I’m a Physicist At CERN – We’ve Done Something We Shouldn’t Have Done



Most of you who have heard of CERN will have heard of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) the largest scientific instrument which exceeds 20 miles in diameter and travels under the sovereign territory of two countries (Switzerland, France). The public has been told that it was constructed at a cost of tens of billions of Euros for the purpose of studying the birth of the universe and the collisions that take place within the collider allow us a quick glimpse at certain phenomenon that can only be witnessed when particles hit one another at incredibly high rates. This is NOT what the machine was designed for, nor is it what the machine has been used for since it’s inception. CERN’s main purpose for building the Collider was too, well it was to open a door way. Allow me to explain: the doorway idea came into fruition in the 1960s.


Within a few short years of mathematical research and fleets of scientists working under threat of extermination should they share their research, the book idea was finally cemented. Though many disagreed, the mathematics were there to support the book idea, and the mathematics also showed us that it was impossible for one page to interact with another. That was, until the 1980s. During the 1980s billions of dollars of research was funnelled into the idea that if we used enough energy, if we used enough force, concentrated into a small area (the size of a pin prick) we could theoretically tare our page and get a glimpse of the page next to ours. We could open a door from their universe to ours. When the Family (the code name for the group of scientists that functioned as the head of each of their departments at CERN) were shown the initial presentation in March of 1981, many of them expressed grave concern about the ramifications of opening such a doorway. But in the beautiful name of science, the Family decided to share these ideas with the governments who constantly funded their research. At a meeting held in Luxembourg, the heads of state of the newly forming European Union, along with the United States and China were shown plans for the construction of a colossal machine that would enable the opening of a doorway that could be closed at our discretion. The door would be opened, and the energy levels would be measure to prove that CERN had accomplished its task, and the door would be closed. Open. Shut. Simple as that.



Around 7 pm, most of the team had filtered out of the observation room, and the machine had been put into it’s usual stand-by mode. As the room emptied, the ID clip that I had on my waist, which had a built in display and vibrator, started to go off. I looked down at the display and it said in very faint green writing “Living room,” I knew right away what they were going to attempt. I looked up from the badge and caught the eye of Dr. Celine D’Accord, another member of the Family and the head of plasma physics. She too had just looked up from her ID badge. We both understood and left. “Living room,” was a large room under the main facility located in A-section. The room wasn’t special in any way and appeared completely normal. This was key to hiding our true intentions. If we met in a secret underground bunker instead of the regular basement, we’d arouse suspicion every time we were going to run an experiment. As Celine and I made our way from the collider to section A, the cold Swiss air hit my face and burned as we booked it across the campus. The night was exceptionally clear, and this factor further bolstered my suspicion. They always liked doing these experiments on clear nights. We entered Section A and made our way to the main building. The doors opened up as we approached and we made our way to the elevators across the wide expanse of a lobby with the vaulted ceilings.




No one said a word, we left in complete silence, made our way into the lift, and exited the building into the cold Swiss night. If the machine couldn’t handle the electron voltage, it could become structurally unstable and break apart, but being buried underground prevented this from being a catastrophe. There wouldn’t be loss of life, but the LHC would be rendered useless and billions of dollars worth of funding would be destroyed. On the other hand, if the experiment was successful and the door opened, could we close something functioning on 40 TeV? Our math had supported 10 TeV, 20Tev, Fuck even 30 TeV, but no one had dared go above that. However this is where our role as scientist ended and our regrettable role of secret experimenter began. All we could do was say yes. At 22:00 hours, with the Family assembled in the control room, and the handful of select CERN employees who understood the true nature of the experiment milling around, we commenced our grand try. “Begin,” was the only order that Father issued. The Family members at the control entered the required programming to begin the collider, and so our fateful experiment began.

“Release the First particle sample,” came the command. A few seconds later the sound of gas entering the collider could be heard. The gas started it’s 20+ mile journey around the collider gaining more and more speed. “Release the second particle sample,” another sound of whooshing gas entering the tube and travelling into the opposite direction as the first. Both gaining speed, travelling faster and faster, approaching the speed of light. Like two runners, running around a circular track in opposite directions, not touching one another. “Father, we are approaching 30 TeV” one of the commanders warned. “Excellent, increase the energy to 35 TeV within the next 3 Minutes,” Father’s commands once again brought grave concern. If anything was going to happen it was going to happen now. “Increasing to 35 Tev” came the announcement over the intercom system.

We all continued to look at one another, the concern growing graver and graver.” “Achieving 38 TeV” another announcement. But nothing, no explosion, no catastrophic failure, nothing. In theory 40 was possible, but never advisable, however at 38, no specific structural damage signs were noted, nothing. “40 TeV achieved.” We looked at one another in astonishment. We had achieved what we thought was impossible: 40 TeV of energy was pushing the particles through the collider and we were sustaining it.” As the two particle clouds whizzed past each other, our first indication that something different was going to happen started to occur. There was a sudden spike in the temperature of the room. we could feel that it had gotten warmer, and the first reaction was one of panic. “SHUT THE MACHINE DOWN!” Came the first exclamation from a Family member. “The Machine is heating up, explosion could be imminent!” She continued. “WAIT!” Exclaimed father, her eyes glowing with the reflection of the computer screen in front of her, “Look at the core temperature read out, they haven’t changed, they’re perfectly normal!”

We each looked at the closest computer screen we could find, all of them showing that everything was going well, except for the fact that the thermostat in the room now read 35 degrees celsius, when we started out at a pleasant 20. Could this be it? “COMMENCE THE COLLISION SEQUENCE.” Father barked the order into the microphone near her control console. “Collision in 4…3…2…” The methodical voice announced over the intercom. “1″ – An ethereal blinding light consumed the room, I had never experienced anything like this before. The temperature dropped back down to 20 degrees, and the light was overpowering us. We couldn’t see our own hands in front of our faces. Suddenly there was a blood curdling scream, like someone being horribly beaten, followed by complete and total silence and then darkness. “Is everyone ok!” Celine was shouting from her side of the room. “I’m fine!” I called back, “Sound off!” “Mantill, code: Fam-0113″ “D’Accord, Code: Fam-0115″ “Chung, Code: Fam – 0114″ The Family members present started to scream out their names and code designation as our eyes adjusted to the total darkness that had encompassed the room.

With the sound of a bang the emergency red lighting bathed the room in a lambent glow. We could make out shadows, but no distinguishing features. By this time, approximately 2 minutes after our encounter with the white light, we still had not heard Father sound off.” “Where is Father!” Dr. Chung called out. We all turned to the seat that Father sat in, and could see a lump on the chair, but no sign of her. I entered the panel code to open the emergency exit and made my way through the escape corridor to the lighting box at the end of the hall. I turned the breaker and the normal lighting filled the control room again. Panic struck for Father’s well being I turned and ran back into the control room. All of my fellow scientists were in complete and total awe. Nothing in the room was out of place, and the temperature had returned to normal, however sitting in Father’s chair was a pile of her effects. Celine ran up to the chair Father once filled and looked down with a gasp. “She’s gone! All of her things are here, her jewellery, her clothes, her tamp…, everything!” Where Father sat now rested her physical possessions. She had vanished into thin air.

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