THE WANDERER

Olympus is a city worthy of awe having a population of only 3000 people mostly scientists, engineers, and medical doctors. It's a haven for nerds. Equipped with the latest tech for convenient living not to mention the high-rise buildings with alien architectures. The city can be described as a giant laboratory rather than an extension or part of a political structure like normal cities. There were no governors or political figures policing the affairs of Olympus, it was a paradise separate from the outside world and for good reasons.

The city of Olympus located 400,000km away from earth was covered in a dome, the city being the dome itself found a patch of land on the far side of the moon. Putting it together was an engineering wonder. The scene wouldn't have been possible if not for the discovery of gravitons, a few decades ago. For a long time gravity has escaped the grasp of physicists, they've been able to summarize the entire universe into two groups; forces of nature and particles of matter. The particles make the atom possible which makes up everything. 

There are actually twelve; six of them being 'quarks' and their different flavors - it is a popular notion that physicists are not really good at naming stuff- the other six are leptons named 'electron', 'muo', 'tau' and their respective 'neutrinos'. The forces of nature are four and less tedious compared to their counterparts. These forces are responsible for how matter interacts with themselves; electromagnetism, gravity the nuclear weak and strong forces, each of these mediated by a particle; photon for the electromagnetic force, graviton for gravity, gluon for the strong force and w and z boson for the weak force. The physicists called the particles of matter 'fermions' and the particles that mediated the forces were called 'bosons'.

All the bosons have been discovered except for gravitons. Even Higgs boson, the culprit responsible for giving other particles their mass has been discovered but graviton was apparently shy or so the physicists thought. The 'standard model' was the name given to this summary of particles, the summary of the understanding of the universe at that time which was only 4 percent of the observable universe. So it was until graviton was discovered. The discovery gave them some hints about the other 96 percent Which was dark energy and dark matter.

Graviton was discovered by a privately funded research lab owned by Prometheus Enterprise, the company of the billionaire genius Eric Norton. The discovery of graviton gave humans the power to manipulate spacetime to some extent giving rise to teleportation gateways, another means of transportation. It also made Dr. Norton very rich. The teleportation gateways called 'teleways' allowed for instantaneous travel. Two giant disks are situated at different locations anywhere in the universe, a traveler just had to walk through the vertically placed disk and emerge on the other side of the universe through the other disk in that location. It was a thing of fiction, but humans eventually got a hang of it. Traveling from Alaska to Australia only took three steps. This was how they colonized the moon and Mars also.

Olympus was a lunar estate belonging to Dr. Norton. He built the dome to further experiments on the graviton and unlock many hidden potentials. He and his team of scientists were looking for a way to manipulate spacetime without the need for giant disks. The goal was to cause a rupture in the fabric of spacetime that would not only allow travel in space but also through time. He and his team were trying to create a wormhole that would be maintained and regulated by them.

"We're ready for you Dr. Norton," one of the scientists said with excitement in his voice.

"Let us begin," Dr. Norton responded.

They were far from the location of the dome, a team of seven scientists and 9 engineers standing in a glass enclosure staring at a mammoth structure on the other side of the glass. The structure consists of four giant rods facing themselves, at the top of the rods were coils of superconductors. At the center was a stone, a well-polished pearl resting on a platform.

With the push of a button after twisting some dials, the structure started crackling with electricity, this continued for a while until the streams of energy from each of the rods struck the pearl at the center, the pearl levitated after and became like mud reshaping itself. The cracking intensified with a buzzing sound making the pearl expand into a transparent shell with a dark liquid at its core. After a few minutes, the pearl collapsed into itself creating a portal.

"Today, we become a TYPE 2 civilization," Dr. Norton said with eyes wide open in astonishment.

From the portal came a flood of the ocean breaking the barrier, sweeping everything in the enclosure including the scientists and engineers, they pleaded for help as they grasped for breath. Dr. Norton was drowning, struggling to find support, and heard his name in the distance.

"Eric, Eric," a familiar female voice called.

"Eric, Eric," the voice was louder and closer this time.

"Eric, Eric wake up you idiot we're going to miss the bus." Eric jumped from his bed which was already wet only to see his sister with a bowl of water giving him a sinister smile.

"Get dressed, we're going to be late."

"What the hell Erica, why do you always do that? all you needed was a little tap, a shake maybe?"

"I know, but where's the fun in that?" Erica said in a satisfying tone as she walked out of his room.

"Don't forget to dry the sheets"

"Get out of my room," Eric yelled with a look of vengeance on his face. Erica went out laughing, happy she completed her daily morning rituals, which involves giving her brother a bath in bed. There's no way I'm related to that creature, Eric thought to himself as he prepared for school.

Eric brushed his teeth for exactly seven minutes and showered for seventeen minutes, this is a ritual he sticks to every day with impeccable precision. The running water hitting his body reminded him of his dream earlier which was going well until the little creature interrupted. It was Friday which means, he had to put on his black trousers, the round-necked grey sleeves. He applied his body cream and some spray put on his shoes which he usually ties in a double loop like a bow tie with a sense of commitment.

"Morning honey, hope you slept well?" his mom asked as Eric settled down to eat in a strange posture.

"He woke up as king of the ocean. He slept pretty well if you ask me."

"Young lady what did you do this time?" their mom asked.

"Nothing I swear."

Eric has been staring at his food for some minutes now. Breakfast was bread, scrambled eggs, and milk. The bread has been cut into triangles that would fit into a square just like a jigsaw puzzle. Just the way he likes it.

"weirdo," Erica said mockingly. "Mom, there's a party at Vicki's tomorrow, can I go?" Erica asked her mom, waiting for approval.

"As long as you take your brother with you."

"No!" they objected in unison.

"I rather have you shoot me, I'm not going to any party."

"See mom, he's not interested. Why torture me like this?"

"I want your brother to meet new people and make new friends, you know how he is."

"I don't need new friends, I already got Terry," Eric said conclusively.

"I know honey but I want you to expand your circle, it will help you in the long run," their mom said feeling concerned.

"with what exactly?"

"Life honey."

"but how?" Eric inquired further.

"look at him mom, you seriously want me to take that to a party," Erica said pointing at Eric who was curled up in his chair like a rodent looking for warmth while inspecting his food.

"You're not going without him," their mom said authoritatively.

"Whatever, you know you can't shelter him forever, he's not a baby anymore," Erica said kissing her mom on the cheek.

"Forever?" Eric asked with a look of disgust on his face.

"It's an expression dumbass," Erica responded with her hand on the doorknob.

"I know what you meant," Eric replied trying to get away from his mom's crushing hug.

"Love you honey." his mom said.

"Really?" Erica asked, surprised about Eric's remark.

"Yes. But I find your lack of concern for cognitive precision in articulating your thoughts disturbing," Eric responded as he heads for the door.

"Shut up already," Erica protested.

Eric has always wanted to become a physicist ever since he picked up the book that forever changed his life; The God particle written by Leon Lederman. From the moment he fell in love with physics, he has always wanted to be a part of those who ponder on the mysteries of the universe, he wished he was worthy enough to walk the path of giants like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. He wanted to be one or part of the geniuses who would solve the gravity problem. But Loja doesn't hold such opportunities.

Loja was an unremarkable town with rocky terrains and riverine areas. This is the only place Eric has known all his life. Here he was born, grew up, and might probably die if he doesn't get out of this dump.

"Hey," a voice behind him called out.

"Why do you think it's so hot today, it wasn't like this yesterday, hmm strange?"

"Actually it has to do with the high humidity in the atmosphere, I think it will rai......," Eric was interrupted by his friend.

"Listen dude, you don't have to explain everything, it was a simple question I didn't ask for a lecture," he said as he jumped from behind to take the seat next to Eric.

"I can't help it you know, there are a lot of things we take for granted giving us the illusion of understanding."

"Making it your job to lecture us?" He was interrupted again by Erica as they were making their way to class.

"Morning T," Erica greeted tilting her head towards the direction of Eric's friend.

"What's up Erica, how do you put up with this guy?" T said in a mocking tone.

"I just pretend he doesn't exist and continually calls him a dumbass. He thinks he's the smartest human on the planet but can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality. Look at me I'm gonna win a Nobel prize, look at me I have all the knowledge in the galaxy," Erica said in a mocking tone while making gestures at Eric. They both laughed at him.

"I don't sound like that, do I, Tyrell?"

"See what I'm talking about, so smart yet so dumb," Erica responded in a condescending tone.

"Dude, you sound worse, our imitations fall short," Terry responded.

Eric was obnoxious and unbearable not because he was exceedingly smart but the fact that he had to always rub it in people's faces which was no fault of his own. He was being polite to the best of his ability. But others beg to differ. Eric is socially inept. His seeming lack of empathy, and inability to read social cues or faces make him appear insensitive and rude. His twin sister and friend try to compensate most times, but he mostly ruins the effort. He's always oblivious to the pain he inflicts on people's feelings which have sometimes landed him in trouble, but he doesn't seem to mind as long as he always proves that someone is an ignoramus.

"Hey, man did you do the homework?" Terry asked as they hurried to class.

Eric decided to walk home instead of taking the bus. He usually did this to think or sort out intellectual matters. How do I know I'm real? What if I'm just a character in an imagination? Eric always loves to ponder philosophy, but he hated the way people perceive the subject. The general public now sees philosophy as just 'free thinking, a sort of movement that any idiot with the IQ of a log believes he has the qualifications to participate in. What Eric hated more than the pseudointellectuals were the new age mystics, the science denialists who think their opinion is as valid as experts who studied for years on a particular subject. Well, does it really matter?

 Would it make any difference if my thoughts were predetermined by someone's thought process or coded in a simulation giving me the illusion of free will? He considered it unlikely that he might be a character conjured up by the individual whose imagination he was stuck in. He also concluded that the human brain doesn't have enough processing power to conjure up such intricate details as the human body. But what if he only considers it intricately complex because he's part of the imagination? What if his entire life is a lie, a falsehood? What if he's just a temporary rearrangement in a God's mind, a cosmic being who out of boredom conjured him up?

Eric enjoyed this daily intellectual masturbation.