This, naturally, leads me to wonder how far the exotic matter extends beyond my physical body. For instance, when I traveled back in time, I was able to take my clothes and my glasses with me. I did not show up in the past blind as a bat, wearing nothing but my birthday suit (thank God, no one wants to see that). No, I’d been lucky enough to appear wearing the exact same faded jeans and T-shirt that I’d been wearing in my original timeline. And they were in good shape, too! No rips or tears, a little ripe around the armpits, but I’m afraid that’s because I’ve been wearing them for a few days, not because traveling years into the past caused my shirt to stink. Everything was just as it was in my present timeline.

Which means that the exotic matter extended beyond my physical person to protect the things closest to my skin.

But how far beyond myself does that power extend? Could I, for instance, take an object with me?

A small animal?

Another person?

The only way to know for certain whether that’s possible is, of course, to experiment. Best start with something that’s not actually living, shall I? Like, for instance, a potato? No one can be angry at me for injuring a potato.

This, actually, is a tad nerve-racking. It reminds me of that old Jeff Goldblum movie, The Fly. For those of you who aren’t familiar with 1980s horror, our boy Jeff experiments with teleportation and accidentally crosses chromosomes with a fly. He then starts turning into a fly, which is a horrifying thought to say the least.

Will attempting to take a potato back in time cause me to start turning into a potato?

I’m only half joking.

In any case, without further delay, I bring you:

Mission: Goldblum 1

Objective: Attempt to extend the EM’s protection beyond my physical person.

Simplicity is key for this experiment, I think, and so I will keep it all fairly basic: my plan is merely to travel back in time, just an hour will do, while holding a potato.

Wish me luck.

UPDATE—

OCTOBER 1, 2074

21:15 HOURS

Goldblum 1 was a success! I’m actually a little shocked at how easy it was. I simply rowed out to the Cascadia subduction zone, just as I had done during my first vessel-less voyage back in time (try saying that five times fast). Only, this time, I was holding my lucky potato.

I felt the familiar pull of the time tunnel. The world sort of dropped away, and there I was. In the past.

With my potato. It wasn’t bruised or anything. It was perfect.

I’m really flying high right now. I sort of don’t want to let this feeling go, so I’m going to move on to the next stage of my experimentation: living subject.

In other words, I caught a mouse.