by Adair Hart
“You sure didn’t help the situation by putting us down there!” said Dr. Snowden.
Billozein laughed. “Doesn’t matter. You’ve forced my hand. I have to leave now, thanks to you. Your AI friend has spread his vengeance to the other habitats. Unfortunately, your ship isn’t going anywhere. Once this station blows in thirty seconds, you’re going with it. A shame. I was really looking forward to checking out your ship.”
“We will meet again,” said Evaran.
Billozein’s projection looked off to the side for a moment, then back at them. “I don’t think so, but I have to—” His projection faded.
Dr. Snowden gulped. “How are we getting out of this one?”
Evaran raised his finger. “Even if the station explodes, it will not breach the Torvatta’s shielding.”
“But all those innocents … they’re going to die due to me! There has to be something we can do.”
“I am afraid not,” said Evaran. “I cannot defuse this station in under thirty seconds. The detonation mechanism is protected.”
“So we’re going to let everyone die?”
Evaran looked down.
Dr. Snowden put his head in his hands. It was not lost on him that Evaran had made a similar decision when he rescued him, Emily, and the others during their abduction. Almost everything on that ship died. Even someone Evaran had said he would protect. Dr. Snowden exhaled sharply from his mouth.
“After the explosion, we will head to Corunus.”
When the station exploded, the Torvatta was ejected into space. The Torvatta flew in an organized manner until it was far away enough to open a portal. Once it did, it entered and appeared outside Corunus.
“I need to check on V,” said Evaran.
Dr. Snowden looked out at the sun. He could not see the explosion of the habitat and figured it would probably take eight to ten minutes for it to reach where they were anyways, if he could see it at all. He swallowed hard. One bad decision and a failed promise and the monumental amount of damage it caused reverberated through his mind. Guilt ate at him as he tried to normalize his breathing. How could Evaran be so calm through this? Even going to the state of heightened focus was not helping. He had messed up, and others paid the price.
Dr. Snowden had meandered down to the medical lab, where everyone else had assembled. His nanobots had dropped to normal levels, and the enormity of Naomi’s death and those who died due to Sap began to dawn on him. With an upset stomach, he approached a table and stared at V’s cracked orb.
There was another orb on the table that piqued his curiosity. It seemed to be a bit bigger, and the crisscross indented blue lines were gone. In its place was a smaller indented line near the top. Four circular ports with raised edges appeared on the body, two on the bottom and one on each side. An elliptical indent had two smaller circular extensions that sat in the middle.
Evaran pointed at the new orb. “This is V’s new external container orb. I had been working on it for a while and meant to move V into it after all of this.”
Dr. Snowden sighed. “I’m glad he’s okay.”
“He is. That creature lacked sufficient strength to break the inner shell.”
“So how’s this one different than his old one?”
Evaran raised a finger. “A good question. This orb has four arms that can be extended, instead of one, outside the ports. There are also five claw extensions at the end of each arm, and they can rotate as needed. The orb also has the ability to shoot stun and repulsion beams, although not quite as powerful as your PSDs. I have also strengthened the outer container.”
“It does look sturdier,” said Dr. Snowden.
“Not only that, but I have also added shielding.”
Dr. Snowden jerked his head back. “Lot of defensive adjustments.”
Evaran looked away for a moment. “After U4 … I realized that some changes needed to be made. V’s original orb was an upgrade, as was his second one, but it appears it was not enough. I underestimated the situations we would be in.”
Dr. Snowden remembered that U4 was V’s predecessor. Although she had died, her data was carried over to V, who overlaid his own personality matrix. From talking with V, Evaran had taken U4’s loss hard.
“V will be fully connected to his new shell by tomorrow morning,” said Evaran. “Until then, let us break for the day. We are in stealth mode, and it is almost six p.m. Earth time. We can reconvene—”
A low thumping sound echoed out.
Dr. Snowden thought it sounded a bit like a bell inside the Torvatta.
Jane hunched her shoulders and looked around. “What is that?”
“Uh-oh … it’s a timeline update, I think. I’ve heard the thumping before, but sounds different inside,” said Dr. Snowden.
Evaran nodded. “The thumping can be heard on the roof. What you’re hearing is the internal sound effect.”
“And that indicates what exactly?” asked Jane with widened eyes.
Evaran eyed Jane for a moment and then gestured toward the room exit. “Let us head to the conference room. It may be better to explain there.”
They assembled in the conference room as the sound dissipated. Evaran sat at the head of the table, with Dr. Snowden and Emily to his left and Jane to his right. He tapped at the table console. A projection shot up of a blue line with a red dot in the middle. He pointed at the line. “Imagine this is the timeline.” He looked at Jane. “The red dot is you.”
“Okay …”
The projection changed to show a green section of the blue line with the red dot inside it.
Evaran gestured at the green area. “If something in the past changes, as indicated by the green area, then a new timeline is temporarily created.”
The projection changed to show a parallel blue line with a red dot on it and a line between both lines.
“The original timeline gets updated by this temporary timeline once the timeline changes have been rendered.”
The projection showed the second blue line float over and line up with the first blue line. The green area faded away. A red dot still hung off to the side, with no lines.
“Typically, the red dot, you, would have merged back with the timeline,” said Evaran. “However, you are in the Torvatta. This means you are temporally shielded. So the new timeline has a version of you, while the old timeline you still exists.”
“You mean … there’s another me here?” asked Jane.
“Yes. There are probably other changes, and we will need to determine what they are. I suspect Billozein is behind this.”
“Everything I know, or knew, is now gone?” asked Jane with a raised voice.
Evaran extended a hand. “Yes. I am sorry. I did not know this would occur.”
Jane sighed as she looked down.
“At this point, I would suggest you stay here until whatever Billozein is doing is stopped.”
Jane looked back up with a grimace. “I guess I have no choice. Answer me this, though. Could … Chris still be alive?”
“It is possible.”
Jane stood up. “Let’s go find out! What are we waiting for?”
Evaran motioned at Jane. “This has been a rough day. Perhaps we can visit Corunus in the morning and learn about what is different.”
Jane glanced at Dr. Snowden, then at Evaran. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s a bit to take in is all.”
“Understandable. If Chris is alive, there is also the possibility that the new timeline version of you is with him.”
Jane gulped. “I thought about that. Still, I could be dead and he’s alive. This is a lot to take in and process. Not sure I fully understand yet, but before I forget, you said something about Billozein’s progeny …”
“I did,” said Evaran. He tapped at the table console.
A projection shot up of a human.
“Emily and I found a research lab where Billozein was creating something that uses a human body.” He slid his hand across the table console.
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nbsp; The white creature that wrapped around the spinal cord and brain separated out.
“This creature attaches to the spinal cord and takes over the central nervous system,” said Evaran. “It also covers the brain and alters it significantly. It is born from something Billozein injects into the body. The host body’s DNA is changed, and he controls it with a control communication receptor in the brain.”
Jane’s eyes widened. “V showed us a similar projection. So Chris … was one of these … things?”
Evaran pursed his lips and glanced at Jane. “Yes, and under the control of Billozein. From what I studied, there is a basic level of programming that the controlled creatures follow. In that regard, they are merely worker drones. However, Billozein can send out commands as needed. I am sad to report that nothing of the host remains from a personality perspective.”
Jane took a deep breath as she looked up and away.
Evaran wrinkled his eyebrows. “It appears Billozein was replacing the stations in the Dyson bubble with them. He also had pure progeny with no control receptors. I am guessing he put one on each station to carry out his goal. Those that were defective were put into the testing level. The defective ones were those he could not control or the cases where DNA manipulation did not go as planned. With control of the Dyson bubble, he would have technology and an army that would be quite disruptive. I do not think it is coincidence that the Torvatta brought us to a time before Billozein could complete his takeover.”
Jane grimaced. “Yeah, Dr. Snowden mentioned that too. I guess maybe there is a chance this didn’t occur in this new timeline?”
“It is possible. Okay, let us break for the day. It is dinnertime anyways. We can meet in the command area tomorrow at nine a.m. I am going to check on V and will be there if needed.”
Dr. Snowden stood. “I’ll be on the roof for a bit. I’m not really hungry.”
Emily rose alongside Dr. Snowden and squeezed his shoulder. “I’m here if you need me.”
Dr. Snowden softly tapped Emily’s hand. “I know. I need to gather my thoughts.”
“I’ll be in my room,” said Emily as she left.
Jane looked at Dr. Snowden. “I know you might want to be alone, but I could use some company. I’m … I …”
“C’mon,” said Dr. Snowden. He exited the room and headed to the roof. When he got there, he walked over to the waist-high semitransparent light-blue guardrail and leaned against it.
Jane joined him on his right. “Rough and confusing day.”
“Yeah.”
“Back there … Naomi wasn’t your fault. She ran into the hallway before we knew what she was doing.”
Dr. Snowden’s eyes watered. “It was my decision to help Sap, and I let loose a psychotic AI that went on a killing spree. I thought he was tied to his head. There was so much death. And I was the cause.”
Jane put a hand on Dr. Snowden’s shoulder. “No. It was our decision, so I share blame in that as well. However, with this new timeline, that wouldn’t have happened, right?”
“Right. I keep thinking we could have waited until Evaran opened the door. I wanted to help someone, and it turns out to be mayhem. Then I hear Billozein tried to kill Emily. Traveling with Evaran is dangerous to my health.”
“You ever thought about not traveling with him?”
“I have … but Emily feels safe on the Torvatta. She doesn’t want to leave, and I won’t leave her.”
“That’s because you’re a great person.”
Dr. Snowden sniffled. “Thanks. I think back to all the craziness I’ve seen since that fateful day we were abducted. I’m amazed I’m still alive, to be honest. I thought it was going to be observation mainly, but it has been anything but that.”
“I understand. At least you get to meet interesting people.”
Dr. Snowden shrugged.
“Hey!”
Dr. Snowden’s eyes widened. “Oh … uh … I didn’t mean you aren’t an interesting person.”
“You better not,” said Jane.
Dr. Snowden wiped his eyes and chuckled. “What about you? Here I am talking about myself, and everything you knew is changed or gone. This timeline change must concern you.”
“I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what to make of it. I’m having a hard time believing it. I feel like I can contact Andrew and give him an update.”
“That’s understandable. What will you do if you and Chris are together in this timeline?”
Jane shook her head. “I don’t know. I mean … where would I go? Maybe the United Planets would accept me on Evaran’s recommendation, but it would be weird to know I have a duplicate running around.”
“Emily had a duplicate, and it worked out,” said Dr. Snowden. “Of course … you could always travel with us.”
Jane glanced at Dr. Snowden, then back out into space, then back at him. “You think Evaran would allow that?”
“Maybe. I dunno. You’ve had a taste of what it’s like. There are ups and downs, but you’ll see things and go places that would normally be impossible to travel to.”
Jane rubbed her hands together in a circular fashion. “Well, I’ll keep it in mind. Who knows what will happen tomorrow. This new timeline means the Andrew I knew, and everything, for that matter, is … different. I don’t think it’s registered for me yet. It still bothers me what Billozein did to Chris, even if it never occurred in this timeline.”
Dr. Snowden stood back and extended his arm.
Jane stepped in and laid her head on the right side of Dr. Snowden’s chest.
“Whatever happens, we’ll face it together,” said Dr. Snowden.
Jane trembled as a tear ran down her cheek. In a weak voice, she said, “Thanks.”
Dr. Snowden stared out at Corunus. He had no idea what they would face. Although his decisions were erased by the timeline change, the guilt of so much death haunted him. What if he made another bad decision under pressure? At least Jane was with them. She calmed him down and was a perfect match to his personality. The warmth of her under his arm made a swarm of heat rush through him. He wondered if this would go anywhere, and if Jane traveled with them, there was always that possibility.
Jane rested her left arm around his back and onto his hip.
A jolt of electricity shot through Dr. Snowden. Jane was going to have to deal with a new situation that was out of her control. As bad as he felt for her and his decision making, it felt right to be with her in the moment.
Jane lay in bed, staring at the featureless ceiling. She yawned as she got up. A peaceful night hanging out with Dr. Snowden on the roof had calmed her down, but the fear of what had happened was ever present. The timeline had changed, and she did not change with it. She now existed as something outside the old timeline. Everything she had ever known was gone, and it happened so fast. It took several hours for the magnitude of that event to dawn on her. Her life was forever changed. When it had finally registered last night, she at least had Dr. Snowden around to provide support.
There was the other side too. Since this was a new timeline, things might be different. Maybe Chris was alive, and her other self was dead. She grimaced at the thought of wishing this timeline version of her dead. With a sigh, she headed to get cleaned up.
After getting her suit on, she went to the holo room. She chuckled as she entered and saw Emily busy fighting what looked to be robots.
Emily paused the simulation. With a wipe of her brow, she said, “Hey.”
Jane joined Emily in the center of the room.
“Are you okay?” asked Emily.
“I’m okay. This is all … sorta out there,” said Jane. “I still haven’t fully wrapped my head around it.”
“I hear ya,” said Emily. “If you ever want to talk about it, Uncle Albert and I are always here. We know a thing or two about weirdness.”
Jane looked down for a moment, then focused her gaze on Emily. “I spent a good amount of time with your uncle last night. He’s hurting.”
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p; Emily sighed. “I know. I’ve learned not to talk to him when he’s down unless he asks me to. He likes his private space. He probably thinks he made a bad decision that ended with deaths.”
“You know your uncle well.”
“He’ll rationalize it over time.”
“We also talked about what happens to me now. He even suggested maybe … I travel with your group since I’m now a time refugee.”
Emily grinned. “Time refugee. I like that. No problem here. It’s ultimately Evaran’s call, but you might find that knowing your duplicate has its own rewards.”
“Like your nanobot duplicate?”
“Yeah. I really miss her. I realize that when I do, I’m actually missing what I was. It puts things into perspective.”
Jane tapped her lips with a finger. “I never really thought about it like that. Maybe I went down another path in this timeline.”
“It’s possible. You ready for a workout?”
Jane smiled. “Bring it on.”
For the next hour, they fought a horde of robots modeled after the ones found on the space habitat.
Jane enjoyed the morning training. It allowed her to work out the stress that seemed to tie her up. She had a routine back in Da Nesh, but it was not nearly as complex as these were. Emily impressed her. She would have been a great United Planets agent. Jane could see that although Emily said she was over her prison planet experience, there were traces of it that still haunted her. It really stuck out when Emily would take down a group of enemies and shout at them. Almost seemed like the morning exercises were a form of therapy for her.
After the workout, Jane went back to her room to get cleaned up. Thoughts about the next steps floated around in her mind. If she had to stay on the Torvatta, it would be a good place to be. She had gotten used to the advanced technology her living quarters provided. The one aspect that surprised her was that she could change the configuration and layout. It was almost like the room was a mini holo room. After showering and getting dressed, she headed to the conference room.