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THE SINGULARITY RECIPE
He hung up the phone. There was no one there anyway, only a dial tone. The Laboratory was silent. The hum of the computers washed away the hours of concentration and failure. He knew that he would eventually succeed. The amount of planning and preparation involved with this mission was unprecedented in human history. The ultimate goal of the project was fantastic: to create a microscopic black hole in order to study how it functions, and perhaps to understand how universes evolve. The current opinions of scientists seem to agree that universes are created by black holes when they "invert" themselves from everywhere else, and pop into existence elsewhere. If he was to succeed, he would need to use just the right combination of ingredients, in exactly the proportions that nature dictated, or the entire exercise was for naught. Theoretically, any type of matter could be used as “fuel” for the experiment. He had at his disposal every element known to man: from Cesium and iridium, to a little Einsteinium thrown in for good measure. It would be a coincidence indeed if he could come up with the correct proportions of each element that would be the foundation of a new universe. The first hurdle that he had to overcome was the creation of the singularity. The infinitesimal, gravitational, primordial speck of nothingness, that can spawn an entire universe in the blink of an eye. Once this has been achieved, carbon based life forms within the new universe have the ability to evolve throughout the universe. Depending on how long the prototype universe could be kept functional, a kind of super evolution may occur. One where the evolved life forms are choosing their own path, rather than having the forced law of selection do the choosing for them. He was alone, isolated from his fellow scientists, but he was not lonely. It seemed to be his time, and his task, to throw the switch on the greatest experiment of all time. Literally. He had with him the ghosts of all the people who had contributed to the creative processes that had culminated in this moment. The mathematicians, the biologists, the physicists and chemists, astronomers and artists, all had a hand in this moment. Even the mothers and fathers whose only contribution was setting a good example, or giving encouragement, were represented here. So it was not a lonely moment, but it was a dangerous one. That was why he had spent the last decade aboard this asteroid. To achieve an orbit far enough away from the earth to protect it; just in case something went wrong. Even a microscopic black hole can grow, and if the gravitational generators that powered his little world were not able to contain the experiment, then the giant Ort cloud that surrounds the solar system would slowly be sucked away into another universe. The scientists believed that, in that eventuality, and at such a great distance from Earth, they would have plenty of time to devise a way to control and study the singularity. The asteroid craft had been painstakingly constructed for the express purpose of taking a man deep into the far reaches of space in order to generate an artificial black hole. It was equipped with two Gravitron generators; these are huge machines that create gravitational fields, much like magnetic fields. These engines were also the source of power for the ship’s propulsion system. The interior of the asteroid was hollowed out, and plush living quarters were designed for the technicians comfort during the long voyage. There was, of course, an extensive laboratory that allowed him to perform many experiments, sending the data back to earth for analysis. Not least of the amenities was a phone with a dial tone: he said that the tone reassured him during times of stress. The time had passed after which it would be safe for him to start the experiments, and he had been running tests for weeks. He had come very close to coalescing different types of elements within a gravitational envelope. The idea was to have the Gravitron generator's compress matter into a singularity, and then isolate it from everything else within a stasis field. However, the anticipated snap, failed to (de)-materialize. His failure to produce the black hole was becoming increasingly annoying. He became playful and began using food in the Gravitron. After a few too many whiskey's, he decided to make a "recipe for success." He placed one hydroponic tomato, a small ginseng root, and a stick of frozen butter on the sample tray. A little more whisky for himself, a touch of Niobium, a dash of Manganese, and soon the "element dish" was a stew of unappetizing ingredients. He casually flipped the switch and POP! All the food vanished. Then the "element dish" swirled away; vaguely resembling foamy dish-water swirling down a drain. He Immediately attacked the Gravitron controls, suddenly sober. It had worked! He only hoped that he could remember his liquor induced recipe. He got the machine set so that no more of the room would be sucked down through the event horizon, and adjusted the portable scanning electron microscope. The high resolution monitor quickly displayed the unequivocally black, black hole. The image behind the singularity was distorted in a way that reminded him of heat waves on the desert floor. He turned away from the screen, typed a special coded message into the computer, and sent it off to Earth to announce success. He turned on the cameras and linked the image to the transmitter. The people of earth would soon see the results of years of planning. He walked over to the event and it suddenly blurped up into a balloon, or bubble, that replaced the area previously emitting the heat rays. He looked closer and saw the bubble for what it was - a universe the size of a basketball. The swirls of shimmering specks of light on the spheres surface, resolved themselves into clusters of galaxies. These "stars," if that is what they were, did not occupy the center of the bubble, but the shell was ablaze in pure energy. Somehow the Gravitron generators had caused the singularity to turn inside out within the gravitational stasis field. He had accomplished more than the experiment predicted: he had made a universe out of last nights' leftovers. There was the faint smell of burnt cedar. The damn thing was giving off carbon fumes! He increased the air flow in the laboratory, and switched on the ionizer. The room began to crackle. He moved closer, leaned towards the event, and took one step too many. His face was caught in the gravitational pull and was slowly drawn down onto the surface of the universe. The rest of his body inexorably followed. He had unexpectedly become “one” with the new, compact, food generated universe. He was the universe. He understood everything about this place, right down to the quantum level. He was also aware that this universe was slightly different from his own. Mutated, but better somehow; it seemed to be more efficient at creating black holes, that in turn create new universes, in what amounted to an endless procession of universes creating universes. He was God in this universe. He had created it, and soon found that he could control every aspect of it simultaneously. He detected solar systems in the galaxies. Many billions of planets had life on them. The whole place was life. From the smallest creature, to the universe itself. Everything evolved, and he could control how and when things evolved by traveling back and forth through time. He found that he was able to travel through time by going further in towards the singularity, or away from it. He effortlessly journeyed around through space and time; making everything perfect. It was like tuning an instrument. Some changes made the music sour, and others sweet. He chose the sweet sounds until everything combined to form the perfect music for that universe. It was the Universal Music, and he was suddenly held in a timeless state of aesthetic arrest. There was no lust, or pride. No feelings whatsoever; only a sublime state of consciousness as he listened to his universe sing. [To exist in perfect harmony with a universe of your own design is too profound for words] Slowly, quietly, he felt the faint tug of gravity. Like being pulled from a dream, he was being drawn back to the edge of the universe. The theoretical limit of space-time had been reached, and his universe began to collapse. He reluctantly pulled himself away from the center until he was at the edge of the bubble. He could sense the old asteroid laboratory around him, and as the universe shrank, he popped back into existence. He checked his watch; it had stopped. The laboratory was covered in a thin layer of dust. He went to the computer and discovered that seven years had passed since he had entered the bubble. The long, ten year trip out into orbit had seemed to take forever. He realized that compared to the "eternity" he'd spent inside that universe, seven years that had passed in his own time was nothing by comparison. As an extra bonus, he hadn't aged at all. He should have been fifty-five by now, but he clearly hadn't aged one minute. This was the most fantastic discovery of all time (in this universe). Immortality, and God-like powers, all rolled into one. This was evolution taken to its highest level. Now, humans could live forever, consciously combining and refining the elements of newborn universes. These new universes, being more efficient at creating black holes, make billions more universes. Each of these new universes has the potential to create life-forms that evolve and subsequently invent ways to make the universes more efficient at making life. He wanted to do it again. After making a hurried video message for his fellow Earthmen on how to achieve a black hole, he tried to reconstruct the recipe that had been so successful: one hydroponic tomato, a small ginseng root, and a stick of frozen butter. A little more of this, and a touch of that, flip the switch and POP, another universe. It was so easy. He checked the Gravitron power supply, reset the computer, and glanced around the lab. He would be back in no time\seven years\an eternity....
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The three man rescue team arrived ten years after they had seen video of their colleague being sucked into the black hole. They didn’t know exactly what had happened to him, but they sure didn't want a runaway black hole in the neighborhood. They found the asteroid in the void, docked, and boarded. The plush furnishings were covered with a thin dust that gave everything a nice soft focus. As they made their way into the laboratory they noticed a faint musical hum. They watched the video message with awe, and looked at the universe under the portable scanning electron microscope. There was no sign of the technician, but the singularity was stable, so they turned the asteroid towards Earth and began the long journey home. Halfway home the little universe began to sing.
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