The man watched in anticipation as the equipment's lights grew brighter, filling the room with an intense hum. “We boosted the tachyon spectrometer 110%. It can't run like this for too long, Charles, so we better hurry,” Jonathan said from his station at the other end of the room. Charles nodded, keeping his gaze fixed on the screen. Everything was going according to plan. He typed a few commands on his module and started with his part of the process. This would be the culmination of a decade worth of research and he was eager to see it bear fruits. “The Alcubierre generator is running steadily… but, I still think--” “Sarah,” Charles said, his voice neither aggressive nor accusatory, but firm nonetheless. “We’ve been over this and we decided to push through. Please proceed.” There was a pause in conversation filled with unspoken objections. The growing hum of the Alcubierre generator marked the passing of each second, which came to an end once Sarah got back to work. “Generator running steady, predictable phase arrays present.” Another nod--more to himself than to her colleague--and Charles continued to work, monitoring the data, waiting for them to reach the appropriate levels. “I’m seeing a small discrepancy in the--Wait, no. It was just a spike, it’s back within safe parameters.” “Don’t jinx it, Jon,” Charles muttered as he typed the next command, and the problems began. The humming morphed into a loud buzz, which was soon overshadowed by the blaring of the laboratory’s alarm system. Rather than letting panic take over, the team sprung into action, trying to shut down the machines. “Shutting down. Shutting down…” The fear was clear in Jon’s voice, and one look showed his eyes reflected those emotions. “ It’s not--It’s not working.” The readings were off the charts, mass resonance increased way too fast, at a far greater pace than the generator could withstand. Which, if the arcs of electricity were any sign, wouldn’t happen for much longer. “Get away fro--” Whiteness enveloped them. [hr] Charles stared at the ceiling of the small lounge room, counting the minutes away and trying to ignore the stare Sarah was shooting him. “I can’t believe you want to redo the experiment again,” she said with a mix of disbelief and, perhaps, awe. “What would you have me do, give up?” “No, of course not. I’m just saying it may be for the best to go back to the drawing board and reevaluate some aspects of this research.” It would have been less painful had she punched him in the gut. Sarah had been with him during every stage of the project, so her doubts hurt the most. “Despite the... complications, we got clearer readings last time,” he replied and--noticing the frustration on her face--hurried to keep going before she could object. “We’re on the verge of a breakthrough, Sarah. You know it, I know it, and more important, the rest of the faculty knows it.” Her expression showed that while she knew he was right, she didn’t accept it. Less than ideal, but he’d take it. “They’re expecting results, and we can’t deliver unless we perform the tests.” She furrowed her brow the way she always did when she was about to agree with him, and he allowed himself a little pride in that. “I’m just worried your bullheadedness is going to cause this to blow up in our faces.” “Hey, if it does, you have my permission to tell me ‘I told you so'.” A shadow of a smirk crossed her face. “I’d do that regardless.” “Come on, let’s get everything ready,” he said, standing up and heading for the laboratory, “Jonathan will be here any second now.” [hr] “Alcubierre generator is on,” Sarah said, excitement seeping into her voice despite herself, “let’s hope it works this time.” “Have faith. All goes according to plan and we’ll become the first human beings to map a stable time loop,” Charles said as he watched in anticipation as the lights of the equipment grew brighter, filling the room with an intense hum. “We boosted the tachyon spectrometer 110%. It can't run like this for too long, Charles, so we better hurry.” Charles nodded, keeping his gaze fixed on the screen. Everything was going according to plan. He typed a few commands on his module and started with his part of the process. This would be the culmination of a decade worth of research and he was eager to see it bear fruits.