The Advancement of Mateo Matic: January 24, 2399

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There is something wrong with Alyssa’s brain. Or her body. Or both. Or maybe there’s something wrong with Leona’s body instead. Ramses’ current theory—with no evidence—is that whoever wants Leona Matic to die had a two-fold plan to accomplish it. Step one: get her into Leona Reaver’s body. Step two: prevent her from leaving that body, or coming back to her real body. To put it another way, they locked her in, and just in case she ever found a way to break free, they also locked her out of her own body. Alyssa is just kind of caught in the crossfire of that. Now that she’s here, she is unable to leave, because it would open a vacancy for Leona’s return, and their enemy does not want that to happen.

Ramses also believes that it’s possible for Alyssa to look more like herself before he comes up with a permanent solution. Time powers are apparently more mental than they are physical, meaning that there’s a chance she can create illusions from here. He said that it can’t hurt to try, so she did a few times, but she never even came close. It didn’t feel like it did when she used her ability before. The way she sees it, it would be like transferring the mind of someone with legs into the body of an amputee, and expecting them to walk again just because they remember what it was once like. Still, she doesn’t want to give up, so when he urged her to meditate in order to reactivate that side of herself, she decided that she might as well. She’s been spending most waking hours doing it, if awake is even the right word. In the darkened room there are only candles, a pillow to sit upon, and a mirror in front of her. She has to force herself to concentrate and not check it every ten minutes. When she does check it, the result is always the same. She still looks like Leona, and that is probably never going to change.

“Okay,” Alyssa says to herself. “You can’t look for another hour. How am I meant to know when it’s been an hour? Well, people who are good at meditating probably develop the magical power to automatically know things like that, so you’re off to another bad start. Just close your eyes, and stop thinking.” She holds there for what may be the hour that she was waiting for, or just another ten minutes. “Stop. Thinking. You think too much.”

“I agree,” comes a voice.

She’s scared to check. Was that in her head, or is someone else in the room? It didn’t sound like Ramses, or anyone else she knows. “Is that you, God?”

“Close. I’m a hawk. Majestic creatures.”

Alyssa opens one eye. She’s not in the meditation room anymore. She has no idea where she is. She opens the other eye. “What just happened?”

“I brought you back. Your reality needs you,” the mysterious stranger claims.

“Who are you?”

“You don’t recognize me? No, I suppose you wouldn’t in this body. It’s Dalton.”

“Nice to meet you, Dalton...I think.”

“No, we’ve met. I traced your location. This is where I sent you, and it’s where you’ve been. I mean, it was where you were in the future, but it’s the past now.”

“What the hell are you talking about? How far back in the past are we?”

“About four and a half billion years.”

“This again? Goddammit!” Alyssa laments. “Okay, I have power, but I’m not that powerful. You’re telling me I ended up here just because I was meditating?”

“Must have been a coincidence,” Dalton says. “I’m the one who brought you back here, using the temporal translocator.”

“What do you want with me? I’m telling you, we’ve never met. Perhaps there’s another me in another reality, or something? I don’t know, I’m still learning this stuff.”

“Leona, I know that you—”

“Wait, Leona? That’s who you think you’re talking to? Well, that’s your problem, dude. I’m not really Leona. My name is Alyssa McIver. I’m just stuck in her body.”

“Pshaw. I’m the master of switching bodies. You don’t think I would be able to tell? I did my research. I know who you are.”

“Maybe that’s just who the assassin wants you to think. Something went wrong with the switch. We can’t switch back. Maybe it’s, like, masking our neural signatures; making me look like Leona, even from a brain scan. Honestly, now I’m just pulling words I’ve heard Ramses say.”

“So, you admit you’re lying, Leona.”

“That’s not what I meant!” She tries to remember what the internet said about meditating and centering one’s self. “Look, Mr. Dalton. I’m sure you have perfectly reasonable intentions, but you got the wrong guy. Why don’t we both just go to 2399, and get this all sorted out, okay?”

“No, I can’t. I can’t use the machine again,” he contends. “Even if you’re not really Leona, you’re close enough. If she switched bodies with you, it means she trusts you, which means you can do this job. I found you by hacking into the Omega Gyroscope, so it thinks you’re Leona too, and in the end, that’s all that really matters.”

“What job are you talking about? What’s the gyroscope thing again? I’ve never seen it, so I can’t remember what they said about it.”

“The Gyroscope is a thing that you own, but you’ll lose possession of it in 50,000 years. I can’t let that happen. Someone has to be in charge, or it won’t work. So I’m going to close the door, and leave you in here. You’ll reconnect to it every 49,000 years.”

“What? No. Don’t do that. What the hell are you doing? Let me out!”

“Don’t worry. The toilet and sink are in the corner. Those shelves are stocked with enough food for a month, but you won’t need it. You’ll only be inside for about five days. Try to get some rest, and don’t let yourself go crazy. It looked like you were meditating. You’ll have plenty of time to perfect your technique.”

“Stop!” Alyssa pleads, trying to keep the door open, but ultimately no match for his strength. “Please! I don’t want to be locked in! Please let me out! Dalton! Dalton!” He wins out, and gets the door closed. She starts to bang on it, and the walls, but receives no response. If anyone can hear her, they don’t care, can’t help, or won’t try. Though, if the time bubble activated immediately, it’s already been over a hundred thousand years for that guy. So she gives up, and just tries to teleport to the other side of the door. It doesn’t work. She spends the next hour-slash 36,000,000 years trying again, and looking for any other way out, but this is a cell designed to keep people in, and is probably inescapable. So she gives up on that too.

Four and a half billion years later, the door pops open on its own, and blinding light floods in through the crack. Alyssa tries to open it more, but there’s something blocking it. She pulls the door in, then back out, then it, then out. It’s going a little farther each time, and the sound it makes sounds familiar. Once her eyes adjust to the sunlight, she can see that it must be snow. It’s all over the place, part of which must be preventing her from getting out. She keeps working at it, though, and eventually shaves off enough to slip out. Wait, no, it’s freezing out here. She goes back inside, and retrieves a heated suit from the emergency kit. They’re thin overalls, but warm enough to handle the coldest of conditions. She takes the rest of the kit with her, and slips out again.

Alyssa comes face to face with a bear, growling at her. At least it looks like a bear, but unlike any kind she’s ever seen before, even in pictures. She realizes that she’s in a cave, and this big fella is the one what lives here. She presses her back against the ice wall behind her, and tries to inch her way to the side, but he doesn’t like that. He doesn’t want her to be there, he doesn’t want her to leave; why can’t this guy make up his mind? That’s when she remembers that she can teleport now. She tries to make a jump to the cave opening behind the bear, but it’s not working. Whatever was preventing her from escaping the stasis chamber is still doing its thing.

The emergency kit. It has a signal pistol. She carefully sets it on the ground, not wanting to make any sudden movements. She opens it slowly, and sticks her hand inside. She starts feeling around for the gun, maintaining eye contact with the bear. He hates it even more when she tries to look away. There it is. She quickly pulls it out, aims it, and shoots. The flare goes towards the bear, but doesn’t hit it. Instead, its lodges itself in the ice wall, and starts spewing out sparks. This is enough to scare the animal into running away from it. Alyssa takes this opportunity to run past it, and out of the cave. She’s not out of the woods yet, though. When the bear recalls that there’s no backdoor, it follows her, and starts to charge. She has to keep running, but she knows that she’s no match for its speed. She can practically feel its breath on the back of her neck when it suddenly disappears. She instinctively spins around, causing her to trip on a rock, and fall to her ass.

The bear is on the ground a few meters down the hill, a wooden pole sticking out of it. No, it’s not a pole. It’s a spear. She turns her head. A man still has his arm forward in the follow-through. Like the bear, though, there’s something very wrong with his face. He looks unlike any man she’s ever seen. It’s sort of flat and uglyish. He has one brow, instead of two, sitting upon a more pronounced forehead. He’s short and wide, but not fat. He does look like he’s smiling at her, though, so he probably was trying to save her life, instead of just wanting to kill the bear. As he approaches, Alyssa instinctively recoils, so he gives her a wider berth, and goes over to retrieve the spear from the bear. It’s still moving a little, so he serves it a death blow to the neck to put it out of its misery.

“Umm...thank you,” Alyssa says to him, still nervous.

He looks at her quizzically, and faces the direction he came from. He grunts something loudly in a language that she doesn’t recognize. A woman appears from behind the hill, carrying a child. He’s maybe four or five years old. She looks more like a regular person, and the child looks like a cross between the two of them.

“Oh! You’re a primacean!” They’re an ancient relative of humans who lived tens of thousands of years ago. Some believe they interbred with modern humans, while others do not. “I guess this proves those people wrong.”

He looks at her quizzically again, as does his mate as she draws nearer.

“The door opened too early,” Alyssa says to herself. “Oh no, this isn’t good. There’s no telling how far off the mark I am; I’m not a historian.”

The massive language barrier made it difficult to communicate, but she was able to determine that they wanted her help transporting their kill back home. She does, and eats with them that night. What else is she gonna do, fix the stasis chamber?

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: July 6, 2398

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The team tried to play it cool with Amir. They let him get a few meal vouchers for them, so they don’t starve. Heath is the one who needed these the most. Leona and Marie have realized that they can last a little bit longer without food, even though their upgraded bodies aren’t operating at full capacity. Kivi is apparently in the same boat, even though she supposedly originates from this reality, and never received any upgrade. Perhaps all Kivis are like that. She certainly does have a special ability, which they’re thinking now may not be just this thing that she happens to be good at, but which is actually somehow supernatural. She found Amir pretty quickly, as if he was giving off a smell. If it’s real, and not a coincidence, that is certainly a talent that they could use in the future.

Amir has been very helpful and kind, but they’ve gotten to the point today that squeezing information out of him covertly is no longer working. It’s time to take a more direct approach, and just tell him why they’re here. “Listen,” Leona begins, “thanks for all your help, but I think we need to be honest with you.”

Amir drops his whole face towards the floor. “You didn’t just think I looked like a nice guy,” he figures. “You were sent in here to retrieve me.”

“So you know?” Leona asks.

“I’m only in here to get away from people like you. Who do you work for?”

“We weren’t sent here to extract you,” she begins. “We ended up across the border for unrelated reasons, and I think the Senator just thought it would be a great opportunity to exploit our skills again. We had no idea you existed until a couple of days ago, I swear.”

“Senator Morton has something on you?”

“No, Honeycutt,” Marie clarifies.

Amir shrugs. “Never heard of him. Who knows how many links in the espionage chain are between you and me?”

“Do you want to live here?” Kivi asks him.

“Not particularly,” Amir answers. “It’s just the safest place to be. I didn’t think anyone would be able to find me, and even if they did, the government wouldn’t want to help. I’m not sure how your boss convinced them, but maybe he’s more powerful than Morton.”

“He’s not our boss, he just has a grip on us,” Heath contends.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m afraid I’m not going anywhere. Either you get out without me, or you stay here for the rest of your lives. I don’t care what it takes, I’m staying away from Arctos.”

“Arctos? What is that?” Leona asks, thinking about it, but still needing answers.

“That’s what they call themselves,” Amir says. “Their symbol is a bear.”

Marie looks at Leona. “Leelee, is that...?”

“Bears eat salmon,” Leona says. “That must be what it means.”

“Yeah,” Amir remembers, “they used to talk about salmon all the time, like it was some kind of rival organization.”

“We’re not rivals,” Leona tells him. “We’re targets. Did you hurt any of them? Did you work for these Arctos people, or something? Did you escape?”

“I didn’t work for anybody,” Amir claims. “I was their prisoner. Or their test subject, it was always unclear to me. They thought I was salmon at first until tests somehow proved that I had nothing to do with them.”

“What kind of tests?” Kivi asks.

Amir shakes his head. “Mostly involving water? I don’t know, it wasn’t torture, but it was weird. I couldn’t say what they were looking for. Yes, I did escape, because some of them thought that I should be let go since I wasn’t really salmon, but others seemed to think that I was associated with them in some way. I really don’t know, can we stop talking about this, please?”

So the Honeycutts know more than they have let on so far. Or maybe they’ve been letting it on just fine, but the team has been blind to the truth. There are people here who are aware of time travel, and now they know that there are other time travelers. Amir must be connected to them, perhaps by relation, or he saw something as a child he didn’t understand. Regardless, they all have to get out of here. They don’t know how long Amir has been on Melville’s radar, so maybe he’s not any less safe than before, but it doesn’t matter, because he’s definitely not safe now. “We can’t,” Leona says apologetically. “In fact, we’ll need your help more than ever. Can you get us back to the shore? Can you get us to the Dead Sea?”

Microstory 1785: Through the Vela

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I reach out and shake the baby bear’s little paw. He smiles wider, and looks a bit relieved. The old man tells me as much. People are often so reluctant and unsympathetic when they meet him. They’re too afraid. They just came through something called the Vela, and still think they’re about to wake up from a bad dream. It’s not a dream. It’s all real. The man built this cabin near Big Bear Lake deliberately because it happens to be some kind of focal point of instantaneous travel. People from all over the world spontaneously wake up here having never transited the space in between. Every night someone new arrives somewhere in a kilometer radius of this cabin. For some reason, I showed up earlier than usual, which is why mama bear wasn’t ready for me. She’s normally tasked with going out, and nudging the arrivals to the cabin. She’s not as smart as her son, but she knows that she can convince people to go this direction simply by placing herself on the other side of them. She was probably pretty surprised that I wasn’t scared of her, and was able to pass by her with none of her usual form of coercion. Very rarely, two people will show up on one night, so she continues to patrol until morning. That’s why she didn’t come back with me. When I ask the man what happens next, he tells me that the Vela chooses people using whatever parameters it’s decided upon, if it’s even sentient. He doesn’t know. He only knows it’s my job to find my own exit, but only after new clothes and hot tea. I’m not sure I’m going to go look for an exit point. It might be nice, renting a car, and driving back myself. It’s not like I have anywhere better to be. I don’t have to work until Monday, and my parents will be okay on their own for now. Anyway, I don’t have to decide anything right away. I’ll just sit and enjoy my tea.

A half hour later, the mother returns, but she’s not alone. A woman about my age is accompanying her. She doesn’t appear to be scared of the beast either, nor worried about where she is, or what the hell is going on. She too is naked, and isn’t even shivering. I didn’t think there was anyone else in the world who likes the cold as much as I do. She asks the same questions, and the man answers them again. She asks a couple more, like how the bears are so smart. The mom had her own Vela experience while she was pregnant, and it changed the both of them. Brown bears aren’t even native to this area, but they chose to stick around so they could help the humans. This calling has been passed down the old man’s family for generations, but the incidents became more and more frequent, and he never found the time to meet someone, so the bloodline ends with him. When he dies, people are just going to have to deal with their situation themselves. The woman and I exchange a look. Little bear nuzzles her knee, so she pets him. All my life I’ve been trying to figure out whether I had some kind of purpose. Folding clothes, and returning them to their tables surely isn’t it. I’m sure my sister can take care of our parents on her own. She prefers it, and I’ve never been much help anyway. Perhaps this is what I’ve been looking for this whole time. This old man needs to retire, and the lost souls who pass through here need a way to return home. I tell him this, and he thanks me. He doesn’t even try to argue, or talk me out of it. He’s obviously been hoping for a replacement for awhile now, but he’s never known how to go about asking. The woman stands and informs him that now he has two to take his place. We all smile, even me.

Microstory 1784: Little Bear

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There are a few things you would expect to find in a cabin in the middle of the woods, especially in an area that experiences very cold temperatures. The place is small, and you can tell as much from the outside, so you wouldn’t expect it to be a comfortable glamping getaway with multiple rooms, or even electricity. The logs are rotting slightly, and the porch swing has one broken chain, leaving it dangling against the floor awkwardly. I would have bet on a few essentials once I stepped inside, like a wooden table with wooden chairs; a bed that’s low to the ground, or even just a cot; an old black metal stove thing that I feel like Benjamin Franklin invented? None of that is here. None of what’s in here makes any damn sense, and if I would leave if it weren’t freezing out there. It doesn’t look dangerous, just bizarre. The first thing I notice is the arcade game. Besides a novelty table lamp in the shape of an elephant that’s hanging on the wall, the game machine is the only thing that’s giving off any significant amount of light. I don’t recognize the name of it, but that’s no surprise. I’m too young, and not hip enough to know anything about the history. Bear Bonds could have been the most popular game in the 80s, for all I know. Anyway, the screen isn’t the only thing producing light. The whole thing has what look like Christmas lights strewn about, except they’re built into the paneling, so I think that’s just how it comes. Next to it is one of those Japanese toilets with a touch screen, and probably a bidet, and I’m sure it talks to you. I can’t tell if it’s connected to the plumbing, but on the other side of it is the real bathroom. There’s a metal prison sink, and one of those space-age shower pods from the 1970s that I saw on a funny picture website once. There’s no toilet in there at all, so maybe he just likes to spread out more. I best not think about it. There are plenty of other weird things in here.

There seems to be no closet, but there’s a rack on casters. He has one three piece suit on it. It looks really nice, like maybe it was tailored by an expensive professional who only serves an average of one client a month. That wouldn’t seem so weird, maybe this guy is a stock broker who comes here to unwind. Except the rest of the rack is occupied by hanging fish, a few of which are still flopping on their hooks a little bit. How are they still alive in the least? I also swear to God that the suit was on one end of the rack, but now it’s spontaneously moved to the right. I kind of hope that didn’t happen, and I’m suffering from exposure delirium. That is a fancy platter of rotten strawberries, right there on the floor. Next to it is a ship in the bottle without the bottle. The way it’s staged, it’s like a child was eating the fruit, and playing with the ship, but they haven’t been back in a long time, and the man never cleaned it up. There is no dining table, and no chairs whatsoever, nor a bed. The curtains are made of Latin language newspapers. I don’t mean they’re taped on the glass to prevent snipers on the roof of the next building over from spotting the bank robbers. He carefully glued the pages together, and hung them up on the rod. I suppose that’s one way to reuse, reduce, and recycle. A mail cart has been upturned near the corner. A whole encyclopedia collection is stacked on top of it. I don’t know why he didn’t just put them inside the cart, but it’s not what matters. That’s not the strangest thing. Hiding behind that cart, I finally notice a baby bear. It’s sitting up and peeking out from behind the books. When it sees me see it, it comes out of the shadows, and smiles at me. Then it holds out its hand like it wants me to shake it.

Microstory 1783: Big Bear

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One thing to know about me is that I prefer the cold. I live in a midwest state with seasons, but I hate the summer. I could work in retail anywhere, but my parents had me when they were already pretty old, so I’m kind of obligated to stick around. Still, I blast the air conditioning when it’s hot, and keep the windows open. Is that illegal? I don’t know. Is it wrong? I guess we just have different definitions of morality. The A/C stays on during a lot of the winter, and I still at least have my bedroom window open while I’m trying to sleep. I say all this in preface, so you’ll understand that I don’t know how long I was outside on the ground before I even realized it. Had it been my sister, it would have been a different story. She keeps her house like a friggin’ sauna, I can’t stand it in there. She would have noticed right away if she had suddenly found herself in the spring air, let alone this freezing cold place. I finally wake up, and that probably has more to do with needing to relieve myself than anything. I might never have noticed until the sun came out, and maybe not even for a long time after that, because my alarm clock didn’t accompany me. I have no idea where I am, or how I got there. I see trees and dirt, and that is pretty much it. I see pine needles instead of leaves, which I find unusual. I like the cold, but not the outdoors. I would never go camping in a million years, so there’s no chance I got so drunk last night that I made this choice on my own. Someone would have had to bring me here against my will. They might have left me to die because they underestimated my ability to survive these temperatures, or maybe something went wrong, and they had to scrap their original plans with me. Either way, as okay as I am like this, I know I’m no superhero. I will die out here without shelter and clothing.

I start walking, hoping to catch the scent of a campfire, or the rumble of late night traffic. I could be moving even deeper away from civilization, but there is no way for me to know. I don’t have those lizard brain instincts that normal people have kept. Walking is warming me up, if only just a little. If I don’t come across someone’s tent, or a cave, staying in place would still be foolish. Besides, if someone did leave me, but planned on coming back, I’m better off as far from the drop site as I can get. I can see a lake in the moonlight, but I don’t know if I should go for it. Am I more likely to find salvation there then elsewhere? I’m proud of myself. I’m not too keen on walking either, but I haven’t stopped once to take a break. Maybe this ain’t so bad. I spoke too soon, or rather thought it. I finally do stop when I run into a gigantic creature. It’s dark as all hell, but my assumption is that it’s a bear. It was low to the ground, but now it’s raised itself up, meaning that it started on four legs, and now it’s on two. That’s something I know bears can do. It doesn’t growl, or even seem that menacing. Maybe it’s just trying to get a good look at me. I also know that you’re supposed to pretend to be bigger, and make a lot of noise. I don’t think I’m gonna do that, though. I just adjust my heading, and walk away. It doesn’t get mad or try to follow. I doubt it eats people, and it can tell that I’m not a real threat. Lights. I see lights through the trees. As I approach, I see that it’s a cabin, and it’s occupied. This could be who took me, but this is my only shot at survival. I knock on the door, and a scruffy old man opens. He’s not surprised to receive a visitor, even though we’re in the middle of nowhere, and I’m completely naked. He lets me in, and I ask him where we are. “This is Big Bear Lake, son. California.” Yeah, that tracks.

Microstory 1589: The Bear Ate My Tail

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Prompt

My son came home crying after spending the weekend at his mother’s, but he wouldn’t tell me why.

Botner

He was never very clear about what happened to him there. He hated to talk about it, so I had to pry it out of him. “Mom, there was a bear,” he said. A bear? “Mom, it ripped me apart and ate my tail, and the bear was a monster!”

Something was different. My mind kept clicking back to the bear, and I realized my son had a horror story to tell. “Sylar?”

I tried to listen to him, but there was something in his tone of voice that told me he didn’t want to tell me. “The bear ate my tail off. It went down the throat and ripped through the skin. There’s nothing there anymore, Mom. It’s not my tail anymore. It’s no longer me. There’s nothing.”

I stared at him, wanting to believe him. But I knew better. I picked him up and held him. “But I just saw you that day. You’ve got your tail, baby. I saw it.”

He smiled at me and squeezed me. “Mom, don’t you believe me? It’s just a story that people tell so they can scare kids and get their money.” A kid shivering in the woods, not knowing what happened to him, unable to tell me anything about it? I wondered if his mother had made him write that story. That was the only reason a six-year-old boy would lie to his mom. He wasn’t telling the truth.

Conclusion

My ex-wife and I have a pretty decent relationship on the whole, but things get a little competitive when it comes to our son. It’s like she wants to throw me off my game, and make it hard for me to get him to be honest with me when it’s my time with him. We have a complicated schedule. I have him in my tree for the five weekdays, and then she gets him for the weekend, and then we do it again, except I hold onto him for that next weekend, and she ends up with the weekdays after that. I don’t know why we came up with that. Or ya know what, I think I do. This is just another way for her to control where he is, and what he does. As squirrels, we have to be really careful about how we raise our children, or we really will get eaten by bears. I guess she thought I would be scared he was telling the truth, and he truly was attacked by a bear. I have to get her back somehow, as petty as that sounds. Perhaps I’ll steal her winter nuts.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: Tuesday, July 4, 2119

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As they were on their way back to Tribulation Island, Mateo and Ellie came up with a lie. Conventionally, seers were heard, but not seen, so to speak. They gave people advice, and as long as they had proven themselves trustworthy, most time travelers believed them. Furthermore, other time travelers would usually believe someone who claimed to have been guided by a seer, towards some action. There was a lot of potential for abuse, and of course, there was no way to know how often this happened, but the two of them needed it right now. They were going to exploit this phenomenon, and claim that a seer told Ellie to take J.B.’s place in the circle of Cassidy cuffers.

First, they needed to come up with a riddle. Seers never gave perfect instructions. One would never say, take the Cassidy cuffs from J.B., and place them on your own wrists on July 3, 2118. Keep them on for precisely this amount of time. They had to be real vague about it, so their words could be misinterpreted once heard, but unmistakable when the moment came. That is, the premonition would fail if simply hearing it prompted immediate—and therefore premature—action. It had to come with a temporal marker that still prevented the listener from seeking it out, but once the signal appeared, there could be no denying its validity. Mateo felt pretty proud of himself for devising a reasonably plausible fake prophecy. Ellie was supposedly told by someone she trusted that she needed to free the ursine on the beach. Ursine meant bear, which was part of Jeremy Bearimy’s full name. It wasn’t likely that she would ever encounter a real bear, or some other kind of bear-like something or other on a beach at any other juncture. So it was something she couldn’t have understood when she first reportedly heard it, but also something that could not be ignored, now that she knew J.B. was on Tribulation Island, and in a way, chained up.

Leona’s level of suspicion fluctuated, but ultimately remained unchanged. The fact that Ellie had this prophecy to fulfill, and that Mateo was in on it, explained why he was acting shady earlier. But then her suspicions rose back to where they were, because now she wondered why he was involved, and what else he wasn’t telling her. This was ludicrous, he was supposed to be able to tell her anything. He was just so caught up in it now, though. Telling her the truth late, not telling her until she found out on her own; which was better? If only he legit knew an actual seer himself, who could tell him what to do, his life would be a lot easier. Why was it that everyone seemed to have their own personal fortune-teller, but he had seemingly never even met one before? Did they even exist? Anyway, J.B. was happy to give up his cuffs, because the FOMO was real, but he would need them back eventually, because the FOMO was just as real on this side. Ariadna never even suspected it had anything to do with her, and Ellie still didn’t tell Mateo why it did. She didn’t seem to be doing anything with her power yet.

The next day, Mateo decided to finally tell the group what Jupiter asked of them. They didn’t act upset about not having been told before, so that was a big relief. It sure didn’t hurt that he came to them with a solution in hand. The details weren’t all there, and they didn’t necessarily have everything they needed, but it was a great start. The strange thing was that Trinity, Thor, and Abigail were nowhere to be found. They never came back to Tribulation Island themselves, and when J.B. and Gilbert went out looking for them, they found no one on Lorania either. They weren’t instrumental to the Vearden plan, but they were still meant to stick around and help.

Sanaa decided to sum up their conversation thus far. “Okay, so we need a fully mature clone body of Vearden Haywood, so that Ellie can transfer the real Vearden’s consciousness into it. And we need it by the time of his predestined death in six days.”

“That’s right,” Ellie said. “I thought my friends were going to work on that while we were gone, but their own plans have apparently changed. I don’t know where they are.”

“We shouldn’t need them,” Ariadna put forth. “If Thālith al Naʽāmāt Bida can do something in 2400, then someone in The Parallel can do it right now. This place is still millennia ahead in terms of technology.”

“There’s an issue with that,” Leona reminded them. “They’re not allowed to help us when it comes to what we do with the main sequence. They’re not allowed to do anything.” She was right. There was no guarantee that the Parallel natives would agree to help, and they did need their help to pull it off. If it was a violation of their non-interference laws, there wasn’t likely anything they could do to convince them to make an exception. As soon as they asked whoever it was they asked, they would receive the only answer they would ever get.

“Sanaa,” Ariadna said, “you figured out how to make a transition window go both ways, and extend the time it’s open.”

“For ten minutes, yeah. Like you were saying, though, I only held the window open longer. These things aren’t capable of opening a window that isn’t already there, if that’s what you were thinking.”

“They have to be,” Mateo argued. “I mean, the reason we’re all on this new pattern is because J.B. and I and Leona are now sharing our respective patterns. Jupiter may only have one cuff on, but we still have to have access to his power. We’re expected to not try to use it, but Sanaa and Leona proved they can be hacked. There must be a way to steal it from him, and transition whenever we want to.”

“The question I have,” J.B. began, “is why do we want to do that? Why do we need to transition before Vearden’s day?”

“Yeah, I was on my way to explaining that” Ariadna continued. “I assume you need a sample of his blood ahead of time, in order to make the clone?”

“That’s right,” Ellie confirmed. “That’s a good idea. If you guys can figure out how to get me back to the other reality, we can sneak a sample, and come back. We can’t do anything without his DNA.”

“Okay.” Leona nodded her head, and paced a little bit. “Sanaa and I will work on the cuffs. Hopefully we’ll have a way soon. If not, maybe we can just ask Jupiter for help. If he really wants this done, nothing should stop him from getting involved.”

“You have over two days,” Mateo advised them. The way I remember it, our past selves are in the middle of the Xearea expiation. No one is even on the island in the main sequence right now, because they’re all scattered throughout the timeline, filling in for the Savior.”

“Okay, great,” Sanaa said. “I do know how to interface with the cuffs using a separate screen. I find it easier to work on something larger.”

“Agreed.”

While they went off to work their magic, Mateo took Ellie aside to get a few answers. “What powers does Ariadna have, and why do you need them?”

“Don’t you trust me, Matty?” Ellie asked, batting her eyes at him.

“I do, but I still wanna know. I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me before, but I’ve never known what she was capable of. They call her The Escapologist, but she doesn’t say where she escaped from.”

“That has nothing to do with it,” Ellie replied. I mean, it’s not completely unrelated, but it’s not super relevant either.”

“So, how ‘bout it?”

Ellie tipped her forehead down respectfully. “Very well. She’s a dimensional hacker.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“Some people can create and inhabit parallel spatial and temporal dimensions. They use these to hide away from the world, watch people in secret, give themselves a little extra time, imprison people, or do any number of other things. Only certain people can access certain dimensions, each for unique reasons. Ariadna, on the other hand, can access any and all of them, no matter what. You can’t keep her out.”

“So, you’re trying to break into one of these things?”

“I am, yes. It sounds malicious, but it’s not.”

“I wasn’t thinking that.”

“There are people trapped in one of these. It’s called The Fourth Quadrant. Now that I know about the Parallel, I’m starting to see why they called it that. A very long time ago, even from this point in time, a man created a copy of the Kansas City Metropolitan area.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of it,” Mateo recalled. “Ace and Serkan got mixed up in all that back in the day.”

“Yes,” Ellie said. “They managed to escape from that world, along with K-Boy. No one else did, though. Jupiter Rosa has a jacket that can get there, but it only can only transport two people at a time. I’m trying to get everybody out.”

“So, you’re going to go back to, what, 2024, and free them?”

Ellie shook her head. “I was just hoping to do it today or tomorrow. If my calculations are correct, it’s been less than seven years for the people in there. Time moves differently for them.”

“Is there a reason you’re keeping your intentions a secret from your friends, or Ariadna herself, for that matter?”

“I don’t want to put anyone else at risk. Tauno Nyland didn’t trap those people in there because of any particular disdain he has for them. He’s just a sadist who likes toying with people. He allowed a few people to escape, because he found it entertaining, but he’s not going to stand by and let me cancel his favorite transdimensional TV show.”

“If Ariadna can access this Fourth Quadrant world, can she not get us back to the main sequence without Jupiter’s help?”

“As I understand it, the Escapologist doesn’t use her powers, for reasons she won’t fully explain, but I think it has something to do with whatever inspired her nickname. If she can get to the main sequence, she either doesn’t know it, or doesn’t want to do it. The only way to get this done is if I just borrow her powers, and put myself—and myself alone—at risk. I didn’t think I would ever get the opportunity to do this, but then I ended up here, and realized that opportunity has been waiting for me. It won’t last forever, though.”

“Let me help you,” Mateo requested. “I get you to the Fourth Quadrant, you get me to Vearden.”

“I don’t need your help getting there, I already have the power. I just need time to practice. That’s what I was doing all last night while everyone else was asleep.”

“You do need my help,” Mateo contended. “I imagine you have to travel back to Earth, because that’s where the barrier between the worlds is. The intergalactic transporter technician said they’ll take me anywhere I want to go. I can’t promise that offer extends to you, since you weren’t with us at the time.” That wasn’t entirely truthful. People here were very relaxed and accommodating. They would probably help Ellie without knowing anything about her, because they would see no reason not to.

“Mateo, I just told you that I’m doing this to keep everyone else safe. If Tauno goes after me, he won’t go after anyone else. He’s a terrible person, but he doesn’t retaliate against people who’ve not gone against him.”

“Did the entirety of the KC Metro piss him off?”

“Those are just quantum duplicates,” Ellie clarified. “He doesn’t see that as hurting them. To him, the copies aren’t real people.”

“Well, I can’t imagine he’ll deign to interfere with whatever Jupiter Fury has planned for me and mine. If anything, my being there will protect you.”

“I dunno...”

“No one should do anything alone. You might run into an obstacle that requires you to be in two places at once. What will you do then?”

She sighed.

“Miss Underhill...”

“Okay, fine. You can come. But just you. I don’t want anyone else involved, despite what you may think about what Tauno would or wouldn’t do in regards to Jupiter’s plans.”

“I’m telling Leona the truth, however. I won’t tell Ariadna, or anyone else, but I can’t keep lying to my wife.”

“Okay. I’m gonna go keep practicing.”

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Microstory 926: Goats and Elephants

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I added this entry, because I didn’t speak much on animals themselves in my second post. I’ve had a lot of different favorite animals, for different reasons. Each time I add one, the others don’t go anywhere; they just all stay my favorite. I like penguins and polar bears, even though I don’t much like the cold. I like okapi, because they look like they should be related to zebras, but they’re not. I remember discovering them when a character mentioned them during the series finale of Six Feet Under. I had not once watched that show up to that point, but my aunt and I had nothing better to do. I ended up noticing a small okapi figurine in a museum gift shop soon thereafter. I still have it, and keep it on my desk. I like dogs and cats, because I’m a human being with a heart. I used to hate cows, because I thought they were stupid, which is less true than you probably believe, and even if not, that’s no reason to dislike them. I got to know a calf once, and she was great; never talked back to me. I like horses and donkeys, because they’re majestic and beautiful, and horseback riding is in my blood. And I like goats and elephants. I’ve met a few goats in my day, and though they weren’t the nicest of creatures, they were cool, and they always look at you like they secretly understand your language. Elephants are just great, because...well, look at them. Ya know, they bury, and mourn for, their dead, and when a mother dies, the rest of the herd will try to raise her young. They’re one of the few animals naturally born with souls. Not even dogs can boast that. I’m afraid I’m not feeling well, and need to go back to the Church of the Porcelain God, so this is where I leave you.