ablankpage | Voxophone 6/??

Voxophone 6/?? - Voice

[Another late night, and he's volunteered to make a pot of tea as he and his "sister" work.

So, in the kitchen, he opens the journal. It's still as good a place to store his thoughts as it is a method of communication, especially late at night when few are likely to be actively listening.]

There are constants and variables. That is the crux of our work. Constants that are measurable -- the laws of physics, for instance -- are, naturally, the more scientifically sound.

[Book in hand, waiting for the kettle to whistle, he wanders into the main room and puts a record on the player procured some time ago. The other residents of the house have proven themselves able to sleep through it when he's done it before, so he doesn't hesitate to let the sound come.

A familiar song can be heard after a moment of the player warming up.]

However, there are other constants. Things that cannot easily be measured. Things which can be relied upon to comfort, rather than affirm.

[He pauses and makes a quiet sound that's almost a chuckle.]

"A middle C vibrates at 262 Hz, no matter what the universe."

[Then, another remark, said more softly, almost to himself:] Perhaps I'm merely sentimental.

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A pitch for the universe. Very curious.

[And an idea that intrigues him greatly.

It inspires a great many thoughts, as does the indication that this world alters its tone frequently. It makes sense. The universe, speaking musically, must be trying to harmonize a million discordant notes into something that resembles music. Something recognizable even though it's not familiar.

But what he remarks on is the last thing to catch his attention and hold it.]

Yes -- it's a vinyl record. I'm afraid I lack any sort of aptitude or willingness to acquire one in the new technology when this is available.

Every universe vibrates at a very specific frequency. Mine, for example, was C - middle C. Theirs, a G. This one, however, defies logic. I can't get a correct vibration no many how many times I try. One day it is E, the next it's F minor, as if it's toying with me.

And good. Vinyl is the only true way to listen to music. I regret that my collection has yet to arrive in full. I'm missing several of my favorites and my tuner. It makes for a very difficult workspace.

My sister [because it's still the safest thing to call Rosalind, as well as being an old habit] prefers to work in silence, and I can work just as well without music as with, so it doesn't play when we're working.

At present, I'm only waiting for the kettle.

[Though, it's a chance to discuss a theory in mind.]

I don't believe the universe is toying with you. I think it is merely attempting to keep itself in balance, while, at the same time, reacting to a constant imbalance.

We come and we go, without reason. The worlds vary from extremely similar -- so much so that they seem almost the same -- to vastly different.

It would not surprise me that if the universe were to stabilize to a singular pitch, for instance, we might find our minds and bodies destabilized to account for the change.

Action, reaction.

Perhaps then, I should be checking for a harmonic resonance - several frequencies or even entire chords and octaves resonating at the same time. It would explain it, yes, the dissonance I get when I try only one. However, it would take time for the universe to stabilize to the come and go - a day or even a week before it finds the right resonance to keep everything held together.

[A microwave beeps and Walter scuttles away from his journal, still talking as he goes for his popcorn.]

To aim for a universe crossing would mean having to wait for a stable period and then accounting for each separate resonance in the village. Maybe this is why previous attempts have failed. The number of machines, all vibrating at once to create a portal to travel between this world and each individual's world would be--

[He sits back down at his table, munching on popcorn as his pencil scribbles notes on a different piece of paper.]

-- astronomically difficult to obtain with the level of technology available.

"The notes were correct; the instrument was not."

[It's a simple thought, yet he comes to mind in full force now.]

A series of tones to create a chord. When all three strike the perfect pitch, harmony is achieved. And when one knows only one note of the chord and must test the others -- with seemingly conflicting notes -- until the perfect balance is struck...

[Yes, it can all be explained in musical terms. At least Robert's mind can sort it in such. Rosalind could likely understand it all, but she wouldn't feel it the same way.]

Unfortunately, we aren't given any sort sheet music here so that we might know our key, at least, to begin guessing at chords.

Ah...but that is where experimentation comes into play. The greatest, albeit somewhat tedious part of all science - the experiment.

Perhaps I could get Simon or Harlem to assist. She was kind enough to lead me toward the previous researchers, now released.

The experiment, yes.

Entirely necessary and very compelling, and yet... [He can't help but sigh just a bit. He is a scientist, born and bred, but--]

Forgive me. When I arrived here some time ago, I had just finished an experiment. Three years in the experiment stage, a hundred-and-twenty-two attempts.

But you must have succeeded, having finished it, yes? Isn't that a reward in itself?

[Walter paused, usually quite dull to emotional and societal cues, but something in the way the man spoke - a fellow scientist spoke - got to him.]

You seem sad though. Did it not work?

It was successful.

[Though how to explain why there was only some satisfaction at such a thing. Had he been told what he could accomplish when he'd been eighteen, he'd have been ecstatic.

But at forty-two... he has seen enough of the world to know.]

The success, though, was bittersweet. There were unforeseen consequences.

All necessary, all due. Simply unforeseen.

....T-there always are... Variables one can't predict, a firefly in the night lost due to a ripple somewhere on a lake.

[He knows of consequences. They're pulling his world apart at the seams and there is nothing he can do about it, but let his son go.]

B-but there can't be any in such a simple experiment, yes? Finding frequencies? It's just tuning forks, resonances...

The right resonance can shatter glass.

[It's something that he wouldn't say to Rosalind, not without more behind it. She doesn't always think metaphorically first, but that is how he means it.

A few broken panes of a window, literally, wouldn't be a threat. But what would the glass be here that shattered?]

Yes, but in our experiments - mine and Belly's - in order for the resonance frequency to affect the world around us, they would have to set in two or more locations. The resulting field would faze that area, effectively creating a soft spot through which we could send things to the other side.

But within a day to 36 hours depending on the size of the object, the worlds would require equilibrium and a thing of equal mass would need to be transported back to our world.

So long as the frequencies are only be tested in a singular location, it is unlikely to shatter any glass beyond that of the lab's direct location.

Curious.

My work with Rosalind showed no need for an equilibrium, at least not in an obvious sense. Perhaps it was due to a different method of transference.

[Because, really, it doesn't mean there wasn't an eventual balancing. That might have happened through the infinite, in the possibility space. Or been made up for in an unobserved universe, balancing out the weight and loss in two others.]

What concerns me is that resonance in a universe such as this one, where there seems to be a chord rather than a single pitch, trying to resonate them all at once might affect the surrounding area in more severe ways.

The universe demands equilibrium, balance. It might not have been obvious to you, but somewhere, there was balance achieved.

[One boy saved, one boy lost. Equilibrium.]

Mm...perhaps an enclosed space. The battle dome? The simulations it runs, it could contain or at least lessen the effects should the resonance create any adverse consequences with its barriers.

The area for testing would need to be carefully chosen. The Battle Dome provides a barrier, but it also provides a concentration of machinery and electricity much of the rest of the enclosure lacks.

If something malfunctioned inside it and affected the whole structure, there could be catastrophic consequences.

[Having died in his own machine, along with his partner... those sorts of possibilities are never far from his mind.]

But it can't be too far from the village or the special resonance of the subjects would be weakened too much to calculate. ...area without electricity, close to the village...

No, the tunnels are too risky, it could collapse the entire infrastructure of the village. An abandoned house? Electronics removed?

Especially if one could gut it. Remove everything that is not structurally necessary.

One would have the space, that way and whatever equipment needed could be taken down to its necessities.

Our work requires electricity... Though I do know of an alternative.

[An alternative named "Booker DeWitt."]

One would have to work fast then. The houses repair themselves within the week, so anything removed would reappear. Repeated gutting and the necessary manpower will be required.

But you mention an alternative...? What?

The world I'm from developed an alternative to the electric company. A sort of... portable source of electricity.

An associate of mine, who is here and from the same world, has the capability of using this source.

...Most interesting... Yes, bring him. I'll ask Simon to come help carry the tuning forks and equipment. He'll likely be pleased to be taken off body duty for awhile.

But which house is best for this? It shouldn't have any close neighbors. Or at least an occupant who would not mind vacating for a few weeks.

We'd need to be careful about our selection.

Rosalind and I are still quite some time -- I would wager a year, being cautious -- from even beginning to rebuild a prototype to begin testing.

I- I built a machine that crossed worlds once, but they removed the memories from me. My brain, it isn't as it should be, it's shattered.

I'm afraid I cannot help with the machine, but the resonances - I worked with that quite often in my world. C for us, G for them.

I will speak to Rosalind. It's quite possible that because of the constant of resonance, we could use that to stabilize the Tears -- what we used to move between worlds.

There's the barrier of this world as well as its status as an anomaly, as we know universes to be, at least, to contend with, but it might prove a good method for grounding.

It's a start if nothing else.

[He starts munching popcorn again, remembering that he'd popped it earlier.]

O-oh this is most exciting! I do love it when the strange, inexplicable and impossible comes into the lab!

I look forward to future conversations and, with luck, collaboration.

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