《Domain Of Voids》
CHAPTER 1: MISTER ISSAC I PRESUME?
¡°The city of Hawkesbay, a city full of life, vibrant streets filled with people, tall corporate buildings, the monorail system that runs through the city, and that beautiful big building owned by Maximus Science and Technology at the center of the city. The museum, the parks and the beautiful seaside make Hawkesbay your perfect holiday destination! Visit this summer to have the time of your life!¡± as soon as the television advertisement finishes running on the old television the transmission cuts off and a dialog box appears with a notice saying ¡°You are out of subscription, Please renew it to enjoy your programs!¡±
In front of the television is a table that is littered with months old pizza boxes and cigarette packets and on the couch near the table a man with a rugged body wearing just his underwear and a cotton vest sleeps like a log. Near the couch there are numerous bottles of ¡°Hawk¡¯s Beer¡± placed in a random pattern, some standing tall and others lying flat; all empty of course. In the other room of the office there is a huge desk and an office chair, both look like they have seen better days, because both are covered in dust and look like relics of a forgotten time.
On the table there is a cluster of files, 30 in total all placed in cardboard folders with a big red ¡°Case Closed¡± stamped on them, a small digital clock reads 12:45 P.M. and the date reads June 11, 2010. There is a huge file cabinet placed in one corner of the room, some compartments are opened and some are closed shut.
On the right wall there are a few news clippings framed and hanged, reading ¡°Heroic Detective Shuts Down Illegal Drug Lab In Downtown Hawkesbay¡±, ¡°Justice for Emily and Family as Issac Wolfe Finds the Killer Who Raped and Murdered Emily¡±, ¡°City Hero Issac Wolfe solves record 10 cases this year!¡± and many other headlines of a time that is not now. On the left wall photos of Issac graduating the police academy, his first detective day, random friends and a huge photo of Mary and Issac¡¯s wedding are hung like a memorial; all eating dust of course, except the photo of the wedding, it is clean and looks brand new, as if it was hanged yesterday.
The ceiling fan just above the table in the other room is old and rusty as well; it is not even oiled properly and spins at a low speed making uniform squeaks every time it completes a revolution. The office is an utter mess just like the man this office belongs to. It almost feels like a perfect life when people are told about him, graduated from the police academy at the age of 24 in 2006 young Issac was a sharp-eyed officer who got promoted to detective soon after he became a police officer.
After that promotion Issac never looked back, solving and completing every case that was assigned to him, Issac became a hero to the people of Hawkesbay. The city¡¯s crime chart had never seen a steady decline before his arrival. Positive and energetic Issac was always keen on solving every case he got and he did so no matter how many days or months it would take.
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Cold trails or dead ends in the cases never stopped him from working. He had a great intuition and understanding of his surroundings. Finding clues, analyzing them in his mind and portraying the events that happened so accurately that it felt like he was there when it happened and he was watching.
One beautiful summer day, Issac on his way to his favorite diner ¡°Grab-a-Grub¡± sees a lady in distress. The lady wears a long gown black in color, light makeup on her face and beautiful black hair looks inside her purse. Moving from pocket to pocket she doesn¡¯t find what she wants and has no clue she is being observed. Issac approaches her and that¡¯s the end of him. Looking into her eyes the man has lost it, you know I don¡¯t really believe in love at first sight and find it clich¨¦. But Issac falls in love with her.
He asks her what her trouble is and she tells him that she has lost her brooch. The brooch belonged to her mother who was no more and meant too much to her. Of course she knows who Issac is and asks him to go to work as an important case might be waiting for him, but the man who is lost in her eyes cannot go back to work just yet. He asks her to walk with him to the places she has been to and in an alley they find it lying on the ground. As they make their way back to the street where they met, the lady tells him that her name is Mary Maximus, the daughter of Tom Maximus.
Issac watches her as she sits in a black Mercedes and waves him good bye. Issac is under her spell, that day he couldn¡¯t even work properly. The next day she is there again and as he comes close to her, she sees him and smiles saying, ¡°I just...you know...wanted to say hello!¡± and so it begins. Numerous dates and dinners, long seaside walks and lots and lots of kissing. Finally the day arrives when they tie the knot¡but it all goes away in the end. The laughter, the kisses, the promises, they all have no meaning...just like the summer breeze¡she was gone, December 12, 2008 and she had taken Issac with her too.
How she died remains a mystery, a mystery only Issac has the answer to, but he tells nobody. So here he is now a shadow of his former self. Not the heroic detective he once was, his reputation died as well and now he just drinks beer, smokes his cigarettes and lives on his savings. No new cases are given to him and it¡¯s not like he gives a shit about it. After Mary¡¯s death he is no one.
His detective badge will be taken from him soon, but I still wonder if taking the badge will take his skills and intuition too, will it undo all that he did for Hawkesbay? Just as the digital clock reads 01:00, there is a faint knock on his office door. Issac who was heavily drunk before he fell asleep doesn¡¯t seem to notice it, the intensity of the knock gradually increases and soon turns into drums in Issac¡¯s head and he wakes up.
He opens his eyes frowning and screams, ¡°I swear I didn¡¯t order a Pizza! Get lost!¡± the knock stops for a moment but continues, giving him a headache. Issac gets up from the couch not knowing the state he is in and who is behind the god damn door. He opens the door and just when he opens his mouth to say something he freezes. A young girl dressed in sharp clothes with a folder in her hand looks at him and suddenly looks to the left, as if ignoring Issac.
Her face show signs of embarrassment. Issac scratches his belly and realizes something, ¡°Where are my pants?¡± his half opened eyes widen and he whispers, ¡°Shit! My bad¡± and closes the door as he dresses up. He opens the door again finally wearing something and the girl says, ¡°You are Mister Issac¡I presume?¡± To which Issac nods as he welcomes her inside his crummy office.
CHAPTER 2: SERENDIPITY
Issac shuts the door as the girl makes her way inside the office, looking at her expressions Issac says, ¡°What a dump! Right?¡± and smirks while the girl seems lost in her own thoughts. Issac goes to the other room and starts dusting off the chair, as he cleans the chair the girl starts looking at the news paper clippings. Issac silently observes her. She turns around and moves towards the photos her gaze moves from photo to photo; and it looks like she is trying to live through the moments, the moments when these photos were taken. She gives a faint smile as she sees the photo of Issac and Mary.
Issac calls out to her, ¡°The chair is clean let¡¯s talk in the other room!¡± Issac sits on the couch while Mary sits on the chair. ¡°So, you like the office space? I mean it is good enough, just needs a bit of cleaning. I don¡¯t have many people visiting me so that explains the garbage and dust, the price at which I am selling the office is reasonable enough right?¡± listening to all this the girl makes a confused face and seeing her like that Issac questions, ¡°You are not here to buy the office?¡± the girl grins at him and answers hesitatingly, ¡°No, I...I am a student at the police academy, and I want to be a successful detective like you. So I thought...I thought maybe I could get some experience before becoming one, you know¡learn from the best.¡±
Issac starts scratching his chin and replies, ¡°Well what if I say No?¡± the girl makes a worried face and says, ¡°Please Mr. Issac, I really want to be a detective. The student loans...and the expectations of my family, it would be good if just for once someone would help me!¡± Issac listens to her and still isn¡¯t sure what he should tell the young girl. Issac hasn¡¯t been assigned a case by the department in a year and even if they did sent him some cases he would never have taken them.
He drops his head and says, ¡°Look, what was your name?¡± the girl replies, ¡°It¡¯s Anna...Anna John.¡± Issac continues, ¡°Look Anna, I haven¡¯t been sent a case by the department in a whole year, and even if they did I wouldn¡¯t have accepted, because I just don¡¯t want to do this anymore. I just want to sleep, smoke and drink till I am dead alright. So I really can¡¯t help you here.¡±
Anna¡¯s face shows the disappointment she is feeling, her face turns red and it seems like she could cry any second, she musters up some strength and says, ¡°I had hoped that you would accept me as your assistant, to be a student of the great Issac Wolfe, what an honor it would have been, but you don¡¯t always get what you want right?¡± seeing her like this Issac can¡¯t help but feel sad for the young girl, ¡°Hey! Cheer up, I know you¡¯ll be a better detective than me...I¡¯m sure, now why don¡¯t I treat you to pancakes and coffee, they are from my favorite place Grab-a-Grub!¡±
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Anna gives off a sigh as she nods and gets up from the chair. They both make their way to Grab-a-Grub, Issac enters the diner and shouts, ¡°The usual Lucy, Pancakes and coffee and make it 2 this time!¡± as they wait for their order to arrive Issac lights a cigarette and takes slow puffs, while Anna looks at the street from the window. ¡°If you are assigned a case Mr. Issac, will you make me your assistant, let¡¯s suppose you go home and there is a case file at your door will you?¡± Anna questions as Lucy keeps their order at the table and says, ¡°You need anything else you do tell me!¡±
Issac takes a bite of the pancake and nods. ¡°If there is a new case...I¡¯ll definitely make you my assistant, why don¡¯t you give me your number!¡± As Anna writes her number on a piece of paper, Issac thinks if what she said would really happen. If he gets a case now, will he be able to solve it? His life has been a complete disaster after Mary died. No one had tried to understand why Issac turned into a loser and no one tried to understand why he just gave up on everything.
Feeling alone after her death, Issac had also pushed his friends aside, he remembered Jeff and Marcus his friends in the department. Their training days and the day they passed the academy together. The information they provided and how they always had his back...it all felt like a lifetime ago. He reminisced the good old days as he sipped his coffee, and deep down inside he secretly hoped that he would get a case.
After finishing their pancakes, Issac looked at the files and papers that Anna brought with her. The papers showed her academy performance and her grades throughout school. She was a gifted and excellent student. Her field tests were also phenomenal and Issac was very much impressed. ¡°Well...you have all the qualities to make you a great detective. Good luck for the future Anna!¡± Issac said as he returned her the folder.
As they stepped outside Issac waved Anna goodbye and went back to his office. Entering his office building he sees his car which is just like his office, covered in trash and dust. Someone had written in the dust on the windshield, ¡°Fuck you!¡± and made a smiley face as well. Seeing it, Issac shouts, ¡°Yea? Fuck you too buddy!¡± and goes inside the building. He opens his office door and lays down on his couch, he notices that his Television subscription has expired and he has no beer left. He shouts, ¡°Fuck my life...Oh! It is already fucked up!¡±
As he gets up to get himself some beer someone knocks at his door. ¡°Package delivery for Mr. Issac Wolfe!¡± Issac opens the door and receives a package sent to him by Jeff. The package has the seal of the Hawkesbay Police Department and it reads, ¡°Urgent!¡± written with red marker. Issac opens the package and sees some documents; the documents report that some researchers and scientists working at MSAT (Maximus Science and Technology) are reported missing and one of them was found dead this morning.
There are 4 missing scientists and 1 found dead, the case is of high priority and Issac needs to accept it and work on solving it ASAP. At the end of the file there is a small note from Jeff reading, ¡°One last time partner, I know you don¡¯t believe in yourself but I do...take this case and do not disappoint me again!¡± Reading the note and going through the file once more Issac nods his head sideways and says, ¡°Well...looks like I¡¯m gonna need an assistant! Time to get off my ass and do something!¡±
CHAPTER 3: A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE
¡°THE YEAR 2045¡±
¡°Time is everywhere; it is an invisible thread that is attached to us all, silently watching us throughout our lives, seeing our beauty and ugliness, seeing our secrets and lies, our truths and our sins. We think we have enslaved it on our walls and on our wrists, but in reality we are all slaves of time. We wake up and sleep when the time is right, go to work, spend time with loved ones, but in reality time is spending us all, killing us a little every second and bringing us closer and closer to death every minute, so can it be controlled? Can we retaliate and become the masters? Can we waste time instead of time wasting us? This is what I intend to find out. I am Mary Maximus head of Science department at MSAT and this is the first audio log of many more to come!¡±
After she is done listening to the audio log the young girl commands her computer to shutdown as she lays in her bed. The wrist watch on her right wrist reads 6:30 A.M. and she gets up from her bed lazily. The room is spacious and comfortable, a big window in front of her bed is blackened, the girl goes towards the window and says, ¡°Opacity 20%¡± and now the window lets the sunlight pierce her room.
She looks at the hover monorail as it passes through the city and decides to get ready for the day. The bathroom is completely automated, she steps inside the shower and the shower system says, ¡°Judging today¡¯s weather, I suggest a warm shower of 20¡ãC¡±
But the girl manually selects 15¡ãC and cleans herself. She brushes her teeth, dries her hair and wears her office clothes. She puts on her favorite cologne and goes outside her room. She makes her way to the living room and sees her brother and her parents already at the table having breakfast.
Everyone greets her as she sits on her chair and a robot labeled; ¡°Chef-20X¡± serves her French omelet and coffee. Her father is already done with his breakfast; he kisses her mother on the head and goes to the garden behind the living room. Her brother cleans his lips with a napkin as he finishes his coffee and says, ¡°Turn on and go to Channel 14 News¡± the Television turns on and shows Channel 14 News.
¡°In other news the young and handsome Reed Maximus is called by the Mayor and the city council to receive the Titan of Hawkesbay Award for making Hawkesbay a true titan of technology and science. From the hover monorail to the robots that have made life so easy, here is what he had to say in yesterday¡¯s interview¡±
The news channel shows the interview footage, ¡°I think I still have a lot to do, there is this hunger in me. This need of doing more and more, I haven¡¯t yet found something which fulfills this need of mine, but to the people of Hawkesbay, we at MSAT are working hard every day to make your lives more easy and enjoyable!¡±
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After his interview footage is over he orders the Television to turn off and just as he gets up from his chair the girl says, ¡°Not bad brother. I mean it¡¯s hard to believe you are the same guy who gave that interview! How do you wear so many faces? Boss face for MSAT, Angel face for News and bitch face for the house!?¡± before he could give her a reply their mother intervenes, ¡°Reed, please we all know how Anna is, right? She likes to pull your leg. Let¡¯s go to work together, and Anna please don¡¯t be late we need your help on that advanced android we are developing.¡±
Anna nods at her mother and starts devouring her omelet. Before Reed and his mother enter the garage to leave for work Reed¡¯s father shouts, ¡°Mary, you remember right? The date today? I¡¯ll be painting in the garden and I¡¯ll wait impatiently for you to come back from work!¡± Anna whistles at that and says, ¡°Nice one Mr. Peter, I never believed in true love but seeing you both, gosh when will I find someone!¡±
Mary and Peter look at her with a faint smile and then shyly look at each other. ¡°Why don¡¯t we go to the mental asylum, you can pick anyone you want!¡± Reed mocks Anna to which Anna says, ¡°Don¡¯t forget ¡®Titan of Hawkesbay¡¯, God it¡¯s so cringe worthy. We build; you market and sell, so if I am dumb you are dumber!¡±
Reed replies, ¡°Okay you win smart mouth, now hurry up or I¡¯m going to leave you!¡± Anna finishes her coffee and orders the Chef-20X to clean up. As they all leave for work Peter waves them all good bye and goes inside the house. Reaching Maximus tower, Mary and Anna both split up and move to their designated research floors, where as Reed meets with his assistant and they both ride the elevator to his office at the top of the tower.
Reed¡¯s assistant Jane tells him his meeting schedule, in the end she says, ¡°A Mr. Hunter is waiting to meet you sir¡± when Reed hears this, his facial expressions change and he asks his assistant to reschedule all other meetings to a later time. Reed sits on his chair and allows Hunter inside his office.
Reed: Let Mr. Hunter enter.
Hunter enters his office and has a strange look on his face, he looks very tired and it seems like he hasn¡¯t slept in a long time. Reed looks at him and smiles.
Reed: So, they don¡¯t have it yet, and they are weak in technology as well! Am I right?
Hunter sits on a sofa at the left of Reed¡¯s desk; he pours himself some whiskey and sips it.
Hunter: Yes sir, you were right. Don¡¯t worry the teams are doing as you have instructed, we will get what you desire, but we don¡¯t know in how much time!
Hearing this Reed¡¯s smile widens, he strokes his right cheek with his index finger
Reed: And you haven¡¯t told anyone about this, right? This is a matter of utmost discretion, and if I find out that someone else knows about all this. You know the consequences right?
Hunter takes a last sip, as his glass empties and looks at Reed with a certain fear but later replies confidently.
Hunter: Yes, I know, I know what I signed up for. So I¡¯ll meet you again soon, hopefully I will have more things to say.
As Hunter starts walking towards the door to exit, Reed calls him from the back.
Reed: Visit Dr. Mark at his home before going back alright? You must take care of yourself too Hunter, a dead soldier isn¡¯t worth much to anyone! This isn¡¯t my first time but you are new to all this!¡±
Hunter nods and exits the room. As he leaves Reed opens his drawer and takes out a file and opens it up, the front page of the file reads ¡°Project: Annex¡± Reed starts going through the pages and says to himself, ¡°A lot of work is required, a lot of sacrifices, but then again I never really liked small projects. Power, I have it here but I¡¯ll have power everywhere soon. I must broaden my vision, and think of more than just Hawkesbay!¡±
¡°BACK IN 2010¡±
Issac picks his phone and dials Anna¡¯s number, ¡°Well, the girl is going to be so mad with happiness when I tell her about the case. Although I hate MSAT, this case; maybe I can finally leave my past and move forward with my life!¡± Issac says to himself.
CHAPTER 4: WELCOME BACK
Anna picks up Issac¡¯s call, ¡°Anna? This is Mr. Issac, the detective. It is going to sound weird but, I got a case to work on. I¡¯ll need your help as well, so why don¡¯t you come to the office immediately!¡± hearing this Anna is overwhelmed with happiness and replies in a jolly tone, ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way, see you in a bit!¡± within a few minutes Anna knocks at the office door.
Issac lets her in and before he discusses the case with her Issac lays down some rules that she must follow if she has to learn from him. ¡°One: always let me take point when we have to investigate a place. Two: before getting to a conclusion tell all your findings and concerns to me. Three: you are a student under me so don¡¯t try to become my teacher, listen to me and follow what I tell you. Agreed?¡± Anna nods rapidly as Issac opens up the files of the case.
¡°Four scientists that work for MSAT are reported missing and one of them is dead, come here, look at their profiles and tell me what you can gather from them.¡± Issac gives Anna some space on the couch. She sits on it and starts going through the files while Issac decides to clean up some mess. After she is done analyzing the file she calls out, ¡°Mr. Issac, I am done!¡±
Issac replies, ¡°Just call me Issac, so what have you gathered so far from the files?¡± Anna starts to explain, ¡°So, first off it is pretty obvious that these scientists work for MSAT but none of them have visited MSAT for a long time. Here, take a look at the last time they reported back to MSAT.¡± Anna lays all five profile papers and points towards the last contact dates.
She continues, ¡°Secondly, if this was just a kidnapping of MSAT employees, why would the kidnapper take scientists that are working on the same project. I assume this is all planned and there is someone who is interested in finding out more about this project. Maybe someone doesn¡¯t want their project to be completed, that¡¯s all I could gather!¡±
Listening to her findings Issac is impressed and answers, ¡°Good start Anna, but here are some things that you missed. The scientist who was found dead, he was aged the most out of the four; also all of these scientists haven¡¯t checked back at MSAT in a long time. So even if they were working on a project, MSAT wouldn¡¯t have known which is good and bad news.¡±
¡°Good news because I won¡¯t have to go to Maximus Tower to investigate, bad news because if we don¡¯t find them all soon, we won¡¯t know what they were working on. We must be cautious too. The kidnapper might be luring us to himself.¡± Let¡¯s go to the HPD (Hawkesbay Police Department) headquarters.¡±
¡°There are a few people I must meet and we can see the evidence from the crime scene of the killed scientist too.¡± Issac and Anna leave the office building and stand near Issac¡¯s dusty car. Issac looks at the car and says, ¡°I¡¯ll fix her up, let¡¯s take a cab for today.¡± Anna nods in return. Issac calls a cab and they reach the headquarters.
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The headquarters is a clean but busy building, there are many officers on the phone, some taking emergency calls, while others are eating donuts, some officers are locking trouble makers while others are enjoying off time in the games room. Issac stops near a tidy desk; the name plate reads Jeffery Jackson. A slightly fat man is sitting on his chair and going through different files, unaware that Issac is staring at him.
¡°Yo! Jeff, you gonna treat me like a stranger now?¡± Issac says. Jeff looks at him and smiles, ¡°You motherfucker, you haven¡¯t called in a year and you have the audacity to make me look like a wrong doer?¡± Jeff leaves his chair and hugs Issac. ¡°Good to see ya too man!¡± Issac replies. He introduces Anna to Jeff.
He tells Jeff that Anna was partly responsible for him taking the case. ¡°Thank you very much Ms. Anna, I don¡¯t know how you will put up with him, but he is a fine fucking detective that¡¯s for sure!¡± Anna smiles and shakes her head.
¡°So Jeff, show us the victim and the evidence you guys collected!¡± Issac says. Jeff takes them to the autopsy room at the second floor of the headquarters. Inside, the dead body of the scientist is placed on an examination bed. Near the bed is a table with all the evidence placed inside plastic bags.
¡°So here lies Mister Sebastian Lowe¡± Jeff says. Issac goes to the evidence table and looks at various things from the crime scene, while Anna is stunned and keeps staring at the body. Issac goes near Anna and says, ¡°It¡¯s alright, I know this is your first day, and seeing a dead body this early isn¡¯t good for your morale, but we must do what we have to. Let me take a look at the dead body, why don¡¯t you take a look at the evidence.¡±
Jeff calls for the doctor who did the autopsy and leaves the room. Issac looks at the body and finds nothing of interest, he talks to the doctor, ¡°So, he wasn¡¯t killed? There are no signs of struggle, no wounds on his body.¡± listening to Issac the doctor replies, ¡°Yes, it is very strange. At first I thought maybe he was poisoned, but the blood samples confirm he wasn¡¯t. He didn¡¯t suffer a stroke or a heart attack either. Here is an interesting thing though; his MRI scans show that his brain wasn¡¯t stable.¡±
Issac replies, ¡°Stable as in was he crazy?¡± the doctor nods and says, ¡°Yes his brain shows instability like that of a person going crazy slowly!¡±
While they both converse Anna goes through all the objects collected from the crime scene and finds nothing of interest. Only that the second hand of the watch keeps twitching without moving forward. She finds it a little interesting and calls out, ¡°Issac look at this! The second hand is twitching.¡± Issac takes a look at the watch and says, ¡°Could be a faulty watch, nothing of use here!¡±
Anna keeps the watch on the table and they both move out to see Jeff once again. Issac talks to Jeff as Anna drinks some water from the break room. After he is done Issac and Anna leave the headquarters and Issac calls for a cab. Issac asks for Anna¡¯s address and she replies, ¡°Ford Avenue, near the 24/7 Mart¡± when the cab reaches the destination she gets out of the cab and points to an apartment building, ¡°I live here, on the 5th floor, room 507. Thanks for the cab ride, I hope I helped today!¡±
Issac smiles and says, ¡°Yeah you did, see you tomorrow at the office at 7 A.M. sharp, don¡¯t be late!¡± as Issac leaves her Anna let¡¯s off a huge sigh and enters her apartment building. She takes the elevator to her floor and opens her apartment. She lays down on her bed and says, ¡°Shit! This is going to be harder than I thought, this guy is too good. I have to be very careful!¡± suddenly her watch starts to buzz she looks at it and it flashes a text warning, ¡°4 days left!¡± seeing it Anna¡¯s face shows signs of worry and she shouts, ¡°Fuck I don¡¯t have much time, I have to hurry!¡±
CHAPTER 5: KILLER NOT A KIDNAPPER
The next morning Anna sees Issac¡¯s car, it is washed and polished and looks nearly brand new. She moves up the stairs and reaches the office door. Hearing her knock Issac opens up the door and Anna comes in. She looks confused, as she enters the office. Issac looks at her and says, ¡°Cleaned it all up!¡± and smiles at her. All the mess in the office is taken care of, the floor is cleaned and mopped the files are in their respective cabinets and the photos on the wall are all cleaned up as well.
Issac looks at Anna for a brief few seconds and says, ¡°You don¡¯t talk much Anna, you only talk when needed. I find it¡well strange sometimes.¡± Anna takes notice of this and replies hastily, ¡°Why do you find it strange? I don¡¯t want to waste time talking about other stuff.¡± Issac nods and says, ¡°No, it¡¯s not a bad thing if that¡¯s what you think I meant. It¡¯s just that my intuition says that people are silent when they are hiding something. But, it¡¯s just intuition. It can be right or it can be wrong!¡± hearing this Anna says, ¡°Right, I¡¯ll keep that in mind. So should we start our work on finding the second scientist?¡±
Issac picks up a file and says, ¡°Here is everything we know about this guy. His name is Lee Ming, his address is mentioned and also his qualifications.¡± Anna nods as she looks at different sections of the file. Suddenly Issac¡¯s phone starts ringing, it¡¯s Jeff and after he is done talking to him Issac turns to Anna and says, ¡°Anna, Jeff just told me that Lee is dead. He needs us at the crime scene. Let¡¯s go¡± Anna whispers ¡°Shit¡± and gets up from the couch.
They both sit inside Issac¡¯s car and they reach the location of the crime scene. The body of Lee was found at an abandoned factory, as they drive closer and closer to the factory they can see a few police vehicles arriving too. Issac and Anna leave the car and head inside the factory, Jeff meets them both and gives them a small briefing, ¡°Few teenagers thought they could have some fun in this old abandoned factory, turns out it didn¡¯t go so well. One of them found Lee on the ground. The kids were terrified but they did the right thing, called the headquarters.¡±
Issac questions Jeff, ¡°The kids didn¡¯t touch any evidence did they?¡± Jeff answers, ¡°No, they barely had the guts to call us. Why don¡¯t you look around, see what you can find out!¡± Issac and Anna take gloves from an officer and move towards the dead body. Issac searches his pockets but doesn¡¯t find anything, there is nothing on the ground near him, he stands in front of the body and pretends that he shot Lee and starts moving away from the body.
He keeps moving till he reaches the front gate of the factory, there in the mud he finds some boot prints and near the wired fence he finds a torn piece of cloth black in color. He calls Anna and asks her if she found something inside the factory while he was outside. Anna tells Issac that she saw Lee¡¯s watch and it behaved in the same way Sebastian¡¯s watch did. ¡°So let¡¯s believe that Sebastian¡¯s watch was broken, but Lee¡¯s watch what about that?¡± Anna questions.
¡°It¡¯s no coincidence, but I still don¡¯t know how we can connect that to their deaths or even the kidnapper.¡± Anna speaks out, ¡°What if we are wrong, I mean what if there is no kidnapper and only a killer? What if these scientists are hiding and this killer is finding and killing them?¡± Issac listens to her and starts thinking, after a few moments he replies, ¡°Yes, that could be a possibility, a kidnapper would want ransom, but no word from him or her at all. Good point Anna!¡±
He calls an officer to take pictures of the boot prints and run a search on them back at the headquarters. Issac and Anna go back to Jeff and Issac asks, ¡°What does MSAT say about all this?¡± Jeff clears his throat and replies, ¡°Glad you asked. The strange thing is they asked the other scientists that work there if they know these missing scientists, but no one does. They exist in their database, but no one knows who they are!¡±
Issac scratches his chin and says, ¡°You sure Tom isn¡¯t dirty? I mean maybe he is ordering his people to shut up, maybe they were working on something Tom doesn¡¯t want us to know?¡± Jeff shrugs and says, ¡°At this point we cannot say anything, we can assume but it won¡¯t make a difference!¡±
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Issac shares Anna¡¯s findings and thoughts with Jeff and he seems to agree with her too. ¡°Yes it is very much possible, they weren¡¯t kidnapped at all. They probably were hiding from the killer!¡±
¡°This killer is too perfect, uses no weapon, no poison, how does he or she kills them?¡± Issac replies to him, ¡°The killer is getting sloppy, left boot prints out in the mud. I want them analyzed and send the reports to my computer alright!¡± Jeff nods as Issac and Anna leave the crime scene. Issac takes Anna to Grab-a-Grub and orders pancakes with coffee again. As the order arrives he looks at her staring outside the window and says, ¡°The order just arrived!¡±
Anna looks at the pancakes and coffee and raises her eyebrows. Seeing her expressions Issac says, ¡°I¡¯m a man of habit, but next time you can order what you want. So tell me about yourself, your family, why you chose this field of work.¡± Anna hesitates a little and takes a sip of coffee, ¡°I have a wonderful family or that¡¯s what I thought anyways, my mother is a great woman and my father is a painter, I loved my brother. He meant the world to me, I mean yes we fought every now and then but he turned out to be an asshole, he went on a road from which no one comes back, he is not a good person. I want to stop people like him from hurting others, so that is why I want to become a detective!¡±
Anna takes a bite of the pancake and asks, ¡°What about you? Tell me about your wife, how you met and all that stuff!¡±
Issac drops his fork and looks out to the street, ¡°Mary was a teacher, she liked to teach small children about life, and she loved to see them smile. She loved kids.¡±
¡°I met her at that spot.¡± Issac points to the street, ¡°She was wearing a black gown and her brooch got lost, I decided to help her. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. She had this thing about her. I wanted her to be with me for eternity. Tom, her father; he didn¡¯t want me to marry her. He thought that she would be in danger¡you know the nature of my work. I really couldn¡¯t blame him for being that way. Anyways, I married and life was beautiful with her by my side until...until¡¡±
Anna sees Issac¡¯s expression change, she sees tears dropping from his face and tries to comfort him, ¡°It¡¯s alright Mr. Issac, I¡¯m sorry I brought it up. I didn¡¯t mean to hurt you, I am really sorry!¡± Issac wipes away his tears and lights up a cigarette. He takes a puff and says, ¡°It¡¯s okay, at least someone wants to talk about it, you know it¡¯s really okay to cry sometimes. Nothing wrong about it really! Now finish up we have to go through the other missing scientist files, maybe we can find the next one before the killer does!¡±
When they reach the office Issac goes to his computer and sees the analyzed reports of the boot prints. The report says that the boots are of a male aged 24 to 25, the mud should have stuck in the sole of the boots, and if next time the killer uses them there would be some residue of the mud in the area.
He reads the reports, while Anna is working to pinpoint the locations of the remaining scientists. She is on the couch moving from file to file, when Issac¡¯s phone rings and she starts eavesdropping on the call. She appears to be looking at the files but her ears are fixed on Issac¡¯s call. ¡°Nice one man, I¡¯ll write the addresses down, I¡¯ll check the places, yea, keep this a secret alright, no chatter of this on the radio, yea.¡± then Issac whispers, ¡°No, won¡¯t tell her either, keeping it between us!¡± but Anna hears it all.
A few moments after the call, Anna goes back to Issac and keeps the files on his desk. She notices the addresses written with a red pen on a sticky note. Issac looks at her and says, ¡°All done for the day? Any idea where the next scientist might be?¡± Anna makes a disappointing face and says, ¡°No, this is a tough case!¡± Issac laughs and says, ¡°Yes, it is. I mean a killer that leaves very less residue of his existence at the crime scene, if it was up to me I would¡¯ve taken an easier case, but this one is important and I guess it¡¯s just your luck getting a hard first case. Alright let me drop you home.¡±
As Issac gets up from his chair to grab his coat which is on the file cabinets, Anna moves her watch over the sticky note quickly. Issac doesn¡¯t notice her action and they both move outside to the car. Issac drops Anna near her apartment building and waves her good bye. As she sees Issac¡¯s car move away from her, she rushes to her apartment and sits on the bed.
She touches her watch and the watch emits a hologram saying, ¡°Select a function or say it¡¯s name¡± Anna says, ¡°Optical sensor history¡± and a grid opens up, she selects the most recent entry and sees the addresses. She then selects health monitoring and sees her heart rate, obesity levels, blood pressure and finally a field showing ¡°Chronoton Stability: 55%¡±, she selects it and the watch shows her ¡°Days before suffering Time Dementia: 3 days left¡±, the 3 days left is written in red.
Anna gets up from the bed and starts moving in her room nervously, ¡°I¡I¡have to do it! It can blow my cover, but¡ but Fuck!¡± she takes a few deep breaths and gets a bit relaxed. She opens up her wardrobe and takes out a black colored hood, black pants, heavy boots and a weird mask. She changes her clothes and wears the mask which also acts as a voice changer, in a robotic voice she says, ¡°Gotta finish the job, regardless of the consequences, I have no time left!¡±
CHAPTER 6: SCARS OF FAILURE
¡°THE YEAR 2033¡±
A young Mary Maximus is working on her theory, a theory she thinks could change the way humans look at time. She is trying to do the impossible. She is trying to break from the captivity of time. She is tired but hopeful, she has tried countless times to find the link of the human body with time, but she has failed always.
She has almost given up when she remembers something, her professor¡¯s words repeat in her head, ¡°Even the complex of problems can be solved if the first steps are correct, focus on them and the rest will unravel itself!¡± Mary scratches everything off and shreds all the research, ¡°Fuck! Guess I¡¯ll start again. I¡¯ll get it done this time, I¡¯m fucking sure!¡± This time instead of repeating the same first steps she tries to do something different.
She starts looking towards the human body, through the advanced microscope of her time she scans a colleague, she can see her organs and the tissues that make them, she zooms in further and the microscope takes time to break down the tissue to a cellular level. Zooming in further she sees the DNA, she zooms in even more till the only thing visible are atoms, the fundamental blocks that we are made of, when she zooms in even more, she sees something strange.
Yes, there are protons and electrons revolving the nucleus, but zooming in even more she discovers a strange particle. The particle is a part of almost every atom in her body. She calculates the age of the particle, subtracting its age with the age of her colleague, the difference in minutes is 394200 which are approximately 9 months.
This particle came into existence when her colleague was inside her mother¡¯s womb, when she was merely a particle. Mary gasps in awe and says, ¡°This particle was the start of your time!¡± she analyzes it further to find out its quality and strength. The reports showed that her particle¡¯s strength was 75%, next she scanned someone older than her colleague.
She called the janitor Ruben who was pretty old. She scanned him and his particle¡¯s strength was 35%. Mary deduced that the particle¡¯s strength is different for different people. She researched further and named this particle ¡°Chronoton¡± the particle of time. Over the years Mary did extensive research on how to manipulate the chronotons inside a person, many volunteers died and it had started affecting her morale. People were promised wealth in return for their bodies for research, but this was a heavy burden to bear for her. After many failed experiments finally in the year 2035 Mary found out a way to travel in time.
She built a device called the chronoton enhancer, one step at a time she made people travel in time, sometimes minutes in the past, sometimes hours and back to their current time again. They were ordered not to change anything from the past because it would disturb the flow of time and create unseen paradoxes, but things weren¡¯t so simple.
When the people who traveled in time came back, they would suffer from different delusions. They would often be confused of what time they are from, some even lost their memories. Mary overlooked this and decided to send people back 10 or 20 years for longer duration. They were instructed to return after a specific amount of days but none of them had returned.
A team was sent to find them and when they returned with their bodies Mary watched in horror. Their chronoton structure was completely destroyed, because their chronotons were not preserved. One of them was still alive but he was completely out of his mind. He had tried to manipulate time, but time had manipulated him. He had lost his memories and talked gibberish, not knowing who he was and what was going on. Mary and her team watched in horror as he suffered for their gains. When Mary couldn¡¯t see him in that state anymore she gave him a pill that would put him out of misery.
When she went back home she saw herself in the mirror. She questioned herself, ¡°What have I become? Why can¡¯t I stop, sacrifices have to be made but in this case too many have been made. Maybe I am making mistakes because it¡¯s not my life on the line! Thinking that these people are expendable!¡±
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After that day Mary decided that she will keep on working till every possible circumstance has been looked at, every little calculation is made and every scenario accounted for, the method of trial and error had already taken too many lives. She worked hard to find a way to stabilize the chronotons and keep them in their original state for a longer duration. She made improvements to the chronoton enhancer making it more advanced and refining it day by day.
She added features to the enhancer, now it allowed you to travel to a specific place at a specific time. It also stabilized your chronotons and showed you the time frame and percentage of the stability. Her research was going well and the best part was no one was dying anymore, her morality was intact and she was moving forward. Until one day she realized that she had missed something, there were different universes out there, parallel universes. Universes where some things are different and some things are the same.
She started working on finding as many parallel universes as possible, charting them out and connecting them together on a map. Measuring their resonating frequencies which were just a little different from her universe, but there was a universe which had a completely different frequency. She kept it on top of her parallel universe chart and named it ¡°P: ?¡±
Years went by and a lot of things changed, her father Tom died leaving the company to her. Her children grew up, Reed was a promising business man and took the seat of the owner of the company from Mary. Since she was only interested in research rather than marketing and selling. Reed turned MSAT into a technology giant. Anna followed the footsteps of her mother and headed many projects that changed the landscape of technology for Hawkesbay and the world.
Mary kept working on her project secretly, now with even more intensity because her father was no more. She wanted to say so much to him, she wanted to tell him that she loved him, but this research had severed their relation and he had died alone with no one around him. Finally, the day came when everything was taken care of. Mary had found a way to stabilize the chronotons for 20 days, she had reached her limit and decided that she will personally travel to different universes at different times and watch how those universes were different than hers.
She traveled numerous times, seeing amazing changes in all the universes. In some universe Anna decided to be a book writer, in some Reed became an actor, Peter was a famous cook in one universe. Yes, there were differences in these universes, but there were some constants too. Like her father¡¯s death, in all these universes her father always died on 4 March, 2040 and in all these universes Mary was always a scientist, although she never really decided to work on time travel in those universes.
Only one universe remained, the one at the top ¡°P: ?¡± Mary saw it in fear, with uncertainty in her heart she decided to travel to it. She sets the year to 2006, setting her destination to an alley near Maximus tower. She hits the initiate button and warps through time and teleports to the alley. She wears her scarf and covers her face, roaming around the tower, looking at people doing their daily chores, cars with wheels which were ancient in her time. Smoke from chimneys, kids playing on the streets.
She stops at the front door of Maximus tower and sees a black Mercedes arrive, out steps Mary of this universe and goes inside the tower. She finds her peculiar, wearing a black gown which Mary would have never worn. Her fashion sense was different from hers. She decides to spy on her to know more about her. Mary finds out that in this universe, she is not a scientist; she is a kindergarten teacher. Everything in this Mary is different. She follows Mary to Grab-a-Grub there she sees her meet a man, they both smile at each other and kiss as they move towards the diner.
Mary seeing this from a distance says to herself, ¡°Well, at least she has a handsome boyfriend! Although I really don¡¯t know who he is.¡± seeing enough of this universe, she decided to leave and upon return to her universe changes the name of this universe to ¡°P:V01D¡± a universe that is void. A universe with no connection to hers and where everything is so much different than other universes.
She decides to travel one last time to the day her father died, she arrives hours before he passed away. On the hospital bed her father sleeps peacefully and she calls out, ¡°Dad? It¡¯s me!¡± Tom wakes up and sees Mary standing next to him. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry dad, I never thought about you! Never spent time with you!¡± tears start falling from her eyes and she starts sobbing. Tom smiles at her and says, ¡°Mary, my love, you look so old, so tired. I never wanted you to work so hard, but I am proud of what you have become!¡±
Mary tells him that she is from the future and informs him of her accomplishments. Tom smiles a little but then with fear in his eyes says, ¡°I am proud, but one should not meddle with time. Mary, you have the power of undoing reality as we know it. What if this power was to fall in the wrong hands? The aftermath of changing the smallest of details could be catastrophic not only for this world, but many more. Do not play God my daughter!¡± hearing her father¡¯s warnings something changes in her. She starts to realize that if time travel was introduced it would plunge it into chaos. Not everyone is good at heart, not everyone would time travel for good. She takes a deep breath and makes up her mind.
When she returns to her time, she asks her team to destroy all their research and all records of the things they did. When all the calculations and blueprints were shredded and burnt and all the computers wiped and destroyed, she asked her team to quit their jobs and settle for pension pay which was a way of making sure that they didn¡¯t tell anyone about the things they had done. She closes the research wing doors and marks it for termination. As the termination sequence begins she watches the research wing in fire and says ,¡±As humans we corrupt everything we build, but time, it must not be corrupted. No one should wield this power not even me!¡±
CHAPTER 7: THE KILLER
After dropping off Anna, Issac drives to Grab-a-Grub and orders beacon and sausages with bread. Lucy keeps his food at his table and asks, ¡°So, who was that young broad? You are dating her or something?¡± Issac starts laughing at this and replies, ¡°No Lucy, she is a student at the police academy, wants to become a detective. She just wants to learn from me.¡± Lucy listens to his answer and says, ¡°Well dating or not, her presence surely has changed you! It¡¯s good to serve detective Issac!¡±
Lucy leaves him and Issac starts eating his dinner. After he is done, he pays for the dinner and leaves the diner. He sits in his car and looks at the addresses, looking at them his expressions change. He calls Jeff, ¡°Alright Jeff I¡¯m gonna head to the addresses, you know scope out the places and see if there is something interesting or strange.¡± Jeff tells him to be careful and watch himself. Issac says ¡°Okay¡± and cuts the phone call. The first address is 20 minutes from his location, he uses the maps application on his phone for directions.
Once Issac arrives he sees an apartment building, he reads the first address again and sees the floor and apartment number. It reads ¡°Floor 5, 509¡±, as he sees this Issac exits his car and goes inside the building. He pushes the button to call the elevator, as it reaches ground floor Issac puts his hand on his gun, the elevator doors open and it is vacant.
He decides to take the stairs, he checks floor to floor and finds no disturbances. Finally, he reaches the 5th floor and starts moving towards room 509. He stops at the door and before he could ring the bell he hears a conversation from inside the room. He hears a woman pleading to someone, ¡°Please, I¡¯ll stop, I promise, I won¡¯t tell anybody, I¡¯ll just vanish, please don¡¯t do it!¡± as soon as Issac hears this he whispers, ¡°Got you fucker!¡± and kicks open the door.
The loud bang surprises the killer and the scientist and they both look at Issac as he screams, ¡°Freeze! Detective Issac Wolfe, drop your weapon scum bag, there is no way out!¡± The killer is dressed in all black clothes, and is wearing a strange mask to cover his face. ¡°Caught you in the act asshole, just wait till my backup arrives!¡± Issac says. The killer speaks in a robotic voice, ¡°You have no idea what is going on detective!¡± as Issac moves closer and closer to the killer. He takes out the handcuffs and holds the killer¡¯s hands.
In an instant the killer touches Issac¡¯s left hand and says, ¡°Start now!¡± something strange starts happening to Issac¡¯s body. He freezes in one place, he sees everything but he cannot move at all. It¡¯s like he is anchored to the place he is standing on and his body is turned to stone. He tries his hardest to move but it¡¯s of no use. The killer breaks the handcuffs and looks at the scientist who is looking at him with wide open eyes. The scientist screams, ¡°No, no! I don¡¯t want to die like this!¡±
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Issac watches everything but he cannot move a muscle. The killer says, ¡°You brought this upon yourself, do not become God, do not meddle with time!¡± saying this he takes out a tiny device and points it to the scientist. In a matter of minutes the scientist starts talking gibberish, talking of things that don¡¯t make sense, she seems like she is going mad. After the killer is done with her he focuses on Issac.
He comes closer to Issac and says, ¡°Time to go to the next scientist detective, I must say you are very clever and sharp, you almost had me tonight¡almost! We will meet again I¡¯m sure. Don¡¯t be surprised as I leave, your tiny mind cannot comprehend why and how all this happened!¡±
Issac sees the killer raising his right wrist as if he is looking at the time. After a few moments he sees a bright flash of light and when the light is gone the killer seems to have vanished as well. Issac is dazed by the light and everything around him becomes blurry. After a few moments his vision returns to normal and he looks at the scientist. He sees her slowly losing her sanity and after a few minutes she just lies on the ground and closes her eyes saying, ¡°I love you Jenny, mommy loves you!¡±
A few moments later the effect of whatever the killer did to Issac wither away and he moves again. He says, ¡°What the fuck just happened, how the fuck...what is going on here?¡± He moves towards the scientist and checks her vitals. She had died, couple minutes later his backup arrives. Four police officers who are accompanied by Jeff.
They all see in shock as Issac sits near the dead body, he looks at them and says, ¡°I had him Jeff, but I don¡¯t know what he did to me! I was frozen, like I couldn¡¯t move a muscle. He had a device which made the scientist go mad. In a few minutes she just died and the killer, he just fucking vanished, like¡like fucking magic or something!¡± Jeff sees Issac in a shocked state and doesn¡¯t take the things he said seriously. He replies, ¡°It¡¯s alright Issac I know the death of anyone is a hard sight to see, I know you tried and did your best!¡± Issac looks at Jeff in anger and says, ¡°No you idiot, I didn¡¯t make it all up because of stress, this is exactly how it happened!¡±
Suddenly Jeff¡¯s transceiver starts to beep and he answers it. Lincoln Street, near an alley opposite to House 770, all units respond ASAP!¡± Issac looks at the second address and it says ¡°Lincoln Street, House 770¡±. Issac screams, ¡°Fuck this man! I had him, but it¡¯s Lincoln Street it is 30 minutes away from here, and the killer was just here 10 minutes ago. How the fuck did he get there so fast? Unless there is a second killer, but if that¡¯s the case where the fuck did this one go?¡±
Jeff calls for forensics team and an ambulance at the current location and decides to go to the second location himself. He pats Issac on the shoulder and says, ¡°We¡¯ll get him or them, just take it easy alright. Call Anna she¡¯ll help you here while I check out the 2nd location, meet me there once you are done here!¡± Issac nods as he lights his cigarette.
Jeff leaves the apartment as Issac takes a few puffs and calls Anna to tell her about all that has happened. He dials her number and she picks up and replies in a sleepy voice, ¡°Hello, yes detective?¡± Issac says, ¡°Anna, I know it¡¯s late but we got a problem, the killer has killed 2 scientists, come to this address quick!¡± Anna replies with a voice full of concern, ¡°Oh my God! I¡¯ll come right away!¡± and then disconnects the call.
CHAPTER 8: THE TRAP
Issac puffs his cigarette as he waits for the forensic team, after a few moments the team arrives and they set up a crime scene. The photographs of all the small details are taken and the evidence is collected. Issac oversees the operations and waits for Anna. The elevator dings and Anna arrives at the floor. Issac looks at her coming towards him, he drops his cigarette and puts it out with his right foot.
Anna looks exhausted and sleepy, of course it was late night and Issac had awoken her from her sleep. Issac greets her and tells her everything that happened there and they both start analyzing the evidence. Issac starts looking around the room and asks Anna to go through the collected evidence. He looks at muddy footprints that are scattered throughout the room. He traces them back to the hallway and to the 6th floor stairs. Midway to the 6th floor the boot prints just disappear. It all looks strange. It¡¯s as if the killer just appeared on the stairs out of nowhere and then went to the victim¡¯s room.
Of course Issac knew the story of what happened after. He concludes by saying to himself, ¡°Yup, I¡¯m not crazy at all, he came here the same way he escaped, by whatever the fuck it was. Magic? No I don¡¯t think so, something strange is going on.¡± He goes back to the room and sees Anna looking at the evidence.
Anna calls Issac and points out the same thing again, the watch¡¯s second hand twitching back and forth, as Anna is telling this to Issac he asks Anna a strange question, ¡°Anna, where is your watch?¡± Anna¡¯s heart starts beating rapidly and the color of her face changes, but before she could respond he says, ¡°How stupid of me, I called you here on such a short notice, you must have forgotten. Sorry to get carried away like this!¡± Anna gives him a nervous smile and replies, ¡°It¡¯s fine, I mean the things you just went through, it¡¯s normal to be losing focus.¡±
A forensic team member tells Issac that it¡¯s the same boot print and mud that were found at the abandoned factory. ¡°So it¡¯s the same killer or killers, I¡¯m not sure yet, but soon it will be clear to us.¡± he says to Anna. When they both are done there Issac and Anna head to the second crime scene. Arriving at the crime scene Issac meets up with Jeff as Anna starts looking for clues in the alley. She calls Issac and points out the boot prints and the mud. The pattern and the mud are the same ones that they found at the apartment.
Issac is completely baffled by this and says, ¡°How¡How¡ How can someone....well of course, it¡¯s going to sound crazy but I think the killer can teleport somehow, it¡¯s not magic, it¡¯s teleportation!¡± Jeff listens to this and starts to laugh at him, ¡°Really man, I think you need some sleep Issac, you sure the killer didn¡¯t hit your head with something!¡±
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Issac looks at Jeff with anger and replies, ¡°Stop being an asshole Jeff, whatever I told is true, I don¡¯t care if you don¡¯t believe it!¡± Judging the seriousness in his voice Jeff stops laughing and says, ¡°Alright man, let¡¯s say the killer can teleport. How do you catch him then?¡± Issac starts scratching his chin and says, ¡°I know how, we¡¯ll discuss this later. For now we know that it¡¯s the same killer, we kinda know how he kills his victims and maybe he teleports. I also have a feeling that he is on a time limit.¡±
Hearing this Anna starts getting nervous and asks, ¡°Why do you think he is on a time limit?¡± he answers, ¡°The first 2 murders he left very small clues, he was a mystery, he was too careful. But now he left a ton of evidence, not to mention me catching him in the act would have seriously hurt his feelings. He will make even more mistakes now, you know haste makes waste! It¡¯s just a matter of time before we have him behind bars.¡±
Anna is impressed by his deduction and seeing her surprised Issac replies, ¡°Well, you wanted to learn from the best, so here is how you analyze things and get to a crucial conclusion!¡± Anna writes something on her notepad and smiles at Issac. The body and all the evidence is collected and Jeff heads back to the headquarters; while Issac and Anna sit in the car. Issac starts driving the car, he is en route to Anna¡¯s apartment building, suddenly Anna asks Issac, ¡°So how are we going to catch him?¡± and he answers, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, leave it to me, I think you should just relax for now.¡±
Issac stops the car near her apartment building and Anna gets out of the car. Dropping her off Issac drives back to his office and calls Jeff. ¡°Alright Jeff, I want you to listen carefully. I need you to spread a rumor inside the headquarters, that we know the location of the last scientist. There is an abandoned warehouse, I¡¯ll send you the address. Now, I want you to set up a two-way mirror in a room inside the warehouse and get me some shock rounds as well, set up cameras in and around the warehouse. Also set all the surveillance equipment in the room behind the mirror.¡±
Jeff writes everything requested by him and replies, ¡°It¡¯ll take time to get the equipment and set it, could take a whole day even.¡± Issac says to him, ¡°I know, take your time, but I promise you if this plan goes my way, we¡¯ll have this guy in no time!¡±
Anna takes a shower and wears new clothes, she starts eating her chow mien and while eating it she starts feeling uncomfortable. ¡°Today was not a good day at all, he is a damn fine detective, almost had me today!¡± she then touches her wrist watch and sees the ¡°2 days left¡± written in red. She finishes the chow mien and sighs, ¡°Alright, I have two days and just one scientist left, should be easy enough!¡± she uses her watch and enters the details of the last scientist, she also enters the chronoton age of the last scientist which she found out from the scientist she killed.
The watch shows her a ¡°searching¡± progress bar and the time to complete the scan is 1 day 3 hours. She smiles at this and says, ¡°Thank you Jeff for finding the other 2, it saved my time and now just one is left¡± saying this Anna looks at the photos of her family projected in the hologram, she sees Reed in the photo and says, ¡°Why are you doing all this? I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s you Reed, how could my brother be such a monster?¡±
CHAPTER 9: THE WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING
The sun rises up and Anna¡¯s alarm starts to blare, after moving a lot in her bed she finally gets pissed off and shouts, ¡°Fucking turn off!¡± the alarm shuts off and the watch says, ¡°Good morning Anna! Please cheer up, a bad morning can mean a bad day ahead!¡± Anna opens her eyes and scrolls through her watch, after looking at several health related stats she looks at the search bar and it is 15% complete.
There is still a long time for the search to show the location of the last scientist. Anna takes a deep breath and says to herself, ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s alright. I am right on schedule, the last one will show up too.¡± After giving herself that motivation she starts getting ready for work. She dresses up and sits on her bed, sitting idle she starts going back to her old days. Mary, Peter and Reed sitting at the table having breakfast. She was always the one who was late at the family gathering in the morning, oddly enough she misses Chef-20X as well. That mid-sized robot always knew what to server her, based on her mood.
This world is a lot more realistic and there are no fancy robots or gadgets to help you through your day. One thing is for sure though, the people here are more genuine than those back home. They care, of course people care in her time too, but only some show their true emotions, others just pretend.
Deep in her thoughts she gets distracted abruptly by a knock on the door. She gets nervous and takes the same gadget in her hand which she used to kill the scientists. She slowly approaches the door and asks softly, ¡°Who is it?¡±
¡°It¡¯s Issac, I just thought I would¡you know visit you so we can have breakfast together and go to work!¡± her heart beat starts to fluctuate and she gets even more nervous. Killing Issac is not the part of her plan. She cannot decide what to do and Issac is knocking at the door. ¡°Just a minute! I need to clean some stuff¡± she replies. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I mean when you entered my office it was a dump. I didn¡¯t clean it up, no need to be so formal for me!¡± hearing this she opens the door and Issac looks at her and the room. He gets shocked and raises his eyebrows and looks at Anna. She smiles nervously and says, ¡°What a dump right!¡± and they both start laughing out loud.
¡°Well, looks like we¡¯re gonna head to Grab-a-Grub. I mean your room isn¡¯t¡ahem¡ready enough for guests!¡± Anna chuckles as she grabs her purse, wears her watch and locks the room. After having breakfast they go to the office where a bunch of files are scattered on Issac¡¯s desk. Looking at them Anna asks, ¡°So, looks like you didn¡¯t sleep much last night, still finding clues about the killer?¡± Issac nods and says, ¡°In all of my years as a detective, I have never seen a case this complex.¡±
¡°It seems like the killer is from another world or something, the things he can do¡ the things I have seen that many wouldn¡¯t believe, you were right this case is a hard one. It¡¯s probably the worst starting case for a junior like you. But even if it is complex, I think the killer is still human. He makes mistakes like the rest of us and I intend to use this against him. It¡¯s only a matter of time-¡±
Issac doesn¡¯t complete his sentence, his phone starts to ring. The call is from Jeff who informs Issac that the warehouse is being prepared as he has instructed. He thanks Jeff and then turns to Anna. ¡°Okay Anna, so today we don¡¯t have much to do. Here are some old case files, what I want you to do, is to find out any similarities between the suspects of these cases with the current suspect. I don¡¯t mean in terms of appearance but in terms of planning and the way they operate. Consider this your assignment from me!¡±
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Anna takes the files and starts studying them. Issac likes the way Anna handles her work. He almost smiles a little seeing her so determined. ¡°Looks like the future of this detective is quite bright!¡± he says to himself. Maybe Anna was the one who was needed in his life to get him back on his feet. From the day she met Issac, he had only changed for the better. He was back on his feet and Anna had helped him immensely in the investigations. He went back to Anna and said, ¡°Thank you Anna! You know, I...I couldn¡¯t have asked for a better assistant!¡±
Anna smiles shyly and keeps herself focused on the files. The digital clock reads 10:00 P.M. she tells her findings to Issac and waits patiently for his response. He tells her that he is very much impressed and that she has passed this assignment with flying colors. Anna gets overwhelmed with happiness as he tells her that she could be his heir. They eat dinner at the Grab-and-Grub and then Issac drops her off to her apartment.
Anna rushes to her apartment and lies on her bed, she sighs and closes her eyes thinking of Issac¡¯s expectations and the trust he has on her. She is lost in her thought when her watch starts to beep. She touches it and a hologram opens up. It reads ¡°Police headquarters communication report¡± in the report she sees all the conversations that took place in the headquarters today. She says, ¡°Filter the conversations for the last scientist¡¯s location.¡± the results come in and she sees many conversations that reveal the location.
It is an abandoned warehouse at 42nd Industrial district. Now she is faced with a choice, she can either wait for her scan to complete which can take a few more hours or she can go to this location and end the scientist¡¯s life. She feels confident and decides to go to the location instead of waiting. She is almost excited that her goal would soon be achieved. She collects her gear, dresses up in all black clothes, wears her mask and enters the location of the warehouse on her watch.
In a few moments she is teleported to 42nd Industrial Street. She appears to be in an alley near the warehouse; she looks around and finds no one around the warehouse. She jumps over the wired fencing and moves towards the front gate of the warehouse.
Issac is bored looking at the different camera feeds on multiple screens; he has almost given up and feels that he has indeed wasted his time and resources in setting up this trap for the killer. Maybe the killer is clever enough not to fall for this trick and he was a fool to try this out. He decides to throw away his pessimism and says, ¡°Come on now, show up you clever asshole!¡± just as he says this, a motion sensor is tripped at the front gate.
Issac looks at the front gate camera feed and sees a hooded figure enter the warehouse. Issac smiles as he looks at the screen, ¡°Welcome to my play ground!¡± He tracks the killer carefully as he moves to different sections of the warehouse. The killer is very careful as he treads the warehouse. Issac waits for him to reach the room where he has set the trap. The killer enters a dark room and decides to light up his fancy torch; he looks at the two way mirror not knowing that Issac is watching him from the opposite side.
He seems to be confused, looking at his reflection in the mirror. Almost all the warehouse is empty, and there is no sign of any scientist. Issac senses his fear; he hears his gulp and pushes a button. Issac dazes the killer by turning the bright lights installed near the two way mirror. The lights turn on and the killer shouts in pain as the lights blind him.
Everything around the killer becomes hazy, he sees a silhouette of a man pointing a gun at him and his eyes grow wider. Issac shoots a shock round which hits the belly of the killer. The shock rounds deliver a current of 0.03 amperes and the killer feels it as he screams in agony and pain.
After a few moments his screaming stops and he falls to the ground. Issac swiftly ties his hands and legs with a Velcro strap and puts him on a chair. ¡°This is it! Let¡¯s see who is behind this mask!¡± Issac pulls the mask off with his hands and as his eyes gaze upon the killer¡¯s face, he feels as if he is hit by a train. It¡¯s shocking and he cannot believe his eyes, he shivers a little and starts to sweat, he feels anger and sadness, his head starts to spin and tears start forming in his eyes ¡°Oh my God! This can¡¯t be, the killer is¡ Anna?!¡±
CHAPTER 10: OBSESSION
¡°THE YEAR 2045¡±
The day is Sunday and Anna wakes up lazily from her bed, after taking a shower and dressing up she heads downstairs and sees Chef-20X delivering breakfast to Mary and Peter. She sits on her chair and Chef-20X gives her coffee, as she sips her coffee slowly, she looks at her parents. She wants someone to start a conversation of some kind, but after waiting enough she says, ¡°Where is Reed? I know he doesn¡¯t have a girlfriend and he doesn¡¯t know how to play any sport either.¡±
Mary chuckles and replies, ¡°The Company is his girlfriend, I don¡¯t know what has gotten into him these past few days. He spends so less time with all of us, he is working on a project. He says it¡¯s huge and will change the way we look at the world!¡± hearing this something slips out of Anna¡¯s mouth, ¡°He sounds just like you, when you wanted to travel in time!¡± Hearing this Mary stops drinking her coffee and looks at Anna with wide open eyes, ¡°What did you just say? Time¡travel? Where the hell did you see this? Who told you about this?¡±
Looking at her mother Anna gets a little scared and nervous. ¡°What the hell mom? Why are you looking at me like this? It¡¯s not like I killed someone. I was just snooping around the company¡¯s old database, you know¡looking for some projects which couldn¡¯t be completed in those times and I just found this audio recording of yours.
I mean yeah it was fragmented and damaged but I was able to restore it and listen to it!¡± Mary becomes louder and screams at her, ¡°Oh! So in other words you hacked into my archives and rebuilt a deleted audio log to get ideas about a new project? Is that right?¡± seeing her mother¡¯s reaction Anna gives a guilty look to her and stares at her beacon and eggs. Her silence was obviously a ¡®yes¡¯, seeing her reaction Peter tries to cool down Mary. He holds her hand and says, ¡°Come on now, she made a mistake right. As parents we have to forgive our children too. She¡¯s had enough of your scolding now.¡± he looks at Anna and says, ¡°Alright Anna, time to apologize to your mother.¡±
Anna says in a low voice, ¡°Sorry mom, I shouldn¡¯t have done that. Please forgive me.¡± Mary accepts her apology and they all eat their breakfast. Anna may have apologized to her mother, but the way she acted when Anna mentioned time travel still felt weird to her. At first when she had heard the audio log she didn¡¯t pay much attention to it, but seeing her mother¡¯s reaction Anna knew that her mother was hiding something from her and so the whole day Anna had dedicated herself into finding out more about time travel.
Sadly she had found nothing of interest and she eventually gave up. She still had a feeling that Mary was hiding something from her. She was obsessed with her mother¡¯s old research and time travel. She went out of her room to drink some water and saw that Mary¡¯s shoes were not there.
She asked her father where she went and he said, ¡°She just went to meet a friend of hers, she will be back soon.¡± It was certain that Anna wanted to know more about this from her and so she waited for her mother¡¯s return. Mary had traveled a few kilometers out of Hawkesbay and stopped at an old neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. She looks at the old house as she gets out of her car. She moves to the front porch and sees the garden with uneven grass and the dirty garage door. She reaches the front door and stands firm, she takes a deep breath and rings the doorbell.
A small camera comes out from the door and scans her face. After the scan is finished a voice from the camera says, ¡°Mister Mark has been informed that he has a visitor, please wait for his response.¡± A few moments later Mark sees Mary on his camera feed and goes to open the door and greet her. ¡°Mary Maximus, what are you doing at my door today?¡± he says, as he gestures her to come in. She see¡¯s that the house is a mess, there are things scattered around. It was as if the house had been ransacked.
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An old photo of Mark and his team is on the wall which is quite dusty. Looking at all this she says, ¡°Jeez Mark, what happened to you? You were very organized and punctual what changed you to this extent?¡± Mark offers Mary some water and says, ¡°Well, it was entirely fault, there are some things in our lives which we take for granted¡you know, things which are so very important to us and yet we never give them value.¡±
¡°Not unless they aren¡¯t there anymore. Forget about me tell me what brings you here after so many years?¡± Mary clears her throat and says, ¡°Well, I just wanted to meet my old team mate and since you are the only one alive and living near Hawkesbay I thought it would be a good idea to visit.¡± Mark smiles and replies, ¡°Ah the old team! Those were some of the best days of my life and that project, I still think we could have done so much more with it, if you hadn¡¯t changed your mind and purged it all.¡±
Mary looks at Mark and asks, ¡°You haven¡¯t disclosed anything regarding that project¡or the research and experiments to anyone have you?¡± Mark gives Mary a disappointing look and says, ¡°And here I thought you came to me to say hello. No! I haven¡¯t and I never will. If you don¡¯t trust me just shoot me right now since I am the only one alive who knows excluding you!¡±
Mary feels guilty for acting this way. She did not even care about him until she felt insecure and wasn¡¯t sure if he had spilled the secrets. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Mark, I just wish I could have¡you know¡kept in touch. I guess I still am the same¡ right. Building my tower happiness on top of the grief and suffering of others!¡±
Mark smirks at her and says, ¡°We all wish that our lives were something different than what they are now. But we cannot go back can we?¡± and they both start laughing at each other. Mary gets up from the chair and decides to go back home.
Before she opens the front door Mark asks her to spend time with her family and to be honest with them, Mary takes his advice and when she opens the door a young man stands in front of her. She looks at him and then at Mark whose expressions are suddenly changed. ¡°Oh¡this is¡my nephew¡David. He comes to meet me often.¡± Mary greets him and waves Mark goodbye and heads back home.
Back home Anna is waiting anxiously for her mother to arrive. Just as the front door opens and Mary comes in Anna comes rushing to her, seeing Anna in an anxious state Mary gestures her to calm down and says, ¡°Come to my room after dinner, I think I owe you an explanation!¡±
Anna smiles at this and gets excited. Her mother was about to tell her a secret. But in reality this secret was nothing to be excited about, because this was going to change her life in ways she never thought possible. After dinner Mary asked her to come to her room and once she entered her mother started, ¡°I always had this feeling you know¡that a day like this would come. When someone would be asking me THOSE things I don¡¯t wish to tell them, but since you are my daughter¡I think it should be fine to trust you with this secret of mine. Yes! I worked on figuring out time travel. Yes! I traveled in time too.¡±
¡°But it was an ugly road to achieve something which we shouldn¡¯t have achieved in the first place. You know when you are working on something. You don¡¯t think of the consequences, you don¡¯t weigh the advantages and disadvantages. You just want that thing to exist so bad that nothing else really matters. I traveled different worlds Anna, worlds so bizarre and unreal. In some you were a writer. In some Reed was a famous actor. I finally understood that the universe is just a river of possibilities and probabilities. Yes, we would like to change a thousand things, but the question is should we really change them?¡±
¡°Do we really know the consequences of changing a tiny thing in history? Do we really meddle with time? Do we really become Gods of our reality? The answer is No! We don¡¯t! Some things are better left unchanged and untouched and TIME is one of those few things. So I destroyed all the research dismantled my team and kept all this away from the world. Humans are fragile, we are easily swayed with greed and power, and we must never have this power ever! You understand?¡±
Anna listens in awe as her mother reveals her secrets. Her eyes wide open and her heart beating faster with excitement and fear. ¡°Holy shit mom! I mean, how did it feel? Seeing all those universes¡going back and forth in time. I mean what and how could your team have done it. There are so many questions in my mind---¡± Mary stops Anna and says, ¡°Anna! I told you about this so that you would accept it and move on. I don¡¯t want you to obsess over this nor do I want you to snoop around the old database anymore. Just leave it. I told you the truth and now you must protect it!¡±
Anna nods at her mother and promises to keep this conversation a secret. ¡°Does dad know about this?¡± Anna asks as she reaches to open the door and leave. ¡°Yes! He does but only selected parts not the whole.¡± Anna goes to her room and lies down on her bed. She cannot stop thinking about different realities and different worlds. ¡°Traveling in time! I wonder how it feels! Maybe this is something I will never experience! But still it seems fascinating and scary at the same time!¡± she says as she prepares to sleep.
CHAPTER 11: SECRETS AND LIES
¡°THE YEAR 2045¡±
The alarm starts buzzing and Mary wakes up from her sleep. She sees her schedule for the day and sighs lazily. Peter wakes up a few moments later and looks at Mary, ¡°You know you could just retire now, spend some time alone with me, we could...you know take that vacation to the beach side resort. I could paint the beautiful coastline with you standing next to it. I think you have done enough for the company and the people.¡±
Mary touches Peter¡¯s face and says, ¡°Haven¡¯t done enough for you have I? All the things we built, all the technology we made, all those research and projects and in the end you were always waiting patiently for me to look at you and spend some time with you. Well, I think I have done enough for everyone except you. Let¡¯s take that vacation Peter. Far away from all these responsibilities; just you and me.¡±
Hearing these words of love Peter reached her face and kissed her and they both smiled at each other. It was probably the last day at work for Mary. She had made her mind to let her children continue the work to move the company forward. She had wonderful kids; both were smart, young and hardworking. Mary couldn¡¯t have asked for better children.
The decision of her unexpected retirement would cause a lot of unrest in the company so she had decided to keep it a secret and act normally. She had to tell Reed though, because he would know how to handle the news of her retirement. She starts heading to his office and is startled when she sees a familiar face entering his office. She jogs her memory and tries to recognize him, ¡°It¡¯s David! Mark¡¯s nephew. What is he doing here?¡±
As Mary moves closer to Reed¡¯s office she is stopped by Jane. ¡°Ahem, Ma¡¯am how are you doing?¡± Jane asks as she stands in front of her. ¡°I¡¯m doing fine as always Jane. Can I talk to Reed for a moment?¡± Mary replies. ¡°Actually he is meeting someone important right now and he has instructed me not to let anyone enter...including you or Miss Anna.¡± Mary nods with disappointment and asks, ¡°Well can I at least know who he is meeting and why?¡±
Jane hesitates a little but looking at Mary¡¯s gaze she answers, ¡°His name is Hunter, and he is helping the boss in a project. I think that¡¯s all I can tell you.¡± listening to her she thanks Jane and starts feeling restless. ¡°At Mark¡¯s house his name was David and now, he is Hunter, something isn¡¯t right. I think I should dig into Reed¡¯s system.¡± she says to herself.
She takes the elevator and heads to her office, once inside she says, ¡°Secure the office, no one comes inside.¡± the office doors shut and are locked.
She sits on her chair and says, ¡°Access main system through director override¡± her computer screen shows her different main systems and she chooses Reed¡¯s system. The computer prompts her to give director verification and she uses her fingerprint.
She now has access to Reed¡¯s computer system. She starts going through different files and meetings and finds nothing suspicious. Browsing through a directory she finds a folder named ¡°Project: Annex¡± she opens it and is prompted to enter a password. After 3 failed attempts the system warns her of a final attempt before the incident is reported to the security system.
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She thinks hard and enters ¡°14012040¡± it¡¯s the day Reed became the head of MSAT. Pressing enter on the holographic keyboard, she looks at the progress bar nervously. The password checks out and she is granted access to the folder. Looking through the folder, her hand starts to shake. There are different sub folders with different names, the names are too familiar. They are named after the universes she had discovered when she was doing research on time travel.
She opens up a folder and sees several images of people and locations and many observational videos and a folder named ¡®IMPORTANT¡¯. She plays a random video and also opens that folder. The video starts playing; in the video she sees a man in a tuxedo killing someone with an axe.
When he is done he says, ¡°It¡¯s done sir, there are still 3 or 4 other complications I have to deal with. I¡¯ll keep you posted, Harbinger out!¡± Her eyes grow wide and it becomes difficult for her to breathe, tears start flowing from her eyes and she starts crying, ¡°Oh my God Reed! What are you doing...why...what is all this?¡± She looks at the ¡°IMPORTANT¡± folder and finds different instructions given to the agents Reed had sent to that universe.
Appointments of agents with Dr. Mark are also recorded and kept inside the folder. It all seems so unreal and unbelievable. Reed has been fucking with time and realities of different universes for so long. The first event is recorded nearly 3 years ago. Countless people killed and countless lives ruined and for what? Four universes were altered and many other universes were just traveled for inspection and observation.
Reed had not started to alter them yet. ¡°Mark, he fucking lied to me. I have to meet that son of a bitch again. I have to find out what Reed is planning. All those lies he told me and Reed; why would he be doing this?¡± there was too much uncertainty in her life all of a sudden.
¡°Looks like retirement has to wait again. I¡¯m sorry Peter!¡± Mary says as she copies all the data from the folder to her own terminal. Mary couldn¡¯t tell anyone about this, she had to investigate her son on her own. A lot of advancements were made since her time and she had to learn some new things which Reed and his team had discovered.
She also decided to travel to the universes where Reed had altered the events. The whole day she kept going through the theories and findings educating herself more and more, yet in the end the question still remained, ¡°What is the purpose of all this?¡±
As her working hours came to an end she decided to send the files to her home terminal. While in the parking she was stopped by Anna who sat with her and said, ¡°Reed says he will spend the night in his office, so I¡¯ll go home with you!¡± On their way home Anna noticed that Mary is awfully quiet and she looked disturbed. ¡°Mom? Is everything alright? I mean you aren¡¯t this quiet when we travel together.¡± Anna said to which Mary replied, ¡°I¡¯m just a little tired, and there is too much on my mind right now. Things I cannot tell you.¡±
Anna nods and says, ¡°It¡¯s okay mom. Things always work out in the end you know.¡± but she is too pessimistic and says, ¡°Not always Anna, not all the time!¡± They reach home and when everyone is at the dinner table Anna again sees her mother not eating anything. She just plays with the food and stares blankly at her plate. Peter notices this too and says, ¡°So Mary, how did it go. I hope no one was too sad to see you retire!¡±
As soon as she hears this, Anna drops her fork and looks at her mother angrily, ¡°Mom, retire? Hello...what is going on here?¡±
Peter reveals to Anna that Mary wants to spend some time alone with him and she feels that she has done enough for the company. ¡°Yeah, well no announcement was made at the office so I don¡¯t think she is retiring. Right mom?¡± Anna questions.
Mary looks at the wine in her glass and takes a sip, after a few moment she takes a deep breath and replies, ¡°I¡¯m very sorry Peter...you¡¯ll have to wait for a little longer. There are still some things I need to do before I retire. I promise we¡¯ll go on that resort. I promise my love!¡±
Peter smacks his lips and says, ¡°As you wish Mary, I¡¯ll wait for as long as you want!¡± while Anna jumps around the dinner table happily. ¡°I¡¯ll be working at home for a few weeks Anna. Tell this to Reed will you? When you go to the office tomorrow.¡± she says and Anna agrees. Reed was already playing his game and Mary had decided to intervene and stop him, ¡°Time to set things right!¡± Mary says to herself as she sips her wine.
CHAPTER 12: THE OPPORTUNIST
¡°THE YEAR 2041¡±
After mother gave up her responsibilities and made me the head of MSAT, I was very grateful to her. She was always a brilliant scientist but she knew nothing in terms of business. She could build and design, but she needed someone to show her the needs of the society so she could act on them. My task was to earn designated profits to make MSAT even bigger. I had a brilliant marketing and research team and they earned me a lot of money and reputation.
We had a stake in city council and I made friends in high places to work on bigger and complex projects. Out of everything we built, the project that defines us and our city is the Hover rail. It¡¯s what our city is famous for, a train of the future that runs throughout the city. It crushed the concept of personal vehicles, as everyone quickly started using it to go to different places and why wouldn¡¯t they? It was faster, more cheaper than a car and it somewhat reduced the traffic in this city.
Then we started working on robots, the first generation robots were going to be simple and slow but we had to start with the basic idea and work on it to make better robots. Slowly but surely I knew we could do it as well. In the first two years as the head of MSAT I brought in a lot of money and exposure. Hawkesbay, a city which was not known suddenly started getting tourists from around the world.
It is safe to say that I was made to lead MSAT. One day while looking into the company¡¯s expenses of the last 10 years, I stumbled upon a folder with no name. The folder was fragmented and was heavily damaged, instead of deleting it, someone had tampered with it and made it unenviable to read or understand.
The only thing which made me interested in it was the amount of money we had invested in the project. It was in billions and it was more expensive than any other project. I was very curious to find out what the project was for, and why those numbers were mentioned nowhere in the annual profit/loss report of that year. I made a team that would recover the fragmented data so that I could understand what this project was. I waited patiently as the team worked to recover bits and pieces of that folder.
When they had recovered enough data, they allowed me to look inside the folder. Looking at my screen my eyes grew wider and my heart skipped a beat. ¡®Time travel¡¯ was the focus of this research! I read notes and theories written by mom, she had kept this a top secret and never told anyone about this project. As more and more data got recovered I became more and more interested in it.
I needed someone to take this project to the next level, which meant taking the help of some old and new minds. Looking at the old scientists, I found out that most of them left Hawkesbay or were dead.
Obviously I couldn¡¯t ask mom to help me out. If she wanted to continue this project she wouldn¡¯t have kept it from me in the first place. I hovered my cursor on a name ¡®Dr. Mark Silas¡¯ after looking into his profile and searching for him I finally found an address and I went there personally to visit him.
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People are easy for a business man, if you keep your emotions and beliefs aside it is very easy to lure them to do something for you. I had read Mark¡¯s personal history; he was an ambitious scientist, one of the few who wanted the project to continue. His professional life was full of achievements but his personal life was an utter mess.
Mark married Carol and they both had a daughter Clara, they were a happy family. Clara had imaginary friends when she was 7 years old, at that age of course everyone has and Mark paid no attention to it. As she grew older her imaginary friends did not vanish. At 17 years old she almost got hit by a car as she chased ¡®John¡¯ through an alley. Carol and Mark feared the worst as they went to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist diagnosed Clara with acute schizophrenia and told them that she had maximum 13 years of life ahead of her.
This broke Carol and Mark. They spend years seeking a cure but it was all in vain. They were very supportive and loved their daughter but time had decided to take her away from them. After his daughter¡¯s death Mark dedicated himself to his work.
He was the first to volunteer on the ¡®Time Travel¡¯ project. Mark never went back home as the place haunted him and reminded him of his daughter. In all his commitment to his work he had forgotten about the pain of his wife. He ignored her and the day came when she took her own life, the sorrow of her daughter and the distance of her husband was too much for her to bear.
This didn¡¯t stop Mark from devoting himself to mom¡¯s project. Perhaps he wanted to go back and change his fate, warn himself of the tragedies which were to occur so he could avoid them. This endeavor of his was also going to end in vain too. After mother time traveled and saw different universes, she saw what could be done and was afraid of the unseen possibilities.
She scrapped the project and Mark never got to achieve what he wanted. This was an opportunity for me, if I pushed Mark with old memories and his goal, he would fall into the pit of sadness once again and I would be able to control him. I had a conversation with him at his house and I was able to convince him. I took his help to learn more about time travel.
He helped us to remake the device which was used to travel in time, the ¡®chronoton enhancer¡¯. Soon we made even more devices. A certain device that can freeze the chronotons of a person. A device which can destabilize the chronotons and make a person die instantly with Time Dementia.
A chronoton reader which allows us to calculate the probability of an event to happen to someone, basically a device which can show a person¡¯s future to an extent. In return for all this I had promised him a life where he and his family are complete, a life where Clara won¡¯t suffer and Carol won¡¯t kill herself. I promised him all this, once my project ¡°Annex¡± would be completed.
Seeing so many universes I saw the endless possibilities, I am not afraid to say that I was consumed by the power to time travel. This universe had nothing to offer to me, I had everything here, but in other universes I wasn¡¯t who I am here and that was unacceptable to me.
I wanted to be a constant in all the universes, the only man with power to travel in time and different worlds, the only man with the power to make or break people¡¯s lives. ¡®Project Annex¡¯ was my vision of being in all the universes, as the Reed Maximus who can control time. So I decided to change the fate of those worlds with this project, hiring individuals with a shattered past and manipulating them to work for me, as I promised them a chance to undo what time had done to them.
Mark had warned me that changing the fate of other universes can have severe consequences, but I wasn¡¯t going to let that stop me. I was a God now and a God isn¡¯t scared of anything. Of course no one in my family or the world could know what I was doing.
I had big plans for the coming years and was shaking in my boots thinking of them. It would take some time to wield this power in other universes, but time was in my hands now and I felt immortal!
CHAPTER 13: THE HUNTER
¡°THE YEAR 2043¡±
¡°Everyone has chronotons which means everyone can travel in time. Yes, the strength of the chronotons is different, which means that some can travel for more number of times than the others. At first it was believed that age has a direct effect on chronotons. This is somewhat true, but there are some individuals who have abnormal chronoton strength. Their chronotons are simply too strong, so strong that they can live in another universe or time without suffering Time Dementia for extremely long duration.¡±
¡°These are the individuals ideal for Project Annex. They are extremely rare to find, like one in a million, so far we have seen two individuals with this type of strength. One was Harbinger who was found dead in universe ¡°P: 210¡± his loss is a major blow to the project. Luckily we have found another, his name is David and he is a street thug. Getting him to work for us shouldn¡¯t be hard, but he requires intense training to get to the level of Harbinger. We must turn him into a perfect killer before sending him to other universes. We have to train him to serve without asking any questions.¡±
Reed decided to recruit David personally, if there was one thing Reed was good at, it was convincing and manipulating people into doing things for him. Reed knew that David needed to steal money or sell drugs in order to survive.
More importantly he needed David to come automatically to him, he knew that loyalty was a thing which could not be bought and so he started to play with his life. He asked a team to set up a fake drug deal and lure him to it. Once he came to the deal he found out that there was no deal going to take place at all, all this was a trap set by the police to bust him. Before he could escape he was caught by the police and then taken into custody.
The plan had worked brilliantly and now it was time for Reed to play his part and get David¡¯s attention. Before he could meet David, Reed had done a background check on him. He learned of the events that made him what he is today. David was an orphan who ran away from his orphanage and decided to live on the streets on his own. Apparently, the in-charge of the orphanage was a child molester who wasn¡¯t caught even when David had reported against him repeatedly.
He always scared the other children to not testify against him, and they never did. David had to run away in order to save himself, he had tried saving the others but if they wanted to live that life, he didn¡¯t have to try to save them. He wasn¡¯t an orphan from the start, he was brought to the orphanage at the age of 12, his mother died of breast cancer and his father was an unknown man who left his mother alone before his birth.
Sadness and pain were the two feelings David was familiar with and this had made him quite cynical. One thing was for sure that he was a survivor. He was at his worst when Reed met him but even so he was alive and breathing.
Reed sees him looking at the ground playing with his fingers. He asks the police officer to open his cell and let Reed inside, the officer warns him that David is a dangerous man, he could try to hurt him but Reed says in a loud voice, ¡°I¡¯m here to save the man, I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t hurt me!¡±
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Listening to him David moves his face and sees Reed enter his cell. Both men look at each other and have nothing to say, a moment of dead silence. Reed looks in his eyes and sees the determination, self resolve and confidence. His lips turn wide as he smiles and says, ¡°I know what you have been through young man, time hasn¡¯t been kind to you. But every once in a while it does give us a chance to set things right. Think of this meeting between us as that chance.¡±
¡°My name is Reed Maximus and I am about to give you an opportunity to work with me on an important project. I will tell you about it in complete detail IF you accept to work with me.¡± David seems unsure and reluctant, inside his mind he is figuring out what Reed¡¯s motives are, but he can¡¯t guess.
Right now he needs to get out of prison and this man is giving him a chance to change his life, it all seems too good to be a coincidence, but regardless of everything telling him to say no, he says yes and this changes his life forever.
In a year Reed trains David in combat, decision making, shooting and acrobatics. It seems as if Reed wants to make him a soldier, a warrior of some kind. The time comes when David is ready to be deployed and put to use and this is when Reed tells him of project Annex. David laughs at this, ¡°Seriously sir? Time travel? Different worlds? I thought you were sane!¡± Reed asks him to wear a strange watch. When he does that he asks him to enter a destination, date and time of his choice on its interface.
Reed selects current universe and then allows David to enter his time and date. David enters 13,04,2032 as the date and 10:00 P.M. as the time. As soon as he presses the initiate button, he teleports to the location at the specified date and time. David looks around and sees his old house where he used to live with his mother.
He looks at the window of the house and says, ¡°What the fuck! I am here...wait!¡± he climbs his old tree house and uses his toy binoculars to see inside his room, Reed stands patiently next to him. He sees his mother tucking him inside his bed, his hand starts to tremble and tears start flowing from his eyes. He sees her kiss him and turn off the lights.
He looks at Reed and says, ¡°I believe it sir¡I believe every word you said. I¡¯ll do whatever you want me to, this¡is so unreal!¡± Reed knows that he has succeeded. Reed gives him the necessary knowledge of time travel and also promises him a universe where he and his mother are together, where she doesn¡¯t die of cancer. He warns him not to change anything from his own past as this would result in unprecedented paradoxes in the current time.
¡°We are free to change the lives of people in the other universes but not in our own, it is a risk nobody is willing to take and you must not as well!¡± he warns David as he sends him to universe ¡°P: 217¡± and gives him a dossier containing all the things Reed wants him to do there.
¡°Remember David, do whatever it takes to complete your objectives. The enhancer will keep track of your time and teleport you safely to your own time once your objectives are complete. One more thing, from now own your name is Hunter and that is how I will address you.¡±
In a few months Hunter did what other teams couldn¡¯t do in a year. This was obviously because of his abnormal chronoton strength. He could travel in time without the fear of Time Dementia, while other teams had to come back to their own time and recover their chronoton strength.
Hunter had become the center piece of Reed¡¯s project and Reed did all he could to make his bond with him even more stronger. He gave him wealth and made him the head of the teams working on the project. In return Hunter moved forward with the project, he killed many people, changed the lives of many people and changed the outcomes of a lot of events in different universes.
In a short time Hunter had achieved ¡°Annexation¡± in 3 universes. Annexation is the event in which Reed becomes the head of MSAT in those respective universes and inherits the power of time travel.
After achieving so much in such a short time Reed allowed Hunter to take some time off, his job wasn¡¯t done yet and he still had to do a lot. After his 3 month vacation Reed asked him to look into the death of Harbinger, a man who was assigned the job before him. David agrees to it and decides to travel to ¡°P: 210¡± next.
CHAPTER 14: COMPLICATIONS
A life of solitude is what he always had, but it wasn¡¯t the life he wanted for himself. When he was at the orphanage David would often look outside his window and find couples roaming with their hands held together, they would be talking to each other and smiling constantly, sometimes he would see them with a child in their arms, a perfect portrayal of a happy family.
After the death of his mother David had embraced loneliness, he wasn¡¯t good at making friends and slowly turned into a cynical man. He was not to be blamed though, when the world around you is cruel and corrupt the only person you can trust is yourself. Even now he isn¡¯t attached to anyone, he has no girlfriends or friends, a man who isn¡¯t emotionally attached to anyone, a man with no weakness of any sort.
But he is attached to one thing, a universe where his mother is still with him. He always imagines how it would be, no living on the streets, no selling drugs. But even if he did all that in the past it had made what he was today possible. A man with a unique gift of abnormal chronotons.
After getting ready he goes back to Reed¡¯s office, Reed hands him a dossier with all the information on the universe and also a file on Harbinger, the man who was initially assigned to alter ¡®P:210¡¯.
Reed also gives him some weapons and when he gives him the green light Hunter presses ¡®initialize¡¯ and teleports to ¡®P:210¡¯
Hunter teleports to the same location, date and time to which Harbinger teleported. He looks around and sees no one which is strange, because if it is the same location, date and time Harbinger should be standing in front of him. Hunter does this to investigate how Harbinger died, but he is stopped in his tracks by his enhancer, which reminds him to open the dossier and read his objectives. ¡°Alright you stupid thing, I¡¯ll do it right away!¡±
He opens the dossier and reads his objectives from the start. First of all he needs to investigate a man named ¡®Bill Logan¡¯ his location and details are given along with his photo, looking at the photo he realizes, ¡°Oh...so this is Harbinger¡¯s real name and I need to investigate Bill from this universe, our Bill Logan (Harbinger) is already dead. Let¡¯s do that and close the chapter of Harbinger so I can focus on altering other events!¡±
Hunter teleports to 2 years in the future to the location of Bill Logan as told in the dossier. He observes Bill and his family for some weeks. Bill has a wife, three kids and worked in the nearby lumber factory. He had a loving family and his kids thought the world of him, but something was strange.
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While monitoring Bill, he found out that Bill would go into the woods near his house on Thursdays at 3:00 A.M. Inside the woods he would retrieve small notes stuck on a large Oak tree and after retrieving them he would go back to his house and tell nothing of this to anyone. Hunter becomes curious and one Thursday decides to follow Bill, he carefully tails him to the woods and once Bill picks the notes up, Hunter tails him back to his house.
Bill opens his basement door and goes inside, Hunter needs to find out what those notes say and so he decides to follow him inside the basement. It¡¯s too dark inside the basement but Hunter keeps following the faint light that spreads from Bill¡¯s torch. Bill reaches a door and starts opening it. After he is done unlocking it he drops a piece of paper from his hand and goes inside.
Hunter uses the faint light from his enhancer and picks up the paper. He flips it and reads ¡®Lure him in¡¯ written on it. Just as he finishes reading it he knows he is in trouble and before he could make his next move. A sudden flash of light blinds him and he screams in pain, the sudden flash blinds him and as his vision blurs. Slowly his vision starts to become clearer, he sees an EMP grenade falling from the hatch near the door. ¡°Oh Shit!¡±, he whispers as it explodes and the impact fries all the electronic equipment he has.
As his chronoton enhancer fries, it sends a shock through his body and he starts shaking frantically on the ground. He feels like this is the end of his life, but Bill comes out from the door and stomps on the chronoton enhancer completely destroying it while he falls unconscious. Bill drags him through the door and takes him to a room where he cuffs him to a pipe, he then searches him. He finds a chronoton destabilizer and a dossier with information on a man named Harbinger. He looks at the name and says, ¡°So the Overseer was right, that pathetic asshole is still fucking with other universes!¡±
Bill takes the destroyed chronoton enhancer and connects it to a computer inside the room. He starts digging through the data stored on it. He finds out about Hunter and his real name, his objectives and the things he has accomplished. While he is looking at the data stored on the watch, Hunter wakes up and screams in pain.
Hearing his scream Bill focuses on him while still looking at the data on his computer¡¯s holo-screen. ¡°Welcome back to the world of the living Mr. Hunter or should I say David? Don¡¯t be surprised I read the dossier, so now you want to ruin this universe?¡±
Hunter listens to him and looks at his wrist, the chronoton enhancer had burnt him a little and was not on his wrist anymore. He looks at Bill and says, ¡°What the fuck are you doing with my enhancer?¡±
Bill smirks at him and says, ¡°Finding out who you are? And please address me with some respect, I am your senior!¡± listening to him Hunter is confused and has no words to say. His confusion is going to be turned into shock in a few moments. As he analyzes the data Bill looks at Hunter and says, ¡°I am Harbinger my friend!¡± He comes towards Hunter and shows him his wrist. Bill wears a different kind of enhancer than what Hunter was wearing.
Hunter reads the chronoton strength from the watch and it says ¡®¡Þ¡¯ he looks at Bill and says, ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡± Bill smiles at him and says, ¡°For now you need to rest, we¡¯ll talk in detail tomorrow. Ah Fuck! I¡¯m all out of sleep darts looks like I¡¯ll have to put you to sleep the old fashioned way!¡± Bill takes a large steel bat and hits Hunter on his head. Hunter falls unconscious as Bill locks the room.
CHAPTER 15: A BINARY CHOICE
A splash of cold water hits his face, he feels the coldness of the water and he whimpers as his eyes open. ¡°Rise and shine Hunter!¡± Bill says with an empty red bucket in his hand. David looks at him and shakes his head. ¡°I would like to apologize for putting you to sleep like that, but as I said I didn¡¯t have any sleep darts left.¡±
David has a lot of questions on his mind, but before he could ask any his stomach grumbles from hunger and he somewhat seems embarrassed. Bill smiles and says, ¡°I¡¯ll bring breakfast soon.¡± He gets up and as he is about to leave he looks behind at David and says, ¡°I¡¯m not a bad man you know, let me bring you something to eat and I¡¯ll explain everything to you!¡±
David looks at his wrist which was burned due to the chronoton enhancer short circuit, ¡°How the fuck did I end up like this? Should I really trust this guy? I mean he did keep me alive but I¡¯m so fucking confused...alright first of I need to eat something and listen to his crap. He has seen the dossier and destroyed my enhancer how the fuck am I going to time travel now. What a cluster fuck of a situation!¡± as he says this to himself the door opens and Bill comes inside with a tray of breakfast.
He keeps it near David and without hesitation David starts eating the breakfast. It¡¯s French toast with honey on top and a mug of coffee, ¡°There are also painkillers and an ointment for the burn!¡± Bill points out as David gobbles up the coffee and tears through the toast. ¡°You are a very confusing man, last night you fucked me over and today you are feeding me and giving me medicine and ointment. What the fuck are you getting at?¡±
Hearing this Bill gets up, closes the door of the room and locks it tight. ¡°What is happiness David? Can you tell me the last time you were happy?¡± he asks David. A question to which he has no answer. Bill smiles at his silence and says, ¡°I know the things you have done for Reed and trust me I did those things too. Going to another universe, you think that it is your play ground. You kill people, change the outcomes of their lives not caring about it one bit. All this so you can please the one man who promises you happiness?¡±
¡°But the truth is you are working for someone else¡¯s happiness. Happiness is a state of mind and it doesn¡¯t matter if the things or people that made you happy aren¡¯t there anymore. Life goes on and it should go on. Reed feeds on our need to go back to the things we loved. In reality we should accept time¡¯s judgment and move on. Instead of bickering over the events and trying to change them.¡±
David starts to think over the things Bill has told him and after a brief pause asks him, ¡°What is your truth? Are you still Harbinger or are you Bill Logan? What happened on the day Reed found your dead body?¡± Bill takes a deep breath and answers, ¡°I knew you would ask this and I am prepared to answer. It was just a normal day for me, get my orders from Reed, teleport here and start changing things for good or bad. But in reality I had no idea that my life would be flipped. When I teleported here I was in the woods, the same place where you followed me last night.¡±
¡°I read my orders and was about to teleport to complete them when I suddenly felt the ground shake. Someone else had teleported behind me and stared at me. The person was wearing all black clothes, strange goggles, and a mask that covered the face entirely. I was confused...where the fuck did this individual came from and without thinking much I decided to run after him. He saw me coming after him and dropped a few scraps of paper and then teleported to God knows where.¡±
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¡°When I read what was written on the scraps of paper I felt a chill run down my spine. The scraps had my name, my address, the name of my mother and sister, and how they died. They died in a house fire by the way. There was also a holo lens which I wore in my left eye. It showed me glimpses of a different universe. Everything there was dark and sad, people were in chains wearing some kind of device. They were docile and showed no emotions and they moved sluggishly towards MSAT.¡±
¡°Children crying for their parents, it was as if some war had taken the life of the city. The person who was making the video told me in a robotic voice that this is what happens to this universe if I change it as Reed wishes. In the end he asked me a question, ¡°You get your happiness, but what about them?¡±
¡°I stopped the video and I don¡¯t know why I started to cry, the faces of the children, the state of Hawkesbay, it was too much for me. All this time I did what I was told without considering the consequences, was this the price for my happiness? A world made into hell for countless people? Just so Reed could be God here? I resumed the video and found out that the person who made the video calls himself the ¡®Overseer¡¯ and he can time travel as well. The end of the video was just static and a voice note. The voice note told me what was about to happen here in the next 20 minutes.¡±
¡°A car came rushing towards me and crashed into a big tree. The driver flew through the windshield and hit his head on a large boulder. He died on the spot just as the voice note told me. I read from the scraps of paper and they ordered me to check who the driver was. I slowly moved towards the body and moved it over to see the face. It...it was me...the me of this universe.¡±
¡°I was fucking terrified at the sight of his face, I started shaking frantically. A few moments later, I calmed down and saw the scraps again. The next order was to decide if I am going to work for Reed or make my own way to my happiness. If I was to work with Reed I was to bury the body and keep on doing the things the dossier ordered me to do. If that was the case then the video shown to me was going to become a reality. If I wished to undo the future I just saw, I had to undress the dead me and take his place. It was a huge burden that choice¡do I follow Reed or do I trust this ¡®Overseer¡¯ guy?¡±
¡°I took a deep breath and dressed the dead Bill Logan in my clothes and dressed myself in his clothes. The last order for me was to continue living as Bill Logan, I had a family here. A wife and three kids, this was going to be my happiness, the Overseer also told me that I was not a servant of his and that he did all this to help me break my shackles which Reed had put on me.¡±
¡°I lived for two years as Bill Logan, a simple man with nothing but happiness. I went to work every morning, told bed time stories to my kids, had romantic dinners with my wife, but it didn¡¯t feel real at all. It was not the happiness I wanted, perhaps I didn¡¯t deserve happiness at all. Even after trying so hard, I still felt like a stranger, and that was when I knew there was more to come.¡±
¡°I had blueprints of weapons and the chronoton enhancer and so I decided to make a modified chronoton enhancer. One not registered to MSAT, a completely independent unit. I kept it all hidden in the basement just for emergency situations. Two years passed and not a word from the Overseer, and then two weeks ago my radar beeped and I went to the woods. He warned me that a certain someone was coming to my universe and I had to stop him. He gave me your name, your height and your abilities, he also told me how to catch you and then last night I did.¡±
¡°I was also told to tell you everything about myself and the things I saw. Finally, I am to give you a choice, if you wish to keep on working for Reed...I¡¯ll have to end your life...by any means...and if you wish to be on our side...I am to meet 3 people with you. One of whom is a very good friend of mine. Meeting with them would clear your head or would fuck with it even more. So? What is your choice David?¡±
Listening to his story David is shocked and silent. He seems to have lost all his senses, lost in his thoughts he doesn¡¯t understand what the fuck is going on and what to do next. He doesn¡¯t know who he should trust and what his next words should be. Bill had dropped too many bombs on him and he has no time to react and absorb what he is told.
Bill shakes him and David comes back to his senses. ¡°I...I...I don¡¯t wanna do Reed¡¯s dirty work anymore...I want to be free.¡± he says in a confused manner. Bill smiles at him and removes his cuffs, ¡°Let me get you some proper clothes, we are going to meet some friends! Get ready to be blown away even more!¡±
CHAPTER 16: BROKEN TRUST
Issac stood still and kept looking at her with disbelief. He glanced at the mask on the ground that she wore and then back at her face. Yes, she is the killer; she had killed those scientists and had made a fool of Issac and the Police department. She had exploited Issac and played with his emotions, just when Issac was coming over to the bright side of life, just when he had decided to fix himself up because of her influence.
She had plunged him back to where he was a few days ago. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes but right now he needed to get his shit together and act as a detective. He had to keep his emotions aside, but he was still a human and he wanted to know why Anna would toy with him and why she killed those scientists. He held the two-way radio in his hand thinking of what he should do next, should he call it in and put her in jail or should he wake her up and be mad at her for breaking his trust.
He starts walking left and right thinking what to do next, as he is walking Anna wakes up and tries to get up only to realize that she is tied to the chair. Issac notices her move and with rage in his eyes moves towards her and screams, ¡°Why the FUCK did you do this? For once...didn¡¯t you think about the trust I had in you? I want to kill you with my own hands...but what difference would remain between us then?¡±
Seeing him in rage and anguish she replies, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Issac...but it was the only way...I had to kill them or else...or else-¡± he cuts her off and screams, ¡°Or else what? Please...tell me why the fuck did you kill them...tell me why it had to be you and not anyone else?¡± Before she could give him any answer her watch starts beeping, after three beeps the watch speaks, ¡°Last scientist found, Dr. Mia Sousa is near Hawkesbay harbor location saved on map.¡±
Anna looks at Issac and he says, ¡°Oh so you just couldn¡¯t wait for this thing to tell you the location and chose to fall into my trap. Not so professional now are you?¡± Anna has had enough of this and finally shouts in anger, ¡°You don¡¯t have a fucking clue what is going on, and yes I fucking killed the scientists because they were going to fuck this place up...I am not from this world Issac, I am from a different universe. Trust me...I don¡¯t have much time here and I need to end the last scientist or else...or else she might tell Reed what happened here, If there is no one left...they might just leave this universe alone for some time.¡±
Issac listens to her and starts laughing like a maniac, ¡°You are crazy aren¡¯t you, I mean yes you can teleport but time travel...no fucking way...and who the fuck is Reed?¡± Anna starts pleading to Issac to believe her but he thinks she is completely nuts.
¡°I think we should take you to the mental asylum instead of the jail, maybe the court will reduce your sentence since you are mad; so things aren¡¯t that bad for you yet.¡± All seems lost to Anna when she remembers something, ¡°How could I forget something like this!¡± she says to herself and looks at him, ¡°Issac...what is in your left pocket?¡± Issac puts his hand in his pocket and takes out the brooch that belonged to Mary.
¡°It¡¯s Mary¡¯s brooch...what about it?¡± Issac asks her to which she replies rapidly, ¡°Come here and look what I have in my right pocket!¡± Issac cautiously reaches her and puts his hand in her pocket. He feels something pointy and when he takes it out it¡¯s the same brooch that he has. ¡°So...you could¡¯ve made a fake double of this. This doesn¡¯t prove anything!¡±
Anna replies in a confident manner, ¡°Look underneath both the brooches, you¡¯ll find the same letters M.M. they stand for Maya Maximus. That¡¯s the name of Mary¡¯s mother isn¡¯t it? But you never told this to me and never showed me the brooch. The reality is that the brooch always belongs to Mary whatever universe she is from. Issac...I am the daughter of Mary...but not your Mary...a Mary from a different universe. I was sent here by her to stop my brother¡¯s project. The scientists were sent by Reed Maximus, they were here to complete the diagnosis of this universe and report back to him so that he can start fucking around with this place.¡±
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¡°But mom...I mean Mary asked me to stop them. This universe is too important and must not be meddled with. Look...all I¡¯m asking you is to trust me. After all that has happened, I know it feels stupid to trust me but please! Come with me to meet Dr. Mia, I promise she will tell you the same things I have told you and I will also know more of Reed¡¯s plans. Please Issac! I beg you! Trust me this once! Don¡¯t call HQ...Please!¡±
Issac shakes his head and says, ¡°What the fuck do I do...what the fuck...¡± he takes a deep breath and moves towards Anna. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll give you this one chance, let¡¯s meet the scientist. Here¡¯s a thing though...I¡¯ll be taking that killing device you used on the previous poor soul, that thing that drove her mad and I won¡¯t allow you to kill her!¡± he says to her as he takes the chronoton destabilizer from her pocket and unties her from the chair.
Anna asks Issac to hold her hand and she teleports to Hawkesbay Harbor. It¡¯s his first time so when they both teleport to the harbor, he feels nauseous and is in shock. He starts spinning while holding his head. Anna holds his arms to keep him from falling. After a few seconds Issac comes back to his senses and asks Anna to lead on. The scientist is hiding in an old abandoned amusement park.
Anna and Issac move carefully through the park and when the signal of the scientist is strong Anna looks at her watch and then at an old bumper car control room.
¡°I think I know where she is hiding, look at the control room; let¡¯s go inside.¡± Anna says and he follows her to the control room. Anna sees Dr. Mia and shouts, ¡°Stop what you are doing right now Mia! Put your hands up in the air and turn around slowly!¡±
Mia turns around with her hands in the air, looks at Anna and gets startled; after she has overcome her nervousness she says, ¡°YOU were the killer all along Anna? I can¡¯t even imagine it...Reed will be torn apart if he knows!¡± Anna looks at her and says, ¡°I can ask you the same things, how could you agree on fucking up this universe? Don¡¯t you know what it can cause? It can fuck up not only your life but also the people who are connected to you! You aren¡¯t telling anything to Reed I¡¯m afraid...I¡¯ll end you before you get a chance to report back to him!¡±
Issac silently listens to their conversation and comes to the conclusion that Anna was indeed telling him the truth. He feels a bit relaxed and even little happy; but different worlds, Mary of other universe and Anna being her daughter, he still cannot believe those things. Having heard enough he decides to intervene and says, ¡°Alright enough chatting, time to cuff you up Mia!¡±
Mia starts laughing at Issac and says, ¡°What are you arresting me for? Traveling in time, trying to destroy your world? You sure the court will sentence me for a life in prison for those crimes?¡±
Anna shouts at Issac, ¡°Issac give me the device which you took me from, we cannot let her escape to my universe!¡± Issac shakes his head and says, ¡°I¡¯m not letting you kill her Anna...not again!¡±
Mia presses a button on her watch as they both are arguing and a sudden flash of light blinds them both. Issac and Anna are stunned and Anna starts screaming, ¡°No...No...Fuck...No...It¡¯s all over damn it! Issac, you are responsible for this!¡± She feels a gust of air and the ground shake, ¡°Oh Fuck! She is teleporting back...I¡¯m so screwed!¡± Anna says to herself.
Moments later Anna and Issac¡¯s blindness ends and they are shocked to see Mia dead on the ground. A man in all black clothes is standing next to her. Issac quickly takes out his gun and says, ¡°Freeze! Put your hands in the air!¡± The man in black is wearing a face mask and strange goggles, he looks at Anna and in a robotic voice says, ¡°Issac nearly fucked everything again today...don¡¯t worry he is still important!¡±
Confused by his presence Anna asks, ¡°Who...are you?¡± The man looks at Issac and says, ¡°Call me Overseer and whatever she told you is the truth Issac...her work here is done. Reed won¡¯t bother sending any teams here; you are a very important man Issac. You must remember that always!¡±
He then turns to Anna and says, ¡°Take him with you; he is a solution to many problems. He is the first Void after all and he is the key to end all this. I will guide you again soon. What has happened before should not happen again! It will not happen again!¡±
Saying this the strange man decides to take a leave and starts operating his watch, Issac sees this and says, ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking teleport out of here, you are under arrest for the murder of the scientist!¡± The strange man isn¡¯t bothered by what Issac is saying to him and decides to teleport. As the ground starts to shake and gusts of air starts flowing Issac shoots him three times but nothing happens to him. He starts laughing and says, ¡°Ironic, you are the only one who can end me, but you cannot...not yet anyways!¡± and vanishes in thin air.
Anna is in her thoughts going over the words spoken by the strange man. ¡°What the fuck, who was that man?¡± Issac asks Anna. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but the things he said, he knew that this would happen...he came out of nowhere and killed Mia to keep my cover intact.¡± saying this she scans Issac with her watch and sees that he indeed is important. Issac¡¯s chronoton strength is also ¡®¡Þ¡¯.
¡°Issac...you have to come with me to my universe, you heard that man. You are important! I promise I¡¯ll explain everything to you once we reach there!¡±
Issac makes a weird face and replies, ¡°I can¡¯t leave this world just like that, this is my home...I mean yea it¡¯s fucked up but still...home is home!¡± Anna doesn¡¯t seem to care about that and enters the destination of her universe on her watch. She quickly holds his hand and before Issac can react they both are teleported to her universe.
CHAPTER 17: TIME IS KIND
Shell shocked and still uncertain over the decision he had made David waited for Bill to get him clean clothes. After a few moments Bill comes to him and says, ¡°You know what screw it, let me introduce you to the family. You can use a shower as well, and then we will dress you up for the occasion. What do you say?¡±
David isn¡¯t comfortable with this but nevertheless agrees to it. Bill hands him a collar type device and says, ¡°Put this around your neck, it¡¯s a face and voice changer, we must protect your real identity to avoid complications!¡± he wears the collar and Bill stands in front of him and shows him his face through his phone¡¯s front camera. David adjusts the collar and then selects his preferred face and changes his voice according to his appearance.
Before they enter the house through the front door David stops and looks at his clothes which obviously look like shit and says, ¡°How should I introduce myself...like what should I tell about myself?¡± Bill looks at him with a slight concern and replies, ¡°You know what...leave all that to me. I¡¯ll make something up. You just stay silent and nod...Ready?¡± he nods and Bill opens the front door of the house.
As soon as they enter the house and move towards the living room, David feels like someone is behind him, and as he turns around, a little girl of about 6 years old screams, ¡°Rawr!¡± David startles a bit as the little girl runs past him and hugs Bill¡¯s legs from behind. Bill plays along, ¡°Oh no! The Loch Ness monster is holding my legs, I think I¡¯ll drown, someone help!¡±
It¡¯s his youngest daughter Aria and they both seem in a jolly mood. Bill turns around and takes her in his arms, swings her around and she giggles. His wife Elena comes from upstairs and watching them both play smiles at them, but her smile turns into a frown as she sees David with suspicion.
¡°Good morning love!¡± she says to Bill and soon after that asks, ¡°Who is our friend there? You didn¡¯t tell me we were expecting a guest today!¡± Aria looks at David and says, ¡°Daddy your friend¡¯s face looks funny and his clothes are dirty too¡¡± Elena hears this and cuts off Aria quickly, ¡°Aria...that was not a very good thing to say, apologize to Mister...what was your name again?¡± she says looking at David.
Bill replies to her, ¡°His name is Ronald, but I call him Ronny. He¡just moved to Hawkesbay looking for work and guess what happened, the cab driver dropped him to the opposite side of the woods, some thugs attacked him and took his luggage and wallet. I¡¯d kill them if I see them again.
Anyways he was lucky I was passing by and saw him lying on the side of the road.¡± Hearing this Aria looks at him with concern and says, ¡°Oh poor Ronny! Sit down on the sofa. I¡¯ll get a first aid kit and some medicines. You¡¯ll be okay in no time. I know those thugs laid a bad impression on you, but believe me. Hawkesbay is full of good and caring people!¡±
Bill puts Aria down and asks her to give her mother a hand while he sits on the sofa with David. He says in a low voice, ¡°My wife is too nice and positive, just keep smiling at the things she says and you will be fine!¡± Elena makes a warm cup of coffee and brings some painkillers for David. He looks at the coffee and then at Bill, ¡°Drink a little coffee; I know you are full but please and you won¡¯t die if you eat a tablet of painkillers again!¡± Bill says in a low voice.
After a few moments, Bill calls Elena and says, ¡°Honey, Ronny would like to take a bath and he¡¯ll borrow some of my clothes too. We are going to meet some friends at Grab-a-Grub and after that, I¡¯ll help Ronny settle in. So I¡¯ll come back home a little late.¡± Elena shouts from upstairs, ¡°Okay, be careful on the streets, and good luck to Ronny!¡± he takes David to his room and he showers to freshen up, he turns off the face changer and looks at his real face in the mirror, slowly asks himself, ¡°What are you doing David?¡±
He takes a deep breath and wears the new clothes. He looks at his real face for a brief moment and then turns on the face changer. Bill and David sit inside the car and Bill starts driving to Grab-a-Grub. He tells him that the place is a very old diner with the best food in town. ¡°The food is very delicious and the people we are about to meet are extra nice as well. A word of caution though David, don¡¯t get confused or scared when you meet them. If you got fucked up when you heard my story, this meeting is going to be on a whole another level for you. I¡¯ll tell you the reason for this meeting in the end. So just wait patiently!¡±
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David interlocks his hands and starts playing with his thumbs nervously and just nods to what Bill told him. They both reach Grab-a-Grub and enter the diner. It is a neat looking place with a few people sitting inside, enjoying their meals. The whole place has a positive vibe to it and David feels a little comfortable as they both sit at a table and wait for the people they have to meet to arrive.
Bill orders a glass of water for both of them and a cup of orange juice for himself. David waits anxiously looking at the door, again and again, any minute now they will arrive. Finally, the door opens and a beautiful girl enters the diner and starts moving towards the table where they are seated. She smiles at David and he is overwhelmed by her beauty.
He looks at her smile, her face, and her eyes and is mesmerized by her beauty. This feeling...this fluctuation in his heartbeat, this sudden surge of dopamine in his body...it¡¯s called love right? Bill snaps him out of his daydream as he clears his throat.
¡°This is Anna and Anna this is my old friend Ronny! He just moved here looking for a fresh start. I just thought that I could introduce him to you guys, so where is David? Did he not come?¡± hearing this David looks at him with disbelief.
Anna replies, ¡°He was just parking the car and told me to go on ahead, he¡¯ll be here soon.¡± as she says this, a man enters the diner and David keeps staring at him. It¡¯s the David of this universe and he sits beside Anna. He kisses her on her cheek as she smiles and then calls the waiter to order food. Bill introduces Ronny to David and asks him to introduce themselves properly to Ronny.
¡°Well, this girl sitting next to me is the reason I am alive. My mother died when I was very young and I had nowhere to go. I just had to trust the system and pray that they send me to a good foster home. I was very lucky because they sent me to the house of Mary Maximus. There I met a friend who is like a brother to me and the love of my life.¡±
¡°Anna has helped me through the worst days of my life, she helped me set up my business, and here I am today a respectable member of the community. All this is because of her!¡± hearing him she blushes and replies shyly, ¡°Oh come on now babe, I just showed you the way. It was all your hard work and dedication which made you what you are today!¡±
They both hold their hands and keep smiling at each other. Ronny looks at them and gives a faint smile. He looks at the ceiling as he raises the glass to drink water and as he lowers the glass he sees a very familiar man enter the diner.
¡°Oh fuck!¡± he whispers to himself. Bill is looking carefully at his expressions and observes silently. As the man sits beside Anna, Bill says, ¡°Ah Reed! So you took out a little time to meet your friends and family!¡±
Ronny starts playing with his thumbs and seems very anxious. Bill kicks his leg and gestures him to calm down to which he nods and then, turns his face back to Reed.
¡°Yes, I am terribly sorry Bill. The new story is taking a lot of time...it¡¯s simply too complex and sometimes I just cannot seem to find the correct words to describe what I want to tell!¡±
David replies, ¡°You¡¯ll write an amazing story in the end Reed, everyone here knows what you are capable of!¡± Anna adds her opinion saying, ¡°Yup, I mean you do have less intellect than me but I know you¡¯ll write yet another masterpiece!¡±
This meeting is just too overwhelming for Ronny and he starts getting uncomfortable. He covers his face and breathes heavily which draws concern from Anna, David, and Reed. Bill shakes him and he says to him, ¡°I want to go home...please I don¡¯t feel good!¡± Bill picks him up from his arm and excuses the rest of the gang.
¡°Sorry guys...he is new and well...the food and water of Hawkesbay upset him. He¡¯ll be fine...it was nice meeting all of you after so long, but please excuse me!¡± The three wave both of them goodbye as they leave the diner. ¡°What a strange man...hardly said anything at all...maybe he was feeling sick all this time. Hope he gets well soon!¡± says David.
They both sit inside the car and Bill takes him back to his house. Once they reach there, he takes him to the room in the basement and locks it up. David sits on a chair and starts breathing heavily, ¡°It seems so unreal...when the people you know are not what they should be...what was the meaning of this meeting?¡± he asks.
Bill grabs a chair and sits in front of him; he clears his throat and says, ¡°The purpose of this meeting was to show you that time is not cruel to you everywhere. I read your objectives from the dossier and guess what Reed wanted you to do? He wanted you to strip Anna of this future. He wanted you to kill all desire inside the Reed of this universe to be the man he is today. He wanted you to kill Mary Maximus of this universe and then manipulate her son to rise to power and achieve time travel.¡±
¡°Look what you did instead, you met with the family and look how happy they are, all this was to show you that you must not fuck with time to find your happiness, but to live on, and eventually, happiness will come to you one day. I did this because the Overseer wants you to join our cause without any pressure and of your own will.¡±
¡°Tomorrow we meet with him in the woods and then you can ask him all the questions you have in your mind. I have shown and told you all that was asked and I have nothing to show to you anymore. Wait till we meet him tonight, and he will then tell us what to do next!¡±
CHAPTER 18: WELCOME TO THE FUTURE
A sudden flash of light and then you feel like your body is falling into a deep abyss and just when you think you are about to reach the end, this abyss throws you to a different place, you feel the ground with your shaking feet and as your vision clears you think all of this was a bad dream; you know...the one in which you are falling and just before you hit the ground you wake up.
In a few moments we traveled from my world to hers. It feels unbelievable...but for now I had to believe what was told to me...different worlds...different time...it was all a cluster fuck in my brain and I had not come to terms with it. We teleported and Anna looked at me with a slight smile, ¡°Home sweet home!¡± she said in a gleefully before she weakly sat down on her bed.
I went close to her to see if she is alright but she pointed to her drawer near her cupboard and said, ¡°In there is an injection give it to me...hurry!¡± immediately her watch started barking, ¡°Chronoton strength below threshold, Time dementia imminent!¡±
I rushed towards the drawer and tried to open it but the bloody thing wasn¡¯t moving at all. She looked at me and gestured, ¡°Put...hand...under...blue...light¡± any minute now she was going to faint and I had to hurry. I quickly put my hand under the blue light and the drawer opened itself.
I grabbed the injection and she gestured me to administer it beneath her left ear. I put the needle at that place and said, ¡°This is gonna hurt!¡± and pushed the syringe. Anna gasped and stiffened her body. After a few moments she laid on her bed. Finally the watch had stopped it¡¯s annoying warning and said, ¡°Chronotons stabilizing Time dementia averted!¡±
After a little rest she got up and said, ¡°This is what happens to you if you stay out of your time for too long, I was about to become a nut job like those scientists and then I would be dead! Well¡Issac welcome to the year 2045! Window opacity zero percent.¡± she said as she moved towards a black wall.
In a second the wall changed colors and became clear. I gasped in amazement as I saw the future Hawkesbay...the city looked dazzling in the night, a levitating train, cars with no wheels roaming about, colorful and modern buildings...it all felt like a dream but this was Anna¡¯s reality...this world was REAL! I asked Anna if this was her room and she replied, ¡°Yes, this is a private apartment, my house is near the MSAT tower, that¡¯s where Reed, Mary and my father live. I...you know I couldn¡¯t teleport there.¡±
¡°Anyways, there is another room next to mine. Why don¡¯t you change your clothes...wear something modern...and I could use a bath too. We¡¯ll eat something before I show you around.¡±
I didn¡¯t even know how to use the toilet and the shower, Anna had to show me, apparently everything here is automatic just speak like an idiot and voila it happens. The mirror showed me news and also recommended me what clothes to wear. I could even see how I would look in a dress before wearing it.
What a time to be fucking alive right?! Dinner was also served by a robot named Chef-20X . It told us the menu and served the food, the food was top notch. I felt like I was eating at an expensive restaurant. As we ate the food her phone started to ring and when she picked it up it was Mary, she got up and went to her own room while I sat at the table waiting for her.
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A few moments later, Anna came rushing from the room and said to me, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Issac...I have to leave it¡¯s urgent...there is a huge TV and a computer if you want to find out more about this world.¡± she taught me how to operate them and was about to leave when I called her from behind and asked her if she could take me to meet her.
I would like to see her in the flesh and well...I didn¡¯t really care if she was old or wasn¡¯t my Mary. I just wanted to see her again. She refused and said that now is not the right time, but also promised that she would take me some other day.
After Anna left and I finished eating, Chef-20X took the dishes away. I logged into a guest account and started using the computer. I just pressed a button underneath a glass table and a holo-screen popped up, I searched on many events that had happened in my world and found no trace of them here at all. I searched ¡°Mary Maximus¡± and found her whole life on the internet.
In this world Tom had died leaving everything to Mary and her children. Mary had fallen in love with her husband Peter Luis at the university where she studied. Peter was an artist and for some reason he had no problems if his children bear the name of Maximus instead of Peter. I saw his website where he talks about his art. I saw his paintings and then finally his face. He was an okay guy but he didn¡¯t have the rugged looks I have.
Then I looked into Reed Maximus, the current head and CEO of MSAT, what a guy! Taking the mantle of a huge tech company at such a young age and growing the company tenfold after such a short time, I was honestly overwhelmed by what he has achieved in such a short time as CEO.
He reminded me a little of Tom, but all successful people have some fucked up secret, I¡¯m sure he does too. Lastly I searched myself and guess what? There was nothing on the internet about me. I searched ¡°Detective Issac Wolfe¡± in hopes that maybe now something would come up...but nope...I didn¡¯t exist in this world at all.
I searched ¡°Jeffery Jackson¡± and yup Jeff was in the police department in this universe too, I was happy to see that he was happy with his wife in this universe and his mother was also alive and well. After seeing everyone happy in their lives I felt tired and decided to go to bed. Seeing the fluffy and comfortable bed, I went back to the time when Mary and I used to snuggle and sleep peacefully, it felt like a lifetime ago.
I laid down and closed my eyes trying to sleep, but I had this uncomfortable feeling that something was about to happen. Suddenly, I felt a faint vibration from the bed followed by a hiss of some kind. I moved to my pant and took my gun from the holster and slowly moved outside the room. There was someone sitting at the table and had turned on the Television.
The guy wore all black clothes and that¡¯s when I recognized him, ¡°Hey! What the hell are you doing here?¡± I asked as I approached him slowly. He turned around and said, ¡°Drop the gun you can¡¯t do shit to me with it. Remember you shot me and nothing happened!¡± he was right my gun had no effect on him in our previous confrontation.
¡°So Issac...how does it feel? Knowing that Mary is alive and well here, though she is too old and you are too young?¡± he asked with confidence.
¡°You know nothing about me...stop trying to get inside my head...what do you want?¡± I said in a firm manner. He started laughing at me and came closer to me, ¡°I know everything about you Issac...I know your Grab-a-Grub dates with Mary...I know the turquoise ring you gave her when you proposed to her and I also know what...or should I say who was the reason for her death.¡±
¡°I know what happened that night Issac...the night Mary died! Do you want me to describe it scene by scene or do you still think I¡¯m just a pretender and don¡¯t know shit!¡± the things he told me froze me on the spot and engulfed me in fear. He knew everything about me, just who the hell was this guy.
Looking at me standing silent, he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t come here to upset you, I came here to warn you...Once you meet Mary face to face you will have this indescribable feeling, and an idea will pop up in your head once she asks you to help her out...I want you to forfeit the idea and look into Reed¡¯s plans instead. Go to meet her with Anna tomorrow and act normal, I have to make sure this time it¡¯s different!¡± saying this he operated his watch and teleported before I could ask him any questions.
After he vanished Anna opened the apartment¡¯s door and came in. ¡°Get some rest Issac and here is a phone, call me if you have any problem...and mom says she wants to meet you tomorrow!¡± It was just as the Overseer had told me. I nodded as she closed the door and locked it while I went back to the room to get some sleep, but in all honesty sleep was the last thing on my mind now.
CHAPTER 19: OLD MISTAKES AND NEW ONES
¡°THE YEAR 2045, BEFORE ANNA WENT TO
P: V01D¡±
The clock reads 5:00 A.M. and the alarm starts blaring but Mary shuts it quickly. Her eyes show that she didn¡¯t sleep last night. Yesterday was a very tough day for her and she still couldn¡¯t believe what her son had been doing for the past 2 years. Her father¡¯s dying words echoed through her ears causing her more distress. She wanted to stop Reed but she couldn¡¯t risk him speeding up his endeavors and causing even more damage to other universes, so she decided not to confront him directly. Rather she tried to slow him down while she figures out a way to stop him completely.
She had no clue where to start and then she remembered something, ¡°Mark! He lied to me when I went to meet him, I have to go back to him and find out more about Reed and his meetings. I want to know why he helped Reed and if there is a way to undo what he has done.¡±
She gets up from her bed and looks at Peter sleeping peacefully, ¡°Oh Peter! I wish I had spent more time with you in those days instead of working on time travel. I wish I had failed and given up, I wish things were different today!¡± she whispers quietly as she gets up and gets ready to meet with her old colleague.
Just as she is about to leave Anna sees her mother exiting the house and gets curious. ¡°She isn¡¯t going to the office, she told me she will be working from home for a bit, then why did she leave so early?¡± she shrugs her shoulders and goes back to her room and her computer says, ¡°A new voice note has been successfully recreated¡±
She quickly goes to the holo-screen to take a look at it. This voice note is a relatively newer one when she compares the date of the first voice note. Before she decides to listen to it she remembers the promise she made to her mother. She was to leave her old research alone and focus on her own new projects, but her curiosity gets the best of her and she presses the play button.
The voice of her mother is in no way like it was in the first voice note, she was determined and motivated even excited in the first voice note but now she sounded tired, afraid and sad.
¡°This is the last audio log...and¡what an experience this has been...when I started I had no idea of the things this research would make me do...so many lives lost...many good friends sacrificed. Just so I could achieve what I desperately wanted. As promised I myself time traveled to different universes...yes...we can travel in time! I...I saw dad...and...this time I was...beside him.¡±
¡°He didn¡¯t have a lot of things to say...he warned me...that what I have achieved is dangerous...a slight ripple of a single mistake in the past...and this ripple becomes a drowning wave for someone in the future. He asked me to scrap it all, ¡°We must not fuck with the flow of time¡± he told me. So here I am...I have achieved my goal...at what cost?¡±
¡°I think I¡¯ll give all my time to my family now...I¡¯m sorry to everyone and I thank you dad...for opening my eyes to the dangers of time travel...time to shut down....I thank everyone who gave their all to this project...and I am sincerely sorry that I am going to scrap the project and cut your careers short at MSAT!¡±
As soon as the voice note ended Anna felt all the emotions of her mother. She felt the burden her mother had on her shoulders as she took those dramatic steps to ensure no one would find out about this. A feeling of fear and excitement took hold of Anna. Her lips trembled as she said, ¡°Holy Shit! Look at all these dead people. I have to find out more from her...but how should I approach her? She already told me to stay away from her old files...shit!¡±
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Mary stops her car in front of Mark¡¯s house and without thinking much goes to the front door; before she could touch the bell Mark opens the door and says, ¡°I knew you would come here, come inside we have much to discuss!¡±
Mary looks at Mark with sheer anger as she enters his house. Mark had cleaned his house and had set up a table for them. It felt like he knew that Mary was coming, but she didn¡¯t notice this because she had too many questions of her own.
He poured coffee in her cup and for himself too. Looking at the coffee she asked, ¡°Why Mark? Why did you lie to me?¡± He looked at her and replied, ¡°I know we all have lost a lot before or while we were working on that project, and you must also know that not everyone approved when you decided to scrap off the project. I for one was furious, you know why? Because I lost all I had, we are people of science knowing many complexities of life and yet we fall victim to the most primitive thing...emotions.¡±
¡°We are humans in the end aren¡¯t we? I thought after we figure out time travel you will embrace it and eventually a day would come when people could go back and fix their lives. But look at what you did...you became scared and you let go the power to become your own God...your own master.¡±
¡°You are weak Mary, and you shouldn¡¯t have been given this gift from the start. Look at Reed! He handles it all pretty well. He has changed many universes and look at his face, no sign of regret or sorrow. He does what needs to be done. He has surpassed the needs for human emotions unlike us.¡±
¡°THAT is what it means to be a God. Reed promised me he would give me a chance to see them, to live with them if I helped him. He promised and I believed and soon I¡¯ll be able to see them, Clara and Carol. I won¡¯t leave them this time. I¡¯ll stay with them and never look anywhere else.¡±
Mary had heard enough, she had a little sympathy for Mark because she knew she had done wrong to him and many other members of the research team, but right now she didn¡¯t have the strength to console him and put all he has done behind her back.
¡°I met my father didn¡¯t I, when I time traveled? I could have traveled back and changed the outcome of his fate, I could have saved him from his death but did I? It was when I met him that I came to know that this power was something which humans can¡¯t have...we shouldn¡¯t have it at all.¡±
¡°I was blinded all those years when we searched for the answers. It was all my fault and I have nothing to give to you or anyone else effected by me and my project, but look what you have done Mark! By giving Reed the knowledge of time travel you have ruined the lives of countless others, even if they do not belong to this world...they are still people...they still have family and friends...they still deserve their own fates...who are we to decide what should happen to them?¡±
¡°Please Mark...help me fix this mess...tell me how to stop this...tell me what universe Reed is going to fuck up next...please!¡±
Mark had a changed face now, somewhere inside him the words of Mary had caused some disturbance and he was starting to question his decision of helping Reed set up project Annex. Still he had some boundaries which he decided not to cross and all he said in an answer was, ¡°Reed is going to P: V01D...I think he has started...started it all already...the evaluation...the execution and in the end annexation.¡±
¡°This is how he works! I will tell you nothing else Mary and I am not sorry for the things I have done. I think I deserve a little happiness. I think I deserve to go back and write my own fate, and the day is drawing near when I will!¡±
Mary listens to him and decides to leave his house, as she goes towards the front door she looks at Mark one last time and says, ¡°I hope you do Mark, before time runs out, because we all know that time is cruel and we can never be its masters, we can never be more cruel than time!¡±
He sees her sit in the car and leave. He shuts the door and sits on his sofa.
He takes out a locket from his pocket and opens it to see the photo of his wife and daughter, after reminiscing on old memories he closes his eyes and keeps the locket near his heart. He feels a sudden vibration and opens his eyes lazily. He sees a man in all black clothes sitting at the table. He glances at him and immediately opens his eyes wide open, fear takes hold of him.
¡°What...how...who the hell are you? What are you doing here?¡± he says as he shudders and moves closer to him. The man in black says, ¡°Dr. Mark...thank you for giving her a hint...thank you for changing it a little bit this time...as big of a loser you are...you actually did something important this time!¡±
The strange man takes a device out of his pocket and points it towards Mark. He looks at the device and says, ¡°No! What do you think you are doing?¡±
The man in black presses a button, suddenly Mark cannot move or say anything. He is frozen and looks at the man helplessly ¡°I¡¯m afraid you have done all that you were supposed to, and I¡¯m sorry to tell you that Reed is never going to fulfill his promise. You will never see them both again.¡±
¡°Looking back at your life I can only feel sad and the best I can do to help you is to kill you!¡± he then presses a button on the device and releases Mark. He falls down to the ground and watches the man vanish in thin air. Mark gets up and starts trembling, as his chronotons start to destabilize he sees flashes of his life.
His childhood, his youth, and the moment he kissed Carol the first time. When he held Clara in his arms, he smiled as he saw those moments and then came misery and despair. He lost Clara and then Carol, in the end he was all alone, ¡°What a miserable way to die...well at least I saw them one last time...even a glimpse is enough!¡± he says as death slowly grabbed him and he closed his eyes.
CHAPTER 20: AN UNEXPECTED ALLIANCE
Anna waits for her mother to arrive; she anxiously walks around her room with a heart full of worry. As soon as she hears the garage door open she rushes downstairs and goes to the garage, seeing her mother exit the car she hugs her tightly. Mary finds it strange that Anna isn¡¯t at MSAT at this time and asks, ¡°Anna honey, what¡¯s the matter? Why are you hugging me so tightly?¡±
Anna looks at her and takes a deep breath, ¡°Come inside, I need to show you something.¡± Anna takes her to her room and turns on the television. Mary reads the headline which says, ¡°Ex- MSAT employee found dead in residence, early medical report suggests a heart attack.¡± Mary looks at the house and recognizes it, its Mark¡¯s house. Mary closes her eyes and says, ¡°Oh Mark! I¡¯m so sorry for all the things I did to you people!¡± she breaks down and starts crying.
Anna gives her mother some room and she sits on her bed, after a few moments she goes to her mother and says, ¡°I saw his name mom...I saw the people who died and the people who worked on the project. I just want to ask you one thing mom, was it really worth it? Traveling in time?¡±
Anna expected her mother to be furious with her but Mary¡¯s reaction to this is quite normal. ¡°No! Anna, it was the biggest mistake of my life. Now you know that your mother is not a saint, she is just as wicked as any other human being.¡±
¡°All these years working to give the people comfort and trying to make Hawkesbay a better place and now you know that it was all being done to find some comfort for the lives I had destroyed! Mark was a victim like many others and the worst thing is...your brother...he is on the same road I had been on.¡±
¡°I went to meet Mark...he told your brother everything and now Reed is sending teams to other universes and altering events to achieve a delusional dream of something he calls ¡®Annexation¡¯ he has altered some universes and has sent a team to P: V01D and I don¡¯t know how to stop him!¡±
Anna feels the hopelessness and sadness her mother is going through and tries to console her, ¡°Don¡¯t be sad mom, I¡¯ll talk to Reed and I¡¯ll make him stop! This is outrageous and unethical, just why would he do something so evil?¡±
She looks at Anna and says, ¡°The lust for power Anna, it is something which exists in all of us, some of us have control over it while some let it drive their lives. When I see your brother, I see a man who wants to take control one way or the other, that is how he has always been. He has been a leader...but even leaders turn into tyrants when they are shown a door to unprecedented power.¡±
¡°We cannot just go to him with a straight face and ask him to stop. This will only push him to move forward more rapidly...give me a few days and I will figure something out. In the mean time I want you to act normal in front of everyone and keep this a secret between us!¡± saying this she gets up from the bed and goes to her room leaving Anna in her own thoughts.
Anna feels a burden of some sort, she had always been a positive and confident young girl but now she had doubts and a lot of questions.
Mary enters her room and sees Peter reading a book, he looks at Mary and says, ¡°I saw the news...must be really hard for you.¡± he sees her red eyes and knows exactly how she is feeling and without any delay he gets up from the bed and puts his book aside.
He hugs her tightly and Mary sobs before finally letting her tears flow again, ¡°Now...now....I got you, it will all be fine...he is in a better place now...you don¡¯t have to be sad!¡± she listens to him and says, ¡°I ruined his life...how can I forgive myself...he was all alone in the end...and I was to blame and now it has started again and I don¡¯t know how to stop it!¡±
Peter consoles her and takes her to the sofa. He removes her shoes and orders Chef-20X to make coffee and bring some marshmallows. He sits near her and tries to get her mind off Mark, he talks about the first dates they had and the day he proposed to her.
¡°I¡¯m really thankful to you Mary! You have given me so much happiness and a wonderful family. I love you so much! Whatever problems you are in...I know you will find a way out¡± his love and motivation was what she needed to feel a little comfort in this time of crisis.
She dozed off slowly on the sofa holding his hands. He held her in his arms and placed her slowly on the bed. He kissed her right cheek and swiped his hand to the left in air; and the lights turned off.
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Mary opens her eyes and finds herself in a dark room. She looks left and right, it is too dark. She looks in front of her and sees her old workbench, the workbench where she first designed the chronoton enhancer. She takes slow and steady steps towards it and sees her old team members appear in front of her one by one warning her not to do it, not to time travel repeatedly.
She starts getting scared; slowly she closes her eyes and puts her hand on her ears. ¡°Stop it...stop it all of you!¡± she screams. She hears a shrill noise and opens her eyes, it was all a nightmare, she touches her mobile to get some light and sits on the sofa with 10% room brightness and pours herself some water.
After drinking two glasses of water and taking deep breaths she decides to go back to sleep. Before she could lie down on her bed, her phone buzzes and she sees a message from an unknown number. The message reads, ¡°I know what your son is planning, I know about the nightmare you saw. I am waiting for you at the Ridge-side motel a few kilometers outside Hawkesbay, you HAVE to meet me. I know you will come so grab your beige colored purse and come quickly.¡±
Mary feels absurd and replies, ¡°Who are you? And how do you know about my nightmare? Is this a prank of some sort?¡± and within a second a reply comes, ¡°P: V01D, I know how to save it!¡± reading the first word of the reply her eyes open wide and she gasps. ¡°I¡¯m coming, don¡¯t go anywhere!¡± she sends a text back and gets up from her bed.
She drives to the motel and texts to the unknown number telling the person that she has arrived. After sending the text she quickly looks at all the doors and finds a door on the second floor open.
The motel shines in bright neon lights and the walls are dirty with random graffiti. She moves upstairs towards the room, and starts feeling nervous. When she stands in front of the door, a man wearing all black clothes with a strange mask covering his face welcomes her. At first she hesitates by looking at him but he says in a robotic voice, ¡°Come on in Mary, you are safe with me. I won¡¯t harm you.¡±
She replies, ¡°How can I trust you...I mean how do you know about P: V01D?¡± the man looks at her and says, ¡°You¡¯ll have to take a leap of faith here Mary. You can walk away if you want but it won¡¯t help you a bit. I can tell you everything if you only come inside!¡±
She takes a deep breath and decides to go inside the room. She looks around the room and it is clean, TOO clean. It seems like the man just moved in and hadn¡¯t really used the room at all. She sits on a chair in the room and looks anxiously at the man. To her surprise the man doesn¡¯t remove his mask and brings her a bar of her favorite chocolate, ¡°Just as you like 60% dark, 40% milk chocolate and hazelnuts.¡± he says.
Mary gets intrigued by this and says, ¡°Do I know you?¡± to which he replies, ¡°Not yet but you will soon, here take a look at this video it¡¯s from a future that was averted.¡±
She plays the video and sees Mark visiting Reed in his office. He tells Reed that Mary knows about Project Annex and is planning on stopping him. Reed gets furious and throws the whisky bottle in his office in frustration. After a few moments he calms down and tells Mark to arrange a meeting with Mary again, to which Mark agrees.
The man then fast forwards the video and plays it on the scene when she goes to meet Mark again. ¡°What does this mean and when did this happen? I don¡¯t recall wearing this dress when meeting Mark.¡±
The man slowly replies, ¡°It¡¯s from the future...a future that was averted!¡± Mary is confused and asks, ¡°What future? What are you talking about?¡± the man points to the video and she plays it again.
Now she goes to meet Mark and he pours her some coffee, after a while someone comes to his door and he opens it. It¡¯s Reed, he comes and sits in front of Mary and starts screaming, ¡°You think you can stop me? I won¡¯t let you...there is too much to gain and too much to lose as well. I will not give up the opportunity to be a God! I am not weak like you mom. I¡¯m sorry mom you¡¯ll have to die!¡± saying this Reed takes out a device and points it towards her.
Watching this happen before her eyes Mary is in shock. She stops the video and looks at the man, ¡°He has it¡the destabilizer? But it was just a blueprint...we never made it...it was too dangerous!¡± the man nods and says, ¡°Watch the end Mary!¡±
She resumes the video and within a few seconds after Reed points the device towards her. She starts screaming and falls down to the ground while both Reed and Mark stand in front of her watching her die. Reed looks at Mark and says, ¡°Call an ambulance...she had a stroke and died...that¡¯s what you tell them...alright?¡± Mark nods and Reed leaves his house.
Mary stops the video and throws her head down, a few tears escape her eyes and she says, ¡°He would even kill his mother to achieve his goals.¡± The man takes his phone from her and says, ¡°Don¡¯t worry I made sure this never happens. I...I am the one who killed Mark! I am someone not from this universe...I am from a different world...you can say that I have studied your world and I have seen the future many times...I know what will happen and when it will happen. I am the Overseer!¡±
Mary looks at him in disbelief and says, ¡°So this is what would have happened if you didn¡¯t kill Mark?¡± the Overseer nods and shows her another video saying, ¡°This is from P: V01D...a team of scientists is working to find events to alter...I want you to stop them...because I will be busy elsewhere...all the players must be on the board!¡±
Mary doesn¡¯t seem to understand the last part and replies, ¡°How can I travel in time...I am too old¡my chronotons are too weak!¡± He looks at her and says, ¡°Yes...I want you to send Anna...she is your only hope! We must work together to stop Reed!¡±
At first she denies him and says that she won¡¯t put Anna in danger, but he tells her that he knows what happens in the future. He tells her that willingly or unwillingly it will always be Anna who travels to P: V01D. After minutes of arguing with him, Mary gives up and agrees to send Anna to P: V01D.
The Overseer gives her a different kind of chronoton enhancer, black clothes, a mask and a few gadgets and says, ¡°Tell her to teleport to 6 June 2010, the watch has the location of the 1st scientist. Tell her to look up Issac Wolfe and get into touch with him any way she can. He can help her find the rest of them indirectly, and remember Mary...she has to kill them all...that is the only way...or we risk losing our cover and please don¡¯t tell her or anyone else about me. I¡¯ll introduce myself when necessary!¡±
Mary nods at his instructions and before leaving the room says, ¡°Do you think we can stop Reed? I mean you...you do know about our future.¡± the Overseer nods his head and replies, ¡°Yes we will...I know we can!¡±
CHAPTER 21: DEJA VU
Mary goes back to her house and finds Anna waiting for her. Anna seems worried and seeing her mother enter the house quickly gets up from her chair and shouts, ¡°Where have you been? I was so worried...and why aren¡¯t you picking up your phone?¡±
Mary looks at her daughter with a face full of confusion and replies, ¡°I...had to meet someone...it was important.¡± Anna looks at the time and says, ¡°Oh so who was it? I find it hard to believe that you would leave your sleep to meet this ¡®someone...was it Reed mom?¡±
Mary tells her that it wasn¡¯t Reed, it was an old friend who helped her on her project and she went to warn him. ¡°I told him to leave the city and go elsewhere. It¡¯s not safe for him here!¡± Anna looks at her mother with suspicion and asks, ¡°You are lying aren¡¯t you...look at you rubbing your palms with your fingers... I know you are lying mom!¡±
Mary has had enough and says, ¡°Okay fuck this, come with me let¡¯s talk in your room!¡± Anna agrees to it and they both move to her room. After taking a seat Mary tells her that she has figured out how to stop Reed.
¡°Anna, you will need to go to P: V01D in my place, I am old and my chronotons aren¡¯t that strong; but you, you are young and healthy. I have to tell you another thing Anna, the people Reed has sent¡you will need to eliminate them to ensure your cover is intact. We must act this way or we could be exposed and it would be disastrous!¡±
Hearing her mother Anna goes into shock, ¡°I can¡¯t kill people mom...I just...there must be another way!¡± Mary looks at her with an intense gaze and says, ¡°THAT is the only way or we risk Reed knowing about us! If you cannot do this, I will go...I don¡¯t care if I die of Time Dementia. I must stop Reed at all costs!¡±
Looking at her mother¡¯s intense dedication and resolve Anna hesitatingly replies, ¡°I...I¡¯ll do it mom, but there must be a humane way of doing it. I cannot just shoot someone or stab them to death!¡±
Mary replies, ¡°There is a device, we named it the ¡®destabilizer¡¯. I¡¯ll build it and give it to you...that is the only humane way of getting rid of them! I¡¯ll explain how it works to you!¡± and so Mary starts building the destabilizer which takes her about 4 days. In these 4 days, she also makes Anna learn everything about time travel from her notes. Most of which Anna already knows because she had been secretly reading them, before she sends her to P: V01D, she provides Anna with all the information given by the Overseer.
¡°These are your objectives, I¡¯ll be waiting for your return Anna...best of luck my daughter!¡± she kisses Anna on her forehead as Anna enters her destination date, time, and location with a deep sigh she presses the initiate button, ¡°Here we go.¡±
That was the day Anna left her universe to go to P: V01D and today is the day she returns. Leaving Issac at her apartment, Anna sits in her car and makes her way to her house to meet her mother. She has a lot to tell her, she has to tell her that she has brought someone from P: V01D, and also of a strange man in black who told her to take him with her.
She stops her car near her house and opens the front door with her fingerprint. Nothing has changed much since she left. She goes to her mother¡¯s room and finds Peter and Mary sitting next to each other. Seeing her at their door Peter asks her to come in, ¡°Oh, Anna! How was your trip to your friend¡¯s house?¡± Anna replies nervously, ¡°It was great dad, he has changed a lot. I mean he is working on setting up his new business. Everyone was doing great at his place!¡±
After replying to her father she looks at her mother and says, ¡°Mom, would you mind coming to my room, I need to talk about something.¡± seeing her expressions Mary gets up from her bed and they both move to her room.
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¡°You stopped them¡right...most importantly how are you doing¡any after-effects of time traveling? Tell me!¡± Mary asks to which Anna replies, ¡°I am alright mom, everything went okay...there was this man in black, talked to us before we came here¡calls himself the ¡®Overseer¡¯¡±
¡°The man told me to bring Issac with me. He said he can solve many problems and something like ¡®he is the first void¡¯ I don¡¯t know what that means.¡± Mary nods at this and says, ¡°Yes, the Overseer is a strange man, he doesn¡¯t describe what he wants clearly. So tell me about this¡Issac.¡± Mary asks.
¡°Well, he was a washed-up detective and worked with the HPD. I forged some fake documents and got a job as his assistant. Through that connection, I found out about all the scientists Reed sent and was able to eliminate them. The last one was about to blow my cover but the Overseer saved me.¡±
¡°Also one more thing mother...he married you in his universe...but you died which is why he became so fucked up and drunk, also...he wants to meet you!¡±
Listening to her daughter Mary nods her head slowly as she takes in all the information and says, ¡°Interesting! Everything that has happened¡why don¡¯t you bring him here tomorrow? I would like to meet him.¡± she agrees with her mother and decides to go back to inform Issac.
Anna leaves the house and her mother goes back to Peter. They both start talking about random stuff. After a while, Mary goes downstairs into the kitchen and before she could shut down the light and head upstairs, she hears a feeble noise and turns around to see the Overseer sitting at her dining table.
She looks at him and says, ¡°What the hell are you doing here? You know how dangerous it is to be here. If Peter comes downstairs what will I tell him?¡± the Overseer looks casually at her and says, ¡°Go upstairs, he is asleep. Anyways, I came to verify if Anna has told you about the guest I told her to take from P: V01D. Issac Wolfe?¡±
Mary nods and the Overseer continues, ¡°Now I want you to understand that he is not an ordinary man, he is a void. A man with a chronoton strength of infinity he can travel to any universe anytime he wants, which is why he is important. Now, Issac doesn¡¯t know about his importance. He doesn¡¯t even trust Anna, but you...you, he will trust.¡±
¡°He is a sucker for your love and care and it won¡¯t matter to him if you aren¡¯t his Mary. He will try to you know...come closer to you, and I know it sounds weird but you¡¯ll be attracted to him too. Please, Mary, do not get close to him. Think of him as a tool and nothing more!¡±
Listening to him she starts to laugh, ¡°I attracted to him? I have a husband and I love him very much, I don¡¯t think I will even consider looking at him with some other intent!¡± hearing this the Overseer sways his head left to right and says, ¡°Oh! How wrong you are! You¡¯ll know when you see him!¡± and leaves suddenly.
The next day Mary dresses up in fine clothes and tells Peter to wear sharp clothes as well. She tells him that they have a guest coming to their house, when Peter asks about the guest, she replies, ¡°It¡¯s Anna¡¯s friend, he just wanted to meet us.¡± Mary asks Chef -20X to cook something special and then she waits for Anna. At 7:00 P.M. Anna opens the door and enters with Issac.
Peter and Mary sit next to each other at the table and wait for Anna to introduce them to him. Mary looks at Issac and she feels as if she has met him before, she keeps staring at him and he keeps staring at her. Issac too is lost looking at her alive and well. Both Anna and Peter look at them and stare at each other with weird faces.
At last, Peter clears his throat, ¡°Ahem! Welcome, Issac have a seat.¡± Issac nods and sits a little far away from Mary. Peter asks him some questions and he replies with made-up stuff. They all eat dinner and talk about what business Issac is to set. After they have talked enough Peter gets up and goes to the garden to work on his painting, while Issac, Mary, and Anna remain at the table.
Issac looks at Anna and then at Mary and says, ¡°It¡¯s...I am so happy to see you, Mary. I always wondered what you would look like when you get old.¡± Mary gives him a faint smile and the Overseer¡¯s words repeat in her head. ¡°Don¡¯t get close to him...think of him as a tool!¡±
She clears her throat and replies, ¡°Mr. Issac, as you already know we have a problem at our hand and it¡¯s my son Reed. I hope Anna has told you enough about it. We have a mutual friend and he has told me that you are very important. I would advise you to keep your cover and stay away from Reed. The next time we meet I will have orders from the Overseer. He will tell us how to move forward!¡±
Issac is lost in her eyes as she says all this, he feels so comfortable when she talks. Listening to her he replies, ¡°I¡¯ll do all I can to help! Don¡¯t worry Mary everything will be alright!¡±
Their conversation end and they eat dessert. A few moments later Issac leaves with Anna. Mary starts to recall the things she felt when she saw Issac, ¡°This d¨¦j¨¤ vu I experienced when I saw him, what the hell was that all about? I guess he was pretty close to his Mary. I hope he understands that I am not her and focuses on stopping Reed with us instead of doing something else!¡±
As they exit the house the Overseer looks at both Anna and Issac as they sit in the car and says, ¡°That¡¯s all on this side¡ for now. Time to move to David and Bill got to put them on track as well!¡±
CHAPTER 22: AN ENIGMATIC MAN
Bill left David in the basement room and entered the house. His children and wife were waiting for him at the dinner table, looking at them he had a strange feeling, a feeling he had not experienced in a long time. As he sat on his chair and started pouring water in his glass, he went deep into his thoughts.
He remembered that these individuals around him, this family of his, were not his own to start with. He remembered how the real father of the children and the real darling of Elena died. He remembered where he buried him.
He remembered the Overseer¡¯s words, ¡°All of this is an illusion¡you don¡¯t belong here or anywhere. You and me, we are voids, we have no future and our present is where we don¡¯t belong. We are people who shouldn¡¯t exist!¡± his glass was filled and water had started pouring out, but he was still in his thoughts.
Elena looked at him and said, ¡°Bill, honey what¡¯s the matter?¡± he shook his head as he came back to his senses and laughed nervously, ¡°Oh, terribly sorry! I must have zoned out.¡± the family carried on with their dinner. Inside his head, he was still confused by the Overseer.
He knew he had trusted him before, but the cryptic things he said made him question his own existence, was he really needed in this world or his own? After finishing the dinner, he let Aria ride on his shoulders and went outside the house for a little stroll near the woods.
As he walked on the trail he said to himself, ¡°No! This bond I share with them, this is real. These stories I tell Aria, the experiences I give to Daniel and Rick, the love I have for Elena, all this can¡¯t be an illusion. I refuse to believe what he says. So what if he knows the future and always seems to know what is going to happen next. He doesn¡¯t know the feelings I have for my family.¡±
After strolling for 20 minutes he went back to his house and tucked in Aria, kissing her on the forehead and shutting the light off he said to himself, ¡°This love is real and I can feel it, this is real and not an illusion. I don¡¯t care what the Overseer calls this, it is as real as it can get for me!¡±
In his bed before turning the lights off he told Elena, ¡°I will be leaving for a few weeks with Ronny, he has some things he needs to sort out in Hawkesbay. I promise I will return as soon as I can.¡±
Elena replies, ¡°Sure, just come soon, we get really lonely without you.¡±
He kisses her twice and goes to sleep. The next morning he wakes up early and gets ready to meet with the Overseer to discuss the next steps. He goes back to the basement and from a hidden stash takes some equipment and weapons.
Next, he opens the room and wakes up David, and gives him new clothes and boots. ¡°Ready for the meeting?¡± he asks to which David nods. They both make their way to the woods and once they are deep inside, Bill stops near a huge oak tree. On the tree, a symbol of an eye is drawn with red paint.
¡°This is the spot, he will be here soon!¡± as he says this, they both feel a feeble tremor and hear the cracking of leaves behind the tree. They look behind the tree quickly and find the Overseer standing, his clothes all black, his sinister face mask, and odd-looking goggles.
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Looking at them he chuckled, ¡°So, glad to know he chose us instead of Reed, good to see you again too Bill. I know there are a lot of questions on your mind David. So go ahead and ask without hesitation, I will try to satisfy you with my answers. Although I know that is nearly impossible!¡±
David starts his questions, ¡°From what Bill has told me, it seems like you are from the future, but which universe are you from?¡± the Overseer starts pacing left and right and then suddenly stops and answers, ¡°I am from a time, which you will wish would never come, think of me as someone who is trying to stop you from making the mistakes which will lead you to it.¡±
Hearing this David says, ¡°Does that mean we no longer exist in the future? What is your reason to help us then? I know people don¡¯t help others unless their own personal interest is involved!¡±
The Overseer laughs and says, ¡°Yes, you don¡¯t exist in the future, you, Bill, Reed no one does. An event will occur which will destroy all the universes, right now we are on track to that end. But, I hope to change that with your help of course! I want to help you because your future is linked with mine in ways you will not understand yet. I will tell you only when the time is right. Till then you will have to trust me or all the universes we know of, even the one you just visited will come to an end!¡±
Bill intervenes in their conversation and says, ¡°Alright then! What do you want us to do?¡± the Overseer replies, ¡°I have stopped Reed from screwing up another universe ¡®P: V01D¡¯ to slow him down, it will give us some breathing room.¡±
¡°However, there is a new device that Reed and his team have developed. It was just an idea, a concept, but it now physically exists, they call it ¡®chronoton scanner¡¯. I need both of you to get that device for me...and one more thing, I have 2 more people who are helping me. You will meet them soon, so don¡¯t worry we are not alone here!¡±
Saying this the Overseer pinpoints the location of the device on their maps and says, ¡°You both are trained by the best so I really hope you will keep it quiet when you steal the device from the lab.¡±
Bill questions him, ¡°What about Reed? You sure he won¡¯t come here looking for his lost asset?¡± the Overseer replies, ¡°Leave him to me, I will take care of things. You just worry about getting that device.¡± the Overseer looks at both of them and says, ¡°Good luck gentlemen and David, you can trust me!¡±
Back in the Origin Universe
Reed looks at the blueprints of a new machine. The machine is still just an idea, but he knows that he will turn it into reality. He looks back at the painting on his office wall and presses a button hidden beneath it. As he does this a wall slides and reveals a hidden room. He turns to his computer and says, ¡°Tell Jane I am not to be disturbed for at least an hour.¡± the computer acknowledges it and Reed enters the room.
Inside the room, a big flowchart of events is drawn showing him what choice leads to what conclusion. Inside the room, there is also a computer that Reed turns on. He looks at the schematics of a device named ¡®Interdimensional normalizer¡¯ and says, ¡°So this is what I will call you!¡± he reads the details of the machine and also sees the date when the machine will be completed.
¡°Just a few months! Looks like I have to make that deal with the mayor to sell me that land outside Hawkesbay. That is where this device will be made, according to the notes here. Of course, this has to be a secret. I cannot thank him enough!¡± just as he says this he feels a slight gust of air from behind.
He looks behind and says, ¡°Ah the Overseer, I was just thinking of you! So, you moving around universes making sure all goes in our favor?¡± the Overseer sits on a chair inside the room and says, ¡°Yes, I am here to give you a green light on the ¡®Interdimensional normalizer¡¯ buy the land from the mayor and start your development on it.
The information I have given you will help you too. This device will help you achieve annexation without using any human assets. The work is complex but your research team will deliver in the end.¡±
Reed smiles and says, ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why you are helping me? I mean what do you achieve from this project, there must be something you get from all this!¡± the Overseer looks at him and says, ¡°What I achieve is none of your concern, just remember who helped you set up project Annex! Without my information, you couldn¡¯t have done this in 50 years!¡±
Reed replies in a grateful manner, ¡°Of course, I will always remember this. So, how can I help you? Need some money or anything else?¡± the Overseer gets up from the chair and replies, ¡°No, nothing this time. I¡¯ll just leave you to it!¡± and then teleports from the room.
He teleports to the land which Reed wants to buy from the mayor, the place where the normalizer will be built in the coming months, and says, ¡°All the pieces are on the board, let the cycle begin anew!¡±
CHAPTER 23: A CLOSE CALL
¡°....that is who I am. You must keep it a secret, it is better this way. Even though I know what their and your future is, I don¡¯t want to control their choices. The choices are theirs to make, I can only see the results of those choices. You and I have a special purpose in all of this, as they inevitably make those choices and move to a certain future, we are the ones who have to look for a solution.¡±
¡°A way to end this suffering of ours, we have always failed but this time¡I need you to focus on a different solution. Look into other universes, measure the chronoton frequencies of all the Marys in those universes. There has to be a solution. Our story is a sad one and there is no happy ending, let¡¯s make one with our own hands then!¡±
His cold, robotic voice was as emotionless as ever, but he had dropped several bombs on her. He had revealed to Mary who he truly was and what the fate of all the universes was. She shuddered with fear as he told her about it, ¡°But it¡¯s better to die trying than standing still and waiting for death.¡± she thought. ¡°I need to go now; it is almost time for them to meet. Of course, it¡¯s up to them what they want to feel when they see each other, but trust me their reactions are always the same!¡± As the Overseer prepped to leave, she started to look into the other universes with the data he gave her.
David and Bill wore their tactical outfits as they got ready to infiltrate the research facility. ¡°Why can¡¯t we just teleport in and out?¡± David questions. ¡°It¡¯s because they can track the residual frequencies of our chronotons and identify us in a second!¡± Bill opened the schematics of the facility and marked several areas of entry and decided on the best exit route, there wasn¡¯t going to be a plan B.
If they were detected before they stole the chronoton scanner, it would be locked into a deep underground bunker. Stealing the chronoton scanner, that was what the Overseer had asked them to do. They dropped their plasma guns and took the sonic guns instead. ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy to procure all this equipment on such short notice, my contact was overwhelmed!¡± David says. ¡°Let¡¯s not make his efforts go to waste then!¡± replied Bill as he wore his mask.
Both of them repel on the wall and climb to the top of the facility. On the roof, they hack the skylight control and open it with ease. They repel down and enter the facility. ¡°Scanning for guards with lethal weapons¡looks like it should be easy, just gotta knock out 2 guards patrolling the room where the device is kept.¡± Bill says as he operates his tactical visor.
¡°Affirmative, you take point then. I¡¯ll follow.¡± David replies. They both move slowly through the claustrophobic corridors, carefully disabling motion sensors, avoiding IR cameras and guards.
Finally, they reach the room. ¡°Alright, the hacking module should take care of the biometric scanner,¡± says Bill. The door scanner beeps and they both enter the room. They are quickly spotted by a guard, but before he could do anything David stuns him with the sonic gun and knocks him out, while Bill starts scanning the room to find the second guard. The second guard seems to be in the toilet taking a piss.
¡°Let¡¯s catch him with his pants down, literally!¡± Bill grins as he takes care of him and takes his keycard. ¡°I got this keycard¡did you get the other one?¡± Bill asks David.
David nods and they both look at a glass room where the scanner is located. They both move to the door and Bill says, ¡°Alright need to swipe the cards at the same time. You Ready? 3...2...1¡± the cards are swiped and the door unlocks. They both enter the room, Bill secures the chronoton scanner. The scanner is designed like a calculator with lots of buttons and a holographic screen.
David starts checking the lab¡¯s computer for information on the device. ¡°We only had to take the device and get out...what are you doing David?¡± Bill asks anxiously. ¡°I don¡¯t trust the Overseer; he told us to steal the device but never told us what this device does. I have to look for details, think of this as a personal objective!¡±
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Digging through the documents David finds out that this device is capable of predicting the future of any individual scanned with it. In case of death, the scanner shows a black screen. The probability of the outcome shown by the scanner isn¡¯t 100 percent, meaning that the outcome can be changed. The probability hinges on the decisions an individual makes to either avert a certain future or make it happen.
Bill shouts at David, ¡°Hurry the fuck up man!¡± he decides to transfer the file containing the information about the scanner to his enhancer, the new one which was given to him by Bill. ¡°Alright let¡¯s get out of here, but Bill this device is a very powerful tool, and if the Overseer already knows our future. Then why does he need this?¡± David questions with uncertainty.
¡°We can figure this out later; let¡¯s just get out before shit goes south!¡± Bill quickly moves outside the glass room while David walks casually over to him. Before he could step outside the room, a laser grid activates out of nowhere and detects him. He freezes as the alarms start to blare loudly, ¡°What the fuck are you waiting for you nosy asshole move it!¡± Bill shouts.
They start running towards the exit route they had planned, but when they reach it the exit door is sealed off, ¡°The west window we gotta jump out, the ground floor is swarming with guards, let¡¯s fucking run for it!¡± Bill says.
Running towards the window they are soon pursued by guards, they keep pushing towards the window. The guards are ordered to stop them at any cost, ¡°They have the prototype, stop them at all costs! Shoot to kill if you have to!¡± a guard shouts. The guards open fire on them and they start to evade their plasma rays.
¡°Don¡¯t you die you asshole! Keep pushing forward, when I signal you shoot them with your sonic gun!¡± Bill screams in distress. Before they could jump out Bill screams, ¡°Nooooow!¡±
Time slows down, in the warm red of the plasma beams; taking swift steps towards the window, Bill shoots the window and David shoots the guards. The window shatters into a million pieces due to the strong sonic frequency and the guards hold their heads and scream in agony. They jump out certain that they¡¯ll hit the ground flat, but as they jump and look down, a truck full of sand breaks their fall and they are saved from certain death.
Laying down on the sand, both of them take deep breaths. David says, ¡°Time sure is on our side! Fuck that was intense!¡± The truck stops after traveling for a while. They both get up and see a man in all black standing in front of the truck. It¡¯s the Overseer they jump out from the sandpit.
As their feet hit the ground the truck driver also comes out but he is not alone. A girl comes out of the truck as well. David looks at her long hair and feels as if he knows her from somewhere. They all move towards the Overseer and he waits for them to come closer.
When they are close enough the Overseer speaks in a firm voice, ¡°A job well done all of you, it could have gone smoother if the dynamic duo was faster. Amazing work on calculating the exact time they would jump Anna, and good driving Issac!¡±
David hears her name, turns his face to his left, and looks at her. Those radiant eyes and that alluring face, she was as beautiful here as she was in P: 210. He was awestruck once again, and he was pretty sure he would feel the same a billion times over. The Overseer turns to Bill and David, ¡°I think you have something for me.¡± David hands him the scanner and the Overseer introduces them to Anna and Issac.
They greet each other, but David has his eyes set on Anna. ¡°Alright¡now that the greetings are out of the way, let¡¯s build some trust amongst each other. From now on Issac and Bill are going to be a team, and Anna how would you like if David becomes your partner?¡±
Hearing this David¡¯s heart starts to race. His feet become weak and he starts breathing heavily. ¡°Anna, this is David. Both of you should head to Anna¡¯s apartment...don¡¯t worry he is a real gentleman. Aren¡¯t you David? I will contact you in a few days. David, you lay low, and Anna you continue your normal routine at MSAT!¡±
David stammers, ¡°Y-Yes...I-I am!¡± and Anna replies confidently, ¡°Alright! We will wait for your orders!¡±
The Overseer looks at Bill and Issac, ¡°The Harbinger and the detective will surely make an interesting team! I have a safe house just outside Hawkesbay, here are the coordinates. I¡¯ll meet both of you in a few days too!¡± saying this the Overseer teleports; leaving them to each other.
Before David and Anna teleport to her apartment, Anna waves Issac goodbye and wishes him the best, ¡°I hope when we meet again, the situation is in our favor, Issac!¡± Issac nods and wishes the same for her.
Back at MSAT tower, Jane receives thousands of calls on her office line and on her personal phone too. She answers a call and hearing the news she gets up from her seat and rushes to Reed¡¯s office.
She barges in without knocking and Reed looks at her with furious eyes, she looks at his toxic stare but gathers enough courage to speak, ¡°Sir, we...the chronoton scanner was stolen from the facility!¡± he hears this and clenches his fist, his body shakes in anger and his eyes widen. He screams on top of his lungs and throws his chair on his desk.
He looks at Jane, breathing frantically, she feels his heart could burst at any moment. ¡°Call him...I need him to take care of this! I have a meeting with the mayor tomorrow, whoever is behind this will pay with their lives¡I swear!¡± Jane nods and runs out of the office.
The Overseer listens to Reed¡¯s agony via a hidden microphone inside Reed¡¯s office and starts laughing like a maniac, ¡°No matter how many times I hear this, it¡¯s always hilarious and comforting. Not so invincible now, are you Titan of Hawkesbay?!¡±
CHAPTER 24: IT BEGINS
Anna holds David¡¯s hand and they both teleport to her apartment. He cannot believe that he is here with her. She hesitatingly looks at him and finds him staring at her, which is a huge blow to her confidence. She being an introvert her whole life speaks out to him in a low voice, ¡°David...right? You¡ can...sleep in that room.¡±
She points to the room. David looks at the door and nods saying nothing. The initial nervousness between them is adorable. He starts moving towards the room when she notices something and suddenly calls out from behind, ¡°Oh shit, your shoulder...it¡¯s bleeding...there¡¯s a first aid kit in the bath...patch yourself up. In the meantime, I¡¯ll arrange for something to eat. I¡¯ll be waiting at the table over there.¡±
Once again he just nods in return which somewhat annoys her, ¡°Uff! What¡¯s with him not replying and just nodding?¡± she says to herself. He goes to the room and looks inside the wardrobe, he sees some shirts and trousers and then heads into the bath to take a shower and patch his shoulder wound.
After showering he wears the trousers and starts applying some antiseptic on his wound, ¡°Doesn¡¯t hurt much...just a scratch that¡¯s all! Now for the hard part.¡± he says to himself.
He needs to dress the cut, which is impossible to do with just one hand. David being a lone wolf all his life doesn¡¯t really ask for help and decides to do it on his own which takes a lot of time. Outside, Anna waits for him patiently. Looking at the burgers that have already arrived, she takes in their aroma occasionally and tells herself, ¡°Any moment, he¡¯ll come out, and then I can eat!¡± but it¡¯s been a while and David hasn¡¯t come out.
Waiting for long her patience runs out and she gets up from the chair. She knocks on the door, ¡°David, Is everything alright? It¡¯s been a while.¡± David freaks out hearing her and says, ¡°Yeah...I¡¯ll be out in a few seconds!¡± sensing the impatience in her voice, he accepts defeat and leaves the cut undressed.
Keeping the antiseptic and bandage inside the first aid box, he takes a white-colored shirt from the wardrobe and wears it. He opens the door and finds her waiting for him outside, he glances at her and then looks elsewhere, acting more and more awkwardly.
Anna moves to the dinner table and he follows her. As she sits down on her chair and hands out a burger to him, he takes the burger from her nervously. She takes note of his awkwardness but says nothing. They both start to eat and she asks him some general questions.
David replies to each of them but never asks Anna anything in return, which frustrates her even more. ¡°It is nearly impossible for me to get him to talk. Ugh! I hate this!¡± she says to herself.
After eating his burger, David gets up and starts moving towards his room. Anna calls out from behind once again, ¡°Hey! You didn¡¯t dress your cut properly, the blood is still pouring out!¡± he turns around and looks at her, his eyes are full of embarrassment. ¡°I...I couldn¡¯t do it, the cut was hard to reach.¡± he replied.
Anna smiles at him and says, ¡°You should¡¯ve asked for my help, we are a team from now on. Let¡¯s build some trust between us.¡± he nods and she follows him to his room. He takes off his shirt and she takes the first aid kit from the bath.
He sits on the bed and Anna starts dressing his cut. After she is done she keeps the first aid box back inside the bath and just when she is about to leave David says, ¡°Anna...thank you!¡± she looks at him, smiles, and then leaves.
David lays down on the bed and closes his eyes. Her image still stuck in his mind, she was glistening in beauty and he was looking at her with a heart full of desire, a heart full of wanting. But she was unreachable, even if she was with him now. She still wasn¡¯t what she was to him in some other universe.
Issac and Bill enter the safe house which was marked by the Overseer. The house is quite old and doesn¡¯t have any fancy features found in modern houses. There is a refrigerator that Issac opens, while Bill turns on the air conditioner and Television.
Looking inside Issac shouts, ¡°Holy Shit! They still make you, let me taste you!¡± Bill looks at him and asks, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± to which Issac replies, ¡°Everything was wrong before, but now it¡¯ll all be fine!¡±
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He takes a bottle of Hawk¡¯s Beer and drinks it all in one gulp. ¡°Fuck me! The taste is still the same, I mean I traveled to a different universe, and still...the taste, the smoothness, the scent...it¡¯s the same as it was in my universe!¡±
Bill looks at him and gloats, ¡°That beer tastes like horse piss though!¡± Issac disagrees and opens up another bottle, while Bill watches his favorite show.
He says to Issac, ¡°You know why time travel sucks? Look at this, in my universe, Brian lost his son and the story became dark and sad. Now, look at this shit, here his son is alive and Brian is dead, the whole story is fucked up! Glad to see your beer still tastes the same, there were a billion chances the taste would¡¯ve changed, guess no one is as lucky as you Issac!¡±
Issac starts laughing at this and they both start getting to know each other. Before Issac could sleep on the couch; the Overseer teleported to the safe house. He abruptly forms in front of Issac which startles him, ¡°Fucking Hell! Knock the door...or ring the bell. I almost had a heart attack!¡± the Overseer ignores his comment and says, ¡°Gentlemen, I need you to investigate something for me. It doesn¡¯t have anything to do with stopping Reed, but it will interest you nonetheless!¡±
He looks at Bill and says, ¡°It¡¯s a matter of great importance, I know you have many unanswered questions which sometimes eat your soul Bill. But, those questions will be answered now. I know your mother and sister died in a house fire, you were pretty young at that time. Your mother married twice, her first husband died of cancer, and her second husband¡well he just disappeared. Your mother hid a lockbox that contains something which will help you find out about him. I have this information, yet I don¡¯t know the location of this lockbox.¡±
Hearing him, he stands up from the couch and says, ¡°I don¡¯t want to find out about my father, he can rot in hell. He left us alone and you want me to know about him. I don¡¯t feel the need to waste my energy on knowing who he was.¡± the Overseer comes closer to him and hands him an old flash drive.
He looks at it and asks, ¡°What¡¯s in this old relic?¡± the Overseer replies, ¡°Plug it in and see for yourself, and yeah I know you will go on to find out about your father, that is why Issac is here with you. His detective skills will help you discover the secrets of your existence!¡± saying his cryptic words the Overseer vanishes leaving them both with the flash drive.
The next morning Reed heads to the facility where the robbery took place to assess the situation. He looks at his security staff with anger and says, ¡°Worthless pieces of shit, each and every one of you. There was a reason why this facility was made.¡±
¡°It was to keep top-secret projects hidden from everyone in the city, the press, my mom, and the staff at MSAT. The stolen item is worth more than all of you. I should fucking kill everyone right now!¡±
Suddenly, Jane comes to him and whispers something in his ears. He takes a deep breath and follows her. A man with a scar on his right cheek looks at Reed and smiles when he sees him approaching. Reed smiles at him too and says, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a sight for sore eyes Dorian! Look at this mess, you know why you were called here right? Investigate this site and find every small detail, then tell me how it happened, and most importantly get a trail of them if you can. I want them found!¡±
Hearing the desperation in Reed¡¯s voice Dorian looks at him with a face full of confidence and says, ¡°It will be alright Reed¡I¡¯ll have Simon look after the combat lab while I am investigating this mess. I hope you won¡¯t mind if things get a little bloody!¡±
Reed casually says, ¡°Of course not, you have complete freedom to do what you want. In return I want results! Keep me posted with what you find out. Good luck!¡± saying this he leaves the facility with Jane and Dorian proceeds with his investigation.
He looks around the room where the device was kept and tries to find a clue of any kind. He looks at the computer screen and sees a document open. Reading the document he starts to think, ¡°Even the guys who stole it didn¡¯t know what the device was for, maybe they were hired to do it.¡±
He moves to the corridor and looks at the malfunctioning cameras, he keeps moving ahead and finds the broken window. He stops and says, ¡°I need a guard on the second floor, send someone who was chasing the perps.¡± he then leans forward and looks down on the ground. He turns around and sees the guard who has just arrived, without any pause he asks him, ¡°You saw them jump from the window, what were they wearing and how did they break this window?¡±
The guard tells him that the robbers wore black skin-tight suits, the ones worn by stealth and infiltration teams. He also tells him that one of them stunned the guards who were chasing and the other one used his sonic gun to destroy the window to jump out.
Dorian sits down facing the window and starts to think, ¡°Alright they were wearing skin-tight stealth suits which aren¡¯t known to have any protection against plasma or sharp objects, stealth suits are made this way so that it¡¯s easy for the person wearing them to do ridiculous aerobics and fit easily through vents and tight spaces. I just need a shred of evidence here to go on, a torn part of the suit or something else.¡±
He gets up and once again goes to the window. He starts looking at the edges of the shattered window glass. Carefully looking at each sharp edge, he finds a hint of red on the clear transparent glass.
His eyes widen with excitement and he says, ¡°Well, well, well, looks like someone got cut and left their DNA all over this edge.¡± He takes out a strange device and scans the dried blood, the device beeps when the scan is complete and displays the name of the person the blood belongs to.
When Dorian reads the name he narrows his eyes and says, ¡°What the fuck? David? This doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡± concluding his investigation he leaves the facility and contacts Reed.
Reed picks up his call and in a serious tone, Dorian says, ¡°Reed...I found some dried blood on a sharp edge of the broken window and you won¡¯t believe who the blood belongs to...It¡¯s Hunter...our Hunter. You said he was missing after he was sent to P: 210¡I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on here, but if Hunter is behind this-¡±
Reed cuts him off and says, ¡°Hunter?! You have got to be kidding me...I don¡¯t care what you do to him. Just get me the device back, if you have to kill him in the process do not hesitate. What a fucking mess this whole situation is!¡±
Dorian cuts the call and says in a grim voice, ¡°Understood!¡± After giving him orders Reed starts to wonder if the Overseer knew about the robbery and if he did; why he didn¡¯t warn Reed.
He couldn¡¯t believe that Hunter was behind the robbery, and he was scared if he knew more about his plans. ¡°I need to ask him if he knew, the next time he shows up I¡¯ll do and I won¡¯t settle for anything less than a complete explanation.¡±
Jane enters his office and says, ¡°Sir, the mayor is here with his staff. He says he¡¯ll hand over the land to you in front of the press, to show them how much he trusts and values you.¡± hearing her he smirks and says, ¡°Finally, some bloody good news today!¡±
CHAPTER 25: SINS OF THE FATHER
Bill looks at the flash drive kept on the table. Staring at it for a good amount of time, he makes up his mind and gets up from the chair, ¡°What the hell, why am I doing this?¡± he says as he plugs the flash drive into an adapter and then connects it to his phone. Issac notices this and says, ¡°Curiosity is the ultimate killer, that¡and the search for the truth. Take a look and tell me what¡¯s inside it.¡± he nods and looks at the contents inside the flash drive. The drive has a single document file. He opens it up and starts reading.
¡°Logan Residence Fire Report¡±
¡°The fire that took place at the Logan Residence, House #78, Lakemoor Drive, located on the suburbs of Hawkesbay was an unfortunate event. We were too late to reach the location as it is quite far from the city. Almost all the house is burnt, nothing remains. The worst fact of this report is that Hope Logan, aged 37, and Leah Logan, aged 14, both residents were also burnt to ashes. In all my years as a firefighter I have never seen a fire like this.¡±
¡°One thing is clear to me and the department. This was no ordinary fire. It was caused by Benzene which is a deadly chemical to keep at your house. The sole survivor of the resident is 7 year old Bill Logan. The child will be given to child protection authorities and will be sent to a better home.¡±
¡°During the scrapping of the burnt house, we came across an underground opening beneath the house. Going inside the opening we found nothing of interest and decided to fill it with sand. Although I¡¯m sure no one would want to build a new house here, now that the city has more and more apartments and better living conditions. I conclude my report, hoping that Bill will go on to have a great future, I also pray that Leah and Hope find peace in the afterlife.¡±
Reading the fire report Bill¡¯s eyes were blank, tears soon followed and he could not hold back anymore. Issac saw him cry and rushed towards him. He took his phone and started reading the report himself. He sighed after finishing the report and patted his shoulder.
¡°I¡¯m sorry Bill, but this report...it¡¯s giving us clues. Benzene at home, opening beneath the house, I think we should look around the place.¡± Bill wipes his tears and nods. A few minutes later they ready up and teleport to the address. They reach the location where Bill¡¯s house was burnt; the ground was clean only dirt remained.
Looking around Issac could only find abandoned old houses, ¡°Looks like everyone left to live in the big city!¡± he says. Bill ignores this and says, ¡°Now what? I don¡¯t see the point of coming to this place. The opening had nothing of interest as it said in the report.¡±
Issac goes to the empty space and starts stomping his feet right and left, judging the impact his feet has on the ground he stops when he stomps on soft land. ¡°Well, looks like this is where they poured in the sand, rest of the lot is solid ground. Now we just need a shovel.¡±
Bill looks at him with an annoyed face and says, ¡°Let¡¯s just go back, no need to dig. I don¡¯t want to deal with this!¡± Issac disagrees and says, ¡°I will help you Bill, but you have to help yourself too. It¡¯s important to close this chapter of your life if it bothers you this much. Let¡¯s find out about your asshole dad, maybe we can track him down and make him pay for leaving you all like this.¡±
Bill takes a deep breath and says, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s search the empty houses maybe someone was generous enough to leave behind a rusty shovel.¡± They split up and looked around different houses. After a while, Issac shouts, ¡°Hey I think our friend knew we would come.¡±
Bill follows his voice and sees a shovel with a note saying, ¡°Knew you would come!¡± Issac takes the shovel and hits it on the soft spot.
He starts digging out the sand, after a while he gets tired and hands over the shovel to Bill. Taking turns they dig an 8 feet hole until the shovel hits something metallic.
Listening to the sound Issac looks down the hole and finds Bill digging with his hands. After digging enough he takes out what looks like a lockbox. Bill throws it to Issac and climbs out of the hole. Issac looks at the keyhole and says, ¡°Well, now to find the key.¡± Bill takes the lockbox from his hand and uses his plasma gun to heat the keyhole and break the lock.
¡°No time for that!¡± he says to him. Inside the lockbox is a small memory tape. Looking at the memory tape Bill says, ¡°What the hell? These didn¡¯t exist in that year. This is new technology!¡± Issac asks what a memory tape is and he explains, ¡°Well, suppose someone close to you is going to die in a few days, so what you do is transfer their memories and a small part of their consciousness to this memory tape. All you need is an Artificial Reality simulator to read this tape and you can see that person and talk to them. Find out what life was through their eyes.¡±
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Issac opens his mouth and says, ¡°Fuck! That¡¯s amazing!¡± Bill looks at the memory tape and says, ¡°Let¡¯s go back and see if the digging was worth it!¡±
They both teleport back to the safe house and Bill buys an AR simulator online. The delivery drone drops the package at his doorstep in about 20 minutes. He opens up the AR simulator and inserts the memory tape. He wears what looks like some flashy goggles.
He closes his eyes and lies down on the couch. He says, ¡°Play memories!¡± and the tape starts playing someone¡¯s memories. He opens his eyes in his old house which was burned. He finds himself sitting on a chair and looks at the sofa to find his mother sitting there smiling at him, his heart starts pounding and he gets up and says, ¡°Mom!¡± She gestures him to sit down and says:
¡°Unbelievable what the future will hold, amazing things like the memory tape and tools of destruction like the normalizer. Before your father left me he told me to record this and hide it in the hole he dug in our basement. I met your father at a local diner after Leah¡¯s father passed away. He was a kind-hearted man with sorrows of his own. Anyways, we started to see each other often. I told him about Leah and how lonely I was, in a matter of weeks we had gotten very close to each other. He soon married me and we started a life of our own.¡±
¡°He told me that he had a special purpose and that our son, you, have a special purpose as well. Your father was a confusing man too, he always insisted me to continue using the name of my dead husband. Even after your birth, he told me to name you Bill Logan which didn¡¯t make any sense. Soon he changed into a man I didn¡¯t recognize anymore.¡±
¡°He started to stay away from home for months. He called me once or twice asking how you and Leah were doing, but that was it.¡±
¡°He never came to your birthdays or school meetings. I thought he didn¡¯t want to be with us anymore; so I decided that we didn¡¯t need him too. I always waited for him, looking at the door, hoping that he might just come through and hug me; take you and Leah in his arms. But he never did. One day he came out of nowhere in all black clothes and a weird mask on his face.¡±
¡°I started complaining and scolding him but all he said in return was ¡°There is no time left¡± that¡¯s when he told me about time travel, multiple universes, you. All these years he was busy setting things up for the future, that he wasn¡¯t interested in the present at all. He even married someone else and had a son named David. He told me that the sole purpose of his, your, and David¡¯s existence was to avert total annihilation of the universes.¡±
¡°Sometime in the future, nothing will exist, the moments we lived, the paths we traveled, all of the strides we make for the future. It would all be for nothing because that is what our world is. Nothing! I was shell shocked when he showed me the video, a giant black substance in the sky sucking everything inside it. It kept pulling everything inside it till there was nothing left. Take a look at it yourself.¡±
Hope shares her memory with Bill who is dumbfounded by all the things she has told her. He looks at the video and confirms that his mother is indeed telling the truth.
He says to her, ¡°He calls himself the Overseer. I have met him a number of times. What does he look like mom¡show me a memory of him, what¡¯s his name? Please mom I need to know who he is!¡± his mother shares a memory of his father, but for some reason, his face is glitched out. He asks his mother to show him some other memory, but in the other one, it¡¯s still the same.
He gives up and says, ¡°He must have done this to hide his identity, that bastard!¡± Hope takes his hand and then plays the last moments of her life.
¡°These are the last moments of my life son, let¡¯s head outside.¡± They both get out of the house and his mother starts crying, ¡°When I was a young girl I thought that I was special, but as time passed I realized that I was just an ordinary girl. A normal nobody who wasn¡¯t important, but your father told me that even if I am nobody¡I could still special. If my death would pave way for the betterment of all the universes, I was going to do it!¡±
Bill looks at his mother going inside the house, his eyes wide open, his heart pounding even faster. He sees his mother locking the door of the house. She starts spilling Benzene all over the floor, and asks Leah to come downstairs with a shaky voice.
Bill slams the door and screams, ¡°No! No! Mom¡don¡¯t do it please!¡± he starts to cry and keeps screaming in despair. His mother lights a match and throws it on the floor, he hears her screams and shouts even more, for a while he keeps crying in agony, ¡°I don¡¯t want this future, I don¡¯t want you to die. I...I...I will travel back and save you¡yes...that¡¯s it, Fuck the Overseer and his plans! He has played with our lives long enough!¡±
Suddenly he hears a warning, ¡°Memory tape ended, self-destruct in 20 seconds please eject the tape to avoid damaging your AR simulator!¡± he quickly exits from the AR world. When he takes off his AR goggles he finds the Overseer and Issac sitting in front of him.
In a flash he throws the goggles from his hand and furiously jumps at the Overseer. The Overseer gets up and points his finger at him, and he freezes in the air. Issac looks at both of them in confusion. ¡°Ok, so what the fuck is happening now?¡± he asks. The Overseer looks at Bill and says, ¡°No matter how much I try you always jump at me. I know you want to kill me right now and I know you want to go back and save your mother, but remember even if you save her and prevent her death, it still doesn¡¯t change the fact that we are on borrowed time here.¡±
¡°Listen to the voice of reason! If she didn¡¯t die you wouldn¡¯t be here. You¡¯d be a fucking clerk or an accountant, a fucking nobody.¡±
¡°Right now you are the reason a selfish billionaire trying to manipulate time is sweating balls sitting on his chair. If you save her there is no telling how much you¡¯ll fuck up this already fucked up universe. Please! I have worked hard to get these outcomes. I would have hidden all this from you, but I decided not to because I trust that you will make sane decisions even after knowing my connection with you.¡±
Issac stands still scratching his head, trying to make sense of what is going on. After a few minutes, the Overseer decides to unfreeze Bill. He falls down to the ground and starts crying, ¡°She didn¡¯t deserve this...you asshole...you...I hate you!¡± the Overseer sighs and says, ¡°No one deserves this but this is the only way I found, give her death a purpose, please Bill believe in me as she did. I am tired of doing it again and again, I want some peace too! But before I tell you the complete story of who I am, you need to save David and Anna.¡±
¡°Dorian is on the hunt for them and he will soon find them. I think the preparations for the end have already begun. I will reveal everything to all of you the next time we meet. Till then, please...son don¡¯t undo all that we have done!¡±
Hearing their conversation Issac¡¯s mouth opens wide and he appears to be speechless. The Overseer looks at him and says, ¡°It¡¯s alright Issac, there are still a few surprises for you down the road which will widen your mouth even more. I¡¯d like to thank you for pushing Bill to do this! Now both of you need to save Anna and David from Dorian¡be very careful, Dorian doesn¡¯t leave people until they are dead!¡±
CHAPTER 26: THE HUNTER BECOMES THE HUNTED
David wakes up in a dark abyss. He moves forward, and sees Anna in bright-colored clothes, she joyfully runs around him and keeps saying, ¡°Catch me when I fall David! Catch me when I fall!¡± he doesn¡¯t understand what she means and keeps looking at her. He clenches his fist and takes a deep breath, ¡°Anna! I want you, I...I think I am in love with you!¡±
As soon as he says this, she starts running away from him, he watches her run away and suddenly the Overseer appears in front of her. He takes her hand and looks at him, ¡°For the future, we must all sacrifice people dear to us, you will have to give her up if you want to stop Reed!¡±
Anna starts screaming and the Overseer takes her away. David stands still and keeps yelling, ¡°No! No! Don¡¯t take her away!¡± and suddenly wakes up, gasping for air, ¡°What a fucking nightmare!¡± he says as he gets up and goes outside his room.
Anna is awake and is watching the news on the holo-screen. She sees him coming from the room and asks him to sit with her on the sofa.
They both watch the news when suddenly he clears his throat and says, ¡°Anna, do you really trust the Overseer?¡± She looks at him and decreases the volume of the news. ¡°Yeah, why are you asking this?¡± he looks at her with an intense gaze and says, ¡°What if he is using us against Reed and has his own plans, I mean the man is from the future, and unlike us, he has nothing to hold him back. Then why can¡¯t he just travel back in time and kill Reed when he was young or maybe kill him right now?¡±
¡°What if in the end when we take down Reed he takes over? He ordered me and Bill to steal the ¡®Chronoton scanner¡¯ a device that can predict a person¡¯s future, which doesn¡¯t make sense. He is from the future so why does he need that device?¡±
She starts pondering on his questions and after a few moments says, ¡°You know what, you made some good points. I never thought of this, and I feel rather stupid that I didn¡¯t.¡±
They watch the news for a while and then decide to get some rest. Before they could go to their rooms, someone rings the doorbell. Anna looks at the doorbell cam and sees a man in a black trench coat. David looks at him too and says, ¡°Be careful Anna, I don¡¯t like this guy.¡±
She opens the door and says, ¡°Yes, who is this?¡± the man looks at her and smiles, ¡°I am an HPD agent, we¡¯ve had reports of a new face settling in this building, and ever since he arrived¡he is causing all sorts of trouble for the neighbors. Here is his photo; do you know this guy, Ms. Julie?¡±
Anna looks at the holographic image of David and gets rattled by it, she doesn¡¯t respond to the man who reads her expression and says, ¡°Ms. Julie, hello? Have you seen this man?¡±
She shakes her head and says, ¡°No...No I don¡¯t think I have. I would like to sleep now, big day tomorrow. Bye now! Hope you find this man!¡± she says as she closes the door. She tells David about this and he becomes cautious. He grabs Anna¡¯s arm and takes her to her room, ¡°Stay inside, things might turn ugly in a few minutes. Lock the door and don¡¯t open it for anyone!¡±
She gets scared and asks, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Did you know that guy? Are we in danger?¡± he doesn¡¯t answer her and closes the door. She locks the door and sits on her bed frightened. David takes his plasma gun from his room and waits in the lounge.
In the elevator, the man speaks on his comms, ¡°You were right to doubt Anna Maximus sir, this apartment has been purchased on a false name. I can confirm she was Anna Maximus and not some Julie Alvarez. How do you want us to precede sir?¡±
On the other side Dorian replies, ¡°Go in quietly, David might have an enhancer and would teleport somewhere else if he finds out we are coming for him. We need to catch him right now before he slips away. Ready your team with shock rounds, we need him alive for questioning. Also, be careful he is a very dangerous man!¡±
The man gears up with his team of three men and goes back to the apartment. He uses a silent breach charge to break the lock on the door and they quietly go inside. They check their corners and proceed to the lounge where they see a chair out of place.
Out of nowhere a tiny cylinder comes flying and drops in front of them, looking at the cylinder one of them shouts, ¡°Sonic grenade!¡± the team quickly disperses but two of them are stunned by the grenade. The remaining two move behind the lounge walls and look restlessly in the dark for a target. ¡°I can¡¯t see anyone, no target in sight!¡± one of them says
The stunned men drop to the floor curling left and right holding their heads. David comes from behind and snaps the neck of one of them who is behind the wall and quickly shoots the other to his left in the head.
He moves to the men who are still incapacitated and shoots one of them in the head. He grabs the last remaining man and drags him to the table. He holds his neck and questions him, ¡°Who sent you? Was it Reed? Does he know about us?¡± before he could answer, a shock round hits him from behind and he falls to the ground shaking frantically.
Dorian comes inside the apartment holding a shock gun, ¡°What a mess, I warned them that you are one of my finest students, guess they thought I was joking!¡± David sees him and tries to get up but falls down and passes out. Dorian orders his men to search the apartment. One of them breaks the door of Anna¡¯s room and finds her on the bed with a gun pointed at him.
¡°Freeze or we kill David!¡± he shouts. She closes her eyes in disappointment and drops her gun. She asks, ¡°What have you done to him? Where is David?¡± Dorian comes inside her room and shoots her with a shock round too.
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Seeing her shaking he says to her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry sweet Anna, I am taking you both with me!¡± he orders one of his men, ¡°Clean the mess outside and fix the apartment, no clue of what happened here, you understand?¡±
They take both Anna and David in separate vans and he says to someone on his comms, ¡°Prepare the rooms, I have two guests who need special treatment!¡±
They travel to a remote location far away from Hawkesbay. One of his men asks him whether they should report back to Reed, to which his answer is No. The vans stop near a small hut situated on the bank of a river, Dorian exits one of the vans and goes inside the hut. He goes to a wall and knocks it twice, the wall opens and a scanner scans his face.
After the scan is completed the floor of the hut opens up and a platform elevator comes up. He goes outside and gives his men the go-ahead. The men strap both of them to separate stretchers and take them to the elevator. The elevator starts descending and he looks at David, ¡°Welcome to the Chamber David! Oh, what lovely surprises I have planned for you!¡±
The elevator stops and he orders his staff to take both of them to ¡®the room¡¯. The basement of the hut is a secret research facility given to Dorian by Reed. The facility conducts psychological experiments to test the limitations of the human mind. Of course, most of the experiments are illegal but if you don¡¯t get your hands dirty you probably won¡¯t go far in this world.
The AR Headsets and memory tapes were products of this facility even though engineers back at MSAT took the credit for them. Both Anna and David are still unconscious and have no idea of the trouble they are in. In their respective rooms, they are transferred to an observation table, they get injected with a chemical of some kind and different kinds of sensors are placed on their bodies.
Finally, on Dorian¡¯s order, a helmet-like device is placed on their heads and turned on. In front of Dorian, many screens display their vitals, mental state, and brain activity. He orders a scientist to load ¡®the Chamber¡¯ and his consciousness inside David¡¯s brain.
As the loading begins Dorian wears a special helmet different from theirs and looks impatiently at the loading bar. When the loading is complete he orders the scientist to wake David in a subconscious state.
David wakes up and finds himself in a huge white room. He tries to move but finds out that he is strapped to a chair. He looks around and shouts, ¡°Where the fuck am I? Where is Anna?¡± Out of nowhere, Dorian appears in front of him.
¡°Hello Davy, welcome to my world, here you are all mine. You see, I have always had a special interest in interrogation. Of course, you know this as I trained you to resist interrogations. But this place, it gives me the freedom I don¡¯t have in the real world. This David is the prison of the mind, anything I want I get here, if you die. I can resurrect you again.¡±
He starts to struggle and says with concern, ¡°What do you mean? Release me right fucking now!¡± Dorian starts laughing and replies, ¡°Let me show you something.¡± he looks to his left and a chainsaw appears. He picks it up and starts moving towards a struggling David.
¡°The fear of your death won¡¯t stop me from getting answers, if you run out of limbs I can always reset you and try again!¡± David¡¯s heart rate increases and he starts to panic.
He starts the chainsaw and asks, ¡°Who are you working for David, why did you steal from Reed and where is that device?¡± David shouts, ¡°I won¡¯t say a thing! Do your worst!¡± Dorian chuckles and says, ¡°Here it goes then!¡±
He uses the chainsaw on his left foot, the chainsaw cuts his flesh and David starts screaming due to the pain. Soon the chainsaw reaches the bone and once it starts cutting the bone, the pain increases ten folds and he gives out a loud wail.
He looks at Dorian¡¯s grin and then down to his feet with watery eyes. He sees blood flowing and no left foot, the scene makes him sick and he vomits. Dorian sees him and says, ¡°Oh come on now, don¡¯t fall unconscious this is just the starting! Keep him awake and reset him when he has no limbs left!¡±
He asks him the same questions again and David cries, ¡°No way, not till you kill me a million times!¡± Dorian¡¯s smile vanishes and he punches him saying, ¡°I will do this a million times and be sure of it! I will break you!¡± and he starts cutting his right foot. David can only scream and endure the enormous pain.
Dorian takes the chainsaw to his right arm, but David¡¯s vitals start to fluctuate and he starts falling unconscious. Before he does though, Dorian puts the chainsaw on his neck, and his eyes open wide as he feels the pain and force of the cuts on his neck. David squirms left and right and finally dies.
Seeing his dead eyes Dorian shouts ¡°Reset him right now!¡± and in a flash of a second David is back to his normal self. He looks at Dorian and then confusingly gazes at his feet. He is completely fine, it¡¯s as nothing happened to him at all, but he does remember what Dorian did to him and screams, ¡°Fuck you! You psychotic asshole! I swear once I¡¯m out of here you are fucking dead you hear me?¡±
Dorian smirks, drops the chainsaw and says, ¡°Let¡¯s change the scenery shall we?¡±
In a moment the white room changes to a desert and David finds his arms tied to tracks of some kind. Dorian says, ¡°Ah! These ancient relics are called railway tracks, in the past, many people would commit suicide by jumping in front of trains. Basically, an old hover rail with wheels made of metal. Let¡¯s see the damage it can do to a man¡¯s arms!¡±
David looks at him with eyes full of fear. ¡°Send it in!¡± he shouts and a train comes rushing towards David. He struggles, moving his neck left and right, trying to get up but it¡¯s of no use, he is tied tightly to the tracks.
The train starts moving and honks the horn, in the noise of the train Dorian shouts, ¡°Why do you resist David? For old times¡¯ sake, please just give us a name and we¡¯ll do the rest!¡± David replies in an exhausted tone, ¡°No! Fuck Reed and you. I rather die again!¡±
Dorian stops the train mid-way and says, ¡°Ok then, move his whole body on the tracks!¡± and it happens. The train starts coming towards him and Dorian just smiles and watches David getting crushed under the train, hearing his screams, he closes his eyes and smiles getting pleasure from them.
After the train passes Dorian resets him again but this time he changes the location to a rocket launch site. David is out of breath as he appears under a giant rocket propeller, he has tears in his eyes and he looks at Dorian with hatred.
Dorian sees him and says, ¡°Hurry up! I still have to work on the lovely lady in the next room!¡± hearing this he screams, ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking touch her, I¡¯m gonna rip your head off if anything happens to her!¡±
His reaction startles Dorian and he replies, ¡°Hmm! If I can¡¯t break you with physical pain, let¡¯s try emotional pain instead! Load her consciousness here!¡±
David looks at Dorian desperately and is even more scared than before, ¡°No not her, why the fuck didn¡¯t I keep my mouth shut? This sick fuck, what will he do to her?¡± he says to himself with dread.
Issac and Bill teleport to the apartment and find it empty with no sign of them. They search the whole place and find no trace of them. ¡°Do you think the Overseer is playing games with us? No one is here!¡± Bill shouts. Issac looks at the rooms and the general appearance of the apartment.
¡°I think something is wrong, the apartment is too perfect, I mean David and Anna were living here weren¡¯t they?¡± Look at the floor, the beds, and the trash bins, it¡¯s all too perfect.¡± They both leave the apartment and teleport back to the safe house. ¡°What do we do? I can¡¯t contact the Overseer. He contacts us and not the other way around.¡± Bill says.
Issac sits on the couch and replies, ¡°Well¡guess we¡¯ll wait then!¡± After a few minutes, the Overseer teleports in front of them and asks in a jolly tone, ¡°So, saved your brother and Anna, Bill?¡± to which Bill sighs, ¡°Save who¡their ghosts? No one was there, no Dorian, no David, and no Anna? Is this one of your games too?¡±
The Overseer listens to him and is confused, pacing left and right, he talks to himself, ¡°No, this is not possible! Can it be really happening? The future changing, but...but specifically, these outcomes never change.¡±
He looks at Bill and says, ¡°You always kill Dorian and his team at the apartment and save both of them, that¡¯s how it should have happened! But...but if that¡¯s not the case. They are in trouble. We all are, if Dorian finds out about our plans and informs Reed¡this will fuck everything up. No! I cannot allow this to happen. We have to find them!
A ripple in the flow of time; a new event occurs which causes new outcomes and new anomalies in the timeline. The anomalies the Overseer is unaware of! Will this ripple prove beneficial for the Overseer, or will Reed be able to achieve his goal before he is stopped by Issac and his friends?
CHAPTER 27: ADAPT AND SURVIVE
The Overseer paces left and right while Issac and Bill watch him mumble to himself. ¡°There must be a way to track them, maybe their enhancers? No, David¡¯s enhancer is not from this world so it will be hard to track, but Anna¡yes! I think I can track her, but I need to go back to Mary for that!¡± he says to himself.
He looks at Bill and Issac and says, ¡°I¡¯ll find a way to track them and see where they are, meanwhile you guys gear up and get ready. We¡¯ll need to move quickly to save both of them!¡± they both agree and the Overseer vanishes. He teleports to Mary¡¯s study room where he finds her sleeping in front of 5 holo-screens. He looks at each of them before deciding to wake her up.
He touches her cheek and she wakes up, ¡°Oh, I...I just dozed off. Anyways I still haven¡¯t found out how to fix it all. I know I am running the events on a supercomputer back at MSAT but still one billion outcomes, and finding the perfect one is a lot to ask-¡±
The Overseer stops her and says, ¡°Mary, I know it¡¯ll take a lot of time and I am not here for that, it¡¯s...Anna and David they are in trouble. Something has happened, which shouldn¡¯t have. I think...I think the future is diverting from what I had planned it to be, but let¡¯s worry about that later. I need you to track Anna¡¯s enhancer¡hurry!¡±
Mary becomes worried and asks, ¡°What do you mean in trouble, where did you send my daughter?¡± he shouts, ¡°I promise you, nothing will happen to her! Track her enhancer please!¡± she senses the desperation in his voice and starts to track it. After a few moments, the enhancer¡¯s last known location is revealed.
¡°It¡¯s an empty road, that¡¯s her last location. No! Maybe that¡¯s the last time the enhancer pinged its location. No problem, we¡¯ll go there and find them!¡± he says to her.
Mary holds his hand before he teleports back to the safe house and says, ¡°Bring my daughter back or I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡± he nods and teleports back. At the safe house he sees Issac and Bill ready for action. He looks at Issac and says, ¡°No, you stay here, I¡¯ll go with Bill. I don¡¯t want any more complications!¡±
Issac argues with him, ¡°No! I¡¯ll go too, she is my intern and I think I should go looking for her as well!¡± the Overseer sighs and says, ¡°Alright! Stay with Bill at all times and don¡¯t try to be a hero!¡± The three teleport to the last pinged location from Anna¡¯s enhancer and start their search.
David starts sweating as Dorian waits for Anna¡¯s consciousness to be transferred. Once it is transferred she appears in front of David and gasps, ¡°David, I thought...you were dead, what a relief!¡± she looks around and asks, ¡°What is this place and why are you tied up?¡±
He looks at her with teary eyes and replies, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Anna, I should have been braver, I am so sorry!¡± before she could ask him anything else Dorian speaks from behind, ¡°Ah! Now he is sorry. You shouldn¡¯t have met her David. People like us don¡¯t deserve other people. We are trained killers, made to do whatever Reed orders. The last thing you should have in this business is a heart!¡±
She looks at Dorian and asks, ¡°Who are you? What do you want from us? Did Reed ask you to do this?¡± he starts to laugh and says, ¡°David, are you ready to see her suffer?¡± He looks down and says nothing in return. Anna is perplexed as she has no idea what Dorian is talking about.
He says, ¡°Let¡¯s start with something light shall we Miss Anna?¡± he snaps his fingers and the surrounding changes. It¡¯s the white room again, where David was tortured. Anna¡¯s hands are tied and she confusingly looks left and right. Dorian holds out his right hand and a can appears, he moves towards her with the can in hand. When he reaches her, he starts pouring something over her.
She closes her eyes and asks in a trembling tone, ¡°What is this, what are you doing?¡± she slowly smells it and her eyes open wide. ¡°It¡¯s gasoline, what are you planning to do?¡± Dorian steps away from her and a lighter appears in his hand. He looks at David and shouts, ¡°I ask you again David, who are you working for and where is the device you stole?¡±
He looks at him and replies, ¡°Fuck you! Don¡¯t you do it, I¡¯m warning you!¡± Dorian takes a deep breath and throws the lighter at Anna. Time slows down for David as he watches the lighter and its flickering flame spin and advance towards her. He watches helplessly as flames cover her body and she screams, ¡°No!¡±
Her body in flames and her screams echoing in the room and his ears. He feels powerless and goes delirious, he keeps screaming, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Anna, this is my fault. I¡¯m sorry!¡± for a while Anna screams in agony and his tears don¡¯t stop, but eventually, she burns and dies. No more screams, no more Anna.
Dorian looks at her blackened body and says, ¡°Ah, so this is what happens when a body keeps on burning! Reset her now!¡± in a flash she reappears in front of David. She still screams with her eyes closed not knowing that she isn¡¯t burning anymore. A few moments pass and she opens her eyes.
¡°But¡how...I was burning!¡± in a state of distress she looks at Dorian and shouts, ¡°Torture us all you want! We won¡¯t say a word you psycho!¡± she looks at David and starts blabbering, ¡°David look at me, they¡¯ll come to help us, we have to hold on. I can take the pain, you must endure with me¡don¡¯t give up¡or it¡¯s all over...Reed will win and we can¡¯t let that happen!¡±
David has tears in his eyes and whispers, ¡°I can¡¯t see you in pain, I can¡¯t see you like this...because...because I...I love you, Anna! In a different universe, we were together, and seeing that makes me want you even more. You remind me that there is still beauty in life. It¡¯s not all sadness and sorrow. You are lively, positive, kind, and all that which I am not. It¡¯s only a matter of time before I am broken! I just can¡¯t...Anna...I just can¡¯t take it!¡±
Her heart skips a beat as she hears his confession. This feeling was the one she had never experienced before, and so was the situation they both were in. This was the moment she was waiting for all her life, she had wondered how and why people fall in love and now she had her answer, ¡°So that¡¯s how it feels like when you are in love!¡± she says to herself. His love seems to be a slight glimmer of hope they both needed in this dark hell.
Dorian looks at them and claps his hands, ¡°Wow, never thought a cold-hearted killer like you would be capable of such emotions. Now that you love birds have shared your moment, David ready for round two?¡± Anna looks at David and says, ¡°David this is your mind, you are the master here not him, break the barriers holding you back. We can win from him. I¡¯ll take all the pain. Don¡¯t let my screams break you. Use them to break your barriers. I know you can do it!¡±
Dorian looks at her right, and a saw table appears. He looks at her and she smiles at him, ¡°Is that the best you could think of¡how disappointing!¡± Dorian smirks and says, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s plenty more!¡± she vanishes and then reappears chained on the saw table. ¡°Let the show begin!¡± Dorian shouts. The saw starts spinning and slowly advances towards Anna.
Issac, Bill, and the Overseer look around the last known location which looks like an abandoned road miles away from Hawkesbay City. Issac and Bill search carefully for any clues that could lead them somewhere.
Out of nowhere, Issac finds wide tracks of tires on the muddy roadside, he shows them to Bill and he calls the Overseer. The Overseer teleports to their location and looks at the tracks, he verifies the tracks with the tire tracks he found in the parking lot of the apartment building and it¡¯s a match.
¡°Fuck yea! Now let¡¯s follow the tracks and they will definitely lead us to where they were taken!¡± the Overseer says as they follow the tracks.
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Issac asks Bill who Dorian is and he tells him, ¡°Dorian is the man who trained me and David to be...well, mercenaries for Reed. He is an ex-military officer who was expelled because he used to torture prisoners and spies using questionable methods. However fucked up his mind is, he still trained us both so we owe him a lot.¡±
¡°He taught us how to survive, but at the end of the day if I have a plasma gun in my hand and he is the target, I won¡¯t hesitate to melt his brain!¡± the tracks lead them to a small hut which the Overseer decides to check. All three enter the hut and Bill starts scanning the interior with his enhancer, he detects weird magnetic signals emitting from the hut¡¯s floor.
¡°There is something under the hut. Look around, there must be something that allows us to access whatever is under this place. Issac looks at the walls of the hut and sees a particular wall with black horizontal lines beside it, ¡°Hey guys, I think this wall slides to the left!¡± the Overseer and Bill look at the wall and decide to push it. After a few moments of struggling with the wall they finally push it and it reveals a face scanner.
¡°Well, that was the easy part, how the fuck are we going to go through the scanner?¡± asks Bill. The Overseer places a device on the scanner which blinks three times and an elevator starts coming up from the hut¡¯s floor.
¡°There we go!¡± says the Overseer as he takes it back. ¡°Neat device, where did you get it?¡± asks Bill but he ignores him. They step on the elevator and it starts descending. As it descends Issac takes a deep breath, ¡°You sure this suit will keep me alive, I mean bullets weren¡¯t as deadly as these plasma thingies.¡± he says to Bill. He laughs and replies, ¡°Just shoot those who shoot you and you¡¯ll be fine, and stay behind cover, this suit doesn¡¯t make you invincible!¡±
The Overseer takes out his gun and whispers, ¡°Shhh, Ready your weapons!¡± as the elevator reaches the end, red plasma rays start flying towards them. Bill moves quickly and shoots two of the many security agents firing at them. He quickly moves behind some cover and shouts, ¡°Hurry, behind this!¡± the Overseer holds his gun above his chronoton enhancer and appears to be using it while also aiming and shooting at the agents.
He seems to be unfazed by the plasma rays. Issac on the other hand fires blindly as he runs towards the cover. He rejoins Bill who instructs, ¡°Don¡¯t fire in quick succession or the gun will overheat and go for their heads, they¡¯ll pop like watermelons!¡± he nods and they watch the Overseer slowly walking towards them.
He says to them, ¡°Ok, I got the coordinates of this place and I also set teleport points across this corridor. I need you guys to distract them and leave it all to me!¡± Issac replies, ¡°Don¡¯t be cocky¡let¡¯s work together here!¡±
He completely ignores him and shouts, ¡°Distract them now!¡± Issac and Bill start shooting at them blindly. As the agents are busy with them the Overseer starts his execution, he teleports a few meters forward and kills two agents, the other agents point their guns towards him, but before they shoot him, he disappears.
The agents start engaging with Bill and Issac and out of nowhere the Overseer appears and kills three of them, one of the remaining three shouts, ¡°He is butchering us all, fall back to the end of the corridor!¡±
The remaining agents run, but one of them is shot dead by Bill and the remaining two are startled as the Overseer appears right in front of them and shoots them both in the head.
The chaos ends, Issac and Bill regroup with the Overseer and Bill asks, ¡°That was fucking super human-like! What exactly did you do?¡± he replies, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you some other time let¡¯s find David and Anna!¡±
Issac hears a feeble chatter and grabs an earpiece from a dead agent. He puts it in his ears and listens to what¡¯s going on, ¡°Dorian is inside the Chamber! We need to secure the area leading to it. If we are unable to stop the intruders, the facility will self-destruct with them inside. The elevator is already sabotaged¡get your ass here if anyone of you is alive!¡±
Issac coveys all he heard to Bill and the Overseer with concern. The Overseer once again appears relaxed and replies assuredly, ¡°We will get out of here don¡¯t worry, let¡¯s head over to this Chamber!¡± Issac and Bill nod and they move forward.
Anna looks fearfully at the saw moving towards her crotch, it is about to reach her when suddenly Dorian starts scolding someone, ¡°Useless pieces of shit all of them, protect the Chamber at all costs!¡± he looks at the saw and notices that it has stopped. He says, ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you to stop the saw, start it again. I am not done with these two!¡±
David stares at him with a menacing smile on his face and says, ¡°You were right Anna this is my mind and I am the master here!¡± her chains disappear in a flash and so does the table. She falls to the ground and he apologizes, ¡°Sorry Anna, but that¡¯s the last time you¡¯ll get hurt!¡±
He takes slow steps towards Dorian who seems to be in awe at what he is witnessing, but his awe soon turns into fear.
¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t control him? Do something! What do you mean he¡¯s gone berserk?¡± Dorian shouts but it¡¯s of no use. David stands in front of him. He looks into his eyes and starts trembling. ¡°This is my world Dorian and I¡¯ll make you suffer!¡± Dorian pees himself seeing the rage in David¡¯s eyes and starts screaming frantically, ¡°Get me out, press the kill switch!¡±
David holds him by his throat and says, ¡°I¡¯ll send you don¡¯t worry!¡± He steps back from him and Dorian starts bloating, ¡°What the fuck are you doing David?¡± he bloats and bloats and then explodes. A splash of blood covers David. Anna rushes over to him and hugs him from behind, but he appears to be lobotomized by the traumas he suffered and does nothing in return.
Dorian on the other hand wakes up suddenly and removes the helmet-like device from his head, ¡°Did you see that? Did you see what he did?¡± he asks but there is no one around to answer him.
¡°Fucking cowards all of them, no worries time to arm the self-destruct sequence, I also have these love birds asleep. Maybe I¡¯ll trade them for a way out!¡±
Issac, Bill, and the Overseer move deeper into the facility, Bill digs through and finds the map of the facility on a computer and finds the Chamber to be a few meters to their right.
The Overseer stops them before they turn right to confront the agents, ¡°We¡¯ll do the same here as well, let me just calculate the distances and start the timer.¡± he says as he operates his enhancer.
Just before he teleports, he gives them the signal, ¡°Now!¡± They both peek around the corner and fire at the agents. The agents have set up a barricade which makes it difficult for the two to hit them. Issac says in an intense tone, ¡°Fuck! No use, they got it locked up pretty tight!¡± Bill peeks and before getting shredded by the incoming plasma rays hides behind the wall again, ¡°Well our work is done!¡± Issac looks at him confusingly and hears a few plasma shots go off.
After that, there is dead silence. Issac peeks and sees the Overseer standing tall among the dead bodies of the agents. The Overseer had teleported behind the agents and then executed all of them in the same fashion he executed the previous agents.
The three regroup in front of a huge glass door with a huge sign reading ¡®The Chamber¡¯ and enter together. They search some rooms but there is no trace of anyone there. The staff had evacuated but the Overseer pushes on and sees a room with a blackened window.
He signals them to go inside and says, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I know what will happen in the next few minutes, whatever happens¡just...just trust me. We¡¯ll get out of here alive!¡±
They step inside the room and find Anna and David in separate glass rooms. They are asleep with weird helmets on their heads. Bill looks at Dorian who is holding a trigger, ¡°Nowhere to run Dorian. We got you now!¡± he says.
Dorian starts laughing and replies, ¡°You really thought I wouldn¡¯t think two steps ahead of you? A silent EMP has already fried your enhancer Bill, no more teleporting for you, and if I press this trigger. Their brains will light up like a Christmas tree! Now if you are smart--¡± before he could finish the Overseer teleports behind him and stabs him in the heart with a laser cutter. Dorian¡¯s eyes open wide, he bleeds from his mouth and falls to the ground, but he still keeps smiling at the Overseer, ¡°This is what you get for fucking with us!¡± the Overseer says to him as he closes his eyes and dies.
Just then, the room starts to shake and a voice says, ¡°Self-destruct sequence initiated, you have 10 seconds to evacuate the facility!¡± hearing this, both Bill and Issac start sweating and they both look at the Overseer helplessly.
¡°What the fuck? How are we supposed to wake them up and take them out of here in 10 seconds? This son of a bitch destroyed my enhancer!¡± Bill says. The countdown comes to 5 seconds. Issac closes his eyes and the Overseer says to Bill, ¡°Shhh! I got this under control!¡± he taps on his enhancer, and time stops!
He looks at Issac and Bill stopped like mannequins. He slowly goes to David¡¯s room and touches him before removing his helmet and waking him up. David gasps as he opens his eyes, ¡°David it¡¯s alright, you are alright now. We are here to save you!¡± the Overseer says in a calm voice.
David gets up and says lazily ¡°Anna, we need to save her!¡± they both go to her room. The Overseer touches her as well and then removes her helmet. She wakes up and screams for a few seconds then she looks at David and hugs him tightly, ¡°It¡¯s alright Anna we made it!¡± he says to her.
The Overseer shouts, ¡°We don¡¯t have any time let¡¯s go back to Issac and Bill. Both Anna and David watch them frozen in place and Anna even notices Issac¡¯s sweat drops hanging in the air.
¡°Did you freeze time?¡± she asks the Overseer but he doesn¡¯t answer. ¡°Hold all your hands tightly!¡± the Overseer orders them as he touches Bill and Issac who come back to life. The Overseer quickly taps on his enhancer and time unfreezes. The countdown reaches 2 seconds and all of them quickly teleport to the road outside the hut.
As they appear on the road a huge explosion trembles the ground and the hut explodes flying into the air. The Overseer looks at the explosion from the distance and says, ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the safe house, Issac, you or Bill take my enhancer. I don¡¯t have enough strength to teleport anymore, my chronotons...after I froze time-¡± he starts to tremble and is about to fall but Bill holds him up and wears his enhancer
¡°I get it the stunt you pulled to save us all, took a lot of your strength. No worries! I¡¯ll get us out of here!¡± they hold each other¡¯s hands once again and they teleport to the safe house. Once there the Overseer falls to the ground, Bill holds him and puts him on the couch.
Issac tends to Anna and David who themselves are fucked up. Bill looks at all of them and shouts, ¡°Ooooweee! What a fucking day we had. Let¡¯s get some rest before we start asking each other what happened to us, and also wait for this guy to wake up!¡±
Reed looks at the schematics of the facility where the normalizer will be built. He grins at the sight of becoming the God of time, but his daydream is interrupted by Jane. She once again barges in and says breathing heavily, ¡°Sir, turn on the news!¡±
Reed frowns at her and turns on the news, ¡°Reports of a huge explosion 25 miles away from Hawkesbay City have been reported, the cause of the explosions is still unknown¡¡±
Reed shuts off the news and says grinding his teeth, ¡°Dorian¡¯s facility...what a fucking mess! Call the police chief no press vans are to be there and get our rescue teams to mobilize immediately. Any survivor they find, I want them to come to my office and tell me what the hell happened! Do it right fucking now Jane!¡± she runs off to do as instructed.
¡°Did the Overseer know about this? I think he is hiding something from me because this wasn¡¯t in the recording of the future events he gave me!¡± he opens his drawer and takes out a new chronoton scanner. ¡°Well, looks like I need to scan my masked friend to see what he really wants!¡±
CHAPTER 28: REVELATIONS
¡°We know you will try again and again, but the truth is, you are just a man, a desperate man who wants to set things right. Listen to us, we have shown you the way, why do you rebel against us? Why do you want things to happen your way? Do you enjoy watching them suffer? Your arrogance causes this end, every cycle. This cycle is no different, slowly and surely it will all come to an end like it always does!¡±
The Overseer hears a strange voice in his sleep, but he is familiar with this voice, after listening to it he starts saying in his sleep, ¡°No! Please, I will find a way, this time will be different! I swear!¡± and suddenly wakes up. He finds Bill and Issac looking at him with confused gazes. He looks around and sees David and Anna shaking severely. He gets up and asks, ¡°How long was I out?¡± Bill replies, ¡°About 20 minutes or so.¡±
He moves towards David and says, ¡°I pulled them out too quickly, their brains still don¡¯t know if this is a dream or reality¡wait.¡± The Overseer inserts his hand in his pocket and takes out two large rounded pills and puts them in their mouths. As they swallow the pills both of them close their eyes and fall asleep instantly. ¡°The pills will help them get out of this trance they are in. I¡¯ll take them back to the apartment. I¡¯ll contact soon and we¡¯ll discuss our next steps.¡±
The Overseer teleports to the apartment and puts them both on the same bed one by one. He looks at them and says, ¡°Things are different than before, I must talk to Mary she should have found a solution by now, this cycle seems to be at an end too. I don¡¯t have any time left!¡± before leaving the apartment he keeps a digital recorder near David with a note saying, ¡°Listen to me!¡±
He teleports to Mary¡¯s living room and looks at her and Peter in the garden through the glass door, talking and laughing, they seem to be in a different world. He texts her and when she receives it, she looks behind and finds him standing inside the house. She asks Peter to get back to his painting as she goes inside the house.
Once inside the Overseer says to her, ¡°I think it¡¯s time, did you find a solution?¡± she gives him a worrying look and says, ¡°Let¡¯s go inside my office, we can talk there in detail.¡± They both head inside the office and he starts looking at the holo-screens restlessly. She looks at him and says, ¡°Take a seat, I¡¯ll explain everything.¡±
He sits on a chair and she starts to tell him about the results, ¡°The supercomputer was too slow, so I used a quantum computer to simulate all the events, the outcomes are all the same. Reed will turn on the normalizer and the cycle will begin again, this is your one-billionth try and still, the outcome will be the same. However, I did find out something else which might help.¡±
¡°I analyzed the known parallel universes and found something odd in one of them. It is Issac¡¯s universe, the one we call V01D, it was supposed to be the original parent universe of the other ones, even ours but look at it now.¡±
The Overseer looks at the holo-screen and sees that V01D is not connected to any other universe, ¡°It has no connection with the other universes, but why?¡± she explains, ¡°It¡¯s because I discovered chronotons, the day I discover time travel is the day the connection between V01D and the other universes starts to weaken. After you and Reed meddle with other universes, this universe becomes the parent of all the other ones, leaving V01D all alone!¡±
He looks at her and says excitedly, ¡°They were right, V01D is the real one, the fail-safe, this universe, and its children are all illegitimate clones of the original one. V01D is the original one! That¡¯s why I can never win, your universe is a paradox Mary and so are its children!¡± Mary uses the holo-screen and says in a grim tone, ¡°It¡¯s not only that, at the same time I discovered time travel something happened in Issac¡¯s universe too, his wife died.¡±
¡°These events are intertwined, so to fix our universe we need to stop that from happening in V01D! I know you tried to kill me to stop time travel from being discovered, but that caused more parallel universes to be born and in some of them I did discover it again! If you try to stop me, you¡¯ll be in an infinite cycle because my discovery is the effect while his wife¡¯s death is the cause.¡±
¡°If there is no cause then there is no effect. We should ask Issac what happened on December 12th, 2008. It¡¯s the event connected to my discovery.¡±
The Overseer starts pacing left and right, ¡°But...but is he ready? To know about all of this, it¡¯s too much to take in at once!¡± she holds the pacing Overseer from the shoulders and says, ¡°We don¡¯t need to tell him all the details, we¡¯ll just ask him about his wife¡¯s accident!¡± he holds her hand and says, ¡°But it¡¯s not that simple to fix, we cannot let Issac go back and save his wife because it¡¯ll cause more complications. One person cannot exist as two different entities in the same universe...and...this could also put my existence in jeopardy! You know why I can¡¯t change things in V01D right?¡±
She sighs, ¡°Does that mean, we wait for the end of this cycle and hope that you do the things we discussed in the next one?¡± The Overseer says confidently, ¡°That¡¯s the only solution, if we decide to change events from the past, even in V01D; things may get even more fucked up! I have failed million times, what¡¯s one more failure? For now, we must make sure no further complications occur. We need to make sure that Reed constructs the normalizer without much delay!¡±
Mary nods and asks, ¡°So, are you going to bring Issac right now?¡± the Overseer replies after a long pause, ¡°No, I need to meet Reed first. I must be sure that he is committed to the normalizer.¡±
¡°Thank you, Mary, for trusting me and believing in my story. No one would have believed and helped me. I regret that for the majority of my tries, I never took your help. All this useless labor could have been avoided!¡± she nods at him and smiles, ¡°I did this because I feel like I am the one equally responsible for this mess, what¡¯s done is done though. Let¡¯s hope the cycle ends and the universe goes back to what it was originally supposed to be! What time wanted it to be!¡±
He seems confused by her response and asks, ¡°But aren¡¯t you sad or scared? All that anyone has ever done in their life here, is nothing in the end. This world and the others connected to it are all wrong, they shouldn¡¯t exist. When this cycle ends and hopefully I don¡¯t lose to my feelings once again, there will be no Mary, Reed, Anna, and Peter. No one will remember you, and no one will care.¡±
¡°Doesn¡¯t this put you in an existential crisis?¡± she just smiles and replies, ¡°I was in existential crisis when you first told me about this and the other stuff. I felt so lost and alone, but then I saw my family¡¯s photos. I and Peter were young and in love, then Reed came into our lives and soon Anna followed. I think I have lived the best life anyone would¡¯ve asked for. Even if this world amounts to nothing, I am happy that I lived all these moments and they have made me who I am!¡±
He looked at her smile, it was so pure and real. At that moment he knew that she had accepted her fate. Before leaving to meet Reed he said to her, ¡°I just hope everyone else reacts the way you did when we tell them about the reality of this world and the things I have done. Although, I know a few who would try to complicate things.¡±
She chuckles and asks, ¡°Anna and David?¡± he replies, ¡°No, just David. He¡¯ll go crazy, he always does. It¡¯s up to Anna to put some sense into him. I¡¯ll talk to her soon too.¡±
David wakes up and finds Anna¡¯s arm on his chest, he looks to his right and finds her deep in sleep. For a few moments he keeps looking at her, admiring her beauty, time feels like it has stopped. He reaches out with his hand to touch her face, but before he does, she opens her eyes, and he freezes.
She looks at him with half-open eyes but soon opens them fully, embarrassingly she asks ¡°Umm...how did we get here, and why are we sleeping in the same bed?¡± he replies, ¡°I have no idea, I¡¯m just as lost as you are. I remember being in a white room with that psycho. I remember he tortured me and then he burned you, I remember the Overseer got us out, that part is fuzzy though, and after that¡I don¡¯t remember much, don¡¯t remember how we got here.¡±
She processes what he said and replies in a mellow voice, ¡°Do you love me, David? You seem to have skipped that part.¡± he widens his eyes at her and his cheeks start to change color, he notices her arm still on his chest and then sees her smile at him, he gulps, and before he could say anything she says, ¡°Your heartbeat is telling me everything, David!¡±
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He holds her hand and says, ¡°You know, I thought we would never be able to escape from Dorian. In the white room, I wished that before I die, we could have a moment like this. Away from all the bullshit, alone, in each other¡¯s arms. Who knew my last wish would be granted after we went through hell. Yes, I...I love you Anna and you are the only right thing in this twisted world.¡±
She looks at him and smiles, her eyes glossed with tears that didn¡¯t yet slide down her cheeks, she unhesitatingly hugs him tight and hides her face in his chest. The only place that gave her comfort right now. He pushes her away and as she looks at him, he kisses her and she kisses him back.
He looks deep into her eyes as if he is gazing inside her soul and says, ¡°You are the only person left who is important to me, the shit we¡¯ve been through I¡¯ll kill time itself if it tries to take you away from me!¡±
She listens to him and measures the intensity with which David loves her. After staying with him for a few moments, she gets up from the bed and goes outside the room while David lays on the bed looking at the ceiling, suddenly he looks at his left and sees a digital recorder with a note saying, ¡°Listen to me!¡± he calls Anna who comes to him with a bag of chips and he presses the play button.
The Overseer teleports to Reed¡¯s office and finds it empty. He starts moving towards the secret room but Reed quickly comes out of it and startles. ¡°Fuck! You are gonna kill me with a heart attack, the way you just teleport at any time!¡± taking a deep breath to calm his nerves he continues, ¡°Anyways, I have some very important things to discuss, take a seat.¡± the Overseer sits on a chair and Reed takes a seat near him.
¡°First of all, a facility of mine was just blown to pieces by God knows who. The incident was never mentioned anywhere in the flow chart you gave me. Secondly, the normalizer is 30% done, it is being developed in that new research facility under construction. Construction on the normalizer is stopped as of now. I told the engineers that we¡¯ll resume the work once the facility is completely constr-¡± he cuts him off and says, ¡°Good progress, soon you will achieve annexation in all the known parallel universes, and I will find a way back to my universe!¡±
He gets up and before he leaves Reed shouts, ¡°Wait, for a man who has all the time in the world, you sure are always in a hurry. I have to ask you a few things!¡± the Overseer looks at him and sits on the chair once again. ¡°You remember Hunter and Harbinger? My agents, who helped with the initial annexation attempts? Harbinger died a long time ago, but Hunter went missing after we sent him to P: 210. Later I found out that he was one of the perpetrators who stole the scanner.¡±
¡°Dorian tracked him down and was getting answers from him in the facility that blew up, tell me...did you know about Hunter¡¯s betrayal or the facility¡¯s fate? Did you know about Dorian¡¯s demise?¡±
The Overseer¡¯s response is quite cold, ¡°No! I didn¡¯t, sometimes anomalies like these can occur in the flow of time, nothing is perfect, right? But I have a serious question for you Reed. Do you trust me completely?¡± he replies sarcastically, ¡°Of course I do, how could you even doubt me!¡± the Overseer gets up from his chair and says, ¡°There are some things which I know will happen to me.¡±
He points towards a camera in the corner of his office. ¡°Like for instance that camera. I know you are scanning me to see my future, to be sure if I can be trusted. I don¡¯t mind because your scanner is gonna return a black screen after scanning me. Because I don¡¯t belong here and I make my own future!¡±
Reed is embarrassed and says unapologetically, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I have been going through a lot, these 3 weeks have been frustrating, to say the least. I just felt that you were betraying me, so pardon my cautiousness!¡±
Anna sits near David, both of them anxious about what the recorder might hold. She holds his hand as the recording starts playing, it¡¯s an unfamiliar feminine voice to her ears but his expressions tell her that he knows whose voice it is in the recordings, ¡°It¡¯s my...mother...these are her recordings!¡± he says in an excited tone.
¡°Ok...is this thing recording, let me just look at the screen...yeah, it¡¯s recording. Ok, so my name is Olivia and these recordings are for my son David. Your father tells me that he¡¯ll give you these recordings in the future when the time is right. Till then they¡¯ll be with him.¡±
Her tone changes and she seems to be crying, ¡°David, honey...I¡¯ll miss you...and I can¡¯t get over the fact that I won¡¯t be there for you in the future. I won¡¯t see you grow up, I won¡¯t see you turning into the handsome man you are, but your father. He assures me that he¡¯ll take good care of you.¡±
¡°She sniffles and clears her throat, ¡° I met him on a street near Grab-a-grub, I had lost my gold brooch which was a family heirloom.¡±
¡°I was in distress and was looking for it anxiously. I hadn¡¯t noticed him looking at me, but he had his eyes on me. I had almost given up, but he came from behind and said, ¡°Excuse me miss, is this what you are looking for?¡± and there it was in his hands. I took it from him and he said to me, ¡°The brooch¡¯s beauty pales in comparison to yours.¡± I know it was a pretty cheesy pickup line. But he had succeeded in getting my attention.¡±
¡°Soon I found him everywhere I went, it was surely a coincidence, I thought at first. In a few weeks that came to pass, I met him every day. It almost became a habit and soon we both were in love. One day he met me in a fancy hotel, it was the day I agreed to marry him. The day was special because that¡¯s when he told me that he was not from this universe.¡±
¡°I thought he was joking, but he made a deal with me. He said that if he showed me the future, I¡¯ll have to marry him. I started laughing at him and mocked him for the childish thing he just said, but he wasn¡¯t laughing. I could see it in his eyes, he was dead serious. I agreed and so we went back to my house, there he held my hand and started doing something on his watch. In an instant, we teleported to a different time.¡±
¡°The teleportation made me dizzy, but he held me on my feet. When I came back to my senses I saw the Hawkesbay of the year 2043. I could see a huge tower in the city.¡±
¡°Hovering cars, robots cleaning the streets, it was a magical world to me. I was awestruck and had my eyes wide open. He snapped his fingers in front of me and I smiled at him, ¡°Oh God! This is the future?¡± he nodded at me and pointed at a diner, it was Grab-a-Grub. ¡°Come I¡¯ll show you someone special!¡± he said to me and we both went to the diner.¡±
¡°We ordered some coffee, as we waited for that ¡®someone¡¯ to come. I was sipping my coffee when a handsome man came through the doors, there was quite a crowd in the diner at that time so he didn¡¯t notice us. He came in with a beautiful girl, she wore glasses and had beautiful black hair, anyone could tell by looking at them that they were in love! Your father pointed towards him and said, ¡°That right there is David, he is our son and the woman with him is his wife, her name is Anna.¡±
¡°I was overjoyed by watching you both together, I wanted to meet and hug you both, but that wasn¡¯t going to happen. His watch started to beep and he got up from the table and took me outside while avoiding you both. He held my hand and teleported us back to my house, we had traveled back to the present. I looked at him and without further questions told him that I will marry him.¡±
¡°But he never told me that I was going to die at that time. He told me about it when you were born. I was not going to be there to watch those moments, I was going to die of breast cancer.¡±
¡°After your birth, he started to come home once every month, he said he was busy fixing the timelines and that marrying me was a part of the plan. He needed to marry me to bring you into this world so that he could use you as a tool that would help him in achieving his goal.¡±
¡°The future he showed me wasn¡¯t the real one, it was some other universe where he had experimented with different decisions. I felt cheated and betrayed, but I couldn¡¯t change anything. The decisions I had made, my fate was already sealed.¡±
The first recording stops and David holds his head, his eyes full of hatred, Anna could see the anger that had built up in him, ¡°What the fuck! He was playing with my mother, he left us alone. He didn¡¯t care to look back at her when she was dying! What the fuck kind of a human being is he? Look at me, I had every tool to go back and talk to my mother, to change the past and build a better future for myself, but I kept dancing to his tune.¡±
¡°He couldn¡¯t even tell me that he is my father, he just used me. He used all of us! For what? To fuck with Reed¡¯s plans? To help him in achieving his own goals, which he didn¡¯t even tell me? We were just pawns on his board, and now he gives me these recordings! It¡¯s all a fucking game to him, our lives, our emotions, they are a joke to him. We are of value only when we are of use!¡±
Tears start flowing from his eyes, ¡°She died all alone, he deceived her by showing her the future of P: 210. It¡¯s enough, I was convincing myself to trust him. But now, I don¡¯t give a shit about him or Reed, they can both burn in hell.¡± Anna hugs him and tries to console him, ¡°Why would he do this? Never mind, I don¡¯t care about that now. I think we should tell the others about this! He must pay for his crimes!¡±
She looks at the recorder and there is one more recording on it. She shows it to him and he plays it. In this recording her voice is weak and she seems to struggle when speaking, he pauses and looks at Anna, ¡°Her voice...she seems weak and sick.¡± she holds his face and says, ¡°You don¡¯t have to listen to this, I think you have heard enough!¡± but he resumes the recording.
Olivia coughs and clears her throat, ¡°So...so the doctors say that...I should be saying my goodbyes to my loved ones...but I don¡¯t have many. Guess I¡¯ll just...record myself for my son...David...David...my life is coming to an end...but you...you have a whole life ahead of you...your father will take good care of you, he promised...he was here a few moments ago...he looks so old and weak...I guess...I guess time travel has affected his health...he is also a lot more emotionless than before...I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on in his mind¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine though...I will not hate him...because...¡± she coughs and takes a deep breath, while David listens quietly with tears in his eyes, ¡°Because he gave me a son like you...I remember the last time I tucked you in your bed...sorry honey...mom won¡¯t be there to get you ready for school...or to see you setting up your business...I won¡¯t be there to see Anna...I still remember her beautiful hair...I remember being a little jealous of her...¡± she coughs again and breaks down.
David listening to this also starts crying like a baby, Anna can¡¯t hold her tears back too and hugs him. ¡°Listen...carefully David...you have a stepbrother...his name is Bill...your father told me about him...you both are going to be an important part of his plan...the plans...he never tells us...I don¡¯t know what his end goals are...but he promised...promised he¡¯ll make everything alright...¡±
She stops talking and starts breathing heavily, the ECG starts beeping rapidly and after a few moments, the long static tone of death follows. David and Anna can hear the doctors and nurses rushing in and after a few seconds, the recording stops.
Crying in pain and despair he says to Anna, ¡°I¡¯ll...I¡¯ll never forgive him...I¡¯ll kill him! He will pay for what he did to my mother...he will pay for his sins!¡± she hugs him and tries to comfort him, ¡°He will...he will...we need to sit down and think...think of our next steps...all of us, let¡¯s go back to the safe house and give them the recorder. They have to know about this!¡±
The Overseer stands at the top of MSAT tower, looking at the neon glow of the city he takes a deep breath and looks at his enhancer. ¡°Looks like David has heard the recordings of his mother, despite that one event everything else seems to be going exactly like before. Ah! I always hate this part, justifying my actions, telling them my story from the start. It brings back painful memories and some cynical ones too.¡±
He looks at his enhancer and sees the time when they will arrive at the safe house. ¡°Looks like I still have some time, I¡¯ll let them set the atmosphere and then make an entry with a bang!¡±
CHAPTER 29: THE OVERSEER PART-1
Mary sits on a chair near her bed and keeps looking at Peter who is deep in his sleep. She keeps looking at her watch waiting patiently, the time is 12:59 A.M. she takes a deep breath and looks at the watch again, this time it reads 01:00 A.M. looking at the time she nods her head and gets up from the chair.
She quickly moves towards her office room and starts gathering some files and places them in her bag. The Overseer stands behind her and she feels his presence, she stops and turns around, ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for the showdown?¡± she gives off a smirk. He looks at her and just nods in return. She looks at him and asks, ¡°So are you anxious?¡± he replies, ¡°I have done this so many times, and every time there are different outcomes, this is the only event which makes me uncertain and scared!¡±
She holds his hand and says, ¡°Well, here we go!¡± he taps on his enhancer and they both teleport to the safe house. Once there, they see a demoralized David, confused Issac, furious Bill, and sympathetic Anna. They are all quiet and stare at them when they teleport. Bill shakes David who has his head in his hands and he looks up at the Overseer.
The Overseer stands firm and pushes Mary to the side, knowing what¡¯s coming to him.
Without saying a word, David lashes at him, screaming frantically he punches his face and the Overseer falls to the ground. Once on the ground, David hits him multiple times in the gut, shedding a tear every time he hits him. When his anger lessens he screams at his face, ¡°You cheated her, you fucked my childhood, and this is all a fucking game to you. You used us like pieces on a chessboard! Why? Why did you do this to us? What is the purpose of all this?¡±
Issac rushes towards David and holds him. ¡°David, I think that¡¯s enough, he has a lot of explaining to do, come with me. Let¡¯s give him a chance to explain himself!¡±
He gets up from the Overseer and goes with Issac. Anna has tears in her eyes, Mary stands beside her and is consoling her. The Overseer gets up weakly, and starts coughing, he takes deep breathes. His voice changer is damaged by the punches from David and distorts his voice, ¡°Okay...alright...I probably deserved this...now...now sit down all of you...because this is gonna be one long tale to tell!¡±
They all get seated waiting anxiously to hear what he has to say and so he begins, ¡°Now, I don¡¯t want any of you to feel sorry for me as I tell you my story and how I am connected to all of you.¡±
¡°Imagine a rat in a big maze, so hopeless and afraid, it doesn¡¯t know how to get out of it. But, it has to take a step in some direction, it has to at least try to get out of it. As it progresses through this complicated maze no matter what direction it chooses, it realizes something, this maze is not straightforward. It¡¯s now changing in real-time as the rat takes a single step either forward or backward.¡±
¡°Can you imagine the helplessness of this rat? I am this rat, moving through this maze of time where I desperately search for a way out. A way to fix the things I have done, the futures I have created, the pasts I have destroyed, the people I have cheated, and the loved ones I have betrayed. All of us here are living in a loop, there are no happy endings for us.¡±
¡°There is no end to this madness, not yet anyway. The parallel universes you see around you are actually a result of my tinkering. Changing events, getting new outcomes, making new futures just to keep me sane. Because there are universes further down the chain which are a total mess. But in a few days, all of these universes, all of my choices, and my mistakes will not matter. Because everything will be wiped out of existence and the cycle will begin again.¡±
Anna raises her eyebrows and says, ¡°Reed¡¯s normalizer!¡± he nods and replies, ¡°I have failed this time as well, as you can see, the normalizer is a way to restart things. A failsafe, a way to make sure I get another try.¡±
David looks at him with contempt and says, ¡°So, it really is a game to you. Get another try...how easily you say it. You haven¡¯t explained our role in these cycles...or are we just disposable toy soldiers to you?¡±
He takes a deep breath and continues, ¡°My first thousand tries were a complete and utter failure because I thought it was simple to fix this loop. Just kill the source of time travel and then it wouldn¡¯t exist right? If only it was that simple! I discovered that when I killed Mary a new parallel universe would come into existence. A universe where she is alive, so I traveled there and killed her and this time two new parallel universes were born. The birth of parallel universes would be exponential in this case, creating a massive and tricky web of universes, it didn¡¯t take me long to realize that this was not the solution.¡±
¡°If time travel didn¡¯t exist I would be a paradox, so that¡¯s why I could never kill her. I decided to do find an alternate solution. What if I made some changes in the Origin universe, the parent universe, this universe. I could spawn other child universes from it, then make major changes in the child universes while the parent universe stays on its natural course. This way the cycle would always come to its real ending and I would get another try easily.¡±
¡°I had the freedom to make or break the child universes without worrying about my existence, but that wasn¡¯t a solution either.¡±
¡°If Reed makes the normalizer and achieves annexation, every child universe would be the same as the parent. The outcomes and events which I set up to find a way to stop the cycle would all be a waste of time. So again I decided to change this, I killed Reed, and guess what? The same shit which I wanted to avoid started happening again, another universe came into existence where Reed was alive. So, I went back in time, and just before Reed turns on his normalizer I decided to tweak it, make it unstable.¡±
¡°The unstable normalizer created rifts to the other universes but before it could stabilize these rifts and he could achieve annexation, the normalizer collapsed. The rifts grew bigger and bigger and finally hit each other causing a tear in space and time. The enormous energy of the rifts collapsing with each other created a giant enormous hole. A black hole! The world eater I called it; before I knew its real name.¡±
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¡°I wasn¡¯t worried, because even if this universe was going to be swallowed by the black hole I had other universes to go to, but guess what. Fate is a bitch, the black hole was also present in the child universes. It was the death of everything and everyone.¡±
¡°I wanted to find a solution to this so I restarted the cycle once again. In all my previous attempts I had never told anyone who I was and that¡¯s why I was never able to take perfect control of the situations. So I decided to use Reed and Mary as my puppets, using Mary to stop him but this was also a dead end.¡±
¡°If she tried to stop him, she would be killed by her son, and the same would repeat, the rifts, the black hole. There was no end to this, my fate was worse than death. It was to keep reliving and trying to change the inevitable. The only thing I could do was to delay Reed while I tried different combinations of events in the other universes in hopes of finding a way out. I wanted someone who had my gifts and it was only possible if I had children.¡±
¡°So I married, not once but twice, my sons having the same gift as me, a chronoton strength of infinity, they were to be Reed¡¯s frontline soldiers and through them, I would try to delay him in any way possible. But time moves differently in the other universes, a day here might mean several years in some other universe.¡±
¡°When I came back here many years had passed and guess what, Reed would try to screw with my experimental universes through my own sons. Another dead end yet again, I couldn¡¯t kill David or Bill because I...I...cared for them. They are my sons, and so here we are at this point again! It¡¯s funny because the universe which Mary had named V01D is actually the original parent universe of every other, including this universe.¡±
¡°This universe and all of its children are the real domain of voids. I was always scared of V01D and never had the balls to do anything to it. It was a completely different place, there was no Mary there, so there was no time travel, no discovery of chronotons, no¡Reed.¡±
¡°It is what this and every other child universe should have been, but two events sever the connection between it and its children. At the same time when Issac¡¯s wife dies in, Mary discovers chronotons. The child universe is significantly different than its parent and so it becomes a parent itself, destroying the balance of time in every other universe. In this cycle, I have done something different. I have added a new variable. Someone who is not of this world, someone from the parent universe. It¡¯s the first time that Issac was brought into this universe.¡±
¡°The solution however is still not that simple. In its current state, if Issac changes anything in his universe, those changes will not affect our universe because there is no connection. This time when the cycle begins I will finally be put to rest and in my place, Issac will stand.¡± hearing this all three of them start looking at each other.
David gets up quickly and asks, ¡°What do you mean when the cycle begins, you mean...Reed will succeed?¡± the Overseer nods in return and with anger in his voice, Bill asks, ¡°So we were just screwing around for your entertainment? The lives of my sister and mother, David¡¯s mother amount to nothing?¡±
The Overseer gloats, ¡°Huh, this whole universe and many others connected to it amount to nothing. Believe it or not, that is the truth!¡±
Anna gets up from her chair and looks at her mother¡¯s face, ¡°You mean all that we have achieved, all our feelings...¡± she looks at David and starts crying, ¡°No...No...I...I don¡¯t believe this. I refuse to accept this. How can you both be so casual about it? Don¡¯t you have any emotions, just giving up on all the universes, trying again and again as if our lives have no value!¡±
Mary realizes that Anna is in an existential crisis, she rushes over to her and hugs her, ¡°It¡¯s okay, even if our lives amount to nothing in the end. My love for you and Reed will never lessen!¡± David looks at Anna and Mary and then looks at the Overseer with sadness in his eyes, ¡°What about us, me and Bill. We never got any love, all we knew were hardships and sorrow. We didn¡¯t even know our father existed. Our mothers didn¡¯t know they were being used as an experiment. Who is going to answer for their sorrows, who is going to answer for their deaths?¡±
The Overseer looks at him and calmly replies, ¡°This is no time to be dwelling on the past, they were told of their future and they made peace with it! You are who you are because of your past, don¡¯t forget that!¡± David grabs him by the neck and screams, ¡°You are not a God, who gave you the authority to play with our lives, who are you to decide what is right for us? You and Reed, you both are the same. You both want to control us, and I don¡¯t give a fuck anymore. I am done being your pawn, I am going to kill Reed and then you are next!¡±
The Overseer holds his hands and says, ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m not acting appropriately, but this isn¡¯t the first I¡¯m seeing all of you in this state. You won¡¯t be killing anyone, we will be traveling to a different universe soon. You, me, Bill and Anna. I want you to meet someone. Although, I have to warn you, that world isn¡¯t an ideal one!¡±
David shakes his head and replies, ¡°Fuck you! I¡¯m not going anywhere with you anymore!¡± the Overseer sighs and says, ¡°You already know that your enhancers are fried, thanks to Dorian. So please, listen to me one last time, we have come too far. If you screw around with things, the cycle will still repeat, your mother will be cheated again, Bill¡¯s house will be burned once again, we will be here at each other¡¯s throat once again, please listen to me. I promise it¡¯ll be worth it!¡±
Mary tries to convince them too, at first they all refuse but after a few more tries they agree although their feelings for the Overseer remain unchanged. He looks at all of them and says, ¡°Alright then, it¡¯s been an eventful night. All of you should rest now, we leave first thing in the morning.¡± Mary hugs Anna and kisses her on the forehead, she also looks at David with love and says, ¡°I don¡¯t care if our world amounts to nothing. This feeling you have for each other, be thankful that you have it. Don¡¯t let anyone tell you that you don¡¯t belong with each other. I love you both with all my heart, take care of my daughter David and Anna you take care of him too. He has seen a lot of tragedy in his life, give him lots of love from now on!¡±
And so a sad and angry David leaves the safe house with Anna. Mary closes the door and stares at Issac, she takes a deep breath and moves towards him, ¡°I know all of this is a lot to take in Issac, and I¡¯m sorry the Overseer had to drag you into all of this. As I know you¡¯d be smoking cigarettes and drinking beer if you weren¡¯t here in our mess. But Issac I must ask, don¡¯t you feel you were living in a loop as well? The love of your life dead, she took away a part of you with her, and you smoking and drinking for the rest of your days waiting for your death.¡±
He looks at her and before he could say something the Overseer stands next to her and says, ¡°You listened to Olivia¡¯s recordings, the way I met her, does it remind you of something, of someone? Near Grab-a-Grub, a lady in distress, a lost brooch?¡±
He crosses his eyebrows and looks at the Overseer, ¡°I don¡¯t understand, what is the meaning of this? I knew it sounded familiar, but after everything I¡¯ve heard today, I think you are still not finished yet!¡±
The Overseer faces away from him and asks, ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s weird? Everyone you know from your life exists here, although their lives are different, and yet there is no sign of you. Come on detective, you aren¡¯t that dull now, are you? Complete the puzzle, you know the answer!¡±
Issac starts moving his eyes right and left, lots of voices in his head, trying to piece it all together. He stops and looks at the Overseer who has his hand on his mask, his heart beating inside his ears, he takes a deep breath and says, ¡°You...you are...¡± the Overseer removes his mask and turns his body towards him, ¡°I am you!¡±
Bill looks at him and then at Issac, ¡°Motherfucker...you are...are...Issac!¡± Seeing the shock on their face he says, ¡°I am the Issac of this universe.¡± Issac looks at him, his face so thin and having wrinkles, his teeth whiter than his own clearly showing he didn¡¯t smoke and his eyes clear and white, showing that he is sober, but aching for a little sleep.¡±
Issac sits on the couch and Bill follows him, both shell-shocked. Issac takes a deep breath and says, ¡°You covered your tracks really well, no records of you anywhere on the web. Keeping yourself hidden so no one could know your weaknesses. I mean that¡¯s what I would¡¯ve done.¡± the Overseer throws him a bottle of Hawk¡¯s beer and takes one for himself too. Mary sits on a chair quietly watching them both converse with each other. The Overseer sits near Issac and says, ¡°What I didn¡¯t tell to the love birds. I am going to tell you now, how it all actually began!¡±
CHAPTER 30: THE OVERSEER PART-2
Issac and Bill look towards him as he starts telling his story, ¡°It was June 11, 2044, I was handed a case by Jeff. Little did I know that this case was going to change my life. It would make me numb and eventually emotionless. Doing things, again and again, expecting them to change would make me truly insane. I got this case and it had a lot of missing pieces, but you know how I love cases like these.¡± he said as he looked at Issac.
¡°So I accepted it and looked into it, it was a missing person case. The loved ones of the missing people had hopes that I would find them in the best-case scenario, and in the worst, I would find their remains and what had happened to them. I decided to go undercover for this one, Jeff advised me not to but I did it anyway. Upon investigation, I found out that all these missing people were having a lot of debt. Some were old people having fatal diseases, some were students with enormous student loans and some were just gamblers who had lost more than they had won.¡±
¡°All of them had one thing in common. They needed money and lots of it. Of course, they couldn¡¯t go to banks and they knew their families were of no help to them. Getting deeper and deeper into the case I discovered that they were contacted by a private number and soon after receiving that call, they just vanished.¡±
¡°Through help from outside the department, I was able to track the phone from which the calls were made. It was a burner and when I found it, it was totaled, broken into 2 pieces. I gave it to the geeks back at the HQ and they were able to create a map of where the phone had been before being destroyed. It was strange, cause out of all the locations the phone had been, it was also at the MSAT building numerous times.¡±
¡°I had a bad feeling, people who need money, call from a private number, and then sudden disappearance. My gut was telling me that most of them would be dead by now, but I had to have hope and so I pushed on. I went to MSAT and at the front desk told a sob story and how a friend of mine told me that MSAT can help people like us, people who are under a lot of debt. My story had done its job and I received a call from a private number later that night. I talked to Jeff on the phone and told him that I was going under the radar for a while, he asked me to be careful and I agreed.¡±
¡°I was told to wait at an abandoned factory in old Hawkesbay. A car with black windows came and I sat in. The driver gave me a pill which I was hesitant to take, but he told me he wouldn¡¯t drive unless I took it. So I took it and on we went. Midway, I started feeling sleepy thanks to the pill and blacked out soon after. I woke up in a white room, looking around I couldn¡¯t find anything, no window, no bed, no table, just an empty white room.¡±
¡°A portion of a wall slid open and a man greeted me, he was none other than Dorian, the guy I just killed, and it was the same facility we blew up. I let him perform his sick experiments on me and once I had enough, I decided to get out of that hell hole. It wasn¡¯t easy, I had to kill many guards and scientists, but before leaving I transferred most of the data from the central computer of the facility back to my terminal at home. But I made a mistake; I didn¡¯t delete the surveillance footage. The cameras had recorded me doing those things, after getting out I called reinforcements to the facility and we sealed it.¡±
¡°We arrested the remaining scientists and guards and freed those we could. The press soon followed and the news of MSAT and the horrible experiments took Hawkesbay by storm, Reed wasn¡¯t the philanthropist anymore. Everyone saw his hideous real face and knew what kind of monster he was. Later that day I went back home and looked at the data I had taken from the facility.¡±
¡°A folder named ¡®Project Annex¡¯ caught my attention but it was encrypted, I asked the geeks at the department to decrypt it and waited for them. Every news channel was showing footage of the inhumane experiments, many people swarmed outside MSAT and protested. The big tech giant was on its knee but it wasn¡¯t dead yet.¡±
¡°Reed was denying the allegations and said he had no idea how that facility came into being. Lies, of course, it was written on his face. You could tell if you saw into his eyes and the way he gulped when confronted by the press. The noose around his neck was tightening, sooner or later we were going to find evidence of his direct involvement in those experiments, and then we would have the bastard where we wanted him.¡±
¡°Little did I know that the bastard was going to be saved. Mary Maximus came down to the HQ after a few days, she wanted to see me. I called her to my office and we sat down. She handed me a memory tape that had all the remaining evidence. I looked at her in disbelief, the missing pieces were given to me on a plate, but the grin on my face soon faded and my eyes frowned.¡±
¡°The evidence linked everything back to Mary and not to Reed. I shook my head, I just couldn¡¯t believe it. I saw her face and she avoided my gaze, something about her body language convinced me that she wasn¡¯t the criminal the evidence claimed. I cleared my throat and told her that forging evidence to save her son was not helping her at all. It was making it worse for Reed.¡±
¡°Hearing my words she finally let go and burst into tears, she told me that she would sacrifice her legacy for her son¡¯s reputation. Such is a mother¡¯s love for her children. But I couldn¡¯t let her take the fall for her son¡¯s crimes.¡±
¡°I refused to accept her evidence and told her to go back. The case was now becoming something else entirely, my emotions were being brought up into the mess. I had to shake my morality, again and again, to keep it awake. I was in my thoughts when the phone rang, the geeks had cracked the folder and called me to look into it.¡±
¡°I hurried downstairs to them, I was almost excited. The geeks left the folder for me to view and I looked at it with wide-open eyes. Project Annex, time-traveling different universes to make sure it is all the same everywhere. Playing with the lives of people, murdering them, and taking their place. All so that in the end Reed achieves total control.¡±
¡°The asshole wasn¡¯t satisfied if he had control here, he wanted himself in the driving seat in other universes. I saw reports of the agents he sent, schematics of a ¡®chronoton enhancer¡¯, profiles of the influential people in those worlds, a device called ¡®Interdimensional normalizer¡¯. It all felt like a bad sci-fi drama script. But it was all real, it could not have been made up.¡±
¡°I had to confirm it all, but how? Suddenly, an image popped up in my head. The desperate mother! Maybe she knows about this, if she could confirm anything in this folder. I would have enough to put Reed behind bars. But it didn¡¯t go as I had planned.¡±
¡°She looked at everything inside the folder and began to shudder in fear. It was a revelation to her as well, her son was even a bigger monster in her eyes now, and her stance on him had changed instantly. She looked furiously at the reports, her sadness turning into rage, poisoning the feelings she had for her son. She had transformed from the loving mother to something else.¡±
¡°She told me that Reed had gone too far, disturbing the flow of time, starting all this behind her back. She told me that everything written in the reports was possible, but she was worried about only one thing, the normalizer! It was a doomsday device, a ticking bomb waiting to explode, it just needed someone to ignite it and Reed was that someone.¡±
¡°She accompanied me and we went to the facility where this normalizer was being assembled, it was far away from Hawkesbay. When we reached the facility the lights were off, we had to use flashlights from our phones to navigate the place. Moving from section to section we had reached the main assembling area. There we saw it, the normalizer. It was huge, bigger than Noah¡¯s Ark, huge transformers were situated behind it to feed the juice it needed.¡±
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¡°Mary turned on a computer and started snooping around, this gigantic device had the ability to open rifts to other worlds. Instead of going to these places with the help of the chronoton enhancers. Reed would use this device to create as many rifts as he wanted.¡±
¡°Sending in his people to fuck around in other worlds. But the device was flawed, too many rifts and it would give up. If that was going to happen the rifts would collide, creating a huge hole in our world, a black hole. This hole would then swallow everyone and everything.¡±
¡°Suddenly, the lights turned on blinding us both, a rumbling sound started coming from the normalizer. When our vision cleared we both saw Reed on top of a catwalk, directly above the normalizer. He clapped his hands and told me that he was impressed by my detective skills. Mary confronted her son, asking him why he would go to such lengths, what he would achieve by doing this?¡±
¡°His answer was as I had expected, we humans have a tendency inside us, a tendency to be more than what we are, to become God. Most of us laugh at this thought because we know we can never be one. But for a man who has made time it¡¯s slave, surely he wouldn¡¯t pass up on the opportunity to become a God!¡±
¡°I sensed something sinister inside him, in his pursuit to become a God, he had forgotten to stay human. The things he did, even the devil would be ashamed of, but I wasn¡¯t there to judge him that was someone else¡¯s job. I was there to stop him. As the normalizer whirred Mary pleaded to her son to stop it, she told him about the vulnerabilities of the machine, but it was all in vain. The normalizer became louder and louder, trembling the ground, enveloping both of us in fear.¡±
¡°Reed grinned as he saw rifts forming in front of his eyes. He had planned to throw us in a random rift, we would be wiped off from our world, thrown into an unknown place where no one knew who we were. Where people we were familiar with would give us that look, the look they give to strangers. But before he could do something, the normalizer started to shudder, too many rifts had been created. No machine could handle the force of so many chronotons being pushed into space.¡±
¡°The rifts started to collide together, Mary saw them in horror, too afraid to even move. All this was happening a few feet away from us, the rifts started to enlarge and even more collisions occurred, at this point, the computer controls were as effective as a barrier in front of a rushing hover rail. Everything went out of control, we knew it was not safe to stay there and decided to move away from the enhancer.¡±
¡°I looked at Reed and saw his face, the grin was gone, he gave me a look of despair and worry. The look which perhaps Icarus gave to his father when he flew too close to the sun and came crashing down. The rifts merged into a huge black hole, and it started sucking everything inside it. Reed was the first to be sucked inside, the catwalk had crumbled and it took Reed with it. Mary had a few tears, but soon they vanished. This was it, our world, the lives we lived, everything was coming to an end, or was it?¡±
¡°The gravity of the black hole was too strong but we could still escape if we were quick enough. Mary looked into my eyes as if she was gazing into my soul. She handed me a device, which I later found out to be an enhancer, the first of its kind. The one which Mary had made many years ago, on the screen I saw coordinates of an unknown place, not like I would¡¯ve known what they meant anyway. She looked into my eyes and said, ¡°I¡¯m not strong enough to do it, I don¡¯t know how to find the answers, but better you than me!¡±
¡°She advised me to press the initiate button on the display, but I wasn¡¯t ready. The black hole¡¯s gravity was becoming more and more vicious, Mary was going to be sucked in. She kept screaming at me to press the button. I closed my eyes, her voice faded away as she went into it and I too got the courage and pressed the button.¡±
¡°There are moments in our lives when we are uncertain and afraid. When we can see nothing in front of us, no future, no chance at life. For me, the moment I pressed the button was that moment, my whole life I had simple goals. Solve cases, help people, and put criminals where they truly belonged. But that moment changed the way I looked at life. The enhancer teleported me to a blank space, for a moment I thought I was too late to press the button. Maybe this is what is inside a black hole, darkness, emptiness. I felt cold to my bone, my jacket was not doing its job of keeping me warm.¡±
¡°I screamed in fear but I couldn¡¯t even hear my own voice. I looked at the enhancer and it was dead too. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, but a shrill sound forced me to open my eyes. I was lying on a floor, I felt something solid but I was laying in space, beneath me were stars and galaxies, they were rapidly aging. I could see them explode, cool down, disintegrate and form again. They were caught in a cycle, they had no end and no beginning. When I saw in front of me I could see an endless corridor, I started moving towards it but I couldn¡¯t reach it. The corridor was endless, but so was the journey to reach it.¡±
¡°I grew tired of walking, sometimes I even ran but it was of no use. I gave up eventually and sat down in my despair. I started to remember my office, the suburbs of Hawkesbay, and the things Mary said to me before being sucked in. It all felt like a lifetime ago. Suddenly, I heard a peal of loud laughter, it sounded evil.¡±
¡°It was as if someone or something was watching me and was enjoying my failures. I was afraid at first, but having nothing else left to lose I shouted to ask who it was. This time I could hear my voice and the voice replied, ¡°We are the ones who have observed you till now, you have always had a connection with us. Your kind has tried to control us many times, but many have failed. The lady, now she was a clever fox; she had harnessed the ability to move forward or go back without tapping directly into us. She had instead used chronotons, she came to us once and we showed her the fate of her world and the worlds connected. Alas, she never really tried to fix her mistakes!¡±
¡°The voice was a blend of male and female, whoever was talking wasn¡¯t too pleased with me either. I had to know who it was, but before I could ask anything, it once again spoke, ¡°We are Time! As impossible as it may sound, you are talking to us. We might have been invisible but we exist and you are standing below us!¡±
¡°I was shocked, for a few moments my mind was blank. It felt like a train had hit me, but instead of flying away, I had stood still. I thought this was a joke, maybe a bad dream and I would wake up any moment now. But it was neither, this was reality. I talked to myself like a schizophrenic, trying to remain sane.¡±
¡°A few moments later, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I asked time what my purpose was and all it had replied was, ¡°Your purpose is to fail again and again, watch your worlds get decimated again and again. Until the time comes when you send someone else in your place, someone who can change your fate. Till that day you will be our slave, stuck in a loop, with no way out. You can try to find a way, but after each failed attempt you¡¯ll be sent back till that someone comes!¡±
¡°Nothing made sense, why me? What had I done wrong to be dealt such a bad hand by fate? I had so many questions, but before I could ask them. I was pushed into the corridor, its roof was made of vibrant lights of different colors.¡±
¡°I looked to the left and saw glimpses of my life, things that I had done and when I saw to the left, I saw the things I would do...the man I would become. Of course, the corridor did not show me the way out or that ¡®someone¡¯ time wanted in my place. It only showed me vague images and moments that would happen eventually. I had evaluated the state my life was in, it rated 10 out of 10 on my fucked-up scale.¡±
¡°I was in a hole, no matter how hard I crawled up, I was destined to fall and try again. I asked time what would happen if I killed myself, and it laughed again. Mary had screwed us all by discovering time travel, it didn¡¯t matter if I was alive or not. The black hole would be created by Reed and our world along with the others would be swallowed, the loop would continue because the flow of time was disturbed. It was altered from its original path.¡±
¡°Time was smart too, every cycle meant that my age would revert to the old one. After every failed attempt to escape from the loop, I would come back to the corridor of time, and there, time would laugh at me once again. It was very smart, to avoid any paradox, there were never two of me alive in the same cycle. The reason why Issac couldn¡¯t find anything on himself in this world.¡±
¡°After a lot of killing, deceiving, sabotaging, and failing here I am, this is going to be my billionth try. So now do you understand why I used all of you? Reed isn¡¯t going to become the God of time. He is just a pawn who thinks he can kill the King. The only significance he has in the bigger picture which I just showed you, is that he triggers the end of the cycle and I start it. My fight was never with him, it was always with time.¡±
¡°This cycle has proved to be somewhat promising, getting Issac from P: V01D seems to be the decision I should¡¯ve taken a long time ago...¡± the Overseer stopped and went to take a beer from the refrigerator leaving Issac and Bill speechless. For a while, they stared at each other in absolute silence. Issac cleared his throat and said, ¡°Fuck my life! We are in some deep shit!¡± whereas Bill just remained silent.
When the Overseer came back to them, Issac asked him, ¡°So now you want us to make sure Reed builds the faulty normalizer once again. But what if I am not that someone, what happens then?¡± he nervously chuckled and replied, ¡°Better you than me, I don¡¯t know how to find the answers!¡± the answer hit Issac like a bullet. ¡°Fucking hell! I don¡¯t want to live like this, why did you drag me into this mess?¡± he asked.
The Overseer replied, ¡°It was just a joke cheer up. I will tell you what you have to do when the right time comes. Till then we have to keep the love birds in line. David is the only one who can fuck everything up. But I have a plan for him too!¡±
After revealing the reality of his existence the Overseer just teleported from the safe house, leaving Issac and Bill dumbfounded. Did the Overseer tell them the truth, or was this also a part of his plan to keep them both in line? Only time would reveal it all.
CHAPTER 31: A DESOLATE WORLD
David and Anna return to the apartment. He is sad and angry, the man who started his life is the same man who destroyed it as well. The lonely angry boy he once was resurfaces, and he is mentally disturbed. He keeps shaking his head, grinding his teeth. Eventually, tears come from his eyes. ¡°What is my life? Why is there never peace? Out of all the people in the world he had to be my father. The man I didn¡¯t trust and now hate to the bones. I won¡¯t help him anymore! I don¡¯t care what happens in the next few days. End of the world...I can¡¯t wait for this bullshit to end!¡±
Anna lets him take his frustration out and when he is done, sits close to him. She puts his face in her hands and says, ¡°Look at me...even if there was never happiness in your life and we are going to die soon...you still have these moments...these moments with me...the moments with your mother, they will remain a part of you and they will die with you. Come on now, don¡¯t be sad and upset.¡±
He holds her hands and replies, ¡°How does someone like you happen to someone like me? A fucking low-life mercenary from the streets with a genius and courageous scientist? Maybe all the bad things happened so that I could find you.¡±
He reaches out for her lips and kisses them, at first she is taken aback, it¡¯s too sudden but gradually she kisses him back. He holds her in his arms and takes her to the bedroom. Her face red with shyness. Lying with him, she puts her head on his chest, ¡°I don¡¯t care what happens next David. I just want to spend my last moments with you. I want to end with you.¡± he kisses her forehead in return and they both go to sleep.
The next morning Anna wakes up and doesn¡¯t find David next to her, she gets up from the bed and finds him sitting at the dining table. He looks at her and abruptly asks, ¡°Anna...you are still allowed in the MSAT network right?¡± she nods in return. He asks, ¡°Could you somehow...hack Reed¡¯s terminal and...find some files on the normalizer? I mean I still don¡¯t trust the Overseer. He has lied to us before, maybe he is still lying to keep us in line.¡±
She fixes her hair, sits at her terminal, and starts working to break Reed¡¯s security. David looks at her, busy on her terminal. It¡¯s almost unbelievable that he has her beside him, she was his destiny. In this world and many others, she was always going to be his. She finally stops and looks at him, she finds him lost in his thoughts and smiles.
¡°So I was able to break in and I found the plans and schematics for the normalizer, it wasn¡¯t easy but here they are. The Overseer is right, the normalizer has a fatal flaw. It doesn¡¯t have a power regulator. In simple words, it is capable of outputting more power than it can handle.¡±
¡°The normalizer will be able to create rifts to the other worlds, but I don¡¯t think it can hold them open for long and if the rifts collide I don¡¯t know what will happen.¡± he listens to her in silence and once she is done he says with concern, ¡°I think we both know what will happen, this cycle will end just like many others. No you, no me, no Reed, no Bill, yet the Overseer will remain. He will do all those things again, might change them if he likes. I can¡¯t stand him! He¡¯ll ruin my mother¡¯s life again, he¡¯ll destroy Bill¡¯s family too!¡±
She holds his hand and in her hopelessness says, ¡°We are helpless, we have to believe that he will find an answer.¡± He looks at her and says, ¡°We are not helpless Anna, right now we can do whatever we want. Let¡¯s fix our enhancers, and go far¡far away from this mess. We don¡¯t have to be a part of this, the Overseer can do whatever the fuck he wants, with us out of the picture.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s see what happens if we fix the normalizer and give the Overseer a run for his money. Let¡¯s show the asshole that we are the true owners of our lives and he has no power over us. I don¡¯t care if everything ends regardless of what we do. At least our actions will be ours and we¡¯ll have no one else to blame for the consequences!¡±
She is shocked after hearing him, but she can understand why he said these things. A man who has never felt happiness in his life would do everything in his power to save it when he finally feels it.
She hugs him tightly with closed eyes. ¡°So is that a yes?¡± he asks but before she could say anything back to him, she opens her eyes, startles, and quickly leaves him. He looks at her face and then turns around.
The Overseer fixes his mask and looks at David, ¡°You know what¡¯s the funny thing son? I wasn¡¯t here when you guys were talking, yet I know what suggestions you gave to Anna. You know in this cycle I didn¡¯t try my best to keep you guys away from each other, in some cycles I even made her hate you.¡±
¡°Regardless of what I do, she eventually comes to you and you both fall in love. I guess your love is so strong that it transpires the universes. Anyways, I came here today to take you guys to a different world. I promised a certain someone, something, and I need your help.¡±
Listening to him David gets up from the sofa and says, ¡°Where is Bill, and I don¡¯t want to go anywhere with you, Anna isn¡¯t leaving either. Just leave us alone for the few days we have. I want to die with her arms around me.¡±
The Overseer laughs and says, ¡°Ah, the sweet love birds, always together no matter what the big bad Overseer does. I figured Bill wasn¡¯t necessary for this trip. Trust me, David, you won¡¯t regret it.¡±
¡°I just want to show you...just come with me and you¡¯ll understand. Maybe after meeting that someone, you will start liking me a little. Maybe you can be the judge and decide if I have been fair!¡± he takes off his mask and says, ¡°This is a request as your father, not as the Overseer!¡±
David looks at him and then at Anna, after a few moments he sighs and replies, ¡°Alright old man, but you better take me to paradise, if you expect my forgiveness in return!¡± the Overseer smiles and says, ¡°Looks like I am going to disappoint you one more time! The place where we are going is quite the contrary of what you have hoped!¡± he shakes his head and says, ¡°Well, when do we leave? I just wanna get this over with and spend more time with her!¡± the Overseer holds his hand and looks at Anna, ¡°Well, join us Anna, hold my hand!¡± she moves towards them and holds his hand. The Overseer sets his enhancer and presses initiate.
In a flash they are teleported to the back of Hawkesbay General Hospital, both David and Anna look around to get a sense of what year they are in. The Overseer looks at them and removes his mask and wears a face changer, he also gives them both a face changer, ¡°Wear them and select a random face, I want to show you something.¡±
They both wear the face changers and enter the hospital. He takes them to a room named ¡°11-C¡± and stands at the door. They both join him and look inside the room through the window fixed inside the door.
The sight leaves David in awe and he looks at the Overseer with wide-open eyes. Inside, Olivia holds a baby in her arms, she feeds him and kisses him. Tears start flowing from David¡¯s eyes, ¡°Mom...that¡¯s my mom, why did you take us here? Is that...me?¡± the Overseer takes a deep breath, ¡°I promised myself that one day I will be with her when she gives birth to you. Unfortunately, I could never be there when it happened. Now that our end is near, I just wanted to share this moment with you.¡±
He hugs David and says, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for everything that I did to you and her.¡± a moment later he starts crying, ¡°I tried...to find a different path, but I failed! The rest is history. Olivia¡¯s death...you in the orphanage, then on the streets...the thing which always hurts me is that I saw you through all this time.¡±
¡°I have seen you grow into the man you are and yet never once saw you as a son, for me you were just a pawn. I have failed a billion times, as a man and as a father and it¡¯s the latter which hurts me the most! I know my sins are unforgivable, but it would mean a lot if you could only once think of me as your father.¡±
Seeing him hugging him and breaking down like this; something happens to David. Perhaps this was the moment the angry little boy inside him was waiting for, a warm hug from his father who he never knew, the apology and the regret, the desperation of the Overseer changed him.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.At this moment the old David had died, he had accepted the Overseer as his father and had forgiven him. Anna has tears in her eyes, as she wipes them away from her cheeks David puts his arms around him and whispers in his ear, ¡°You are ruining the moment...father.¡± the Overseer just keeps on crying, a few moments pass and he lets go of David.
All of them look at Olivia playing with baby David, her precious smile is one that David will never forget. They exit the hospital and the Overseer removes his face changer, both Anna and David remove theirs and he holds their hands once more, ¡°We still have one more place to visit, someone waits eagerly for you Anna!¡±
He presses initiate and they are teleported to the roof of a building. Anna and David look around and see destroyed buildings and empty houses. It¡¯s Hawkesbay¡yes, but there is something fucked up about this place. The air is nauseating, the atmosphere is too gloomy, and it¡¯s dark and terrifying. They can see the MSAT tower from where they stand and it seems to be the only place with lights.
¡°What the hell happened here? The city...it¡¯s not normal!¡± Anna asks fearfully. The Overseer opens a map on his enhancer and calls them both to see it, ¡°This is a map, it isn¡¯t complete but this is how I have arranged the worlds I visited. Look at the left most world, it is P: V01D where Issac came from. It is independent right now, whatever happens there doesn¡¯t affect the other worlds.¡±
¡°Next to it is your world, the Origin of time travel. The changes that happen here ripple across the other worlds connected to it, but the effect lessens, the more we move towards the right. The world we are in is the rightmost world, the edge of the worlds. A thing I learned while visiting each of them is that the more we move to the right the more fucked up the worlds become. This is the worst world you can imagine. I won¡¯t spoil the story of what happened here, someone else will do it for you!¡±
He closes the map and moves towards the rooftop door and opens it with a key. As they head down to the lower floors, David is confused and Anna is terrified. They are both uncertain of what is to come their way and judging by what he has told them it won¡¯t be something pretty. They travel fifteen floors down and stop at floor 35, the Overseer knocks at the door and a female voice asks, ¡°Are you back? Did you bring good news?¡± he replies, ¡°Yes and I have some guests with me too!¡±
The woman opens the door and lets them in, she looks at Anna and David and frowns but says nothing. A large hall with a few doors welcomes them, David and Anna are devastated after seeing what¡¯s inside. Many men and women in despicable conditions are lying on the floor, the fit ones carry makeshift weapons and patrol the hall. Many sick children lay together on single beds.
¡°What happened to them?¡± she asks with tears in her eyes. ¡°Follow me!¡± the Overseer replies and they start moving to the room at the end of the hall. A guard in front of the door greets the Overseer. He gives Anna and David the same look the woman gave them and lets them all in. Their gazes make them uncomfortable.
They enter a room filled with medical equipment. A man lies on a bed facing away from them, he has no legs and a huge tube is inserted inside his backbone. He stares at the window wallpaper of old Hawkesbay and doesn¡¯t seem to notice that he is being observed.
The Overseer shouts, ¡°Look what I brought from a faraway world, just like I promised!¡± the man turns around and looks at them. He is wearing a mask to help him breathe, his right eye is holo and he has scars on his forehead. The moment he looks at them his sad eye glistens with happiness. ¡°The most beautiful woman in the known universes, she looks the same, the black hair, the glasses, I¡¯m afraid my heart is gonna fall for her again!¡± the man says in a robotic voice as he looks at Anna.
¡°Come sit next to me, you too David!¡± he says and gestures them to come forward. They both look at the Overseer and he nods, they sit on the sofa and the man uses a remote to raise him upright, the giant tube raises him in a sitting position and David asks, ¡°Who are you? What happened to you? Why are the people outside in such a bad shape?¡±
The man looks at him and replies, ¡°I¡¯m you, David, I¡¯m the David of this world!¡± David and Anna are appalled when he says this and are speechless. They don¡¯t know how to react to this, looking at their silence he starts telling his tale.
¡°I had a great life once. I grew up like a normal kid, with loving parents, and lots of friends. Dad died when I was 17, but he left us considerable wealth. He was a detective and a good one. I met Anna at a university party and we started dating each other, we were inseparable and I knew that she was my destiny. I married her shortly after we graduated, I had a degree in business and she graduated as a computer scientist.¡±
¡°It was a mismatch for sure but our love was not to be taken lightly. It felt as if we were made for each other. Anna had decided to work with her brother on an upcoming project, she didn¡¯t give me the details as it was confidential. In the year 2046, Reed made it public that he had been working on time travel. People were amazed, it was so unreal. Reed was the messiah who was going to lead humanity to the next phase.¡±
¡°In the years to come, Reed worked silently with her to improve what he had learned. He created many gadgets and helped prevent a lot of deaths, many politicians were in his debt, the army used the technology to sabotage spy operations and destabilize the foreign threats to Hawkesbay.¡±
¡°Everything was working, it was all good. But something else was going on in his head, he had become more than a messiah, he was slowly transforming into a God. The power was getting to his head. In 2049 Anna created a flying robot, its primary purpose was to assist in emergency responses. It was her prized contribution to the good of mankind, but little did she know what her brother had planned to do with it. By the end of 2049, many politicians had left Hawkesbay because Reed had consolidated all the power.¡±
¡°Everyone was in his pockets and those who weren¡¯t, Reed had killed them and everyone was scared of what he had become. At the same time, Mary died mysteriously, later we came to know that Reed had murdered his mother to make sure no one stopped him. Anna was torn apart and started a movement against Reed.¡±
¡°Then by the end of 2050, things took a turn for the worst. Reed assembled the robots made by Anna with chronoton scanners and weapons. The robot was called ¡®Ravager¡¯ and it did ravage Hawkesbay. It scanned people and saw their futures. If they were going to be a threat to Reed they were killed on the spot and their remains were cremated by a plasma burner. They were wiped out of existence, adults, children, babies, no one was an exception.¡±
¡°The society was split into two, people who supported Reed were named the Loyalists and those who opposed him were named the Rebels.¡±
¡°Anna was the leader of the Rebels and I stood beside her. We hid in our homes but soon Reed started executing us. It was time to move out of Hawkesbay and go somewhere else. All of us decided to settle in the buildings of old Hawkesbay. Anna had teamed up with engineers who fled MSAT and made make-shift weapons for the Rebellion.¡±
¡°We bided our time and once we had enough strength we marched to Hawkesbay to fight against him. It was us versus the Ravagers, I knew it was pointless but if we didn¡¯t fight we were going to die anyway. It was a massacre, we didn¡¯t stand a chance against the robots. Almost all of us were killed and cremated. I saw her murdered in front of me and I couldn¡¯t do anything to stop it...¡± he breaks down and doesn¡¯t seem to continue.
The Overseer moves towards him and consoles him. Anna hugs David and starts crying too. The Overseer continues the story, ¡°I had made sure Bill was on my side back in the P: 210 and after that, I had to make sure I did the same with you. But you still weren¡¯t in that position yet, so I decided to explore other universes, call it coincidence or fate. I had teleported to this world. I was watching all this happen on top of a building and it was heart-wrenching.¡±
¡°A world like this also existed. A world where Reed is the winner, a world in which I couldn¡¯t do anything. I saw David on the ground, his feet dismantled, his body drenched in blood.¡±
¡°The rebels were taking him away from the Ravagers, but he was losing too much blood. I had to intervene, so I helped teleport them while the Ravagers were busy burning the corpses. This is where I hid the remaining rebels. I listened to the story of this world from them and something was missing. There was no mention of the normalizer.¡±
¡°I couldn¡¯t manipulate the Reed of this universe because he was a different kind of monster, even if I was going to change things here it wouldn¡¯t have mattered. I had to keep my focus on just the Origin. You should know that I am not a scientist or engineer. I had schematics of the normalizer but I needed someone to pinpoint the things which I needed to change to make sure it didn¡¯t work properly, so I could trigger the end of this cycle.¡±
¡°So I struck a deal with the rebels, if they were to show me the changes, I was going to get the medical equipment for David. The plan worked in my favor, but the agony in which these people lived didn¡¯t end. In a few weeks I returned to check up on David, he was conscious but he wanted to die, he insisted that I cut off the oxygen but I couldn¡¯t do it.¡±
¡°So instead I told him that all of this will end one day, the day Reed turns on the normalizer in the Origin, it will destroy that world and all the subsequent parallel worlds connected to it.¡±
¡°Yes! Even this one, before I left he held my hand and requested that when that time is near. He would want to see Anna one last time, it doesn¡¯t matter from which universe she belonged to. So I have brought you here to him.¡±
He stops crying and looks at David and Anna, ¡°Take care of her David! Don¡¯t lose her as I did. You are nothing without her and when the end comes, take her in your arms and look into her eyes. Even death will be bearable with her! As for me, I will wait for the black hole to appear to end our agony and Reed¡¯s reign of violence.¡±
Listening to his words the Overseer says, ¡°It¡¯s time for us to leave. Say your last words to him and meet me on the roof.¡± he leaves them to each other and exists the room.
Anna gets up and hugs him, he closes his eyes and tears flow from them, he gives her a beautiful ring and says, ¡°This was her ring, it is the last thing which reminds me of her. I would appreciate it if you could wear it from now on!¡± she takes the ring and wears it. She kisses his cheek and David says to him sadly, ¡°Goodbye...David! You are a brave man, braver than I could ever be!¡±
They join the Overseer on the roof and see a Ravager in the distance. Anna looks scared and David starts sweating, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we are not from this world so these stupid things cannot scan our chronotons, we are invisible to them! As for the rebels, I designed a blocker with them. It¡¯s what I wear so that our Reed can¡¯t scan me and they wear it to hide from the Ravagers.¡±
¡°When we teleport back to the Origin two days would have passed. It will be the day when Reed turns on the normalizer, we¡¯ll have a few hours before it happens. You see taking both of you here was important, if I didn¡¯t do that Anna would¡¯ve fixed the normalizer and the rifts would have been stabilized. One of the rifts would be of this universe and well...just imagine what the Reed of this world would do to your world!¡±
David holds Anna¡¯s hand and says, ¡°I don¡¯t care what happens, all I can say is that¡even if my life was hard it was better than what most had. Whatever happens, when we return, I am ready for it!¡±
CHAPTER 32: OUT OF TIME
Issac looks at the clock which reads 10:00 P.M. he then anxiously looks at Bill who is enjoying his favorite show. He seems to be quite relaxed, unfazed by the end which is approaching. His calmness makes Issac even more anxious. He looks at him and then at the clock again, finally his patience runs out and he screams, ¡°Why the fuck are you so relaxed? Aren¡¯t you scared of dying? Aren¡¯t you scared of not existing anymore?¡±
Bill startles a bit and looks at Issac. He can see that he is distressed and is in sweat. He casually turns off the holo-screen and takes a deep breath, ¡°Well, I was scared¡for a few days, you know when they told us that our universe is invalid. I wanted to kill myself, and I¡¯m not lying. Then¡I put myself in the Overseer¡¯s shoes and my life looked like paradise in comparison. So yeah¡I guess you can say that¡I have come to terms with the inevitable future¡or should I say the inevitable tomorrow?¡±
Suddenly, they hear a knock at the door. Bill takes his plasma gun out and approaches the door cautiously. He asks, ¡°Whose there?¡± and after a while she answers, ¡°It¡¯s me Mary. Open the door!¡± Bill throws his gun on the sofa and opens the door to let Mary inside.
She looks at them and smiles, ¡°Well¡I see Bill is relaxed, but Issac¡you seem to be troubled. Am I reading your face correctly?¡± she asks in a soft tone. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡I think¡I think the Overseer is wrong about me. I can¡¯t be the one to fix this. Look at my life, I have always been the one to fuck things up not fix them. You know that my wife died but did I ever tell you how she died¡¡±
Before he could speak anything else; the Overseer teleports with Anna and David interrupting him. They look at Anna and David with the Overseer and are surprised. ¡°So¡are these two going to be trouble?¡± Bill asked with concern. The Overseer laughed and removed his mask, ¡°No, they aren¡¯t¡I just showed them a solid reason why we must end this cycle, why the black hole must be born.¡± Anna goes to her mother and hugs her tightly. Mary kisses her daughter and looks at David, ¡°I hope you two have accepted your fate¡our fate.¡±
The Overseer looks at all of them and says, ¡°Ah, the gangs all here.¡± He takes out an old instant camera and asks them to get ready for a photo. Issac stands with Bill, Anna stands with Mary and David and they pose for the picture. A flash blinds them and then a whirring sound comes from the camera. The Overseer shakes the photo and then shows it to them.
¡°Everyone looks lovely! I¡I am going to miss you guys. Tomorrow I will not exist, but at least I¡¯ll be out of this loop, out of this life¡ free of this guilt I have been carrying for so long.¡± his voice quivers as he says those words. Everyone looks at him with sadness and then he gives the picture to Issac, ¡°Take it Issac and keep it with you always, Time may fade our faces but¡promise me you will never forget about us!¡±
Issac takes the picture from his hands and starts to tremble, he clenches his teeth and tears start flowing from his eyes. Bill consoles Issac while David goes to the Overseer. After a few moments the Overseer operates his enhancer and just before teleporting says, ¡°Mary wait for my signal¡before coming to the facility and¡Bill¡I think¡I think you should go back to Elena and the kids. They would love to spend their last moments with their father.¡±
He vanishes in an instant and Bill looks at Mary in confusion, ¡°I don¡¯t have an enhancer¡how will I¡¡± before he could finish, she takes out an enhancer from her bag and gives it to Bill. He takes it from her and quickly wears it on his wrist. He looks at them and says with a heavy heart, ¡°It was fun¡you know¡risking our asses for a mysterious man¡in hopes of averting the trashy ending of our stories¡but little did we know¡the end was already decided before the beginning!¡±
Bill says his goodbyes and teleports back to P: 210. Only Mary, Issac, David and Anna are left at the safe house. Issac gets up from his chair and grabs three bottles of Hawk¡¯s Beer from the refrigerator. He gives one to David who accepts it and they both take slow gulps from the bottle. ¡°So where did the Overseer take you guys?¡± Issac asks casually.
David smirks and replies, ¡°A really fucked up place, a world where he, Mary, Anna, Bill everyone is dead, and me¡well I am a legless man with an artificial back-bone. If I ever wanted to imagine a truly fucked up world, that place would be the definition of it. Anyway, I rather not talk about that place.¡±
Mary looks at him with concern and says, ¡°Yeah, you better not get into the details of that world. Our situation is already too grim.¡± David nods and takes a big gulp from the bottle. She looks at Issac and asks, ¡°So, Issac, you were going to tell us how your wife died. I would like to know, if it¡¯s alright with you to share. It¡¯s just¡just¡something I have been curious about ever since I came to know that my discovery was connected to that event.¡±
Issac listens to her while his mouth is firmly stuck to the beer bottle. He drinks the whole bottle in a single gulp and nods to her.
¡°There is a time in our lives when we feel invincible. A time when we are so happy, nothing bad can happen to us. It can be a good job, a dream car or in my case finding the love of my life. I think, Anna and David will agree with me. I still remember the day I met her for the first time, she was dressed in a black gown, her eyes troubled and her face¡so¡radiant. When we married, my priorities changed. I had only her in my mind. Keeping her safe, I didn¡¯t care if I had to leave my job as a detective to do this. Little did I know, it was me who was a hazard to her and not my job!¡±
¡°It was December 11th and it was very cold. The winds were howling and the ocean tides were strong. I had just received a big promotion, from Detective to Head of Department. When I got the promotion letter everyone at the headquarters asked for a party, boy¡¯s night out as we say. You know get drunk, play silly games and win silly prizes. One drink led to another and soon the guys couldn¡¯t recognize each other. I took a few drinks too, nothing I couldn¡¯t handle but I was still a little intoxicated. We decided to call it a night; I paid the bartender and took a cab to my apartment.¡±
¡°As soon as the cab dropped me, I looked at my balcony down from the road and started shouting like an idiot, ¡°Mary¡my love¡I am the happiest man in the world¡hell¡I am the king of the world!¡± I only had a few drinks I remember everything that happened. She came out to the balcony and shouted, ¡°Issac¡did you drink? I told you not to drink! What¡¯s with all this happy talk? Did you win the lottery or something?¡±
¡°I told her that it was a surprise and if she wanted to know she has to come down to the road and take me back with her, ¡°I¡¯m drowning my princess, the water is too high, come down and save your fair prince. Where art thou Mary?¡± I shouted. I was so fucking silly that night.
¡°She started to chuckle and replied, ¡°Oh! Issac I don¡¯t know if I should be mad at you or laugh at you. You look so adorable when you are drunk. I also have a surprise for you, let me come down and take you upstairs!¡±
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¡°She came down on the road and held my hand to take me upstairs, but I stumbled and fell down and she fell with me. We both started to laugh and she said, ¡°Now we are both drowning. I swear Issac; you¡¯ll have to sleep on the road if you ever touch a drink again for the rest of your life!¡± She held me up but I was too heavy for her to drag, she started to struggle holding me up.¡±
¡°And then it happened a moment locked in my head. The moment time slowed down for me. A black van approaching out of nowhere, the headlights were turned off. It was heading towards me but Mary¡she saw the van and she looked at me with wide open eyes. She gasped and quickly pushed me to the side but in doing so came in front of the van herself. I saw the van hit her before my head hit the curb and I passed out.¡±
¡°When I woke up, it was chaos inside my head. The injury from the curb, the bright sun and the hangover were drilling my brain. I stood up and shook my head to clear my vision and suddenly I remembered something, her eyes, and the fear in them, ¡®where art thou Mary¡¯. I looked to my left and saw her body on the ground. A shrill noise inside my ear deafened me, I went to her body and shook her. She¡she wasn¡¯t opening her eyes. Her heart¡it was¡it was stopped. Her hands were cold, she was¡gone. I shouted and screamed in agony, I cried but it was of no use! The air was suffocating, my hands trembled and my brain stopped working.¡±
¡°A few minutes later, paramedics arrived. Police cars followed soon, the world was silent for me. My eyes were fixed at her body as they put her in a stretcher and covered her body. Her autopsy revealed that she was 4 days pregnant¡ that was her surprise for me. I had not only killed my wife, I had also murdered our unborn child.¡±
¡°I was numb, silent and broken. Jeff helped me through most of the proceedings. Tom and I were never close, he didn¡¯t want his daughter to marry me. He was scared that my profession would endanger her and on that day the little amount of feelings he had for me died as well. I remember putting her coffin in the ground, but in truth I was putting myself with her too. The old Issac Wolfe also died with her that night.¡±
Tears flowed from Issac¡¯s eyes and he started sobbing. Mary got up to console him, while David and Anna held each other¡¯s hand and looked at him with tears in their eyes. Issac wiped away his tears, gathered up some courage and continued, ¡°We take so many things we have in life for granted, but when they are taken away from us. Only then we realize the importance of what we have lost, I lost my family and myself. From that day, I gave up on myself. It wasn¡¯t worth living anymore.¡±
¡°A week had passed and I never left my apartment. Her books, the side of the bed she slept on, her clothes. They didn¡¯t give me a moment¡¯s peace. Her memories kept playing in my head, her black hair, and her radiant face; she was glued to my mind and soul. Even after dying, she was still there inside me. Jeff came to visit and was shocked when he saw my apartment. It was a complete mess, he asked me if I wanted to help with Mary¡¯s case. We still needed to find the driver. Perhaps solving her case would grant me some peace I thought.¡±
¡°I took the case and made it the purpose of my life. We went back and analyzed the van. It was badly damaged, after hitting her, it crashed into a store. The forensic team stripped the van for evidence but they didn¡¯t find anything of value. No hair, no fingerprints on the steering wheel. It seemed as if the person driving the van was a ghost. We searched the database for the number plates and found out that it was reported missing. We followed up on this and interrogated the owner. I got out of bounds and injured him during the interrogation; as a result I was taken off the case.¡±
¡°I requested the chief to put me back on but he said I was lucky to even hold my badge after the interrogation room bust up. So I decided to investigate privately, Jeff obviously had my back and kept me in the loop. After months of trying, the case was going nowhere, no suspects, and no clues. It was just a wild goose chase. The case was unsolved and was closed and this was the most humiliating thing for me. I couldn¡¯t even solve my wife¡¯s hit and run case, I was such a loser. How the hell was I a good detective?¡±
¡°Having failed to solve the case I attempted to kill myself many times but never succeeded. I realized dying in an instant was too good for an asshole like me.¡±
¡°I needed to suffer and so I found a way. If I kept drinking this poison and smoking these cigarettes, I would eventually die of cancer or some other shit. But for some fucking reason I don¡¯t. So there you have it, the whole story of Issac Wolfe.¡±
There was dead silence in the room. Everyone looked sad; Anna hesitated a bit and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡Issac. Now that I love someone I can understand what her death did to you, but what if you could go back and find the killer or even stop all this from happening? Would you take a chance and change your life?¡±
Issac smiled and replied, ¡°Do you know what I wanted to do so badly for a long time? When I came here to your world and saw how easy it was for you to just teleport in whatever time you wished, I wanted to¡I wanted to steal an enhancer and do all the things you mentioned. But after seeing the Overseer, I guess I learned that¡time is something no one should fuck with. Or else¡or else you could lose your wife more than once. Life stuck in a loop, with no way out. I can¡¯t imagine the pain I¡¯d feel watching Mary die again and again! That would be true hell for me!¡±
As he said this Mary felt a faint vibration on her phone and looked at it with concern.
¡°AT THE FACILITY¡±
Leaving them all at the safe house the Overseer teleports to the facility and finds Reed waiting for him, standing near the completed normalizer. ¡°Welcome my masked friend, right on time, we have a lot of catching up to do!¡± he says as he takes him to his office. The Overseer takes a seat and Reed brings his chair close to him. He pours his drink and also fills the glass for the Overseer. He takes a sip from the glass and says, ¡°Come on, have a drink. We are here to celebrate the completion of the Interdimensional Normalizer.¡±
The Overseer declines and asks, ¡°I heard some Jeffery Jackson came snooping to you. What was that all about?¡± Reed takes a sip and answers, ¡°Nothing important, he questioned me if the destroyed van found near the blown up facility was mine. I obviously told him ¡®No¡¯. I have to hand it to Dorian; he was smart to use an old gasoline van to abduct Hunter, you know the new cars have a black box. It would¡¯ve been really bad for me if the van was modern. The cops would have taken me in for pointless interrogations but I¡¯m glad it didn¡¯t happen! I told them it probably belonged to the terrorists who attacked the facility.¡±
The Overseer nodded and asked him with concern, ¡°What about Hunter? Do you think he escaped the facility?¡± Reed got up from his chair and started to talk while casually walking across the room, ¡°Well¡he won¡¯t be a problem. I think Dorian killed him and whoever came to rescue him. You see the explosion was not by some terrorists, it was a result of the self-destruct sequence. My team confirmed it when they saw the radius of the explosion. So I guess here is what happened. Hunter got caught, and his accomplices entered the facility trying to get him out. Dorian was maybe¡ overwhelmed and decided to destroy the whole place. Don¡¯t worry, Hunter couldn¡¯t have escaped¡the time to evacuate was only 10 seconds!¡±
The Overseer says in a grim tone, ¡°I never apologized to you, it was an unforeseen event. I should¡¯ve been more careful!¡± Reed smiles and says, ¡°I guess it was necessary, in the end the normalizer is build and I don¡¯t even care if that facility blew up!¡±
The Overseer quickly asks him in excitement, ¡°The normalizer¡how long till you turn it on?¡± Reed looks at him and grins, ¡°You seem to be more excited than me¡it must feel unreal finally leaving this strange world and returning to your own home, tell me something¡why couldn¡¯t you just use your enhancer and teleport there?¡±
The Overseer clears his throat and replies, ¡°I may have been the one in my world to discover time travel, but I am a dumb guy¡you see I didn¡¯t save my universe¡¯s frequency in my enhancer. When I teleported to your world I¡I couldn¡¯t go back, I had to find some way. This world¡the people living here¡I hated it all. They had familiar faces but they looked at me like strangers, being alone is the worst feeling and so I jumped forward and fortunately discovered your mother working on her chronoton theory.¡±
¡°From that day till now¡I have been feeding you all scraps from my research, making it all work behind the scenes, waiting for this day to come when the normalizer will open the rifts and then I will be able to find my home!¡± Reed listened with interest as the Overseer fed him another one of his lies.
Reed sat on his chair again and exclaimed, ¡°You know the name Interdimensional Normalizer is pretty dumb when you hear it for the first time¡if I were you I would¡¯ve called it the ¡®Rift Opener¡¯ or the ¡®Domination Machine¡¯ gives it a more atomic bomb feel!¡± as soon as he said this he started to laugh like a maniac, spilling his drink on his coat. The Overseer played along and also laughed.
A few moments later the Overseer asked Reed, ¡°Tell me something, what will happen when your mother comes to know about the things you¡¯ve done to get to this point?¡±
Reed remained silent for a few seconds and then replied confidently, ¡°I¡¯d tell her that I completed what she couldn¡¯t. I¡¯ll make her realize that she gave up the power to be a God amongst men, the power to control time; and now because of your help not only here but in the infinite number of universes. I shall be eternal, ME¡Reed Maximus and Time my fucking slave!¡±
When he finished his drink he got up from his chair and looked at the Overseer, ¡°Let¡¯s go¡it¡¯s time to turn it on and¡and be the Gods of time!¡± The Overseer nodded as he got up and discreetly tapped his enhancer.
His signal reached Mary and she looked at her phone¡¯s screen with concern. She took a deep breath and got up from her seat, everyone looked at her and she said in a grim tone, ¡°It¡¯s time¡get in my car¡let¡¯s¡let¡¯s end this!¡±
CHAPTER 33: CHECKMATE
¡°As humans we are all scared to die, some of us accept the fragility of our lives and death¡¯s cold embrace as our final feeling. But some of us¡dream of being immortal. As we grow older we begin to realize that our life is an ocean, time is our boat moving us through this ocean and death is our destination. Everything else we experience is temporary, the happiness, the sorrows, the love and the hate. It is only natural to crave the idea of immortality, what if there is no death? What if we exist forever?¡±
¡°Ask me all these questions and I¡¯ll tell you one thing. Immortality is a curse, you get to watch everyone you love die, and soon you are left alone with faces you aren¡¯t familiar with. Loneliness¡is the gift of immortality and loneliness slowly drives you to madness. However you still live and after a brief romance with immortality¡you start to crave death. You get exhausted from life. Such is my case, a man who has seen so much and yet failed so many times to prevent it; A man who wants to die and be done with this curse¡this curse given to me by time itself.¡±
¡°I am tired of seeing the same end every time, whatever I do, doesn¡¯t work. The black hole eats up everything and everyone and then I am left all alone. Time mocks me and throws me back to the beginning, enjoying my suffering, demanding him in my place; the real Issac Wolfe.¡±
¡°After continued failure, I think it is time to give up my stubbornness and hand over the real Issac to Time. I must admit that I am afraid and uncertain as he knows nothing of the journey ahead. The journey to the Corridor of Time, he doesn¡¯t know the cunning nature of Time and the ridiculous visions it shows to screw up your mind. I can only hope that he finds a way out¡I can only hope that he puts an end to this time loop.¡±
The Overseer accompanies Reed to the hall and they stop near the normalizer. Reed starts operating it and has a huge grin on his face. He powers up the transformers and starts feeding the energy to the normalizer. The hall starts to shake as the normalizer gets the energy from the transformers, after a few moments the normalizer gets charged and starts concentrating artificial chronotons in the empty space in front of them. A crimson aura starts surrounding the empty space and the hall begins to tremble even more.
The Overseer looks at the excitement of Reed and shouts, ¡°Looks like the first rift is about to form right in front of our eyes. Witness its birth Reed; soon you¡¯ll be free from the shackles of time!¡±
As the first rift forms the Overseer moves closer to Reed and says, ¡°You know¡you are by far the most obedient and stupid Reed Maximus I have ever created!¡±
Hearing this Reed¡¯s grin starts fading, he looks at the Overseer in confusion and asks, ¡°Created¡stupid¡what do you mean?¡± The second rift begins to form closer to the first one and the Overseer starts moving away from Reed, ¡°You know in old times shepherds would train a special kind of goat to lead the herd to the slaughter, it¡¯s called a Judas goat, normally that goat would be spared, but in our case I¡¯m afraid I will die with all of you!¡±
Reed looks at the normalizer¡¯s readings as the third rift starts to form. Everything seems to be in order, but he is perplexed by the words of the Overseer. As the normalizer starts creating more rifts Reed starts sweating, he looks at the power output and it¡¯s more than what the normalizer can handle. He looks at the Overseer and asks, ¡°What is the meaning of all this? What game are you playing?¡±
The Overseer calmly removes his mask and throws it away, he turns around and looks at Reed with cold eyes and says, ¡°Don¡¯t worry we still have a few rifts left before it all goes to shit! It is almost time to reveal all the pieces on the board¡±
As he says this, Mary, Issac, David and Anna appear from the main corridor and watch the crimson rifts forming inside the hall. Reed looks at all of them and is appalled. ¡°What the hell is going on here¡Mom¡Anna¡ this fucking traitor and why does this guy look just like you?¡±
¡°Ah yes! The perfect reaction, anger and horror in one frame! Meet the people who have tried to stop you. Harbinger couldn¡¯t join us he preferred his family over you. Remember your failure in P: 210 it was me and Bill, your failure in P: V01D it was your sister. The robbery of the scanner that was Bill and David together, the demise of Dorian and his lab, it was the combined work of Issac, David and Bill. Your mother and I were the architects of every dent inside this sinking ship of yours!¡±
Reed¡¯s world turns upside down, the pawn realizes that he can never be the King. He trembles in anger and disbelief, ¡°No¡no¡I was played from the start? I should have never trusted you¡no worries¡I still am going to achieve annexation and then I¡¯ll deal with all of you!¡±
The normalizer starts shining red lights and Reed looks at the holo-screen in fear. The computer says, ¡°Normalizer stability decreasing, use the emergency stop button!¡±
Reed scurries to the emergency stop button and bangs it a few times but nothing happens. The rifts keep forming and start clashing with each other, flashing crimson light across the hall; the normalizer still keeps rumbling and he keeps sweating. The Overseer joins Issac and the others and shouts, ¡°And this machine¡the normalizer¡this is my checkmate! Annexation is a far-fetched idea at this point, because the truth is these rifts will collide into a big black hole of nothingness¡and I think you know what I am talking about!¡±
Reed looks at him with wide-open eyes, ¡°No¡you fucking mad man! You¡¯ll kill all of us, and you people¡are you fucking suicidal. You all are going to die if the normalizer doesn¡¯t stop!¡±
Mary looks at him with watery eyes, ¡°The truth is son¡we are all voids¡our lives have no meaning¡this scene has happened countless times¡we are all stuck in a loop. A loop the Overseer initiates after every failed attempt, we don¡¯t matter in the grand scheme of things and we have come to terms with it!¡±
David holds Anna¡¯s hand and says, ¡°Even if we don¡¯t matter, the feelings we have for each other are still real. The emotions we feel when we are together are still real.¡±
¡°This is the end Reed, and this is exactly how I wanted to die! Surrounded by people I love, holding each other¡¯s hands. I have seen a world where you win and I see now, what the Overseer wanted from the start¡we are all ready to die if it means you can be stopped!¡±
The rifts start clashing with each other at an accelerated pace, crimson light flashes every time they collide, the normalizer starts to shake and Reed looks in vain as he loses control of the situation. Issac looks at the Overseer who smiles at him, his eyes full of sadness and his face radiating some kind of timid hope.
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He gives Issac his enhancer and says, ¡°I have set the coordinates, you have a date with Time and it¡¯s best to not keep it waiting!¡± Issac wears the enhancer and asks in confusion, ¡°What will I do¡I don¡¯t know anything.¡±
Mary holds his hand and replies, ¡°You have to make sure something like this never happens, find the event that diverts our world to this end and change it at any cost. Give our void existence some purpose!¡±
David and Anna hug Issac and she says, ¡°You are the best detective I have known¡you are a great man¡I¡¯ll miss you!¡±
The Overseer hands him the photo and says, ¡°Don¡¯t forget us Issac¡even if our faces fade away and our bodies turn to dust!¡±
Reed watches their last moments in panic and despair, he can do nothing but watch as his grand scheme derails. He holds his head and screams in agony. The enhancer starts to beep and the Overseer shouts, ¡°Thirty more seconds, on the 5th second I will start to disintegrate, there can only be one Overseer. You have to teleport to the corridor before the black hole starts swallowing everything up!¡±
Suddenly, the normalizer explodes sending Reed flying between the rifts. The rifts start circling each other and move closer to converge. He looks at the rifts in horror as he feels their enormous energy pulling his body apart, he screams in agony as he is torn apart by their force and then the rifts finally collide together.
The Overseer starts to disintegrate, he smiles looking at all of them and slowly fades away into nothingness. The rifts become a small black hole which starts to rapidly expand pulling everything inside it.
Issac looks at the enhancer and then at everyone else. He hesitates and looks at Mary in confusion.
Tears start flowing from his eyes; seeing him like this, she rushes towards him and hugs him tightly, ¡°You are our last hope Issac, set things right¡we are counting on you!¡± saying this she holds his left hand and presses initiate.
Time slows down as the teleportation begins. He watches Anna and David kissing each other, he sees the black hole slowly growing in size and pulling them inside. He looks at Mary and her last words echo inside his ears, ¡°Goodbye, detective!¡±
P: 210
Bill teleports to the woods and looks at his house from afar, as he starts moving towards his house he starts getting flashbacks of the events that transpired in the origin universe. The story of the Overseer and his connection to his past and future, the reality of his existence, he never really had the time to sit down and process everything and now that he was finally thinking about it all, ¡°What a futile existence we all have!¡± was all he said as he rang the bell.
Elena opens the door and seeing him drops her laundry basket and hugs him tightly. Bill stumbles as her loving embrace takes him by surprise; he takes a few moments to balance himself and then wraps his arms around her.
¡°We all missed you so much, it¡¯s been 4 days but it felt like 4 months!¡±
¡°I missed all of you too¡Ronny¡¯s work took more time than I initially thought. Nothing to worry about though he is settled now and all is good, where are the kids? Where is Aria?¡± as he asks this Aria comes running from the stairs and hugs his leg. ¡°Daddy I missed you so much! Did you bring a gift for me?¡± Bill looks at her with love and replies, ¡°I missed you too, I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t bring anything but we can go to the lake together with your brothers.¡±
Elena tells him that the boys are still at school to which Bill replies, ¡°Alright let¡¯s wait for Daniel and Rick, I¡¯ll change my clothes and you both get ready too. I could use some family time after so long!¡±
The clock reads 5:30 P.M. and the family sets out for the lake. They all seem so happy; for once Bill forgets the end that awaits them. They reach the lake and the boys start spreading the picnic blanket, Elena sends Aria with her brothers to play around the lake. Bill lays down on the blanket and looks at the sky, he takes a few deep breathes and closes his eyes for a brief moment.
He pictures his whole life in that moment and then opens his eyes, in front of his face he sees Elena looking inside his eyes. Her gaze so penetrating, he feels like she is looking inside his soul and then she smiles and kisses his forehead. ¡°I love you Bill¡I could have never asked for a better life partner, you, me, our kids and this perfect day. This memory will remain with me forever, nothing can go wrong today!¡±
As she says this Bill feels a slight tremor behind his head, the ground suddenly starts to shake violently. Aria screams in the distance and they both get up from the ground and start running towards her scream. Bill realizes something, ¡°The end of the cycle¡I just need a little more time¡this is too soon!¡± as they reach the children.
Elena gets rooted to the place she stands, Bill looks at the children who stare at the horizon with wide open eyes. The golden sunshine soon fades away and a black shadow wraps all of them. He finally looks at the horizon and sees the black hole expanding and slowly swallowing the lake, trees uprooted from the ground.
Aria looks at Bill and asks fearfully, ¡°What is it daddy?¡± and Bill replies in a grim tone, ¡°The end my love¡it¡¯s the end!¡± the black hole expands more and more and soon starts pulling them inside it. Daniel holds Aria¡¯s hand as she floats towards it but he cannot hold her.
Rick sees his brother slipping and quickly grabs his hand and starts pulling him back. Elena does the same when Rick starts slipping and floats in the air, they all feel the pull becoming strong and strong. Bill hold Elena¡¯s hand, but their weight is too much for him. The black hole soon becomes so massive that it starts eating up the core of the Earth, the planet destabilizes and explosions start occurring around them. Before being dragged Bill looks at his family and says silently, ¡°Even if it was all a lie¡it was at least a beautiful one!¡± and they all fly violently towards the black hole.
THE DESOLATE WORLD
David looks outside his window, he sees the destroyed buildings and the darkness which surrounds the rebel base. He starts slipping down memory lane, with open eyes he imagines what it would have been like if the Ravagers were never made, if Reed didn¡¯t figure out time travel. It would have been a happy world, everyday he would have woken up by her side, the love of his life, Anna Maximus. He then looks at his hands and starts trembling, the time he held her dead body punctured with bullet holes comes back to his mind. Tears roll down his eye as it all plays in his mind.
Before he can wipe the tears, he hears sounds of screams and gunfire coming from the hall behind his door. Explosions follow and after a lot of gunfire and screams of death it all stops. He looks nervously at the door and soon it blows open. Bright rays of flashlights blind him and he covers his eye. He can hear a man approach him, he holds his hand and twists his arm, ¡°Found the rat¡we have cleared the building no one is alive but him, send in Reed!¡±
A few moments later Reed enters his room and walks around, he sees David in his pathetic condition and starts laughing, ¡°This¡this is what we were finding¡a bunch of amateurs and a cripple who can¡¯t even walk? You know¡I was going to order them to stop investigating the anomalies they found in the ravager footage.¡±
¡°A few days ago we discovered some strange activity; the ravagers couldn¡¯t identify 3 black spots on the roof of this building. My team was curious so I ordered them to keep an eye on this place and look at what we found¡the last remaining scum of old Hawkesbay!¡± Reed moves towards David and mocks him, ¡°What happened to your feet? Oops, I forgot¡ravagers fucked you up pretty bad in that battle! Tell me David¡what¡or should I ask who were those anomalies the ravagers couldn¡¯t see?¡±
David looks at him with disgust and replies, ¡°Fuck you Reed! You are a fucking monster¡you destroyed everyone¡¯s life¡you killed your own mother and sister¡all for this power¡for playing God with our lives! I will never tell you¡go ahead and end my life¡I¡¯m miserable anyways!¡±
Reed looks at him and gloats, ¡°If you chose to stick with me none of this would have happened to you people, your choice was not my fault. You did this all to yourself! Cats like to play with food¡I¡¯ll kill you that much is certain¡but before that let me play a little with you!¡±
Suddenly, Reed hears a lot of chatter on his comms. ¡°Sir, we are getting reports of a huge anomaly near MSAT tower. It¡¯s a black sphere which seems to have formed out of nothing¡and SHIT!¡±
¡°It¡¯s expanding¡it¡¯s¡pulling...us¡inside¡¡± and then a long static follows. Reed looks outside the window with concern and sees a black mass growing towards them. It pulls everything inside it, many ravager bots vanish as they can¡¯t escape its pull, soon the building starts trembling too.
David looks at the black hole and starts laughing like a maniac, he has watery eyes and after a brief moment stares at Reed. Reed looks at him with fear, the helpless look he had before was gone, ¡°This Reed¡is my Checkmate. If you tell someone my story¡and how it is going to end they¡¯ll say I probably deserved better. But I don¡¯t care because at least you are getting what you fucking deserve! This anomaly is a black hole¡and it is going to turn us all into nothingness!¡±
As David finishes his last words, the building starts to crumble and Reed can see his helicopter sucked into the black hole, soon the walls of the room disintegrate and his soldiers start flying off into the dark abyss of the black hole. The Earth starts to collapse as the black hole¡¯s mass becomes greater than the planet and it explodes, destroying everyone and everything that existed.
CHAPTER 34: THE CORRIDOR OF TIME
I woke up in my bed, covered in sweat. The ceiling fan was spinning slowly and the air conditioner was as noisy as ever. It was my old apartment, and beside me¡she was sleeping peacefully. I was afraid of waking her up so I froze and kept staring at her, seeing her luscious black hair. I was lost in that pitch black darkness. Her presence had put me in a trance, and the feeling that had been dead in me for so long had re-emerged.
The feeling to love¡I could feel it again; the barren deserts of my heart were once again blooming with flowers. Suddenly, she turned towards me and caught me staring at her. She smiled at me, yawned and started rubbing her eyes. I passed a slight smile and she spoke in a ghastly voice, ¡°We have been waiting for you detective. Finally the Overseer has done it once again!¡±
The voice sent me in shock! It wasn¡¯t what I was expecting and before I could ask anything to her, everything around me started to fade away¡it was all turning into dust and Mary also began vanishing. The voice was back and answered exactly what I had in mind, ¡°We are time and this¡is our realm.¡±
My surrounding changed completely, from my old cozy apartment I was thrown into the cold and bitter darkness of time¡¯s realm. A few seconds later I started to move on my own and stopped at a big hallway. The floor and walls were made of a bright light, the stars and galaxies around me were frozen. Time had stopped everything and only I was moving forward.
It spoke, ¡°We almost thought he would repeat his inevitable end again, but he was smart to finally send you to us. He was nothing but a copy of you. We always wanted you to sort out the imbalance that clever fox created by tapping into our power. Humans... don¡¯t deserve this gift. You are too selfish and emotional to use this power for anything else than to sort out your own past. You will see soon what we have said as we show you glimpses of the Overseer¡¯s attempts.¡±
The place had an enormous weight; it felt as if the gravity was 1000 times more than that of the Earth. It was tiring to even move a few steps forward. Time had noticed this and said in a mocking tone, ¡°Don¡¯t fret detective, if you cannot move, we shall move you ourselves.¡± As I heard this, I stopped and the hallway started to move. As it moved, it changed its shape and started to resemble a corridor. I looked at my left and saw my whole life flash before my eyes, all the things I wanted to do but never did.
The left side showed me the things which I had never done, the decisions I never took and the right side¡it showed me the decisions that made me what I am today. It was a place where you could see the cause and effect of your decisions. The corridor soon ended and I looked straight ahead. A huge tree like structure made of the same light the hallway was made of stood like a mountain. It had a million branches and I stood in awe as I saw its enormity.
¡°Enormous, yes it is, but all of it in vain. No results, no future, it all began again. The tree is his life and the branches depict his ends!¡± It said as I started seeing the things the Overseer had done in his billion attempts. How he cheated Olivia, how he created David and Bill, how he manipulated Reed, all of this just to escape from his fate¡the fate handed to him by Mary. I felt sad for him, he truly was a rat in a maze.
¡°So you enjoyed all of this? Laughing at his misery? How could you be so cruel?¡± I shouted as I saw the pain he went through. Time was silent, as I expressed my anger and kept looking at the Overseer¡¯s memories. Immediately I saw a memory in which the Overseer was talking with Time.
In the memory he was arguing with Time, insisting that he can make things right. He saw his attempts and his failure but he still wanted to find a way out on his own.
He was desperate but he still had hope that he would be able to find a way out.
¡°As you can see, all the suffering he put everyone through could have been avoided if he gave his selfish goals up and sent you here in the first place.¡±
Time was right, but it could not understand what emotions are¡to be told that you are useless and have no future, to be told you are a copy of someone who exists in some other world¡it kills a person. I saw it in his eyes every time he restarted the cycle, his pain and his will to prove that he was worth something. Sometimes, it doesn¡¯t matter if you win or lose, all that matters is that you put up a fight and tried everything you could.
Suddenly, my surroundings changed again and now the tree was gone. In front of me I saw a portal, looking at the streets I figured out that it was my world. The place where it all began, Time shouted at me, ¡°And now it is your turn¡you have mistakes to fix¡we are watching, remember the last words of that woman?¡± Mary¡¯s voice echoed my ears, ¡°Give our void existence some purpose¡Goodbye Detective!¡±
As soon as her voice faded away, I was being pushed towards the portal, No! It was too soon¡I had so many questions¡so many doubts¡what was I going to do? How was I going to fix our lives? I shouted, ¡°How do I fix it?¡± but all I could hear in return was the ghastly laugh of Time.
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It felt unreal; after all that I had been through in the last few months¡I was here again, my world. No Anna, David or Bill¡no existence of Reed or time travel. My heart beat was elevated; I could hear heavy thumps in my ears. It was my world but what was the date¡what was the year? Where do I start, how do I change the outcomes¡how do I save Mary from the accident? This is exactly how he would have felt¡the Overseer when he first started the loop.
In my thoughts I had forgotten to take in my surroundings. I was in an alley where a homeless man slept peacefully, I saw my face in the mirror and realized something, ¡°I can¡¯t be seen like this¡it would complicate things even more.¡± I stole a black hoodie from the homeless man and concealed myself.
As I went on to the street I stopped a man and asked him the date, he looked at me with concern and replied, ¡°It¡¯s 11th December.¡± I looked at him with wide open eyes and asked, ¡°What year¡what is the year?¡± he sensed the desperation in my voice and answered, ¡°It¡¯s 2008 and it¡¯s half past seven you fucking junkie!¡±
His words sent me in shock and my feet started to tremble. A cold chill ran down my spine, ¡°She¡she dies tomorrow! I don¡¯t have time!¡±
I had no money and I couldn¡¯t ask anyone I knew for help¡I was a stranger in my own world¡someone who doesn¡¯t belong¡A void! But I had to try¡I had to save her, I had to make sure the cycle never starts. I was far away from my apartment, the place where it all began, the event which crippled me and changed the fate of so many other worlds.
I decided to move on foot, I was at the outskirts of Hawkesbay and the apartment was a long way from where I stood. I had no plan on what I had to do to stop it all from happening again. The enhancer was useless too, it wasn¡¯t working and why would it be working, time travel did not exist yet. Even if it was working I did not know how to use the damn thing.
I headed straight towards Hawkesbay, with no sense of the world around me I kept walking and walking, looking at the setting sun in front of my eyes I started running¡I kept running and running till my feet gave up and my heart felt as if it would burst. Feeling my desperation I broke down and started to cry, ¡°Please, let me save her¡please!¡±
A few moments of silence had given me the time to gather up some courage and move on. A few minutes later I saw the highway that led to Hawkesbay city, I saw the sign board which read, ¡°Hawkesbay 50km¡± I ignored the 50km and decided to keep moving on foot.
The sun had set and soon the stars had emerged in the sky, a hundred steps later I found the board and it read, ¡°Hawkesbay 45km¡± I was in shock, I had walked for so long and still covered only 5km. I was tired and sad, this is not how it ends!
Suddenly I heard a car approaching from behind, I stuck out my thumb and prayed that the driver would stop and give me a ride. It was a van and the driver sped past me. ¡°Fuck!¡± I screamed but the van stopped a few feet away from me. I quickly ran towards the van and opened the door.
An old man greeted me with a smile, ¡°Hello mister! It¡¯s awfully late to be walking on the road, where you heading to?¡± he asked politely. ¡°I¡¯m heading to Hawkesbay, I¡¯m in a lot of trouble, would you kindly take me there?¡± I asked.
The old man smiled and said, ¡°Well, today must be your lucky day, because I am headed to Hawkesbay to see my daughter. Come on hop in, here¡¯s a beer you must be thirsty from all the walking!¡±
I hopped in but refused the beer, I needed to be sober, and I couldn¡¯t let my drinking habit fuck my life up once again. The old man introduced himself, ¡°My name is Gustavo, but you can call me Gus. My daughter works as a nurse at a big hospital in Hawkesbay!¡± Gus was a good guy and he tried to get something out of me as well but all I gave him was a fake name and a sick mother as an excuse to my urgency.
I looked at the digital clock in the car and it read 10:50 P.M. and we were still 25km away from Hawkesbay. Gus was driving just like an old man would, needle between 60 and 70 all the way, with each passing minute I was getting more and more restless. Gus decided to stop at a gas station to get something to eat, he offered me to eat with him but I declined.
I sat in the van looking at him as he ate slowly and it was at this moment my patience had run out. I went inside the diner and took his keys from the table. I looked him in the eyes and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Gus!¡± and ran out as quickly as I could while Gus kept screaming, ¡°Thief, get him, he¡¯s stealing my car!¡±
I started the van and put my foot on the gas, not even once caring of the crime I had just committed. I looked at the speedometer and the needle was constant at 140, I was still restless but at least now I was moving quicker than before.
I kept my eyes on the highway boards and soon I read, ¡°Hawkesbay 10km¡± come on let me get there in time! Soon I entered Hawkesbay and was on the way to my apartment, the clock was reading 11:45 P.M. Did I have enough time? Was I going to save her? I didn¡¯t know for sure but I had to keep pushing on to my apartment.
I reached near my apartment and saw myself drunk on the road, looking at the balcony of my apartment. I was late, but I still had time to do something, I held the steering wheel tightly and out of nowhere, I thought of something crazy, ¡°It all starts when Mary dies, so why don¡¯t I run myself over, if there is no me here, there is no Overseer as well.¡± So I made up my mind and slammed my foot on the gas.
I was going way over the speed limit but I didn¡¯t give a shit. In front of me, my old self was tumbling like a drunken maniac. I was going to kill myself to stop the time loop! A few moments later, when I was just a few feet away from crushing myself under the van; Mary came running towards Issac.
Suddenly an uneasy feeling gripped me, as I moved rapidly towards my old self. Time had slowed down and I could see clearly what was happening. In front of me, Mary was helping Issac to get up and looking at me speeding towards him. She had eyes full of fear as the van came closer and closer. In a flash she pushed Issac away and stood in front of the van herself. My mind was numb, the stolen van, the driver who was never found¡it was¡it was me! I killed her¡I started this mess¡I¡I am¡not the savior!
I saw with watery eyes as the van hit her, and then it crashed into the store. The airbags came out and stopped me from flying out of the van. I was stunned but had only one thing on my mind¡Mary¡I¡No! I got out of the van and hit the ground. My head was hurting and my vision was blurred. I stood up and shook my head, a few moments later my vision was normal and I saw her lying on the ground. I rushed to her and saw her eyes wide open, blood coming out of her mouth and tears flowing down her cheeks.
I took her in my arms and cried, ¡°No¡no¡no please! Please Mary don¡¯t die¡please! I¡I can¡¯t lose you again!¡± She looked at me and whispered, ¡°Please¡see if my husband is hurt¡save him!¡± for the second time my heart was torn and I couldn¡¯t stop it, I was my own assailant and the victim.
Her heart stopped after a few moments and her hands went cold too. I cried like a maniac, I screamed but it was of no use. I felt my vision getting distorted and then looked at my hands as they slowly started to disintegrate. I looked at her and said, ¡°No! This can¡¯t be¡or is it¡is this how it all started¡is this the End?¡±
CHAPTER 35: THE END?
I opened my eyes and immediately freaked out, where was I, is the loop going to repeat again? If that was the case I had failed. But then why did I exist, shouldn¡¯t I be dead, what was the meaning of all this? I looked around and I was in the realm of time once again.
I got up and kept looking around in a state of panic. Time started laughing loudly seeing me scared. Finally it spoke to me, ¡°Do you see now who the real rat in the maze is? It was always you, the Overseer was trying to be a hero, but we never wanted him to correct anything! It was always you Issac. You dug your own grave when you decided to hit yourself with the van.¡±
¡°This is not how it is supposed to happen! But this is all you do every time we send you to fix the loop. It is an extreme outcome which should not happen! But when it does the loop repeats itself again!¡±
I screamed at Time, ¡°Then what the fuck am I supposed to do? I can¡¯t think of anything else¡there is no pattern¡no guidance¡and I have already killed her. So I guess it all starts again¡I have failed!¡±
¡°You haven¡¯t, what you just experienced was a memory of what you have done so many times. The point of showing you that memory was to warn you! But we also know that regardless of that, you always fall prey to your feelings for her!¡± Time said in return.
¡°In this realm nothing has a future, present or past. In this corridor resides your whole life, use your skills and look for a way out. There were obvious signs which you have missed when you were taken away from your world to the Overseer¡¯s world!¡±
Saying this, the voice of Time went silent and I was left all alone in the corridor. The cryptic words of Time had left me in a state of despair. What signs was it talking about?
I began wandering around the corridor looking at different events that shaped my life. I saw my father beating my mother while being drunk, I saw her running away from him and taking me to Hawkesbay. I saw her doing odd jobs to keep us afloat. This part of my life¡it felt as if I had forgotten about it or perhaps chosen to omit. All anyone knew about me; was that I am a washed up detective and was the son-in-law of Tom Maximus.
It was all cause and effect, the basics of how our lives are shaped. One decision leads to another and ultimately we reach the end of our existence. The domino effect, a chain reaction, whatever you choose to call it. ¡°So maybe instead of killing myself to save her¡I must look at the cause of all this!¡± Finally I was getting somewhere.
What if I never went out with the guys that night and instead just went straight home! That way Mary doesn¡¯t have to come down to save me and get hit by the van. That was it! It was this simple.
As soon as I made up my mind Time started to laugh and said in a mocking tone, ¡°You have missed a great deal detective, although you are on the right path¡the solution is not that simple. The world of the clever fox, did you not see what happened there? Who was your wife there and who was Mary¡¯s husband?¡±
What was the meaning of this? The idea time was planting in my head was a weird one, I quickly shoved it away and said, ¡°I think I¡¯ll keep looking for some other way, I think there has to be some other way¡am I right?¡±
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Time said in anger, ¡°Do you see now¡what we meant by you falling prey to your feelings, it¡¯s the same with you and the Overseer¡you both want a world of your own choice and when that is not possible you risk everything else to justify what you want!¡±
¡°What do you mean by this?¡± I asked in confusion, as Time replied in a sinister tone, ¡°You and Mary do not belong! Have you not seen the Overseer¡¯s world, your wife is different, your son is different. Her husband and her family is different, your worlds as they stand are abnormal and incorrect. Some things are in order while some are not!¡±
¡°What we ask from you Issac is the ultimate sacrifice anyone could ask for! Sacrifice your love for the fates of the worlds!¡± the words hit me like a rushing train. I knew it was coming but I chose to ignore it, searching for some other future¡any other future where I and Mary don¡¯t have to be strangers¡where we would live happily for the rest of our lives.
Time already knew my thoughts and replied, ¡°The only way you both live happily is without each other! So now the stage is set, the decision is yours once again! The only question now is¡are you strong enough this time? Because if you are not you¡¯ll be here, at this same spot once again!¡±
With that said Time went silent once again, leaving me in a state of complete delirium. How do I do it¡how do I intentionally stop loving her? The only good thing that ever happened to me¡how do I forget her smile and the way she looks at me? How do I kill all those moments spent with her?
Why do we care about what happens to the other worlds¡why us? I couldn¡¯t in my right mind see her with someone else but me. Love is cruel, and it is selfish. I was going to start the loop once again; I had made up my mind! Those few moments of happiness were worth more than all the worlds combined!
Just before telling Time about my decision, a feeling of uneasiness took over me. My mind unintentionally started remembering the moments spent with all of them, David, Bill, the Overseer, Anna and Mary. The last words of Mary and the Overseer¡they¡they were a part of my life too.
Was I going to make them suffer a billion times once again. I took the photo out from my pocket and looked at each one of them. Their faces had been blurred but I remembered them. Tears had started to drop from my eyes, to which world do I truly belong?
Time said in a mellow voice, ¡°You do not belong to any world; you¡are a void Issac. Whatever you do in the coming few moments won¡¯t affect you, but it will affect all the other worlds and their futures. For once keep your emotions to the side and think rationally, the answer is already given to you¡just accept it and do what is necessary!¡±
(Perfect song for this part https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isUZeulOO9s)
I nodded as I wiped away my tears and gathered my broken courage. ¡°Send me to the day when I met Mary¡I think I know what I should do to stop the loop from ever starting.¡±
In a flash a portal opened in front of me and I started taking slow and steady steps towards it. I took a deep breath and went through it, leaving the realm of time probably for the last time.
I was in the alley where I found Mary¡¯s brooch, the day we met for the very first time. It was tempting to watch silently as things unfolded but if that was the case all could go wrong once again. I understood now, to stop it all from happening Mary needed to be alive¡but not with me she was supposed to be with Peter¡and I really didn¡¯t know who I was supposed to end up with.
I hid behind a dumpster waiting for her to pass and drop her brooch, as she passed by and dropped it, I quickly took it into my hands and nervously started looking around like an idiot. ¡°What do I do with it¡I can¡¯t fuck this up now!¡± as I said this I saw someone familiar passing by, a young man with spectacles. He had marks of paint on his shirt and face, it was Peter.
Suddenly a crazy idea came to my mind, if Peter gives the brooch to Mary¡I never meet her, and we never fall in love. Maybe, this is the way I fix things! Without thinking much I stopped Peter in his tracks and said, ¡°Hey man¡how¡¯s it going? So¡actually you see that girl over there in the black gown she just dropped her brooch. I¡¯m actually in a real emergency so¡here¡¡± I handed him the brooch, ¡°Just give the brooch to her and yeah thanks a lot!¡±
Peter wanted to say something but, I just ran across the road to the opposite side of the street and watched from the corner as he went to Mary. I could see him looking at Mary the same way I would have looked. He started talking to her and they started laughing, soon Mary and Peter went to Grab-a-Grub. A few moments later I saw Issac passing the alley, but there was no brooch¡there was no Mary.
I started to cry looking at Issac all alone, a shrill pain in my chest had forced me to sit down on the ground. I saw him crossing the road without looking both ways and getting hit by a car. As he got hit, I looked at my feet and they began to disintegrate¡so¡maybe this is how I was supposed to die?
As onlookers rushed to Issac and called the ambulance. I smiled with tears in my eyes, ¡°All this mess because of one crime, the crime of falling in love¡I was only falling in love!¡±
As I said my last words my body started to disintegrate¡it was done¡the loop was fixed. The Overseer was never born¡no one was a void anymore¡time travel didn¡¯t exist and me and Mary we did not belong. A familiar question came to my mind, was¡was this really¡the End?¡±
EPILOUGE
HAWKESBAY 2049
¡°Today is a great day for the students of the Hawkesbay University. It¡¯s their graduation ceremony, where the Mayor is the chief guests. We will be covering the event live as the mayor hands all these future leaders and pioneers their respective degrees¡¡± a young girl shuts down the Television and shouts, ¡°Mom, Dad, Reed we are going to be late! I¡¯m not ruining my graduation day because your alarms didn¡¯t ring on time!¡±
Mary replies, ¡°We¡¯ll be there on time Anna just wear your shoes and start the car!¡± Anna rushes outside after wearing her shoes and the family quickly leaves for the ceremony!¡±
They arrive at the university auditorium and take their seats. As the ceremony proceeds and the graduates take their degrees they say a few words to their loved ones one by one. Finally it¡¯s Anna¡¯s turn. Her name is called and she gets up nervously, she takes a deep breath as she steps up on the stage, all eyes on her. She takes her degree from the mayor and clears her throat as she goes towards the microphone.
¡°It¡¯s a great day for me and my family. I¡¯d like to start by thanking my mother who has always been a rock solid support for me, and my father for always understanding my ambitions and respecting them.¡±
¡°I¡¯d also like to thank my brother who always guided me through my journey. But I¡¯d also like to thank one more person. A person who has been there for me, since the very beginning of this journey, he has been there for me. He was my project partner, my book buddy and soon he¡¯ll be my life partner as well. He is sitting right there!¡± she pointed in the crowd and everyone looked at him. ¡°David Wolfe¡thank you for always being there for me always!¡±
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Everyone in the auditorium clapped for both of them, cheers and whistles echoed the walls of the auditorium. David shyly looked at her and smiled while his parents Issac and Olivia looked at both of them with love. After the graduation ceremony Reed took the car back home and left the families to themselves.
Issac took all of them in his SUV and drove around Hawkesbay talking to Mary and Peter about the wedding of David and Anna. They drove near the alley where Peter and Mary met and Peter said in an excited tone, ¡°Oh my God, stop here Issac!¡±
Issac startled and stopped the car. ¡°Kids, this is the place where I met Mary and fell in love with her. She dropped her brooch and a gentleman in a black hoodie gave the brooch to me, ¡°Hand this to the lady in the black gown¡± he said.¡±
¡°He was in a hurry and I always think to this day, what if he didn¡¯t give me the brooch and handed it to your mother himself? I guess I wouldn¡¯t have your mother in my life then.¡±
Issac looked at Peter in disbelief and said, ¡°What a strange coincidence, I remember being hit by a car on this very street. I had an apartment near this area when I was still a young detective. I guess I was in a hurry that day, didn¡¯t look both ways and bang¡got what I deserved. I was rushed to the hospital and that¡¯s where I met Olivia, she was a nurse at that time and took good care of me. Soon we started dating and then I married her.¡±
Issac looked straight ahead and saw Grab-a-Grub. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you and Mary went to that diner over there after you gave her the brooch!¡± Peter grinned and said, ¡°Actually I did!¡± Everyone started laughing and they all decided to stop at the diner and get something to eat.
They entered the diner and sat at a table. Everyone gave their orders and waited for the food. As they waited David got up and said, ¡°Alright everyone, this day calls for a photo. I want this day to forever be etched in my memories. I am really thankful to have so many lovely people in my life.¡±
He gave his phone to a guy sitting at the next table and they all posed for the photo. As the photo got taken Mary and Issac¡¯s smile faded a little and they both said at the same time, ¡°I think I have seen all this before!¡± everyone looked at them in shock and Mary nervously said, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡maybe we were all meant to meet each other like this, who knows how time works!¡±