Quantum Pie -- Chapter 26

3.  "That's the problem with not being there," Daniel said.  His demeanor proclaimed, "It's a damn good thing we have a 'time' advantage;" everyone was astutely on the same page.   He was alluding to Kolob Standard Time, which preceded all others.  Earth was so far behind KST, that it shouldn't be the focus of so many warnings; no more threatening than a pre-recorded holo. 

9.  Dayton touched the stand-by light, ready to turn it off if anything went wrong.  The stand-by light turned green and the console illuminated.  Two smaller monitors on either side of a central viewer illuminated.  Several touch-sensitive sliders lit up from beneath the surface.   There were other precision instruments whose exact purpose might require more time to figure out. 

10.  A square panel in the center of the console disappeared; through the opening rose a black joy-stick that seated itself flush with the surface.  The engineering was so flawless, that all traces of panel seams disappeared anamorphically.          

11.  Dayton was delighted, “This is interesting,” he beamed like a kid opening Christmas presents.    

12. The indiscernible space on the other side of the simulator threshold became animated with the colorful hues of outer space.  The view was realistic and full:  To step across the threshold would literally enter that environment. 

13. Directors before Daniel had used the simulator to examine different points in space at different points in time.  That's why they called it a simulator.  When Corlos started using it as an injection portal, the name 'simulator' stuck because everyone knew it by that name.  Misnomers happen.          

14. Dayton toyed with the joystick and zoomed in on a nearby sun, getting so close that the hydrogen flares overwhelmed his senses. The light was so bright and the fire so hot, that he should have been vaporized.  That's when the simulation aspect of the threshold is most appreciated.  The filtering technology protected him.

15. “I definitely like this,” he said, impressed by the extreme realism.  It was real, but life on Corlos made everyone question what was real.  Corlos made time look no more serious than a tape player.         

16. The simulator had a completely different feel from the driver's seat.  It felt like the power of God was at your finger tips.  "I can kill time quite nicely with this," he said.  He didn't know just how premonitive his thought would be.

17. “Where shall we go, what shall we see?”

18.  As Dayton realized the limitless implications of this device, he began to remember his life before Corlos, which wasn't too terribly long ago.

19. "What would I change?" he asked.  A time tamperer's first greatest mistake.    

20. Corlos had ingrained their rules of engagement in him, but that did not suppress his revived intrigue:  What if?  "I don't have to actually change anything -- I can just look."  A time tamperer's second greatest mistake. 

21. Dayton lit up with newfound vigor, oblivious to the danger his indiscretion presented.  "Imagine what Pandora could have done with this?" he quipped, quite lost with his new found toy. 

22. Although his past life was all but extinct, the insatiable, "What if?" was killing him.  He never had closure.  Nobody did.  Agents simply have to deal with it.  A warning should have went off in his head, especially someone near the top of the corporeal food chain.  Nobody is allowed on the dias, let alone, taking it for a spin.   

23. "What actually happened?" he asked himself.  "I never saw the outcome -- except for 27th century Earth.  Kennedy III was a direct result of 'our' science.  What went wrong?"  To merely 'peek' shouldn't pose any harm.    

24. "If I screw something up -- I can always fix it."  That was B'jhon's opening line to every simulator trainee as the #1 error, and #1 way to lose your status as an operator.  A time tamperer's third greatest mistake.       

27. He paused in Earth orbit for a moment -- he had always wanted to see the serene curvature of Earth from space.  He picked up a random transmission in English:  "... Now everyone wants to cash in on Quantum potential by adding the word 'Quantum' to their bullshit scams:  If it doesn't have anything to do with Quantum Science, then they shouldn't be allowed..." "No," Dayton pulled back, although he whole heartedly agreed, "I'm not here to listen to the radio..."     

28. He set the time datum to 1938 local time; having just left the year 2749 barely 50 minutes ago.  "This is easy," he reassured himself, "If someone comes in -- I'll shut it down.  No one will know."  If he felt any hesitation, it wasn't stronger than his urge to press forward.    

29. He zoomed in below the clouds over Europe, remembering the opening of Triumph des Willens von Leni Reifenstahl as if it was yesterday.  Hitler loved her film so much that she earned a permanent place in his heart.  

30. There was the forest where he was driving when his car exploded.  The time dial had micro elemental attentuation. 

31. He manipulated the hour, minutes and seconds while zooming in and out of familiar locations.  He felt empowered, if not recklessly impulsive.  This device could tear the Universe in two, in the hands of a villain.   

32. He examined Hitler's favorite retreats and recalled Hitler's more memorable moments at the Berghoff.  It felt like no time had passed at all.  He zoomed into the bunker beneath the Chancellery that Albert Speer had built.  Although the Fuhrer tolerated the bunker's purpose, he regarded it as a coffin, and forbade anyone to enter it without his personal permission.  The bunker plan was one month ahead of Dieter's recruitment.  Hitler had not yet discussed the idea with Speer or Dieter.

33. Dayton fast-forwarded through the news, catching key headlines on a monitor.  America entered the war, the Allies advance, Hitler commits suicide, the Nuremberg Trials, Germany divides, the Cold War, the Cold War ends, the rise of religious terrorism...  he had backtracked the latter half of history from Kennedy III.

34. He backed up to an image of East and West Germans tearing down the wall that divided them; the dust frozen in mid-air.  "What if?" he asked.   

35. The faultless realism hypnotized him.  "I'm drowning," he whispered, realizing that he was making a fatal mistake, psychiatrically diabled, “This is only a simulator...,”  he rationalized, but who was he trying to kid?  He had deployed in the simulator so many times since his original recruitment, that no excuse would be acceptable for abusing it.  He knew better. 

36.  After throwing caution to the wind, he entertained several plausible justifications:  "Did not every operative face this type of temptation?  I'm certain that my Corlos conditioning can't be reversed."

37. “What if I simply 'persuade' Hitler to persue a more peaceful conclusion?”  That idea seemed like the magic absolution that he was looking for, "What could be so 'bad' about that?" 

38.  "An alternate Universe is not the alternate Universe from its own point of view," Daniel says. 

39. "How do I know that I wasn't suppsed to do this?  Isn't everyone on Sunova psionic?  Is anyone even paying attention?" he wondered.  Ultimately, "Maybe it's my fault for not intervening?  Not that's a good one!"  If everyone in Ops had not been so preoccupied with precisely the same subject and locale, somebody might have been able to avert this.  Dayton's intentions were sufficiently holistic from his perspective, but, "good intentions are never good enough," according to B'jhon.  "Ich habe eine Möglichkeit, wirklich aufzuheben, wirklich schwerer Fehler," "I have a chance to reverse a really, really bad mistake," he rationalized.  And so began his end...    

40. He had regressed back into Dieter without even realizing how subtle the change was.  In his own mind, he was in full control, which made him even more responsible.  He carefully plotted the best moment to re-enter, "Ich habe noch einige unerledigte Geschäft mit der Fuhrer," "I've got some unfinished business with the Fuhrer."

41. There were several places where Hitler would be especially happy to see him. 

42. Dayton felt his pulse race.  His rational mind was trying to warn him.  Psychiatrically, he had leaped from the diving board and was destined for the water; like a paratrooper who can't return to the plane after jumping out.  His intellectual apparatus powered down and he found himself sprinting toward the point of no return as if it was a finish line.  "You can still stop!" his sanity tried to warn him.  "This is Corlos -- I can stop in mid flight..."   

43. "My uniform," he said out loud.  So much for sanity.  The simulator threshold would add his uniform as soon as he crossed it.    

44.  He needed to be sure, so he piloted the simulator to a forest in the valley below Buchestgarten and dismounted the platform.

45. Stepping near, but not across, he extended his arm and saw the black jacket sleeve of his former SS uniform, that Hitler had tailor-made for him.

46. “That answers that.”

47. He remounted the platform and knew exactly where he was going.     

48. "Maybe I'll save millions of lives?"  Maybe this is a manifestation of the Fuhrer's Divine Providence?  For all intents and purposes -- he was beyond committed.  

49. He set the index for September 1939. “I can change everything now.” 

50.  Across the threshold was the Chancellery bathroom near the Fuhrer's office on the upper floor.  He moved the scene forward and back twice to make sure that his crossing would go unnoticed.  "I hope I can still play this right," he sighed, then repeated in German, "Ich hoffe, dass ich noch spielen können dieses recht."  His former perfect syntax would return once he was fully immersed again. 

51. He stuffed Xanax into the crotch of his underwear, dismounted the platform and stepped into the simulated Chancellery bathroom.  It was that simple:  He was gone.

52. To be certain, he turned 360 degrees to make sure.  He was truly there as if he had always been there.  Corlos was the dream now.  The devil's advocate taunted him in Dayton's voice, "You realize you can't come back?"  "Ein wenig spätes jetzt.," "A little late now," he replied as Dieter.      

53.  He felt his crotch just to make sure that Xanax was still there.  He was.  "Ich bin immer deutsch gewesench," he reminded himself while checking himself in the mirror.  Everything had to be perfect:  His voice, the uniform, everything.         

54. Before he could practice a monologue for Hitler, the bathroom door swung open and in walked Hitler's chauffeur.  "Herr Heidleberg!" the chauffeur acknowledged, snapping to attention and rendering the proper salute.  "Why are you up here?" Dieter thought, "Shouldn't you be with the car?"  Bathrooms were supposed to be exempt from salute formality, per Hitler, so that everyone could get their business done and return to the front.  

55. Just like a wind-up toy, Dayton promptly returned the greeting and exited the bathroom as if it had been just yesterday.  In fact, it had been, just yesterday.  He was one day ahead of the fatal insurgent car bomb.  Shortening his trip one day early was not likely to escape Hitler's notice, but Hitler was not likely to care, since it was Dieter.      

56. Hitler's three secretaries were busy at work.  Frau Schroeder and Frau Wolfe acknowledged Dieter with a courteous smile and returned to their work.  Dieter could come and go as he pleased, with or without an appointment, per Hitler.

57. Hitler's personal adjutant rendered a stoic nod, and continued working.  So far, no sign of anything unusual.

58. He approached the grand entrance to Hitler's office, where the elegant 'AH' monogram rested proudly above the mantle.

59. The SS Guards posted on either side, opened their respective door with rehearsed percision.  Bormann came out, writing on a note pad, and didn't bother to acknowledge Dieter at all.  

60. Dayton tugged down on his uniform coat to smooth out any wrinkles and moved forward with purpose.  

61. Behind the desk, in front of the left wall, wearing glasses and a charcol-grey business suit was the Fuhrer.

62. Hitler briefly glanced over the top edge of his glasses and approved of Dieter's entrance by doing nothing at all.

63. The Fuhrer was reading excerpts from the foreign press, "How was your vacation?" Hitler asked.

64. "Perfect, my Fuhrer," Dayton answered.

75. Hitler motioned for Dieter to come forward and be seated.  Nobody was ever invited to sit down, not even Boremann. 

76. Hitler’s inordinate congeniality with Dieter was outside the scrutiny of others.  Dayton stepped forward as instructed, but did not sit down.

77. "My Fuhrer," Dieter began curtly, "at about 3:15 in the afternoon, on 30 April 1945, you put a pistol in your mouth and pulled the trigger."

78. Hitler froze at Dieter's insolence, but did not immediately look up at him.  Anyone else beginning a dialogue like that might have been summarily executed. 

79. Dieter continued, "You were in a special bunker that was discreetly built underneath this very Chancellery."  

80. Hitler removed his glasses in utter shock and afforded Dieter his full attention.

81. He even looked stunned.  

82. Hitler folded his right arm across his chest and rested his left elbow on it.  He curled the fingers of his left hand over his lips.  He had not even discussed the bunker with Speer yet, so how in the hell did Dieter know anything about it?  It's not that Dieter wouldn't be privy to such information -- there was just no possible way that he could know about it.  

83. "You do realize," Hitler reminded Dieter, "that you're primary responsibility to me has nothing to do with politics OR architecture?"

84. "Oh, yes," my Fuhrer, Dayton answered, "I emphatically understand that, but...if I am your friend, and I discovered something that could either 'help or hurt' your vision for Germany -- would not a loyal friend reveal such information to his Fuhrer?"

85. Hitler couldn't argue with his logic, and he was flattered by the implied adulation. 

86. But he wasn't stupid either.  Hitler knew this wasn't normal, "Could a 4-day vacation provoke this kind of personality change?" he wondered.  "Three days," Hitler remembered.  He was definitely not concerned about a missing day.  

87. Hitler flatly asked, "What happened to you?"  His question contained genuine warmth and friendly concern.  He was always more candid with Dieter.   

88. "Certainly --  even you know that your opening remark was…slightly out-of-character?" Hitler said.

89.  Dayton reached into his pants to retrieve Xanax.    

90.  Hitler rolled his eyes, "Has it been that long?" he quipped, "You just had a vacation!"  Dieter retrieved what looked like a photograph from his trousers while Hitler wondered, "What's wrong with pockets?"  Then he added, "Ahhh, a photograph!" Hitler stepped toward him with renewed enthusiasm.

91. "It's not an ordinary photograph," Dayton replied, "I built this."

94. Hitler laughed out loud because Dieter's humor was crassly inappropriate.  He made eye contact with him and began to wonder, "What are you not telling me?"    

95. Hitler assumed one of his trademark poses, with his hands on his hips, "You know that I do not like to get impatient with you Dieter, after all, you are the German ideal -- but I must insist that you get to the bottom of this at once!"  The Fuhrer held out his hand in the form of a demand.

96. Dayton did not surrender the object.   

97. "Xanax," Dayton said, which Hitler presumed to be some form of explanation, "accelerate you and I only, so that we can appear at different points in the room, without time constraints." Xanax complied.    

98. Hitler froze while Dayton walked to the furthermost corner of his office.

99. “OK, Xanax,” Dayton said, “we're going to do this a few times, so just do it on cue – I want him to get the point -- activate and deactivate by touch.”

100. Dayton pressed his thumb on Xanax and Hitler became reanimated, seeing Dieter suddenly in the corner of the room as if he had vanished and reappeared by magic. 

105. He pressed Xanax.

106. Hitler felt disoriented; inclined to believe that he suffered some kind of ailment if he wasn't asleep.      

107. This marked the only time in Adolf Hitler's life that he had nothing to say.  Evidently, Dieter had made his point.        

108. Hitler left Dayton where he stood, slowly strolled back his desk and sat down in quiet contemplation.  The chair was still warm from Dayton's butt; the only other butt to have sat in that chair.  This was the first time that Hitler had irrefutable proof of a power superior to his.  His chair reminded himself that he was still in charge.    

109. "It would be pointless to attempt to capture you," Hitler said calmly, wondering if there was a tactical advantage that he might have missed.  Nothing like this had ever happened before, but his fondness for Dieter was unchanged. 

110. "You don't really want to capture me," Dieter answered, revealing his Daytonesque charm.  He had a bigger license now, than before, to part with rigid formality.   

111. Hitler sighed, "A device such as, that which you have shown me, could enable you to sit on this side of the desk..."  Notwithstanding that Dieter had already demonstrated that fact.  Hitler looked at Dieter a little more sternly, "so why haven't you used it?"  He wasn't talking about the demonstsration.  He was talking about Dieter replacing him as the Fuhrer. 

112. "My Fuhrer," Dayton replied, "I just want you to ‘hear’ what I have to say about the future."

113. Hitler shook his head in the negative, but not as a “No” answer -- he was mearly bewildered that Dieter, with his devine technology, would remain loyal to him.

114. “Very well then,” Hitler said, rising and walking toward a private, hidden door, "let's go to my resting room where you can have my full attention."

115. Hitler pressed an intercom button on his desk and ordered, "I do not want to be disturbed." "Yes, my Fuhrer," came the response.

116. Hitler's office was bugged with his consent, but his sleep chamber was clean.  He pushed opened a hidden panel and permitted Dieter to enter first.  From there the conversation traveled to the ends of the Universe before Hitler became fully enlightened.

117.  It wasn't just a few truths, but volumes of information that Hitler wasn't supposed to know that Dieter revealed.  Hitler did not necessarily believe, much less comprehend every word of Dieter's account.

118.  Dieter had broken a code of fidelity, the consequences of which, were much more severe than anything Hitler could imagine.