Anti-Time Anti-Climax

“In this experiment I want you to write down the number, shape and colour of objects that you see – after you have been hit with the anti-time pulse – which is also to say 'before' you see them - Write – Lights – Pulse – Time trip– if everything works out.” Which of course, it didn't – at least not at first.

He didn't want to write down anything and when the pulse went off, it seemed like nothing happened. They tried again, and again, for most of the afternoon. “One last try” they said over the intercom “What do you want to eat for supper if this works?” He put the pen to paper – as they could only see his answer – and he blanked out.

A moment later he was looking down at his paper. 8 green stars. He heard cheering from the control room. “10 numbers, 10 colours and 12 shapes – and he got it first try!” The exact combination was randomly selected by computer – no one to collude with. “What was it like?” They asked. “I don't remember” he said, still a little confused “What did you see?” “You just wrote down the answer – and then the pulse didn't seem to do anything.”

It wasn't what anybody really expected. Having grown up on tales of sci-fi, the reality was much less flashy, but it was consistent. As long as he started to write – and the anti-time pulse went off – he was correct. If the pulse wasn't fired – the answer was wrong. As far as not remembering – it seemed that was the neatest way the mind could deal with it – he couldn't remember doing nothing and writing down the correct answer before seeing it – and as far as everyone else was concerned – the second pass through time was all that they observed.

As far as the pulse not working, it seemed to be the same kind of feedback as negative energy. An anti time pulse nullified a second one – unless a lot more energy was used to overcome it.