Sitting down at the cafeteria table, enjoying the few seconds of free time I get each day, I was sunk into the most intriguing and perhaps the most life changing mathematical equations, the derivation of E=mc2 . As any agnostic person, I always believed the scientific version of things instead of the religious ones. It obviously went hand in hand that I worshipped the scientists who changed the human way of life, the human perception. My greatest inspiration, perhaps the greatest theoretical physicist of all time, Dr. Albert Einstein, taught the world to look at things from a different angle all together. He was responsible for, quite possibly, every relevant invention in the modern era. His greatest work, mass-energy equivalence, clearly ahead of its time, managed to intrigue me even a century after it was written. I kept looking into the papers I had, the ones that contained the derivation of mass-energy equation, almost every single day and not one day passed by where i was not surprised by the amount of genius in it. Every single day, i wished i could go back in time and witness the first time the derivation was made by the greatest genius.
I always knew that being a scientist at NASA would have huge perks someday. And before I could start thinking, the day was already there. The first ever time travelling machine had been built. A machine that could punch a worm-hole through the dimension and bend the phenomenon of space and time. A machine that could change the entire course of history. As the chief scientist, I got the opportunity to make a proposal as to how the time traveller should be used first, to the committee. Obviously, my proposal was to go back to 27thSeptember, 1905 and witness the first time mass-energy equation was put on paper. After weeks of discussions, I received a mail regarding the decision. My proposal had been accepted. And to make it better, I was nominated to be the first time traveller in the history of mankind. Any other person would be apprehensive to travel in such a perilous machine, but I was too overwhelmed about meeting my greatest inspiration to be bothered about the consequences of disturbing mother nature.
After over a year of simulation and testing, I was finally ready to witness the rewinding of time itself. I suited up and sat in the machine, adjusted the date to 26th September, 1905. “Remember, you will be zapped out in exactly 24 hours and also, do not resort to anything that could change the course of time”, my colleague cautioned me before the procedure began. I braced myself, gave the team a thumbs up and then the countdown began. “3, 2, 1 propulsion”, were the last words i heard before everything blacked out. It seemed like I was travelling through nothingness. It seemed like a surreal place where space and time did not exist. My body felt lifeless and I could not move a single muscle. I couldn't so much as twitch my face. After what seemed like hours, I felt a sudden shoot of acceleration and I could see light again. I was in Switzerland, but a different Switzerland. I quickly changed to an attire appropriate to the time. There were no roads, just pathways, people dressed up in formal attires, countable number of slow moving cars and peace. It felt like heaven, at-least fit all the descriptions of it. Green all over, the city looked bright and spacious. After struggling with the routes for a few hours, I managed to reach his house. Dr. Albert Einstein's residence, the place where history was made; and I was there to witness it. I tiptoed into the lawn and tried to get a peep inside the window. There was nobody inside. I stood there for hours without being observed, waiting to catch a glimpse of him. Suddenly I began to hear music. It was the violin sonatas of Mozart. I realized that it was him. It was Einstein playing his violin. Few more hours of waiting and i still could not catch a glimpse. I decided for once that I was running out of time and peeping through the window was not going to get me anywhere. I impersonated a publisher from ' Annalen der Physik', the scientific journal that published Einstein's Annus Mirabilis papers. I rang his doorbell and the door was answered by a woman. I recognized her as Mileva Maric, Einstein's first wife. I took off my hat and wished her and introduced myself. She welcomed me in, sat me down and poured me some tea. In a few minutes, the man arrived. I stood up and became mentally paralysed for a few seconds. My idol was standing before me and it was not a dream. He patted my shoulder and I got knocked back into my senses. I apologized and introduced myself. “Three papers you have given us already this year and the first two have been a roaring success among the readers and the scientists. I am sure you have received the news that your third paper was published today and I am here to inform you that the third was an even bigger success”, I said, thanks to all the knowledge I gathered from the internet over the years. He acknowledged with a simple nod and a smile. “Is there another paper you are working on currently?”, I asked with hesitance in my voice. He shook his head and said “no”! I was surprised. Did I get the date wrong? He should have been done with the derivation by now. The journal should have received his paper by tomorrow! What has changed? Did i disrupt the time-line when I travelled back? I asked myself a million questions in my head, still astonished at his answer. I fumbled on the table and almost fell down before standing up. I apologized again and shook his hand and left the house at once. I did not understand what had gone wrong. Only a few hours before I get zapped back to the present, I thought to myself. I kept walking thinking about the various permutations that could have resulted in this varied past. I realized that the whole course of time would change if the mass-energy equivalence would not be theorized. Bewildered, I kept walking endlessly till it was dark. I walked into a motel and spent the rest of the night thinking about the havoc this alternate past would cause.
I woke up in the morning, hoping that the man would have thought of something overnight. I hurried back to his house, waiting for him to get out. After an hour or so, I saw him walk out of the door and I began to follow him. I saw him stop at the post office. Was he posting his paper? But he told me that he was not working on any paper only yesterday. How could he have possible written the Most important equation in human history in just one night? Too many questions in my head. My attention was drawn towards the unmistakable yellow coloured paper in his pocket. My eyes opened up wide and I quickly checked my pockets for the papers that contained the derivation, the ones that I always carried with me. I could not find them. Before I could think of anything, I was zapped back to the present.
E=mc2 , the most important equation in the history of mankind. The equation that was out of its time. The equation that completed my circle of life.
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