by Cam Rogers
Sofia turned in her seat, facing Jack, all business. “Working with Paul we conducted such … interactions … under much more contained conditions. You’re certain the subject is reliable?”
“Yeah.” Jack took off his coat, laid it across the back of a folding chair. He touched the bullet around his neck, out of habit. “I am. Did you take a reading on the M-J field?”
“I have.”
“And?”
“Where once we had two days to live we now have five years. The field has not been repaired, but integrity has been restored and the rate of degradation slowed.”
“Paul was right then. The end of time hits in five years.”
“We were both correct. Your actions simply bought us more time. Let me point out, yet again, that this only further proves that past events cannot be changed.”
“But you’re helping me do this anyway, right?”
“If past events are immutable, which they are, the only thing that could be lost in this undertaking is your life. Also…” she admitted, “I would like very much to see him again. Even in his current state.”
“So this is it?” Nick sat forward. “I get to see this thing? Pisser.”
Jack stood before the squared-off space. “Okay. Do it.”
Sofia dialed the output of the chronon batteries, popped the idiot shield from the activation switch, and then flipped it.
The space within the pylons hummed, inverted, then popped. Distortion waves pulsed off. The squared-off space held a neatly contained stutter.
Jack waited. “Come on,” he muttered. “You’re four-dimensional. You know you’re supposed to be here.”
Then, just like that, a six-foot fractal humanoid inhabited the space.
“Fuck me!”
“Nick!” Sofia snapped.
“Sorry.”
The Shifter remained still, surveying Jack, outline flickering only slightly, then it raised its shining palm. Jack did the same. It was good to see him.
“Hey, Paul,” he said. “You ready to do the impossible?”
One night in the recent past.
Will took his brother by the arm. “You have to let her go. We have a universe to consider. The dead, the living, and the yet-to-be-born.”
Jack nodded, couldn’t open his mouth to say a single word. He just leaned into Beth, and held her as best he could. Just for a moment.
He whispered something he wished she could hear, but knew she never would.
He whispered, “I’ll come back for you.”
ALSO BY CAM ROGERS
The Music of Razors (as Cameron Rogers)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Sam Lake, Mikko Rautalahti, Tyler Smith, and everyone I worked with in my three years at Remedy. Ad astra.
Dmetri Kakmi, for his friendship and peerless editorial assistance. His acclaimed novel, Mother Land, is well worth your time. I urge you to pick it up.
Syksy Räsänen, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and activist, with whom we consulted in developing the science for time travel in Quantum Break. His advice was crucial to the design of the machine and to several of its governing principles.
Nikaya Lewis, for architectural advice.
Ian Robertson for his friendship and military expertise.
The author C. R. Jahn for his encyclopedic knowledge of firearms and explosives. I recommend that you check out his horror novel, The Outrider, available on Amazon.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cam Rogers is a novelist, game writer, travel journalist, and photographer. He is the author of The Music of Razors (Ballantine Books, as Cameron Rogers) and Nicholas and the Chronoporter (Penguin Australia, as Rowley Monkfish). His articles and photographs have appeared in The Age and a magazine or two.
Born in Cairns, Australia, he lives in Helsinki, Finland. In addition to his own work, he is employed as a writer at Remedy Entertainment (Max Payne, Alan Wake). Their current project is Quantum Break for Xbox One. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Foreword
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Also by Cam Rogers
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
QUANTUM BREAK: ZERO STATE
Copyright © 2016 by Microsoft Corporation
All rights reserved.
Cover art by BLT Communications
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
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New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-7653-9159-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-7653-9160-5 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-0-7653-9161-2 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9780765391612
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
First Edition: April 2016