The Fall of Deja Vu Castle

At sixteen, Willie "The Eureka Kid" Jasper shocked the field of theoretical physics with his unified field theory. Shortly thereafter he invented the Inchworm Drive, catapulting humanity to the stars. Labeled a has-been at sixteen, he lingered in a field now dominated by AIs and conceived a theory (competing with his own) that proposed a new particle, the newon, spawned by a unique event.

Newons were abundant in the early universe when unique events were common. But now, 13.7 billion years l...