Continuum: Time Rep

by Peter Ward

  “Hang on,” Geoff said, this time moving the slider back to rewind time, rather than just trying to jump straight back. “Maybe this will work.”

  He pressed the EXECUTE button again, but still nothing happened. This time, though, a message came up on the screen. It said:

  FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION REJECTED.

  ACCESS DENIED.

  THIS DEVICE MAY ONLY BE USED BY A MEMBER OF THE CONTINUUM CUSTOMER SUPPORT TEAM.

  PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE.

  “Customer support team?” Zoë said. “Who the hell are they?”

  “I don’t know,” Geoff said, closing the message. “But given that we’ve just found out something a tad controversial about Continuum, I doubt they’ll be like the nice lady who pops up when you press the Kindle’s Mayday button.”

  At that moment, the hologram of Jennifer Adams appeared in front of them, the image once again cast in a blue, pixelated light.

  “Bloody hell!” Zoë said, jumping back. “What the hell is that?”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Geoff said. “It’s just a hologram.”

  “Who is she?”

  “Her name’s Jennifer Adams. She’s the boss of Continuum.”

  The hologram stepped forward and smiled at them. “Dear valued customer,” it said. “It appears your Sat-Nav is experiencing technical difficulties. Please wait here while we send someone to assist you.”

  “Not blooming likely,” Geoff said, tugging at Zoë’s sleeve. “Let’s find somewhere to hide before they show up.”

  They turned to leave, but the hologram quickly materialized in front of them again in a puff of blue dots.

  “Please, remain where you are,” the hologram smiled.

  Zoë looked at Geoff. “What do we do?” she said.

  “Don’t worry,” Geoff said, leading her toward the hologram. “It’s only made of light. We can walk right through it.”

  But as Geoff walked up to the hologram to do just that, it reached out and pushed him hard in the shoulder, sending him tumbling to the ground. Somehow, this thing was capable of touching after all.

  “Please, remain where you are,” the hologram repeated, smiling vacantly in their direction. “A member of our customer support team will be with you shortly.”

  “Are you okay?” Zoë said, helping Geoff to his feet.

  “I’m fine,” Geoff winced, rubbing his shoulder.

  They turned to run in another direction, but every way they faced, the hologram just appeared in front of them, repeating the same instruction.

  Stay still.

  Someone will be with you shortly.

  In the end, the two of them gave up trying to run. Instead, they just sat together on the ground, overlooking the ruins of their once great city.

  Every few minutes the hologram of Jennifer Adams would repeat her message, and after hearing it for the tenth time, Geoff and Zoë began to wonder if anyone from this mysterious “customer services team” was ever going to show up at all.

  But someone did show up eventually.

  And it wasn’t who Geoff was expecting.

  Thirteen

  When Geoff tried to picture what someone who worked in customer support would look like, he imagined a thin, nerdy-looking guy, with thick, black-rimmed glasses and a couple of spots on his face. A nice harmless kid, a bit like the ones you see working in PC repair shops. His name would be something like Derek, his voice wouldn’t have broken yet, and he wouldn’t have been particularly intimidating. He would be the kind of person who ironed his pajamas.

  Knowing Geoff’s luck, though, he and Zoë were probably going to be met by a complete behemoth of a man. Someone well over six feet tall, with a shaved head, unpleasant four-letter words tattooed across his knuckles, and a muscular frame so large he probably needed an HGV license just to move his own body. This man’s name wouldn’t be Derek, though—it would be a sinister, harsh-sounding name, like Slater.

  Harry Slater.

  Harry “Skullcrusher” Slater.

  In the end, the person who came to meet them wasn’t Derek, nor was it Harry “Skullcrusher” Slater.

  It was William Boyle.

  “Good afternoon,” William said as he materialized out of thin air. He was wearing different clothes from the last time they had met, and he looked to be a good few years older than before. His thinning hair was starting to show flecks of gray, his face had wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, and he looked like he’d lost a bit of weight.

  In his left hand he was holding his own Sat-Nav, and in his right hand he was holding the strange gun he had had before, which he pointed directly toward Geoff and Zoë.

  “A member of our customer support team has now arrived to assist you,” said the hologram of Jennifer Adams. “Thank you for you cooperation.”

  And with that, the hologram disappeared in its customary puff of blue dots.

  “On your feet,” William said.

  They did as they were told.

  “You’re a member of Continuum’s customer support team?” Geoff said, positioning himself between William and Zoë.

  Zoë leaned forward to whisper in Geoff’s ear. “Do you know this guy?” she said.

  “Once I’d visited every Time Rep to tell them about Continuum, I had to do something to keep myself busy,” William replied. “Traipsing backward and forward through time starts to get a little boring once you don’t have a purpose anymore, so now I do this.”

  “What, you go around threatening people?” Geoff said.

  “I enforce Continuum’s terms and conditions concerning the use of the Space and Time Navigation device,” William replied.

  “Terms and conditions?” Geoff said. “What terms and conditions? You told me Continuum would give me the freedom to go wherever I wanted! Let me change whatever I pleased!”

  “You can change whatever you please,” William said. “As long as you do it within the terms and conditions of use.”

  Geoff looked at Zoë, then back to William again. “But we never agreed to any terms and conditions of use.”

  “Yes you did,” William replied. “They flashed up for a quarter of a second when you first used your Sat-Nav. They clearly stated that by continuing to use the device, you agreed to be bound by Continuum’s full terms and conditions of use.”

  “A quarter of a second?” Geoff said. “That’s not enough time to notice any terms and conditions, let alone read them!”

  “Then you shouldn’t have agreed to the terms and conditions,” William smiled.

  Geoff couldn’t believe how unfair this was. It was even worse than those social networks that insist on having eighty pages of terms and conditions that they know no one is going to read. Because who the hell wants to understand about signing away their privacy before logging in to see what the most popular brand of chocolate chip cookie is today?

  “Fine,” Geoff said. “So what did we do wrong?”

  William looked down at his Sat-Nav to read aloud from the screen. “You are both in violation of section 19, paragraph b of the ‘future intentions’ addendum.”

  “Section whatty whatty of the what now?” Geoff said.

  “Section 19, paragraph b of the ‘future intentions’ addendum states as follows: ‘The user agrees not to use the Sat-Nav to acquire, learn, discover, ascertain, realize, or deduce any knowledge about the future intentions of the Continuum organization.’”

  “That’s the most suspicious-sounding clause I’ve ever heard,” Geoff said. “No wonder Continuum doesn’t want anyone to actually read these bloody conditions of theirs! What’s it say in section 19 paragraph c? ‘The user agrees not to tell anyone that the Continuum organization is actually extremely dangerous, and will one day bring about the end of humanity’?”

  “So you did read them after all!” William said.

  “Does it really say that?”

  “No,” William said. “Section 19, paragraph c states that any user who can be convinced that they’ve guessed the exac
t wording of a clause is a gullible idiot.”

  “Does it really say that instead?” Geoff said.

  “Oh, boy,” William said.

  “So, mister customer support man,” Geoff said, reaching down to the ground to pick up his own Sat-Nav. “Are you here to fix this?” The device was still stuck on the WHEN screen, with the arrow positioned all the way back to the beginning of the slider.

  “No,” William answered. “As I said before, my job is to enforce Continuum’s terms and conditions concerning the use of the Space and Time Navigation device. And can you guess what the standard procedure is for people who violate section 19, paragraph b of the ‘future intentions’ addendum?”

  “They’re given a complimentary meal in the Continuum staff restaurant and released?”

  “No.”

  “They have to pay a very small fine as a token gesture, and then they’re released?”

  “No.”

  “They’re made to guess what the correct procedure is for violating section 19, paragraph b for the rest of their life?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, I give up.”

  “I’ll tell you,” William said. “The standard procedure is for the two of you to link up with my Sat-Nav by drinking this.” Still holding his gun, he placed his Sat-Nav down on the bench next to him, and with his free hand took two bottles of the red liquid out from his pocket. “Once you are linked up, I will then rewind time on my device, taking the two of you with me back to a special Continuum facility.”

  “And what will happen to us at this facility, exactly?” Geoff said. “Does it have a day spa? Will we get a nice massage and things like that?”

  “Not really. You’ll both get your memories wiped.”

  “Ah.”

  “And then you’ll be released onto the street with no knowledge of ever having visited Continuum.”

  Geoff thought about what they’d just been told. Based on what he knew about how these things worked, if William linked them up to his device and rewound time, all that would happen would be that he would return back to his time, and Geoff and Zoë would move in reverse along the timeline they had just experienced as far back as William’s slider was set. If he thought about it, there wasn’t actually anything to worry about.

  “Sounds fair,” Geoff said. “Shall we get on with it, then?”

  “I know what you’re thinking,” William said, holding up the bottles. “And you’re wrong, actually. This serum is different from the one you drank. Once this stuff links you to my Sat-Nav, your exact movements up until now won’t happen in reverse when I rewind back to the beginning of my timeline. With this serum, you stay right by my side.”

  “Damn,” Geoff said. He needed a plan.

  He tried to think of some way out of this situation, but before he could come up with any ideas, Zoë was marching up to William, her arms crossed. “How can you do this?” she said, looking at him. “You’ve seen what will happen to the world if we don’t stop this! Continuum is going to bring about the end of humanity! Doesn’t that make you feel anything?”

  “Don’t come any closer!” William said. “Step back, or I will shoot!”

  “Zoë!” Geoff said, rushing over and pulling her back. “Get away from him!”

  “No!” Zoë said, struggling in Geoff’s grip. “This is the end of the human race we’re talking about! There must be something we can do!”

  William appeared to be sweating, his breathing a little heavier. “Trust me,” he said, “there’s nothing you can do.”

  It was at this moment that Geoff noticed a faint scar on the side of William’s face. He hadn’t noticed it when William was younger, so it must have been caused at some point later in William’s life. Then Geoff had a thought. He’d always assumed William’s new job had just turned him into a bit of an asshole. But what if this outward confidence was something else? What if it was a defense mechanism of his, covering something up?

  “William—this special facility you mentioned,” Geoff said, narrowing his eyes. “Have you ever been a guest there yourself?”

  “Be quiet!” William said, holding out the bottles for them to take. “Be quiet and drink your serums!”

  “What did they do to you there?”

  William lowered his voice. “There’s nothing you can do,” he said, his eyes looking up at the sky for a moment. “They are watching. Now, take your serums.”

  “What do you mean they’re watching? How can they be watching?”

  “Trust me—they are. They are watching everything you do, all the time. Now, take your serums.”

  Geoff tucked his Sat-Nav under his arm and took the bottle from him. “Are you really going to make us do this?”

  “I’m afraid so,” William said, offering the other bottle to Zoë. “You too, miss.”

  “No,” Zoë said, folding her arms over her chest. “I refuse.”

  “Zoë?” Geoff said, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward him. “What are you doing? Take the bottle!”

  “I can’t, Geoff,” she said. “We can’t let him do this! There has to be another way!”

  “There is no other way,” William sighed, aiming his gun at Zoë. “Please. I don’t want to do this, but you should be aware that if you refuse to ingest your serum, I am authorized to use lethal force.”

  Zoë looked down at the tablet William had placed on the park bench earlier, then back up at Geoff. He knew that look—she’d had an idea.

  William held his weapon steady. “Miss!” he said. “Please, take the serum!”

  “You’re actually going to kill her if she doesn’t?!” Geoff said.

  “Like I said, they are watching,” William replied. “And they won’t let me leave anyone behind. Either you come back with me to have your memory wiped, or you don’t come back at all.”

  “Zoë,” Geoff said, turning her body by the shoulders to face him. “Please do as he says. Take the serum. We’ll figure this out, you’ll see.”

  Zoë’s eyes were welling up with tears. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled her body toward his, and buried her head in the cup of his shoulder, sobbing.

  Or at least, that’s how it would have seemed to William.

  “Now’s our chance,” she said, turning her head to whisper in Geoff’s ear. “When I distract him, swap the things round.”

  Before Geoff had a chance to process what Zoë had just said to him, she marched over to William and snatched the serum out of his hand.

  “You’ve made the right choice,” William said.

  “Have I?” Zoë said, moving to her left to draw William’s attention away from the bench where he’d left his Sat-Nav. “Have I?”

  With William looking the other way momentarily, Geoff looked down at the Sat-Nav he had placed on the park bench and immediately realized what Zoë was trying to do. The screen looked identical to the one on Geoff’s device. It was on the WHEN page, and the arrow was positioned at the beginning of the slider with the EXECUTE button flashing. Given that his own Sat-Nav was rejecting his fingerprint, he assumed he wasn’t going to be able to just pick up William’s one and use it, but maybe that wasn’t what she was thinking. Maybe she’d thought that if he could swap the devices, when William pressed the EXECUTE button, his fingerprint would automatically be authorized, and Geoff and Zoë would unexperience everything that had just happened from their perspective. If she was right, their timeline would undo itself completely and send them both right back to the beginning of their journey.

  But he didn’t want Zoë to have any memory of this, and if he disconnected her from his device before swapping it, he knew she would forget everything. The reversal of time would just leave her posting letters in Woodview Gardens with no memory that any of this ever took place.

  At least, that’s what he thought would happen, based on his understanding of the rules of the Sat-Nav’s use.

  There were just two problems—first of all, if this worked, Zoë wouldn’t just forget her encounte
r with William and the disturbing sight of London. She would also forget everything Geoff had told her about who he really was. She would forget seeing him save the world, and all his hard work would be undone. On balance, though, he thought it best for her never to have experienced any of this, no matter what the cost to himself.

  The second problem was that this sequence of events was probably the exact sort of thing that caused him to have that nasty encounter with a bullet at half past three in the afternoon. He supposed he would just have to cross that bridge when it came to it—and that bridge would be Tower Bridge, most likely.

  Zoë was still distracting William, her eyes flashing toward Geoff every few seconds to see if he was going to make the switch.

  Once he thought he understood what Zoë’s plan was, Geoff moved quickly, holding the red button down on the back of the Sat-Nav to disconnect Zoë. The button was small, round, and plastic, so fortunately it didn’t need fingerprint recognition to work. After three seconds, a message flashed up saying USER DISCONNECTED. Next, he dismissed the message, made sure the arrow on the WHEN screen was positioned at the very beginning of the slider, and reached over to swap his device with the one William had left on the bench.

  At that moment, though, William began to turn around to see what Geoff was doing. He was done for.

  But Zoë thought quickly.

  “Hey!” she shouted, jumping up and down to draw William’s attention away from Geoff. “You know what I think of your stupid serum?” she said, raising it above her head. “THIS!”

  And with that, she threw the serum to the ground and stamped on it, the red liquid seeping into the ground like a pool of blood draining through the soil beneath their feet.

  This definitely got William’s attention, and Geoff was able to make the swap without him noticing. But without a serum, what was going to happen to Zoë now?

  “No!” William cried, looking down at the broken bottle. “Why did you do that? Do you know what you’ve done?” He took a moment to regain his composure. “I’m so sorry,” he said, wiping his eyes with his free hand as he looked down the sights of his gun at Zoë. “But you’ve given me no choice. I have to.”