The Advancement of Mateo Matic: April 4, 2028

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The first thing Mateo felt was the air below him. The ground rushed up towards him and he crash landed onto a dirty mattress. It wasn’t perfectly aligned, so he rolled off onto the cold, hard concrete.

Leona was panting heavily and sweating as she helped him back up. “I’m sorry. I had a hard time getting back in here. Reaver Enterprises bought up this whole warehouse district. We had to break down the little makeshift hospital and get out quick. They have a surprisingly heavy amount of security, even though this particular unit is empty. It took me forever to get in here with a mattress.”

“Thanks for bringing it.”

“Well, I literally wouldn’t be alive without you, so...”

“I love you too. I have one question.”

“Did we share a dream during the surgeries?”

“I guess that answers it.”

“Yep.”

“So...we’re, like, connected?”

“I would call it Quantum Entanglement.”

“I do not know what that means, but it sounds good.”

“Here, I brought these too.”

While he was putting on the change of clothes that she had for him, they heard a ruckus outside. Someone was about to come into the warehouse. Leona grabbed Mateo’s hand and bolted. “There’s an exit in the front.” They ran to the other side, through the office, but they were blocked off. They saw flashlights and heard the garbled sounds of a radio. They were either security guards or police.

“Come on,” Mateo whispered loudly. “Upstairs.”

“To what end?”

“Just follow me.”

He led her up the stairs to a carpeted area. It was dusty and extremely hot. Fortunately, it was also dark, and there were a few large empty boxes left behind by the previous tenants. He directed her to the corner. “They can’t keep a guy like me in jail forever, but this would go on your record.”

“What? What are you doing?”

Back down on the main floor, they could hear the security guards talking to each other, “someone’s been squatting here.”

“How did I miss that? I come in here to call my husband every night.”

“Guy must have just moved in. He must be upstairs.”

“Mateo, don’t do this,” Leona begged.

“If you make a sound, you’ll ruin my plan. Just let me do this for you.” She tried to stop him but it was too late. “I’m here! I’m here!” he called out as he began to walk back down the steps, arms over his head.” The security guards held their futuristic taser-thingamajigs towards him. “No need for violence. I was just looking for a safe place to sleep.”

“We’ve already called the cops,” one of them said. “Here are your new bracelets.”

The other one handed Mateo something that resembled handcuffs. There was no chain between the two pieces. Instead, it had a completely straight bar. On it were blinking lights and a small speaker. “Whoa, what is this thing?” Mateo asked with fascination while he attached them to his wrists.

“Standard issue law enforcement pacification cuffs,” Guard Number One said. “But our company is allowed to use them since we designed them.”

“Why does it need an electrical system?”

Guard Number Two smiled. “Because of this.” He tapped a button on his phone.

A small jolt caused Mateo to jump on instinct. “Oh my God, that’s awesome!”

“With these, we can keep you in the designated area; like a mobile invisible fence,” Number Two explained.

When Number One tapped on his own phone, it just made the cuffs vibrate. “We can send you audible warnings, and even tag things we don’t want you to be around like weapons or computers. If you get too close to the contraband, it’ll shock you.”

“The cops have sedatives in there that can be injected at their leisure.”

“They said we have no reason for such a thing, though.”

“Nonsense!” Mateo said as they escorted him out of the building. “You’re the first line of defense. If anyone needs that sort of thing, it’s you.”

“Right?” Number Two asked rhetorically.

A police cruiser pulled up beside them. Number One opened the back door, and let Mateo in. He was completely alone in there. “Where the hell is the driver?” he asked.

Number One shrugged. “Don’t always need them anymore.”

“That’s badass,” Mateo said, but they couldn’t hear him. They had already closed the door and let the car return to the police station on its own. He imagined that the security guards were trying to figure out whether he had been living under a rock. He just hoped they moved their conversation to a second location so that Leona would have a chance to escape.

When the car pulled up to the police station, he was greeted there by an Officer Salinger who calibrated her tablet to the pacification cuffs. “Are we gonna have any problems?” she legitimately asked.

“No,” Mateo answered genuinely.

“Look, personally, I’ve known people with no place to live. Unemployment is getting worse. Even we’re feeling it, as you saw by the fact that no one actually arrested you on scene.”

“Is that legal?”

“—ish,” she replied. “I just want you to know that, even with all this automation bullshit, I think we have better things to do than drag in someone who just needs to get out of the elements, but the owners of the building you stumbled onto have deep pockets, so I have no choice but to put you through processing.”

“I understand. And I appreciate how I’ve been treated. I’ve been...away for a while, and wouldn’t have expected such manners.”

She laughed awkwardly. “I should definitely not be saying this. But as the job becomes more about directing drones and cross-referencing security cameras, and less about tackling black people for no reason at all, we’ve weeded out a lot of the more aggressive applicants.”

“I should say so.”

After a pause, she began to escort him up to the processing area. She set him down in one of a row of interview tables. He was the only one being processed at the time. “What is your name?”

“Mateo Matic.”

She showed him her palms like she was setting up for a high-ten. “Hands up like this.” He mimicked her. She lifted her tablet and took a picture of his fingerprints. She eyed the screen curiously. “How do you spell your name?”

“M-A-T-E-O M-A-T-I-C.”

She tapped the keys as he spoke. “You are not in the system. I don’t suppose you have any identification?”

“I do not.”

She tapped some more keys, trying to figure out who he was.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to understand, but she had this way about her that compelled him to be honest with her. “Check—”

“What?”

“Check death records.”

She looked at him apprehensively, but seemed to give it a shot anyway. She read from the screen once the results came back. “Mateo Matic, born March 21st, 1986. Declared dead in absentia five years ago following a year of officially being missing, and several years of an unusual lack of activity.”

“That sounds about right.”

“You fell right off the grid. You didn’t so much as check your email. Why did you fake your death?”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

She looked back at the screen. “Your adoptive parents died in the meantime. Your birth father is unlisted, and your birth mother actually went missing back in 1994. Forgive me, but this is all very strange.”

“Well, when you put it like that...”

“Are you a secret agent?”

“No.”

“Are you part of some strange religious cult? Do you live on a boat? This is a safe place. If a crazy science fiction writer is keeping you hostage, you can tell me.”

“No, it’s nothing like that, it’s...” She made him feel like he wanted to be honest with her, but that didn’t mean he was going to reveal to her the whole truth. “I’m fine. Nothing nefarious.”

She switched off her tablet and put it away. “I’m calling in the big guns. You’ll spend the day in holding while you work out your story. I wanna help you, Mateo. I really do. You have kind eyes. But you’re keeping something from me, and I don’t like that.”

“I get it,” he said. There was nothing more he could say.

She quietly removed his pacification cuffs and replaced them with an anklet that was clearly based on the same technology.

He was sitting up on his bunk minutes before midnight when Leona’s voice came to him out of the aether. “Mateo,” she whispered. “Mateo. Can you hear me?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in your leg.”

“You hacked my anklet?”

“I hacked the whole system.” The gate to his cell slid open. “All you have to do is get through the treeline and hold out until your jump. Then they’ll lose you forever.”

He checked the hallway to make sure that no one was watching. The gate to the holding area opened on its own. “Just keep opening these doors and I’ll see you next year.”

“I’m waiting for you out here.”

“Fool!”

“Quiet!” She whispered. “You’re not wearing a cone of silence.”

He moved as stealthily as he could through the station. As he stepped out of the back door, the anklet sent a surge of pain throughout his body. He could see Leona standing on the other side of the parking lot. “Dammit! I can’t turn that off!”

“I can make it,” he struggled to say. He half-walked, half-crawled across the asphalt, hoping to be out of sight of security cameras before his jump. It was looking more and more impossible.

Officer Salinger burst through the door and pointed her weapon at him. “Stop!”

He looked over to Leona. “Go! It’s almost time! I’ll be all right!”

Time blinked, but not everything changed. Different cars were in different places. The air was a bit warmer. But Leona was in the exact same place, wearing the exact same clothes, and with the exact same expression on her face. She hadn’t so much as moved a centimeter. She looked at her watch and jogged towards him. “It’s past midnight. Why are you still here?”

“I’m not. Look, everything’s different.”

She looked at her surroundings. “Holy shit, Mateo. You’re right, it’s 2029. I just jumped through time with you.”

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Seeing is Becoming: Antibiotics (Part V)

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Saga trekked through the mud and thicket of the Diamond Forest with determination. Despite being natives to this land, her small search party found themselves easily falling behind her. They informed her that their home continent had more mountains and lakes, and fewer forests and deserts. She, on the other hand, was used to extreme terrain. Her job required adaptation, and she absolutely loved it. Sometimes she was miles and miles away from the nearest human. She found comfort in being alone, not because she didn’t like people, but because it left her to her own devices. The knowledge that the smallest of problems could lead to death made life that much more exciting. It was then that she realized that, aside from Vearden, she was probably lightyears from the nearest human. That was enough to make her shiver. Isolation is one thing.

Saga kept pushing forward, and eventually found herself in a clearing. The land was much flatter and barren ahead of her. When she looked back, the forest was gone. She had been transported again, but to where? Up ahead was a small white building. It could have been a home, or a one-room schoolhouse. She hadn’t really seen how the common Orothsew live, so she very well could have still been on the same planet. The rest of her group hadn’t come with her, though, so she shrugged her shoulders and moved on. There was obviously nothing more she could do to find Vearden.

Seeing no other option, she knocked on the door. A man answered it. He looked exhausted and scared, and barely noticed that she was dressed in unusual garb. She was so shocked that she barely noticed he was wearing unusual garb as well. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“Um...I was just wondering if you...had a telephone that I could borrow?”

That woke him up. “A telephone?” he said with a bit of a laugh. “You have about a decade before the telephone is invented, if I recall correctly. It’s 1868.”

“Oh, really?”

“What year are you from?”

“21st century,” Saga said. “You?”

“20th.” He looked a bit relieved. “Don’t tell me what happens.”

“Are we on Earth?”

“The hell else would we be?”

“Never mind.”

“You wouldn’t happen to be a doctor, would you?”

“Nah, I’m sorry,” Saga replied. I’m just a photographer.”

He was phenomenally disappointed. It did seem that she was sent there to help. They didn’t know who was sending them through time and space, or exactly why they were doing it. But the...powers that be, let’s call them, appear to have some kind of reason. It couldn’t just be random. The fact that she was sent back to Earth, but over 150 years earlier, had to mean something. Either she was there to help him, or he was there to help her. She was sure of it.

“But I did happen to have a medical kit when I slipped back.”

“Do you have antibiotics?”

“Indeed, for animals.”

“I thought you took pictures.”

“Yes, but you can’t usually buy human antibiotics unless you’re already sick. Survivalists buy from pet stores to be prepared.”

“You’re beautiful,” the man said. “Come on in, please. My name is Sam, by the way.”

“Saga,” she volleyed. She stepped inside and began to dig through her pack.

“Interesting name. Common in the future?” He led her into another room where a woman was sitting up in bed. She was coughing and sweating profusely. Another man was keeping her cool with a wet towel. “Who is this?”

“Our savior,” Sam answered. “She has antibiotics. Right now, we’re the only people in the world who can effectively treat pneumonia.”

“She does?” the other woman asked.

“Are those the things that kill germs and cure diseases?”

“They are,” Saga confirmed. “In so many words.”

“Looks like we’ve encountered another salmon,” the second man said. “I’m Edward. This is our friend, Lorena. Those two are from the future. I’m from the past.”

“Saga,” she repeated. “Future.”

“Are those them?” Sam asked.

“Uh, yeah.” She handed him the bottle. “Here, sorry. I just didn’t expect to meet anyone else like me. Have you been doing this long?”

“Well, with time travel, it’s a little hard to tell,” Sam said while he took a couple pills from the bottle and gave them to Lorena. “But it’s been at least a year. She and I come from the same time, and we keep meeting him at different times. Something is pulling us together, just like it pulled you here.”

“That’s fascinating. I just started. There’s no way to tell what year, though; not where I was.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m not sure you’re ready for that.” She pointed to Edward. “I know that he isn’t.”

Edward laughed. “I think I would surprise you.”

“How many of these can you spare?”

“Every last one of them,” Saga said. That there bottle is yourn.”

Lorena nearly spit out her water. “That’s the spirit. You’re already acting like it’s 1868. You’ll fit right in. But where did you get those clothes?”

“That’s what you’re not ready for,” Saga said teasingly.

“Just tell me one thing,” Lorena started, sitting up to get more comfortable. “Do they still remember Kurt Cobain where you’re from?”

Saga shook her head affirmatively. “Of course we do.”

“Was it Courtney? I’ve always thought she did it.”

“Still just rumors, far as I know.”

Lorena grew sadder. “Could I ask you a favor?”

“I’ll do whatever I can. I can’t be sure how long I’m staying here, though.”

“We consistently head backwards in time. Edward has agreed to look him up if he reaches that point, but I was hoping you would too. It’s my son. I left him in 1994.” She began to choke up. “I don’t think I’ll ever see him again. But if you only just started, there’s a chance your pattern lets you go back and forth.”

Saga breathed in deeply. She had been hesitant to explain herself, but it was probably inevitable. She didn’t want to lie. “It’s true that I don’t know my pattern, and that my foray into 1868 was...unexpected, even after my first jump. So there’s a chance I’ll run into him. But I feel it’s only right that you know that I’m not, strictly speaking, a time traveler. I was sent to another planet. That’s why we didn’t know what year it was while we were there. I promise to look for your son if I can. I fear, however, that such a thing rests in the hands of whatever entity is controlling us.”

“I know,” Lorena agreed. “We do not appear to have control. I would still like to think that they listen to us. Maybe the three of us are stuck with our patterns, but maybe you’re not. Maybe you don’t have a pattern at all, and they really will take your feelings into consideration. I’m very religious. And I actually don’t believe in the powers that be. I believe only in God. And I trust in him.”

“I sure hope you’re right, Lorena. After these last couple of days, I’m not certain I’m not already home. But for you, I’ll pray to go back, if only to check on your son. What’s his name. Where might I find him?”

Lorena gave her the information. Sam had a few requests as well, but nothing quite so profound. To their surprise, Saga remained with them in the mid 19th century for the next three years. At that point, a portal opened up in the middle of nowhere, and she felt drawn back through it, knowing in her heart that Orothsew was where she belonged at the time. She stepped through and looked back at the friends she had grown to love deeply. Sam and Lorena disappeared to continue their travels in time, leaving Edward behind alone. He smiled and waved as well. The portal closed.

“Where did you just come from?” Vearden asked. He then took her in a bear hug.

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Microstory 85: The Eighth Seal

And then I looked up in horror as the eighth seal was torn open. Limbs fell from the trees, sparks flew out of the junction boxes, sewage bubbled up across the roads, and gas exploded on every corner. 2 Rain dripped between the shingles, the internet became spotty, and orange cones littered the sidewalks, but never near the many holes in the ground. 3 My car broke down in the middle of nowhere. The cell towers tumbled, and there was no reception. 4 The air conditioners and heaters failed across the world, and no one knew how to turn on fans or put on coats. 5 The traffic lights were lit up with all three colors, or none at all. 6 And ye, it was a frightening sight as dozens of service trucks began to terrorize the city. They parked at least two feet from the curb. The operators smoked cigarettes and made lewd comments to the passersby, but they never did any work. 7 A man who was their leader danced wickedly on the largest of the service trucks, and the service truck was yellow, for that is the grossest color for a vehicle. He answered the phone and claimed to the people that their call was important to them, and that a representative would help at the earliest possible moment. 8 And once all of the seals were brought together, the world ended.

Microstory 84: Telekinesis

When a citizen of The Core reaches 16 standard years (a little over 18 in our terms) they are eligible to receive some kind of telekinesis. They are born without it so that they may grow up learning problem-solving skills, and how to do things for themselves, rather than relying on the easy way out. There are two major types: enfixed and germ. Germ TK utilizes a completely natural genetic component already within each and every one of us. It cannot be enhanced, undone, or otherwise modified. If you choose the germ route, your telekinetic abilities are limitless, but they require practice. You are only as powerful as your own understanding of that power. Enfixed TK is far more common. Unless your profession requires superstrength (such as construction work) you'll only be marginally stronger than you are without TK. For instance, you won't be able to lift a car, but you can open the door without having to touch it. There are variants of enfixed TK that depend of what you need it for. Surgeons, chefs, and law enforcement authorities have an untraceability variant, to prevent cross-contamination, since regular enfixed TK leaves behind a harmless but detectable residue. But this is not needed for pilots. Instead, as you might expect, they are particularly exceptional at flying.

Enfixed TK can be taken away and replaced, and everyone with the same variant will be on equal footing. In order to surpass the norm, you're going to need the germ. The danger with that is that if you're just not any good, telekinesis may simply not be very useful to you. Unfortunately, however, you will be biologically incapable of switching to enfixed. Some of the variants may be quite obvious. There is a way to lock a door telekinetically, so that only certain people can open it, even without actually using TK (so that children may enter their own homes but remain safe from strangers). Authorities are of course capable of bypassing these restrictions, for health and safety reasons. Some variants may not be so obvious, though. Chefs only allow themselves something called “literal telekinesis” that responds only to the movements of their hands and fingers. This maintains the artistic nature of cooking, while allowing a higher level of sanitation. Only one Earthan human has ever received any form of telekinesis. He's turned out to be one of the most powerful people in the universe; even rivaling the witches. It is academically assumed that Earthans adapt more dramatically to the change, and that is one reason you've not heard any of this before.

Microstory 83: See The Future

“I was born with the ability to see the future. Since it was second nature, it took me a long time to realize that such a thing was not normal. Whenever someone was surprised by an occurrence—a vehicular collision, a friend tripping on the sidewalk, or a pop quiz—I would ask them why they didn’t just look into the future and prevent that from happening. They just laughed at me, or acted like I was crazy. I legitimately didn’t understand it. I see time like a road. There are events behind me, and there are events ahead of me. All I have to do is open my eyes and prepare myself for things to come. What I’ve since discovered is that this ability is shared amongst all others; but for me, to a higher degree. Every time you pass by someone else and don’t run into them, you’re measuring the future. You’re calculating your own route, and you’re predicting the route the other person is going to take, based on where they’ve been, their speed, their likely intention, etcetera. I do the same thing...just better, and more accurately. And that’s why you’re here today, right? You’ve come to this hotel ballroom to learn what I know. I can’t guarantee that measuring the future will ever be as easy for you as it is for me. But I can guarantee that you’ll get better at it, and I’ll give you the tools to train yourself further even once this seminar ends...or your money back. You in the second row, might as well come get it back now, because you’ll never be happy with my teachings.”

Microstory 82: Chemtrails

Have you heard about these things called chemtrails? They’re the streaks in the sky you see after an aircraft passes by. The common scientific explanation for them is that they’re simply contrails; condensation left behind when water vapor in the engine interacts with the air around it. But this is a lie. There are chemicals in the trails that are designed to manipulate a fraction of the population’s brains. The government will routinely deny that conspiracy theories are true, but there is no way to dismiss them entirely, so they need a way to allow them to exist, but minimize their effectiveness. That’s where chemtrails come in. They target people born with a certain gene that predisposes them to paranoia and misinformed judgment. The chemicals released from the jets harness the fear in the conspiracy theorist’s weak mind, and encourages their unhealthy thoughts. But they also bend their rationale, and impair their communications skills, so that they appear to be crazy nutso cuckoo to everyone else. If these chemtrails did not exist, then the conspiracy theorists would actually be able to run legitimate investigations, and the public would be more likely to believe them. Then where would we be?

Microstory 81: Eternal Fall

If you are going to travel faster than light, then you’re going to need a few things. First, you’ll need a vessel capable of withstanding and protecting you from the plex radiation. Next, you’re going to need a machine called an astral collimator. This will tilt your ship over into the desired simplex dimension. Gravity is much, much stronger in the simplex dimensions than it is in mithgarther (where you live). As soon as you enter one, you’re going to start falling, and the only way to navigate to the location you want is to use gravity transfunctioners to direct your fall. You can fall towards any degree of a sphere, because there is no up or down. If you don’t want nature deciding which direction you’ll go, you have to control it. One amazing thing about simplex dimensions, is that they’re full of energy. If you have a tuplodeler, then it will gather this ambient energy, and essentially keep your vessel in working order indefinitely. This is important, because crossing dimensions will potentially use nearly 100% of any energy stored. This is why travel to a complex dimension—which will have no ambient energy—is a one-way trip unless you have a power source on the other side.

One day, a ship named Tresteria was making a journey between galaxies when they suffered a cataclysmic failure. Their collimator was overheating, and needed to be jettisoned, so they were unable to tilt back into mithgarther. Their gravity transfunctioners were damaged, so they were unable to navigate. Their communications were down, not that it mattered; no one was around to receive a message anyway. To save lives, they decided to enter stasis pods, and wait for help. But there weren’t enough pods for everyone. After plex travel was discovered, suspended animation was largely considered unnecessary. Those left out sacrificed themselves so that others could live, but they perhaps were the lucky ones. The Tresteria has been uncontrollably falling through astral red for the last few billion years.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: April 3, 2027

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Mateo opened his eyes. He was on the side of a hill. The sky was swirling with beautiful shades of purple and orange. Lightning danced across the clouds. A light mist overcame him. The wind was simultaneously moderate and powerful enough to make him feel like he was flying. A gentle stream began to roll from his left side; the dirt separating to give it room. It continued to flow listlessly in circles around him. In the unpredictable stream, he could feel the distant comfort of his family. He sat alone on the hill for fourteen years before the water concentrated in a singular mass and began to form the figure of a person. Details of the mass appeared little by little, until he could recognize it as that of his Leona.

“You’re here,” he said to her.

“It’s about time,” she replied.

“I’ve only known you for a couple of weeks. But I kind of think that I’m in love with you,” he divulged.

“It has been much longer for me,” she said sadly. “There is no question that I’m in love with you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m now closer to your age. Had we met at that hospital, for some other reason, you would have ignored me as a child.”

“Is that why I’m jumping through time? Was I just waiting for you?”

“Have you considered that?”

“So...you think I’m done? Do you think they’re going to let me stay, now that we’ve found each other?”

“Might could be.”

“That sounds like wishful thinking.”

“It’s pronounced optimism.”

He laughed.

“Thank you so much for the kidney.”

“I think I would have given my heart. Had you needed it.”

“Theoretical hero.”

He laughed again. “You have my heart anyway, though, I suppose.”

“Don’t be so sappy. I really mean it. You’re giving me the gift of life. Truly. That is a debt I could never repay. I will be forever grateful for you.”

“Wait. Are you here?”

“Of course I am.” She gave him a strange look. “Hell you talkin’ ‘bout?”

“I mean, are you real? Is this not just a dream?”

“Oh. Yeah, it’s my dream.”

“No, it isn’t. It’s mine.”

“I think we’re sharing a dream, Mateo. We must still be in surgery.”

“That explains why I’ve been in the same place for a dozen years, and why you used to be a stream of water.”

“I used to be a what huh?”

He hugged her tightly from the side. “I feel like it’s time for me to wake up now. I’ll see you soon.”

“Have fun. Thanks again. I shall begin to repay you in the real world.”

When Mateo woke up, Dr. Sarka was standing over him. “How are we feeling today?”

He struggled to get his eyes open. He just wanted to stuff himself into the covers and disappear. He whimpered a bit, and felt the urge to whine like a baby. “How is Leona?”

“She’s perfect. There were zero problems. Her new kidney is already doing its job. You did an amazing thing, Mateo.”

“Why are you covered in blood?”

Sarka looked down at his own chest. “Oh, sorry about that. I was a field medic in World War I for a few weeks while you were sleeping. I just got back here.”

“I thought you were only a doctor for salmon.”

“The entire battalion was from the future. The Central Powers won in the original timeline.”

That was an interesting bit of information, but Mateo was far too tired to delve deeper into it, so he just fell back asleep. It seemed like sleeping was one of only two things that he was doing with his life.

When he woke up again, he had been moved to a much larger bed. Leona was lying next to him. “She insisted on it,” Daria whispered to him. “She said that your kidney wasn’t quite ready to be that far away from its counterpart.”

He kissed Leona on the forehead. “I agree.” He looked over to his aunt. “When did you get in?”

“I’ve been here for a couple hours,” she answered. “It would seem as if the powers that be have set up visiting hours for you. Your father is here as well.”

Mateo looked around the blurry room. “Where?”

“He stepped outside when you started waking up. He isn’t sure that you want to see him.”

Mateo took a deep breath. “Seeing as that I can’t get up, could you please inform your brother for me that he needs to get his ass in here. He’s missed twenty-eight years. A few minutes isn’t asking much.”

“You know it wasn’t his fault, right?”

“Yes, I do. That doesn’t mean he should waste what few opportunities he has.”

“True,” Daria said. “I’ll go get him.”

Mateo woke up again hours later. Leona was gone from his side. “What happened?”

“You fell asleep again, honey.”

“Is that normal,” Mateo struggled to say. “I have dry mouth. Am I about to teleport?”

Daria took a noticeable step back from the bed. “I sure hope not. But I do believe dry mouth to be a side effect of morphine. You were in quite a bit of pain. You were screaming and crying. I’m glad that you do not remember that.”

“My father was here.”

“I still am,” Mario said from the other side of the bed.

The morphine was starting to become more obvious for him. He was talking in a way that was unlike him. But he couldn’t help it. “Mario. Mario!”

“Yes?”

“Mario! Answer me.”

“I’m here,” Mario said patiently.

“Mario. What’s your middle name?”

“I actually do not have one,” his father answered. “It’s not a part of our family’s tradition.”

“It’s not a part of mine either. My father never gave me a middle name.”

Mario couldn’t help but laugh. “No, he didn’t. You’re right.”

Mateo rubbed the sheet between his hands, and then pounded on the mattress with his fists.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to start a fire! I’m hot! This place is dangerous!”

Daria and Mario looked at each other, not knowing what to do. “This doesn’t sound like morphine,” she said.

“Isn’t it supposed to make you feel happy and calm?”

Mateo narrowed his eyes and looked between them with caution. They were conspiring against him. “What are you two talking about? You sons of bitches are gonna pay. I hear you whispering over there. You think I can’t, but I can. Where’s my mother!?” he screamed. Where’s my mother? Where’s my mother? Where’s my mother?” Mateo started freaking out; thrashing around in the bed, tearing up the pillow case, and screaming obscenities to Mario and Daria. They tried to hold him down. “It’s your fault!” he yelled up to him. “You were supposed to protect her. You were supposed to be there for her. You were supposed to be there for me! Where were you? Where did you go? What was so important that you have to travel through time instead of taking care of your freaking family!”

“Mateo,” Daria comforted. “Please calm down. Everything is going to be okay. We can explain things to you. But you have to be still.”

“He’s supposed to be with her,” he spat.

“I know,” Daria agreed. “And he would have if he could have.”

“He says he loves her, but how can he? How can a man love a woman when he’s only there one day out of the year? Leona has to spend all that time alone, and what does he do? He just runs out on her. What kind of man leaves the woman he loves? She was just fifteen years old. She was just a kid! How could he do that to her? How could he get her mixed up in this? Leona doesn’t deserve this.”

“He’s pretty messed up,” Mario said. “I don’t know if it’s an allergic reaction, or what, but Sarka better get back here fast, or we’re screwed.”

A young man burst into the room. “I’m here!”

“Who are you?” Daria asked.

“I’m a healer. I was told that this is my latest appointment.”

“Sarka is the doctor,” Mario said.

“I didn’t say I was a doctor. I said I was a healer.”

Daria was struggling to keep Mateo from kicking her in the face. “What does that mean?”

“He just needs a transfusion.” The man opened a drawer and began to draw blood from himself.

“I know you!” Mateo yelled in paranoia. “You were there; at my party. I saw you. I met you. You shook my hand. Did you do this to me? It was you, wasn’t it? You piece of crap! What is it? What did you do to me? Take it back! I don’t want it anymore! I just want to stay in one place!”

“He didn’t do this to you.” Mario turned his attention to the stranger. “What exactly are you doing?”

“I’ve been spending the last year, going around the country and healing people with my blood.”

“I’ve never heard of someone who could do that,” Mario said skeptically.

Even through the protests of Mateo’s father and aunt, the man injected Mateo with his own blood. He immediately felt better. His paranoia dissipated, and tranquility spread across his body before settling down the drain and leaving him in a state of normalcy. The debacle was over.

“It’s something I picked up from another planet,” the man explained. And with that, the wall behind him changed. It turned into some kind of portal to another location. It was in the middle of a forest. The wind even blew a few leaves into the recovery room. The man looked back at it and breathed a sigh of relief. “And they are finally letting me go back. It sucks there, but I left my best friend, and I need to find her again.” He started to walk towards the portal.

“Wait,” Mateo said. “What’s your name? Just so I know who to put on the thank-you note.”

The man smiled and stepped outside. “It’s Vearden.”

After the portal closed, Mateo fell asleep once more, and didn’t wake up until next year.

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