Born again

June 25, 1660

I, Friedrich Zeitreisender, being of sound mind and withering body, do solemnly swear that the following testament is both accurate and true. I set it down here, in the hopes that my experiences may enlighten others long after I am gone. Sadly, it is far more likely that these pages will have yellowed, cracked and turned to ash long before I am born.

Yes, you read that correctly, dear Reader: before I am born.

I was born April 15, 2052. If you are reading these words at any time prior, you have probably decided in your mind that you have happened upon a piece of fiction. That would be a mistake.

I had the fortune to grow up wealthy, well-educated and curious in a God-fearing family that also worshipped at the altar of science. That is not the oxymoron many of you may think. Indeed, to the joy of my ever-kneeling mother (and, perhaps, the chagrin of my biophysicist father), my elder brother "proved" the existence of God through a fairly uncomplicated, quite original physics equation that he made accessible to even the least gifted child. As you might imagine, he was feted by both the secular and religious elite of the time. Indeed, his picture hung, briefly, in the humble homes of the masses around the world, who found themselves united if only by the hopeful poverty in which they lived.

His disappointment was palpable when I, his junior by several years, proved him wrong.

We haven't spoken since.

It's not what you think, however; it wasn't an embittered sibling rivalry that silenced us.

In a way, it was far worse.

A typical elder sibling, he could not accept that the insignificant being he called little brother might both equal and, indeed, surpass the level of genius he had displayed since birth. My conclusions, based on extensive, empirical research and displayed in detailed graphs, formulas and equations regarding the electrochemical relationships that exist between the neural pathways and the myriad forms of energy within and around us were insufficient evidence of my brilliance. He wanted a demonstration.

And so it was that when I harnessed the natural power of the human brain, well, my brain, and targeted the invisible world that surrounds us, I was able to restructure matter in space and time by focusing on what I call the ghost chromosome. What does that mean? I made my brother disappear. Or, rather, he became whomever he was meant to be…on a timeline different than the one we had inhabited together. Sadly, I had not yet perfected targeted destination and return coordination. Thus, it was as if he never existed. He was erased from the memories of all who had ever known him, except for mine, of course, and I became, an adored, only child…in a world that forgot they had once thought they could prove the existence of god through physics.

Pity.

"That's ridiculous, Friedrich. Ghost chromosome? There is no such thing."

"You, of all people, Jürgen, should know better than to doubt my work."

“I don’t doubt that you found something, Friedrich. But really? You expect me to believe you have uncovered a way to travel through time and space by way of a ghost chromosome? Some whisper of DNA invisible to the eye, but sensed by brain waves that can somehow turn it on? That is a bit much to swallow, little brother.”

Before he left the room, I said quietly, “I can prove it.”

He paused at the door. Without turning, he said, “Oh?”

“Yes. I have done tests. I have had some success, I just…”

He interrupted me, turning around. “Success? Tests? How exactly did you test your theory, Friedrich?”

“Well, I used to volunteer at the shelter for single mothers. I would practice on the babies. They are still forming so it was easier to access their ghost chromosome. Indeed, newborns often have several feathery wisps of genetic energy to choose from. I would latch onto one and activate it by creating an electrochemical response with focused energy from my brain and the surrounding environment. Quite exhausting. Unfortunately, even homeless, single mothers love their babies, and it became problematic that they kept disappearing.”

“What?”

“Don’t yell. I am certain they were much better off in the life to which I sent them.”

“WHAT? You are certain?” he sputtered. “Friedrich, what did you do to those babies?

“I gave them a better life. But anyway, when it became apparent that babies were causing too much attention…”

“You were the source of the headlines last year? Baby kidnapper strikes again! That was you?”

“Jürgen, clearly I did not kidnap any children.”

“What did you do?”

I sighed. “I already told you, I sent them to a better life.” I paused. “Or at least a different one from the one in which they had found themselves. Homeless, poor single mother? It is a small leap to assume where they ended up was better.

“Anyway, babies clearly were not the best source for my experiments. So, I decided to work on adults. The homeless were a better choice since no one misses them when they are gone. I started to bring them food and chat with them under the various bridges where they tend to hide themselves in the city. I let them babble. While they got comfortable, I practiced. I have made more than 100 become…other. I just…”

“Become other? Are you out of your mind? What have you done?” He looked at me with a mixture of shock, disdain and pity. I became angry.

“Don’t look at me like that! I can prove it! Watch” And with that I closed my eyes and focused all my energy on him. I found his ghost chromosome…and that was that.

It took me some twenty years to perfect the transmission of energy and to target destinations and retrievals. I found that using the brain alone was only good for, let’s say, removal to a new plane. However, I invented what I like to call a physiodecomponeurotransporter, or PDNT, that allowed me to choose the time and place. Even the age and sex. I could send someone as him or herself…or have them become someone else altogether. It was quite thrilling. Instead of proving the existence of god, I had proved that we could all be gods...well, the few gifted among us. Like me.

Anyway, once I perfected targeted travel, I wanted to use my power for good. I decided to go back in time and stop the most notorious, most prolific serial killers of all time: Charles Manfried, Zaratha Kundekind, Marie Lausette and Landon Jones, to name a few. I, Friedrich Zeitresender would become a hero to history, indeed, to all of mankind, by stopping murderers before they began their rampages. If you check your history books, you will find no mention of these killers for I eliminated them before they could become infamous. Even before they made their first kills. There is no hint of their existence. And so it was for dozens across history. I am only saddened that I could not eliminate every single one. And, that it is only with the words upon this page that you know the truth.

Unfortunately, my PDNT may permit time travel, but it does not stop the aging process. Indeed, I suspect, it has hastened it a bit. My last experiment, upon completion of this testament, will be to target my own ghost chromosome and see if I might send myself to a different timeline and start life anew. I have written these lines so that some may know what I have done; the good I have done for humankind by means of the PDNT and, more importantly, the ghost chromosome.

April 15, 1952

“Isn’t he just perfect, papa?

“Of course, mama.”

“Look at those eyes. He looks like he’s already seen it all. My poor little angel.”

“What we gonna name him, mama?

“Donald. Donald Harvey.”