FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

The circular view from the microscope showed about a dozen or so bacteria swimming around in a liquid nutrient drop. The bacteria moved in random patterns around the confines of their liquid environment. Cilia hairs protruded from their cell walls which vibrated and pushed the single-celled animals along.

The lone scientist looking through the microscope removed the slide containing the liquid drop with the dozen bacteria. The room was dark except for the light from the microscope and a glow coming from a large, metal table mounted with lasers, lenses, sample chambers and measuring instruments connected by hundreds of crooked wires. The scientist moved without making a sound, his face hidden by the darkness of the laboratory. He placed the slide of bacteria into one of the sample chambers and powered up the apparatus on the metal table.

The high-pitched whirring sound of the power source’s cooling fan filled the room as it generated the electricity needed by the apparatus. Inside the sample chamber, streaks of light caused by flying sub-atomic particles bombarded the glass slide. A minute later, the slide was completely consumed by particles and vanished from the sample chamber.

At the other end of the table inside another sample chamber, the faceless scientist watched as a small burst of sparks filled the chamber and faded away. Then, light streaks from sub-atomic particles again flew across the chamber. With each streak of light, the glass slide from the other sample chamber faded back from nothingness. At first, the slide was difficult to discern but after a few minutes, the complete glass slide with its liquid nutrient drop rematerialized inside this second sample chamber. A monitor readout displayed a graph with a line rising to the top of the chart as words of text appeared at the bottom of the screen.

Transmission complete

Teleportation accuracy: 99.999%

The scientist’s fingers reached into the sample chamber to retrieve the glass slide. By all appearances the slide survived teleportation intact. No obvious deformation of the glass was visible to the naked eye. Even the droplet of liquid smeared out on the slide kept the same shape as before.

The scientist placed the slide back on the stage of the microscope and secured it with stage clips. Peering through the eyepiece, he began twisting the adjustment knobs to gain focus. Through the circular view of the objective lens, the scientist saw the dozen bacteria in their liquid nutrient droplet once again. The bacteria looked fine. Their organelles were intact and their color was good. However, they were dead. Their cilia hairs were still as they floated aimlessly in their liquid environment. The process of teleportation had snuffed the life from the single-celled organisms.

The scientist took the slide off the microscope and placed it on the concrete floor of the laboratory. Grabbing a heavy metal mallet, he slammed the glass slide with one powerful swing, shattering the slide into countless tiny shards. The scientist, his face still obscured by the darkness, calmly swept up the powdered glass and disposed of the evidence of the failed experiment. He did not record the results of his activity in his lab notebook. Instead, he wrote a deceptive entry to cover up any lingering suspicion of his illicit use of the laboratory equipment. He did not think anyone would ever find out.