Chapter 1: Inventions
The clock was ticking, the silence flooded the room, two men sitting opposite each other.
The older man sat in the bank director's office, flipping through the pages, while a secretary took notes in a corner of the office.
– I don't know, Doctor Holloway. This doesn't seem to have any foundation.
Said the director. He glanced at the doctor out of the corner of his eye.
– That's because you don't understand it.
Holloway replied, returning the gaze.
– All the disappearances of particles and frequencies... They must be somewhere, in this universe nothing is destroyed.
The director sighed deeply.
– Even if your theory were true, Doctor, what use would it be?
The director leaned back in his chair.
– Besides having a crowd of Catholics at your door.
The director said sarcastically.
Holloway leaned forward.
– A lot. Imagine the first caveman who discovered fire, imagine others acting like you. This would revolutionize everything. New energies, new forms of life.
The director raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
Holloway interlaced his fingers.
– Everything we believed about physics would be revolutionized.
The director sighed.
– You keep speaking in conditional, Doctor Holloway. I can't lend so much money to equipment that might not work, to test a theory that is backed by nothing.
Holloway let out a sigh of indignation as he leaned back.
He looked at the secretary writing in her notebook.
So young, so new to a world, a world he could change and adapt for her and the rest of humanity into an easier, enduring way of life.
– Alright.
Said Holloway, standing up.
– If you change your mind, let me know.
Said Holloway.
The director stood and shook his hand to say goodbye.
– If I find someone interested, I will let you know.
Said the director.
Holloway left the office, looking at the corners, still thinking about his theory.
He couldn't help but notice that the next call attracted British officers.
Holloway recognized those uniforms. They were going to ask for something important, no doubt.
He didn't think much of it, and stepped out into the open air of the city.
Chapter 1: Inventions
Holloway began to walk through the streets of London.
He went over his theory a thousand times in his mind...
With his hands in his pockets, he stared seriously at the ground, wondering if he would really be able to secure the funding he needed.
When he arrived at his home in the city center, he took off his jacket and sat on the bed.
He glanced at his desk, it was completely covered with his writings.
The theory was simple: where did the lost frequencies and certain particles go?
He noticed an energy wear that did not transform, it simply vanished.
He needed the right motivation for a patron, but what could he really offer?
Perhaps the bank director had been right.
He sighed and looked at the ceiling. Then he looked forward again.
On his desk was a cathedral radio, one of the first of its kind.
He stared at it intently.
He knew there was something about radio frequencies. They were the ones most easily lost.
– Where do you go…
He whispered while staring at it.
Suddenly, his telephone rang.
Holloway had no desire to answer, but he picked it up anyway.
– Yes?
Said Holloway.
– Brother!
A female voice exclaimed on the other end.
Holloway smiled faintly. His little sister’s voice always lifted his spirits.
– Michelle, how are you?
Said Holloway.
– Nothing special! Just wanted to tell you about my new job!
Holloway smiled and raised his eyebrows, even though his sister couldn’t see it.
It was a genuine reaction.
– A job? Where?
Michelle laughed.
– So surprising?
Holloway smiled again.
– Come on, cut the nonsense. Where? What kind?
– As a nurse!
Michelle replied.
– A nurse… in a hospital?
Michelle hesitated for a second.
– More or less… if you consider a barracks to be one.
Holloway’s expression shifted to surprise and concern.
– A barracks? You’ve joined the army?
Michelle exhaled sharply.
– Well, not exactly. I’m in the women’s nursing corps. We don’t technically go to war.
Holloway sighed.
– Michelle, with all the potential you have…
Michelle interrupted.
– I’ll be fine, really. It’s not even certain there will be a war at all.
Holloway thought for a moment.
– Is there something else?
Michelle fell silent.
– Michelle…?
He said in the tone of an older brother.
– Well… there’s also this guy…
Holloway clicked his tongue.
– I knew it…
Michelle rushed to explain.
– But he’s a really good man! And I’m not doing it just for him! They really do pay well!
Holloway couldn’t help but laugh a little in the end.
– Honestly, your excuses are so bad that at least they brighten my day by making me laugh.
They both shared a faint laugh and kept talking for a while.
Holloway set the phone down and leaned back in his chair.
His thoughts wandered. His little sister was about to be closer than anyone in the family to a possible war.
And the worst part? She knew nothing about politics, nothing about the storm that was already brewing.
She was there for a boy, blind to the growing tensions.
Holloway knew the conflict was inevitable. It was only a matter of time before something exploded.
He returned to the kitchen, finished preparing his meal, and ate at his desk.
Between bites, he scribbled new notes, reviewing formulas, rewriting data.
Soon after, he began echoing radio transmissions, a tedious exercise he had been working on for weeks.
By looping signals endlessly, he tried to understand the strange algorithm that made some frequencies vanish into nothingness.
It was all trial and error.
At one point, the loop grew unstable.
A faint sound escaped through the cathedral radio.
Holloway froze, ears sharpened, pen halted mid-word.
He stared at the machine, listening intently as the feedback sharpened, the frequencies twisting higher, tighter, until silence again.
*KNOCK KNOCK*
He jumped in his chair, startled.
– Fuck…
He muttered under his breath.
Standing quickly, he grabbed a napkin and wiped the food from his mouth before heading to the door.
When he opened it, the sight before him left him completely surprised.
End of Chapter 1
The story of this chapter concludes, but the deeper layers of the fractal still await you...