Sometimes, one seemingly insignificant mistake can change the course of the entire civilization's history. Seven centuries have passed since the countries of the old world laid down their arms, renouncing cruelty and ignorance, and became one. They became the Consolidated Nation. Thus, a New World was born, marking the beginning of an era of promised development. Science and progress replaced the old gods. There were no more wars, no bloodshed of the innocent. Civilization began to flourish. But after seven centuries, the Mechanism was created. It marked the beginning of the end.
The Mechanism. Its power is great and at the same time dangerous. Professor Simon Williams, the father of the Mechanism, was conducting yet another experiment. The goal of the experiment was to use the Mechanism's capabilities to slow down the flow of time, to stop it, and, if possible, to turn it back. But the experiment failed. The Mechanism did not accomplish its task. A calculation error prevented the control over time. Time would not yield.
Instead of playing with time, the Mechanism opened a window into the unknown. They called it Primordial Space: an infinite expanse with an infinite number of worlds moving along a specific trajectory, as if in an unfathomable, endless dance. On that very day, Jonathan Brooks was born. His first cry echoed through the ward of the hospital in the stronghold city of the Third District, Corvin.
Control over time faded into the background and was soon forgotten. The main goal of the Scientific Alliance became the study of this space.
For several months, scientists from all districts of the Consolidated Nation researched and analyzed data that flowed endlessly through the window of reality. This might have continued forever if it weren't for Professor Simon Williams' assistant, Martha Crockford.
Martha's mind was unique. Hidden, always standing behind the scientists, she saw things others overlooked. She asked the crucial question, the most treacherous question that existed and would always exist in this world, a question that is the source of progress: "What if...?" What if the worlds in Primordial Space do not move chaotically but according to a certain algorithm? And their trajectory is merely a consequence of something greater, something that exists at the center of Primordial Space. A point or perhaps a world that lies at the center of infinity. And most importantly, what exists within it? As soon as Martha Crockford posed the question, disparate data began to align into a sequence. Formulas intertwined in her mind. For a moment, she could see the dance of worlds and the answer to her question. It was singular: The Center existed. At that moment, the Consolidated Nation opened a door that no one was supposed to find.
At the next meeting of the Scientific Alliance of the Consolidated Nation, the question arose about how exactly to reach the Center of Primordial Space. Many theories were proposed, but for various reasons, they were rejected. The main reason for rejecting the idea was the underdeveloped level of technology. Even their society, which had gone through centuries of progress in science and technology, could not reach the Center. The meetings lasted weeks. Each of the Nine Districts proposed its own ideas, its own calculations. Due to different methods of achieving the goal, they could not come to a unified plan of action. Ultimately, it was decided that the Research Corps of each district would develop and conduct its experiments. The goal remained the same: to reach the Center of Primordial Space.
Five years passed before the Third District announced that based on Professor Simon Williams' Mechanism, the Rift Gates had been created, capable of establishing a direct connection with the Center. Simon Williams and Eleanor Midwich, Deputy Chairman of the Third District, oversaw the construction of the Cradle Complex, where the Rift Gates were installed. All tests and calculations indicated the possibility of achieving the impossible, unraveling the mystery of reality. This was to be a new point in history, with no mistakes or failures; even several of the Chairmen visited the Hall of the Gates to witness the pivotal moment. The entire Consolidated Nation held its breath in anticipation of how reality would tear apart, revealing answers to all their questions. The experiment began.
At the moment all switches were flipped, when energy began to flow through the Rift Gates, the doors of the inter-district train, departing from the west railway station of the Third District, closed behind nine-year-old Jonathan Brooks. His sister had won a scholarship to one of the best schools in Revel, the stronghold city of the Seventh District, for her academic achievements. The last time Jonathan saw her was a year and a half ago when he saw her off from that station. Time had passed since the last meeting of the brother and sister, and therefore their parents decided to send him to spend the holidays with his sister. For Jonathan missed Ioanna just as much as Ioanna missed her brother.
As the inter-district train began to move, energy flowed directly into the Rift Gates, and after a few minutes, the connection was established. The bridge between their world and the Center was stable. The door was opened. After so many years and attempts, the goal was achieved. But not for long. A few minutes after the connection was established, the bridge was destroyed, but the rift remained open. The rift they created began to widen. They managed to hold it for only an hour, after which the energy became insufficient.
Jonathan vividly remembers that night, when energy supplies to all districts of the Consolidated Nation were cut off and redirected to the Rift Hall. From the window of the train racing toward the district's border, he watched as the lights of the cities went out and the buildings sank into darkness. The Third District had only three power stations: North, Pole, and Star, and energy from all districts flowed through them. Multiple overloads in the cores caused the complete destruction of the power stations, and the Rift Gates lost all energy. The Collapse occurred, releasing energy from Primordial Space. A fiery wave swept through the Third District, destroying everything in its path: people, homes, cities. Within minutes, it reached the train carrying Jonathan Brooks. The train was torn apart, and what remained was scattered across the forest through which the inter-district tracks ran. Millions perished that night, including Jonathan Brooks' parents, his friends, and his entire familiar life. The Rift Gates created not only a rift in reality but also divided his life into "before" and "after."
Projects aimed at reaching the Center of Primordial Space were shut down. For several years, the Nation struggled to recover from the colossal devastation caused by the collapse. An entire district vanished from the maps but remained in memory. At meetings of the Scientific Alliance, no one spoke of Primordial Space anymore. Millions had died, and even more had lost loved ones. A great mourning began. Even during the last wars of the old world, far fewer people had died. It was a tragedy for all.
But Martha could not come to terms with the failure and became the successor of the late Professor Simon Williams. She accepted and rejected new ideas, but their goal remained the same. Her mind teetered on the brink of madness. Yet, for reasons unknown, she managed to take control of it. Seven years after the incident, she presented a fully developed plan for achieving the same goal. The Center became accessible again, at least for her. It took her ten months to convince the Chairmen and the Archon of the Consolidated Nation to approve her project. Eventually, when everyone agreed, the existence of Project Fracture was initiated.
Everything was relatively simple yet extraordinarily complex. The method for reaching Primordial Space was different. There was no talk of establishing a connection with the Center. Project Fracture included several key elements. The first and primary element was the Fracture Machine, which was almost entirely designed by Martha Crockford. It took four years to build, and its main task was to create a fracture in reality and establish a bridge not with the Center of Primordial Space, as had happened during the incident in the Third District, but to connect with a neighboring world. After that, they would send the Wanderers — specially trained young men and women who would travel through worlds to reach the Center. The project's task was to ensure the achievement of the ultimate goal. Less energy expenditure and completely safe for their world. The tragedy could not occur thanks to the energy disks, distributing energy evenly.
The next element of the project was the Reservoirs. Twenty-meter metal structures built in each of the nine districts served to accumulate energy for a week before launch and transfer it to the "Father" — the Prime Reservoir installed above the machine. This would ensure stable distribution at launch. There would be enough energy to establish a connection with the nearest world and begin the way to the Center.
Once the Fracture Machine was fully built, and the Reservoirs were installed, the next phase of the project began, and a training program for the Wanderers was created. Dozens of young volunteers applied to the program to be part of the progress they would bring to the world when one of the Wanderers reached their destination. Among them was Jonathan Brooks. He was no longer the small boy who lay for hours with broken bones in the wreckage of the train, unable to call for help. Now he was a young man with eyes the color of night and hair as black as tar. Having recently graduated from school, he chose the path of the Wanderer to honor his family, wanting his family to be remembered not as names on gravestones but as the parents of a man who ventured into the unknown.
At the same time, the final pieces of Project Fracture were created: the Wanderer suit, protecting the traveler during his way to the Center, and the Translocation Apparatus in Primordial Space, a mobile version of the Fracture Machine. Its function was to split the Wanderer into energy particles, create a fracture, transport the traveler to the next world, gather him back, and leave behind a micro-fracture in reality, drawing energy from Primordial Space to recharge and prepare for opening the next fracture.
During her research, Martha Crockford realized that because the worlds moved on their trajectory, it was easy to determine the current location and the nearest world's position, as well as to calculate how much energy would be required to open a new fracture. She embedded this function into the main mechanisms of the Apparatus. The further the world, the more energy and time would be needed to continue the way. But there was also a problem. Upon leaving the world, the Wanderer severed the connection with time. Martha managed to reduce the distance to forty years. If the starting point was zero, the next world would be earlier or later by forty years.
The final elements were the implant, protecting the Wanderer's mind during the fracture, and the energy pistol, later named the Pulsar.
After numerous mistakes and failures, after catastrophically unsuccessful experiments, after the loss of millions of lives and a quarter of a century since the discovery of Primordial Space, the date for the Machine's launch was announced. Four Wanderers were chosen to embark on their way to the center of existence. And Project Fracture moved into its final stage. The launch of the Fracture Machine would take place in seven days.
If you enjoy this story, feel free to support me on Patreon for exclusive content!
patreon.com/DemetrioErrante