[ WP ] The time machine worked a little .

Patrick was sweating. This was the was it. The moment. *The* moment. He'd thought for decades that the sheer anticipation of reaching this exact point in time would likely cause his very heart to explode. Decades of calculations and trial and error and failure and failure and failure over and over again and again time after time. So many nights he'd lied awake wondering if he'd ever even live to see this day or if *any* man or woman ever would. He noticed for the first time that he was shaking. 
 
 He realized with sudden terror that he was unsure if he could even do it. Something so immensely complicated. Something that had started before he'd been born. Something he himself had given many years of his own life to. Something that was now reduced to the flick of a switch and he was unsure if he could do that. 
 
 For the first time he was honestly terrified to his core. Sure, they'd all discussed the implications of what the machine might do- of what could go wrong if everything were n't perfect but everything *was* perfect. It was finally *all* perfect. The thing that suddenly terrified him was what was next. What came after they did this? He wondered if this was how Oppenheimer felt just before... or maybe just after? Surely that. Surely just after. 
 
 Patrick looked around the long rectangular room from within his clean suit. Plexiglass panels a foot thick lined two walls at either side. The faces of his colleges stared back at him from behind them in anticipation. He wondered if similar thoughts ran through their minds just now. Along the two shorter walls where similarly thick panes of plexiglass through which shone the midday sun. The team found it pleasant to work in as natural an environment as possible when stuck in such rigid confines. The ceiling was also exposed to the sky through thick plexiglass. The Machine sat in the center of the room. 
 
 Patrick was used to looking at it with it's insides exposed. The interior of the thing was an immensely complicated series of boards and wires, cooling mechanisms and accelerators, conductors and particle bridges. Now, with it's metal casing screwed on he scarcely recognized it. It appeared to be such a simple thing. It was hexagonal in shape and only two meters across. About six and a half feet. It stood one meter high. Other than the adjustable height operating panel and monitor that were affixed to the top- it was wholly unremarkable. They did not call it a `` time machine'', only The Machine. Though in all their minds that *was* a proper noun. 
 
 He regarded the display. Not for the first time he wondered if twelve hours was n't too ambitious for a first test. He'd been overruled in three consecutive votes despite being the team lead and it was far too late to turn back at this point so he supposed it made no matter now. They'd decided as a group that this project would be run democratically or not at all from the start. 
 
 Patrick ran his gloved finger up the display panel, linking the reactor below the facility up to The Machine for the first time since its conception. There was an almost imperceptible hum- that was all. Everything was in order. He turned to face his colleagues. He desperately wished he were able to wipe the sweat from his brow. 
 
 `` My fellow pioneers. Like so many before us we are about to embark on a journey. Much like so many of them we remain uncertain of where this road may lead us. It is my sincerest wish that as your captain on this voyage I will guide you safely to a new realm of hope and opportunity. I thank you for having put your faith in me thus far. If any of you do not wish to join me as we take this final step let me assure you there will be no ill will in any of our hearts should you want to leave at this juncture. Please do so now if that is your wish.'' 
 
 Not one of the fourteen men and women behind the two glass panels moved. Patrick waited a beat, then another. He nodded and then turned and faced The Machine once more. He flicked open the safety cap that enclosed the main toggle. He steadied himself for a moment and drew in a deep breath, exhaled slowly and flicked the switch. 
 
 The lights went out. 
 
 Except that was n't exactly what happened. 
 
 Patrick looked upward out of the plexiglass panel and stared at the full moon in amazement. 
 
 `` Oh my...,'' he said to no one in particular. 
 
 In that moment he too thought of Vishnu and wondered what would happen next.
