Time Well Traveled

This is a story - or rather, three stories, all wrapped up in three possibilities. There are a few notations by the titles; look here for an in-depth explanation of terms.

Time Well Traveled

      The time machine glinted dully as the beam from the flashlight wandered over its surface. Gresky smiled thinly, taking in the sight, then set the light down and began to work. Though the rows of controls seemed impossibly complex, the process was actually very simple. Gresky quickly set knobs and flipped switches, pausing now and then to consult a scrap of paper. Minutes later, a tinny whine broke the silence, and the machine purred to life. His heart beginning to pound, Gresky stepped through the machine, and into the past...

      Six months before, a top secret project had relocated to a new facility. Even before its move, the project was nearing a breakthrough; a scant five days after the last piece of equipment was moved into the new building, a 2 cm steel cube was sent into the past. The discovery rocked the scientific world - or it would have, had anyone known. Instead, it was kept under the highest level of security possible. Even the cleaning crew were housed on site, under a strict vow of secrecy. The steel cube was the only time traveling object; it was studied and discussed, but no other objects were sent through time. Little was known about the experiment, even to the scientists working on the project; one scientist knew how much power was consumed, and another, when the test was completed, but no one knew the full story. the project ground to a halt a week before Gresky stepped into the machine - several scientists refused to continue the experiments until it was shown just what damage, if any, changing a timeline would do.

Destiny (closed, instant, overdamped)
Set In Stone (closed, instant, underdamped)
Out Of Time (open, underdamped)