While all of this was running on the back of the mind of Oliver, one of the highly intelligent young scientists, he was looking at the paper, with a queer expression on his face. He was working on technology that was not even deemed possible by the outside world, the commercial one, that focused on survival than progress. He knew it was possible. It was a chance at a great adventure, one of limitless possibilities and an experience of a lifetime.

It had all the details required. To attempt it or not, that was the question on Oliver’s mind. Time travel was an experimental technology but was one that was well into its final phases of testing. CERN however, had no place for ambition nor greed, only scientific curiosity. It was a highly closed off project with only a few members knowing about it. He left the paper where he found it, searched for it on the public information record — that was what the Internet was called then to separate the useful and useless parts of it. Social networking and cat pictures belonged to the other side and while flow of information was possible from the former to the latter, the latter was not allowed to pollute the former.

He could not find any information on it. It was expected that a small experiment that would have no consequence 928 years later would still be available on PIR. The date, coordinates were firmly etched on his mind, for how could they not? What could possibly describe the rush of adrenaline through the body on the attempt at such a daring adventure? After much thought, his curiousity prevailed. A few deep breaths and display button clicks later, he was inside the experimental time machine. The coordinates however, were slightly different. He didn’t know what those coordinates meant as such, but he was sure that warping in to those exact ones, was not a good idea. So, he chose a location, actually gambled on a nearby one. This was the point of no return.

One thing Oliver expected was that 2009 was much, much different from 2935, but the other thing he did not expect was that he would be time travelling to a location that was the doorstep to a restroom. But on a Sunday night, it was a deserted area. “Phew, good for me!” he thought to himself. Clothes did not undergo much transformation over the years, so he looked like the average person you would meet on the road, except that on a closer look, his spectacles were optical displays with computational capabilities and highly efficient ones at that too. He walked up to the corridor and asked the way to Trinity street from a passer-by. “Interested in the experiment are you now, boy?”, the guy laughed and gave him directions. “Interested? I’ve travelled 928 years for this, you old man. If only I could tell you that.” Oliver thought to himself. It was a short walk, and he reached the place. Gonville and Caius College was right in front of him. But he knew better than to enter through the front door. He found his way to one of the rear sides and scaled a wall. Rock climbing was a favorite sport of his back at CERN. When he got down, it was at the central quadrangle. From there, the conference hall where the time travelers’ party was supposed to be held was visible. Oliver walked upto the side window, from where he could see Stephen Hawking, one whom he had read about during his childhood. Many conceptions about string theory and particle physics were abandoned as better explanations were obtained over the years and prose about the man served only historical significance. He was termed a visionary. His heart started racing, what he was about to do, was something that could have repercussions that simply could not be imagined by anyone. He thought about it for a long time. On another line of thought, “What if the man left, thinking nobody would turn up before Oliver had decided on what he was going to do?”

Oliver decided to wait, for someone else to come. If he found the paper, someone one else from his future could also have found it. He waited for 4 hours.

Stephen Hawking left. Oliver could have walked in, but he didn’t. He also made sure that someone else didn’t. The journey was worth the trouble. The questions that had occurred to him, had been more than a feast to his intellect that night. He could have walked in, but he didn’t. It was too dangerous to instill hope. As he found a deserted place once again, he punched the coordinates and time to his lab. A swift breeze, he was gone.