Erlok’s Problem

Erlok stood in front of Professor Furlaq’s desk. Professor Furlaq read the report on Erlok’s latest experiment with her left and right eyes, while her center eye remained focused on Erlok. “Do you mean to say that you actually managed to transport an object’s particles from one location to another, and reassemble them in their original form, without any type of interference? You actually produced an energy transport?”

“Yes, Professor,” replied Erlok. Erlok knew he was supposed to keep his mind on the subject they were discussing, but it was difficult when he couldn’t decide which of her three eyes was the most beautiful.

The Professor now had all three eyes focused on Erlok, a sure sign that she suspected Erlok had left out an important piece of information. “Perhaps you transported one particle, and you’re theorizing that you could send an entire object. I mean, even if you’ve managed the energy transport of just one particle that would be a major scientific breakthrough by itself. The energy transport of an entire object, that’s the kind of achievement that can change the course of your destiny.”

Erlok took a rock out of his pocket with the three digits on his left hand and placed in on the Professor’s desk. “This is one of the rocks I used. I painted stripes on it, so I wouldn’t get it confused with any other rocks nearby.”

Professor Furlaq held the small rock in her hand. “You’re going to need solid evidence. The fact you’re a student doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but older scientists will be very sceptical. Many scientists have made the same claim, but were unable to repeat the experiment when others were watching. I could claim an old drinking cup I found at the bottom of a river once belonged to an ancient king, but until I can prove it’s true, it’s just an old drinking cup.”

Erlok took a small disk out of one of his pockets and handed it to the Professor. She placed it in a device that projected a record of his experiment on a nearby wall. Professor Furlaq watched a small rock disappearing from one metal pad and then reappearing a short distance away on another metal pad.

The Professor stood. The orange skin on her face was stretched by a huge smile. “One of the greatest scientific achievements of all time, and it’s one of my students. She put her arms around Erlok. “I’m so proud of you!”

Erlok wondered if he should call the medical service and report a heart attack.

“When you told me what you were planning to do for your term assignment I thought, why not? Part of the learning process is failing and learning from your mistakes, so as long as you recorded the process, and used your imagination, you were bound to learn something. Have you any idea what you’ve achieved Erlok?”

Small green pimples were beginning to appear on Erlok’s orange skin, a sign of uncomfortable emotions.

“I don’t blame you for feeling uneasy,” the Professor continued, “you’re going to be the center of attention and it’s something you’re not used to. You’ll do fine; just make sure the equipment you used is locked up, so you’ll be able to reproduce the experiment.”

Erloks’s lack of excitement was beginning to worry the Professor. She stepped away from him and returned to her seat. “Don’t tell me you damaged the equipment you used. You have no idea how much paperwork is involved.”

Erlok lowered his voice. “I didn’t damage any equipment; it’s just that something I transported is missing.”

The Professor smiled. “So, we need to go look for some painted rocks. I’ll get some students and we’ll search the area near the experiment until we find them.”

Erlok shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not that easy. It’s possible, at least in theory, that the particles could have been affected by gravitational forces from other planets, or perhaps the energy released by a solar flare.”

“So,” replied the Professor, “the particles of the object could have been moved slightly off course.”

“More that slightly off course Professor.”

“Well Erlok, where could the particles be?”

Erlok shrugged his shoulders again. “Anywhere.”

The Professor leaned back in her chair. “So what if a rock you used in the experiment ended up somewhere else? I don’t think a small rock is anything to worry about.”

Erlok hesitated for a moment. “Actually, I have all the small rocks I used in my experiments. It’s something else. I wanted to see if my device could be used to transport something more complex. Wouldn’t it be more practical to transport medical equipment to remote locations? Medical equipment save lives, not rocks.”

“I hope,” replied the Professor, “that you didn’t take any of the school’s medical supplies without permission. Those are for emergencies, not science experiments.”

“I didn’t use any medical supplies,” Erlok replied. “You know that sonic mining device used to carve out pieces of rock with sound waves, the one the mining company guy was showing us on career day?”

Professor Furlaq focused all three eyes on Erlok. He was no longer wondering which of her eyes was the most beautiful, he was wondering which one she’d use to aim whatever deadly object she was going to throw at him. The Professor leaned forward. “You’re talking about the equipment being used to demonstrate modern mining techniques to students. You’re talking about a very dangerous piece of equipment that can only be used under strict supervision. Have you any idea how expensive that piece of equipment is? The school will have to replace it. And since I’m responsible for all the equipment used by Science students, they’ll probably replace me as well!”

 

“I can keep trying to bring it back.” ‘

The Professor leaned forward, glaring at Erlok with all three eyes. “You do that.”

It was a warm summer evening in Calgary. In a house across the street from a soccer field, Angela stood in front of her bedroom mirror, holding the electric guitar she had just received for her fourteenth birthday. Her best friend Brittany sat on the bed, smiling.

“Awesome. You’ve got the look, now all you need is a song to perform. You know, if you want to impress the judges and win that talent contest, you have to write something original.”

Angela brushed her dark brown hair out of her eyes. “How about that song I’ve been working on with my acoustic? Do you think it has potential?”

Brittany held up a hand to let Angela know she had to wait until she took another piece of pizza from the box on the floor. “Sure it has potential, but it’s more of a dance number. The electric guitar on rhythm will help, but what would really sound fantastic, would be a synthesizer.”

“Angela.”

Hearing Angela’s mother’s voice, Brittany pointed a finger at her best friend. “Watch your mouth, you know how your temper gets you in trouble.”

Angela made a motion as if she was zippering her lips closed and opened the door. “Please Mom, can’t the cat’s litter box wait? I’ll scoop it tomorrow, promise. It’s my my birthday.”

Angela’s mother held out an electronic device. It was blue, about the size of a hardcover novel, with a series of yellow buttons around the edges. “That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. Do you know who gave you this? It wasn’t wrapped”

Angela put the guitar on the bed and took the box from her mother. “I have no idea. I’m not even sure what it is.”

“I don’t know how we missed it. Anyway, your father found it in the backyard and it’s your birthday, so it must be yours.”

Angela slowly closed the door and grinned at Brittany. “Is it possible?”

Brittany took another piece off pizza out of the box. “There’s only one way to find out. You never know, this could be one of those things that change the course of your destiny.”

Angela pushed one of the buttons. It produced an unusual sound. There were twenty small buttons, five on each side of the square box. The screen in the middle was surrounded by symbols Angela had never seen before.

Brittany stood next to Angela. “Why would somebody buy you a kid’s toy from Sweden?”

Angela looked at her friend. “Sweden. What gives you that idea?”

Brittany pointed a finger at the box. “It’s blue and yellow.”

Angela smiled. “Oh yeah. Well, if a toy from Sweden helps me make the perfect dance song and I win the contest, that’s fine with me.”

Angela and Brittany spent the next couple of hours working on Angela’s song, Angela playing her new electric guitar while Brittany pushed the buttons on the strange box in different sequences, trying to find just the right sound.

Later in the evening, Angela’s mother knocked on the bedroom door again. “I don’t care how late you stay up; just keep the volume down so the rest of the house can sleep. If you want to watch movies, just take a couple of sleeping bags and use the television in the basement.”

Brittany laid the box on Angela’s bed. “How about finishing the song tomorrow?”

Angela agreed and pulled two sleeping bags out of her closet.

The next morning, Angela’s younger brother Fred walked across street to the soccer field carrying the blue and yellow toy from Sweden. He wanted to play with Angela’s present, and if he pushed the buttons in the house, she’d hear him for sure. Brittany and Angela were sleeping in the basement, and since they were teenagers, they wouldn’t get up until noon. He’d even fed the cat, so she wouldn’t wake Angela with her meowing. As far as he was concerned, he could play with Angela’s weird new toy until the first soccer teams showed up.

Pushing the buttons held Fred’s attention for a few minutes, until he remembered that his favourite cartoon was just about to start. He ran back across the street, leaving the box in the middle of the soccer field. As Fred disappeared inside the house, the unusual markings on the box began to flash and the box started emitting a constant, beeping sound.

Erlok was losing hope of ever bringing back the mining equipment when the transport pads began to glow. He looked up at his instructor. “It’s working Professor. It’s going to transport something.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Something?”

Erlok attempted a smile. “It’s probably the sonic mining equipment.”

“Probably? You’re scaring me Erlok.”

“Sorry.”

Moments later the Professor stared in disbelief as the mining equipment appeared on the energy transport pad. It appeared to be fine, it just needed to be cleaned. Professor Furlaq was so relieved that she ran over to Erlok and hugged him again. Erlok decided that anyone who thought science was boring - just didn’t understand.

A couple of days after the explosion people in the surrounding neighbourhood were allowed to return home. Angela and her family stood behind yellow police tape, staring at the giant crater where there had once been a soccer field.

The police were baffled. To the best of their knowledge, there had been no natural gas leaks in the area, and no trace of explosive material had been discovered. Streets, houses and cars were covered in mud. Some windows had been smashed by flying rocks, but fortunately there were only a few minor injuries.

Later that day when Angela went up to her bedroom, she couldn’t find the toy she had been using as a synthesizer, Fred confessed that he had left it on the soccer field, so it must have been destroyed in the explosion. Knowing that her younger brother could have been killed, Angela didn’t care about losing some kid’s toy from Sweden.