text: (I have no experience/training whatsoever in creative or fictional writing and this is my first attempt doing anything like this, so any respectful or helpful input is appreciated. This is a work in progress, and to set the scene these two scientists/explorers are entering a previously undiscovered room on a space station that was built by a long dead race of beings) Though it was represented using symbols not seen in any human civilization derived from Earth, the form and structure of the equation was unmistakable. It was Schrodinger’s equation, that same differential equation that is intimately familiar to any physics undergraduate. While simple and elegant in form, it becomes impossibly complex when applied to anything more elaborate than a hydrogen atom. Despite this, given a proper mathematical description of the system, it has the power to describe the current and future evolution of any physical system, limited by the probabilistic nature of the quantum realm. He edged closer to the plinth and began to inspect the equations, running his fingers over the symbols and muttering to himself as he proceeded across the panel. As he went, the symbols and numbers began to suggest a hint of familiarity to him. He strained to recall how, but the answer eluded him. Like a splinter in his brain that cannot be extracted, he could feel the answer on the periphery of his conscious, but it remained just out of reach. He knew that if he could only remember, the jumbled mess of symbols and seemingly disparate equations would coalesce into a neat mathematical formulation and relinquish their secrets to him. After what seemed like hours of puzzlement, though in reality only minutes had passed, it suddenly came to him - the many world’s theory. The imaginative, if dubious idea, first introduced in the 20th century by a physicist whose name he couldn’t recall, postulated the existence of a universal formula to describe the totality of existence, and that every possible quantum outcome of every decision or probabilistic event is manifested in separate, parallel universes. Though long believed to inhabit the realm of fiction rather than science, here it was laid before him, in all its beauty and elegance. As his gaze led him to the bottom of the panel where one, final equation was displayed prominently, he took a moment to consider its meaning in the context of the rest of the panel. As he began to piece all the elements of the display before him together, he could feel a tingle of exhilaration welling inside him. Unless he was mistaken, this was it. The universal wavefunction. The one equation to describe everything that is or ever will be. What use the ancient inhabitants of this station had for this theoretical curiosity, he was unsure. From information salvaged and translated from devices found here, many in the consortium believed the station’s purpose was to investigate the possibility of time travel, and certain clues suggested they had been successful to some degree in achieving that goal. Given the level of technology displayed here, he didn’t doubt it. The connection was too tantalizing for him not to consider. Harnessing the power of the universal wavefunction and the complete knowledge of the evolution of the universe, could it be possible to return to the moment at which one universe split into many? As the full weight of this realization dawned on him, he let out a sharp gasp. The pounding of his heart was deafening. His breath coalesced in thick clouds of vapor suspended in the cool air, illuminated by the soft blue hue of the elegant equations laid before him. The glittering clouds seemed to freeze in time as his mind began reeling with the implications of this potential discovery. How many times had the historical or evolutionary trajectory of the human race been altered? Or, for that matter, that of the solar system, or even the universe itself? How many winding paths through the infinite space of alternate realities had been traversed? The entirety of natural and human history was but one thread in an endless web of possible universes. In the face of such hyperastronomical realities, he was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming sense of existential insignificance. Futility. He had been lost so deeply in his rumination that when his partner finally broke the silence, he was startled by the sound, as if it had been decades since he had heard a human voice. “What is that?” Alyona whispered, gesturing to the grand equation at the bottom of the panel. Given her almost reverent disposition, he assumed she had reached the same conclusion he had regarding the equation and was in similar awe of its potential. He leaned forward and inspected the symbols. After scanning the lines momentarily, he noticed what had attracted her attention. A particular symbol, buried within the mess of variables and constants that were recognizable to him, appeared several times. What’s more, it was a symbol that was previously unknown to him or any member of the research consortium. So far in the exploration of the facility, no trace of this particular symbol had been identified on any panel, door, or in any file. A novel symbol, to be added to the growing body of knowledge on this long dead, inconceivably advanced civilization. Yesterday, this discovery alone would have been reason enough for celebration and hours of unrestrained and giddy conjecture before more stringent semiotic analysis could be carried out by other members of the consortium. Now, in the context of the equation itself and what it represents, it seems but a minor curiosity. Still, the symbol’s prominence in the equation implied its obvious importance. In what capacity, he was unsure, but it was a question that was certain to occupy his every waking moment until an answer was revealed.