Featherline

Hyperpyramid "It's really not that f*****g hard to comprehend!" Schlegel said, slamming his hand on the table. "A hyperpyramid, dammit! Five-cell structure in four dimensions, three spatial and one of time." He looked up at Max's blank stare. "Scheisse..." Schlegel muttered. "How can you not be able to grasp this? This is a simple time travel concept." "I'm sorry," Max said softly, his head almost retreating back between his shoulders like a turtle. The bar was busy and some people glanced at the odd pair, but other than that they didn't pay any attention. "Alright. You know what they say, if the pupil doesn't grasp the lesson, it's the teacher's fault. Let me try another way." He brought out a book from his backpack. On the spine, it said something in German, but Max could make out the words Peenemünde and V-2. Schlegel bent the edge, letting the pages flip from his fingers, like dealing cards. "We want to lock down 1942, right?" "Right," Max frowned, leaning forward. "Where's that?" Max stayed with his mouth open. "Come on, it's relative. Just pick a slice of time, pick any page around the middle." "Well, page 42." "That works." Schlegel flipped to page 42. He grabbed his pen and made a dot in the corner. "That's our target for the timelock." "So we go around that and place the timelocks." "Yes. But where?" "Um. One year up?" Schlegel winced. "We could, but then we'd this scale would be wrong and we'd need finer adjustments, down to the seconds. Let's stick to years." Schlegel drew a flat, equilateral triangle on a piece of paper. "Now we find the middle, by extending the halves of the corners." He drew that as well. "Okay. So, this, but in three dimensions, I assume." "Correct. The middle is the desired timelocked point, so we work outwards from that." Schlegel pushed the paper to Max. "Um... Okay, so from simple geometry, it's two years up from the middle point, and three points one year down, forming the base of the pyramid." "Exactly!" Schlegel said, excited. "Now, find those points on the pages of the book." "Well," Max said, flipping through them and making a dot. "One at page 44, or year 44, and three equidistant on page 41, or year 41." "Richtig!" Schlegel exclaimed. Max smiled, looking down at the pages. "Timeslices, yeah, I understand that concept." "See? It wasn't that hard. So all we have to do, is go to 1944, find the exact same spot as the timelocked target, place the timelock. And then we go to 1941, and what do we do?" "Um... We don't go to the same spot. We go in three different spots, equidistant, forming a triangle, with the centre being the timelocked target area." "And that's how you get a hyperpyramid lock. This is magnificent!" Schlegel said, l*****g his lips. "I need another beer." He clicked his fingers at the tavern wench. She boobily hopped to his side. Schlegel said something vulgar in her ear and she turned red, but didn't shy away or cover up her decolletage. She brought him more beer, as requested, and she got a slap on the butt as a reward. "Don't worry, she only speaks German, can't understand a word we're saying." "Can't I have any beer?" Max complained. "My dear student," Schlegel said, foam on his moustache. "You will be going back to Central to fill out the paperwork for the timelocks. Four of them, don't you forget," Schlegel said, holding up the same number of fingers. "Where are the timelocks, Max?" Schlegel said, laughing. The wench was on his lap, trying to pour his beer from a tiny barrel. He was tickling her every time she tried to pour. The wench had spilt at least a teacup's worth of beer on the table, but she was still laughing and teasing him back. The German's hands were under her skirt and his unkempt beard scratched up against her exposed decolletage. Ah, yes. It all came back to him. He was feeling kinda nostalgic about the w***e experience, good times. "I didn't bring them, Schlegel." The wench received a nibble on her ear and giggled, making her sizable breasts bounce. "Then why are you-" Schlegel stood up, pushing the wench away. She went back to serving the customers. "Hold on. You're older, I can tell." "Correct." He sat back down. "You're here to lock me." Max breathed out through his nose. "You've brought this onto yourself. I mean, messing with the first V-2 rocket launch? You knew it was gonna happen." Schlegel lost his patience. "It's a domino effect, with direct correlation. The V-2s were the most important weapons the Nazis ever had, Max. Having them reach space was an important aspect of that. It made them dependable in their eyes, that's why they manufactured so many so quickly. If I could undermine that..." Schlegel trailed off and waived him away. He grabbed his beer mug and drank the little droplets of beer the wench had managed to pour him while he was tickling her. "We don't do this kind of thing, Schlegel. f**k, man, you're the one who taught me that!" Max exclaimed. "I know. Do not believe what other people tell you, Max. Let that be my final lesson." "Schlegel," Max begged. "Just don't go through with it." Schlegel snorted, scoffed at the empty beer mug. "Helga! Scheisse." Helga ran up to him and refilled his mug with beer, frothing all the way to the brim. He drank one last sip, enjoying it fully. Helga smiled at him, he grabbed her and pulled her on his lap again. She squealed and protested but it was just a charade, she practically rubbed herself all over him. Max shook his head and walked away. Schlegel grabbed her juicy inner-thigh. This was what heaven was like. Helga pushed him away playfully, keeping her breasts within easy reach of his lips. He dove nose-first into the pillowy surface. Some customer called for her, complained. Helga excused herself with a kiss and tried to stand up. Schlegel pulled her back on his lap. "Let him wait," he said to her in German. "I have to work, you naughty boy," she cooed, touching his nose. "Just let him wait." The hyperpyramid lock activated with the familiar prismatic breaking of the light. Schlegel grabbed her juicy inner-thigh. This was what heaven was like. Helga pushed him away, playfully. He dove nose-first into the pillowy surface. The light opened up prismatically. Schlegel grabbed her juicy inner-thigh. This was what heaven was like. The End.