegetation and water on the surface of the planet. He checked the data and saw that the probability of life on AK07 had increased from zero to 25 percent in a matter of months. How could this be possible? Thomas wondered. Had there been some kind of error in the satellite's sensors, or had something changed on the planet itself?
Thomas decided to contact the president of NASA, hoping to get some answers. He dialed the number and waited for the call to connect.
"Hello, this is the President of NASA. Who is this?" a voice answered.
"Hello, sir. This is Thomas, I'm sorry to bother you, but I have an urgent question for you."
"Ah, yes, Thomas. What can I do for you?"
"Well, sir, I was looking at the images of AK07 in NASA's database, and I noticed something strange. The planet looks completely different from how it looked before. There are plants and water on it now, and the probability of life has increased significantly. Do you have any explanation for this?"
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Thomas could hear the President sign.
"Yes, Thomas, I'm aware of this phenomenon. We noticed it about a month ago, when we received new images from our satellite. We were as surprised as you are by the change. We thought it might be a glitch in our system, but we checked everything and found no errors. The images are accurate and reliable."
"So what does it mean, sir? How did this happen? Is there something going on with AK07 that we don't know about?"
"I wish I knew, Thomas. We don't have any answers yet. We're still trying to figure it out. It's possible that there's some kind of natural process that caused the planet to transform, or maybe there's some kind of external influence that we're not aware of. We don't know for sure."
"External influence? "
The President nervously replied "Yeah, have you found anything?"
"Not yet, thank you for your time, sir. I appreciate your honesty and cooperation."
"No problem, Thomas."
"Thank you, sir."
"You're welcome, Thomas. Keep up the good work and stay in touch."
"I will, sir. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Thomas."
Thomas ended the call and leaned back in his chair, feeling a whirlwind of emotions. He was curious about the mysterious transformation of AK07, excited by the prospect of discovering new life forms, fearful of the potential invasion of Earth, and anxious about the challenges he faced. He glanced at the photo he had taken before the planet had changed and noticed something that made his heart skip a beat. The date on the photo was the same as the date when he had activated the Nexusgate and traveled to another planet. Could there be a connection between his experiment and the change in AK07? Thomas wondered.
He quickly got up from his chair and ran to his room, where he kept his files and notes on the Nexusgate project. He opened the file and scanned through the pages, looking for any clues that might explain what had happened. He recalled every detail of his trip to the parallel universe, from the moment he entered the portal to the moment he returned to Earth. He still couldn't figure out how he had managed to come back without using the Nexusgate, which had malfunctioned and exploded.
He decided to check NASA's database again. He logged in with his name and password and accessed the images of AK07. He knew that NASA's telescopes took images every 10 minutes, so he searched for the exact time when the image of AK07 had changed . He compared the images before and after his trip, and he was shocked by what he saw.
The images showed that AK07 had undergone a drastic transformation at the same time when he had traveled through the portal. The planet, which had previously been barren and lifeless, was now covered with lush greenery and sparkling water. It was as if his experiment had triggered some kind of reaction on the planet, altering its environment and creating conditions for life. Thomas couldn't believe his eyes; he had inadvertently caused a major cosmic event with his Nexusgate.
Thomas was stunned by the revelation that his Nexusgate had somehow altered the fate of AK07, turning it from a desolate planet to a flourishing civilization. He wondered how this was possible, and what it meant for Earth. As he tried to make sense of his discovery, he felt a sudden jolt of fear. He heard a loud thud behind him, and turned around to see a massive figure looming over him. It was one of the AK07 beings, and it looked angry. It had followed him through the portal, and it was not here to make friends. Thomas felt a surge of panic as he realized he was in grave danger. The alien grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him off the ground. Thomas struggled to breathe, as he stared into the glowing eyes of his attacker. He knew this might be his last moment alive.