Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK - Concrete Jungle Love part 28

It was at Yale, teaching microbiology to undergraduates, that Lex met a descendant of H.G. Wells, the science fiction writer and professor. He had the same initials but a different name – Henry (Hank) Geoffrey Wells. He was an exchange student from Great Britain, majoring in astrophysics. This H.G. Wells had a creative mind and liked to think outside the box – just like his Great-Great Grandfather, Herbert George Wells, who had passed away in 1946. He became one of Lex's favorite students and sometimes they would spend hours discussing the possibility of extraterrestrials, UFO abductions, and time travel. After all, the novel The Time Machine was like a family bible to Hank. He and Lex theorized that it would be possible to visit the future, but probably not the past. If one truly wanted to see the future, it would therefore become their present because there would be no way to return. Since building a machine that could travel faster than the speed of light was not yet possible, they theorized that using a worm hole – an inter-dimensional tunnel of sorts – they could travel from Time A (the present) to Time B (the future).

Since being stuck in the future was not an appealing thought, they continued to theorize that if one *could* travel back in time there might be a paradox involved (possibly by being there, one could be altering one's past, therefore distorting the present). Traveling into the past must somehow involve visiting an alternate universe, one where possibly meddling in key events wouldn't affect your own future. So if they were to visit the future, when they attempted to return to the present (the past of the future), it wouldn’t be their past, it would be the past of an alternate world. A world they may or may not exist in. It was mind-boggling, but also fun to discuss, and they spent many hours debating the possibilities.

Lex came by to visit Clark during the last week of the summer. He provided Clark with a truck large enough to haul his, Lana, and Pete's belongings back to their new dorm in Metropolis. Lex introduced all of them to his friend and former protégé, Hank Wells. On the long drive to Metropolis, Clark and Hank spent most of the time discussing his time travel research at Lex's foundation. Clark was familiar with the concept of the "worm hole" and the two had a lively discussion on whether or not one could travel back to the "present" once one had arrived in the "future". Hank advised Clark that his time machine of sorts was almost finished and that he was in the process of registering his invention with the U.S. Patent office. The ramifications of a successful time-travel trip boggled the mind.

"Hank, if I was able to travel to the not-so-distant future, what would happen if I met an older version of myself?" Clark asked excitedly.

"It would disrupt the space-time continuum. I have theorized in one my of papers, based on some of the research my great-great grandfather H.G. Wells started, that if you attempted to meet a future version of yourself, you would be thrown into an alternate reality instantaneously."

"An "alternate reality"? That sounds like the stuff of comic books," Clark snickered.

"Think about it, Kent. It is physically impossible to be in two places at the same time. An inter-dimensional door would instantly open, bringing you to a world you didn't already exist in. You would have to create a new history for yourself, which would be very difficult, because you would have no record of your birth in this new world."

"Ok, so what if I traveled into the future, but went to a different part of the world where there would be no chance I could run into my future self?" Clark countered.

"It might be possible, but it would be very risky. After all, you can't be sure what part of the world your future self might move to."

"When can I see your time machine contraption? This is fascinating," Clark commented. "Does it vibrate at a different speed to create the worm hole?"

Hank smiled. Clark was one of the only guys he'd met that could actually follow his thinking on the subject. For a freshman in college, he was obviously a near genius like himself. "Yes, as a matter of fact it does. You understand microwaves, correct? When you microwave food, it causes its molecules to vibrate, creating friction, and therefore, heat. Microwaves travel at the speed of light. If you want to time-travel, you have to exceed the speed of light. Stepping into my time machine is like putting food in a microwave oven. Your body's molecules vibrate faster than the speed of light – clockwise to travel to the future, counter-clockwise to travel into the past."

"And all this vibration – what effect would that have on the human body?" Clark inquired. After all, it sounded dangerous and very risky.

"Well, so far I have sent guinea pigs 3 days into the future in a small mini time machine. On the third day, they miraculously materialized exactly where they had disappeared. The guinea pigs seemed fine."

"And did you send them back to the past?"

"I did: the day I sent them to the future, they reappeared the same day again – unharmed."

"Wow. This is fascinating. So your future self sent them back in time to your "present day" self. Whew! This really gets confusing. But, hey, if you're looking for a human guinea pig once you get your patent registered, I'm game!" Clark volunteered. He would love to be able to travel back to Krypton to see his parents, but he had no idea what galaxy Krypton was located in, or how many light-years ago it had exploded.

"You're on!" Hank exclaimed. "Thanks, Clark. Lex, you were right about Clark. He really knows how to think outside the box – very impressive."

Lex, who was driving, looked over his shoulder and smiled at the two men. "I have great taste in students, don't I?"

"Ok, Lois, you're right. I'd feel the same way you do. But the feelings of the adults, who screwed things up – are totally irrevelent here. What *is* important is the feelings of the child, who was completely innocent in all of this. Quite honestly, if Lena's yours, Thorul has gone to great pains to make sure she has a nice, normal life with loving parents and a nice home. How could her knowing you're her mother enhance her life? Think about it, honey. It's really a no-win situation."

"It appears that when my descendant in the other world plucked the Kents from my world, it created a symbiotic relationship between all three worlds."

"How can I help fix all of that?"

"Well it seems that the unhealthy fixation that both the Lex Luthor of my world and the Leonard Thorul of your world had on you created a chaos that threatens to destroy all three worlds. Only you can fix this."