Showing posts with label Topeka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Topeka. Show all posts

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Frenzy: Life Now (Part XIII)

“What is a Ulinthra?” I ask after Ace has finished with his conversation, knowing full well that it’s a person.
“She’s a friend of mine. Probably about your age. We had felt drawn towards each other our entire lives before finally finding each other a year ago.”
“Are you time travelers as well?”
“Not exactly,” Ace explained. “We just get these...feelings. Have you ever heard of déjà vu?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Well, it’s like that, but turned up to eleven. Everything we do feels familiar, and as if we had just experienced it yesterday. I always know who’s going to win a sports competition, which is where I earned most of my money. Whenever I meet someone new, it’s like I already know them. My life isn’t perfect, but it’s rather predictable. Once Ulinthra and I realized that we were the same, we started questioning where our abilities came from.”
“I see.”
“Now you have some answers for us. How many times have you done it before?”
“Never. I mean, just the once. I’m not a time traveler, per se. I mean, I know that they exist, but I just fell into it. I’m a stowaway. An accident.”
He says nothing.
“I have no answers,” I add.
“No, you must know something,” he complained. “You must. We need to pool our resources and figure this out. Like...do you have the same thing where you can bet on sports?”
“Not at all.”
“Well, what did you do for a living?”
“I’m seventeen.”
“Right, of course. What do you do for fun?”
“I’m a runner. I do the City Frenzy.”
“Oh. That explains the outfit you were wearing. So, when you said you couldn’t go home...it was because you’re already there.”
“Yes, I can’t run into myself. Who knows what would happen?”
“Maybe it would destroy the universe.”
“I doubt that, but it could ruin my timeline, cause some kind of paradox.”
“You sure you don’t know anything about what we are? You seem to know a lot about time travel in general.”
“Well...” I trail off.
“What? Tell me, please.”
“I do know a guy who may have some answers. Last time I saw him, he ran away from me, though. If we go see him, you’ll have to be prepared for that.”
“I think I can handle it.”
“I guess we can go tomorrow when your friend gets here.”
“Oh no, she’ll be here in an hour. She was just in Topeka.”

Once Ulinthra arrives, we exchange pleasantries and get her up to speed. After a meal, we head out for Lincoln Rutherford’s office. I didn’t know Rutherford very well back in 2022, but he’ll know my name. He accepts a walk-in appointment, and is surprised to see all three of us come through the door. “This is an interesting development. Mister Demir, you’re much older.”
“I’m from 2026,” I say.
“That would explain it.”
“Do you know who we are?” Ulinthra asks.
“I do, yes.”
What are we?” she continues. “What are you?”
“I’m the Systemizer. I see time in the same way you see a movie; from a third-person perspective.”
“Like God?” Ace asks.
“No.”
“And them?” I ask. “What are they like?”
He tilts his head to look at them at a different angle. “They’re weird.”
“The hell does that mean?” Ulinthra is not amused.
“In another timeline, you had certain abilities. Now it seems like you still have them, but you’re...limited.”
“Limited how?”
“You still experience each day twice, but you can’t remember the first time.”
“If we can’t remember,” Ace began, “then how could it have happened?”
“You remember subconsciously, don’t you? Life always feels familiar.”
“Oh yeah,” Ace agrees. “That’s true.”
“How do we fix it?” Ulinthra asks.
“Fix what?”
“Our memory.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t recommend that. You have your memories intact in other timelines, and you never stop killing people.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Ace protests. “We would never kill anyone!” He looks over at Ulinthra who seems to have no interest in arguing either way. “I definitely wouldn’t,” he adds.
“I dunno what to tell ya,” Lincoln goes on. “You got to be such a problem that the other time travelers got together, built a prison, and put you in it.”
This scares Ace, probably more than anything ever has before. “Is that going to happen again?”
“It would seem that’s up to you. There are those who hold the actions of alternate versions of people against them, but most don’t.”
“Could you talk to them?” I jump back in. “We need to know what’s coming to us, and I would like to go back home. To my time.”
Lincoln takes a nonchalant drink from his water. “That’s not my job. I’m not one of them.” He looks to me directly. “I’m more like you. An outsider. I try to stay out of things.”
“What about...?” I stop myself before I mention K-Boy. That hasn’t happened to him yet, and even though Lincoln seems to have some unusual grasp of past and future, he can’t see things when I’m involved. Again, I have to worry about protecting the spacetime continuum. I don’t know what would happen if I changed the future, or if I already have, but my instinct is to exercise caution.
“Are you going to help us at all?” Ulinthra was angry. I could see her becoming a killer. I barely know her, but she does not seem stable.
“I can’t imagine,” Lincoln begins, “there’s anything I can do, or want to do, or am going to do.” He makes eye contact with Ace and subtly flickers his vision to Ulinthra’s purse, which she is clutching tightly.
Ace sighs and takes her purse away without any protest from her. He opens it up and removes a large knife in its sheath. “What the hell is this for?”
“Protection.”
“Oh God,” Ace responds. “The Gunbenders would hate you. Were you planning on using this?”
Lincoln answers instead, but towards Ulinthra. “Yes, I remember the other version of today as well. To avoid any further...dissatisfaction, I’m going to do you a favor and put you in touch with an associate of mine.” He takes out two games of Jenga, and begins to lay out the blocks while he’s still talking. “Now because time travel is a thing, in order to communicate with one another, we can’t just make a phone call. So we use our own version of that. Not everyone has a...” he says with air quotes, “phone number”. He starts stacking the pieces in groups of three to resemble little doorways. “But the most important ones do.”
“I’m sorry,” Ulinthra spits. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Helping you. Now, as I was saying, the most important time travelers can be contacted using special methods. If you want The Constructor, knock on any door with a special code. You want The Chauffeur, write a note on a piece of paper and burn it. Now The Archivist. He’s a weird one. He’ll get your message through this complicated combination of opening and closing drawers of a filing—” He stopped himself once he noticed the three of us were just staring at him with no idea who he was talking about, or frame of reference for them. “Anyway, The Delegator lives at Stonehenge. So you have to do this.” He sits back in his chair a little and admires his own work. He has constructed a replica of Stonehenge using the Jenga blocks.
“What’s supposed to happen now?” Ulinthra asks, still soured about the whole thing. She does not seem like a nice person.
Lincoln smiles. “This.” He places the last ‘stone’ on his desk some ways away from the rest of the replica. He then utters the magic words, “That’s what you think!
The scene around us changes. The office walls and furniture bubble, pop, and dissipate away to reveal grass, sky, and stone. In a matter of seconds, we have found ourselves in the middle of the actual Stonehenge. Tourists wearing outdated clothing are walking all around us, but have taken no notice, except for one man watching us from a few meters away. Ulinthra, Ace, and I walk towards him. I look back to see Lincoln waving goodbye before fading away.
“Are you...” Ace tries to ask, feeling silly.
“The Delegator?” The man finishes it for him. “Yes. I was not planning on contacting you. What are you doing here?”
Ulinthra is examining one of the tourists. “Can they not see us?”
“No,” the Delegator says. “But you can have an effect on them, which is where ghosts come from. Stay away from the humans, please.” As Ulinthra reaches out to touch one of the tourists, the Delegator reaches his own hand up and takes ahold of her, apparently through some kind of telekinesis. He swings over and throws her through one of the little doorways where she disappears by what I can only describe as a portal. “I’m sorry about your friend, but she should not be here.”
I look to Ace who doesn’t seem all that upset. “You did what you had to. If you’re the Delegator, then does that mean you’re going to delegate purpose to us?”
“I do that for others...but not for you.”
“Good,” I say. “Can you take me home then?”
“I don’t know who you are, or what you are, but what I do know is that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be, and when you’re supposed to be there.”
Now I’m getting angry. “Why is it that everyone we talk to about this stuff is completely unhelpful? Why can’t you help me? Why do I have to stay here? And should I give a damn about what anyone else wants of me?”
The Delegator does not seem offended. “Every single salmon before you has asked those questions. None of them has received an answer, and neither will you. This is your life now. I also recommend you be prepared to hear that excuse more than once.”
“So we’re just supposed to go back home and try to figure this out on our own? With no guidance?”
“How is that different than what anyone else in the world does day-to-day?”
That isn’t a bad answer, but it still isn’t helpful, which I guess is the point. “This day has been incredibly unproductive.”
“What did you expect? Fanfare?”
“No, but it’s just—”
“I don’t have time for this,” the Delegator says quickly. “I have to get back to work. I really don’t like being interrupted. People don’t call me, I invite them here.”
“We’re sorry, but—”
He cuts Ace off as well. “No more questions.” He waves his hand dismissively. “Please walk through that gateway there.”
“As you wish,” Ace says, narrowing his eyes in a sort of small rage. We comply with his wishes and try to walk through the gateway. The Delegator cries out as we’re doing so, “no! Not that one!” But it’s too late. We’re already through and onto the other side. The gateway has transported us back to what’s clearly Kansas City, so I’m not sure why he’s so upset.
“Umm...where am I?” someone behind us asks.
Ace and I turn around to see a scared little girl holding a 1960s camera. That’s not good.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: March 21, 2014

Mateo, Leona, and Prince Darko slipped out of the house quietly and headed for the street. Their phones were waiting for them on the steps. Danica had been right that time would always tether them together. They hadn’t thought to test that before. Like any good time traveling device, their phones told them exactly when and where they had landed. It was Ann Arbor, Michigan on March 21, 2014. The prison guard had said that personnel don’t ever work in the same time period they live. Wait. “This is the day of my jump. My first jump.”
“It is,” Leona agreed. “What a coincidence.”
“I do not believe in coincidence.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Okay well, I do...” Mateo began. “But not in this case. I’ve been given a second chance. I can stop this. I just need to get to the graveyard.”
“The powers that be will never let you stop yourself from starting your pattern,” Prince Darko said.
“Shut up,” Mateo and Leona said in unison.
“I have to try this. I have to save my parents’ life.”
“And what about me?” Leona asked.
“What?”
“What happens to me?”
“Well...I mean. What does happen to you?”
“Well, you and I never meet. If we ever do, you’ll be fourteen years older than me.”
“But you’ll still be here. I mean, this version of you will. You’re here now.”
“Not necessarily. You’ll be changing the timeline.” Prince Darko pointed to Leona. “Since this woman is out of her natural time pattern, she may be able to remain here, and there will be two versions of her. But probably not. I’ve not heard of it. In all likelihood, she’ll be erased. As will you. And that’s assuming you miraculously pull this off. But you’re a salmon, not a chooser or power. You’re not allowed to change things unless you’ve been assigned to.”
“But you are,” Mateo said to him. “You’re one of the powers, so you could change it for me. And you could find a way to keep Leona and me from being erased. I’m not trying to stop myself from meeting her. I’m just trying to save my parents’ lives.”
“I’m not a power,” Prince Darko said.
Leona shook her head.“What are you talking about? You clearly are. You were in the chooser block.”
“Yes, I’m a chooser,” he agreed. “I’m not a power.”
“They’re not the same thing?”
“You’ve been using them interchangeably, but no, they’re not. Choosers get to choose how they manipulate time, usually with some kind of specialization. For instance, I’m an object threader. I can touch and object and move back and forth along its time path, but I’m bound to it. I can’t move past its existence, and I can’t travel in any other way. The powers that be, on the other hand, can manipulate time in any way they like, and they use this...power to jack with other people’s lives. Bottom line is that choosers are just salmon who aren’t controlled by the powers.”
“Oh my God!” Mateo nearly yelled. “Why didn’t anyone ever tell us this?”
“People don’t seem to know,” Prince Darko said. “I’m not sure why. You’re right to be upset; it’s a pretty big deal.”
“Wait, this doesn’t make any sense,” Leona said. “A few years ago, you claimed to be on our pattern, just an hour earlier. We saw you jump into the future, and you were there waiting for us.”
Prince Darko shook his head in confusion. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you do,” Mateo said. “Stop lying. You said that you had been on our pattern for two years before we got on it. You said we were a tripod.”
“I’ve never met you two,” Prince Darko claimed. “Not before today.”
“I just told you to stop lying.”
“Mateo,” Leona said. “He’s a time traveler. He must not have experienced that yet. That is our past, but it’s his future.”
“Oh, right,” Mateo said, but he was still not completely clear on the matter.
“I don’t know that that’s true. I mean, yes, that is a sound theory, Miss...Leona, right? But that doesn’t sound like something I would do. I mean, I know you guys don’t know me, but I know myself, and tricking people into trusting me just isn’t my style. I’m not saying I’m an angel; I was imprisoned for a reason, but not for anything like that.”
“Why were you locked up?”
“I just met you. I’m not going to tell you something like that. Sorry.”
“If you didn’t know us, why did you think we were breaking you out of your cell?” Leona had her hands on her hips.
“What did you expect me to do? Question it?” He scoffed. “I didn’t want to be there.”
“That makes sense.”
“Well, even if you’ve not yet done it,” Mateo said, “I’m already mad at you for trying to tear our relationship apart.”
“Rule number five, Mateo,” Leona said to him cautiously.
Mateo had to think through this for a moment. Which one was that? Avoid alternate versions of yourself? No, that was a tip for later. Treat everyone you meet with respect, as they may unexpectedly return. That one works. At this point, Prince Darko had no reason to hate them. Best not to antagonize him, as they may still have a chance to keep him on their side. “You’re right.”
“What rules?” Prince Darko asked.
“Do you go by Prince Darko?”
He was taken aback. “My mother used to call me that, but no. Darko will be fine, thank you.”
“Good,” Leona replied.
“But Mario Matic is your father,” Mateo questioned, but wasn’t sure which answer he wanted.
“Yes, he is. I’ve encountered him a couple of times.”
“That means we really are brothers.”
Darko lifted his chin and stared into Mateo’s eyes. And then he leapt over and gave Mateo a big bear hug. “I had no idea.” He wouldn’t let go. “It’s so nice to finally meet someone in my family I might actually be able to get along with. I don’t know what you think I’ve done in my future, but I promise you that I will never be on anyone else’s side but yours.” He finally released Mateo from his grip. “You included,” he said to Leona. He really did act drastically different than when they first met.
“Then maybe you can help us. I need to warn myself. You were right that I can’t stop this from happening. But I might be able to save my parents. Get us to Topeka.”
“I would need an object that’s going to or was at some point in Topeka.”
“Oh right.” Mateo frowned. “There’s no way. If this were the future, we could just call someone in our family to scoop us up with a fancy airplane.”
“We can still use an airplane,” Leona said reluctantly. “If you insist on messing with time, then all we need to do is find a flight going from Detroit to Kansas City.”
“Yeah, that could work,” Darko nodded. “Kind of a tall order, though. Normal people aren’t just allowed to go up to commercial airplanes. So if you don’t want to go ahead and purchase a ticket and sit through an entire ride, which wouldn’t take any more time, then we’ll have to sneak in.”
“That’s true.”
Suddenly, a little Toyota pulled up next to them on the street. A young man stepped out and handed Mateo the keys, along with a five dollar bill. “Be careful with it. This baby has to get me to Topeka, Kansas by tonight. I’m going to a funeral.” He then walked into the restaurant.

“What is happening?” Mateo asked. “Were we just...”
“...handed a miracle?” Darko asked, taking the keys from Mateo and tossing them through the passenger window.
“I don’t like this,” Mateo said.
“We have to take our opportunities,” Darko said.
And so they took him once again by the shoulders and threaded the car to the future.
They were suddenly in the Topeka cemetery. The driver of the car they had threaded was nowhere to be seen. People were standing around having fun, beers in hand.The Rogue appeared before them. “I’ve let you come here to watch,” he said. “I won’t let you alter time, though. This is just to give you perspective.”
“This is cruel,” Leona said.
“Cruel is my...” he sighed. “Sorry, I’m not going to say that. That’s a dumb line.”
“There’s Saga and Vearden,” Mateo pointed out. The door-walkers were in a conversation with some of Mateo’s friends, Frida being one of them. “Half-brother,” he said to Darko, “meet my half-sister.”
“Interesting,” Darko said. “I didn’t know Aquila had any family.”
“You know her?”
“We’ve met.” He smiled and looked around a bit. “Dad?”
They instinctively turned their heads to where Darko was looking. It really was their father. “I didn’t know he was here tonight.” He was watching the other Mateo intently, but was making no effort to reintroduce himself. Instead, he was talking with Mr. Halifax, the Gravedigger.
“Why are there so many salmon here?”
“This is an important occasion,” the Rogue said. “The two of you are considered the most influential salmon of all.”
“No one was there when I made my first jump,” Leona said.
The Rogue lowered his face but kept his eyes up, as if looking at her over imaginary reading glasses. “They weren’t?”
They continued to scan the crowd. Danica and Dr. Baxter mysteriously walked out of a crypt and focused on the original Mateo as well. After the door closed behind them, the family name on the crypt changed to read January 3, 1743. “Mateo, you might get to see Daria again,” Leona said reassuringly.
He did want to see her once more, but there was no way he would. “She didn’t know who I was when we met in 2019. And she would never lie to me.”
Daria never did show up, but her nurse from Ulinthra’s facility was there, along with the girl who they saw leaning against him at Daria’s funeral. Mateo stepped forward, thinking it was time to find out who the two of them were. The Rogue held him back again and shook his head. “Not yet, kind sir.” Son of a bitch.
It was midnight. They watched as the other Mateo had his final conversation with Kyle then jumped out of the timestream. Saga and Vearden stopped while they were running to help and ended up walking through the magic tomb portal. After the door changed, Danica and Baxter went through, presumably back to The Constant. Mario and The Gravedigger hopped into an empty grave and never came back out. The two mysterious choosers watched the commotion for a few moments and then looked over at the four of them. The girl waved affectionately while the guy smiled at them, then they jumped away. They were following rule number eleven; keep them guessing. The scene changed and the two of them were back in their house in 2064. Darko wasn’t with them.