Editing The Unfinished Dissertation (section)

==The Nature of Pauses==

“The Pause is a confounding phenomenon. On one hand, its existence is very clear – the stoppage of the normal Time Flow to give certain beings, those with a strong sense of belonging and an excess of Personal Time, a chance to fix a potentially catastrophic error within the Universe. On the other hand, how and why those individuals are able to participate in a Pause is a complete mystery. The only link in this duality that I can see may be that sense of belonging, the Anchor. Per our current understanding of astrophysics, we have a skeptical view, at the very best, of the existence of a higher being. But perhaps this evidence would lead me to believe that the Universe is, at least... organic, much like this planet.

“Of course, there are not many who would listen to these words outside of the radical religious establishment. The end-of-the-world folk. My colleagues merely would discard my experiences and the evidence I have gathered as pure hogwash, nothing more. But I must press on. I believe that I am soon upon a breakthrough. Through all my studies, I could count the sites, the remains, which supplied my evidence on one hand. Pauses must have only happened very seldom in the past, tracing all the way back to prehistory, at least a couple thousand years between them. But now... I have just finished my fourth.

“Something is aggravating the Universe like never before. It is almost as if something from outside the Universe, outside the normal Time Flow is trying to rip the Universe apart all at once. All I can do... all that WE can do right now, is to fix the problems as fast as we can, keep up with... whatever is causing the Pauses.

“As such, I will refine my focus. The answer must lie in the problems themselves, the temporal distortions which I seal – I will call them Breaks. Terrible creatures have recently started to emerge from the Breaks, protecting them with all they have. Their presence has also revealed another aspect of the Anchor – its ability not only to become a tool of repair, but also a means of defense. Upon the presence of these monsters, my Anchor transformed to a knife of amazing durability. Nothing could break it.

“I must have also become quite acquainted with the Pause as well. I seem to be able to harness a greater control of space and time within the Pauses. I can manipulate not only the Breaks and defend myself from the... Aberrations... but I can also manipulate things otherwise locked in place outside of the Pause from my position in the Pause. It relieves me that I am learning these skills now, as they will aid me in the investigation to come.

“I do wonder though... if those creatures can come from the Breaks... can I go in? Perhaps that is where the answers lie.”

Dr. Marilyn Wilkins
Personal Notes
August 7, 2012