The Edge: Éminence Grises (Part III)

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Leona reluctantly returned to Lylla Hall. The audience looked back at her as she was trying to slink down the aisle. She recognized a lot of these looky-loos, but not everyone. The group sitting with Divina and General Medley were probably all from Teagarden. Coronel Zararias from the Third Rail was in his own section with part of the Mozambican Naval Fleet, which was an interesting development. As she scanned the rest, she started to get the sense that everyone was in their special section, according to reality, and then more precisely to world. They were in assigned seats. Her place was up on stage, where the rest of the Shortlist was waiting. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re right on time,” Hokusai Gimura explained. “The rest of us were early.”

Leona walked up the stairs and sat down between Kestral and Weaver, though there was still an empty seat between her and Weaver that was meant for Ramses.

“Welcome,” Ishida whispered over Kestral’s lap.

“Thanks,” she whispered back. She turned to eye Weaver and her alternate self, Holly Blue, who was last seen on her way to another universe to reunite with her son.

Holly Blue smiled, and pointed at the front row. Declan was there with a handful of other kids. “I found him.”

“I’m happy for you,” Leona replied.

“All right,” Hokusai projected, standing up.

“Oh, hold up.” Ellie Underhill trotted in from sidestage, and cupped her hands over Hokusai’s mouth. “Okay, there you go.” It begged the question, if everyone else could be here, why was Leona’s team not allowed to come? It was starting to feel like they were deliberately excluded, but for what reason?

“Thanks, El,” Hokusai said in a normal voice, but the sound replicated around the auditorium for all to hear perfectly. “Hello, all. My name is Hokusai Gimura. I was born in 1985, in the main sequence. I’m a scientist. I’ve made a number of breakthroughs in temporal technology, and I did so without the benefit of time powers of my own. I had to figure it out, and that was dangerous. My friends and I formed this group, not to hoard such technology, but to protect it, and to protect the general population from it, and its risks. We are standing in the year 2400, during what my people refer to as...The Edge. Its properties are hazy, this despite the fact that we’re time travelers, and our ability to know anything is a matter of finding the right moment.

“I can’t tell you how many temporal manipulators there are in the timeline, or even how many of us are not members of the subspecies, but are heavily involved in their affairs. Yes, that’s right; they’re a subspecies, but it’s really complicated. It has more to do with their neurology than their genetics. Most of you know most of this already, but none of you knows everything. None of us knows everything. That’s what this meeting is about. We’re here to get on the same page, with each other, and with you, and to decide the fate of the universe, or at least this particular reality. The meeting will not begin today. It will, in fact, be in two days. We are here in this room to meet, and to greet. Everyone up here...and a couple of others...will introduce themselves. In addition, you have been placed in groups of your own, and we’ll ask you to introduce yourselves as well. No pressure. We’ve never done it like this before; it’s going to be very informal. We all just need to, like I said, get on the same page. I’ll stop here in case anyone has any questions at this time, but only about the schedule?”

A man in the back cleared his throat. Whoever was in charge of lighting shone a spotlight on him. It was Senator Morton. “I was to understand there were eleven of you.”

“Yes, there were. One of us has been...detoured. We all have very busy lives.”

“But you’re time travelers, so that shouldn’t matter,” Morton reasoned.

“Right.”

Leona hung her head. This was her fault. It feels wrong, doing this without Ramses. He made the choice that she wanted to make herself, and she could never thank him enough for it. Even so, there is little reason for him to not be here. Unless his mission went bad. Oh no...the mission went bad.

Hokusai went on, “we will not be discussing any individual lifepaths here. We’re not here to talk about any salmon or choosing one’s specific rules, constraints, patterns, behaviors, choices, or missions. Ramses Abdulrashid cannot be here, and he will never be able to be here. That’s okay, because we never needed a plenum to move forward. We just would have preferred it. But fear not, because there actually are eleven of us. Our final member is simply late...it happens, even in our line of business.” She leaned her head down and whispered something to Pribadium. Not even Leona could hear it, but Pribadium stood and left. Hokusai sighed. “Anything else?”

Someone they didn’t recognize stood up. “Yeah, hi. Captain Waldemar Kristiansen, Eighth of Eight here. I need to get back to my ship. I was told that the amount of time I’m wasting here will be the same amount of time I’ll be missing there. That is unacceptable.”

“I assure you, Captain, the Extremus will be fine without you for a few days.”

“Yeah, but see, you’re not starting the meeting for two days. I don’t understand—”

“Thank you, Captain Kristiansen,” Hokusai said quite dismissively.

He continued to try to speak out, but no one seemed to be able to hear him. That must be Ellie’s doing.

Hokusai went on. “Ah, here we go.” She was looking sidestage.

Pribadium had just come back, and was trying to urge someone else to come forward who was still shrouded in shadow. “Come on. Come on,” she insisted.

Finally, Aldona Calligaris stepped forth, and approached the table. “What am I doing here?” she questioned through gritted teeth.

“You have been invited,” Hokusai said to her, not using Ellie’s projection ability.

“I respectfully decline,” Aldona said.

“Not possible. You’ve proven yourself worthy, so you’re here.”

“All of my work was done in the future in the Sixth Key. It is not relevant—”

“It’s relevant to us. Sit down, please. Ramses’ seat is right there.”

Aldona sighed and plopped down with attitude. Leona took her hand, and squeezed. “Let’s stick together.”

“Okay,” Aldona agreed.

“If there is nothing else, we’ll bring out our guest of honor; our mediator. This is something that the majority of you probably don’t know, our mediator is never a member of the group. We do this intentionally, in order to keep the proceedings fair, and as unbiased as possible, as well as provide us with some insight we may not be able to find in this group of mostly like-minded scientists and researchers. Friends and allies, please welcome this meeting’s mediator, Winona Honeycutt of the Third Rail.”

The audience clapped as Winona came from backstage, and approached her seat in the center of the table. She stood and watched the audience, not smiling, but not frowning, waiting patiently for them to finish paying their respects. “Thank you, Madam Gimura, for the opportunity. And thank you, esteemed guests, for the warm welcome. I am a relative newcomer to the underground. A little bit about me, My father is a lifelong civil servant, who is still in my reality of origin, dealing with our many crises. I’ve worked in the federal government for most of my adult life as well. To be specific, I run—I mean, I ran—a covert operations joint task force that brings together the six major branches of law enforcement for my version of the United States. When temporal manipulation was discovered, I found myself as a...handler of sorts, liaising the time travelers with our corner of the government. I think that’s all I’ll say. Who’s next?”

“I’ll go next,” Hogarth volunteered.

Winona nodded at her, and started to sit down as Hogarth was standing. She then nodded at Leona. She was told that she was an important contributor to the grand mission of the Six Keys and their Keyholders to pull every world in every reality into a new universe, and save them from some mysterious force that would see them destroyed. As it turned out, Winona and the others were merely decoys, so any dissenters would not know the true plan, which was still so secretive, not even Leona knew the truth about it. Apparently, the main sequence was free from having to worry about the Reconvergence, though, which was why this meeting will go on as planned.

The rest of the members of the Shortlist introduced themselves in their own way. Brooke Prieto explained that her temporal specialty was not being able to be manipulated by temporal manipulation. Sharice Prieto talked about her origins as an Unregulated Artificial Intelligence, and Brooke’s daughter. They then continued down the line, letting everyone speak before Leona. It was like they knew that she would not want to say anything, and would rather make it brief. This way, they could argue that they were low on time, and needed to move past introductions anyway once her turn came around, so it wouldn’t be Leona’s fault. At least that was how she reasoned it, trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, rather than it being because of her spite and anger. Though her anger should really have been focused on Pribadium alone, or honestly probably not even exist at all. She was being irrational and emotional.

No, she wasn’t last. That honor would go to Aldona. Leona stood up, and swallowed nervously. Ellie stepped over, and gave her the sonic projection ability. It only took a second, but the audience didn’t know how it worked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Go on. It’s okay.”

Ellie nodded, and walked back out of the limelight.

Leona scanned the audience again, not for any particular reason, but because she couldn’t think of anything to say. She wanted to participate, as Pribadium had asked. This was her duty. She was a member of this group, and she needed to help figure this all out. But she didn’t want to. Not anymore. She just didn’t care. They could claim all day that they weren’t elitist; that they were necessary...vital, even. But in the end, they were technology hoarders, and she didn’t want to be a part of it anymore, even if that was supposedly ending. “My name is Leona Matic, and I’m outta here.” She grabbed Aldona’s hand again, and pulled her up. Together, they walked off stage.

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Microstory 1920: Reluctance

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Special Investigator: You found him.

Fugitive Agent: You sound surprised. How many other people did you have on this?

Special Investigator: In my line of work, Agent Parsons, we can’t afford to not be discreet. You were the only one assigned to the manhunt. I’m not surprised that you got him. I just thought that it would take longer. Does that mean it was easy?

Fugitive Agent Parsons: No, but it was painless. Well, technically there was blood...

Special Investigator: Whose blood? If it was yours, you’ll have to fill out a liability compensation form. If it was a suspect or obstacle, there’s a form for that too.

Agent Parsons: It’s nothing like that. I’ll put it all in my report, but I sort of had to...

Special Investigator: Had to what?

Agent Parsons: I had to join a group of formerly incarcerated individuals.

Special Investigator: Ah, the bond. Interesting they let you in. We’ve been trying to use them for years. You’re telling me that you have access to four dozen informants? 

Agent Parsons: It’s closer to five dozen, and yes. But I’ve agreed not to abuse my power. That was a mutual requirement. I can’t use my position as a lawman to unethically help them, and in return I’m not allowed to use my resources to hurt them, or others like them. Just because someone isn’t in the bond, doesn’t mean they’re fair game. It’s all very complicated; I can’t say too much about it.

Special Investigator: I get it. I assume you joined because our man is a member?

Agent Parsons: No. They helped me find him, but he’s not exactly from around here.

Special Investigator: So we were right. He’s from another world.

Agent Parsons: I am at liberty to divulge that he’s from another universe, but he won’t give me any details about that, or any connection he has to the entity you have in your basement, if there’s a connection to be had at all.

Special Investigator: It’s not in the basement.

Agent Parsons: Proverbially.

Special Investigator: What has he said about it?

Agent Parsons: It’s called an Ochivar. Plural is Ochivari. They’re from another universe too, but not his own. When they show up, the world is doomed. They sterilize the entire population, based on some prediction they have about the natives destroying the environment. That’s why it’s not communicating with you. They never come alone.

Special Investigator: You need to bring this guy in. We have to know more.

Agent Parsons: He doesn’t know much more, I think. He’s never encountered an Ochivar before. Evidently one of his former parolees told him about them. He doesn’t know how he ended up in our universe, and he doesn’t know how to get back to his, or how to detect anyone else coming through, or how to stop it from happening.

Special Investigator: What’s stopping him from coming to speak with us in person?

Agent Parsons: He’s spooked. He was here not ten minutes before someone threw him in jail. He wants to help, but he doesn’t trust anyone—I think, with good reason. 

Special Investigator: Give him whatever he wants. Put him up in a nice hotel suite, pay him money; whatever it takes. If he wants immunity, I’ll handle it. Will that do?

Agent Parsons: We can certainly try.

Microstory 1919: Safehouse Social

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Leonard: I won’t help you find the others.

Fugitive Agent: That’s okay.

Leonard: I escaped with them, but I’m not with them. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you where they are...assuming I know that anyway. Which I may not.

Fugitive Agent: I’m not expecting you to tell me anything about them. They’re not my responsibility. I don’t even care that you broke out of jail. I wanted to speak with you for other reasons.

Leonard: And her? What does she want?

Freewoman: I’m just here to support him.

Leonard: Are you one of the street people...the ones who found me? They say you’re part of some sort of group of the formerly incarcerated.

Fugitive Agent: Freemen, they’re called. Or freewomen. I’m new, and still a lawman.

Leonard: I see. Well, anyway, what did you need from me?

Fugitive Agent: *looks at freewoman* The rest of the conversation will have to be in private. I was read in to certain things—

Freewoman: You don’t have to explain. I’ll go.

Fugitive Agent: We’ll talk later, okay?

Freewoman: If you want privacy, I’ll make sure you have it. No one will come near this room. Wait two minutes before you say whatever it is you can’t say in mixed company.

Leonard: [...] It’s been two minutes. Go ahead with your questions.

Fugitive Agent: Yeah, I know. I just don’t know how to start. I spent so much time trying to find you, I didn’t think much about what I was going to say.

Leonard: Well, what makes me so special? Why don’t you care about the other escapees? I’m nobody.

Fugitive Agent: You’re not, though, are you? Okay, I’m just going to say what the deal is. I was just informed of this the other day, but I saw footage of it. I don’t know if it’s real, but it came from the Office of Special Investigations, and they’re not known for their humor. It appeared to be—I don’t wanna say it...

Leonard: Don’t worry. I’ve learned to keep an open mind.

Fugitive Agent: It was an alien. At least I think it was. Maybe it was from another dimension, or maybe it’s been here this whole time, but invisible, so no human has ever seen it before. I don’t know, but it was weird, and it freaked me out—

Leonard: *leans forward in his chair* What did it look like?

Fugitive Agent: Like a bug. I think it had wings. It kind of had a human face, though. I think it can talk, but it has reportedly chosen not to. You don’t sound surprised. What is it? Do you know what it is? Its arrival matches science readings from your arrival. Did you come from the same place? What is it? Who are you? What is it!

Leonard: It sounds like an Ochivar.

Fugitive Agent: An Ochivar. Is that bad? What planet is it from? Where are you from? Are there others? Is this the beginning of a secret invasion?

Leonard: Look, I can tell you what I know, but you’ll have to calm down. It may be bad—it probably is—but let’s not jump to any conclusions. First...tell me everything.

Microstory 1918: Not a Wedding

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Freewoman: Are you ready to do this?

Fugitive Agent: I notice you’re wearing white. This isn’t a wedding, if I recall correctly.

Freewoman: It’s not a wedding. I just look fantastic in white.

Fugitive Agent: I would have to agree with that. What are we doing here again?

Freewoman: We’re getting couple bonded. Oh, I get it, you think you’re funny.

Fugitive Agent: Ah, had you for a second.

Freeman 2: Fugitive Agent, can we talk for a minute?

Fugitive Agent: Can it wait? We’re about to start kind of an important ceremony.

Freeman 2: That’s why we need to talk. I don’t think you have to go through with this.

Freewoman: If you wish to object to this bond, you will have your opportunity at a particular moment. Until then, I would kindly ask that you sit back down with the rest of the audience.

Freeman 2: Pardon me, miss. I meant no disrespect. It’s just that the fugitive; the one he’s been looking for? We have him.

Fugitive Agent: What do you mean, you have him? You know where he is?

Freeman 2: Yeah, but it’s more than that. He’s in pocket.

Fugitive Agent: You didn’t hurt him, did you?

Freeman 2: Of course not. We put our ears to the ground, and our spies on the skies. I guess one of our contacts screwed up, and let slip what we were doing. The dude found out we were looking for him, which could have sent him underground, but I guess he was curious, so he approached us willingly. He’s in a safehouse right now. I don’t know if you wanna go there, or if you wanna continue...

Fugitive Agent: *looks at Freewoman*

Freewoman: Go. It’s why we were doing this, and now the point is moot.

Fugitive Agent: [...] No. I made a commitment, I’m following through.

Freewoman: You’ve not made the commitment yet; that’s what I’m saying. The others will be disappointed, but they’ll understand.

Fugitive Agent: I gave you my word. The point of the bond is to be part of something bigger than yourself. This is in the best interests of everyone here, including me. I was looking forward to this for other reasons.

Freewoman: Are you sure?

Fugitive Agent: The escapee. He’s safe, right? He’s not getting antsy, and the other authorities don’t know where he is, I hope.

Freeman 2: He’s fine, last I checked. I can call the guys that are watching over him.

Fugitive Agent: That would make me feel better. If it’s urgent, we’ll postpone this, but if it’s not, we’re doing it now. One thing we’re not gonna do is cancel, Freewoman.

Freeman 2: *on the phone* Freeman 3, what’s up? Yeah, he still there?—Is he doing okay?—Okay, remind him that we’re on his side, and we’re not gonna hurt him. He’s not a prisoner. If he wants to leave, let him go, but follow him cautiously.—All right, thanks. We’ll be there soon. *hangs up* He’s all right.

Fugitive Agent: Great. Then on with the show!

Freewoman: Okay. You may proceed, Parole Counselor.

Microstory 1917: Not a Date

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Fugitive Agent: But this isn’t a date.

Freewoman: No, it’s not a date. It’s a bond engagement.

Fugitive Agent: You know what people call it when they agree to marry each other?

Freewoman: An engagement, I know, but that’s not what this is either. The word, in this case, means an event or gathering of two or more participant parties.

Fugitive Agent: You had that one in the chamber. Have you gone on many of these?

Freewoman: Not a one. I never thought I would be couple bonded. Honestly, I don’t generally get along well with other ex-cons.

Fugitive Agent: Yet you’re the leader of the female bond group.

Freewoman: You don’t ask to be the leader. They choose you. I’ve had to learn to accept it, as you will one day.

Fugitive Agent: Why would I ever be the leader? I’m still a lawman.

Freewoman: You’re the first to succeed in a couple bond in a long time. They’ll love that. The current leader will probably step down for you. His couple bond was dissolved.

Fugitive Agent: Really? Well, I don’t want it. I’m just doing this—

Freewoman: To find your special fugitive, I know. Like I said, I didn’t want it either.

Fugitive Agent: I see. [...] This is good salad, yeah?

Freewoman: Speaking of being a lawman, I’ve noticed how open-minded and nonjudgmental you are to us criminals. That seems...

Fugitive Agent: Out of character for someone in my position? Yes, well, the truth is that I wanted to be a parole officer, which is probably why I’m so invested in this particular assignment. The man I’m looking for is supposedly a P.O. himself—I don’t know if I told you that.

Freewoman: You didn’t. So, what happened? Why do you work for Fugitive Services?

Fugitive Agent: I’m a legacy. If you met my father, he would list all of our family’s exploits going back centuries of all the fugitives we’ve collectively caught. You wouldn’t even have to ask him about it. He’ll find a way to work it into the conversation, and then the conversation will be effectively over. The rest will be a monologue.

Freewoman: I see. [...] You’re right, this salad is good.

Fugitive Agent: Full honesty is a pillar of the freeman bond. Does the couple bond share this value?

Freewoman: It does...but we’re not bonded yet, and certain lies are grandfathered in as long as they don’t negatively impact the relationship, or our respective freedom, so don’t think you have to divulge all your secrets for it to work out.

Fugitive Agent: This isn’t about the past; it’s about the present. If we go through with this, then you should know that I...

Freewoman: You what?

Fugitive Agent: I am not...unattracted to you.

Freewoman: *smirks* I’m not unattracted to you either.

Fugitive Agent: Is that going to be a problem?

Freewoman: Only if we make it a problem.

Fugitive Agent: Good to know. *smiles*

Microstory 1916: Partners No More

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Fugitive Agent 2: Where have you been, man? We’re supposed to be partners.

Fugitive Agent: I’m on special assignment. I sent you a text, and the OSI should have sent Senior Fugitive Agent an email about it.

Fugitive Agent 2: Yeah, and she’s presently working on a replacement partner, but I wanted to speak with you in person. What is this assignment? What are you doing?

Fugitive Agent: I’m looking for the escapees.

Fugitive Agent 2: That’s what we were doing...together. Why am I being reassigned?

Fugitive Agent: I’m sorry, man. I gotta do this. I’m just here to pick up my stuff. The road is gonna be my office for the foreseeable future.

Fugitive Agent 2: You saw something.

Fugitive Agent: What?

Fugitive Agent 2: OSI asked for a meeting, and then suddenly we don’t work together anymore. What did they show you? What exactly are they asking you to do?

Fugitive Agent: I can’t talk about it, Fugitive Agent 2. I really am sorry. I gotta go.

Fugitive Agent 2: No, that’s not good enough for me.

Fugitive Agent: Let go of my arm.

Fugitive Agent 2: Hey, it’s cool. We’re cool. No need to give me that tone, or that look.

Fugitive Agent: What tone? What look?

Fugitive Agent 2: You’re treating me like one of our fugitives. You always say that there’s a line between us and them, and now it feels like you’ve drawn a new line, and left me on the wrong side of it.

Fugitive Agent: That was not my intention, I’m just trying to do my job.

Fugitive Agent 2: Your new job with OSI. I read the brief—or what was left of it after the redactors got their hands on it. The Fugitive Service has nothing to do with it anymore. When I said I was reassigned, I meant the whole department. Who are those detainees, and what makes them so important? This should be an open and shut case.

Fugitive Agent: I don’t know what to tell ya. That’s above my paygrade, same as you. I just go where I’m told, and right now, I’ve been told to go in deep.

Fugitive Agent 2: In deep? You’re undercover?

Fugitive Agent: I didn’t say that.

Fugitive Agent 2: But you are..undercover.

Fugitive Agent: You need to stop asking questions. I can’t protect you anymore.

Fugitive Agent 2: What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Fugitive Agent: You remember last fall; those kids from Baltimore?

Fugitive Agent 2: That wasn’t my fault. You didn’t lie for me. It was complicated.

Fugitive Agent: No, I didn’t lie, but I didn’t tell them the whole truth either. Now, I’m not threatening you. That goes to my grave, just like it was always going to. I’m just explaining that I can’t do those kinds of things for you anymore, and you can’t do them for me. You’re getting a new partner. Learn to trust them, and teach them to trust you. This is the nature of the business. We don’t always get to choose.

Fugitive Agent 2: Funny how you always seem to choose, and I always get screwed.

Fugitive Agent: Fugitive Agent 2. Fugitive Agent 2! Come on, don’t end it like this!

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: April 10, 2401

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A part of Mateo expected the sight to be more spectacular; that they would see countless worlds suddenly appear in the sky, but obviously it wouldn’t look like that. Even he knew that all those planets would all be ripped apart if they suddenly came close enough to each other to be seen by each other. There was nowhere you could be where you could witness more than one planet appear out of nowhere. Even if you could, Mateo wouldn’t be in such a place. The whole point was that the main sequence would be spared the Reconvergence. Nothing should change here.

“That’s not entirely true.” Mateo, Angela, and Marie spent the night in the nearest arcology to Stonehenge. Bhulan has just shown up.

“What do you mean?” Mateo questioned.

“You’re not in the main sequence right now. You’re in the Sixth Key.”

“So it didn’t work,” Angela assumed.

Bhulan stared at her for a weird length of time. “There are two main sequences now. The original is fine, right where it was before in Salmonverse. This one is a copy.”

“That’s not what I asked for. The Omega Gyroscope was meant to read my mind, and do what I wanted. And don’t tell me that it was an accident, like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, because I didn’t even consider this outcome. I wouldn’t have thought that would be a thing. I’m not—how you say—creative.”

Bhulan nodded, and stood up, pointing to his jacket hanging over the chair. “Were you wearing this when it happened?”

“Yeah,” Mateo answered. “Let me guess, I’ve been unknowingly wearing the Jacket of Duplication this whole time, or some bullshit like that.”

“It’s not the jacket,” she said with a shake of her head. She reached into one of the pockets, and then another, where she found the knife that Mateo used to replicate parts for the Olimpia, and also fail at fixing Heath when he was on the brink of death. He kind of forgot that it was in there. “Oh, crap. Are you serious? I forgot about that.. Like I said, I wasn’t thinking about making a copy of anything. I was trying to save the main sequence the headache of the Reconvergence stuff.”

“This is a temporal object,” Bhulan said, shaking it demonstratively, but not angrily, “just like the Cassano Cane, and the Omega Gyroscope. Sometimes they interact with each other, whether you mean for them to, or not. Who gave this to you?”

“The natives on an island we ended up on once,” Mateo answered. “They were...mysterious, and noncommunicative.”

Bhulan nodded again. “This is the same place where Angela got her immortality waters, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Angela confirmed. “That didn’t work. Or it did? Marie is alive, but I never found Activator water, so that whole ordeal is confusing.”

“I can’t explain how Marie survived what happened to her,” Bhulan began, “but you becoming immortal would not have done it. Yes, she’s an alternate of you, but you had become two independent beings. There was no reason why she would not have been able to die. The only thing that Time and Existence waters do is prevent someone from preventing you from existing and becoming immortal, and Marie has nothing to do with that anymore. I don’t know who told you it would—”

“We were just...desperate,” Angela explained. “And it seemed to work, so we figured that it was inevitable.”

“Bottom line,” Marie jumped in, “what does this mean? What can we do, what should we do? Why are you here?”

“I’m not here to talk about the main sequence, or the new main sequence,” Bhulan said. “That’s just something I noticed you were confused about. I’m here for that.” She pointed to the corner where Mateo had leaned the Cassano Cane and Omega Gyroscope against the walls. The latter was still hovering over the former. “They need to be destroyed, and I finally figured out how. The Reconvergence has not technically happened yet. The Keys were turned ahead of time, in case there was a delay or complication, but all the other parallel realities will collapse, and everything in them will be destroyed. This whole thing with the Third Rail started because I was there too early. I showed up at the beginning, but I should have appeared at the end. This is my chance.”

“Any objections?” Mateo asked the girls. “Go ahead,” he told Bhulan when they shook their heads. “It’s only here because Alyssa disappeared on us when I used it...incorrectly, and don’t know who’s supposed to have it.”

“I appreciate you not pushing back.” She walked over and reached for the cane, and as soon as her fingers wrapped around it, Ramses Abdulrashid appeared out of nowhere, and wrapped his own fingers around it. “Um...excuse me.”

“I need this,” Ramses said.

“Report,” Mateo asked.

Ram looked at him, but did not let go of the cane. “I don’t have long here, so I’ll just give you the highlights. I survived Phoenix Station. I found Olimpia stuck in the Sixth Key before its big bang. I was forced to join the Shortlist’s meeting for The Edge. I escaped, and now I have a new mission...which requires my use of the Cassano Cane.”

“Nuh-uh-uh, buddy,” Bhulan argued. “I have to destroy these things.”

Ramses pursed his lips, and then let a puff of air escape to make a popping sound. At the same time, he flicked the Omega Gyroscope off of the cane, letting it fall to the floor, and begin to roll away. The glow emanating from it shut off while it was doing this, so it didn’t get far before becoming entangled in the hundemarke chain that had been hidden inside while it was active. “You can destroy anything you want, but you can’t destroy this cane.”

“This is my only shot. Once I do this, I’ll be dead, and I won’t be able to take anything else with me.”

“Then I guess you won’t be the one to destroy it, if anyone even is ever. Let. Go.”

Ramses was not letting up, and neither was Bhulan. They did not want to cause physical harm to each other, though; that much was clear. Mateo cleared his throat. “Bhu. It was your mission to destroy the hundemarke, correct? Then someone gave you the Insulator of Life, and someone else gave you the Omega Gyroscope, right? You have the hundemarke. No one here wants to see that used again, and we don’t really care about the gyroscope. So just go with what you have. Rambo obviously needs that for something that none of us understand.”

Bhulan frowned and considered her options. In the end, she chose the path of least resistance when she let go. “Fine.”

“Will we ever see you again?” Marie asked Ramses.

“I don’t know, but I was there. In the Third Rail, when you didn’t know I was. I was watching over you, and now I just have one thing left to do. When I come back, I’ll give you this.” He opened his other hand to show them an antique rosary. It was once Mateo’s, before he was ripped out of the timestream during Arcadia’s expiations. When the Superintendent returned him decades later, he made him an atheist instead of Catholic, and they never saw the rosary again. He only would have cared about it because it was his once-mother’s centuries prior.

“I don’t need that,” Mateo told Ramses. “It’s not mine anymore.”

Ramses smiled. “Trust me, you’re gonna want it, if only to keep it out of the hands of someone who would abuse its power.” He tucked the cane under his arm to free that hand so he could hang the metallic beads from it. “They call it the Mateo Rosary. He closed his fist over the cross, and disappeared, making it seem as though it was the rosary what done it.

“I’m not familiar,” Marie noted.

“I’ve never heard of it either,” Bhulan said, “but I don’t think it was just a teleporter. It probably also belongs on the list of objects that I would want to destroy.”

“You’ll have to settle for what you have,” Mateo told her. “I promise, I’ll do everything I can to make sure the cane, the rosary, and anything else like them, don’t fall into the wrong hands.”

Bhulan picked up the two objects, and disentangled the hundemarke, placing it around her neck. “I don’t doubt it.” She focused on the gyroscope, presumably trying to reactivate it. “I think Ramses did something to this. It’s...dead.” She looked pleased.

“That’s good, right?” Angela guessed.

“Yeah, that means it won’t be able to stop me from doing what I have to do.” Bhulan breathed a sigh of relief. “I die to save quintillions.” She disappeared as well.

“Whoa, does anybody else feel a little tired all of the sudden?” Marie posed.

The room around them changed. The furniture was moved around enough to cause the three of them to fall to the floor, and they were no longer alone. A couple was sitting on the couch with their young child.

“Sorry to disturb you,” Mateo said, standing up, massaging his coccyx.

“I recognize you,” the man said. “Why do I recognize you?”

“I recognize him too,” the woman corroborated.

“I just have one of those faces,” Mateo answered, not knowing the truth himself.

“We’ll leave you be,” Marie told them. “Apologies for the intrusion.” They left the unit, and stepped over to the nearest convenience terminal against the wall next to the elevator. “April 10, 2401. We jumped in time, just like we used to.”

“It wasn’t just like it,” Angela pointed out. “It wasn’t midnight central.”

“Yeah, it was,” Marie contended. “Well, it’s about fifteen ‘til one in Kansas, but close enough. It obviously happened because the Omega Gyroscope is finally gone.”

“What do we do now?” Angela questioned. “Where do we go?

“We have to find a way back to the real main sequence. That is where my wife is.”

“Are we sure about that?” Marie asked.

“No, you’re right, we’re not. In fact, there could be two of them now. Damn, I wish Ramses had stayed long enough to give us some details about that damn meeting.”

“If this is the Sixth Key,” Marie began, “then you know what we have to do, and it’s not looking for Leona.”

Mateo sighed, and nodded. “We have to assume she’s safe, but Olimpia may not be. I don’t know where to start with that trail either, though. Any ideas?”

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The Edge: From Entrance to Exit (Part II)

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Pribadium directed Leona to a room where she and Ramses could have a private conversation, and also told them where they could find their bedrooms. The meeting wasn’t going to start until tomorrow, after formal introductions, and a fuller explanation of why there was to be an audience. “I figured, if you showed up, you would be from some time in the past.”

“I didn’t even wanna come now, but Pribadium forced me and Hogarth. I got the impression that she knows what’s going to happen to Olimpia, and either wants it to, or doesn’t think that it can be prevented.”

“Where is she?”

“The Sixth Key.”

“That’s what we guessed.

“But it’s complicated,” Ramses explained. “I think she’s the only one there. Let me start at the beginning. I didn’t find her by happenstance. I went there on purpose. Just before Phoenix Station blew up, I commanded the magic mirror to send me to Olimpia’s location after Dalton sent her away using his weird cane thing.”

“Oh! I should have thought of doing that. I keep forgetting that the mirror isn’t just for dead people. It can go to any point, any time, as long as someone is already there. I’m such an idiot. So, what happened after you found her? Is she okay?”

“Well, I didn’t find her right away. It was dark, but I came across two dudes who were working on the planet. I mean that literally. They were building the planet itself, or at least checking their work; I don’t know. They hadn’t seen her, but they agreed to help me look. We searched all night, kind of in concentric circles. The mirror was supposed to take me right to her,  so she couldn’t have been too far. Come morning, I felt something tap me on the shoulder. It freaked me out, but I was too curious to run away from the scary invisible monster. Of course, it was her. We decided that she was trapped in another dimension, because that’s what made the most sense. She was able to breathe, but there was nothing to eat. She could hear me if I yelled, but I couldn’t hear her at all. She can see through the dimensional just fine when she’s trying too, but if she loses focus, it sort of turns opaque. She was always able to get it back, she finds it claustrophobic. Because no matter how far she walks, the walls follow her. It’s like she was between two worlds, each one pressing up against her at all times.”

“You keep switching tense. Is she, or isn’t she, okay...the last time you saw her?”

“Kind of both. The dudes knew Hogarth Pudeyonavic, so they went off to ask her for help. She was the one who figured out where Olimpia truly was. She used Hokusai Gimura’s goggles to look through to the other side, and to communicate better with her. But then Pribadium showed up, and spirited us away. Hogarth said that the Sixth Key isn’t really there yet. It’s like this primordial reality that’s waiting for the Keys to do whatever it is they’re gonna do to make it exist. That’s as much as she was able to explain before Hokusai took her away to discuss this meeting we’re apparently gonna have. I know that the Keys are people, and they’re going to make a new reality, where all the people in the other realities are gonna live together.”

“Yeah, that’s all done. I mean, it’s not complete yet, but they’re doing it. I thought we weren’t going to have to deal with it anymore, but Olimpia’s situation changes everything. We can’t just leave her there. Ramses, they have someone who can literally move planets. She can transport them to other universes. She moved the Third Rail version of Earth to the Fourth Quadrant reality already, and she’s gonna do it with the countless other worlds. What’s that going to do to Olimpia? That much energy, that much gravity. That’s not a safe place to be. It’s dangerous to be in a falling elevator, but it’s even more dangerous to be standing at the bottom of the shaft while it’s falling. We have to go help her. We have to get the hell out of there.”

“Is that possible? We don’t seem to wield any power here. I feel like a space whale in a nebula around these people.”

“Huh?”

“Little fish, big ocean.”

“Oh.” Leona sighed, and thought over their options. “You’re right, we’re the lowest men on the totem pole, which isn’t surprising. I barely belong here.  Where did Hokusai take Hogarth? Did you see?”

“If we get back to the portal, I can head in the right direction, but I can’t tell you where they went after that.”

She shook her head. “No, and they could have taken a teleporter to the other side of the planet for all we know. I do wanna look at that portal, though. There must be something special about it if everyone is coming through there, instead of just random spots in the area.”

Ramses took her by the hand, and tried to teleport them both away. “No, it’s no use. They’re blocking my power.”

“That’s okay. I remember where it is.”

They walked back through Town Square, and down to where they first came through from their respective locations. In front of the portal was someone they knew from back in the day. “Hello, you two.”

“Mirage. It’s been a long time for us.”

“Longer for me, I’m sure.”

“It’s been about four and a half billion years for me.”

Mirage laughed. “I stand, corrected.”

“You stand...in our way.”

“I can’t let you try to leave.”

“Just the fact that you’re on guard tells me that there is a way through,” Leona calculated, “and that means I’m going to take it, because that’s what I want.”

“Not here. You don’t get what you want while you’re here. I’ve been asked to keep anyone out using whatever means necessary, short of murder, of course. But then, you would just go to the afterlife simulation anyway, wouldn’t you?”

“You know about that?” Ramses asked.

“I’ve been briefed.”

Leona nodded. “I think you’re confused. It doesn’t matter where I am, or who I’m with. I get what I want because I take it. I’m taking that portal. You can use all the brute force you want, I will figure this out. It’s what I do.”

Mirage emulated a human sigh. “Pribadium Delgado built this portal herself. It is incompatible with conventional time tech and time powers. It operates on her own special protocols. If you try to step through, you could end up lost in time forever. There’s a reason why she’s the one who retrieved everyone from wherever they were.”

“I’ve seen Pribadium’s technology. I don’t know exactly how it works, but I noticed similarities between it, and other tech I’ve encountered. It may not be as original as you think. She may not even realize that she didn’t come up with it herself.”

“I don’t know why that matters,” Mirage said.

“Hey, Opsocor? Are you there?”

“I’m here, Leona,” came the voice of the Nexus network from the aether.

Mirage was stunned. “Who’s that? Where are you?” She stepped into a defensive position, and narrowed her eyes, probably activating all of her sensors to find the source of the supposed intruder.

“I am everywhere.”

“She’s a god,” Leona explained.

“No, I’m not.”

“I’ve heard it both ways,” Leona responded. “Opsocor, can you help me navigate using this portal?”

“I can, if that’s really what you want.”

“Why would I not want that?” Leona questioned.

“It sounds like these people would like to have a full roster.”

“Without me and Ramses, they’ll still have a quorum. They don’t need us,” Leona explained. “They probably won’t take our opinions into account. They usually don’t.”

“Very well. Please step aside, child,” Opsocor requested.

Mirage was super offended. “Who are you calling a child?” There was nothing she could do about it. Her feet started to slide along the floor, all the way to the wall, which she found herself pressed up against, hopelessly unable to move. “I’m not even magnetic,” she complained.

“Don’t hurt her, please,” Leona asked.

“Of course not,” Opsocor replied.

“You understand where I want to go?”

“Yes. Go ahead, I have your destination queued up. But just you.”

“Thanks.” Leona reached forward and opened the door. “Wait, why just me?”

“Leona Bluebell Matic, do not step through that door!” Pribadium shouted from down the hallway.

“That is not anywhere close to my middle name. Where are you getting that?”

“Goddamn bug,” Pribadium muttered as she walked towards them, tapping on a handheld device.

“I am not a bug,” Opsocor insisted. “I keep telling you, this is my people’s tech. Your brain picked up on the persistent psychic signals that bounce around—”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Pribadium made one final tap, and released Mirage from the wall. “Please stop her from leaving.”

Mirage took Leona by the shoulders, and held her in place. “Sorry.”

“Ram, go, please!” Leona pleaded

“No!” all three of the others shouted, but it was too late. He jumped through the portal without a second of hesitation.

Pribadium shook her head. “I think you just killed him. Isn’t that right, bug?”

Opsocor took a long time to answer, but she did answer. “It’s possible.”

Leona woke up in her room the next day feeling like shit. Before Pribadium suppressed Opsocor’s presence in the system for what sounded like the upteenth time, Opsocor explained that the portal was tailored to her neurology, and her genetics. That was why only she was allowed to go through. She was intending to reinitiate the portal for him once she was through, but they weren’t meant to go at the same time, or out of order. There was a chance that he was vaporized or spaghettified so quickly that he didn’t even feel it, but he also could have appeared inside of a star, somewhere in outer space, somewhere in the outer bulk, or in something that she called the kasma, which was basically a particular region of the outer bulk. The chances that he landed anywhere safely were not zero, but they were close. She still had faith, though. They thought he died on Phoenix Station, and all of their lives were in danger tons of other times. The guy was pretty resilient. If anyone was going to find Olimpia again, it would be him.

Leona was startled when she saw that Pribadium was sitting at the table on the other side of her bedroom. “Christ!”

“Sorry to scare you.”

“I don’t need a guard. You’ve sealed up that whole section. I couldn’t leave if I wanted to. Opsocor isn’t answering me.”

“I can’t let what happened to Ramses happen to you.”

Leona got out of bed, and looked at her body in the mirror like Buffalo Bill. “I wonder what you look like naked?”

“What?”

She transformed herself into a likeness of Pribadium.

“I...didn’t know that you could do that.”

“I think I’ll walk around the planet like this, making you look like a fool.”

“This is the future, Leona. No one cares.”

“Well, I have to do something to get back at you. Everything would have been fine if you had just let me go. I don’t blame myself. I blame you.

“Well, I know that—”

“And I don’t care about The Edge,” she said in a mocking tone. “All I’ll do at the meeting is oppose you. You could say that we should give the public time powers, and I’ll disagree. You could say that we should prevent all the children from dying, and I’ll say that we should kill them. Now, you can try to use reverse psychology to your advantage, but we will never come to a consensus, because you and I will always be at odds.”

“Don’t be so petty.”

“Oh, you’ve not seen petty, Pribadium Delgado. Like you said, this is the future. Everyone’s cool. Everyone’s woke. Nobody’s angry. I’m angry!” On that word, she turned herself into a particularly large zombie that she recalled from an episode of Z Nation named Sarge. He was portrayed by a man in makeup, rather than via CGI, which was why Leona was able to steal his light for the illusion.

Pribadium jumped up, and backed away from the monster, but she quickly composed herself, and decided that it wasn’t real. “Be in Lylla Hall in two hours for introductions. This is bigger than you or me, or Ramses. Please recognize that, and do your job. You may not have come up with the idea of The Shortlist—neither did I—but you’ve participated in the past. I hope you can remember why.” She walked out.

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