Split Second (Split Second, #1)

by Douglas E. Richards

“The past cannot remember the past. The future can’t generate the future. The cutting edge of this instant right here and now is always nothing less than the totality of everything there is.” —Robert Pirsig

“I’m sure you’ve heard the term Chaos Theory, often called the butterfly effect. This just means there are certain systems for which the slightest change in initial conditions can cause huge effects, huge uncertainty in the end result. Edward Lorenz was one of the early pioneers—by accident. He was modeling weather systems, and he wanted to repeat an analysis he had already done, entering interim results by hand. The computer he used calculated numbers to six decimal places, but to save time he truncated them to just three. Instead of entering .546124, he entered only .546. He never thought in a million years this minuscule change would matter in the least. Only it did. It had huge effects on the end results—changed everything.”

This is called the relational theory of time. People who believe this believe time can only be gauged with respect to change. It’s an absolute requirement. Without change, time can’t exist. With change you have befores and afters. First you weren’t watching TV. Now you are.” Walsh smiled. “If you believe this theory, then you believe time could not exist before there was a universe.”

When you’re not moving at all in space, you’re moving at the speed of light, so to speak, through time—the fastest the universe allows you to do so. When you’re moving at the speed of light through space, you stop moving through time. It stops completely. It turns out that your speed through space, combined with your speed through time, always adds up to the speed of light.”