Treatment
While working as a civilian research scientist at an Air Force facility, James Edgerton is asked to evaluate an object found in a cave near the base. When he approaches the glowing, pyramid-shaped, spiked, black obsidian object, it starts to pulse faster and vibrate, producing sparks from its interior that move toward the spikes. One large spark shoots out of the top spike, arches over, and enters his head. He spasms and collapses.
After three days of intensive evaluation at a military hospital, James returns to work to discover that, through a computer, his scientist father, Charles, has established communication with the black obsidian object and has named her Janet-7. His research discovered that her “sparks” pulsate and vibrate identically to James’ brain pattern (revealed by an EEG), and she can only reach her peak potential when he is present. Further research reveals that Janet-7 is capable of accurately pinpointing junctions in jumbled time strings. This makes it possible for an individual to connect with, and travel from, the present day in a personal, parallel, alternate time dimension to the present day in a former dimension created by a life-changing decision.
During his 20-year career in the Air Force, James was on the promotional fast track. However, while in command of a mission overseas, his unit suffered heavy casualties, prompting James to reevaluate his future and retire. On his first day back in his home town, he attends a reception at Nellis AFB and is introduced to his future wife by Julius Jensen, a long-time rival and the current commander of the base where James and his father work.
A planned vacation takes James and his family to the largest shopping mall in America, where his wife introduces him to Elizabeth Stone, a real estate agent who sold a travel agency to his wife as an investment. As they leave the mall they are involved in a chain-reaction accident that kills his wife and child and leaves James in a coma with brain damage and a break in his timeline. When Charles gets this news, he steals Janet-7 and uses her to “repair” the brain damage.
James then sets up a real travel agency which hides his actual purpose: he offers to all those who were present at the mall, on the day of the accident, the trip of a lifetime – to visit and explore, in the present day, an alternate, parallel, time dimension created by a life-changing decision. Backed by a diverse crew, including Elizabeth Stone, Robert Beaumont, Keenan Smythe and Melanie Kim, James travels the alternate, parallel, personal time dimensions of others with the goal of finding one in which his wife and child are alive – while capturing their memories to discover who, or what, caused the accident.
Some Characters
James Edgerton – A supremely brilliant scientist and MIT graduate with special-forces military service, now employed as a civilian research scientist at a top-secret Air Force base. His easy-going personality, charisma, and matinee-idol looks hide a no-nonsense command style that endears him to all those fortunate to be associated with him.
Elizabeth Stone – A mysterious, exotic, African-American beauty who represents herself variously as a real estate agent, a private investment advisor, and an officer of Homeland Security. She is attracted to James but seems to know too much about him from the start. She has a hidden agenda – to find the leaders of an organization known as INK, a powerful military alliance between Iran and North Korea secretly financed by Russia.
Keenan Smythe – James’ best friend since high school. Finding the day-to-day discipline of science boring, Keenan, an African-American, dropped out of MIT before graduating. A self-made multi-millionaire, he relishes the challenge of building the travel agency into a successful business and finds Elizabeth fascinating.
Melanie Kim – An Asian-American scientific technician who has returned to college to change her status from technician to scientist. She always sees the humor in most situations, which hides a driven and very ambitious career plan. James mentors her and attempts to tame her volatile persona.
Robert Beaumont – A superb computer scientist and, at 18, the youngest of the group. Even though he seems to understand more about Janet-7 than anyone else, his formative years spent solely in educational pursuits have left his social skills inadequately developed. With the help of the other team members, a well-rounded, confident, and ambitious personality emerges.
Sample Episodes
The Oblivion of Laughter – A construction worker travels to an alternate, personal, parallel time dimension where he has thrived as a landscape designer, overcoming the humiliation caused by his siblings’ taunting. The team discovers that derisive laughter can cause emotional scars and life-changing consequences. James backtracks to where the Homeland Security car that escaped the accident came from and discovers it was following the van that caused the accident.
Twin Heroes – A former chemical-plant security guard with a debilitating terminal condition saved lives by leading workers out of a chemical spill. She “travels” to a dimension where she works at the mall and receives national attention for saving lives in a plane crash, though there she is estranged from her family. She remembers seeing a person in a dark trench coat unlock a door to the roof closest to where the accident occurred.
Killing Time – A Mafia don turns leadership over to his grandson; the family’s contract assassin seeks a safe place to “retire.” She travels to a dimension where she is a real estate agent and discovers her father was not the cause of her family’s problems. James and Robert trace a sniper’s path back to the parking garage and uncover a conversation with a vaguely familiar person (Elizabeth).
Prison vs. Prison – A prison groupie married an inmate due to be released. She travels to a dimension where she never corresponded with the inmate and instead married the suitor she rejected. James finds that we construct our own prisons when a fixation dominates our life. He notes that the hybristophiliac saw an unusual tattoo with Korean characters on the forearm of one of the van’s occupants; Robert discovers attempts to breach the firewalls protecting the main computer.