"If I end it, I'll be trapped," Wyatt said.
"You're connected to it," Brooke said. "You can't kill him. I don't want to lose you that way."
"Don't. Wyatt," Lenny said. "There are other ways to break him free."
"You said you would fix this mess," Gene said. "Don't ruin it after all you have done."
"He's already got other versions of himself out there," Brooke said, stepping closer to Wyatt. "Maybe leaving him trapped is the best way." Her words shocked him.
I'm sorry," Wyatt said to Jarod. He spared a glance over his shoulder toward Lenny's voice and saw Lenny standing there with the two versions of Aldan. Avery and Jeremy stood on his other side with Gene behind them. "This would be easier if you hadn't sent me to the future." He said the last after turning back to Jarod.
"End it here, now," Jarod said.
"Listen to Lenny," the older Aldan said. His voice had aged and sounded harsher than his younger version. "He's stuck in a loop. Maybe he only exists there. He may not be real anymore."
"I'm real," Jarod said. "I feel this pain every time." He held his ribs. "It grows worse each time."
"If we leave you there, maybe it will kill you," the older Aldan said.
"Would it ruin you?" Hannah asked.
"I can't kill you," Wyatt said over Hannah's words. He tried to keep his anger going, but in the back of his mind, he knew he wasn't a murderer. Killing Jarod would ruin his timeline also. Too much had happened already with his experiences in the business park.
"We're here to stop you," Avery and Jeremy said. "Don't send him back."
"If I don't send him back, it will ruin me," Wyatt said as the older Aldan moved closer with Avery.
"Put the gun down, Wyatt," Lenny said. He stepped between Wyatt and Jarod. "Death won't end it."
Feeling his anger shifting to frustration and despair, Wyatt backed away from Jarod a few steps. Avery's hand rested on his shoulder. "It's okay," she said.
"I'm sorry," Linda said from under Hannah, but it was unclear to Wyatt whether she said that to Jarod or the others.
The older Aldan reached around and took the gun from Wyatt's right hand. Wyatt let him take the gun.
The older Aldan leaned in close. "Lenny's right. This may not fix it. Too many paradoxes. Fixing one, may cause others."
"We can't kill him," Avery said, dropping her hand from Wyatt's shoulder and backing away. "That would ruin everything."
"You have to end this," Jarod shouted. The desperation in his voice stung.
Wyatt backed away from the older Aldan and Lenny. He looked directly toward Jarod. "I can't. Don't you see. If I did that I would never be here." He felt the pressure of Jarod's time travel device in his front pocket, and his mind replayed the events in the future. Stopping Jarod from coming back from 2123 was not something he could do. That fight had already happened. But on the other hand, failing to send Jarod back to the future might ruin Wyatt's existence. He fished Jarod's device out of his pocket.
If he sent Jarod to the future without a device, he would trap himself in the future. He hoped that thinking through it would make his mind ache and signal, through the resonance, that the changes would happen.
He felt nothing. Jarod's loop would continue, and he didn't know how. Being stuck in the future would be better than knowing he had condemned this Jarod to a time loop, wouldn't it?"
"Take this. I think you'll need it." Brooke pressed something into his hand. She stepped away from Wyatt as he noticed she had given him his wrist terminal. It looked to be the one the two large men had taken.
"It won't help," Wyatt told Brooke.
"No more time travel," Linda shouted from under Hannah.
"Be quiet," Hannah said as the younger Aldan came to her side and helped her lift Linda to her feet.
Wyatt looked from Linda to Jarod and realized this might be the moment they traveled to the future. But neither of them seemed to have a device. The device Wyatt held showed the last two times. He couldn't find the location codes, but one of the times showed December 2, 2123. That was the day where Linda and Jarod had arrived in future Jarod's house.
How many more memories would he create for himself by sending this Jarod to that future without a device? He wished he already felt some of the effects of the resonance, but he didn't. His memories were still intact.
Wyatt scanned the faces of the younger Aldan, Jeremy, Avery, and finally Brooke. Their expressions were worried, but that younger Aldan looked confident. Lenny's eyes met Wyatt's and he nodded almost imperceptibly once. In that moment, he realized where the others had come from.
They were the group Lenny had aroused in the dormitory on April 5, 2090, around 1:00 am. He wanted to ask why they had come, but it seemed obvious.
"Don't send me back," Jarod said, his eyes staring at each of them. His pleading brought Wyatt's attention back to him. "Just kill me."
"Quiet," Lenny said. "We won't be killing you."
Wyatt wished he felt the same. Anxiety flooded him as he tried to decide what he would do. None of the others knew what he had experienced.
He glanced toward the gun in the older Aldan's hand. The older Aldan glanced back at him, giving him a frown, and a shake of his head as he pulled the revolver in close.
"We can't," Wyatt said.
"That's the only way to end this," Jarod said, looking directly at Wyatt.
"I told you there were paradoxes," the older Aldan said moving closer to Wyatt. "That's why I stepped away from all this."
Lenny looked from Jarod to Wyatt. Worry creased his eyebrows. "I don't think we can solve any of this," he said.
Wyatt glanced from Lenny's worried expression to the older Aldan then back to Jarod. If he didn't send Jarod forward to 2123, too much would change. It might destroy all of Wyatt's memories.
He wondered if he could break the cycle without ruining what he had already experienced. The only thing he knew for sure was that he couldn’t kill Jarod or allow any of the others to kill him. He faced Lenny, stepping a little closer.
"What does the Machina say about this?" Wyatt asked, challenging Lenny. "If it has all the answers, what does it say we should do?"
Lenny shrugged and shook his head. "It told us to be here. But beyond that, nothing."
"What?" Avery asked from behind Lenny. "How can it not provide any details?"
"What happened to you?" Brooke asked Wyatt as she stepped around Lenny to stand near Wyatt again.
Wyatt looked at Jarod. "He sent me to the 2123, trying to trap me there. It worked until he"—he pointed at Jarod—"arrived."
Jarod held his left arm against his injured ribs and his eyes narrowed.
"If you send me back," Jarod began, "the loop just continues. I arrive, we fight, you bring me back, and then send me there again. I'm better off dead."
Wyatt shook his head and looked at the older Aldan for a moment. "I can stop it," he said. "Maybe." Looking at Lenny, he added. "The Machina sent you here, but do you think it didn't provide more details, because it wasn't something you could do?"
The older Aldan let out a sigh as Wyatt looked back at him. "No matter what you do, it will never be fixed," he said. "These changes are dangerous."
"He could be right," Lenny said.
"Step back from Jarod," Wyatt told Lenny. "And let me work this out."
"What will you do?" Jarod asked, fear draining the color from his face. "Don't do it again."
"What are you doing?" Avery asked, stepping around Wyatt's left side. She looked at Wyatt and balled her fists. Something in the way Lenny looked toward her stopped her approach.
"Don't be stupid," Hannah said.
Wyatt looked toward the younger Aldan and Hannah, who held Linda. He looked toward the older Aldan who still held the revolver, then down at Jarod's device. It would be so easy to activate a portal and be done with Jarod.
"Do it," Linda said, her eyes tracing where he had looked. "I can save him."
"What are you talking about?" Jarod a
sked, raising his voice. "Don't mess this up. I don't have my device. I don't have the gun. You've tried too many times already. It won't work."
"Step back and let Linda go," Wyatt said, raising Jarod's device.
"Don't do this," Jarod said.
"I don't think you can break the paradox," the older Aldan said, stepping closer to Wyatt.
Wyatt turned toward him, transferred Jarod's device to his left hand, and sighed. He needed to send Jarod and Linda back to the future, but without a device. To make sure it worked, he had to prevent them from getting the revolver also. He reached for the gun the older Aldan held. "Give me that."
"What are you doing?" Linda said, nodding as if it started to make sense.
"You can't break a causal loop," Lenny said. "It should never have existed. It's illogical."
"How do you know I can't?" Wyatt asked. He hoped it would work. "I've already changed so much of my past. This is the same thing."
"This isn't like you going back to drive the car that runs you down," Avery said. "It's not the same."
"Careful," Jeremy said, but he seemed to take a cue from the younger Aldan and stayed back.
"It's your past, and our future," Lenny said. "You can't afford to do this."
The older Aldan took a step closer and passed the revolver to Wyatt. Wyatt took it and activated the portal from Jarod's device with his left hand. The dizziness increased as the resonance filled the area.
Wyatt's head ached as he turned on Jarod, pointing the gun. "Go."
"No," Jarod said, as Hannah and the younger Aldan stepped back from where they had held Linda.
"This could work," Linda told Jarod. "Take this chance."
As Jarod looked at the portal torn through the reality beside him, Wyatt's head filled with pain. His memories clouded. He struggled to hold the revolver aimed at Jarod. "Step through." He said as the frigid air emanated from the portal.
"I won't step through it. You're going to have to kill me," Jarod said. His words prompted the older Aldan to action. He tore Jarod's device out of Wyatt's hand and barreled into Jarod, both vanished through the portal.
With a scream, Linda jumped through the portal just before it closed.
Wyatt's vision clouded, his head felt like it would burst, and he fell to the ground, clutching the revolver. His knees impacted the cold concrete, and he smelled the ozone and mildew and sweat that filled that area of the warehouse. It was like his mind exploded with the sensory inputs to stave off the painful tearing of his memories.
"Are you okay?" Brooke and Hannah asked at the same time.
He will be," the older Aldan said, but this time his voice came from a distance. "Stay down and let the memories settle. The resonance will fade."
"What have you done?" Lenny shouted.
"He broke the loop," Avery said, her voice almost laughing with excitement.
"It's over," the older Aldan said.
"How?" Lenny asked. "That shouldn't be possible."
"I'll never do that again," the older Aldan said. He shrugged and stopped several feet away on Wyatt's left.
"Did you kill them?" Wyatt asked, despair filling him. It took a moment for Wyatt to be able to open his eyes again. His memories felt like they were tearing him into pieces. His headache settled slightly as the memories resolved.
He remembered fighting with Jarod in the kitchen in 2123, but it had two endings in his memories. In one version, he traveled back with Jarod after taking Jarod's portal, but in the other, someone pulled him off Jarod and dragged him through the portal.
In one memory, Linda shouted for Jarod not to leave, and in the other, her shout seemed more excitement because Jarod had remained behind.
"Jarod and Linda are trapped in 2123," the older Aldan said. "And I'm done with all of this working for the Machina." He tossed Jarod's device across toward Wyatt. It clattered across the floor. As Wyatt reached for it, the resonance signaled a portal had opened.
"Wait," the younger Aldan and Avery said at the same time. The younger Avery nearly tripped over Wyatt as she ran toward the portal the older Aldan exited through. It closed before she got there.
The resonance faded and Wyatt stood with Jarod's device and the revolver.
"Give me that," Lenny said. "It should be destroyed." He reached for the revolver and Jarod's device.
"Is it over?" Brooke asked.
"I think so," Aldan said. "I never thought I would quit so suddenly. But at least I know I'm still alive out there."
"You were quite a bit older," Avery said.
Hannah and Gene stepped toward Wyatt.
Wyatt's mind was so full of memories of the same event, he couldn't focus on any one memory. He shook his head and handed Jarod's device and the revolver to Lenny.
CHAPTER forty-seven
NEAR WAREHOUSE ENTRANCE, R549PS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2039, 10:50 AM
"We need to get out of this pathway quickly," Lenny said as he motioned in the direction of their dormitory. "Let's not disrupt our past actions."
Jeremy grabbed Avery's hand. Aldan followed them. They didn't move fast but walked together into the aisle that would lead to their dormitory.
Brooke smiled at Wyatt, glanced toward Hannah and Gene, and turned away also. "I'll see you after," she said, motioning toward Hannah. Her smile faltered slightly as she rubbed her face again.
Gene collected Hannah, checking to see if she was okay. Without another word, they started moving away from the stacked pallets back toward where Wyatt had seen Hannah in one of his visits. Gene stopped, turned back to Wyatt, and stepped close. He pressed his copy of the small black notebook into Wyatt's hand and leaned in close.
"You'll need this in a moment," Gene said. Before Wyatt could respond, Gene turned and walked after Hannah. Wyatt placed the notebook in his front pocket, still feeling the presence of his other copy in his back right pocket.
He watched Gene walk away, and soon found himself alone with Lenny. Lenny motioned him to stop as they moved along the aisle.
"I'm sorry," Lenny said. "This has been a rough bunch of changes. And I don't think it will ever get back to what it was before. It may take days to remember exactly what happened this time."
"This is all messed up," Wyatt said. "Paradoxes upon paradoxes. But I think that older Aldan did stop the last one."
"I agree," Lenny said. He sighed and smiled. "Now, your actions made the messes. The Machina tasked the rest of us with making it right."
"Is that why Gene gave me this?" Wyatt asked, holding up the old black notebook.
Lenny nodded. "Hannah will need that." He shook his head and glanced after Hannah. "But she may not need you."
"It will never be right again," Wyatt said, forcing his voice calm as the resonance filled the area. "I don't think the Machina understands everything that happened." He held onto a nearby shelf waiting for the resonance to pass.
"For you, I guess it would seem that way," Lenny said, spreading his arms wide and glancing toward Wyatt. "I think it knows where Linda came from, even though we may not understand it. It seems"—he laughed lightly—"every action you made, to fix what Jarod did to fix a paradox, only created another loop."
"If he had simply stopped trying to change the past," Wyatt began, "it might not have been so bad."
Lenny laughed and shook his head. "Don't proceed with that train of thought. It won't help."
Wyatt looked back toward the large section of the aisle where they had been a moment earlier, because he didn't want to see the intensity in Lenny's eyes. It was 11:00 am. At some point, Hannah would take his wrist terminal and leave it for him. Part of him wanted to watch how that actually played out.
"Wait," Lenny said as Wyatt began walking away from Lenny.
"You left us alone to figure it out," Wyatt said. "Why would you do that?"
"Stop," Lenny said as he folded his arms. "You don't realize the damage you caused that I had to fix."
"Are you saying I messed up the past?" Wya
tt asked. "The resonance was everywhere. My past was being ripped apart." He pointed back into the large opening of the warehouse entrance area. "Do you know how many times I have come to that area and seen it different? Do you realize each of those times was within the same few hours?"
"How many ways do you remember the business park?" Lenny asked, lowering his hands and smiling. "They were all because of the loop you put Jarod in. Tossing his versions at random into various times made it rough. Do you think any of those memories will ever go away?"
"We tried to fix it," Wyatt began, "but even though we can't put it back the way it was, it's similar."
"But it will always be different," Lenny said. He let out a sigh and looked back at Wyatt. "When you last saw Jarod, did he have a time travel device?"
"Yes," Wyatt answered.
"And now he doesn't," Lenny said, pointing toward the device in his left hand.
"That was that older Aldan's doing?" Wyatt said.
Lenny nodded. "I'm preserving the past some of you have experienced in the same way. Now that Linda and Jarod are stranded in the future in the way the Machina indicated"—he held up his black tablet with his right hand—"we should be skipping past that nonsense."
Wyatt inhaled deeply, glancing away. He thought he saw his earlier version moving along the aisles on the other side of the open area. "I think you need to head over that way." He pointed toward the lone figure of his earlier version. "I saw you and the older Avery speaking."
Lenny smiled. "Yeah. The Machina has shown me that is what happens." He placed the tablet and Jarod's device in his pants pockets and rubbed his hands together. "Go. Get out there."
"I don't know when to go," Wyatt said. "Where are the others going?"
"You'll want to give it a day," Lenny said. "Let this craziness pass. Allow their memories to adjust. If you walk to the dormitory now, it would be April 11, 2090. I recommend setting your wrist terminal to head there tomorrow. April 12, 2090, probably around 8:00 am." He smiled and began to turn back in the direction where Wyatt had seen him speaking with the older Avery. "I promise to be there shortly after that."
Dissonance (The Machina of Time Book 2) Page 41