by James Riley
“You’re thinking about it,” Kara said. “I can hear your teeth grinding.”
“Fair enough,” he told her, trying to unclench his teeth but failing. The world around them was entirely devoid of animals now, and the land seemed to have shifted. Mountains that had existed in prehistoric times were now flat plains, and oceans had moved in where there had been jungle a few minutes before. Either they were moving even faster through time, or the planet was going through some massive changes.
Kara glanced at her bracelet. “We just passed the first form of life on Earth,” she said, then turned her head up to the sky. “And no UFOs to be seen. Guess that means the planet wasn’t seeded by alien civilizations.”
Owen’s eyes widened. “Is that . . . something people were worried about?”
She grinned at him, and it seemed more genuine this time. “I love how gullible you are. It just brings me joy.”
The rocky ground melted into magma in places, and large meteorites lifted off the planet to rocket into space. Soon the entire planet began to dissolve into huge chunks of rock, and Kara squeezed Owen’s hand. “Almost there. Watch. This should be fun.”
The Earth completely fell apart now as a backward explosion created several larger Earth-sized planets, which flew off in different directions. A large wave of cosmic energy erupted through them in reverse, and the bracelet on Kara’s wrist glowed an odd color as it passed. Never had Owen been so thankful that a no-longer-existing TSA had added a protective element to the time bracelets, and that the bracelet still existed thanks to Kara’s paradox immunity, however that worked.
Some of the newly formed, previously-part-of-Earth rocks fell into orbit around the sun, while some headed off in a direction behind them. “That way’s the big bang, I’d guess,” she said, pointing in the direction some of the chunks of Earth had headed.
“Really?” Owen asked, suddenly realizing how amazing that would be. “Can we go see it?” Sure, it’d be the fictional big bang, but still!
“Too dangerous,” Kara told him. “It’s not just matter that exploded into existence. Time did too. And the closer we get to it, the more likely we’ll be sucked back in like a black hole. I’d rather not be compressed down with the rest of the universe into an infinitely tiny space, if you don’t mind.”
He sighed. “I do mind a little, but okay. If that’s the case, shouldn’t we slow down?”
She nodded, fiddling with the bracelet. Then she said, “ . . . Huh.”
For some reason, that one word brought the world crashing back down around Owen. “ ‘Huh’? Good huh, or bad huh?”
“Not a great one,” Kara said, glancing up at him with concern. “I think something might be wrong with the bracelet. It’s not letting us slow down.”
Those weren’t the words he wanted to hear. “That does sound like something very, very wrong. You can fix it, though, right?”
She frowned, still pushing symbols. “Um, not exactly. My older selves never explained how to fix them. It’s not like you need to know how to repair a TV to watch a show on it, you know?”
“Except this isn’t TV, this is time travel !”
“I do appreciate that point, believe me,” Kara said, pushing more buttons, then looking up. “Um, I think we’re actually going faster now. This might be a problem.”
All around them, stars began sliding backward in the same direction as the bits of Earth had gone, faster and faster. In the opposite direction, a line of black, starless nothing drew closer.
“Might be a problem?!” Owen shouted. “We’re going to reach the beginning of everything, which you just said we wouldn’t survive! How is that not a huge problem?”
Kara nodded. “You’re right. Let’s say probably will be a problem. I think it might have been that cosmic energy wave that passed by us. Could have been too much for the bracelet?”
Owen began to hyperventilate, his hand sweating in hers as she kept pushing buttons. Was he really going to die before anything ever existed? Why couldn’t a dinosaur have eaten him instead?
Wait! Could the readers fix the time bracelet? Was that something they could just declare had happened? If so, would they? Please, he begged. Fix this or we’re going to become one with everything!
UM, HOW WOULD WE FIX A TIME BRACELET? LET’S JUST GIVE UP AND START OVER BY GOING TO THE FUTURE INSTEAD.
Turn to page 206.
LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN KARA CAN’T FIX IT.
Turn to page 43.
STAY AWAY FROM THAT GLOVE, IT’S PROBABLY DANGEROUS!
The words echoed in Owen’s head, as if he was screaming them at himself. He grabbed Kara’s shoulders and cautiously pulled her away from the woman and her glowing hand. “Do you know who she is?” he whispered, assuming she’d have to, considering the woman clearly recognized Kara.
“Nope,” Kara said, her fists still held up, ready for a fight. “Do you?”
“Oh, you wouldn’t know me yet,” the strange woman said, her glowing gloved hand stretched out toward them as she stepped closer. “No, it won’t be until your future that you’ll disrupt plans that I’ve been working on for over a half century now. Then you’ll turn me over to the TSA, who will send me here.” She smiled, showing all of her teeth. “If I’d known they were locking me up with you, however, I’d have killed fewer agents on the way.”
Whoa. She’d killed people? How dark was this Kara Dox series? “So what does the glove do?” Owen asked, not really wanting the answer.
The woman’s smile widened. “It devours time from your body, ravaging your physical form until it’s a husk of itself, desiccated and mummified, after which your remains will collapse into dust.”
Huh. Well, he had asked. “I thought it might just be for fashion,” Owen said, and out of nowhere Kara laughed. She immediately covered her mouth with her hand, but by then it was too late.
“You dare mock me?” the woman said, her eyes widening with crazed rage.
“Did you ever think that attacking me now might be what makes me come after you in the future?” Kara asked, thankfully changing the subject. “Maybe you’re creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s not too late, though. If you leave us alone now, then I’ll make sure to return the favor and not interfere with whatever your plans are.” She paused. “Though maybe I should ask what those plans are before I promise.”
“First, I made sure the TSA was never created,” the woman said, slowly advancing toward them. “Then, with no one to stop me, I sent my past and future selves elaborate plans and specific periods they should travel to. Hundreds of versions of me installed themselves into positions of power throughout history.” She curled her gloved hand into a fist. “I would have ruled everything, forever!”
Kara wrinkled her nose. “I’m not entirely sure that makes sense, but either way, that does sound like something I’d fight, just on principle.” She glanced back at Owen and smiled shyly. “How about you?”
Owen stared at her in shock. “Um, I’m good with it!” He lowered his voice and talked faster. “Especiallyifit’sjustsomethingwetellherrightnowsosheleavesusalone!”
“Ah, young man, I’d never take you at your word,” the woman said, smiling again. “If you honestly intended not to interfere, then I wouldn’t have been thrown in this prison. But since I’m still here, you clearly can’t be trusted.”
“But if you weren’t here, then we’d never be able to say we wouldn’t interfere to begin with,” Owen said, hoping his logic was correct. “Isn’t that a paradox?”
“Paradoxes don’t affect me,” Kara whispered at him.
“Paradoxes don’t affect her,” the woman said at the same time.
Um, okay. “I feel like I’ve missed something,” Owen whispered to Kara.
“I’ll tell you later,” Kara said, then turned back to the woman. “Okay, you’re right, I would normally stop you. But I’m not leaving here, so whatever my future self did in your time line, she won’t be doing it anymore. I gave myself up, and
I’ll be staying in this prison for the rest of my life.”
The woman waved her glowing hand impatiently. “Again, if you did, I wouldn’t be here. No, clearly my only chance is to kill you once and for all. It might create a paradox, but I’m willing to take that chance. At the very least, it’ll be immensely satisfying. And if time starts over in the prison and I get to kill you day after day for the rest of eternity, it will be a small consolation for what you’ve stolen from me!”
Owen and Kara took another step backward, only this time Owen hit the wall at the end of the hall. They were out of room.
“I don’t even know your name, you know,” Kara said as the woman advanced.
The woman sneered. “Of course you don’t. You think I’m going to let you find out my real identity, then wipe me from time altogether? No. You can call me the Countess.” She stretched her glowing glove out toward them. “Now, please, beg for your lives. I would really like to enjoy this as much as I can.”
Kara stepped forward, turned, and gave Owen a sad look. She sighed, then turned back to the Countess. “Leave him alone, and you can do whatever you want to me.”
Whoa, what? She couldn’t be serious. Was this just a bluff? He didn’t even know this girl, and now she was sacrificing herself for him?
The Countess sighed. “It’s not begging, but it will have to do.” She brought her glove closer to Kara, who flinched but didn’t move away.
“No!” Owen shouted, leaping forward. The Countess immediately aimed her glove at him, and he raised both hands in surrender. “You’d be making a huge mistake if you, um, olden her!”
“Would I now?” the Countess asked with a smug smile, her hand getting closer to him.
“Yes,” Owen said, subtly pushing Kara backward again. “Because we’re going to figure out how to get out of here, and that means we can get you out too.”
The Countess’s glove froze in midair, and she began to laugh. “You have no idea how this prison works, do you?” she said. “The challenges will require a day to complete each, after which point time will start over, and you’ll forget whatever part of the code you found. It’s a system designed to keep you busy, you fool. There is no escape! Maybe with a week of regular time we could figure out how to shut down the twenty-four-hour reversal, but not if we have to start over every day.”
All right, yes, good point. But if this was Kara’s book, there had to be some way out of this. But how? If they really did forget every day, maybe there was some way of leaving a message, writing a note, something like that? If only they could call someone and report the exit door code digit after each challenge, or . . .
Wait a second. There was a way for someone to make a note about what the code was, even if all the prisoners forgot. This was a Pick the Plot book! That meant the readers themselves would see the code, and maybe they’d be able to input it into the book somehow!
Sure, Owen had no idea how that last part would work, but that had to be it. This was a challenge for both them and the readers. Which meant they actually could escape!
But how exactly could he explain that to the Countess?
“Let’s just say that we have a way of keeping track of the code digits that we find,” he said, sounding a lot less sure of himself now that he had to spell it out. “Outside of this, uh, time line.”
“And how exactly will you accomplish this feat?” the Countess asked.
“Um?” Owen said brightly, looking at the ceiling.
Kara leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Is this one of those nonfictional things I hate hearing about?”
Owen’s eyes widened, but he nodded quickly at her. She nodded back, looking uncomfortable with the whole subject, then turned to the Countess. “You know I’m immune to paradoxes. Well, I’m also immune to time distortions. I’ll keep my memory through each day of this prison, which means I’ll be able to remember the code.”
The Countess sneered, raising her glove again. “If that were true, they’d never have locked you in here.”
“They would if I turned myself in voluntarily,” Kara told her.
This made the Countess pause, as if she was considering. “I should just kill you now and take my chances.”
“You could, but we both know you’re not sure if my immunity to paradoxes will leave you locked in here,” Kara told her. “If you were positive, you’d have already done it. So what’ll it be?”
The Countess gritted her teeth, then lowered the glowing glove. “If you are lying, I will find out, and I will make you suffer. Then when I escape, I will wipe you from history, followed by your parents, and then all of your ancestors back to the dawn of mankind. This I swear to you now.”
“Then it sounds like we’ve got a deal,” Kara said, not sticking her hand out to shake.
YIKES. SOUNDS LIKE KARA AND OWEN SHOULD GO FIND THE CHALLENGES.
Turn to page 252.
SNEAK ATTACK THE COUNTESS!
Turn to page 250.
Okay, readers. We’re not going to go into the grisly details, but suffice it to say that Owen will awaken the next morning in one piece. However, I did mention that this book was meant to teach Owen a lesson, not feed him to hungry carnivores. Please, for the sake of the fictionals around him, try to be less bloodthirsty. Now either start over on page 1 or instead jump forward a bit and have the dinosaur not eat Owen this time by turning to page 170.
DO WHAT THE ROBOT SAYS. HE’S A ROBOT, THEY’RE SMART!
Owen growled in frustration as his body moved almost against his will toward the gigantic T. rex and the robot he’d almost finished undevouring. “We’re going to get eaten!” he hissed at Kara, who was in front of him.
“Look behind you, slowly,” Kara said, and Owen turned his head, then gasped. Several velociraptors had run straight at them backward, then turned around and begun walking toward them slowly, their eyes up on the T. rex. “This all makes sense if you think of it in reverse!”
“No, it really doesn’t,” Owen whispered, backing away from the raptors, hands held up in surrender. But they didn’t seem too concerned with him and were watching the T. rex warily instead.
“HUMANS, THE CREATURE IS REPLACING MY FOOT NOW, SO I WILL MOMENTARILY BE AVAILABLE FOR FLEEING BACK TOWARD THE AIR LOCK,” TIME-R said, still on the ground. “YOU HAVE OF COURSE FIGURED OUT WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?”
“No!” Owen shouted at him, while Kara nodded.
“Just follow me and I’ll explain as we go,” Kara told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the robot. The T. rex had put one last foot back into place as TIME-R slowly stood up. “See, this all happened already. The T. rex probably chased the three of us here, then caught the robot. While it ate him, that gave us time to get to the top of the volcano.” She turned around and nodded at the slowly advancing raptors. “And these guys probably were chasing us, then saw the T. rex and let him have us. But they must have stuck around to see if there’d be anything left, and only now decided to give up and turn to run away, since they figure they’re not going to get any part of us or the robot.”
Owen’s brain pounded, and not from the readers yelling at him. “Okay, fine,” he said as the T. rex began running away from them backward down the path. The raptors shortly followed, and the robot gestured for them to come too as it ran smoothly after the group. “But I want it on record that this is all clearly overcomplicated!”
“So recorded,” Kara said with a half smile as they ran down the path.
Up ahead several trees covered in giant leaves had fallen in the middle of the path, and TIME-R pointed at them. “THOSE TREES WERE PUSHED OVER. YOU CAN SEE THAT BY THE MARKS ON THE BARK. I HYPOTHESIZE THAT—”
“We were up in the trees, and the T. rex knocked them over!” Kara shouted, and pulled Owen toward one of the trees as the T. rex slowed and backed away. The raptors did the same, giving them lots of space around the fallen trees. Owen shook his head as Kara left the sign on the ground, then lay down on the trunk, grabbing for handholds. This
was all just madness. But what else could he do but follow her lead?
Owen lay down just above her as Kara continued. “See, now we just need to wait for—”
The T. rex roared and came running at them, only to stop a few feet away and shake itself as if in pain. Both TIME-R’s tree and theirs rose magically into the air, theirs first pushing TIME-R’s tree into place, then slamming into the dinosaur’s head. The T. rex ran backward a few yards away as both of their trees planted themselves firmly into the ground.
“Cool, huh?” Kara said, grinning in spite of the danger.
“No!” Owen shouted. “And if you hadn’t noticed, now we’re stuck in a tree!”
On the ground now, raptors were appearing (backward) from the jungle, flowing out onto the path. Then more surprisingly, several shocked-looking prisoners poked their heads out from between the leaves. “You do not want to know what just happened to me!” one of them shouted.
“What is going on?” another said as the raptors began to run backward toward the air lock now, giving Owen, Kara, and TIME-R some room to climb back down. Once they hit the ground, Kara pulled Owen away, leaving TIME-R to explain the situation to the others.
“Don’t tell them about the sign,” she whispered, grabbing it as they moved down the path. “The last thing we need is for any of these other prisoners to escape. There’s a reason they got locked in here.”
“Hey, that girl’s got something in her hands!” the prisoner with the eye patch shouted. “Get her!”
“Run!” Owen screamed, and grabbed Kara’s hand, then sprinted off toward the retreating pack of velociraptors. A moment later the group of prisoners had moved to follow, and Owen really wished he had time to stop and just marvel at how odd this scene must be: two kids chasing a group of dinosaurs running backward while being chased by a group of prisoners forward.
All in all, this had to be the worst challenge. Had to be.