LOG ENTRY—OCTOBER 1, 2074

20:34 HOURS

THE WORKSHOP

Now that I’ve determined that Tesla’s theory for time travel without a vessel actually works, I’d like to begin the complex process of breaking down exactly how it works.

Initially, I posited that Tesla had figured out a way to travel through time without exotic matter, access to an anil, or a vessel to travel in, but that’s not quite the case. I used exotic matter, I just inserted it directly into my body. And I may not have needed to physically travel into the Puget Sound anil, but I did end up utilizing the power of the smaller, microscopic anils that exist within the earth’s crust to pull me along the currents of time.

So, really, the only thing that I no longer need is a vessel. My body, essentially, became the vessel.

This, naturally, leads me to wonder how far the exotic matter extends beyond my physical body. For instance, when I traveled back in time, I was able to take my clothes and my glasses with me. I did not show up in the past blind as a bat, wearing nothing but my birthday suit (thank God, no one wants to see that). No, I’d been lucky enough to appear wearing the exact same faded jeans and T-shirt that I’d been wearing in my original timeline. And they were in good shape, too! No rips or tears, a little ripe around the armpits, but I’m afraid that’s because I’ve been wearing them for a few days, not because traveling years into the past caused my shirt to stink. Everything was just as it was in my present timeline.

Which means that the exotic matter extended beyond my physical person to protect the things closest to my skin.

But how far beyond myself does that power extend? Could I, for instance, take an object with me?

A small animal?

Another person?

The only way to know for certain whether that’s possible is, of course, to experiment. Best start with something that’s not actually living, shall I? Like, for instance, a potato? No one can be angry at me for injuring a potato.

This, actually, is a tad nerve-racking. It reminds me of that old Jeff Goldblum movie, The Fly. For those of you who aren’t familiar with 1980s horror, our boy Jeff experiments with teleportation and accidentally crosses chromosomes with a fly. He then starts turning into a fly, which is a horrifying thought to say the least.

Will attempting to take a potato back in time cause me to start turning into a potato?

I’m only half joking.

In any case, without further delay, I bring you:

Mission: Goldblum 1

Objective: Attempt to extend the EM’s protection beyond my physical person.

Simplicity is key for this experiment, I think, and so I will keep it all fairly basic: my plan is merely to travel back in time, just an hour will do, while holding a potato.

Wish me luck.

UPDATE—

OCTOBER 1, 2074

21:15 HOURS

Goldblum 1 was a success! I’m actually a little shocked at how easy it was. I simply rowed out to the Cascadia subduction zone, just as I had done during my first vessel-less voyage back in time (try saying that five times fast). Only, this time, I was holding my lucky potato.

I felt the familiar pull of the time tunnel. The world sort of dropped away, and there I was. In the past.

With my potato. It wasn’t bruised or anything. It was perfect.

I’m really flying high right now. I sort of don’t want to let this feeling go, so I’m going to move on to the next stage of my experimentation: living subject.

In other words, I caught a mouse.

I’ll let you fill in the rest.

Here we go:

Mission: Goldblum 2

Objective: Attempt to extend the EM’s protection to another living subject.

Let’s do this.

UPDATE—

OCTOBER 1, 2074

22:45 HOURS

I almost don’t want to write this. I know I’m a scientist, and I really should be impartial here, but I’m also an animal lover and this . . .

Well this is hard to get out.

Okay, here goes: I’m afraid that Little Jeff didn’t make it through the last experiment.

Right—Little Jeff is what I named the mouse. As a scientist, I really shouldn’t name test subjects, but I couldn’t help it. He looked like a little Jeff Goldblum.

And now he’s gone. I’d prefer not to get into the specifics of how he was killed but will say, only, that the exotic matter did not extend its properties beyond my physical person to keep him safe inside the anil. It seems, for some reason, that it couldn’t protect a living creature like it could an object.

I really wonder why this is. I have some theories, but I’m afraid each is less likely than the next.