Disciplinary Action

"Scientists have many theories about time travel and the nature of spacetime."

In a general education class, the teacher wrote on the blackboard:

"One theory says that countless parallel spacetimes exist in our universe. Every tiny change or choice splits off a Worldline that leads in an entirely different direction."

"These similar yet different parallel spacetimes are like countless threads, radiating from a single point toward an unknown future and constantly branching as they advance..."

"This is what we'll be discussing today: [Worldline Theory]."

General education classes were electives. There were all kinds of courses, with no restrictions based on major or school; anyone interested could sign up.

Jiang Ran rested his chin on his hand and closed his eyes in thought.

Yesterday afternoon's experiment had failed again.

All sixty messages they had sent were delivered to Cheng Mengxue's phone without a single one going missing. That dizzy, world-spinning sensation never came.

Sigh.

Why, exactly?

Why had only that one message traveled through time, never to be replicated?

Poke, poke.

Cheng Mengxue poked Jiang Ran's elbow from beside him.

"Feeling down?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

"A little."

Jiang Ran answered honestly:

"But it's not too bad. I was mentally prepared. If Messaging the Past were that easy, wouldn't the world have fallen into chaos long ago?"

"Hehe~"

Cheng Mengxue smiled and pushed a sheet of paper toward him.

"Take a look. I summarized the key points for you."

Jiang Ran looked at the manuscript paper. Written in large characters at the very top was—

<Spacetime Bulletin Major Incident! Key Point Summary!>

Pfft.

He couldn't hold back a laugh.

Cheng Mengxue had been scribbling away from the moment class began. He had thought she was diligently taking notes, but she had actually been writing this.

"Why did you write this?"

"To help you sort out your thoughts~"

Cheng Mengxue leaned closer, her voice soft.

"I could tell you were thinking about that message when I saw you frowning all day."

"I can't really help you with much, so I organized and summarized the things you and Qin Feng discussed. Maybe it'll give you some inspiration."

Heh.

Jiang Ran chuckled.

"You're really thoughtful. Next time we go shopping, I'll get you a little gift."

"Can you buy me a rice cooker Rhine Cat?" Cheng Mengxue suggested.

"How much?"

"Three thousand."

???

Jiang Ran sucked in a sharp breath.

"Why don't you just rob me!"

"It's already impossible to find at that price!"

"Then I'll buy it after it cools off and goes out of fashion."

Jiang Ran snorted.

"Could Rhine Cat really stay popular for hundreds of years?"

It was difficult to whisper during class, so Jiang Ran looked down at the paper.

The handwriting was delicate and elegant.

It recorded everything they had discussed at the milk tea shop the day before yesterday.

They had simply said whatever came to mind at the time, but seeing it organized now made things much clearer.

[Event Summary]

1. On the afternoon of March 17, Cheng Mengxue lost her phone and went to Jiang Ran, sending a message to the lost phone.

2. The message accidentally traveled through time, returned to the past, and was sent to Cheng Mengxue's phone on March 14.

3. Jiang Ran on March 14 refused to admit sending the message, but the Butterfly Effect began from that point, altering the original course of history.

4. Because of the message's contents, Cheng Mengxue began paying attention to her phone. As a result, she did not lose it on March 17 and did not go looking for Jiang Ran. Naturally, Jiang Ran never sent that message either.

5. The course of history changed, and a Spacetime Shift occurred. Thus, from Jiang Ran's perspective, all the spacetime changes were completed within two seconds. When he opened his eyes, Cheng Mengxue and the message he had sent had both disappeared.

6. The most inexplicable issue was that Jiang Ran retained memories from before the Spacetime Shift, yet had no related memories from after it. He did not remember the argument three days earlier.

"So, students, pay attention!"

The general education teacher suddenly raised his voice and tapped the blackboard.

"This act of jumping from the A worldline to the B worldline is called a [Worldline Jump]!"

Many students who had been distracted looked up toward the lectern.

"Of course, this Worldline theory is merely an unprovable hypothesis."

"Time travel, even in serious physics, is something very romantic."

The teacher put down the chalk and smiled.

"There are many similar hypotheses about spacetime. If you're interested, feel free to look them up after class."

"Class dismissed!"

The trio followed their usual route and returned to the old spot beside the familiar transformer distribution box.

Jiang Ran looked at the enormous thing and listened to the buzzing current.

"Although we considered many factors, such as the time, location, positions, and directions..."

"I think... we still missed some [key factor]."

Qin Feng followed Jiang Ran's gaze.

"You're not planning to mess with the distribution box, are you? That belongs to State Grid. High-voltage electricity is dangerous enough, and damaging it is against the law."

"I'm not an idiot."

As Jiang Ran spoke, he turned on his phone's flashlight and peered inside through the distribution box's vent.

Nothing unusual.

There was just a perfectly ordinary transformer inside.

This kind of device converted tens of thousands of volts of high-voltage electricity into low-voltage household electricity for daily use. They were everywhere throughout the school.

It was currently peak electricity usage, and the distribution box was a little hot. It was filled with the noise of operating equipment.

He suddenly thought of something.

In the science fiction film The Terminator, every future robot that traveled through time arrived amid violent electrical discharges, with blue arcs crackling everywhere.

In the Back to the Future trilogy, the professor also used the energy of lightning to travel through time.

Electric arcs, lightning, high-voltage electricity.

So...

Could it be...

[The principle behind time travel had something to do with high-voltage electricity?]

Tsk.

Jiang Ran clicked his tongue.

This was troublesome.

Speaking of high-voltage electricity, the transformer distribution box had been here steadily all along. It was the same on March 17, when he had sent the message, as it was now—completely stable.

Then why could that message on March 17 be sent into the past, while all later attempts failed?

"What exactly did we miss?"

Having personally experienced time travel and a Spacetime Shift, Jiang Ran desperately wanted to understand why... especially what was unusual about himself.

He shook his head.

"Come on. Let's go get something to eat at the cafeteria."

The next day, the three of them went to class as usual.

As they passed the student club building, they found many students gathered in front of the notice board.

When they drew closer, they saw a disciplinary notice posted there:

[Notice]

[On the evening of March 17, Yan Rui, a student from the Film Camera Club, violated regulations by using a high-power electrical appliance, causing damage to electrical wiring. In accordance with school regulations, he is hereby issued a warning as public notice.]

"Film Camera Club?"

Cheng Mengxue tilted her head.

"What do they do?"

"Probably a club for enthusiasts of those old film cameras? Everyone takes pictures with digital cameras and phones now. Film cameras were phased out ages ago."

Qin Feng replied:

"Tears of a bygone era."

Jiang Ran stood before the notice board, staring at the date on the announcement as he narrowed his eyes.

"I think I found the [key factor] we missed."

??

The other two turned to look at him.

Jiang Ran smiled faintly.

"Do you remember which club was behind the window by that transformer distribution box...?"

Remembering the film canisters on the windowsill and the photos clipped to the clothesline, Cheng Mengxue suddenly understood!

"It was the Film Club!"

Then she turned back and carefully read the disciplinary notice again.

The evening of March 17... a high-power electrical appliance... damaged electrical wiring...

"That's right."

Jiang Ran stepped forward.

"The evening of March 17 was exactly when I sent the message, and the location was right outside the window where that senior had been using a high-power electrical appliance."

He raised his index finger and pointed at the disciplined senior's name.

"So, it's very possible that..."

"The secret behind the message traveling through time has something to do with that high-power electrical appliance!"