by Holly Hook
There are more tunnels branching off from this one, too. There’s one with purple water swirling around, and another one with green water rotating around it. People walk in and out. There’s even a garden in the middle of the room, with flowers of every possible color surrounding a gurgling fountain.
“We should visit this place more often,” Simon whispers to me.
I do like the idea. So long as we stay out of those tunnels.
“We need to go down the green corridor,” Arnelia says. “That is where the library is. I hope it is not busy.”
"Are you okay?" Simon asks me.
He's picking up on the fact that something's bothering me. "I'm fine. Just shocked."
We follow her, and I can’t stop staring at the lime green water that swirls around us. I take a deep breath. My pulse calms. This isn't bothering me as much as the other tunnel, mainly because this water's a different color than what I remember gushing into the Titanic. It doesn’t look lit from behind. I wonder what kind of technology managed this.
This tunnel is a lot more busy, probably because the Lab Coat Man isn’t on this end. We pass a couple of men in long, purple robes that look like they could be priests or something. Neither give us a second glance. The tunnel opens up again ahead.
We come out into a small lobby with vines creeping down marble walls. Twin archways lead into darkness, and Arnelia leads us through the one on the left.
“This is the library,” she whispers, leading us through the semi-dark. "Like in your time, it is customary not to raise your voice here."
My eyes adjust.
There are no books here. I should have known. "This isn't a library."
"I agree," Isabel says. "It doesn't look like anything."
It's a room filled with rows upon rows of silver things that look like gigantic balls stuck halfway into the floor. About half of them have people standing or sitting in chairs next to them, and everyone's wearing plain glasses. One woman nearby studies the space above the ball like there’s something there that I can’t see.
"It is. I know it is not what you're used to," Arnelia says. "Over to this pod."
We’re at one of the round things seconds later. Arnelia taps the side of the "pod" and a drawer opens up, shimmering just like the trap that enclosed Isabel a few minutes ago. She jumps back and Simon squeezes my hand harder for a second. But then the drawer solidifies and waits, open. There’s four of the glasses inside.
“That’s cool,” I say, reaching for a pair.
Arnelia slips one pair on. “This is so only we can see what our pod shows us. Put them on.”
We’re all wearing the specs now. Simon smiles at me. His glasses make him look, well, sophisticated.
"You're even cuter with those on," I say. "You should keep them."
"I'm not sure they'll let me do that," he says.
"I discovered the existence of the Timeless a year ago," Arnelia begins. "I am the first scientist on the Time Project to become aware of their existence and remember it. I have ventured into the Hub many times, and on each occasion, some members of the Timeless have found me and sent me back home. They always erased my memories of each experience, but to make a long story short, I devised a way to bring those memories back once I was safely home. Ever since then, I have been researching the origin of these people. I was shocked to discover that two of them were my ancestors. On further research, I found this scenario in our database. What you are about to see is the reason I sought the two of you."
Arnelia touches the pod thing, and another one of those touch screens lights up on the metal. Isabel stands next to her, staring at it. It's another touchpad with glowing blue numbers. She taps the virtual keys—at least, I think they’re keys—and stares at Simon and I. "This will show you everything you need to know,” she says. “I took off the narration since it is not in your language, but I think it will be understandable. This is a powerful computer that can calculate what kind of effects changing the past can have on the future.”
I have no time to respond to that. The air above the pod thing lights up.
It’s just like the vision that Simon and I saw in the Main Chamber, only smaller. My breath catches.
It’s the Titanic, sailing away on the ocean with lights blazing in the middle of the night. The image is so real, I feel that if I extend my hand, I'll feel that icy water wrapping around my fingers. I can even hear the ocean parting.
A dark blob appears in the inky expanse and draws closer. The iceberg. It scrapes the side. And like the changing of a scene in a film, the vision changes. Simon and I hang on the edge of the ship, gripping the railing. Screams pierce the air. Simon says something to me, but it's lost in the noise. People plunge to their deaths all around us.
Simon and I fall. Golden light opens up and swallows him. I keep falling. This is the first time we fell, the time that I wasn’t supposed to survive. My heart pounds. I cringe, holding down a scream.
“Arnelia, we don’t want to see this." Anger rises in Simon's voice and jars me out of the scene. Of course. I'm safe in this future library.
“Sorry,” she says on the other side of the image. “We must. It is about to change, I think.”
It does. Now we’re looking at the Time Project. Men and women mill around the rift wall, here in 5052. All of the screens display blue numbers and symbols. One man punches at one. Another faces the rift wall, sighs, and turns away. They're all frustrated. The project doesn’t seem to be working.
"What is the point of this?" I ask. "We already know about the troubles your scientists are having with time travel."
"Do you see me there?" Arnelia asks.
"No," I say. I understand. "Oh...you don't exist here because this is the version of history where I died in the past."
"Precisely," she says. "Continue watching."
The scene goes right back to the Titanic. Simon and I fall again, embracing this time, and the rift opens and takes us both. This is last time, the time that I lived.
Back to the Time Project. Arnelia stands there now near the rift wall, alone, adjusting the butterfly in her hair and looking satisfied.
The hologram dies, and Arnelia looks at the three of us in turn. I’m glad that the Titanic images are gone. “Do you understand?” she asks. “Before you changed the fact that you died, Julia, I did not exist here at all. Now I do. That is why I have to make sure that the two of you succeed in what you are trying to do. I did the calculations, and I have determined that the two of you need to become human again and survive in your regular lives in order for me to be born. Right now, there is only a chance that will happen. History is not as solid as we all think. As you both know, it can always change. There is a one thing that can stop you from succeeding--and one thing that can make me cease to exist again."
The air above the pod thing lights up again, and there stands a one-foot-tall version of Frank.
Isabel makes a disgusted sigh and turns away. Dread creeps up through my belly. Simon grunts and balls his free fist.
Frank disappears, and Arnelia takes off her glasses like she's just finished with a funeral.
Maybe she has. Her own. And maybe mine, too.
And then I see her eyes again. They're the same shade as Simon's, the exact same shade. I scan her face to see if there's any trace of me there, but I find none. Of course, this is three thousand years from my time.
Still, it makes my heart ache. Frank can kill me if I become human again. If he does that, he'll kill Arnelia, too, and a whole line of my descendants.
“Julia. Simon,” she says. “Frank wants to stop the two of you from becoming mortal again and surviving in your original time. I have researched him for many hours. He is so bound to his duty that he forgets that he is dealing with real people. If Frank is successful,” she faces me and Simon, “You will die, Julia, and Simon, you will remain Timeless forever. I will never be born. But I have great hope in the two of you. I do not believe in fate. Perhaps the two of you were not meant to
die in the first place.”
It's the first time I've heard anyone say that besides Simon. The ache loosens from my chest. There is hope. Arnelia stands here. That's proof that we can succeed.
Then a thought hits me. “If we stop the ship from sinking, Simon and I will never become Timeless. We'll stay in 1912."
Understanding dawns over Simon's face. He faces Arnelia. “That's right. And if we become human and stay in our original time, we won't remember you, either. Or you, Isabel.”
But Isabel's turned away to look at the bare wall. She remains silent. Maybe it's about Frank. Or it's about the fact that once again, even with the use of a super computer, her ship was never mentioned. After all, it's supposed to play a role in all of this.
“It does not matter to me if you remember me or not,” Arnelia says. “What matters is that you survive. But perhaps is a way you can remember it all if you become mortal again.”
There's fear in her eyes. Real worry, but also determination.
There's me.
Arnelia's taking off her butterfly. It blinks red, casting a light on the wall. A woman nearby in a white robe watches it for a second.
“This way,” Arnelia says, waving us out of the library.
We're in the lobby now, where there's no one. Arnelia stops and hands the butterfly to me. “You might find this useful when you become mortal again.”
I take it. I'm not sure what to say or what to do. “Thanks?”
Arnelia smiles. It breaks up the tension. “How do you think I kept my memories when I went through time?”
“This?” I ask, holding it up. I'm afraid to drop the butterfly and shatter it on the floor. The wing tips are also very sharp, so much that they could double as knives.
“Oh, it only looks like a hair clip. No one knows what it really is,” Arnelia says. “I long suspected that Time blocked the memories of people who traveled through it. Our scientists would go through the rift and come back remembering nothing. So I borrowed a memory chip from another scientist. I programmed it to download the memories from my brain and store them safely while I was on the other side of the rift."
"Download?" I ask. "As in, you know, that thing computers do?"
"Yes." She says that like I'm asking if the sun is hot. “Then this device feeds my memories back into me if I forget them. This is how I kept my full memories when I found you at Trenton High School. It appears that the mind tricks the Timeless use do not work on machines."
"I know this," Simon says. At least his anger is gone. "It's very annoying. We always have to go into computers and erase records of people who end up in wrong times. And Arnelia? This is amazing, what you've done.” Simon draws closer, eyeing the butterfly like he's being drawn into its colors. “All of your memories are in this thing?”
“All of them,” she says. “Including the ones of you, the ones I should not have."
"Then why didn't you remember us when we first came here today, if you've been researching us for a long time?" I ask.
Arnelia doesn't seem fazed. She keeps explaining like she's giving a lecture. "It seems that every incident I have with the Timeless, they send me back to a time where I am sleeping. I never have my hair clip on when I sleep, so I always wake not remembering anything until I put it on. This time, it seems that Frank and Isabel had erased the two of you from my memory before sending me back. That is why I did not know you at first when you arrived here today. In fact, I had forgotten all about my mission for a short time."
'That's true," Isabel says. "We Timeless can erase all memories of a certain person. Frank and I erased your memories of the four of us, just to be extra safe. We always take extra measures against you Travelers." She holds up her hands like Arnelia's about to attack her. "We only erased your memories of Julia and Simon because you happened to meet them today. I didn't think we were messing with your memories in this time, too."
"It is okay. You were only doing your duty. How could you have known?" Arnelia smiles, forgiving.
I remember when Frank and Isabel were about to erase Nancy and Monica's memories of me, and me only. It makes sense that they had done the same to Arnelia. I'm sure they removed her memories of Monica, too.
“You told no one else about the Timeless? I hope? If the other scientists here figure out what you've done...it could be disastrous." Isabel's tone darkens.
“I informed no one else,” she says. “Do not worry. I will not tell anyone about you or how to get around through Time like this. I am worried that some of my fellow researchers would like to go back and tamper with things that they should not. This might be a time different from yours, but there are still people who would use this for the wrong reasons. For power and greed. It is better for everyone to think that time travel is a failure.”
Isabel steps back. She has nothing to say. She already knows all about people like that.
“I get it,” I say. There's a question burning in me. “I hope we're not messing anything up by stopping our ships from sinking. Did you do any research on the effects of our plan?”
“Look around us,” Simon says, waving to the vines on the marble walls. Nearby, the water flows peacefully around the green tunnel. “This is the world we both survive and start a family in. Does it look so bad?”
He's right. This place isn't terrible at all. The world hasn’t crumbled with our changing history.
Will this look the same if Frank gets his way?
“Okay,” I say. “I think we can work something out with that memory butterfly of yours. Arnelia, thank you so much for this.”
“It is no problem. But can I have that back?” She's reaching out for the butterfly, cheeks flushing. “I have to erase my memories from this before you take it. Even scientists have things they like to keep private.”
Chapter Fifteen
Arnelia leads us through the purple corridor and to another lobby, one lined with matching purple chairs. Hallways branch away everywhere. We're in another sunny dome and I feel like I'm in the middle of some hive. Arnelia explains that this is the entrance to the living quarters. "Wait here while I go prepare this," she says, rubbing one finger down the butterfly's wing.
Simon, Isabel and I sit as Arnelia disappears down one of the hallways. I wonder how she remembers where to go in this place. It's almost as confusing as the Hub.
Simon wraps his arm around me. “She's just like you, Julia. Figures she would be the one to finally outsmart Time.” He speaks with pride that I can't help but share.
“Maybe that's why Time wanted me to die,” I say. "It didn't want Arnelia to be born. Since, you know, she found a way around its rules." It makes me want to survive even more, not only to save my father and brother, but to give Arnelia a chance to shine. What if she becomes some famous scientist who changes the world? She's a genius.
“We should definitely survive the sinking and go on with our lives in 1912. At least now, we have a way to stop the sinking. Perhaps..” Simon casts a cautious glance at Isabel, who sits on the other side of me. “Do you still want to go through with this plan?”
She nods. “It is the only way to make this happen, isn't it? I take it I must wear that butterfly hair clip when I go to get the two of you in 1912."
“Yes. If you stay mortal in your own time,” I say. “It's a complicated plan. Isabel, you'll have to put your memories on the device first and give it to us. Then Simon and I stop the Gustloff from sinking. That will prevent you from ever becoming Timeless. Simon and I will then find the past you and gift you with this. When you put it on, you’ll remember all of this. Then you can come through another rift with us and go through to the Titanic.” I take a breath. "This should work, right? Since it'll be your Timeless memories on there, they shouldn't get erased when we change your history. They can't be tampered with, ever. Right?" I face Simon.
There's doubt on his features. He takes his arm from around me and rubs his palm on his robe. "No one has ever attempted this before. But I think that, since it's possible f
or Arnelia to exist here, that it must work. We have to try."
"I agree. And then,” Isabel says, “I will visit the two of you in 1912 and we can stop the Titanic from sinking before any Timeless can find me and send me back to 1945. Then, the two of you will live happily ever after. And hopefully, so will I with my mother and sister." There's a dark undertone in her voice. “I won’t go back to my father after I remember all of this. I will take my family and get them away from him. I never plan to speak to him again.”
I don’t know what to say. I can’t imagine how it feels to find out that not one, but two people you once loved are monsters. Isabel’s own father, and then Frank. I’m beginning to understand why Frank’s actions hurt her so deeply.
“When are we going to do this?” I ask after a long, dragged out silence.
Oh.
Nancy and Monica.
My heart sinks. If we do this, I’m going to have to say goodbye.
I breathe out and my happiness bursts.
“Julia?” Simon asks. Even Isabel looks at me.
“I don’t want to leave Nancy or Monica.”
Simon blinks and glances at the floor. “Oh. I forgot. I know how much you care for them.” He shifts in his chair and pulls me close to him. “What do you want to do?”
“Well, we can’t make Arnelia blink back out of existence, can we? Or the generations of people between us and her.”
“You’re right. We can’t. And I don’t want to.”
“I like Arnelia,” Isabel says. “And without her, we can't do this.”
“So it's done,” Simon says.
I open my mouth to say something, but I can't speak. Now that I've finally started to heal the growing distance between me and Monica, it's going to be like none of it ever happened all over again. Like I never even existed to her. Who will Monica have to talk to after school? Who will go the Branch with her? Not Shauna, who went off with her boyfriend and stopped talking to everyone else. And Nancy. I'm going to leave an empty spot at her table, a chair that collects dust. A space on the couch during all those movie nights. A bare room. Maybe, at least, she can foster another girl.