RinthCon Begins

Day 1 of RinthCon – How it Begins

“And this is what, exactly?” asked Mikel, gingerly touching the translucent, fist-sized, angular rock that sat between them on the table next to his demi-tasse of coffee.

“I believe it to be a very old quantum computer but specialized with a unique architecture for a unique task.”

Mikel grimaced, his round, jowly face amplifying the expression. It made him seem judgmental and pessimistic in general, but Ahbet knew Mikel to be a much warmer and more positive person than he looked. Except perhaps for right this second.

“I thought you said you invented this thing,” said Mikel.

“I said I discovered it. It’s been in the El-Fihriya section of the museum in a box in a storage room for at least a hundred years. It was mislabeled as a crystal and was packed with a bunch of quartz.”

Mikel leaned back in the uncomfortable metal chair and looked around at their surroundings, the cheap café, the nearby aisles of vendors, the waning and waxing crowds of people dressed in outlandish garb pretending to be all manner of colorful, fictional things. “Why did you drag me to this ridiculous place?”

“This device is the most important discovery of our lifetime. RinthCon is a sci-fi convention. Here we can discuss the nature of this device frankly and even if we are overheard, no one will take it seriously.”

“Brother, it has been many years since you have been in danger of being taken seriously.”

Ahbet tensed with rising anger.

Mikel softened his manner and made placating gestures with his hands. “Ok, I admit that was uncalled for. Let’s continue then. But I am curious what you were doing in an Earthscience storeroom poking through boxes.”

“It was just luck,” said Ahbet, “No one goes in that room. It is very private. I know this young woman and…”

“Ah! Ah! Skip it! Skip it!” Mikel interjected, waving the whole subject away with his hand, “I know how all your stories with young women go. Not hearing about your young ladies is the best part about you leaving home.”

“Well, the box broke and we tumbled to the ground and the quartz scattered everywhere and I noticed this was not like the quartz crystals…”

“I said skip it!”

Ahbet shrugged. “I didn’t know what it was, but I was curious so I put it in my office until I had time to examine it.”

“And what did you find when you examined it?”

“I never did,” confessed Ahbet, “It sat on my desk for about eight years and then became a doorstop. Recently one of my assistants used it to prop up a piece of equipment for an experiment. All our data were thrown off. It kept happening over and over for months and we had no clue what was occurring. Finally, another assistant --the red-haired one—realized the data corruption was related to the doorstop’s proximity.”

“Does your red-haired assistant have a name, Ahbet?”

“I am certain she does. You are focusing on the wrong aspects of my story.”

“I think,” asserted Mikel, “That as a scientist you are perhaps not focused on the right aspects of life in general.”

“Forget that!” Ahbet said, his voice rising, “The point is that this device manipulates localized data. You remember the Simulation Theory?”

Mikel groaned. “I knew that was coming! You haven’t shut up about it since you were ten years old. The whole theory is ridiculous!”

“It is inevitable,” said Ahbet, “We know that we live in a multiverse. Every time a choice is made, existence divides into two realities, one where the choice was yes and one where it was no. That creates an impossible inflation of realities that can only be explained if atoms are not made up of particles or waves, but of data.”

“There are other theories.”

“Created by fools!”

“Says the zealot trying to convince me this rock is a supercomputer.”

Ahbet’s face clouded. “Manipulating the data behind creation is everything! I think it can be used to move from one universe to another. I energized the device. It’s ready!”

“Did a fortune teller tell you this?” Mikel picked up the rock, “Did you rub salt on it? Set it under an ultraviolet light? Because I have heard fortune tellers talk about the properties of crystals many times and how you can energize them. Books are data, too, are they not? Look across the aisle at that book vendor.” Mikel pointed at a stall jammed with shelves of books. “Are those alternate realities then? What would your supercomputer do with all that data?”

Mikel lobbed the crystal over the thin crowd. The passers-by looked up as it sailed overhead: aliens and knights, heroes and dark villains, frightful monsters and adorable sidekicks. Ahbet shot to his feet, a shrill scream escaping his mouth. Everyone paused to look in his direction. The crystal tumbled end over end, landing and bouncing through the book stall. A small light seemed to flash from the crystal each time it struck the floor, but perhaps that was just a reflection from the overhead lamps.

Ahbet scrambled toward the vendor, pushing through the crowd. But the crowd pushed back. It seemed many more people had entered the aisle just when he needed a clear path. Finally, he squeezed through the dense throng.

A big gray dog sitting at the edge of the booth jumped up, tail wagging, and pounced on the rolling crystal before Ahbet could get to it.

Ahbet grabbed for the rock but the dog dodged each time. The dog skittered away, then threw a catch-me-if-you-can glance over its shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.

“Hey, man! Did you just chase my dog away?” came a voice from the stall.

“Mikel!” called Ahbet, “Help me catch that animal!” But Mikel gave no sign that he heard his brother. He finished his demi-tasse of coffee, paid the bill, and leisurely began his journey home.