Roger Bacon

This is an essay written from the perspective of Roger Bacon, who was an early scientist, who is credited with some of the early development of the scientific method, and like many others, was placed under house arrest for his beliefs. He wakes up, no longer in his prison, but in a modern jail cell. He finds a radio on the floor and uses the scientific method to figure out what it is with a twist ending.








Seven days ago, Jerome of Ascoli placed me under house arrest. I did not
agree with the reasons for my imprisonment. Yet, there I sat, a prisoner because of my beliefs and ideas of the universe, which in no way question my religious priorities as a Friar of the Franciscan order. I was confused and upset, but yesterday, a rather peculiar thing happened to me. I woke up and found that my bed coverings had been changed over night. I was surprised that I had not awoken to it. Still groggy, I placed my feet on the floor, expecting familiar wood, but it was not there. My bare feet fell on cool, smooth stone. Slowly, my eyes opened and adjusted to my dim surroundings.

I was in a small room. The bed I had been lying on held a gray and unappealing blanket with a worn white pillow. The bed was built in a metallic frame. In the corner of the room opposite the head of the bed, upon the white brick-like walls, stood a silver bowl filled with water. The end of the room led into a dim hallway, but it was lined with bars. My eyes were drawn to the strangest of these oddities. Upon the floor lay an object, gray-green in color with two small knobs at the top and markings along the front. ‘What is this strange object?’ I asked myself. I had never seen the like.

On closer inspection, I realized that the markings were numbers written in a very small size. They were neat, obviously copied with the greatest care. The numbers were in two rows. One read 53---60---70---90---120---140---171 with the small letters am beside it. The other row was 88---92---96---102---104---106---108 alongside the letters fm. Between am and fm was a small bit of metal that could be moved back and forth. The knobs on the top were a black color and had ridged edges. I placed my hand on them and realized that they could be turned one way or the other, like a wheel on a cart. Also, when they were moved, a small stick moved along the numbers behind a line of glass above each row. I spent several minutes moving these knobs back and forth before deciding that perhaps this was some sort of machine for calculating. I decided that, since in this small cell there seemed to be nothing else of interest, I would test my ideas. I tried figuring out how it would be used for calculations, but I couldn’t figure out why such odd numbers would be used. I realized that on the bottom half of the object, there was a grooved circle. I had not taken into consideration what it would be used for. Finally, I turned the strange green object onto its other side.

There was a small cut out shape that appeared to be held in place by a little circle of silvery metal with a linear indent. Nothing more seemed to be on the back. I turned the thing over and over in my hands trying to figure it out. Then, a little black square caught my eye. It was in a small cut line that appeared to be its path. I moved the little black square along the line. Then, I dropped the object because I heard voices.

“Brand new 2007-2008 Pontiac in stock. There is a big accident possibly involving a…” The words were unfamiliar to me and I struggled trying to figure out what they meant and where they came from. I peered through the bars lining my small room, but there was no one there, and the noise was coming from behind me. It took me a few moments to isolate it. The words were coming from the rectangular object that I had been so intrigued with before. The circle with the lines in it seemed to vibrate slightly with the sounds. I moved the black switch, and instantly the sounds stopped. I was confused. Never in all my years had I encountered such a mechanism. What was this thing? I knew it was green, smooth, and somehow transmitted voices. I moved the black square back and forth, and concluded that the object made noises when the black dot was closed to the top. I left the square there and turned one of the top knobs. Nothing happened. I turned the other one, and there was such a screeching noise that I had to drop the object and cover my ears. Eventually, I was able to move the black dot back down.

“Hey!” a voice came from outside the cell. “It’s time to eat.” A man in a blue suit opened the bars and escorted me along the dimly lit wall into a vast room. Everyone was wearing the same thing, including myself. They spoke odd things and words that were unfamiliar to me. I kept to myself, and ate from the tray I had figured out how to get. After about a half an hour, I was escorted back to my cell.

I was unsure what exactly had happened and half-believed I had lost my mind. I spent the next few hours praying before I went back to the small object. I moved the square up and was wise enough to turn the knob right then. I noticed that as I turned it, the noises changed, and different voices and odd sounds came out. I switched the am/fm thing, and the sounds changed. Now, only the other knob changed the noises. I contemplated this for a very long time. Then, I heard a scream come out of the little, box-like object, and immediately, I moved the black square back to its original position. I shook my head. I had never seen or heard anything like this. I lay down in the worn bed. I meditated upon my questions for two days, every once in a while leaving to eat. Finally, I theorized about what the box was. The voices coming from the small box changed when I moved the knobs.

These were the voices and noises of tortured people, seeking escape. Somehow, they were trapped in the little box, and when the knob moved, the numbers indicated a different place inside the box. It was obviously a tool of an evil witch to trap souls. I blessed it, and prayed to God for the people trapped inside. Then, one day, the noises stopped and the square would not work. I asked the man outside my strange prison to get rid of the object, and I never saw it again.