Fiction for Autumn 2015

FICTION:  TOO MUCH IMAGING

JACK BRAGEN

Copyright 2015

Jacob, sitting across from his nephew Scott, wiped sweat from his forehead with a Kleenex.  "There were security cams in the showroom."  Jacob was fixated upon a standard video image projected into the center of a darkened office.   He was skeptical, half-believing that he viewed a mere recording. 
     The display showed himself, fifteen years younger, on a typical day at his job--he had been a salesperson of Toyota antigravity cars.  The place and time had him sitting at his desk across from a hopeful customer. 
     The nephew replied, "Why not see a cross-section of the inside of your body?  Would that convince you?" 
     Jacob replied, "Is there something less shocking you can show me?  How about the inside of my desk drawer?" 
     "Sure," Scott said.  He fiddled with his controls, and Jacob could see a notepad, a special fountain pen that he remembered, and the keys to his own vehicle. 
     "Zoom in on the notepad and get a straight angle." 
     "Sure." 
     The display showed a shopping list that rang a bell in Jacob's memory.  He took a gulp of water from a small cup on his desk.  "What are the limitations of this gadget?" 
     "You can't transmit matter or electromagnetic waves backward.  You can only view.  You can't see the future." 
     "This would put half of historians out of a job," Jacob said.  "You say you invented this in your garage?" 
     "My buddy the mathematician helped, and I got help from another physics major--have you met Barbara?  Neither of them knows of the full invention."
     "Then this is patentable?" 
     Abruptly, the gadget went haywire, and it showed the light of Sol as bright as the projector could get, against the inky blackness of space.  Jacob put up his hand to shield his eyes. 
     "Just a minute, I have to make an adjustment," Scott said. 
     "Well, you've got your money." 
     The display went back to the previous image of Jacob fifteen years earlier. 
     "Just for the heck of it, can you show me my house so that I can remember what my wife used to look like?" 
     "Okay, I'll try that."  Scott fiddled with the controls some more, and Jacob could see a picture of his house.  The perspective of the image moved through the walls of his house.  What he saw next was disturbing. 
     Jacob saw his wife, fifteen years in the past.  In the time viewing machine's display, she sat at Jacob's breakfast table in her bathrobe.  Sitting across from her was the young valet parking attendant who had, at the time, worked at the car dealership, and he was wearing Jacob's bathrobe.  He took a sip of coffee from Jacob's coffeepot, and gave Jacob's wife a kiss on the cheek.  The audio came through with some distortion, but Jacob could hear him say, "That was great, sweetheart, once again!" 
     Jacob moaned.  "Oh God!  This isn't some kind of prank?" 
     "Sorry about that," Scott said.  "This is as accurate as the back of your hand." 
     Jacob abruptly left his office.  Scott put the invention back into its carrying case and went home a bit baffled. 
     The next day, Scott repeatedly tried to reach his uncle, with no luck.  He finally became desperate and drove to Jacob's house. 
     Jacob opened the door.  "The world isn't ready for your invention."  He appeared miserable, he was unshaven, and Scott detected a faint smell of alcohol.  "Now I'm looking at a divorce, and I have no evidence other than your machine to prove anything.  This means I will also be paying alimony.  Good luck finding another investor."  And at that, he shut the door in his nephew's face.