The Button

It was only quite by chance that it had been discovered. A satellite scan from one of the major American petrochemical companies (which had ended up pointing in the wrong direction following a drunken fumble on the control deck between two employees at the christmas party) had found evidence of metal where none was expected.

An investigation revealed a hidden chamber within the side of a mountain hidden behind a sheet of ice hundreds of thousands of years old. On one of the smooth walls of this rock chamber was a single bright red button. The chamber must have lay undisturbed since before Man had walked on the surface of the planet.

Some of the best scientific minds were flown out there from the biggest Universities and Governmental think-tanks. Seismologists, historians, structural engineers and individuals from every conceivable scientific field were sworn to secrecy and set about performing every single piece of analysis that they could for several long months.

The studies were inconclusive. Forbidden as they were to physically dismantle the button or surrounding area, studies were confined to X-rays and non-destructive analysis and this severely hampered the scientists in their studies. The button was carbon dated as being as old as the planet itself, which was clearly nonsense. It also didn't appear to be actually be connected to a power source or any mechanism but then neither did the light set into its surface, which was clearly illuminated in a dull red glow. Every result was either unreliable or contradictory.

Only the historian managed to provide anything of actual worth; A translation of some microscopic markings found on the button itself. Hieroglyphic in nature, the historian had managed to narrow the meaning of these symbols as being either "Normality" or its exact opposite.

Now there is increasing pressure to continue the experiment by pressing the button. There are fears amongst those of a philosophical bent, however, that the button has been pressed before.