Alt.History 102 (The Future Chronicles)

by Samuel Peralta

  "Busy?" He interjected. He waved three letters in front of me; none of the envelopes were opened. "I swear if it wasn't for the fact I cared about you so much I think life would be more comfortable if I forgot you existed." It wasn't the first time he had said those words to me, but this time I could hear the hurt in his voice.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, frustrated at my lack of social etiquette.

  He stood stoically, hands in the pockets of his white linen suit as he fidgeted with something he didn't want to reveal just yet. His mustache dropped over his lips, matching the tirade of unkempt hair, but freaks like us never bothered with hiding our quirks. I eyed Alokin as the thought of being the same kind of freak crossed our collective mind.

  "After all this time I was hoping you had figured it out by now," he said. "Ever since Susy passed away I have been dreading the end of this life and passing into the hereafter. A parent should never have to endure the death of a child. If you could put that brilliant brain of yours into high gear, then perhaps I could skip the rigmarole of enduring such hardships and be able to relive my past immune from the depression I see myself slipping into." There were no words to describe his emotional state, but the quiver of his lips and the moist, redness of his eyes revealed everything I needed to know about the fragile person standing before me. The future was looking bleak for the older man and the past was the only place where he truly knew happiness.

  I hesitated to say anything, but it was my duty as his friend and collaborator to speak up. "Sam, we have no way of knowing if what you are asking is possible. I've laid the foundation for this kind of work throughout my entire adult life, yet I still don't feel any closer to the endgame than the day you approached me about your dear Susy.” My words stung; I could see it written on his face, my prose of disappointment washing over him.

  His lifted hand interrupted any further words I might have added. "I don't want to hear it, Nik," he said. "I don't mean to be rude, but my time is better served elsewhere, honoring my beloved. I know you are doing all you can, and the problems of an old, lonely man are only interfering with progress."

  I felt ashamed at the fact I was agreeing with his statement, he was indeed holding everything up, but I dared not speak it. This experiment was his idea and it was driving both of us to our graves, he more rapidly than I.

  "If you need anything..."

  "Yeah," he said, waving the unopened letters before placing them back on the table. "I know." His bushy eyebrows revealed more about the sardonically charged statement than anything else.

  I stood still as Sam walked past me, leaving me to my work, but as he left it felt as if the air had been sucked out of the room. I moved over to the table and opened the most recent letter he had written to me. Within the first few lines the reason for his visit became clear. Another of his loved ones had passed, this time it was Olivia, his wife.

  MAY 1905

  "Eight months and not a single semi-successful attempt!" I tossed my pen and paper across the room, the fluttering of pages passing harmlessly through the figment of my imagination. I could hardly call her a friend now, if truly, I ever really could. The truth was she was grating on my last nerve with her incessant questions and suggestions. I was a man who preferred working alone. Despite what outsiders saw in the room when they looked at me, I was far from alone.

  "Yet," she suggested with a smile, but it was a condescending one and I knew it. I shared the same brain patterns.

  "Is it really necessary for you to kick me when I'm down?" I asked. "One would assume it was a form of sadism."

  I reached down to pick up my scattered scribbling. The last year's worth of notes provided no inspiration for solving my power issues. Maybe if I still worked for Edison and had the resources at his disposal then I could gain new ground, but I would never go crawling back to that egotistical quack.

  "I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to help." Her eyes betrayed her well-intending words. This was our life now, locked in a stalemate of mutual compliance and passive-aggressive rumination.

  "Don’t trouble yourself," I said, dismissing the conflict altogether. I had more important things to burn energy on than arguing with, essentially, myself. My mind drifted to my college years and when I first experienced her voice. I was overworked and undercompensated, not to mention the fact my father showed little-to-no interest in my academic success. It wasn't long before her voice was as dominate as my own and I cracked under the pressure of it all. I quit school before completing my studies and joined the military. That did little to set things right.

  "Why are your memories of me always so dark?" Alokin's voice was more melancholy than anything else.

  "Why do you exist merely to make me feel so divided?" I retorted.

  She closed her eyes and stood to leave. Every time she was emotional it was harder to see her as she seemingly blinked in and out of existence. If she could touch matter, then I suspected she might slam the door as she found her way into the bedroom. Instead, she sulked quietly, leaving me in peace.

  Finally alone, I returned my thoughts to my work, but those thoughts quickly drifted to the last letter I received from Sam. His heart and mind were as fractured as they had ever been. My heart went out to him, and my work was more for him than anyone else. My own familial losses were pale compared to his, but that was just my opinion. I chose not to talk about my own, but Sam often wore his heart on his sleeve.

  I tossed my notes to the hardwood floor and grabbed a fresh pad of paper. It was through a stream of consciousness I committed my thoughts to paper.

  "Dear Samuel,

  "It is with the knowledge of how much you love to teach others that I can only make one suggestion to stave off the torrents of pain you are enduring. You feel lost and alone, but remember the joy you experienced when your own daughters were children. Perhaps, if inclined to make a positive change in the lives of those less fortunate, you too can find happiness in the distractions of good deeds. You have my word I will continue on the path you've directed, but in the meantime, let your mind wander elsewhere. If all goes according to plan, then the past will return to you old friend.

  "Nikola".

  I folded the letter and placed it snugly into my last envelope, placing it back on the table for my next outing.

  "That was beautiful," Alokin said, walking in from the bedroom. Her smile had returned and my stress and anger had faded. I smiled as she appeared to sit across from me, but we both knew she wasn't really there. Even still, it felt good not to be alone.

  JUNE 1908

  A blue swarm of light twisted in a funnel-shaped cloud before my eyes. The edge of the light seemed to want to pull me in. I resisted even though I felt a nudging desire to see what would happen if I gave into the torrent. Then it was gone. In the blink of an eye I watched my invention die, teetering out in another explosion of blown fuses and charred cables. I would cry if it weren't so shamefully hilarious. Maybe it was just funny because accepting my failures at face value wasn't something I was comfortable doing.

  "You know there's a way to bypass those pesky fuses," Alokin said, she appeared to be leaning against the wall across from me, her face slightly soiled from the smoke wafting towards her. She knew as well as I that bypassing anything would turn the lab into a smoldering pile of rubble. Maybe that was what she wanted.

  "You know there's medication I could take which would keep you caged in the recesses of my mind, don't you?" I retorted. Everything was experimental, but it was an interesting idea, medicating myself into being alone. After all, the whiskey did little to make my mind shut up when I wasn't working.

  "You would never," she snapped. It was fun to get under her skin, or whatever it was that laced her together in my mind.

  I smiled, revealing nothing. "I wonder if I can create a power supply to transmit the voltages I need to sustain the device without the use of wires.”

  I asked no one in particular, but I knew she would answer.

  "I thought you abandoned the coil
patents when you thought I wasn't looking?"

  I couldn't help but laugh. When was she not looking? "I admit the idea was rather large and costly, but I never fully abandoned it. I simply shelved it until a good opportunity presented itself."

  I could hear her stifle her laughter with a gentle hand. "And now is that time? Are you certain?"

  I looked up at the behemoth I had created. Towers of steel loomed into a t-shaped tower. It was something I could work with. "I'm far from certain, Alokin, but you know I never give up."

  She appeared behind me, this time her face perfectly pristine. "You get that from me," she said.

  I couldn't hold back my smile. There was a lot of me that she took credit for, why should this have been any different? "That's funny; I don't recall your mentorship when I was growing up."

  A pout presented itself before her eyes gave away her playful act. "I assure you, sir, I was always there." The word "always" rang with a lingering hiss.

  I returned my attention to the device, no longer procrastinating with myself. No amount of banter could finish this god-forsaken project, and I had to see it through. I could almost taste how close I was to the final act, with charred ozone in the air around me coupled with the whiskey on my breath. I pulled the tin-can-sized fuse from the junction box and popped a replacement into the circuit. My muscles strained to snap it into place, but the heavy duty springs had proven themselves time and again against propelling blown circuitry towards my face like a bullet. Smart men learned from the mistakes of others; I rested easy at night considering myself to be one in such a league.

  "You're acting a bit hastily, don't you think? You haven't even isolated where the current is drawing. Do I need to clothe myself in coveralls to do this myself?" Alokin asked. Her snooty retort stung my ears. She hated being ignored, like most people, I imagined, but there was work to be done, and with God as my witness, I was going to finish this project, or die trying.

  APRIL 1910

  Dead? My dear friend, Samuel, was dead? I dropped the newspaper to the dusty, hardwood floor and fell back into the straight-back chair. Alokin appeared next to me, her makeup running down the side of her face from the tears I couldn't force myself to shed. When it came to expressing emotion, she did the lion's share of the work. I just sat there seething.

  "I should have finished already, yet here I sit, a failure at the last promise I made to my one, true friend.” I spat the words indignantly at her. Her lips pinched together to keep from retaliating at me. If anyone knew me, it was Alokin. I wasn't really angry with her, but myself. She simply made the easiest target in my complex world of mixed realities. "I'm sorry," I whispered, hating the sound of my own voice.

  "If the device works, then perhaps it is not too late," she said sullenly.

  She made a point, though I questioned any truth behind it. Life had an expiration date, and for Samuel it had passed.

  "What is the point if I can't take Sam back with me?" I asked, looking towards the window. She reappeared to face me.

  She knelt, looking desperately into my eyes. "Perhaps the gift to traverse time isn't supposed to be limited to just him," she said. "This is something that can change the world. Everyone will remember the man known as Mark Twain, but if this device functions correctly, then people will celebrate the name Nikola Tesla."

  I scoffed at her remark, "And what of his imaginary assistant, Alokin? What will they say of her?"

  She stood up, taking a step back from me as I poured whiskey down my gullet. The burn drew back a hiss as I cleared my throat and when I looked back at her she was gone. It seemed I had met my daily threshold to quiet my "silent partner".

  "Back to the drawing board," I said to the empty room as I stammered over to the device. It loomed forebodingly over me, but by God I would be its master. I knew that as much as I knew the sky was blue. That would have to be enough for now, at least.

  OCTOBER 1910

  "We are upon it!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The last time I powered the device had resulted in only a few blown fuses which turned out to be nothing more than a loose ground connection. That's what I got for working drunk.

  "Nikola, please don't scream, I'm hungover," Alokin said, feigning a headache. It was her way of getting back at me for drowning her out of my day-to-day routine. She resented me for self-medicating and not sharing my heartache with her. I couldn't blame her; it was probably lonely being trapped inside my head.

  "Just wait. If all goes according to plan, then we will have finally done it. I couldn't have done this without you," I jeered.

  Alokin rolled her eyes at me, "Just get on with it. This project has proven to be more exhausting than enduring our tenure with Edison.”

  I couldn't fight back smiling; those were indeed the worst of times. "Alright, here we go," I said, pulling the wrist-worn control from the table and strapping it firmly in place. The leather band had been stolen from a few cheap watches I had collected over time. The mix of brown and black leather strapping the brass control looked crude, but I was more concerned with functionality. I could always turn it into something more fashionable later.

  Alokin and I held our breath as I opened the control panel. Three simple knobs and a single switch were all that came between us and passing through a gate in time. I turned on the switch and winced as power coursed through the thick power cables. There was a hum which accompanied my hair standing on end, my body shaking as I turned the first knob. A small ball of blue light shone in the center of the device. It was pale, but visible, even with the sunlight peering in through the windows. A turn of the second knob made the ball of light grow larger, filling the dimensions of the device. The blue light grew brighter as well and I felt cold air lapping at my face.

  I paused for a moment before turning the final knob. Alokin looked over at me, her eyes bright and welcoming. With a nod of approval I tried to turn the knob. It stuck for a moment before I was able to forcibly move it. That was when something I never thought would happen revealed itself. The knob broke off in my hand, set at the highest setting. The gate began feeding on the atmosphere in the room and it was now self-perpetuating. I could no longer control it as I watched in horror as it spun out of control.

  Everything in the room rose off the ground as if the laws of physics no longer pertained to them. My feet dangled helplessly off the floor and I felt myself drifting closer to the gate. In my mind, this was supposed to be the moment I had been waiting for so many years. Instead, a scream pulled me from the momentous occasion.

  I looked over to see Alokin holding onto a steel support beam with only the tips of her fingers. She was closer to the event horizon than I was and the pull of the gate was much stronger there. I instinctively moved over to her, swimming through the air after kicking off from floating debris around me. I took grip of the support beam and grabbed her arm. It was the first time in all my life that I felt skin as our bodies touched. I felt my eyes widen, as did hers, and in that moment I lost my grip on her.

  She screamed as the device tugged her towards the gate. She found purchase by grabbing onto the control strapped to my arm. Though, it was all for naught as her weight and the pull of the gate were too much for the haphazardly constructed strapping. After only a few seconds the control was torn from my arm and I watched helplessly as Alokin was pulled into the blue light.

  With nothing between her and the gate, she sank deeper into the bright blue light. Taken into its wretched mouth, she disappeared from sight, and then the room grew dark. The gate was gone and her screams were enveloped into it and then I heard her no more.

  ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE, ANOTHER WORLD

  I pulled myself up from the ground and looked at the device in my hand, the straps torn away from where they once attached to the brass panel. It was nighttime here, wherever here was, and a crowd was beginning to form around me. I felt nervous, but surely no one could actually see me, I had to be invisible to everyone except Nikola, after all.

  One of t
he men moved down towards me from a grassy hill. He was wearing peculiar clothing, very shiny and sleek, very informal compared to the way I was used to seeing men attired. His hair was chin length and his cobalt blue eyes shone magnificently. They even seemed to shine directly at me.

  "Are you alright?" he asked, staring deeply into my eyes, wonder etched on his brow.

  I looked left and right for who he could possibly be speaking to. No one stood behind me.

  "Excuse me, but do you understand what I'm saying?" He asked.

  I could barely think to get the words out to respond to him. I must have sounded like a child as only a whisper escaped my lips. "Yes."

  A smile curled his lip and he extended his hand to me. "That was amazing, the light was so bright, and then you fell out of the sky like some kind of angelic being. My name is S'vern Loost, who might you be?"

  I timidly moved my hand into his, feeling the warmth of another human being for the first time, other than the brief moment my creator had tried to save me. He had failed, and now I was here, wondering if I should keep that truth to myself or not. Pulling myself back into the conversation, I smiled warmly and greeted the handsome man. "Hello, S'vern. My name is Alokin."

  With that small introduction and human contact, I knew for the first time that I was finally home, no longer captive in the imagination of a madman. I was now a person of my own accord. I was now a citizen of whatever this new world had to offer, and I noticed that my mind was also quiet.

  A Word from Drew Avera

  Drew Avera is a science fiction author from Virginia. Growing up with a love for comic books he knew at a young age he wanted to one day write a book. That first book was finally born in 2012 after several failed attempts and false starts at writing. Now he has two dozen books and short stories published to date.