No Time at all.

Chapter 2. FIRST PHASE OF THE UNIVERSE.

In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation, or just inflation is a theory of exponential expansion of space in the early Universe. The inflationary epoch lasted from 10⁻³⁶ seconds after the conjectured Big Bang singularity to sometime between 10⁻³³ and 10⁻³² seconds after the singularity. Following the inflationary period, the Universe continues to expand, but at a less rapid rate.
Wikipedia entry on expansion (cosmology)

No time at all.

Of course I returned to the raft that sits above the void at the beginning of the Universe but this time I was  more circumspect. I took the back stairways of history only deviating to bring those with minds capable of helping solve my problems. It is true my actions were those of a pirate short of crew, waylaying my accomplices by snares and guiles, taking them from their assured positions in order that they argue against mine. But I needed them since their works and ideas had supplied my stimuli.

It was easy to find most of them since their minds held traces of aberrant thought.

How big is 10^-33 secs? No really, I mean how small is it?

0.000000000000000000000000000000001 secs! That's crazy.

Who measured that and by what means?

And the Universe was meant to get its act together in that time? Ridiculous!

I had empathy with their problem. To give such a precise number conveys conviction rather than certainty. Why not 10 to the minus 133 or any other number? It is no wonder these people were incredulous about this zone.

One of them addressed me directly as we descended to the platform. In your dream you and Einstein plunged into the expansion space that arose from the singularity but you couldn't do that in such a short time. That's how I know you are a fraud.

The obvious retort was "It was but a dream" but I sensed it needed more than stating what she already knew. I said "I don't see it as a problem. It is the result of putting it in a time scheme, there is no issue if time doesn't apply."

An immediate tumult arose. A flurry of discontent broke out amongst my gathering crew until at last another spoke up expressing an issue causing their distress.

"You talk of continuity and suggest that time and space are not essential components for such a concept. Give us an example we can understand."

Me: "Families are a good example. They have continuity."

"But that continuity can be allotted a time", a new arrival snorted.

Me: "Yes but that's not a very useful measure. The duration of a family is better measured by the number of generations and their branches. The length of each individual life doesn't determine the duration of the complete tree.

This is a continuity based on a flexible expansion because members can be inserted at any point in a family tree at any time without breaking the continuity"

Newton then added, "Music with its scales and light with its spectrum are also continuities with a duration not based on distance or time."

I went on having complimented him on his deductions. "And of course another example is the concept of numbers whose duration is spasmodically eternal."

"Spasmodically eternal!  What does that mean?" someone else inquired.

I replied, "Numbers are found in every continuous event so it is eternal within that context. Also it begins and ends with that continuity so it is eternal in that sense as well.

As to why I call it spasmodic all continuities end and so within Chaos where there are vast numbers of continuities they rapidly come and go.

And of course that is what I think is the real story at the beginning of the Universe. Things like number and physical laws exist in perpetuity. This means their development at the start of our Universe took place regardless of there being no time or space at all.

I conclude that although the Universe's development phase is real it forms from a timeless, spaceless continuity in eternal Chaos. It is only when space and time became real that it became possible for our species to actually detect events. So we can only go back to that instant space-time began. And from this you can see why I think it is meaningless to assign that earlier phase a number related to time."

'But doesn't that make it indistinguishable from the Chaos?", a young child asked.

"No. It was a new and very different continuity. It had a new mechanism; one which made our Universe possible. It was based on the number patterns that lie behind you being alive."

"Wow!" was the child's response prompted by the confidence of my reply. But his mother said in a quiet tone. That isn't good enough, you must show how that came about."