Black Crystal

Many decades ago it was engineered an unusual substance with properties unique and fascinating. developed to power the first probe designed to traverse deep space for the long term exploration of the stars beyond, Sousanite-312, or "black glass" as it became popularly known, had the ability to store light. that is of course a simplistic description of what it does. in fact, it does not store light so much as it slows it down. once again, that is the sort of simplistic characterization given to school children or viewers of that bastion of scientific ignorance, television news. to put it to you straight, black glass consists of impossibly fine fiber optic strands set in dense maze-like courses, each terminating on the opposite plane in a parallel position to where it began. so thin are these strands and so long do they travel that any light that enters a strand on side of the glass is taken on so long a journey that by the time it concludes it's quest at it's traditional speed of 299,792,458 metres per second, a day, a month, even many years will have passed, so that when you stand before one side of the glass it will take x amount of time before your likeness appears on the other side. the time which it takes for the light to complete it's journey depends on the density of the fiber-optic matrix and the thickness of the glass in question. the nickname "black glass" comes from the fact that until the light reaches the opposite side, the glass appears opaquely black. the name "sousanite-312" comes from the inventor, Woody Dyson, who was a big fan of marching band music (much to the dismay of his next door neighbor and eventual murderer, Charles Rense).

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in it's original industrial and aerospace applications there was no need for the strands to terminate in spots parallel to their starting point, and indeed it was found beneficial for the light being taken in to distribute evenly across the opposite side. consequently in those early incarnations the black glass manifested a nice diffused whiteness on the side to which the light was escaping. this worked perfectly towards the ends of powering solar cells where light was scarce. through several advanced processes involving the manipulation of the crystalline structure (that manufactured and laid down the complex plumbing of fiber optic strands) with nanobots and enzymes it was found that the terminus of the strands could be predicted and plotted, allowing for such whizzbang uses as non-powered lasers and other applications of interest only to people with advanced degrees from MIT. that all changed when one such MIT degree holder decided to sell fragments of black glass over the internet. before long everyone wanted a piece, for the sake of novelty alone. soon black glass was everywhere as desk toys and key chains, and as it became more commonplace more people came up with new uses for it, both practical and frivolous. of the practical, black glass with a six month terminus was sent to polar regions as a solution to seasonal affective disorder. 8-hour glass was mounted as shudders on many new office buildings in order to save on lighting bills, and even extend the work day (a practice that was ended by federal intervention after a series of high profile office massacres perpetrated by employees driven mad by a combination of the unnatural extension of daylight, and the accompanying 16 hour days). even miners and submarine crews benefited from the liberal use of black glass, often being notable for their remarkable tans.

oh, but of the frivolous applications, one thing stands out above all else as the most fun, exciting, and even empowering use of the material: the public monument! initially black glass was used merely as a medium from which certain monuments to important events and memorials were constructed (in fact this trend was sparked by the popular use of black glass in tombstones), but before long municipalities were erecting black glass in reference to nothing and for no greater reason than to erect them. from London to Tokyo to Buenos Aires to New York to Houston, black glass monuments sprung up just for the sake of having them. they were singlehandedly responsible for broadening the term "monument" to include all public art installations. they came in spheres, so that the past being shown through them would be warped and upside down. they came in statuary, so that a strange distorted image shown through the curves and crevasses of the bodies of historical figures. they cam in pyramids and cylinders so that different times would fade into each other. they came in multi-level collections of blocks so that each surface would display a different era. but by far the most fascinating of all of these was simply a cube.

in Portland Oregon, dominating Pioneer Courthouse Square, was a cube of black glass measuring fifty feet by fifty feet. it's terminus was exactly thirty-six years, meaning that if you walked past on side of the cube on a given day and came back thirty six years to the day you would see yourself walking past from the other side. for the first thirty six years of it's existence the Pioneer Monument, or "Pioneer Square" as it came to be known informally, was the subject of much controversy. a group of foot bag enthusiasts organized to try and prevent it's construction (eventually settling for a new public square to be built on the cities east side), and many complained that this large black monolith was a blight on the landscape. it risked the wrecking ball many times in those years, but no more urgently than when it had been officially slated for destruction 15 years from the date of placement. on that day a wrecking crew arrived to dismantle it, actually carving out a two foot section from its top northeastern corner. but thanks to the protests and pleas of the monuments supporters, and a small riot, the city agreed to grant it legal protections that would keep it safe until it "went live".

on the day the light was to complete its long journey a huge celebration took place. the crowd was packed nearly as densely as the strands from which the cube itself was formed. there were news crews from all around the region to document this momentous event. it went on with a flash. the first images from it were of the shell in which it was manufactured (on site, as it was too large and heavy to move from a factory) being removed. shortly thereafter a beer bottle was seen flying and shattering on its east face, a preservation of the objections many had to the cube in early days. many in attendance saw themselves, thirty six years younger, walk by with signs of protest. it was a strange celebration in that what everyone have come here to view was now showing them the discontent it had engendered those thirty six years ago. in the coming years the visitors to this monument would be treated to such diverse sights as important historical events, acceptance speeches of politicians long forgotten, performance art, crimes in progress (more than a few wrongly convicted for offenses within view of the cube used it to clear their names), tourists making faces, and the occasional act of indecent exposure.

indeed, six years prior to day it went live, a Shakespearean troupe decided to hold annual performances to the east face (recording the audio to be played back in sync with the performance 36 years later). on that first performance many of the actors noticed more than a few trenchcoat clad individuals wandering the square before they went on. they performed Macbeth on that day, unaware of what was taking place on the other side. on the thirty-sixth annual performance of this troupe, while those on the other side bore witness to the groups first performance, the troupe themselves found themselves performing Hamlet to an entirely nude audience. thirty-six years later the actors could be seen laughing and blushing their way through their lines from the opposite side.