by Adam Oster
Then, starting off in the distance, but getting louder, I catch the sound of something I had never thought I would be hearing while hanging out in the Middle Ages. Elevator Music. An acoustic guitar, saxophone, and piano echo through the dank cavern as it slowly begins to look an awful lot like an airport terminal. The brown stone walls give way to white tiles. The LED displays turn to LCD screens showing images of locations all across space and time. London 2012, touting the Olympics as a great tourist destination, New York 1964 for the World’s Fair, Mars 3246 for the Miss Universe pageant, Germany 1014 for the coronation of Henry of Bavaria, and the list continues as we go deeper and deeper down into the earth.
“What is dis place?” Noll asks.
“You’ve got me,” I answer.
“Oooh,” Griff shouts as another screen passes us by, “the end of time! Can we go there, Chelle?”
“I have no clue, Griff.”
I look back at Tenney, who is holding onto the handrails for dear life. His eyes are closed tightly as he cowers in fear.
“You alright there, Tenney?”
“Is it done yet?”
“Doesn’t look like it,” Griff laughs. “Although, I think I see the escalator taper off back to a walkway down a few feet yet.”
He’s right, within a couple moments, the steps fold back into the ground and we are pulled forward by moving walkway once again.
“The maintenance on this walk has got to be atrocious,” Griff says as we continue forward. “It seems to go on for forever.”
“Maybe they don’t have much for maintenance needs in the future,” I offer.
“I thought we weren’t in the future.”
“I have no idea where we are,” I say fearfully.
Chapter 46
As we near the end of the moving walkway, more details come into view and I’m reminded more and more of an airport terminal with each one.
The most notable item is the impossible numbers of people moving through the open area ahead. Clothing from thousands of different eras can be seen on the constantly moving hordes of travelers. Well, I’m guessing they’re travelers. I suppose I still don’t know what this is. Togas, suits, army uniforms, tunics, and full body armor that I’m guessing comes from the future. People wearing t-shirts and jeans standing right next to folks wearing ratted animal skins.
“What is dis place?” Noll asks again.
“If I were to guess, I’d say this is a timeport,” Griff answers surprisingly matter-of-factly.
“A what?” Tenney asks, his voice still weak.
“A timeport, you know, like an airport, but with a plane that goes through time.”
“An airport?” Tenney asks.
“Seaport would have been a better metaphor, Griff,” I answer as I stare ahead.
“You mean to tell me that you believe this place has ships that can travel across time?”
“If I had to guess,” Griff answers. “However, why guess when we can just ask?”
The walkway comes to the end and we are brought to a stop in the middle of a great station. The ceiling stretches on high above us and is a gorgeous green, with arched windows leading to who knows where, considering our current location well beneath the earth’s surface. Great columns reach up from the ground, each one showcasing a different nation’s flag, or, if my memory of history serves, many are different versions of the same flags throughout time.
The green ceiling is what truly captures my attention, mostly because of how immediately familiar it is. Thousands of gold dots are scattered across it, a long line crossing throughout the image, and a series of animals and humans. I’ve seen this before.
“This isn’t an airport,” I exclaim without thinking.
“Do you like it?” Griff asks. “I designed it just for you. I knew how much you loved Grand Central Station.”
I look down in surprise and see Griff looking behind me, his eyes wide. I look behind me and see Griff, with a big grin on his face. I turn my head again to find wide-eyed Griff. Turn, smiley Griff.
“What the—“
“Sorry, Chelle, I didn’t mean to surprise you like this,” Smiley-Griff says.
“Watch out, Chelle,” Wide-Eyed Griff yells, “it’s Robo-Me!”
He runs deeper into the terminal, Tenney immediately on his heels. Noll stands firm by my side. I turn to stop Griff, believing I’ve finally figured this out. Smiley-Griff places a hand on my shoulder.
“Let him go. He’ll be back before long.”
“But he’s right, isn’t he?” I ask. “You are a robot, too?”
“Yes, I am.”
“The one the note was talking about when it said the robot’s on our side?”
“One in the same,” Robo-Griff smiles wider. “What do you think? Do you like it?”
“What is it?”
“The Time Terminal.”
“The what?”
“A transportation hub for those who choose to travel by the time conduits.”
“So, Real-Griff was right, dis is a timeport?” Noll asks.
“Yes, The Creator did have some trouble settling on a name for the place.”
“What did he end up naming it?”
“Chelle Station,” Robo-Griff says, his face taking on an odd look of fondness.
“Wait,” I say, “what do you mean creator? Are you saying that Griff made you?”
“The Creator made all of this.”
“But Griff?”
“Is The Creator, yes.”
“Don’t tell him that,” I urge.
“Don’t worry,” Robo-Griff replies knowingly.
“But, why? Why would Griff build such a place?”
“That, my dear, would take an awful long time to explain. Right now we have larger issues to deal with.”
“Like what?”
“Like the current battle you are fighting with the one who calls himself The Wizard.”
“He seems kinda small fish compared to all of this.”
“If only you were right,” Robo-Griff says. “His beginnings were simple, yes. So simple, in fact, that we had never considered him to be a true issue. However, his recent actions have begun to cause great rifts in the overall time purity.”
“Time purity?”
“The time stream determined to be Time Prime.”
“I fink you’ve lost me,” Noll says softly.
“Time is constantly moving, a lot like a stream. As long as everything moves in the same direction, the water continues forward without any turbulence. When items begin moving from one time period to another, the water gets to be a bit rougher, yet, ultimately, still headed along the same path. However, when people, such as The Wizard, begin to attempt to redirect the course of the river of time, that’s when we begin to get concerned.”
“Okay,” I allow. “So, what’s he doing? How is he redirecting time?”
“He keeps moving further and further back in time, making it so that at each point he arrives, he is seen as the promised leader for all time, the Messiah, so to speak. He’s creating his own religion by popping up throughout time and creating his own prophecy, the prophecy of him, the story that can only be related to him, so that when he finally reappears in his final destination, he’ll not just be the leader of the world, he’ll be its god.”
“Whoa,” I gasp. “That’s a pretty lofty goal.”
“Not just lofty, but dangerous. Throughout history, religion has been one of the main motivating factors for development. The pyramids, the Renaissance, the colonization of America, and almost every war throughout history would not have occurred were it not for the faith people had in their culture’s religion.”
“Well, would it be that bad if war hadn’t happened?”
“That’s difficult to say,” Robo-Griff answers. “The entire history of our world would be completely different without war, for better or worse. However, in a world where The Wizard is god, I would hazard to guess that it would be mostly for worse. Wars would still be
waged, just in the name of The Wizard, instead of Allah or Jesus or whatever. In the current path the time stream is headed, the world is directed toward an all out war between two extremists, those who follow The Wizard, and those who believe he needs to be destroyed. The final outcome of that would be mass annihilation.”
“That’s heavy,” I sigh.
“Very heavy,” Robo-Griff agrees.
“What do we do to stop it?” Noll asks.
“Stop The Wizard.”
“Stop The Wizard, save the world, huh?” I ask.
“Precisely.”
“Alright Robo-Me,” Original Recipe Griff says, reappearing from behind me. “Since you haven’t eaten Chelle yet, I’m going to go ahead and decide to trust that you aren’t going to eat me either.”
“Human flesh is unfit for android consumption,” Robo-Griff says flatly.
“Whatever. So, what is this place? What are we doing here? And more importantly, what are you doing here?”
“We just went over that, Griff,” I rebuke. “No time to sit around and hear it all over again.”
“On the contrary,” Robo-Griff begins, “the one thing we actually have plenty of, whilst within The Time Terminal, is time.”
“Shut up,” I whine. “I just don’t want to sit here and hear you go through it all again while Griff tries to catch up. It’s his own stupid fault for running off like a scared rat. He can play catchup while we head off on our adventure.”
“It’s okay,” Real-Griff says to Robo-Griff, “I don’t really like exposition anyways.”
Chapter 47
“So, what do we need to do?” Noll asks.
“I have been designed to not answer that question, noting that there are numerous methods in which to stop The Wizard. It is wished for you to determine your own path.”
“But I don’t even know what’s going on,” Griff whines.
“Not you,” Robo-Griff replies. “Chelle.”
“Perfect, so, the fate of the entire world lies on my shoulders, on my ability to make a decision.”
“Correction, miss,” Robo-Griff interjects. “The fate of all of time.”
“Even better.”
“Hey, can’t blame the robot for wanting to be accurate,” Griff grins.
“Where’s Tenney?” I ask.
“No clue. He ran on well ahead of me. I lost him in a crowd of centurions.”
I look to Robo-Griff, who responds before I even need to ask the question. “Do not be concerned, miss. Master Tenney will find his way home. Eventually.”
“Okay, so,” I say, clapping my hands and turning my attention to Griff and Noll, “we’ve got access to every point in history and a purpose to stop a mad man who is rampaging across time. Where do we even begin?”
“I thought you weren’t going to recap,” Griff frowns.
“Jeez, let a girl try to think things through without being snarky for once in your life. I guess the obvious answer would be to find The Wizard when he’s a baby and, well, you know, get rid of him.”
Noll nods appreciatively, while Griff makes a strained face.
“Yeah, I’m not too fond of killing babies either. We could go back to York at the time we first popped around and try to capture him there, bring him back here for imprisonment or something.”
“Only problem there, kid, is that we don’t even know if that’s the first point he pops up. Or do we?”
I look up at Robo-Griff, who merely shakes his head, stating, “I apologize, but I am able to offer no suggestions in this matter, or further information regarding the history of The Wizard.”
“Whoever designed you has got some real nerve,” Real Griff states.
I can’t help but giggle at that comment.
“What?” Griff asks me incredulously. “He does, doesn’t he? Or did I miss something?”
“You don’t even know the half of it,” I chuckle. “But fine, so we don’t know anything else for certain, other than the fact that The Wizard is everywhere.”
“And everywhen,” Noll helps.
“Right,” I agree, “everywhen. So what does that leave us with?”
Griff and Noll both scratch their chins as they consider the possible options available for us. I absentmindedly toy with my pendant, fingers caressing the image of Saint Christopher.
“Holy crap!” I yell unexpectedly. “Saint Christopher!”
“’Tis an odd exclamation,” Noll frowns.
“No, Saint Christopher. He’s the key,” I say, holding up my pendant in front of them. “If we can keep The Wizard from ever finding the pendant, then none of this would ever happen, right? The one place we know the pendant was before The Wizard found it would be with Saint Christopher, right? When he made it?”
“Great thinking, Chelle!” Griff smiles. “Only question now is, how do we find him?”
“We’ve got everything we need right here,” I say, tapping the sphere open.
“I’m sorry, miss,” Noll cuts in, “however, I can’t help but fink dat we might be causing extra trouble if’n we were to take da pendant from da sainted brudder.”
“What do you mean?” Griff asks, not really all that interested in the answer.
“Well, I mean, if’n we take da pendant from Saint Christopher, wouldn’t dat change everything?”
“That’s what we’re trying to do here, pal,” Griff shrugs. “Now, do you think you know how to use this thing, kid?”
“I don’t fink you unnerstand me,” Noll continues. “I’m saying, if’n we take da pendant, den it won’t go where it’s supposed to go. Where it’s already gone. Won’t dat mean you won’t ever find it and den won’t ever use it, and den won’t be able to come back and take it?”
“Should I be getting a headache now?” Griff asks.
“Yeah, probably,” I answer. “And I don’t suppose you’re going to be willing to give us any answers on the possible issues of paradoxes, are you Robot Griff?”
The robot shakes its head sadly.
“Well,” Noll begins, “tinking logicerly, dat probly means we can’t blow up da universes if’n we do dis, right? Udderwise da metal man wouldn’t be wanting uses to do’s it, right?”
“What?” Griff asks.
“That’s actually pretty well thought out,” I admit. “You know, unless the robot’s hoping that we destroy the universe.”
“Are you?” Griff asks his robotic self. “No, I would never want do to that, even if I were a lump of metal.”
“Alright,” I conclude. “You guys in?”
“I go wherever you go, kid,” Griff says resolutely.
“Lead da way, miss,” Noll adds.
I look down at the opened sphere. “Alright, well, this is just a guess, but I’d have to assume that in order to get this to go back to the beginning, back to when it was created, I would just have to do this,” I say, wrenching the dial that goes around the outside of the sphere until it finally stops, not allowing me to do it any further. “Here goes nothing.” I press the clock face into its setting and the familiar wind picks up around us.
Chapter 48
I open my eyes to find we are standing in the center of a small shack. Me, Noll, and two Griffs are joined by a tall rumpled man standing with his back to us who is currently tinkering on a table covered with small tools.
He turns at the sudden blast of wind through his abode and sees the four of us standing behind him, letting out a wild scream as he does.
Of course, as soon as I see his face, I let out a little scream of my own, which is quickly joined by one coming from one of the Griffs as well.
“You!” Griff yells, running forward and jumping on the man who just so happens to look exactly like the man we’re trying to stop from taking over the world.
“Wait, wait, wait,” The Wizard says, pushing Griff off of him. “It worked?”
“Where’s Christopher?” Griff yells at the youthful version of the man we’ve been looking for.
“How do you know that nam
e?” The Wizard asks.
“Because he’s the man we’ve come here to see. The man you’ve obviously already made disappear,” Griff continues as I stare on in confusion. Noll joins Griff’s side and holds The Wizard’s hands behind him.
“I’m sorry, I believe you are confused,” The Wizard states. “I’m Reprobus. Well, that’s what my parents named me. Yet, what is odd is that my newly christened name is Christopher. Only, I have just chosen that name this hour and have yet told no one.”
“You’re Saint Christopher?” I gasp.
“Ah, well, I don’t know if I could be called a saint,” he blushes. “I’m merely a man seeking the truth.”
“But,” Griff stutters, “but, you’re The Wizard, you’re the guy we’ve been—“
“I’m sorry,” Christopher interrupts. “The Wizard? Perhaps you are more mistaken than you think.”
“Are you trying to tell us that you aren’t the man who’s been traveling through time and giving me a big headache?”
“I’ve done my fair share of traveling, I admit. However, I have not yet been able to traverse the river of time. In fact, I had—“
“You had just been working on a device to do that,” I complete his sentence for him, holding up the sphere in my hands.
“Yes,” The Wizard says in shock. He frees his hands from Noll’s grasp and grabs the device he had been working on from the table behind him, a sphere that looks exactly like the one in my hands, although a lot shinier and without the symbol of Saint Christopher.
“What the hell?” Griff screams.
“Where did you get that?” The Wizard asks.
“From the future, a long long way into the future,” Griff answers with an accusing look in his eyes. “Actually, maybe not. We’ve been swapping them so often now. I’m not sure where we got this one from.”
“So, it works?” The Wizard smiles. “It really works? The design was only going to allow me to go back in time throughout the life of the device. I was worried that I would never be able to find out if it truly works. But you’re here, you’re really here. You’ve got the device. It works!”