DESPITE HAVING BEEN around for 2,000 years, the Temporal Constabulary had never investigated the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of humanity that occurred right around the seventy-fifth century. The causes of humanity's extinction had been a forbidden topic.
Historians and journeymen alike were forbidden from exploring that time period for any purpose whatsoever. After all, the race had thousands of years more to live.
A sense of quiet panic hadn't quite set in until the sixty-fifth century had begun. Only 1,000 years remained until the people would no longer exist on planet Earth. With this fact in mind, the constabulary's highest officials agreed that the future had to be known.
Though temporal physics had advanced to the point where historians had definitely proven that the future could not be changed by events in the past, there existed a small hope that the theoretical Zeta Disruption would be discovered.
The Zeta Disruption, according to temporal theory, was a person-or animal-capable of changing the future.
Even while clinging to the hope that many in the constabulary considered a highly improbable possibility under the best of circumstances, theoretical research disagreed on what would happen if the Zeta Disruption did, in fact, change the future in such a manner as to steer the human race away from destruction.
Two primary theories had emerged. The first stated that the future would change, and with each change made, the time stream would accommodate the change accordingly. Research into future history would change. Information during the time of the Zeta Disruption would be altered, though to the inhabitants of that time, it would appear that the new information had always been there.
The second theory stated that, due to various paradoxes occurring as a result of changing the future, which meant changing the entire time stream as well, information would not change as quickly. The effect would be like that of a slow-moving ripple in a pond, very small at first, then spreading ever outward with a greater area of influence.
This was the less popular of the two theories, though no one could deny the equations underlying this theory proved to be sound.
Falion Lustal, a historian working in the constabulary, subscribed to the second theory. In his time between research assignments, he had studied both theories extensively, going over the numbers and graphs multiple times before he grasped in full what the endless pages of numbers meant.
He attended lectures in which temporal theoreticians spoke in complicated terms that Falion hadn't heard before. Though he himself held three doctoral degrees, the lecturers had achieved a level of knowledge about their subjects that made Falion feel like an amateur.
He sat at his desk, stuck to the ceiling as a result of the reverse gravity the entire six-mile-tall Constabulary Headquarters used to accommodate the Soonseen skyship system which connected many buildings to one another high above the surface of the planet.
Though having the ceiling and the floor switch positions had been disorienting for a while, Falion had grown used to it over time. In fact, he found that, when he returned to the surface, he couldn't quite understand why people stood right side up.
Now, he rubbed at his eyes. He wore a long white lab coat over a gray wool shirt he had worn for three days. Though he often thought he would get around to changing his shirt when he applied deodorant once every twelve hours, he promptly forgot about the state of his clothing when he laid his eyes on another piece of the puzzle that surrounded the Zeta Disruption.
He had not slept in four days, not since he felt the twinge in the back of his mind that usually signaled a discovery waiting to happen. The twinge had not went away as he spent ninety hours straight reading and re-reading theorems, speeches, diagrams, mathematical proofs, historical accounts from people who had witnessed a planet without people.
Though many forms of life survived the human race, never again did evolution steer sentient beings towards the path of meta-cognition required for the conscious mind to gain dominance over the physical body.
Falion Lustal had missed something. He could not tell what he had missed. He knew by a process his fellow historians would have jokingly called intuition, that one single puzzle piece remained.
He had to locate the one fact, the one number, the one statement lost somewhere in the ocean of human knowledge that would lead to what he felt sure would be a breakthrough concerning the existence of the Zeta Disruption.
Beginning on the fourth day, he knew he might never find what he sought. Instead, he took to recording all his thoughts, no matter how trivial. He knew how his mind worked. If he left the research to rest his body, he might never again have the same thoughts he had at present.
The passage of time would erase the majority of information stored in his short-term memory. Better, then, to record all of his thoughts so he could read them later. He hoped that, when later came, he would not shake his head at his own words, berating himself for so much effort that would appear ridiculous when he looked at it with fresh eyes.
He had started seven hours ago. Though he had finished, he still sat in front of his desk, letting his thoughts flow through his brain. There had to be a connection somewhere, an interaction he had not seen, something simple or something difficult that had been overlooked by everyone else. He knew it was there, somewhere.
In this state of mind, he stopped himself from growling when his supervisor in the constabulary, a man named Kitain Fell, opened the door to Felion's private research room. Felion's cheeks reddened.
He could not believe that he, of all people, had acted as many other researchers had acted when interrupted. Kitain, who had seen such behavior countless times, seemed not to notice.
Kitain, who stood nine feet tall and wore mismatching orange and green sneakers, said, "Good evening Lustal. The waiting period is at an end. Your next assignment is ready."
Felion, who felt exhaustion fall upon him like a waterfall, said in a tired voice, "May I know what it is?"
"Certainly. You have been assigned the task of researching the causes of humanity's destruction. Just today, three journeymen have returned from each century. We've pinpointed the date-September 17, 7245. As always, I can't give you the particulars of what has been found. You will have to observe and draw conclusions of your own."
"Of course."
Kitain leaned against the door frame and said, "You are to stay in the year 7245 for three hours."
Felion, who had once gone on assignment to observe conditions of the sixty-eighth century for twenty years, managed to raise an eyebrow. He did so deliberately to stop himself from falling asleep.
Kitain grinned. "Read through your briefing when you're ready to go. Your departure date is three days from now. We've delayed things a bit for you this time in light of your research."
He paused and then said, "Do you know, I heard of temporal scientists following your work with great interest these last few days? You've made quite a bit of progress, I'm told."
At other times, Felion Lustal might have been pleased by the compliment. With his consciousness ready to shut down, he stood up and wiped his hands on his pants. He said, "When I get back... I want to continue."
When Felion Lustal returned from his three hour long stay in the future, he brought an artifact with him. Such things were not unknown, though they were frowned upon by the constabulary. Small objects often went missing, never to be found again. When this happened, historians working for the constabulary stole an object they thought to be of great significance.
Felion Lustal returned with a small red chip tucked in a clear plastic bag. The chip, smaller than his fingernail, had been difficult to spot when he searched about for a data storage device.
He had found one though, just for the text he read. The text, as far as he was concerned, offered more questions than answers. Those questions, he sensed, would only lead to more questions. Perhaps, he hoped, after long years of inquiry, understanding would come.
Kitain waited as Felion stepped out of the time travel chamber. He led Felion to a soundproof room nearby, one which Felion had frequented. Felion, as always, had to remind himself that only minutes had passed between his departure and return. Three hours had been a much longer time than he had anticipated.
Kitain sat down on side of a disposable plastic table, brushing back a strand of blonde hair from his face. He considered Felion with two blue eyes that spoke of the wonder of a mystery not yet solved. He had shrugged on a white lab coat of his own since Felion had left. He gestured for Felion to sit, which he did.
Kitain put a black portable microphone on the table. He started, "Subject Interview Date April 14th, 6421. Subject Name: Felion Lustal. Position: historian at the Temporal Constabulary, Williamsport Division. Description of assignment: a three-hour investigation of the year 7245. Purpose: discovery of the causes regarding the disappearance of human beings from the world circa 7500. Begin recording."
Kitain paused, and then looked up from the microphone. He said, "If you would, Historian Lustal, begin wherever you like. As always, even if you present information in a disorganized manner, we can later re-organize it into a cohesive format."
While Felion thought of where to begin, he recalled the six months he'd spent being interviewed following his twenty-year assignment. He had gotten tired of talking, though he knew that talking was a necessary part of the process.
People conveyed information much faster with the spoken word, rather than the written. As such, in order to relay as much information as possible, Felion had found himself speaking twelve hours a day about his experiences.
Perhaps now, he would not have to spend so much time speaking. He laid his plastic bag on the table. The small red chip lay next to the microphone. Felion said, "I've found something unexpected. I know what causes the destruction of the human race, but I've also found how to prevent it."
The implications of Felion's statement was not lost on Kitain, who had overseen so many research projects and recorded so many interviews that he had a passing familiarity with temporal theory. He said, "The Zeta Disruption."
Felion slapped the table. He laughed. "Exactly! It exists, it exists! Can you imagine it? I have found evidence of the Zeta Disruption in the year 7245. Oh, but I must tell you of the evidence. The Council of Thirds took a statement from a man scheduled for execution.
"The man's name is Hensen Var. I don't know much about him yet. In his final statement before the council, Hensen claims the Zeta Disruption exists. Not only exists, but there are two of them!"
Kitain sat back in his chair. Coming from a new time traveler, he would not have believed what he heard. Yet, Felion had been with the Constabulary for over two hundred years. The man had gained a reputation for honesty, integrity, and above all, curiosity. Kitain said, "Continue, if you would."
Felion tried to contain his excitement so that his words could be later understood by whoever played back the recording for entry into the central computer at Jakarta. "I'll begin with the problem. Citizens of the future, like us, do not need to eat. Their bodies produce the fluids necessary to survive all on their own.
"I discovered, from a cursory glance through the computer, that some people had gone back to eating. This shortened their lifespan. Where procreation is impossible among populations consuming food once more, I read that they never grow taller than perhaps six and a half feet. Since they are mostly sterile, they are unable to procreate. Their population growth is extraordinarily negative."
"I'm still trying to get a hold of that. They eat food-on purpose-knowing they cannot have children and knowing that doing so will cause them to live shorter lives. This, I believe, is responsible for the population decreases first reported as occurring in the seventy-fifth century.
"They are led into their own destruction by a man named Hinjo Junta. This man was thought to have been a member of the Constabulary named Unquill Hester, but the council changed their minds. Perhaps he is Hinjo, perhaps he is not. I was not able to gather enough information to be sure.
"Regarding the solution, that's in the artifact I brought with me. You see, I found a poem that might be called a question. It's rather hard to understand, this poem. I thought you might want to see it for yourself, since it seems to relate to everything we have said, though it is certainly not meant for us. The poem appeared in the database as part of a conversation between a Soonseen and the President of Jakarta."
Kitain leaned forward in his chair, his eyes widening. He said, "The Soonseen? You are sure of this? They-they deigned to speak with a human being? In English? They have mastered our language at last?"
"There is no other conclusion. The Soonseen claimed the poem was found on the last day of Earth's existence, placed there by a party or parties unknown. We have never investigated that far into the future, due to the problems of bringing someone back to our own time.
"It is also difficult to predict how many unknown gravitational effects will alter the Earth's orbit, however slightly. Even if we agreed upon sending a journeyman there for a one-way trip, perhaps to be picked up by the Soonseen later, we could not accurately predict which spacial coordinates to send anyone.
"The Soonseen, who have the benefit of space flight, don't need to be so accurate. They only need to make sure that there is no space debris in the area, and that they further don't fly into a solar flare given off by the sun. All these things are observable if they set their spacial coordinates outside the solar system, and then fly their way in."
Kitain, who had heard such statements many times before, took in a deep breath, let it out, and then said, "Were you able to find out who placed this poem so far into the future?"
"I was not able to find that much out. I can give you speculation, however."
"Please do so."
Felion Lustal said, "We know that it was not us. We could not have put the message there, for we have never attempted to travel more than 10,000 years to either the past or present. Fortunately, this has proven enough for us to understand the whole of human history. Nor could it have been the Soonseen, for when they found it, they did not know what to do with it."
Kitain pointed his index finger at the man sitting across him. "Ah, now on that point, I will disagree with you. If the Soonseen from a period of, let's say, the eightieth century, inherited the poem from the Soonseen of the seventy-third century, they could then place it there for their own ancestors to find."
Felion frowned. "I had not considered that. It's possible, but unlikely. Continuing my speculation, I lean towards a third party placing the poem there, one who may be human or alien, but who holds no loyalties to either race. The reason for placing it there can only be as you say-that the poem is supposed to be found."
Kitain Fell leaned back in his chair. "Then, tell me in detail everything you learned while in the future. After that, we will try to make sense of the information you have brought back."