I Know What Science Doesn’t

Childhood innocence gave way to teenage rebellion and defiance. Adulthood wore those edges down until he had no choice but to surrender to the rules of society.

Work for money. Become a proper corporate drone.

Wake up, commute, work, go home, sleep. The same cycle repeated every day, with one overtime shift after another, until he died on the way to yet another shift.

In the moment he collapsed, Daniel Hayes found himself replaying his entire life, and the absurdity of it all struck him like a punchline he'd never wanted to hear.

Ten years in the rat race, and what did he have to show for it? A house that was underwater on the mortgage. He'd collapsed on his way to the office, which meant the compensation payout would be pathetic.

His life had no value at all.

His eyes closed. His thoughts scattered. Voices drifted in through the haze.

"Is he okay?"

"He's not breathing! Someone do CPR!"

"Does anyone know how?"

"I'm a nurse. Everyone, step back."

Amid the chaos, a pair of small hands pressed against his chest with what felt like enough force to crack his ribs.

The pressure came in a steady, brutal rhythm.

Daniel coughed up water, once, twice, several times. His thoughts began to sharpen. He opened his eyes slowly, and the first thing he saw was a calm, delicate face hovering above him.

Wide eyes, furrowed brows, worry written across every feature.

"Should we do mouth-to-mouth?"

"He opened his eyes, but his breathing's still weak. Keep going a bit longer..."

Daniel spat out another mouthful of water, then sucked in a deep, desperate breath. It felt like his entire body had been reborn.

His vision cleared. He looked around at the crowd, at the middle-aged man wrapped in a blanket under a tree, at the nurse kneeling beside him. Slowly, his mind began to piece things together.

"I'm... saved?"

Before he could process anything further, the nurse asked, her voice tight with concern, "How do you feel?"

Daniel pushed himself up into a sitting position and scanned his surroundings. He was by a river.

It was winter, and every part of his body felt stiff and numb from the freezing cold.

The crowd around him murmured amongst themselves.

"Young man, why would you do something like this? Jumping into the river in the middle of winter!"

"Thank God someone saw you and pulled you out."

"Don't do this again. You're so young. Whatever it is, it's not worth it..."

"You should get to a hospital."

Daniel's head buzzed as a torrent of memories came flooding in all at once.

He sat there, dazed, for a long moment. Then he turned to the people around him. "Thank you. Thank you all for saving me."

His gaze shifted to the nurse who'd performed CPR on him. He nodded earnestly. "Thank you."

He reached instinctively for his phone, only to realize his pockets were empty.

The nurse studied him with concern. "Don't worry about that now. You need to go to the hospital. Should I call an ambulance?"

"No, it's fine. I can go myself."

Daniel shook his head and stood. Aside from the lingering stiffness from the cold, he felt surprisingly fine.

He hopped in place a few times and confirmed that he was healthy.

After stretching briefly, he turned toward the middle-aged man under the tree and asked for his contact information.

He did the same with the nurse.

Two phone numbers. Even though each person only said them once, he was certain he'd remember.

He believed every kindness deserved to be repaid.

Dragging his exhausted body, he slowly made his way out of the crowd, sorting through the flood of memories in his head as he walked.

First things first, he'd transmigrated.

His name was still Daniel Hayes, but this was definitely a different person. Or maybe another Daniel Hayes from a parallel world?

He was a twenty-three-year-old doctoral candidate at Aldridge University who had come through its gifted youth program.

He was about to be expelled from the university because of a paper accused of fabricating experimental data.

The paper was from research he'd done under his former advisor, Dr. Elias Vance, on the properties of electromagnetic metamaterials. During the experiment, he'd stumbled upon something unusual: the specialized electromagnetic field they'd created seemed to interfere with the movement of air molecules in a way he couldn't explain.

After the discovery, the original Daniel had immediately gone to Dr. Vance. They'd repeated the experiment several times, but they couldn't reproduce the effect.

Not long after, Dr. Vance left Aldridge University, and the school reassigned Daniel to a new advisor.

With Dr. Vance gone, Daniel couldn't continue researching metamaterials, so he'd shelved the project. But he'd still believed the experiment was real. He'd compiled the data and submitted it to a physics journal.

The journal was called Applied Electromagnetics Quarterly, a small domestic publication with no real influence. Its peer review process was barely professional. As long as the content wasn't obviously problematic and you paid the article processing charge, they'd publish it.

The paper was published. Later, it was indexed on a domestic academic database called AcademiBase.

More than half a year passed.

Then a video appeared online, listing some of the "most absurd papers" found on AcademiBase.

The original Daniel's paper was prominently featured.

The video included commentary. "A physics PhD student from Aldridge University published a paper claiming an electromagnetic field affects the movement of air molecules. Doesn't he understand basic physics? How could an electromagnetic field influence air? This guy's knowledge is worse than a middle schooler's..."

The video went viral.

The Academic Integrity Board at Aldridge University's College of Natural Sciences immediately launched an investigation into the paper. They summoned Daniel for questioning.

The original Daniel insisted the experiment was legitimate. During the meeting, he'd argued back against the vice chancellor, Robert Sterling. But no one believed his conclusions. In the end, the Academic Integrity Board ruled that the data had been fabricated and issued an expulsion order.

Expulsion for a doctoral student meant immediate withdrawal from the program.

Online ridicule, the cold indifference of university leadership, Marcus Thorne scrambling to distance himself, and the expulsion had consumed the original Daniel with anxiety and depression. In a moment of despair, he'd tried to end his life.

Daniel shuddered, feeling a pang of sympathy for his predecessor. The experiment had been real. If only he'd kept researching...

"Wait a second. Why am I thinking like this?" But why was he so certain the experiment and its conclusion were real? His conviction was even stronger than the original Daniel's, absolute and complete.

Lost in thought, he made his way back to his dorm.

Several of his roommates were inside. When they saw Daniel stumble through the door soaking wet and disheveled, they rushed over.

"What happened? Did you fall in the water?"

"Please don't do anything crazy!"

"It's just an experiment. We all believe you. It's not fabricated! We know you'd never fake data for a paper!"

Daniel nodded and thanked them. His roommates had always been good to him.

Their concern was genuine.

He offered a quick explanation. "I'm fine. Just got my clothes wet by accident."

Then he started packing his things.

The others stood by, unsure what to say. Expulsion was unthinkable.

As he was gathering his belongings, a middle-aged man with an air of authority pushed the door open. His brow was furrowed. "Daniel Hayes, have you retracted your paper from AcademiBase yet? Hurry up and submit the request!"

"It's all over the internet. Why are you leaving a fraudulent paper up there?"

It was Gregory Finch, administrative director of the College of Natural Sciences and vice chair of the Academic Integrity Board.

Daniel glanced up at him, then went back to packing without a word.

Gregory realized he was being ignored. His voice rose sharply. "Daniel!"

"I'm talking to you!"

Daniel turned around, his expression flat. "Director Finch, what was the punishment the school gave me?"

"The punishment was expulsion."

Gregory's tone was self-righteous. "You can't blame the school. Academic fraud is taken very seriously now. Anyone caught is expelled immediately."

"Oh, so you do know it's expulsion?"

Daniel let out a bitter laugh. "I've been expelled. I'm not an Aldridge University student anymore. So why do you still think you can boss me around? My paper's on AcademiBase. If it's embarrassing, it's my embarrassment, and I was gladly willing to bear it."

"You... you..."

Gregory's face flushed red with anger. He sputtered but couldn't find the words.

Finally, he turned on his heel and stormed out.

Daniel's roommates gathered around him, grinning and giving him thumbs up.

"I've been waiting for someone to tell him off!"

"You stood up to Robert Sterling, and now Finch too. You're amazing. Only you could pull that off."

"You know what? Before you leave, you should go chew out everyone who screwed you over. At least get it off your chest..."

Daniel looked at his roommates. The thought of leaving Aldridge University stirred something bittersweet in him as the memories settled.

Still, he managed a smile. "Looks like the school wants me gone as soon as possible. I'll leave today. Let's keep in touch."

"Daniel! Daniel!"

A voice called from the doorway. Someone came running in, panting heavily.

"Dr. Brooks!"

One of the roommates recognized him immediately.

It was Professor Julian Brooks, Daniel's advisor during his master's program. They'd always had a good relationship.

Julian caught his breath, his eyes filled with worry as they landed on Daniel. "Daniel, are you okay? Someone told me you jumped into the river. You scared me half to death."

"Don't do anything reckless. You're barely in your twenties. Your whole life is ahead of you..."

He went on, speaking urgently, trying to reassure himself as much as Daniel.

Daniel quickly reassured him, promising repeatedly that he wouldn't do anything drastic. He knew Dr. Brooks genuinely cared about him.

Julian relaxed a little. He glanced around the room, then gestured for the other students to leave.

Once they were alone, he sat down with a sigh. "I went to see Robert Sterling. He's still insisting on your expulsion. He says it's university policy and there's nothing he can do. Did you argue with him?"

Daniel thought back and nodded. "Yeah. We argued."

Julian pressed his lips together, then tried cautiously, "What if you went to him and apologized..."

"Not a chance."

Daniel cut him off immediately. His tone was firm. "Dr. Brooks, I didn't fabricate anything in that experiment. Every piece of data was real."

"I know Dr. Vance vouched for me and confirmed the data wasn't fake. But it didn't matter."

"The school just wants to make the controversy go away. Expelling a student is the easiest solution."

"And I'm certain the experiment was real. The results were correct. If I apologize or compromise in any way, it's the same as admitting the experiment was fake."

"I can't accept that."

Julian stared at Daniel for a long moment. Finally, he let out a sigh and gave a rueful smile. "You're as stubborn as ever."

"All right. I won't push you on the experiment." He paused. "I talked to Elias. With your talent, it'd be a waste to leave academia and go straight into industry. He's interested in bringing you on."

"Go to Kingsley University."