PREVIOUSLY: Carrie/Elizabeth forked the timeline. This allows her to become a Temporal God in the timeline she created.

PART 96b: RESOLUTION

She then ducked down as the gunman who had fired in their direction ran down the front steps of the library, waving his weapon. The guy managed to prevent a vehicle that had been pulling out of the parking lot from leaving. It was as the guy climbed into the passenger seat, pointing his gun at the driver, that Chartreuse knelt down in the snow, to open the trombone case she was carrying.

She pulled out the temporal gun. Along with one other item.

As the gunman’s hijacked car drove out onto the road, there was a flash of light. The driver swerved to avoid hitting the glasses-wearing teenager who had appeared. The car hit a patch of ice and spun out, slamming into a nearby telephone pole. The passenger door was wedged shut in the impact; for the moment, there was nothing to worry about there.

Chartreuse attached her item onto the recharge port of the gun. She then moved to get herself a good bracing position at the bottom of the staircase, kneeling down, pressing the bottom of her boot back into the concrete pillar. She knew the kickback from the gun would be a problem.

A second blond man ran out of the library, followed closely by Lee and Luci. The guy dashed down the stairs, and got about three steps further before being clocked in the head by the dictionary Lee had thrown. Their adversary went face first into a snowbank. Not that far away from him, another familiar person appeared from out of nowhere.

“Tim?” Luci gasped. She took the stairs down two at a time, pausing at the bottom. “Chartreuse? What are you doing?”

“Preparing,” she muttered back. She took aim across the parking lot.

Luci blinked. “When did you end up with the temporal gun? And why is the safety off?”

Luci reached down for it, and Chartreuse slapped her hand away.

“Chartreuse!” Luci said. “You’re being reckless - and what do you have on the recharge port?”

“A battery.”

Luci’s eyes widened. “WHAT? You CANNOT be thinking of charging that thing while you’re firing. That’s INSANE.”

“So is she,” Chartreuse whispered.

A short distance away, Laurie appeared.

Luci now reached down with both hands, and so Chartreuse shoved her friend back, out of the way. Luci fell into the snow. “Luci, I’ll, you know, explain later, there’s no time now!”

“Why not? Chartreuse, what is going on?”

Chartreuse looked back at the asian girl, and then at Lee, who was helping her stand back up. In that instant, Chartreuse wondered, what if she died here, and never got to explain?

“Okay, fast version? The day after we, like, talked to Mr. Waterson, I had a vision of today. Looking into it more led me to this experience ten minutes ago, where I used a set of paired relaxation crystals to tell our Carrie to, you know, nudge Mindy’s time car. And now I know that in, like, a few seconds, I’ll have my only chance at saving her.”

Chartreuse looked back across the parking lot. Which was when the blonde teenager appeared, her maniacal laughter echoing eerily around the whole area, her feet starting to lift off the ground as temporal energy sparked all around her, originating at her fingertips.

Chartreuse fired.

Energy lanced out of the gun.

The cackling blonde girl absorbed it. At first.

Chartreuse never moved her finger off the trigger. Even as her own body was driven back into the concrete post behind her, she continued the sustained burst. Tears sprang to her eyes as she felt an ankle give out with a snap, but she kept the gun up and on target. The battery on the port chirped… and the energy blast continued. Across the parking lot, Carrie stopped laughing.

“Chartreuse, stop!” Luci shrieked.

“I’m not losing her again,” Chartreuse cried. “Carrie! Carrie, I love you! CARRIE, COME BACK TO ME!”

“Chartreuse, the gun’s overloading!” Luci reached out again, only to have Lee pull her back, twisting his body around and using it as a shield.

The temporal gun exploded in Chartreuse’s hands.

But not before Carrie’s head had snapped back, her body falling into the snow as the golden light in her eyes faded away.

Carrie listened to the voices around her for a minute or two. From the sound of things, she was again in a hospital. And… geez, had the entire temporal group come to pay her a visit? She cracked open an eyelid.

“Carrie’s awake now,” Luci said immediately.

Opening her other eye, Carrie was able to make out… well, Luci, Frank, Clarke, Julie, Corry, Laurie, Tim, Lee, and even her own father. But not… “Char-treuse?” Carrie croaked out, through dry lips.

Laurie clasped her hands together. “Carrie immediately wants her girlfriend. The one who saved her soul. Oh my God, all the squee!”

The people closest to the head of the bed moved away, and as Lee did so, he made an elaborate gesture towards the next bed over. Carrie followed his motion, where she saw…

“Hi Carrie,” Chartreuse chirped. “I’d, you know, give a thumbs up, except…" She held up her arm, which had been completely wrapped up in bandages.

“She’ll be fine,” Clarke broke in, as Carrie found herself unable to avoid looking horrified. “Don’t worry.”

“Yeah, in fact we originally came here to see Chartreuse,” Corry remarked, crossing his arms. “We didn’t know when you’d wake up. So don’t get a swelled head, Waterson.”

“Speak for yourself,” the older Waterson objected.

Carrie licked her lips, her gaze shifting over to her father. “Dad. Gods, I’m sorry, I never meant to leave you alone in the present for so lon– geuh, I… I mean…"

“He knows about the power,” Frank reminded Carrie. “There was this whole thing where you had a double named Beth wandering through the school last month? So we kind of had to fill him in?”

“Oh. Right.” Carrie brought her hand to her forehead. Last month? “What day IS it?”

“January second,” Tim supplied. “H-Happy new year.”

“I really hope having no coins means we’ll get a few months before we see more time travellers,” Julie observed.

Carrie exhaled. “Yeah, there… there won’t be any more of that happening. Not now. We’re on a parallel time track now.”

The people around her bed exchanged glances. “Carrie,” Frank began. “Based on the temporal theory that a Future Luci explained to me, it’s highly unlikely that multiple time tracks–"

“TRUST me,” Carrie interrupted. “Our Luci’s path itself could be different going forwards. We can talk theory later, but for now, even if anyone from the revised future does try to rewrite us? Believe me when I say I know how to divert them out of our timeline.”

“In a SAFE way, yes?” Chartreuse piped up. “Because I don’t want a rerun. Even setting aside the, you know, temporal gun blowing up on me, I had to stick close to Beth last month in order to get a read on her majorly displaced temporal energy. That way I could, like, use it, in order to forecast my way further into the future than I ever have before. And that sort of ‘vision plus’? Featuring Insane Carrie clarifying the library events I’d seen? Not my, you know, happiest place.”

“I’ll find a safe way of dealing with time travellers,” Carrie assured. She checked herself. “Actually Chartreuse, we both will. Together.”

Chartreuse beamed.

Carrie’s gaze shifted back to her father. “Thing is, in this timeline, I can’t bring Mom back. I’m sorry. If it means anything, she was alive, in the future of another timeline… maybe that’s why some part of you felt like Mom never died?”

Hank Waterson flinched. “Oh. Well. Was she happy there?”

“I… I don’t know. Damn it, I didn’t even check.” Carrie’s head hit her pillow. “I’m sorry. I should have. Hell, maybe I could have even brought her too, I had all that power, it’s just I didn’t even think, I was so focussed on the separation. Dad, I’m so sorry…"

His hand reached out to squeeze hers. “It’s okay, honey. Let’s assume she was happy, and focus on the present. Because Carrie, you’re what’s important to me right now.”

She squeezed his hand back, and found that she was able to meet his hopeful look with a smile.

Lee cleared his throat. “Uh, hate to interrupt a moment, but we already DO have two other time travel guys? Arrested at the library?” He jerked his thumb towards the window. “Do we worry about them?”

Carrie frowned. “No, I wouldn’t. If they were trying to disrupt the awakening of my full potential, it didn’t work.”

“I’ve filed a police report there anyway,” Mr. Waterson added. “Along with what happened at the library, they’re being charged with the attempted kidnapping of my daughter. Never mind that it was technically that Beth girl at the time.”

“So, like Shady, they’re going to end up in the justice system,” Luci mused.

“S-So what’s next for us then?” Tim wondered. “Anything?”

“No,” Carrie groaned. “I pass on doing ANYTHING for the next while. Well, aside from schoolwork, which I guess I’m massively behind on, since my leaving during the talent show.” She looked towards Laurie. “Meaning guess what? You’re still in charge of the cheerleading. In fact, if you’re willing, it’s yours for the rest of our senior year.”

Laurie blinked. “Golly. Thanks.”

Carrie smiled. “Just because this new timeline has me staying in town, that’s no reason to take your future away from you.”

“But Laurie’s behind in her schoolwork too,” Corry protested. “She left for her fake art camp right after you vanished, Carrie!”

“So I’ll work hard,” Laurie said, crossing her arms in imitation of her brother. “Plus I have lots of friends who can help. I’m not letting Carrie or the other cheerleaders down, bro!”

“Ooh, watch out, Power Cad,” Lee said, chuckling at Corry’s sigh of resignation. “Double V here might end up running the school with the Cross One. Instead of it being you and the Rich Witch.”

Clarke frowned. “Witch? Lee, you might want to consider updating–"

“No, no, it’s fine, Phil,” Julie interrupted. “After all, those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. The only thing that matters to me right now is how the two of us could work on the time car together. To kind of… find ourselves again.” She fingered her rose brooch before leaning into him with a smile. Clarke grinned back, raising his arm to encircle her shoulders.

Frank turned to Carrie. “That reminds me. We didn’t spot the car anywhere in town. Did you send it back?”

Carrie pressed her hand to her head. “Oops. No… I forgot. Didn’t want to do a global removal, or we’d likely have ended up with our Glen again. He’s a headache I don’t need. It’s probably for the best though? No time machine, no time gun, no Temporals, just us, and our normal, everyday lives from this point on.”

“No car and stuff?” Laurie moaned, her arms uncrossing. “Golly, I really hope alt-future-Laurie enjoys using my art supplies.”

Mr. Waterson cleared his throat. “Well, as much as I’m enjoying learning more about recent events, unless there’s anything else that’s urgent, I think my daughter and her girlfriend could use their rest.”

Carrie’s eyes went wide. “Oh. My. God. Dad, NO, do NOT say girlfriend yet, we haven’t really officially - oh NO!” She jerked her gaze back over to the adjacent bed. “Chartreuse, you said you had to get close to Beth? Are you saying you two have, like, kissed the way we did, and that the whole school now knows about… about…"

“No,” Chartreuse gasped. “Carrie, you’re, you know, the only one for me. And if you want, no one outside of this room has to, like, know that.”

“Okay. Okay, good.” Carrie let out a breath. “I mean, others can know. I just need a few days here, minimum.”

“Confirming it IS a relationship?” Luci said, winking.

“She did say kissed Beth ‘the way we did’,” Corry remarked.

“Plus there was that whole soul saving they did,” Julie observed.

Carrie felt her face getting warm. She pulled her bedsheets up over her head. “My Dad said it’s rest time. Goodbye now!” There were a few chuckles, followed by a shuffling of feet as people started moving away.

She gave it a good ten seconds, then pulled the sheets back down to her neck. “But before you leave? Thanks. For everything. I mean it.” She made a point of meeting each of their gazes with a smile, as they looked back at her. “Because I wouldn’t be here now. Not if it weren’t for each and every one of you.”

NEXT: Respite II, an Epilogue of sorts. Please stick around.

ASIDE: Part of the reason for splitting the last entry at this point is for site transition time back to Epsilon Project. (You can vote for that plot here.) But it’s ALSO because Drew Hayes was taking guest posts this week on his site. Read my post here, which in continuity, takes place a few months after the events above. Then consider sticking around on Drew’s site to check out his material, and the other guest posts.

PREVIOUSLY: Much Elder Carrie (Liz) sabotaged her own Timeline Three, leading to Elder Carrie abducting her teenaged self from the past.

PART 94a: REALIGNMENT

“CARRIE!”

Oh no, now she was imagining Chartreuse’s voice in her head.

“Carrie, are you there?! We don’t, like, have much time, but PLEASE hear me, there’s something you’ve gotta do!”

Okay, this was becoming surprisingly vivid for a delusion.

“Chartreuse?” Carrie whimpered.

“Carrie!” the voice came again. “Yesssss! Ohhh, I really hope you’re, you know, the right one. Look, we’re not giving up on you. The others, they’re gonna follow you, they’re following you even now - but you’ve gotta, like, hide them from the other you. Okay?”

Carrie blinked. What the hell did that mean?

“I mean you’ve gotta, like, spot their time car, and nudge it. Nudge it ahead, into, you know, the other timeline. Temporarily. Hurry!”

Oh sure, right, piece of cake, just do the thing she had no idea how to do, while her Elder Self was busy keeping her powers in check.

“If anyone can do it, you can! Please Carrie, PLEASE, otherwise… otherwise, you know, I think you’ll be lost to us forever.”

The meditation crystal dug into her palm so hard it hurt. No. She wasn’t going to lose Chartreuse forever. Hell, nothing in life had been easy to this point, right? Why assume that knowing the truth about her mama would have made things any easier?

So, as she was towed along in the wake of her Future Self, Carrie cautiously extended her senses, looking for the ‘time car’ that kept getting referenced. At the same time, she became aware of a wake, like what existed behind a boat, that was rippling out around them… could she somehow nudge a time traveller out of it’s path, and ahead of them? Even preserve it in some sort of time bubble?

She spotted the vehicle right before her Future Self emerged into The Future, wincing as her ‘nudge’ ended up being more like a powerful ‘bump’, and what little temporal energy she had left completely ebbed away at the act.

Frank stared. Both Carries had disappeared. At this point, neither the old-old Carrie who had been reaching for the activation panel, nor the old Carrie who had been arguing with her, were present. Instead, Frank saw that Walter had somehow set his chair back up, and was reaching in for the activation panel himself.

Frank looked around the room, feeling like he’d missed something. He leaned back in towards the observation windows, catching sight of Mindylenopia down in the displacement room - she was standing and waving. Not on the floor, defeated. Then there was a bright flash of light, forcing him to look away, and when he turned back, the displacement room was empty.

Walter jerked his hand back from the panel. “What did I just do?”

Frank reached out to tap at the desk. It felt solid now.

Walter spun to face him. “Where did you just come from?”

“Oh, I’m Chronologic Patrol.” Frank fumbled in Mindy’s handbag for the temporal gun, pulling it out and pointing it Walter’s way. “Just stay calm, I don’t want any trouble.”

Then there was another flash, and three more individuals appeared in the room. The Older Carrie was back! Along with Glen, and a blonde teenager in a blue business suit… but that had to be his Carrie. Could it be that, somehow, he was here at the end of their journey from the airport? Frank quickly reached down, flicking the switch on the gun over to “Carrie” mode, and he fired at the Elder Version.

At the pulse of high energy, the old Carrie collapsed down onto the ground, even as the recoil sent Frank flying back into the wall, hard enough to leave a crack. He groaned, feeling dazed. His version of Carrie didn’t look that much better off, having slumped to the floor after their arrival.

“I’m OUT,” Walter shrieked, running for the door. “You don’t pay me enough for this!”

As such, the only person in the room retaining full command of their faculties ended up being Glinephanis, aka Glen Oaks. And after taking in the situation, and snarling, “You Mundane morons,” his next move was to drag the unconscious Elder Carrie towards the door, following after Walter.

“Glen, wait,” Frank protested. He took a couple of shaky steps, then decided it might be better to check on the status of his own Carrie instead.

She looked up at him as he touched her shoulder. “I’m still here,” she murmured, dazed. “So did that time bump on your car work? Did it hide you from my older self? Have we won?”

Frank crouched down. “We haven’t won yet.” He glanced at the door through which Glen and Elder Carrie had exited. “But we may have bought ourselves some time.”

“Peachy.” She shook her head. “Okay, the freeze effect is wearing off. I feel like I’ll be able to do time stuff again soon. For my next trick, I shall attempt to not become the Carrie who kidnaps mama, and her unborn child.”

“Er, great. How will you do that?”

“No idea. Help me up.” She blinked at him. “Actually, correction. Take off your stupid wig while I remove this jacket, and then help me up.”

Frank straightened, tugging off the disguise he’d been wearing. Meanwhile, Carrie tossed aside her flight hat, allowing her long blonde hair to flow down her back again, and she shrugged off the jacket part of the business suit.

He reached a hand down. Carrie clasped it, and he pulled her onto her feet. “Do we have a plan?” he asked.

“Good question.” Carrie looked around. “Where are we?”

“A stationary temporal generator on the day of your fiftieth birthday. Mindylenopia was just sent back in time, into our past.”

“Oh. Okay, sure.” Carrie moved to look through the observation windows. “Why are we here? Didn’t you arrive in a time car?”

“We did,” Frank admitted. “The circuits were fried. Luci impounded it yesterday, sort of. I’m not sure where it is now.”

Carrie shook her head. “Wait, what? You didn’t mention Luci had come to Miami with you.”

“Er, no, not Luci from our Present. This time’s Luci, a Future Luci.”

“Ah. That’s going to get confusing, isn’t it,” Carrie sighed.

“Well, not necessarily. I died in the past, so if anyone says Frank, it’s probably me,” he said, trying to make a joke of it. He frowned. “Then again, I used the name Bernard with Mindylenopia…"

Carrie shook her head. “You’re not dead, Frank, don’t say that. It’s Timeline THREE where you died, and that’s gotta be where I ended up hip-checking your car, to keep you safe. When I left you in the airport, a few minutes ago, you were raving about us being in ‘Timeline Four’. So that should still be where we’re at now - er, unless you’re saying you later died in ‘Timeline Four’ too?”

“I… I don’t know. Wait, you did what to our vehicle?”

“You were constantly a few seconds ahead of the temporal wave created by Mindy’s arrival in the past, until right before my arrival here. It was Chartreuse’s idea.”

“Okay then. Er, which Chartreuse?”

Carrie smacked her palm against her face and dragged it down until it slid off her chin. “I don’t know, one of ‘em. Look, for my own sanity, as of RIGHT now, everyone who’s temporally displaced? Meaning not part of this future? Meaning us? Middle names. Understood?”

Bernard nodded. “Sure. Except I… I don’t actually know the middle names for Tim or Laurie.”

Elizabeth exhaled. “I will make them up if I have to. Where are they, anyway?”

“They’re still out with the resistance forces. Actually, I need to get them a message,” Bernard realized. “With Future Mindylenopia back in our past, and Carrie temporarily down, Luci and the rest of them need to know that it’s time to storm in and take this building.”

“Thrilling. Meanwhile, I kind of want all of us middle namers together, so let’s see if I can’t kill two birds with one jump. Give me a moment, knowing how to centre on people is fresh in my head.” Elizabeth closed her eyes. Moments later, she disappeared.

“Freeze!”

Tim jerked his hands into the air. “Whoa, whoa, J-Julie, it’s me.” He turned to Lee, only to see that the operations co-ordinator had also drawn a weapon. Though unlike Julie, he wasn’t pointing it at Tim. Yet.

“How did the kid get in here?” Lee demanded.

Julie shook her head. “I don’t know. I turned around, and there he was.”

Lee turned his head. “Theresa, did you see where he came from?”

“Theresa?” Tim blurted. “Wh-What happened to Megan??”

“Hold on,” the red haired woman said, over the video link. “It IS possible that things get a little weird now…”

Which was when seventeen year old Elizabeth popped into the room. “Hi!” she chirped at Lee. “Resistance, yes? Start the attack. I need to borrow… Tim, what’s your middle name?”

“Um, Anthony?”

“To borrow Anthony. Correction, I’m taking him, because he’s from the past, and as such, probably not coming back here. Thank you, have a nice day.”

Anthony shook his head. “Carrie, what–"

“Elizabeth,” she corrected, before grasping his shoulder and time jumping.

Laurie did a double take. One moment, Luci had been walking ahead of her, leading her to the car - and in the next moment, the asian woman was gone. Except, turning around, Laurie discovered that Luci was now approaching her from behind. “Luci?” she asked.

“Okay, where did you come from?” Luci demanded.

Laurie blinked, and pointed over Luci’s shoulder. “Back there?”

“No, I mean one moment I was alone out here, and now I’m not,” Luci insisted. “How did you do that? And how do you know me?”

“What?” Laurie protested. “Okay, no, see, one moment you were up there, and now you’re back here.” She continued to point for emphasis.

Luci shook her head. “You’re not making sense - but you do look familiar. Are you one of the guests from Carrie’s party, perhaps?”

Laurie stared. And then Elizabeth appeared beside her. “Found you,” the blonde said. “Why are you here with - ooh, hold up, you’re Luci, right?”

Luci nodded, now looking concerned.

“Luci, can you make a point of locking down the time car that must have recently appeared? I can’t grab it yet, but I sure as heck don’t need the extra aggravation of worrying about it while I fight myself.”

Luci gaped. Elizabeth then turned to Laurie. “I think your middle name is Amelia?”

Amelia blinked. “Yeah - y-you know about that?”

“I must have looked it up at some point. Come along, Amelia.” Elizabeth reached out her hand. Amelia took it, and then the both of them disappeared off the street corner.

“This is incredible,” Anthony said, as Elizabeth and Amelia appeared in the generator control room next to him and Bernard. “Carr– um, Elizabeth, could you, like, pop the entire resistance invasion force into this room by doing that?”

“No,” Elizabeth said, letting out a slow breath. “Because first, it would have to be one at a time, second, I only made it back here by centring on Bernard, and finally, those couple trips took a LOT out of me.” She released Amelia. “But I wanted us all here because I need your input. Given how I think I’ll now need to defeat… me. Future Carrie.”

“You… you’re okay with doing that?” Amelia wondered.

Elizabeth shook her head. “No. Not really. Because I don’t see how it’s even possible. Carrie knows my every move, not merely because she’s particularly canny, well educated, or - let’s toss this in for laughs - hauntingly good looking, but because she WAS ONCE ME. Meaning the Elder Carrie HAS TO KNOW whatever it is I’m going to try next.” The blonde bit down on her lower lip. “As such, whatever I think of is a bad idea. So I’m kind of open to suggestions?”

At first, no one spoke.

ASIDE: The stage is set, the Liz & Mindy pieces will be explained shortly. What might you suggest to Elizabeth?

Incidentally, Tartra wrote a WFG review on Saturday, then we set a new all time high pageview count on Sunday, shattering our ceiling of 113. Hello to the person who apparently read the archive? (With the Part A&B thing, T&T is now 128 posts long.) Tartra writes “The Other Kind of Roommate” if anyone’s looking for more reading material.

PREVIOUSLY: Frank, Laurie and Tim ended up in the future of “Timeline Three”. A timeline where Mindy never travelled back. But then Carrie got herself to destroy “Timeline Three”…

PART 93b: TIMELINE FOUR REDUX

“Yes. No. I don’t know,” he said, his holographic face looking very frustrated.

Luci tossed her key fob on the side table and shut her front door. “How was the visit? Is Laurie okay?”

“Laurie’s fine. Luci, I’ve pulled my tow truck over to the side of the road.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. But I feel like maybe it’s bleedthrough?”

She peered at his expression. He seemed sincere. “Can’t be. There’s no major operations planned in the area that would attract attention.”

“Luci, I’ve pulled over to the side of the road, and for no particular reason, I’m remembering that time I worked on a Chevy in… I think it was senior auto shop class.”

“Phil, I swear, we’re not up to anything.” Luci chewed her lower lip. “Want to meet though? At the small cafe on the outskirts of town?”

“Okay, good. See you there in an hour.” Luci hung up the phone, reaching back for her key fob, as well as the medical device she used to identify people in the database after swabbing them for DNA.

She stared at it. Why on earth had she picked that up?

“Luci, what in the hell are you idiots doing?”

Luci sat back on her couch, staring blankly at the angry holographic face of Julie LaMille. She was beginning to feel overwhelmed. “You too?”

“What do you mean me too?”

Luci shook her head. “Bleedthrough.”

“I know,” Julie snapped. “For some reason, I’ve been expecting you to call me for the last half hour. What operation are you people–”

“No operation. Julie, you don’t understand,” Luci insisted. “This is crazy, for some reason we’re experiencing bleedthrough on a massive scale, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. I’ve got techs talking about a car that isn’t there, an operative who says Mindylenopia contacted us out of the blue looking for help with her suicide mission, and plus I made way too much toast for breakfast this morning. NONE of which is connected to ANYTHING!”

Julie frowned. “Back up to the suicide mission thing.”

Luci sighed. “That’s just Mindy fulfilling her destiny. She’ll go back in time today, then get banished by Carrie. It never changed anything, remember? In the end, Glen still managed to snare Carrie, spiriting her out of town.”

There was the sound of Julie drumming her fingers on a desk. “So are your people helping Mindylenopia go back?”

“No. We explored the possibilities weeks ago, and couldn’t find a new lynchpin. Don’t spread it around, but the whole mission was deemed a predestined lost cause.” She grimaced. “We were WAY too cunning in our youth.”

“Is there a rogue faction within your ranks plotting something then?”

“Julie…"

“Look, I’m serious. The phone call I was expecting? I feel like you wanted me to get you things.”

“‘Things’? What ‘things’?”

“Oh, well, let’s see. It was either party favours for Carrie’s birthday, or ‘things’ that could help Mindylenopia get access to the stationary generator.”

“Ha ha.” Luci shook her head. “Look, according to our intelligence, Carrie made a call yesterday demanding a DECREASE of security at the generator this evening. So Mindylenopia doesn’t need us anyway, it should be no problem for her to… to… wait. WAIT.” She seized the edge of the couch. “Julie, why would Carrie do that?”

Julie rolled her eyes. “You’re asking me? I presume it was to make sure Mindylenopia succeeds in taking the trip, predestiny and all.”

“No, no, there’s no need to make SURE she succeeds, we KNOW she succeeds,” Luci protested. “She’s in our past. That’s not a change Carrie has to make. So why are we feeling the effects of bleedthrough here? The only way it makes sense is if… oh no. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but could Mindylenopia have once FAILED to make it back? Are we now overwriting a timeline where she FAILED?”

“Luci, that would mean Carrie wanted someone to mess with her past. Worse, the implication is that, to fix things, we have to stop Mindylenopia from going on her trip.”

“I know.” If she’d felt overwhelmed before, now she felt positively adrift. “So… I guess we better keep our options open. Julie, if you wouldn’t mind, please get us your ‘things’? Meanwhile, I’m going to organize an emergency strike force to take on the generator station… having them ready might mean we can stop Mindylenopia. If we have to. Hell, we might even manage a foothold, given the lower security - though I’m hoping it’s not a trap we’re falling for here either.”

Carrie glared at her reflection. She didn’t enjoying seeing the lines on her face, the hints of grey in her hair, or even the bright yellow gown that she had chosen for her birthday celebration. But her displeasure went deeper than that. “At least it’s almost over."

“What is, my love?”

Carrie didn’t bother to turn to face the woman who had spoken, continuing to glare at her reflection. “This damn headache. Which a future me in a horrible sweater indirectly inflicted, for absolutely no good reason. I’ve spent the better part of a day looking into things, and the only conclusion I can draw from my latest experience is that I hate myself. A lot.”

“Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? A mass–"

“No,” Carrie snorted. “It doesn’t matter. Liz won’t be back, not in this timeline. Also, tomorrow, I want you to give me the name of that forum where they were talking about visions. I want it shut down.”

“Y-Yes, my love… I meant no disrespect…"

“Fine, good.” Carrie finally turned to regard the woman sitting on the edge of her bed, the one dressed in the elaborate purple gown. And Chartreuse’s eyes were cast down towards the floor. As it should be.

“It’s time I got out there,” Carrie decided. “Moreover, if you perform well tonight as my pretty Canadian eye candy, I’ll allow you to give me a special birthday gift after everybody has left.” She grinned. “Would you like that?”

Her companion swallowed. “My love, I d-don’t want to go out there…"

Carrie tensed. “What?”

“Because if I do… I feel that… that I might be hurt…"

“You want to defy me, on my fiftieth birthday?”

Chartreuse shrank back, curling into a ball. “My love…"

“Well, you can stay in here then! With your pretty dress and your stupid visions!”

Raising a palm and twisting it in against her pounding head, Carrie stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

“Lee? What’s wrong?”

He turned to look over his shoulder at Julie. “The bleedthrough, I guess?” he admitted. “I’m starting to feel dumb about sending Luci out to Carrie’s property. Yet I still feel like someone’s supposed to be stationed there, and reporting in.”

“Right.” Julie ran her fingers back through her hair. “Well, if there’s something to find, Luci can find it.”

Lee chuckled. “Kind words you have for the same woman who, just last month, you referred to as a–"

“We reached an understanding earlier today,” Julie interrupted. She furrowed her brow. “For some reason, it felt right.”

Lee raised his hands in the air. “Hey, I’m happy for you both.” He looked back at his monitors. “What I’m not happy about is the fact that I’m running out of time to pull the trigger on our forces at the generator. Do we storm in, or not? We still have NO intelligence on whether we can allow Mindylenopia go back in time.”

“We should let her go.”

Lee turned to the side monitor to look at Megan. Then he mentally checked himself - Megan wasn’t his redundancy for tonight’s mission. Theresa was. One of the oldest members of the resistance. “But Theresa, how can you be sure?” he protested.

She smiled quietly back at him. He was reminded of the knowing looks she’d had before, way back when she had been a simple waitress in their hometown cafe. “You’ll simply have to trust me,” Theresa said.

One moment, Carrie was reaching for an hors d’oeuvre. The next moment, she was on the ground, screaming. Her past - it was completely breaking apart. Carrie dropped her mental shields into place, and tried to pinpoint how things could possibly be going so very, very wrong.

She had never thought her temporal pain could be any worse than an ice pick to the skull - and yet now, on top of that, it was like her head was simultaneously in a vice, making the misery so much worse, even through the shielding. Making things hard to track.

The issue, it seemed, was that hadn’t left town with Glinephanis? Except she damn well HAD left! But no, she hadn’t. For some reason, it now looked like she had still been in town for Christmas during her senior year of high school. Then… wait, where the hell had her past self ended up? And how had Young Carrie become so… so BROKEN?

Carrie’s eyes widened, as she deciphered the key moment. In a time period when she should have been three years old.

Pushing herself back to her feet, and ignoring the concerned mutterings of all the people around her, Carrie tore open a rip in the fabric of space-time, and stepped through it. Into the lounge of a Miami airport.

Elder Carrie glared at him for a moment, then shook her head, brushing her hair off her shoulder. “Oh, it wasn’t your fault,” she assured Glinephanis. “You did your best. I know who’s really to blame - it’s these stupid Mundanes and that damnable Mindylenopia! They’re all dooming my childhood.” She peered at him. “Perhaps you can still be a bright spot in my younger self’s life though? Will you come with me now? Some of my memories could remain valid, not be inserted by force.”

Glinephanis nodded slowly. “I’m with you to the end. But Carrie, there are more time travellers here in Miami. Mindylenopia and a number of your old classmates. We all came in a time car. They might still try something.”

She growled. Cleaning up her history was going to be a real pain, huh? She hoped she wouldn’t need to mess with too many memories. “Fine, I will deal with them as soon as I get my younger self here restrained back in my present. Grab hold, we’re leaving.”

She grabbed her teenaged self by the collar. Apparently, that Carrie had dressed herself up in a blue business suit, almost like she was pretending to be their mama. Good grief, how had she EVER been so STUPID? Glinephanis took her by the arm, and she pulled them back towards the rip… with her younger self still trying to break free of the freezing. Apparently, this was going to be a long trip home.

The lounge door burst open. “Carrie!” Laurie shrieked.

“Carrie, fight it,” Tim called out. “Whatever is going on, fight!”

Frank charged in between the two of them.

“Frank, don’t get close!” Mindylenopia shouted, grabbing onto him by the waist, slowing him down. Not that it mattered.

“Carrie, FUTURE Carrie, it doesn’t have to be this way!” Frank shouted, looking right at her for a change, rather than at her broken teenaged variant. “You don’t have to do this, not to yourself…"

Carrie did her very best to ignore them all, busy concentrating on getting a foothold on the time streams, without losing her mental hold on the Younger Carrie. It was surprisingly difficult. It occurred to her that maybe that’s why the old “Liz” version she had encountered in the generator hadn’t tried this genre of persuasion? Preferring to snare herself in the “Mindylenopia Catch-22 scenario” instead? Which had, she now realized, somehow precipitated this entire situation.

Well, she would soon set everything right. Young Carrie was weak, and no match for her.

Pulling Glinephanis and her younger self forwards into the time streams, Carrie soon realized that the time trip, which should have taken seconds, would instead drag on for close to a minute. Because Young Carrie continued to wriggle against her hold, at one point whimpering out, “Chartreuse?”.

Carrie decided that her best plan would be to arrive in the future at the stationary temporal generator outside Ottawa. There were dampening fields in the displacement room which she could activate, ones which might help her to control her younger self long enough for a memory implantation, or removal, or whatever else she’d be forced to do to get history back on track.

As such, they emerged from the time streams in the main control room of the Ottawa generator facility.

Where a teenaged Frank Dijora immediately shot her with a prototype for a temporal gun.

NEXT: Realignment.

ASIDE: If it all makes sense, please vote for T&T at Top WebFiction. If it doesn’t make sense, drop a comment before the vote for T&T. Three weeks left.

PREVIOUSLY: As the time group got ready to send Mindylenopia back, Carrie realized something was happening at the temporal generator.

PART 93a: NOWHERE TO RUN

The primary tech, a man named Walter, looked up at her. “Well, actually,” he began, “the temporal generator has no geo-temporal records to draw on, for a time from before it was built. And while we do have the material on site that can localize earlier times, the system still has to compensate geographically, ensuring that a traveller doesn’t end up floating in space or buried in the ground or something.”

The redhead sighed. “Yes. I’m Temporal, I know that. You wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for your authorization codes. But look, the specific day in October doesn’t matter, I picked it randomly. So if that’s the problem, I can…”

She stopped, as the slight rumbling noise in the control room ceased, followed by a chirp from the computer terminal. The main panel changed to green, and Walter turned back to his old style physical keyboard. “There we go," he remarked. “Year is encoded. Your date… locked in place. Displacement room is set for a thirty-three year trip to the past. Satisfied?”

“No,” Mindy stated. “Not yet.” She looked through the large glass observation windows of the control room, down to the displacement room below. It was large, the size of a small theatre, capable of sending back a hundred people at once, if necessary. “I’m going down there to uncouple the wall circuits. When I wave my hand at you, you will activate the displacement.”

Walter looked uneasy. “I wouldn’t advise that.”

“It won’t send me back, not with the wall circuits cut. That’s the failsafe.”

“Yeah, uh… we’ve been having some… glitches in the system this evening.”

Mindylenopia turned to Bernard, who had been quietly observing the last several minutes from the doorway. “Make a note. Safety at this site has been compromised.”

Oh brother. She couldn’t play along with this any more - they were out of time. Mindylenopia stared Walter in the face. “Listen. When I wave my hand at you, you will activate the displacement.”

“When you wave your hand, I will activate the displacement.”

“Good man.” Mindylenopia tossed her handbag in Bernard’s direction, and he fumbled to catch it. “The rest is your problem.” She sprinted for the stairs leading down to the temporal displacement room.

“She’s active! All units, please acknowledge, Carrie is active and using super speed to bear down on the generator.”

Luci reached up to touch her earpiece. “Acknowledged.” She didn’t question how Lee was aware of that fact. In a way, this was actually a good sign. It meant that Carrie wasn’t using any finesse - which in turn implied that their blonde nemesis was worried. Were they about to pull this off?

She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as young Laurie Veniti ran up to her, gasping for breath, and grasping her by the shoulders. “Luci!” Laurie squealed. “Luci, I… ohmigod, I did it. A creepy guy was about to sexually molest a version of Chartreuse, and so I did it, I kicked him real hard in the… the…”

“Good for you, Laurie,” Luci said, giving the redheaded girl a hug. “Good for you.” She squeezed once. “But we have to get back to the car now, okay?”

Laurie looked up at her, nodding wordlessly.

Frank walked closer to the large glass windows. There was the sound of what he assumed to be a door sliding open and closed, and moments later, Mindy strode into the room. She looked up at them, and waved. Walter reached out for the panel…

And then everything started to move as if in slow motion.

Frank didn’t clue in right away. It merely looked like the tech’s hand was meeting incredible air resistance, or like he was trying to resist Mindylenopia’s mental command. But then Frank realized that Walter’s eyes were squinting, and closing, and gradually opening… as if in a protracted blink. What?

Now the tech’s hand was an inch away from the panel - and that’s when she appeared.

The blonde woman was drawing in great lungfuls of air, her face was drenched in sweat, and the yellow dress she was wearing had been torn in two places… but she was there. Holding Walter’s hand back, preventing the final activation. Then she pulled him bodily back from the main board, shoving his chair to the side, causing the tech to collapse onto the floor.

“Good,” the Elder Carrie said, her chest heaving. She slammed both hands down onto the edge of the desk that ran the length of the room, under the observation windows. Seemingly trying to prevent her legs from collapsing out from under her. “SO GOOD. But. You. Were. Not. Good. Enough.”

She reached out to smack a button, drew in a huge breath, then leaned down to yell into the nearby microphone. “Mindylenopia! I see you down there. This was the last straw, you understand? You’re finished! You hear me? FIN-ISHED.”

Though the observation window, Frank saw the redhead’s hazel eyes widen in horror - and then she collapsed down onto the floor, like all the fight had gone out of her. Which was when Frank finally realized that Elder Carrie was paying absolutely no attention to him. The time dilation hadn’t even affected him, had it? How else could he have registered what was going on? Did Carrie not care about him, could it be that only Walter’s palm could activate the time jump?

He had to try. He stepped in, reaching around Carrie to bring his palm down on the necessary panel.

Except his hand passed right through. Then it continued down, right through the desk, and Frank stumbled forwards as there seemed to be no solid objects around him to arrest his motion. With mounting horror, he realized that even the floor felt weirdly spongy. Frank brought his hand back out of the desk and up to his face. He could see right through it.

Well, of course he could. Because if Mindylenopia didn’t travel back, he didn’t exist. Right? Numbly, Frank wondered why time was pulling a slow fade on him, like Marty McFly in “Back to the Future”, rather than simply winking him out of existence. Did that mean that there was still a chance? That he was somehow neither alive, nor dead? But what chance did they have if he couldn’t TOUCH anything?

“I win again,” Carrie said triumphantly.

“Sorry, no,” Carrie answered herself.

Carrie spun, reaching up to wipe the sweat out of her eyes. She felt her mouth forming an ‘o’ of surprise. Because yes, somehow, it was her who had spoken. An older her. Had to be older, the lines in the face were still there, and the blonde hair looked even more grey… except at what point would she think a sweater like that would be a good fashion statement?

“You… you can’t be here,” fifty old Carrie choked out. “Why would I want to change THIS?”

“Funny thing that,” even-older Carrie chuckled. “Let’s just say that the future isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And this, in a sense, this was the major turning point. This lynchpin moment.”

“But you… I… how… why…”

Sweater-wearing Carrie, whom Carrie decided to dub “Sweater Liz” in her own mind for the sake of convenience, gave her a pitying look. “Really? My fiftieth birthday, and I’m still that stupid?”

Carrie clenched her jaw. She snapped her gaze towards the observation windows and then back to Sweater Liz. “Mindylenopia’s really working for me somehow? Is that it?”

Sweater Liz seemed to ponder that. “I suppose that’s a good an answer as any.”

“Meaning that’s NOT an answer.”

Sweater Liz sighed. “Fine. You’re making my point for me here, you know. We’ve never been good at these sorts of interactions.”

“Oh, I’ve learned how to handle Future Me,” Carrie retorted.

“I know,” came the retort. “I’m you. Your plan is to rewrite your history to eliminate the need for me to even be here. Works great in the short term. What about the long term?”

“I never travel back long term. Never erase that much of myself.”

Sweater Liz gestured. “Mindylenopia’s going back long term.”

Again, Carrie’s gaze drifted to the windows and back. “It’s not like she can change me. Not that much. Not with Glinephanis back… wait, how far forwards in my timeline are you?”

“Do you want to find out?” Sweater Liz crossed her arms. “Because here’s the thing, Paradox Woman. I’m going to trigger that panel. Which both sends Mindylenopia back AND locks you into being me, and oooh, we both know how much I HATE that. Right? Being locked into a destiny? Your only alternative would be to rewrite the last few minutes, perhaps days, to keep me from ever being here… but guess what. In that timeline, Mindylenopia MUST go back too. Otherwise I’ll still be here to see to it.”

“That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard,” Carrie snarled. She wished she wan’t so tired and dripping sweat everywhere, not to mention partially propping herself up using the desk. It felt like that took some of the bite out of her words.

Liz chuckled. “Maybe. Maybe not. Have you ever wondered, whether there might be a better way for us to deal with our future selves?”

“No.”

“Well, I’ve started wondering. About that, and more.” She rubbed her chin. “In particular, I wonder… when is it that we stopped being curious about what we could do?”

Liz smiled. And Carrie realized that her Future Self really was going to do it. At some point in the future, she was going to go crazy in the head, and come back to give herself this asinine choice, this ultimatum… and Carrie was forced to admit that, truly, she now had no idea how to stop herself.

Which meant there was no way to prevent Mindylenopia from going back. Even beating up Liz here only meant that she’d get beat up by herself in the future. And as Liz had said, there was only one sure fire way she knew about to avoid becoming a future incarnation.

“I HATE YOU!” Carrie screamed.

“I know,” Liz said.

Liz reached out for the panel.

Carrie flashed back in time a day and a half.

Everything changed.

NEXT: Timeline Four Redux

ASIDE: Carrie herself destroys Timeline Three. What does that mean? As always, feel free to speculate. Also, did you catch last weekend’s Commentary post?

PREVIOUSLY: They need what Julie has, to help Mindy travel back. But Luci tried to throw Julie out, after some uncomfortable truths were revealed.

PART 91b: REWRITE THE FUTURE

Then again, Luci didn’t seem to be concerned by Julie’s actions. The asian woman merely glared at her house guest from across the dining room table, as Julie continued to stare at her lenses. Deliberately ignoring everyone present. With a sigh, Frank made sure Tim and Laurie were okay on the sofa, the blonde boy doing his best to console their redheaded friend, then he returned to the table.

“Okay,” Frank sighed. “Julie. Here’s the thing. What you’ve got? Luci thought it would make this mission safe for us. Or safer, at least. Knowing that, why would you willingly take those items away, increasing the danger?”

“Because obviously Luci doesn’t need them after all,” Julie said dryly. “Besides, if she truly cared about safety then her resistance friends wouldn’t be–"

“I have been trying to FIX that, Julie! I was making an effort, and I’ve redoubled my efforts since losing–”

“Oh, I’m sorry, you want points for better late than nev–"

“Okay, stop,” Frank said, cutting between them. He drew in a long breath. “Look. I obviously don’t know the whole history here. But I DO know you two - or knew you - when you were my age. Back when Julie tended to work on her projects all by herself, while Luci had a habit of speaking her mind regardless of the consequences. Back when, despite those differences, you both cared. About each other, and about what was going on around you. So, know what? I think that means you still care. Both of you. Somehow, you’ve simply blinded yourselves to that reality over the last thirty years.”

Julie’s posture went rigid, and she reached up to pull her glasses back off. Luci bit down on her lower lip, turning away from Julie to face the wall. For a moment, neither spoke.

“I’m not about to die,” Julie muttered. “Your resistance could at least care a little bit about how much I stick my neck out.”

“You questioned what we were doing!” Luci said, turning back and smacking her palm against the table. “ALL the damn time!”

“Because you were blinded by vengeance! Sorry,” Julie immediately amended. “I don’t mean you, Luci. Some of your group were though. Still are. I couldn’t be a party to that.”

“Oh, why, because you’re such a saint?” Luci sniped.

“No, precisely because I’m NOT a saint,” Julie said. “And what I didn’t enjoy seeing was my darker places reflected in your resistance group! Hence, my trying to clean them up for you - leading to my getting attacked for those efforts. Damn it Luci, if you’d only listened to me back then, then maybe…" Her voice trailed off.

Luci sat back, looking tired. “Corry wasn’t my call. You know that.”

“I know, I just…" Julie shook her head, staring at the ceiling. “I don’t know. Maybe Frank has a point. Maybe, in the end, I was looking for a reason to wash my hands of the whole thing. And I finally got it.”

“And maybe I didn’t like you showing us what we were becoming,” Luci admitted. “I won’t deny my ethics have become… flexible these days.”

Julie rubbed her forehead. “Tell you what.” Her gaze swung towards the couch. “I’ll stick with you for this one, if you’ll have me. Because I want to guarantee young Laurie’s safety.”

Luci nodded. “You have that guarantee. And your acquired immunity to mind control makes you a useful asset for us. Not that I only see you as an asset here,” she amended. “I do care. At least a little.”

Julie chuckled. “So, suddenly friends again?”

“I wouldn’t say that. But I’d say we’re not adversaries.” Luci shook her head. “We never should have let that happen.” She hesitated, then stretched her arm across the table. Julie regarded the hand, then reached out to shake it.

“Thank goodness,” Frank sighed. He winced as both ladies turned to look at him - he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Um, yeah, so what’s the plan then?”

Luci dropped Julie’s hand, standing back up. “The plan? Is to follow Mindylenopia’s plan, until she travels back. At which point we storm the stationary generator, so that the Temporals are facing chaos both inside and out. That gives us our best chance ever to obtain time travel… as long as Carrie doesn’t rewrite everything. That’s the key. We cannot attempt this without that piece in place.”

“Right. Well, we should have a few tricks in store for Carrie,” Frank said, glancing back towards Tim and Laurie. “Mindylenopia’s weapon will help.”

“Hold on,” Julie said. “What’s going to stop Temporals from using the stationary temporal generator in the States next week? Or the one in Japan, or Ireland, or any of the other sites around the world? They could travel back from then to yesterday, and be here to mess with Canada now. After all, they’ve already got their representatives in town for Carrie’s birthday celebration.”

Luci shook her head. “Temporals may have the better grasp on time travel theory, but without Carrie, they’re as locked into predestination as we are.” She grinned. “Meaning we long as we can take the building in the present, we’ll HAVE it.”

“Just one loose end remains,” Frank said. “What did Mindy say, when you told her she could be tortured and killed on her mission to our past?”

He shifted his attention back to Luci, only to see that she was frowning. “Frank, I mentioned she calls us, we don’t call her, yeah? Well, we know where you and Laurie need to be positioned - but when you meet her? I’m afraid you’ll have to give Mindylenopia that information yourself. At which point… well, yeah, I guess she could abort the whole thing.”

Frank stood by the side of Highway 19 that night, south of Ottawa. Luci had dropped him off there, before driving back in to monitor Laurie; Julie had offered to take Laurie and Tim to their necessary locations in advance. Frank took a moment to mentally review what he knew of that part of the mission.

Carrie apparently had residences in many capital cities around the world - but she preferred Canada, where she had grown up. So her fiftieth birthday was being held locally. And Mindylenopia had been invited. Luci had hypothesized that the invitation was a test of the redhead’s fuzzy allegiances, or simply a way to keep an eye on her… either way, Mindylenopia had RVSPed. To the tune of ‘I’ll stick to lurking outside, not unlike the spy you take me for’.

So Laurie would lurk in her place. And as long as the Temporals thought Mindylenopia was there, they wouldn’t be looking for her to storm the building housing the stationary time machine. The building that Frank and Mindylenopia would soon be inside, so that he could get the prototype temporal gun… and then, assuming sending a message was possible, he would cue the resistance to storm in. Piece of cake.

Assuming Mindylenopia had no problem with dying in Miami, years later down her timeline.

He checked his watch - almost nine thirty.

“Bernard, why are you wearing that ridiculous disguise?” came a voice from the darkness.

Frank jumped, absently reaching up to touch the blonde moustache and wig he’d put on. “Uh, I thought it would help fool the video cameras.”

“Right. Because they only use video to identify people,” Mindylenopia said, coming close enough for Frank to see her rolling her eyes. “Oh well, it’s low tech, so it can’t hurt. Maybe you’ll buy yourself time because they’ll be so busy laughing. Come on.”

“Mindy. Mindylenopia, wait,” Frank said. “You have to know something first. About what’s liable to happen to you if you succeed in going back. I promised someone I would tell you.”

“Uh huh, sure. I already checked the history books, there’s no record of me,” she objected.

“Right, true enough.” Frank drew in a shaky breath. “Thing is? I’ve got very good reason to believe that you’ll end up temporally banished by the Carrie you meet in the past. And that, although you’ll survive, and rebuild many of your memories, you won’t survive what comes after that.”

“Speak the truth, please,” Mindylenopia grumbled.

“I did,” Frank said, speaking automatically.

In the process of turning away, Mindylenopia froze. She slowly swivelled her head back. “Are you one of those vision mystics?”

“No.”

“But you’ve spoken with one.”

“Not as such.”

“Yet somehow, you think past Carrie knows that I’m coming for her?”

“Not that either.” Frank shook his head. He sighed. “It’s complicated,” he yielded, using the word Chartreuse had with Tim.

She stared at him. “Part of me wants you to spill everything now.” She licked her lips. “But the sensible part of me only wants to know one thing. This future for me, which you seem to be forecasting - will that Mindylenopia change things? Will her ripples eventually kick this timeline in the teeth, or preferably somewhere even more painful?”

“I’m going to go with yes,” Frank said. After all, how could he even be here otherwise?

Mindylenopia considered that. “Good. Come on.”

Frank hesitated. “Mindylenopia - are you sure?”

She looked over her shoulder again. “No, of course not. Where’s the fun in being sure? Even with the effects of time travel being globally predestined, nothing’s ever sure, not really, not until it’s happened. So, since I’m not in the history books, I’m banking on your predicted past future being flexible. Heck, this mission to get me back could still fail somehow.”

“But if it succeeds, and it leads to banishment and death…"

“Everybody dies, Bernard,” Mindylenopia observed. “The question is what sort of footprint you want to leave behind. Sounds like I’ll go out making an impact.”

She began to stride away. “Look, I appreciate the warning, but don’t bring it up again. Because even if we assume a Carrie-esque banishment leads to me forgetting about this conversation? No one should really know too much about their own destiny. Otherwise, there’s a chance it’ll become someone else’s.”

Frank felt a tension in his shoulders relax. He felt like he’d legitimately held up his end of things, and their plans hadn’t been aborted. “Okay then. I’m right behind you.”

Carrie glared at her reflection. She didn’t enjoying seeing the lines on her face, the hints of grey in her hair, or even the bright yellow gown that she had chosen for her birthday celebration. But her displeasure went deeper than that. “There is an anomaly.”

“There is? What is it, my love?”

Carrie didn’t bother to turn to face the woman who had spoken. She continued to glare at her reflection, her eyes flickering from blue to gold and back, hoping to pinpoint the problem. Annoyingly, if there was a source behind things feeling not-quite-right, it remained elusive. “I don’t know,” she said at last, spitting the words out. That was a three word chain she spoke very infrequently. “Probably just a sign that I’m going to need to rewrite the timelines, and go through this day again with a massive headache. Stupid Mundanes, don’t they know that messing with today will simply make me ANGRY?”

“Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? A massage? Bring you some chocolate? Do a vis– I mean, a massage?”

Carrie snorted. “No.” She pushed herself away from the vanity, clenching her hands into fists. “Wait, were you about to say vision quest? Did you get back into those while I was out of town?! I thought we’d cured you of all that mystic nonsense, along with that silly accent!”

“N-No, I m-mean yes, I mean… my love, I only stumbled into an online forum where they were discussing it…”

“Stay off that forum. Better yet, tell me about it tomorrow, we’ll shut it down.” Carrie felt her fingernails digging into her palms. “I’m the one and only authority on what DOES or DOES NOT happen within the time streams. Is that understood?”

“Y-Yes, my love… I meant no disrespect…"

“Fine, good.” Carrie finally turned to regard the woman sitting on the edge of her bed. Like Carrie, she was dressed in an elaborate gown. However, her’s was purple, to complement her hair, which had for years now been dyed a bright red. When in Rome, and all that. Carrie smiled, seeing that the woman’s eyes remained cast down, towards the floor. In obedience. As it should be.

“It’s time I got out there,” Carrie decided. “Moreover, if you perform well tonight as my pretty Canadian eye candy, I’ll allow you to give me a special birthday gift after everybody has left.” She grinned. “Would you like that?”

Her companion swallowed. “Oh yes, my love,” the woman repeated. She started to look up.

“Excellent. Eyes down. Remember your place.”

Carrie’s first ever female paramour immediately complied. Honestly, there were times when Carrie wondered why she had even bothered to track down and recruit Chartreuse. But the girl had been so fond of her in high school… and then so malleable because of their history together. Even now, Chartreuse still had her uses, for instance in identifying illicit online message forums.

Snapping her fingers at her old high school friend, and with the hints of an anomaly still tickling at her senses, Carrie strode out to meet her birthday guests.

NEXT: Storming the Castle

ASIDE: Remember the April Fools entry? “Elder Carrie” is back, and meaner than ever. Meanwhile, the fourth person in that Tuesday graphic… will be Chartreuse. She turns up everywhere. If you’re enjoying, take 5 seconds to vote for T&T?

PREVIOUSLY: Luci explained about the future. To help Mindy, she’ll now need to contact Julie.

PART 91a: REUNITE THE FUTURE

“Here’s w-what I don’t get,” he ventured. “If Carrie’s been thwarting every m-move of this resistance - w-why did they send Shady back to activate her early? W-Weren’t things better for them in timeline two?”

“Predestination,” Laurie said glumly. “They had to do it.”

“Yes and no,” Frank said, as he reflected on it. “Yes in that it happened, so they had to have done it. Even knowing that the result wouldn’t be quite what they wanted, they had to… assuming they were even consciously aware of the final result. But no, in that the first time it happened - if we can even call it a first time, when that’s been overwritten - they probably weren’t much better off.”

“B-But Carrie wasn’t active in the prior timeline,” Tim protested.

“Not as a teenager. But I imagine the Temporals recruited her as soon as this alien artifact incident caught up with them,” Frank explained. “The difference being, in that timeline two, she was working for them, whereas now… well, I wonder if the Temporals are working for her.”

“NONE of it is our timeline though, right Frank? Right?” Laurie pleaded. “It can’t be!”

“Frank, we CAN’T send her back blind,” Laurie insisted, standing up. “It’s not right! Now more than ever, I see that using her to our benefit, it would mean we’re no better than these resistance people!”

Frank nodded. “I agree.”

“And since I won’t be her double unless we tell her the truth, it means we don’t have a… a…" Laurie blinked. “You agree?”

“Yeah.” He exhaled. “Laurie, I’ll tell Mindylenopia about her possible future. I admit, to this point, I was looking at this whole situation as being a broken timeline for us to fix. But Luci’s made it feel… real. With real people. Like Mindylenopia.”

“Oh.” She swallowed. “Which means I’ll get to be the bait. For her.”

“No.” Frank shook his head. “Not unless we can guarantee your safety. Including a complete two way communications link back to Tim, so that he can interject with Temporal linguistic information as needed.” He grimaced. “I probably overestimated whatever Mindylenopia was hoping for.”

“S-Sounds like Luci was keen on s-safety though,” Tim noted. “So even that s-should work out.”

“But can I act like Mindylenopia?” Laurie said, wringing her hands. “She was always so… so… together. So self-assured.”

“She seems more impatient these days,” Frank remarked.

Tim smiled. “Laurie, I w-wouldn’t worry. The w-way you stood up for your beliefs just now? It’s the most self-assured I’ve ever s-seen you.”

The redhead’s cheeks bloomed a bit brighter. “Oh? Golly.”

Tim turned his attention away, and towards the adjacent room containing Luci. “Here’s m-my other wonder. Will we soon m-meet Future Julie?”

Frank followed Tim’s gaze. “Given our own Julie’s paranoid streak concerning Glen and Mindy? I’d be surprised if she simply took any requests made by Luci on faith alone.”

The trio of time travellers spent the day inside Luci’s home - with strict orders not to depart. On the one hand, that suited Tim just fine; he understood Luci’s concerns about making changes, or seeing things they weren’t meant to see. As well as her own need to leave and go to work, to keep up appearances and to make a few “in person” requests. She had even left them with some holo-game devices (which Laurie had gravitated towards for the animations), a pad of stories locked into the ‘classics’, some music discs that weren’t “discs” at all (but Tim supposed the name had stuck), and some technical odds and ends (which had interested Frank).

On the other hand, Tim felt like it was tough to simply bide your time when you were in a foreign environment with a dangerous mission ahead. He had managed to interest Laurie in learning a few typical Temporal phrases - while hoping he was getting the pronunciation correct. He had also figured out the remote for the microwave, and been able to make their late lunch a hot one. But it was hard to concentrate for any length of time.

All things considered, it was a relief when the doorbell rang early that evening. The relief lasted until Tim looked at the video monitor, and realized that the person at the door wasn’t Luci. Well, that made sense - why ring the doorbell of your own house?

“Frank! Laurie!” he called out to them.

Frank was already approaching, and Laurie joined them moments later. They all looked at the image of the brunette woman with long, wavy brown hair, which seemed to be partially greying. She wore a professional looking suit, had a pair of glasses perched on her nose, and carried a tote bag.

Laurie gasped. “Is… is that…"

“Gotta be,” Tim affirmed. “D-Do we let Julie in?”

Their visitor reached out to press the doorbell again, then peered in the direction of the camera, her lips moving. Tim reached out to tap at the volume control.

“…so I know you’re in there. Let me in, or the deal’s off,” came the curt voice of the elder Julie LaMille.

“I’ll let her in,” Frank decided. “You two wait in the other room. Just in case.”

Tim nodded, retreating out of sight. He heard the front door open… and silence. Then Julie’s voice again. “So she wasn’t lying. It really is you. Before you died. Bloody hell.”

“Uh, technically it’s me after I died… er, you want to come in?” Frank asked.

Her tongue clucked. “If I do, will my DNA trigger some kind of home defence system that fires lasers at me?”

“I… don’t… think so?”

“Hmph.” Tim heard the older Julie stride into the house. “I suppose even Luci wouldn’t be stupid enough to incinerate a member of Parliament.”

Frank closed the front door. “Okay! So you’re in the government. That’s… neat.”

“What other job would I have here? Ottawa is still the capital of Canada,” Julie noted. She dropped her tote bag on the floor. “I’ve got your supplies. Guessing Luci’s not here yet?”

Tim decided it was safe to emerge from the other room. He saw Julie was now removing her glasses, smirking a bit as she tapped something on the side of them. The lenses seemed to dim. “That’s the c-communications equipment for me and Laurie?” Tim asked, gesturing at the bag.

She looked his way. “That, plus a voice modulator, some bulletproof laser vests…” Her features seemed to soften as Laurie came out beside Tim. “I am so sorry she got you mixed up in all of this.”

“We kind of mixed ourselves up in it,” Frank admitted. “Did Luci mention how your Carrie abducted our Carrie?”

“No,” Julie said, eyeing him as she tucked her glasses away. “Merely that your being here means we have a chance at taking down Carrie, and subsequently acquiring the local stationary temporal generator. I guess anything more than THAT was on a ‘need to know’ basis. And since I do my OWN thing, which pisses off her little resistance to no end, I didn’t ‘need to know’.”

Tim frowned. “Wait, you’re able to do your own thing? With a war going on?”

“Cold war,” Julie corrected, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the wall. “And yes. Because I have an acquired immunity to the Temporal mind power. Which comes from being told as a teenager to shoot my former best friend, which in turn made me want to shoot my unborn self. That sort of trauma? It makes a girl throw up mental guards to prevent similar incidents from ever happening again. To prevent her from becoming anybody’s puppet. Surely you remember all that better than me.”

“Well, that’s good,” Frank remarked. “Oh, not the trauma!” he amended, as Julie glared at him. “More it’s good that it’s possible for some to resist the influence. The way Lee seemed to be able to do it.”

Julie’s eyes narrowed. “Luci hasn’t even told you about THAT, has she. Typical.”

“Told us what?” Laurie wondered, fidgeting in her hands with the holo-game cube she’d been playing.

The corners of Julie’s mouth curled up. “About what her little group of medical resistance fighters have been working on all these years. I mean, has it slipped your teenage minds that the one who went back, the one who had me shoot Carrie, was a Mundane? Not a Temporal at all?”

Tim felt his stomach drop. “Y-You’re saying that she… that Luci is trying to unlock the Temporal ability…"

“Fun fact,” Julie said. “Her friends haven’t figured out a way of turning the Temporal power of suggestion off, or even suppressing it, as with Lee. But, in certain cases, they’re able to turn a rudimentary version of it ON. In non-redheads.”

“Oh no,” Frank said, slumping against the wall. “That’s why you two don’t get along. Because Luci’s the indirect cause of the trauma you experienced as a teenager.”

“Oh no,” Julie said, shaking her head. “No, my parents caused most of the trauma I experienced back then. I don’t get along with Luci because of how her resistance killed Corry Veniti!”

The holo-game cube dropped to the floor. “What?” Laurie rasped.

“See, these resistance people, they’re not very big on ethics,” Julie said. “Granted, being a politician, it’s a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, but at least I’m aware of my duplicity.” She nodded towards Laurie. “It’s okay, I made sure your future self was set up somewhere safe outside of town. Phil Clarke still visits on occasion.”

Tim reached out to support Laurie, as it looked like her knees were about to give out. “It’s okay Laurie,” he soothed. “It’s l-like you said, this is n-not our timeline. It’s not.”

“Julie,” Frank whispered. “Did you REALLY have to say that?”

She eyed him. “Yes. Because if you truly are from a divergent timeline… you can’t fix the things you don’t even know about. Right?”

“JULIE!” The scream was accompanied by the sound of the front door banging open. “Julie, you came EARLY you good-for-nothing…" Luci turned to Frank, her eyes blazing with anger. Based on the medical looking cloak she wore, and how out of breath she seemed, Tim wagered Luci had hurried home as fast as she could. “What did she say? How much has she already said?!”

“I knew she’d have a DNA notification coded into her place,” Julie muttered, barely audible.

“Luci, Julie merely… well, she told us about your medical research,” Frank admitted. “And about Corry.”

“Of course she did. Of COURSE.” Luci stomped over to the brunette, and pointed back to the door. “Get OUT of my HOUSE! NOW!”

“If I do, I take my government issue communications tools and other gear with me,” Julie shot back. “I thought your people needed it?”

“We’ll find another way!”

“Oh, good luck with that.” Julie reached down and grabbed the bag.

“Julie, wait,” Tim pleaded, looking up from where he was holding Laurie around the shoulders.

“Don’t anyone stop her,” Luci said, glaring his way.

“It’s fine,” Julie said. “Her resistance idiots can just keep on firing blindly, enraging Carrie and the Temporals to the point where they completely wipe us out…"

“At least we’re TRYING SOMETHING!”

“And some of us wish you’d STOP.”

Julie stepped towards the front door. Frank moved to bar the way. “No. Please, Julie, you can’t go. Luci, we need what she’s got, you said as much this morning.”

“Frank, DAMN it!”

“Besides Julie, you need us,” he continued, looking back at the brunette. “Because you can’t just march in here, tell us all that, and hope we’ll fix all of time for you. That’s not how it works.”

The side of Julie’s mouth twitched. “What then?”

“I’m not exactly sure, but…" Frank let out a breath. “We are going to sit down at the table and talk this out.”

NEXT: Rewrite the Future

ASIDE: So “Timeline Three” is a bit of a mess. Do you see “Timeline Four” as being any better? Will there even BE a “Four”, or is Mindy going nowhere?

PREVIOUSLY: Frank wants to help Mindy, to get her prototype temporal gun. Luci says it’s not that simple, and claims they’re in timeline 47.

PART 90b: INSIGHT THE FUTURE

He stood, uncertainly holding a napkin in his hand. “I guess I could keep apologizing,” Frank said. “Except I’ve found that can be bothersome to people if I do it too much.” He glanced towards Laurie.

Luci tossed the cloth towards her sink, resting both hands on the edge of the table. “Here’s the thing you don’t seem to have realized,” she stated. “Namely that, while the rest of us have to hunt for lynchpin moments to divert the time stream, Carrie isn’t bound by that rule. She can change time on a whim. She doesn’t do it indiscriminately, granted, mainly because making changes seems to leave her with a hell of a headache. But that power? It means that she can thwart us every time we try to move against her. Or by extension, the Temporals.”

Tim cleared his throat uncertainly. “And s-so forty-six times…"

“I made up that number,” Luci sighed. “There’s really no way to track it. We only know it’s happening, not how often she’s triggered it. But that’s not the worst of it.” She pushed off from the table. “The worst part is all the prejudice that’s resulted.”

“Prejudice?” Frank looked over at Tim, then Laurie, then back to Luci. “Can you give us ANY more context?”

Luci regarded him, then looked up at the ceiling. “In for a penny, in for a pound. Fine. I suppose if giving you knowledge changes bits of this in your new timeline, it would be for the best anyway. Plus we might be able to make you forget, if absolutely necessary. You won’t get many specifics though.” She pointed at him as if to emphasize that, then walked towards the kitchen. “It all starts with the alien artifact. I’m going to make toast, anyone want buttered toast to go with your fruit?”

“I’ll have some,” Laurie said, lifting her index finger.

“S-Sure,” Tim said, uncertainly.

Luci pulled the loaf out of the breadbox device where she stored it. “The artifact turned up… let’s say many years ago. The information it provided was completely unintelligible, for the most part.”

“When you say alien, did the artifact come from space?” Frank wondered.

Luci waggled her finger. “No specifics. Now, I never worked on it, and accounts differ… but it either contained genetic material, or had information about rewriting our own genetic code. At the time, the thought was, if we used the information, or spliced the material into us, whichever, we’d be able to understand the rest of whatever the artifact was trying to communicate. See where I’m going with this?”

Luci hit the plunger on the toaster. For whatever reason, among the various high-tech items Frank had seen in Luci’s residence, the toaster had at least retained it’s familiar functionality.

“I-Is it that gene stuff which m-made Temporals?” Tim asked.

Luci nodded. “Bingo. But more than that, it turned out that the gene sequencing or whatever they did only worked for one percent of the world’s population. A slice of the population who share a trait that makes them stand out in a crowd, so to speak.”

“Red hair,” Frank gasped, recalling what Mindylenopia had said to Julie right before they’d left the mansion in the time car. “All Temporals have red hair.”

Luci’s eyebrow arced. “Your new timeline is just FULL of surprises, huh? Fine, yes, red hair. The genetics worked on them. You can see how a racial-style divide might start forming.”

Laurie looked up from eyeing a lock of her hair. “Gingerism. Oh no.”

Tim looked over at her, frowning. “Prejudice based on red hair? That’s a thing?”

Laurie chewed on her lower lip. “Kick a Ginger Day, Kiss a Ginger Day, it’s kinda hard to miss such things when you are one. No one’s ever tried doing those things to me though. Possibly because of Corry.”

“Yeah, you are NOT going to like where this is going,” Luci sighed. She shook her head. “Moreover, full disclosure here, we don’t know why red hair is a trigger. It’s even possible the first scientists screwed something up, and locked it in. There’s been some incidental research into finding lynchpin moments around the time of the first Temporals, but Carrie was deemed the bigger threat.”

The toast popped up out of the toaster. Luci pulled it onto a plate with a pair of tongs, and reached for the loaf of bread again.

“Hold on,” Frank said. “When you first mentioned the artifact last night, you associated it with timeline one. If this is timeline three, or forty-seven, or whatever…"

“The artifact itself is what you might call a fixed point,” Luci yielded. She dropped more bread into the toaster, plunged it down, then reached for the butter dish. “It must exist in all changed timelines, because it’s what leads to time travel in the first place.”

“Oh! Then that’s what the artifact was c-communicating,” Tim realized. “The stuff you couldn’t f-figure out was the time machine knowledge. Which eventually only r-redheaded Temporals were able to understand?”

“Yes, but time travel is only one of the things the artifact provided,” Luci said. She slowly turned the butter knife around in her hands. “Again, not giving specifics, but the first Temporals? They still linked themselves to us “Mundanes”. The ‘pure’ Temporals, who came a bit later? They rejected last names entirely, started using the Temporal language to communicate cross-culturally, and basically see themselves as the next stage of evolution.” Luci grimaced. “Even though that’s not how evolution WORKS, you stupid, self-aggrandizing…" She stopped herself, letting out a slow breath before slicing her knife into the butter. “Sorry.”

“So you’re saying there was more information about genetics in the alien artifact’s translations too,” Frank said, hoping to pull the conversation back on track.

Luci sighed. “Yes. Tough to say if that’s where their mind manipulation power comes from, or if it was baked into the initial genes. It could even be that ‘pure’ Temporals like Mindylenopia are from actual parents, and not a result of genetic engineering - they simply reject their families. I’ve seen medical scans, and I can’t tell either way. All we know for sure is that there was SOMETHING more in the artifact, because of how Carrie was created.”

“Meaning they did something to her mother?” Tim gasped. “Before sending her back?”

“Maybe that’s how they did it.” Luci shrugged. “Look, I don’t have all the answers there, we should go back to the stuff I’m clear on.”

“Yeah, um… is your society in the midst of some ‘redheads versus the world’ thing?” Laurie said tentatively. “Should I even go outside?”

Luci finished spreading butter, and brought the plate of toast to the table before answering. “Let me put it this way. If you were a redhead when the news broke, you became associated with the artifact. Followed by being linked to genetic engineering, mind manipulation, knowledge of time travel - even if you had no flipping CLUE about ANY of that stuff. Meanwhile, some countries with very few - even no - redheads cried conspiracy. They demanded the real truth, wanted a piece of the action, and so forth.”

Frank winced, finally getting a sense of why Mindylenopia might have had trouble recruiting a redhead to pose as her double. And what Luci had meant by them being in over their heads.

Which was when the forty-seven year old asian looked at Laurie. “And then Carrie made it so much worse for all of you.”

It wasn’t her Carrie. Luci didn’t mean her Carrie, because this wasn’t her future. Not really. Laurie felt like she had to believe that, to cling to that tenuous fact, lest she lose her grip on reality itself. She swallowed, but before she could ask whether she wanted to know what Luci meant, Tim spoke.

“H-How do you make that situation worse?”

Luci turned away, heading back for the toaster. “To understand THAT, you need to know how Carrie operates. Let’s say we need to kidnap someone, to isolate them for a couple of days so that they’re freed of a mental suggestion they’ve been given.”

“You kidnap people?” Laurie gasped.

Luci reached for the tongs as the next set of toast popped up. She continued on as if she hadn’t heard Laurie’s outburst. “Carrie’s got a few options. The first is to ignore us, and let it happen; maybe she decides that the Temporal goal isn’t so hot after all, or there’s some other way to accomplish it without this person.”

“So Carrie does have a conscience?” Frank asked.

Again, Luci ignored the interjection. “Her second option is to tweak the past, jumping us into timeline twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two… we’re now aware of when this happens, simply because details don’t match up. The route our target was supposed to take, it’s suddenly different. Or our lookout, he’s delayed getting into position, because of a flash mob, or a car accident. Little things. The sort of thing you’d chalk up to bad luck - except, digging deeper, we realize Carrie had been involved. Directly or otherwise.”

Tim looked up from his toast. “Maybe that’s l-like when she destroyed the chip,” he offered. “Right Frank? Back when I was going to give the time chip to L-Lee, and instead, Carrie destroyed it. Except, aside from that, the week p-played out kind of the same.”

Frank simply nodded back at him. Laurie belatedly reached out for her slice of buttered toast too.

“Carrie’s final option,” Luci said, gesturing with the butter knife, “is a complete rewrite. Where, ironically, victory is ours - but it’s a Pyrrhic victory. We win, but we’ve lost. For instance, same scenario, but we’ve planned more. Plotted out the other probable routes, and we get a dozen lookouts, with two possible vans to make our escape, and then only identify the safe house to the driver after the target’s acquired… we build in SO much redundancy that Carrie can’t stop us, not with a minor alteration. So she doesn’t.”

Luci crunched down on her toast, as if waiting for them to draw the necessary conclusion. Laurie looked at Tim and Frank, gratified to find that they looked as confused as she felt. But they seemed equally as hesitant about admitting to it. “So you win - but lose how?” Laurie asked.

Luci swallowed her bite. “First, it means we’ve committed so many resources to that project that we need to lay low for a while. But second, more importantly, it turns out that our target was a patsy - and “had been all along”,” she said, dropping her toast to make air quotes. “Meaning all the intelligence we’d gathered which pointed to that guy - was false. Which I don’t believe for a second. No, what that TRULY means is Carrie sent information back, telling her Temporal friends to not give this guy the swing vote after all. To have it be someone else… and yet to keep on him, as planned, so that we’d THINK we were getting the right guy.”

Frank let out a low whistle. “Hello paranoia city.”

“Such beliefs are not completely unfounded,” Luci said, retrieving her toast from the plate. “There’s a thing we’ve dubbed the ‘bleedthrough effect’. Curious actions on our part, which make more sense once we assume there’s a timeline being overwritten.”

“H-How does that make it worse for redheads though?” Tim asked.

“Because,” Luci sighed. “When Carrie makes the changes I mentioned, minor or rewritten? If she can, she targets the gingers. Every. Single. Time. It helps sow the seeds of suspicion and discontent within us. Makes us think they might be agents.”

“That’s terrible… but also a weakness,” Frank realized. “Since if you KNOW Carrie operates by targeting the redheads, that means you can foil her by using… them… as… crud.”

Luci nodded. “Now you see it.”

“We’re bait,” Laurie concluded. “You’re saying redheads in the future are either genetically modified people who feel they’re superior, bait for Carrie within your resistance, or stuck somewhere in between. Seen alternately as villains or heroes by society at large.” With her stomach in knots, she dropped her half eaten toast onto the table, looking towards Frank. “I want to go back home now, okay?”

Luci moved back in, resting a hand gently on Laurie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. Maybe I should have said nothing.” She looked back at Frank. “But do you understand now? What you’re truly getting yourself mixed up in?”

Frank nodded. “Yeah.” He ran his hands back through his hair. “Here’s the thing though. Based on what you said, there IS still a weakness. Because Carrie operates by tweaking your past, right?”

“Yes,” Luci said, patiently.

Frank pointed at the rest of them. “We’re not part of that past. Well, not your local past. Your Carrie can’t account for us! Or even if she can, we’ve got a Carrie from our time who can run interference. Maybe she’s doing that even now! As such, we might be your best shot at finally taking your Carrie out of the equation. Particularly if we get our hands on a certain weapon that Mindylenopia can give to us. That is, assuming we go along with her plans as I outlined.”

Luci stared. Laurie felt the older woman’s grip on her shoulder tighten slightly, before releasing. “You’re… not wrong,” Luci realized. “Except we’d have less than a day to pull together some kind of… then again, working so fast, it would be equally unexpected. Can we do something?” Her teeth ground together. “Unfortunately, I think our only shot at managing this SAFELY means I call in… well, hell, no one would expect me to do that either.”

“Expect you to do what?” Frank asked.

Luci spun on her heel, stalking towards an adjacent room. “Would expect me to call on Julie LaMille for help.”

NEXT: Reunite the Future

ASIDE: So that’s the explanation of everything! (At least in “Timeline Three”.) If part of it is inconsistent, or doesn’t make sense, let me know, I’ll try to fix it. Then consider the usual vote for T&T? Thanks.

PREVIOUSLY: Stuck in the wrong future, Frank and Tim meet Mindylenopia - because Future Mindy in their past will have suggested it.

PART 90a: FIGHT THE FUTURE

Frank started to rise, only to have her gesture for him to sit. The redheaded Temporal then sat down next to him, peering out at the landscape. “So, are you simply Mundanes trying to speak our language?” Mindylenopia asked, without turning. “Or are you under someone else’s control, trying to determine my true allegiances?”

“The former,” Frank answered, before he could stop himself. Perhaps she’d exerted her power. “We…”

“If you’re able to run interference for me tomorrow night, keep talking, if not, I have no use for you.”

“We want to make sure you succeed in your…”

“Great, then can you find a redhead who could double for me, and who also speaks your rudimentary Temporal?”

It occurred to him that Laurie kind of fit that description. “Maybe, but Mindylenopia, can I finish a…”

“No. Concerning the redhead, switch to a definite yes or no, otherwise I’m out.”

Frank let out an exasperated sigh, as he realized Mindy’s future incarnation was at least ten times less patient than Theresa had ever been, even on a bad day. “Yes, PROVIDED,” he added quickly, “that I come with you.”

Mindylenopia frowned and finally turned to look at him. “%You want to go on a suicide mission?%”

Tim flinched. “S-She says you could get killed.”

“Will,” Mindylenopia corrected. “Will get killed. Because I’m the only one travelling back, and as such, anyone else still in the compound after I leave? Has no chance.”

“Why, are you planning to blow it up?” Frank said, eyes widening.

“Ah. Well, here’s the thing,” Frank continued. “Mindy, er, Lenopia, we got your number from… from someone who knew we’d be fighting against that Elder Carrie. Can you think of why she would want us to talk to you first, before you left?”

“So I could tell you that you’re morons? You can’t get close to her. Don’t worry, I’ll keep past Carrie away from whoever drags her out of town. We’re pretty sure it was Glinephanis.”

“Okay but, hypothetically speaking,” Frank pressed, “if even after your mission, there was still the need for someone to attack Elder Carrie, why would someone like you send us here to talk to, ah, you?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Who did you say you were?”

Frank swallowed. “Call me Bernard.”

“Mmmmm. People who want my missions to fail say ‘Quack!’.”

Frank blinked, glancing sidelong at Tim, who shrugged.

Mindy rubbed her chin. “Pity, it’s funny when conspirators do that. Okay, fine. So I’ve been constructing a prototype weapon, something I loosely refer to as a %temporal gun%. It’s my ace in the hole, but it’s non-lethal, and has never been tested.”

Tim poked Frank. “Bernard - we may need that.”

“If I accompany you, can I get your %musical gun%?” Frank asked.

Tim winced. “Uh, she used a longer ’t’ sound…”

“Are you going to get me a redheaded double who speaks Temporal before you commit suicide?” Mindylenopia reiterated.

“I can do that,” Frank said. “And I’m not planning to commit…"

“Then yes, I’ll let you come along, and once I’m gone, you can have the gun. I figure bringing back future tech is only asking for trouble, particularly when it might not even work. But you are on your OWN once I leave, yeah?”

“I can live with that,” Frank concluded.

“Oh, I very much doubt it,” Mindylenopia snorted. “But it’s not MY funeral.” She rose. “I’ll be in touch through regular channels about where to put my double, and where you’ll meet me. You won’t be able to use that old phone number again. Don’t follow me, or the deal’s off.” She then marched off the way she had come, muttering, “%I must be out of my mind%.”

Frank remained seated until she was out of earshot before looking at Tim. “So that object she spoke of was…"

“The temporal gun,” Tim affirmed. “The one we don’t have.”

“Right.” Frank adjusted his glasses. “Remind me again of why I gave our most powerful temporal weapon to Chartreuse.”

Tim shook his head. “She didn’t tell me why.”

“Okay, well… maybe you’d better run through the whole conversation Chartreuse had with you? Since part of it could be relevant now, and once we’re back with Luci, we can’t talk about it. Not with that gun not existing in her past, the past of Timeline Three.”

Tim sighed. “I’ll try to remember.”

Chartreuse had turned up at his house the morning of December 30th, an hour after breakfast. Asking to speak to him in private. Having sensed it would be about the time travel group, he’d taken her up to his room.

The mystic girl hadn’t disappointed, or indeed wasted any time, sitting with him on the bed and reaching out to grasp him by the hands. “Okay, so, like, here’s the thing. We need your help. Are you able to help out the group?”

Tim swallowed. “I… y-yeah. If I can actually b-be helpful. Instead of b-being the guy that causes Glen to mind manipulate people, or the one M-Mindy uses to learn everything about everyone, or the f-friend who has no technical skills to help Clarke with whatever he’s…"

“Aw, Tim. Don’t get like that.” She squeezed his hands. “You’re the linguist! Like that person in the ‘Arrival’ movie, you’re handling the thing most of us are hopeless at doing. Which is why we need you now. See, Luci’s not gonna be able to go back with Frank. I saw that. But he’ll still, you know, need someone who can speak Temporal with him while in the future.”

“You m-mean the past,” Tim corrected.

She smiled. “Right, the past, totally tensed up there.”

He shook it off. “S-So wait, you think that I can…"

“I KNOW that you can. Because here’s the other thing, Tim. Laurie, my dear, sweet Laurie, when she leaves, having been recruited to be the Miami signpost? She’s gonna be on her first time trip. With the guy who’s been time tripping since the start, plus two Temporals, and that’s GOTTA be intimidating. Even I’m intimidated, and I’m staying here! Whereas you, you’ll be, you know, in the same boat as her, kinda.”

Tim sighed. “Meaning clueless.”

“No, meaning inexperienced!” Chartreuse protested. “But Tim, you’d be gaining experience, while translating Temporal, and making sure Laurie doesn’t have a panic attack when things, you know, inevitably go south! I swear, the both of you, you’re stronger than you think, yeah? And hey, I’ll need someone to remind Laurie, in case if she ever wishes Corry was there instead, that she’s, like, more connected to Carrie than her brother could ever hope to be! Okay?”

Tim dropped his gaze to the bedspread. “You r-really think I’m the p-person who can do this?”

She released his hands, reaching up to tilt at his chin, making him look back at her. “Totally do. Don’t you think so?”

There was no sarcasm in her voice, and nothing but sincerity in her expression. It was now or never, wasn’t it. The same way it had been with Julie and the chip - was he in, or was he out? Tim straightened his posture. “Okay. When do we leave?”

Chartreuse beamed, and for a moment it looked like she would hug him. But instead, she pushed herself off the bed, glancing at her watch. “At the library, in about half an hour. Bring four days worth of your meds, just in case.”

A shiver ran up Tim’s back. “That’s soon. Exactly what did your future vision show you?”

“I can’t really explain what I experienced, it became… kinda vision plus,” Chartreuse admitted. “Oh! And that reminds me. In case I don’t get to tell him while he’s rescuing Beth, when you go back to pick up Laurie, and get supplies? You need to tell Frank to give the temporal gun to me. Like, past me. Instead of taking it along on your trip.”

Tim flinched. “What?”

“I mean, he’s gonna do it, because I have the gun, and I think that’s how, like, time travel works. But trust me, we’ll need it here, the timing is real important. Frank can hand it off to me between our big meeting, and when the bunch of us gather to tell Mr. Waterson the truth about Carrie. Got that?”

“Wait, h-how does this fit into everything else?”

Chartreuse chewed on her lip. “It’s complicated. Even I don’t know everything, not yet.” She pulled a meditation crystal out of a pocket on her dress, staring at it as she rolled it around between her fingers. “Not yet. But soon.”

She continued to stare for a moment, finally slipping the crystal back into her pocket and meeting his gaze. “That’s all, like, my problem though. Not yours. Are you, you know, okay to get to the library and such?”

Tim nodded. “Y-Yeah. I can do this. I can.” For that matter, if they didn’t need the gun, what was the worst thing that could happen while in the past?

“Complicated,” Frank repeated back. “And at the time, I thought it was related to the people who would be chasing down Beth when we left. I never imagined… this scenario.”

“M-Maybe there’s a thing where we’ll need that temporal gun in the present, and another here in the future?” Tim suggested.

“Except Mindylenopia wouldn’t know whatever Chartreuse knew, would she?” Frank protested. “Only that we didn’t have the gun. Hence the phone number left for us, it must mean she’d hoped we’d use her first gun for an assault on Elder Carrie, right?”

“D-Dunno.” Tim shook his head. “It’s f-funny, I always f-figured I didn’t get what you guys meant because I was out of the l-loop. But there really is no l-loop, huh? None of us knows what’s going on.”

“Nope,” Frank affirmed. He rubbed his arms, becoming aware of the chill. “For now, let’s get back to Luci, and find somewhere warm. And get some sleep. I’ll see if I can convince Laurie to act as Mindylenopia’s double tomorrow.”

“I won’t do it,” Laurie asserted. “Not unless you tell Mindylenopia what’s going to happen to her.”

“But if she knows, that might change everything!” Frank protested.

They had all slept the night at Luci’s place. Frank and Tim had given Laurie the bed-in-a-wall, grabbing some blankets to sleep on the floor. Frank had elected not to bring up the content of his conversation with Mindylenopia until breakfast, after everyone had been able to shower and get a change of clothing… more or less. Laurie had used her suitcase, and her T-Shirt and track pants worked for Tim, while Frank had managed with some male items that Luci had found in the back of her closet. He decided not to ask why they’d been there.

“Might change everything for the better,” Laurie countered.

“Or might mean we don’t end up here at all!” Frank said. “I mean Laurie, think about it. What if… what if something we say to Mindylenopia now means she doesn’t talk to Carrie back then, meaning I die in the past after all?”

“No, no, everyone says time travel is predestined,” Laurie insisted.

“But not in this case! Right Luci?” Frank turned to where she was sipping on a mug of coffee.

“Oh, we are SO off the map with this one, I can’t even,” Luci declared. “I’ve already told our people to lock down your time car and not let anyone near it until this situation has been worked out.”

“D-Do you think Laurie should do it then?” Tim asked her. “Be Mindylenopia’s double?”

“I think you’re in over your heads,” Luci remarked. “Worse, you’re dragging the rest of us under the water with you. Related, please stop talking about Mindylenopia’s possible future in front of me. It freaks me out more than a little bit.”

Frank sighed. “Fine. If Laurie’s unwilling, is there someone else in the resistance who resembles Mindylenopia who would be willing?”

Luci’s grip on her mug tightened. “Over. Your. Heads.”

Frank leaned on the table. “So help us. Please.”

“I can’t. Not the way you want me to.”

“Then at least help us understand why you can’t!” Frank pleaded.

Luci brought her mug down hard on the table, sloshing coffee everywhere. “Because! This isn’t Timeline Three, okay?! It’s more like Timeline Forty-Seven!”

NEXT: Insight the Future (aka InfoDump)

ASIDE: This past weekend I got 5 coins from 2017. (Two quarters, three nickels.) Let the time travel commence!

PREVIOUSLY: Frank has realized they are in the future of “Timeline Three”, where he died, and Carrie left town with Glen.

PART 89b: TIMELINE THREE

“But it’s the only thing that makes sense,” Frank protested. “We have to help Mindylenopia get back in time. That’s what restores our timeline!”

“No! If you remember her being there, Mindylenopia will go back without your help,” Luci reiterated, with exaggerated patience. “The same way she must have managed it before your arrival in this future.”

Tim glanced back and forth between the seventeen year old Frank Dijora and the forty seven year old Luci Primrose. He and Laurie had tacitly decided to keep out of the conversation during the time it had taken to order, and then receive their food at the cafe - but the two of them had been at an impasse for some time now. He decided had to say something, otherwise they’d have no idea where in the future to go next.

“R-Run through it for me,” he suggested to Luci. “However they teach it in schools these days. Explain to m-me why Frank’s wrong.”

Luci looked at him, then set her meal aside and flipped over her paper placemat, reaching for the small container of crayons next to the ketchup bottle. “We don’t teach this in schools. But here.” She drew a long yellow line, the length of the page. “Timeline one, with the alien artifact. Damn it!”

The asian woman tapped the end of her crayon against the side of her head. “Look, forget I mentioned that last bit. Either way, that timeline’s gone.” She dropped the yellow crayon, picking up the red, and drawing overtop of the majority of the line she’d already placed there. “Instead, timeline two, where Carrie exists as the ultimate temporal weapon. Able to end it all, unless the Temporals get what they want.”

“Fine! Gone,” Luci said, glaring at him as she dropped the red crayon and grabbed a black. She drew overtop of the last part of the red line, and just as the red had obscured the yellow beneath it, the black obscured the red. “Timeline three. Came into existence when we sent back– what did our younger selves call him?”

“Shady?” Tim offered.

“Shady, right, with a mission of activating Carrie when she might be a little more reasonable. Or, well, destroying her if it turned out she was not. A mission which succeeded, when Shady managed to hit on a lynchpin point.” She intentionally met Frank’s gaze. “And for what it’s worth, I spoke out against the latter option. But we’re fighting a war here. Trying to save as many lives as we can.”

“How do you know it was you who spoke out?” Frank countered. He pointed at the placemat. “Before Shady went back, the timeline was red. How do we know it was you who said something in that timeline two, versus the black timeline we seem to be in now?”

Luci leaned back. “Hmph. Excellent question, actually,” she yielded. “On the one hand, there is no red timeline any more - aside from here, between Elaine Waterson’s appearance in the past, and the lynchpin at Shady’s alterations,” she noted, tapping the line where the red was visible. “So your question is irrelevant. On the other hand… yes, it’s theoretically possible that it wasn’t me. That it was someone else. Individuals still have the free will to screw things up locally, as the Temporals sometimes put it. Still, safe bet someone did it. Might as well say it was me, since I’m the one who has a memory of doing it. Okay?”

“And so now, with M-Mindy?” Tim asked, before the two of them could start arguing again.

Luci dropped the black crayon onto the table with a shrug. “Given how Shady’s mission failed to fix things in our favour, Mindylenopia’s said she intends to go back next. I don’t know much more than that. As an apparent Temporal defector, she tends to keep to herself. Our resistance movement doesn’t call her, she calls us, that sort of thing. Which suits us fine, as the less she knows, the less likely any of us will be in trouble if she switches sides again.”

“But now we have to help Mindy get back,” Frank insisted. “To restore our timeline, where Carrie seeks us out as friends. Where I don’t die.”

“No!” Luci jabbed her finger at the black line. “You. Do. Not. Exist. Yet.”

“Then who. Are you. Arguing with?” Frank challenged.

“Agh! I am not having this conversation. Literally, not having it, because look, once Mindylenopia goes back, you… damn it, I shouldn’t have used the black there…" Luci began to colour over the black with a blue, pressing hard, trying to make the black vanish beneath it. “You WILL come into existence in this blue ‘timeline four’. But that will only happen if you lie low now, and don’t screw up our timeline three!”

“That doesn’t explain how we can be here now,” Frank insisted. “The only way we’re here is if it’s to create the blue timeline four in the first place!”

“STOP that!” Luci threw the blue crayon at him. “DAMN it Frank, I have thirty years of temporal theory behind me here, whereas you’re a bunch of teenagers who don’t even know how to access a present day restaurant menu. Why, why are you doing this to me? Why can’t you simply allow me to be happy that you’re alive again, after all this time?!”

A tear blinked out of the corner of Luci’s eye, causing a hush to fall over the table.

“I’m sorry,” Frank apologized. “I wasn’t thinking about that.”

“Obviously.” Luci swallowed. “You know what, Frank? You’re part of why I went into the medical profession. Because of how I couldn’t save you. Back when Carrie insisted that you rewire the time machine for an unmanned jump… and it all blew up in your face. And I couldn’t save you.”

“Oh, Luci… don’t be like that. I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.” Frank winced. “I guess we were even going out at the time?”

“More or less. Damn it, Frank…” Luci repeated. She drew in a shaky breath, then grabbed a napkin, using it to blow her nose. “And I SWORE I wasn’t going to do this…"

“Luci, Gods, I’m truly sorry, I didn’t mean to spark the memories you must be experiencing." He reached out for her. She waved him off, but then seemed to reconsider, grasping his hand.

“It’s fine,” Luci said. “Besides, I doubt this conversation will have gone this way once Mindylenopia goes back. Understand? It’s like you said, regarding my memory of objecting to Shady’s final option. Once this weird anomaly resolves itself, we’ll remember having discussed the weather, or how to rescue your Carrie, or something else. So it’s fine.”

“Except…" Tim kind of hated to break up their moment, but he couldn’t help but notice what Luci had done. He reached out to tap at the coloured timelines. “L-L-Look. Our blue timeline four exists, and yet so does your future black timeline three.”

Luci looked down. “Only because I didn’t get a chance to colour in all the way to the end.”

“Right. Something stopped you.” Tim looked sidelong at Frank. “D-Didn’t something like this h-happen with Julie?”

Frank eyed the placemat. “You mean when she sort of killed herself, except how she didn’t because of how I went back with Clarke and Corry? I’m not sure it’s quite the same thing… but you might be onto something. Luci?”

Luci started to look vaguely ill. “No. Oh no.” She released Frank’s hand. “The temporal waveforms in the past. If they haven’t reached us yet… but no, how could they NOT reach us? The only person who could prevent this temporal system from collapsing down into a single time frame by now would be…" Her voice trailed off.

“Carrie Waterson?” Frank speculated.

Luci nodded mutely.

“S-So which Carrie is m-mixing us up?” Tim asked. “Our Timeline Four Carrie, or your Timeline Three Carrie?”

“They’re SUPPOSED to be the same Carrie,” Luci said bitterly. “Damn her ability to paradox. If she’s directly involved, that changes everything.”

Frank tapped his finger on the timelines. “More to the point then, is this being done so that we can get Mindylenopia back to our present year, setting all of this in motion… or is it being done so that we’ll screw up Mindy’s ability to leave on schedule, which might make us disappear?”

Luci shook her head. “There’s no way of knowing. None.”

A clattering sound brought Tim’s attention away from Luci and Frank, and back towards the fourth person at their table. Laurie had dropped her fork down into her empty plate. Her head was bowed, forcing the redhead to look slightly upwards to stare at them. “You all talk and talk and talk - but you haven’t even touched on the most important thing yet,” she murmured.

“What’s that, Laurie?” Tim asked gently.

Her shoulders tightened. “If Mindy gets sent back… she’s going to be banished by Carrie. Meaning she’ll lose her mind, screw with Linquist and Julie, indirectly put that girl Beth in danger, and then finally get herself killed on our last trip.” She shook her head, and her gaze lifted. “So you’re talking about sending someone on a trip to be tortured, and then to die, merely for our own benefit! How can you even be saying that’s an option?!”

No one at the table seemed to have an answer for her.

They went out to meet Mindylenopia. Partly it was from a hope that she would know why her future self had given them the phone number, but mostly, Frank had argued that doing so would maximize their options. Because if they were, indeed, supposed to help Mindy get back in time, there was no way they could do it without being close to her.

“She had to mean the Fallowfield train station,” Luci said, as she drove. Or rather, as the car drove itself according to her instructions. Frank had given up on understanding all the future technology. “We’ve used it as a transfer point before. Mindylenopia must have avoided being specific with you on the phone in order to be sure that she was getting someone with true connections to our resistance. Versus random loons or some kind of sting operation.”

“How m-many people know about the whole resistance thing?” Tim asked.

“Not many,” Luci admitted. “Granted, we like to believe that it’s bigger than we think. After all, it’s not like we can have regular meetings. Since Temporals could force out any information about when they might be, using their mental powers, and thus catch lots of us at once.”

“Why did your group decide to trust Mindy then?” Laurie wondered.

“Ohh, we didn’t. Not at first. Even now, we’re not sure if she’s a plant, gathering intelligence. But she’s too good of a technical asset to pass up. She can also obtain things, like the present day coin we gave to Shady - that’s the one you ended up with, I guess. There’s not a lot of coin currency around at all now, let alone this early on in the year.”

“Speaking of coins, do you know anything more about how Mindylenopia will get back?” Frank asked.

Luci paused. “Okay, yeah, I guess you need to know that too. Portable time machines? They’re dangerous and geographically unstable, not to mention hard to obtain covertly, so unless she’s managed to secure parts to make her own, we figured Mindylenopia was angling for the stationary temporal station in town. Those can target their own building on the jump, instead of DNA, but they’re highly fortified structures. I’d call that a suicide mission most days of the year, except tomorrow is Carrie’s birthday, so…” She shrugged.

“Wait, how d-do stationary temporal stations work?” Tim asked.

“Very well, thank you,” Luci said dryly. “Next question?”

She refused to give them any further information about futuristic technology, or her own personal life, reasoning that it could become a problem once they, presumably, became able to travel back to their present. So, as with Clarke, the trip lapsed into an uncertain silence.

They reached the train station with ten minutes to spare.

“I probably shouldn’t get out,” Luci remarked. “After all, I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you. You should be the only variables.”

“I don’t want to go either,” Laurie admitted. “Not if it means I end up helping to cause what we know happens to Mindy.”

Frank nodded. “I can respect that. Tim?”

“I’m still in. For now. You might need a t-translation.”

“True.” He looked out the car windshield. “Here goes nothing then.”

Frank emerged from the car, followed by the shorter blonde boy, and the two of them walked over to the seemingly deserted train station.

NEXT: Fight the Future

ASIDE: That ends ARC 4.3 (“Complicated”), moving us into the final Arc for the entire story (“Terminated”). Hope you’re enjoying! More future versions of the characters will appear, feel free to speculate on that or the plot - and maybe vote for T&T?

PREVIOUSLY: Frank, Laurie and Tim have chased after Carrie into the future, where they’ve encountered a very worried Elder Clarke - and Mindylenopia’s on the phone?!

PART 89a: IDENTITY CRISIS

Frank looked up expectantly, and Tim realized that his friend was anticipating a translation. But Mindylenopia was counting down! By the time he’d explained that she wanted an explanation, they’d be out of time!

“%Three… two…%"

The only thing he could think of to do that might keep Mindy on the line long enough might get them in trouble instead. But he’d made a number of gambles for their temporal group already. At this point, what was one more? He summoned his resolve.

“%One…%"

“%We is be friends!%” Tim said, leaning in closer to the device. "%We want with, uh…%" He snapped his fingers twice, unable to think of the word for help. “%We serve you and be happy future!%"

For a moment, there was silence on the line, Frank simply looking at Tim in surprise. Then there was the sound of muffled laughter. “Okay,” came Mindylenopia’s voice in English. “You’re either the smartest espionage team ever, certified loons, or people who may actually be of service to me. I can spare some time to find out. 10pm, at the train station."

Before either of them could speak, the ensuing dial tone indicated that Mindylenopia had hung up.

Frank reached out to tap at the holo-button that would cut off the call. “Uh, thanks Tim,” he acknowledged. “I didn’t realize you and Luci could speak Temporal as well as understand it.”

“We can’t," Tim sighed. “I may have just told her that we were friendly, and want be her future slaves. But she was counting down to cutting us off for good, and there was no way I could sum up our situation in five seconds, so I thought I’d better try something unexpected.”

“Oh. Well… assuming we can find her train station, that means we still have a shot at figuring out why Mindy gave us her own phone number. So again, thanks.”

Tim shook his head. “How could that even BE Mindy? She… well…”

“This must be before she travels back,” Frank reasoned. “For some reason, when Mindylenopia sent us forward to the future - it was also into her own past.”

“So did she KNOW?” Tim wondered. “The whole time she was Theresa, in our present, did she know we’d eventually meet her, in her past?!”

“That might depend on what we end up saying to her.” Frank sighed. “My new worry is that we might do something that prevents her from going back in the first place.”

“Oh. OH.” Tim’s eyes widened. “I feel like that would be BAD.”

Frank nodded. “For now, let’s get the car into town and meet with Clarke’s contact. Maybe they can provide us with some much needed future context.”

Apparently, Clarke hadn’t ever played professional basketball, had become a mechanic and tow truck driver about ten years ago with the intention of helping people, and had not married Julie. At least, he’d admitted to the first two, and Laurie was pretty sure that his body language had answered that last question, not to mention his changing of the subject. Unless they were divorced? She worked with him for another few minutes in silence.

“How’s your sister?” Laurie asked at last, again seeking some common ground with the Clarke she knew.

He shook his head, looping the length of chain around the front of the Chevrolet to secure it. “Another thing we probably shouldn’t talk about.”

Laurie slumped her shoulders. “Really? We’re stuck with favourite foods and recent movies from my time that are being remade yet again in this future?”

“Sorry, Laurie,” Clarke apologized. “I don’t want to risk changing anything about my past.”

“I don’t think you can,” Laurie assured. “Most of the talk I’ve heard surrounds all time travel being predestined.”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought too.” She fancied then that his gaze drifted to Frank, but maybe he was simply looking back at the tow truck. “I sure hope Luce can sort all of this out.”

“Luce… do you mean Luci?” Laurie ventured. “Wait, Cl– Phil, are we going to see Luci??”

“Crud. Yeah,” Clarke admitted. “And I am seriously going to stop talking now. Otherwise I might let slip about more things. Like that huge ban Canada has on Japanese anime art.”

“WHAT?” Laurie practically shrieked. “The future has banned… okay, NO, don’t even kid about that! Seriously!”

Clarke’s smile widened. “Sorry again. Bad joke, but I couldn’t remember what your other teenage passions were. My point being, sometimes the truth isn’t something you want to know, yeah? And now I truly am done talking.” He hit the lever to pull the front wheels of the Chevy up.

Laurie fired off a look that she hoped was an angry pout. Yet at the same time, she suppressed her desire to ask any further questions.

The trip into Ottawa took less than twenty minutes, but since no one was talking, it felt longer to Frank. They pulled up to the parking lot of a small cafe, on what seemed to be the outskirts of town - and she was there in the parking lot, waiting for them.

Frank felt a lump in his throat, looking at the older version of Luci. It reminded him more of her twenty-year-old artificially aged version than the one they’d left back in the present. Perhaps because the normally so omnipresent little ponytails she sported were gone, in favour of longer hair. It fact, it seemed like Luci had aged well, even though her figure was largely covered up by a long coat. Could she have been his wife, if the two of them had decided not to break up? He shoved those thoughts aside as they all piled out of the tow truck.

Lucille Primrose was all business, her first words to Laurie being “open your mouth”, the asian woman holding out a Q-tip. When Laurie obeyed, Luci swabbed inside, then dropped the Q-tip into a small device she was holding. She peered at it for several seconds, then repeated the process for Tim, and again for Frank. A “ping” came from her device at the end of his analysis, and she looked uneasy.

“Are they the real deal?” Clarke murmured.

Luci didn’t acknowledge the question, instead looking to Frank. “How did you get here?” she demanded.

Frank pointed to the Chevy. “Time car. The circuits burned out on arrival.”

Luci peered at everyone with her heterochromatic eyes, then finally addressed Frank again. “Show me.”

He went back to show her the setup. Her apparent skepticism gradually began to shift into a mix of confusion… with hints of fear. “This is impossible,” she said, echoing Clarke. “How would you even have the means to come this far forwards?”

Frank decided to hedge. “The one who went back to activate Carrie’s powers? He had a coin,” he said, cutting out the Mindy-Linquist part of Tim’s revelation.

“Damn.” Luci rubbed her forehead. “Better question then, WHY make this trip? What could you possibly hope to gain by it?”

Frank again wondered if it was prudent to bring up Mindylenopia.

“Your Future Carrie abducted our Carrie,” Laurie offered. “We want ours back.”

Luci snapped her gaze over towards the redhead. “Impossible.”

“You keep using that word,” Tim quipped. “I d-do not think it means what you think it means.”

Luci regarded them each in turn once again. She seemed to come to a decision. “We’ll need to compare histories. Could take a while. Do you want to freshen up first?”

“We shouldn’t, we kind of have a deadline,” Frank said, thinking of Mindy’s meeting at 10pm.

“But we haven’t had a proper meal in a couple days,” Laurie noted, looking towards the nearby cafe.

Luci followed her gaze, and a smile flickered over her face. “You look like it. Okay, don’t go nuts in there, but I can credit you a meal as we talk.” She turned to Clarke. “You in, or should I recap later?”

“You know I hate getting mixed up in your extracurricular activities, Luce,” Clarke answered, adjusting his glasses. “Plus I’ll never be able to follow your temporal talk. Call me once you know for sure.” He turned to Frank, hesitated, then extended his palm to shake. “I know I ended up acting pretty weird here, but… it was good to see you again. Really.”

“Right,” Frank said, shaking back, even as he wondered as to Clarke’s wistful tone of voice.

He watched as the tall blonde moved to start uncoupling their Chevy from his truck. “Actually, Phil,” Luci broke in, “since you’re set up, could you tow that over to the warehouse? I can give these three a lift to wherever they want after we eat.”

Clarke turned. “Luce…"

“You don’t mind do you?” Luci said, eyeing Frank. “It’ll stand out like a sore thumb in this time period, and maybe our techs can fix it.”

“Techs?” Frank wondered.

A smile tugged at the older Luci’s face. “I’m connected.”

Frank wished he knew more about this future. “You can take it on condition that no one messes with it unless me, Tim or Laurie are present. If our histories have diverged, it could contain information you’re not ready for yet.”

She thought on that for a moment. “Fair. Phil?”

“I can take it over, but then I wash my hands of the whole deal. Except for the phone call you owe me.”

“Also fair,” Luci agreed. “In fact, I’ll owe you a favour too.”

Clarke chuckled. “Fine. I’ll call it in next time I need medical assistance.”

Tim turned to Luci. “Oh, are you a doctor? Because I might need some medication.”

She nodded back. “I have a day job. For now, let’s go talk.”

Laurie raised her hand. “Can I get my suitcase of clothing and art supplies out of the Chevy’s trunk first?”

Luci, as it turned out, couldn’t remember a whole lot about high school. The major events had stuck with her over time, and seemed to have transpired the same way Frank knew them - namely Carrie getting them involved in time travel, Corry’s flyer about Julie’s past prompting the theft of the time machine, and Glen showing up in their senior year. But when they delved a bit deeper, the inconsistencies surfaced.

“I was never artificially aged,” Luci asserted. “And Linquist didn’t hide out, when he sold the mansion it was to live in a smaller house in town instead. One that most people avoided.”

“But if that’s so, then when did you tell me you, uh, had feelings for me?” Frank pressed.

Luci swallowed. “After Carrie got shot by Julie,” she admitted. “It helped me realize how little time all of us have.” She bit down on her lip. The way she was reacting towards him… Frank shook it off.

“So that’s a change of maybe two weeks,” Frank decided. “What else happened around that time… the drugs in Carrie’s locker?”

“Oh right,” Luci recalled. “Yeah, that set up the whole Carrie-Chartreuse dynamic, since they both got detentions.”

“Wait, so they started dating then?”

Luci laughed. “WOW, no. But Carrie did do some strong-arming, and Chartreuse eventually fell for her in a Stockholm Syndrome kind of way.”

“Okay, that might be a parallel…" Frank let out a breath, glancing towards Tim and Laurie.

Tim shrugged. “You’re kinda before my involvement. I’ll shout if I hear something wrong.”

Laurie looked up from the menu, which Luci had downloaded into her device upon entry, and had then offered to share around the table. “Ditto. And what are ‘spam tacos’?”

“Like fish tacos, but vegetarian,” Luci said absently. “Frank, are you trying to pin down a specific event in Carrie’s past?”

“Yes, and I kind of think I know what it is now,” he admitted. “As much as I don’t want to admit it. Luci, after the locker drugs, do you know if Carrie came to see me? If she ended up apologizing to me for everything, and crying on my shoulder in the park?”

Luci flinched back. “Big no, unless that’s something you never told me about. Rather, she cut off everybody, and practically blackmailed the both of us into fixing the time machine. With the intent to, as I later learned, go after her mother. Probably would have done it too, if she hadn’t been shot first.”

“So it’s Theresa,” Frank sighed. Carrie had said something to him in the days following their park encounter, about having had a talk with Theresa. Who was Mindylenopia. Except, she wouldn’t be.

“Who’s Theresa?” Luci questioned, as if to verify his fears.

He might as well just ask. “Luci, in this future… did I die? Back in the past? And is that when Carrie and Glen left town?”

Luci bit down on her lip again. “Yeah,” she admitted, her voice suddenly quiet. “Over a month before you claim to have travelled here. Hence our skepticism and whole ‘this is impossible’ angle.”

Frank slumped down in his chair. That explained it.

Somehow, they had ended up in the future of “Timeline Three”.

NEXT: Timeline Three

ASIDE: How about them apples, huh? Now you have to wait until Friday for a new post. Feel free to comment in the meantime.

PREVIOUSLY: The time machine has been rebuilt into a car. We know events will send Frank (et al) back in time to pick up Laurie.

PART 85b: CLOSING THE LOOP

“So you’ve fixed that random variance thing?” Corry mused.

Julie shook her head. “Nope, still a factor. If you arrive an hour or even a month off from the time you input? Don’t blame me. Now, when you hit the hashtag, or rather pound key, it routes the entry through the assembly on the floor of the passenger side. Including Luci’s old modified circuits, meaning the pocketwatch you see here should also display your actual time of arrival."

“Wait, you kept the pocketwatch?” Luci asked, reaching to tap where it had been mounted in the dash. “Why not use the digital time display from the car itself? Still an overheating problem?”

“Because the watch belonged to Carrie," Mindy interjected. “Or rather her mother. From when she was left at the orphanage. Right?”

“I think so,” Frank agreed. “It never actually kept time, but in Luci’s first reparations over a year ago, Carrie insisted on trying to hook it in. So we did, to humour her - and it’s somehow synched up accurately upon arrival.”

“Mmm hmm. Thought so,” was Mindy’s final word about it.

“What about rematerializing ten feet in the air?” Corry demanded. “I still remember that from my first trip.”

“It… shouldn’t do that,” Clarke offered, hesitantly. “That’s part of the new stuff we’ve been hooking into the undercarriage. But it’s also one of the things we wouldn’t mind having a fresh set of eyes on.”

“The licence plate and registration are also for Ontario, and next year,” Luci pointed out. “How will that play out in the past?”

“Look, I’d be much happier with hologram technology and three years to perfect this,” Mindy admitted. “But you play with the cards you’re dealt, okay?”

“Just show us the schematics then,” Frank stated. “We’ll see if we can offer any input.”

“Well, show those two tech wizards anyway - why did you want ME here so early?” Corry wondered.

Julie opened the car door. “So that you’d know how close we were to bringing your sister home, partner.” She smiled. “Oh, also I need your help hauling the briefcase of coins up from Linquist’s lab. It’s damn heavy.”

“So I’m like the hired help. Fun,” Corry grunted.

“You know,” Corry mused, as he closed the secret passage behind the china cabinet. “Since my ankle’s healed, what’s to stop me going back with Frank and Mindy so that they don’t need Laurie?"

Julie shrugged. “The fact that you didn’t do it, so you can’t?"

“Yeah, I’ve always hated that logic. What’s the REAL reason?” He hefted the briefcase, and the two of them headed for the hallway.

“I guess it has something to do with the future situation…" She paused as Jeeves strode towards them, looking worried. “That’s about to happen?”

“Mr. Waterson called for that waitress, Theresa,” he stated. “She’s on the phone with him now, and she sounds agitated.”

Julie dropped the electronics she was carrying, hurrying towards the phone in time to hear Mindy say, “Sir, this is important, did either of the two have red hair?” A pause, then, “Don’t worry. I was expecting this. We’re on it.”

“What?” Julie asked as Mindy hung up the phone.

“Two suspicious people at the Waterson house looking for Carrie,” Mindy replied curtly, already heading for the front door. “They held Hank at gunpoint and searched the place. Beth wasn’t home, perhaps fortunately, however she forgot to bring Carrie’s cell phone along. Hank told me - and them - that ‘Carrie’ had gone to the public library."

“The public… Lee’s working there today,” Julie said. As Mindy strode out, Julie doubled back. “Call the library. Ask to speak to Lee,” she asked Jeeves. “Tell him to keep an eye on Beth, and anyone looking for her. That is, for Carrie. Oh, he’ll know what I mean.”

“Certainly,” the butler responded, heading back for the phone.

“Bad?” Corry asked.

“Is it ever good? We’ve got the coins and the electronics for tracking the hairband, let’s at least load those up while Mindy explains more precisely what it is that she was ‘expecting’.”

“We’ve reached a temporal crossroads,” Mindy stated, after getting everyone into the garage. “Today is the last day ‘Carrie’, aka Beth, will be seen in the present before ‘Future Carrie’ abducts her from the past.”

“But we’re going to recover Carrie and prevent that act!” Clarke protested.

“If we do, today becomes the last day me and Glen remain in this time,” Mindy countered. “Because I still hope to get him away from Carrie. It all paints a target on December 30th.” She shook her head. “I had hoped that the future war would leave our departure day alone, but it IS a potential kick they’ll have at averting a predestined outcome. At actually affecting the timelines. Must have been too tempting of a target.”

“Why not travel back sooner, and stop us then?” Corry wondered, as he loaded the trunk of the Cavalier.

“If they had, this day might not have occurred,” Frank reasoned. “Ripple effect.”

“Also, the fact that I kept things so quiet and controlled would cancel any earlier advantage,” Mindy added. “Acting before now, they’d merely have a greater risk of my snaring them into our predestined outcome.” She jerked her thumb at the car. “Frank, get in, we’re off to the library to get Beth.”

“Wait,” Julie protested. “What was the deal with red hair?”

“No time.” Mindy opened the driver’s side door.

Julie kicked it shut. “Make time. What if those two come here next, after you’re gone?”

Mindy muttered under her breath.

“Rude,” Luci observed. “Also, not yet in our Temporal dictionary.”

“All Temporals have red hair,” Mindy confessed. “It’s genetic. The two who pulled apart the Waterson house? Were blonds. So either they were Mundanes, or they were of your time, being influenced by a Temporal. Happy?” She yanked the car door open again. “Either way, if they do come here, lay low. My best guess is that the future travellers want to abduct Carrie or Glen for themselves; they shouldn’t do more than injure you. Luci, get out of the car.”

“Oh no, I’m going back with you and Frank,” Luci asserted.

“Oh, for… we’ll argue on the way,” Mindy groaned.

They reached the library in record time. “Okay,” Frank wheezed, as he released his fingers from their grip on the back seat. “I see now why your limit is five people - there’s only five seat belts. Mindy, do they relax some traffic laws in the future?”

“I’m not letting over a decade of time stuck here in the past come to naught!” Mindy snapped. “Which may be the case if we can’t shake these time travellers and restore Beth to our past, when she’s supposed to be. Now, any way to tell if that girl’s still inside? Or her pursuers?”

“I’ll send Lee a message,” Luci said.

Frank pulled out his phone as it buzzed. “I’ve got a message from Chartreuse. She’s on her way - one of the others must have called her.”

“Yeah, hey, NO phones on once we’re out of the present!” Mindy reminded, eyeing the two of them. “Also, your argument for bringing Luci was unconvincing. I can translate whatever Glen says.”

“But will you do it accurately?” Luci questioned.

“I don’t like your tone.”

Which was when the gunshot rang out.

“Okay, those are NEVER good,” Luci noted, her door open before she had finished speaking. Frank ran out after her, despite Mindy’s protests. They were met at the steps up to the library doors by a number of panic stricken people running out.

“Lee says go ‘round back,” Luci said, eyeing the message on her phone. They rounded the building. There was a small theatre entrance there, as part of the structure also housed a small stage for local plays. Frank reached the door first, only to find it was locked.

“Now what?” he asked.

Luci eyed the keyhole. “Now… we need lockpicks?”

The door opened out unexpectedly, causing Luci to stumble back and fall on the ground. This left Frank staring at Lee, who was dragging after him a very scared looking blonde. “I’m sorry!” Beth was wailing. “I know I shouldn’t have been looking up my own past, I couldn’t help it, please PLEASE don’t let them kill me!”

“Math whiz, take her!” Lee said. He shoved Beth towards Frank. “I clubbed the guy who had the gun with a set piece shaped like shrubbery, but there’s another dude here somewhere. Go do whatever you’re supposed to do to prevent this from ever happening, I’ll keep them–”

“Lee!” Luci shouted in warning. Barely on her feet, she jumped past him, tackling the blond man who had been about to swing the piece of wood. The two of them fell to the floor as Lee spun back around.

“Luci!” he shouted, moving to help.

“Wait!” Frank cried, stepping around Beth - too late to reach the door before it swung shut again. After verifying that it remained locked on this side, he lifted his palm to pound on the metal.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” came Beth’s tearful voice.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s, you know, not your fault,” came another voice, making Frank turn. It was Chartreuse, looking winded as she ran up carrying a trombone case. She fired off a weak smile at him, before hugging Beth close. “It’ll be okay, our wonderful Carrie stand-in. As long as you, like, go NOW,” she emphasized. The last sentence seemingly meant more for Frank.

“But Luci’s in there…”

“I, you know, saw bits of this,” the pink haired girl assured. “Tim’s with Mindy back at the time machine. We’ve spoken, and he’s good to go instead. Oh, speaking of, cool car!" She gave a quick thumbs up. “Too bad I’ll never get to ride in it.”

“Tim?? But…”

“Frank, PLEASE, those guys are gonna charge out in less than four minutes!” Chartreuse said, finally releasing Beth. “Go! Go, go! Give Laurie my best."

The door banged as if something heavy had hit it, but it failed to re-open. Frank hesitated only a moment more before grabbing Beth’s hand and heading back for the library parking lot. “Is this why you didn’t mind me knowing about the future?” Beth asked tearfully. “Is it because I’m going to die now?”

“Not if we have anything to say about it,” Frank answered. “You’ll only forget a few things.” He saw Mindy already had the car running, and Frank noticed Tim in the front seat. He helped Beth into the back, then ran to the trunk, slapping his hand on it.

“What are you doing? Get in!” Mindy said, poking her head out of the window.

“We need a coin,” Frank said. “Pop the trunk!”

“Let’s get to safety first, then… oh fine,” Mindy sighed, sensing Frank wasn’t going to budge. She hit the release, and with some effort, he pulled out the briefcase. The second shot rang out as he was climbing into the back seat again.

Mindy ceased her mumbling – it was English, so Frank caught something along the lines of “create a fully mobile time machine and they all just stand around it” – in order to step on the gas.

“S-S-Seatbelts?” Tim suggested.

Frank tried to ignore the effects of acceleration long enough to peer out the back window. A man was running down the front steps of the library. He waved his gun at another car that had been about to pull out, forcing it to stop. Oh no, he hoped this wasn’t going to become a car chase.

“Coin?” Mindy said pointedly.

“Oh, uh…” Frank fumbled with the briefcase, only to slide into Beth’s lap as Mindy turned another corner. “Can we slow?”

“No. I’m busy being ticked off about your group substituting Tim for Luci.” With one hand on the steering wheel, Mindy moved her other to hover over the keypad. “What date shall I set?”

Tim flinched. “I thought we’d be going three weeks back…”

“We have to drop off Beth first,” Frank said, managing to get his hands on the coin changer for the 1950s. “Not to mention pick her up. Hey, maybe that works as one trip - Beth, on what day did we find you?”

“I… uh… I…” the blonde stammered, gripping the seat in front of her, tears in the corners of her eyes. Then her eyes closed and she began to whisper a prayer.

Frank sighed. “Well, for continuity, use the same date as her arrival in our present,” he decided. He was reminded of what Clarke had said - this Beth would need to bury her blue hairband somewhere in the forest, so that no one would be able to track her down again.

Mindy’s fingers flew over the keypad, as Frank handed Tim the necessary coin. “Drop it in that slot,” he advised. Tim did so - after which Mindy flipped the time switch and reached out for the DNA trigger.

“Mindy!”

“I didn’t exist then,” she assured him. “My failsafe should ensure that we end up in roughly the same spatial–”

“Mindy, we’re in MOTION,” Frank insisted. “What if we appear in front of a wall back then?!”

The redhead spun the wheel one handed, throwing Frank into Beth as the car swerved into an alleyway. She immediately stomped on the brake, thumb on the pad. “I was ABOUT to get us out of the–”

There was a bright light and a popping noise as the car disappeared.

NEXT: Miami is Nice

ASIDE: The next scene? You already saw in Part 84a (picking up Beth), followed by Part 83b (picking up Laurie). Which brings us to shortly after Part 4 (Elaine at the airport). You follow? How about a vote for T&T?

PREVIOUSLY: Megan is suspicious of Carrie’s behaviour - not knowing that the person is really Beth, who is substituting until the time machine is rebuilt.

PART 85a: POWERING UP

At the same time, she wasn’t about to let on about what she knew.

Oh, surely Carrie’s friends had to be aware of her suspicions; Hank Waterson most of all. In a way, Beth’s heart went out to the poor man, who’d had to put his faith in a bunch of teenagers, a waitress… and herself. An aspiring singer who had, thanks to a twist of fate, been sent back into high school. To learn about her future in a history class.

But there was no point in inviting trouble, and that seemed inevitable were she to treat this experience as anything other than an ‘astral plane’. Besides, she had wanted to help her ‘angels’, and now, at last, she was. It was a pity they hadn’t told her what to do about this girl Megan though.

Beth regarded the junior student in the crisp white blouse and dark skirt who was glaring up at her, and she responded the only way she felt she could. “Judge not, Megan, lest you be judged.”

“Nice try, Waterson,” Megan fired back. “Can you even name the origin of your mangled quotation?”

“Matthew 7. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Beth countered.

Megan took a half step back. “Huh. Okay. So you’ve seen the musical ‘Godspell’, good job. Doesn’t mean you found God.” She seemed rattled though.

Beth slipped her hands behind her back, hoping she looked disarming. “Listen, Megan. While I’m not going to outright claim to you that Carrie Waterson has become religious, or that your demands on me are hypocritical, any truth I speak here? Would be rather subjective. And you know as well as I do that such truths would not set you free. So, what’s the real issue behind cornering me here?”

“I think Corry’s too worried about his sister right now for such planning.” A thought struck Beth. “Is this about Claude?”

This time, instead of backing up, Megan reached out to grab the front of her shirt. “Who have you been talking to?!”

Beth eyed Megan’s hand. “Um, no one, outside of the few close friends I have here. But I notice things. Like how you were lurking around the music room last week, at the same time as me and Julie were there. Watching Corry’s band rehearse for the Christmas assembly.”

“I’m taking music! I was wondering if Mrs. Willis was around.”

“At first, maybe? But you were there for quite a while. And your attention wasn’t on Lee or Tim. Now, I suppose it could have been directed at Corry, except didn’t I hear that you were the one who got Claude into that band in the first place?”

Megan’s grip relaxed somewhat. “I may have insisted, yes. Because Claude knew the music, and while he’s not the best bass guitarist, he’s a lot nicer than that jerk Tommy.”

“Nicer? You knew Claude personally?”

“Not really. Not then. But he didn’t snark back at me that Friday when I said maybe he shouldn’t disrupt the talent show. In fact he–" Megan stopped herself, using her hand to push Beth away. “How dare you? Have your talks with Chartreuse been about how to handle me?!”

Beth regained her footing and shook her head. “Um, again, no. Your religious nature might have come up in conversation - not that I couldn’t spot it - but no, Megan, Chartreuse didn’t say anything about handling you. Or Claude. Do you fancy the guy, is that it?”

“No!” Megan sized her up, then blurted, “B-But he did ask me out.”

“Okay. So did you reject him, is that the trouble?”

“I… I didn’t. Not outright. Except it wouldn’t be appropriate, me dating Claude! Not with me and Corry being rivals. The poor guy might then become a lever that Corry could use against me, and moreover it’s a clear conflict of interest.”

Beth shook her head. “Corry wouldn’t use Claude against you.”

Megan scoffed. “Just when I thought you were making sense.”

“Really, he wouldn’t. His friends wouldn’t let him do that,” Beth insisted. “Haven’t you noticed how they act as his conscience? Are you sure you’re not using Corry as an excuse?”

Megan visibly flinched. “I’m not scared of a relationship. I’m strong, I wouldn’t be tempted into sin.”

“Great! So what’s the real problem?”

Megan’s lips pursed again. It took a moment, but finally she answered again. “The problem? Is it’s a man’s world out there, Waterson. Consider Corry. Mister Hunt. Even God, if you buy into the personal pronouns. Women like us? We have to work twice as hard to be taken seriously. I don’t want to lose it all by dating Claude.”

That one forced Beth to stop and think. Since Megan wasn’t wrong. In fact, Beth had been surprised by how much certain things had changed in the intervening decades - and by how much some other things, which she might have expected to change, had not. “Valid point,” she granted. “You said Claude was nice though. Do you think he would take control away from you?”

“Not intentionally.”

Beth mused again. “Well, it’s a risk then. Though I don’t think anyone would accuse you of being weak simply on account of a relationship. Not if they’re smart, anyway. And regret? That’s a terrible thing. So if it were me? I think I would go for it.”

Megan’s eyes narrowed. “Did Corry tell you to say those words?”

Beth sighed. “No - and why would it matter if he had? In the end, you’ve got to do what’s right for you. Seems like Corry is the plank in your eye. Try to remove him.”

Megan flinched, frowned, and then let out a long breath. “Damn. That’s the second time your little inner circle of seniors has surprised me. Maybe Chartreuse really was onto something with her talk back in the woods.”

Not sure how to respond to that, Beth simply stood quietly. Megan fingered the cross on her necklace as she came to a decision. “Okay Wat– Carrie. You can go. Maybe I’ll even loosen the screws I’ve got on Corry, and focus more on my own grade level. Provided the rest of you can keep him in check.”

Beth nodded, but couldn’t help but ask before she left, “And… Claude?”

A hint of colour crept into Megan’s cheeks. “Time will tell.”

Word had spread of her budding relationship with Claude even before classes ended for the December holiday break.

“Megan emailed me yesterday,” Corry remarked, walking behind Luci and Frank, his hands clasped behind his head. “Told me not to let my guard down in the new year. Said that she’d resume demands if I tried to hurt her through Claude. Even included a picture of Sarah Michelle Gellar holding a cross out. Can you believe that? What, does she think I’m a vampire?”

“Just don’t antagonize her any more,” Luci sighed, boots crunching through the light snow on the sidewalk. The three of them had agreed to meet at the last intersection and walk to Julie’s together. “Considering what Beth told us about their conversation in the library, we dodged a bullet back then.”

“Hey, how is it vampires are still a thing anyway?” Frank asked. “Like, I’ve found that they’ve been in pop culture for our entire life - either of you seen that ‘Forever Knight’ show from the late 90s?”

Luci turned, raising her eyebrow.

Frank held his hands out. “Look, you said not to obsess over time travel. I thought I’d ease into the horror genre.”

Corry face palmed. “You’re both missing my point. This means me and Julie did the right thing, by staying out of it. We’ve got control back! But don’t worry, we’ll take care not to abuse our power. I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Peachy,” Luci stated. “I’m a bit more focussed on the fact that it’s December 30th, and after what felt like the most subdued Christmas ever, we’re finally getting to see what Mindy and the others have put together to fix this whole temporal mess.”

Corry reached out to grab Luci by the arm, but at the last second, seemed to think better of it. He jammed his hands into his jacket pockets instead. “Luci, you’re talking to the guy who’s spent all month without his TWIN SISTER. And I’ve had to call Mindy three times in the past week to maintain the charade with my parents. So don’t you DARE lecture me about how hard it’s been, or how relieved you are for things to be over. Because that all goes double for me.”

“Right. Sorry,” Luci apologized, wincing.

“Look at the bright side,” Frank offered. “In a way, the extra time has given Beth a chance to be changed back. Me and Carrie, we apparently turned her religious on our first trip. Now? Well, she’s considering expanding beyond mere gospel singing.”

“Okay, sure, but don’t forget that Mindy’s going to have to excise parts of Beth’s memory,” Corry pointed out. “Unless you want her becoming some kind of future prophet.”

“Right.” Luci tugged on her hat. “I hate that. We were on such a high horse when Mindy first revealed her mind manipulations, telling her off… and now? We’re becoming just as guilty.”

“Do you see an alternative?” Frank asked. “We know she’s worked it out.”

“No. But I still hate it.”

They reached the LaMille mansion’s front door and Luci rang the bell. To their collective surprise, Jeeves directed the teenagers around towards the garage.

“They did recruit Clarke,” Frank pointed out as they approached. “Maybe they’ve got a DeLorean in there.”

“Chevy, actually,” Mindy said, walking out of the garage while wiping her hands with a rag.

Frank froze, and Luci almost plowed right into his back.

“Of course,” Mindy continued, “my original designs were for something more environmental, maybe a smart car. But I quickly realized the space in one of those is roughly equivalent to a phone booth. For this mission? We might need extra space. Besides, we can always pull the time interface and plug it into another vehicle later. Well, maybe. Kind of.”

“I was joking,” Frank murmured.

Clarke poked his head out from around the opening to the garage. “At last! Guys, you’ve GOT to check this out… it’s pretty cool!”

After exchanging glances, the three of them filed in. “It’s… a Cavalier,” Luci said, nonplussed.

“I got a good deal,” Mindy asserted. “The guy was half ready to donate it to your high school, for their shop class to disassemble.”

“Huh. Well, I have always said that you were supposed to be able to ride around inside a time machine,” Corry yielded.

“It’s more impressive than it first appears,” came Julie’s tired voice. She poked her head out the driver’s side window. “And we’ve still got a couple adjustments to make, but at this point, a second - fourth? - opinion might be of benefit. Plus it means someone other than me can pass the information on to the others.”

Luci was the first to stride over. “I don’t have a driver’s licence!” she protested. “Nor do some of the people in our time group who ARE of age, seeing as we live in a small town and can bike most anywhere. Why make the time machine a CAR?!”

“Safety,” Clarke said. “From what I understand, having an enclosed object means everyone’s sure to be pulled through the vortex.”

“Right,” Mindy concurred, giving up on cleaning her hands and throwing aside the rag she was holding. “The old cash register version? It sucked through whatever was touching the handle, or more dangerously, whatever was touching people touching the handle. Here, you get the whole car, a metallic enclosure, and thus we won’t have to worry about leaving anyone behind. Just, you know, make sure you’re inside. Not touching the doors. Definitely not hanging onto the hood. Okay, so it’s not that much safer.” She smirked. “Still, I always SAID it could be done, but noooo, they were fine with using their stationary temporal generators instead.”

“Could be worse,” Frank decided. “Could’ve been a fridge, we wouldn’t want anyone trapped in one of those. And this means there’s a built in age requirement to get a time travel licence.”

“Actually, the car doesn’t need to be in drive,” Mindy countered. “In fact, probably better that it’s not. Unless you know you’ve got plenty of runoff room at your destination time.”

“Does the DNA sensor track everyone in the car then?” Luci said. “How does it know where to put you spatially?”

“Hi! If you’ll let me EXPLAIN,” Julie said, motioning again in obvious exasperation. She waited until they were peering in the car windows at her, then she pointed to the modified dashboard.

NEXT: Closing the Loop

ASIDE: If I mangled religion somewhere in there, let me know, so I can fix it. Not my forte. Also, time car! Why a Chevy? Well, I used to own one.

PREVIOUSLY: Beth is replacing Carrie in the present, as a time machine is rebuilt. Laurie was taken on a time trip.

PART 84b: CROSSING PATHS

At Frank’s remark, Luci looked up at him, then followed his gaze towards Beth. Their stand-in for Carrie was back at school this Friday, after two days out “sick”. Beth seemed to be adjusting surprisingly well to the present, all things considered. She had just stopped en route to their table in the cafeteria, in order to talk with the pink haired mystic. Luci considered that fact - it wasn’t the first time the two had spoken. “Why not?” she answered him.

Frank frowned. “People might start to talk. And if Carrie’s not actually here to defend herself against rumours…"

“Defend herself against what? A relationship that we’re pretty sure was forming anyway? For all we know, us being here together, there’s rumours concerning our old relationship too. Besides, before Glen, Carrie used to spend time with both us and Chartreuse. So, since he’s gone, why wouldn’t ‘Carrie’ resume talking to our group again?”

“Okay, well, that’s another thing. Did Glen really leave?” Frank countered. “I got an email from him yesterday.”

Luci pursed her lips. “Yeah. I got one this morning. Vague ‘watching you’ stuff though, and according to the school, his ‘parents’ pulled him out - I think he must have timed those emails to send off in advance. Before he left with our future travellers last Sunday. To keep up appearances.”

“Or Glen could be hiding out in town,” Frank countered. “And covering it up with his powers.”

Luci shrugged. “Maybe. So what if he is? Frank, at this point, I’m done with my second guessing. It’s given me nothing but grief. We have to trust our future selves.” She glanced back at Beth. “As to Chartreuse, look at it from her point of view. In the span of a weekend, she lost her potential girlfriend, and Laurie, her best friend. If hanging with Beth is her way of coping, I don’t think we can fault that.”

“Right… right,” Frank sighed. He ran his fingers back through his hair. “And the busier Beth is, the less she might be prone to exploring our ‘astral plane’ too much. Which is good. I’m just worried that we’ll end up missing something.”

“You need to take a break from time travel analysis for once,” Luci decided. “Don’t follow anyone. Don’t look up articles about Mindy in old newspapers. Don’t watch temporal television. Just relax.”

Luci tapped a finger against the cafeteria table. No one was paying attention to them, and Chartreuse seemed to be in the process of passing a crystal around Beth’s head, so maybe now was as good a time as any to bring it up. “Besides, when the time machine’s done, I plan to go back with you. So you’ll have extra support there.”

Frank flinched. “What?”

“The later time trip will include Mindy, and possibly Glen, yeah? The only way you’ll catch everything is if you have someone with you who can speak Temporal. Now, me and Tim have been putting together a rudimentary dictionary, but in a pinch it makes more sense to have one of us there in person. We’re also the experts in the temporal gun, as Carrie herself pointed out in her letter.”

“But Mindy said only four people could go…"

“Or five.”

“And your double wasn’t there at Julie’s!”

“Meaning I was off guarding the new time machine. Frank, the only people who we can be sure WON’T travel back are Glen and the Venitis."

“But…”

Luci reached out to touch Frank’s palm. “Look, it’s an option we should consider. Okay? Not worry about! Only consider. And, ah, by the way, my intention to go is based on a concerned about all our futures thing, not a romantic thing.”

Frank blinked. “Sure. Er, did I give off a romantic signal?”

Luci shook her head. “No. I’m hoping I didn’t, by touching your hand here.”

“I didn’t clue in. You’re the observant one, not me.”

“Right.” Luci exhaled, pulling her arm back. “Okay, last card on the table. I’ve now been wondering if I broke up with you in part because you died in an alternate timeline. I… I feel kinda bad about that.”

“Oh?” Frank half smiled. “Well, don’t. I mean, so what if you did? In this timeline we had a good run, we both had issues to deal with, and in the end, we’re still able to talk about it like we are now. I think, if we couldn’t, that would somehow be the worst thing.”

Luci nodded, and found she could smile back. “Okay then. End of the second guessing - and of the obsessive temporal stuff, yeah?”

Frank hesitated, but finally nodded in reply.

“Heya Frank, Luci,” Beth chirped as she joined them. “I don’t care what Chartreuse says - have either of you tried adding ketchup to this poutine stuff they serve here? It tastes really good that way!”

Luci’s smile faded. She wondered whether they could truly steer Beth through another couple weeks of approximating Carrie… and despite her own assurances to Frank, whether a failure to do so correctly would result in temporal issues before the trip back in time became possible.

Corry watched as Beth joined Frank and Luci, then resumed poking at his cold pasta with a fork. “Anything?” he asked absently, when he sensed the person sitting down across from him.

“No,” Julie answered. “Megan’s a cipher.”

He made a face. “Yeah.” Corry tossed his fork aside. “We should have anticipated that Megan would blame me for Laurie vanishing to attend that ‘camp’. There was no advance warning.”

“We had bigger concerns. Amusingly enough, Megan’s suspicions are not wholly unjustified.”

“Yeah, funny!” Corry said bitterly. “Trouble is, it means my telling Megan to ‘go for it’ might have screwed things over, rather than fix them. She doesn’t trust that I’m passing on Laurie’s true message. I should have pressed my sister for more information.”

Julie shrugged. “Might be nothing to it. ’Go for it’, could simply refer to a new story Megan’s writing.”

“Yeah, or it could be a plot to mess up the school. One that Laurie hadn’t clued into.” Corry picked up his fork, only to drop it again. “Geez, how could my sister think anyone but her would be a good choice for encouraging Megan? Laurie’s the one who should be here now. Not me. Why did I let her go?! I mean, she’s so naive, so innocent, so… so…”

“Corry,” Julie said quietly, reaching out to take his hand. “Laurie’s fine.”

“I know that! You think I don’t know that? Of course I know that. Who do you think I am?” He tried to pull away but Julie held fast.

“You’re someone who cares about his sister, and who’s realized in the last couple days that he’s no longer there to protect her. But part of you knows your sister had to one day be free to make her own decisions, right? For good or bad.”

Corry opened then closed his mouth. “Goddamn it,” he grumbled at last. “We should have at least sent someone aside from Frank. Like Clarke. Sure, she’s over him, and I wouldn’t want to mess that up, but he does think a bit like her. And he’s more streetwise.”

“Corry.” She squeezed his palm. “Me and Mindy are working as fast as we can… and as soon as the time machine is completed and activated, Laurie will be back.”

The redhead sighed and kicked his foot out at a table leg. “I know. You don’t have to remind me.”

“Don’t I?” She smiled. “Look on the bright side. You’re starting to appreciate your sister’s ability to connect with people on a level that you can’t.”

“Hey, I never said Laurie didn’t have good qualities.” He briefly squeezed Julie’s hand back before pulling his arm away. “I guess there’s also a part of me wondering how I would be treating her running off if I were on the outside. Like Megan is.” He shook his head. “Do you think that sometimes, there’s stuff going on that truly is none of our business?”

Julie lifted her eyebrow and gave him a pointed look. It served to remind Corry about his flyer about her from last year, not to mention her own hushed up parental situation.

“Ah. Dumb question,” he answered himself. “Better question - what about this ‘go for it’ thing with Megan? Should we keep prying, or is THAT none of our business?”

“I think we should monitor, in case it becomes our business… but you’re not wrong. Inserting ourselves into it can only make the situation worse.”

“Mmm. I guess you’re right.” Corry toyed with his fork for a moment, then finally had some pasta. “Okay then, to change the subject, Carrie’s double, this Beth… how will Frank and the others locate her in the past? Is your team working on that, as well as fixing the machine?”

Julie’s brow creased. “Actually, that’s kind of another funny thing… we don’t have to work on it. You remember how Frank gave us a rundown on his first encounter with Beth? And how she and Carrie traded clothes?” Corry nodded. “Well, soon after that, Phil wondered if I hadn’t left a small tracking device on what became Beth’s hairband over fifty years ago…”

Clarke walked into the central cafe and hesitated, not sure if he should find a table or simply wait to chat with Theresa/Mindy. He decided to do the former. She brought him a hot chocolate moments later, then waived him off as he pulled out his wallet. “On the house. My shift’s done in ten minutes, see you outside.”

Although the first snowfall of December hadn’t stayed on the ground, it was cold enough that the hot chocolate was appreciated. At the same time, Clarke made sure not to leave Mindy waiting outside, heading out as soon as he saw her. She immediately set out for the LaMille mansion, jamming her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

“So… what did you want to talk to me about?” Clarke asked, after a few minutes of walking.

Mindy chuckled. “I’ve acquired the necessary parts for retrofitting the time machine. I had to tell Julie about it, since we’re storing it all at her place - and she insisted I tell you too. Funny enough, I agreed. Not merely because of your potential expertise, but because I think it will be educational.”

There was a playfulness to her tone that Clarke couldn’t figure out. “Educational? How so?”

“In that you’ll finally have a secret you can’t talk to the others about. Since Frank and the rest of them can’t know. Not yet. The more people who know, the more temporal danger there is.”

“Theresa… Mindy… really? More secrets?”

She stopped walking and turned to him. “Yes, really,” Mindy asserted. “Because first, Glen might still be in town. I want to make it difficult for him to prepare counter-measures. But more than that, the only thing I can think of that would send us back to ourselves unprepared? Is a future incursion. And the fewer people such an incursion can target for information about what’s going on, the better.”

“What happened to time travel is predestined?”

“Oh, I’m sure we’re going back,” Mindy said. “The question is what wreckage we leave in the present - what we leave for Carrie to have to fix. I figure we should minimize that. That said, if you’re not willing to help? I’ll understand. This will ultimately be your decision.”

Clarke sighed. “I guess I’m willing, but why did Julie even think I could help? I’m not so technically minded.”

“To answer that, I need a more firm commitment. In now? Or not until the end?”

Clarke looked up the street towards the LaMille mansion. He couldn’t turn away, not if Julie was offering this olive branch. “I’m in now.”

Mindy’s smile returned. “That’s good. Because you’ve taken tech classes, including auto shop, right?”

Megan Falls wasn’t sure exactly what was going on with the seniors. She only knew that Carrie Waterson was somehow at the centre of it. The blonde had been acting flighty ever since the talent show, and Glen’s subsequent disappearance. It was like she was a changed person - yet also someone reverting to old habits, by hanging around those other students of her clique again. Who were, Megan decided, sheltering her. Even Carrie’s father had rebuffed her when she’d tried to drop by cheerleader’s house.

Megan was having no more of that.

On the Tuesday of the last week of classes before the winter break, she got some of her associates to corner the rest of Carrie’s entourage, ensuring her meeting wouldn’t be interrupted. Then she got Kim to personally escort the blonde to the library.

“All right, Waterson,” Megan began, after waving Kim off. “I want to know what’s going on. The truth.”

Carrie glanced left and right, as if looking for an exit. “We’re talking in the library?” she offered.

Megan glared. “Don’t give me that. You know what I mean - it’s your whole ‘changed person’ routine over the last few weeks. The prevailing rumour is that you ‘found God’! Well, as an authority in this school on God, I don’t buy it. At all. So either you tell me the truth, right here, right now, or I’m going to make things VERY unpleasant for the rest of your friends.” She smiled, placing her hands on her hips. “Starting with Chartreuse. So what’ll it be, Carrie? As always, the choice is yours.”

NEXT: Powering Up

ASIDE: Care to indulge in the weekly vote? Or idle speculation?

PREVIOUSLY: Recreating a time machine will take weeks. Future incarnations have appeared, with a plan for making Carrie appear to still be in town.

PART 84a: ADJUSTMENTS

“Yeah, uh… look, get up.” Frank pocketed the radio transmitter with one hand, the other rubbing his forehead. Damn Carrie and her whole divine intervention story the first time they’d encountered Beth. “Truth be told, I was never actually an angel, and I - we - kinda need your help.”

“I always wanted to thank you properly. I’d hoped you’d return to me,” Beth said breathlessly as she scrambled to her feet. “I’ve become very religious in the last year, did you know that? What am I saying, of course you know. And my part time work at the Clayton hotel has almost earned me enough to get professional singing lessons! I plan to do gospel. Are you pleased? Am I on the right path?"

“Beth, please, I’ll explain everything.” Frank paused. “Okay, no… that would confuse you. But I’ll hit the highlights, so long as you come with me now. To the, um, oh heck with it, to an Astral Plane.”

Beth peered out into the hall. “Why now? And where is your partner? The one who looked like me, the one named Carrie?”

“That,” Frank concluded, “would be why we need your help."

“We’ll pull a girl out of the past,” Luci whispered to Frank. “Is that ethical? That can’t be ethical.”

“And EVERYONE on your astral plane has these ‘sell phones’?” Beth gasped. She looked up at Julie. “But why even call them phones if they do other things? Are you sure they’re not demonic devices?”

“Oh yeah,” Luci said dryly. “It’s like she and Carrie are the same person.”

Frank sighed. “We’ll need to monitor her. The bigger question is Laurie. Can we really hold that situation together for upwards of three weeks?”

“No, nO, NO, no, and, oh wait, how about a side dish of NO!”

“You know, Corry,” Mindylenopia observed. “We’re telling you as a courtesy more than anything else."

“I’m trying to say ‘no’ in a courteous manner. You’re not listening.”

The former waitress sighed, and looked to Frank. Or Bernard, Corry supposed, what with those two apparently being time displaced. Bernard was rubbing his forehead again. “Look, Corry - we can, and in fact did convince your family that Laurie’s away at an art camp. That she was recruited after someone saw that drawing that Megan published for her back in October. All we need is for you to warn Mindy if your parents seem about to–”

“What about the school Laurie would be missing?” Corry challenged. “Not to mention potentially Christmas! You think my family will buy her being away for something like that?!”

“I’m in the room,” Laurie said, quietly.

Both Venitis had been called and asked to come to the mansion a little earlier than everyone else. Corry turned to her on the sofa. “I know. Sorry Laurie, but based on your reaction, I figured I should advocate on your behalf.”

Laurie’s hands tightened where they held her skirt. “When they said what this trip would mean, I was shocked. I needed a moment. But there really isn’t an alternative, right?”

“I’m the alternative,” Corry asserted, waving off Mindylenopia before she could speak. “My ankle’s not that bad, and–"

“No, Corry.” Laurie stood up and turned to face him, her fingers releasing her skirt, in favour of twisting together. “You’re always jumping in, trying to protect me, and while I appreciate it - we’re seniors now. It’s like Megan says, I gotta do more on my own. Besides, my memory is still shaky, but I think maybe we’ve had this discussion before? When you volunteered for time travel a year ago, to go after Julie? And I don’t think I liked that. Even this year, when you and Frank were gone for two days after the van crash, I could barely handle it - no way can I bluff mom and dad for weeks! Whereas you can.”

Laurie pulled her hands apart, forcing her arms to her sides. “I’ll do extra studying, plus I’m taking History, and this is history. And Dad was away for the holidays two years ago, for work, so it’s not that weird. I can even record a message now for you to use, saying my plane home was cancelled or the camp was extended or something. Because bottom line, the time group needs me, so I’m going to go.”

“C’mon little sis, you can’t really…”

“Two minutes!” she reminded her brother, pointing at him. “Not THAT little. In fact I’m not only doing this for them, it’s for me too.” She paused for a breath. “Because here’s the thing, Corry! I admire Carrie. I have for a long while. I admire all things she can do so much better than me, even including her power of time travel. But know what I’ve learned? She can’t do everything. Not on her own. She needs people like us. So I’m stepping up. Last week with cheerleading, and now with this.”

She then crossed her arms, imitating the posture Corry so often made - with only a slight shiver betraying her nervousness. “Corry, I care about this group and what they’re doing a lot more than some stuffy classes,” she continued. “Except maybe art class, because here’s ANOTHER thing, I also want to be a professional animator. And this cover story will make my parents see that maybe, I’m just that good. So… so there. Deal with it, bro. I’m going.”

Corry opened his mouth to protest… and found he couldn’t. Not after a speech like that. For some reason, he was reminded of something Chartreuse had said to him, back when Julie had time travelled: ‘If Laurie wants to help someone, she’s going to do it. No matter what EITHER of us has to say.’ After a few moments of standing with his mouth open, he finally found enough of a voice to say, “Damnit Laurie, of all the times to make me proud, you just have to do it when there’s a chance of mortal danger, don’t you?!”

Laurie blushed faintly, smiling back at him. She then nibbled on her lower lip and let her arms fall back to her sides as she looked back to Bernard. “Golly, there won’t be MORTAL danger, will there?”

“Look at it this way,” Bernard offered. “Things go screwy for us in your future, our present. So maybe the safest place for you to be is with us, in the past.”

Corry didn’t feel entirely reassured, but he decided pushing the point would only make things worse for Laurie.

“Okay,” Laurie sighed. “So how many days do I need to pack for?”

“In theory, none,” Mindylenopia pointed out. “We won’t stay long in the past, then we’ll simply be returning to your future. In practice, of course, whatever an art camp would need.”

“Okay,” she repeated. “Though before I do that, I’ll need to teach this Beth girl our cheerleadering routines.”

“Heck. That’s a good point,” Bernard realized. “Let’s go see if Julie and the others are done with their technology primer.”

Laurie nodded, then looked back to Corry. “And one last thing? Since I’m not going to be here, please, tell Megan to go for it. Okay?”

Corry lifted an eyebrow. “Go for it?”

“Yeah, I think she’ll need extra encouragement. You can say I asked you to pass it along. Thanks Corry!”

Corry was tempted to ask what his sister meant by that, but she seemed to have a lot to worry about already. Besides, he reasoned, it couldn’t be too hard to figure out whatever Laurie was referring to.

The whole group met, and everyone was brought up to speed. Only Glen wasn’t there, having said he’d render his decision about leaving or not once Mindylenopia and Bernard came by the hotel with Laurie.

They’d then determined that the people to tell Mr. Waterson the truth about Carrie would be: Frank and Luci, as two of the originals, Mindy, as the adult, plus she’d been to his house yesterday, and Chartreuse, who knew of mystical powers.

Hank took it well, all things considered.

“So you’re saying that, ever since she was shot, Carrie - my daughter - has been a time traveler?”

Frank glanced over at Luci, then back to Hank Waterson. “Right.”

“I’ve been helping Carrie come to grips with it,” Chartreuse offered. “There are, you know, strange things in this world that at least 99.9% of the general population isn’t aware of.”

“Thing is,” Luci finished, “until we can get Carrie back, we’ll need a girl named Beth to act like her double in the present. Because as long as the future thinks Carrie’s still here, there won’t be repercussions.”

“Time travel,” Hank reiterated. He moved to sit down in one of the living room chairs. “This is like something out of a bad novel.”

“It’s really happening though,” Mindy (or to Hank, Theresa) observed. “Now, if you like, I can essentially hypnotize you into being okay with everything. It’s simply better for everybody if you’re dealing with Beth of your own volition instead, should any issues come up that I cannot foresee. Also, it avoids me needing to reiterate that ‘everything’s fine’ every few days, as you start to feel like it’s not.”

“We do have things more or less worked out,” Frank added. “Beth will need to be in school Monday and Tuesday, for continuity, then you can take her out for some sick days as we regroup. Her being sick will also help explain away any odd behaviour. From there, we’ll play it by ear.”

“How long will this go on for?” he asked.

“At least three weeks. Maybe to the end of December,” Mindy stated.

“Three WEEKS?!”

“Mr. Waterson,” Chartreuse said, reaching out for his hand. “Listen, there’s no way I can, you know, fully understand what you’re going through. Because you’ve gotta take a lot more here on faith than I do. But PLEASE sir, know that I, like, get some of it. Because Carrie and me, we’ve been, you know, pretty close lately. Like, extremely close, actually. So know that I’m scared for her, and that large parts of me now want to scream, or sob uncontrollably, or lash out at Theresa here… except I know those things won’t help. This thing with Beth? It will.”

He searched her expression. “How can you be sure?”

She swallowed. “I… I can’t. Not entirely. But we’ve met future counterparts, and they say this is our best shot, so I figure it’s gotta help. Please, sir, if nothing else, please trust that we all want the same thing here. We all want - no, we NEED - to, like, bring Carrie back to the present. To have her here with us again, all safe and sound.”

Hank realized that Chartreuse was trying hard not to cry. His grip on her hand tightened, and his expression settled into one of resolve. If Carrie’s friends could manage? Then he would as well. “All right then,” he said. “Tell me more about this Beth, and what I have to do to bring our Carrie back home.”

On the bright side, the first week was only mildly problematic.

NEXT: Crossing Paths

PREVIOUSLY: Glen and Mindy explained temporal theory - and said that Carrie would never be able to save her mother in the past.

PART 83b: DOUBLE TROUBLE

“Not entirely,” Mindy said, looking uncomfortable. “In a sense, timeline three is a few milliseconds in our future. We’re constantly in the process of overwriting it. So Future Carrie’s still a threat.”

Frank shook his head. “I don’t see it. After all the changes, why isn’t ‘Future Carrie’ destined to be from our timeline now?”

“She may be, but as we Temporals know, perception is everything,” Mindy sighed. “Did your Carrie grow up alongside Glen? That’s timeline three. Or did she grow up in a mental hospital being spoon fed memories of growing up alongside Glen? Because that could be our path now. They both lead to Future Carrie.”

“What? No!” Chartreuse gasped.

“Then we’ll finish our time machine and go after our Carrie,” Julie asserted. “It’s time travel, we can get to her in the past before that future happens. We’ll tell Carrie that she’s been living timeline four, to give her another path forwards.”

“Won’t work,” Glen asserted. “Unless you leave soon, Future Carrie will easily spot when her past self ceased influencing your present, and she’ll tie up the loose ends to preserve her own timeline. Even if it means the mental hospital in her past. Soon enough, you’ll all be adjusted to think your version moved away or something. I warned you, didn’t I? But oh no, nobody listens to–"

“Oh, stay shutted up,” Mindy interrupted. “Know what, Julie? Yes. Doing that is better than doing nothing. Possibly better that Carrie end up with Glinephanis here versus… yeah.”

“Meaning we’ll need to temporally hide out until until the machine is complete,” Luci realized. “To avoid this Future Carrie’s interference. How do we do that? What do we tell the rest of the school? What do we tell Carrie’s father?”

Mindy rubbed her forehead. “I’ll go to Carrie’s father. We can stall a missing persons report.”

“Oh! More ‘minor changes’ to us?” Julie asked, her tone sarcastic.

“Julie’s right,” Clarke agreed. “Mr. Waterson should be told everything. Not have his mind adjusted.”

“Right, since giving the whole story worked SO well with your sister, Mary,” Glen reminded him.

“Yet you two Temporals have limits to your mind powers, yeah?” Lee noted. “Can’t change the whole school, not if there’s more people like me. And how long is this time machine rebuilding going to take?”

“Days,” Mindy sighed. “Okay, fine. For now I’ll set things up to stall another twenty four hours.” She glanced at Julie. “Let’s have a meeting of all technical minded people, right here, first thing tomorrow morning. That will tell us how long our stalling needs to be maintained.”

She’d asked him to stay behind. So Clarke decided to give Julie the first words. It took about two minutes of her staring into the china cabinet before she spoke.

“We have a problem here, Clarke. Phil.” Julie turned. “Damn it, I’m sorry, how do you want me to refer to you?”

“Let’s go with Phil,” Clarke suggested. “Against all odds, I spent four straight years at our school. So I’ve been wondering about using my first name more with everyone in post-secondary.”

“Phil then,” she said, smiling. “Here’s the thing. I tore myself away from whatever we had because I thought it was for the greater good. And maybe it kind of was, even if I went about it badly. Not to mention how it ended up being a trick by Mindy.” She raked her hands back through her hair. “So yes, I know I shouldn’t have unilaterally decided to keep you out without giving you any options. Thing is, Phil, I can’t promise that sort of thing won’t happen again. Like how it did today, with Glen at the park. And you don’t deserve that.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Julie. Jewels.”

“I’ll try not to be - but you can’t be so easy on me. I’m not healthy for you, Phil. You must realize that.”

“I should get a say in that, yeah?”

Julie moved closer. “Yeah. But PLEASE, you need to see where I’m coming from here. Logically, not emotionally. Phil, I did these things to you even after you saved my life last year. Do you understand?”

Clarke shook his head. “I can’t ignore my feelings…”

“I’m not saying you have to! However, you always seem to think more with your heart than your head. While I’m the reverse, hyper analytical. And while my emotions are pulling me back towards you here, the rest of me is… worried. Because while I may have been acting more hesitant for the better part of this year, as I rebuilt my life, underneath it all? It turns out I’m assertive to a fault. I could easily end up crushing you. Again. Please, if we’re going forward, I want you to recognize that, and have a contingency plan.”

“You mean I’ve got a blind spot when it comes to that part of you,” Clarke realized. He forced himself to consider that. “Maybe you’re right,” he granted. “But maybe you’re also scared to be losing your objectivity. You’re scared to give yourself over to your feelings.”

“Ohh, you’re not wrong.” Julie held his gaze. “Thing is, where does that leave us? Friends? More than friends? Something else?”

“Our relationship has always defied description,” Clarke said wryly. He reached out his hand. “How about we start again here, as a couple, and see where that takes us.”

Julie reached out, fingers twitching a little until their palms met. She was moving into the embrace almost before Clarke could pull her in. She drew in a long breath. After a moment, her shoulders began to shake - was she sobbing? Was she giddy with relief? When Clarke pulled back a little to try and see, she released his hand and held him tighter, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

So he simply held her back. It was enough, he decided. They could rebuild from this.

Sunday morning found all the technical specialists reunited in the LaMille sitting room: Julie, Frank, Luci, Mindy… and Glen. For while Glen was more of an expert on the theory than the hardware, Glen had refused to allow Mindy to be present without him.

It meant that arguments between Mindy and Glen were not infrequent. But with arbitration by Luci, progress on the actual circuitry was made too. Slow progress. It was close to noon when Julie threw her pencil down onto the table in disgust.

“Mindy, you’ve made this MORE complicated, not LESS. It’s going to take WEEKS, not days.”

“I thought you agreed with me that we cannot fit the circuits back into that black box chassis,” Mindy countered.

“We’re still on a deadline here! Stop adding stuff!”

“There’s no need to sacrifice safety. The only hard deadline is the end of December, and that’s only because once when we get into January there’s no coins to return to your present.”

“You’re forgetting the smokescreen,” Luci said. “The longer we obfuscate on where our Carrie is and what she’s doing, the greater the chance that we’ll be found out. At this rate, we could have this work cut off by outside forces from the future before we can finish.”

Mindy shook her head. “Once I saw this would take more than a few days - one week or three weeks, that won’t make a huge difference. Trust me.”

“What IS the new framework you’re aiming for?” Frank asked.

Mindy looked from Frank to Glen. “I’d rather not say.”

“What, worried I’ll take a sledgehammer to it before you’re done?” Glen asked, smirking. “You forget, I want Carrie back too.”

“Yeah, so you can get her closer to your ‘timeline three’, versus letting us explore other options,” Mindy pointed out. She then looked to Frank, perhaps to pull herself back from a new argument. “Though I admit, I’m also holding back to avoid giving out more information about future technology than I have to.”

“Mindy, that’s making it IMPOSSIBLE for us to–”

“Maybe it’s time for a lunch break," Luci said, cutting Julie off. “Was Mimi making sandwiches?”

“I think something was left in the kitchen, yes,” Frank agreed, as Luci shot him a look he interpreted as pleading for assistance. “Why don’t we adjourn there?”

After a few assorted mumblings, it was agreed that food might be in order. Luci interposed herself between the two Temporals as they changed locations, and as such was able to hear Frank’s next question to them. “So Mindy, with this ‘new design’, how many people are we going to be able to bring along? I mean, we’ll need to track Carrie down once we’ve arrived in the past, and the more people we have there, the easier that could be.”

Mindy grimaced. “No more than five.”

“Right. And I’ll be one of those five,” Mindylenopia clarified.

Luci managed to sidestep Julie, who had stopped in front of her, practically blocking the entranceway to the kitchen. They then understood why Julie had frozen in place. The kitchen was already occupied by a number of seated individuals: Mindy (or rather, Mindylenopia, who had spoken), Frank (or rather, Bernard), and also…

“Carrie??” Julie gasped. In two strides she was at the other girl’s side, leaning down to look into her eyes. The blonde was dressed curiously, sporting a very out-of-fashion blouse with a long skirt, and she was wearing a cross on a necklace. Only her blue hairband was familiar. “How are you feeling, are you… no. You’re not Carrie. Who are you?”

The blonde haired girl faltered. “Um, I… I…” She turned to look at the time travellers. “Frank, help…?”

“I’m Bernard now,” Bernard sighed back. He looked up at the rest of them. “Everybody? This is Beth Parker. Beth, that’s Julie, Luci, Glen, and, um, other ‘us’es you already know. It’s an Astral Plane thing.” Beth raised her hand, giving a tentative wave.

Frank slowly shook his head. “Beth Parker… I know that name. Why do I know that name?”

“This town,” Bernard offered. “Decades ago. Carrie’s lookalike, the Clayton Hotel, Mrs. Peabody…” Frank flinched as the memory came to him.

“Oh, this is rich,” Glen said. “You honestly think a body double is going to work?”

Mindylenopia rose to her feet. “It will for a while, yup. Until things go south. We’re not merely here to drop Beth off, we also need supplies before our trip back to the airport in Florida. Didn’t have time to load up before coming back.”

“Why not?” Luci asked.

Bernard adjusted his glasses. “We can’t say. At present, there’s a certain stability involved in our predestined time travel. We don’t want to risk it teetering into an even worse future.”

“You didn’t tell us when you were me, so you won’t tell us now,” Frank summarized. Bernard shrugged.

Julie turned to eye the current Glen and Mindy. “Could this be a trick?”

“I wouldn’t put anything past Mindylenopia,” Glen grunted.

Mindy finally spoke. “Honestly? I’d hoped we’d experience something like this. It means my machine will work. Awesomeness.”

“But there’s going to be sacrifices,” Mindylenopia countered. She jerked her thumb at Beth. “First, we’ve gotta acclimate her to this situation as fast as possible. And…" She exhaled. “Play it straight with Carrie’s dad.”

“That’s a terrible plan,” Glen and Mindy chorused. As they had the previous day, they then glared at each other.

“Second,” Mindylenopia continued, “Glinephanis, if we DO run into Carrie’s future self back there? You’re one of the few people she might listen to. So we’re willing to bring you along with us.”

Glen folded his arms. “So you can leave me stranded somewhere? No way!"

“Sweet.” Mindylenopia turned to Bernard. “We tried, he’s not coming."

“Wait,” Bernard protested, standing also. “Glen, we wouldn’t strand you. As much as I hate to admit it, you also know more about our own Carrie’s emotional state leading up to her departure, and her capabilities. We need that information, that… expertise.” He let out a quick breath. “Plus, causally speaking, the fact that you didn’t time travel back here with us? Implies that you’re stuck in our present. Would you rather be there? Or keeping an eye on what it is we’re about to do?”

Glen’s eyes narrowed. “You neglect to point out that, if I come with you now, I won’t get to see what it is you’re planning through the month of December.”

“I’m hoping we can lock you in a basement for the next few weeks to achieve the same result,” present Mindy muttered under her breath. Glen shot her a look, which she ignored.

“Anyway, you’re not the only person from this time that we need to recruit,” Mindylenopia finished.

Julie frowned. “Why?”

“Welllll,” Bernard began slowly, after exchanging a glance with his companion. “As you know, our destination is Elaine Waterson. Last seen for sure in Miami, Florida. And we’ll need to time shift reasonably close to that position, both to minimize our temporal impact and to eliminate the possibility of unforeseen travel delays. So… we need someone who was in Miami that year.”

“Someone to pull the handle,” Luci reasoned.

“One of the Venitis,” Frank realized.

“And Corry has his twisted ankle,” Julie observed.

“Yeah. We’re here for Laurie,” Mindylenopia confirmed. “We need to pull her out of your time for this mission.”

A hush fell over the room. It was broken when Beth swallowed her mouthful of sandwich, and gestured at the tray. “Anyone else want one? They’re very tasty.”

NEXT: Adjustments

ASIDE: The dominos set up in Book 1 (Beth) and Book 2 (Miami) continue to fall. ARC 2 is done, so we’re halfway through Book 4. New commentary Sunday. How about that weekly T&T vote? I’ve also started posting to “Royal Road Legends”, if you want to start over.

PREVIOUSLY: Julie decided the best plan was to bring Glen (who wants to preserve the future) and Mindy (who wants to change the future), together.

PART 83a: TEMPORAL ALIGNMENT

“You scared Carrie off, this isn’t on me,” Mindy accused, quickly rising to her feet. “I’ve been passively watching, and only occasionally slowing down your orders at the cafe.”

Glen shot a glare at Clarke before turning back to her. “%You expect me to take YOUR word, you traitor?!%” he hissed back in Temporal. “%I’d be gone with Carrie by now if not for your interference.%”

“%Preserving a terrible future! Who wants that?%” Mindy argued. She looked to Julie. “This might have gone better if you’d said he was coming.”

“This might have gone better if you’d been more up front with us from the start,” Julie reminded her.

“Move away,” Glen said to Luci, Lee and Chartreuse, who were between him and Mindy. The two girls automatically took a step to the side, but Lee remained where he was.

“Dude, we might as well hear her side before the hurling of more garbled profanities or potentially heavy objects,” he remarked. Glen edged to the side, but Lee matched his movement, keeping the two Temporals apart. “Look, I don’t like getting physical, but I will if I have to.”

“That person is a traitor to everything a Temporal stands for,” Glen seethed, pointing past Lee, towards Mindy. “I’d banish her again myself if I could!”

“Glinephanis, our stance shouldn’t be that every Mundane is the enemy,” Mindy shot back. “%Remember, they created us.%”

“%They’re not servants. Not slaves!%”

“%No, but they are SO helpless,%” Glen scoffed. “%Playing around with technologies that they don’t understand, it’s not unlike giving teenagers a time machine. Let it continue, and everyone will be killed.%”

“%No, it’s sweeping generalizations like that which will kill everyone,%” Mindy responded. “%Don’t conveniently forget, fundamentally we remain human ourselves.%”

“What gibberi–” Corry began, only to be quickly silenced by a motion from Luci, who had been exchanging glances with Tim.

“%Temporals are the next generation of humans,%” Glen continued, ignoring Corry’s outburst. “%Imagine what we could accomplish without the petty restrictions of their society!%”

“%We could turn more innocent girls into weapons?%”

Glen managed to step around Lee, who had become distracted by Corry’s outburst. Showing no finesse, his fist went flying for Mindy’s face. Reacting quickly, Mindy stepped to the side and reached for Glen’s arm. As she tried to pull him off balance though, he twisted out of her grip, and the two of them faced off, eye to eye. Lee circled around, reaching out for Glen’s shoulder from behind, only to hesitate as the redhead simply resumed talking.

“%I’m not the one who woke her powers early,%” Glen seethed. “%That was a Mundane! I’m trying to HELP her.%”

“%Future her. Not the her of this time!%”

“%They are the SAME.%”

“%Not now. Not according to this one,%” Mindy asserted, pointing at Chartreuse.

“%That harlot?%”

“Whoa!” Tim gasped. Glen turned to stare, and the blonde boy slapped his hand over this mouth. Glen narrowed his eyes as he looked back at Mindy. “Oh no. No, this is unbelievable, did you teach all these Mundanes how to understand TEMPORAL?!”

“No,” Mindy protested. “Though, okay, apparently they did find one of Linquist’s logbooks in our language…"

“Meaning you taught HIM? Oh, I’m out.” Glen’s posture relaxed then - as did Lee’s. “Future Carrie can destroy your lives as she likes,” Glen decided. He turned away from the group.

“Glen, wait," Frank objected. “Truthfully, most of us have no idea what happened and would like to get caught up.”

“Yeah, um, what were they, like, saying about me?” Chartreuse asked.

Glen paused, looking from Frank to Mindy to Tim. Mindy simply clasped her hands behind her back, adopting a neutral expression. Tim looked towards Luci. Luci seemed about to speak, then thought better of it and gestured back his way. “I caught words. You’re the linguist, Tim, you probably have a better idea of how it all fit together.”

Tim exhaled slowly. “Oh. Okay. Um. S-Something about them - as Temporals - being superior, and how our ignorance could kill us… though at a fundamental level we’re all the same? Except Glen didn’t buy that. Then they were arguing about Carrie’s powers, the use of her as a weapon, some garbling of tenses - hey, using a future imperfect tense almost makes sense now - and then on to Chartreuse. Which, ah, there’s a particular page where Linquist was spouting off about aliens, and he used what seemed to be cursing, so while I’m not entirely sure of the specific word…” He hesitated.

Mindy cleared her throat. “That ass called you a–"

“Never mind,” Chartreuse interrupted, her hands making fists. “I can guess.”

“Right, talk as if I’M the ass,” Glen said, his gaze settling back on Mindy. “Passively watching us, were you? If Carrie’s different, you’re the one who changed this past without considering the consequences!”

“I had no MEMORY when I met Linquist,” Mindy countered, jabbing her finger at her head. “Because of what YOU made Carrie do. So don’t you DARE lecture me, that man was like a father to me, he–“

“The change to Carrie’s timeline had to be more recent, traitor. You couldn’t have simply left town, noooo, you had to stay here and–"

“Yes, I had to TRY to create a better future, because it’s not like anyone else knew–"

“What gave YOU the right to decide–"

“Okay, this was funnier when I didn’t know what they were saying,” Corry grumbled.

Glen took a step back towards Mindy, only to have Lee again step between them. Then Julie clapped her hands twice, drawing everyone’s attention. “HEY! Temporals. Laying blame isn’t going to help bring Carrie back. So how about we all shut up and listen to each other until we’re on the same temporal page, allowing us to actually find a path forward through all this mess. Okay?”

Glen and Mindy glared back at each other. Then Glen rolled his eyes. “Fine. Feels like that’s the only way I’ll find out where the present day Carrie is.” He marched over to sit himself in a chair.

“Fine,” Mindy agreed. “Most of my cards are on the table already.” She sat back down on the couch.

“Lovely.” Julie put her hands on her hips. “Chartreuse, since you’re the one who understands Carrie’s timelines best, how about you guide us through the discussion?”

Chartreuse ceased her fumbling with the crystal around her neck, pursed her lips, then slowly nodded.

Frank found that the various timelines made sense. Mostly. There was one notable issue. “Here’s the thing,” he said once Chartreuse was done, which took some time given the questions of others along the way. “When ‘Shady’ initiated timeline three, that was a change. But Glen came back within that timeline - it was predestined. Mindy then initiated timeline four. That was a change. In fact, the very change that put us in this situation. So why the differences? What makes time travel predestined or not?”

“All time travel is predestined,” Glen grunted.

“Until it’s not,” Mindy added, with an impish smile. Frank frowned.

“That’s not an acceptable answer,” Luci protested.

The two Temporals exchanged glances. “You want to waste your time on this?” Glen said, gesturing.

Mindy raked her fingers through her hair. “Oh, sure, let’s give it a whirl.” She looked to Frank. “Say you burn your dinner. You’re bummed out. You travel back a half hour through time, to remind yourself to take it out of the oven. Meaning you don’t burn your dinner. Awesome. So why even take the time trip? Things worked out fine!”

“Because you’re predestined?” Frank ventured.

“Exactly,” Mindy concluded. “On an unconscious level, you need to go. For consistency, and so that your time travelling version has somewhere to return to. Perhaps the trip even avoids you being stuck in some sort of infinite time loop.”

“Wait. So did that dinner EVER get burned?” Laurie asked.

Mindy smiled. “Nope.”

“Unless dinner’s connected to paradox inducing Carrie Waterson,” Glen added, rising to his feet and wandering over to the china cabinet.

Lee scratched his head. “So time travel has become a way to remind yourself to do stuff that’s gonna happen ANYWAY?”

Mindy’s smile widened. “Yup.”

“Hence, all time travel is predestined,” Clarke echoed. He looked to Glen. “Except possibly when Carrie’s involved.”

“What’s the damn point to doing it then?” Corry asked.

“Funny you should say that, we keep telling the Mundanes as much…"

“Oh, Glen, lighten up,” Mindy said. “Thing is, even setting aside having actual motivation via one’s relative present being affected by a predestined trip, there are exception cases outside of Carrie too. It’s a matter of getting your time trip to knock the prior timeline completely out of alignment, such that it starts getting overwritten with your new one. To do that, you need to aim for a lynchpin moment. Which, alas, are almost impossible to spot, even in retrospect. So sometimes a Mundane tries anyway, hoping to get lucky.”

“For instance, instead of going back in time to warn about dinner, you go back in time, disabling your time machine,” Frank offered. “Lynchpin, and new timeline.”

Mindy shook her head. “Actually, that can be predestined. You might think you’re disabling it, when in fact you’ve enabled something that will force the trip.”

“Then the usual paradox of going back to kill your grandfather is a lynchpin,” Luci stated.

“Predestined,” Glen countered, now leaning against the wall. “You never take the shot. Or he survives. Or it’s a case of mistaken genetic identity. Time is more of an active force in this than you realize.”

“Okay, I know going back to try and kill YOURSELF does something,” Julie declared. “All I’m missing is the T-Shirt.”

“That can set up temporal waveforms,” Mindy acknowledged. “Are you alive? Are you dead? Even are you both at once, that’s a messy quantum possibility. But ultimately the timeline will collapse down into the most stable configuration… which is usually one of predestination.”

“Kinda hating the, you know, lack of free will here,” Chartreuse observed.

“You have free will in your actions,” Mindy noted. “And in your perceptions, which honestly is the most important thing. After all, two people can see a single event very differently.”

Chartreuse grimaced, as Mindy’s remark reminded her of the incident at school with the broken violin.

Mindy looked around at the others. “So yes, you get less free will about the final destination, but that’s all. To be blunt, everyone dies, the question is how did they live their lives.”

“Then you’re s-saying global warming was always going to happen,” Tim said.

“No,” Glen sighed. “She’s saying something was always going to happen. Free will and general human stupidity meant that the something became global warming. And now we’re kind of stuck with it, along with a host of other somethings… Mundanes really screwed over the Earth we’re trying to inherit.”

“But Mindy, doesn’t this temporal inertia mean your mission to separate Carrie and Glen was always doomed to failure?” Frank protested.

Mindy nodded. “Maybe. But there’s also early nudges on timeline alignment which can help knock it out when the lynchpin arrives, and with Carrie involved here, that was my goal. For while a mission to prevent Carrie’s departure entirely would likely have failed, mine was to prevent her from going with Glen. Which, frankly, seems to have worked.”

“Temporarily,” Glen grumbled. “Look, lecture over. Have we reached the point where you’ll all tell me when Carrie took her time trip to yet?”

Frank looked around the room at the others, seeing varied levels of confusion but no real argument. “They might as well know. Chartreuse? Feels like you should do the honours again.”

The pink haired girl nodded, again touching the crystal around her neck. She drew in a deep breath. “We’re almost certain that Carrie went back in time to get her mom. So that Hank Waterson would have someone here with him, after losing his daughter.”

“Oh, well, that won’t work,” Glen and Mindy chorused. They turned to glare at each other, as if irritated to be so in synch.

“Why not?” Luci demanded, perching herself on the couch again. “Carrie’s involved. Can’t she change things?”

Glen lifted an eyebrow. “Ooh. Gonna tell them all about it, ‘Mindy’?”

“Shut up, Glinephanis. I’m trying to work through the repercussions of that.”

“What repercussions?” Corry asked. “What’s the problem?”

“Sorry,” Mindy sighed. “I can’t. This goes beyond temporal theory, it’s need to know information only.”

“She’s my girlfriend!” Chartreuse insisted. “I need to know!”

Mindy merely pursed her lips.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Glen said. “If your Carrie went back to that time? My Future Carrie will pull herself out of there. Probably has already.” He smirked. “There’s nothing we can do about it here in the present. You’re screwed.”

NEXT: Double Trouble

ASIDE: A couple weeks ago, I submitted a serial profile to the “Serial Fiction Digest” FB group. Check it out if you want to know how I get in the minds of my characters, and check out @SerFicDigest on twitter.

PREVIOUSLY: Mindylenopia is at the LaMille mansion, as others prepare to meet Glen in Willowdale Park.

PART 82b: AFTER EFFECTS

Corry carefully lowered himself down into the park swing. “Damned if I know.” He used his cane to brace the swing and arrest it’s motion. “Might as well focus on Glen. What did you turn up?”

In the swing next to him, Lee grinned. “Luci, show him the article about–"

“Hold that thought,” Clarke interrupted, looking towards the tree line. “Let’s tell them both at once.” Luci turned to see that Glen had emerged, and was approaching them, looking around warily.

“You’re short a few people,” the redhead pointed out, stopping at least three metres away.

“Research is ongoing,” Lee countered, before Clarke could speak. “You didn’t specify we all had to be here.”

“Right. Look, if your plan is for the others to knock us all out, then ply me for secrets about my abilities? Save your time, I won’t talk.”

“Oh, shut it,” Corry barked. “As if locking you in a box somewhere would be of any use. Me, I’m interested in what’s been discovered so far. Up to you if you want to listen too.”

Glen glared, but did close the distance between them. “Do you actually have documented evidence that Mindy has been hiding out in the town’s past?”

Glen motioned with his hand, and after a momentary hesitation, Luci handed over the page. The redhead scanned it. “There’s nothing conclusive in this,” he objected. “No mention of who that ‘street girl’ was.”

“But notice the bizarre turn,” Clarke said, pointing. “Linquist publishing a paper about relativity. Wormholes. Surely that points to an influence by Mindy.”

Glen shook his head. “No, it proves the opposite!” he said scornfully. “I guess Carrie never said? Mindy’s memories of such things would have been scrambled by the temporal banishing. Linquist would have needed something in his own background to put her pieces together this way, yet you’ve now said this was a bizarre detour for him. You’re wasting my time.”

“Except we also have some later news articles!” Luci protested. She pulled out another page. “Including this one, where an interviewer says Linquist believed that aliens were feeding him information. If he started to think that Mindy was–"

“Luci, wait,” Clarke interrupted again. “Glen, you say Mindy’s memories would have been affected?” When Glen nodded, Clarke turned to look at Lee. “The stuff Linquist was doing before that bizarre turn, wasn’t it about memories?”

“Thought experiments, yeah,” Lee agreed. “Including recollection under hypnosis. It was good enough to get that minor award.”

Corry leaned forwards. “Maybe that’s the real proof then. Linquist got access to the wormhole stuff by fixing Mindy’s mind.”

Glen’s eyebrow twitched. “Show me the rest of your articles.”

“My original mission was to get ‘Glen’ away from Carrie, using any means possible,” Mindy answered Frank.

“How does a time machine help you do that now?” Frank asked.

Mindy shrugged. “It could have let me reason with one of them, away from the other. Worst case scenario, it creates the option of travelling back and planting as many subconscious triggers for Carrie as I could. Anyone spot that poetry I submitted some five years back?”

“So you again admit you’re trying to manipulate us,” Julie noted.

Mindy sighed. “Seriously? My poem was minor. Calling you last weekend, so you wouldn’t lose hope, was minor. I haven’t done anything major.”

“You crashed a van into our school library,” Frank reminded.

“Anything lately! Though short term damage like that is also minor,” Mindy said dismissively. “Time recovers. Also, I was younger and more impulsive then, stop trying to corner me.”

“What about the note you wrote me in Carrie’s handwriting?” Julie accused. “It was you, right? ‘Rebuild it, in secret,’ et cetera?”

Mindy shifted uncomfortably. “Right. Kind of minor? To be honest, I tapped Carrie to write that note herself, but it was years ago, back before her powers awoke. Kept it vague, removed the memory… I mean, it stood to reason that Glen would have her destroy the machine, after the stunt you all pulled on me with it. I just had to figure out who would be the best person to give that note to afterwards.”

“SIX WEEKS of my LIFE, Mindy!”

Mindy ran her fingers back through her hair. “Okay. Okay, sorry. That was a bit more long term - but come on, less than 12% of a year? It’s not as bad as it could have been. Not as bad as what happened to Linquist.”

“Why, what happened to him?” Laurie asked, biting her lip.

Mindy exhaled. “Euh. Well, I mentioned I had language trouble after the banishment, right? Truth is, we Temporals have our own language, and what with switching back and forth due to my memory blanks, Linquist kinda figured it out.”

“Hold on,” Tim said. “You mean, the language in his logbooks…?"

“%That little witch%…”

Luci jerked her gaze from Clarke back to Glen. “What??”

Glen waved dismissively. “Mumbling gibberish, never mind.”

Luci frowned, trying to peg why the strange words felt familiar, but Glen was already addressing them again. “Okay. It’s not a strong case, but it’s more of a case than I thought you’d pull together. For the moment, I’m on board with your suspicions.”

“Okay,” Luci said, temporarily setting aside his mutterings. “So, do you have any idea where Linquist and Mindy could be hiding out?”

Glen handed the sheets over to Corry. “No. In fact I may have run into them a dozen times and not known; Mindylenopia would have been on her guard for me, while I can’t say the same. That witch would even slip past Carrie’s headaches now, given how Carrie was the one who sent her back for those fifteen years or so.”

“So you’re not much help, is what you’re saying,” Lee remarked.

“I’m saying I’ll be looking now. You want a suggestion? Let’s talk with the guy Carrie referred to as ’Shady’.”

“Him? But he’s in jail somewhere,” Clarke protested.

Glen waved his hand in the air. “Hi, I have mental powers. Plus Tim’s father is a lawyer, right? The combination should be sufficient.”

“But how does getting to that guy help?” Luci asked.

“Simple. ‘Mindy’ would have known ‘Shady’ was coming,” Glen countered. “To awaken Carrie. More, that he had a time machine. Excellent opportunity for our nemesis to refresh her own knowledge, and perhaps obtain anything else he’d brought along, before mentally adjusting him and leaving.”

Luci and Clarke exchanged glances again. “So, that’s a scary thought,” Luci admitted. “Still, if Shady got adjusted to forget, what’s the point in us seeing him now?”

“Because wherever ‘Shady’ was staying in town back then could be a good place for Mindy to stay now,” Corry concluded, looking up from the articles. “Besides, it’s the only temporal lead we have, right?”

Glen crossed his arms. “Unless your missing friends have a better plan?”

“I’ve give Julie a call,” Clarke decided. “Wait here.”

“So, is that it, Mindy?” Julie said, her hands tightening on the back of the couch. “Is that all your manipulations?”

“Yes,” Mindy said. Then, glancing sidelong at Tim, she sighed. “No.”

“What else?” Frank asked, rubbing his forehead.

“It’s okay, you’ll like this one,” Mindy assured. “The time travel chip? The one that you had Tim bring here last week? It survived.”

Tim nearly fell forwards off his chair. “What? But I SAW Carrie destroy it!”

“She destroyed something, sure. You’re forgetting that I was paying attention to the time machine situation, thus had prepared a worthless dummy chip of my own. Just in case. And when Tim came to the cafe before heading out on the mission? I saw my chance.”

“You had him pull your dummy chip out of his pocket to give to Lee instead,” Julie reasoned, working to rein in her anger.

“Oh, I couldn’t be sure exactly what would happen, but I left Tim with the suggestion to hide the original once he was alone, and to use mine in all interactions,” Mindy admitted. “He brought the correct one to me the next day. He didn’t know at the time. It was to keep him safe.”

“I feel so used,” Tim said, biting his lip.

“Mindy, honestly? With all those manipulations, you’re not sounding much better than Glen,” Frank said.

“Rude! I’m on your side. The temporal gun? For helping Carrie with her temporal self? My doing. You’re welcome.”

“It was hidden in a safe,” Julie reminded. “Was that done by manipulating Linquist?”

“Okay, a bit, yes!” Mindy said, becoming visibly exasperated. “But I couldn’t fix him, or do anything that might prevent Carrie from actually banishing me after my first trip into your time. So I made the best of a bad situation. It’s all worked out to this point, what’s your problem?”

“You were, like, silent too long.”

Everyone turned to regard Chartreuse, standing in the doorway. Julie glanced reflexively at the china cabinet; Chartreuse must have come up through the pantry access. She wondered how long the mystic had been listening.

“What do you mean, Chartreuse?” Laurie asked, standing and moving closer to her.

Chartreuse took a deep breath. “Carrie’s WHOLE deal was in how she’d ended up, you know, destroying timeline three. The one Glen and ‘Future Carrie’ wanted. Except she hadn’t.” Chartreuse advanced into the room, ignoring Laurie’s outstretched hand. “You beat her to it, Theresa.”

“Very flattering, but Linquist’s knowledge was not a direct–”

“Not merely due to Linquist. It was through your cafe interactions with us. Both the, like, covert, in convincing us to be part of Carrie’s life, or, you know, the more overt, creating that fire to split Carrie and Glen apart on their first date. We’re in YOUR timeline now. We have been since the beginning.”

Mindy shook her head. “Minor, minor, all minor, major events would still happ–”

“Minor stuff ADDS UP,” Chartreuse interrupted again. “Before this? I could still kinda make it work. Now? No way. There is NO way the Carrie in ‘timeline three’, the one who once left with Glen, has ever been my– been our Carrie. Except our Carrie never, like, knew that before she ran away! And if she’d known, maybe she could’ve stayed, could’ve figured something out!”

Mindy leaned forwards. “Even IF Carrie is now different, Glen still has the power to steer her back. Remember, he’s the villain here, not me. I came to you today of my own free will.”

“Free will?” Julie cut in. “Or did you come here because talking with Tim made you realize we’d soon have Glen identify you?” Mindy shot her a look. And Julie jumped as her phone rang again. She glanced at it, and upon seeing Clarke’s name, excused herself from the room.

“So, Glen’s talking about breaking us into a jail, how are you doing?”

“We’re with Mindy. She’s been rewriting time,” came the response.

Clarke nearly dropped his phone. “What? A-Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine. We’re all fine, but in her own way, this woman’s been as manipulative as Glen. It’s annoying.”

“So… um, what do we tell Glen…?"

“Nothing. Simply bring him here. I think these two Temporals need to talk it out.”

Clarke blinked, sure he’d misheard. “Bring him? Julie… Jewels, those two hate each other.”

“Right,” she agreed. “But Mindy needs someone to take her down a peg, and we can’t keep this from Glen for long. Besides, it might be the only way to figure out whether all their plots are because of their time war… or whether one of them truly has Carrie’s best interests at heart.”

Clarke glanced towards the others. From the way their voices had begun carrying, it sounded like an argument had arisen about whether Linquist could have learned the power of mental manipulation. “Okay. We’ll be there in less than half an hour.”

NEXT: Temporal Alignment

ASIDE: That’s Mindy’s history for you. I think the only missing piece at this point is how timelines work in the “Time & Tied” universe; that’s coming next. Are you enjoying? Care to vote or recommend?

WARNING! MASSIVE REVELATIONS INCOMING. YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO READ PRIOR PARTS THE SAME WAY AFTER THIS. ARE YOU CAUGHT UP?

PREVIOUSLY: Did Carrie go back in time to find her mother? Is Mindy somehow pulling strings in the present?

PART 81b: DO YOU MINDY?

Luci frowned, but apparently couldn’t think of an immediate defence for her position. After a troubled glance in Frank’s direction, she resumed her pacing.

“Let’s all back up,” Lee suggested. “Consider ways our rich witch’s note COULD have been written by our version of the track tease. For example, maybe it was dropped off after destroying the chip, but before she went after her mom? Thinking it was possible for us to make another chip or something.”

Julie shook her head. “Doubtful. Carrie’s started using new stationery in the last couple months. My note was on plain paper. Why the difference?”

“Also, Carrie was pretty adamant about not invoking more time travel,” Chartreuse added. “Problem is, I’m not sure I, like, buy Luci’s theory either. After all, the mystery note’s basically led to all of us, you know, being here and theorizing about time travel. Which is, like, exactly what ‘Future Carrie’ would want to avoid, yeah?”

“We weren’t always working together,” Clarke pointed out.

Julie winced. “Yeah, look, about that… Clarke, I…"

He flashed her a tired smile. “We’ll talk later.”

“Know what? We’re putting a lot of faith in handwriting here,” Corry decided. “And handwriting can be forged. Moreover, Julie, the note never referred to you by name, did it?”

“No,” she admitted. “You think it was a setup by someone else? But who outside of our group would know enough to be able to pull it off?”

“But that… actually fits,” Frank realized. “Mindy did have a couple hours in our time. She could have devised backup plans, gone to Carrie’s house, planted notes…"

“Mindy DID go to Carrie’s,” Clarke recalled, leaning forwards. “The day after the banishment, when I was with Carrie? She mentioned a letter by Mindy that had been left with her father.”

Luci leaned forwards against the back of the couch. “So Julie’s been working for MINDY all this time? Why? Surely if Mindy had enough knowledge to build a time machine, she’d have hired a reputable scientist rather than work to dupe a bunch of teen… she’d hire a…"

She snapped her gaze over to Tim at the same time as he turned to look at her. “L-Luci, the person in L-Linquist’s notes. Who might have been a relative, or associate…"

“No way. No WAY!”

“It would explain why that associate came up with the idea for the %gun of temporal freezing%.”

“Okay! Context for those of us out of the loop, please?” Lee requested, waving his hand.

As Luci seemed too stunned to speak, Tim turned to address them. “Linquist’s work on time travel. F-From once sensing the problem in Luci’s DNA to creating the t-temporal gun we found in the safe. What if all of his recent work was due to Mindy?”

“Linquist used to be a more reputable scientist,” Frank agreed. “Even won a local award once. When did that change?”

“When Mindy arrived,” Julie concluded, smacking the back of the chair. “After her banishment. She’s been working with him this whole time.”

“That can’t be,” Chartreuse gasped. Laurie reached out to again grasp her friend by the hand.

“But if that’s true,” Luci finally vocalized. “Mindy’s temporal banishment was, what, back fifteen years MAX?”

“That girl was Carrie’s first ever banishing attempt, right?” Corry remarked. “Maybe she didn’t do that great of a job.”

“Unless Mindy moved away and then came back into town,” Clarke countered.

“Well hey, why not look for evidence?” Lee suggested. “I’m working some hours in the library this afternoon. Now that you know what to look for, why not come with me and see if there’s something tying that Mindy to this Linquist? Maybe we can even figure out where they are now.”

“Wait, that plan, um, it doesn’t seem to help us get a time machine to pursue Carrie,” Laurie pointed out, waving one hand in the air as she continued to hold Chartreuse with the other. “Since even if present Mindy is tracked down, it still leaves us at the mercy of her, um, mental powers, right?”

“Lee’s immune, and I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve,” Julie said.

“No, Laurie right,” Frank sighed. “Without Mindy’s help, we have no time machine, and we need one. So Mindy can demand stuff, and we’ll have no choice. Worse, I don’t think she’ll have wanted a time machine so that we could all save Carrie.”

“Threaten Mindy with that gun maybe?” Corry suggested.

“Not if she h-helped to invent the thing,” Tim reminded. “Wouldn’t she know h-how to defend against it?”

Clarke sighed. “How about using Glen?”

Chartreuse jerked out of her thoughts. “Clarke, seriously? HIM?!”

“Maybe Mindy’s been warning us away from him because he’s the one guy who can take her down,” Clarke said, shrugging.

“Maybe we, you know, WANT her to take him down.”

“The devil we know, or the devil we don’t,” Julie muttered. “It’s like choosing Corry instead of Megan all over again. But in that respect, Clarke’s right - at least with Glen, we know what we’re getting.”

“Megan was merely misunderstood!” Chartreuse said.

“Maybe Glen is misunderstood too!” Clarke insisted.

Luci came around the couch to step between them. “Here’s the thing though. If Glen’s goal is to get Carrie back, and our goal is the same… I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe Clarke’s right. Maybe we should at least ask Glen if he wants to help retrieve Carrie?”

Everyone in the room exchanged uncomfortable looks.

Glen stared back at Clarke and Lee, an expression of disbelief on his face. “You’re serious, aren’t you.”

“Hey, I’m inclined to ask that question of their group quite a bit lately,” Lee put in, before Clarke had a chance to respond. “But instead I roll with it. Turns out anything that doesn’t make sense either eventually does, or doesn’t matter.”

“Ha!” the redhead scoffed, turning away from the two other boys. He leaned against the window frame of his hotel room, staring outside, trying to find the flaw in their reasoning. It wasn’t coming to him. “So you expect me to believe that Mindylenopia has been in town for years? That she somehow remembered enough to be behind Julie’s time machine? And that getting the machine away from Mindy is our only chance to help Carrie?”

“Right, though Mindy doesn’t have it yet,” Clarke noted. “We only know that she told Julie it could be rebuilt with her help. So we can’t simply take Mindy out pre-emptively. Unless you can make us a time machine as well…"

“I’m not a technical guy,” Glen grunted. “I only know the theory. Mindylenopia was a full-on tech, that’s why it was a big deal when she supposedly joined the idiot Mundanes in the resistance.” He shook his head. “She shouldn’t have been capable of introducing such technology into the past though. Not to mention the issues with causality… unless she figured it was less of a deal to tell all of you, since you knew already?”

He began to tap his fingers on the windowsill. Mindylenopia. Was it true? How much might she remember? Was this a game changer? Did he want to work with Carrie’s so-called friends?

Clarke cleared his throat, as if he was going to speak again. Out of the corner of his eye, Glen saw Lee signal him to stay silent. Yeah, of course they would have sent along the guy who couldn’t be influenced. They didn’t trust him - nor did they have any reason to. So was this a trap, or were things just that serious? Glen grimaced, continuing to tap his fingers for another minute or two, before turning around again.

“When did Carrie travel to?”

“We’re not sure,” Clarke answered.

“But you must suspect. Hence wanting the machine.”

When Clarke hesitated, Lee spoke up instead. “That information isn’t on the table here, dude. If you agree to help, and to never again pull any sort of stunt like you did with that chip, then maybe. BIG maybe.”

Glen narrowed his eyes. “And how do I know Julie didn’t create two chips? Or maybe once you have the time machine, your whole plan is to return to yesterday and take Carrie away for yourselves!"

Clarke’s jaw dropped, a sign that either those weren’t, in fact, possibilities, or that the guy was a better actor than Glen gave him credit for. The latter seemed unlikely, as the blonde only pulled himself together when Lee’s hand fell on his shoulder. Then again, maybe the others simply hadn’t told Clarke the true plan.

“High guy. We’re getting nowhere. We should go."

“I guess,” Clarke said. “Unless… Glen, is there’s anything that might convince you that Mindy’s the real enemy here?”

Glen rubbed his chin. “Proof might. Yes, proof of actual scheming by Mindylenopia over the last ten years.”

Clarke nodded. “Okay, well, Tim and Luci are looking back over their notes, and Frank is already at the library, which is where we’re headed. So by tomorrow, we should–"

“Nope, by 5pm today.”

“What? Glen, that’s less than six hours away! And there’s so much data we’ll have to sift through!”

“Well, I can hardly give you the time to come up with a grand song and dance number for me, can I?”

Lee shook his head. “Paranoid much, red barren? You could use your mental gifts to see if anyone is trying to trick you.”

Glen shrugged. “Maybe your plan would be to try and figure out how I use that power, in order to turn it against me. No, I think if you’re really serious, you’ll put the effort into making my deadline. Oh, and I choose our meeting site, which won’t be the LaMille mansion, so don’t even bother.”

“Okay,” Clarke sighed. “Okay, fine. We’ll have something for you. And then you’ll see, Glen. You’ll see that we’re on the same side here!”

Julie had a sip of her tea as she sat in the kitchen, peering at her laptop. She, like Corry, had opted to do some searching online, rather than get in the way at the library records room. Besides, with Chartreuse and Laurie down in Linquist’s lab doing… whatever Chartreuse had insisted on doing, it had made sense for her to stay at home with them anyway. Unfortunately, the internet wasn’t providing much aside from a couple of references to Linquist’s jargon filled papers.

Julie glanced towards the pantry, which held the access down towards the hidden room. It was already past 4pm. What was going on down there? Chartreuse had said something about mapping timelines, and Laurie was popping up every so often to ask Julie about a specific date, plus there had been that one time for sandwiches… should she disturb them?

Julie shrugged. One of the library group was due to phone her soon, giving them the location where Glen wanted to meet. If the mystic and her friend hadn’t materialized by then, then she’d go down and see what was happening for herself.

The doorbell rang as she finished her tea. Jeeves would have already left to pick up Corry by car, what with that turned ankle, so Julie closed her laptop and rose to answer the front door herself. Maybe Clarke had come back to share some information in person?

Except it wasn’t any of the library people - when Julie opened the door, she found Tim standing with a rather more unexpected visitor. “Theresa?” the brunette questioned Tim’s companion. “What’s going on? We don’t usually see you out of the cafe."

The waitress half smiled. She wasn’t even wearing her cafe outfit, instead she wore a red blouse and dark pants. “Yes, well, I was talking to Tim here and realized that the time had come to explain certain things.”

Julie frowned. “What things? What do you…" She stopped. Noticing Tim’s worried expression, she looked a bit more closely at Theresa. And at her red hair.

“You know what things,” Theresa said. “In fact, you came damn close to figuring me out once before. Don’t worry, I won’t mentally guide you away this time.”

It hit with such force that Julie felt like she’d been punched in the gut. She grabbed for the doorframe. “No. It can’t be. You mean you… you’re…"

“Yes, Julie.” The seemingly twenty-something cafe waitress stretched her arms out to the sides. “I was once known as Mindylenopia."

NEXT: Remaking History

ASIDE: Anyone seen my microphone? I seem to have dropped it. Feel free to speculate on the repercussions of this part in the comments. Oh, and vote for T&T, maybe even encourage friends to read?

PREVIOUSLY: Carrie vanished during the school talent show. Everyone has parts of the puzzle…

PART 81a: MUM’S THE WORD

“It’s fine,” Luci assured him. “But like I said, I’ll need to see what Carrie wrote for myself.” She gestured to her companion. “And I hope you don’t mind, but I brought Julie along. She, um, specializes in cryptic Carrie notes.”

Julie gave him a quiet wave.

“That’s fine,” Hank said, beckoning them both inside. “At this point, I’ll take all the help I can get. From what I can gather, Carrie was last seen at the talent show? Is that why she insisted to me that I not be there? How far in advance had she planned her trip? Why didn’t she tell me about it, and when is she coming back?”

The two teenagers exchanged a glance, Julie offering Luci a small shrug.

“We’re not sure about any of that stuff,” Luci hedged. “Aside from yeah, she was last seen at the talent show. Maybe we don’t know that much more than you. Can we see the note?”

Unable to get any sort of read on their expressions, he nodded. “It’s upstairs, in her room. I left everything the way it was. I’d appreciate if you’d do the same, in case we need to open any sort of police investigation into her disappearance.”

“Why, do you think Carrie was coerced into writing whatever it was?” Luci wondered, as they ascended the stairs.

“I don’t know what to think,” Hank admitted. He let them into her room, gesturing at Carrie’s desk, over by the window.

Both Luci and Julie walked over, peering down at the note. Almost immediately, Julie turned to speak for the first time. “How long has Carrie been using this stationery? With the little pocketwatch in the corner?”

As the brunette considered that, there came a knock at the front door. Hank turned and ran back down the stairs, but instead of seeing Carrie when he opened it, he saw Chartreuse instead. She had a redheaded girl with her, whom he belatedly identified as Laurie.

“H-Hi, sir,” the pink haired teenager said nervously. “Sorry if we’re, like, disturbing you…”

“Did Luci tell you about the note as well?”

Chartreuse tilted her head to the side. “Note?”

Dear Dad, (it read)

  Some things have been happening in my life recently that I… I can’t deal with. So I have to disappear. Please know that this isn’t because of anything you’ve done, or didn’t do - I like how things have been getting better between us. I really do. But I don’t think I can go on, not with the path that’s been laid out for me. That said, my leaving? It means she can return. All the best to both of you,

Carrie

PS- Luci, if things DO go horribly wrong, do NOT hesitate to use the item that you found in that safe!

Julie crossed her arms. “It’s Carrie’s handwriting,” she confirmed for Luci. “And the ‘disappear’ remark would seem to confirm what Chartreuse said.”

“While the postscript obviously refers to the gun. But what about ‘she can return’? Surely that doesn’t mean…" Luci’s voice trailed off as footsteps approached, and moments later, Mr. Waterson was showing Chartreuse and Laurie into Carrie’s bedroom as well.

Chartreuse looked better than she had the previous night. Of course, Julie reflected, it would have been difficult to look worse. After Carrie’s girlfriend (should she now think of Chartreuse that way?) had run off, the rest of them - minus Glen, obviously - had waited around in the hall, making awkward small talk.

Eventually, they had gone back into the auditorium. No one had seemed to know what to say, Julie least of all, given how little she’d spoken to any of them of late. Chartreuse and Laurie hadn’t returned. They’d all left separately, and Julie probably wouldn’t have made any efforts to talk with them today if Luci hadn’t called her.

Julie watched silently as Chartreuse and Laurie read over the note, emitting twin gasps as they got close to the bottom. With Chartreuse though, there seemed to be a dawning realization, if not yet a complete understanding.

“Mr. Waterson?” Luci was speaking again, and pointing to Carrie’s dresser. “That empty picture frame. Do you know what picture used to be in there?”

He turned to look. “Yes, of course. It was Carrie’s mother. My wife, Elaine.”

Chartreuse’s eyes got even bigger than they had the previous night. “Oh my GOD,” she gasped. “She was trying to–"

“Mr. Waterson,” Julie said, cutting off Chartreuse. “We’re developing a working theory here. If you can give us a little time to network with the rest of our friends, we might be able to provide you with some answers by –" She looked from Luci, to Laurie, to Chartreuse, and then back to him. Based on their expressions, this wasn’t going to be straightforward. “The end of the weekend.”

Carrie’s father shook his head. “I can’t wait that long. If my daughter is out there, in trouble…"

“We’ll talk to you sooner if we can, but here’s the thing.” Julie rubbed her forehead. “Did it occur to you that Carrie’s letter might have been referring to the return of your wife?”

“It sort of did,” Mr. Waterson admitted. “But that’s ridiculous, since Elaine disappeared back when Carrie was only three years old.”

Julie nodded slowly. “Thing is? Rather a lot of ridiculous stuff happens at our school. And it’s going to take us some time to figure out where that possibility ranks on our events scale of ‘pop quiz’ to ‘van totalling the library’.”

Lee was the last person to arrive at the LaMille mansion. Julie couldn’t think of a time when they had all been together - herself, Frank, Luci, Clarke, Corry, Laurie, Tim, Chartreuse, and now Lee. Of course, there was one notable missing person.

She fingered the small jade figurine in her hands before placing it carefully back onto the table. At least this time, they knew Carrie couldn’t arrive and object to their gathering.

Julie cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “Okay. We all have various pieces of the puzzle, but I don’t think any one person knows everything, so we’re going to have to tackle this in pieces until we’re all up to speed. Make sense?”

Corry looked like he might want to say something, fidgeting with the cane he was using owing to his twisted ankle, but he kept silent.

“Okay,” Julie concluded. She sat down in the last available chair and pointed to Luci, perched on the arm of the couch. “Carrie’s letter to her Dad. Go for it.”

Luci outlined what had been in the message that had been left at Carrie’s house, adding that the photo of Carrie’s mother had been missing from her bedroom.

“Meanwhile,” Chartreuse piped up, “I, you know, saw Carrie with a photo as Glen was putting her into that trunk. And Tim saw her with a photo the night she, like, destroyed the chip.”

“You mean Carrie was using her mom’s photo as a focus,” Laurie reasoned. “To strengthen her resolve.”

Frank drew his gaze up from the floor. “There’s another link. That time, in the hospital, with Shady? When Carrie first went a bit crazy? She told me that the presence of her mother had been a strain on the timeline. That, after giving birth, her mom had to disappear, that she and Carrie couldn’t co-exist.”

“Whacky,” Lee mused. “But no more so than the rest of it, I guess. So when did her mom end up instead?”

Frank shrugged. “Carrie couldn’t see it. All we know for sure is that Elaine Waterson disappeared 14 years ago, on a flight from Miami to Bermuda, in the so-called Bermuda triangle.”

“So last night, Carrie went back to get her,” Clarke concluded.

“It would TOTALLY explain why she was so scared,” Chartreuse agreed. “On top of the, you know, issue of seeing her missing mom again, she would also have had to deal with airports or airplanes. She hates those.”

“She managed it not TOO terribly on one of our first time trips,” Frank admitted. “But yeah, point granted.”

“And since neither Carrie, nor her mom, are currently back in the present,” Luci remarked. “The trip can’t have gone well.” Frank nodded, and resumed looking at his shoes.

“Can I say something as the designated jerk in the room?” Corry remarked, waving his cane in the air.

Julie half smiled. “Please do, I rather like that you’re offering to take that title before I end up claiming it.”

“What’s the damn point in knowing when Carrie went? We don’t have a time machine to chase after her.”

“D-Don’t we?” Tim spoke up. As his gaze went to Julie, many of the others looked to her as well.

Julie let out a long breath. “Yeah, not presently. But Tim’s right, in that maybe we could.” She grimaced. “With Mindylenopia’s help.”

“Mindy?” Laurie gasped. “But she’s the one who crashed that van at school! She made Corry and Frank miss two days back in October and she… didn’t Carrie, um…"

“Mindy was banished through time,” Clarke finished. He looked curiously at Julie. “Right?”

“Here’s where it gets fuzzy again,” Luci said. She hopped down from her sofa perch and began to pace. “Frank found an article in the local paper five years ago, a poem simply signed ‘Mindy’, which told us not to trust Glen. Good advice, all things considered.”

Frank picked up the tale. “Then last weekend, Julie got a call from someone claiming to be Mindy. They said that they could help with rebuilding the time machine. But it was a ‘don’t call me, I’ll call you’ thing, and she hasn’t called back - has she?” Julie shook her head.

“Soooo, this is a Mindy with a time machine then?” Lee asked.

“Unlikely,” Luci said. “Our current theory is that she’s the same banished person, who has been in town for the last fifty years or less. Possibly waiting for the chance to get her hands on a time machine again.”

“But then how did Mindy find out about Julie’s work?” Tim protested.

Julie threw up her hands. “However Glen found out, maybe? I swear, I should have taken out a billboard for all the good my secrecy did. But Carrie’s letter TOLD me that I was to–"

“What did THAT letter say?” Corry interrupted. “Do you have it?”

Julie sighed. “No, sorry. I ripped it up. Then burned it. It said I should do that. But give me a second, I’ll see if I can remember…" She closed her eyes trying to see the words again. Recalling the last time she’d looked at them, on that day, before taking off her rose brooch… damn, at this point, she really should get that back out of her drawer.

“Okay, it said, ummm, ‘Please help. It has to be you. You need to watch me now, and when I dispose of the time machine, save the key pieces. Then rebuild it. In secret. Please. Now destroy this note. Yours, Carrie.’”

“Kinda vague then,” Lee remarked.

“And that, like, makes no sense!” Chartreuse asserted. It was chiefly the tone of her voice that drew Julie’s attention - along with that of most of the others. Chartreuse winced under the scrutiny, and began fiddling with a crystal in her hands.

“Chartreuse, why does it make that much of a lack of sense?” Laurie asked, resting her hand on Chartreuse’s leg.

Chartreuse sighed. “It’s… oh boy. See, in timeline three? The one where the old time machine was, you know, still around? Um, Frank died.”

Frank’s posture straightened as he gave up on the plan of mostly staring at his shoes. Luci froze in her pacing. Many of the others present either inhaled or exhaled sharply.

“When?” Tim gasped.

“That time when Carrie was in hospital,” Frank realized. “Oh, geez, it had to be. Since that’s when she destroyed it.”

Julie rose to her feet again. “But my note WAS written by Carrie! Why would she want me to restore a timeline where one of you DIED?”

“Ohh. Oh no. I have a really bad thought,” Luci said. She waited until all eyes were on her before continuing. “What if Julie’s note was written by Glen’s ‘Future Carrie’? The one who wanted our Carrie to run off with him, and who would be extremely annoyed otherwise? Maybe she was trying to restore her timeline.”

NEXT: Do You Mindy?

ASIDE: Last chance to speculate before some massive revelations. Also, consider TWF voting if you didn’t on Friday?

PREVIOUSLY: Glen gave mental suggestions to others, hoping to destroy Julie’s temporal chip. Carrie told Chartreuse she was leaving, and then vanished during the school talent show.

PART 80b: NOT FORGOTTEN

The pink haired girl let out a sigh. “Carrie’s not coming back.”

Laurie flinched. “What?”

Chartreuse turned to look at all of them, though Frank felt she was addressing him and Julie more specifically. “She’s not coming back, and I, like, desperately need some time to process that myself, except I’m pretty sure Glen’s not gonna, you know, give me that time. He might even come after any of you too. So, um, like, heads up on that.”

Frank noticed Julie turn to Clarke and mutter something, gesturing back at the auditorium. The tall blonde nodded and headed back inside. Frank wondered idly whether the two of them were on speaking terms again, or if Julie had simply chosen the closest person.

“Hold on, Chartreuse,” Luci was saying. “You can’t drop a bombshell on us like that without SOME explanation. Where is she? WHEN is she?”

“I don’t know that stuff,” Chartreuse said, looking pained. “I can, like, give you this much though. According to Carrie, we’re currently in timeline five. She’s had to do some, you know, temporal housekeeping, what with Glen and Mindy coming back. I think her leaving fixes things for good.”

“Five?” Frank said, stunned. “Are they running in parallel, or in a destined to go back kind of way?”

“So was timeline four - sorry, one more question if I could,” Julie amended, seeing Chartreuse’s expression. The mystic girl gave a resigned shrug. “Was timeline four one in which Lee actually held onto my chip? Instead of it being destroyed?”

“I think so.”

“So timeline five only now came into existence,” Luci concluded. “Even though it’s been running since last weekend.”

Frank frowned. “But that doesn’t make sense. Carrie went back in time during the show because she knew that she already had. That’s a destiny thing, not an overwrite. How could there even be a timeline where Lee had the chip?”

Luci crossed her arms. “Maybe we’re too deep inside to see it? Thing is, an overwrite would explain why Carrie was taking headache meds this week. When it’s destiny, she doesn’t need them. Er, does she?”

“Frank,” Laurie put in. “If, as you say, Carrie was going to go back because she already had, then why did you even try to prevent it?”

“I…" Frank grimaced as he realized how his actions didn’t match his explanation. “Well, I was hoping that this wasn’t really when she left. Or, in a best case scenario, that talking to her might even change her mind, which might retroactively alter our memories and bring the chip back? Assuming history can even be changed in that way…"

“It might be instead that you, like, originally protested some intention to take the chip from Lee in timeline four,” Chartreuse offered. “And with this timeline being similar, there was no way to, you know, stop yourself from protesting during the show again.”

“All of which brings us dangerously close to a time loop,” Luci mused. “One where we convince Carrie not to go back, restoring timeline four, and then she learns Lee has the chip and goes back, restoring timeline five, the one wherein we convinced her not to go back, restoring…"

“Guys, stop, you’re going to give ME a headache,” Julie groaned.

Frank let out a breath. “If we’re having trouble, I can only imagine how bad it was getting from Carrie’s point of view.”

Clarke pushed open the auditorium doors and rejoined the group. “Glen’s done. When Carrie didn’t reappear in the trunk, or backstage, he claimed she was getting back at him for missing a date. Said she’d likely left and gone home. It actually sounded pretty plausible, so maybe he was using some of his mind control there? He definitely used that power to improvise a new grand finale.”

“A finale?” Laurie wondered.

Clarke smiled wryly. “Yeah, Glen got Mr. Fisk up on stage and used his ‘magic’ to make our dance-hating science teacher cluck like a chicken.”

It didn’t make sense. Or if it did, Glen couldn’t figure it out. Why wouldn’t Carrie have come back? Returning at some later date would simply embarrass the both of them. Had she really been more nervous around crowds than he’d thought?

Glen decided that he should have insisted to Carrie that she simply time jump to earlier in the day. Not back to Lee, the night the chip had been destroyed; it had overcomplicated things. Carrie had insisted on figuring out how to target a person with a time jump though. She’d been working hard on it all week.

Had her vanishing act been due to something her classmates had said? If so, it was liable to have been that Chartreuse girl. She had gone from giving Carrie a good power basis to being a bad influence, and Glen decided it was high time to corner Chartreuse, to learn exactly what was going on between her and Carrie.

Finding her turned out to be easy - she was waiting outside the drama room as he emerged, after putting away his trunk. Cornering her didn’t seem to be an option though - she was accompanied by the others. Frank, Luci, Julie, Clarke, even Laurie Veniti. At least that explained a few things.

“Okay, so, this was all about getting back at me for the minor mental suggestions I gave you last weekend,” he realized. “Grudge much? I mean come on, you’re all free and clear now. If the trigger event, namely waylaying a package destined for Julie’s, doesn’t register within a day or so? The impetus goes away.”

Frank shook his head. “This isn’t about that. It’s more to make it clear to you that if you mess with one of us? You mess with all of us. So, don’t do it in the coming days. Okay?”

Glen looked a little more closely at them. Chartreuse in particular looked stricken, as if someone had kicked a puppy in front of her. He started to get a bad feeling. “Okay Mundanes. When did Carrie travel to?”

“We don’t know,” Frank asserted.

“When is she coming back?” Glen pressed.

The body language of the others seemed to defer to Chartreuse, even though it was again Frank who answered, “She might not be coming back.”

Bloody hell. “Do you have ANY idea how problematic that is? No, don’t even answer that, how could you possibly!”

“Carrie made a decision,” Julie said. “Like she did with her letter to me. You can’t force her to travel the path you want, you can’t–"

“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand,” Glen interrupted. “More to the point, when Carrie sent me back here in time for the training, she told me that it was because she had grown up with me. That I’d helped her through a difficult time in her life. Past Carrie can’t simply reject that! At best, it makes her future self a liar. At worst, it makes Future Carrie EXTREMELY pissed off right now.”

The band of idiots exchanged glances. “Well technically not RIGHT now,” Luci remarked. “What with Future Carrie being in the future.”

“Funny! When the temporal waveforms reach her, she might decide to MAKE your present into her ‘right now’,” Glen snarked. “She could even wipe this whole conversation out of existence. So, in all seriousness, what the hell was my Carrie planning on doing?”

Again, the tendency was for the group to cast sidelong glances at Chartreuse. So he directed his full attention onto her. “You will tell me the truth now,” he insisted, making it a compulsion. “What did Carrie say to you today, before she left?!”

“That she loved me too.”

Chartreuse slapped both hands to her mouth after the admission. With her wide eyes blazing in what seemed to be equal parts pain and anger, she spun on her heel and charged off down the hallway. Laurie fled after her, while the rest of the group gave Glen a mixture of irritated and shocked looks.

Glen raised his hands, palms out. “Look, in my defence, I really did NOT expect that answer.”

Laurie simply held Chartreuse as she cried. Her friend had fled to the washroom the furthest away from the school auditorium, only to find it locked. Chartreuse had then collapsed to the floor in front of the door, which was where Laurie had embraced her. Laurie now hoped the hallway would remain deserted, despite Chartreuse’s sobs. She rubbed the back of the more heavyset girl, pulling Chartreuse deeper into the crook of her neck. Her nicest purple shirt would be a mess, but she didn’t care.

It took about five minutes, but finally the sobs eased up, and a minute or so after that, Chartreuse said something. Except it was muffled. “I’m sorry, what?”

Chartreuse’s grip tightened slightly, even as she turned her head to the side. “I said they, like, know now. They all know.”

“What, that you like girls? Or that Carrie apparently also likes girls? Chartreuse, I don’t think any of our friends will care, not really. And we won’t tell on you.”

“Not that. They, like, know now that Carrie ran off after saying she loved me. That I, you know, scared her off. That I was driven to temptation, and so Carrie freaked, and so that’s why she’s never coming back.”

Laurie frowned. “What do you mean that’s why she isn’t coming back? What did Carrie say?”

“It… it’s not about what she said. Not exactly.”

“You mean you got one of your random impressions off of her?”

Chartreuse squirmed, loosening her hold. “No. But when we met after school, during our second kiss, I…"

“SECOND kiss?”

“I got overzealous. I mean, okay, I’d had it on my mind for weeks, and it’s been, you know, so long since Tope, and she was going to LEAVE, Laurie, she would leave, and it was, like, my last chance. And maybe it was the kiss, or how I grabbed her, because at first Carrie was into it. She, you know, pulled me back into the corner of the room once our lips came apart, and so I kept at it, and she reciprocated, and ohh, Laurie, that’s when I felt it inside me.”

Chartreuse looked up into Laurie’s eyes. “I truly felt our connection, Laurie, despite neither of us using our powers.” She smiled at the memory. “There was more kissing, and soon Carrie had me, you know, pinned up against the wall, and we were all over each other, and in the middle of it, I blurt out ‘I love you!’ and she, like, said it back. She said it BACK, Laurie, like automatically! For a moment, I was in Heaven. Except I think that screwed her up, because that’s when she, you know, froze, pulled her shirt back down, said she was sorry but she couldn’t, and ran out of the room.” Chartreuse swallowed. “Away from any timeline where we could be together.”

“Oh, Chartreuse,” Laurie sighed. She reached up to wipe off the eye makeup that was staining her friend’s cheeks. “You said Carrie was leaving anyway though, right? So it wasn’t you. No one will think it’s you.”

“It had to, like, be a little bit me, don’t you think?”

“All it sounds like to me, is that she was into you, and didn’t want it to be a one night stand. Geez Chartreuse, don’t tell me Carrie’s ego rubbed off on you along with the rest of her body.”

Her friend snorted, and uncurled more until the two of them were sitting side by side against the washroom door. “Okay. Okay, maybe it’s silly to blame myself. But, like, to have that be our last conversation…?" She sighed. “Oh, Laurie, I really can pick ‘em, huh? Why isn’t there a way to, you know, UNpick ‘em?”

“If you find it, let me know. Remember, you’re talking to the girl who pined after Clarke for HOW long? Even now, I can’t figure out if I’m over him or not.”

“Oooh. Point.” She shrugged. “So maybe it’s better for me this way. Not, like, constantly seeing Carrie, day after day.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think you should give up. If I were Carrie, I’d make a timeline six,” Laurie offered. “One where I swoop back in and carry you off to a majestic palace or a medieval castle or something!”

Chartreuse shook her head. “I can’t handle time travel, Laurie. It, you know, messes with my head.”

“Same as love. So what?”

“So… so yeah, I guess we still charge into that.” She smiled. “Thanks, Laurie. Thanks for helping keep hope alive.”

“You’re welcome.”

Chartreuse wiped at her eyes. “Can I ask you to come with me tomorrow morning to see Carrie’s father?”

Laurie blinked. “Sure, but… Carrie didn’t ask you to break the news to him, did she?!”

“No, no, but she did say he was the source of some insight. Maybe knowing what that is will help me too.”

Laurie reached out to grab Chartreuse tightly by the hand. “In that case, I would be happy to.”

They ended up arriving at the Waterson home shortly after Luci and Julie. It wasn’t long before all of them had seen the note.

NEXT: Mum’s The Word

ASIDE: As always, a vote for T&T would be appreciated. Feel free to swoon at the romance or speculate on the future in the comments.

PREVIOUSLY: Chartreuse knows something is up with Carrie, but not what. Carrie will have destroyed a time travel chip, and may be destined to leave town.

PART 80a: VANISHING ACT

Carrie looked up. “I hope not. Because I don’t seem to have the right answers today.”

It was just the two of them. As Chartreuse approached, Carrie stood and walked around the desk to meet her. “Chartreuse…" Her fists clenched and she looked down at her feet. “Damn it. What I SHOULD tell you here is that I don’t care about you, and that I never have, so that you can get over your feelings. Because where I’m going, I can’t take you with me.”

“Carrie?”

“Except I can’t say that, I can’t, because I’m scared Chartreuse, I’m SO scared about how things might play out, and you’re the only one who knows about everything that I’ve seen and done and…"

She looked back up then, and she was so close to tears that Chartreuse didn’t even think about it. She reached out to grab Carrie in the biggest, tightest hug that she could manage. Carrie sobbed then, and after a moment, her hands slipped around Chartreuse’s sides to hug back.

Chartreuse closed her eyes, preferring to let her other senses capture the moment. The feel of how Carrie’s body was pressed up against her. The scent of whatever fragrance her friend was wearing. The sound of the quiet sobs of the girl she’d fallen for.

Alas, she knew the moment was bittersweet. To the point where, when Carrie finally released her, and started to draw back, Chartreuse nearly didn’t let her.

Chartreuse reopened her eyes and smiled. “That’s my Carrie. At the centre of the, you know, universe.” Carrie let out a noise that seemed to be half laugh, half choke, reaching up wipe at her own cheeks. “So where are you going, and why not take me with you? Glen, like, won’t allow it?”

“Oh, I’m not going with HIM,” Carrie assured. “In fact, I fully intend to embarrass him tonight at the talent show. My raging headache isn’t the only reason I set that event as my point of departure.” She took a step back to pull a tissue from the box on the teacher’s desk, blowing her nose.

“You’re going ALONE? Carrie, no…"

“I’m going through time, Chartreuse. We’ve seen how that messes with your head. But even if that wasn’t an issue, this is something that only I can do.”

“WHY? When are you, you know, going? Aside from the obvious chip destroying side trip, that is.”

Carrie tossed her tissue into the wastebasket. “I’m sorry, I can’t. If I tell, then Glen, or someone else at some future time, they’ll try to drag it out of you. I won’t allow that. Not knowing, it keeps you safe. Besides, I’m not even sure if my plan will work. Hence the scared part.”

“But if you leave, what happens to, like, the rest of us? Your friends, your father… me…"

Carrie sighed. “In at least two alternate timelines, everyone led perfectly good lives without me around. I’m sure they can do so again. My father’s kind of a special case, but that gave me the insight into what I’m going to do, so he should be okay as well. You…" Her face crumpled again.

“Oh, God, Chartreuse, you’re the only one I still can’t figure out. I wish I could at least give you an answer here. I think I’d hoped that somehow, the two of us, in this room… and yet…"

“My feelings kinda defy all common sense, huh?”

Carrie licked her lips. “I don’t know. I’m truly sorry. I… I’ll leave it up to you as to whether you tell the others? About everything? Causality loops aside, maybe it will help them understand why I have to destroy the time machine on my way out.”

Chartreuse nodded, then closed her eyes, taking a second to call up the sensations of having Carrie in her arms moments ago. “Okay,” she decided. She turned and headed back to her books. “If you’re going for sure, like, at least take this with you.” She reached into her pencil case, pulled out a relaxation crystal and returned to press it into Carrie’s hand.

“Chartreuse?”

“Take this piece of me with you, Carrie. That way, you’ll know there are people out here who, like, care about you. People who you can turn to for help if you get stuck again. I know it’s not much, in fact it’s, you know, actually kind of a cheap parting gift, but I hate the thought that in time you might forget. Forget all about–"

Carrie’s lips pressing in against her own cut off the rest of that sentence, indeed made Chartreuse forget about whatever she’d been about to say about forgetfulness in the first place. To her chagrin, in the time it took for the kiss to fully register as being a thing, and for her body to start properly reacting, Carrie was already drawing back. Chartreuse felt like a part of her brain wanted to scream. She tried to distract it by looking into Carrie’s wide eyes. Those gorgeous, deep blue eyes.

Carrie swallowed. “Okay. So that’s a thing I actually did.”

“I-Is it a thing you might, you know, do again? I wasn’t ready.”

Carrie’s eyes darted around the room. Her fingers obtained a stranglehold on some locks of her hair. “I… oh, Chartreuse, I would. I’m still not entirely sure what this is I’m feeling, but know that I really would. Except I can’t! Not now! It’ll only make it harder for me… or rather, for the both of us, when I… I have to…"

“A proper goodbye kiss, Carrie? Please?"

Chartreuse wasn’t entirely ready the second time either, but she made sure it lasted much longer than the first.

“Corry’s band was pretty good, huh?” Laurie said brightly as the applause died down. “Even if he had to perform sitting down on account of the ankle.”

“Yeah. Claude seemed to, you know, play all the right notes,” Chartreuse murmured. She wondered whether Megan had actually spoken to the bass guitarist, or any of the others she’d attempted to influence. Well, they were only twenty minutes into a two hour event, maybe chaos would erupt later. Not that it would change anything.

“Well, sure Claude did. He had been practicing their songs since way before Glen got kicked out on Monday,” Laurie noted. “Megan wouldn’t have insisted that Corry choose him for no reason.” She tilted her head. “Chartreuse, are you okay? You shouldn’t keep worrying about what happened with you and Megan last night, yeah? Because I spoke to her, and I think she understands how you’ve been under some personal stress.”

“It’s not about Megan,” Chartreuse sighed. “Sorry, Laurie. It’s more that, the closer we get to, like, Carrie being up there, the more… conflicted I feel.”

The others, sitting around her, they would know of Carrie’s plans right away. Or at least, Julie would, as Carrie would be dressed the same as she had been that night she’d destroyed the time travel chip. Lee and Tim might suspect too, if they saw her backstage. Glen, of course, would already know - but he believed that Carrie would go back, destroy the chip, then return. Except she wouldn’t. She wasn’t coming back. Was she?

The points of the crystal Chartreuse was holding dug into her palms.

Laurie touched her shoulder. “Golly, what is it? Did Carrie finally give you an answer today, Chartreuse?”

The whimper escaped from Chartreuse’s lips before she could prevent it. “Oh, Laurie. Let’s, like, talk about it later, okay?”

Up on stage, the freshmen juggling routine finished with only a couple of objects on the ground, and they took a bow. Then Kim announced Glen’s magic act.

Chartreuse’s breath caught. Her eyes darted to the side, eyeing Frank on her right, and Luci beside him. The two of them also exchanged a glance before they all returned their attention to the stage.

Glen came out, wheeling a large trunk. He was followed by Carrie. Ignoring the light patter as Glen began to speak, Chartreuse watched as Frank’s attention shifted to Julie, who was sitting behind them. Almost imperceptibly, she nodded back. On stage, Glen produced a bouquet of flowers, which he tossed out into the crowd.

Frank shifted, like he was about to stand up. Chartreuse reached out to seize him by the leg, and he turned to her in surprise.

“Don’t,” she whispered, even as part of her said to release him, to let him try, to see whether he could succeed here, where she had failed.

“Chartreuse,” he murmured back. “Julie thinks this might be when Carrie–”

“I know. Don’t. Causality, you know.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Actually, we only have the effect. The cause could be any time Carrie looks like that. If we keep it from being right now, that gives us all more time to determine–"

“No, it’s gonna be, like, now.”

“Why? Did you have a vision?”

Chartreuse closed her eyes. “Something like that.”

“So, for this trick… I will make Carrie disappear!” Glen said, flipping open the trunk.

“Chartreuse. I still have to try.”

She counted to three in her head, then released Frank’s leg. Hearing him get to his feet, she reopened her eyes.

“Carrie! Don’t… don’t do this! Not now!” Frank called out.

Students, parents and teachers alike all turned to regard Frank; the group of them had chosen seats closer to the back. He tried his best to ignore the attention, focusing instead on the stage. Carrie also paused there, one booted leg in the trunk. She fired off a quick, resigned smile. “Frank? What, you jealous that Glen gets to work his magic on me instead of you?”

There were a couple of laughs within the crowd. “Y-You… you know what I mean,” he called back. “Me… Julie… Lee… all of us, we only have your best interests at heart!” Carrie simply looked his way for a couple more seconds, then shook her head, resuming her climb into the trunk.

“Carrie!” Julie said, joining Frank on his feet. Luci rose as well, silently.

“You’ll have to excuse them, they saw what happened when I tried to do this to a watermelon last week,” Glen quipped, spinning his wand in his hand. Another wave of laughter rippled through the crowd, drowning out the growing murmurs.

That’s when Chartreuse noticed it. The photograph that Carrie had pulled out of her jeans. She was looking at it, as Glen closed the lid of the trunk on her. That fact seemed important, because Tim had mentioned a photograph too, hadn’t he? Almost a week ago now, in what would be for Carrie, another few seconds. Had that been the same image? What was the significance?

As Glen began to spin the trunk on stage, Frank looked back at Julie, seemingly unsure as to whether they should simply take their seats or not. So Chartreuse rose with them, motioning to Frank and plucking at Laurie’s sleeve. “Come with me,” she sighed.

“Chartreuse?” Julie questioned.

Chartreuse didn’t answer, she simply edged herself into the aisle and headed for the auditorium doors. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that the others were following. And beyond them, up on stage, Glen was now opening up that trunk. That empty trunk.

Carrie Waterson was gone.

NEXT: Not Forgotten. (PREV: A commentary last Sunday)

PREVIOUSLY: Tim retrieved a computer chip from the train station for Julie. Clarke tried to take it from him, then Luci threw Tim’s package into the ravine.

PART 77b: TIMELINE FIVE?

“You tell me!” Tim said, allowing a wave of anger to rise up to the surface.

The young girl shook her head, stupefied. “I was overcome by this strong impression that you were carrying something really dangerous.”

“Dangerous how, Luci?”

“I… I don’t know. I simply couldn’t control the impulse to…” She blinked. “I… I’m so sorry, Tim, I don’t know why…”

“I do.” Tim shook his head, turning away from her. “Never m-mind. It doesn’t m-matter right now. Go back home.”

Luci reached out to touch him on the shoulder. “Tim…”

Part of him wanted to stay with her at that. He forced himself to keep moving. “Just go home. I’ll call you later to explain.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw Luci’s hand fall back to her side, where it clenched into a fist. He fancied that he heard her mutter “Glen?” through clenched teeth. Either way, she didn’t follow him, which was good… it seemed more important than ever now that he get this chip to Julie.

The one he had removed from the package and placed in his pocket not long after leaving the train station. Good thing he’d tested Luci with the package on his own terms, rather than on hers. ‘Trust yourself,’ he repeated mentally. ‘The one person you can still trust is yourself…’

There was definitely someone following him. No matter how much he tried, Tim couldn’t shake that feeling. So as soon as he rounded the corner and got a good view of the LaMille mansion, the young boy let out a sigh of relief, sure that the crazy trip he’d been sent on this evening was almost over.

The breath caught in his throat. Glen was standing out front, leaning against a street lamp. For a second, Tim hesitated, wondering if there was somewhere else he could go… but in that moment, Glen’s eyes fell upon him, and he knew it would be futile.

The redhead stopped and stood his ground. “I must say,” Glen remarked as Tim came within earshot, “I never thought anyone would get this far. Maybe it wouldn’t have been a waste of time to give you a post-hypnotic package suggestion too. Did you honestly make it back here, with the chip, by YOURSELF?”

Tim decided not to answer. He stopped a couple of paces away, looking up and down the street again. “Where’s Julie?”

Glen shrugged. “I stopped tailing her fifteen minutes ago. I think she was headed to the post office. It felt like a setup. I was pretty sure she’d put someone else into the real danger. Wondered if it would be you, but alas, I’d put my money on Frank.” He stepped forwards. “Doesn’t matter now, of course. Hand over the package.”

Tim stepped back. “W-What package?”

“Oh, let’s not do this,” Glen sighed. “It’s been a VERY taxing weekend on my brain already. Do I really have to put the so-called whammy on you as well?”

“No, I think maybe you don’t,” came a new voice.

An angry look flashed across Glen’s face, as Julie stepped out from behind some cover across the street. “Damn it! LaMille, you are really starting to TICK ME OFF.”

“Good!” the brunette retorted as she approached them. “Because the way you’ve been interfering with my efforts over the last month has been ticking me off too!”

“Why can’t you just see reason?” Glen sighed, throwing his arms out to the side. “What you’re doing here is WRONG!”

“Hey, this wasn’t completely my idea,” Julie fired back. “If you know what I’m up to, you probably know that too. Meaning the reason behind this is that you’re going to screw something up, leading to Carrie thinking the only way forward is with us having a time…”

“Oh please!” Glen broke in. “Carrie knows what’s at stake here, there is NO way she would authorize…”

“A-HEM,” Tim cut in, now holding the chip aloft in his hands. Both Glen and Julie turned to regard him, falling silent. “Thanks.”

“Now, I didn’t want to be in this situation,” he continued. “But since I am, here’s how I see it. Glen, whatever your feud is with Julie? You’re now dragging other people into it. A-Against their will. That… that’s all kinds of wrong.” Tim shifted his attention to Julie. “While you? You’ve done the opposite. Closing everyone off. It’s making you crazy, Julie, and if you get this chip, I don’t think any of that is going to change.” He lowered his hand. “This… this situation… it can’t go on. Not like this.”

“So destroy the chip.”

“NO! Tim, you can’t believe…”

“Oh, STOP!” he shouted. “I’m not going to destroy it. But I’m not going to hand it over either. Not until the two of you work this out!”

The two teenagers turned to look at each other. “I don’t think so,” Glen said dryly, at the same time as Julie countered, “Not gonna happen.”

“Then n-neither of you gets it,” Tim said, shoving it back inside his jacket.

“But if it’s not in the mansion, what’s going to prevent Glen from using his power to obtain it through you, or anybody else?” Julie objected.

“ME? Seems YOU’VE been a lot more cunning up until this point,” Glen countered.

Tim sighed. “I’ll simply have to find s-someone else to give it to! Someone who won’t be influenced by either of you.”

“Someone like me,” Lee stated, tossing back his hood. Tim jumped, not having paid much attention to the fourth person walking up.

“Lee!” Julie said in surprise. “I thought you told me…”

“That I didn’t want to be involved this much, yeah.” Lee shook his head. “But when I turned you down for this mission, it seemed likely that you would recruit elsewhere.”

Lee turned to Tim. “I’ve been shadowing you since you left the station. Sorry, Tiny T. It wasn’t my intention to have you, or anyone else, getting into trouble in my place.” He smiled. “Also, congrats. I’ve been listening, and you’ve made some excellent points.”

“I knew it,” Glen said, clenching his jaw. “I KNEW you were involved with this time traveling group, Lee! After all, how could they possibly have passed up an asset like you?!”

Lee jerked his thumb at Glen, while looking at Julie. “And this is why I wanted to stay out of it. However, it makes sense that I keep the chip.” He turned to Tim. “I’m immune to whatever mental gifts ‘red barren’ has, and I’m not about to hand it over to our resident rich witch without a damn good reason either.”

Tim nodded slowly. “That… makes sense.”

“Unacceptable,” Julie and Glen chorused together.

“Cool, you’re both in agreement,” Lee observed with a wry smile.

“No, look,” Glen insisted. “As long as that chip exists, the chance that the time machine will be reconstructed is…”

“Remote,” Lee interrupted. “Because you need a lot more than a chip to make it work.”

“Exactly!” Julie cut in. “And if I’m not allowed to fit it properly…”

“Your work stalls,” Lee finished. “And we get as close as we can to this being a win-win situation.”

“But I was told to do this for a reason,” Julie continued doggedly. “What if an emergency situation comes up? We might not have the time we need to assemble things then!”

Lee shrugged. “If it does, we’ll simply have to deal, and trust that our redhead here knows what he’s doing with the track tease.”

A sullen silence fell over the group. “W-Well, I think it’s as close to normal as we’re going to get,” Tim piped up at last. He reached again into his pocket, pulled out the chip he found there, and handed it over to Lee. The taller boy grasped it, holding it up.

“Truce?” Lee said.

Julie’s hands closed into fists. Glen clenched his jaw.

“Fine,” the brunette said after a moment.

“Whatever,” the redhead offered up in turn.

“Good,” Lee concluded. He moved to pocket the chip, only to have a hand grab his arm.

“Mmmm, not so good.”

“C-C-C-Carrie,” Tim stammered out in shock.

There was nowhere Carrie could have come from. Somehow, she had simply been standing right next to Lee. And before Lee could react, she had plucked the chip from his hand, dropped it to the sidewalk, and crunched it underneath the heel of her boot.

For a moment, no one spoke. Tim wondered if it was because the others were realizing the same thing as he was. Namely, that Carrie’s eyes were flickering from blue to gold and back. Was this a future Carrie who had managed to balance her powers? Because she didn’t look any older than the Carrie of their time.

Glen broke the silence by clapping his hands together. “Oh, good one!” he said appreciatively. “This means you’ll be accepting–”

“Shut UP!” Carrie fired back. “I didn’t do this for you. You KEPT things from me. I am NOT pleased.”

“This… this doesn’t make sense,” Julie protested, barely audibly. “Carrie, you were the one who told me… that I… I was the only one who could…”

Carrie ignored her, having spent the last few moments pulling an object from her pocket. A photograph of some sort. As Julie’s stammers trailed off, Carrie eyed the photo, closed her eyes again, and her long blonde hair began to trail out behind her despite the lack of a strong wind. Then, with a whispered “Goodbye”, there was a flash of light. Tim blinked out of reflex, and when his eyes reopened, Carrie was gone.

However, the chip remained. Ground into the pavement.

Tim looked up towards Lee. “I-I-Is this good or bad?” he wondered, swallowing.

Julie lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She couldn’t sleep. She needed answers.

On the one hand, it seemed like the chip had been destroyed by a Carrie from the future, and not the one in their present… but was that Carrie even further in the future than the one who had written the note? If so, why not just stop herself from sending the damn note in the first place?

Yet, if Carrie had written the note AFTER traveling back and stopping Julie, shouldn’t she have warned Julie that this was something that would happen? It didn’t make sense! None of it made sense! Had all of her work, all of her time away from the others - had it been for nothing??

There was a part of her that wanted to scream, but Julie knew that losing control of her emotions would only make her susceptible to mind control again. As it had that time she’d broken down over her parents. More pragmatically, it wouldn’t accomplish much either. So she simply lay there, fists clenched, wracking her brain, certain she’d missed something, and wondering what it was… until her phone rang.

Julie lifted an eyebrow as she looked over at the clock - almost midnight - before stretching out to answer the mystery call.

“What?” she said sharply.

“Julie LaMille?” The voice on the other end of the phone line was distorted, making it difficult to identify, but it seemed to be female.

“Yeah?” Julie shot back. “Who’s calling?”

“Someone who might be able to help you. With what you’re trying to rebuild.”

Julie snorted. “Right. You’re a few hours too late on that.”

“Don’t be so hasty,” the unknown woman soothed.

The brunette frowned. “Seriously? Look lady, I’ve had a hell of a day, and at this point, the only way you can help me out is if you know something I don’t already know about altered timelines, or crazy future technology! Is that the case? IS it? Because I doubt it. I mean, who the hell do you think you are?!” She paused for an answer, fuming internally.

“My name is Mindylenopia. I believe you know me as Mindy.”

The phone dropped out of Julie’s hand, bouncing once on the bedspread.

NEXT: Cheer Up

ASIDE: This ends ARC 4.1 (Separated); the timelines may start to get messier now. Consider the usual vote for T&T, to help attract others for analysis?

PREVIOUSLY: Julie is secretly rebuilding the time machine. She hoped Tim would pick up a microchip, to keep it away from Glen.

PART 77a: DOUBLE BLIND

Tim looked up to see Theresa, the redheaded waitress for the cafe, next to his booth. “You c-could say that,” he said glumly.

He saw Theresa glance quickly around the area; there weren’t very many customers at the moment, which apparently convinced her to slide quickly into the seat across from him. “Seems like I’ve got a second. Want to talk about it with someone impartial? Some of your friends, Clarke in particular, have found that such conversations help.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Tim’s lips. “Better I don’t. It’s not possible to s-stay impartial on THIS subject. I know from experience.”

Theresa chuckled. “Sounds like you’re trying to assimilate something big all at once. Maybe you can break it down into more manageable portions?”

Tim fiddled absently with the straw in his milkshake for a moment, before glancing at his watch. It had been less than an hour since he’d left Julie’s; just over three hours remained before he would be making the pickup for her. As agreed.

‘Clarke wants me to help Julie,’ he thought to himself once again. ‘He’s always saying how pleased he is that I’m still able to look out for Julie on his behalf. I only hope I’m not playing into her delusions. Or setting myself up for some retaliatory action by Glen.’

The thought brought to mind an additional problem. Clarke would be expecting a call from him soon… as would Chartreuse. He couldn’t tell them the truth, not yet, not tonight. Julie had suggested deflecting, claiming to be tired, and leaving any discussions for tomorrow. But saying that was a half truth at best, and the more he thought about it, the more picking up this package all by himself made Tim uneasy.

What if Julie really had come unhinged, and had concocted this crazy plot in order to get rid of him, thereby preventing him from getting her the help she needed? Or what if she was telling the truth, except Glen knew exactly what was going on, came after him, and then completely altered his memory of events?

“H-Have you ever suddenly found yourself not knowing who to trust?” Tim finally asked of the redhead.

Theresa cocked her head to the side. “Actually…. yeah. Big time.”

Tim focused his gaze on her. “When? What did you do?”

Ten minutes later, Tim headed out of the cafe, a plan forming in his mind.

He was at the train station with only two minutes to spare before the train pulled in. Their small station wasn’t a major hub, it was a stop by request only. Fortunately, Julie’s description of the man with the package had been accurate, and Tim had him pegged almost immediately after he poked his head out of the train.

The guy gave him a skeptical look as he approached. “M-M-Mr. Piquaud?” Tim asked. He cleared his throat to try and remove the stutter. What was it Luci had told him on occasion which helped with that? Confidence. It made his talking more like singing. “I’m here for the item.”

“Okay, good. I was told a blonde named Tim might be the one to hand off to. Got some ID to prove that’s you?”

Tim fished quickly in his wallet for his health card. Piquaud glanced at it, nodded, then pulled a small square box from his jacket pocket. He handed it to Tim, then turned around to presumably resume his seat on the train. Tim swallowed. “That’s… it?”

“I’m not being paid to stick around,” Piquaud retorted. “You’ve got the electronics, bring ‘em to LaMille. Oh, tell her next time she makes a request of the company, none of this cloak and dagger routine, okay? Extra pay or not, it’s just stupid. Why would anyone even WANT to intercept a normal FedEx shipment of a single microchip?”

Tim puzzled over how he could answer that, but it seemed like he wouldn’t have to - the man had already boarded. Either way, it didn’t really matter… so far everything was happening just as Julie had said it would. It remained to see whether her concerns were legitimate.

As the train pulled out, Tim slipped the box into his jacket pocket and headed back for the front of the station. Which was where he spotted a familiar person waiting for him.

“Clarke!” Tim called out, hurrying to meet up with his friend.

The taller boy smiled back at Tim. “Hey there… you know, your phone call was kind of cryptic. Are you going to tell me yet what it is Julie has you doing?”

Tim paused as he got within arms reach of Clarke, glancing around for anyone who might be observing them. “N-Not yet,” he said after a moment. “Just thought it might be best to have you around as we head back to the mansion.”

Clarke nodded. “Alright. Though I can’t think Julie will be pleased to see me.”

“She might be once I tell her you helped me,” Tim assured. He glanced around the area once more, which prompted Clarke to do the same.

“Expecting someone else?” Clarke wondered. “Or just having a paranoia attack?”

“M-Maybe a bit of both,” Tim admitted. “Sorry. Let’s just go.”

“Sure,” Clarke said with a shrug. “Though if you’re real creeped out, I could carry the package for you.”

Tim froze in his tracks. “Package?”

Clarke nodded. “Yeah, the… hey, Tim, you okay?” He reached out for the other boy’s shoulder, but Tim sidestepped him.

“I never mentioned any package on the phone.” The parcel wasn’t that large either, so Clarke shouldn’t have noticed it in his pocket.

Tim’s friend frowned. “Stands to reason you have one though, right? I mean, why else would you be here?”

“Might have been to talk with someone. Or to send something off on the train. Or to look something up. Why do you think I have a package?”

“You… you just have to have one… or else… why would I know about it?”

The two blondes stared at each other quietly for a moment. Then the side of Clarke’s mouth twitched, and he extended his hand. “Give me the chip, Tim. Destroying it is the only way we can help Julie."

“That’s what Glen wants you to think,” Tim said, regarding Clarke’s outstretched palm with more than a bit of apprehension.

“Is it? Why would he lie about that?"

“Because he doesn’t really care about what Julie wants. Only stopping what she’s doing,” Tim shot back. He exhaled in relief as he saw the other person running towards them. “Now please, Clarke… if you really trust me, don’t do this. Let me get to Julie’s safely.” He tried to move around the taller boy, but Clarke blocked him.

“I… I can’t let you go,” Clarke said, a pained look crossing his face as he curled and uncurled his fingers. “Not until…” It was like he was undergoing some sort of massive inner conflict. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand why…"

“I do,” Tim whispered. He turned. “Stall Clarke,” he requested of the new arrival.

“Huh?” Chartreuse said, trying to catch her breath. “Look, sorry I’m, like, a bit late, but…”

“Keep Clarke here,” Tim reiterated, moving so that the pink haired girl was between Clarke and himself before heading away as quickly as he could. “Please, Chartreuse - I’ll explain later!”

“Eh? Uhm, ‘k,” Chartreuse said, blinking. As Clarke attempted to pursue, she threw himself onto his arm, preventing him from leaving. “So, wait, hey, do you know anything about, like, the big Julie-Glen feud??”

“I…” Clarke shook his head. As stood there in confusion, Tim hurried out of sight.

Trust yourself. That’s what Theresa had said. Put trust in your family and your friends, yes, but above all, you needed to have trust in yourself in order to accomplish something.

As Tim continued on towards the LaMille mansion, he reflected again upon those words, and how his faith in Clarke had been counterbalanced by giving the same information to Chartreuse. Allowing him to keep his promise of a call to both of them… albeit, leaving him with only himself to trust once more. He would have preferred bringing one of them along, as backup.

Oh well. He looked again at the small package before replacing it inside his pocket. It would take a while for him to walk the rest of the way to the LaMille mansion, but Julie had been wary of trusting a taxi, or even having Jeeves drive him. And, conspiracy crazy or not, it was starting to look as if at least some of her concerns had been valid. Tim took a deep breath. For a moment, he thought he saw someone following him, but when he turned around there was no one there.

For the next several blocks, Tim half expected to be accosted at any moment, but the few people he saw strolling around seemed more intent on enjoying the evening than taking notice of him. At least, that was the case until he reached the closest bridge leading over the ravine that cut through town.

“Tim!” Luci said in surprise. “What are you doing here at this hour?”

Tim smiled, feeling relieved at the familiar company. “I c-could ask the same of you,” he pointed out.

Luci glanced to the left and right, then took a couple steps closer to him. “Honestly?” she muttered. “I got this weirdo call from Chartreuse less than ten minutes ago, saying something about you walking to Julie’s from the train station.” She shrugged. “I was nearby, thought I’d see if she was being serious. Guess so - is this related to what we all talked about the other day?”

“Y-Yeah… kinda…” Tim admitted. He was starting to feel conflicted. There was really no reason to doubt Luci’s story, but if Glen WAS trying to come after him, the two best people to use would be Clarke… and Luci. The ones he talked with on a near daily basis. Could Glen have done something to not merely Clarke, but both of them?

‘Julie’s paranoia is rubbing off,’ he chided himself. ‘Careful, or you’ll turn into a recluse like her.’

“Okay,” Luci was saying, dropping into step next to him. “I’ll bite. Did Julie lock Glen up in a trunk and ship him out on the train?”

Tim shook his head. “Actually, it’s about this chip,” he said, pulling the parcel from his pocket again. “We have to make sure it–”

He never got any further.

As soon as Luci’s eyes alighted on the parcel, her hand flashed out, tore it from Tim’s grip, and she threw it off the bridge.

NEXT: Timeline Five?

ASIDE: Got a 2016 toonie in my change this past weekend. Just a bit too late!

PREVIOUSLY: Julie cut herself off from everyone except Tim, as she’s secretly rebuilding the time machine. Luci and Tim have been translating Linquist’s old logbook.

PART 76a: BAD SIGNS

“You’ve suspected as much for quite some time now,” came Glen’s easy reply. “The question is, what are you going to do about it?”

Julie clenched her fists. “I’m not going to let you win."

Glen shook his head before smiling back. “Look, Julie… this isn’t about winning or losing. It’s about what has to be. A time machine in this era makes the timelines too unstable. You’re on borrowed time as it is. Trust me, Julie, if you persist, you will be stopped.”

“It’s been over a month,” the brunette countered. “We’re nearly into December, and you haven’t managed to stop me yet. There are forces in the future working in my favour. Why not simply concede defeat? Then we can both get back to leading a normal life.”

Glen shoved his hands into his pockets, shaking his head. “You know I won’t do that. So unless you have anything sensible to say, I guess we had nothing to discuss here after all.”

The two of them continued to stare at each other for a moment, before Julie finally clenched her jaw, spun on her heel, and left Willowdale park.

“W-What’s on your mind, Luci?” Tim wondered.

The young girl jumped, as if realizing she’d been staring off into space. “Oh, uh… nothing, nothing. You were saying something about the dictionary we’re making?”

Tim set his pencil aside. “That was f-five minutes ago. I’d moved back into the passages themselves. Luci, are you… okay?”

Tim leaned his elbow against the desk. “What’s the r-rest of it about? Frank again?”

She grimaced. “Okay, I’m either becoming very transparent, or very single minded.”

Tim smiled. “You two were g-going out for over half a year. It’s only natural that he’s still on your mind when this time travel comes up.”

Luci shook her head, her small ponytails whipping back and forth. “It isn’t memories this time, it’s…” She sighed. “Honestly? I had issues. Emotional ones. And I’ve been chatting with the school counsellor, so I think I’m getting sorted out. Which is fine for me, but what about him? I made him fall in love with me, dated him as long as it suited me, then dropped him like yesterday’s news! How terrible of a person does that make me?! It’s even worse than how Carrie used to be, at least she didn’t spend months playing with the emotions of the guys she one-off dated!”

Tim stared. “You… you don’t really believe all of what you’re saying do you?”

“Kinda, sorta, almost,” Luci mumbled.

“I’m p-pretty sure you can’t MAKE someone fall in love with you. And that you didn’t have an end in mind while g-going out. Besides, couples g-get together and split apart all the time - and it’s not l-like you took private pictures of Frank and threw them on the internet, or spread rumours about him n-not measuring up or something.”

She looked horrified. “Tim, I would NEVER–”

“There, see? N-Not so terrible of a person. Human, like all of us.”

Luci slumped. “Maybe. But it’s still awkward somehow, when I see him. So I was thinking - should I tell Frank we’re a couple again? I mean, just because I’m not feeling it NOW doesn’t mean I WON’T, not if we… do couplish things again. Maybe.”

“D-Do you really believe that would be best?”

“I… no. No, I guess not.” She rested her head in her hands. “Tim, don’t ever fall in love, it’s a MESS.”

He chuckled. “Seems unlikely. The only girls I spend any amount of time with are Julie, who still likes Clarke, and you.” Luci turned, and lifted an eyebrow. “O-Oh, I don’t mean to imply anything! Like, you’re very loveable, even if I don’t love you! Or don’t love you yet, which, damn it, I’m making things even more awkward…"

She smiled and reached out to pat him on the leg. “Right, let’s drop it then, okay Tim? I do thank you for being a better sounding board than my cat. Now how about we return to whatever you were saying about the passages?”

Tim let out a breath. “R-Right.” Thank goodness. He pointed to the pages of information spread out on the desk. “Look at this part, which refers to Linquist’s initial plan to create that %gun of temporal freezing%."

“Meaning gun of temporal freezing,” Luci translated, off of his attempted pronunciation of the actual phrase. “What of it?”

“He seems to credit the idea to someone else."

Luci’s eyebrows shot up. “Let me see that,” she requested, pulling their notes a bit closer.

Tim pushed back to let her scan through, though he had no doubt that he was correct. Ever since the two of them had stopped focusing on the single portion of the book that referenced the inner workings of the gun - the selfsame weapon that had been used to return Carrie to normal after the so-called “Mindy affair” - they had been able to make better progress.

That was to say, progress with Linquist’s language, despite how it seemed to be murder on the tenses. Construction of the gun itself was still something of a mystery. They still knew little beyond how to charge the weapon up.

Luci turned back to him, even as Tim heard the doorbell of his house ring. “You’re right," she agreed. “I think he’s referring to that same person we saw him mention elsewhere." She frowned, picking up another set of notes. “But it’s still not clear as to whether this other person was an associate of his, a relative, or someone he saw as a specimen.”

Luci flopped back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. “Damn! If only we could get our hands on more than the one single book…”

Tim reached out to touch Luci’s shoulder reassuringly, thought better of it, then went ahead and did it anyway. “It’s alright,” he murmured. “It’s not like we’re under a deadline.”

“Um,” came the distracted reply. “Maybe not, but when things start to happen around here? They tend to happen real fast. And unfortunately, we have no sure fire way of predicting that future.”

“Tim!” Mrs. Whitby called out from downstairs. “Friend to see you by the name of Chartreuse!”

Tim exchanged a glance of surprise with Luci. She frowned. “I said no sure fire way,” she clarified to no one in particular.

“…so, like, from that impression I got off of Julie regarding Glen, it’s obvious that their situation is going to explode,” Chartreuse said. “We’ll have to, you know, work together to make sure it won’t cause–”

“Chartreuse,” Luci interrupted. “Why are you telling us this?”

The pink haired girl eyed her. “Technically, I’m telling Tim this,” she pointed out. “But, you know, it’s great that you’re here too! It’s almost like fate in a way… the original group, the 2 DEGS, back together, one year later! A reunion tour!” She beamed.

Luci sighed. “Setting that aside, I meant why are you telling us this, and not Carrie? She still talks to you, so if the sensations you got from Julie related to a conflict with Glen, isn’t she the more logical choice?”

Chartreuse hesitated. “Well, there’s also the fact that I, like, tailed Julie after school. Which led to me, you know, eavesdropping on a conversation she had with Glen in the park. Which, while I didn’t catch everything, did have something to do with, of all things, the time machine.”

Luci sat up straighter.

“W-Wait,” Tim protested. “I thought that the machine had been destroyed. By Carrie. Over a month ago.”

“Yeah. Which is why I’m, you know, talking to you first,” Chartreuse stated. “All I can think is that Julie’s using her cash to fund some sort of top secret research project to build a new one, which Glen is now countering using an army of mind controlled people. I can’t bother Carrie with that, not without being sure! The poor girl has enough on her mind, what with juggling three different timelines.”

Luci blinked. “I’m going to pretend that made sense, and move on to asking why you think me and Tim would be able to offer anything beyond more wild speculations.”

Chartreuse pointed. “Tim spends time with Julie.”

Tim jumped. “O-Only because I’m close to Clarke!”

“But you’re also Glen close,” Chartreuse insisted. “Because of, you know, being in Corry’s band. Julie and Glen, they must have been asking about each other last week! This situation feels too big, I can’t believe it came out of nowhere.”

Tim shook his head. “They said n-nothing! Or at least, n-neither of them have said anything around me."

Chartreuse reached out to seize his hand. “Nono, seriously Tim, think harder about this! It could be, you know, critical!”

“Chartreuse,” Luci broke in, “even assuming we buy into this, if Tim says they’re not talking about each other, I’m sure he’s right. They’re both pretty cagey. Besides, are you sure you heard time machine and not, I don’t know, juice machine?”

The teen mystic cocked her head to the side, releasing Tim. “Luci, why would Julie meet with Glen in secret to, like, talk about a juice machine?"

Luci shrugged. “The… the school talent show is coming up in a week’s time. Maybe they’re putting together an act, only it’s not going so hot.” Okay, that sounded lame, even to her.

“Oh, w-we’re playing at that show,” Tim offered up, apparently seizing the change of subject. “Corry’s band I mean.”

Chartreuse rolled her eyes. “Look, I’m 90 percent sure it was time machine,” she countered. “But even if it wasn’t, strong impressions like the one I got from Julie have always, like, come true in some fashion! A fashion of the not good type! You totally have to grant me that much.”

Luci sighed. “Fine, point granted. Tim, ignoring what they’ve been actually saying, have you maybe SEEN anything weird?”

“No! Why would I even be looking for anything??”

“You’ll need to start now,” Chartreuse decided. “Maybe even fish for extra information from Julie if, you know, you can.”

“About what?? Glen? Some mystery time machine? Why would she tell me anything at all?” the blonde boy protested.

“Because!” Chartreuse began, only to allow her posture to slump slightly. “I dunno. You just seem like the best lead we’ve got. You’re SURE you haven’t, like, seen or heard ANYTHING?”

Tim shook his head, then sighed at Chartreuse’s crestfallen expression. “H-How about this though,” he suggested. “It’s almost the weekend. I’ll be meeting again with Julie. I’ll tell her you’re worried, while keeping an eye out for anything weird.”

Chartreuse grimaced. “Tip our hand? I don’t think Julie would be thrilled to know I was spying on her, you know?”

“I w-won’t mention that part,” Tim assured. “I’ll only mention your impression, and see if I can figure out w-why she’s at odds with Glen.”

“But what if she clams up?” Chartreuse objected. She began to pace. “Still, you’re right, aside from trying to sic Corry on her, I’m not sure where else to go with this. Alright, try the talking thing. Call me as soon as you get home that day to, you know, update me.”

“What about Carrie?” Luci wondered. “Do we bring her into this?”

Chartreuse began to look pained. “The way Glen sticks by her side these days? No. As much for Julie’s own safety, I think we shouldn’t approach Carrie until the point where we have some concrete proof regarding… whatever this is.”

NEXT: New Recruit

PREVIOUSLY: Glen taught Carrie how to temporally banish Mindylenopia. Frank and Luci broke up. Chartreuse fell in love with Carrie.

PART 75a: HI ANXIETY

Chartreuse smiled engagingly. For about five seconds. Then she knocked her fist against her forehead several times and cleared her throat. Finally, taking a quick breath, she looked back into the mirror.

“Carrie, you look so ravishing today, and you know, for the record, I’d LOVE to ravish… okay, HELL no.”

This time, the pink haired mystic paced back and forth across her bedroom floor several times, pausing twice to adjust the straps of her dress, only then resuming her position in front of the vanity.

“Carrie, here’s the thing. I feel we have a certain, you know, bond. It’s not about powers, it goes beyond that! It’s like, sometimes when I see you - particularly when you’re cheerleading - I have this, like, overwhelming desire to run over, grab you around the waist, and bury my face in your–"

“Please, I beg of you, don’t finish that sentence.”

Her younger sister pointed. “Open door.”

“I thought you were, you know, out studying all this morning!”

“Faye switched it to the afternoon.”

“Well… SHOULDER, you perv! Bury my face in her, like, SHOULDER.”

“Uh huh. I would totally take you to task for that, if it weren’t for one thing.”

Chartreuse planted her hands on her hips. “What thing?”

Azure leaned back against the doorframe, shoving her hands into her jeans. “You’re obviously enough of a basket case about it already.”

“Thanks.” Chartreuse marched over to grab her bedroom door, with the intention of slamming it. Her sister reached out and slapped her palm against it before she could.

“Hold on. For serious, what’s the deal with you and Carrie?”

“There IS no deal with, you know, us!”

“I’ve noticed. What, did she find out you were a lesbian and kick your ass to the curb?”

“I’m not a lesbian!” She shoved at the door, but Azure shoved back.

“Oh, sis, really? You still talk like your last valley girl girlfriend, you CANNOT be that much in denial.”

“I’m, like, bisexual! Okay?” Giving up after a second attempt on the door, Chartreuse went over to her bed, throwing herself sideways onto it and deliberately looking at the opposite wall.

“Wow.” Azure cleared her throat. “Right, well, for the record? Mom thinks you’re a lesbian.”

“Bully for her.”

“I’m just saying. A day or so after that time I pulled you back from the brink? She sat me down and gave me the whole lecture about respecting people’s life choices. On top of the one about using our power responsibly, I might add. So if you’re going to start switch-hitting? You might want to give her the heads up.”

“It doesn’t matter, everyone’s, you know, misconceptions are safe. Carrie’s female too.”

“Okay, back to that. What, you think you’ve got a chance with that cheerleader girl?”

Chartreuse grabbed her pillow with the intention of throwing it towards Azure, but she ended up clutching it against her chest instead, not sure how to respond.

“Does Carrie know about your sexual preferences?” Azure pressed.

Chartreuse swallowed. “She’s, like, the only one who does. Aside from Laurie. And now you.”

“So you have a chance. Why’d she end your mystic sessions?”

“To be with her boyfriend.”

“So you don’t have a chance. I’m starting to see the problem.”

Chartreuse gripped the pillow tighter. “Thing is, I’m not sure Carrie can be, like, HAPPY with Glen. Especially recently, now that we know for a fact how he likes her for who she’s going to become, whereas I’M the one who, you know, likes her for who she is NOW.”

“Okay, well, you didn’t always feel that way.”

Chartreuse rolled over to eye her blue haired sister again. Azure was now leaning against the bedroom wall, hands behind her head, staring back at her. “Meaning what?” Chartreuse demanded.

“Meaning I’m not a totally insensitive jerk. I wouldn’t have teased you so much about Carrie if I’d thought you had the hots for real. You spent all summer together without wanting to jump her bones. What changed?” She paled. “Oh no, was it the teasing itself?”

“Ha ha, don’t give yourself so much credit.” Chartreuse thought back to that time at the dance, when she’d acted as Carrie’s anchor to the present. When she’d felt their hearts beating in tandem. When their powers had practically interfaced, and not only then, but the other time, days later at school.

“It was a little over a month ago that I, like, became consciously aware of something that I’d known for a while,” she concluded. “Namely that the two of us… resonate. Spiritually. Despite her, you know, fears, and her occasional bouts of bitchiness doing their best to mask it. Once I was past that, deep down… I saw we, like, resonate.”

Azure stared. “Resonate? What does THAT mean, is this some mystic family thing that I’m gonna understand when I’m older?”

“It’s, like, hard to explain, okay?” Chartreuse sighed. “It’s why I feel like I’m bisexual. I’ve tended to, you know, feel romance spiritually like that before it gets tied to gender.” She smacked herself in the face with her pillow. “A feeling which is NOW the reason I can’t quit Carrie!”

“No, you can’t quit Carrie because she hasn’t outright rejected you yet. Which, now that I understand where this came from, is because she hasn’t been given that opportunity, right? Is that what you’ve been ramping up to today, with your posturing in front of the mirror?”

“Maybe?” Chartreuse kicked herself back up into a sitting position. “I mean, part of me hopes that once she’s said ‘no’, I can, you know, get on with my life. Except, what if she says, like, ‘never come near me again’? I don’t think I could TAKE that, and we’re still sorta friends now, so maybe I should, you know, keep trying to be happy with that.”

“Mmm hmmm. What if she says ‘yes’?”

Chartreuse felt thrown off her stride. “What?”

“You’re building up this huge confession/rejection scenario in your head, and time delaying it as much as you can. Well, what if Carrie says ‘yes’ to a relationship? What if our whole school starts talking about you two as this huge lesbian couple, because they don’t understand the whole bisexual thing?”

Chartreuse bit down on her lip. “Oh, geez. I like to think I wouldn’t, like, care that much. But Carrie sure would. Which means there’s, you know, no WAY I can talk to her.”

“Oh no, you HAVE to talk to her. Otherwise you’ll go nuts. More than usual. But you also have to see the repercussions from Carrie’s point of view. Otherwise you’re not gonna be able to interpret her answer, and you’ll be back here moaning in another two weeks.”

Chartreuse shifted her gaze from Azure back to her vanity. “Huh. Meaning… when I say it… don’t, like, make it a formal declaration? Because that makes it awkward. And about me. When it’s, you know, more about me caring for her in a special way. From afar, if necessary.” She smiled. “Heck, Carrie should like me framing it as being about her, she’s got an ego.” Chartreuse drew in a deep breath. “Thanks, Azure.”

“No problem. You better now?”

Chartreuse nodded. “I think so.”

“Awesome.” Her sister pushed off from the wall. “In gratitude, you’re now covering my laundry duty for the rest of the month.”

“Wait, what??”

“Bye sis, love you,” Azure said, waving airily as she vanished into the hallway. Chartreuse finally threw the pillow at her.

Luci spotted Frank shortly after entering the library. He waved her over, then returned to scrutinizing the book he had on the table.

“Okay, I’m here, what is it you’ve found?” Luci asked, leaning in to look over his shoulder.

“It’s…" Upon turning his head and seeing how close she was, he seemed to freeze up.

Luci took a sideways step away from his chair. “Sorry. Too close?”

“No, it’s… well, maybe. I’m still processing the fact that we’re not… you know.”

“Dating?” Luci finished. She shifted her weight back and forth. “You can send me an email or something with whatever you found out, if that’s easier.”

“No, no, that’s silly… we’re still friends, and I invited you here because this is something you really do need to see in person. I’m just… still processing.”

Luci sighed. “Honestly? I kind of am too,” she admitted. She pulled out the chair next to Frank and sat down. “Not so much the physical proximity stuff, but when I’m writing in my diary, like about a movie I want to see, I’ll first think ‘I should talk to Frank about this!’. As if that wouldn’t be super awkward. So I’m glad you thought of a better reason to call me.”

He smiled wryly. “Alas, it’s just back to time travel. A little personal project I undertook, to keep busy until Carrie becomes more forthcoming.” He glanced at the book of local newspaper clippings, then met her gaze again. “In fact, context first. You know how Carrie banished Mindy to some other time?”

Luci nodded. “Tough thing to forget. Carrie almost got you too, and Julie, and me.”

“Right. And Clarke later told me that Carrie had said she didn’t know when Mindy ended up. But ignoring the ‘when’, doesn’t it stand to reason that, geographically, Mindy would still have ended up here in town?”

Luci leaned on her elbow. “I guess. Temporal Carrie sure didn’t seem to be in the mood to be doing spatial calculations. Though that means it’s equally possible Mindy found herself floating out in Earth orbit around the sun.”

“Okay, that’s a chilling thought… I prefer mine. Which led me to the idea that, what if Mindy left a footprint back in that past? Here in town? One that we might be able to locate today?”

Luci frowned. “Like what? ‘Don’t let Carrie get shot’ carved into a tree trunk 400 years ago?”

“I didn’t need to go that far back.” He pulled over the newspaper book. “What’s your opinion on this?” He tapped at the section ‘Reader Poetry’.

Luci scanned over the entry he was indicating.

‘Back through time, to this Narrow Glen,

I’ve thought within it, now and then.

Of what I did, of memories lost,

Of charging forward, no matter the cost.

Thus, when what was old, becomes new again?

Do heed these words: Don’t trust that Glen.’

It was simply signed, “Mindy”. Luci jerked her gaze up to the top of the page.

“Published five years ago,” Frank acknowledged. “On the exact date in October when Mindy first appeared, smashing into our school. That’s how I found it. I thought I’d check those anniversary newspapers first.”

Luci sat back. “Damn. I mean, we have no guarantee that this was our Mindy, but that’s a freaky coincidence. And more to the point… only five years? It means that, even if we were to assume this ‘Mindy’ was eighty years old at that point…"

He nodded. “Mindy could still exist in our present.”

NEXT: More Questioning.

ASIDE: I wrote a guest post yesterday over at “The Archive of Unusual Events”, check it out here: 13th Floor Concerns. And while there, consider exploring more of Stable’s serial - unusual things surround us! Hope your Christmases were merry.

PREVIOUSLY: Luci and Frank have each talked to Mary, Clarke’s sister. Carrie is trying to convince Mary of time travel.

PART 72a: KILLER CONVERSATION

When she reopened her eyes, it took a few moments for the image before her to resolve itself into the concerned and slightly confused expression of Mary. “What… what just happened?” Clarke’s sister inquired softly.

“What did you see?” Carrie said testily.

Mary hesitated. “It looked like my quarter… vanished. Only to reappear a second or two later. But it could have been a trick of the light…”

“It wasn’t the light,” Carrie said, clenching her jaw. “I moved it forward in time.” Whereas if she’d moved it back, causing coexistence instead? Boom, and no more quarter. Not only more difficult, but far too dangerous.

Mary’s pause was longer this time. “And that’s the proof,” she concluded.

“That’s it,” Carrie affirmed, finding the strength to sit up and wipe her brow. “It’s the best I can do right now, without losing complete control. I’m still in training. Hence, using a quarter, not a person.”

She held Mary’s gaze until the older girl was forced to look away, back towards the coin. “I’m not sure I’m convinced,” Mary admitted. “However… I’m no longer as skeptical either.”

“Will you at least accept that time travel may be possible for the remainder of our dialogue?” Carrie pressed.

Mary re-pocketed the quarter. “I’ll accept that there is something beyond the norm that you and your friends are experiencing. We’ll call it time travel.”

“Don’t call them my frie–” Carrie cut herself off with a wave of her hand. “Never mind. On to my more ‘personal difficulties’, as you put it earlier. Okay?”

Mary nodded. “All right…”

Carrie took in a breath. Suddenly faced with the prospect of admitting it, she was no longer sure she wanted to say it any more. But if she couldn’t tell Clarke’s sister, who else was there? “I killed Frank,” she blurted. “And I had to wipe out an entire timeline to erase that misdeed.”

“I don’t expect you to believe it,” Carrie interrupted. “Hell, I sometimes wonder if the mind that merged with mine was outright lying - the power I would have had to tap into to accomplish what I did would be immense. But the memories were too vivid. The pain too raw. So the fact remains that, by delaying my destruction of the time machine, I killed my frie– killed someone.” She slumped back into the couch, feeling exhausted. “I can’t even tell Glen that. He thinks we’re living a whole other timeline.”

“All right,” Mary said slowly. “Then you’re telling me that you are capable of altering past events?”

Carrie couldn’t help it, she laughed. She had to check herself to avoid coming across as hysterical. “That and more. Me and my powers, we’re balanced on a knife’s edge, and if I fall off… well, I don’t know, but I suspect it would be very, very unpleasant for anyone around me.”

“That’s why you’re retreating from everybody?”

Carrie tensed. “I’m not… well, okay, I am. But I have to. It’s the only way they’ll all be safe.”

Mary pursed her lips. “Seems you and Julie could have something in common then.”

“I don’t want to hear anything about Julie.”

“No?”

“NO!” Carrie said, standing up. She had to throw her arm out for balance, as the sudden motion made her dizzy after her earlier efforts. “Look, I didn’t tell you what I did merely so that you could psychoanalyze me into inviting people back into my life!!”

“Then why did you tell me?” Mary continued patiently, rising as well.

To her surprise, Carrie found she actually had to think about that one for a moment. “Because I had to tell someone,” she said at last. “It’s been gnawing at me inside. I thought… I thought maybe talking about it with someone would help.”

“And has it?”

“I don’t know,” Carrie admitted. “Does knowing about what I did change your opinion of me?”

“I suppose it explains why you’re pushing people away. But the killing you speak of, it doesn’t sound like you did it intentionally…"

“Of COURSE not!”

“So why would it change anyone’s opinion of you?”

“Because it changed my opinion of myself.”

Mary hesitated once more, so Carrie decided to save her the trouble of answering. “Look, it’s fine, I’ve said my bit, thanks for listening. It’s time you moved on to Julie. She’s someone you might actually be able to help.”

Without waiting for another response, Carrie turned and headed for the basement stairs. She heard Clarke’s sister offer up some final platitudes about friendship, but she chose to ignore them.

“Goddamn it, stop ignoring me!” Corry shouted. She heard him thump his fist into the wall of the LaMille living room.

“I’m not ignoring you,” Julie said, still refusing to meet his gaze. “I’ve heard every word.”

“Fine. Shall I drop by tomorrow to bring you to Clarke’s house, or can you make it on your own?”

“Corry…”

“Julie, you are GOING! End of story.”

Julie finally spun. “If I’d known you were going to act like such an ass today, I would never have let you in the house!” she snapped.

“If I’d known what a selfish bitch you were becoming, I never would have offered you that partnership in running the school!” Corry shot back, meeting her gaze.

The brunette pursed her lips. “Touche,” she yielded. “But my going to see Mary… it won’t change anything!”

“Changing things is not the point!”

“What? Then what IS the point?!”

“The point is, Clarke is damn worried about you,” Corry answered. “And he’s not the only one. This closing yourself off simply because of - what is it anyway? Glen and his mental powers? Whatever your reasons, it isn’t healthy! I admit, Glen worries me too, but there’s not much we can do about him right now. Besides, he plays a good bass guitar."

Julie sighed. “It’s more complicated than you make it sound.”

“I don’t doubt that!” The redhead paused. “Thing is, if you don’t go today, Clarke’s efforts will all be for naught. Efforts with my sister, with Chartreuse, hell, he’s risking being sent to the nuthouse by his own relatives for pity’s sake! He doesn’t deserve that. So you need to talk to Mary. Doesn’t matter what you say, be it the truth, some sob story about repressed issues with your parents, or what you’ll have for breakfast in the morning. Just go see the damn shrink, okay Julie?”

The two teenagers stared unflinchingly at each other across the room. “Fine!” Julie said at last. “But don’t expect miracles.”

“I never do,” Corry retorted, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Unless, that is, they’re the type of miracle which people like us manufacture, eh?” He fired off a grin, one that Julie found she could meet with a wan smile.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Frank replied, turning his head. He moved to rise from the swing he was sitting in, only to have Luci shake her head and sit herself down in the swing that was adjacent. She looked at the ground. So Frank did too. The ensuing silence was eventually broken by the sound of laughter from across the park, where a couple of kids seemed to be playing an evening game of tag. “You wanted us to talk,” Frank said at last.

“I’m not sure I love you,” Luci countered.

He jerked his gaze back up to see her looking at him, a sad, worried expression on her face. “Oh…” was all that came to mind.

“I’m sorry,” Luci continued, speaking in a rush. “It’s NOT you. It’s me. All me. Things in my history. Things that maybe, on a subconscious level, have had me pulling away ever since that logbook turned up. Leading to some conflicted feelings, and as long as I’m busy working through those, I don’t want to be in a relationship. Not with you, not with anybody.”

Frank stared. “So… we’re breaking up then?”

She winced. “I don’t… it’s… yeah,” she whispered. “We are. I’m sorry.”

“Do I get a say in this?”

She swallowed. “I… I guess? Thing is, some of my issues are about rejection.”

Frank tried to figure out where to take that. He felt strangely numb.  “Well, for the record, what I feel for Carrie isn’t the same thing I feel for you.”

“I said it’s NOT about that!” Luci retorted, frustration creeping into her tone. “It’s about something from my past. About a time when I chose to be silent, and yet probably should have spoken up!”

“And it’s something you don’t think I can help with?”

“I didn’t say that either!” Luci countered. “Maybe you can. Actually, part of me hopes you can. But part of me also feels like it would be weird, talking to you about it as a boyfriend.” She rubbed her temples. “It’s like, when these memories charged in, it was a harbinger of the end of our relationship.”

She drew a deep breath. “Ugh, which sounds STUPID, now that I say it out loud. I don’t know, am I the only one who’s been feeling weird about events lately? Have you felt ANYTHING like this too??”

She looked so insistent that Frank felt a need to think back. And a thought did occur. “Now that you feel mention it,” he said slowly. “Shortly before Carrie woke up in the hospital last week, I felt… I can’t describe it. Adrift, somehow. Like something about my relationships with people had… changed. At the time, Chartreuse gave me a funny look. But then Carrie regained consciousness, so…” He shrugged.

“But then it’s not just me.” Luci finished. She sucked her lower lip into her mouth. “Except…” She shook her head. “Somehow, I don’t feel like that changes this. Changes us breaking up. I don’t know, I hope I can explain it better once I can process it myself. For now, know that I’m truly sorry. REALLY. For hurting you this way. It’s the last thing I… I ever wanted to…” Her voice caught.

He pulled a tissue out of his pocket and handed it over. “So we’re breaking up then,” he concluded, this time not making it a question. “I suppose it would be worse to string each other along, right?”

Luci finished blowing her nose. “I guess. Though maybe I’ve been doing some of that too, recently.”

“Or maybe it’s that I wasn’t paying attention. I’m good at that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “There really are no easy answers, huh?”

Luci choked back a laugh. “Oh no. Did you talk to Clarke’s sister?”

“Er, maybe. That is, yeah. I hope she’ll have better luck with Julie than with us.”

Luci’s different coloured eyes shimmered slightly in the fading light as he looked at her again. “She didn’t do such a bad job with us, did she? We’re talking again.”

“Yeah,” Frank admitted. “Yeah, we are.” And despite all the confused feelings he was experiencing, when he grasped Luci by the hand, he found that he could still smile.

NEXT: That’s a Wrap

PREVIOUSLY: In Book 3, Carrie destroyed the time machine and Julie broke up with Clarke.

PART 71a: SHRINK RAP

“I know, it sounds crazy,” Clarke admitted. “And since then, Julie’s used it to stop people from the future who want to mess with our timeline. But Mary, I swear to God, it’s all true! And since Julie can’t explain any of that stuff to her regular psychologist, you’re the only one who can help her! After all, you’re studying psych in University!"

Clarke’s sister stared at him for a moment before raking her hand back through her short, dark blonde hair. “Phil… it sure sounds like someone needs counselling…”

“Not ME,” Clarke protested. “Just ask Carrie. Wait, no, she’s not talking to us - ask Frank or Luci. There really IS a time machine, and I think that’s part of why Julie has been adamant about retreating from everyone. Including me!”

Mary sighed and walked over to the window of Clarke’s bedroom, staring at the streetlights outside. She remained that way for a moment before turning back to him. “All right,” she said evenly. “All right bro, if this really IS true, what PROOF do you have?”

Clarke relaxed. “Give me a day.”

“What do you mean the time machine has been destroyed?!”

Frank reached under his glasses to press his thumb and index finger to the bridge of his nose. “If you must know, Carrie did it,” he said quietly. “She junked it after she got out of the hospital last week.”

“But… but… WHY??” Clarke asked. He realized that he’d raised his voice, and a few people in the school library were turning to stare. Quickly, he slipped into a chair next to Frank at the table. “Why?” he repeated, softer.

He gestured at the far section of the library. It was still undergoing some repair after the van that had crashed into the building some three weeks earlier. When Mindy had come back from the future, only to be banished from their time by Carrie.

“But… look, Frank, I wasn’t kidding. I’ve got to convince my sister that this thing exists, so that she’ll agree to help Julie! And Mary’s only in town for the next three days, until this Sunday morning, so it has to be fast! Maybe… I don’t know, maybe somehow a message can be sent into the past, like the way we convinced Corry? Or could we convince Jeeves to get us into the mansion without Julie knowing, so that we can show Linquist’s old lab to her? Or…”

Frank slammed his textbook closed, cutting off Clarke’s voice. “Look,” he began, and for the first time Clarke noticed the pain in his friend’s voice. “The time machine is gone. The group is gone. I’ve tried speaking to Carrie, and she’s not talking. So there’s nothing short of a miracle that’s going to change her mind about things.” Frank paused. “I’m sorry, Clarke. There’s nothing I can do for you.”

Clarke clenched his hands into fists, then relaxed them. “I’ll find someone else who can help then,” he decided. “I’m not going to let this drop. I can’t! Julie deserves better.”

When Frank didn’t lift his gaze to meet Clarke’s, the tall boy stood and walked out of the library.

“Carrie, are we still talking?”

The response wasn’t immediate, and when it came, it sounded reserved. Wary, even. “Yes, but not about our powers,” Carrie said to her, without turning to meet her gaze.

Chartreuse tried not to fidget with the crystal around her neck. “Okay. It’s not about those. It’s, like, about Clarke. He wants his sister to help counsel Julie, but to do that properly he needs, you know, proof of time travel. And, well, now you’re the only one left who… who can…” Her voice faltered as Carrie finally turned to face her, with an expression that was part anger, part sadness.

“That’s about POWERS, Chartreuse!”

“Only indirectly,” Chartreuse protested. “Like, I dunno, maybe you could have Glen do something mentally for Mary instead? Please Carrie, PLEASE don’t be mad…" It felt like a hand closing around her heart.

Carrie finished pulling her gym bag out of her locker, then slammed it closed and leaned her head against it. “Chartreuse, you helped me through a REALLY difficult time. You have no idea how much I appreciate that. But if you’re going to bring this up after I expressly said to NEVER–"

“Carrie, come on, it’s Julie! Our friend! She’s, you know, closed off even worse than you, and I mean, it’s gotta be because of what we, like, all got up to together! Right?”

“That’s not my–" Carrie cut herself off. Then she muttered something, and Chartreuse wasn’t certain, but it sounded like ‘Timeline Two’. The blonde girl pushed herself away from her locker. “Tell Clarke I’ll think about it.”

“Okay,” Chartreuse said, unable to hold back her relief. Though as Carrie began to walk away, it occurred to her to add, “Are we… still good?”

“I’ll think about that too,” Carrie said, again without turning. “Right now, I need to get the cheerleaders ready for the big game.”

Chartreuse bobbed her head. “R-Right, I’ll be watching!” And trying not to picture myself in your arms, she added mentally. She shuddered, wondering just how much longer she was going to torture herself with the feelings she had… feelings that Carrie didn’t seem to return.

“Hello,” Mary Clarke said as she walked into the front foyer, drying her hands on a dish towel. “Mom said you came here looking for me…?”

“Yeah,” Luci replied. The girl hesitated. “Can we talk somewhere private? Where your parents won’t walk in on us?”

Mary hesitated, then gestured down the hall. “Basement’s as good a place as any. I’m staying down on the sofa bed this weekend; never had my own room in this house.” She glanced at the clock. “Though we’ll all be leaving to get to Phil’s basketball game shortly…”

“I won’t be long," Luci said slowly. “Thing is, if I leave… I don’t think I’ll be back."

“Let’s start a conversation then," Mary decided, venturing a smile.

The young asian girl frowned, but ultimately nodded. It took at least a minute after they proceeded downstairs for her to speak again. “Clarke tells me you’re pursuing a psychology degree,” Luci began at last. “That he wants you to counsel Julie.”

Mary nodded. “Look… Luci, is it? If this is about that time travel stuff he was telling me about last night–”

“It’s not,” Luci interrupted. “It’s personal. There’s some issues that I… I need to talk to someone about. And if Clarke has confidence in you, then I do too.”

Mary tried not to wince. She was tempted to tell this young girl that all she could realistically do would be to offer a referral, but there was something in Luci’s tone… Mary gestured to the couch instead. “Have a seat. But know that I’m only fourth year university, so if this is big stuff, I might have to bring in an actual professional.”

Luci sat on the edge of the couch. “I understand. I’ve had professional counselling before,” she asserted. “But I don’t want that, not this time. Not when… when…” Her fists clenched on her jeans, and her head bowed.

“Okay, ease up,” Mary soothed. “What’s this all about?"

Luci sat unmoving for a moment, and when she lifted her gaze again, there were tears dancing in the corners of her eyes. “I was abused by the next door neighbour as a child, which is affecting me now in ways I never thought possible.”

Mary exhaled. “Oh, loverly. You don’t pull any punches, do you."

Luci leapt to her feet. “And I know what you’re about to say," she said, pacing across the floor. “That you’re not the person to take this to. But I told you, I’ve been to the pros once before, and all that’ll do here is ensure that everyone at school gets to know I’m a head case. Again. I don’t want that! Because I don’t have psychological scars, I don’t, I dealt with it back then, I… I… damn it, the issue is, I don’t know why this memory has been emerging lately!”

Mary paused. “Don’t you?” she asked quietly.

Luci opened her mouth, then closed it, and finally threw herself back onto the couch, crossing her arms. “FINE. Maybe I do. Linford, Linquist, you don’t have to be a genius to spot the name similarity… except, transference aside, I KNOW they’re different people. And the log book didn’t trigger the crumbling memory block. So the timing is WEIRD. It’s like one evening I was simply thinking about Frank and then the images just…” She stopped, closing her eyes and thunking her head back into a pillow. “I shouldn’t have come here. I’m sorry.”

“Wait,” Mary said, raising her hand to stop Luci as the young girl moved to stand. “How is Frank involved?”

Luci paused, then settled herself back on the couch. “He hasn’t done anything to hurt me, if that’s what you’re thinking,” the young girl countered. “He’s been great, when I see him. Granted, of late I hardly see him, I’ve been more obsessed with this notebook I found because… okay, you want the Reader’s Digest version of my life?”

In for a penny, in for a pound. Mary nodded. “Might help.”

Luci took in a deep breath. “I’m adopted. No idea who my real parents were. The Primroses got me out of the orphanage when I was six. I was put into school with kids a year younger than me because I’d never applied myself in learning. There was also this neighbour, Mr. Linford, who… who took a fancy to me.”

Her jaw tightened. “I didn’t know at first. No one did. I thought he was a great guy, letting me use his pool. Then once I realized, once he started making advances… well, I liked my new parents, and my school, so I didn’t want to raise a fuss for fear of getting sent back. To the orphanage, I mean. By the time I finally told my mom about what he’d done, he’d flown the coop.”

“Is that when you got the professional counselling you mentioned?” Mary inquired as Luci took an extended pause.

“Yeah,” came the eventual answer. “I said I didn’t want any, but my parents insisted I speak with someone. After those sessions, I did feel better, I’d accepted it wasn’t my fault - and I closed it off. I thought I could shoot for happier memories. But maybe it was still hard to get close to people? I’ve chalked that up to my above average intelligence - heck, I’ve skipped three grades and I’m two years younger than my peers - but I guess it’s more. It wasn’t until I got to know Frank that I thought I could finally…” She stopped again.

Mary smiled gently. “Tell me about Frank.”

“Frank.” Luci pressed two fingers to her forehead. “Well… he’s intelligent, like me. With book smarts, that is, he’s SO clueless with people at times. He’s also… how do I put this? He likes me for who I am, and not in a bad way. Before him, I was all about growing up as fast as possible. Now I’m not so sure.”

“Is he the only one who likes you for yourself?”

Luci squirmed. “I guess not. But his opinion is the most important, since we’re kinda dating.”

“Kinda?” Mary kept her tone carefully neutral.

“Okay, we’re dating,” Luci yielded. “But we drifted over the summer. He spent more time on temporal mechanics than dating mechanics. And then when school started, he was more concerned about Carrie’s boyfriend Glen than me! Which… okay, I have to accept that in retrospect, because of who he turned out to be. But at this point, me and Frank aren’t talking any more.”

“Because he’s been brushing you off?”

“Yes! Well, okay, no. Not since I called him on it last month. Actually, he even took me to a school dance.” Luci slumped down in her seat. “Look, I see where you’re going with this. You think I should have talked to Frank instead of you. That he’d be more than willing to help me out, once I’ve confessed to him the deeper issues behind why I’ve gone all notebook vendetta on Linquist.” She thunked her head back again. “Maybe you’re even right. But there’s a bigger emotional issue at stake!”

Mary stared at the girl on her couch in mild fascination. In fact, that hadn’t been where she was going with this at all; she hadn’t even had a destination in mind. The use of questioning to allow the patient to arrive at their own conclusions… it was more effective than she’d thought. She wondered what her next question should be.

“What emotional issue is that?” Mary continued.

The silence that followed stretched long enough that she thought she’d finally said the wrong thing. But then Luci spoke again.

“It’s this," the young girl whispered. “The sense of joy and happiness I got when working on bringing down Linquist… it’s like the same feeling I got when I was going out with Frank. Which doesn’t seem right. It implies that both are simply a way I’ve been tackling that abuse from when I was young. Yet if THAT’S true then, well…" Luci looked back up at Mary, searching her expression carefully. “Mary… how does someone know if they’re truly in love?”

Mary’s eyebrow began to twitch. “Whoa boy.”

NEXT: Psych Doubt

Previously: An accident with the time machine placed Luci’s consciousness into Frank’s body. They can communicate while unconscious, and are looking for a way to fix things.

PART 3.23a: TIMELINE FOUR 1

Luci/Frank managed to suppress a sigh, poking her/his fork into her/his plate of cafeteria fries. “Repeating that back to us isn’t going to make it any less true, Carrie.”

“Right, okay.” She thought for a moment. “On the bright side, if both essences are available, we have a shot at disint… er, UNintegrating the two of you. Right?”

Luci/Frank shook her head. “I was late to school today because I wanted to keep at the equations. So far, it doesn’t look good. Did you and Glen have any luck talking about the machine itself?”

Carrie shook her head back. “I stayed on the phone with him as long as my dad would let me, but the only scenario we can think of is to have your body - that is, Luci’s - available on the other end of the wormhole when you emerge from your initial trip. You know, when you first got, uh, fused. Granted, it presumes Luci’s essence will be able to find itself - yourself - and then, for the sake of self-consistency, it will require that the resulting version of Frank travels in time, to our present. Where he pretends he’s Luci. Which would be what you’re doing here.”

Luci/Frank wrinkled her nose. “Okay, but since I know I’m NOT pretending, we know THAT plan won’t work,” she reasoned.

“Aha, but how do I know you’re not just pretending to not be pretending?” Carrie countered, waggling her finger. Luci/Frank glared. Carrie lowered her hand. “Fine. If it’s any comfort, the longer this goes on, the bigger the temporal headache I seem to be getting. I might not last until your future arrival date.”

“My own body might not last either!” Luci/Frank noted. “When I checked on myself this morning, my body’s pulse was even weaker than last night. Besides, what do we tell my parents, that I went on vacation to Florida??”

Luci/Frank swallowed her/his forkful of fries as Carrie trailed off. “Might be what?” s/he asked.

Carrie sighed. “A time-share of my temporal self. Luci, know that I won’t let things end for the two of you this way. I promise that much.”

Her tone had become very serious. “Carrie, can you even control your temporal self yet…?” Luci/Frank pressed, trying to read into her expression.

“No. But if it’s within me to do it, I’ll find a way,” Carrie said. Her grip tightened on her soda can. “Somehow, I’ll find a way to fix things.”

“Luci! LUCI!” Frank called out.

Luci blinked as she felt the palm slapping at her cheeks, and with effort, she managed to focus on the image of Frank above her. “Oooh,” she moaned. She propped herself up on one arm, realizing she was lying on the grass of their dreamscape. “It… it happened again, didn’t it…”

Frank nodded. “That’s the third time, and the second time tonight. I don’t like it. When you go transparent like that, it’s as if you’re… fading away. You’ve got to hang on, Luci! We’ll figure a way to get you back where you belong!”

Luci shifted her focus back to the blue sky. “Frank, it’s been four days, and in terms of saving both of us, we’re back to square one.” She paused. “In fact, I don’t know if you realized, but I – that is, our body – it blacked out in class today too. If Chartreuse hadn’t caught me…” She swallowed. “I don’t want to die, Frank. Not like that.”

He grabbed her by the shoulders. “No one’s said anything about dying. We’ll find something! We always do.”

“Frank, seriously? Even with Glen’s input, we still don’t know half of the science we’re dealing with!” She pounded her fist into the ground. “It’s time to face facts, we’re running out of time! I’m… I’m simply going to die, and there’s nothing we can do about it!”

“No!” Frank countered. “You are NOT! Not so long as I’m here!” He pulled her into an embrace, and Luci hugged back, hard. Then, after a moment, she worked to change her body. And before Frank had a chance to react, he was holding a twenty year old.

“Frank, don’t,” Luci said as she felt him pulling away. “Please, don’t. If this doesn’t work out… I want something to take away with me. Something good, like the time I looked like this, and I told you my feelings. In fact, since we’re only in a dream, you could even–”

“Luci, stop,” Frank protested. He ceased trying to pull away but refused to meet her gaze. She saw him biting his lip. “We both know this is more than a dream, it’s… I don’t know, a mind link. So don’t tempt me this way. It’s not right. When you’re back in your own body, then… then maybe.”

Luci remained in his arms for a moment before reverting back to her normal appearance. “Maybe?” she said quietly, as they separated their embrace. “Tell me Frank, if I do get back, will we really be able to have a healthy relationship?”

“Well… why not?”

“You know why,” Luci said quietly. “The memory you saw. The one I’ve spent years repressing.”

Frank’s face fell, and he looked down at the ground. “I wasn’t going to bring that up again.”

“You didn’t have to. The more I struggle to hold onto myself, the more that particular mental block crumbles away.” She paused, then closed her eyes. “Fine, let’s do this. How much did you see?”

Frank sighed. “He touched you. He…” His tone became harder. “Your parents should never have let you use the pool next door!”

“Were my clothes still on?” Luci continued, feeling a strange calmness come over her. She reopened her eyes.

Frank was staring, horrified. “Of course they were. You don’t mean…”

“Okay. You really did only brush the surface."

“Oh dear God, Luci!! You mean he… that is… he didn’t… DID HE?!”

The young girl shook her head. “Oh, he didn’t go THAT far, if that’s what you’re thinking. Linford touched. He had me touch back. He took a couple pictures. We never…" Her voice trailed off as she began to feel sick to her stomach.

She shoved the emotion aside, deciding instead to focus instead on the facts. The way she always did. “I was seven at the time. Barely four months out of the orphanage, and I didn’t want to cause any trouble. I didn’t want to get sent back, to be… rejected. The way I always had been, for mouthing off and being a know-it-all.”

“What–” Frank’s voice cracked. He tried again. “What happened to this pervert?!”

Luci shifted her gaze to the horizon. “I’m not sure… when Linford moved away at the end of the summer, I finally got up the nerve to tell my parents about it. Mom and Dad, they raised an uproar and got me some counselling, but the perpetrator himself, he didn’t leave any forwarding address.”

She sighed. “Ultimately, we Primroses decided to move too. It’s how we ended up in this town. And ever since coming to live here, I’ve tried my hardest to forget. I wanted to move on, and to… to overwrite those memories with some happier ones.” She slumped. “Pity I never got the hang of social interactions at school.”

“Oh, Luci…” Frank reached out to put an arm on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off, stepping away, looking at the ground.

“Wait, let me finish. Let me do a thorough analysis.” She swallowed hard. “So… this has become a case of classic displacement. Linford to Linquist. And even though I know they’re both different people, and maybe Linquist isn’t as bad, they both did things to me, without my permission. Which is why, deep down, I can’t feel truly comfortable so long I know that they’re somewhere out there. Experimenting. Hence, my obsessive vendetta with the logbook when it turned up.”

Luci spun back to face Frank, a tear running down her cheek. “But it’s worse than that. The more I find myself facing up to those truths here, the more I feel that my desire for a loving relationship with someone has been largely motivated by the desire to overwrite those bad memories. So… was ours a romance of convenience? Did I truly love you, or did I pick you because you were my best shot? Is it possible our relationship has been doomed from the start?”

Frank took a step back as if struck. “If… if that’s honestly what you believe, then… I suppose we both have some serious thinking to do.”

Luci started to turn away.

“BUT,” Frank continued, “That doesn’t change our current situation. Boyfriend, best friend - those sorts of distinctions are unimportant right now! You’ve told me what you believe, so let me tell you what I believe. Namely that someone with your strength of character wouldn’t let her life be dictated by the actions of some perverted BASTARD. That’s not the Luci I know! That’s not the Luci I fell for! And moreover, that’s NOT the Luci who is going to come out of our current situation feeling even stronger than she was before! Okay?!”

Luci couldn’t stop the tears from coming, but for the first time, she didn’t feel like they made her weak. “Thank you, Frank,” she choked out. “I only hope you’re right. And that I don’t die here. That maybe, one day, we can figure out our–” Her voice caught. Again he moved towards her, and again she waved him off. “Wait, stop, I’m about to–”

She fell to her knees and threw up all over the grass.

“Oh, Luci,” he murmured, wiping a tear away from his own eye as he reached out to gently stroke her hair. “My poor, dear Luci… don’t despair, I’ll get you through this… no matter what it takes.”

It was exactly one week after the initial incident that saw the four of them gathered together again in Frank’s basement. Carrie, Glen, and Luci/Frank. Or rather, Carrie mentally amended, Frank/Luci. Because according to Frank, Luci’s essence had grown so weak that he’d had to retake control of his own body after waking up that morning.

“It won’t work, you know,” Glen declared, folding his arms as he leaned back against the wall.

“It will,” Carrie countered. She ground her palm into her throbbing temple. “It has to.”

The trouble was, Luci’s own body wasn’t faring much better than her ‘essence’, having become cold to the touch. On top of that, the e-mails Luci had been writing for her parents, trying to explain her continuing absence from town had been less than convincing. A police investigation was already underway. So if this effort didn’t work… well, Carrie wasn’t looking forward to the temporal repercussions.

Glen shook his head. “I’m telling you, it’s a bad plan.”

“Look, if you don’t have anything useful to say, don’t say anything at all!” Carrie snapped.

“Actually, Glen is correct when he says that this is liable to kill at least one of us,” Frank/Luci rasped.

“But you said there’s a chance, right? I mean, despite having to take control, Luci’s essence is still inside you?”

Frank nodded slowly. “Ohhh, yes. She’s still in here. She just hasn’t been able to articulate since last night. I…” He winced and clutched at his stomach. “I r-refuse to let Luci give up so easily.”

“Which isn’t helping you any,” Glen observed. “You’ve been getting weak and feverish throughout the day. If I didn’t know better, I’d say your body has started fighting against her. Perhaps treating her essence like some kind of virus.”

“Oh, shut UP, Glen!” Carrie fumed. “As long as there’s still a snowball’s chance in hell of this working, we’re doing it!!” She looked around the room. “All right, it’s almost exactly one week since the incident. The machine’s set for a one hour jump, I’ve jammed the tweezers in where you said, and that metal rod is long enough for you to reach the fuse box, to access the extra power. You’ve got a coin to use, so… let’s light it up! Okay?”

Frank/Luci nodded weakly and slipped off the chair to crawl over next to Luci’s body. He slipped his arm around her, reaching out to brush some hair off her face. “I said I wasn’t going to let you die,” he murmured, smiling sadly. “So you can stop arguing with me.”

Carrie’s eyebrows knit at the oddity of that last sentence, watching as Frank placed Luci’s limp palm on the handle of the time machine. He then dropped the coin into the slot, and slowly brought the metal rod into position.

-Book 3 ends on Friday. Care to vote? Or comment? Tell me you’re not bored…

Previously: Frank’s body appeared after a time trip, while in the present, Luci is unconscious. Worried, Carrie discusses the mechanics of the time machine with Glen.

PART 3.22b: DO YOU MIND? 2

Glen rubbed his forehead. “Look, I’m no expert on the inner workings of the devices themselves, what I’ve said is pretty basic temporal theory. All I can say for sure is that the equations get trickier when metal is involved. Because it’s metallic coins which are flash fried in the thing as a power source. So maybe Luci… her brain… well, part of it might have been flash fried too. Through that metal conduit."

“But… but look, LOOK, she’s still breathing…” Carrie said, releasing him as her whole body began to shake. “And it w-was just tweezers…”

Glen bent down next to Luci’s body once more, again checking her eyes and her pulse. He shook his head. Maybe the time had come for them after all? “There’s no way to know for sure, but given she’s been like this for more than half an hour…”

“No! I refuse to accept that I had a hand in turning Luci into a… a vegetable!!” Carrie said, stepping forwards. “There must be some…”

She froze as the basement door opened, and there came the sound of someone rushing downstairs. But it wasn’t one of Frank’s parents. In fact, as Glen turned, he saw it was Frank himself. The latest arrival took in the scene, immediately catching sight of the body on the floor. He then dropped the time machine, running to kneel down by Luci.

“Oh my God!” Frank gasped. “What’s happened to me?!”

“We’re not sure,” Carrie admitted. “Glen thinks that some part of Luci was…" She stopped. “Wait, happened to YOU? What do you mean, Frank?"

“Huh. Well, this is unprecedented," Glen mused.

Luci/Frank stared at the page of equations in her hands, trying hard not to cry. Not again. Carrie and Glen had left long ago, when Frank’s mother had insisted on her son coming up for dinner.

Dinner, of course, had been a quiet affair… it had felt awkward pretending to be someone she wasn’t. Luci knew she’d acted oddly enough for Frank’s parents to sense something was up. At least they’d interpreted it as sickness, advising him to go and lie down after the meal. And though it meant that Luci couldn’t go back down to the lab to try and work things through on the large chalkboard, maybe that was for the best. Her body was still lying on the bench down there, covered by a sheet.

Which felt unbelievably creepy.

Naturally, both she and Carrie had pressed Glen for more information, immediately following her return of Frank’s body to the present. “All right, all right!” Glen had said, after several attempts to deflect. “My best guess? What happened here is Luci’s… essence…? For lack of a better word… was caught by the event horizon of the wormhole. But instead of being lost forever, it somehow managed to connect up with Frank’s body.”

“Then where’s Frank’s ‘essence’?!” Carrie had demanded. Glen could only shrug helplessly.

And shortly thereafter, Luci/Frank had lost all self-control. “Damn it, Carrie! This is all your fault, with wanting to rig the device!” she’d screamed, kicking the other girl in the shins. Carrie had let out a loud yelp and fallen backwards, almost on top of Luci’s own body.

Seems a kick from Frank’s body packed more of a punch than what she’d intended. But it’s not like she’d had much time to get used to being inside him or anything - as soon as she’d regained consciousness after her unscheduled trip, she’d reset the machine to travel back to now! Having held out some hope that doing so would automatically fix things.

Which it hadn’t. Did this mean that Frank was somehow trapped inside HER body, unable to get out? Unable to move, unable to speak? Or was HE the one whose essence had been…

Luci looked back down at the paper she held, before crumpling it up and throwing it aside. Followed by the pencil. She drew her knees (yet not her knees) up to her chest (Frank’s chest) and finally allowed another tear to escape her/Frank’s eye.

This was so messed up. They couldn’t even duplicate this situation in reverse, like they’d done the time she’d been prematurely aged. Hell, to hear Glen speak, it was lucky she’d survived this experience at all. But of course, the worst part of this whole situation was how, deep down, Luci knew she’d been lashing out again. At people who didn’t deserve it.

This wasn’t Carrie’s fault, no more than it had been Julie’s fault when Frank had ended up in the future with Mindy. No, this was all on her. On her and her obsessive nature.

She’d allowed herself to get distracted. Again. Not by the logbook this time, but instead by the revelations about Glen’s origins and mental powers. Frank’s wild suppositions at the start of the year had apparently been correct. And she’d been thinking more about the repercussions of that, and the temporal gun, instead of the task at hand.

Why had she written off Frank’s concerns? Why had she tried to bring his focus back to her in September, and off the person with the crazy mental powers? Worse, ever since her vendetta against Linquist had ramped up, she’d simply started avoiding him. WHY? Did she not want this relationship with Frank after all?

There was a ring of truth to that which alarmed her.

Luci prided herself on her intelligence, and yet here she was, still making huge emotional errors in judgement. Errors which might have now cost the life of the boy that she… loved? Well, it was impossible to fix any of her relationship issues now.

‘Maybe not…’

Well, perhaps not, if she could work through the equations. Find a way to reverse things. But she was so very tired… Luci looked over towards her clock, checked herself, and looked to where Frank’s bedroom clock was. Already after 2am! At least her parents wouldn’t worry. Carrie had said she’d suck up her pride long enough to talk to Julie, to pretend like Luci was staying over at the mansion. Their standard fake-out. But that would only work until school resumed tomorrow…

‘Sleep, Luci… sleep…’

Luci’s eyes snapped open. She couldn’t sleep! Not until she had the answers she needed! Luci tried to shake herself awake, almost knocking Frank’s glasses off in the process. Another tear ran down her cheek at the realization, and she brushed it aside.

Focus, girl, focus! You can’t break down now… not now, not when Frank needs you the most. If only he was here though, to help her with these crazy temporal equations! They had been such a good team that way. If only he was here…

‘Luci, sleep, and I can be here…’

Luci’s eyes snapped open again - and she realized with some shock that she was back inside her own body. Except she was no longer in Frank’s room, or even under the sheet in his lab. She was sitting underneath a tree, with a field of green grass spread out around her.

“What? How?” And she reached up to her throat, recognizing it was her own voice coming from her own vocal chords.

“It’s elementary, my dear Luci,” came Frank’s voice from above. She looked up in time to see him jump down from a tree branch and land on the ground beside her. He fired off a weak smile. “You see, my body - or rather our body? - is now unconscious.”

“Then you saw and heard the whole thing,” Luci concluded. The two of them were now following a wandering pathway through the ‘field’ dreamscape, comparing notes.

Frank nodded back. “It’s a weird feeling, having my body do things without any control over what those things are. I guess you just have the more dominant personality? Or perhaps it was the only way my own mind decided it could keep your essence stable. At any rate, I couldn’t get through until your - our? - consciousness started to drift. Which it wasn’t prone to do so long as you were focussed on fixing things.”

Luci looked at the ground. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no, nothing to apologize for. Actually felt oddly satisfying kicking Carrie in the shins…”

“No, I mean sorry for everything,” Luci corrected. “For not believing you about Glen back then. For going through the logbook again when I said I wouldn’t. For not giving it my all today, when helping you with the machine. And most of all, for avoiding you when we should have been working things out.” Her fists clenched. “I’ve been the worst girlfriend ever.”

Frank pursed his lips. “Luci, I wasn’t racing to give you a phone call either," he pointed out. “And I’m the one who tripped an activation circuit, and who shouldn’t have prematurely plugged in a coin into the device merely so things would be lit up more clearly. That’s all on me, not you."

“Still, you didn’t almost get me killed and banished to the past!” Luci reminded. “That happened to you, all because the first thing on my mind was a vendetta against Linquist! I’m so sorry, I just… God, I don’t know why, but he irritates me so much!”

Frank stopped walking. “Luci… our minds are connected here. I can’t see everything but, ah, you don’t have to hide the truth of that situation from me any more.”

Luci froze. “What do you mean?”

Frank glanced down at her, then shifted his gaze skyward. “Oh boy. See, in the beginning, right after we… well, ‘merged’… you slipped unconscious. I tried to find a way of getting through to you then, but I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing and… instead of contacting you, I ended up sifting through certain memories of yours.”

Luci blinked and involuntarily wrapped her arms about herself. “Do you mind?” she said irritably. “I have some very private stuff in my psyche!”

“I know! It wasn’t intentional,” Frank insisted. “Really it wasn’t. But at the time, you were feeling hurt and scared and confused. Which brought up a similar time you’d felt that way, namely back when you’d been aged up by Linquist. From there it was only a short leap to your childhood when…”

“NO!” Luci gasped, and almost before she knew it she had physically reached out to slap her hand over Frank’s mouth. “Don’t say it!” she whispered. “Don’t make me remember that time, please, Frank, don’t, don’t… that part of me, I blocked it off, even from myself…!”

Her body shook, her eyes pleaded. Frank slowly nodded, and she took her hand away. “I-I’m sorry," he said. “Obviously, I… I misjudged the scope.”

“Obviously,” Luci said quietly. Moving off the path, she plucked a daisy from the grass and began pulling petals off of it one by one.

“Er, how about we go through some temporal equations then?” Frank ventured. “See about getting the two of us back where we belong.” He waved his arm, and a chalkboard appeared in the field with them, already containing some rudimentary equations. He walked over and began to write.

Luci joined him a couple of minutes later. They didn’t speak of the incident again that night.

Unfortunately, despite their efforts, every calculation pointed towards one of them being dead before the week was out.

-Next Episode: Timeline Four. Ending Book 3.

-Isn’t that interesting? Any speculations? Either about their situation, or Luci’s past? One more week, and this whole book wraps up. As always, you can vote for T&T at TWF, or recommend to a friend.

Previously: Julie broke up with Clarke. Carrie hoped Frank or Luci could rig the time machine for an automatic run. Hank Waterson wrote a short story about the Chosen Bunny.

PART 3.22a: DO YOU MIND? 1

“Ooooohh,” he groaned. “Frank, what caused that?”

The teenager struggled to sit up, moving to rub his eyes, his hands hitting his glasses. The dark haired boy paused, then reached up to pull the glasses off. He lay there for a moment, staring at them in shock.

“What the hell?”

Having spoken again, Frank reached a hand up to his throat. Then, slipping his glasses back on, he pushed himself up to his knees and took a look down at his body. “Oh my God,” Frank choked out. “Oh God, no, oh no, no, no… wh- what’s HAPPENED to me?!?”

Frank’s body swayed unsteadily for a few seconds before dropping back to the floor and falling unconscious.

“Hello,” Mrs. Dijora said pleasantly, opening the door. “How can I help–”

“He’s with me!” Carrie said, dashing down the hall behind her. The blonde teenager grabbed the arm of their visitor, tugging on it. “With us, that is,” she clarified. “We’re all still finishing our extra curricular project in the basement and we need Glen’s help! Now!"

“Um, yup, I’ll let him know that,” Carrie assured, while dragging Glen towards the basement door. “Now c’mon Glen, this is really TIME sensitive stuff!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Glen said, a hint of a frown appearing on his features. He looked back at Mrs. Dijora. “Er, I’ll keep my coat with me,” he assured her, having not had the time to pull both arms from the sleeves.

Frank’s mother watched in confusion as the two teenagers slammed the basement door shut behind them. “Teenagers. Everything’s life or death for them,” she decided, heading back into the kitchen.

“All right, what’s this about?” Glen questioned as Carrie hopped down the stairs ahead of him two at a time. “Your call sounded urgent.”

“You have NO idea,” Carrie retorted. She jabbed a finger at something just outside his field of view. “What the hell did the time machine DO to her?!?”

Glen moved down to the point when he could see where Carrie was pointing. His frown deepened, and he quickly moved to kneel down next to the unconscious body on the floor. Yes, unconscious - Luci still seemed to have a pulse. Meaning he didn’t know whether this was the event he’d been waiting for, or not.

“How long has she been like this?” Glen asked.

“Twenty minutes. Half an hour maybe,” Carrie said. “You sure took your sweet time getting here! I even debated calling an ambulance, but the tingling in my head says this is something temporal."

“I got here as quickly as I could,” Glen countered. He rolled Luci’s body slightly, stuffing his wadded up jacket under her head before lifting one of her eyelids. Her eyes didn’t seem to be focused on anything. Problematic. He needed more information.

Glen glanced around the room. “You said your time machine was involved. Where is it?”

Carrie swallowed. “It… it vanished. It took Frank along with it. Which is kind of the other reason I didn’t want to get Frank’s parents all worked up with an ambulance.”

Glen slammed his palm on the ground. “Carrie! I WARNED you about the danger of using it for more time trips, I TOLD you to destroy –”

“We WERE destroying it!” Carrie yelled back, hands clenching into fists. She bit her lip. “Kinda.”

Glen stood. “How do you KINDA destroy something?”

Carrie’s face took on a pained expression. “We… we were going to send the machine on auto-pilot a couple of months into the future. As a fail safe. So it would be available later. I even thought, hey, it’ll get Frank and Luci working together again, so that maybe I could leave the time group on a slightly better note than… than…” She threw her arms out to the sides. “Look, I made sure they were being careful, and that they weren’t arguing about their relationship or anything!”

“They were still messing with something they couldn’t hope to understand!” Glen fumed. He stared at her for another long moment. Carrie didn’t seem as distraught as he might have expected. So it probably wasn’t time yet. “Fine, what’s done is done. If we want to have a chance of fixing it, you’ll need to describe to me exactly what happened."

Carrie looked past him towards Luci’s prone form. She swallowed again, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay. The two of them were completing an analysis of some of the circuits. To see if there was any failsafe to prevent activation, should no person be touching the lever directly. Frank was reaching down inside the device - he said something looked a little funny - and he asked Luci to hand him the tweezers. She was in the process of doing so when the machine let out a whine, there was a bright flash of light, and then…" She reopened her eyes. “Then Frank and the machine were gone, and Luci was left there on the floor unconscious. After five minutes of trying to bring her around without success, I called you."

Glen pursed his lips, then moved towards the lab bench near Luci’s body. After a moment of looking around, he reached out and grabbed a set of twisted, blackened tweezers off the floor. “Are these what Luci handed to Frank?” he questioned.

Carrie shrugged. “How should I know? Probably.”

Glen frowned. “Well, they’re metallic.” He paused. “That’s bad. I’m sorry, Carrie… I’m not sure there’s anything we can do for Luci.”

“What are you talking about?” she protested. “Luci’s body is still here, she’s still breathing and everything, we simply need a way for her to wake up!”

Glen sighed again, rolling his eyes heavenwards before turning back to his future companion. “All right,” he decided. “I was hoping to avoid such direct talk of future technology but… Carrie, exactly what do you people know about how these portable time machine units work?”

Carrie crossed her arms. “Well, they require a coin to activate, and the date on the coin corresponds to the year of arrival. Meanwhile, the place of arrival is determined by who is holding onto the handle, which has some sort of DNA sensing technology integrated into it. Though it seems that a trip to the future might involve not changing location at all, if you don’t have a counterpart there. So there’s also some built in homing device to target Earth, maybe.”

“Mmm. Yes, that’s about right,” Glen said, with grudging respect. “Though since the device goes along with you, the travel to a time with no counterpart takes it’s toll. More universal calculations, more circuits engaged, more power, more chance for burnout too. That’s on top of the normal proportional recharge, all part of the reason why not many such units were made.”

“Okay, so how does any of this relate to what happened to Luci?!”

Glen tossed the mangled tweezers aside. “It has to do with how the time machine manipulates the wormholes.”

Carrie blinked. “Worm… holes? Frank’s said something about them, but I never really bothered with trying to follow the science…”

Glen made a quick circuit of the room, grabbing a pencil and a sheet of paper that someone had started making notes on. “Wormholes,” he repeated. “Even in this time I know there’s been discussion on the subject.” He drew two circles, close to the opposing long ends of the sheet.

“Earth,” he said, pointing at one circle. “Alpha Centauri,” he continued, pointing at the other circle. He folded the paper over so that the far ends of the page were touching, and the circles overlapped. “Wormhole,” he concluded. He jabbed the pencil up through the paper at the Earth circle, the tip emerging through the circle he had denoted Alpha Centauri.

Carrie rolled her eyes. “Yes, the classic demonstration of using a wormhole to get to a far away place a lot faster than running along the length of the page itself. I HAVE seen that before. But what–"

“It works with time too,” Glen cut back in. He unfolded the sheet and drew a long line connecting the two holes. “1950,” he said, now physically writing that in over the first hole. “2000,” he continued, denoting the second hole. “Same principle. You want to travel from 2000 to 1950? The machine homes in on 1950 using the metallic substance you input, refines based on the traveler’s DNA, then creates a temporary wormhole that will fold space-time appropriately to transport the individual.”

Glen folded the paper over again as he spoke. “Once space-time is sufficiently warped, the device sucks you through,” - he pushed the pencil all the way through the hole - “then allows this universe’s timeline to snap back into place,” - he released one end of the page to let it straighten out - “all accomplished in a blink, before there’s any far reaching effects. Like miniature black holes or the like.”

Carrie observed Glen quietly for a few seconds. “So??” she said at last. “Lovely demonstration, but I STILL don’t see how that relates to why Luci is–”

“Oh for goodness sakes Carrie, can’t you at least humour me and PRETEND to have the mental discipline of your future self?” Glen snapped, before he could stop himself.

Her jaw clenched as he tossed the paper aside. “Sorry. But look, this latest issue is obviously related to how those portable time machine units control what matter gets pulled through the wormhole. Everything within a certain radius can’t get yanked in, or you’d be travelling with the ground you’re standing on.” There was a brief silence. “Do you see the problem now?”

“Sure,” Carrie said tightly. “Somehow the machine makes a point of registering anyone touching the handle, or any person touching that person, but ultimately rejects other biological matter within the same radius. Clever.” Her eyes were drawn to the tweezers. “Oh, wait. Are you saying…”

She hesitated, so Glen decided to complete the thought. “Yes, if the people going through are not in direct contact with the handle - or, less safely, with each other - the time machine might start closing the wormhole on them early.” He paused. “Best case, some people don’t go on the trip. Worst case? Depending on how badly you’re linked? You could end up on the other end of a time journey with only half a person.” Glen shook his head. “So, do you finally understand what happened here?”

-Do YOU understand? Any comment? This is the first time I’ve tried to go into the actual mechanics of time travel… and it’s why I can’t market this as Hard SciFi. I’m no physicist. But hopefully I invented something plausible.

Previously: Hank Waterson writes a story about woodland creatures with magical powers who have the names of Carrie’s friends. Raccoon Glen found evidence Fox Julie was a traitor.

PART 3.21b: WOODLANDS OMEN 2

“Carrie, she should get the benefit of the doubt,” Clarke put in quietly. “If we persecute people based largely on their animal heritage, we’re no better than the humans.” Carrie blinked at the beaver in surprise, appeared to think about that for a moment, then with a frown, she released Julie’s tail.

“But, okay,” Laurie said, puzzled. “If this documentation IS fake, and Julie’s NOT the traitor… who else COULD it be?”

As if on cue, there was the sound of something breaking the surface of the earth less than a metre away. Everyone turned in time to see a groundhog poke his head out. “Oh, g-g-good you’re still h-here!” it said in relief, scampering out of the hole. Behind him, a squirrel peered out of the hole as well.

“Luci?” Frank said in shock. “Where have you been?”

“Covert work underground,” Luci explained. “Sorry that me and Tim are late, but he can’t conjure his flashlight any more and we took a couple wrong turns.” She jumped out of the hole and shook the dirt off of herself.

“We were able to translate a pertinent passage though,” Tim said, holding a sheaf of papers out towards Julie. “I think you’ll be p-pleased with the r-r-results!”

“Passage? Covert mission? What the devil is going on here?” Corry said.

“This is a very clever smokescreen you’ve put together in case of capture Julie,” Glen said, folding his arms. “But you underestimate our ability to see through it.”

“Hold on. Let’s see what Luci and Tim turned up first, then compare,” Lee suggested.

Julie flipped to the second page, then quickly the third, before looking up at Tim in surprise. He nodded and shrugged. “Let’s get him then,” Julie declared. Throwing the sheets aside, she pounced - however, Glen was already moving.

With a speed no one had expected, Glen dove to the side, rolled a metre away and came up with one palm extended. “Freeze,” he ordered. All the other sentient animals stopped in place, with looks of surprise on their faces.

“Whoa, you’re totally more powerful than you look,” Chartreuse said, trying in vain to move her feet or her wings.

“Damn straight,” Glen said, now making no effort to hide his evil grin. “Of course, it helps that all of you have had your powers mostly leeched away by this point.”

“But… but you’ll soon be losing your powers too!” Laurie protested. “Glen, why are you doing that?”

“Because,” Glen explained patiently, “as Tim’s translation no doubt revealed, my powers aren’t tied to this forest like yours are. And once you all revert, the humans will be granting safe passage for me and one other, all the way back to my real home. Far, far away from here!”

“The translation actually wasn’t that specific,” Tim admitted. “It just said the r-raccoon wants out of here.”

“We were kinda hoping that by doing things this way, you’d give everything away,” Luci added.

“Oh. Well, whatever,” Glen said with a shrug.

“Wait, who’s the other one you’ll be with?” Clarke asked.

“Who else?” Glen said, gesturing towards Carrie.

The bunny twitched her nose. “Me?? News flash, Glen, I don’t I want to go with you if this is how you treat my friends! I mean really, Glen, how COULD you?”

Glen shrugged. “Carrie, my mission was to track you down, and use a magic charm to help you understand your own inherent powers of sentience,” he replied. “Unfortunately, at the same time as I was awakening YOUR powers, Mindy and Shady were prowling through the forest, scouting for ways to expand that human settlement. To keep my item hidden from their probing, I buried it in that clearing - not realizing that it’s aura was still active, and able to affect other animals!”

“So, what, you think we gained our intellect and magical abilities because of this magical charm you owned?” Luci scoffed. “Please. I’m more special than an ordinary, everyday squirrel!”

“Believe what you like,” Glen said airily. “All I know is, after years of travel to track down the Chosen Bunny, I had to spend even MORE time messing around here, to learn how to reverse sentience on a bunch of useless creatures!” Glen shook his head. “I had hoped that by splicing together my Linquist contract with the signature I found for Julie, you’d all be thrown all off the track… and in another day, things would no longer matter… but, no matter. You’ve become weak enough for me to gain the upper ‘paw’ regardless.”

“Glen! If this is the real you? I’m staying right here!” Carrie said. Her body tensed. “And… and I’d totally put my paws on my hips to emphasize that point if only I could move!”

“I am sorry to hear you say that. But you’re coming with me regardless,” the raccoon said, smirking. “Because if you hadn’t figured it out yet, you dumb bunny, your powers aren’t tied to this forest either. It’s not the dumping, but rather that pendant I gave you earlier in the week which is suppressing your abilities. And once you’re powerless, we’ll be going. Don’t worry, your powers will be restored when we arrive back at my home.”

“But that’s kidnapping!” Carrie shrieked. “You won’t get away with that, or with using my powers in order to start a future war!” She shuddered. “Wait, how did I even know that’s what you were involving me in?”

“As the Chosen One,” Glen said. “Deep down, you knew all along.”

“You… you spent all this time tracking me down because your faction needed more power in order to stage takeovers of neighbouring forests!” Carrie realized. “And somehow you knew I could be more powerful than any of the other animals on Earth!”

“Oh, great, Carrie’s a powerful weapon. This information would have been useful a week ago,” Corry sighed.

“Too bad there’s no such thing as time travel,” Julie agreed.

“But Carrie, if you’ve got a bunch of magical power inside you, how come you can’t use it to shatter that pendant you’re wearing?” Laurie said.

“I… I’m not sure how to even move,” Carrie said. She grimaced in an internal effort, tears springing to the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry guys. I… I don’t think I can do anything!”

“Here, let me get that for you then,” Lee offered, moving to take the offending jewellery off Carrie’s neck. There was a beat, as all eyes shifted to the porcupine. “Yeah, hey, I could move all along, I just wanted to hear Glen reveal the plot,” Lee said, tossing the pendant aside.

“Hmmmm. A natural immunity? That’s not good,” Glen mused.

Freed of the magic draining item, the blonde bunny quickly rounded on the raccoon, her blue eyes bright. “Kidnap ME will, you? Threaten MY friends?! Well then, it’s YOUR turn to freeze, you EX-BOYFRIEND!”

Carrie bounded forward, catching Glen before he’d even taken two steps. One tap on his forehead, and he dropped like a stone, lying on the ground as if he was frozen in time. Carrie blinked down at her paw in surprise. “I can DO that?”

With Glen down, all the other animals gave a collective sigh of relief, having regained their own mobility.

“Nice work, Carrie!” Chartreuse said, gleefully clapping her wings together. “And that was a totally cool fake out, Lee!”

Lee shrugged, tugging at his jacket lapels. “I live closest to the affected clearing - I must have built up a little extra internal power or something.”

“So what do we do with Glen now?” Tim wondered.

“Humans don’t look twice at roadkill,” Julie said offhandedly, producing another nail file from her fur.

“Julie dear, that’s a little gruesome, even for you, isn’t it?” Clarke said, reaching out to touch her arm. Julie hesitated, then gave a yielding nod.

“I say give HIM that pendant,” Luci suggested. “Seal it permanently around Glen’s neck somehow. I mean, if it worked on Carrie’s powers, surely it will work on his.”

“Good thought,” Frank agreed. “In fact, now that we know who our insider is, we can threaten the humans with exposing all this dumping they’re doing. If Shady really wants to keep things quiet, they’ll have to stop their interference.”

“Ooh, but what about cleaning up the damage that’s already been done?” Laurie said worriedly. “Chartreuse, your conjurable conjuring crystals, could they purify the area?”

Chartreuse shook her head.  “Already considered it. There’s, you know, too much there for me to handle.”

“Well, from what I learned about this glop from Mindy, there is a primary ingredient,” Julie offered. “I believe all we’d need to do is figure out how to neutralize that. Then the problem will take care of itself.”

“In that case, it’s a good thing I’ve spent the last few days analyzing slime from the clearing,” Corry spoke up. “You’ll be pleased to know that we’re not up against anything radioactive. Though the strange thing is, the primary ingredient - and believe me, I triple checked this - it seems to be… well… lime jello.”

“J-J-Jello?” Tim said, surprised.

“If jello neutralizes magic, remind me not to forage for it,” Lee said.

“Hah. If THAT’S all it is, I’m sure we can come up with a counteragent,” Carrie asserted, dusting off her paws after having given Glen a kick in the ribs. “Why, by working together, there’s nothing we can’t do!”

“What’s more, Corry’s analysis also explains why these humans were able to dump so much of that stuff within a fairly limited area,” Frank remarked.

“Oh?  How do you figure?” Luci wondered.

Frank shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious? There’s always room for Jello.” He had no time whatsoever to parry before the hammer and the croquet mallet came crashing down on his head.

Hank Waterson leaned back in his chair, letting out a yawn and massaging a cramp in his wrist. How had he managed to get through all that in one sitting? A glance at the clock showed that it was after 2 am. What incredibly inspired writing!

Yet now that he was actively thinking about it, Hank realized that he had questions. For instance, where exactly had the idea for that Mindy person come from? Why had he made accusations against Carrie’s friend Julie? And why had he turned Carrie’s boyfriend into the traitor? Was his subconscious trying to tell him something? Maybe he should keep Carrie grounded, so that the two of them wouldn’t be able to spend time together…

“What am I saying?” Hank muttered aloud. “This is fiction. It has no basis in real life." Besides, Carrie was good at finding a way around rules she didn’t like, so it wouldn’t do to keep her away from Glen. Moreover, he would be changing the names of the characters anyway. He could even change the villain’s identity once he got into editing. The whole story was still in a rather indeterminate state.

Shaking his head, Hank Waterson carefully stacked the story’s character sheets, and placed them back into his ‘Woodland Creatures’ folder. He then reached out and turned off his desk light, blissfully unaware of that fact that everybody’s temporal reality had recently entered a very similar indeterminate state, courtesy of his own daughter.

-Next Episode: Do You Mind?

-I hope you enjoyed this little detour/omen. Had you figured out who the traitor was? Do you see how things might tie into the real plot? Feel free to comment or vote for T&T.

Previously: Hank Waterson writes a story about woodland creatures with magical powers who have the names of Carrie’s friends. … Roll with it.

PART 3.21a: WOODLANDS OMEN 1

Hank rubbed his chin. He wasn’t quite sure which one of them to use, and thus he decided to simply see where the narrative took him.

Slowly, the woodland creatures came out of hiding.

“So… what do you think about that?” Frank wondered.

“Mindy’s got a nice back end, for a human?” Lee offered.

“Okay, pretty sure Frank’s referring to the fact that there’s totally a TRAITOR among us!” Chartreuse wailed.

Lee shrugged. “Trying to lighten the mood.”

“Don’t. Now is the time to get serious," Corry growled. “Because if one of us is feeding these humans lies, and telling them things that will lead to us losing our powers within a week? That’s a MAJOR problem."

“It can’t be one of us. Whoever the traitor is, they already knew about this clearing having ties to the magical effects,” Julie noted. “Remember, that Shady guy implied it was their dumping here that caused a neutralizing effect."

“Hey, any of us could know more about this clearing than what we’ve said,” Luci said, glancing about suspiciously. “The question is, why would anyone want us forest creatures to go all mundane?”

Carrie suggested. “And they’re hoping to use their sentience to rule over the rest of us.”

Everyone’s eyes shifted towards the fox and bear. “Oh great, predators being persecuted again,” Julie grumped, twitching her tail.

“Hold on, everyone. Finger pointing doesn’t do us any good," Clarke said. “We need proof to make an accusation.”

Laurie raised her paw. “Why don’t we simply ask the humans which animal is working with them?”

Her brother sighed. “Laurie, approaching humans is not wise, they - oh, wait, they keep records. Maybe we could obtain some of their files? That could tell us something."

“We’d have to go into town for that though,” Frank pointed out, beginning to pace. “And the longer we’re out of the forest, the more the magic fades too. If we’re caught, we’d lose everything.”

“Someone could do it if they already had as idea as to the specific bases of operations used by these particular humans,” Lee noted.

“So Glen could do it," Carrie realized. “He’s spent some of his evenings skulking about in town. If anyone knows the layout, it’d be him.”

“But what if he’s the traitor?”

“Frank, stop accusing Glen of things already,” Carrie sighed, turning and slamming her mallet down on his head in exasperation.

“Um, but Carrie, I, like, said that,” Chartreuse noted, waving a wing as Frank fought to keep his balance.

“Yeah, Carrie, stop hitting on my boyfriend!” Luci declared, swinging her own hammer at Carrie. Carrie managed to block with her mallet… then both objects simply disappeared. Both Carrie and Luci blinked at each other in surprise.

“The magic problem is worse here,” Clarke decided. “We need to get going. Let’s at least see what Glen turns up, it could give us a starting point. Okay?”

Everyone present exchanged glances and nods. “And as a show of good faith, maybe Glen can grab me some of that aspirin stuff while he’s in town?” Frank mumbled.

“Crazy other animals,” Glen grumbled as he scampered down the alleyway. “As if I didn’t know it’s been four days - they didn’t expect me to know where Shady and Mindy were right away, did they?"

The raccoon peered out onto the darkened street and then headed down towards the part of town where the warehouses were located. “For a small town, it’s sure trying to work towards having more industry,” Glen observed. He soon found a hole in the fencing around the complex, and squeezed through. “Now, let’s see… that paper I found in Shady’s trash yesterday, it said Linquist was using Warehouse 3… hopefully I can find something in there to appease the masses.”

As it turned out, the warehouse was locked, but a few smashes on the padlock with a large rock allowed Glen to gain access. “Hmmmm,” Glen murmured as he scanned the interior - which was not much larger than your average sized human apartment. “If I know these humans, there’ll be a… yup, right over there.”

He hurried over to the corner that held the video surveillance equipment, and after giving it a look, he wound the tape back to erase his presence. He then pulled out his magical magnet and waved it over the devices for good measure. If it was strong enough to attract a garbage can, it was probably strong enough to mess with their electronics.

“At least the town’s still small enough to have lousy security,” Glen muttered. “Shady probably installed this in here himself. Still, it’s possible that there’s a silent alarm too, so I should work fast.”

The raccoon turned to start a quick search of the bins and filing cabinets, pausing as a file out in the open caught his attention. Sitting right next to the TV monitor, it was labelled ‘Security Breach 08/22/88’.

“Yesterday?” Glen mused. He flipped open the folder and his eyebrows went up. “Oho! Well then, it would seem we’ve found our traitor…”

“It’s, like, ridiculous, having to be up this early,” Chartreuse yawned as she looked out at the lake. “The sun’s barely up. Why can’t Glen stay up later, rather than, you know, waking us earlier?”

“Time is of the essence at this point,” Corry grunted. “Hell, last night I couldn’t get my yardstick to stay around long enough to take a precise measurement!”

“He’s trying to install new drapes in our cave,” Laurie explained brightly. “The old ones are so drab, even if they do compliment the existing decor so well. Soon we may even get a window to go with them too though looking at your faces I’m probably acting too perky for the hour so I should shut up now, should I?”

“It’s not THAT early,” Carrie insisted. “I’ve been up at this hour to meet with Glen before. We’ve watched sunrises together, it was romantic.”

“Hm, speaking of romantic, has anyone seen Luci?” Frank asked. “She seemed to disappear after yesterday morning’s meeting.”

“I’m sure she’ll be along,” Julie replied, filing her claws once again. “Unless she’s the traitor, that is.” Frank frowned.

“Well, hey, let’s just hope Glen has a stronger lead today, okay?” Lee put in. “What with infighting giving me a worse headache than the ones Frank gets from not reacting in time."

A silence fell upon the group. A few minutes later, Glen hurried out of the treeline and headed towards them. “Glen!” Carrie cried out happily, her bunny ears quivering. “Have you brought us good news at last?"

“Well, I have news,” Glen said, holding up a folder of papers. “It’ll be good for some, not so good for others.”

“Meaning what?” Clarke asked.

“Meaning, I think we’ve got our traitor," Glen explained. He flipped open the folder, and tossed a picture out onto the grass. Everyone leaned in for a closer look. There was a moment of silence. Then Corry made a lunge for Julie.

“Get her!” the bear snarled as Julie rolled away, firing her nail file at him. It grazed by Corry’s ear. Coming up on all fours, Julie then made a leap towards the trees, only to have the flickering forms of a broom and a tennis racquet crisscross in front of her. She hesitated only momentarily before making a move to dodge underneath them, but that moment was enough to allow her to be brought up short by a yank from behind.

“Ow ow ow ow!” Julie shrieked, falling onto the ground. “The tail is attached, you know!”

“Consider it retribution for all the times you’ve salivated over me and my kind,” Carrie shot back. “Now it’s time for a rabbit to put YOU on a hotplate!”

“Again with the persecution,” Julie said, turning her head, eyes flashing. “You have no evidence that I’m the traitor! So I’ve been in a human warehouse, so what??”

“So,” Glen said, clearing his throat, “you know more than what you’ve been telling. I also turned up THESE files–” He paused to toss some more pages on the ground. “–which show an agreement between Linquist and an unnamed co-conspirator to do the dumping in that clearing. Unless I’m very much mistaken, that top document has your paw print on it.”

“What??” Julie shrieked.

“I always knew you were a sly fox, Julie,” Corry said, glaring at her while rubbing his ear. “But I never realized how low you’d stoop to get your own way around here.”

“I should have guessed," Carrie said, bitterly. “I know she made friends with me only to secure the bunny vote in our part of the forest, so I should have KNOWN she’d betray us.” She took firmer hold of the tail in her paw and twisted it.

“Will you CUT THAT OUT?” Julie said, baring her teeth at the rabbit. “For the moment, I’m not going anywhere! And fine, I’ll admit that I’ve started doing a little covert work with that human Mindy, but it was only to discover what was really going on!”

“Then how do you, you know, explain this contract?” Chartreuse inquired, holding it out.

“I don’t know,” Julie said, peering at it. “Mindy did make me put my paw on something after I approached her, for her own protection. But that wasn’t it.”

“And what’s the reason for the security photo?” Frank asked.

“Mindy gave me the key to their warehouse the other evening. I went looking for files relating to the dumping. But Mindy said nothing about surveillance equipment… I think I’m being set up!”

-We’ve shifted from ‘Detour’ into ‘Omen’, as there will now be elements of foreshadowing for the end of this Book, and into Book 4. Any thoughts? Any desire to vote at WFG?

Previously: Hank Waterson writes a story about woodland creatures with magical powers who have the names of Carrie’s friends. … Roll with it.

PART 3.20b: WOODLANDS DETOUR 2

“Some things never change?” Clarke said, swimming closer to the bank.

“Ooh, yes, you always seem to do it, Carrie!” Laurie said, having come closer herself. “You’re so cool, with the hopping and the bouncing and the dashing and it’s hard to say whether a bunny can tap into the magic better than we can or if you’re just naturally so athletic but either way you’re an inspiration to us all and I really wish I had some of your coordination because I can never seem to stand on my ball for very long without falling off of it though you know that stuff could be completely different from magical ability so forget I said anything about it and oooh, what’s that new thing you’ve got hanging around your neck??”

By the time Carrie had explained to Laurie about the charm Glen had given her, Frank, Luci and Chartreuse had all made their way to the lake. “I found, you know, most of the early sentients,” Chartreuse hooted at Clarke. “I figured we didn’t need Jeeves or Megan or especially Azure or…”

“This is fine,” Clarke assured. “Now, the reason for calling you all here is because of what I found while felling some saplings to the north.”

“Near the human settlement?” Corry said, arcing an eyebrow.

“Right,” Clarke answered. “See, there’s this place that’s kinda glowy and tingly which does not feel good and… well, you have to see it for yourself. I ran into Lee up there and he’s keeping an eye on things.”

“Freaky,” Luci said at last. None of the others had spoken since arriving at the outskirts of the small clearing. “So,” the squirrel continued, “any ideas on what’s causing the weird green glow? Or any of the other effects, like the dying trees?”

“It must have freaked you out,” Corry observed. “You’ve let your quills do a shredding job on your jacket again.”

Lee shrugged. “Life of a porcupine is never easy.”

“Well, I could totally fly out to that tree,” Chartreuse offered.  “Except, you know, I’m more of a water bird and the thing looks like it’s dying so might not support my weight…”

“You see now why I thought we should check this out though, right?” Clarke noted.

“Yes,” Julie replied, frowning. “The question is what does this mean?”

“Ooh! Ooh, wait,” Laurie broke in. “I know this clearing! I used to play around here a couple years ago - in fact didn’t we all have that big forest glade party here? It was around the same time a number of us were getting that whole self awareness thing!” She began nodding vigorously. “Yeah, yeah, we were celebrating that, and I’m pretty sure the party was here, because it was shortly thereafter that I first conjured my clothes and my ball! Am I right or am I right??”

“I think you’re right,” Frank realized. “Except this clearing didn’t look the same, not back then. It wasn’t marshy, there was more grass, less of an odour…”

“And less general eerieness,” Corry agreed. “But we stopped coming here shortly thereafter. When the human settlement expanded.”

“Bah, you’re imagining things, I haven’t been here before,” Carrie countered. She had moved to a position a little ways around the perimeter. “Now c’mere and check this out, I’ve found some partially submerged human looking barrels!”

Everyone headed over to see what Carrie was looking at. “Um, hate to tell you this Carrie, but those barrels don’t look like humans at all,” Chartreuse noted.

“Thank you Miss Literal,” Carrie countered. “Sheesh, why couldn’t we have magically learned a language that was less ambiguous than English?”

“Barrels of human origin, I understood you,” Luci said. “Moreover, that has to be the source of the ground acting like some wacky bioengineered sports drink.”

“Say, I think that’s a label out there,” Lee said, pointing. “Fell off a barrel. Anyone want to get close enough to read it?”

“Allow me," Clarke offered, pulling out his magic lacrosse stick and extending it into the clearing. He used the mesh to snare the paper and pull it back in to the group.

“Okay, um, it says… ‘Linquist’s Dribs and Drabs’,” Frank mused, after smoothing out the sheet. He looked up. “What’s a Linquist?”

“Whatever it is, it sounds really evil,” Luci decided.

“Look, guys… I really don’t think we should hang around here any longer,” Julie decided. “And when someone as fearless as me is saying that, I’d pay attention!”

“Much as I hate to admit it, Julie has a point," Corry chimed in. “After all, what if we’re exposing ourselves to the very source of the recent magical drain? We could be getting dumber and less powerful without realizing it.”

“Hold on a minute,” Carrie said, having again moved a short distance away. Her ears twitched in the air. “I’ve found a wide path back here and… do you hear that? There’s some sort of engine approaching.”

There was a pause as everyone listened for the noise.  Then Lee’s eyes went wide. “Truck!” the porcupine announced.

“Humans?” Laurie gasped.

“Scatter!” Clarke shouted.

The 4x4 backed carefully down the trail, up to the edge of the clearing, after which both driver and passenger exited the vehicle. The red haired driver turned to regard her companion, who kept his hat pulled down low over his eyes. “Hey, Shady,” she ventured as he climbed into the rear of the truck. “You SURE we should be dumping this stuff so close to our town?”

The man in the hat gave an irritated grunt as he undid the rope that was holding two new barrels in place. “It has to be here, Mindy,” he affirmed. “It’s the only way to deal with our little sentient animal problem.”

“Right. I know. But what we’re doing, it won’t harm anyone, right?” Mindy pressed.

“You say that like we’re blowing up a hospital or something,” Shady grumbled. “Trust me, all this glop will do is shut down a crazy ecosystem that should never have existed in the first place.” He threw the rope aside. “In a couple months, this whole area will be clear for more development, more businesses, more jobs, and better living conditions.” He pulled the top off of one barrel of green slime, and then kicked it out the back hatch of the truck. It fell into the edge of the bog.

“Ah. Good points, I guess…”

“Besides. Even if what we’re doing here comes to light, and people object, I’m reworking things so that Linquist takes the fall,” Shady added, his grin visible beneath his hat. “We have a bright future ahead of us, Mindy, mark my words!”

“Yes, well, I want to believe that,” Mindy sighed. “But then there are other times when I get to thinking about the animals, and I wonder…”

Shady cut Mindy off with a growl as he rolled the second barrel out the back. “First concern for humans, now animals?” he rasped. “For gosh sakes, Mindy, pick a damn side!”

“Can’t I be on both sides?” Mindy protested.

Shady mumbled something under his breath. “Look, I can guarantee to you that what we’re doing here is perfectly fine for the animals. Okay?!”

“Oh? And how can you do that?”

“Because I’ve been in contact with one of them sentient beasts for weeks now,” Shady said with a grin. “In fact, that’s the thing that assured me any so-called magical effects around here will dry up after another week or so of dumping. So don’t cry for the animals, Mindy. Because they want to be rid of their mistakenly acquired human-like sentience as much as we want it too!”

That said, Shady closed up the back of the truck and returned to the passenger seat. He only looked back out when he realized Mindy wasn’t following him. “Aw, what is it NOW?” he sighed.

Mindy blinked and shook her head. “Oh, sorry. It was the weirdest thing… but when you spoke of the animals that way, I could have sworn I heard a collective gasp coming from all around us.”

Shaking her head, she returned to the cabin of the truck, started the ignition, and drove away.

-Shady’s back! Kind of. Not really. Are you enjoying this? Care to vote for T&T, or otherwise let me know?

-Incidentally, at less than 1500 words and only 9 kB in a text file, this marks the shortest entry in the series… ever! Even Part 47 (Respite) was over 1500, and having completed edits on Book 4 last weekend, I can say all future parts are longer than this.

Previously: The time group fractured. Mindy used mental powers to get Hank Waterson to write a letter, warning his daughter Carrie about Glen.

PART 3.20a: WOODLANDS DETOUR 1

Hank closed his current document and reached into his desk drawer to pull out a small folder labeled ‘Woodland Creatures’. “Now, let’s see… I was superficially basing these new characters on Carrie and some of her classmates… I must remember to change the names later.” Hank half smiled as he browsed back over his character outlines, then began to write.

It was a bright sunny day, and Carrie was hopping merrily down the woodlands path, her long bunny ears jutting out cutely behind her.

“Did you want some barley to go with your hops?" chattered a nearby voice. Carrie turned to see a chipmunk watching her from a nearby tree stump. She immediately produced a huge croquet mallet from out of nowhere, using it to bonk Frank on the head.

“No rabbit puns!" the bunny girl accused.

“And stop watching Carrie!” came another voice, a smaller hammer coming down next to the mallet. “Remember, you’re dating me, not her.” Luci adjusted her skirt and twitched her long squirrel tail, after which both her and Carrie’s magical objects were dispelled back to the nothing from whence they came.

“I… I just thought Carrie might need some cheering up…” Frank protested, his eyes spinning around in a swirly pattern. “After last night’s date with Glen…”

“Hm. How DID that go?” Luci asked, scampering closer to Carrie. “Did you learn any more about him?"

“I still don’t trust him,” Frank protested. “I mean, Glen’s always wearing that mask…”

“He’s a raccoon,” Carrie reminded. She pulled out her mallet again for an over the shoulder shot, but this time Frank managed to produce his magical tennis racquet in time to block her. “There you go, much better reflexes that time,” the bunny applauded him.

“Your pendant seems to be glowing though," Luci mused, scampering left, right, over Carrie’s head and then under her arms to try and get a better look. “Is that normal? Should we analyze it?”

“It does make me feel all tingly,” Carrie admitted. “But this is a magical forest. One expects to have such tingles.”

“Does one? Because we’ve been feeling less and less of those," Luci reminded her, whiskers twitching. “It must be that the magic is fading, and we don’t know why.”

“Right, good point," Carrie sighed. “Soon the humans in that nearby settlement are going to see through the illusions, and start wondering why we wear clothes and have opposable thumbs on our paws.”

“Actually,” Frank piped up again, “we English-speaking clothes-wearing animals are the exception in this forest, not the norm. It’s more likely that we’ll simply lose the ability for higher thought, reverting back to being much more typical forest creatures."

“Yes, thank you for that uplifting reminder, Frank,” Carrie grumbled.

“He does make a point though,” Luci chattered. “If this magic fade keeps up, we may lose the ability to conjure our items, which makes us more vulnerable to… FOX!"

Luci made a jump for a nearby tree as Carrie spun, already whipping out her mallet. It’s handle connected solidly with a long pool cue, and Carrie grimaced with the effort of holding the solid length of wood at bay. “Why don’t you give this up already?” the bunny said through gritted teeth. “You’re never going to get me, Julie.”

“Just keeping you on your toes, much like how you do with Frank,” the fox replied, flashing a smile from behind the cue. “You don’t really think I’d eat a friend, do you?”

“I’d be more convinced if you’d stop licking your lips at the sight of me,” Carrie retorted.

“Aw. You know I can’t control my biology,” Julie said innocently. “Come on Carrie, have faith. This is only a test. Because here’s the thing, it feels to me like your parrying skills are slipping, and if I really wanted to, I could probably–"

Julie stopped speaking as, with a little flash, Carrie’s croquet mallet completely vanished. With a shout of surprise, Carrie jumped to the side, even as Julie executed a quick flip over her pool cue to land on her feet instead of her face.

“Hey!” Frank shouted in surprise. “You shouldn’t be able to counter her conjured item like that! Not that I’m complaining or anything,” he added, as Julie turned her gaze upon him. “And I’d get stuck in your throat, we know I would.”

With a shake of her head and a swish of her long red tail, Julie flipped her long wooden pole back into the null space from whence it had come. “I’m so misunderstood,” she lamented. “I’ve never so much as nibbled on a fellow sentient creature. I eat berries, grasses and fruit.”

“And insects, and fish, and mice…” Luci muttered.

“None of whom talk back to me. What, a fox girl can’t vary her diet from time to time?”

“Don’t change the subject," Frank protested. “What was with your dispelling of Carrie’s mallet??”

“Julie didn’t do that,” Carrie admitted, her bunny nose twitching. “It’s weird, I just… couldn’t hold it any more. You were right, Luci. This magic fading stuff is accelerating.”

“Or you’ve been playing around with your magic abilities too much, Carrie,” Julie retorted. She produced a nail file from the fur behind her ear and began using it on her claws. “It’s like I’ve always said. Only strike when it’s to your advantage to do so.”

“Still, in the year since we got these powers, none of us have ever really questioned where the source magic came from,” Frank chattered. “That now feels like a major oversight on our part.”

“Yeah, you never know what you’ve got until you start losing it,” Luci agreed. “But at this point, where would we even start looking for the source of our sentience power?”

The four animals exchanged uncertain glances. The silence was broken by a familiar voice came from overhead. “News, news, I’ve totally got news, you know!” Chartreuse called. “Calling all sentients, I’ve totally got… oh hey, there you guys are!”

“Oh good, a visit from our resident loon,” Julie said dryly.

Chartreuse dipped down lower, circling above the others as she spoke. “There’s news over at the lake!” the loon wailed. “Clarke’s found something that could be important, we should all, you know, get together and get over there ASAP! I’ve already notified Corry and Laurie and they…”

“What?!” Julie interrupted, jerking her head up. “Nuts!”

“Hm? Nuts?” Luci said, perking her head up.

“Chartreuse! I asked you to STOP telling Corry stuff before you tell me!” the fox girl shouted. Quickly discarding her nail file, Julie dropped to all fours and dashed off in the direction of the lake.

“Well, Corry was totally closer,” the loon said to Julie’s retreating form. “Now, hey, has anyone seen Glen?”

“He’s doing his nocturnal thing,” Carrie replied. “It’s okay, I can fill him in later. Come on, I’ll race everyone to the water’s edge!”

“Race? Oh, sure,” Frank mumbled as Carrie bounded off without waiting for a reply. “Except since the rabbit is always the fastest, what’s the point…”

At the mouth of the lake, the only sound was that of the river water splashing down over the rocks. A bear sat quietly on the bank, looking into the rushing current, apparently scanning for fish. He adjusted his silk shirt, cocked his head to the side… then quickly spun, producing a reinforced yardstick. “Don’t even try it.”

“Try what?” Julie inquired, standing up from where she had been crouched the grass. She brushed off her jeans.

“You know what,” Corry grumped, still pointing the yardstick at her. “You and that pool cue, you’re always searching for some balls to smack around. There will be none of that happening here!”

“Ugh, well what ELSE am I supposed to do with my stupid cue?" the fox sniffed. “At least YOU got a handy measuring tool.”

“Hmph,” the bear grunted noncommittally. He dispelled his stick and turned back to the water. “I still can’t believe how we predatory animals were somehow reduced to conjuring up little more than makeshift clubs. I mean, who decided that any potentially useful weapon could only be generated by the prey?”

“Fate?” Julie guessed, moving closer to Corry while still keeping a respectful distance. “Or, see it as a challenge. If we don’t have an actual mallet, we’re forced to think, which keeps our minds fresh."

“Mmm. Yeah, I guess. Still, if I had a human crossbow, I could take over your part of the forest in no time.”

“And if I had a human rifle, you’d be ousted from your area so fast it would make your head spin,” Julie smirked. “But since that’s not the case, we have to make the best of our situation. Like how your sister does.” Julie pointed past Corry towards the treeline. Laurie was now visible there, amusing herself by trying to balance her beachball on her nose.

Corry’s face took on a pained look. “I say again, you and your pool cue leave my sister and her artistic interests out of this! She may be more teddy bear than brown bear right now, but eventually she’ll realize how she’s capable of so much more.”

“Right. Last I heard she was catching fish by talking them to death.”

“Julie…” Corry began dangerously, but he stopped upon hearing another animal approaching from the forest. At almost the same time, a beaver broke the surface of the water nearby.

“Hey!” Clarke called out from the lake, shaking water from his head. “Everyone assembled yet?"

-Yes, we will get a few parts of this. Are you enjoying it? Do you think it’s a colossal misstep? Does the animal mapping at least feel accurate? You can always vote or comment.

Previously: Clarke is talking to his sister Mary about visiting people on Sunday. Carrie asserted to Clarke that she’d only work now with Glen - who has a mental power of suggestion.

PART 3.18b: MAKING THE ROUNDS 2

An innocent enough topic. Clarke had wondered, given how he and Julie had brought Lee up to speed on the time machine last night, whether Lee had been trying to verify any of their story. The dark haired teen stood up then, turning and coming face to face with Clarke.

“Whoa, high guy, sneaking up on us?” Lee said, lifting an eyebrow. “It’s just one accidental occurrence after another today, isn’t it?”

“I… guess so?” was all Clarke could think to answer.

“Well, unless you need me for my library skills too, I need to be on my way,” Lee continued. “Say hi to Julie for me!”

Lee made as if to continue past Clarke, but he stumbled, reaching out for the taller boy’s shoulder to regain his balance. As he did so, he muttered near Clarke’s ear, “Red Barren there doesn’t know I helped bring him to Julie’s. Please don’t let on.”

“Oh… right. Of course,” Clarke said. Lee simply flashed him a smile and a thumbs up before heading out of the cafe.

“He’s an interesting character,” Glen remarked, pulling Clarke’s attention back to him. “Not part of your little ‘group’, is he?” The redhead gestured at the recently vacated seat across from him. Clarke hesitated, then joined Glen himself.

“According to Carrie, there is no group,” he evaded.

“Ah! She’s spoken with you then? Good, good. You DO realize her decision was inevitable, yes?” Glen said apologetically. “She’s the one with the destiny, after all. The rest of you… yourself, Julie, Frank, Luci, Tim, Chartreuse… am I missing anyone?”

“And how would you know what role we might play?” Clarke replied, trying not to sound irritated.

Glen made a vague gesture in the air. “Didn’t Carrie say? I’m from the future, like Mindy was. I don’t mind telling you that, and I’m sure Julie’s figured it out by now - in fact I’ll have to make sure I don’t underestimate her, the way I did last night.”

“So you know the future, yet Julie was able to surprise you,” Clarke replied, shifting back to his manner of not quite asking a question.

“Mmmmm,” was Glen’s only reply as his fingers began drumming on the tabletop. “Fair point," he admitted. “The thing you have to understand about time is that, even though it resists universal change, individuals still have the free will to screw things up locally. I mean, let’s say Julie is slated to die in a month. Doesn’t mean I CAN’T save her then; time could compensate. But it wouldn’t be easy to accomplish. If we extend the analogy towards trying to prevent the outbreak of the temporal war and all the deaths that stemmed from that? It becomes downright impossible.”

Clarke clenched his jaw. “Glen, you speak of deaths as if you were talking about the weather.”

Glen paused. “You’re right, I’m sorry - that must seem incredibly callous. Forgive me, I’ve been a little… distracted these last couple days.”

“Worried about Mindy?”

“Carrie, actually,” the redhead countered. “More and more I’m discovering how she’s… different from the Carrie I expected. For instance, she actually fears the power that she has, rather than embraces it. I’m not sure how to change her attitude. Any ideas?”

“Can’t your powers change attitudes?” Clarke cut back before he could stop himself.

Glen ran a hand back through his hair. “Another point to you. But it’s not like I wander around using my mental abilities indiscriminately. Embracing one’s powers doesn’t mean abusing one’s powers.” He frowned. “As I suppose I did last night, so if an apology helps there, fine, you have it.”

Clarke nodded. “All right, I’m sorry too, for getting judgmental. But you know, cutting Carrie off from her friends isn’t going to help your cause.”

“I’m not trying to cut her off from her friends, merely your inexperienced time meddling!” Glen countered, slapping his palm on the table. “That’s the real danger here! Of course, the fact that Carrie apparently came close to banishing Frank from this time period last night probably isn’t helping her mood. I just… damn it, I just wish she was more like her future self!”

The tall blonde sat for a moment, gauging Glen’s sincerity. “You need to stop seeing her as Carrie, the girl destined to control time, and start seeing her as Carrie, the normal, everyday high school student,” he suggested at last. “Because right now, more than anything else, that’s how she wants to be seen.”

“Ridiculous! Others like Mindy may come, she can’t put her head in the sand and ignore that fact!”

Clarke didn’t reply. Throwing up his hands, Glen turned in his seat to regard the cafe itself. “Where’s my food, anyway?” he grumbled. “It’s been almost twenty minutes.”

As if on cue, Theresa came into view, dodging around a man in an overcoat. She set a cup of hot chocolate down in front of Clarke. “Here you go,” the waitress said to him with a smile. “I know you didn’t order it, but another customer changed their mind, and you seem to need it. It’s on me.”

“Oh, uh… thanks,” Clarke replied, blinking at the redhead in surprise.

She lifted an eyebrow back at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m still a perfectly normal waitress.” Theresa glanced at Glen. “As for you, I’m sure your club sandwich will be out shortly. Remember, patience is a virtue.”

She moved off again, leaving Glen to fume quietly in his seat. “How is it that I always get such lousy service in this place?” the redhead grumped, glancing from Clarke to the mug in front of him. “I mean, what do I have to do?!”

Clarke shrugged. “Dunno,” he answered, taking a quick sip. “Maybe you should tip more.”

Glen frowned. “Tip?”

“Oh, loverly. I’m getting the impression that this Glen is not a people person,” Mary remarked.

Clarke rolled over to lie on his front. “Not really,” her brother agreed. “I mean, he’s friendly enough, but he’s not above playing tricks in order to achieve his goals. And he sees this big picture, rather than the individuals involved in it.”

“Sounds a bit like how Julie used to be.”

Clarke fell silent for a moment. “Glen feels more dangerous,” he said at last. “But then again… maybe you’re right. Maybe Glen needs a friend like me to help him fit in a little better.”

“Well, I’d love to be right, but you’re still being cagey about these conversations,” Mary replied. “I mean, there’s a lot of reasons why Glen might have thought this ‘burden’ Carrie has is a good thing… including psychological problems on his part. Can’t you give me more detailed information?”

“It’s… complicated,” Clarke sighed. He couldn’t very well relay the parts of his conversations that were about time travel. “Besides, aren’t you just listening to me as a sister?”

“True enough. So, you were saying that you were on your way to Tim’s place?”

“Yeah,” Clarke affirmed. “And when I got there, I discovered Luci was with him.”

“C-Clarke! You’re here!” Tim said, looking up from a desk of notes and beaming at the tall boy as Clarke walked into the bedroom.

“Hi,” Clarke said, nodding at his friend. “I didn’t realize you already had company.”

“Well, after last night I decided we’d best figure out what the heck we shot Carrie with,” Luci noted. “And Tim’s the main translation man for Linquist’s notes.” The young girl gestured from the edge of the bed, where she sat with Linquist’s temporal gun, back towards the curly haired boy.

Clarke looked from Tim to Luci and back. “How much do you know about what’s going on then, Tim?”

Tim opened his mouth to reply, but again it was Luci who spoke first.  “I told Tim all the highlights,” she stated. “Time machine, Carrie’s funky powers, his memory loss from before the hospital… seemed only fair that he know at this point.”

Clarke frowned slightly. “I see. And… Tim, you’re okay with this?”

“Oh, sure, he’s managing fine,” Luci continued blithely. “Actually, we figure all this additional background info should help with the translating.”

“Luci, I asked Tim!” Clarke said sharply, turning again to look at her. She jerked her gaze up from the gun towards him, and inwardly he cursed himself for taking that tone. He didn’t seem to be having the best of luck with people today…

“It’s all right,” Tim said quickly, standing up and moving to place a hand on Clarke’s arm. “I am f-fine, her information really will help with the translating, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be any more involved than that.” He paused. “And knowing about this t-time group also explains why I hardly see you lately.”

Clarke flinched slightly, turning to look the shorter boy in the eyes. Had he not been hanging around Tim as much? He supposed that he HAD been paying more attention to Julie ever since the time machine factor had reappeared last month… and of course he’d wanted to speak with Carrie and Frank on occasion… but he had come by Tim’s house just last Monday. Or, no, had it been the previous Monday? For that matter, when was the last time he’d made a drugstore run for Tim’s medications?

“I… I’m sorry, Tim,” Clarke said as he realized the truth of the situation. “I never made a conscious decision to avoid you.”

“ANYway,” Luci cut back in pointedly, “you’re just in time. We’ve managed to recharge the gun, and were about to take a test shot. The thing’s non-lethal, by the way, that’s what Tim realized yesterday, hence shooting Carrie with everything we had. This time, we’re sure the safety’s engaged and the gun’s set back to level one, so we shouldn’t experience such massive kickback. Observe.”

She picked up the gun again and, bracing herself back against the wall behind the bed, took aim at a pillow sitting across the room on Tim’s dresser.

Clarke frowned. “Is it safe to be firing that thing off indoors?”

Tim nodded. “Oh, sure. Well, we’re p-pretty sure,” he amended. “I mean, near as I can figure, it’s now configured to be the equivalent of a sci fi phaser on low stun.”

“But if you’re not a hundred percent certain, perhaps we should–” Clarke never got a chance to complete his sentence. Luci had already pulled the trigger, and even before the sequence of lights on the gun was done flashing, a pulse of energy shot out of the barrel. The pillow on the dresser exploded in a cloud of feathers - and the glass in the mirror behind it shattered into a hundred pieces, all of them spiralling out into Tim’s bedroom.

-Next Episode: Shattered

-What do you think… Is Glen like Julie or not? Is Luci evading issues, like Frank was? Do you want to comment, or click the voting link?

Previously: When Mindy reappears, Glen and Carrie plan to banish her, while Julie and the others plan to capture her. Luci has discovered a “temporal gun” in Linquist’s safe.

PART 3.17b: BANISHMENT 2

“I d-don’t know yet! I can’t t-translate under these conditions!” came the reply.

“Steady on Tim,” Clarke soothed. “Here, I’ll hold the flashlight.”

Glen moved to intercept the four individuals. “Clarke!” he called out amiably. “Luci, Julie, Tim! Fancy meeting all of you here.”

“Glen?” Julie said. “Uh, didn’t Carrie tell you that this is an incredibly unsafe place to be right now??”

“Is it?” Glen said, blinking. “You should all be on your way somewhere else then.”

“Can’t,” Luci retorted. “We have some presents for Mindy, when she arrives here.”

“They can wait,” Glen insisted. “I really, REALLY think we should convince ourselves that it would be safer somewhere else.”

The four teenagers looked at each other. “G-Good enough for me,” Tim said, turning around.

“It does make sense,” Clarke agreed. “We should head home.”

“I’m not so sure,” Luci said, frowning. “Yet I’m thinking of a lot of places where I’d rather be.”

“No. No way. There’s nowhere else I would rather be right now,” Julie murmured, her body starting to shake. “Not after what I’ve caused.”

“Julie should bring you back to her place and serve some hot chocolate,” Glen continued calmly. “It’s getting cold out here and you’re all thirsty.”

“It IS cold,” Luci agreed.

“And I am thirsty,” Clarke added.

“Aren’t you guys coming?” Tim wondered, already three steps away.

“Why… what… why…" And Julie’s gaze focused in on Glen. “My God. YOU’RE ONE OF THEM!"

“Nap time, mind warper!” the brunette cried out, slipping under Glen’s arm and slapping the rag against his face.

“No!” Glen protested, trying to keep from breathing in. “I have to wake…” His knees buckled, his vision blurred. “…goddamit… uhn, C-Carrie, SWAN SONG!” His last cry delivered in little more than a speaking voice, Glen then fell unconscious.

Julie stared down at her unconscious adversary. “Okay,” she decided. “Weird choice of last words…”

“Uh, guys? Whatever Glen meant by that, it was loud enough to get someone’s attention,” Clarke said, raising a finger to point over Julie’s shoulder. Julie turned, in time to see the figure rising up from the ground in the vicinity of the swingset. The figure had long blonde hair flowing out behind her, and when she turned, her eyes were glowing gold in the darkness.

“You will be banished,” Carrie said, raising her finger to point at the group of them.

“Ohhh HELL!” Julie swore, eyes going wide.

Luci immediately reached into her jacket, yanking out the gun she had been concealing. Originally in multiple parts within the safe, it’s six inch long barrel had now been screwed into the base, which itself was comprised of numerous of dials and lights. The main one showing four settings. Fortunately, while it seemed to be an energy weapon, it was at least partially charged, and included a standard trigger.

“Tim?” Luci said, trying to keep her hand from shaking. “We need the stats on this sucker like NOW.”

Electricity began to spark at the end of Carrie’s fingertips as she strode forwards. Clarke grabbed Tim, and both of them backed off to the right, as Luci and Julie began to circle around slowly to the left. Carrie paused as they split up.

“Okay, Carrie,” Julie began. “Stay calm here. We’re your friends.” She saw the movement in Carrie’s elbow a split second before her hand came out, and only just managed to dive out of the way of the crackling energies the blonde fired at her.

“Tim?” Luci called out again. “I can’t simply start firing this thing at random, I may only have the one shot! Is there a setting I can use to merely knock Carrie out?”

“D-Don’t rush me!” the small boy called back. “I need a minute, Linquist’s short form never makes sense!”

“I hope you have a minute,” Luci mumbled before dodging in a little closer to Carrie. “Hey, hey, ignore Julie, look at me!” She then backpedalled furiously, even as Julie became aware of the sound of more running footsteps approaching.

However, while Carrie did begin to focus on Luci, the bright flash of light and the appearance of three more individuals about a metre in front of the blonde quickly had everyone’s attention.

“Oh, GEEZ!” Frank choked out, stumbling to his feet. Next to him, Corry and Mindy remained on the ground, unconscious.

“Frank, get DOWN!” Luci screamed out. “You’re spoiling my shot!!”

“Oh look, more people here I can banish,” Carrie said with a smile.

Julie saw a tall figure spring out of the encroaching darkness, slamming into Frank even as electricity lanced out from Carrie’s fingertips. Frank was knocked back off his feet, his head hitting a partially concealed rock as he fell… but with that, the crackling energies passed harmlessly by both him and his rescuer.

“Ohmigod,” Chartreuse breathed from the edge of the park. “Lee tackled him in time.” She then joined Frank in the land of unconsciousness, the additional weight on Laurie’s shoulders almost pulling the redhead to the ground as well.

As Chartreuse collapsed, a certain redhead sprang to her feet. “Everyone back off!” Mindy shouted, whipping a knife out of her pocket. And Julie realized that Mindy had only been faking unconsciousness, to allow Carrie to get close enough for an attack. Oh no, she had to get in there with the chloroform!

“Mindy! Stop!” Julie cried out. Not even thinking about how she’d managed to completely ignore the redhead’s implicit command to ‘back off’, while everyone else had taken a few steps back, she launched herself forwards.

But Mindy saw Julie coming out of the corner of her eye. She checked her swing at Carrie in favour of leaping out of the way, so Julie’s dive only resulted in her ending up back down on the ground.

“Good! Everyone stay down, out of my line of sight!” Luci yelled. “Tim? Setting for Carrie OR Mindy? TIM?!”

“Calm down!” came Clarke’s voice out of the encroaching darkness. “Everyone just calm…”

Mindy jumped in towards Carrie again, her knife raised. The two of them were almost face to face now, Mindy’s knife held in the air, inches away from Carrie’s chest… and Julie saw Mindy hesitate. “Dammit Carrie,” Mindy whispered. “I never wanted to hurt…”

The electrical discharge hit the redhead at point blank range. She barely even got a chance to scream before she had disappeared in a crackling of energies and the sound of a thunderclap. “One down,” the golden eyed Carrie said calmly. She turned to face Julie, who had been readying herself for another attack on Mindy, and Julie abruptly discovered what it was like to be a deer caught in a car’s headlights. Oh lord. Did chloroform work on a temporal weapon?

“Luci!” Tim called out. “Setting four, on Carrie!”

Luci cranked the indicator over and immediately pulled the trigger.  For a second it seemed like her actions would have no effect at all, but then a sequence of lights on the gun lit up and a pulse of energy flew out of the end of the barrel, striking Carrie in the side. The effect was immediate. The building energies in Carrie’s palm fizzled out, and the blonde crumpled to the ground, Julie seeing her eyes flicker back to blue as they shut.

Luci, however, was unaware of this, as Julie then realized that the recoil on the gun had propelled the shorter girl back a good ten metres, right into the trunk of a tree. She now lay slumped at its base, out cold.

At last, all was silence.

The quiet stretched on for what felt like an eternity to Julie, however it was really under a minute before there came the sound of Laurie’s tentative voice from the treeline: “Is… is it all over?”

Julie looked up from where she had crawled over to check Carrie’s pulse - the blonde had one. Which meant either Carrie was only knocked out, or her heart rate could still be read through that gun’s ‘temporal freezing’.

“I think it’s over,” Julie agreed, her voice shaking.

There was another moment of silence. “So,” Lee said, clearing his throat as he pushed himself up. “Uh, will you guys still be needing my help? For moving all of these unconscious bodies?”

Not very far away, though completely unaware of recent events, Hank Waterson sat at his writing desk. He stared at the page in front of him in irritation. “This letter has nothing whatsoever to do with my novel,” he muttered. “It doesn’t even make sense. Where did it come from?” He scanned down the words on the sheet once again:

‘Waterson.

‘If you read this, it’s been over two days since my arrival. I assume either my mission is failing, or I neglected to turn off the equivalent of a post hypnotic suggestion. Either way, no more beating about the brush:  Glen ‘Glinephanis’ Oaks may not be a time criminal, but neither is he whom he appears. He is not merely a trainer. He represents a junction point for the entire temporal war. Please, DO NOT TRUST HIM. I retroactively apologize in advance for whatever methods I may use, or may have used, to convince you of this.

‘Yours, Mindylenopia.’

“It must be some game of Carrie’s,” her father concluded. Except, if that was true, how could it be in his handwriting? He shook his head. “I guess I’ll show it to her once she gets back from the movies with Glen… and she’s NOT going to put off our little talk about responsibility any longer.”

That decision made, Hank set the sheet aside and turned his attention back to his novel. Trying to figure out what he could do to fracture his character dynamics even more.

-Next Episode: Making the Rounds (aka the fallout from this)

-We’re maxing out on character tags in this post, even Hank’s involved. Was the resolution with Frank at all what you expected? Feel like casting a vote or comment?

Previously: Luci and Tim were busy translating Linquist’s notes. Carrie threatened everyone, and went for training with Glen. There’s a plan to capture Mindy when she reappears.

PART 3.17a: BANISHMENT 1

Julie didn’t reply. He waited a moment, then approached, touching her shoulder. She flinched slightly but otherwise didn’t react, continuing to lean on her arm, resting against the bars of the cage they’d set up down in Linquist’s secret basement lab. By placing the enclosure within the alcove at the base of the passage from the upstairs washroom, they’d only had to weld a grate with a door over the wall.

“We’ve got less than two hours left,” he continued softly. “When did you want to head out?”

“As soon as I hide the key to this makeshift cell,” Julie murmured after a moment. “You should leave the room first. No one but me can know where it is.”

Her tone was flat and tired, as it had been so often when none of the others were around. “Jewels, we’re doing the right thing,” Clarke insisted.

“Are we?” Julie challenged, turning her head to look at him. “Carrie doesn’t seem to agree. We haven’t seen her since that night. And she’s returned my one call with a terse ‘Leave me alone’.”

“Meaning she hasn’t objected outright,” Clarke noted.

“Or that what we do no longer matters.” Julie pushed herself back from the bars. “Phil, she summed things up pretty well with her ‘do whatever the hell you want, just hands off the time machine’ attitude on Thursday. Which we’d better take seriously. Unless you’ve got a mace and flail handy.”

“This Mindy business has been stressing her out,” Clarke soothed.  “She’s on edge, saying things she doesn’t mean…”

“Oh no! She meant every word of that tirade. In case you didn’t notice, it was made… painfully clear.” She reached up to trace a hand across her cheek. “No, trust me Phil, somewhere in her mind there were bounds, and I overstepped them. Several times in that single day, in fact.”

“You only did what you felt you had to do,” Clarke said after Julie fell silent once again. “Give it a little time, let Frank talk to Carrie once things have settled down… Carrie will realize your intentions were good.”

“Were they? WERE they? Because in case you didn’t notice, Luci was bang on during her little rant too. In my haste to act, I made a right mess of things. Not only for Corry, Frank and Carrie, but indirectly for Luci, Laurie, Lee, even Joe and Tommy… hell, it’s starting to look like the only person who’ll come out of recent events completely unscathed is me.” She kicked at the iron grate. “But hell, isn’t that the way all my plans are supposed to work? With me on top?”

Julie strode over to lean against one of the lab benches. “Well, at least there’s one good thing that’s come of this. It’s taught me that I can’t be anyone’s follower. Since trying to ‘help’ has only served to awaken in me the desire to take firmer action. And doing THAT has put me in a position where I only know how to do what’s best for myself! So what’s left after all that?”

“Teamwork?” Clarke ventured.

Although he could no longer see her face, Clarke suspected Julie was grimacing. “I’m not like you, Phil. I’m no good at passing the basketball. In grade school, I was always the girl people wanted on the other team. For years, all I had driving me were my own selfish goals. Which weren’t even mine, in a way! I didn’t care who else got hurt, as long as I emerged victorious in the end.”

“You’re different now. Besides, it’s not like you can work for Mindy’s team instead of ours.”

A pause. “I suppose not.”

Clarke frowned. He’d been trying to make a joke. But something about her tone there bothered him. He wanted to follow up, but that’s when there came the sound of someone falling down the access chute. Clarke and Julie both turned in time to see Luci land awkwardly in the caged off section of the room. She immediately jumped up and grabbed onto the metal bars.

“Great! You’re still here,” Luci panted. “Tim’s upstairs waiting for me… let me out of this cage, we have to get into that safe of Linquist’s!”

“The SAFE?” Julie crossed her arms. “Luci, I’m not sure if you’ve been keeping up, but we’re preparing to chloroform and imprison a rather dangerous girl for questioning. Now is hardly the time for safe cracking.”

“You don’t understand. It’s not safe cracking. I know the combination,” Luci said breathlessly. “We found it in the same passage that stated ‘I have placed within my safe the gun for temporal freezing'. Well, either that or ‘gun for cool tempos’, but Tim’s pretty sure it’s the former.”

“Tim? Wait, why is he here?” Clarke asked.

“Uhhh, he’s kinda been helping me translate,” Luci said. “In fact, he’s still at it now, trying to fill in some rather key details.”

“So you never gave up looking at the logbook, huh?” Julie said dryly.

Luci sighed. “No, Julie, I didn’t. And yes, it’s the reason I was unreachable two days ago. You happy now? But listen, when Linquist was… was poking at me, he discovered that my DNA was ‘in temporal flux’. Which WE know was because of the time machine, even though he interpreted it to mean I was an alien. Remember?”

“Sure, you’ve told us,” Clarke agreed. “But how does his logbook help us here?”

“Simply put, if Linquist could correctly identify my premature aging as ‘temporal flux’, I figured he might also have some technology we could use as a viable temporal weapon! And so his gun for ‘temporal freezing’ might be able to freeze Mindy before she hurts Frank or Corry! THAT’S why I doubled down, spending the last thirty six hours trying to translate this particular passage of his book! With Tim’s help. So, uh, kinda had to tell him some of the time stuff to do this. Don’t be too mad.”

“Hold on,” Julie protested. “Are you saying Linquist made a gun that actually freezes time in some way?”

“I don’t know, you haven’t let me out to have a look at it yet,” Luci said impatiently. “Plus there’s the fact that Tim’s still working on the translation. However, even if Linquist IS lying through his teeth about this thing - and I wouldn’t put it past him - it can’t hurt to check, can it? If this Mindy is half as bad as she sounds, we may need all the help we can get.”

Clarke and Julie exchanged a glance. “Fair point,” Julie admitted, pulling the key back out and approaching the iron door. “After all, if there is some weapon that keeps Mindy from getting away, I might be able to avoid more wrath from Carrie.” She half smiled. “Also, it’s not like we can keep Luci in the same cage where we’re dumping the redhead, right?”

“You’re gonna try tapping into a vision? Again? So soon?” Laurie began to fidget as Chartreuse moved into the circle of crystals on the bedroom floor. “Can’t I talk you out of this?”

“No. I have to do this,” Chartreuse sighed. “Something’s totally up surrounding the return of this Mindy girl and Carrie won’t tell me what it is. She’s blocking me off, too busy doing who knows what with Glen. However, the closer we get to Mindy’s return, the more things feel like they’re, you know, coming into focus… so I should have, like, better luck now than I did yesterday.”

“When you were sick in the bathroom for over half an hour! And that was after seeing only shadows! This Mindy stuff, it’s not good for you!”

“But it’s important. And you helped me out then,” Chartreuse said with a weak smile. “So if I see something even more unsettling this time, I’m counting on you to, you know, help me again.”

“Well, duh,” Laurie said. “Even if I don’t want you to do it, helping is the least I can do after you’ve helped me out so much the last couple days. Not to mention everyone else, running interference what with covering for my brother and for Frank… golly, if this goes on any longer my parents are gonna FREAK. And I told them Corry’s okay! S-So you DO think he’s okay right?”

“Laurie dear, please stay calm,” Chartreuse pleaded as she closed her eyes. “There’s barely an hour left and I need positive alpha waves.”

Ten minutes later, Laurie was helping a woozy Chartreuse stumble over towards her phone, where she began a frantic search for Lee’s number.

“I’m not ready for this, Glen.”

“Yes, you are,” Glen assured her. Carrie continued to pace back and forth in the middle of Willowdale Park. It was dusk now, the sun had set five minutes ago. “Remember, I was originally going to have you do this the day Mindy first arrived.”

“Which was before you found out that my time travel was occurring with the help of a time machine! Before two days of near constant training barely managed to push a thumbtack out of the present, let alone alter the flow of time or wipe out a memory! Before the only attempt to access my inner demon resulted in me knocking myself unconscious before I could fully let go!” Carrie spun to face him, placing her hands on her hips. “You REALLY think I’m ready to face Mindy?!”

Glen ran a hand back through his hair. “Well, um, the important thing is that you believe you’re ready.”

“My point exactly.”

“Look, you’re closer than you think,” Glen insisted. “And we’ll keep on with your training once we’ve gotten through this crisis.”

“If I’m still alive,” Carrie retorted. “Which reminds me, you’d better damn well kill me if it looks like I’m about to blow up all of time. If you don’t, I’ll haunt you to hell and back in the afterlife. Assuming there even IS an afterlife after I destroy our whole solar system.”

“Oh, Carrie,” Glen said, reaching out to touch her shoulder. “I am sorry it has to be you. I really am.”

She shrugged him off and stepped away. “Stop touching me. Look, we’ve got somewhere between ten and twenty minutes before Mindy reappears. I’m going into that trace thing. You know what to do to rouse me. Or rather, other me. Keep an eye out for Julie and her crew too, I’m sure they’ll be here any moment. You know what to do with them as well.”

That said, Carrie plunked herself down in the grass by the empty swing set and closed her eyes. A little over eight minutes later, Glen heard the sound of approaching voices.

-This is SURE to go well… hm, gun for cool tempos, any thoughts?

Previously: Luci and Carrie independently decided to resume contact with Julie and the others. Glen told Carrie that she would return to him, and that she should destroy the time machine.

PART 3.16b: BLAME GAME 2

The young girl listened with half an ear as Chartreuse launched into an explanation of Julie’s plan. Internally, she wondered why the wealthy brunette hadn’t returned home yet. This all made no sense. What did they mean the car crash was related to a supposed visitor from another time?

I mean, sure, car accident, lockdown, but that had only been one of a number of things which Corry and the other student factions had done to each other that day. Right? RIGHT? So… so why did the three of them look so serious?

“Ok, whatever,” Luci said as Chartreuse finished. “Julie’s theories aside, have any of YOU seen this Mindy character??”

“I have,” Laurie piped up. “I was in the library when she arrived.”

“And did she look like she was some time traveler with mental powers?” Luci challenged.

“I… I don’t know. She had a gun with her. She ran after Carrie. I was scared.”

“Well… well…” Well, why didn’t someone tell me this sooner? That was what Luci wanted to say. Unfortunately, she already knew the answer was ‘we tried’, a response which she knew would only further aggravate her.

She really had become too obsessed with that log book. To the point of putting the rest of her life not merely on vibrate, but on total silent mode. As a result, Frank - and Laurie’s brother - had become stuck two days in the future. How could she have let this happen?!

“I’m back. Oh, good, you found Luci,” came Julie’s voice from the sitting room entrance.

“She arrived on her own,” Clarke noted, which was all anyone had time to say before Luci launched herself towards the new arrival.

“They went of their own volition,” Julie replied quietly.

It was her tone that brought Luci up short. She’d expected Julie to snap back at her, perhaps engage her in a shouting match - not reply in that soft, sad tone. As such, she offered no resistance as Julie pulled her sweater free from the shorter girl’s clutches.

“Now," the brunette continued, “I suggest we modify our plans in order to incorporate a smokescreen with respect to Frank and Corry’s location over the next forty six hours. They’ll be back on Saturday night, that much is certain.”

There was the briefest of pauses before Laurie Veniti broke down in tears. “This is all my fault, oh God I never should have suggested that stupid idea to you, I didn’t know enough, I should have kept my stupid mouth shut, why didn’t I realize this would happen, oh God I’m so stupid, stupid, stupid, oh God, oh Corry, oh Frank, oh Corry…."

“Laurie! Laurie!” Chartreuse said, hurrying over to grab the redhead in a hug. “This isn’t your fault! You hear me? It’s not anyone’s fault!” She rubbed Laurie’s back as her friend buried her face in the crook of Chartreuse’s neck. “All this means is that something totally freaky happens in a couple days that will, you know, prevent Frank and Corry from time traveling back to us. That’s it! They’re not dead or anything! They’re only, you know, potential hostages, maybe.”

“At least Mindy is out of the way for now, right?” Clarke noted, after casting a worried glance at Laurie himself.

Julie nodded. “Yeah. We learned as much from Lee, who said Mindy vanished in a flash of light. I was going to explain more to him, but he decided I’d been right. If he doesn’t know, he won’t have to lie about it later."

“Well peachy as all THAT sounds,” Luci cut back in, hoping to reassert herself, “exactly what did you mean by ‘modify the plan’, Julie? Seems to me it’s been shot all to hell. You have no more knowledge of this Mindy than you did BEFORE your unauthorized use of the time machine stranded our friends in the future!”

“Frank authorized it. And two days hardly qualifies as a stranding," Julie countered. A measure of her own assertiveness was creeping back into her tone. “And as far as capturing Mindy goes, we can still do that, as per the plan. We know that she’ll be arriving along with the machine in the vicinity of the park, we even know roughly when, we simply need a way to ensure that redhead stays knocked out once she arrives!”

“Oh, sure, piece of cake,” Luci fired back.

“Look, we’re not debating this any more!” Julie said, throwing her hands up into the air. “Okay, fine, so my track record today has been lousy. So Megan’s running the school and we don’t have the time machine. So what?? I’ve always been better at the long term game! I can do a lot in two days! At least I’ve been actively involving myself here! Where the hell have you been since lunchtime, Miss Lucille Isabella Primrose??”

For a moment, Luci wasn’t sure if she wanted to get right up into Julie’s face again, or simply break down like Laurie. Neither option felt palatable. So with the simple response of “None of your business”, Luci quickly spun on her heel to stare over at the wall. She tried to ignore the lump in her throat.

“Fine,” Julie sighed. “So I propose we do phone tag with the Dijoras and the Venitis. Say that Frank and Corry are staying here tonight for whatever reason. Laurie can stay too, to add credibility. Luci too, maybe. That buys us twelve hours.”

“Perhaps more than that,” Clarke put in. “They said school would be cancelled tomorrow. Structural reassessment. We can drop by to visit our lockers if we need something, but otherwise school is out until Monday.”

“Fine, good,” Julie repeated. “So, does anyone else want to bitch at me here?”

The only sound was that of Laurie’s quiet sniffles. Until, from down the hall, there came the loud crash of someone slamming open the mansion’s double doors. It was followed by the loud scream of “JULIE!”, in a voice easily recognizable, even from within the sitting room. Then, “Julie, why the HELL can’t I sense Frank Dijora anywhere in the present?!?”

The time travellers in the room exchanged glances. “Well, on the bright side, she’s no longer Mindy’s hostage!” Chartreuse offered up.

Carrie stomped up to her house, clenching and unclenching her fists. The last words she’d spoken at Julie’s house still ringing in her ears.

“If any of you interfere with the time streams again, I’ll banish you all to the middle ages!”

Yeah, that had quietened down the lot of them. She wondered fleetingly if it was really an idle threat. After all, maybe a day or two stuck in history would convince the others that they shouldn’t muck about with time travel until AFTER consulting with time’s “ultimate weapon”!

Carrie froze, her hand a short distance from the doorknob. Oh no, what was she even thinking?! After all, the conclusions Julie and the others had drawn had been accurate. And the idea itself had been a pretty good one. Honestly, THAT was what irked Carrie the most. If only she’d been there, working with them… but she hadn’t been. She’d been working with Glen instead.

And because of that, they had no time machine, and Carrie would HAVE to return to Glen, not only to learn about banishing Mindy, but about how to keep Frank and Corry safe, while making sure Mindy didn’t get her hands on the portable time machine permanently, and of course Laurie and Lee were ALSO back in the mix, confusing things…

Carrie looked down at her hand. She swallowed. She wasn’t sorry about slapping Julie across the face. And yet, she realized now that she’d derived no satisfaction from it.

The blonde teenager reached out again open her front door, but this time before her hand could touch the doorknob, the door was opening from the inside. “Carrie!” her father shouted. “Where have you been?? I have been worried sick!”

“I… I was out with Glen,” Carrie said truthfully. “Something came up at school, and we had to have a talk about it.”

“I’ll say something came up at school! It’s all over the news!” Hank Waterson retorted. “Your friends Frank and Julie called, not knowing where you were, and some female police officer in plainclothes came by indicating to me that you were one of the people this escaped lunatic was shouting about… Carrie, I’d started calling the hospital every fifteen minutes, asking them if any unidentified girls had been brought in!”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Dad…”

“You watch your mouth young lady!” he interrupted. “Now, I realize you want to be free to live your own life, and I’ve been trying hard to accommodate you in that respect… but on a day when the school library gets demolished by some girl who refers to you by name, you should at least give me the courtesy of a phone call!”

Carrie paused. Her father was interpreting her momentary outburst as ‘let me live my own life’ rather than ‘as if I didn’t have enough to deal with’ - which was probably for the best.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” she replied, switching gears. She tried to bring a few tears to her eyes and found they came with alarming ease. “I was scared, and I didn’t know what to do.”

“Oh, Carrie,” Hank sighed, softening his tone. He reached out to pull his daughter into an embrace. “I know we’ve had our differences, but I thought we’d reached an understanding. I want to be here for you. I want you to feel like you can tell me anything. The thought that I’ll receive another phone call like the one I had last year, it scares me to death.”

“I know,” Carrie murmured, instinctively reaching out to hug her father back. “I really am sorry. SO sorry. But honestly, there’s nothing I can tell you. I don’t know why Mi– that girl was after me today, so I just got scared and Glen happened to be nearby and I lost track of time.”

Her father led her inside the house. He pulled back slightly from the embrace, closing the door, and looking to meet her gaze. After a moment, he nodded. “All right then,” he said. “For now, I’m just happy to see that you’re okay. But we will have another talk about responsibility, mark my words. Now, take off your shoes and come into the kitchen. I’ve kept dinner warm.”

Carrie nodded, wiping her cheeks dry. It occurred to her then how much in character this was for her father of late - Glen must have been overreacting when he had said Mindy would influence her father and friends in some way. Unless this was all such a carefully engineered plot that even Carrie couldn’t see through it, in which case Mindy probably deserved to win.

However, deep down Carrie knew Glen was still dead right about one thing… in the end, she was the only one who could deal with Mindy. And so, she was going to have to sneak out tonight, and go back for training. Because she had less than two days to figure out how to release her temporal self… safely or otherwise.

-Next Episode: Banishment.

-Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to fellow Canadians! You may recall these episodes take place mid-October, in the week following that holiday. So this time next week, we’ll be temporally in synch - and caught up to Frank! Care to Vote? Or speculate in comments?

Previously: Glen told Carrie he’d show her how to banish Mindy. Luci and Tim worked on Linquist’s notes. Julie and the others sent Mindy, Frank and Corry two days into the future.

PART 3.16a: BLAME GAME 1

“They would want to be sure not to overlap with themselves after dropping Mindy off,” Julie responded. “We should give them a little more time.”

“But what if Mindy’s, you know, turned the tables on them in the future? Maybe she has two more people on her list of hostages!”

“Then we have forty seven hours to ensure that’s NOT what ends up happening! In the meantime, you can go home if you like, but I’m staying here a little longer!”

Chartreuse opened her mouth to reply, but then seemed to think better of it, and simply resumed her pacing. Julie folded her arms and looked up at the night sky. ‘Damn it,’ she thought. ‘Why haven’t they time traveled back? What went wrong with my plan??’

“This is perfect! Oh, Tim, you’re wonderful!” Luci exclaimed, scanning down the page of translated material. It looked a bit like she wanted to hug the sheet. Or maybe hug him. Tim edged his chair backwards. “Though I see a few corrections I can help you with… let me use your pencil?”

“L-Luci… I mean, yeah, fascinating language and all, but this scientist guy is also using some kind of short form notation, and his verb tenses are insane. We’ve got a good start on this. It’s been hours. Isn’t it time for a break?”

Luci gestured airily. “I’m not tired. Though if you want, I can take what we’ve done back to my place to keep working. I’ll just need to call you if I get stuck, if that’s all right?”

She seemed surprised when he pushed himself away from the writing table in his bedroom. “No. No, it’s not all right, Luci. I see now that you’ve been obsessing way too much over this! You m-may not feel tired, but you look it. Now, why aren’t you telling m-me the whole story?”

“Story? What story?”

“The one that explains how you only recently got something from Linquist, a guy who left town three years ago. The one that explains why you think that the word which occurs so often is ‘aliens’, not ‘bacteria’. The one that explains why you selected this particular passage about some ‘safe’ as being important, despite it being halfway in!”

“Oh. That story.”

Tim nodded. “Sometimes I get short of breath, but I’m not blind, you know. Tell me, Luci, why is it so important that we keep working, not only through lunch, but after school at my place, and now into supper??”

The young girl pursed her lips. “It’s personal.”

“Maybe, but I seem to be involved now.”

Luci frowned, considering. “All right. Linquist and I have a bit of a history together, that’s all. He… did some things to me. Things that might relate to something that Frank and a few others are working on now. I also suspect the guy’s not really gone, so I want to be ready if and when he comes back.”

“Right. Well, I d-don’t think he’ll turn up tonight,” Tim countered. “So let’s both take five. More, even. Because I won’t help you any more until I know you’ve eaten something.”

A smile flickered across Luci’s face. “That’s sweet Tim, but…”

“No! No but!” Tim interrupted. “Now, my mom offered supper to the both of us. I’m going to tell her that we’re ready to eat!”

Luci seemed to size him up. “All right,” she conceded. “All right. I suppose I should check back in with my parents too, seeing as it’s… oh, wow, it’s past eight…” She went for her backpack, but paused and turned back to add, “You know Tim, that assertiveness bit works well for you. Your voice gets melodic and you hardly stutter.”

He blinked. “I d-d-d-don’t?”

Shaking her head, Luci presumably searched for her phone as Tim back-pedalled out of the room. When he returned after talking to his mom, Luci almost run into him full tilt as she exited, looking frantic.

“I can’t stay,” she apologized. “Both Frank and Julie have been trying to reach me for a while, something’s up, I have to go, I… uhm…” She hesitated. “Can I leave our translations with you? You’ll keep them safe?”

“Uh, of course, b-but what…”

“Thanks. No time to explain, even assuming I understood it myself, but I promise I’ll tell you more when I can. Okay?”

Faced with Luci’s concerned expression, Tim found he could only nod in reply. He followed her to the front door. “Is there anything I can do to help? Did something bad happen to one of them?” he wondered.

Luci slipped on her shoes. “I hope not. I really, really hope not.”

“Problem! If I do that, something bad will happen.”

“Carrie, you’re being paranoid,” Glen assured. “Nothing bad will happen.”

She shook her head. “You weren’t here when I was planning on channeling the power of a bomb through my body and into the time streams!Hell, it took me up until last month to accept that balancing my powers was even possible. Now you’re asking me to simply surrender myself to this… this ultimate weapon force I’ve got?!”

“Not surrender,” Glen explained patiently. “It’s more like a… a time share. You regain control once your temporal self has accomplished the thing that we’ll be asking of it.”

Carrie stood up and began pacing around the floor of the largely empty warehouse. A place that Glen had apparently acquired after arriving in town, for ‘training purposes’. Because he was her trainer. Not her boyfriend. Oh no, having a relationship, that was something only normal people got to do.

“I don’t like it,” she said. “I’ve stuck with your last hour of meditative hocus-focus techniques because they seemed to make some sort of sense. But switching that on… no, I can’t! It’s WAY beyond anything I’ve attempted with Chartreuse!!”

“I’m not Chartreuse,” Glen pointed out. “Carrie, if we want to deal with Mindy, this is the only way. We must send her to another year, and wipe her memories, ensuring that she can’t return. Doing that requires your temporal self.”

Carrie clenched and unclenched her fists, opening her mouth to make a retort - when she realized something. She turned towards the storage bay doors. “Something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, when you said Mindy, I checked my mind, and something is… right. Which is wrong!”

“Carrie, sorry, but you’re losing me.”

The blonde teenager shook her head, feeling her long hair brushing about her shoulders. “It’s… look, for the last year, I’ve been living with this dull ache in my head. It only gets bad when people talk serious temporal paradox, or unauthorized temporal incursions occur. Hence a bit of mental strain in the school library earlier, when my brain wanted to explode out of my skull.”

“Yes, that’s your temporal sense,” Glen affirmed. “The future you never talked much about it, except to request an acetaminophen equivalent.”

“Fine. So, Mindy’s incursion was bad at first, but it eventually ebbed back to a point where I could block the pain, using something Chartreuse taught me. Yet now that extra pain is… gone. Like, I’ve been blocking nothing.” She frowned. “Maybe Mindy time traveled somewhen else?”

Glen shook his head. “You’re the only one who can initiate time travel at will. The rest of us need you, or some form of technology.”

“Yes, fine, so what if she had a time machine?”

“Impossible,” Glen asserted. “She would have had to bring along a portable version, and very few of those were ever made. Besides, if Mindy COULD jump about in time at will that way, I believe even she would have been employing a more reserved approach.”

“Well, all right… but supposing she got her hands on my time machine then,” Carrie countered.

Glen’s body tensed up. He swallowed. “You… you mean you still have a time machine? As in, a portable one?”

Carrie nodded. “Left to me by the Mundane benefactor who awakened my powers. I assumed you knew. How else could I have been travelling in time?”

“Using your own power!” Glen started to look almost scared. “Wait, you mean you haven’t accessed your temporal self at ALL? Any time trips you take are only by scrying, or using technology?!”

“Obviously! Why else would I be so sure something bad will happen if I ‘time share’?!”

“But it’s been almost a year! What on Earth have you been doing?”

“Freaking the hell out! Like any normal person would!”

“Oh, Carrie. Oh no.” He walked up to her, and grabbed her by the arm. She wished he would stop doing that. “No wonder your head’s been aching! Promise me that you will destroy your time machine at once - it’s more dangerous to this timeline than Mindy ever was!”

“Moot point if Mindy’s got it,” Carrie retorted. She pulled her arm free again. “Enough is enough. I’m calling Frank. He can check on the status of our machine.”

He made a grab for her shoulder, and she dodged. “Carrie, you must NOT contact your friends,” the redhead insisted. “With both Mindy AND a time machine loose in this era it’s even more important that we train you to handle…”

“Glen,” Carrie interrupted, opting to shift from a loud rage to a quiet one. “I care for you. I do, and I’m glad of your help. But if you don’t let me talk to my friends RIGHT FRIGGING NOW, you are going to picking your teeth up off the floor.”

Glen let his outstretched arm fall back to his side. “I could stop you. Mental abilities, you know.”

Carrie shook her head, and called his bluff. “You won’t use them on me.”

In the staring contest that followed, Glen dropped his gaze to the floor. “You’re right,” he admitted. “You’re the one person we can’t risk altering directly, Carrie. Not now that your abilities are active. Mindy knows it too, I’m sure that’s why she wasn’t more ‘persuasive’ with you when she spoke.”

He turned away. “So, fine, call your friends. Check on your machine - and ideally, destroy it. Because no one in this era can be allowed to time travel, except you. I’ll wait here. You’ll be back, once you’ve realized that I’m your only chance against Mindy. All I ask is that you don’t reveal this location to anyone. Her spies could be everywhere.”

“Obviously,” Carrie responded. She stared at Glen for another minute, trying to figure out if there was some way she could offer up a form of stern apology, but ultimately left without saying another word. Best that she not phone from the place that they didn’t want to be found.

Yes, we’re catching up to Frank the “slow” way. There was a clip of “Coming Soon” pieces featured at the end of Sunday’s commentary. Do people read those? Alternatively, any further thoughts on ‘banishment’?

Previously: Mindy visited Mr. Waterson. The temporal teenager group are plotting to capture Mindy, using the time machine. Meanwhile, Carrie tries to understand timeline theory with Glen.

PART 3.15b: FRAGMENTED PLANS 2

Carrie dropped her head down onto the table. This was really bugging her. Not because it didn’t make sense, rather because it did, and yet she felt like it shouldn’t. “Okay, fine. You also said there’s a faction within the Temporals who disagree with our - their - policies, which is the reason the Mundane we call Shady was able to get a time machine and come back to activate my powers in the first place.”

“Starting our timeline three,” Glen agreed.

“Mindy is ALSO a part of this faction, and she came here to finish the job that ‘Shady’, her future blow-up-the-hospital friend started. Which potentially starts timeline FOUR. Which is what we now need to prevent.”

“There you go, you’ve got it!” Glen agreed.

Carrie sat for a moment. “It’s LUNACY," she decided. “Can’t I give Frank a call? He’s a lot better at following this time-space junk.”

Glen reached out to grab Carrie’s arm before she could retrieve her book bag. “No phone calls. I meant that, Carrie. Not to Frank, not to your father, not to anyone. We don’t know how many people Mindy has compromised.” He smiled. “Don’t worry. No one is better at wrestling with temporal mechanics than you."

Carrie pulled her arm free of his grasp. She tugged hard on a strand of her hair. “Come on, Glen, you really think my own FATHER is going to give me up to Mindy? I mean, he’s probably so worried, after what happened at school!” Glen said nothing, merely shifting his weight back and forth uneasily in his seat. “Fine then, I’m calling.” She reached for her bag again.

“Oh, of course,” Carrie sighed. “Everyone who wants me dead HAS to have THOSE.” But she felt too weary, too mentally drained to continue with an argument, so she gave up on her book bag in favour of looking expectantly at Glen.

“If she chooses, Mindy’s voice can make people do things they might otherwise be unwilling to do," Glen explained. “And being an actual Temporal, she’s damn good at it. Better than this Mundane you previously encountered. Granted, the power works best on adults, or on people who are emotionally vulnerable, but, given access, Mindy could eventually convince even the President of the United States that he was a rodeo clown.”

Carrie felt a chill run through her. “Glen? Your description feels very personal. Something in your tone tells me you’ve got an inside track on this mental ability too."

Glen smiled wryly. “Can’t put anything by you, hm? You’re right, Carrie. How else do you think I managed to set myself up here so quickly? Obtain all the required school documents? Deflect questions as to where my parents have been for over a month? I can do it too, if I choose.”

“Fine,” Carrie said. “Then you use your mental powers to go and deal with Mindy. I’ll be home, in my bedroom, drawing up a new cheerleading routine.” She moved to rise, only to have him reach out and take her arm again.

“I’m sorry, Carrie,” Glen said. “It doesn’t work like that. Even setting aside that I’ve only used my mental power very sparingly here in the past, me and Mindy, we’d be locked in a stalemate. The only one who can deal with the temporal threat right now is you.” His grip tightened. “Mindy needs to be banished from this time period. It’s okay, I’ll show you how to do it.”

“Why? Why ME!?” Carrie protested, banging her free hand down onto the table. “I’m just a girl! All right? A senior student trying to juggle her offbeat social life with her studies! I never asked for these temporal powers!”

“No,” Glen agreed. “You didn’t. You were born into them. But remember timeline one? Without these powers, you wouldn’t have been born at all.”

Carrie bit down hard on her lower lip. She felt like screaming. Or throwing something, hitting someone, lashing out at whatever future forces were conspiring to make her present a living hell.

But there was no one to attack. Even if fate were some sort of living entity, Carrie doubted it could be punched in the face. No, the truth was, Carrie had been born - when she never should have existed. With no powers, there was no Carrie. Simple logic.

As such, there was only one outlet currently available upon whom Carrie could vent her frustrations. The person who had smashed up their school library in an effort to start timeline four.

She sank back down into the booth. For a few moments, she remained with her elbows on the table, her blonde hair clenched in her fists, staring down at the pathetic looking strawberry chunks floating in what remained of her shake. Her decision, when she made it, was the only one that could make sense.

“What?” Glen asked. “I couldn’t hear you.”

“I said,” Carrie repeated, still barely above a whisper, “Tell me what I have to do to banish Mindy.”

She felt tired. So very, very tired.

“I must admit, I still don’t get why you two need me,” Lee said. Julie had sent Chartreuse to corner their classmate after his shift was up at the library, getting him to come to Willowdale Park. Where he was now standing, giving them a puzzled look.

“I swear, we’ll explain everything,” Julie assured. “But for right now? It might be better that you don’t understand. That way, if something goes wrong, you’ll have deniability.”

“You do understand the plan?” Chartreuse asked.

“Well, yeah. I lure this Mindy girl over to that place in the ravine where Corry and Frank are hiding. By pretending that Corry is Glen, given the similar hair. Pretty straightforward. You sure this Mindy will show?”

“Pretty sure,” Julie sighed. “I mean, I called Glen’s room at the Clayton and left a message on his answering service for her. It makes sense that she’d be monitoring. But remember, Lee… if Mindy pulls her gun on you, or does ANYTHING to make you think she’s dangerous - or even inexplicably friendly - we abort. Your safety is paramount.”

“Cut and run, yeah,” Lee agreed. “No problem there.”

Julie grimaced, starting to have second thoughts. After all, what if Mindy saw through the facade before Frank and Corry could link up with her and use the time machine? Was dusk enough to mask what was going on, or should they have waited longer? What if Mindy hurt somebody? Was using Lee even necessary, or just mere paranoia?

All objections voiced by the others, all objections Julie had countered in her drive to make sure they disposed of this Mindy girl. But, Julie wondered, was she truly acting out of concern for Glen, Carrie and everyone else? Or, as she had done earlier in the day, was she doing it more in the hopes of regaining some of her former glory? Or worse, of being the one who was in control, when faced with a person so similar to the man who had manipulated her in the past?

Julie hated when she started questioning her motivations. She no longer liked what she found. However, she had at least been up front with everyone this time. That is… almost everyone.

“Look, Lee, this really could be dangerous,” Julie said, speaking before she could think about it. “Mindy has these… okay, know what? Never mind. I’ll talk to Mindy instead of you. Sorry to bring you all the way out here for nothing. You should go.”

“Hey, if you went to the trouble of getting me involved, I’m sure you had a reason,” Lee countered. “Besides, I’m good at dodging. Plus I really do feel indebted to you and Carrie and everyone for finding Sing’s necklace. It meant a lot to her - just as this seems to mean a lot to you guys.”

“But…”

“Too late now anyway,” Lee said. “I wager that approaching shadow is your Mindy.”

Julie spun to see where Lee was looking, then with a curse, flattened herself down onto the ground and rolled under the evergreen shrub, next to where Chartreuse was already hiding.

Lee moved away from Julie’s position, towards the person that, Julie had to agree, looked like Mindy. It occurred to her now that they could be playing real havoc with the timeline - would Carrie double over in pain somewhere as soon as the time machine was activated? Why the hell wasn’t she answering their messages?!

Well, Clarke and Laurie were out looking for her. As well as looking for Luci, and even Glen. What more could they do? After all, it wasn’t Julie’s fault that time girl had gone AWOL. Or been kidnapped. Maybe tortured. Julie grit her teeth. She would fix this. She would.

She felt a hand reach out for her own, and she squeezed Chartreuse’s palm back in response. Not certain which of them was reassuring the other.

Frank resisted the urge to pop the top of the time machine open, to check the controls for the umpteenth time. He knew they had been set correctly. The coin was in, the only thing left to do was pull the handle. Which he would do as soon as Corry reached out and grabbed hold of Mindy.

Julie had made it all sound so terribly easy… as she had with her plan in the computer lab before lunch. Of course, that train of thought took him to Luci. Where HAD she disappeared to after that class? If she was upset with him, why hadn’t she at least called someone else?

“Hold tight, we’re up,” Corry muttered. Frank felt his heart rate increase as the sound of Lee’s voice reached their ears. He gripped Corry’s ankle even tighter.

“Yeah, well, as I say, Glen’s always bugged me,” their dark haired friend was saying. “So when I heard you wanted him, I decided to ambush him and tie him up in the woods for you. I’m getting decent pay for this, right?”

“I’m skeptical!” Mindy retorted. “He’s sneakier than you’re making him out to be.”

“Well, check it out, he’s gagged back there behind that tree,” Lee continued. “See the red hair?”

Frank heard Mindy take a step closer. Then another. Then… “Hey, that’s not–”

“NOW!” Corry shouted, making a dive for Mindy’s leg. Without even thinking about it, Frank yanked down on the time machine’s lever with his free hand.

He felt the usual effects of the time distortion, dimly aware of the fact that he’d kept hold of Corry’s foot. Then he was forty eight hours in the future. Back in the park. With Carrie Waterson standing no more than a metre away, her blonde hair trailing out behind her in waves, her eyes glowing a brilliant gold.

“Oh, GEEZ!” he choked out, letting go of the time machine and stumbling to his feet. Some sort of electricity sparked at Carrie’s fingertips. It helped him make out the forms of Corry and Mindy, unconscious on the ground - and that of Glen Oaks, who was also lying on the ground nearby.

“Frank, get DOWN!” Luci screamed from somewhere behind him in the dark. “You’re spoiling my shot!!”

“Oh look, more people here I can banish,” Carrie said with a smile. Electricity lanced out from her fingertips, Frank was knocked back off his feet, and everything faded to black…

Cliffhanger! Theories? New Commentary coming this Sunday, including a preview. Voting remains a weekly option.

Previously: Luci discovered Linquist’s logbook was in another language. Someone named “Mindy” crashed a van into the school library and chased after Carrie, claiming Glen was a temporal fugitive.

PART 3.14b: THE CONSPIRACY UNFOLDS 2

“Frank ran to the office to keep tabs on things there,” Clarke continued doggedly, “And there was an announcement that all students are get into a classroom and remain there until further notice. We need to comply, to avoid calling attention to ourselves.”

Julie clenched her jaw, but based on the van driver’s expression, she realized that she had probably obtained as much information as she could from him. “Okay. But listen, we’ll need to convene a meeting of all time travellers ASAP,” she asserted, moving around the van. And coming face to face with Corry.

“A meeting which will include me, I presume?" the redhead said.

“Not today," Julie said, trying to dodge past him.

“Hold on!” Corry countered, moving to block her. “With something of this magnitude? I could cause even more damage by being out of the loop. Besides, if I’m not aware of whatever time travel stuff you and your friends have been unleashing, how can we be expected to effectively run the school together, partner?”

Invoking the partnership caught Julie off guard. She was tempted to point out how Megan was really the one in charge now, only to have a small voice interject, “T-Time travel?” from behind the adjacent reference shelving unit. Everyone spun as Laurie Veniti poked her head out.

“Laurie!” Julie said. “I told you to stay back, out of sight!”

“Hold on,” Clarke interrupted, raising his hand. He’d noticed the school librarian hang up his phone, and Mr. Price was now heading towards them. “We really need to table this discussion for later.”

The halls were deserted. Hunt had apparently managed to evacuate the school during the hour Carrie had spent in the auditorium. Good. At least, Carrie assumed the building had been evacuated – she supposed some people might still be managing a silent lockdown inside the classrooms. But there were no police officers roaming the halls like she might have otherwise expected, and the level of ache in her head implied the massive changes were done with - for now. She decided to risk visiting her locker.

She found the note inside. It was unsigned, but Carrie knew who it had come from, given the handwriting. ‘Suggest you don’t go home.’ it read. ‘Meet behind park, at ravine. Will explain.’

“Yes, I think you’d better explain,” Carrie murmured. “Who is this sister of yours, this Mindy-onomatopoeia? Are you really some fugitive from the future? Or are you merely from a time traveling family that you elected not to tell me about, GLEN??”

She crumpled the note in her hand before grabbing her coat and bookbag and slamming her locker door shut. She felt confused, frustrated, and even a little scared. “Goddamn time travel,” the blonde cheerleader concluded, striding to the nearest hallway door and kicking at the crash bar with her heel to open it. “Why can’t I have a normal life?”

Moments after Carrie’s departure, a nearby door clicked open and a young asian girl poked her head out. She glanced up and down the vacant hallway before closing the door again. “I think we’re in the clear, Tim,” Luci whispered. “That noise had to be the last people evacuating. My guess is that no one expected people to duck into the yearbook room. That’s why no one came to get us.”

The blonde boy shifted uncertainly from his position under the table. “You think?” he asked. “I mean, that lockdown can’t have been a drill, not with people sending messages about a car crash and a gun. Maybe we should stay a bit longer? After all, we’ve sent something to our parents to tell them we’re okay, and it’s not like we’ve got nothing to do…” He gestured at the notebook open on the floor.

Luci grinned. “I’m glad you find Linquist’s language as fascinating as I do. But you said you had some reference books at home - so if the coast IS clear? We could make better headway there. It would probably put your parents more at ease too.”

Tim considered, then nodded, gathering up the pages of notes he and Luci had been making since lunchtime that day. Shortly after, Linquist’s logbook in hand, the young girl followed Tim out of the room.

Carrie paced back and forth at the tree line of the park, glancing in mounting annoyance at her watch. “An hour,” she muttered. “On top of the time it took to get to the note, so where the hell…” She paused as she caught sight of someone motioning to her down in the ravine. Stomping a little closer, she was able to recognize Glen’s coat, so she hurried down to meet him. Finally.

“Don’t you shush me!” Carrie said, noticing that Glen had a finger pressed up to his lips. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, buddy!” Nevertheless, she did keep her voice down.

Glen simply sighed, leading Carrie back deeper amid the tree trunks before speaking. “Is it true then?” he asked. “Was the person who crashed the van into the school looking for me?”

“She wasn’t only looking for you,” Carrie shot back, “this ‘Mindy’ girl waved a gun around and went out of her way to tell me you were a fugitive from the future. What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

Glen looked genuinely shocked. “Mindy? It was Mindylenopia? Oh, I’m so sorry, Carrie. I had hoped to have a little more time before explaining the nature of my mission, but if she’s forcing my hand…”

“Mission?!” Carrie felt a cold hand grabbing at her heart. Somehow, she’d still held out hope that this was all some sort of cosmic misunderstanding. That Glen would be as confused as her about the situation. No such luck. “You mean you really ARE from the future?”

“If you are indeed the ultimate temporal weapon.”

Carrie took a step back, stumbled on a root, and fell to the ground. “Oh God. Oh God, y-you knew about… the whole time?! B-But… does this mean you’ve never cared about me as a p-person?!?” Insanely, that felt like the thing which mattered the most. “I mean, on that first date, when you said you’d be honest with me, and that you merely sensed some extraordinary ability - was it all lies to get close to this weapon that I’m supposed to become?!”

“Oh, Carrie, no,” Glen said, kneeling down beside her. “I do care about you. And that is how I felt about you at first… about future you. The reason I never said anything to you about your destiny was because, well, your friend Chartreuse seemed to be providing you with something of a power basis. And there was no reason for me to start your training right away.”

“You were… sent back to train me?” Within her spinning thoughts, something clicked. “Of course. The reason you didn’t trip my headache that day in the drama room, out of time - is because you were somehow already a time anomaly. That’s also why, whenever I centred on you in a vision, my senses inevitably pulled me forwards into the future… because that’s where you originated.”

Which was what had also led her to see Mindy, that time at the dance. Her jaw clenched at the memory. “But if you’ve come back for me, who’s this Mindy? Is your sister an agent for the other side??”

“Actually, if this is the Mindylenopia I know, she’s an agent from our side gone bad,” Glen explained ruefully. “And she’s not my sister. For the record, Temporals don’t use ‘last names’ - those imply a certain ancestry. I’m more properly known as Glinephanis. I selected the name Glen Oaks shortly after my arrival in your time. It was the name of some memorial gardens in a nearby town. She must have learned of my name at the hotel here, then given herself a similar last name, to play with your mind.”

Carrie wished the pounding in her temples would cease. It wasn’t a temporal headache any more, but it was almost as bad. “So… the Chronologic Patrol?”

Glen frowned. “Chrono what? Carrie, there is no such thing.”

“Oh gawwwwwwwwwd,” Carrie moaned, lowering her head down to between her legs. “I can’t take this. Not now. I was all set to have a nice, relaxing evening… instead, I’ve got a girl from the future trying to kill a trainer I didn’t even know I had, and possibly me as well! Assuming you’re not lying, being some fugitive yourself, out to kill me in my sleep!”

“I assure you, I’m here to help,” Glen said. “Is there anything you’d like me to do to prove my sincerity?”

“Yes! No… I don’t know!” Carrie said, grabbing two fistfuls of her hair. “How could you even… wait, yes! If you really came from the future, you must have a time machine! Tell me, where is it?”

Glen stood back up. “I didn’t come here via a time machine, Carrie.”

“No? If not, how in hell could you end up in my present?!”

He smiled. “Carrie… you sent me here. Your future self did. Using your abilities.”

Mindylenopia forced herself to stop and take in a few deep breaths before approaching the house. She had to stop rushing things - she’d made it back. The hard part was over. There was more time now, time to work carefully, time to be cunning. Time to control the people she was talking to with more finesse.

Time to come up with a better cover story.

She wasn’t used to having that time. In retrospect, her improvised crashing of the van had done little aside from paint a target on her back. But for all she’d known, “Glen Oaks” had already recruited past-Carrie as his personal temporal guardian! She’d had to gamble that while at school, they wouldn’t be together. Hadn’t she?

Well, they were probably together by now.

Mindy continued her advance towards the house. Having time or not, after a half hour of observation here, with no sign of either Glen or Carrie, she had to DO something. “This world better appreciate what I’m going through for them,” Mindy muttered as she adjusted the zipper on the jacket she’d ‘borrowed’.

She rang the bell. An older man answered the door and looked down at her. “Yes?” Hank Waterson said tentatively. Mindy simply smiled.

[caption id=“attachment_1164” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”] Drove past here almost every day on my way to work in 2001-02. While writing.[/caption]

Hopefully you’re enjoying this. Maybe even enough for the weekly vote? Or better yet, some sort of remark? Views are actually down since publishing twice per week. Bad form?

Previously: Chartreuse has a thing for Carrie since the school dance. Luci couldn’t crack Linquist’s code. The principal is worried about the school factions.

PART 3.12b: POWER STRUGGLE 2

Pursing her lips, Carrie reviewed what had been written so far.

‘C, think there is trouble. Can we use powers to help? J.’

To which she had scribbled, ‘Am not a magic wand! Define trouble. C.’

Response, ‘Person plotting. Need info on future. Please? J.’

‘Reservations. Anything I see seems unchangeable. C.’

‘Exception this once, maybe? J.’

‘DOES. NOT. WORK. THAT. WAY.’

‘Sorry, C. Maybe use machine instead? J.’

‘Discussion over.’

And then the last line: ‘PLEASE, C? Need a friend here. J.’

Carrie shifted her attention over towards Julie’s desk. To the casual observer, Julie appeared to be engrossed in her note taking - but Carrie noticed a certain rigidity in her posture. Then, even as she watched, Julie glanced her way and fired off a quick look of desperation. Carrie immediately turned away, back to her own english notes.

‘Need a friend here'. A friend. The words floated through her head, causing Carrie to hold her pencil a little tighter. WAS this a friendly request? Or was Julie trying to use Carrie for her abilities?

Julie should get the benefit of the doubt. Yes, once again, Julie wasn’t the issue. Carrie’s own temporal powers were the real hang up here, like always. She HAD to get over that.

Mrs. Haye started into the last set of examples. Carrie knew that if she was going to send a reply, she had to do it now, before the class started back into a discussion of that boring Shakespearean play. Letting out a quick breath of air, she dashed off one final line: ‘Help me corner Pinkie after class. We’ll talk. C.’ This way, if Julie couldn’t figure out that Pinkie referred to Chartreuse, well, that was her own damn fault.

Julie hustled both Chartreuse and Carrie into the nearby custodial supply closet right after English class. “Okay, uh, what’s this, like, about?" Chartreuse wondered.

“I’m not positive myself,” Carrie admitted. “But Julie seems to think she’s in some sort of trouble today.”

“No, not think, now I’m sure I am,” Julie told them. “Because the more I’ve considered it, the more the timing fits. Particularly given Corry’s overly complacent attitude since the dance. He’s become a target, and while I’m indirectly involved, I haven’t been keeping myself in the loop at school. So I need more information.”

“You know, I did sense some kind of destructive force when I was walking by the library this morning,” Chartreuse agreed. “But I thought it was, like, aftereffects of the bran muffin I ate this morning.”

“Look, Julie, if you’re hoping to stop the future - you don’t want my help,” Carrie said, placing her hands on her hips. “We haven’t done much experimenting that way yet, but thus far, anything I’ve seen? It’s happened. Cafe fire, Tim at the dance, and at a recent session, the grade on my history report. In fact, if we try to change things? We could end up causing the event ourselves."

Julie couldn’t hold back an exasperated sigh. “But Carrie, I can’t simply sit back and allow Corry–”

“Which is why I suggested Chartreuse here,” the blonde interrupted. “Her more ambiguous impressions would be of greater use.”

The pink haired girl blinked back at Carrie. “What? But those need meditation, or direct contact. Besides, you don’t need to look into the future here, you’ve been getting wicked accurate at, you know, pegging what people are doing in the present! You could simply centre yourself in the school and, like, see if anything looks out of whack.”

“Well gee Chartreuse, I could, but I neglected to memorize where every molecule of the building is supposed to be in the river of time.”

“You don’t need to be so specific. If we–”

“Okay, know what?” Julie broke in again. “We don’t have time for this. Classes resume soon. Carrie, Corry’s probably still at his locker - couldn’t you take ten seconds to see if there’s anything obvious around power trip boy that he’s missing? And Chartreuse, when she does that, is there some way you could interface to pick up your impressions second hand?”

The two girls exchanged a glance. “I have kinda wondered about interfacing with you,” Chartreuse whispered. “We came close to something back at the dance! It’s just, since then there never seemed to, you know, be a real good way to, um, suggest it?” She swallowed.

Carrie ran her fingers back through her hair. “Yeah, look, I don’t think a janitor’s closet is the best place for our first interface.”

Chartreuse’s hopeful look crashed into sadness. And there it was again, the same thing Julie had noticed on their time trip into the past. Something about Chartreuse’s reactions to Carrie’s indifference seemed… personal. Almost like unrequited… no, seriously? Julie made a mental note to see if anyone else had noticed.

“Carrie, please,” Julie insisted. “If… if my suspicions aren’t verified here and now, I swear I won’t bother either of you for the rest of the day! At least try, okay? For me, if not for Corry?”

Chartreuse canted her head to the side. “Wow Julie! Are you begging us to do this for you?”

Julie cast her a withering glance. “I’m requesting. Don’t exaggerate my case, Pinkie Pie.” She assumed Carrie’s nickname had been a reference to that show.

“All right,” Carrie cut in quickly. “All right, Julie. We’ll try. But whether it works or not, no more about this today! That’s the deal.”

Julie nodded. “You have my word.”

Chartreuse extended her hands, and after a nod, Carrie took them. Julie watched as both girls closed their eyes. She shifted her weight back and forth uneasily as ten seconds passed, then twenty, then forty. Finally, after just over a minute, Chartreuse snatched one hand away from Carrie’s with a gasp and looked down at it. A couple of seconds later, Carrie reopened her eyes.

“Wow,” Carrie murmured, frowning. “Julie, my apologies. You were right. Someone’s after Corry today.”

“What is it then?” Julie pressed. “What did you see Joe Drew doing?”

“I… wait, Joe?” Carrie protested. “The guy I got a bead on was Tommy Kvish.”

“No, no, the impressions I had were of Megan Falls!” Chartreuse protested, looking back up from her palm. The three girls stared at each other for another long moment in the supply closet, blinking in confusion.

“Well, damn,” Julie said to break the silence.

“M-M-Mr. Burke?” Tim stammered. “My computer won’t boot.”

The computer science teacher approached the blonde boy’s workstation and flipped the power switch himself a couple of times. “Yup, you’re right,” he affirmed. “I’ll notify the school tech. Paul’s away today, so use his computer, over by Luci.”

Luci glanced up briefly as her name was mentioned before returning her attention to the notebook in front of her. Her notebook, filled with the strings of Linquist’s letters that refused to make sense, no matter how she played with them. If only she could let go… but she couldn’t. At least she’d been able to reign her emotions back in last weekend, before everyone had returned from their time trip. Otherwise it would have been pretty embarrassing.

“Hey Luci, what’re you up to?” Frank asked.

As he sat down on her right, the young girl quickly slipped her notebook out of her lap and around to the far side of the computer. She couldn’t admit to her boyfriend that she had become as obsessed with Linquist’s book as he seemed to have become with Glen. “Nothing much,” she said, smiling. “Random coding thought.” It wasn’t a total lie.

The bell rang for class to begin. “Now remember,” Mr. Burke stated, “today is another work period, but the printouts of your assignments are due on my desk by end of day tomorrow. If you finish early, try the bonus question. I’ll continue to circulate for help as needed.”

Luci listened to the teacher with half an ear as she pulled up her coding folder on the desktop. She started doing a bit of debugging, but her heart wasn’t in it, and soon her eyes had wandered back to the open notebook on her left. As focused as she was on the contents, it took a minute or so before she realized that Tim was staring over at the notebook too. “What??” she demanded.

Tim flushed red and turned back to his computer. “N-N-Nothing,” he stammered in reply. “D-Didn’t know you were studying some derivative of l-latin."

“I’m not," Luci snapped back. “It’s… wait, this looks like latin?!”

Tim looked back up at her, then again down at the notebook. He frowned, then shrugged. “Okay, no… it did at first, a bit… but this is a language I don’t recognize.”

Luci barely heard him, eyes riveted back on the page. The characters began to swim before her eyes. A language. A language. It wasn’t shorthand. It wasn’t a cipher to be decoded. No, Linquist had gone and developed his own damn LANGUAGE! She didn’t need a better code breaker. She needed a linguistics expert.

“Tim,” Luci croaked, her mouth dry. “You’re taking a latin course, right?”

“Y-Yeah," he admitted. “Why?"

Luci tore her eyes away from her notebook long enough to meet his gaze. “Are you busy today at lunch?" she breathed. In fact, Luci was so shocked by this latest development that she didn’t even notice Julie’s messages to Frank on his computer.

This is the conclusion of the part from last Tuesday! Click PREVIOUS if you missed it. Click VOTE FOR T&T if you’re willing to, er, vote.

3.11: SEE KINGS

The redhead raised an eyebrow at her. “Pretty fast rehearsal, given how you and Frank were in the cafeteria with Luci not five minutes ago. Besides Carrie, aren’t you the only other one here taking drama? And wasn’t Chartreuse absent this morning?”

“Yes, she’s quite ill,” Carrie agreed, swiftly changing tactics. “Yet apparently she still wanted to come in to try out this extra credit play for English class. We saw her in the room unconscious, so we’re leaving now to bring her to the nurse’s office.”

“I see,” Glen said. “Well, don’t let me hold you up then. Though moving through the hallway after the bell is liable to, well, be a major headache. Might I suggest you pop through the back door access to the stage? Where there’s less congestion?"

Carrie exchanged a quick glance with her time traveling classmates. “Makes sense,” Frank admitted grudgingly. He moved to grab the time machine, which he had fortunately decided to conceal under a blanket. He made sure Glen didn’t spot it.

“What major headache are you referring to there?” Julie demanded.

Glen shrugged. “Lots of people shouting and moving about as they get to class?”

Carrie saw Julie peer closer at the redhead, but his expression remained neutral. As Clarke had already retrieved Chartreuse and was heading for the back door access, along with Frank and the blanket, Julie fell into step behind them.

“Right then, thanks Glen!” Carrie called out as she brought up the rear. “And we’re still on for, ah, this Friday, right?”

“I don’t get it,” Frank said. “We’ve been sitting in this pizza parlour for almost an hour now, yet you haven’t sensed us being here as causing any sort of temporal change. Not even when other customers came in. Why in the school hallway, but not here?”

“Yeah, I’ve been wondering about that myself,” Carrie admitted as she toyed with her pop can. The two of them had taken up positions on the stools by the window of the establishment. It was only a block away from the middle school they’d once attended. A very light rain was falling; they both knew it wouldn’t last.

“I think it has to do with the fact that we’re now playing a very passive role in our own history,” she decided. “Not crossing our paths as we did at school, or planning to blow up buildings that we know still exist in our present, or anything like that. Of course, if my father chances to stop by here, that could all change. So don’t let your guard down.”

“I won’t,” Frank retorted. “Though I will remind you that it was your idea to be out in public this way.”

Carrie gestured vaguely. “I was thirsty. Besides, we’d likely attract more unwanted attention by hiding out in the bushes - in here, we blend in.” She took a sip of her drink. “We can head out when the rain stops. Supposedly Soh’s necklace was lost after school.”

“Thing is, had me and Clarke proposed coming in here to buy something, you would have shot down that plan,” Frank pointed out.

Carrie glared. “You making any kind of point there?”

“Merely that we should probably get a better idea of what sets off your headaches, and what doesn’t.”

With effort, Carrie quashed the snarky response that came to her head. Because he had a point, damn it. “Yeah, but no,” she said, looking back out the window. “We will not be playing guess and check with my head. Me staying sane, it’s kind of in all our best interests.”

“I didn’t mean provoking a headache. Not really,” he clarified. “Thing is, not every trip into the past has resulted in changes to time. Remember Luci’s trip last year, going back to when she started high school? That fulfilled a destiny instead. So is it equally possible that we were always destined to come back to this pizza place and order something?”

She reflected on that. “It’s possible,” Carrie granted. “It’s also possible that we weren’t always destined to do it, but that once we arrived in the past, and once I’d dealt with the initial headache… that’s when this event became inevitable. There’s really no way to know. All I can say for sure is that the me in this time frame never experienced a problem.”

“Which is it’s own issue,” Frank continued. “Since you carried on a conversation with Glen that you hadn’t been previously aware of. Why didn’t HE give either of you a headache?”

Carrie’s grip tightened on her soda can. “Glen was one person. Unlike the four students in the hall.”

“But he’s closer to you than those freshmen were.”

“Not really.”

“No? You even said you were going out with him again on Friday.”

She smacked the can on the counter, then turned back to face him. “Fine, yeah, on Friday we DID see each other. It’s when Glen told me about Lee’s focus problem. What, is the issue of me dating Glen the real point you’re making here?!”

Frank raised his palms up. “Whoa, what? No. Defensive much?”

“No! Yes. Shut up,” Carrie said, warring with her emotions. He’d touched a nerve there, and they both knew it.

Frank hesitated at her gaze, but pressed on. “Listen Carrie, people from the future are after you. And after a month, Glen is still living all alone in a hotel. We’ve seen no sign of his parents, we know so little about his past, and sometimes he makes those cryptic remarks, like about the headache. It seems at least plausible that he’s trying to–”

“Frank, if Glen were from the future, acting to change our present around us, I’d feel it,” Carrie fired back, pointing at her temples.

“Would you?”

Her hand fell back to her side. Her gaze drifted back towards the window. “I… I want to believe I would. But fine. You could be right. Maybe I have the blinders on because I want to experience a normal relationship. But worrying that I can potentially wipe us all out of existence, it takes a toll, okay?” She took in a deep breath. “Glen makes me happy. And I think I’m allowed to feel that way! Or was I absent the day you and Luci bought the monopoly on touchy feely goodness?”

From the corner of her eye, she saw Frank flinch. Then he turned away too. “No, you really weren’t,” he said. “Seeing as she’s spent more time in the past two weeks with that book of Linquist’s than she has with me. I’ve tried what I can to break through, which works for a time, but she always ends up back in her room, trying to break that infernal code. I think maybe I was too inattentive towards her over the summer. We’ve been drifting apart, and now I’m not sure what to do.”

“Oh. Uh, that’s… too bad.” Great, now she felt bad for bringing up relationships at all. Carrie downed the rest of her pop, to avoid having to speak. Outside, the rain stopped falling.

“Headaches aside,” she said at last. “Corry has the right idea. If Glen has a secret, I won’t learn it by distancing myself. Besides, if it’s my destiny to make my own past life miserable, so be it.” Before Frank could say anything back, Carrie jumped off her stool. “Come on then, let’s find a good place to scout out the school grounds before their classes get out.”

Clarke looked up as Julie entered the secret room beneath the LaMille mansion. “Anything happening upstairs?” he inquired.

“Random dusting. Neither Jeeves nor Mimi will notice the smelling salts are missing.” The brunette knelt down next to Clarke and the unconscious pink-haired girl on the floor. “Any change with her?”

“Nope,” the tall blonde admitted. “So let’s hope this will wake her up.” Taking the vial from Julie, he opened it and began to wave it back and forth in front of Chartreuse’s face. “Still nothing,” he murmured after a moment. “Baffling! She really doesn’t seem hurt. There’s nothing stronger than this around your place, is there Jewels?”

Clarke turned to look back at Julie, only to find that her attention had been diverted. “Jewels!” he repeated, clearing his throat purposefully for good measure.

The brunette slowly turned away from the black box on the floor. The one Frank had handed over to them when they’d parted ways. “I… I wasn’t going to do anything to it,” she said quietly. “I don’t even know how to program it yet, not really.”

“That’s good,” Clarke remarked. “Since that sort of betrayal would likely cut you off from the few friends you have left.”

Julie frowned. “You say friends, yet I got the sense that Carrie wouldn’t have left that thing with us today if you hadn’t been here to keep an eye on it.”

Clarke reached out to touch Julie’s shoulder. “Can you really blame her?” he responded softly.

Julie clenched her hands into fists for a moment. “No,” she granted. “I meant what I said to everyone though. I want to start helping, to try and get past my first memories of time travel.”

“And I’m sure the others will see that. You’re on this trip already, right?”

Julie nodded - even as her gaze drifted back towards the time machine. “Still… to think that we have the means right there to affect our own pasts… it’s incredible, isn’t it Phil? I mean, it would be so easy to just drop back a week or two… to stop Sue from acting the way she did at the dance…”

“Jewels!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t,” Julie said quickly. “Really I wouldn’t, not without consulting with Carrie. But I can’t help thinking it, can I? That’s the way my mind works! Devious as ever, right?” She finally turned her back on the machine, firing off a weak smile. “At least now, I’m trying to use my powers for good?”

Clarke frowned, about make a reply when there came a groan from the floor. Both teenagers turned quickly to regard their pink haired companion. She had apparently come to her senses enough to bring a hand to her forehead and begin mumbling to herself. Being the closer of the two, Clarke leaned in to try and hear what she was saying.

“What? What is it?” Julie inquired after a moment.

Clarke looked up at her in confusion. “Something about Carrie tracking ‘like, the wrong sister’.”

Faye grabbed her things and hurried out of the high school as fast as she could. It was partly to ensure that she wouldn’t have to talk to anyone, seeing as she’d only screw up any conversation she was in. But also because today, she was supposed to see that her younger sisters got home safely. A task which had been a lot easier last year, when their schools were closer together.

She HAD pointed this out to their mother. For all the good it did – mom never listened to her. Faye considered dragging her feet to prove the point, but she cared too much about her siblings. Plus Lee had offered to do it in her stead, and her brother had enough on his plate already. She had said she would do it, so she would do it right.

Faye headed for the middle school to get Sing first. After all, Soh would have better adult supervision until she got there, not to mention more awareness of her surroundings. “If Sing’s reading in the library again instead of waiting outside, I’m gonna smack her upside the head,” Faye muttered.

However, as she approached, Faye saw her sister waiting in the proper place. Still reading, mind. Then to her chagrin, she saw a boy come out of the school and grab Sing’s book away from her. Faye broke into a run.

“G-Gary? Give that back!” Sing cried out in protest.

“Nyah, make me,” Gary taunted. Sing made a grab for her book, but he held it just out of her reach and laughed. “Poor Singsong, can’t read no more now! Whatcha gonna do?”

Sing glared, then bent her knees slightly and jumped, managing to grab hold of her book with both hands. She yanked it back down towards herself.

Caught off guard, Gary wasn’t able to pull the volume away from Sing again until she had almost managed to clasp it to her chest. As a result, his subsequent jerk refused to dislodge the tome, and instead completely pulled her off balance. The two of them stumbled back, falling into the dirt, which was wet from the recent rain. They began to roll around, wrestling for control of Sing’s precious book. A teacher standing in the area hurried to break things up; Faye got there first.

“All right dumbass, what the hell are you doing to my sister?!” Faye shouted, grabbing Gary by the scruff of his jacket and yanking him up.

The grade schooler’s eyes opened wide at the sight of Faye’s angry gaze. “N-N-Nothin',” he stammered. “J-J-Jes playin'.” He realized belatedly that he was still holding Sing’s book, and he quickly tossed it back into the lap of the long haired girl, who was now lying in the mud. Sing didn’t even notice at first; she was trying to wipe off her glasses.

Faye’s eyes narrowed. “If I hear my sister complaining about you again, the only game you’ll be playing will be find the missing teeth, capiche?”

Gary nodded wordlessly, beating a hasty retreat as soon as Faye released her hold on him. The older sibling then turned to look at her sister. “You okay, Sing?”

“I think so. I… ohhh, my book’s all dirty now!” Sing said sadly, holding it up by one corner.

Faye rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you’re fine. And I got that detective story you wanted from Azure today, you can read that instead.” She reached down to help her sister back to her feet.

“Ooh, really? The one Lee couldn’t find in the library??”

“The same. Now come on, let’s report this incident to Mr. Inactivity over there.” With Sing on her feet, Faye motioned at the teacher who had stopped his approach in favour of eyeing the situation warily.

“Walkie-talkies, we should equip ourselves with walkie-talkies,” Julie muttered. She peered out her bedroom window - it was nearing the time when Carrie and Frank were due to return. “It worked in ‘Back to the Future’, and that way we won’t have this whole don’t-call-me-we’ll-call-you mess with cell phone duplicates on the communication grid.”

Chartreuse had finally come completely to her senses about fifteen minutes ago. Yet by the time she’d explained to Julie and Clarke about how she’d been experiencing a vision of Lee comforting a brunette called ‘Sing’ not a blonde called ‘Soh’, it had really been too late to do anything about Carrie’s mistake. On the bright side, Chartreuse had been able to provide them with the reason she’d been knocked out for so long.

“It was, like, my brain couldn’t quite cope with the time strain,” Chartreuse had explained. “It’s normally attuned to the future, so when our past became this future instead, my mind had to, you know, completely reorient myself. It was real weird! I was kind of aware of you guys, but couldn’t physically do anything. But hey, at least I’ve been able to, like, independently verify Glen’s story about Lee’s inattentiveness?”

Julie wondered whether Carrie would want to time jump again, to earlier in the day, to track the proper King sister. Part of her hoped that would be the case, yet Julie wasn’t sure if that desire was due to humanitarian reasons, merely to make another time jump, or if there was some thirst for information gathering reasserting itself.

A hand waved up at her from the sidewalk. Julie recognized it as belonging to Carrie and waved back. She then crept back downstairs and to the back door, quietly letting both Carrie and Frank into the mansion. “Jeeves is still reading in the sitting room,” she whispered. “And Mimi left. We can use the pantry access rather than the bathroom chute.”

The others nodded, and Julie led them back through the kitchen, towards the third access point for Linquist’s hidden laboratory. She’d discovered it while exploring the opposite end of the darkened passage, the direction that didn’t lead to the china cabinet.

Kneeling down on the floor of the pantry, Julie reached around behind the cans of tuna to press the knothole that opened the piece of wall paneling. It swung out, and the three teenagers crawled down into the corridor, following the sloped passage down until they reached the secret room where Clarke and Chartreuse were waiting for them.

“So?” Clarke asked, standing up as they entered.

“So, success,” Frank said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small necklace with a couple of charms dangling off of it.

“Wait, what?” Julie asked.

“But, that’s, like, totally impossible!” Chartreuse gasped. “I mean, I was sure that from what I half heard you say in the school, you’d be following the wrong person!”

“Wrong person, right school,” Carrie affirmed. “Hey, glad to see that you’re up and about again!”

Chartreuse smiled sadly. “Yeah, but I doubt I’ll be able to time travel with you any more. It seems to mess with my head.”

“Oh?” Carrie frowned. “That’s a problem. Unless I can interrupt your present self while I’m out of my time - which, no, is it’s own problem. Why, how long until you regained consciousness?”

“Less than an hour ago,” Clarke offered. “And even then only with smelling salts.” Carrie’s frown became a grimace.

“But seriously, how did you two manage to get the necklace if it wasn’t Soh’s?" Julie demanded, looking to Frank.

“Lucky break,” he answered, placing the piece of jewellery onto the lab table. “Even though we were looking for a blonde at the school, our attention was drawn to a fight – broken up by Faye. It clicked for me that she was Lee’s oldest sister, and we put the pieces together that she had been defending another sibling. It then occurred to Carrie that the fight could have caused the brunette girl’s necklace to fall apart.”

“So me and Frank did a quick search, and managed to turn it up in the mud before it could get buried or cut down by a lawnmower or anything,” Carrie concluded. She pointed at the object. “Looks like the catch is loose and it simply slipped off. Bad luck and poor workmanship more than anything deliberate.”

“Well, good! I’m glad we could do something for Lee,” Clarke said. “We should return it to him and his family as soon as we’re back in the present - does anyone have his address?”

Everyone exchanged glances. Then shrugs. “This is embarrassing for me,” Julie admitted. “Former Information Queen of the school, and yet I don’t know the address of someone on student council.”

“Wait, Lee’s on the council?!” Frank asked.

Julie nodded. “Yeah. Heading the committees who do publicity stuff for assemblies and dances. They also put up the posters to keep people recycling. Not a high profile job, but he prefers it that way. We can phone him though, I’ve got his number.”

“The more I think about it, the more I’m realizing how much Lee distances himself from people, even while staying in plain sight,” Clarke observed. “He has nicknames for everybody, doesn’t he?”

“Truth,” Julie affirmed, folding her arms across her chest. “Maybe we should reach out to him? Pull him into our group? He was immune to future guy’s mental control, after all. Could be useful.”

“No!” Everyone turned to look at Carrie. She swallowed. “That is, he obviously has other things to worry about, like his family and Corry’s band. And we don’t him to think we’re using him, on account of that mental thing. For now, let’s keep our group the size it is, okay?” She attempted a smile, before picking up the necklace and pocketing it.

Julie saw Chartreuse reach out to touch Carrie, then think better of it, and simply lean in instead. “Carrie, it’s not like Lee’s gonna hate you for what happened last year, you know,” the pink haired girl murmured. “I mean, you told me about it, and I don’t hate you. In fact, I… I think maybe I REALLY don’t hate you? If you know what I mean?”

Carrie barely looked at the other girl. “Not now Chartreuse, please.”

Chartreuse shrank back. “Right.” And Julie found her gaze flicking back and forth between Chartreuse and Carrie, spotting the signs of an issue there. An issue of… no. She had to be misinterpreting that.

“Carrie, want to help me reset this thing for the trip back?” Frank offered, having popped open the time machine. The blonde nodded, crouching down next to him.

Chartreuse turned to face Julie instead, and managing to sound as chipper as ever, remarked, “Well, go figure on how something as simple as a necklace can, you know, affect an entire family’s emotional well being so drastically, huh?”

Julie smiled back wryly. “Yeah. But know what? You’d be surprised what the simple tearing of a piece of paper can do to a family under the right circumstances.”

“Let’s not think about such things,” Clarke said quickly. “After all, it’s not like anyone in our group is facing that sort of tenuous situation right now. Okay?”

Their trip back to the present was uneventful, although once again, Chartreuse ended up unconscious for a couple of hours afterwards. Yet there was one event that the time travellers never became aware of.

Ten minutes before their arrival, the young asian girl down in the basement of the LaMille mansion had realized her coding plans were coming up empty. Prompting the teenager to let out a scream of frustration, hurl the red book she was holding into a corner of the room, and collapse onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

• The site is now 2 years old! And starting next week, posts will be half as long and twice as frequent. See the Commentary this Sunday for the reasoning.
• That was the end of ARC 2 in Book 3. Unrelated, I got another 2016 nickel today. Coin total is now 8.
• Consider the usual Vote for T&T; four votes usually keeps us on the bottom of the TWF Fantasy Page, and I still get the occasional referral from there.

3.10: HELP WANTED

Lee jerked his gaze over towards Ms. Readman. “And I heard every word,” he assured her. “Unfortunately, my brain interpreted it as Spanish. Could you run it by me again?” A student sitting nearby let out a quiet laugh.

“Perspective drawing, Lee,” the art teacher said patiently, moving closer and indicating his empty page. “Are you having trouble understanding the assignment?”

“No, no, not at all,” Lee replied quickly. “Just spaced out for a moment, some things on my mind. I’ll get right to this.”

“Thank you, Lee, that would be appreciated,” Ms. Readman said wryly.  “Though do let me know if you’re having problems with your perspective?”

Lee nodded and watched his teacher continue her walk around the room. Letting out an almost inaudible sigh, he retrieved his ruler and began to mark down the requisite lines. A short distance away, Glen Oaks observed his classmate, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Like, ohmigod!” Chartreuse breathed. “This is, you know, so totally cool! And Jeeves doesn’t even know about this place??”

“Obviously not,” Carrie said.

“Chartreuse, could you keep moving? We’re stuck in the passage,” Frank remarked.

“I’m still trying to tidy up and catalog the last of the stuff left in here," Julie remarked. “But I haven’t been able to open that safe.”

“Maybe we should blast the thing open,” Luci suggested. She dropped her bag onto the lab table and then attempted to boost herself up as well, succeeding with a hand from Frank. “After all,” she continued, “it could contain information about this infernal code Linquist’s set up.”

Frank watched as Luci pulled out the scientist’s red logbook, along with her laptop and a number of notes she’d been accumulating. “I really wish you hadn’t brought that,” he admitted. “You’re becoming more than obsessed. Even your cat is starting to give you weird looks.”

“It’s all right, I know I’m close to a breakthrough now,” Luci assured him. “I’ve coded up a program to run an entire substitution cipher on what seem to be the key passages. In fact, by the time you return from your time trip, I bet I’ll have it all worked out.”

“That could be in as little as five minutes,” Frank objected.

“Or as much as an hour if we don’t get going soon,” Carrie countered. “Now, shall we go back over the plan?” She looked around the room expectantly.

“Seemed pretty clear to me,” Julie spoke up. “We go back into last week, watch for where Lee’s younger sister lost her necklace, and retrieve it for her. Thereby fixing up the King family situation in time for Thanksgiving dinner tonight, which will help restore Lee’s focus in class next week.”

“Oh, and I know Lee will appreciate it!” Chartreuse chimed in, clasping her hands together. “After all, if we don’t fix it soon, I think he’ll be spacing out for WEEKS, right through until American Thanksgiving!”

“How did you figure out that his sister’s necklace was the problem anyway, Carrie?” Clarke wondered.

“Glen told me,” the blonde admitted. “Apparently he overheard Lee telling Tim about it after one of Corry’s band rehearsals.”

Frank crossed his arms. “Yeah, hey, anyone else suspicious about how fast Corry let Glen take over as Sue’s replacement there?” he wondered.

Julie shook her head. “Not really. Corry’s been looking for an angle on the guy for a while,” she reminded. “By keeping Glen close, he can start to observe that much better.”

“Back to the plan, please,” Carrie objected. “I’m already concerned about multiple people time tripping with me, so I’d appreciate our heading out before I lose my nerve.”

“Carrie, it isn’t too late to change your mind,” Frank offered. “You could try doing one of your – what do you call them? – mental time searches into the past instead.”

Carrie waved him off. “No, I really can’t. Even setting aside the fact that I haven’t had time to get comfortable with that aspect of my power, I’ve never met Lee’s younger sisters. So I wouldn’t know how to centre on them in the first place.”

“Even so, you don’t have to actually participate in the trip. You could leave it up to the rest of us,” Clarke offered.

Again Carrie shook her head. “If we’re dedicated to the trip, I’m coming along. That way, if anything goes wrong, any headaches will hopefully centre first on the me who is out of time synch.”

“It’s all right Carrie, I’ll, you know, be there to monitor your condition,” Chartreuse assured her. She reached out towards Carrie’s hand, second guessed her own intentions, then entwined the fingers of both hands together instead.

“Meanwhile, I’ll stay cooped up here at the mansion with you both, coordinating things and keeping Jeeves from seeing us,” Julie said, a mite wistfully.

“As I assist Frank with the locket search,” Clarke agreed.

“Meanwhile, I keep the home fires burning in the present,” Luci muttered quietly as she started scrawling a new set of notes. “Are you going or not?"

“Yes," Frank said. He bent down next to the time machine - which Carrie had placed on the floor - in order to complete final adjustments.  “Someone suggest to me the best time of day for arrival?”

“Lunch. Say noon," Carrie stated. “Since while it’s true that Chartreuse was sick last Tuesday, which should displace us away from the school, Julie had also left the school grounds to eat that day. And I’d prefer having that extra insurance.” She looked around. “Remember, once we appear somewhere south of the school, we make for the ravine. Don’t talk to anyone!"

“Right.” Frank finished up, then closed the lid of the machine. “Is everyone ready?”

“We don’t all have to grab that thing’s handle, do we?” Chartreuse asked, stopping herself before leaning in next to Carrie. “It’ll be, like, awkward. Can’t I hold someone else’s hand instead?”

“Chartreuse, we’ve always made sure everyone traveling was in contact with the handle,” Frank countered. “Even when we had bicycles and all our gear coming back from Illinois last November. After all, you may not get transported otherwise.”

“May not? Meaning I might. You’ve never, you know, tried it?”

“Why screw up a perfectly good system?”

“Because some day you may need to transport, like, twenty people or something?” Chartreuse hypothesized. “I mean, we’re already up to five.  Six if Luci needs to come along some day.”

There was a pause. “Chartreuse has a point,” Clarke admitted. “The previous maximum was four, and it WAS kinda awkward with the bikes and everything.”

“But in the end, all the inanimate items got transported, right?” Julie mused. Clarke nodded in reply.

“Physical items, such as the clothes on our backs, may be treated differently from actual organic matter,” Frank protested.

“Well, I offer to be your guinea pig then,” Chartreuse decided. “I mean, the worst that can happen is I won’t be, you know, transported, right?”

“Unless you get lost somewhere in history,” Luci said idly, continuing her work atop the lab table.

Another glance was exchanged between the students sitting on the floor. “Look, this is ridiculous,” Frank decided. “We’ll test next time. Maybe with a small animal, or insects or something. For now, everyone make sure to hold onto the handle. Right Carrie?” He turned to look at the blonde, who had been silent ever since her initial objection.

“No,” Carrie replied. Then she looked up, and blinked as she realized everyone was staring at her. “Sorry, I mean no, I don’t think that Chartreuse would be lost in time," she clarified. “Don’t ask me why I think that but I do. Though as to her ‘piggybacking’ on one of us… that, I don’t know. And she’s right, it would be helpful to know if that’s possible.”

Frank pressed a hand to his forehead. “Yes, but not NOW, correct?”

Carrie pursed her lips. “Perhaps not,” she conceded.

“But what if, on our return trip, I end up being chased by a horde of guys?” Chartreuse objected. “And I end up trapped in a dead end in front of a wooden barrier, and the only way for me to get away is to, like, reach through a knothole and grab Carr– touch one of you as you pull this handle??” Everyone turned to stare at her.

“I don’t think that’s likely,” Julie observed.

“It’s not impossible,” Chartreuse retorted defiantly.

Frank sighed. “Fine Chartreuse, if Carrie thinks it’s safe enough, and it will make you happy, you don’t have to touch the handle. But don’t complain if you get left behind!”

“Check,” Chartreuse said, giving Frank a thumbs up. Everyone reached out for the handle of the time machine, Chartreuse grasping Carrie by the shoulder instead. Frank dropped in a coin for their current year.

“We pull on three,” Frank said. “All right? One…. two…. three!”

Despite the fact that it had been almost a year since he had last used the device, the feeling of being sucked into a void still felt familiar to Frank. In the wink of an eye, the basement lab was gone, replaced by a new scene… that of a hallway in the high school. “Damn!” Frank cursed, as he shook off the aftereffects of the time displacement. “How did we end up here?!”

“Someone screwed up the geometry?” Carrie replied. As the only other seasoned time traveler of the five, she was the only other person still conscious - Julie, Clarke and Chartreuse lay on the floor, out cold.

“Impossible!” Frank countered. “According to everything we know, the device should have brought us to a point an equal distance away from the positions of our past selves! And as two of us were a fair distance from the school, there’s no way–”

“There is, if it–” Carrie began, before freezing and raising a hand to her temples, wincing in pain. “Oh no,” she muttered. “Oh no, no, not good…”

“Temporal change?” Frank questioned.

“What do you think?” Carrie snapped.

“Quick,” Frank said. “Let’s get everyone into that classroom!” They had apparently lucked out in terms of their arrival - the art wing didn’t see much traffic during lunch. But it wasn’t always deserted, the four students who turned the nearby corner testifying to that.

“We’re practicing for a play,” Carrie called out to them as the freshmen arrivals exchanged a confused glance. “Death of three salesmen.” The head cheerleader quickly dragged Chartreuse back into the drama room, Frank doing the same with Clarke, and both of them returning for Julie and the time machine respectively.

“Hey, Faye! I have that book you wanted!” came the voice of Azure Vermilion. Faye turned from where she was leaning back against the tree by the football field.

“And you bring it to me now, when I’m nowhere near my locker?”

“Oh. I wasn’t really thinking about that,” Azure admitted. “Should I bring it back later?”

“No, I’ll take it,” Faye sighed. “Lunch is close to being over, and once I have it, my sister will get off my back.”

“Okay. Hey, which of your younger sisters wanted this again?” Azure continued as she handed over the book.

Faye stared. “Sing,” she said, accepting the tome. “Soh’s barely in grade school, you really think she’s old enough to get into a detective story like this?”

“I guess not,” Azure admitted. She grinned. “Not that I’ve met either of them in person, Lee’s your only sibling I’ve seen. Heck, I’m not even sure where you all live, considering how you didn’t want me to bring the book around directly, but maybe some time later this month we could–”

“Are you trying to indulge me in conversation for a reason?” Faye snapped.

“Um, not really,” the blue haired girl admitted. “I only thought–”

“Don’t think so much,” Faye interrupted again. “I admit, I feel a bit of a bond between the two of us, because our parents share a bizarre sense of humour when it comes to naming their children. So hanging with you is more tolerable than it would be with any other Grade Nine student. But right now, I want to be alone. Understand?”

Azure opened her mouth to respond, but seeing the look on Faye’s face, apparently decided instead to nod and head back towards the school instead. It wasn’t until Azure was out of sight that the tall girl let out a sigh, and smacked the book soundly against her forehead a couple of times. ‘Way to make friends and influence people, genius,’ she reflected.

“It’s because Chartreuse wasn’t touching the handle!” Frank asserted. “We never should have let her experiment!”

Frank, Carrie, Julie and Clarke now stood staring down at the prone form of the pink haired girl, who was laid out on the floor of the otherwise empty drama classroom. Unlike Clarke and Julie, who had regained consciousness fairly rapidly, their resident mystic was still out cold.

Julie raised her hand. “I don’t think Chartreuse is still unconscious because of that.”

“Oh? Why not?” Carrie asked. Frank noticed that her mood had improved slightly. Getting away from the other students had seemingly eliminated her headache.

“Because I wasn’t touching that handle for the trip either,” Julie admitted. “When everyone else was pulling at once, I hesitated, and lost my grip. But I’d been holding Phil’s other hand. And I’m here, and I’m awake.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Frank protested, throwing his hands up in the air. “Is it because Chartreuse was sick on this day in the… wait a moment. Julie, neither you nor her were touching the handle?”

“Seems so,” Phil affirmed.

Frank leaned back against the teacher’s desk. “Huh. That could at least explain why we’re at the school. If neither girl was in direct contact with the time machine, perhaps they weren’t factored into the device’s spatial algorithm? We’d need to do more testing to be sure, but…”

“But maybe you have to be physically touching the handle in order to be used in the geographic triangulation!” Carrie finished. She smiled. “If it’s true, it will certainly solve a lot of mathematical mapping headaches! We’ll simply have to figure out where ONE person was, and then get everyone else to latch onto them.”

“Still doesn’t explain Chartreuse’s condition though,” Clarke reminded them.

“Well, she doesn’t have a fever,” Carrie observed, having bent down to feel the forehead of the other girl. “And she’s breathing fine, she’s just… out.”

“Change of plan then,” Frank decided. “We obviously can’t leave Chartreuse in the school, in case she’s discovered. But Clarke, you may be the only one strong enough to carry her. Can you and Julie get her back to the mansion, while me and Carrie get a bead on Lee’s sister instead?”

“I can do a piggyback,” Clarke agreed. “And Julie can get us in without tipping off Jeeves. But what about the two of you?”

“Yeah, I’m not thrilled with the idea of strolling the streets of the past with you, Frank,” Carrie said. “No offence, but if I end up doubled over in temporal pain, you’ll be less useful to me than Chartreuse.”

“Then I could go it alone," Frank allowed. “But didn’t we figure it was better NOT to have anyone by themselves?”

Carrie sighed. She slapped lightly at Chartreuse’s cheeks. There was no reaction. “Fine, fine, okay. Clarke, give me that burner phone that you were going to use to communicate with us. I’ll go with Frank instead.”

Clarke fished in his pocket and handed it over. “Should we phone you if Chartreuse’s condition improves?”

Carrie grimaced. “No. We stick to the original plan of minimal communication. These phones are essentially double versions of themselves in this past timeline, even if the originals ARE stowed away in the lab and turned off. That worries me. Emergencies only.”

“Right,” Clarke agreed.

“New problem,” Julie observed. “Chartreuse is the one who was going to elaborate on what Lee’s sister looked like. Given how it was her own sister Azure who knew Faye, and thus the rest of Lee’s family.”

Their eyes drifted back to the unconscious girl. “Well, damn. Uh, I don’t suppose you’d have any information, Julie?” Frank said hopefully. “Rumour was, last year you had a file folder for everyone in the school.”

Julie shook her head. “Honestly? I never paid close attention to Lee, since he never ended up being a direct factor in any of my plans. Nor did I ever feel a need to blackmail him. He has more than one younger sister, of that I’m sure, but beyond that…” She shrugged.

“Lee does tend to keep to himself,” Clarke agreed. “Sometimes I’ve wondered why.”

“Well, his sister was ‘Soh’, right?” Carrie asked. “How many blonde girls who go to the middle school down the road would answer to a name like that?”

Frank winced. “Setting aside how walking up and asking young girls for their names could be misinterpreted,” he countered, “Don’t you think Lee would have spoken to our past selves already if he heard we were poking around? Which didn’t originally happen in our timeline. This was meant to be spy and retrieve, not some sort of inquisition.”

“Well, what DO you suggest?” Carrie said in exasperation.

“And was Lee’s sister with the necklace even named Soh?” Julie protested. “I thought Chartreuse had said something about Soh being in grade school, not middle school.”

“Grade school? The sister who lost the necklace was definitely in middle school,” Carrie countered.

“Looks like our plan has fallen apart,” Clarke decided. “Maybe we should simply abort, return to the present, and try this again, going to some other time.”

Frank made a face. “But that’s a waste of two coins!”

“Plus I’m not sure we want to leave now, pulling Chartreuse through time again until we learn what’s wrong with her,” Carrie said. She ran her fingers back through her hair. “Damn it! Okay, look. Me and Frank can still stake out the middle school. If we spot Soh, awesome, if not… we’ll re-evaluate at that point. We did build in a time buffer here. Chartreuse has around three hours to come to her senses. Still, don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

“That works,” Frank agreed. “Right now, it’s only…” His eyes widened, and he pointed over at the clock on the wall. “Oh no, look at the time, it’s–"

The school bell rang, signifying the end of lunch. And almost immediately, the door to the drama room opened and Glen Oaks walked into the room.

“Hey, Singsong, whatcha doin'?”

Lee’s second youngest sister jumped at the sound of the voice, accidentally tugging on a strand of her own hair. “Ow! Oh, um, not much, Gary,” Sing said, untangling her fingers from her long brown hair while simultaneously trying to hide the book she held in her other hand.

Her grade six classmate smirked at her. “Readin' again, huh?  Didn’t hear the bell go?”

“Oh n-no, of course I heard it,” Sing lied. When HAD all these people started entering the school? She cast a glance towards the clock in the hallway.

Gary snorted. “Yeah, right,” he said, continuing past her down the hall. “Bet a bookworm like you don’t care about nothing ‘cept your books.”

Sing watched him go, the hand that had been twirling her hair now reaching up to finger the charm dangling off of her necklace. The one she’d received from her father for her birthday. “You’re wrong there,” the member of the King family murmured quietly. “You’re so wrong.”

The brunette girl put her book away and followed Gary towards their classroom, squeezing the charm between her fingers. Not knowing that before the day was done, she would be devastated by it’s loss.

Yes, time travel resumes in a time travel serial! Shocked? … No? … I know you’re out there, I can hear you breathing. Well okay, I can’t, but I might notice your click if you were to Vote for T&T on TWF.

3.09: TONE DOWN

She began to turn at the sound of her name, yet was not fast enough to avoid being blindsided by the fast moving splash of colour that was Chartreuse.

“Carrie!” the pink haired girl repeated desperately, grabbing onto Carrie’s arm to keep her from falling over. “Thank goodness I spotted you! Listen, Corry doesn’t, like, believe me when I say someone’s out to kill him. We’ve got to use your powers so we can, you know, stop this terrible thing from happening.”

Carrie coughed. “Ahem. My what? What are you saying, Chartreuse?” she asked, inclining her head towards the person standing next to her.

Chartreuse turned to look at Carrie’s red-headed companion. “Oh, hi Glen. Uhmmmm, I need to use Carrie’s powers of persuasion. Mind if I borrow your date for a little while?”

“Chartreuuuuuuse…”

Glen laughed. “It’s okay Carrie, I don’t mind. I could use a dance break, and was planning on watching Corry’s performance anyway. You go tend to the serious matters your friend is referring to.”

“I’m sure they’re not that serious,” Carrie protested. It didn’t matter - Chartreuse had already muttered a quick thanks and was pushing her towards the hallway.

Sighing, Carrie allowed herself to be led into the nearest unlocked classroom before confronting the pink haired girl.

“REALLY, Chartreuse?” Carrie said irritably. “What is so important that you felt it necessary to pull me away from the first truly enjoyable date I’ve had in months?”

“It’s like I said. I sensed something when I was with Laurie earlier, but it didn’t, like, hit me until I touched Corry’s hand,” Chartreuse explained in a rush. “It was one of my, you know, wham bang powerful impressions that told me he’d be dead before the night was out. And I bet it’s somehow related to the musical sets he’s gonna do!”

She leaned in. “But I can’t see more than that without meditating, and I never know how long it’ll take to pick up something, whereas Corry’s starting in less than five minutes. So since you’re so much more powerful than me, you could look ahead–”

“Whoa, STOP,” Carrie interrupted. “Dial that back. I’m at a dance here. With Glen. This is NOT temporal session time. And even if it WERE, we’d started to work on mental shielding, not running up and down my timeline. Think about it, I still have no idea whether something from the future will become fixed as soon as I see it. What if I see something horrible, and then we can’t change it?”

“But we have to do something,” Chartreuse insisted. “Please, Carrie, can’t you at least help me work out the cause? Or get a list of suspects? Or a time frame? Something?? I swear, I’m not overdramatizing here. Well, okay, so Corry may not DIE, but I know Laurie’s brother will get badly hurt - unless we do something.”

Carrie groaned and pressed a couple fingers to her forehead. She contemplated Chartreuse’s request, the pleading look on her friend’s face, and in particular, how the two of them would feel should something disastrous actually happen to Corry now.

“Okay. Okay! I’ll try a few tiny image jumps forward,” Carrie yielded. “But you leave me and Glen alone for the rest of the night after this, understood?”

“Of course. Unless your help is needed again,” Chartreuse said brightly. Carrie opened her mouth to protest, but then decided it probably wouldn’t do any good. She simply sighed as she sat, cross legged on the floor of the classroom, and closed her eyes.

‘Thank goodness,’ Chartreuse thought, going down on her knees in front of the seated blonde. ‘We can fix this, I know we can! Still, I gotta take it easy on her…’

“All right, Carrie,” Chartreuse began, grasping the blonde by the hands. “I realize we’re not at my place with the crystals, but try to relax and–”

“I’m there,” Carrie murmured, eyes closed. “In the time stream.”

Chartreuse resisted the urge to flinch. ‘Damn, that was fast. I can see why it worries her.' “Er, okay,” she continued. “See if you can centre in on Corry? Visualize that he’s standing there in front of you.”

Carrie nodded. “It’s not difficult, I’ve mentioned former time travellers are always a bit out of synch. He’s… yes, I’ve got it. He’s out in the cafeteria. They’re making preparations for their first number.”

“Do you sense any danger?”

“I don’t think so?” Carrie muttered. “The crowd is chattering, talking about his chances. I don’t know if I want to wade into it, my astral self has ended up back by the coat check. Oh, wait, Joe Drew is scowling at me! No, wait, it’s through me - towards the stage. Towards Corry.”

“Don’t forget, spirit body. Totally insubstantial, no one can see or do anything to you.”

“I know, I know. It troubles me, that’s all. Do you think I ended up back here because Joe’s planned something?”

“Maybe. Or maybe it was a subconscious attempt to avoid the crowd.” Chartreuse tightened her grip slightly. She had rather hoped to be able to sense something through Carrie, but so far, there was nothing.

Was that because there was nothing to sense? Or because it didn’t work that way? How else could they interface? Her gaze started to wander, and she pulled it back to Carrie’s face.

“Okay, Corry’s announcing the first song. Now what?”

Chartreuse sighed. They needed more. “Are you up to trying a skip into the future? To establish a time frame? Please be honest. My prior attitude aside, I don’t want to push you beyond what you can, you know, handle.”

Carrie bit down on her lower lip. “I don’t know,” she admitted after a moment’s thought. “After all, I don’t want to physically time travel. Only project. But maybe if I simply imagine that I’m stretching forwards, moving faster than the water currents?”

Julie allowed Clarke to lead her towards the cafeteria. “No deafening, pulsating beat,” the tall boy said to her, as he tugged at his necktie. “My guess is we’ve arrived just in time for Corry’s bit.”

“Um,” was all Julie could think to reply. After numerous wardrobe changes, she had finally selected a low key shirt and sweater ensemble with a long skirt. As they entered the cafeteria, only a couple of people picked up on her presence; Corry’s imminent performance was helping to divert attention.

‘Interesting,’ Julie mused. ‘A year ago, this sort of neglect would have infuriated me. Now I’m simply relieved.’

As the quartet of students started to play up by the stage, Clarke guided her back against the wall. “They’re quite good,” he reflected. “Tim’s looking a little out of sorts though. I hope Corry’s been treating him decently.”

“Clarke!” came a hushed cry. Both Clarke and Julie turned as the younger Veniti twin ran up, dressed like a red candle. “Clarke, we need your help! Chartreuse thinks Corry’s life is in danger!”

Clarke blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“Chartreuse got this feeling that Corry was going to die or get hurt,” Laurie explained. “And she thought Carrie could help and so went to find her but now they’ve both disappeared and so you’re tall maybe you can see them since I’m not sure what’s going to happen any more and I’m so worried for my brother and by the way that’s a lovely tie you’re wearing and golly it’s such a pity that I’m not seeing it under better circumstances…”

The redhead was obviously distressed, Julie realized. She normally did a better job of controlling her run-on sentences these days, particularly in front of Clarke. The guy she’d once liked. Or still liked? Julie didn’t like to reflect on that too much.

“Whoa, okay Laurie, calm down,” Clarke was saying. “You’re saying you need to find Chartreuse and Carrie?” Laurie nodded wordlessly, eyes wide and full of concern. Clarke turned his attention to Julie. “Jewels, will you be okay here for a couple minutes while I try to track down Laurie’s companions?”

Julie nodded. “It’s fine, Phil, no one’s paying attention to me. And if someone tries to start something, I’ll simply go back outside.”

Clarke looked at her for another moment before returning her nod.  “Okay. Now, Laurie, given Chartreuse’s preference for coloured outfits, I’m pretty sure I could spot her if she were in here,” he said. “Maybe she went to the washroom, or out for a breath of air? What was she wearing?”

Julie watched the two of them depart the cafeteria, then shrank back against the wall.

“Breathe, Carrie, breathe!” Chartreuse shouted desperately. “You’re not really drowning! Focus back in on Corry! Focus!!”

Carrie sucked in a great, heaving breath, her fingernails digging into Chartreuse’s palms. The pink haired girl ignored the pain, all of her attention on the blonde cheerleader who was now twitching in front of her.

“Okay Carrie, never mind Corry,” Chartreuse decided. “Come back to me, all right? Focus on me. On the present.” The fear that she was losing her friend was starting to tug at her heart.

Carrie didn’t reply, the twitching ceasing as her eyes snapped wide open. At least those eyes were blue, Chartreuse noted, and not golden. But they were focussed on nothing.

“Okay, bad idea, I’m sorry for pushing you into it,” the mystic continued, trying to suppress her rising panic. “I wasn’t, like, thinking straight. We can simply look into the usual suspects here, yeah? So come on, come back to me now, PLEASE Carrie…!”

“Char… treuse…?”

Chartreuse felt the tightness in her chest release. “Carrie! Carrie, are you all right?”

“Am… fine,” Carrie murmured. “It’s… whoa, headrush.”

Carrie’s grip relaxed enough to allow Chartreuse to pull one of her hands away. She waved it in front of Carrie’s eyes. There was no reaction. “Carrie, what’s going on? Where are you?”

“Am… in future,” Carrie murmured. “Astral me. About ten… no, five minutes. Had to resist the pull to bring all of me. Th-Thank you for anchoring me in the present, Chartreuse.”

“No prob - are you SURE you’re okay?” Chartreuse knew her own heartbeat was still racing.

“Well, I’m… reorienting.” Carrie’s vacant eyes drifted closed once more. “Okay, Corry’s still performing. New song. I’m closer to him this time, near the front. Tommy is elbowing his way up here through the crowd, he’s… he’s going to throw something! But… it’s a tomato. That’s not life threatening… maybe there’s… something else. Oh, Joe!”

Carrie’s head whipped to the side. “Yes, Joe has left the coat check and he’s heading towards Corry! Or, no… it’s towards Julie. She’s edging away from him, so they’re both headed towards Corry. Damn!” Carrie mouth twitched. “Too many people. Too many, I don’t know so many of them, I’m not in the present, everything’s a jumble…”

“Stay calm,” Chartreuse soothed. Should they abort? “You’re only there for Corry. What’s, like, happening to him?”

“Corry,” Carrie murmured. “He’s singing. He’s… wait, Tim’s jumping up. He’s shoved his keyboard at Corry! Ow, audio feedback… something sparked… the crowd is reacting… Corry’s on the floor? Someone’s on top of him, everyone’s staring… now Glen is up here too.” Carrie shivered. “It’s like that time I saw him in the cafe, he’s staring at me. Are we sure I’m– OH!!!”

“What?” Chartreuse asked, gripping both of Carrie’s hands again as the blonde cried out.

“Where the hell am I? Who’s this girl in red?!” Carrie choked out. “Chartreuse, I’m… I’m in the wrong time again!!”

“Okay, Carrie, come back, time to come back,” Chartreuse declared. “Session over, we know enough, you have to return to the present!”

“Such piercing hazel eyes… she’s raising her hand… she’s…”

“Carrie, ohmigod, don’t let the forces take you. CARRIE!”

“I’m out!” Carrie screamed, flinching backwards.

However, as Chartreuse was still grasping onto the blonde’s hands, the sudden movement served only to jerk her off balance. With a little yelp of astonishment, she fell forwards into Carrie, both girls collapsing back onto the floor of the classroom. Chartreuse faceplanting into the blonde cheerleader’s body.

And Chartreuse found that her first instinct wasn’t to roll away. Rather, it was to grab harder for Carrie, to press her ear against Carrie’s front, to better hear her friend’s heartbeat. Still there. So fast. Mirroring her own, beating away, racing, because of this shared experience. Between the two girls with powers.

She had only felt this sort of close connection with someone once before.

Last time, the feeling had been instantaneous. This time, it had crept up on her. Because the blonde did look so pretty, in that dress with it’s plunging neckline. More to the point, Carrie wasn’t as shallow as Tope had been, the cheerleader did care about people. In fact, even after learning about Chartreuse being bisexual, Carrie had kept it quiet, and hadn’t called off any of their sessions.

Both of their hearts were racing now. Almost in synch. So maybe it was time to accept what that meant, it was time to take their relationship to the next level…

“Unhh,” Carrie groaned.

Chartreuse knew she couldn’t have pushed herself up and away any faster, not even if she’d been lying on a bed of hot coals.

“C-Carrie?” she choked out. What the hell was she thinking? She’d almost nuzzled in against Carrie’s neck. Carrie was her friend. That was it. Only her very close friend…

“Chartreuse?”

“C-Carrie?” Chartreuse repeated. She swallowed, trying to bury the flood of emotions welling up inside. “Ah, so, are you, like, you know, okay?”

“I’ll manage,” Carrie said. Her chest was heaving - don’t look there, idiot! - as she sat back up. Thankfully, as their eyes met again, Carrie didn’t seem to notice Chartreuse’s discomfort.

“I just saw…” Carrie looped some hair around her finger and tugged. “I don’t know what I saw. Either way, I’ve had enough of this for tonight, okay?”

Chartreuse nodded vigorously. “Yes, um, we’ve certainly discovered enough here.”

“Hello? Someone in here?” came a new voice.

The two girls on the floor turned as the classroom door opened and Clarke poked his head inside. “Ah! I thought I heard voices. Laurie thought she’d lost you.” Clarke turned to look back into the hallway. “They’re in here.”

There was the sound of running feet, and then the freckled girl poked her head in next to Clarke. “Chartreuse, thank goodness,” Laurie said, not trying to disguise her relief. “Are you two okay? What happened? Have you figured out what’s wrong with my brother?”

“With your bro… right!” Chartreuse jumped to her feet. “It’s Tim. Tim’s going to snap and throw his keyboard at the guy, that starts a chain reaction in their equipment. We’ve got to get in there, fast!”

“Tim?” Clarke said, shocked. “What are you talking about?”

“No time, hurry,” Chartreuse said, charging past the two of them and out into the hall. As much to get away from Carrie’s perfume as to get back to the cafeteria.

Julie took another step closer to the student quartet. Since they really were quite good, and she wanted to hear them better – okay, no. She knew the primary reason for her approach was to distance herself from Joe Drew. He’d been giving her irritated looks ever since Clarke had moved off with Laurie. Hoping to ignore the scrutiny, Julie soon found that more difficult once Joe left the vicinity of the coat check in order to move closer to her position. Causing her to move further away.

So why was she moving towards the band? Why not outside? Heck, why react at all? Was it because Corry Veniti was one of the few people (aside from Clarke) who bothered to stand up for her on those occasions when she was being mistreated? If so, Julie knew this was a poor decision - Corry was busy right now. Besides, Joe wasn’t much of a threat on his own.

She made the decision to stand her ground. It was at that moment that Julie happened to glance beyond Corry - catching sight of the look in Sue’s eye.

And Julie knew Sue from when they had been allies. She knew that look, knew it meant trouble. Her suspicions were confirmed a moment later, during a drum solo, when Sue used the opportunity to let go of her guitar and reach for something back in the shadows, next to the stage.

Tim apparently noticed her action as well, and when he saw what she was grabbing, he stood up, reaching out towards her. But his leg buckled, sending him crashing into his own keyboard, palms first. The keyboard stand gave out, pitching forwards, sending the equipment towards Corry.

That’s when Chartreuse charged through Julie’s field of vision, reaching out in vain for the toppling instrument. Feedback erupted from the nearby speakers as it hit the floor at Corry’s feet. Then Clarke was there, catching Tim, and everyone’s attention was on what was happening with them - so it seemed like no one but Julie saw what Sue was about to do.

“Watch out!” Julie shouted, sprinting forwards. She threw herself at Corry, catching him around the waist, using her momentum to jerk him off his feet. The microphone Corry had been holding in his hands jarred loose and fell to the floor. An exposed wire created a small spark in the fresh pool of water. Water that had been thrown by Sue, who had not been able to check her swing. A few more sparks were seen, but Lee quickly reached his foot out to kick the power bar near the drums, killing all the electronics.

Julie breathed a sigh of relief. The brunette then discovered that, somehow, she had managed to land largely on top of Corry. One arm was caught underneath him, the other encircling his waist, and her sweater was pressed up tightly against his silk shirt. She quickly pulled back with an apology on her lips, but her voice got caught in her throat when she saw the bemused look on the redhead’s face.

“Julie… what the hell?” he questioned.

“Noooo!” came a cry of frustration from above them. Freeing her arm, Julie rolled away from Corry, looking up to see the brown haired guitarist. Sue was now being restrained by both Lee and Clarke. Carrie and Chartreuse had replaced Clarke at Tim’s side. Glen was there too.

“No, no, don’t you see?” Sue wailed. “I attacked him for you, Julie! Corry’s never been as good as you were. He never should have beaten you out the way he did! So I pretended to go along with him until I had this chance, this opportunity to shake him up a bit, to let him feel once again the wrath of Julie LaMille! So… so why did you save him, Julie? Aren’t you proud of me?!”

Julie blinked up at her former ally. “I… am going to be sick,” she realized, lurching to her feet and clapping a hand against her mouth. With a burning sensation at the back of her throat, she dashed for the nearest exit.

By departing, Julie didn’t hear the increasing chatter of the student body. Or how it was soon dispelled by the sound of an irate chemistry teacher, clearing his throat at the DJ’s independent electronics setup. “This dance,” Larry Fisk stated authoritatively, “is…”

“Going to continue shortly with more great songs from DJ Tuneup,” Mrs. Willis, the music teacher interrupted, grabbing the mike away from her colleague. “So please calm down and return to enjoying yourselves! I’m sure we all agree that it would be a shame to see this event come to an early end.”

Frank let out a low whistle. “I can’t believe it. Sue, out to get Corry. Who could have guessed?”

He and Luci had pulled back from the crowd of teenagers, to stand by the wall. With the DJ back in control, the dance was gradually getting back up to full swing. Carrie and Clarke had run out of the room after Julie, Chartreuse had gone over to talk with Laurie, and all the members of Corry’s band had been taken to the office to talk with Principal Hunt.

“I could have worked it out,” Luci decided, looking towards the stage. “If my mind hadn’t been wandering so much this week. After all, Sue’s looked distracted lately. Possible family troubles. And she lost her grandmother back around the same time as she ‘lost’ Julie… so it could be a case of displaced emotion? Not to excuse her actions, but that might be why she went a bit nuts.”

“Your whole school’s a bit nuts,” Glen remarked, approaching the both of them. “From what I’ve heard, some people are siding with Sue and her assault on your friend!”

“For real?” Frank raised his eyebrow. “I guess Corry doesn’t have the same support in his ranks that he once did.”

“On the bright side though,” Glen continued, “If Sue is out, there will be a vacancy in my fellow redhead’s band. So I can offer up my own guitar playing skills instead.”

Frank’s eyebrow twitched. “Uh, Glen? That’s not exactly a bright side.”

“No?” Glen shrugged. “It’s just, I’d hate to see Corry’s band dissolve on account of this. Wouldn’t you?”

“Hey, Carrie!” Luci shouted, waving. Frank turned, seeing that Carrie had entered the cafeteria again. Luci lowered her voice again once the blonde girl had paced over to join them. “How’s Julie faring?”

“She’ll be all right,” Carrie sighed. “Her stomach’s settled anyway. Clarke’s gone with her to the office, to give a statement to Mr. Hunt along with the band, though I think that’s mostly a formality. It’s pretty clear that she had no direct involvement in tonight’s activities.”

Carrie linked arms with Glen, leaning some of her weight onto him. “Still,” she admitted. “Now I feel guilty for insisting to Julie that she come. It’s not like she’ll have had a very good time.”

“It is a good thing she was here though,” Frank pointed out. “Or Corry could have been hurt.”

“That’s right,” Glen agreed. “Of course, one must still take care when using one’s powers of… persuasion. I imagine the results can be misleading, until the user has sufficient experience.”

Carrie turned to look into Glen’s face, and Frank wasn’t sure if it was her expression, or something in Glen’s tone that he found troubling. The redhead simply looked back at his date with a quiet smile. “Oh, whatever,” Carrie said aloud. “Come on, Glen. Let’s dance again?”

“I would be honoured,” he replied.

Frank and Luci exchanged a quick glance themselves as the new transfer student took the head cheerleader out for a spin around the dance floor. Meanwhile, a short distance away, Chartreuse turned away from Laurie, watching the pair herself while biting down on her lower lip.

(So, how much of that did you anticipate? If any? I suppose you’d at least anticipate another click request to vote for T&T at ‘Top Web Fiction’…)

3.08: TUNE UP

Tim smiled back from where he sat behind the keyboard. Lee hit the cymbals and gave Corry a thumbs up. Sue adjusted the strap of her bass guitar.

“What was the significance of that song anyway?" Sue inquired. “Flying to the moon, it’s a little sappier than our normal fare."

“Request from my sister,” Corry shrugged. “Reminds her of some animated TV show she likes. Actually, maybe we should wrap up today with something different?”

“Which one?" Lee inquired, spinning a drumstick in his hand.

“That one which is also a popular theme song," Corry said. “Remember? It goes like this…”

Glen smiled as Carrie’s father opened the door. “Hello, Mr. Waterson. I’m here to pick up Carrie.”

Hank Waterson stepped aside. “She’s still getting ready, but do come in. I’ve been hoping to get the chance to meet you.”

“I figured.” Glen entered the house, knotting his tie a little tighter. Inwardly, he cursed whatever human had invented the things, and wondered who had made this school dance a semi-formal affair. At least a nice shirt sufficed, no need for him to have a jacket. “I hope to make a favourable impression,” the redhead continued. “As my intentions are completely honourable, and I’ll try to have your daughter home by whatever time you specify."

“I’m glad to hear it.” Carrie’s father closed the front door again. “I gathered as much from her, but there were a few things that she was unable to tell me. For instance, you seem to have no family in town. What is the story with your parents?”

“Oh, they’ve now purchased a house over in that new development to the north,” Glen replied, gesturing vaguely. “But mom’s still wrapping up with business out east, and as such they’ve arranged to have me stay at the Clayton Hotel for a few more weeks.”

Hank Waterson’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re staying at the hotel?”

“Ah, yes.” Glen supposed that Carrie hadn’t mentioned that detail. Made sense, in retrospect. “It’s not a big deal, really. The room has a small fridge and hotplate, and the maid service tidies daily. My parents wanted me to be here for the full semester, you see, and this was the best way to do that.”

“I see,” Mr. Waterson said slowly. “And what business is it that your parents are involved in?”

“My mother is a scientist - that’s what’s keeping her out of town, at the lab - while my father is a pilot, so he’s all over the place,” Glen said easily. “I’m hoping to go into the field of sciences myself someday. It certainly seems profitable enough.”

Mr. Waterson seemed to size him up. “Yet Carrie tells me you’re a long distance runner.”

“Yeah, well, I run, I act, I skate, I paint… everyone needs hobbies,” Glen said. Time to spin a question back, perhaps. “A person should be well rounded, don’t you think?”

Before Hank Waterson could answer, Carrie’s voice came from upstairs. “Is that Glen down there? Don’t you dare give him the third degree, Dad! Tell him I’ll be down in another few seconds!"

Glen half smiled. “You heard her - so, any final rules I should know about, before your daughter comes charging down and admonishes you for giving them to me?"

Hank eyed Glen again, then shook his head. “Nothing that isn’t common sense,” he decided. “And you seem to be the sort of boy who knows what I mean by that. In fact, I’ll level with you, a part of me is glad to see Carrie making new friends like this. She’s seemed a bit more withdrawn from her peers ever since she was hospitalized last year.”

“Ah, when she was shot?” Glen said. “I heard about that. Nasty business.”

“It was,” Mr. Waterson affirmed. He then leaned in closer to Glen’s face to speak more quietly. “An incident which has helped me to realize that, should you or anyone else lay an inappropriate finger on my daughter’s body, I will be forced into drastic action. Understood?”

“Naturally,” Glen affirmed, maintaining his composure. “Indeed, I would have been disappointed not to hear such concern from her only surviving parent.”

A frown tugged at Hank Waterson’s features, but before he could say anything more, Carrie appeared at the top of the stairs. “Glen! Glad to see you.” She lifted the skirt of her long purple dress slightly in order to avoid tripping during her descent. “I trust my father hasn’t been bothering you?”

“Oh, no, not at all,” Glen said, turning to face her. “And may I say, you look radiant in that outfit.”

“Why thank you,” Carrie said, pinkening mildly in the cheeks.

Her father cleared his throat. “Carrie, remember our deal. You’re home by eleven thirty.”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Yes, Dad.” She grabbed her jacket out of the closet. “Come on, Glen, we don’t want to arrive at the dance TOO fashionably late.”

Glen nodded in reply and the two teenagers left the house, Carrie’s father watching them from the front door until they reached the sidewalk. Glen glanced back as the front door closed. “So, you made a deal with your Dad?”

“Yeah, he’s letting me wear the dress with the plunging neckline on condition that I come home right after the dance ends at eleven,” Carrie admitted. “Probably realized that I was going to wear this thing no matter what, and tricked me into that compromise.”

“Ah. Clever man. Something that runs in the family, I see.”

“Ha! He wasn’t so devious back before my brush with death. I swear, last year, he didn’t care at all! It’s only been during the last several months that he’s taken an interest.”

“Must be a real pain then, huh?”

Carrie pursed her lips. “No,” she murmured. “It’s nice. We need to be home on time.” She reached out to take Glen’s arm. “But never mind about my Dad, let’s get to this dance! I want to make sure Julie has someone to talk to when she turns up.”

“Uh oh.” Chartreuse looked down. “It’s, like, that bad, huh?”

“Oh, I didn’t say anything!” Laurie protested.

“That’s the thing, normally you have so much to say,” Chartreuse pointed out. She fanned out her skirt, staring down at the multiple splashes of colour that adorned it. “I, you know, thought it would compliment the sparkly sequins I added to my blouse. No such luck?”

“It… kinda works? It must be the lighting in the room. Don’t worry Chartreuse, I’m sure lots of people will ask you to dance!” Laurie Veniti adjusted the big, puffy shoulders of her own long, red dress. “Now me, I probably shouldn’t have gone with this choice of colour which is so similar to my hair because I probably look exactly like a tomato or a big red candle or something and the dress is too formal anyway plus so many people here are already in couples so I doubt I’ll be asked to dance by anyone!” She sighed.

“Laurie, stay calm. You look fine,” Chartreuse countered. “Anyway, worst comes to worst, we can always dance with each other.” Which didn’t mean she fancied her friend in that way, but Laurie was probably the only girl she could dance with and not spark gossip.

Chartreuse looked out across the dance floor. The music had started under half an hour ago, yet there were only a few people out there. Semi-formal dances seemed to be less popular these days - student council should have picked her suggestion of a Hawaiian theme. “So, when is your brother’s band going to be, you know, performing?”

Laurie’s brow furrowed in thought. “Golly, it’ll be at least another half hour, because I remember Corry saying something about Lee not being able to make it until after eight. But I know they’re doing two sets, whenever the DJ wants a break!”

Chartreuse’s gaze settled on where Corry and his group had set up their equipment, near the stage. It looked like Sue was double checking the electronics. Which is when Chartreuse realized she was getting a vibe. Why was she getting a vibe? “Remind me how the four of them, like, hooked up? It was second semester of last year, right?”

“Yeah. Partly on account of me,” Laurie agreed. “See, Corry had practically given up on the band idea after the mess with Julie. But last March I pushed for him to give it another go, particularly after Clarke talked to me, saying that Tim was trying to come out of his shell, and that he was a pianist. Knowing how hard it can be to put yourself out there, I had my brother hear Tim play, then Corry finally held guitarist auditions. Sue had the best one. And Lee got personally invited in, after Corry heard him drumming after school at around the same time.”

“Sweet. Nice that they’ve come such a long way in, like, a relatively short amount of time.”

“Corry really wanted to do this performance too,” Laurie continued. “In fact, he’s pushed for more and more rehearsals since school resumed… to the point where it kinda worries me that the other members resent him for that.” She followed Chartreuse’s gaze over to the band setup, then back again. “You’ve got that look. Why?”

“A feeling.” Chartreuse shook her head. No point causing her friend to worry. “Probably nothing. Yeah, it’s nothing Laurie, never mind. Come on, let’s head closer to the door. I think the guy there is, you know, trying to get your attention!”

It wasn’t a standard code, since rearranging the words - if you called them words - hadn’t helped. Luci hadn’t had any success reading the first letter of every word either. Or with ROT13. But perhaps if she… the young girl’s thoughts were interrupted by a pinch in her side. “Yipe! Hey, what was that for?”

“Well, I only asked you twice if I could take your jacket for you,” Frank pointed out with a grin.

“Oh. Sorry.” Luci felt her cheeks warm as she shrugged it off. “Guess I got lost in thought.” She looked down at her outfit. “Gods, I hate that this is a semi-formal affair! I don’t have any clothes like that, and even though Carrie offered to help me shop, I didn’t want to do that either.”

“Luci, don’t worry, those are nice pants and you look just fine in that blouse. It’s a nice shade of blue. Anyway, it’s not like I’m wearing a tie.”

“But you have a proper jacket. Which you can simply toss on a chair. Why can men can get away with that stuff, while we’re supposed to be all dressy?” Luci grumbled. “High heels should be against the law.”

Frank adjusted his glasses. “Well, I see some other girls around who aren’t in heels either. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Luci sighed. “Says the guy who won’t get laughed at behind his back for his outfit. Girls are the worst.”

Frank stared, then reached out to take Luci’s hand, gently squeezing it. “Okay, what’s bothering you? It’s not simply the dress code here, you’ve been in a bit of a mood all week. Are you still upset with me? Is this a test to see if I’m actually paying enough attention to you?”

“What? Oh, no, it’s not that,” Luci assured.

“Then what’s the problem?”

Luci shifted her weight back and forth. “It’s that logbook of Linquist’s,” she admitted. “The one Julie found. I’ve been working on cracking the code, to figure out exactly what sort of stuff that nutcase was doing, but I’ve had no luck! It vexes me. And because I was working on that, I didn’t go shopping, and so now I’m going to look like an social idiot, and it’s all that Linquist’s fault again!”

“Ah. Um, that last is a bit of a stretch - are you sure you’re not simply looking for more reasons to hate the guy?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. I wish they’d picked Chartreuse’s suggestion of a Hawaiian theme,” Luci groused.

Frank lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, so you’d prefer to be wearing a grass skirt? I mean, not that I’d be complaining, but…”

“But, ugh, point made,” Luci realized, looking back down at her legs. “Fine, point to you, it could be worse, let’s enjoy what we have.” She attempted a smile.

Frank grinned back. “Okay then. I’ll just check our coats, be right back.” He moved off towards the coat check area.

Luci spent a couple of seconds admiring the decorations, but she couldn’t help it, her mind was soon spinning with more ideas, more possibilities for that book. Perhaps a Caesar cipher…

“How’s business, Joe?” Frank inquired as he set the jackets down on the table. The late September dance was usually better for snacks, as compared to the coat check part, which was better in February. Regardless, their booth was a way for the business club to make a bit of money, splitting the proceeds with Students’ Council.

“Slow but steady,” Joe Drew replied. “Actually, we haven’t missed your expertise back here at all. I’d be worried for your job.”

“I’ll bear that in mind,” Frank said dryly. His fellow senior tore off a couple of numbered ticket stubs, exchanging them for his quarters. “But I have to say, I prefer Luci’s company to yours.”

“I can understand that,” Joe granted. The blonde boy leaned in a little closer. “By the way, I’ve heard Julie might turn up later tonight. Can you believe that girl? I bet a brawl will break out, and Mr. Fisk will cancel all future dances forever!”

“Oh, come on Joe… I think she’s learned how to behave herself,” Frank said, hoping he sounded reassuring.

“Hrmph,” Joe retorted, drawing back. His eyes shifted to the stage. “I suppose that, deep down, it’s all that idiot Corry’s fault. Guy should have dealt with her last year. I mean, he exposed what Julie did! How she manipulated folks like me! So why did he turn around and start acting all nicey nice to her?!”

“Yeah, uh, I suppose there’s stuff we don’t know about the situation,” Frank offered. He began to wonder how to best extract himself from the conversation.

Joe shook his head. “I know as much as I need to. Julie probably paid him off, so Corry’s even worse than she is!”

Before Frank could think of a good reply, a couple came up behind him to place a coat on the table. “Service, please,” the boy stated.

“Coming right up,” Joe said, finally handing off Frank and Luci’s coats to his co-worker before moving to deal with the newcomers. Frank took the opportunity to escape back to Luci’s side.

Carrie tried to decipher the noise Glen made upon their arrival. Failing that, she spoke up. “What? Is this so different from dances at your last school?”

Glen shook his head, still eyeing the decorations. “The faculty there didn’t believe in dances. So you’ll have to forgive me if I tread on your toes, dancing’s a skill I never really developed.”

“Ooh, amazing, something you’re not good at,” Carrie teased. She smiled. “We’ll manage, just don’t make a habit of toe crunching.”

“Scuze me, comin' through!”

Carrie recognized Lee’s voice, and she turned to see him dashing though the front doors, dodging nimbly around the nearest couple. “Whoop, sorry ‘bout that, gotta hook up with the power cad, pardon me, scuze me…”

“Glory be, now his gang’s all here.”

This time, it was the sheer bitterness in the tone that made Carrie look for the source. Which turned out to be a light haired boy leaning against the wall. He was glowering at the crowd in general, but when he saw that Carrie was observing him in particular, he turned and shuffled towards the cafeteria/dance floor.

“Wonder what that guy’s problem is,” Glen mused aloud.

“That’s Tommy,” Carrie explained. “Looks like he’s still upset that Corry picked Sue to play bass guitar in the band, over him.” She tugged idly on a strand of her hair. “See, Sue was a side switcher - with Corry in Grade Nine, but then she joined me and Julie. Only to return to Corry last November, after Julie’s secrets got exposed. Meanwhile, Tommy’s been on Corry’s side since grade school.”

Glen grimaced. “So this is some kinda loyalty thing?”

Carrie nodded. “Yeah. I mean, Corry wasn’t wrong to choose Sue for his band, in that she IS the better guitarist. But it might have been the last straw for Tommy. It was the people who were closest to Corry who were blindsided the most, you see. When he cracked down on any attacks against Julie. Speaking of, you WILL look out for her here, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Glen rolled his eyes. “School politics. How irritating. Stop me if I ask again.”

“Why? Is that another thing that you didn’t see much of at your last school?”

“Not over such petty issues,” Glen countered, shaking his head. “Where I come from, it’s all about world domination.”

Carrie blinked. “Pardon me?”

He winked at her. “Kidding. So, shall we go and have a dance or two?”

Kidding? Or were they back to him keeping her off balance? Carrie pursed her lips. Every so often, he said something to make her wonder if she should be more suspicious. Except, she’d recently realized that Glen didn’t trigger any temporal headaches. Implying that no changes were occurring to her timeline. No, this was on her, not him - she had to stop overthinking this.

“Yes, dancing. Watch the feet,” she warned, hooking her arm around his as they headed for the doorway.

“I d-d-don’t know if I can d-do this,” Tim said, peering around the door frame at all the people out on the dance floor. “I d-d-didn’t think there would be so many p-people here. N-Not given the theme, and what happened last year!”

“Tim, first of all, breathe. Second, you can’t cut out on me now!” Corry crossed his arms. “Not after all the hard work we’ve put in.”

“W-W-W-Well…”

“Yo, dudes and dudette,” Lee said, breezing past Tim at the door to emerge into the far hallway. For once, his worn suit jacket was actually appropriate to the occasion, even if the T-Shirt he wore underneath it was not. “Have I missed anything?”

“No, but you are five minutes late,” Corry said, irritably. “What’s more, that’s becoming a habit for you this month.”

“Hey, cut me some slack, jack,” Lee protested. “I told you when I came on board that family matters and schoolwork would have to take precedence over this band.”

“All right, come on, everybody calm down,” Sue put in. “There’s still plenty of time to tune up and decide on the songs for our first set. We’ll knock ‘em dead, no worries.”

“Right, good, I like that philosophy,” Corry said, pointing at her. “Now, I’ve already seen to the drums, the keyboard and the electronics… so Sue, let’s go get the guitars and do one final check. The DJ told me we’re on after another couple songs.” The two of them hurried off to the music room, leaving Tim and Lee behind.

“I’m n-not so sure about this,” Tim murmured to Lee, after checking to see that Corry was out of earshot. “What if I mess up notes? What if we g-get heckled off the stage?”

“Don’t even think about it, tiny T,” Lee soothed. “Mrs. Willis said we sounded great, and the school crowd ain’t that hostile.” He glanced towards the cafeteria. “Well, okay, some of ‘em are, but it’s only towards the power cad. We’re clear.”

“I g-guess,” Tim said uncertainly. He took a few slow breaths. “I’ll feel SO much better after tonight. When Corry isn’t so obsessive.”

Lee rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, uh, I wouldn’t totally count on that though?” he warned. “I figure the better this goes, the more the guy will want to perform. If you can’t handle his scheduling, you’re gonna have to learn to stand up to him. Like I do sometimes.”

“Oh,” Tim said sullenly. He shuffled his feet. “How about you stand up for me too?”

Lee shook his head. “Sorry, T. I would, but I don’t really want the guy on my case any more than he is already. Besides, you’ll eventually have to learn to do it yourself.”

“I g-guess.” Tim sighed. “Know what? It’s gotten to the point where I wish Corry would disappear. Only for a little while.”

Lee frowned. It looked to Tim as if he wanted to say something further, but before he could, Laurie Veniti peered out of the cafeteria. “Corry?” she said, timidly.

“Hey, double V. He’s on his way,” Lee offered, turning towards Corry’s twin. As if on cue, Corry and Sue appeared at the far end of the hallway with their guitars, walking towards them.

“Great!” Chartreuse said brightly, stepping out from behind Laurie. “Because the two of us wanted to, like, wish the whole group the best of luck on your little, you know, debut.” She offered an encouraging smile to all the members, before reaching out a hand towards Corry as he strode up.

“Sure, thanks,” Corry said absentmindedly, reaching out to shake Chartreuse’s outstretched palm as he passed. He was brought up short, however, when Chartreuse didn’t release him. Instead, she grabbed hold with both of her hands. He turned to fire an irritated look at her, only to flinch back upon seeing Chartreuse’s horrified gaze.

“Ohmigod,” the pink haired mystic gasped out. She shifted her attention from Corry’s hand up to his face. “You, like, totally can’t go out there!” Chartreuse declared. “If you do… you’ll die!”

(Return for Corry’s fate next week. A reminder that a vote at TWF is appreciated.)

3.07: THE MANSION

“Where could she be then?” Clarke said, a tinge of panic creeping into his voice. He cupped his hand to his mouth. “Julie? JULIE??”

“Calm down,” Luci soothed. “We’ll find her. Whatever happened, she can’t have gone far.”

“Maybe Jeeves or Mimi saw something?” Frank hypothesized.

Clarke shook his head. “They’re not here. Jeeves is out servicing the car, and Mimi doesn’t spend much time around the house any more, outside of meal times. She’s not keen on the whole fractured family situation.”

“Then let’s check the external security system,” Luci reasoned. “That will tell us whether Julie left, and whether anyone else came.”

Clarke brought them to the security room, where a quick verification confirmed that there had been no activity outside of the mansion. “So where could Julie be?” Clarke said desperately. “And why did we hear her scream?!”

“Is she afraid of spiders, maybe?” Carrie mused.

“Unless…”

“Unless?” Frank said, turning to Luci.

“You think she was timenapped?” Clarke asked, eyes widening.

“We were here to set a fixed date for starting travel,” Frank agreed. “Yet for someone to take Julie, the time machine would need at least a few minutes to recharge, right?”

“Okay, so it stands to reason that if someone’s trying that, Julie’s still around, but maybe knocked out,” Carrie decided. “We need to split up and search the house, fast.”

“Whoa! Split up?” Frank protested. “But what if someone’s trying to pick us off one by one?”

Carrie rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll check upstairs with Clarke while you two horror movie maniacs scour the basement. Good enough?”

Frank seemed about to reply to her when Luci broke in. “Sounds good,” she agreed, grabbing Frank’s arm. “Let’s do that.”

Carrie nodded and headed for the back stairs with Clarke, even as Frank turned to look at Luci in surprise. “We’re going to take orders from her?”

“Come on, Frank,” Luci said. “Let’s have a talk in the basement.”

Luci tried to figure out exactly how to say what she wanted to say as they descended the stairs. She finally decided to go the direct route, as usual. “Frank,” she began as they reached the lower landing. “Why are you still freaking out about Carrie’s powers?”

He blinked. “Pardon?”

“The earlier comment about things flying through the air?” Luci said pointedly, even as she walked down the hall, opening the nearest door. “The flinching when Carrie talked about losing her mind? I thought we’d agreed that the remark to her father last weekend would be the last reference you’d make to Stephen King’s character.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Frank apologized. “Still, the fact that we discovered that the fire at the cafe occurred when Carrie was there… well, it’s kind of a freaky coincidence, don’t you think? Like, maybe, subconsciously–”

“No!” Luci countered. “Don’t go there! Our Carrie is not some fictional character with mental issues and telekinesis, Frank. She’s our friend.”

“I know.” Frank peered inside a room where a file cabinet had been tipped over. “But we all saw what Carrie was capable of last year. And you know I’m not keen on the horror genre. So if you didn’t want me to act this way around her, why did you show me that movie in the first place?”

For a moment, Luci found herself at loss for words. Because she realized that Frank wasn’t wrong - some part of her had wanted him to act this way. What she ultimately said was, “Well, geez, Frank, why do you think I showed it to you?!”

“Luci, I’m not a mind reader.”

“Who says you have to be a mind reader??”

He gave her a look of confusion. So Luci clasped her hands in front of her chest and fluttered her eyelashes. “Oh, Carrie,” the young girl swooned. “Don’t go out with Glen, he might be bad news! Don’t worry, I’ll tail him for you, I’ll keep an eye on him, I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything inappropriate!”

Frank’s eyebrows rose. “This is about me shadowing Glen?”

“Oh for goodness sakes, Frank, don’t you remember ANYTHING about our previous conversations?” Luci said in exasperation. Honestly, Frank was a wonderful guy, but how could anyone that smart also be so dense and unaware?!

Their basement searching ceased completely as Luci’s boyfriend peered more closely at her. “You mean… you really are jealous?”

“Oh, then you were listening. Amazing.”

“And so… you showed me the movie so that I’d be scared of Carrie, and run to you for support?”

So he’d been listening, but not understanding. “I showed you the movie so that you’d remember that someone like Carrie is capable of taking care of herself! So that you’d come to me, not for support, but because… because I’m important too. Even if I’m not the one with powers or a destiny.”

“What? But, of course you’re important, Luci! Why would you think otherwise?”

“Because, I don’t know, it’s like our relationship was stuck in second gear all summer,” Luci said. She found she couldn’t look at Frank directly any more. Was she perhaps in the wrong? “I thought coming back to school would reignite things, but instead you’re more interested in Carrie’s life than you are in mine.”

There was a pause. “I’m sorry, Luci, I never meant to give you that impression,” he said softly. “If you thought I was ignoring you, why didn’t you say something?”

“Oh, what the hell was I supposed to say?” Luci felt tears shimmering behind her eyelids. “A girl can’t simply tell a guy to dote on her, otherwise she’ll know he’s doing it because she told him to, not because she’s actually worth it.”

“You are worth it.”

“See? Now you’re only saying it because I told you to.”

“I’m not.” Frank reached out to tilt Luci’s head back in his direction. “I’m really not. I’m sorry, Luci. I guess it’s just, you’ve always seemed so independent. Heck, ever since you stopped holding back at school, your marks have been in the top five percent for our grade level, even above mine. So it never occurred to me that you might be feeling insecure.”

“Don’t say that! I’m not insecure!” Luci swallowed. “But okay, I guess for your birthday at the start of the month, I still had to go up on tiptoe in order to kiss you, and I… I’m two years too young for our grade, and wonder if maybe you’re getting tired of that age difference. I know I am."

“Oh Luci, Luci, dear sweet Luci, no!”

“No? You’ve never found yourself holding back because of my age? Hell, would you even still be going out with me, if you hadn’t seen how good I’d look at twenty one?” She knew he couldn’t have forgotten about the time when she had been artificially aged, prompting Professor Linquist to grab her off the street for experimentation. After all, it had been that Luci who had first made her feelings clear to Frank.

“Oh, Luci," Frank said, brushing a tear from her cheek. “I would still go out with you even if you broke out with a terrible case of acne. This isn’t about physical appearance. It’s not even about intellect. I love you, Luci, because of who you are. You know I do.”

Luci looked up into his eyes, and she saw the sincerity in them, and she felt like a total idiot. She leaned in towards him, her arms moving around him and her cheek resting on his chest as she let out a small sigh. “I… I know,” she admitted. “So maybe I need to hear it more often? Is that okay?”

His arms encircled her back. “Of course it is,” he said softly, hugging her close. “Of course it is, my lovely Luci. I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel at all neglected. I’ll make it up to you somehow… in fact, guess what! I got Joe to handle the business club’s snack table for the upcoming school dance. And rather than simply assume, I should ask - Luci, will you be my date for the evening?”

“Oh, Frank!” Luci said happily, looking up, then hugging him tightly. “Of course! Thank you!” They remained that way for a short time, before she finally pulled back.

“Actually Frank, you know what else didn’t help with this whole mess?” Luci admitted. “Carrie complaining to me at the start of the school year about how much her chest was interfering with her cheerleading, and her other athletic pursuits. I mean, really? All I could think about during her WHOLE rant was ‘So when am I due for a boost in MY cup size?’. Damn it, I’ve seen Grade Nines who are more developed than me!”

Frank swallowed. “Oh. Um. Well, you know, I’ve never meant to imply you were devoid of physical attributes…?"

Luci eyed his expression. “Never mind. Maybe that’s a topic I should be discussing with Chartreuse instead. We should get back to looking for Julie.”

“Yes, please,” Frank said, visibly relieved. “Lead the way."

Julie moaned as consciousness returned. She blinked her eyes open, saw nothing but darkness, and felt a jolt of panic. It subsided as her eyes began to adjust, identifying a partially furnished, albeit windowless room. She sat up, reaching her hands out to confirm that she was in a small alcove in the wall.

She suppressed the urge to sneeze at the dust tickling at her nose. “Mimi’s really let this room go,” Julie murmured. Was she even still in the mansion?

She thought back. She had been in the washroom, getting the aspirin bottle from the cabinet behind the mirror - and had slipped on a wet patch on the floor. Left behind when she’d splashed water onto her face after bandaging her hand.

Julie held her palm up to her face, peering at the bandage. Her hand still hurt. Right. Because to try and stay upright, she had seized the metal ring on the wall where they hung hand towels. And twisted it. And then, inexplicably, the floor had given out, and she’d fallen… which meant she was… where?

Julie struggled to her feet, trying to peer through the darkness. She stepped outside of the wall alcove. A cobweb or string dangled against her face, and she pulled at it, to get it out of the way. An overhead bulb clicked on. Julie blinked the spots out of her eyes, then let out a low whistle as her location became more clear.

This was a laboratory. Abandoned, to be sure, but it contained cabinets, counters, a sink - and fluorescent lighting overhead, which was still switched off. Julie fumbled her way across the room, towards the only door, where she found the main light switch.

“Where in heck did all this come from?" Julie murmured, once she was in a position to do a full scan of the room. “How is this room inside my house?" She had thoroughly explored the mansion after moving in. True, the basement floor plan allowed for a room of this size, but the only place it could have been was behind a completely walled off area. Walled off…

Julie walked back over to the alcove, and looked up. It seemed that she had landed at the bottom of some sort of overhead chute. Pursing her lips, Julie did some mental calculations, and realized this laboratory could indeed be part of her basement. With access from above.

She made a quick circuit of the room, noting that there were still a handful of instruments in the drawers as well as chemicals in the cabinets. If it weren’t for the dust, implying the room hadn’t been used in years, she might have thought that someone was in the mansion spying on her.

A flash of red caught her attention as she looked more closely at a large safe. Something had been shoved into the narrow space in between said safe, and the adjoining counter. Grabbing a nearby metre stick and fishing in the opening produced a spiral notebook. Julie blew the dust off of it, scanning over the cover.

“Observations and experiments,” she read. “As recorded by Professor Linquist… Professor Linquist?!” Julie looked up. “Of course. He owned this place before we moved in! This lab must have been some secret work area of his!"

The brunette began to riffle through the book, but it seemed to be written in some sort of scientific code. “The others need to see this,” Julie decided. “Heck, they’re probably wondering what’s happened to me. So how do I get out of here?”

She tried the door, finding it to be unlocked. It opened inwards, revealing a wall of concrete blocks - except there was a narrow passage there, which could fit a single person. The passage extended in both directions. “Left or right?” Julie whispered. She peered into the darkness. No way to know. “Right. Let’s see where this goes."

“Okay, well, I don’t think she’s up here,” Carrie concluded. “Unless she’s in that locked records room, or Jeeves’ room, or is actively being moved to avoid us or something.”

“We can still try those rooms before giving up,” Clarke insisted.

Carrie shook her head. “At this point, if people were stealing Julie through time, I think they’d be gone. There has to be another reason for…“ She froze. “Damn. Oh, DAMN!”

“What?”

Carrie took off towards the stairway. “We’re up here. Frank and Luci are in the basement. I left the time machine on the main level, UNGUARDED. What if that was the plan? What if it was JULIE’S plan? To hide, and throw us off long enough to take a time trip!”

Clarke frowned. “Carrie, she’s not that reckless, and surely Frank still has the coins…”

However, the blonde girl was already out of earshot. So, with a resigned sigh, Clarke followed her down. He reentered the sitting room to see her staring down at the time machine, on the floor, exactly where they had left it. “See? You need to give Julie more credit.”

“Okay. But it’s SO stupid of me to keep leaving the damn thing where others can get it,” she said, grimacing. “I mean, this is twice in two days. Um, kinda. Look, I think I’d better take it back to my place. I’ll sleep better knowing that it’s still under my bed."

“Fine,” Clarke granted. “Now can we get back to searching? Because I swear, Julie wouldn’t have run off like this voluntarily!"

“Scratch the basement," Frank offered, as he and Luci reentered the room behind him. “But there were a couple of locked areas. Storage, maybe?”

“I also wonder if we missed a section - there seemed to be less floor space than I would have expected,” Luci observed.

“No, it’s fine, there’s a section around the back of the stairs which is all foundation,” Clarke assured. “There’s no rooms in that area.”

As he spoke, there came a click and a series of creaks. Then the tall china cabinet against one wall of the room began to rattle as it slid sideways across the carpet. Clarke lifted his eyebrows, as Carrie grabbed for the time machine and Frank stepped slightly in front of Luci.

Everyone watched as Julie emerged from a dark passage, her clothes dusty, with cobwebs caught in her hair. “Actually,” Julie said, letting out a cough. “It would seem that there is a room down there after all.”

“Jewels!” Clarke gasped, running towards her, stopping short from actually grasping her by the shoulders. “What happened to you??”

Julie turned to look at the tunnel behind her. “My best guess,” she ventured, “is that I triggered something by twisting the towel ring in the bathroom while the medicine cabinet was open. It sent me down to this lab where… well, Phil, why don’t you go grab a flashlight so that we can all see for ourselves?”

“Careful, there’s some stairs here,” Julie warned. There was only enough space for them to move single file, so she led the way. Clarke brought up the rear, shining his light forwards.

“I’ll be damned,” Carrie muttered, inching along behind Julie. It was extra awkward, because she hadn’t wanted to leave the time machine behind again - but now she had to walk sideways, with it at her hip. “Like everyone else, I’d heard the rumours about there being secret passages in this place. But I thought you’d discounted that possibility.”

“Seems I wasn’t thorough enough,” Julie admitted. “In the end, most of my searching was done downstairs, around that closed off section. So while I’m sure that there’s no way into it from down there, it didn’t occur to me to check for access from places on the main landing.”

“A china cabinet isn’t the most obvious choice for a passage anyway,” Frank commented. “I’d have gone for a bookshelf.”

“Well, we keep china in it, I’m not sure what Linquist used it for.”

“Linquist?!” came Luci’s voice. “You think that quack was doing illegal experiments down here??”

“I don’t know… maybe you can tell me. He left some logbook of experiments behind.” Less than a minute later, they had all filed into the hidden basement room.

“You know what?” Carrie said, looking around. “This would be an excellent place for us to use for storage, time travel meetings, that kind of thing. It’s in the mansion, out of the way - even Jeeves doesn’t know about it, right?”

“Right,” Julie confirmed. “And I can tidy it up a little for us, and catalog the stuff Linquist left behind.”

“Hold it!” Luci objected. “Have you forgotten how crazy that guy was?! What if he left booby traps behind?”

“He wasn’t always crazy,” Carrie countered. “And I doubt he would have sold this place to a wealthy family like the LaMilles if he’d left anything in here that would take their heads off. That would mean a major lawsuit.”

“Even when he wasn’t crazy, he still wasn’t normal,” Luci shot back. “Remember, Linquist believed that aliens left their children at orphanages in the hopes that they would some day be brought inconspicuously into society. A familiar story for you, right Carrie?"

“My mother was an unwitting time traveler, not an alien,” Carrie said dismissively. “And Linquist had nothing to do with her appearance or disappearance, they happened years before he went off on this tangent.”

“Yet people in the future must have associated with Linquist at SOME point,” Luci countered. “Remember, this guy also also owned equipment for sensing the temporal flux in my DNA. He couldn’t have picked that up at the corner drugstore!"

“Ugh. Point,” Carrie finally yielded. “We should be careful.”

“On the topic of using this place though,” Frank broke in. “It’s not a bad idea."

“And I’ve decided to clean the lab up no matter what," Julie put in.

“In which case, I can make sure to be around whenever Julie’s investigating," Clarke offered.

Luci let out a sigh. “Oh, very well. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She held up Linquist’s red notebook. “Can I keep this, at least? To see if I can figure out what this guy spent his time experimenting on down here? I’m sure there’s some connection between that guy and time travel that we’ve missed.”

“No problem,” Julie agreed. “It’s in code though.”

“I can help you work on it, if you want,” Frank offered. Luci smiled back at him.

“Then it’s settled,” Clarke concluded. “Me and Julie will fix this place up over the week, so you could bring coins and technical drawings or whatever down here by, say, this Friday evening.”

“Except that’s the night of the school dance,” Frank reminded the taller boy. “Aren’t you going to be there with Julie?”

Clarke looked sidelong at the brunette. “Well, no. Unless she changes her mind…”

“Oh, Julie, you should come!” Carrie said. “The first dance of the school year? It’s a good opportunity to get you back into social circles!”

Julie shook her head. “On the contrary, my presence would only serve to remind people of what happened between me and Corry at the first dance LAST year. When I not only screwed you and him over, but Laurie Veniti too.”

“No way - or if it does remind them, it’ll only serve to show them how much better of a person you are now,” Carrie insisted. “Come on, you really have been keeping a lot to yourself lately. A dance will do you good. The four of us will stand up for you. I’ll make sure Glen does as well!”

“Glen? You think he’ll be there?” Frank asked.

Carrie pursed her lips. “Yeah. Since he, uh, kinda asked me out - more specifically, to honour him by being his date - and after our cafe meeting became something of a fiasco the other week, I didn’t really want to say no, sooo…” She shrugged.

“Carrie’s right, Julie, you might as well come along,” Luci chimed in. “If you feel uncomfortable, you can always leave early.”

Julie looked around at them. “But…” Her eyes landed on Clarke. “Oh, all right. Phil, we’ll go. If nothing else, we can see Corry’s music group in their first major performance. They’re supposed to be performing when the DJ goes on break.”

“That’s great!” Clarke said, smiling back. “See Jewels? I told you that some people would want you there! You’re simply blowing things out of proportion. After all, since you and Corry aren’t actively fighting any more, what’s the worst thing that could possibly happen?"

As it turned out, Clarke was surprised.

• Another Commentary post is coming this Sunday.
• Again a vote for T&T at TWF is always appreciated, the votes expire weekly.

3.06: MENTAL STRAIN

How sane was she?

The regular counselling sessions with Dr. Golden had helped her to deal with emotional issues like love and trust, it was true. But she couldn’t explain to a regular psychologist about the attempt to kill their unborn self, by time traveling back to the week of their birth. Speaking of that to anyone, aside from the other time travellers, was liable to get her locked up. Or worse, put Carrie in additional danger. No, Julie would have to keep it to herself.

Maybe forever.

“They’re all here now,” Clarke said from the doorway.

Julie sat up. “All right then. Let’s talk time trips.” She swung her legs off the bed, stood, and headed past him, out the door.

“Jewels, are you sure you’re up for it?” Clarke asked, falling into step behind her. “They only called us this morning about the meeting. If it’s too fast–”

“Don’t worry,” Julie said, cutting him off. “I’m not about to wrestle the machine away from Carrie in order to finish what I started last year.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Yeah. Still…”

“More to the point - I need this,” Julie continued. “It’s been ten months since those events, and a part of me is starting to doubt whether it all truly happened.” Her lips pursed. “And I… well, I’d rather not simply dismiss the sacrifices you all made to save me.”

Clarke looked at her for a long moment before smiling back. “Okay then,” he replied. “Let’s see what’s up.”

Her visitors, Carrie, Frank and Luci, all rose from their chairs as she entered the LaMille sitting room. “Julie,” Carrie began. “Hi… look, I want you to know right up front that if you feel at all uncomfortable with what we’re talking about, you have only to tell us and we’ll head out of here with no bad feelings.”

“Noted. Let’s get to it,” she countered.

Carrie nodded, glancing over to Frank and Luci. Frank shrugged. Even Luci looked hesitant. Julie set her jaw. “Look, guys, I may be a little frayed around the edges, but I’m still Julie LaMille. If you’re going to walk on eggshells around me, I’m going to damn well throw you out. Did you interrupt my Sunday morning to talk time travel, or didn’t you?”

“We’re thinking of using your house here as a base of operations,” Luci spoke up. “For storing the coins, and as a jumping off point for time trips, rather than Frank’s home. Or Carrie’s.”

“My parents and Carrie’s father already think something’s up after last year,” Frank added. “So that’s not ideal, particularly if I reappear in my kitchen. But your place isn’t that far from Willowdale Park, and so with either that park or the point of departure being some sort of geographic failsafe, your home is pretty convenient.”

“The mansion is big, mostly empty, and me accidentally turning up in here at any point in the last couple years wouldn’t really be remarked on,” Carrie added.

Julie shifted her gaze to the small black box, currently lying on the floor beside a chair. “You ARE thinking of making more trips then.”

“We have a few present day coins,” Frank admitted. “And if we don’t start soon, that is before January, we’ll be stuck in the present again. So yeah.”

“Carrie thinks that actually doing some time travel might help her to understand more about what she is and isn’t capable of doing on her own too,” Luci added.

“In fact, I took my first trip of the year yesterday,” Carrie stated. “Back to my birthday.” She rubbed her temples. “It was… educational. I think the time has finally come for me to put up or shut up as far as these temporal powers go.”

“Your powers,” Julie remarked, leaning back against the wall. “Then you’re thinking of invoking them too?”

Carrie began to pace. “I have to,” she sighed. “Chartreuse has convinced me that the only real way to ensure that what happened last year at the hospital never happens again, is to achieve some sort of balance with whatever’s inside me. To get a sense of what that even looks like, I’m gonna need to take more time trips. With and without the machine.”

“Incidentally, Carrie’s powers are another reason to bring the two of you in on this now,” Luci said, nodding towards Clarke, who had thus far remained silent. “We’re the five originals. The only ones - aside from Corry - who remember what Carrie is capable of. Thus the only ones who might notice, should things start to run off the rails.”

“Chartreuse would notice too,” Carrie murmured.

“Except she doesn’t REALLY remember last November,” Frank countered. “You had to tell her.”

“She would notice.”

“Look, my point was that Lee, Tim and Laurie wouldn’t, despite also once knowing about the machine,” Luci said.

“I think you’re straying from the point,” Clarke broke in at last. “You’re saying you want to use Julie’s house as a base of operations? What about the surveillance cameras on the property? What about Jeeves, who lives here too?”

“As Carrie said, the place is big, we should be able to avoid Jeeves,” Frank countered. “And the surveillance on the property will work in our favour. We merely need to learn enough to circumvent it, after which it will pick up on any outsider who’s trying to get at the time machine.”

“Like I did, when it was unguarded at your place,” Julie observed.

Frank winced. “Um. Kinda, sorta.”

Julie crossed her arms over her chest. “So, does this mean I’ll get to do more time travel?”

“Not at all,” Frank assured. “We’ll only need your permission to come and go from the house, from this point going forwards. Along with information about the surveillance and such, in case we arrive in some room with an active camera.”

“Because the time machine centres on the DNA of those taking the trip, remember?” Carrie agreed. “So, if we happen to arrive before we leave, we could potentially be here without coming through the front door. Don’t be freaked out by our comings and goings, that’s all.”

“Well, what about your point of arrival in another time period?” Julie challenged. “I’ve spent so much time in the mansion these last three years that any time trip I take is likely to keep me here. I could be an asset to you that way.”

Carrie exchanged a glance with Frank and Luci. “Julie… are you saying you WANT to go on another time trip?”

“I do,” Julie said, without hesitation. “I won’t make it a condition of using the place, but what’s wrong with me coming along?”

Julie surveyed the expressions of the others. Carrie looked surprised, Frank confused, Luci remained inscrutable and Clarke… he simply looked worried. “Jewels… I’m not sure you realize what you’re asking.”

“Oh, come on Phil,” Julie countered, giving him a playful punch in the arm. “All summer you were telling me I needed to get out more. A trip in space, a trip in time, what’s the difference?” She looked at the others. “Besides, I swear, I’m not going to use the opportunity to try anything self-destructive!”

“I don’t know, Julie,” Carrie said, her expression starting to mirror Clarke’s. “Time travel can be dangerous. And we might not limit ourselves to the past, we could also travel as far forwards as December.”

“Though last time we tried a future trip, we almost got run over,” Luci recalled.

“I don’t care,” Julie asserted. “I want to time travel.”

“But why?” Frank protested. “What’s your motivation?”

Julie clenched and unclenched her hands. “Seriously? Don’t you guys get it? I’ve only been on two time trips. And the second one doesn’t count, since it was only Clarke taking me into the cafe to establish an alibi for the shooting. No, whenever I think of time travel, it always brings to mind that first trip, with the gun, and the h-homeless woman and… and m-my p-parents…”

Damn it. Julie forced herself to draw in a long breath, digging her fingernails into her palms. She had to keep control here, or they’d never let her go anywhere. “So, yeah. I hate that. I hate it, I hate it, and yet I can’t stop thinking about it! What’s more, something which has really been starting to eat away at me through my counselling sessions is the realization that, had our situations been reversed, I… I probably wouldn’t have lifted a finger to help any of you!”

She stood straighter, shifting her gaze around the room, to each of them in turn. “So, know what? I vowed that if the opportunity presented itself where I could help you time trippers in return for what you did, I’d take it! More, that I’d go on another trip through time, one I could potentially look back on with pride, not distaste or horror! So, yes, obviously you can use the mansion, but I want - I’d LIKE more than that. Everybody, I want to time travel again!”

“Jewels, careful!” Clarke shouted out, reaching out to grab her arm. She looked down. One of her nails had broken through the skin of her palm, releasing a small trickle of blood. She swallowed.

“Whoopsie. Ah, I’ll just get a bandaid. Talk amongst yourselves,” Julie said, before hurrying out of the room.

Clarke watched her go before turning back to look at the others.  “You know, I wish you’d talked this over with me first,” he sighed.

“I guess we should have,” Carrie admitted, her eyes still on the doorway. “Julie’s never quite seemed that… passionate about anything though. Not recently anyway. She’s been quite subdued at school.”

“Her former followers, which is to say half the school, are out to get her when Corry’s back is turned,” Clarke countered. “The other half, Corry’s original camp, give her the silent treatment - wouldn’t you be subdued? Don’t forget, her family situation has been kept out of the public eye. Heck, even though WE have the information, well… have you ever truly forgiven Julie yourself, Carrie?”

“Of course! She pulled that trigger only because she was being influenced by a crazy man from the future.”

“Not merely the shooting. Julie did some other cruel things to you.”

He saw Carrie shift her weight back and forth uncomfortably. She had to be recalling the betrayal which had involved drugs in her locker and two weeks of detention. “Yeah. I know she was under some personal pressures then too,” Carrie yielded. “I do TRY not to hold such things against her.”

“So, if you’ve forgiven her, why don’t you spend more time with her?" Clarke asked pointedly.

Carrie shrugged. “I… I guess I never thought about it. I’ve had more than a few issues of my own to deal with these last few months, you know!”

“Okay Clarke, let’s get your input now,” Luci broke in. Having resumed her seat, she leaned forwards in her chair. “Quickly, before Julie returns. Do you think she can handle a time trip?”

“I… maybe?” Clarke said. “I must admit, I didn’t know she felt this strongly about the subject myself. But I see where she’s coming from - a part of her wants to forget about that trip. However, if she does that, she’ll lose this connection she has to all of you. And I don’t think Julie wants to do that, not now that she’s finally beginning to understand concepts like love, friendship and self sacrifice.”

“We’ve made a bit of a mess of things today then,” Frank realized, also resuming his seat. “Perhaps we should call the whole thing off.”

Clarke reached back to rub the back of his neck. “Perhaps? But you don’t want to do that permanently, or you could break Julie’s heart. Outward appearances aside, she is in a fragile state. You can’t set her up this way, and then drop her. Her feelings, when she expresses them these days, they tend to go all out.”

“What would you suggest then?” Carrie asked.

“Continue to involve her,” Clarke decided, after a moment’s thought. “In that respect, using this place as a base isn’t a bad idea. Even a time trip has possibilities. But not solo. And not now. You have to make sure not to bring her along too fast, and don’t take her condition for granted. Julie isn’t the same person she was last year.”

“Who am I supposed to be then?” Julie asked as she reentered the room.

Clarke flinched, not having heard her approach. “I was telling them how far you’ve come in terms of your therapy,” he said quickly. “Since the last time you time traveled.”

“Oh!” Julie nodded. “Is it okay for me to go on the next trip then?”

“Actually,” Luci said. “We’ll need to hold off on trips for a while yet. We don’t have that many present day coins. The issue today was more having a fixed point in time when we all knew what was going on. Right?”

“Right,” Frank agreed. “We’ll need to keep an eye out for more coins minted in our current year before taking any trips.”

Clarke took a half step back, firing off a quick smile to them from behind Julie.

Julie pursed her lips. “Why wait? If this is now a fixed point in time, someone could simply time travel back TO now, from some point later, once there are already more coins in our possession. At which point our future selves can simply hand the money over to our present day selves.”

“Huh,” Frank mused. He glanced to Carrie.

The blonde shook her head. “Sorry, we can’t, because we won’t,” she rejected. “It’s not that it’s a bad idea, and it’s hard for me to explain exactly, but since we apparently haven’t done that, we’re not going to. It’s like… our present is their past. Puts the onus on us. Who knows what will happen in two months time? Maybe we’ll forget, maybe the machine will break down…”

“Couldn’t you foresee those sorts of events though?” Clarke wondered.

Carrie began to look uneasy. “Maybe. Chartreuse thinks so. But I’m reluctant to test it.”

“You know what though? We might be able to generate more coins via causal loops,” Frank realized. “Carrie has done it before with information. Telling herself something, then going back in time and saying it again, when she was the only source. She even generated an apple out of nowhere last September. Couldn’t we do the same thing with coins?”

Carrie began to rub her temples again. “Yeah, that’s… not the best plan. For one, I’m still not clear about how I managed the apple. For another, the very act of using the machine would burn up the coin we get, meaning it can’t be used elsewhere anyway.”

“So use two coins,” Luci countered. “We’ll put them onto a table in the morning. That evening, someone can use one one coin to travel back in time five minutes, picking up both coins. Then use one of THOSE to travel back a further five minutes, again picking up both coins. We keep repeating the process, getting an extra coin each time until finally–”

“My head explodes,” Carrie interrupted, shifting from having her fingers on her temples to pressing her palms there. “Gods, entertaining that thought physically HURTS! Much more than the usual background static! Damn it Luci, that’s not how time travel works… if it’s my destiny to pick up the coins thirty minutes ago, I won’t be able to pick them up five minutes ago. They’ll be gone! Besides, I think temporal random variance would have a thing or two to say about the attempt.”

“It IS an interesting new paradox though,” Frank reflected. “If we use a coin to time travel, and then on that trip we take the coin away before it’s used, could we actually go on the trip?”

“Frank… not helping with the headache,” Carrie said, gritting her teeth.

Frank frowned. “You’re not about to make things fly through the air, are you?"

“Shall I get an aspirin?” Julie asked.

“I doubt aspirin would do much,” Carrie sighed, after shooting Frank a look. “I have had pains like this before. I think when my powers awoke, they imbued me with some sort of temporal conscience. That’s part of the reason I’ve avoided discussing time travel philosophy with people this year.”

“Really?” Luci asked. “I thought the issue was that you had trouble making sense out of it.”

“That too,” Carrie yielded. “Though I have tried to do more research. Being tied to a destiny and all.”

“Well, if time trickery is out, you could simply get more money,” Julie decided. “Given that some percentage of all money out there has current year coins, more money leads to more useful coins. In fact, by knowing the future, you can win money at anything from lottery numbers to betting on sporting events.”

Carrie began to rock back and forth. “Wait.”

Frank snapped his fingers. “Or there’s the stock market! With the time machine we could invest today in something that we know will rise substantially over the next week and–”

“SHUT UP!” Carrie shrieked, collapsing back onto the couch.

Everyone turned to stare. The blonde took a few slow breaths, her eyes closed and her palms against her head. It took at least ten seconds, but finally one blue eye reopened. “For crying out loud people, were you SERIOUSLY trying to make my head explode there?!?”

“Carrie, a lottery wouldn’t need to involve you at all,” Luci pointed out. “We’d make the trip ourselv–”

“STOP!” Carrie drew in her next breath through clenched teeth. “Look. News flash. Apparently it doesn’t matter whether you do it, whether I do it, or whether the neighbour’s cat does it. Playing with the normal flow of time that way? It’s like an ice pick right here!” She jabbed her finger at the side of her head. “Though, Gods, TALK has never done this to me before… why now, all of a sudden?!"

“We’ve never talked about it seriously before,” Frank speculated. “This is the first time we’ve brought it up with an intent to actually follow through.”

“Lovely,” Carrie said, dropping her head between her knees. “You know what? I’d better have some damn good mental shields in place before these time machine devices actually get invented! If not, idle chatter like that is liable to make me lose my friggin’ mind and go on a homicidal rampage as a preemptive strike.”

Frank visibly flinched, but only Clarke and Luci noticed.

“You know,” Clarke offered. “You’re all missing the obvious. If it’s merely more money you need… Julie already has money. Quite a bit. She can withdraw a bunch of rolled coins and search for more of the type you need.”

Luci frowned. “Seriously? I figured Julie’s parents would have cut her off.”

Julie nodded slowly. “True, they did, but I have my own account,” she admitted. “I’m not stupid, I made sure there was one they couldn’t touch. Plus there’s still a few electronic tidbits lying around, which I bought to help with taking over the school, and they have value. Even without access to my parents' funds, I’m probably better off than ninety percent of this town’s population.”

“Plus you could always travel back a year or two and sneak out extra funds then,” Frank mused. His gaze jerked back to Carrie. “Or would that be another temporal violation?”

“It’s hard to tell, I’m still throbbing from the lottery remarks,” Carrie grumbled without looking up.

“There may have been a couple of times when funds went missing,” Julie granted. “Though I’d have to think about it. In the meantime, I can withdraw $100 in coins… but sifting through them will take time.”

“We are in no rush,” Clarke assured.

“That’s actually a really good plan,” Frank agreed. “It wouldn’t involve wasting what few coins we have now on any attempts to get more.”

“Great,” Carrie said. “Because I think my head has had more than enough of talking about time travel for today.”

“You sure you don’t want some aspirin?” Julie asked. Carrie gestured vaguely in response. “I’ll get some,” the brunette decided, hurrying from the room.

Clarke watched her go before turning back to the others. “Thanks guys,” he said sincerely. “Helping this way, it will mean a lot to Julie. While keeping her safely in the present.”

“Least we can do, after neglecting her this long,” Frank reflected. “Somehow I never thought we’d be of much help during Julie’s therapy.”

“A person always needs friends,” Clarke countered. “And it’s not like she can spill our whole story to her psychologist.”

“Here’s the last big question then,” Luci stated. “Is it truly safe for us to leave the time machine here? Where Julie can access it?”

Clarke furrowed his brow. “Um. That is a good question,” he acknowledged. He thought about it. “Maybe not, but if we–”

He was interrupted by the sound of a loud scream from down the hall. Julie’s scream.

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3.04: THE VISIONARIES

“The popcorn?” the young asian guessed, entering the Dijora house and looking at him in amusement. “I mean, that was our arrangement, you get the popcorn, I get the movie…”

“Yes, yes, but look what I received in the way of change,” Frank said, fumbling in his pocket for the money. He held six coins out for inspection.

Luci stared. “They… overcharged you?"

“The dates,” Frank said patiently. “Look at the dates.”

Comprehension dawned. “Oh! Two more from the current year."

“Yup,” Frank affirmed as he pocketed them. “It’s weird, for whatever reason, we haven’t had as many recently minted coins in circulation this year. I don’t know why, but it could be a problem for when we resume time trips.”

“When? Not if? But Carrie hasn’t authorized more time trips.”

“Well, no,” Frank admitted. “But she can’t hold out indefinitely, can she? In particular, now that she’s gone out with Glen, we may want to use the time machine to investigate…”

“Yes, right,” Frank agreed. “What did you find?” Luci smirked as she held up the casing. Frank’s eyebrow went up as he read it. “Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’?,” he questioned. Luci nodded.

Sunday afternoon found Chartreuse ringing the doorbell at the Waterson residence. Carrie’s father answered it for her moments later. “Um, hi!” she began. “Is Carrie in? I think we, like, have something that we need to talk about.”

Hank Waterson shook his head. “She is here, but she’s not feeling very well. Could you come back another day?”

Chartreuse pursed her lips. “I could. Except I think I know what her problem is, why she’s been so, you know, withdrawn all weekend. And I think I can help.”

“Really?” Hank said. “What’s wrong? I know she doesn’t have a fever, but it seems to be more than an upset stomach…”

“It’s related to our weekly sessions,” Chartreuse hedged. “Can I please talk to her?”

“She refuses to speak with anyone. Insisting only aggravates her - I had to turn away both Frank and Luci when they came by. In fact, it’s all I can do to get her to say anything to me.”

“Carrie doesn’t have to speak to me, only listen,” Chartreuse pleaded. “Please, Mr. Waterson? I know what I’m talking about.”

“Well… all right. Come in,” Hank Waterson decided, moving aside. “I do hate to see my daughter like this and I’m at a bit of a loss as to a solution. You sure she won’t mind seeing you?”

“Go away!” Carrie shouted through her bedroom door.

“Carrie, hear me out!” Chartreuse protested. “You’re upset because of the fire at the cafe, right?”

No reply. Chartreuse knew she was right. The pink haired girl motioned with her hands for Carrie’s father to depart.

He looked at his daughter’s door, then back at her. “Call me if she starts throwing things,” Mr. Waterson said at last, before heading back downstairs.

“Look, I understand some of what you’re going through,” Chartreuse continued, once she was alone. “I’d like to tell you a story about the time my abilities caused trouble in my life too. Can’t I, like, say it to your face?”

Nothing.

“Fine, I’ll talk through the door,” Chartreuse continued stubbornly. “It all started three years ago, when I was fourteen. I’d received a disturbing vision. It was a vision of death…”

"There has to be something we can do!" Chartreuse said desperately, nibbling on a lock of her violet coloured hair. "I don't want Fluffy to die! Not like that!!"

Her mother sat down on the bed next to her. "I'm sorry, Chartreuse," she said softly. "We can warn her, but I'm not sure she'd understand us. Fluffy's always enjoyed playing in traffic, it was just a matter of time."

"But... but it's not right!" Chartreuse objected. "Can't she be kept in her house? Can't we prevent things that way?"

"She'd find a way out," Mrs. Vermilion sighed. "You know her, she's sneaky that way. There are some things you can stop, Chartreuse, and other things that are inevitable. You have to let this one go, dear. Fluffy's death is meant to happen."

"But Mom, she's your own sister-in-law!" the violet haired girl sobbed. "If this is what it means to see the future, I don't want to see it any more!"

"Chartreuse, she may have married your uncle, but me and Fluffy weren't that close," her mother insisted. "Now, please, try to work through this. You can take all the time you need."

“Hold it!” Carrie interrupted. The lock clicked, and the door of her bedroom opened a crack. “Are you telling me Fluffy was your aunt?!”

“Yes,” Chartreuse sighed. “It was so horrible. She died when a tree fell on her.”

Carrie glared at Chartreuse with one eye. “You’re making this up.”

“I am not!” Chartreuse said indignantly. “Our other aunt, Emerald, was quite broken up about it! I think maybe my Mom was too, but of course since she can see, like, astral projections, she could still talk to Fluffy after her sister-in-law’s death.”

“But… if a tree fell on Fluffy, what did playing in traffic have to do with anything?”

“If Fluffy hadn’t been in the road, the tree would have, you know, missed her,” Chartreuse said patiently. “Now, are you going to keep asking questions, or can I continue my story?”

Carrie hesitated, which Chartreuse took to be a yes.

"All right, Chartreuse," Mr. Vermilion said, entering the room. "I'm sorry, but we can't afford to give you any more time to grieve."

"But Dad, it's been less than an hour!” the orange haired girl wailed. "Can't I at least--"

“Stop! You said your hair was violet a minute ago,” Carrie interrupted again.

“Did I?”

“You did! How can it be orange less than an hour later?”

“Maybe you, like, misheard me through the door. Can I come into your bedroom already?”

Carrie glared at Chartreuse again before finally opening the door wide enough to allow the other girl inside. “Thank you,” Chartreuse said. “Ooh, you have a nice room here, Carrie. Nice pyjamas too.”

“Don’t try and change the subject,” Carrie said, closing the door and moving to lie back down on her bed. “Now, skip to the part where your story has something to do with the fire I was in.”

“Oh… were you actually in the cafe when your vision occurred?” Chartreuse said. “I didn’t realize. Maybe this isn’t the most appropriate story after all.”

Carrie sat back up. “I knew it! You’ve been making it up.”

“No way!!” Chartreuse objected. “You want to know what, like, happened next?”

“Okay,” Carrie retorted. “What happened next?”

"Honey, I'm sorry," Mr. Vermilion said. "But we may need you to use your abilities--"

"I'm not ever using them again!" Chartreuse countered. "I'm renouncing my powers! I don't wanna know anything more about what might be happening around me!"

"But the Prime Minister of Canada has a very important job for us to do," her father insisted. "Won't you at least listen to what he has to say?"

The orange haired girl eyed him. “Well... all right, I'll listen. But I won't do anything I don’t want to!”

"That's my girl," Mr. Vermilion said with a smile. He reached out to twist the bedknob on his daughter's bed, which caused the mirror on the vanity to rotate 90 degrees. The two of them jumped into the tunnel now visible behind the mirror, sliding down a chute and falling into the couch at the bottom. Mrs. Vermilion looked over and smiled at them as she reached out and clicked on a small remote. A large wall screen lit up with an image of Jean Chretien.

"'Allos!" the Prime Minister said. "As I was saying, I am having a very important jobs for you Vermoothians!"

“CHARTREUSE!!!”

“Oh, what now?”

Carrie pressed a hand to her forehead. “You expect me to believe ANY of that actually took place?!?”

Chartreuse sighed. “Fine, I didn’t give in quite that easily, but I’m, like, embellishing a bit in the interests of time. Do you really want me to go into every little detail?”

“That’s… not my problem! What about all that other stuff? With the bedknob, the chute and Chretien?!”

“Oh, that! See, I was going through this secret agent phase, which is partly why I kept re-dying my hair. My parents were nice enough to humour me by doing some, you know, remodelling. As to Chretien, we, like, have a filter set up so that all communications coming in from the Houses of Parliament look and sound like Chretien, no matter who the Prime Minister actually is. Jean was my dad’s favourite prime minister, you know, even if the guy could never pronounce our family name properly.”

Carrie stared. “Chartreuse. This is a stretch. Even for you.”

“Well, whether you believe it or not, that doesn’t change what, like, happened!” Chartreuse said petulantly. “Now, are you going to listen to me, or are you going to interrupt every five seconds?”

“Fine, fine.  Continue the story,” Carrie sighed.

The image of Jean Chretien cleared his throat. "So's if you Verminions could handles dat little problem for me, da government would be grateful. Until da next times!" His image clicked off the monitor.

"I can't believe that guy won even one election," eleven year old Azure muttered from her own seat on the couch. Her father shot her a look of annoyance.

“That's beside the point,” Mrs. Vermilion stated. “Now then Hugh, how do you figure we should handle things?"

Mr. Vermilion stood. "Well Amber, the best way to protect this Tope Diamond while it's en route would be to choose what seems to be the safest path, and then have Chartreuse tell us if she foresees any impending danger. If she does, we can change our plans and try another reading."

"Good!" Azure said, standing up. "Then you don't need MY ability!"

"Wait, I'm not helping out here!" Chartreuse protested, also rising. "Have you forgotten that I was only here to listen? My powers are still renounced!"

Azure blinked over at her sister. "Really? You finally came to your senses? What caused the sudden turnaround?"

"It's personal," Chartreuse said, crossing her arms.

“Don't be an idiot," Azure countered. "If you don't tell me, I'll simply go scrying into your past and find out for myself!"

Chartreuse turned her back on the blue haired girl.

Rolling her eyes, Azure pulled a deck of cards out of a pocket of her jeans. She closed her eyes, murmuring a quick incantation as she shuffled, before dealing eight cards out onto the coffee table. She then flipped over the next card, the ace of spades. "A vision and a death," Azure mumbled, after a cursory examination.

She proceeded to cut the deck and turn over the top card, which listed upon it the rules for playing draw poker. Her eyes went wide. "Oh no, Auntie Em! Uncle Henry! And their little dog too!"

"Emerald and her family will be fine, Azure," her mother soothed. "The imminent death Chartreuse foresaw was Aunt Fluffy's."

"Oh, right. I knew that," Azure said, gathering her cards back up.

Chartreuse stamped her foot on the floor. "How can you all take that news so casually?!" she said angrily. "This is a human life we're talking about! And you haven't even given me an hour to deal with that yet!"

"Chartreuse, people die every day," her mother soothed. "I know, because I've seen a lot of them after it happened. We're not being cruel, dear, it's simply that we accept death as being a part of life."

"Besides," her father chimed in. "Even if you don't actively use your abilities, you'll still get flashes and pick up random impressions from people. Isn't that right, dear?"

"It is," Amber Vermilion confirmed.

"I don't care!" the orange haired girl said. “I’ll be a hermit if I have to! I don't care about my powers, I don't care about this Tope Diamond, and I will not be bribed with a peach sundae, so Mom, put that money back in your purse!"

Amber replaced the bills, abashed.

"You go, girl!" Azure said. "Don't be fooled by the old 'just this one time, it's so important to the general population' trick either. I cannot BELIEVE we keep falling for that..."

"This IS important to the general population though," Hugh Vermilion pointed out. "After all, most people have never heard of the Tope Diamond's existence. But they will, unless we can get it safely to the required destination!"

"Would it be so bad if they did find out?" Chartreuse challenged.

"We can't know that until we see this Diamond for ourselves," her father replied. "There's no school tomorrow, so how about we all travel to Dullsville to check it out? A day trip. A family outing!"

"Oh no, this is how it starts," Azure moaned.

"It will also give you more time to come to grips with what you've seen, dear," Chartreuse's mother added. "I mean, you don't want to make any hasty decisions tonight.”

"Don't listen to them, sis, don't listen!"

"We can always have peach sundaes for dinner tonight too," Hugh finished. "Though if we spend much more time arguing, I won't have a chance to get to the stores before they close."

The orange haired girl shifted her weight back and forth uncertainly. "Well... all right, I'll go, but I still won't use my powers," she decided.

"You traitor!" Azure shouted. "You know I can't stay here all by myself!"

"Oh come on, sweetie, it'll be fun," Amber said, reaching out to hug her youngest daughter. "We'll have some blueberry ice cream tonight as well, how about that?"

Azure made a face. “FINE,” she decided. "I'll be bribed, but I won't like it."

“I can skip ahead now, right? I mean, you’re not, like, interested in the dinner itself are you?”

“Chartreuse, I’m not really interested in any of this,” Carrie mumbled. “You’ve gone from the ludicrous to the bizarre, and none of it has any bearing on what’s happened to me.”

“Not that you can see, but wait for it. There is totally a point here,” Chartreuse insisted.

“What, that peach ice cream heals all wounds?”

Chartreuse winced. “Peach sundaes, and can I help that I like them so much? Anyway, they’re, like, not important to the story. Let’s pick up again as we were waiting outside the Diamond Mine in Dullsville the following afternoon. Or that’s what I’m calling the town, anyway. National security, you know how it is.”

Chartreuse fidgeted absently with the ribbons in her fushia hair as she looked around. "Maybe no one'll show," she said.

"We should be so lucky," Azure mumbled.

"Oh, look, here comes someone now!" Amber said brightly.

The Vermilions watched as a camper pulled into the mine site and parked in front of them. Two men wearing dark sunglasses got out, trying to look inconspicuous despite the overcast day. One of them glanced casually about the area as the other stepped forwards. "The strawberries are not yet in season," he remarked.

"Oh, was there a recognition code?" Hugh said, looking troubled.

"No, but this is a good place to pick them in July. My name is Agent Queue."

"Cue as in pool?"

"I don't swim. Queue, for Vowels."

“Ah, four vowels,” Hugh realized.

"Yes, Vowels couldn't make it. Here's my associate Eh, part of the vowel movement."

“Then it's a Queue & Eh session?" Hugh verified.

"How's it going, Eh?" Amber inquired.

"Eh?" the second agent said, turning to them.

"Hearing problem, he takes my cues," Queue noted.

"I thank Queue," Eh said.

"Now, you?" asked Queue.

"Me? Hugh."

"Hugh, with who?"

"My wife Amber."

"Amber's a nice hue," Queue remarked.

“Say what? Amber is Hugh?"

"We are not Hugh, Eh," Amber assured him. "He is Hugh, and these are my daughters Chartreuse and Azure."

"Missed Queue's cue, eh, Eh?" Hugh said.

"Eh," Eh shrugged.

Queue pulled out a sheet. "I'll denote your party the Hue Continuum," he decided. "For simplicity."

"What??"

"Azure, as you're aware, we receive code names," Amber reminded her daughter.

"But why Queue's Hue, I like when you and Hugh pick too!"

"Two won't do, blue," Queue remarked. "Too bad for you."

“Well, sofa Queue!” the blue haired girl retorted.

"Eh?”

"Never mind,” Queue said, waving off his partner. "That language was too colourful. Chartreuse, do you have anything to add?"

"She's beautiful," the fushia haired girl breathed.

Everyone turned to see who it was Chartreuse was referring to. By the door of the camper, there now stood a girl of about fifteen years of age. She wore a small frilly pink dress, white stockings, white shoes, and in her blonde hair there was a violet hairband. Chartreuse's breath caught in her throat as she pictured how that long hair might shimmer in the sun, were there any sun around. However, Chartreuse’s eyes were soon drawn to the enigmatic blonde's blue eyes and shy smile.

"Hello," the strange girl said with a little wave. "I'm, like, Tope Diamond."

Chartreuse sighed happily at the memory.  “And, you know what? It was right then that I knew I wanted this girl to be my wife,” she said dreamily.

Carrie fell off her bed.

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3.03: CARRIE ON

“I don’t care. I know what I saw, Chartreuse!” Carrie finished off her glass of water. “There was smoke billowing out of the back and flames spreading into the dining area. I didn’t simply imagine it!”

“I’m not suggesting you did,” Chartreuse assured. “But is it possible you were no longer seeing the present, but some other time period?”

Carrie shook her head. “I don’t see how. It’s not like I made an effort to leave the present.” She frowned. “Though now that you mention it, I didn’t notice Frank and Luci any more…”

“Cosmic forces can be kinda unpredictable," Chartreuse admitted. “I mean, I know your abilities are fundamentally different from mine, but there’s probably similar rules that apply. I remember one time I wanted to learn the outcome of a football game at school, but when I tried to do a vision quest forwards I saw–”

“Chartreuse, I’m here so that I can gain control over my powers,” Carrie snapped, cutting her off. “I’d rather not have you tell me they can’t be controlled, all right?!”

Chartreuse stopped. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I’m just telling you what I, you know, have discovered though my own experiences.”

“If you think that’s best?”

“I’m not sure what I think. All I know is I’m no longer in the mood to deal with this right now!” Carrie rose and marched for the bedroom door, only to stop and turn back. “Chartreuse, you were watching me the whole time I was in that vision, right? My eyes, they… they didn’t turn golden at any point, did they?”

“Not that I saw, no.”

The blonde let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Good. Good, okay. So, see you in school tomorrow then?”

Chartreuse nodded. “Of course. Here, let me at least come with you to the front door.”

The next few days passed without incident – unless you counted Glen’s continuing attempts at getting closer to Carrie. She discovered that even Phil Clarke had started taking notice of it, when he asked her about it over lunch that Friday. Carrie had decided to spend the time with him and Julie, to give Frank and Luci some time for themselves.

“Then you’re sure it was Glen who left those flowers on your desk this morning?” the tall blonde inquired.

“Only origami flowers," Carrie clarified. “But yes, who else?”

“The origami looked pretty,” Julie acknowledged, fingering the flower brooch she was wearing. “And it takes time to do something like that. Glen must really like you."

“I’ve been getting those vibes, believe me,” Carrie sighed.

“But you don’t like him?” Clarke wondered.

Carrie paused. “It’s not that,” she admitted. “I mean, I don’t dislike him, he’s courteous and everything. There’s just something about him…"

“I bet he’s trying too hard," Julie offered. “You never did like guys who came on too strong.”

“Maybe,” Carrie acknowledged. “But then, he backs off on request, and it’s not like he’s ever invaded my personal space or anything. More to the point, it’s not like I’m seeing anyone else."

“So you don’t want to reject him, but you don’t want to go out with him either?” Clarke said, looking confused.

Carrie grimaced. “I guess? Sounds stupid, doesn’t it. Glen’s been pretty quiet about his past and about his family though, I think that’s part of the problem. I’ll be talking with Corry later today, hopefully he’ll have come up with some data.”

“Maybe Glen simply has family issues,” Julie murmured, looking back down at her salad.

Carrie flinched. “Oh, gods! I’m sorry Julie, I was speaking without thinking. H-How has your family situation been?”

Julie offered up a wan smile. “No worries, Carrie. Jeeves has been like a father, and he’s great at handling all the legal stuff. My parents have backed off, and my counselling sessions are down to once a month now.” She sighed. “And while it’s hard, reinventing my very understanding of myself and my goals, let’s face it, life’s never been easy for me.”

She continued on before Carrie could speak. “I’d rather talk about something else, okay? For instance, aside from Glen, what else have you been up to? We didn’t get to speak much over the summer, I was trying to make up those couple credits I lost due to - you know.”

Talk then shifted to a trip which Carrie’s father had arranged for both Watersons during the previous month.

Carrie tried not to give Glen any more thought until she encountered Corry at the end of the school day. “So?” Carrie said pointedly, when he didn’t look up. “What’s the story, do I rate a few facts?”

“You mean with respect to Glen Oaks?” Corry inquired, finally turning away from his locker.

“No, the Easter Bunny. Of course Glen!”

Corry made a face. “Funny you should ask that," he said. “Because as much as it pains me to admit this, you may well know more about the guy than I do.”

That brought Carrie up short. “What?”

“The information I get is all conflicting," Corry explained. “He’s from Calgary, or Halifax. His parents are both doctors, or they’re artists. He’s allergic to strawberries, or they’re his favourite food. About the only thing my sources can agree on is that Glen has the hots for you. He hasn’t even tried to hit on anyone else. Which indicates to me that this is one seriously disturbed individual!”

“I see. That’s it?” Carrie said dryly, allowing Corry’s last remark to slide for the moment.

“Aside from the standard stuff, yeah. He’s seventeen, a good runner, he’s got a permanent room in the Clayton Hotel until such a time as his parents finalize their house deal and get here – though again goodness knows exactly when or where that is – am I telling you anything you don’t already know?”

“No, you’re being utterly useless, thank you.”

“Anytime for you, Carrie. Though hey, if you ever do take this guy up on an offer and learn something useful, I might reward you for it. Okay?”

“Right. Whatever,” Carrie said, waving at Corry over her shoulder as she continued on her way down the hall. She wasn’t about to start dating the guy simply to get some future favour from Corry! Hell, she’d never entertained thoughts of being in a serious relationship in her life!

Carrie froze mid-step. That wasn’t the problem here… was it? ‘Oh no. Is my problem with Glen?’ she wondered. ‘Or is it with… me?'

“Okay Frank, this is the point when I start getting jealous.”

“Shhhhh, Luci, he’ll hear you!” Frank whispered. He poked his head out from behind the bushes to glance down the sidewalk.

“Frank, this is the third day in a row that you’ve followed Glen home from school,” Luci continued in a quieter tone, toying with her phone, not bothering to look herself. “Do you really think you’ll learn anything about him that Corry Veniti can’t?”

“I don’t know. But you’ve seen how interested he is in Carrie! We can’t simply ignore that!”

“Can’t we?” Luci muttered.

“No, think about it, Luci!” Frank insisted. He moved ahead a few paces to another hiding spot before continuing. “We have here a transfer student with a clouded past who shows up out of nowhere and starts hitting on a girl who holds within her the temporal power to destroy a solar system. Why, they even have the same course schedules! How is that mere coincidence?? The whole world could be in danger again!”

“Or, how about this? The guy is a normal teenage male with an eye for female beauty who appreciates Carrie’s various ‘assets’,” Luci quipped, adding air quotes. “I mean, it’s not like Glen’s done anything shifty. We should be cautious, sure, but we can’t make a preemptive strike against everyone new in town."

“But…”

“Plus schedules are schedules. Laurie’s classes are identical to Carrie’s too. And she also admires Carrie,” Luci continued. “Do you think Laurie Veniti poses a threat?”

“Well, no, but…”

“No, because we’ve had time to get to know her. AND Carrie told me over the weekend that her hesitation might not be about Glen. It might be a mix of fear over who she really is, coupled with an inability to put old commitment issues behind her. You DO remember why Lee refers to Carrie as the ‘track tease’, yes? It’s not merely for the running.”

“Okay, valid points, all of them,” Frank yielded. “Still, if Carrie eventually DOES go out with Glen, we should know more about him, right?”

“IF. This gets back to my jealousy. You’re not Carrie’s father, Frank. Not unless there’s been some severe temporal warping going on! So until Carrie asks for help, let’s let the girl live her life.”

Frank sighed, then glanced out towards the redhead once more. “Okay, look, he’s going into the cafe today. Nowhere near his hotel. Let’s at least see what he’s up to there! Okay?”

“Fine,” Luci said, rolling her eyes. “But this weekend, I’ll pick the movie. No more James Bond for you.”

“So. I heard you’re finally going out with him,” Frank said. “Carrie, is that wise?”

“We’re going to the central cafe after school today,” Carrie answered, twirling the cafeteria’s spaghetti around her fork. “Barely a date. Why? It’s not like you’ve seen him do anything suspicious during your little investigations this past week, have you?”

“Well, not as such…”

“Fine. Then this encounter will give me the chance to finally make up my mind about him,” Carrie concluded. She brought the noodles to her mouth.

“But what’s the rush? If he really likes you, he can wait,” Frank insisted.

At first, Carrie could only lift an eyebrow, her mouth full of pasta. “The RUSH?” she said after swallowing. “Frank, it’s the cafe. We’re not making out behind the bleachers.”

“Frank, sweetie, I love you to pieces, but give it a rest already,” Luci sighed, having swallowed her own bite of sandwich. “There is NO evidence that Glen is anything more than what he claims to be, yeah?” She turned to Carrie. “So go. Enjoy yourself. And if Glen does anything uncomfortable, walk away!”

The young girl smiled, then pursed her lips. “Though, okay, maybe fish for more information from him too. Because… yeah. Just in case?”

“Um, okay,” Carrie agreed. “Will do.”

Glen swung the door of the cafe open and held it there for Carrie as she entered. “We can sit at the counter, if you like,” he offered. “This is meant to be informal, after all.”

“Right,” Carrie agreed, moving to take a seat on one of the stools. Glen sat next to her as a waitress approached. Her nametag read ‘Lita’; Carrie supposed Theresa had the day off.

“Can I take your orders?” the server asked brightly.

“Um, strawberry shake for me,” Carrie replied.

“That’s it? Whatever you want, it’s on me,” Glen assured her.

“Yeah, a shake’s fine. I’m not really hungry yet.”

“Make it two then,” Glen concluded. Lita nodded and headed off.

There was a momentary silence. “So, a strawberry shake. You’re not allergic to strawberries?”

Glen fired off a smile. “Of course not. Where did you hear that?”

“Oh, well, you know, around,” Carrie said, reaching up to twist a few strands of hair about her finger.

“You shouldn’t listen to rumours,” Glen admonished. “Particularly with respect to me, since I’ve been spreading disinformation around the school.”

Carrie blinked. “What? Why?”

Glen leaned his elbow on the counter. “Because I figure to really know a person, you should come out and speak with them, one on one. Word of mouth is not to be trusted! Heck, if I went by the rumours, I would have to believe that you’re a self-centred individual who enjoys using guys and tossing them aside like last week’s laundry. But that’s not the case, is it?”

Carrie felt her cheeks growing warm. “No!” She turned her interest to the nearby napkin holder. “Not lately, anyway.”

“There you are then. Too often, rumours get way out of hand - for instance, I find it hard to believe that ANY girl could have slept with the entire football team.”

“WHAT?! I’ve never even… who said THAT?!”

“Nobody. I didn’t say that was a rumour about you. Could you please let go of my shirt?”

“Oh, uh… yeah, sorry,” Carrie said, releasing her grip on Glen and sinking back into her stool. He was doing this deliberately, right? Was he trying to be funny, or was it to keep her off balance? She studied the countertop.

Glen smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re beautiful when you’re indignant?”

Having no idea how to reply to that at ALL, Carrie was thankful that Lita chose that moment to deliver their shakes. After thanking the waitress, she sipped in silence, trying to figure out how to turn the conversation around. “I think I see a problem with your philosophy.”

“Oh? What might that be?”

“If you assume that everyone you speak to is merely passing on rumours, you’ll never tell anyone the truth. Which means you get a legit reputation for being a liar.”

“Aha, but one can be honest about certain things, and it’s the people who’d trust the liar reputation that I’d want to keep off balance,” Glen countered. “Still, I see your point. So how about this? I’ll answer any ONE question you have completely, utterly, one hundred percent honestly. Fire away.”

Carrie blinked at Glen in surprise before regarding her shake again. Only one question? Okay – then should she ask about where he came from? About his relatives? His most important memory? “All right,” she said, turning back. “Why me? Why have you set your sights on me?”

“Oh.” For the first time since Carrie had met him, Glen finally seemed unsettled. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to know about my favourite sports celebrity or something instead?”

“No,” Carrie said. “Me. Why me, Glen? The truth!”

Glen shifted his attention to behind the counter. “Fine. Here it is. The first time I saw you, I sensed something. Not love at first sight or anything so trite, but I sensed that you possessed some sort of… extraordinary ability. That was enough to get my attention.”

He turned to regard her again, leaning his cheek against his palm. “From there, I realized you’re a bit of a… paradox. Athletic but still studious. Reserved yet outspoken. Atypical, yet not someone who stands out. Rumours and history aside, I can’t believe you don’t have a steady boyfriend here. So I thought, what the heck, I’ll try my luck.” He raised an eyebrow. “Plus, I can’t deny it, you have a sizeable chest. Which also counts in your favour.”

“You were doing so well.”

“Hey, I said I’d be one hundred percent honest. Feel free to smack me for– okay then. Feel better now?”

“Much,” Carrie said, shaking out her hand. He was still trying to keep her off balance. She took another sip from her shake, contemplating the first part of his answer. “You say you sensed an ability in me,” she said. “What ability, exactly?”

“Aha, well, that’s a second question, isn’t it?” Glen remarked.  “Though I must confess, I’m still trying to figure things out here. And it’ll probably take me more than one date to do it accurately.”

“So you’re hoping that I let you…” Carrie’s voice trailed off. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Something wasn’t right here. It was like deja vu. Something was… Carrie leapt out of her seat. “Out! Everyone, get out of here!!” she shouted.

As heads turned towards her, there was an explosion in the kitchen. Smoke began billowing out from the back room, along with a few licks of flame. People screamed as customers began to run for the doors.

“Okay, everyone stay calm, let’s exit in an orderly fashion!” Glen called out, standing up next to Carrie. A cook stumbled out of the back, coughing, his face streaked with soot.

It was in the middle of the chaos that Carrie went numb. As she looked around her, all she could think was how she’d seen this before. In that vision she’d had with Chartreuse over a week ago. Except now, it was actually happening. What she’d seen was actually coming true! No, no, how could it possibly be so REAL?!

“Carrie, come on!” Glen called out. The curtains near the kitchen had caught fire. Yet still, Carrie couldn’t move. Was she going to start seeing these sorts of things regularly? How could she possibly deal with that?!

Glen marched back toward her. “Carrie, if you don’t move right now, I’m going to carry your ass out myself!” he shouted.

His words finally broke through. Carrie began to run for the door. She and Glen were the last two to exit, the sound of approaching fire engines reaching their ears as they collapsed onto the ground outside. Carrie knew she hadn’t inhaled that much smoke, yet she felt sick to her stomach. Because she’d had a vision of the future. A terrible vision - that had come true.

“Well, ten out of ten for foresight, minus a few points on reflexes,” Glen said, coughing next to her. “Are you all right, Carrie?”

“I need to go home now.”

Glen blinked. “Hey, I know this hasn’t been the best way to end our first informal date, but…”

“It’s not you,” Carrie interrupted, fighting to keep the sensations of nausea and panic in check. “But I have to go home now! I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” She stumbled to her feet and began to run away, back to the safety of her house, as fast as she could go.

“Can we take another stab at this sometime in the future??” she heard Glen call out after her. Carrie didn’t reply.

She managed to make it home before she threw up. She told her father she didn’t want dinner, and went to bed early.

She then stayed in her room all day Saturday. Ignoring attempts at communication. Fearing that another vision would happen. And worrying about what to do if it did.

On Sunday, she had a more persistent visitor.

• GOLLY - got my first 2016 coin today, a quarter as change at a Canadian Tire. The time frame is about right.
• Consider voting for Time & Tied at WebFictionGuide. I tend not to bother when it's only me.
• More next week, with some of my favourite bits of writing ever, featuring said "persistent visitor"!

3.02: NEW ARRIVAL

Carrie Waterson tuned out the glorified roll call, choosing instead to look around the room. She noted that everybody who knew of the existence of the time machine remained in her homeroom, which was kind of nice. Though none of them had made any time trips since last year. Well, as long as Carrie ignored whatever the hell had happened - would be happening? - back on her birthday.

When the first present day minted coins had started to appear in late June, allowing for a round trip return to their present, Carrie had shut down the idea of time travel. She’d been keeping the machine under her bed since last December, wanting to be able to escape with it, if anyone came after her. Like, someone from the future, wanting to tap into her lurking demonic temporal powers.

The very thought of those powers caused Carrie to shudder involuntarily. This despite her mounting familiarity, due to the sessions she’d ended up doing with Chartreuse over the summer.

Mrs. Haye finally reached ‘W’, so Carrie gave her name, remarking on her athletic skills. She started to zone out again, only to have a knock at the classroom door pull her back. “Oh yes!” Mrs. Haye said. “And I would like you all to welcome Glen Oaks. He is a new student from out of town who will be joining our homeroom.” She gestured for the boy with the short red hair to enter. He did, smiling amiably at everyone in the room, though Carrie fancied his gaze rested a little longer on her.

“Glen, there are still a few desks free, so if you’ll take a seat I can pass around the course syllabus,” Mrs. Haye said.

Glen nodded, then headed straight for the empty desk next to Carrie. He turned and smiled at her again as he sat. She offered him a quick smile back, even as something about him struck her as being a bit unsettling. Why? What was it? She resisted the temptation to stare, lest he get the wrong idea.

‘I’m overreacting. Can’t blame him for taking an interest in me, after all. Merely shows I’ve still got it,’ Carrie mused to herself. Mrs. Haye began to talk about senior level English.

“You know Luci, it’s not too late for you to switch into Physics,” Frank Dijora remarked, as he joined both Carrie and Luci at the lunch table. “That would give us an afternoon class together.”

“Hey, I like Drama,” Luci Primrose protested. “Besides, you could always switch out of Business and into Biology with me.”

“Touche,” Frank observed. “I guess we’ll have to live with mornings.”

“If you ask me, the both of you could stand to have some time apart at school,” Carrie Waterson interjected, resting her chin on her hand. “After all, didn’t Frank’s marks slip last year, after you two started going out?”

“They did not!” Frank objected. “That is… I should have studied a little harder for June exams, I misjudged the difficulty level.”

“Uh huh, suuuure. And what were you two doing instead of studying? I bet I can guess…”

“Carrie!” Luci hissed, glancing to see if they were being overheard.

“You were inventing some new thingamajig, right? What did you think I was going to say?” Carrie finished innocently.

“Carrie, enough,” Frank sighed.

“All right, all right,” the blonde laughed, raising her hands in surrender. “Apologies. But you’ve been dating since, what, last December? It’s not like your relationship is some big secret here.”

“That’s still no reason to turn it into a newspaper headline,” Luci grumbled.

Frank leaned in a little closer to the young girl. “Carrie can’t help it, she’s jealous I picked you over her,” he whispered. At that, Luci smothered a laugh.

Carrie reached out to flick her fingers at the back of Frank’s head. “My hearing is still excellent, you know. So let’s not pretend that I ever asked for our friendship to turn into anything more, okay?”

“Fine, fine,” Frank remarked, still grinning.

“Anyway, I’m happy for the two of you,” Carrie finished, reaching out to pick up the apple from her cafeteria tray. “Plus, I could still get any guy I wanted. Were I to actually try.” She took a bite.

“Like that new guy in our English class, for example,” Luci noted. “Glen. He seemed to be taking an interest in you.”

Carrie nearly choked before managing to swallow. “So that wasn’t my imagination?”

“He tried to hide it, but I noticed,” Luci remarked.

Carrie frowned. “You would, you see everything. He’s in my history class too… I’m not quite sure what to make of him."

“Well, here’s your chance to find out,” Frank said. “He’s coming this way.”

Carrie turned as Glen approached. The redhead waved in greeting. “Hello! Is this seat taken?” he inquired, indicating the one next to Luci and opposite Carrie. When Carrie shook her head no, he sat down.

“I hope I’m not intruding,” Glen continued. “Still trying to find my way around. You’re all in my homeroom, right?”

“Right,” Frank confirmed. “I’m Frank, that’s Luci and that’s Carrie.”

Glen smiled. “Of course. Actually, I’m a little surprised to find Carrie here with the two of you."

Luci arced an eyebrow. “Oh? Why?”

“Because - forgive me for being blunt - Carrie, you strike me as being more a athletic type. Less intellectually inclined.”

“Are you saying I’m a dumb blonde?!” Carrie said, narrowing her eyes.

“And I’m not athletic?” Luci chimed in, equally annoyed.

“Oh, no, I don’t mean that!” Glen corrected. “Just that Carrie’s athletic talents appeared superior, compared to Luci’s. Was that incorrect?”

“Well, no,” the blonde admitted guardedly. “But that doesn’t mean I can only hang around with jocks, does it?”

“Certainly not. I’m sorry, I’m getting off on the wrong foot here, aren’t I,” Glen sighed. “I fear my higher reasoning has left me, it does that on occasion when I am confronted with such overwhelming feminine beauty.”

“Oh brother,” Luci mumbled under her breath.

“I’m not excluding you from that remark, Luci," Glen assured. “For while you seem to have skipped a grade or two, and present as more cute than beautiful, you also strike me as a most captivating young woman. You are bound to make someone very happy some day.”

Luci opened her mouth to respond, only to look over towards Frank, seeming flustered. “Ahem,” Frank offered. “Not to be rude myself here, Glen, but is it your intention to hit on every girl in the cafeteria?”

“No, merely the most beautiful and intellectually stimulating ones,” Glen assured him with a grin. “Which is why I chose to sit with Carrie, who I now realize is the best of both worlds. But if I am intruding on your group, you have only to say the word, and I will go.”

“You’re not intruding,” Carrie said quickly, before Frank could speak up. “But when we know so little about you, can you blame us for being skeptical as to your motives?”

“Understood,” Glen said. “I shall more formally introduce myself. My name is Glen Oaks, I’m seventeen, and I’m here now because my parents are planning on taking up residence in the area. I enjoy skating, acting and I am an excellent long distance runner.”

“You run?" Carrie asked.

“Indeed. Perhaps we should have a race sometime.”

“Perhaps,” Carrie agreed, her curiosity spiking again. “You say you like acting too, are you taking Drama?”

“Last period,” Glen confirmed. “Right after Art.”

Carrie blinked. “We have identical schedules then."

“Is that so? Well, what a happy coincidence. I suppose we’ll be seeing a lot of each other this term.”

“Yes, it does seem that way,” Carrie agreed, not quite sure how she felt about that.

She still wasn’t sure at the end of the lunch period forty five minutes later. Glen had managed to sidestep a lot of the questions asked of him, while learning more about the rest of them in the process. It reminded Carrie a lot of the way Julie LaMille and Corry Veniti interacted with people.

Which gave her an idea.

“Corry! Hey, Corry!”

The redhead turned towards Carrie, arcing an eyebrow. “Something I can do for you, Waterson?” he asked.

“Actually, yes,” Carrie said, as she reached his locker. “I’d like information on the new student in our homeroom, Glen Oaks.”

“Okay then. He’s a new student in our homeroom,” Corry said. “Oh, and he also has red hair. You really should pay better attention.”

“Corry, come on. You know what I mean.”

Corry crossed his arms. “Sure I do. Just like YOU know I’m not inclined to help out all of Julie’s old associates, simply because she’s no longer the active force around the school.”

“Hah! I’m a little more than THAT to you,” Carrie countered. “Not to mention how you’ve spent months helping out Julie herself!"

“Julie actually NEEDS the help,” Corry said pointedly. “Heck, it’s partly my fault she does, after I turned so many against her.” His gaze turned wistful. “There’s a part of me that misses the rivalry too… but that’s neither here nor there.”

He lowered his voice. “You know how I feel about you, Waterson. That doesn’t change simply because of what you may or may not become in the future. So why should I do anything for you? For that matter, what help can I possibly be to someone who has the power within her to destroy the world?”

Carrie winced. “Corry, please. I’m trying to put that behind me. Moreover, I haven’t asked you for any special treatment since those events – and all I want here is a bit of information! Is that so hard?”

Corry paused, sizing her up. “I’ll think about it,” he yielded. “After all, I was going to look into Glen myself. Come back in a few days, and I’ll decide then whether what I have will cost you."

Carrie nodded, deciding that was probably the best she was going to get from the male Veniti twin. She proceeded down the hall towards her own locker.

That evening found Carrie Waterson knocking on the door of the Vermilion residence. She and Chartreuse had decided to continue their temporal sessions despite the end of the summer. After all, despite how much Carrie wanted to simply banish the strange forces raging inside her, she knew they weren’t going anywhere. And keeping those powers in check was the only way to avoid another incident like the one last November, which had nearly cost the lives of… well, everyone on the planet.

Actually, Chartreuse had accepted Carrie’s explanation of those events with remarkable poise, despite the later memory wipe. Maybe the pink haired mystic would have put the pieces together herself, given enough time? Carrie sighed. It was more likely she wanted to rationalize getting Chartreuse involved, after that conversation with herself last March.

Carrie reached up to knock again, but before she could, a young girl with short blue hair opened the door. Carrie offered up a tentative smile. “Hello Azure, is your sister here?” she inquired.

Azure peered at Carrie, then turned and shouted, “Chartreuse, your girlfriend is here to see you!” She stepped back, allowing Carrie to enter the house. “Go easy on her tonight, okay? She was all dizzy the morning after you two bunnies had your session last week.”

Carrie frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

“Oh, like I don’t know what you two do in my sister’s bedroom for hours at a time. I’m fourteen, I read about these things.”

“Azure, I know it’s a strain for you, but pull your head out of the gutter when you’re, you know, talking with my friends, okay?” Chartreuse sighed, coming down the stairs. “Sorry Carrie, I was just in the washroom.”

“She’s all pretty for you now,” Azure noted. “Be sure to compliment her new perfume.”

“Azure…”

“I’m going, I’m going,” the blue haired girl said. “Just don’t be too loud, I have homework to complete. On the first day! Seriously, what’s the deal with high school anyway?!”

Chartreuse sighed and shook her head as her sister went upstairs. “Really sorry about that,” she said, closing the front door. “Honestly, just when I think she can’t get any more annoying, her hormones explode all over the place.”

“Sounds messy,” Carrie remarked.

“I’m hoping it’s just a phase,” Chartreuse said. “Anyway, my sister’s not the reason you, like, came here. Let’s get upstairs. I have everything we’ll need laid out on my bed.” She paused. “Which, come to think, is not at all as dirty as it sounds.”

Carrie seated herself across from Chartreuse. “Okay,” the pink haired girl said, passing a cleansing crystal around Carrie’s head. “Remember what we’ve been talking about. Relax, and let the sensations, like, come to you.”

“They already have,” Carrie murmured, as all of time coalesced around her. The best description Carrie could give for the phenomenon was that it was like she was standing in the middle of a swiftly flowing river, being gradually pulled along by the current as the seconds ticked by. The separate drops of water, they represented the millions of people and other objects moving through time. By looking upstream, Carrie could see the events of the past. By looking downstream, Carrie could see different branching paths of the future. The metaphor wasn’t perfect, but it was serviceable.

Carrie now knew that she had the ability within her to travel this time stream under her own power, not to mention affect it in other ways, but usually she was more than content to simply let the current pull her along.

“Oh,” came Chartreuse’s voice, reminding Carrie of where she really was. “You know, it never ceases to amaze me how easily you do that lately.”

“Yeah, I find it quite unsettling myself,” Carrie murmured. “What now, Chartreuse?”

“Well, as I recall, we were working on finding individuals who aren’t in physical proximity to you. Want to, like, try for anything in the past or the future yet?”

“No, let’s stick with the present for now. I’m going to see if I can locate Frank again. It’s easier to pick up former time travellers, they feel a little out of synch with the rest of the world.”

“All right,” Chartreuse agreed. She reached out to take Carrie’s hands. “Visualize him then. Imagine that he’s standing right in front of you. Then, once you have that image, see where it takes you.”

Carrie nodded, taking in a deep breath, concentrating on Frank and on where he might be in the torrent of water rushing around her. “He’s… he’s with Luci,” Carrie realized as a picture of the girl swam up before her eyes. “That will make it easier. They’re not at his house though… or her’s… it’s… the cafe. They’re at the central cafe.”

The scene practically leapt out of the water at her then, and it was like she was standing in the cafe herself - except her body had no substance. A spirit body, as Chartreuse called it. Able to see things, but invisible to them, and incapable of interaction.

“Carrie, what’s happening?” Chartreuse’s voice inquired, sounding like it was coming from the bottom of a well.

“I’m now here too,” Carrie replied, forcing down a feeling of panic. “In the cafe. There’s a lot of people around. It’s so much more chaotic than any of my previous experiences!”

“Stay calm,” Chartreuse said. “Just centre in on Frank and Luci, you’re not there for anyone else.”

“Right… right, okay,” Carrie said, taking in a few deep breaths. “They’re in a corner booth together. They’re… aw, they’re sharing a basket of fries. That’s so sweet.” She paused. “Luci would kill me if she knew I was eavesdropping like this.”

“You’re not really eavesdropping, it’s a public place.”

“I guess. But they can’t see me. And last week when I centred on Frank, he was inventing stuff in his basement.”

“Look, Carrie, if you’re this concerned about spying on them, just don’t, like, centre in on them in future.”

“Well how the heck am I supposed to know when they’re together?” Carrie grumbled. “But whatever. Now that I’m here, do you have any recommendations?”

“How about this – pick out someone else there that you could, you know, shift your attention to instead,” Chartreuse proposed. “You don’t have to take it in all at once, just scan the room.”

“Okay,” Carrie called back, turning her spirit form to do a slow pan.  “It’s mostly kids from school. Looks like Theresa’s the one waiting tables, like usual. Oh, wait a minute…” She hesitated.

“What?” Chartreuse asked.

“It’s him,” Carrie said at last. “Glen Oaks, that new boy in our homeroom. It… it’s weird, it feels like he’s looking directly at me. He can’t see me, can he?”

“I doubt it, my mom’s the only one I know of who can see spirit forms,” Chartreuse replied. “Maybe he’s looking at something behind you.”

“There’s a wall behind me. I don’t think that… OH!!!” Carrie shrieked. “NO, NO, GET ME OUT, GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!”

All at once, Chartreuse was kneeling in front of her, shaking her shoulders. She was back in the bedroom. “Carrie! Carrie, calm down, it’s all right!!” the pink haired girl was saying. “You’re all right, you’re safe now, you understand?” Carrie nodded wordlessly, struggling to regain her breath. “Thank goodness,” Chartreuse breathed. “What, like, happened?”

Carrie felt a shiver run down her spine. “I… I saw… oh god, I was in the cafe, and suddenly I saw… fire. The place has caught on fire, Chartreuse!”

• More next week! Consider voting for Time & Tied at WebFictionGuide. We made it to 3 votes last week, and visibility is my only hope.
• Feel free to speculate on this "New Arrival", or anything else, in the comments!

PART 46: OUT OF TIME

“So, you’re saying future guy is gonna make a play for the track tease again, and that this act is what will make her explode?” he confirmed.

Chartreuse nodded vigorously, then frowned. “Okay, we aren’t totally sure,” she admitted. “But probably.”

“The new problem,” Corry mused, “Is whether we should try to stop this Shady - or merely warn him that Carrie knows he’s coming.”

“Warn him?” Lee asked, doing a double take. “Why?”

“To let him try something that would be more effective.”

“WHAT? Are you, like, SERIOUS?”

Corry reached up to pull the pink haired girl’s fingers off his shirt. “Chartreuse, Carrie seems bent on killing everybody no matter what,” Corry countered. “How does that old saying go, ‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one’?”

“Corry,” Laurie said quietly. “Didn’t you tell me two days ago that you would never, ever do something that would kill a person? Was that a lie, for my benefit?”

“Laurie, no! But we’ve been told Carrie isn’t really a person, she’s more of a…" Corry’s voice trailed off as he saw his sister’s expression. He gulped. “Okay. Thanks for the conscience check, sis. My bad. So, we stop Shady then. The question is how?"

“Maybe the track tease knows a way,” Lee suggested. “She seems to know about everything else going on.”

“You think she’d tell us?” Chartreuse wondered.

“You might be surprised,” Laurie said, wincing.

Lee pulled on the lapels of his jacket. “I’ll go anyway. She hasn’t vented at me yet, so maybe I’ll get lucky.”

He turned away from the group and proceeded down the hallway. Hospital staff had been working for the last half hour to remove patients from the area; it was now mostly deserted.

About two paces from the door to Carrie’s room, Lee stopped. He turned, a puzzled expression on his face. Then he walked all the way back. “Hey, why was I going to that room again?” he inquired.

The others exchanged a glance. “You were, you know, going to ask Carrie if she knew more about the crazy guy from the future who’s out to kill her,” Chartreuse reminded him.

“Oh yeah,” Lee said. “Sorry, memory glitch.” Again, he went back down the hall to Carrie’s room. Again he paused about two steps away, and then returned, mind spinning. “Hey, why was I going to that room again?” he repeated.

“Never mind,” Corry said, waving his hand dismissively.

“She is getting more powerful, isn’t she,” Laurie said, shivering.

“Hey!” came a new voice. A security guard approached them in the opposite direction from Carrie’s room. “What are you kids still doing here? Get downstairs, all of you. This whole floor’s being evacuated.”

“Um, right, we’re on our way!” Lee assured him.

“Oh no,” Chartreuse moaned. “I hope that Luci and Frank devised a more cunning plan. At this point, that may be all we’ve got left."

Out in his backyard, Frank flipped open the time machine and inspected the pocketwatch inside. “Great timing,” he said. “We’re back a minute before we even left.”

Luci nodded beside him, belatedly realizing she had a bit of soot on her face. Yet as she attempted to wipe it off with her fingers, she only succeeded in smearing it even more. She sighed.

“Anyway, so I have the name Holly Rhodes,” she concluded. “As the only female domestic listed for exactly three years, beginning ten years ago, dismissed for no given reason. There was an address listed. Think it’s enough?”

“Hopefully,” Frank said, eyeing her.

“We’d better get to the hospital then,” Luci concluded. “To tell the others and help them deal with the Shady situation.” She stood and started walking off, only to see Frank wasn’t following. “Something else?”

He blinked. “No. Yes. Just, ah, thinking about what you must have gone through there to help Carrie and Julie out. Not only on that trip itself, but in dealing with a missing day for that long.” He cleared his throat. “You really are amazing, Luci.”

Luci shrugged. “It had already happened. I couldn’t avoid it.”

“That doesn’t negate the sacrifice.” He coughed. “So, I was thinking, if we survive, you want to get a soda together tomorrow? At the cafe? Maybe even… make it a regular thing?”

“Regular thing? What do you…” Luci stopped, seeing his expression. She felt her knees go weak. “Now? NOW of all times you bring this up?”

“Well if we DON’T survive, I’d hate for you to have thought that… that I didn’t care.”

“Frank, if you’re only saying this because you think we might die, you better realize that I am SO holding you to any promise you make here!”

He smiled. “I would expect nothing less of you. Sodas then?”

Luci felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. She ran back to him, throwing her arms around his neck. He grabbed her back, pulling her close. “Heck yeah, sodas,” she said in delight.

She savoured the moment, the hug, the way Frank’s arms were running up and down her back, the safety of his embrace, for as long as she could. Ultimately, she sighed. “And I think that’s our extra minute gone.”

“Mmm hmm. Apocalypse prevention time?”

“Apocalypse prevention time,” she agreed. “Let’s get to it.”

“Clarke,” Tim said quietly.

Clarke looked up from his magazine. He’d been hoping that the distraction might help his subconscious come up with some sort of plan. “What is it, Tim?” he asked, smiling encouragingly at his friend.

“W-Well… I was just thinking,” Tim began. “The police think Julie shot Carrie. We don’t want them to think that. Right?” Clarke nodded. “So, why not give Julie an alibi?"

Clarke frowned. “I’m not sure lying to the police is the best plan.”

“Oh, I don’t mean lie,” Tim protested. “I mean, well - time machine alibi.”

Clarke stared. Then he sat bolt upright. “Of course. We can take Julie back to the evening of November the twelfth, and be somewhere in public during the shooting. With an alibi on her birthday, the police would have to close the investigation. Great thinking, Tim!”

“Y-You think so?” Tim said with a partial smile.

“Definitely,” Clarke said, clapping his friend on the shoulder. “Let’s see if Julie can handle another trip, then I’ll give Frank another call.”

“I don’t like this,” Chartreuse murmured, looking around the hospital lobby. Several police officers had now arrived. Granted, they seemed to be ignoring the teens, more interested in what was happening upstairs with Carrie than the earlier investigations at school surrounding Julie.

“Well, look on the bright side,” Corry remarked. “With all this added security, Shady will find it almost impossible to get upstairs.”

Chartreuse frowned. “Except I’m sensing from a lot of people here that they’re going to die. Only they don’t know it, so I can’t put my finger on when or how.”

“Y-You think Shady’s going to shoot his way up to her?” Laurie gasped.

Chartreuse slowly shook her head. “No? It’s not… I can’t figure it out,” she said, frustrated. “I’d try for a vision, but interfacing with Carrie has really tapped me out.”

“You know, we’re missing something,” Lee realized. “To save Carrie, you might have to be close to her - but do you have to be close in order to destroy her?”

Corry blinked. “No, of course not,” he agreed. “In fact, you’d be foolish to do it that way. She’d see you coming.”

“Plus I’ve seen future cult guy in this hospital before,” Lee continued. “He could have been scouting the place out. After all, say you wanted to destroy someone that you couldn’t approach directly, yet you still knew where they’d be - how would you do it?”

“More specifically, how would you do it if you didn’t care about any additional casualties?” Corry finished.

“Oh no,” Chartreuse said, feeling her blood run cold. “That’s it. That fits with what I’m sensing.”

“Do you know where it would be?" Corry said, grabbing Lee’s arm.

“Basement,” Lee said. “Bombs are always in the basement."

“Luci?” Clarke said in surprise. “Where’s Frank?”

“By now? He’ll be at the hospital,” Luci said, marching into the LaMille house with the time machine. “Your alibi plan is great, but we’re short on time. Since Frank is maybe the only one Carrie will listen to any more, I told him to keep going.”

She continued into the sitting room, stopping only once she’d reached the couch where both Tim and Julie were sitting.

“Luci?” Julie murmured, looking a bit dazed as she tilted her head up. “Do you have soot on your face?”

“I do,” Luci admitted. “And it’s your fault. But that’s a long story, and you need an alibi. So we have a time trip to take.”

The rest would be up to Frank.

A police officer questioned Frank’s arrival at the hospital, but the teenager managed to fake stomach cramps in order to gain access. Inside it was a bit of a madhouse… officers milling about, circulating around doctors and orderlies who were attempting to deal with both any incoming patients, and the ones being shuffled around inside the building due to the impromptu quarantine on Carrie’s floor.

“We can’t get close,” Frank heard someone say. “People tend to come back with no memory of their assigned task to negotiate. When they come back at all.”

‘That could be a problem for me,’ Frank realized. He soon discovered the stairwell was under guard, and that there was an officer in both elevators as well. ‘Assuming I even get up there…'

“Frank!”

He turned in time to see Laurie Veniti push her way past a couple of people to reach his side. “Thank goodness you’re here,” she whispered. “Chartreuse, Lee and my brother think that the time fanatic set an explosive charge somewhere in the basement. They’ve gone to check it out, it might be connected to Carrie’s plan for ending the world.”

“Laurie,” Frank said, taking her by the shoulders. “I’m glad to see you. I have to get up to Carrie’s room.” He pointed. “Can you distract that police officer over there? The one guarding the stairwell?”

Laurie shrank back at first, but then she clenched her jaw. “Golly, I’ll try,” she asserted. “I’ll babble at that cop so much he’ll have no choice but to escort me elsewhere.”

She turned to move in that direction - only to pause and look back at him one last time. “Frank… you be careful, all right?” she requested. “I… I really don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“Of course,” Frank said. He smiled at Laurie reassuringly, attempting to project a confidence he didn’t really feel.

“See anything?” Chartreuse called out.

“Yeah, the need for better lighting,” Lee remarked. “I can’t believe there’s so much stuff down here.”

“Hold on guys, I think I’ve found something,” came Corry’s voice. “There’s a digital readout connected to a bunch of wires and… oh hell!”

Chartreuse hurried towards where she’d heard his voice. As she turned the corner, she heard the voice say “Stop moving” - and then she couldn’t move. Her eyes went wide.

Shady was standing there, next to Corry, who was partly bent over what could only be the bomb, given all the wiring with what Chartreuse decided were high explosives underneath. “Stop moving,” Shady said again.

“Thinking no,” Lee retorted, stepping past Chartreuse.

Shady pulled out a gun, and directed the barrel directly at her. “Stop or your friend dies.”

Lee stopped. Which is when it occurred to Chartreuse that the guy hadn’t said ‘don’t talk’. “Stop him, Lee,” she pleaded. “Or EVERYONE dies.”

“I can also shoot Lee,” Shady pointed out. “And I’d say bleeding out is more painful than vaporization.”

“Maybe I die lifting the whammy you’ve put on my friends,” Lee observed.

“Or maybe you use the next five minutes and forty seconds of your lives thinking of a better plan,” Shady reasoned.

Chartreuse couldn’t see the timer from where she was, so she could only assume that was a reference to the countdown to detonation.

“I hate stalemates,” Corry interjected. “Though it does seem like you’re running out of time to get clear yourself, buddy.”

“Yeah,” Shady granted, sounding annoyed. “The timer’s been giving me problems. Cruddy present day merchandise. Seems like I may die down here with the rest of you.” He shrugged. “Oh well. It’s not like I could ever go home again. My future currency was stolen.”

He waggled his gun. “Lee, go sit against the wall. Pink hair, you join him. Redhead, you too.”

Chartreuse found her feet pacing over towards Lee. “It won’t work,” she blurted out. “Carrie, like, knows what you’re doing. She… she can stop you.”

“Then she’d better try,” Shady said. He grinned. “Because at this point, I have nothing to lose. I’m perfectly willing to die, knowing that I brought down our greatest temporal adversary.”

The three teenagers exchanged horrified looks, as behind Shady, the clock on the bomb ticked down past five minutes.

Frank stared into the hospital room. A golden-eyed blonde stared back at him. “You should not have come,” Carrie said at last.

Frank eyed all the frozen people surrounding them. “I get the impression you could have stopped me,” he observed. “Why didn’t you?”

“There was no point,” Carrie admitted. She turned away from him. “You’re going to be dead in exactly four minutes and twenty six seconds either way.”

Frank felt a chill run through him. “What?”

“There is a bomb in the basement that will go off then,” Carrie explained. She sounded fatigued. “When it detonates, I will channel its destructive energy through me, into the rivers of time. The future will explode, and the past will implode right along with it. Should make for a fun little light show… a pity that no one will be alive to see it.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’ve never been more serious in my life,” Carrie said calmly. She turned back. “That fool with the explosives, he has no understanding of the true powers at my command.” She grinned. “Since focussing in on the bomb, I’ve been messing with him, making his timer run fast, slow, even backwards one time.”

Her expression shifted, becoming more wistful. “My only regret is that I’ll never get to experience a normal teenage life. No mother, no boyfriend, no one who could possibly understand the real me–”

“So we’re back to Selfish Carrie then.”

Her lips thinned. “Pardon?”

Frank decided it was all or nothing. “I mean, you have to be pretty full of yourself now, yeah? To not notice what PAINS the rest have been going through to FIX it all for you? I can see now that it didn’t matter. Sorry we were giving a damn.”

“You think YOU’RE in pain?” she shouted back. “My life never should have been! Right now, Julie’s past, Julie’s future, they hinge on me, a girl who should never have been born in the first place.” She pointed at her head. “And no matter what you do, with her or anybody else, I will still FEEL that inside me. A dull, throbbing ache that will never go away!”

Carrie slumped. “It was always meant to come to this. Destruction is my very reason for existence. It’s simply happening sooner than expected.”

“This from the girl who believes in temporal theories allowing free will.”

“I didn’t KNOW,” Carrie screamed back. “I was too naive, too stupid to understand the role I had to play!”

“So you’re giving up.” Frank found that it wasn’t hard to sound disgusted. “Carrie Waterson is giving up, and blowing up the universe.”

“Don’t exaggerate, Frank. I’m not destroying the universe, the effect will be localized to our solar system.”

“Oh, pardon me, big difference. What would your mother have to say about all this, I wonder?”

Carrie lifted her arm, pointing at him. “Oh no. Don’t you dare, don’t you DARE bring her into this.”

“Why not? It occurs to me that if you have all of time at your disposal now, you might have looked her up.”

Carrie was next to him in two strides, arm raised as if to strike him. “My MOTHER…” She stood still, then brought her arm down. “Was a time traveler,” she admitted. “Brought back from the future, she was left at an orphanage when she was very young. Adopted, and brought inconspicuously into society, she eventually met and married my father. They then had me. In this timeline. Which is, in a nutshell, the reason why I’ve become what I am. My hands are tied.”

A tear trickled from Carrie’s eye, but Frank forced down his instinct to apologize. He had to keep pushing her. Hell, maybe every time she’d pushed at him, he should have been pushing back. “So?” he demanded.

“So?” She reached up to wipe off her cheek. “Given that the decades long presence of my mother had always been a strain on the new timeline, my existence made the problem worse. She had to disappear. I know that now. We can never co-exist again. Which leaves me, a motherless girl, out of time and out of place.” Her hands clenched. “Is it any wonder I’m feeling a little… OUT OF MY MIND?”

“Who says she had to disappear?”

“I… I don’t know.” Carrie swallowed. “I can’t see where or when she disappeared to.”

“And now Carrie Waterson has lost her curiosity.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t curious.”

“Oh no, you’re just blowing up the solar system instead of investigating…”

“I can’t help it, Frank,” Carrie choked out. “I’m sorry, but this explosive force, this pain inside me, it’s too damn strong to resist.”

That was getting closer to the Carrie who had opened up to him in the park, weeks ago. The Carrie that he cared about, in spite of everything. “If it’s inside you, it’s only as strong as you make it,” Frank insisted. “So here’s the real question. Do you want to destroy everything now? Rendering everyone’s actions on your behalf completely meaningless?”

“Stop.”

“Or will you push on, letting me and the rest of your FRIENDS help you through this?”

“Stop it, Frank…”

“Do you WANT answers to the questions that remain unanswered?”

“Frank don’t DO this to me.”

“Damn it, Carrie, will you DESTROY or will you ACCEPT OUR HELP?”

Her body shook, her scream was incoherent, and her palm came flying at his face. But he had half expected that reaction.

He ducked.

Then he sprang back up, his own palm out, and scarcely believing that he was doing it, he slapped it hard against the cheek of the girl who could destroy them all. “DO YOU WANT TO CHOOSE US OR NOT, CARRIE?”

“I DO!” she shrieked back.

Her look became one of astonishment, though whether it was at being struck, or at her own words, it was hard for Frank to say. But for a second, when she blinked, her eyes flickered back and forth between gold and their more normal blue.

“I… I choose the unending pain,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” Frank apologized at last. “But on behalf of the world, thank you.” He shook out his hand, then extended it towards her. “Thank you, Carrie.”

“Problem though.”

Frank frowned. His hand fell back to his side. “What?”

“Bomb in the basement, exploding in about twenty seconds, still taking out this whole building and everyone in it.”

“Oh… uh…”

Carrie cracked her knuckles. “So, here’s perhaps the last thing I will ever do. Show ‘Shady’ what a temporal weapon is REALLY capable of.” She flashed her fellow time traveller a sad smile.

“Thank you, Frank. For everything. And goodbye.” No sooner had she said it, then she seemed to wink out of existence, leaving a gust of wind in her wake.

PART 45: FULL CIRCLE

Corry was struggling to his feet, Frank was looking over the time machine, and Julie, still unconscious, was lying next to him. The bikes and the rest of their gear was in a heap nearby. “Uh, hey, when are we?" he asked uncertainly.

“One day late," Frank replied. “Either bad luck or I wasn’t able to properly recalibrate the chips. Should be an easy fix though, and we can always write off the missing day as us searching for Julie.” He looked up. “On the bright side, I guess this confirms some kind of geographic failsafe if we have no doubles around.”

Clarke nodded, looking back down at the young brunette girl. “I’m going to take Julie home then.”

“You do that,” Frank agreed. “I’ll get the time machine and our other supplies stowed away, then go to the hospital to check on Carrie.”

“And I’ll head right there,” Corry remarked. He shrugged at the other two as they stared at him. “What? I’m rather hoping to learn that our four day trek into the past wasn’t all for naught.”

“All right then, I’ll see you shortly,” Frank concluded. The three of them turned to go their separate ways. Completely oblivious to the fact that the world would soon be ending.

“Carrie… ohh, Carrie,” Chartreuse choked out. She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head to clear it before opening them again. Luci was now crouching down next to her.

“Um, Chartreuse… is this what you were trying to do?” Luci whispered.

Their friend was now sitting up in bed. Carrie’s eyes were glowing yellow, and her blonde hair was rippling out behind her in waves. A remarkable feat considering the lack of any wind.

“No,” Chartreuse answered. “She’s… she’s hurting, Luci, but I don’t understand it. I’m not sure any of us can.”

The two girls watched as Carrie scanned the room. Her golden eyes alighted upon the man sitting next to her, who had been momentarily stunned into silence.

“Carrie?” Hank Waterson now said. “Carrie, is it you? Are you all right now? What–”

“Freeze,” Carrie said calmly, reaching out to touch her father in the middle of his forehead.

He froze. Literally. It was as if he were a mannequin, suspended in time. Carrie then turned to face her classmates.

“Whoa, Carrie… Carrie, you, like, don’t want to do anything rash,” Chartreuse said, nervously. She managed to struggle to her feet with Luci’s help.

“I’m not going to do anything rash,” Carrie replied, her voice far too calm. “I am merely going to make all the hurting go away. For everyone, forever.”

“Kinda sounds rash.”

“How will you do that, exactly?” Luci murmured.

Carrie paused. “Still working that out,” she admitted. “Perhaps I can shift everything a few milliseconds into the past.” The blonde extended her palm out towards a small glass sitting next to her bed. The glass shattered into a hundred pieces as it tried to coexist with itself, the water spilling everywhere - the same way Carrie had done it less than two weeks earlier.

Both girls jumped. “Or perhaps I can come up with something else,” Carrie countered.

“Carrie, you totally don’t want to do this,” Chartreuse pleaded. “We can fix up this present for you. For Julie too. I know we can.”

Carrie laughed hollowly. “You really think so? Because for the past few weeks, I have been trying to cope with knowing that in the first timeline, the original one - I never even existed. Do you know what that feels like? Being aware of a timeline where you had never been born?”

Chartreuse shook her head, not sure how else to respond.

“Not only that,” Carrie continued, “but this timeline where I AM alive has been coming apart ever since Julie pulled that trigger. We can’t even change that, because if I was never shot, I sense that my powers would now awaken regardless, and pull me apart.”

So, Shady hadn’t been lying about that then? Damn.

Carrie shook her head. “This must end,” she finished, dispassionately. “I will end it. It is, after all, the only reason for my even being here.”

“Carrie, wait,” Luci insisted. “Give us a chance to restore things first. Okay? To fix the present, make it better for everyone - including you and Julie! You won’t need to destroy our timeline then, right? Right?”

Carrie stared at the younger girl. She didn’t agree. On the other hand, she didn’t disagree either.

Which was when they heard an unexpected voice coming from the doorway. “Holy… what the hell is going on here?” Corry Veniti demanded.

“Y-You’re back!”

Clarke blinked in surprise at the person who had opened the door of the LaMille mansion. “Tim?” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“L-Lee called me,” Tim explained shakily. “Luci asked him to, when she and Chartreuse left to go to the hospital. To have someone else here. But even so, me and Laurie, we didn’t get here in time.”

“In time? In time for what?”

“To stop their t-t-temporal refugee from escaping.”

Not sure exactly how to take that, Clarke decided to ignore it for the moment. “Can you help me get Julie into the house?” he requested. The brunette was now semi-conscious, and standing upright, but she was using him as a support post.

“Allow me to assist also,” Jeeves said, approaching from behind Tim. Between the three of them, they were able to get Julie inside. Laurie gasped as they came into the sitting room.

“CLARKE! Then, my brother? Is he back too, is he okay, why isn’t he here with you??”

“He went to the hospital to check on Carrie,” Clarke explained.

Laurie proceeded to dance nervously back and forth from foot to foot as they lay Julie down and covered her with a blanket. Apparently torn between wondering how she could help them, and wanting to ask more about what had happened.

“Go to Corry,” Clarke suggested once Julie had been settled in. “I’ll stay with Tim.”

Laurie looked to Tim, who nodded, and then with a grateful smile, she dashed out of the house, nearly forgetting to grab her jacket in the process.

“Now, what’s this about a temporal refugee?” Clarke asked, looking to Tim.

“S-Some guy from the future,” Tim explained. “Lee didn’t seem too clear on it himself, but apparently this ‘Shady’ was responsible for Carrie being shot. She’s now gained mystical time powers.”

“Wait, back up - this guy is the one who blackmailed Julie into doing the shooting?”

Tim shook his head. “Not blackmailed. Lee said the Shady guy can do mind tricks like some J-Jedi,” he clarified. “And Lee is the only one who’s immune.”

Clarke fumbled to sit in a chair. “And given Julie’s mental state that day… easy target. Damn. How could you let this guy get AWAY?”

“I’m afraid that was my fault, sir,” Jeeves spoke up. “I untied him when Mister Lee’s back was turned. In retrospect, I’m not certain why, but he must have said something to me.”

“Lee headed out to look for Shady once Laurie and I got here,” Tim noted. “I should maybe call to tell him that J-Julie’s back…?”

“Yeah, do that,” Clarke agreed. He sighed. “We’re not out of the woods yet, huh?”

“Frank? Frank!”

“Luci?” he said in surprise. He watched as she ran down the road, then barely managed to avoid falling down as she charged full tilt into him, throwing her arms around his body.

“Frank, thank god you’re here and still alive,” Luci said. Not sure what else to do, he gave her a quick hug back. The small girl finally pulled away, only to reach up and give his cheek a smack. “Now that’s for making me worry you were gone forever,” she accused.

“Ouch,” Frank protested. “Geez Luci, maybe you have been hanging around Carrie too long. But what’s been going on? My mom was on me about skipping school today, saying something about police coming by? She almost wouldn’t let me leave the house again!”

“It’s all become very complicated,” Luci sighed. “That’s why, when I learned from Corry that you’d returned, I knew that I had to find you. You see, Carrie’s conscious, but Chartreuse believes she’s going to destroy the Earth with her time powers unless we can make everyone around here forget about how Julie shot her.”

Frank blinked. “Run that by me again, please?”

“I’ll explain on the way back to your lab,” Luci said. “The time machine, I hope it can handle one more trip?”

“Yeah - maybe more than that, we got the circuits back from Julie. It needs a bit of fine tuning though, and there’s maybe another hour before it’s recharged. Why?”

Luci gave him a quick summary of the day.

“But if we can force Shady to explain when he tipped off the police,” she explained, “we can go back and try to stop him then. To undo this. I’m not sure what that means for our present, but with Julie back now, her parents should remember her and the house - and with no police questions, her life is liable to fix itself! I mean, her family will simply be happy to have her home after she was gone for more than a week, right?”

Frank pursed his lips. “No. Unfortunately, Julie’s family situation is a lot more complicated than we first suspected…” He began to explain quickly about his own trip into the past.

“I’m here,” Laurie said breathlessly as she charged out of the elevator. “I’m here, what’s going on, where’s my brother?”

“Hold on, little sis, I’m right here,” Corry said, raising a hand. He was standing a short way down the hall, along with Chartreuse. She hurried up to him. “Please, Laurie, don’t go any further than this point.”

After giving him a quick hug, Laurie looked past him, down the hall. A few doctors were speaking in hushed tones and glancing almost fearfully towards a familiar door.

“Why, Corry? What… what’s happening there?” Laurie asked.

“We’re not exactly sure,” Chartreuse admitted, stepping forwards. “But Carrie is awake, and she’s hurting, and she kinda, like, wants to destroy all of time. After Corry showed up, she told us to ‘Get out’. Luci’s got a plan though, she’s gone to find Frank.”

“Oh. Golly,” Laurie said quietly.

Chartreuse’s look became thoughtful. “Though… you know, you may know Carrie better than we do. You’re a cheerleader on her squad. Maybe she’d be willing to talk to–”

“Hell no,” Corry interjected. “Even the doctors don’t want to go in that room now. It’s far too dangerous.”

“Hush, Corry,” Chartreuse asserted. “You had your turn with Julie. Carrie talk is more of a Laurie thing.”

Laurie swallowed. “But w-what would I even say to her?”

“That you care about her, despite everything,” Chartreuse suggested. “That we’re trying to, you know, help her. That she needs to give us a chance. To give us more time.”

“What would THAT accomplish?” Corry scoffed.

Chartreuse shrugged. “Maybe nothing. Maybe everything.”

Laurie stared at both her brother and her mystical friend. She turned again to look down the hall. Towards the girl who was better than her. At school, at athletics, at popularity, at practically everything… including, perhaps, at taking things a bit too far. And Laurie started walking.

“Laurie, no! OW, Chartreuse that’s my FOOT.”

Laurie didn’t look back. Not even after peering into Carrie’s room, and seeing the doctor and another orderly frozen to the spot. In the same manner of Carrie’s father, who was sitting by her bed. Though the redhead did let out a gasp when Carrie turned to face her. The blonde’s eyes were yellow-gold, and her hair and hospital robe were fluttering around her in some nonexistent wind.

“Why did you come here?” Carrie demanded.

Laurie felt her throat go dry. “W-Well, y’see… Steve’s done a pretty lousy subbing job for you at cheerleading, so I was kinda looking forward to you coming back.”

“The school will soon cease to exist,” Carrie stated. “Everything will cease to exist.”

“Oh,” Laurie said, nonplussed. “Well, he hasn’t done THAT bad of a job, really.”

“Laurie Veniti,” Carrie said, a dangerous edge on her voice. “I have no desire to talk with you or anyone else who knows about the existence of time travel. You should leave, unless you want to end up like them.” She gestured at the frozen individuals.

“It’s hard,” Laurie said, the words tumbling from her lips before she could even think about them. “Okay? I know it’s hard, realizing that you’re stuck in this box, seemingly unable to do any better no matter how much you try, always comparing yourself to others who seem to have it so much better than you… but you know what I’m realizing, Carrie? Maybe we’re all struggling. Even the people who seem to have it together. And maybe that’s okay, because when we push at the edges of our boxes, we grow, and we become more than what others tell us we’re supposed to be.”

Laurie took a step closer. “I know what Lee and the rest of them have told me, Carrie, but you’re more than some weapon. You are. To me, and to so many others. And so I want you to know that I forgive you for what happened back at the dance, and I want you back at school running new routines for us, and I think that’s gonna be REAL hard if everything will no longer exist, so… so please reconsider? For me?”

Carrie seemed surprised. Her gaze dropped to the floor. “I am sorry,” she said quietly. “I can’t, not now. Now that I know how it’s all going to end. Shady is putting us on a road that has no turns.”

“But…“

“LEAVE NOW,” Carrie commanded. Her gaze came up, her face twisted in pain and sadness, her eyes glowing, and energy seemed to crackle around them in the air. With a little shriek, Laurie ran back out of the room.

She hightailed it all the way back to the elevator, where her brother grabbed hold of her. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” she apologized, struggling to catch her breath as she clutched at him. “I… I don’t think Carrie’s going to listen to me or to anyone else.”

“It’s all right,” Corry said, hugging her. “It’s all right, Laurie. I’m sure you did what you could.”

“Did Carrie say anything, like, useful?” Chartreuse said hopefully.

Laurie shook her head. “No, only that everything will no longer exist because Shady’s putting us on a road with no turns.”

Chartreuse sighed, and the three of them turned to look back down the hall. Then the pink haired girl tilted her head to the side. “Putting. As in, still present tense?”

Laurie nodded. And Chartreuse jerked her gaze back towards Corry.

“He’s GONE?” Luci said.

“So I’m told,” Clarke answered from the other end of the phone line. “Jeeves is very sorry. Lee is trying to find this Shady even now.”

“And I thought things couldn’t get any worse,” Luci muttered. “Now how are we supposed to figure out when he spoke with the police?”

“Clarke,” piped up Frank, listening in through speaker phone. “How influential are the LaMilles? If they wanted to, could they throw their daughter’s attempted murder case out of court, that sort of thing?”

“Possibly,” came the dubious answer. “But even if they were willing to do it, Julie’s life would only become an even bigger hell, given how she’d owe them.”

“Except her parents might not do anything if we threatened to expose what they’ve already done to Julie. That’s not the sort of thing the LaMilles would want to be made public.”

“Whoa, hold on, Frank,” Luci objected. “You’re saying we resort to blackmail? That’s a big can of worms there.”

“Yeah, plus Julie HERSELF said she doesn’t want this to go public,” Clarke added. “Besides, her parents were always very careful. We have no proof.”

“Always?” Frank said, frustrated. “For sixteen years, no one ever saw or heard ANYTHING? That’s really hard to believe, given their tendency to employ hired help.“

There was the sound of Clarke drumming his fingers on something. “Well, we saw nothing,” Clarke reminded him. “And I’m pretty sure Jeeves and Mimi didn’t either. But maybe, if we look further back in time…"

“We’ll have to at some point. That’s the sort of proof Julie will need,” Luci realized. “In order to get into proper counselling, over her parents’ likely objections or suggestions.”

“I’ll check with Jewels and give you a call back,” Clarke decided.

“Okay,” Luci agreed. “We’ll be at Frank’s, making final adjustments on the time machine. Oh, also give us a call if you hear any more about the location of our fugitive from the future.”

“Will do,” Clarke agreed.

Frank took the call from Clarke less than a half hour later. Luci closed up the time machine as he hung up. She turned. “What’s the word?”

“You want the good news or the bad news?”

“We could use some good news about now.”

Frank nodded. “Julie managed to recall a time, back before she was ten, when a servant came back unexpectedly and caught her parents chewing her out. The woman, who had worked with them for three years prior to that event, was dismissed soon after - though Julie recalls her being a sympathetic individual. If we track her down, she could be our evidence.”

“Okay. And the bad news?”

“Two flavours,” he sighed. “First, Julie’s too shaken up right now to remember any more, and then when Clarke went to check the records being stored in the mansion himself? The ones detailing the servants for that period of time were missing. Jeeves recalls a small fire some time last year, shortly after the LaMilles transferred those very same records to the house for storage.”

“How convenient,” Luci said dryly.

“My thoughts exactly. Second problem, Chartreuse called Clarke with an update. Something Carrie said makes our resident mystic think Shady is going to make another attempt on Carrie’s life. Which could render all of our efforts to restore this timeline to a sense of normalcy rather moot.”

Luci resisted the urge to bang her head down on the table. “Joy. Okay, one problem at a time. When was this small fire? Maybe we can time travel back to before it took place, and obtain the information then.”

“And how do you propose we get into the LaMille mansion to retrieve it?” Frank countered. “The Julie from our past would never let us stroll in and search. The only one of us who might have a chance is Clarke, except tampering with his past connections to Julie could cause us much bigger problems now.”

“That’s true, but there must be some way,” Luci insisted. “Maybe we could go back in time a year, to a day when we were all in Grade 10, and tell a past version of ourselves that if they ever get the chance to visit the mansion…” Luci stopped. She felt lightheaded. “Oh my God.”

“What?”

“It fits. Oh my God. My second day of high school. It fits!”

“What fits? Luci, what are you talking about?”

Luci took a deep breath, as the missing piece that had puzzled her for over a year snapped into place. “It’s my missing day, Frank. The second day of high school has always been a complete blank to me. All I know is that it had something to do with me getting involved with Julie and Corry, not to mention seriously ticking Carrie off somehow. I’ve always wondered if there was more to it than simple amnesia.”

“What? Are we heading into ‘Butterfly Effect’ territory here? Because that movie series was not–”

“It’s more,” Luci interrupted. “Consider that while I might have grown a little since then, it’s negligible, and after Linquist I’m only ballpark my real age anyway.”

She took a deep breath. “You say the only place we can get these records is in the past? Fine. None of you knew me at the start of last year. That makes me a wild card. So, we’re about to use the time machine to travel back to that September, at which point I can take the place of my younger self for a day. My second day of high school. A note you leave in my locker is all it will take.”

He stared. “Luci, that’s crazy.”

“Maybe,” she admitted. “Thing is? If I’m right, it’s already happened anyway.”

(Option: Go With Luci, Full Circle, Back to Part 25)

PART 43: DESPERATE TIMES

A figure stirred within the quiet, suburban home. Hazel eyes blinked open and a brunette teenager slowly picked herself up off the ground. She looked around, spotting a calendar hanging on the wall. Her mouth quirked up into an odd smile, and she tapped the barrel of her gun on her chin.

“It worked,” she murmured. “It worked, and now I’m… home.” She began to laugh hysterically.

Fingers drummed nervously on the floor. Having decided a short time ago that her situation wasn’t actually funny at all - certainly nothing to laugh about - Julie had moved on to taking stock of her current situation. So, she had traveled back to the year of her birth. The time machine had worked, as described to her by Carrie that time in her former associate’s bedroom.

It was a stroke of luck that Julie had apparently ended up on November 9th. Almost as if the machine had already been set for that day, merely requiring Frank’s coin to provide the year. She looked down at the notes she had grabbed. Should she risk reprogramming the thing, to try and jump a little closer? No… she didn’t have the right tools, or the confidence. Better to destroy the device instead. To prevent pursuit.

Julie proceeded to rip out what seemed to be the most important microchips, tossing them into the backyard. She put the notes into the garbage, and took the black box down into the basement, cramming it into one of the many half empty cardboard storage boxes she found. Her parents rarely decluttered, so there wasn’t much chance of it turning up - though even if it did, without the chips or the notes, it would be practically useless.

So, what was she supposed to do for the next three days? Devise a plan, of course. A plan to kill a baby. Julie felt her stomach lurch, but then again, she was already a murderer, right? She’d killed Carrie, and probably Frank too with her second shot. So what was one more death? Particularly when it would be her own. Merely one more death…

Something didn’t make sense. Her mind detoured.

‘None of it will have happened once I cease to exist,’ Julie rationalized, blocking the memory. One of SO many memories that she didn’t want any more. Okay, planning time. She had to figure out where the hospital was, that sort of thing. Pausing only long enough to find a bag to slip her gun into, Julie left the house.

Phil was here.

Barely an hour out of her house, and Julie found herself being confronted by impossible setbacks. She squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten before peering back around the street corner.

Phil was still there.

If he was a hallucination, as he had been in the basement of her house, he’d become a more persistent one. Then again, this Phil could simply be a look-alike. Maybe an ancestor. Except why had Julie been left with the impression he was looking for someone?

Was he looking for her?

She felt her heart getting squeezed. Part of Julie wanted to run out to Phil and tell him everything, about what her parents had done to her, and about what she had done to Carrie. But another part of her urged caution. Could even Phil forgive her for what had happened? Worse, what if this was some kind of trap?

“Excuse me… you wouldn’t happen to have any spare change, would you?” said a nearby voice.

Julie tensed. She turned. This homeless woman was about her height, with hair of approximately the same length and colour. The similarity ended there, but daylight was fading, so with the right clothes…

“I’ll give you twenty dollars if you do something for me,” Julie answered. Almost as an afterthought, she moved closer to the woman and slipped the gun out from it’s concealment. “And if you don’t do it right, I’ll kill you too.”

***PRESENT: ONTARIO

Jeeves re-entered the sitting room to find Luci pacing, Chartreuse fidgeting with some crystals, and Lee leaning over the couch where the fourth house “guest” remained tied up.

The LaMille butler was starting to regret having let them in. In doing so, he wagered that he had become an accessory to kidnapping, or harbouring a fugitive. He didn’t know which. He didn’t want to know. That way, he wouldn’t have to deny anything later.

The one thing Jeeves DID know was that Julie was in some sort of trouble. Furthermore, ever since he had been hired three years ago to take care of this place, and thus indirectly to care for her, he’d felt a certain obligation towards the young girl. She was obviously very troubled, but she was also smart, strong, and more driven than any other teenager he knew. He couldn’t understand why her parents didn’t spend more time with her.

Indeed, it had been after leaving her alone with her parents for the one night that she had disappeared. Perhaps he shouldn’t have reported Julie’s actions at school to her mother and father. Or perhaps he shouldn’t have agreed to take that night off. Yet they often released him that way shortly after coming home, and as a simple butler, had he really had any other choice?

Perhaps not. However, he did have a choice now. Namely whether to offer more information to these children, or whether to put a stop to things before they got out of hand.

“Pardon me,” Jeeves stated archly. “But could one of you please enlighten me as to the current situation regarding Miss LaMille?”

Luci turned towards him. “Situation?” she said tiredly.

“You indicated to me earlier that by allowing you in here, it might ultimately clear her name,” Jeeves reminded them.

“Oh. Yes.” Jeeves noticed that the young girl’s eyes drifted over to the man on the couch, before she resumed her pacing. Perhaps this mystery man had been the actual culprit? “It’s complicated,” she continued. “I’m sorry, but we need more time.”

“The thing is,” Jeeves continued pointedly, “I just got off the phone with Miss LaMille’s father.” That got all of their attention.

“I have been trying to reach her parents all afternoon,” he elaborated. “Ever since I learned that their daughter was being implicated in the recent shooting. I finally succeeded not ten minutes ago, only to be told by Mr. LaMille that he had no daughter. At first I thought that he was trying to disown her, however, it soon became apparent to me that he also had no recollection of even owning this house.”

The butler watched as the three teenagers exchanged a glance. “He doesn’t remember Julie?” Chartreuse said, biting her lower lip. “Uh oh. Um, you don’t think that means she, like, actually succeeded in… in the past, do you?”

Luci yanked a piece of paper from her pocket. “How could she have?” the young asian protested, scanning over it. She slapped at the page with her hand. “We know what happened back then. Look, girl hit by ambulance, three days before Julie was born. That hasn’t changed.”

“Unless…” The man on the couch struggled to stand. “She is more powerful than I realized. We have to stop her, now!”

“Stop Julie?” Chartreuse said, confused. “No, that’s what, like, Frank and them are doing.”

“Whoa, okay, time out,” Lee said, raising his hands in the traditional gesture. “I’m not sure I follow ANY of what’s going on here, so back the bus up… if Julie’s parents don’t remember her now because of some change to the past - how come WE haven’t forgotten her too?”

“The–“ Their captive cut himself off. “Your Carrie Waterson. I told you she had powers! Being in this town, right now, has put us in the eye of her time storm. We are not safe so long as she is around. Can you not see how time itself is beginning to destabilize? We must act fast. Someone help me up.”

Jeeves automatically felt himself take a step closer to assist, only to have the boy named Lee step between them. “Sorry, I’m thinking we keep Shady on the couch for now,” the teenager asserted.

“Yes!” Luci said, and when Jeeves turned to her, he saw that a light had come back into her eyes. She met his gaze. “Okay, Jeeves, thanks for the information but I bet none of this is making any sense to you, and we don’t have time to explain. So, I know it’s a lot to ask, but unless you seriously object, can you leave us alone again? It’ll avoid you getting any more involved than you have to.”

Jeeves raised an eyebrow as Luci voiced his earlier concern - yet he also sensed a hard edge to Luci’s voice. Was helping Miss LaMille really worth potentially putting these other teenagers in jeopardy?

“I will allow you another few minutes to discuss the situation,” Jeeves decided. “Should you need me, I will be in the hall.” He turned and left the room once again, hoping that he was doing the right thing.

Then again, according to his employers, he didn’t seem to work here anyway.

After Jeeves had departed, Luci turned back to Shady. “You don’t KNOW,” she asserted, grinning.

“What don’t I know?”

“You don’t know what Carrie’s capable of,” she concluded. “Not really. Your description of her powers has been vague, you didn’t know if Frank’s admission would save her, and you sure as heck weren’t aware of whatever this ‘time storm’ was until Jeeves pointed it out. So how could you possibly know whether Carrie’s irredeemably insane or not?”

Luci drew in a deep breath. “The answer is, you don’t. Meaning we might still be able to save her.”

Shady shook his head. “Don’t be foolish. I know she’s dangerous.”

“Dangerous why?” Luci demanded. She moved in next to him, placing her hand on the couch next to his head. “Tell us, why exactly is Carrie Waterson dead in your future, Shady? Why did you have to come back to this time period to get her? Why, exactly, is SHE the one tied to time?”

Their captor’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have to answer to you.”

Luci’s smile vanished. “Perhaps not, but it occurs to me now that you were WAY too calm for someone who claimed to have lost an entire future war because of us.”

“Well, I’m not calm any more,” he snapped.

“No, you’re not,” Luci acknowledged. “So what is it about Carrie that has you so riled up? Tell us. ALL of it.”

“Go beat your head against a wall.”

Luci turned and marched over towards the nearest wall, drawing her head back - only to be grabbed from behind by Lee. She blinked, then snapped her gaze back over to the couch.

“That’s dirty pool,” Chartreuse said, horrified.

“You children, you have no idea, NO idea of what you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in,” Shady said, a bitterness to his tone. “Enough of free will. Isn’t it time to leave this situation in the hands of your elders?”

“Okay, that’s it,” Luci decided. “I’ve had it.” She began to push a chair over to the side of the room. “Lee? Chartreuse? You can leave now, if you don’t want to see this.”

“Um, pretty sure I should stick around,” Lee pointed out.

“Why, what are you, like, going to do?” Chartreuse asked.

“Something I might regret later,” Luci admitted. She climbed onto the chair, and reached up to grasp the ornamental rapier hanging on the wall.

“Whoa, uh, hold on short stuff… what are you doing?”

Truth be told, Luci was asking herself that same question. She wasn’t really sure any more. All she knew was that were were still gaps, huge gaps in her knowledge that had to be filled. It had become more than a need, it was a necessity. How else could she solve this puzzle?

“The problem,” she reasoned aloud, hopping back down onto the floor, “is that I’ve been basing all my decisions to this point on the scattered half picture we’ve had available.” She brandished the rapier and pointed it at their captive. “Time to get the rest of the data. By any means necessary.”

“Luci,” Chartreuse gasped, reaching out to take her by the shoulder.

“No,” Luci protested, shrugging off Chartreuse. “It’s not us, it’s HIM, it’s his secrets that have doomed Julie and Frank and the rest of them.” She took a step closer to the couch. “So, you want to talk war? Fine, here’s your war. You will tell us about Carrie’s fate in your timeline, or suffer the consequences.”

The man met Luci’s gaze, sizing her up. “You have more willpower than I thought,” he said at last. “But no. I’ve told you too much already.”

“Don’t test me,” Luci cautioned, waving the blade around - to try and disguise how much her hand was starting to shake.

He smirked. “Please. You talk big, but you won’t use that. Put it away before you hurt yourself.”

Luci stared at him for another few seconds, realizing with growing frustration that he wasn’t going to stop treating this like a bluff on her part. ‘Hurt him!’ a part of her cried out. ‘He’s hurting you, so you can hurt him back!' Except… there was a big difference between cutting someone down with words, and doing it with a blade.

She grasped the hilt with both hands. Tears started stinging at her eyes. “Talk!”

Talk, Shady. Just talk. This was so easy in the movies. Why not now? Why, oh why couldn’t things be going her way? As Shady smirked, Luci felt Chartreuse’s arm encircle her shoulders. This time she didn’t pull away. Instead she let out a choked sob, finally letting the blade fall from her grip. It bounced on the carpet.

“Okay buddy, now you’ve made a young girl cry,” Lee observed. He cracked his knuckles. “We’ve reached my line in the sand.”

Luci looked back up, barely in time to see Lee backhand the man across the face. “Now say you’re sorry,” he admonished. He looked angrier than Luci had ever seen him.

“What… what the hell are you doing?!” their captive spat back, apparently as surprised as any of them.

“At present? I’m trying to figure out how a supposed adult has the audacity to put the whammy on girls less than half his age,” Lee said. “You also seem to be trying to kill another one of my friends, without telling us the reason, and to cap it all off - you’re making me late for dinner.”

Lee backhanded him again. “I’m ESPECIALLY annoyed about that last one, because I don’t want my sisters to have new reasons to cry either. So let’s get to it, okay ‘Shady’? Apologize to Luci, and then TELL her WHAT SHE WANTS TO KNOW.”

Lee’s victim glowered at him for a moment, before uttering a curt, “Sorry,” in Luci’s direction.

“Progress,” Lee said, glaring.

Shady grit his teeth. “If you weren’t somehow immune to me…”

“What’s the problem, not comfortable enough to answer questions?” Lee asked. “Well then, I’ll fluff your pillow here and… oh, I’m sorry, is that your foot? Dear me, I’d get your feet up out of the way but it is hard when they’re tied like this… oh, sorry, was that your stomach? You know, you’d make this a lot easier by talking. Though I guess it is a little difficult with me holding the pillow over your face. There, that better?”

“Are you INSANE?”

“Sounds like you need more time to think. How about this, I’ve heard it can help, having all your blood rush to your head. Over we go… oops, sorry. Oh, hey, mind that rapier down there…"

As Lee continued to contort the man’s body, Luci was reminded of the conversation she’d had with Clarke in the hospital. Sometimes, you had to pass the ball to your teammates. “Remind me never to cross Lee,” she whispered to Chartreuse.

Chartreuse didn’t respond, her eyes wide and her jaw slack.

“All right, I’ll talk,” Shady shrieked, once Lee had twisted his head away from the upholstery. “Bloody hell, I never expected you teenagers to be such a thorn in my side!”

“And our little dog too,” Lee remarked as he straightened back up and adjusted his jacket. He looked back over at the two girls, seeming a bit taken aback by their expressions. “Um, what can I say? I hate being late for dinner.”

“You want the truth about your ‘friend’, Carrie Waterson?” The temporal refugee spat out, even as he struggled to sit back up. “Fine. She is NOT dead in my future. Rather, she is on THEIR side.” He fixed his gaze upon Luci. “She’s a temporal bomb, who can destroy the entire world, because THAT’S what they designed her to do. Which is, if you haven’t figured it out, why we couldn’t very well recruit her to fight on behalf of the humans, could we?”

It was Chartreuse who managed to speak first. “Um, Carrie’s a human. Not some time bomb.”

“Well, she’s sort of both,” Shady countered. “Call her a sleeper agent, if you like, planted in the past. Except now that I’ve changed things? Now that she’s exerting her influence on this town, consciously or unconsciously preserving the memory of Julie? She’s armed. She has to be.”

“So you did come back in time to destroy Carrie,” Luci concluded.

He shook his head. “No, I came back to recruit that– thing, I swear. We had hoped to learn how to control the power, and to unleash it back upon her own people… but regrettably, if Carrie went psychotic, there would be no choice but to eliminate her. Because if she explodes? She will not only take this town, but this entire planet along with her. Make no mistake.”

He paused to let his words sink in. “So," he concluded, “will you finally release me, and let me destroy that shell of a girl before she does the same to all of humanity? Or shall we sit here chatting for what may well be the last hour of our lives?”

***PAST: ILLINOIS

They had to be destroyed. If they got in her way, she would have to destroy them. It seemed harsh, but being a murderer three times over now, Julie had made up her mind.

Three times… Carrie, Frank, and then that homeless woman… it had been so horrible, to see her die. Julie grabbed at her chest, feeling her borrowed clothing.

She should have been the one. The one lying dead in the road. In fact, a strange part of her felt like it HAD BEEN HER. Or would have been her. Before she’d noticed Phil on the street, and switched clothing. Now it wasn’t her. But could it still become her?

Tenses were getting muddled in her brain. No, more than tenses, it was all a muddle. Perhaps a side effect of the time travel. Or, you know, the fact that she was flirting with paradox, trying to prevent her own birth. Maybe something out there didn’t want her to do that.

What had even led to this line of thought? Right, she had to kill Phil, Frank and Corry… if they got in her way. Frank, dead for a second time. That was weird.

Never mind. Julie knew she needed a plan. A plan that she could execute quickly, for if Phil had actually been able to follow her through time, recruiting assistance from Corry of all people, there were sure to be more traps in store. Julie supposed that she should not have destroyed the potential advantage of her own time machine.

Too late to worry about that now. She couldn’t wait another three days for her actual birth. Not any more. It was time for action.

Still clutching the gun, Julie marched off for the hospital. If the others tried to stop her now, well… well, then they would suffer the consequences. The very deadly consequences.

PART 42: TIED IN NAUGHTS

“You know,” Corry said as he wheeled his bike along the sidewalk. “If I ever decide to take another trip through time with you guys? Stop me. I don’t think I could take another day of this traveling through unknown territory, sharing cramped quarters and dishwashing for money and food.”

“I know there’s something I can’t take much more of,” Clarke murmured.

“My previous time trips haven’t been like this," Frank said, half slumped over his own bike. “But here, we had to allow extra time to find Julie, and we lacked enough currency for this time period. You knew all that before you came.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know this would be a one way trip,” Corry argued.

“It won’t be,” Frank assured. “Remember, all we have to do is figure out what Julie did with the circuitry she removed. With that, I can repair our version of the time machine, and get us back.”

“Oh, and I’m sure Julie will be very forthcoming with that information," Corry groused.

“Don’t mind Corry,” Clarke suggested to Frank. “Complaining seems to be his way of coping. We’ll manage, somehow.”

“Phil Clarke. Always the optimist,” Corry grumbled. “Oh well, at least this ordeal is almost over. How much time until… uh, the big event we’ll need to stop?” Even now, he couldn’t bring himself to say ‘death’.

“How about change to spare?” came a hopeful voice.

Corry turned with the others, to see a young homeless woman. Or, if she wasn’t homeless, the early twenty something was at least down on her luck. Her clothes were ragged, her long curly brown hair was frayed, and she was carrying her possessions in a small, tattered bag.

“Well…” Frank began slowly.

Before Frank could say more, Clarke fished a couple of bills out of his pocket. “Here you go,” he said. “It’s not much, but it’s all we have to spare.”

“Bless you,” the woman said with a small smile as she took the handout.

“Oh, brilliant, Clarke,” Corry said once the woman was out of earshot. “That’s brilliant. Sure, let’s give away the rest of our money. It’s not like we might NEED it or anything! Gods, sometimes I can’t figure out what’s going through your heads."

“She’ll be around to use it tomorrow, unlike us,” Clarke rationalized.

“Only assuming we get through to Julie, remember?”

“Look,” Frank cut back in. “It’s fine, what’s done is done. Though for future reference, Clarke? We want to minimize our impact here in the past. Not call attention to it that way.”

“Right. Sorry.”

They were within a block of the hospital when Clarke cleared his throat. “So Corry, based on whatever Julie did with you that day in January - what are the chances she’ll be throwing herself into the path of this ambulance on purpose?”

Corry grimaced as he was forced to consider the possibility. “Hard to say. Why, do you think she’d be in a low mental state based on whatever talk she had with you after my flyers went out?”

“And here’s another thing,” Frank interjected. “You two need to stop being so… passive-aggressive with your whatevers.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Corry asked dryly.

Frank turned to face them, visibly frustrated. “Look, apparently you each have secrets about Julie. And while I commend your ethics, in that you both don’t seem to want to reveal them to each other without her approval, after four days, those conversations are getting REAL annoying.”

Corry tried to protest, but Frank kept talking.

“More to the point, the Julie I saw right before she time travelled didn’t seem to be in complete control of her faculties. Which for all we know, is going to be ten minutes before she shows up here. So, if you don’t want to reveal secrets about Julie, fine. But will you both stop fishing for information from the other guy about those past encounters? It’s time to focus on the Julie in our present.”

Corry wondered if Clarke’s look of surprise was mirrored on his own face. He hoped not - but he never would have figured on Frank having an outburst like that. “Fine,” he said. “Sorry if it felt like I was fishing, Clarke.”

“Yeah, me too,” Clarke said, looking sheepish.

“Okay.” Corry eyed Frank. “With that out of the way, what are your next orders for us, oh glorious leader?”

Frank merely sighed.

***PRESENT: ONTARIO

Lee sighed, as he looked at the text message from Judy. Apparently the new books hadn’t come in yet - so no extra hours today. In fact, since he wasn’t scheduled for work, that meant no need to go to the library at all. Oh well.

His original plan had been to use tonight to catch up on homework, so he supposed he might as well head home to do that. However, he found his footsteps were taking him towards the hospital instead.

Whatever events were happening between Clarke, Tim, and the rest of them? They had escalated. Not only into absences at school, but now the local constabulary was hanging around. The hospital wasn’t very far out of his way - it couldn’t hurt to check in on Carrie, right? Maybe one of the others would be around too, and he could do something more to help.

Lee absentmindedly scanned the building as he approached. As such, he was able to spot the figure darting out of one of the emergency exits. Was there a fire? No one else seemed to be evacuating.

Then another person ran out the door, apparently in pursuit of the first individual - and even at this distance, Lee recognized the profile, what with the bows in her hair. The two of them were heading more or less in his direction, so Lee decided to intercede on Chartreuse’s behalf.

He moved to box in the running man, who, upon realizing that he was caught between Lee, Chartreuse, and the building itself, headed for his one remaining option.  The shrubbery and fence surrounding the hospital area. Breaking into a sprint, Lee managed to catch the mysterious figure and haul him down before he could make good his escape.

In the process Lee made a startling discovery: this person, the one wearing the uniform of a hospital orderly, was the same guy who’d been loitering around the hospital on Saturday. The one who had been looking for information on the LaMilles previously. With a bit of leverage, Lee managed to get the guy face down onto the ground, arms pinned behind him.

“Thanks… thanks Lee…” Chartreuse wheezed as she caught up to them, sweat running down her face. She paused for a second to rest her hands on her knees and catch her breath before bending down to stare their captive in the face. “Now, why were you trying to kill Carrie Waterson?” she demanded, jabbing out a finger.

Lee blinked at Chartreuse. “Kill Carrie?”

Chartreuse nodded sombrely. “Well?” the pink haired girl demanded again, off the man’s silence. “Tell me, or I’ll… I’ll do something mystical and unpleasant to you. Don’t think I won’t!”

Their captive attempted to flex his arms, but Lee held him down. “You have no idea what you’re doing,” the man said at last. “That ‘girl’ will destroy us all. I must be allowed to complete this mission.”

“Uhm, if your mission involves harming a hair on Carrie’s head, I so don’t think so," Chartreuse countered. She pursed her lips in thought. “All right, here’s what we’re gonna do. Lee, keep this guy here while I get Luci. Then the four of us can, like, go find someplace nice and private to have a good, long talk.”

“Er, you don’t think this is a matter to leave to the police…?” Lee protested.

Chartreuse shook her head. “No, the police might be kinda looking for me and Luci. Please, just, you know, hold Shady here - I’ll be right back.”

With that, the pink haired girl jumped up and ran back in the direction of the hospital. Lee was left in the shrubbery with his captive. “Guess this is what I get for not asking enough questions on the weekend,” he mused.

“Lee, you are going to do something for me now,” the man on the ground articulated. “Listen carefully. You are going to get off of me and let me go on my way unmolested. Do you understand?”

“Yeah,” Lee answered. “But I think we’ll stay here anyway.”

The man smacked his forehead down. “Oh well,” he muttered. “It was worth a shot.”

“Miss Primrose, I’m afraid I don’t have authorization to allow any of you to enter.”

“Jeeves, it’s important,” Luci insisted. “We can’t risk going to any of our homes, while this is probably the last place anyone will think to look for us. Besides, what we discover here today may well save Carrie - as well as clear Julie’s name.”

She watched his eyebrow arch. Good, he knew Julie was a suspect now, that saved explanations. “The police don’t have it quite right, Jeeves,” she added. “Please, if you care about what happens to Julie, you’ll let us in.”

It felt like an eternity, but the LaMille butler finally swung the front door of the mansion open wider. “See that I don’t regret this,” he cautioned them.

The four of them filed past Jeeves into the foyer: Luci, Chartreuse, Lee, and the man with his hands tied behind his back, aka Shady.

After closing the door, Jeeves headed for the telephone.

“All right,” Luci said once they were in the LaMille sitting room, having tossed their captive onto the couch. “Start talking. Who are you, what are you doing here, and why did you try to kill Carrie?”

Shady remained silent.

“All right then, I’ll start talking,” Luci decided. “You can correct me if I say anything wrong, all right?” She leaned against the back of a chair, staring at him.

“The first question we have to ask ourselves is why someone who once professed to be Carrie’s ‘Guardian Angel’ would attempt to kill her. Answer? It was, in fact, your goal all along. But you had to wait for the right moment. For the point of maximum entropy. You had to protect Carrie until then.”

Luci drummed her fingers on the fabric in front of her. “It explains why you got Julie to shoot Carrie in a non-fatal way. Putting your target into the hospital, you could indirectly get some preliminary readings on her.” Chartreuse let out a little gasp. “And don’t even try to deny being involved with the shooting,” Luci added. “Because even setting aside your call to Frank, I remember now that when I returned to his house on that night? Someone was sitting in a car less than a block away. Foolishly, I didn’t give it much thought, but seeing you here? It was you. And Julie had to get the gun from someone.”

Luci paused to give Shady a chance to speak. When he said nothing, she continued on.

“So, Carrie has been your guinea pig. Time travel - it’s not a fine science for you future guys, I guess? Sure, you used it to get back here, but prolonged exposure, that’s what Carrie was for. For some reason, you believed that all of her time trips would grant her special abilities, and once she got them…” Luci snapped her fingers in the air. “Dissection time.”

She turned away, as Chartreuse’s increasingly ill look was becoming too much of a contrast to Shady’s inscrutable expression. “But Julie running off with the time machine, that threw off your timetable,” Luci reasoned. “You had to delay, leading to checking on Julie’s past, contacting Frank, and generally messing with us to ensure we were looking anywhere BUT at Carrie. But now we are. And since we know your intentions, we’re not going to let you get away with it.”

She whirled back, folding her arms across her chest. “Well? How’s that, am I close?”

“And don’t even think about, you know, lying,” Chartreuse added, shaking a crystal at him. “Or I’ll totally know.”

Their captive frowned, as if trying to come to a decision.

“Look man,” Lee offered. “If you tell ‘em what they want to know, they’ll get off your back, and we can all walk away from this roller coaster ride of science fiction. Right?”

Shady sighed. “You are very observant, young Luci,” he said at last. “But largely incorrect. For instance, none of you need to fear developing any powers yourselves - Carrie’s abilities are not because of her time travel. They have always been within her. They are tied to her, bound to her by fate.” He smirked. “Which is the very reason I came back to this time to recruit her.”

“Recruit?” Luci blurted, before she could stop herself. She glanced sidelong at Chartreuse. The pink haired girl shrugged, meaning either she couldn’t detect any trace of betrayal, or she’d been bluffing about the lie detection thing. Lee merely looked nonplussed.

Luci decided she needed to sit down. Moving into the chair she’d previously been leaning against, she steepled her fingers, continuing to stare at their captive. “By all means then,” she said. “Explain to us how you can recruit someone by KILLING them.”

Shady inclined his head slightly. “If I do, will you let me go?”

“No,” Luci said, sourly. “But we’re definitively keeping you here until you do, so start talking.”

The man glanced at Lee. “Oh, very well. The crux of the matter is that there is a war going on in the future. One which we humans are losing very badly, I might add. But then, at the point when many of us were about to give up all hope, we discovered the identity of a woman. A woman with extraordinary powers. Powers which could extend into the very fabric of space and time itself - the problem being, she was already dead to us. So, with great effort, we managed to obtain a time travel device, and I was chosen to come back in time to find this woman. Back when she was a mere girl.”

“Okay,” Lee said, as Shady paused. “So far this sounds like a reverse plot from those Terminator films. Did the robots send someone back after you, dude?”

“No. We’re not fighting robots,” Shady said in an annoyed tone. “Can I finish my story?”

Lee gestured magnanimously.

“As such,” he continued, “I have been in sync with your time period now for close to three years, working at verifying this woman’s identity in her youth. Not as difficult a task as I originally thought, given how I picked up a temporal disruption in Algonquin Park a couple years back, and had to personally rescue her. Still, I wanted to be sure, so it was only a couple of months ago that I left my time machine out for Carrie Waterson to find.”

“Then your time machine is what became our time machine,” Luci affirmed.

He nodded. “It’s not like I brought a spare. The things ARE damned hard to get your hands on.”

Meaning Shady couldn’t escape through time. Good to know. “Still waiting on the whole death equals recruitment thing,” Luci pointed out.

“Did you want context for it or not?”

“Context is helpful,” Chartreuse said brightly.

“Fine. So, experiencing time travel was the first step towards awakening this obj- er, wom- this girl’s powers. She had to learn what she could accomplish, in a practical sense. She then had to learn how to put her own life into the cosmic perspective.” He paused briefly before muttering, “That second phase required a near death experience.”

Luci stood. “Then I WAS right, and you ARE responsible for influencing Julie.”

Shady sighed. “Being displaced from time, I did not think it wise to act as the trigger myself. An ex-friend, who had been targeted at school that day? That seemed plausible. Anyway, you yourself noted how Julie’s shot was intended to miss any vital organs.”

“Okay, but, like, hold on,” Chartreuse protested. “This power awakening stuff, it seems to have gone wrong. Carrie’s not doing so hot."

“Oh, no kidding?” Shady said contemptuously. “Apparently you teenagers have an interesting way of keeping things ‘safe’.”

“Julie’s time trip,” Luci realized. “It did throw things off. Merely not how I thought.”

Shady nodded. “That part is as I said to your friend Frank. Carrie could not reconcile Julie’s death with how history proceeded prior to her powers awakening. But instead of following my advice, you all devised some asinine plan of your own! I finally used my own power to get the police involved this morning. Unfortunately, checking on Carrie’s condition afterwards, I found it was too late.” He folded his hands together. “Carrie is now irredeemably insane, and my mission has failed, thus killing her… well, at this point, it’s a form of mercy."

Luci shuddered, as she realized how wrong she had been. And Carrie was paying the price. She reached out for the chair again, using it to keep her from sliding down to her knees. “But there must be some way to still save her,” Luci asserted. “Something more we can do.”

Shady scoffed. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough already? You have doomed most of your friends, as well as an entire war going on in your future. I ask you, how many more people must pay the price for your bad decisions?”

***PAST: ILLINOIS

“How much time?” Corry hissed.

“At a guess? Five minutes, give or take,” Frank answered quietly. He peered out of the alleyway to look up and down the street.

Clarke stood there, surrounded by some of the locals who were going about their business in the early evening. Upon spying Frank, the tall boy raised his arms, palms up, indicating he hadn’t seen any sign of Julie yet. Frank slumped back against the wall; the group had locked their bikes up at the nearby library half an hour ago.

Corry sighed. “I hate us splitting up like this,” he groused. “I mean, I agree Clarke’s the best choice to reason with her, but Julie probably still has that gun, right? The one she used to shoot Carrie? What if she simply kills him, then picks us off, one by one, before jumping in front of the ambulance? I mean, maybe that’s what my sister is reading in the newspaper in the future at this very moment.”

“Corry, now is not the time,” Frank said tersely.

“But… ah, you’re right," came a grudging admission, much to Frank’s surprise. “Look, sorry if I’m a little hard on you and Clarke, Frank,” the redhead continued. “I’m accustomed to knowing a lot more about my surroundings. This whole trip has put me out of my element.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “But I guess you don’t need both me AND Julie going after your jugular, huh?”

Before Frank could reply to that, they heard Clarke call out “Julie!” in a loud and clear voice.

The two teenagers poked their heads back out of the alley to see what Clarke was up to. He had crossed the street, and was hurrying after someone. A girl with long brown hair, who was wearing a dark green sweater with a blue pleated skirt. She was moving in the direction of the hospital.

“Julie! Jewels!” Clarke called out again.

The girl seemed to half turn before quickening her pace. Frank emerged from the alley and headed down his side of the street. He wasn’t quite sure how to help, but he didn’t want to lose sight of them.

What happened next occurred so fast that, upon later recollection, Frank would be forced to admit that there was nothing he could have done.

Having almost reached her, Clarke reached out to grab Julie by the shoulder. Sensing she was about to be caught, the girl twisted away, stumbling as she did so. It was then that Frank finally noticed the ambulance, which had not bothered to turn it’s siren on, as there weren’t any other cars on the street.

“Look out!” he screamed, even as Julie, off balance, staggered backwards. Right into the path of the oncoming vehicle. There was no time for anyone to run and push her out of the way, no time for the driver to brake - the ambulance simply hit her, head on.

“No…” Frank gasped as he saw Julie fly several feet through the air.

“NO!” he screamed. She had been their only hope of rescuing Carrie. Their only hope of getting back home. Four days, FOUR DAYS they had spent in the past, knowing that this would happen. And yet they had failed!

But maybe, just maybe, Julie wasn’t dead yet. So she could tell them where the time circuits were, and they could somehow try again, try to fix this… a crowd was already gathering, and Frank moved to push his way through them. He was restrained by a hand on his shoulder.

Frank turned to see Clarke, his face ashen, his body shaking slightly. “Clarke,” he gasped. “We have to–”

“It’s not her, Frank,” the tall boy said quietly.

It took a few seconds for Clarke’s words to sink in. Even then, they didn’t make sense. “What?” Frank finally managed.

“It’s not Julie.” Clarke released him. “As that person twisted away from me, I got my first good look at her face. The person who was hit… it was that homeless woman we saw earlier today. For some reason, she had put on Julie’s clothes.”

That still didn’t make any sense. “How? Why?” Frank protested.

“Because Julie knows we’re here,” Corry said, having come up behind them in time to hear Clarke’s revelation. His lips thinned. “She must know we’re here to stop her from killing herself. And she sent that woman towards the hospital as a decoy."

Frank let Corry steer them both away from the crowd, his mind now completely in a whirl. Julie knew they were there? But how? What was even going through that poor girl’s mind? A shudder ran down Frank’s spine as he realized that there was no way of knowing. No way at all.

And for the first time since they’d landed in Illinois, Frank felt very, very scared.

See the accompanying Commentary Post for ARC 2.3

PART 41: RESCUE EFFORTS

Which is when, in the wink of an eye, three individuals appeared, along with a bunch of equipment. There was a brown haired boy with glasses, a tall blonde, and a redhead. Only the first of them was conscious. As such, only he was able to cry out in horror before all of them plummeted metres – feet, even – from the air down towards the ground.

***PAST: ILLINOIS

Clarke pressed a hand to his forehead. “Corry, that language isn’t going to improve the situation.”

“Falling bloody well HURT,” the redhead fumed. “Damn it Dijora, you didn’t say we’d arrive in free fall. Good thing I DIDN’T let my sister go on this trip, she’s liable to have ended up with a broken leg for gods' sake!”

“Clarke’s right, calm down," Frank said, taking deep breaths to try and steady his own nerves.

They were all regaining their bearings in the middle of the empty field where they’d fallen. “Obviously there was a little spatial problem with altitude that we didn’t account for,” Frank reasoned. “But the long grass cushioned us, and I get the impression no one sustained any injures above some bad bruises.”

“This from the guy who didn’t half land on a BIKE,” Corry fumed. He flexed his arm, then rubbed his shoulder. “Little altitude problem, my ass… I’ve half a mind to force you to take me back home right now.”

“You mean back home to Miami?” Clarke asked. “Since that is where you’re living at this time, right?”

“A week before Julie’s birth,” Frank observed. “Alternately, four days before she gets hit by an ambulance and dies. Let’s hope it’s enough time to track her down and prevent that."

“Son of a bitch,” Corry muttered at last. “It really has happened, hasn’t it. We’ve traveled through time.”

Frank nodded. “We have.”

Clarke turned away from the both of them, starting to sift through the rest of their supplies.

Corry rubbed his chin. “Damn. I’m not sure I truly believed it until now. Even after getting that letter."

“You thought you were lying to yourself?” Frank wondered.

“No, no,” Corry said, shaking his head. “Bringing up my history with Julie convinced me I was serious. It’s more that, writing the letter out myself, right after receiving it? Sort of took the edge off. Made it feel like it could be a prank.” He tugged his earlobe. “Why couldn’t we simply bring the original back in time with us again?”

“Because until you wrote it out, there was no original,” Frank reminded. “If the letter we have with us now had been the same one we received, it would have been created from nothing. And we couldn’t risk adding that kind of paradox, not on top of all the other temporal problems we’re dealing with at the moment.”

“Oh yeah, right,” Corry said, irritation creeping back into his tone. “Just like Tim had to obtain fresh copies of the required documentation on his end. I don’t know, it still sounds like a big waste of time to me.” He sighed. “And what was that other note Luci gave to you?”

“I don’t know,” Frank admitted, glancing towards his backpack. “I’m supposed to give it to Julie.” He frowned, remembering that conversation.

“I don’t understand,” Frank protested. “What’s the point of this?”

“The point,” Luci said, tapping the envelope edge first on his chest, “is that without Laurie going along, you’ve become an all male team.”

“So?”

The asian girl shifted to tapping the envelope on his forehead. “Think, Frank. Julie might be a little intimidated by that.”

“Julie? She’s in charge of half our school, Luci. Nothing intimidates that girl.”

“WAS in charge,” Luci reminded. She reached out for his arm, using it to pull out his palm before slapping the sealed letter down into it. “Humour me. Call it a feeling. Give this message to Julie.”

“Oh well,” Corry said, scattering Frank’s thoughts. “On the bright side, I can’t feel my writers' cramp any more - due to the pain in my shoulder!”

“You know, Corry,” Clarke said, moving close to them once more. “Me and Frank are here to save someone’s life. Someone who is very important to me. If you’re only tagging along because you didn’t want your sister to be here, maybe you should wait in a hostel somewhere for the next few days. We can circle back to pick you up again before we go.”

“Hmph,” Corry grumbled. “Thanks, but no thanks. At this point, I’m not letting either of you out of my sight.” He raised his hands defensively off Clarke’s expression. “Look, I AM here to help, okay? After all, as much as I dislike Julie, I know things. Plus the thought of her being in this twisted little suicide plan you’ve described… I can’t let that go. No one should end up like that. No one.”

“So, Clarke, how did our supplies fare?” Frank asked of the taller boy, hoping to change the subject.

“We got lucky,” Clarke replied, turning to him. “A dislodged chain and a couple bent spokes, nothing I can’t fix. The compass is also fine, and between that and the maps we have, we should be able to find shelter in a nearby town before sundown.” Clarke shifted his gaze to the black box. “What about the time machine, Frank?”

“Good question,” he realized, reaching out to grab the lever and pop the lid off. On the bright side, there was no smoke. On the down side…  “Clarke, get me the small toolkit out of my pack,” he requested worriedly, putting the machine down and crouching over it.

“Uh oh,” Corry said as Clarke complied. “Another little ‘calculation problem’?”

Frank didn’t reply right away, instead spending the next several minutes carefully poking around the wiring. When he finally looked up, he suspected his face was pale. “I’m sorry. I should have known,” Frank apologized. “I should have realized.”

“Realized what?” Clarke prompted. “What do you mean?”

Frank took in a deep breath. “Remember how we figured on the time machine only being good for two, maybe three trips? Well, a sixteen year trip alters the recharge time, and puts more strain on the whole assembly which in turn…”

“Cut to the chase,” Corry interrupted. “What’s the situation?”

Frank swallowed. “The time machine is broken again," Frank stated. “And I don’t have the right materials to fix it here. So even assuming we rescue Julie… there is no way for us to return.”

***PRESENT: ONTARIO

Luci sensed Laurie’s presence behind her even before the redheaded girl sat down next to her in the school library. She chose not to acknowledge the arrival. Not even after Laurie had cleared her throat twice.

“Okay,” Laurie said at last. “You want to be alone all lunch then.” She rose.

“Wait,” Luci sighed, reaching out for Laurie’s arm and missing. She looked up from the empty spot on the table where she’d been staring for the last half hour. “Stay.”

Laurie twisted her fingers together. “But if you’re upset…”

“Better you talk to me than Chartreuse,” Luci said, returning her attention to the tabletop. “I’m guessing she sent you over.”

“Chartreuse did figure the two of us had something in common right now, what with it being both my brother and my longtime crush on the trip with Frank,” Laurie admitted. She hesitated, then sat back down. “That’s what’s on your mind, right? Whether they’re okay?”

“What’s on my mind,” Luci began slowly, “Is that we’ve failed. Again. We doubled down on our bets, and we failed. AGAIN.” She reached up to grab her twin tails in her hands, yanking hard on her hair. “HOW? What did I miss? Why is this still happening? How do you normal people LIVE with the agony of knowing you can fail so SPECTACULARLY?”

“Whoa! C-Calm down, Luci,” Laurie pleaded, reaching out to touch her shoulder. “Sure, it’s Monday, but it was going to take the guys a few days to reach Julie in the past.”

“Yes. In the PAST,” Luci reiterated. She turned to fully face the redhead. “Laurie, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but if they were coming back… they would be here already. They left Sunday night. They were going to return on the same day, so that Frank could call the police if he had to. Except now it’s Monday! Over twelve hours later.” Luci clenched a fist. “They’re not coming back, Laurie, and it’s all my fault. I never should have let them leave.”

The redhead swallowed. “Maybe they set that machine wrong? They could come back tonight instead.”

“I don’t think so,” Luci countered. She pulled the creased paper out of her pocket, shoving it back at her companion.

Laurie unfolded the sheet. “It’s that article Clarke talked about,” she realized. “Describing Julie’s accident with the ambulance. So?”

“So don’t you see?” Luci said. “If the others had been successful, we would know right away. That article would never have been WRITTEN sixteen years ago. No, something has gone wrong.” She squeezed her eyes shut.  “Something has gone very, very wrong, and for all my supposed intellect, I can’t figure out what. Let alone what to do about it.”

There was another long pause. “You will,” Laurie decided.

“What?”

“You will figure it out,” Laurie concluded. “You’re smart, Luci, you’ll figure it all out. So don’t give up hope. Okay?”

“Laurie…”

“Please?” Laurie said more insistently. “Please, Luci? Because if this is beyond you, I don’t know where else to turn, and I… I want to stop thinking about it. Okay?”

As she continued, her voice started to become more desperate. “I have to think it will work out, so I want to stop thinking about it, but all I can see is Chartreuse wondering about what they might be doing, and you being so worried and upset, and Chartreuse also being worried not only about them but about you, and about me, and I only want Frank and Clarke and Corry to be okay, so please can’t we all go and have some french fries for lunch and not think about this for the next little while, please, please, PLEASE Luci can we stop thinking about this now??” The redhead began to choke on her words.

Luci looked up again. She was momentarily taken aback by the tears shimmering in the corners of Laurie’s eyes, instinctively reaching out to touch Laurie’s arm in imitation of the redhead’s earlier gesture.

“I…” Luci stopped, not sure what she could possibly say that was reassuring. Maybe an apology would be enough. “All right,” she decided. “I’m not giving up. Let’s go get some fries.”

The two of them met up with Chartreuse by the library doors. Their resident mystic had been fidgeting with some multicoloured crystals, but upon seeing Luci and Laurie approach, she quickly put them away and offered up a halfhearted smile. The three of them proceeded towards the cafeteria.

Before they could arrive, Tim rushed up to meet them. “L-Luci. L-Laurie. Chartreuse,” he said quickly, trying not to stumble over his own words, having become short of breath once more. “Thank g-goodness. We, we’ve got to get out of here!”

“Why, Tim?” Chartreuse prompted.

“P-P-Police,” Tim forced out. He took in a long breath. “I saw them going into the main office, and they were s-saying something about an anonymous t-tip concerning the attack on C-Carrie. They w-wanted to question Frank, p-plus any students who were close to Julie.”

The three girls exchanged a quick glance. “Perfect,” Luci murmured. “Just perfect.”

As expected, it wasn’t long before the disappearances of Frank, Clarke and Corry were remarked upon. The three time travellers had covered for themselves the previous night by leaving messages stating that the three boys were sleeping over at each others’ houses - just in case. But now?

Chartreuse figured it wouldn’t be long before an investigation traced their missing friends' whereabouts back to the same group of students who had met at Frank’s the previous day.

Thus, after Tim’s warning, the group had all fled to the local cafe. Skipping their afternoon classes. From there, there’d come up with a plan.

Tim had agreed to take Laurie to the library. Extra research couldn’t hurt, plus in all the excitement of Sunday, they hadn’t ever clued Lee in as to what was happening. As such, and assuming he was working there later on, he might be the only one left who could afford to be seen out in the open. Meanwhile, Chartreuse and Luci had elected to go to the hospital.

“It’s all about Carrie, after all,” Chartreuse concluded as she looked at the floor indicators inside the hospital elevator.

“Hm?” Luci said.

The elevator doors opened and the two girls stepped out onto the floor which housed Carrie’s room. “It’s all about Carrie,” Chartreuse repeated. “I mean, you know, she found the machine, she does paradoxes, she’s supposedly in trouble because of changes to the past… like, why her, anyway? There’s gotta be some answers with Carrie.”

“The thought did occur to me,” Luci admitted. “Unfortunately, unless Shady calls again, we’ve got no one around to ask. Carrie herself is in no condition to talk. Or at least no condition to make sense when she does talk.”

The two girls reached Carrie’s room, Luci giving a tentative knock on the open door. Mr. Waterson looked up from his bedside vigil and offered back a tired smile through his two week old beard. No police, Chartreuse noted. Good sign!

“Hello there, Luci and… Chartreuse, is it?” Carrie’s dad asked.

Chartreuse nodded back. “Totally. We thought we’d stop in right after school to, you know, see how Carrie was doing,” she said.

The older Waterson turned back to his daughter. “No improvement, I’m afraid,” he said sadly. “Still unresponsive, with the occasional period of incoherent babbling.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Luci said. “But it means she’s not getting any worse, right?”

Mr. Waterson rubbed his neck. “Yeah. But considering they still don’t know what the trouble is, it’s hard to take comfort in that. Though the police are still following some leads on the shooting - they were by earlier, and said that Carrie’s friend Julie might have had something to do with it. That maybe she’s run off somewhere now to hide out. Can you believe that? I don’t suppose either of you know anything about it?”

Crud. Chartreuse looked to Luci, who winced. “No,” Luci said slowly, almost painfully. “We can’t help you there.”

“Oh well,” Carrie’s father sighed. “Still, it’s fortunate you came by. I don’t want to leave Carrie alone, but I need to use the restroom… please stay with her until I get back, all right?”

“Of course,” Chartreuse assured him, stepping into the room.

Mr. Waterson gave his daughter’s hand a final squeeze before standing up and releasing his hold upon her. “I’ll be right back,” he said. The pink haired girl took his place in the chair, reaching out to take hold of Carrie’s hand herself.

“Chartreuse… do you think YOU can reach her? Mystically?” Luci asked, once Mr. Waterson had departed.

Chartreuse bit her lip. “Whenever I’m here, I always hope I’ll get an impression or something from her. But still nothing.”

“Can you force it?”

Chartreuse turned and blinked at the younger girl. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Supposedly, she has powers. You have powers. Maybe you can… interface? I know, I’m grasping at straws here, but straws seem to be all we have left.”

Chartreuse looked back down at the blonde cheerleader. She was reminded of her classmate’s condition during the vision quests she’d done the previous week. There would come a point this week when Carrie would start twitching, convulsing, gasping for air, and then… then Chartreuse had pulled away, not wanting to know more. Unable to bear seeing more.

But Luci was right. They had to know more. For instance, was there some way of pinpointing exactly when Carrie’s condition would deteriorate? Would that give them another avenue to follow? “Carrie’s an Aries, right?”

“I don’t know,” Luci admitted.

Julie had thrown a birthday party for Carrie the past two years. “Pretty sure she’s an Aries,” Chartreuse concluded.

She reached back into her backpack, pulling out a small, smooth grey stone. She placed it into Carrie’s hand, wrapping the blonde’s fingers around it. Luci watched in silence as Chartreuse leaned over the bed, closing her hands over Carrie’s before shutting her eyes and concentrating.

“Ohm, ohm, oh my,” Chartreuse murmured quietly. “Spirits… tell me more about Carrie’s condition.” She swallowed. “Please.”

“Chartreuse!” Luci shouted. The asian girl was right up in her face, and Chartreuse flinched away out of reflex. Only to discover that Luci was holding her by the shoulders, having apparently yanked her away from Carrie’s body.

“Wow, what?” Chartreuse said, trying to regain her balance.

“I don’t know. You tell me,” Luci stated. “What was all that counting about?”

“Counting?” Chartreuse said in confusion. Wait, when had Luci moved close enough to grab her anyway?

“For the last minute and a half, you’ve been standing over Carrie with your eyes glazed over, counting backwards from 208 in one second decrements,” Luci stated. “It was REALLY starting to freak me out. When you wouldn’t answer me, I decided I didn’t want to let you hit zero.”

Chartreuse furrowed her brow, thinking back. She’d been leaning over Carrie, then… what? What had she even been thinking about? “I have no memory of counting,” Chartreuse admitted. “Are you sure?”

“Chartreuse - why would I lie about something like this??”

“I don’t know.” Chartreuse looked back towards the blonde lying comatose on the bed. “Carrie didn’t move or anything, did she?”

“No,” Luci replied. “In fact, the both of you were essentially motionless. Are you sure you don’t know what you were counting down to? Because it’s now about sixty seconds away.”

“No idea,” Chartreuse replied, reaching out to retrieve her stone from Carrie’s hand. Yet, no, that wasn’t exactly true… Chartreuse could now feel an overwhelming sense of impending doom. Somehow, Carrie’s deterioration was imminent. Yet how did she know that? And what was going to be the cause?

“Excuse me,” came a male voice. Chartreuse turned to see a hospital orderly. “I have to take another blood sample,” the man stated.

Luci moved aside with a sigh. “So, we’re back at square one then?” she asked.

Chartreuse was only half listening. Her attention was zeroing in on the thirtysomething orderly with the longish, dark hair as he readied his needle.

Lightning quick, her arm flashed out to grab him by the wrist and twist his arm away from the bed. He gasped and turned to her, a look of shock on his face.

As soon as their eyes locked, Chartreuse knew.

And Shady knew that she knew.

“Luci, get help,” Chartreuse ordered.

The man jerked himself out of Chartreuse’s grasp and sprang for the door. She launched herself after him, too late to grab hold, knocking the wind out of herself as she fell on the ground.

Quickly stumbling to her feet, Chartreuse dashed into the hallway in pursuit of the fake orderly. The one who had been about to kill Carrie Waterson.

***PAST: ILLINOIS

Some sixteen years before the attempt on Carrie’s life, two adults had been having a small difference of opinion. “I tell you, the baby’s coming,” the woman snapped.

“All I asked was ‘are you sure’,” the man countered, helping his wife put on her coat. “Because I don’t think your water broke.”

“Nnnnngh… look DEAR, if I need to have the child YOU want, YOU are going to drive me to the damn hospital when I damn well tell you to do it. Understood?!”

“Okay, okay,” her husband soothed. “Calm down, we’re off to the hospital.” He quickly moved to help his pregnant wife out the front door, locking it behind them.

Seconds later, a vortex opened in their home. It deposited a black box and an unconscious girl with long, naturally curly brown hair, which was still damp from a recent rainstorm. Their future daughter.

PART 40: REPARATIONS

Her twin blinked back at her in surprise. “What’s going on with what?”

For a moment, Laurie regretted saying anything. However, after both knocking AND waiting for Corry to invite her in, she decided she might as well see things through. She closed the door behind herself, to make it harder to leave.

“What’s going on with Carrie and Julie,” Laurie explained softly.

Corry sat up on his bed. “What has Chartreuse been telling you?”

Laurie tried to remember; she shouldn’t have left this talk for so late into the evening. “Not much. But she said that you both talked, and that she’d decided to tell you a bit about what was going on, and that you didn’t think there was any point her discussing more about the time traveling stuff with me today."

“Okay,” Corry said, visibly relaxing. “So?”

“So… I’ve decided I’m going to go see Chartreuse’s other friends tomorrow. To learn more about this on my own.”

Corry’s face clouded again. “I see. Why is that?”

“Because I want to,” Laurie stated. She forced herself to breathe, and speak in short sentences. “Because Chartreuse is right about stuff a lot more often than you give her credit for. And also because I need to know what really happened to Carrie and Julie. Even if that means finding out that my own brother is behind it all.”

Laurie took in another breath. “Look, I know I’m naive, but maybe I’m not actually stupid,” she asserted. “You’ve never liked Carrie. Then you led that whole flyer campaign against Julie. The next day, Carrie’s in the hospital, Julie’s gone, and you barely look into it. So… so what part did you play in what happened to them?”

“You think I’m somehow responsible for what’s happened to those two?” Corry said. Now he looked shocked - but maybe he was faking it for her benefit.

“Aren’t you?”

“No! No, Gods no, Laurie, ruining a reputation is one thing, but have I ever done something that would threaten a person’s life?”

He seemed legitimately horrified. Oh no. Laurie looked down at her feet. “M-Maybe you’ve come close a couple of times.”

She heard Corry jump off of his bed and approach her. “Laurie… Laurie, look at me. Please,” he insisted, taking her by the shoulders. Slowly, her eyes came back up to lock with his. Okay, it didn’t look like he was upset with her, more - scared?

“Laurie, listen. I know sometimes I can get a little carried away. But you have to believe me, I would never, ever, do something that could outright kill a person,” he said. “Understand?”

Laurie searched her brother’s expression for any sign that he was lying. If he was, she couldn’t see it. She nodded, relieved beyond belief. “Okay. But then, if you aren’t behind what’s happened - why couldn’t what Chartreuse said be the truth?”

Corry released Laurie’s shoulders, shaking his head. “Laurie, time machines are science fiction. Apply Occam’s razor - meaning the simplest answer is likely correct. Carrie caught some disease after the shooting, and Julie ran away. And while I grant that I may have been indirectly responsible for that last thing, it was Julie’s decision to go.”

Laurie shook her head. “No, Corry. The right answer isn’t always the one that makes the most sense - otherwise I’d have higher marks. Besides, remember when Chartreuse found mom’s missing keys last August? Or when she had that premonition before our pop quiz in math class last month? Or when she predicted the Star Trek franchise coming back, despite the weak interest in that TV show ‘Enterprise'?”

“Sis, predictions related to Scott Bakula do not imply that a person can leap through space and time.”

“You KNOW what I mean,” Laurie protested, stamping her foot. “And it’s not only Chartreuse this time, apparently it’s Frank, and it’s Clarke, and so unless they’re all crazy there HAS to be something to this, yeah? So why couldn’t we at least talk more about that?”

Corry took another long, hard look at her before speaking again. “You’re not going to drop this subject no matter what, are you,” he realized.

“No, I’m n-not,” Laurie said, swallowing. She summoned up all of her resolve. “So please Corry, don’t blame Chartreuse for anything that happens now, because I’m doing it myself. You may like your more simple answers, but me, I’ve got to know more.”

Corry frowned. At first, Laurie thought he was getting upset again, until he said, “Honestly, I’m not that satisfied. All right, Laurie. If Chartreuse can somehow PROVE to me - to us - that her time travel theory is correct, I’ll go along with it.”

“Oh, thank you! I knew you’d be reasonable,” Laurie said, grabbing her brother in a big hug. “Let’s call her first thing tomorrow.”

“But at the first sign of a setup, we’re both out of there, okay?” Corry added, hugging back.

Laurie nodded. “Don’t worry,” she said happily. “I’m sure Chartreuse’s explanations will make PERFECT sense!”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Luci muttered to herself. “The circuit is closed, it should be getting power, so why isn’t it working?”

“Problems?” came the tired voice of Frank Dijora from the stairway.

Luci turned. “Frank, you said you’d get at least six hours of rest,” she accused.

Frank yawned. “I’m surprised I managed five,” he admitted. He gestured at the clock. “Besides, it’s almost time for breakfast. My mom’s up and making pancakes. Though I can bring ‘em down here if you don’t think we’ll make the noon deadline.”

“No, no, we’re on track,” Luci sighed. “But it’s frustrating - whenever we replace parts, they’re not as compact as whatever was in there before, and the wiring gets awkward. This would be so much easier using futuristic technology.”

Frank smiled wanly. “Tell me about it. I’m sure you’ve done the best you could with it though.” He moved next to her in order to peer down inside the black box himself.

Luci felt her cheeks warming at his proximity, and was not entirely successful in hiding it. “Er, sorry… too close?” Frank said, taking a step back upon realizing.

“It’s all right,” Luci murmured. “Some silly worries I’ve been having, which when coupled with my feelings… look, assuming we get this fixed, you make sure you’re careful while you’re back in the past, okay?”

Frank seemed surprised. “Of course,” he assured. “And…” His gaze drifted away from her face. “Luci, I realize it’s been three weeks now since… since you made your feelings clear to me. So… so I’m sorry that I’m still trying to sort it all out. But there’s been a bunch of other things happening lately and… well…” Frank stopped, obviously at a loss for what to say next.

Luci sighed. “It’s okay, Frank,” she said, reaching out to touch his arm. “I’m a patient girl. It can wait until after we get through this crisis.” She smiled, as a thought struck her. “Besides, with this impromptu sleepover, I got to spend the night with you, in a way. I’ll let that carry me through.” She winked, and watched in amusement as Frank turned away to hide his own reddening cheeks.

“Frank, there’s a Chartreuse on the phone for you,” came the voice of Frank’s mother from the top of the stairs. “She says it’s quite important - something about Laurie’s brother?”

The two teenagers exchanged a quick glance before heading back up the stairway together.

“This is preposterous,” Corry said dourly. “You expect me to believe that pile of junk is a time machine? I mean, aren’t you supposed to be able to ride in them?”

“You can, you know, believe whatever you like,” Chartreuse declared. “The fact remains, it’s true.”

Corry hmphed, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the wall of Frank’s basement. Frank and Luci seemed to be in the process of some sort of repair work on the thing. Tim, who was apparently mixed up in this as well, had been delayed. Which meant the Veniti twins were being brought up to speed by, of all people, Chartreuse and Clarke.

Corry glanced sidelong at his sister - she looked skeptical, but it still seemed like she wanted to see things through. Fine. He shifted his gaze to Clarke, the tall boy seeming the saner choice. “So let me see if I have this straight,” Corry began.

“Carrie found a time machine last September. Julie found out about it, shot Carrie, and then used the thing to time travel back to the year of her birth, where she died. Carrie’s present condition is related to the fact that Julie’s death was not supposed to take place.

“Add to this a mysterious caller from the future, the rediscovery of your time device back here in town, and the fact that you need someone who was in Miami at the same time Julie was born to end up in the correct geographical location for this rescue operation. Is that right?”

“Yeeeeah,” Clarke said. He frowned. “I grant it doesn’t sound so plausible when you put it together like that.”

“So me, Frank and Clarke would be trying to track down Julie in Illinois?” Laurie said, chewing nervously on her lower lip.

“Right,” Chartreuse confirmed. “We need you, otherwise they’d end up in the wrong place. Though even so, you’ll probably be, you know, several kilometres off where you have to be, that’s why you’ll have, like, bikes and rations and stuff with you.”

“Miles, Chartreuse, they use miles in the States,” Corry reminded. He glanced around the room, scrutinizing everyone present.

“You’re all insane,” he decided. “I mean, it’s a fun little fantasy story, but you have yet to offer us any concrete proof. So please, give us an example of your magical ‘time travel’ abilities?”

“A demonstration is going to be a problem,” Luci said. She turned, tossing aside a screwdriver. “Because even though we’re finally done here, I can’t see the machine holding up for more than two, maybe three time trips.”

Everyone’s gazes shifted over to where she and Frank had been working.

“I’m forced to agree,” Frank said with a sigh. “Meaning there and back. Besides, we don’t have enough coins from the present year to waste on demonstrations. You’ll simply have to take our word for it, Corry.”

“How convenient,” Corry observed, rolling his eyes.

“So you… you can’t prove it to us?” Laurie asked quietly. Her gaze was pleading, but Frank and Luci shook their heads.

“Well then,” Corry concluded, pushing himself away from the wall. “Either you are making this up, and trying to ridicule me and Laurie with your ludicrous tales, or you are serious, and thus hope to get my sister to participate in a potentially lethal trip, chasing after my bitter rival. Does the phrase lose-lose situation mean anything to you?”

“Look, there is a better way to put this,” Frank insisted. He paused. “I just… don’t know what that is.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Chartreuse shouted. She reached out to seize Laurie’s hands. “You believe everything that we’ve been saying, right? You’ll help save Julie and Carrie no matter what Corry thinks?”

Corry grimaced, but he held his tongue, wondering what his sister would say. Laurie opened and closed her mouth a few times before actually speaking.

“I… I want to,” she said at last. “I really do. But…” Her gaze slipped away from Chartreuse and down to the floor. “This whole thing is getting more crazy and more serious, and I didn’t think it would be exactly like this, and Chartreuse, I… I’m scared.”

“But it won’t be, you know, so bad,” Chartreuse said, desperately. “I mean, Clarke would be along, and you like him, and he can make sure nothing real bad happens.”

Corry moved to put an arm around his sister’s shoulders, at the same time firing an angry glare at Chartreuse. “Sis, don’t let anyone pressure you into doing something you don’t want to,” he soothed.

Laurie lifted her gaze back up to look at her brother, then she turned to regard everyone else in the room. She bit down hard on her lower lip, the conflicting emotions inside of her evident in the changing expressions on her face.

“Come on now, why don’t we go home and put this whole sorry affair behind us,” Corry suggested.

For a moment, there was silence. And when Laurie finally opened her mouth to reply, a new voice broke in instead.

“G-G-G-Guys,” stammered Tim.

Frank turned as he heard the blonde boy nearly fall in his haste to get down the basement stairway. “Tim?”

Tim didn’t seem to hear him. “Is C-C-C-Corry s-still here?” Tim called out desperately. “I’ve g-g-g-got s-something s-s-so important!”

Clarke moved to his friend’s side, at the bottom of the stairs. “Hold on now, Tim,” he said calmly. “Everyone’s here, including Corry. Don’t stress yourself out. Take a few deep breaths, then tell us what’s happened.”

Tim blinked up at Clarke, then nodded and did as he suggested before looking out at all of the others in the room. He held up what looked like an old envelope. “It’s this m-message… it was l-left with my father’s l-law firm, sixteen years ago. I’m l-late today because he had been told to g-give it to m-me this morning… and it’s f-f-for you.” Tim concluded, bowing forwards slightly as he held the sealed envelope out towards Corry.

The redheaded boy blinked in surprise. He glanced around the room, Frank noting how everyone else was basically as taken aback by this new development as he was. Snatching the envelope from the smaller boy, Corry turned it around suspiciously in his hands.

It looked to be a perfectly normal envelope, with ‘Corry Veniti’ written on the front. But then Corry’s grip tightened. “This is my handwriting,” he realized.

“Wait, Tim, you got this message through your father’s law firm years ago - when exactly was this left with them?” Frank asked.

“I don’t know,” Tim said. “It actually came with some message from my Uncle Hubert, probably to appease my dad. Corry’s envelope there was inside a larger envelope for me. With a note saying to b-bring it here.” He shook his head. “That’s all I’ve got.”

“So we wrote ourselves a letter, telling us how to, like, deal with the current situation,” Chartreuse said.

“Hmmm… there is some logic in that,” Luci agreed. “After all, we now have a working machine, which reopens the free will debate. And if the only trip we’ll be taking is to get Julie, paying someone in Tim’s family to send a delayed letter would be the best way to communicate with ourselves now. I think I even saw this on a TV show once…”

“But then why address it to Corry?” Clarke objected.

“Maybe we’ll know when he opens it,” Laurie proposed. She looked over to her brother. He sighed, then ripped open the envelope, pulling out a whole stack of paper. The redhead’s eyes widened as he scanned over the top sheet of handwritten information.

“This is… impossible…” he muttered. “It has to be trick.” Corry’s gaze snapped back up. “How the hell did you all pull this off?”

“Pull what off?” Frank asked.

Laurie shifted position slightly so that she could see the pages over Corry’s shoulder.

“Well then,” Laurie murmured as she scanned across the page. “Either you are making this up, and trying to ridicule me and Laurie with your ludicrous tales, or you are serious, and thus hope to get my sister to participate…” Laurie stopped and looked back up. “The words written here are the same as what Corry said earlier,” she said in surprise.

“This is what everyone said,” Corry corrected, having flipped to a later page. His face had taken on a slightly paler shade than usual. “It’s a transcript, which includes Laurie’s fears, word for word… and what I’m saying right now…?!”

“Oh, neat. So how will our conversation end?” Chartreuse asked.

“I don’t know, it stops at what you said,” Corry answered through clenched teeth. Throwing the sheets aside, he reached out for Tim, grabbing hold of his shirt. “How did you do that?” Corry demanded. “Have you been upstairs listening in, did you learn to forge my handwriting?”

Tim let out a strangled gasp. “N-No, I-I-I-I-I–”

Clarke got a firm grip on the redhead’s arm. “Corry, I suggest you let Tim go. Now. Whatever is going on, it’s not his doing.”

“Besides, even if Tim was listening, how could he write out a conversation still in progress?” Luci pointed out.

“How could anyone write anything so precise?” Frank added, thoroughly confused. “I’m not recording down here, and it’s not like we could have time traveled back to plant listening devices… uh oh, do you think the government has found out about us?”

Having released his hold on Tim, Corry now turned to Frank. “You mean you really don’t know how that could have been recorded?” he marvelled. Frank shook his head.

Corry stared at him for another long moment before reaching into his own pocket. He walked over to the lab bench, slapping down a device. A miniature recorder. For a moment, no one was quite sure what to say.

Laurie spoke first. “So, um, hold on,” she said. “Corry, you mean YOU recorded this whole conversation, in order to use it to convince yourself that everything being said was true, even though you don’t really think the conversation is true and you didn’t think that when you started recording it either?” She frowned. “My head feels funny.”

“Look, I was recording everything because I thought I’d better have an account of what really happened, in case someone here tried to claim otherwise,” Corry stated. “Standard procedure for me. Why a transcript should appear in a letter that claims to be over sixteen years old, I have no idea.”

“I d-do,” Tim said, having stooped down to retrieve the pages Corry had thrown aside. He held up the final sheet, tapping at it. “Did you r-read this at all, Corry?”

Corry snatched the page back from him, scanning it over. His grip tightened, and his face went almost white. Laurie again crept in to read over her brother’s shoulder, Chartreuse also joining her friend.

“Now that I have your attention, I have a proposition to make,” Chartreuse read aloud, for the benefit of everyone. “Namely that I, Corry Veniti, take the place of my sister on the trip. Not only to, like, ensure her safety in the present, but also the safety of Frank and Clarke in the past - based on what I know of Julie. Based on how she, you know, acted that one January, our first year of high school.” She tilted her head. “Corry, what did Julie do then?”

When Corry didn’t respond, Laurie continued to read. “That said,” Laurie murmured, “Feel free to use free will and disregard this suggestion. All I ask is that I, Corry Veniti, now write it and send it back sixteen years in order to preserve the timeline.”

Corry slowly walked back to the lab bench, placing the page down next to his recording device. He leaned in against the edge of the table, lost in thought. Luci opened her mouth to say something, but Laurie held up a finger, shaking her head as she looked at her brother.

“Frank,” Corry said at last. “Did Julie go back in time with the express intention of killing herself?”

Frank flinched. “How could you have known that?”

Corry didn’t immediately respond, staring back down, re-reading the passage over and over. Finally, he turned.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Okay, if this were to hypothetically persuade me that you’re not outright lying, and furthermore convince me that I should, in fact, join you in your efforts… can you please guarantee to me that time travel won’t devise anything this CREEPY for me ever again?”

“I wish I could,” Frank sighed. “Believe me, I really, really wish I could.”

Corry raked his fingers back through his hair. “Damn.” He glanced at his sister, then back at Frank. “But fine. When will I be joining you to save Julie?”

PART 39: RECOVERY MODE

Truth be told, the unanswered questions were gnawing at him too. He’d never been fond of mysteries relating to Julie. How was it no one at school knew what had happened to her? Could she have been kidnapped by someone? On account of those flyers he’d printed? Was her disappearance his fault?

“Stop that,” Corry admonished himself. “This isn’t my problem. It’s HER problem.” He reached out to resume the play of Beethoven’s fifth. Then stopped it again minutes later. “I brushed Laurie off too quickly though,” he decided. “I should have done something more to distract her.”

Making up his mind, Corry rose from his desk, leaving his chemistry unfinished. However, as he reached his sister’s bedroom, he heard Laurie exclaim something which sounded like “TIME machine??”. Chartreuse’s voice followed, mentioning “tricky special stuff”.

With his hand raised to knock, Corry instead found himself leaning in closer to the door, to catch more of whatever was going on. He didn’t like what little he heard. He decided to challenge Chartreuse about it as soon as he had the chance.

“We have to talk,” Corry repeated icily. “Now.”

“I think you’re creating some sort of time travel delusion for my sister, so that she feels better about whatever’s happened with Carrie and Julie,” he said. “And while I’m all for improving her mood, I don’t think now is the time for such silly, mystic games. Particularly if they’re as “risky” as you seemed to be implying.”

The pink haired girl’s nose crinkled up. “How do YOU know what I was implying? I mean, I know you look out for Laurie, but are you seriously, like, bugging her room now?”

“What? No, hearing you was an accident,” Corry said defensively. And a bit too loudly; he lowered his voice as he moved closer to his sister’s friend. “I was merely coming to Laurie’s room to speak with her, and overheard some of your talk. Don’t change the subject. What nonsense are you getting my sister mixed up in?”

Chartreuse shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Ummm… okay, so… it is kinda like what you think, except there’s no nonsense here," she yielded. “There really is a time machine. Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“It’s, like, missing.”

Corry stared. “You must think I was born yesterday.”

“Oh, not at all,” Chartreuse assured, perking up. “Since if you were, we wouldn’t be able to use your family DNA to travel back to recover Julie.”

Corry felt taken aback by her sudden certainty. “My what?”

“Okay, it has to do with spacials and…. you know, is it too late to say this was part of a Home Ec project?”

“Yes,” Corry replied, frown deepening.

“Figures.” She licked her lips. “Thing is, Luci, like, explained this part better.”

“What do you mean recover Julie? Is this one of her plots?”

Chartreuse opened her mouth, then closed it, then crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. “Know what? Not gonna tell you,” she decided. “Not here, not now. After all, you have, you know, a blind spot where Julie is concerned.”

Corry felt his hands curling into fists. “Then you’re not going to say anything more to Laurie either. I’m nipping this H. G. Wells nonsense in the bud! She’s upset enough as it is without your–“

“Corry, do you seriously think I’m trying to hurt Laurie here?” Chartreuse interrupted, visibly frustrated. “You know I care about her as much as you do. Thing is, without her help… it will cost the lives of two other people.”

“Don’t overdramatize,” Corry scoffed. “Now, I know Laurie looks up to you, and values the time you spend together, but really - at some point you have to stop deluding her with your mystic ramblings.”

Chartreuse stamped her foot. “Okay, first of all? Laurie values her time with, like, everyone to some degree. Not only me, and perhaps certain people even more than you may realize. And secondly? Merely because YOU don’t believe in something, that doesn’t make it a fantasy. I’m speaking the honest truth here, Corry!”

Corry peered a bit closer, to gauge her sincerity. She definitely seemed serious. Except the stories she was weaving - they were nonsense. “Even assuming I believe you,” he decided. “Your plans seem far too dangerous.”

“Yeah, well, you know, life can be like that. Besides, if Laurie wants to help someone, she’s going to do it. No matter what EITHER us has to say.”

“Unless she’s not given the option.”

Chartreuse winced. “Corry…”

“From this point forwards, whatever you have to say to Laurie about this matter goes through me first,” he decided. “I will then decide whether it’s worth passing on. Understood?”

Chartreuse must have sensed his unwillingness to compromise, as her gaze dropped down to the floor. “Okay,” she sighed. Then she looked back up at him. “But, you know, think about this - what if I AM right? And what if, because of you, we do nothing, and people die terrible, needless deaths? How will you feel then? And how will Laurie feel when she learns about what you did?”

She strode away before Corry had a chance to formulate any sort of reply, fleeing downstairs to the kitchen. He watched her go with a frown. Time machine? Family DNA? Needless deaths? Ridiculous.

So where had Julie disappeared to? “She’s not my problem,” he asserted aloud, clenching his jaw. “Not. My. Problem.”

Lee shuffled home from the library, lost in thought. No matter which way he turned things around in his head, he couldn’t figure out what Clarke and Tim wanted with that old black box. It had been, what, two years now since his mom had grabbed it at the LaMille yard sale? So why were they asking about it today? And what did they mean, saying it could save lives? This was all very strange.

Oh well. Clarke had said he could explain it, after getting the okay from some other people. So Lee had said he’d get the box to them, after which they’d gone their separate ways.

[caption id=“attachment_726” align=“alignright” width=“184”] He’s LEE KING.
Think about that name. And about his siblings. (Sorry.)[/caption]

‘Which is good,’ Lee reflected as he trudged across the railroad tracks. ‘Since I don’t think many people have bothered to figure out my exact address, and I’d rather keep it that way.’ He proceeded further into the poorer section of town, finally stopping at an old two story house with a faded nameplate on the mailbox that read: ‘King Residence’. Taking a deep breath, Lee entered the house and called out, “I’m home!”

“LeeLeeLeeLeeLeeLeeLee,” came the excited voice of a young girl. Moments later she came tearing around the corner, jumping up into his arms. “Missed you,” she concluded, innocently batting her eyelashes as she stared up at him.

Lee couldn’t help but smile as he looked down at her. “Hi Soh,” he said, giving her a quick hug. “And how’s my favouritist youngest sister?”

“I’m okay,” Soh said brightly as Lee let her back down to the floor. “We did finger paintin' in class today an' I made a palm tree.” She giggled at her own joke.

“Well, I’m sure you did a wonderful job,” Lee assured. He glanced up. “What have you done with everyone else then? Playing a big game of hide and seek?”

“No, silly,” Soh declared, blonde pigtails flicking back and forth as she shook her head. “They’re all upstairs. ‘Cept momma, she’s cookin’.” The young girl lifted her hand, counting each person off on her fingers.  “Granmamma’s sleepin', Sing’s readin' her books, an’ Faye, well, she’s sulkin'.”

Lee’s heart sank. If the oldest among his younger siblings was sulking now, it meant only one thing: their father had cancelled out on them for dinner. Again. Poor Faye, she’d never been the same since the divorce. “And how about you, what are you doing?” Lee inquired genially, pushing those thoughts back out of his mind.

“Colourin’,” Soh said happily. “Come on, comeseecomesee, I’m even stayin' inside the lines this time, kinda.”

“Maybe a little later, okay?” Lee said, reaching out to pat her head. “I should check in with mom first.” He winked. “And hey, don’t be too worried about those lines. Hate to see you become a conformist.”

“Silly,” Soh reiterated. “I won’t be no confar miss.” With that, she turned and skipped back into the dining room area. Lee headed for the kitchen, where his mother was stirring something in a pot on the stove.

“He’s not coming then?” Lee said, leaning back against the doorframe. It wasn’t really a question.

“No,” his mother admitted, turning to flash her only son a tired smile. “He’s not. His excuse this time was work, keeping him out of town, but Faye’s blaming me as usual. Maybe you can talk with her?”

“I can try,” Lee said. “But not before dinner, I’m afraid. I told some friends I’d bring them something important. I’m only here to grab it.”

“Oh? Then if you’re going out again, can you pick up your grandmother’s medication?” his mother asked. “She was grousing about needing a refill when I got home today.”

“I guess so,” Lee said, scanning over the food on the counter. Looked like spaghetti again. Third time this week.

“You won’t have to use your own money either,” his mother added. “I was paid yesterday, so there’s some cash on top of the fridge.”

Lee nodded, moving to retrieve a couple of bills. “That reminds me, I might be able to work some extra hours at the library in the coming week,” he remarked. “Think the extra income would be of use?”

“Well, your father IS supposed to be sending us another cheque soon,” his mother answered. “But if it’s late again…”

“Gotcha.”

“I’m SO sorry about this, Lee…”

“Hey, no big deal, used to it by now,” Lee said dismissively. He smiled and moved in to give his mother a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll try not to be gone longer than another hour. Keep some sauce on the stove for me?”

“Will do,” his mother assured.

Lee proceeded out of the kitchen and upstairs; he then pulled down the additional flight of steps leading up to the attic, and continued up to his room. It didn’t take long for him to find the old black box - he knew it had been here somewhere, though he hadn’t realized it had been his end table.

He moved his lamp off the circular panel and picked the object up, turning it around in his hands a couple of times. He absently pulled down on the lever. Nothing happened. “Well, okay, if it’s that important to you guys,” he muttered. “Not like I store tons of stuff on it anyway.”

“How is Carrie?”

“No change,” Luci sighed as she approached him. “Though that does mean no worse. Any sign of Lee yet?”

“Nope,” Clarke replied, turning to glance around the main area of the hospital. “But this is where we agreed to meet, so I figure he’ll be along any minute.”

Luci nodded, turning to look around herself. She frowned. Then took a step back to lean against the wall.

“Luci? I’m sure Carrie will pull through,” Clarke offered up. “She has that sort of personality.”

Luci looked up at the tall blonde again. “Hm?”

“You look worried,” Clarke said. “I’m assuming it’s from seeing Carrie?”

“Oh! Right. Except no. That is…” Luci pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m worried about Carrie, but I have some other things on my mind today too.”

Clarke cocked his head to the side. “You mean like whether we’re going to pull off this whole crazy rescue operation?”

“Yeah…” Luci paused, then reached out to grab Clarke’s shoulder, maneuvering him away from the people nearby. “Maybe I need to talk to someone who’s not Frank,” she decided, glancing briefly back over her shoulder before looking up to meet his gaze. “Clarke - are we doing the right thing here?”

Clarke frowned. “You don’t think we should save Julie?”

“Oh no, it’s not that,” Luci corrected with an immediate shake of her head. “Not even Julie deserved to die this way. It’s more… what if we’re all being manipulated into doing it?”

“Manipulated?” Clarke repeated back, raising an eyebrow.

“Exactly. Think about it,” Luci continued quietly. “This ‘Shady’ guy who spoke to Frank may now be manipulating things - by staying out of them.”

“You already lost me.”

“When Carrie first got her hands on the time machine, Shady didn’t step in with any tips, or helpful pieces of information,” Luci elaborated. “Carrie had carte blanche to do as she liked. Then after she was shot, okay, he made the one call to Frank, but otherwise he has done nothing. This, despite his apparent power to “push” his will onto others. Now, Frank thinks it’s because Shady likes free will, but what if Shady’s been employing some sort of reverse psychology? Maybe he’s the one behind everything, and by trying to save Julie, we’ll end up playing right into his hands!”

She fell silent. Clarke seemed to consider her argument. “Except,” he reasoned, “by that logic, we’d have to second guess everything we do. And even then, if other people are second guessing our second guessing… well, er, it’s all kinda pointless in the end. Right, Luci?”

“I… guess?” Luci wrung her hands in the air. “Yet I’M the one who insisted to Frank that he wait on calling the police - and I can’t even go on the time trip we’re all organizing. So what if I’ve made a mistake? Like I did with Carrie’s personality and Julie’s reactions and what if Frank gets HURT, all because of my stubborn resolve?” She dropped her eyes to the ground. “I know, I know. Silly thing to worry about.”

Clarke reached out to place a hand on Luci’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s not silly at all,” he reassured. “In fact, you’re finally making more sense. I’m thinking you’re not used to being wrong much?”

Luci flinched. “I… it’s atypical, yes.”

“Me, I’m wrong a lot,” Clarke said easily. “And usually, it’s not a big deal, so I keep trying - or if it’s real important, and I’m not sure? That’s when I rely on others to take care of it for me. Heck, sometimes, to score the basket, you have to know when to pass the ball.” He smiled, and patted her shoulder. “Don’t second guess yourself, Luci. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure Frank’s kept safe for you.”

Luci felt her cheeks getting warm again. “I-I’m not ONLY worried about him, y’know…”

“Whoa, there y’are,” Lee said, choosing that moment to make his appearance. “Thought you’d be outside, but then I realized, wait, it is a bit cold for that. Oh, hey short stuff, you involved in this with the high guy too?”

“So to speak,” Luci said. Her attention was immediately drawn to the device in Lee’s hands. “So you DO have it,” she breathed.

Lee held out the black box. “Yeah, this what you were looking for?”

“That’s it,” Clarke confirmed off of Luci’s reaction. She accepted the device, turning it around in her hands a few times. She tried pushing and then pulling on the lever, but nothing happened.

“As I said, it’s broken,” Lee noted.

Clarke nodded. “That’s fine. You want to come with us then? The truth about all this might blow your mind.”

“I can’t,” Lee apologized to them. “Family errand stuff at the pharmacy. Can we delay the big scoop ‘till Sunday? Or whenever works for you?”

He watched as Clarke turned to Luci, who shrugged. “We probably don’t need Lee,” she admitted. “But then who knows what we’ll find in this thing.”

“I will be working at the library again tomorrow,” Lee reminded them. “So you can find me there if you have questions.”

“Okay then,” Clarke said, reaching out to shake his hand. “Thanks very much, Lee.”

“Hope you save those lives you were talking about,” Lee said, shaking back and flashing them both a grin.

“Come on Clarke, let’s get this to Frank’s,” Luci said, already moving off. “Time is of the essence.” Clarke nodded, and the two of them turned to leave the hospital.

Lee watched them go, wondering even more now about this whole affair - but family came first. More to the point, he had to think of a good way of talking to Faye, once he got home.

How was he supposed to explain to her that it wasn’t their mother’s fault dad didn’t visit more often? The man had been trying to distance himself from the family ever since Soh, the fourth King child had been born… but Faye couldn’t see it.

Lee shook his head and walked for the hospital exit. And stopped. Something had caught his eye. He scanned back over the crowd inside the waiting area a bit more closely, his gaze finally settling on a man who was sitting near the door. His quarry immediately pulled his newspaper back up in front of his face, but not before Lee got a good look.

‘That was the same guy from the library,’ Lee realized. ‘The weird cultist who wanted that information on the LaMilles. Huh, so he can dress normal. But why would he be hanging around the hospital now? Is it related to Clarke and Tim… and that box?’

Lee pretended to scan the area a bit more, then shrugged and turned away, hoping to present the illusion that he hadn’t seen whatever he’d been looking for.

‘I’ll mention this to one of those guys the next time I see them,’ Lee decided. ‘Because I’m starting to understand what they mean by this being a big deal…’

Frank rubbed the side of his head. “So, you all want the good news, or the bad news?” he asked.

All the teens that Chartreuse had once dubbed ‘time trippers’ had gathered back in his basement lab, where they had finally managed to pry the lid off the time machine with a crowbar.

“Let’s have the good news,” Clarke said. “About time we had some.”

“Well,” Frank began, looking up from his inspection. “I should be able to reconnect the lever mechanism to the top panel, making the time machine physically functional again.”

“A-And… the bad news?” Tim asked.

“With regard to actually activating it, there’s a couple of rather important circuits missing. Now, I THINK we can replace them too, the same way we did in October…” Frank let out a long breath. “Except the information for doing it was on those sheets of paper Julie grabbed before she left. So we’ll be working from memory.”

“You think Julie took out those circuits on purpose?” Luci speculated. Frank could only shrug.

“Then of course there’s the WORSE news, which is that Corry’s not going to let Laurie come quietly,” Chartreuse moaned. “I’m SO sorry about him finding out, guys. Though, you know, even I’m starting to have second thoughts about Laurie’s involvement.”

“Our work is cut out for us,” Frank said dryly. He cracked his knuckles. “But it’s still Saturday night. We have twenty four hours. So, unless any of you think you’ll be able to assist with repairs on the machine? It’s best for you - and your families - that you go home, and get some sleep. I’ll do what I can overnight, while you all think about Corry. We can regroup tomorrow.”

“I’m staying,” Luci asserted. She continued on before Frank had a chance to protest. “Since I CAN assist with repairs, and more to the point, you’ll need to get some sleep tonight yourself, Frank. Don’t want you traveling into the past tomorrow night without having slept.”

“I guess,” Frank yielded. “Okay. Let’s meet back here tomorrow at noon. Alternatively, if you have any new ideas, or me and Luci make better time on the repairs, we can get in touch.”

The matter was settled shortly thereafter. Not only at Frank’s house, but also in a discussion taking place at the Veniti residence.

PART 37: GEOGRAPHY & GEOMETRY

“Carrie?” Hank whispered to her, again taking her by the hand. “Carrie, it will be all right, do you hear me? I’ve got the doctors doing everything that they can. So stay strong, honey, we’ll get through this. And then… then maybe we’ll go to a hockey game? Or anywhere you like. Okay? Please, you’ve got to stay with me.”

Hank squeezed his eyes shut to try and hold back the tears. ‘I can’t lose her now, not like this,’ he pleaded silently. ‘Please, someone… find a way to help my daughter…’

The teenagers in Frank’s basement couldn’t hear Mr. Waterson’s plea. But they were working on a plan.

“Right then," Frank said, placing his palms upon the lab table. He looked out at the faces of Luci, Tim, Chartreuse and Clarke. “Let’s get this meeting underway.”

He turned to Chartreuse. “Do you have any further news concerning Carrie’s condition?”

Chartreuse shook her head. “I did another vision quest last night but got, you know, the same results,” she reported. “Namely that Carrie won’t get any worse until after this weekend. It could be as early as Monday that she, well…” The pink haired girl bit her lip.

“So, if this doesn’t come together, I’m revealing the truth about Julie being her shooter tomorrow. Sunday night," Frank decided. He glanced at Clarke. “You realize we’ll have no choice.”

Clarke nodded. “I… I understand,” he said. “It is nice that you’re still giving Julie every chance.”

Frank rubbed the back of his neck. “Honestly? I nearly told the police the morning after Shady called. Luci talked me into waiting through the weekend, as I’d originally intended.”

“I simply don’t trust this Shady guy who called Frank,” Luci piped up. “He seems to have his own agenda, and doesn’t care about the rest of us at all. Besides, we have our own future divining rod.” She smiled over at Chartreuse.

“W-what is it that you’re proposing then?” Tim wondered.

Clarke nodded. “Yeah. It wasn’t hard to track down the article, once I knew what to look for.” He produced a sheet of paper. “I made this copy for the rest of you.” The others crowded around to have a look.

“Mysterious girl hit by ambulance?” Chartreuse read in horror. “That’s, like, terrible! Though… you’d think she’d have been close enough to receive medical help?”

“I guess Julie’s wounds were too severe,” Clarke said, swallowing. “Besides, no identity, no insurance, and not the biggest hospital in her hometown."

Frank eyed the article. “The state of Illinois? Hold on, Julie’s American?"

Clarke nodded. “That’s where she was born, anyway. When Jeeves told me, I was as surprised as the rest of you. Not sure how long she stayed there, as her parents moved around quite a bit.”

“I-Is there any chance that this article isn’t about Julie?” Tim asked. “Maybe this ’Shady’ lied.”

“There’s always a chance," Clarke admitted. “It doesn’t give her name. But… it seems unlikely."

“Long curly brown hair, wearing a dark green sweater… sounds like Julie on the day she left our time,” Luci agreed.

The five of them stood staring at the article for a moment. “Okay then,” Frank said at last, pushing the paper aside. “Here’s the plan. A bunch of us travel back in time, save Julie, and return to the present with her. If Carrie’s condition is a result of some ability to sense Julie’s untimely death in the past or present or whatever - problem solved.”

“Uh, wait,” Chartreuse objected, raising her hand. “Julie, you know, took the time machine. So how can we travel back?”

“Consider Clarke’s logic about our present being her future,” Frank countered. “And recognize that Julie can’t still be using the time machine if she’s no longer alive.” Chartreuse still stared at him in confusion. “Basically think of it this way," he decided. “Have you ever seen Back to the Future, part three? If so, picture us as being in 1955, having to go back to 1885 to prevent the Doc’s death.”

“Oooooooh,” Chartreuse said, comprehension dawning. “You mean we just have to figure out where Julie left the time machine in the past. Knowing that, we can track it down in the present.”

“Exactly,” Luci confirmed. “That time machine must now exist somewhere in our world. The idea occurred to me and Frank, after we realized how Shady seemed to think it was possible - if inadvisable - for us to go back and mess with the day Carrie got shot.”

“B-But Julie didn’t leave us a note telling us where to look,” Tim objected.

“True,” Frank admitted. “Which is why we requested that you do that additional research yesterday, Tim…”

Tim face-palmed. “OH. Of course.” His gaze fell to the floor. “I… I wasn’t able to turn up anything though. No w-weird occurrences in early November of that year, no indications of unknown scientific devices in public records, no discussions out on the Internet about the device… I’m s-sorry, I don’t think I even have the beginnings of a lead to follow up on.”

Frank exchanged a glance with Luci. “I suppose it was too much to hope that it would be that easy.”

“I’ll keep searching though, if it w-will help save lives,” Tim assured. “All w-weekend if need be.”

“I’m sure you’ve been doing your best,” Clarke said, resting a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “And having exhausted the Julie angle, I can help you now. If you like.” Tim nodded eagerly back at his friend.

Luci walked around the lab bench to stand by Frank. “Setting that aside for the moment then,” she remarked, “we have one additional problem. Temporal-spatial relocation. Which is particularly bad if we want to end up in Illinois.”

Frank winced. “Oh, DARN. I knew this plan was coming together too well… how are we supposed to end up in the United States?”

Chartreuse waved her hand frantically in the air again. “Wait, what’s that about temporary specials?”

“Time-space relocation,” Luci reiterated. “See, whenever we use the time machine, we don’t stay in the same place. Sometimes we travel a few blocks away, sometimes we wind up at the school - Frank and Carrie have even been on trips taking them out of town.”

“So, if you’re not careful, you could end up in the m-middle of the P-Pacific Ocean?” Tim said, eyes widening.

“Quite true,” Luci confirmed. “However, Frank has a working theory relating to the machine’s destination. We’ve checked it out in retrospect, and it’s held up for every single trip.”

“I should have realized it after Luci was abducted,” Frank admitted. “Once we discovered that the readings Linquist had on her were somehow related to the electronics in the time machine’s activation handle. But it took Shady’s mention of Algonquin Park for things to really click. Now, granted, we don’t have the machine to test this theory out…”

“Still, the answer is so obvious, I’m sure it’s correct,” Luci interjected. “I mean, I feel pretty stupid for having missed it in the first place.”

“Care to, you know, clue us in then?” Chartreuse pressed.

Frank nodded. “Okay. Consider, the time machine needs to pinpoint its destination location in four dimensions, three in space and one in time.” He went over to the nearby chalkboard. “That last is taken care of with the year of the coin used to power the device. The other three… those are actually the trickier ones.”

“The earth spins,” Luci elaborated. “And moves around the sun. The point we’re at right now, spatially, is different from the one we were at even five seconds ago.”

“Right,” Frank confirmed. He drew a line across the chalkboard, giving it a very sharp crest on the left and a long runoff to the right. “Now, this represents the ravine running through our town. Here’s Carrie’s house.” He marked an ‘x’ on the left of the board, near the top of the sharp crest.

“A lot of her trips remained near her house, or took her into Willowdale Park, on the other side of the ravine.” Frank shaded in the small area just under the crest and marked in ‘park’. “When I traveled with her, there were a number of times that we also ended up in the park. The explanation for that lies in the position of my house, about two blocks away from the ravine, but on the opposite side.” He marked in a second ‘x’.

“Okay, so… the park’s kinda halfway between your houses,” Chartreuse observed.

“Then it’s locating based on where you live?” Clarke mused.

Luci shook her head. “Not where we live. Where we ARE. Tim, Chartreuse, you remember the trip that me, Frank and Carrie took to the future? We ended up on the street outside, near our meeting place. The time before that, when the three of us traveled to the school dance, we ended up less than a block away from the school building.”

“And then there was my second trip with Carrie,” Frank added, tossing aside his chalk. “On a day when past me was visiting relatives in Sudbury. I asked Carrie’s father, and he says it’s possible he and Carrie had spent that day in Ottawa.” He raised his two index fingers, and slowly brought them together. “With Sudbury and Ottawa, the midpoint is…”

“Algonquin Park,” Clarke finished.

Frank nodded, pointing at the blonde boy. “Bingo. Everything fits. Even a trip we took to an airport. It also explains why recent trips are occurring in town. No one’s left here in the last couple of months.”

“B-But how is this possible?" Tim protested. “Like, what if you travel to a time where you aren’t, um, there? Can you only travel back and forth within your own lifetime?”

“Valid question,” Frank yielded. “Given one could time travel forward with no plan to return. Except, I did travel with Carrie back to the 1950s. We stayed in town. Meaning either there’s some sort of geographic failsafe, or, I don’t know, it’s doing geometry based on similar DNA. Found in our ancestors or other relatives.” He shrugged. “We’d have to test that empirically.”

“More to the point, what if you take the same trip twice?” Luci put in. “The machine seems to account for the structures around us, but what about the danger of overlapping its own arrival?” She smiled. “THAT is where the random variance comes in. By randomizing the time by a few minutes, along with the space within a certain radius, you shouldn’t have to worry about rematerializing on top of yourself.”

“Wait, Julie’s death,” Tim realized with a start. “That fits your pattern. She died back in the town where her parents were.”

Chartreuse let out a low whistle. “This is SO COOL,” she said. “The inventor must have, you know, put a lot of thought into this thing.”

Frank came back to the table. “As you say. It also means that we’d better not play with the electronics in the handle, as I have no idea how the heck this device is scanning all of space for its users, then accounting for the curvature of the Earth and whatnot.”

“Right,” Clarke mused, nodding slowly. “It would suck if your past selves were on opposite sides of the planet, leading to the machine placing you under the Earth’s crust or something.”

Frank nodded. “Unfortunately,” he added, “this makes our trip to retrieve Julie that much more difficult. I mean, short of recruiting her parents…”

“Bad idea,” Clarke asserted, with some bitterness. “Hell, they didn’t even stick around town past Day 3 of the search for their missing daughter.”

“Okay.” Frank looked to Luci, then back at Clarke. “Then we’re either going to have travel down to Illinois the long way - which is problematic in our present and a pain in the past - or we get fancy with geometry.”

“And for that,” Luci summarized, “we’re going to need all of your birth places.” She sighed. “Of course, since I’m younger than Julie, and I don’t even know who my parents were, I can’t join the rescue mission. It adds too much additional randomness to the calculations.”

“You can co-ordinate our efforts here, Luci,” Frank noted, reaching out to touch her shoulder before looking at the others. “Now, I had a map of Canada, but if Julie was born in the States, that’s not going to be big enough. I’ll run and get an atlas.”

He hurried off upstairs.

“Tim, what’s up?” Clarke inquired, after scanning everyone’s expressions. “You’re looking unusually pensive.”

Tim flushed slightly. “Oh, w-well… I g-guess I’ve gone back to wondering where the time machine might be.” He paused. “I mean, since it’s so important that we find it, can’t you do it, ah, temporally? L-Like, declare that whoever goes back to save Julie, they’ll place the device somewhere that it can be easily found now or something?”

“Set ourselves up you mean?” Luci piped up. She shook her head. “We haven’t been able to do that yet. Frank’s tried, and to a lesser extent, so have I. And while Carrie is a different story - she’s somehow adept at paradox without even trying - at present, she’s obviously unable to help.”

“Hey, you think maybe Carrie’s connection to paradox is, like, part of the reason she’s having trouble now?” Chartreuse proposed.

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Luci agreed.

“Okay, I’ve got an atlas,” Frank called out as he hurried back downstairs. “The map of North America is a bit crude but will hopefully serve for our purposes.”

He laid it out on the table. “Now, I was born in Ottawa, Ontario,” he began, drawing a circle around the nation’s capital. “And with Luci staying here, I’d better go as a specialist on the time machine. Clarke, it’s probably best if you come too, since Julie’s unlikely to respond well to anyone else. Where were you born?”

“Vancouver.”

Frank let out a breath. “British Columbia. Of course.” He circled the west coast city, pulled out a ruler, and connected the two points. “Which means that according to the midpoint theory, we end up somewhere southwest of Winnipeg, Manitoba.”

“I was, like, born here in town,” Chartreuse added.

“Okay, so if we do a triangulation and take the midpoint of that… hm, practical use for this math stuff.” Frank located the centroid. “Okay, I think it pulls us closer to Thunder Bay,” Frank concluded. “Tim…?”

“T-Toronto.”

Frank drew a few more pencil lines on the map. “Er, second triangle then… uh, with me, Clarke and Tim, the arrival point borders Lake Superior? Then if we add Chartreuse back… hm, quadrilateral. How does this work… we should automate these calculations…” More lines were drawn. “Okay, er, I think we’d be IN Lake Superior.” He frowned, staring down at the map for a few seconds. “This isn’t going to work at all, is it.”

“There’s also the fact that, since the Earth’s surface is curved, the shortest distance between two points isn’t such straight lines,” Luci realized. “Or maybe we’re supposed to use the circumcenter, not the centroid?”

“Is there NO way to work around that part of this locating procedure?” Clarke asked.

Frank shook his head. “Figuring that out would take time and effort, both things we don’t have, given how we still have to track the machine down in our present in the first place!”

“If I might, you know, offer a suggestion?” Chartreuse piped up.

Frank gestured back in her direction. “Go ahead.”

“It seems that what we really need for the time trip is a point somewhere south of Julie. To pull us into the States. So, like, how about Miami? It looks like you might get good results if you, you know, calculate a position including that city.”

“But we don’t know anyone from Miami,” Frank protested.

“We might. Calculate it,” Chartreuse insisted.

Shrugging, Frank drew in more pencil marks and triangle medians. “All right, well, if we calculate right back to me, Clarke and ‘Miami’…” He blinked. “Illinois. West of Chicago. A little too far west, but it’s the closest yet.” He frowned. “Still, as I said, we’d need someone in Miami.”

Chartreuse pursed her lips. “Well, actually… Laurie Veniti was born there.”

“Oh boy.” Frank flipped the pencil forward onto the table and pressed his hand to his forehead.

“See, the Venitis had an uncle living here in town who, like, died when the twins were five,” Chartreuse continued earnestly. “He left his house to their family, so they all, you know, decided to move into the area at that time. But originally, they were born in America too.”

“Y-You think Laurie will be okay with this insanity?” Tim asked.

“Or CORRY?” Luci added.

“Yeah, why would Corry allow anything that might help Julie out?” Clarke agreed.

“Stop going on about Corry - Laurie will help if I tell her it’s going to help Carrie,” Chartreuse countered. “And if I go along as well, I can make sure my friend isn’t any trouble.”

“Except - you can’t go with her,” Luci interjected. She had retrieved Frank’s pencil and drawn in a couple new lines herself. “If you do, everyone ends up in the middle of Lake Michigan.”

“Those Great Lakes keep getting in our way,” Tim observed.

“Okay, so… what if Tim, like, joins all of us too?”

“Stop, this is out of control,” Frank protested. “First things first, do we really want Laurie, and potentially Corry, to find out about the machine?”

“Well, the situation HAS changed,” Luci yielded. “Not only are we pressed for time, we’re under surveillance by some guy from the future. Extra help from a truly unexpected place could come in handy. Assuming we can trust the Venitis to keep quiet.”

“I guess,” Frank said dubiously. “But you know how Laurie tends to babble. This isn’t something we want the whole school to find out about.”

“Hey! Laurie can, you know, keep secrets,” Chartreuse protested. “And she’ll see the importance in not telling anybody.”

“But don’t you think her brother would take advantage of the situation?” Clarke insisted.

“S-Seems to me that Corry is the bigger question here,” Tim agreed. “I mean, even if we only tell Laurie, won’t he figure it out eventually?”

Frank drummed his fingers on the table. “Probably.” He frowned. “Okay Chartreuse, you probably know Corry best. If he were to find out about the time machine, what would he do?”

Chartreuse pondered. “Well, he does know how to listen to reason. Though it might be touch and go, given Laurie’s potential involvement. Still, yeah, if we can’t keep him out of this indefinitely, I guess it’d be better to, like, be up front with him about it.”

“We certainly want to avoid him discovering things in a manner similar to Julie,” Luci concurred.

“So should we put off deciding anything until we find the time machine?” Tim offered. “I mean, if we can’t find it, this is all moot.”

Frank shook his head. “Annoyingly, time is against us. Remember, come tomorrow night, I talk to the police and the situation changes again. So once the time machine turns up, we’ll want to take the trip, not waste hours on explanations.”

“Okay, I propose the following plan,” Luci declared. “Chartreuse, you tell Laurie - discretely - about the trip to rescue Julie. If she’s agreeable, we ALL go to present a united front to Corry. That way we’ll know straight out if he’s going to cause us trouble. In the meantime, the rest of us can try to figure out what happened to the time machine between Julie’s arrival in the past, and our present.”

Glances were exchanged. “It sounds like our best shot,” Frank agreed.

“Then let’s do this, for Julie!” Clarke chimed in.

“A-And Carrie too,” Tim added.

“I’ll totally make that unanimous,” Chartreuse concluded, beaming. She thrust her palm out into the middle of the group. “So let’s, you know, make it official!”

Luci and Tim instinctively reached out to place their palms on top of Chartreuse’s. Frank and Clarke blinked in surprise, but then added their own hands to the group. “To the future!” Chartreuse declared.

“You mean the past,” Luci observed, amused.

“Like, whatever,” Chartreuse countered with a wink. She left for the Veniti house minutes later.

PART 36: QUESTION EVERYTHING

“You believe me then?” Frank asked.

Clarke considered the question, and ultimately shrugged. “You have no reason to lie,” he said. “It also helps explain why I couldn’t reach Julie last night. I didn’t really buy her parents’ excuse that she was asleep.”

Frank nodded. “So, what do you think then? Is there any chance that Julie was, I don’t know, coerced or possessed or something?”

“That,” Clarke said slowly, “is a very good question.”

He thought for another long moment. What should he say? Julie had asked him - PLEADED with him - to keep quiet about her family situation. He couldn’t betray that. Not when Julie was no longer here to give permission.

“I can tell you this much,” Clarke yielded. “Julie had a lot riding on this talk with her parents last night. If it went badly… I’m not sure what mental state she’d have been in. However, Julie hasn’t even been thinking about Carrie since the two of them split, over a month ago. There was no reason to shoot her. Unless Carrie has done something to annoy Julie lately…?”

“Julie would have targeted Corry for that, and even then, non lethally,” Clarke countered. He tapped his foot on the ground. “No, I’m as puzzled by Julie’s actions as you are.”

Frank ran a hand back through his hair. “I see. Damn. I… I guess I thought this conversation was worth a shot. Thanks anyway.”

“You know, I’m glad you didn’t blame Julie out of spite,” Clarke added. “Most wouldn’t be half as kind right now.”

“Well, while I can’t forgive Julie for some of the things she’s apparently done - this doesn’t add up. And since you’ve always been advocating on her behalf, I figured that had to mean something.”

“Thank you.” A thought struck Clarke, and he leaned back against the wall. “Though, hold up a sec, you said that after Julie shot Carrie, she took your time machine to try and undo everything. Right?”

“By erasing her own existence, that’s correct,” Frank confirmed. “I am sorry, Clarke.”

“Thing is, I still remember her,” Clarke continued. “You still remember her. Carrie’s still in the hospital. If Julie wanted to wipe herself out, it didn’t work.”

“Which does fit with my timeline theory,” Frank noted. “It’s impossible for anyone to affect their prior self that way.”

“So if she can’t do it, why hasn’t she come back?” Clarke questioned.

Frank shrugged. “Maybe she hasn’t realized the problem yet. Or had no money to return. Or our machine’s random variance meant she’s stuck in the wrong time period. We have no way of knowing what happened.”

Clarke slowly shook his head. “But we HAVE to know, Frank. We’re in Julie’s future here. We should know what happened with her time traveling right away.”

“Er… okay, good point,” Frank yielded. “Well, it could be that the machine broke down… so she decided to take up residence in the past… and is currently living a new life somewhere else?”

“Even if that’s so, we should STILL be able to find out,” Clarke insisted. “Right? I mean, in historical records, newspapers, that sort of thing? Maybe Julie even left a message for us somewhere!”

“I… I suppose that’s logical,” Frank granted.

“That’s what I’m going to do then,” Clarke decided. “I’m going to research, and track Julie down. I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”

“Not a bad idea,” Frank admitted. “Okay… you can also talk with Luci, Chartreuse or Tim. They’re the other ones who know about the time machine.”

“Tim??”

“Sort of a long story. Chartreuse related. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to tell it to you himself.”

“He probably would,” Clarke agreed. “Okay. One more thing - could we maybe keep on keeping Julie’s name out of this? While I look? Things are bad enough for her already.”

“I…” The first bell rang, warning students to head to their homeroom classes. “Yeah, okay,” Frank agreed. “Talk to you this evening then?”

“Right, until then,” Clarke confirmed. With that, the two teenagers headed off to their first class.

Hank Waterson dropped his daughter’s hand and rose to his feet as the nurse entered the room. “She’s still unconscious. Why is she still unconscious?” he demanded of the man. “Is there something wrong? She’s been in recovery for over two days now!”

“Mr. Waterson, please, shouting at me is not going to do anyone any good,” the nurse said, moving to check on the instruments by Carrie’s bed.

“I’m not shouting!” Hank paused before sinking back down into the chair next to her bed. “Fine, maybe I’m raising my voice. The thing is, I’m starting to feel like you all know something I don’t.”

The nurse finished taking his reading and marked something down on a clipboard. “I assure you, Mr. Waterson, we are being quite transparent. Your daughter’s wounds have been treated and there’s every chance she will make a complete physical recovery.” He made some additional notes.

“Then why is she still asleep?” Hank protested. “Is she in some sort of coma? Are you giving her too much morphine??”

The nurse shook his head. “As far as we can tell, this deep sleep is exactly what it looks like. As to why she’s not waking up… I grant, that is a good question.”

“Is the fact that I don’t have a genetic history on her mother’s side of the family important? Is there anything there that might allow for Carrie’s current condition?”

The nurse sighed. “Possible, but unlikely. Mr. Waterson, why don’t you go home and get some sleep? I’m sure it’s simply a matter of time until…”

“TIME!”

The nurse physically recoiled as Carrie’s eyes snapped open. Hank barely registered the man’s shocked expression, attention already back on his daughter. “Carrie,” he said happily, grasping her hand again. “Carrie, it’s me, it’s your father! A-Are you all right?”

Carrie sat bolt upright on the hospital bed, her eyes wide, yet unfocussed. “Time,” she repeated. “Time, time… I can see it, oh God, why can I see the flow of time…”

Hank exchanged a brief glance with the hospital official. Now the man merely looked nervous. “Carrie, stay calm,” Hank continued slowly. “Lie back, you’ve been through a somewhat traumatic…”

Carrie’s unseeing gaze snapped over to him, bringing him up short.

“It’s all wrong,” Carrie continued. She started to shake. “This is the wrong timeline. You… you’ve got to fix it. Please, you’ve got to fix this for me.” Her heart machine began to beep faster.

“I’m going to get someone,” the nurse decided, hurrying away.

Hank Waterson squeezed Carrie’s hand a little harder. “Okay hon, don’t worry, whatever it is, I’ll fix it. First, please lie back down.”

“No, no, no,” Carrie said, shaking her head. Tears began to well up in her eyes. “It hurts, it hurts, you’ve got to fix it now, please, PLEASE someone’s got to fix it NOW.”

“Okay,” her father soothed, not sure what she meant, but hating to see his daughter in such pain. “We can give you stronger painkillers. Don’t worry, the doctors have assured me you’ll make a full…”

“No, no, it huuuuuuuuurts,” Carrie sobbed, yanking her hand free from her father’s grasp and pressing both palms against her temples. She began to rock back and forth. “Change it back, you’ve got to change time baaaaaaaack… please pleeeeeease someone change time baaa-aaa-aaack…”

“Change what time back?” her father asked. “Like Daylight Savings? Does your head hurt, dear, is that the problem?”

“Huuuuuurts,” Carrie sobbed. “They can’t change the past, they can’t change…” She threw back her head and began laughing hysterically.

“Carrie… Carrie, honey, what’s wrong? What’s so funny? How can I help you?” Hank asked desperately.

She didn’t even seem to hear him, she merely kept on laughing. He started to stand up, to try and get that nurse to come back.

Her hands had grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt before he realized it. Carrie now silently stared up at her father, tear streaks on her cheeks and a haunted look in her eyes. She spoke again. “There IS no NOW. But she’s NOT supposed to be DEAD. WE… MUST… CHANGE… TIME… BACK.”

And the glass of water next to Carrie’s bed inexplicably shattered into a hundred pieces. With its contents no longer confined, the liquid unceremoniously spilled out all over the tabletop and down onto the floor.

Hank Waterson jumped at the noise, and with his attention diverted, it took him a few seconds to realize that his daughter had fallen unconscious once more, her fingers still twisted in against his shirt.

“Dear God,” Hank whispered, gently lowering her body back down onto the hospital bed. “What… what was all that about?”

“It’s a mystery,” Frank decided.

“No, it’s not,” Luci countered. She reached out to point to the equations. “See, this chemical acts like a catalyst, that’s why we were able to observe the change.”

Frank blinked. “Oh, right. Uh, I knew that.”

“Yes, you did,” Luci agreed. “What’s wrong, Frank? You’ve never been this inattentive about your science homework before.”

He was unable to hold back a sigh. “I’m sorry, Luci. I suppose I can’t get my mind off of the whole time travel mess.”

Luci rested a hand on his shoulder. “Frank, there’s nothing more we can do about that. It’s been over a week since the shooting. Time to start thinking about living our normal lives again.”

Frank could scarcely believe she’d suggested it. “HOW?” he protested. “You know Carrie’s condition! The few times she’s been conscious, she’s been raving about time and disrupted timelines. And her physical state remains poor due to the apparent mental strain she’s under. Now, there’s got to be some connection between that and our time trips.”

“There probably is,” Luci acknowledged, her grip on him tightening. “But we have no way of knowing what it might be. Nor do we have the time machine, so telling anyone about our trips is liable to get us locked up in some psychiatric ward.”

“Along with Carrie, you mean,” Frank said dejectedly.

“No, Frank, I don’t mean that,” she asserted, pulling her hand away. “Carrie’s not there yet.”

“She probably will be soon.” Frank slammed his own hand down onto his sitting room table. “Damn it, Luci, if only I hadn’t left the time machine out. Hadn’t let Julie get her hands on it! If we had it now, we’d be in a position to DO something.”

“And maybe we wouldn’t. And maybe you’d be dead. Besides, you warned me Julie was headed for the basement, I’M the one who let her activate the damn thing. So it’s my fault than anything!”

“Don’t be silly, you…” Frank stopped as he looked over and finally registered the pain in Luci’s expression. “You’re feeling guilty too,” he realized.

“This surprises you? Don’t forget, I also suspected everything was too perfect with Julie. Yet I wasn’t able to determine what was really going on! Now look where we are because of it.”

“But Luci, you couldn’t have predicted this,” Frank protested. “No one could have predicted this!”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Luci’s expression became a wry smile. “For instance, Chartreuse thinks she could have. And Clarke’s upset he hasn’t found anything on Julie yet, and Tim wonders if he should have been more involved, and trust me, Frank, there’s enough guilt to go around our little group already. Too much, if you ask me. Which is why I wanted to work on chemistry. Why I wanted to avoid thinking about it for a change.”

Frank looked back down at the science questions. “I see your point.” He swallowed. “But I don’t think I can do this. Not yet. I’m sorry, Luci - could we give it another go tomorrow?”

“I suppose,” Luci agreed. She offered up a small smile. “Please, don’t think I’m unsympathetic. I really wish there was something more we could try. But with no time machine, no information about Julie’s whereabouts, and no way for us to understand, let alone treat Carrie’s condition, we HAVE to move on. If we obsess… I don’t know. Maybe we will all go nuts.”

“I hope not,” Frank sighed. “Give me one more night though. To reflect. Inspiration could strike.”

Luci rubbed her thumb and index finger in against her eyes, finishing by pinching the bridge of her nose. Then she reached out to close their textbook. “Sure. And if it does strike, or even if you simply want to talk - you know my number. I-I’m here for you, Frank. Yeah? You haven’t forgotten about how I feel about you, right?” she added more softly.

“I haven’t,” Frank assured. “Thanks, Luci.” He smiled back at her, and the two of them hugged. Unfortunately, his expression held up only as long as it took for Luci to pack up her things and leave the Dijora household.

Frank was still frowning after dinner, as he lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Okay,” he asserted. “Tomorrow, I am going to time travel back to NOW, so that I have a time machine NOW that I can use tomorrow to time travel back to NOW.”

And … nothing changed. He idly wondered if they needed Carrie to make something like that work. “I don’t even know when we’d need to start changing things for her, even assuming we could,” Frank groaned, rolling onto his side.

His phone rang. He grabbed for it, wondering who would be calling - and for some reason, there was no data available. “Hello?” he said, answering anyway.

“Frank Dijora?”

Frank frowned. It was an older male voice. Someone he didn’t recognize. “Yeah, speaking,” he confirmed.

“Frank, you need to tell the police about Julie LaMille.”

Frank was instantly sitting up. “Who is this? What do you know about Julie?” None of their group had said anything, and Carrie had never been lucid enough to give a statement. Officially, Julie was simply a missing person.

“If you don’t reveal the whole story about Julie, Carrie’s condition will continue to deteriorate.”

Frank’s grip tightened. “Y-You know something about Carrie’s condition too?!”

The voice sighed. “Listen, Frank - you and your friends are playing with forces you don’t understand. Only by revealing Julie’s part in this can we help set time back on its proper course.”

“Set time… proper course… are you from the future?”

“Immaterial. Are you even listening? I don’t want to force the issue here, but I will if I have to.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Frank protested.

“Frank, you will now scratch your nose,” the voice interrupted.

“I will now scratch my nose,” Frank agreed, doing so. “But how does that even–“ Frank froze. He looked down at his hand. Why… why had he done that?

“Again, I don’t WANT to force the issue here. But I WILL if I have to.”

Frank swallowed hard. “W-Who… Who are you?”

A pause. “Let’s call me Carrie’s Guardian Angel. After all, I did manage to save her once before, when she took a time trip out into the middle of Algonquin Park. Without coins. Did she ever mention that trip to you?”

Frank almost replied in the negative - only to have all the pieces fall into place. June, two years in the past, one of their first trips, when they’d both been trapped in the woods, and Carrie had run into the guy with the nickel who had said ‘Guard it’. Was it possible? Could this be the same guy? “Maybe,” he realized.

“Fine. So, you will set the record straight concerning Julie?”

“ONLY if you answer a few questions first,” Frank retorted, hardly believing his own audacity.

Silence. Frank tensed. Had he blown it? But then, a response: “If I do that, you will do as I ask?”

Frank cleared his throat. “Yes.”

“Then I’ll allow three questions.”

“Three?!”

“I’ll be nice and not count that as one of them.”

Frank closed his eyes. He forced himself to slow down and think. He had an opportunity here. But with a question limit, there was no point in asking anything which he might now be able to deduce.

First, this guy - Carrie had referred to him as a ‘Shady’ guy back then, and it seemed a good enough moniker - knew too much. Odds were good that Shady was another time traveller. Or knew someone who was. So, were others changing the past too? Is that why Carrie had said something to her father about the wrong timeline? Or was it changes by Julie causing the problem?

Shady’s request implied the latter. Despite being suspicious of the messenger, he had to get more information about that first.

“First question,” Frank said. “What is it Julie changed in the past, which is causing Carrie to react in our present?”

“Julie died.”

Frank nearly dropped the phone, Shady’s response had been so cavalier. “I’ll need proof,” he demanded.

“Her teenaged self died on November 9th, precisely three days before she was even born. I thought you might ask, so I checked in the library. You can look it up in the newspaper published by her home town. Though of course, they didn’t know the person was Julie. She was simply listed as a Jane Doe.” The man chuckled. “Proof that time doesn’t like it when people attempt drastic alterations to their own histories. Ironic, in a way.”

Frank forced his emotions down. Two questions left, and he now had a lot of new information. New fact: Shady couldn’t time travel at will. If he could, why bother looking things up in old newspapers? Further, his “ironic” implied that what was on the surface here contrasted with what was really happening… to the point of being a complete opposite. Could that imply that Shady was also changing history, more subtly?

Shady coughed. “Are you still there?”

“I’m trying to parse the fact that you’re saying someone I know is DEAD,” Frank sniped. He got another sigh in response.

Okay, where to go with this? Well, if this guy could effect changes like making Frank scratch his nose, surely he could convince the police without Frank’s help. So why hadn’t he?

“Second question,” Frank said. “Since you can seemingly force your will onto people, why even give me the option here?”

“Mmph,” Shady grunted. Frank got the impression he didn’t like this question. “So, there are limits. Sure, I could make you tell the police yourself the next time you see them, but depending on how they react, you might end up coming across as a robot, or coerced or something. That would be bad. Besides, free will is important! It’s the whole reason I…” His voice trailed off.

“It’s the whole reason you what?”

“Is that your last question?”

Frank grimaced. “No.” Damn. Shady was getting canny.

So, Shady could influence individuals, but he didn’t necessarily have control over how things played out? Interesting. Not to mention a stronger case for him being behind all of this in the first place.

Frank decided his last question had to be about Carrie. Shady didn’t seem to care that Julie was dead - did this ‘Guardian Angel’ truly care about Carrie, or was she a means to an end?

“Third question.” Frank paused to frame it in his mind. “How do you know for sure that Carrie will be all right, once the truth about Julie’s role in her injury comes out?”

“I don’t.”

Frank stared at his phone, but there was no immediate follow-up. He clenched his jaw. “That’s not an acceptable answer.”

More grumbling. “Carrie Waterson is having trouble rationalizing the sequence of events surrounding the awakening of her powers,” Shady said at last. “Because Julie was the trigger this time, and–”

“THIS time?” Frank interrupted. His certainty about a fixed timeline was eroding fast.

“Because Julie was the trigger,” Shady amended swiftly, “And because Julie was temporally displaced so soon afterwards, Carrie is experiencing a disconnect between present and past. My most reasonable hypothesis is that she now believes herself to be in the past too. So if we construct a present where Julie is a fugitive rather than merely missing, Carrie will be more grounded, and her disconnect can be resolved.”

“But you don’t know.”

“I said that already. There are a number of uncertainties here, including how far that– how far your Carrie’s insanity has progressed.”

Frank bit down on his lip. “Seems like we should use time travel to prevent the shooting in the first place then.”

Shady grunted. “Okay, free information since it scares me to think that you might actually try something that STUPID.” He actually sounded worried. “You rewrite what has happened to this point? Carrie will be faced with simultaneous futures, one in which her powers are awakening, and one in which they are still dormant. The resulting temporal stress would destroy her mind. From the inside out. Likely taking this whole town along with it.”

“Oh…” Frank swallowed. “But what powers–”

“No more questions,” the man retorted. “Your turn to keep up your end of the bargain.”

Frank winced. “Fine, Shady, I-I’ll tell the police before next week.”

“Shady?” the guy yelped. “What is WITH you teenagers and your labels? And you want to wait until– Look, Frank, you bear THIS in mind! Every MINUTE you wait is one MORE minute for your precious Carrie to slip further away. Understood?”

And the line went dead.

Frank collapsed back onto his bed. That whole conversation had been… surreal. Beyond insane. He had to write this stuff down, before he forgot. No, wait - better idea. Frank reached back for his phone, dialling another number with a shaky hand.

“Hello… Luci?” Frank said as soon as he heard the familiar voice on the other end. “There’s been a new development.”

See the accompanying Commentary Post for ARC 2.2

PART 35: THE WOUNDED

“I hate it when that happens,” Hank Waterson grumbled. He finally tossed his pencil aside and left his novel behind in the study, figuring he could use something to drink. The phone rang on his way to the kitchen, so he stopped in the hall to answer.

“Hello? Yes, this is Hank Waterson,” he replied absently. His knuckles went white. “There was a what? Where is she?? Oh my God… okay, I-I’ll be right there!”

Slamming the phone back down, Hank turned and charged out of his house, coming back only long enough to grab his car keys.

“Where is she? Where is my daughter?" Hank Waterson demanded as he charged up to the front desk at the hospital, breathing hard.

“Take a moment to calm down, sir," the receptionist advised. “Then tell me your name."

“Mr. Waterson!”

Hank turned to see who had spoken. It was some teenage kid with glasses. No, wait a minute, he knew that guy. Nice kid, they’d met about a month ago. He came to see Carrie every so often, to help her with math. What was his name?

Frank nodded. “They… Carrie’s still in emergency. It’s supposedly not as bad as it looked to me, but…”

“You mean you were there when it happened?”

Frank bit down on his lip as he nodded again. “It all took place so quickly, sir. I-I’m sorry, there was nothing I could do."

“It’s fine. It’s not your fault,” Hank assured, resting what he hoped was a comforting hand on Frank’s shoulder. “If… if possible, I’d like to hear more. Once I’ve checked in with the appropriate people.”

“S-Sure, I’ll be over there,” Frank noted, gesturing to the nearby waiting area.

When Carrie’s father came over a little while later, Frank felt his body tense up. It was fine though, he told himself. He’d repeat the same story that he’d given to the police.

“Good news,” Mr. Waterson said. “They’re doing everything they can for Carrie.” He paused. “There’s every chance she’ll pull through."

“You don’t sound that confident,” Frank pointed out.

“I…" The tall man sighed, and sank down into an adjacent seat. “I guess I’m not,” he admitted. “I mean, they’re doing their best, of that I’m sure. It’s only, I heard similar things after my wife…” He stopped. “You don’t need to hear about that. What DID happen then? It was at your house, I’m told?”

Frank swallowed. Time to lie again. “It’s… all kind of hazy, actually,” he said. “It’s like I told the police, someone got into the house - I guess they were trying to rob us - and they surprised me and Carrie in the sitting room. A couple of shots were fired, the person escaped, and I called 911.”

Carrie’s father nodded, and reached out to touch Frank’s knee. “Thank you for doing that. I’m sure every second counted. Oh, and good to see that you weren’t hurt either," he added. “I suppose this was somewhat traumatic for you too… where are your parents?”

“Around,” Frank said. He’d made them drive him to the hospital, after making a preliminary report for the police. “But I told them I’d feel better without them hovering. I am here with another classmate.”

“Oh? Who’s that?”

“Me.” As Luci walked up and held out a can of juice from the vending machine towards Frank, Carrie’s father turned his gaze upon her.

Perhaps sensing the older man’s scrutiny, the ponytailed asian girl jerked her gaze back over at him. “Hello, YES?” she said pointedly. Mr. Waterson pulled back at her manner, and Frank belatedly realized they might not have ever met.

“Oh! Er, Luci, this is Carrie’s father… Mr. Waterson, this is, er, Luci Primrose, a mutual friend,” Frank said hastily. He took the proffered juice can from her.

“Luci…” Hank said slowly. “Oh, of course! You’re the young, intelligent one Carrie’s mentioned on occasion.”

“I suppose so,” Luci replied guardedly, still sizing him up.

Mr. Waterson lifted an eyebrow. “Um… Luci, is everything okay? Have I said something wrong?”

Luci shook her head. “No,” she vocalized at last. “It’s only that I’m a bit surprised to see you here.”

“Luci!”

Mr. Waterson raised a hand to forestall Frank’s protest. “Why do you say that?” he asked.

Luci glanced back in Frank’s direction only briefly before looking back at Carrie’s father. “I figured it would take you longer to arrive. After all, from what I’ve been able to learn through Carrie, you never took much of an interest in her.”

Frank stood, aghast. “Luci, maybe we should find my parents and go–”

“No, that’s all right,” Mr. Waterson interrupted with a sigh. “After all, she’s not wrong.”

Frank winced. “Oh, I don’t know…”

“If it takes a life or death situation for me to meet someone’s Carrie’s been spending a lot of her time with, I can hardly claim otherwise, can I?” he retorted wryly. He smiled at Luci. “You certainly share Carrie’s spirit and determination. The two of you must be close.”

The corner of Luci’s mouth twitched, but the elder Waterson missed it, having already looked at the floor. “I fear that ever since her mother left us, me and Carrie have been drifting further and further apart,” he admitted. “It’s on me. I have tried to be the best father I can, yet I seem to make all the wrong decisions at crucial times.”

“I’m sure you’ve always tried your best,” Frank assured, sitting back down. He placed his own hand back on Mr. Waterson’s knee.

“I can still remember back when we had it all worked out,” Carrie’s father continued, seemingly to himself. “My wife worked during the day, while I took care of Carrie and did periodic work on my novels. In the evenings, Elaine would take over at home, while I worked part time at a phone call-in centre. We only really saw each other on the weekends, but at the time, it was enough. It was only supposed to be until we’d raised enough money to give Carrie a good life anyway. The trip to Bermuda, that was going to be the turning point.” He paused. “I guess in a way it was.”

Frank and Luci exchanged looks. “I was sorry to hear about your wife’s disappearance down there,” Frank ventured.

“She TOLD you about that?” Mr. Waterson said, looking back at him with a measure of incredulity. Frank nodded. The adult continued to stare for another few seconds, then returned his gaze to the ground.

“I should have told her myself, back then,” he said. “I simply couldn’t believe it had happened.” He smiled sadly. “It’s funny, really. Before I met Elaine - Carrie’s mother - I’d never even considered marriage. Then after we met, I couldn’t imagine life without her. I always thought that somehow, that meant I’d know if she died… that I’d feel it somewhere. Yet I still haven’t, not to this day.”

Luci cocked her head to the side. “Have you ever expressed those feelings to Carrie?” she wondered.

Carrie’s father shrugged. “She won’t listen. I can’t blame her. For years, I had her convinced that her mother would be coming home. We didn’t even attend the memorial service. I was so sure that Elaine would be found…!” Hank briefly clenched his fist, then let it drop open. “Carrie’s never forgiven me for hiding the truth the way I did. And there’s no way I can make that up to her.”

There was an uncomfortable pause. “Well, I’m sorry to say this, but you’re probably right,” Luci said at last. “However, that’s no reason to pull away from Carrie. Avoiding her now isn’t helping matters.”

“Avoiding?” he frowned. “Have I been avoiding her? Hm. Perhaps I have been, at that. She’s been reminding me more and more of her mother of late… not only in appearance, but in her willpower, and her drive to shape the world the way she wants… how can one lone man even handle that?” His smile became genuine. “It reminds me of a story my wife once told me, from back when she was young herself. Elaine nearly brought a whole orphanage down to it’s knees.”

Frank sat up straighter, even as Luci blurted out, “Did you say ORPHANAGE?”

Mr. Waterson nodded. “Yes, Carrie’s mother spent the first several years of her life in one. She was left there as a baby, never knowing who her real parents were… a bit of a shame, really.” Hank stopped at the expression on Luci’s face. “I’m sorry Luci, now I HAVE said something wrong.”

“N-No,” Luci stammered out, shaking her head. “It’s nothing.”

“Luci doesn’t know who her real parents are either,” Frank offered up.

“Oh. Well, you seem to be dealing with it all right, that’s good to see,” Carrie’s father said. He paused as he caught sight of his watch. “But look at me, babbling on endlessly to the two of you when you should be getting back home. I can keep your families updated with information, so there’s no need for you to stay here personally. Dijora and… Primrose, was it?”

“Yeah,” Frank said. Still, it didn’t feel right to leave.

Mr. Waterson seemed to pick up on his hesitation. “They probably won’t even let you see Carrie, outside of visiting hours,” he pointed out. “Go. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“How can you be so sure?” Luci challenged.

This time, Carrie’s father didn’t flinch back from Luci’s scrutiny. “Because after losing my wife - I’ll be damned before I let anyone take my daughter away from me too.”

Frank tossed the empty juice container into the trash receptacle. He and Luci had moved out of line of sight of the elder Waterson. “Okay Luci, what’s on your mind?” he asked. She’d had that partly thoughtful, partly annoyed look on her face for several minutes now.

“You want Issue A first, or Issue B?”

“Issue B,” Frank said. He was pretty sure he knew what “A” involved.

“Fine. The bit about Carrie’s mother being an orphan? It reminded me of Linquist,” Luci stated.

Frank adjusted his glasses. “Linquist did come to my mind too. Except Carrie’s mother disappeared over thirteen years ago. Even if Linquist was checking over adoptees back then, which seems unlikely given how his interest is more recent, what are the odds that his crazed ravings are in any way connected to fact, let alone to her? And could he really have made an entire plane vanish?”

“It’s unlikely,” Luci yielded. “You’re right, of course.” She frowned. “Just a funny feeling, that’s all.” She fell silent for another few moments. “Okay. So. Did you tell Mr. Waterson about Julie?”

Frank let out a long breath. Back to Issue A. “No,” he admitted. “Luci, we need to keep that quiet."

Luci shook her head. “Frank, WHY?” She paused to make sure there was no one in earshot before whispering, “Julie shot Carrie! Should we defend that simply because she escaped into the past with our time machine?”

“There’s more to it than that,” Frank protested. “It’s as I told you before the ambulance showed up. Julie was acting funny.”

“Frank, Julie’s never been normal. Remember the flyer?”

Frank shook his head. “No, listen, the whole incident didn’t make sense.” He slapped his index finger into his palm, deciding he had to justify this as much to himself as he did to her. “First, Julie arrived at my place totally calm and collected. Then she was shaking like a leaf. Why?” He added a second finger. “Second, she shot at Carrie knowing I was there and could I.D. her, yet she took no direct action against me - not until I provoked her. None of which sounds like a typical Julie plan.”

Luci opened her mouth as if to interject something, but Frank kept talking, adding a third finger to his tally. “Third, and most importantly, what on earth was her motive? Why shoot Carrie, and then decide to undo, well, everything? Why not simply avoid shooting anyone in the first place, meaning there’s nothing to undo?”

Luci stared, seemingly wondering if he was going to add another point. “So, what, you think Julie was set up?” she asked at last.

“I don’t know,” Frank admitted, spreading his arms out, wondering if he sounded as frustrated as he felt. “So until we DO know something, we keep Julie’s name out of it. There was a robber. You didn’t get to my house in time to see anything, and then you came here to the hospital. End of story.”

Luci rubbed her nose. “For THIS, you don’t compromise,” he heard her mumble. She looked back up at him before he could think to comment. “Okay, look. You HAVE to realize that as soon as Carrie regains consciousness, Julie’s name is going to come up.”

Frank nodded. “True. But this delay? Will give me enough time to talk with Clarke.”

“With…” Luci’s vexed look became thoughtful. “Hm. What do you think Clarke knows? How much are you planning on telling him about what happened? Are you going to mention the time machine?”

“Clarke gets the whole story.” Frank rubbed the back of his head. “So I’ll have to mention the time machine. But as you pointed out to Tim a few days ago, we’re pretty sure Clarke knows already.”

Luci nodded. “True enough.” The young girl rocked on her heels for a moment. “And the only person who might object is Carrie, and she can’t exactly vote right now. Thing is, if you’re right? If someone blackmailed Julie into what she did? Something big is going on. Maybe bigger than we can handle."

“Hey, if you have other options, I’m open to suggestion.”

Luci opened her mouth to respond, but ultimately shook her head. “Nothing comes to mind,” she sighed. “I’ll keep thinking though.”

“Okay,” Frank agreed. “I’ll let you know how it goes with Clarke.” He glanced over towards the clock. “So unless there’s anything else…?”

Luci started to shake her head in the negative, but then she grimaced. “Okay, yeah, one other thing I want to ask.”

“Sure, Luci, anything.”

The young girl pursed her lips. “Carrie and me, we’re not so alike, are we? I mean, we’re not ‘close’, like her father said, right? After all, she’s so… so… while I’m so… I mean, I’m not like her, am I?”

Frank felt at a loss as to what the actual question was there. “Not really. Why, does something about the comparison bother you?”

“It annoys me that her father said we were close, within minutes of my first meeting him,” Luci said. She crossed her arms. “I mean, you don’t think I’m going to be like Carrie two years down the road, right?”

Frank grinned, as he tried to picture Luci spinning her hair in her fingers and batting her eyelashes, trying to get random boys in the hall to carry her books for her. “Trust me, Luci,” he said reassuringly. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

Lee whistled absently as he finished reshelving the last of the books. A quick glance at his watch told him he was just in time, the library would be closing in another two minutes. “Another day, another dollar,” he remarked aloud. He quickly wheeled the book trolley back to the rear of the building, resisting the urge to ride on it.

It was as he walked back to the stairs that some movement caught his eye back in the records section. “‘lo?  Anyone there?” Lee called out.

He saw the movement again and decided to check it out. “Hello?” he called out again. “Library’s closing in under a minute, get going while the getting going’s good.”

There seemed to be a figure standing in the shadow of the main shelves. “Time’s up today, buddy,” Lee continued. “Come back tomorrow.” The figure didn’t respond. “Look, I can totally see you,” Lee observed. “And the library is closed, so I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

The figure finally stepped forwards. It was a person wearing a cowl which concealed their face; Lee couldn’t make out any features. “You are going to do something for me now,” he - it was a male voice - said. “Listen carefully. You will turn around, and forget that you ever saw me. Understand?”

“Uh huh,” Lee replied. “Sure, buddy. You been reading ‘Hypnotism for Dummies’? Come on, I’m serious, library’s closed.”

The figure stepped closer. “I SAID, you will turn around, and forget that you ever saw me,” he repeated. “Understand?"

Lee rolled his eyes. “Hey, Judy,” he shouted out, hoping the head librarian would hear. “We’ve got a stowaway back here. Looks to be part of some weird cult.”

Said stowaway quickly reached up and pushed back his hood, allowing Lee to take in the features of a nondescript thirtysomething male with longish, dark hair. “I am not part of a weird cult,” the man said in obvious irritation.

Lee grinned. “Customer’s always right, of course. I simply call ‘em as I see ‘em.”

The man glared. “You have a very closed mind, and little to no understanding of what’s really going on around you.”

“Yeah, that’s what my friends always say. Now, are you gonna leave the library or not? You can always come back tomorrow, you know. This is how libraries work.”

“Oh, very well,” came the grudging reply. “What time do you open?”

“Hours are posted out front,” Lee said automatically. The man let out another quiet grumble and began to move past him. “Oop, hold on,” Lee remarked, extending his hand to block the way. “That a book of bound newspapers in your hand? Those can’t leave the library, sorry.”

The man turned. “I need some of these articles.”

“Well, take a snapshot or photocopy them,” Lee replied. The man nodded and moved off towards the photocopier station. “But not now,” Lee added. “Seeing as the library closed five minutes ago.”

“You really are trying my patience.”

“Is there a problem here?” came a new, female voice.

Lee turned to see the head librarian approaching. “No problem, Judy,” he assured her. “Whatzizname here was looking to photocopy old newspaper clippings, except he left it a bit late.”

Judy nodded. “Right, the photocopiers will have powered down by now,” she stated. “Can you come back tomorrow, sir?”

“Oh, well, fine!” the thirtysomething said. He tossed the book of bound newspapers angrily into Lee’s arms, with enough force to make Lee stumble, then stalked off towards the stairwell.

‘Now there,’ Lee mused, ‘goes a guy accustomed to getting his own way.’

“I’ll follow him to make sure he gets out,” Judy said. “Can you possibly reshelve that volume before you leave yourself?”

Lee nodded. “No problemo,” he affirmed with a grin and a thumbs up. Judy smiled back and headed off, while Lee quickly tracked down the proper place for the records he was holding.

It was as he was sliding them in that he noticed a piece of paper sticking out. Likely a bookmark of sorts. Vaguely curious, Lee pulled the volume back out and flipped open to the page in question. He frowned.

The three year old headline referred to the recent purchase of their town’s biggest house, by a wealthy out-of-town family.

“Bizarre,” Lee murmured. “Why’s a creepy dude like that reading up on the LaMille history?” After a moment of thought, Lee shrugged, replaced the volume, and returned to the library’s front desk to sign out.

(How bad are the site stats? I've added an index page and I'll draw less, I guess?)

PART 34: SHOTS FIRED

“I’m home,” Julie called out. “You’ll never guess what happened to me today.” Her father came around the nearest corner, heading for the front door. “Hi Dad,” Julie greeted. “Jeeves and Mimi already get the evening off?”

Her father didn’t immediately reply. Instead, he glanced outside, closed the front door, and allowed his gaze to fall upon Julie. He looked upset, but then, that was normal when it was only the two of them. Finally, he spoke. “So what in the hell have you been up to?”

Julie swallowed. “Wh-What do you mean?”

“Jeeves has been informing us of your principal’s calls to the house,” he clarified, crossing his arms. “Damn it girl, can’t you ever stay out of trouble at school? We’re running out of places to send you.”

“What did you expect, dear?” came a new voice. Julie’s mother entered the hall, idly filing her nails. “She’s your daughter, after all.”

“Juvenile delinquent,” her father spat out. “Well, you’ve forced the two of us to use your birthday as an excuse to come back here to handle things. I hope you’re happy.”

“N-Not exactly," Julie said, her confidence eroding fast. “And it’s been over two years since you last heard from any school administration.”

“Meaning you haven’t been caught until now," her mother observed, blowing on her fingertips.

Julie swallowed. “I guess,” she yielded. She had done some rather terrible things. “But… but it’s fine now. I got everything resolved with the principal today.”

Her father turned. “Did you hear that, dear?” he remarked. “She got everything resolved. Everything. There was no need for us to come home after all, our daughter somehow accounted for every last little detail.”

“No, I… I d-do,” Julie stammered. “I’ve been reading and learning and… and today, today I was running the whole school,” she blurted. “Look!” Julie fumbled within her sweater, pulling out the precious agreement. However, she was developing a case of the shakes, and it slipped through her fingers before she could hand it to her father.

He reached down and scooped it up off the floor before she had time to retrieve it, letting out a sigh of exasperation in the process. Julie bowed her head, biting her lip as he scanned over the paper.

This was it then, the moment of truth. The culmination of six - seven? eight? - years of effort. So many setbacks. But now - they had to understand. They had to see that she was capable, that she was worthy of being their child, that she deserved their love and attention…

“What damn fool stunt are you trying to pull?”

Julie snapped her gaze back up. “W-w-w-what?”

“Honey, have a look at this,” her father remarked, handing over the paper. “She actually believes she was running the school today because the principal signed some agreement. Assuming it’s not forged.”

“Lovely. Something even more troublesome than usual to clear up,” said Julie’s mother dryly, scanning the paper herself.

“N-No, it’s true,” Julie assured them. “Mr. Hunt asked me about every decision today. I also kept other students from committing any violent acts. I was handling it, I was handling it all!”

Her mother sighed and pressed a hand to her temples. “Dear, you deal with this today, all right? It’s going to give me a headache, I’m sure of it. I’ll see you back in the kitchen.” She returned Julie’s signed agreement to her husband and flashed him a smile, before spinning on her heel and stalking back down the hall.

Julie’s father returned the smile before resuming his severe expression. “Now see what you’ve done to your mother?” he accused of Julie. “I hope you have a VERY good explanation as to why you did something so idiotic.”

Julie felt herself getting lightheaded. Was this even really happening? “I did it for you,” she said quietly. “Don’t you remember? When I was young, you used to tell Mom that if I’d been a son, I would have been able to run an organization before even graduating from high school. So, even though I’m not a son, I… I did it. I ran the high school. So doesn’t that document prove to you that I’m every bit as good as a son would be?”

“What?” Her father shook his head. “Leave it to a girl to take things too literally,” he concluded. “I mean honestly, what WAS going through that empty head of yours?”

“I… I…” Julie swallowed, no longer sure what to say.

“Let me show you how important this little piece of paper is,” her father concluded. With that, he tore the document in half.

Julie felt like she was being torn in two. “Dad, no!” she choked out, reaching out towards him. Her father simply stepped back, out of reach, and then he tore again, and again.

Julie fell to her knees. The document she’d signed with the principal that morning was soon scattered on the floor like so much confetti. A tear ran down her cheek. “No…”

“I will deal with this situation now,” her father concluded. “Pray that it’s not as bad as it sounds. You will go to your room. Make sure I don’t see your face again tonight.” With that, he turned and walked away.

Julie was left behind, a crumpled mess on the floor.

The ‘play room’ was a shambles. Her maps had been torn from the walls, file cabinets had been tipped over, electronic gadgets had been thrown against the floor, a couple of legs had even been snapped off of the central table.

In the middle of the room stood Julie, breathing hard.

Interestingly, she didn’t feel angry. Or sad. If anything, she felt numb. And not the happy, lightheaded numbness from earlier today, it was… well, nothing. Emptiness. Complete and utter void.

Julie sank back down to the ground. Destroying this room, it had felt like the right thing to do. Perhaps she should start a fire too, to burn up all of the useless information she’d accumulated. But no, such a blaze could prove dangerous. Dangerous.

The thought of her doing something dangerous struck Julie as funny, so she laughed. Later, she stopped. Then she fell back onto the ground in a completely prone position.

“All for nothing. All of it,” the brunette whispered. She wondered if that was funny or not. Should she giggle? She couldn’t decide. Instead, she let her head fall to the side.

An item caught her eye, and she realized that during her destructive rampage, it must have fallen out of the lower drawer of the file cabinets. Julie crawled over towards it, then looked down upon the smiling faces of her mother and father. She traced her finger over the glass. A tear splashed down.

Then the glass covering the image cracked as the picture was thrown forcibly against the wall. “Should have stayed in that cabinet,” Julie shrieked at the object, hands clenching into fists. “We were both better off!”

She curled up into a ball on the floor for a while.

Gradually, she became conscious of something poking her in the side. It was starting to get annoying, so Julie decided to see what it was. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small neatly wrapped package. That’s right, Clarke had given it to her earlier that day.

“Happy birthday to me,” Julie murmured. She decided to stop staring at the package long enough to sit back up and remove the wrapping paper.

Inside she found a silver brooch in the shape of a rose. “So pretty,” Julie gasped. She pinned it onto her sweater. “He really shouldn’t have though,” she said sadly. “He’s too good to me…”

“You’re not half as bad as you think you are.”

Julie spun. “Phil?” she breathed. When did he get here?

“You are SO strong, Julie. Stronger than I realized.”

How could he be standing there behind her?! It didn’t matter. Julie stumbled to her feet. “Phil,” she repeated.

“This conversation isn’t over yet, okay?” Clarke continued. “In the meantime, here’s something to remember me by.”

Julie reached out for him, but the image of Clarke faded from view before she made contact. She stumbled and fell against the wall. “Wow. Now you’re hallucinating, you idiot,” she breathed. Her fingers traced over the silver brooch. Well, at least he was going to call her.

“He’ll call, that’s right,” Julie gasped, head snapping back up. What had she done with her phone?! She’d left it upstairs before sneaking down here, so as not to damage it, or get it confiscated. She was making so many bad decisions today! “I’ve got to make sure I can answer the phone,” she gasped.

Julie sprinted out of her play room, back upstairs. She didn’t know if talking to Phil Clarke would do any good. She didn’t even know if the phone had already rung that night - was it even night yet? It seemed to be raining outside. She found her phone. Less than two hours had passed. Clarke hadn’t phoned yet. Should she phone him? No. Too needy.

She waited, her finger over the button to accept the next call. Her hands were shaking. She made them stop. It was fine. He would call. He had to call. Please, he had to call. He had to know she was waiting for him now. Right? Please?

When the phone rang, Julie hit answer before seeing who it was. “Phil?” she breathed. “Phil, are you there?”

“Julie LaMille?”

It wasn’t him. It was an older male voice. Someone she didn’t recognize.

“Julie, don’t hang up,” the voice continued. “Okay?”

Julie bit her lip. “O-kay?” she said tentatively.

“You are going to do something for me now. Listen carefully. You are going to sneak out of your house, and meet me at the corner of Parkside and Erb. You will receive further instructions there. Do you understand?”

“I will receive further instructions at Parkside and Erb,” Julie acknowledged, feeling a curious fog in her brain. “What… what instructions? What’s going on?”

“You are not ready for answers yet. All in good… time.”

“I am not ready for answers yet. All in good time,” Julie repeated back.

“You will receive further instructions at Parkside and Erb.”

“I will receive further instructions at Parkside and Erb.”

“You will go there now.”

“I will go there now,” Julie confirmed, feeling her body swaying from side to side.

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

Julie obediently hung up the phone and went to find her jacket. Her parents didn’t notice when she left.

“Oh, shoot,” Luci muttered.

Chartreuse glanced over at her companion. “What’s wrong?”

“I took some music out of my bag to look over while waiting at Frank’s, and I never put it back in,” Luci sighed. “You go on ahead, I’m going to run back and get it.”

“You can always, like, look on with someone else,” Chartreuse pointed out.

“Yeah, but my music has all my little pencil markings on it,” Luci noted. “Anyway, it’s not raining that hard now, and it’ll only take me, what, ten extra minutes? I’ll meet back up with you at practice.”

Chartreuse shrugged.  “Okay, see you there then.”

Frank set the pencil back down. “So that’s the equation you come up with,” he concluded. “Understand?”

Carrie leaned against her hand. “No,” she admitted, eyeing the page. “What’s the x mean?”

“That’s the length of the ladder.”

“Uh huh. Remind me, why do we use x?”

Frank shrugged. “Why not x? Doesn’t matter. We have to solve for something.”

Carrie drummed the fingers of her free hand against the table. “If you ask me, using x is a stupid system. It always makes me think of multiplication.”

“Well, you can pick another letter if it makes you happy,” Frank said with a smile. The doorbell rang, diverting his attention. “One of the others must have forgotten something,” he remarked, glancing at the clock. “Be right back.”

“Okay,” Carrie decided. “While you do that, I’m going to trig this thing up again using h.”

“You do that,” Frank said as he walked out of the sitting room. The grin on his face faded as he opened the front door. “Julie?” Frank greeted.

“Carrie still here?” the brunette asked blankly.

“Er, well, yeah… Julie, your hair’s dripping wet, don’t you have an umbrella?”

“I must see Carrie,” Julie said. She pushed her way past Frank and advanced into the hall.

“Um, come in? Julie, what’s going on?” Frank wondered, closing the door and hurrying after her. Julie stopped at the entryway to the sitting room.

“Julie!” Carrie said, standing up as she caught sight of the visitor.

“Carrie Waterson,” Julie responded evenly.

The two girls stared at each other across the room. Frank hesitated, not sure whether to intercede or not.

“Look Julie,” Carrie said at last. “I hope you’re not coming to me with any thoughts of restarting our friendship. Because honestly, I think you got exactly what you deserved today. Heck, now that I’ve started to get my life back together, I couldn’t care less about you. So, know what? It’s probably in both of our best interests for you to turn around, and walk back out through that front door.”

Julie didn’t bat an eyelash. “Shut up,” she said calmly. She drew the gun out from underneath her jacket, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

Carrie stumbled back a step, reflexively bringing her hand up to her side. Her eyes dropped down to the redness that was starting to stain her shirt. “Then again, maybe we can negotiate,” she gurgled out, before collapsing down onto the floor.

“CARRIE!” Frank’s voice screamed. She heard him running into the room, and then he was pulling her back up into something of a seated position, leaning her against the table. “Carrie, are you all right? Speak to me!”

“I… I seem to be bleeding,” Carrie murmured, pulling up her shirt to see. She tried to apply pressure to the wound. The gunshot wound. Wow. They hadn’t covered this yet in health class…

“What? What happened?” someone gasped - Julie gasped?

“What HAPPENED? YOU JUST SHOT CARRIE, DAMN YOU!”

“Frank, don’t upset the crazy person,” Carrie suggested. Okay, talking hurt now. She squeezed her eyes shut.

“N-n-no,” Julie whimpered. Carrie reopened her eyes, in time to see that her former friend was now staring at the gun as if she was seeing it for the first time. That didn’t make much sense. However, when Carrie saw Frank rising to his feet out of the corner of her eye, Julie quickly cocked the weapon back up at him. “D-D-Don’t move,” Julie warned.

Unlike before, the gun was now wobbling all over the place. Then again, Carrie decided it was equally possible that her vision was wobbling all over the place. Should she call 911? Wow, yeah, someone should definitely do that…

As if reading her mind, Frank said, “Julie, let me get my phone out. Carrie needs medical attention.”

“This is not how my birthday was supposed to go,” Julie gasped. With that, Carrie decided that both of them were shaking. “This is NOT how my birthday was supposed to go. This IS NOT how…”

“Julie, put that gun down, so we can straighten all of this out,” Frank suggested.

“NO!” Julie shrieked. Her head snapped from side to side. “I’ll fix this,” she declared. “I’ll fix it all. Where’s your time machine?”

“Wh-What?”

“I KNOW you have one! Carrie told me all about it, you MUST have fixed it by now, so WHERE IS IT?”

The brunette was not longer whimpering but practically screaming, while holding the gun in both hands. Even that wasn’t helping to keep it steady. Heck, Julie’s whole form was starting to look blurry. Wait, no, Carrie realized everything was getting blurry…

“D-Downstairs,” Frank said.

“Downstairs,” Julie repeated. She swallowed. “I know how to make everything better. I never should have been born.”

“Julie…”

“NO!” Julie shrieked again. “I can’t LIVE like this any more!”

She fired the gun a second time. Frank stumbled back as the bullet slammed into the carpeting somewhere by his feet, and Julie took the opportunity to run out of the room.

It was as Carrie heard the new voice calling out from the front of the house that she discovered her unfocussed gaze was drifting up towards the ceiling.

“Frank??”

That was Luci’s voice! “In here,” Frank called out to her.

“Frank, I came in because I thought I heard a… holy geez!” Luci gasped out as she rounded the corner and spotted both him and Carrie.

“Julie’s gone crazy and she’s after the time machine,” Frank explained to her, fumbling with his phone. “See if you can tell what she’s doing as I call Carrie an ambulance, but BE CAREFUL. Julie got herself a gun from somewhere.”

Luci nodded wordlessly, and ducked back out of the room.

Frank finished dialling 911, requesting aid for a gunshot wound, and giving them his address. He winced, as he now recalled that their time machine was sitting out in plain view, on his lab bench.

“Frank?” he heard Carrie rasp. “Frank, it’s getting cold. Did your parents not pay the heating bill?”

Frank pulled the phone away from his mouth. “Yes, Carrie,” he replied, tears stinging at his eyes. “But we’ll get it fixed, so you make sure you stay conscious until then, okay? You promise me you’ll stay conscious!”

“Okay,” Carrie agreed quietly. “Okay, yeah… I’ll… try… that……”

“You won’t just try, you WILL,” Frank pleaded. He saw movement by the entranceway, and whirled towards the source.

“It’s me,” Luci said, raising her hands.

“Julie…?”

“She’s… gone,” Luci admitted quietly. “I saw her grab about half of our notes, take a coin for a particular year from your collection and then she activated the time machine. I’m not even sure what time period she selected.”

Frank ran a hand back through his hair. “From what she said, I’ve got a pretty good guess,” he admitted. “But… without the machine, we can’t follow her.”

“Right.” Luci swallowed. “So… so what do we do?”

Sirens began to wail outside. “I wish I knew,” Frank replied. “I really wish I knew.”

PART 32: FREQUENT FLYERS

She’d shoved him out of the way - but wasn’t next to him now. Hearing the squealing of tires, Frank twisted his head around, expecting the worst. “Carrie?” he called out. The van had stopped right past where they’d all been standing. “Carrie!” Frank repeated.

“No need to shout, geez,” came Carrie’s voice. Frank was forced to turn again, now seeing that Carrie - no, TWO Carries - were lying a short distance away, in the grass by the sidewalk. Along with the time machine.

“Thank goodness," Frank sighed. “And Luci? LUCI?!"

“Present,” came Luci’s voice. “Nice to be remembered.”

Frank now registered that she was lying rigidly on the pavement. She must have reacted fast enough to flatten herself down onto the ground, leaving the van to pass overtop of her. She seemed none the worse for wear; maybe breathing a bit harder than usual.

“I would have shoved you as well, Luci," one of the Carries said, also sounding winded. “But you seemed to be reacting fast enough.”

The shorter girl pushed herself up from the pavement. “Yeah, well, I’d have pulled Frank down with me, but you were already ramming into his back.”

“Meanwhile, I had to tackle my younger self out of the way,” the second Carrie piped up. “I’m thinking I should get a thank you there?” She looked pointedly at her double.

“Vat yu crazy kids doin'?” a new voice said. It was the owner of the van, who had now exited his vehicle and peered beneath it, obviously concerned that there might still be someone else there. “Any body hurt?”

Carrie - their version from the past, Frank decided, based on her clothes - waved her hand sheepishly. “No, we’re fine. Sorry, didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

“Won’t happen again. Please, drive on,” the other present day(?) Carrie added. She helped her counterpart to her feet. Frank also stood up, brushing off his hands.

The man blinked. “Vat you mean? Everything hokay then?”

The teenagers exchanged a quick glance, then replied all at once, saying phases such as “sure”, “oh yeah”, “great” and “no problem”.

“But yu know, is bad idea to play in road,” stated the driver. “Be more careful in future.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be more careful while in the future,” Luci quipped.

The van driver stared at them for another moment before shaking his head. “Crazy kids,” the driver repeated. He got back into his van and drove off, Frank idly noticing the licence plate read ‘LARS 02’. He then looked around to get his bearings. They were on his street, near his house.

“So anyway, welcome to November 12th,” present (yet technically future?) Carrie said. “Now let’s hurry up and get inside. You need to tend to your scrapes and bruises, plus it’s about to pour rain.”

They all headed off to Frank’s place. None of them paid any attention to the thirty-something male sitting in the parked car nearby, as he scribbled on a notepad.

“5:44,” Frank said. He closed the pocket watch and moved to put it back in the machine. “You past versions got that? That’s the time you all appeared here, so that’s the time when Carrie will have to save herself today after you all go back.”

“You were expecting us then,” the second Frank realized. “That… makes sense. Good to know we’ll make a safe return trip.” He rubbed his forehead. “Though I’m having trouble understanding how we can be here simultaneously. I mean, it makes sense if we go into the past, making that the present, but now that our present is the future instead…?”

In Frank’s sitting room there were now two Franks, two Carries, two Lucis, one Chartreuse and one Tim. Past Luci cleared her throat. “Try thinking about why the pocket watch actually worked instead,” she offered. “That’s the part that’s blowing my mind.”

“This is going to be, like, a real weird conversation,” Chartreuse realized. “How do I even refer to you guys? Frank One and Frank Two?”

“The first time around we used middle names," Carrie said absentmindedly. “That is, the time we did this when I was you,” she clarified, indicating her past counterpart. “I believe the explanation I gave was that it could become a useful standard for any other encounters? Any of us out of our present time can auto-revert to their middle name.”

“That makes sense,” Carrie’s prior self agreed. “I don’t mind being called Elizabeth.”

“But, Carrie, you’re messing with causality now!” the time displaced Frank protested. “How does that idea even have an origin?”

“You know what? Screw it,” Luci decided. “This means I’m Isabella. I’m putting that out there now, lest Carrie manage to create a new middle name for me.”

Frank rubbed his forehead. “But… fine. So I’m, uh, Bernard."

Elizabeth lifted an eyebrow. “Bernard?”

“My grandfather’s name,” Bernard explained with a shrug.

“I like Elizabeth,” Chartreuse observed. “Carrie, can I, like, call you Betty or Beth too?”

“No,” Elizabeth said, making a face. “Elizabeth.”

“Things are confusing enough already," Isabella sighed in agreement.

“I’m already lost,” Tim admitted, speaking up for the first time. “I mean, why are we here anyway, since you past guys said nothing came of this after you got back?”

“Because while nothing came of it when I was Isabella," Luci explained, “that doesn’t mean that talking now won’t trigger a revelation a little ways along in our present, which our counterparts wouldn’t have known, having already returned to the past."

“Besides, we already had this discussion, so we have to have it again,” Frank asserted.

“Oh." Tim lowered his head down between his legs. “So do you really need ME here?"

Chartreuse reached over to pat Tim on the back. “Aw, hey, don’t sweat it. See it as, like, a whole new sort of experience. Besides, the discussion can’t go that long. Frank’s parents have to come home at some point, plus me and Luci have, you know, band practice later tonight."

Bernard let out a breath. “Then in the interests of expediting matters… our arrival here in the future was obviously expected, so our reason for coming must also be known. What’ve you got?"

Carrie smiled. “That’s my cue!” she said, producing three identical flyers and handing them out to the three time travellers.

Bernard looked down at the sheet in his hand. There was a picture of Julie on top. She looked a little younger, and was wearing what looked to be some sort of school uniform, like from a private school. Indeed, as Bernard began to read he realized that’s exactly what her clothing represented. “This is information on Julie’s past,” he said, shocked.

“Corry figured all this out?” Isabella asked, looking back up.

“He both figured it out, and then printed up something like 500 copies of that to spread around the school," Luci confirmed to her prior self.

“Oh, this is PRICELESS,” Elizabeth said, letting out a laugh as she scanned over the sheet in her hands. “This stuff must have made Julie livid! Damn, it might have been worth the wait after all.”

There was a brief silence, after which Elizabeth found that everyone was staring at her. Even her future self. She brushed some hair back off her shoulder. “What?” she said haughtily. “Have we forgotten what Julie DID to me? She’s hardly the heroine in our school soap opera.”

“Don’t try to fill the vacancy,” Isabella muttered.

Bernard cleared his throat. “Look, Carrie’s… er, Elizabeth’s grudge notwithstanding, Julie’s reaction IS the main reason for having this talk,” he pointed out. “What do we have on that?”

Carrie took a step towards the middle of the room. “You need context first. So, here’s what I remember myself saying. Which was confirmed when Corry talked with me, so don’t you start into one of your time loop discussions, Bernard,” she added quickly, shaking a finger at him. Bernard raised his hands in deference to her.

Carrie started her explanation.

“Corry has actually spent years trying to learn more about Julie,” Carrie began. “Ever since Grade Nine. More recently, he was able to track down a girl named Tracy Irving - you can see her referenced there at the bottom of the flyers. Now, this Tracy used to be close to Julie, back when Julie was attending a private boarding school in England.”

“Wait, close to Julie? Close how?” Isabella wondered.

“A friend,” Carrie shrugged. “I guess the same way I was. Basically, we’re not the first school to have faced Julie’s quest for domination.”

“England? But Julie doesn’t speak with an accent,” Bernard mused.

“She’s not FROM there, her parents sent her away. Rich, remember?” Carrie countered. “Point is, Julie recruited Tracy to assist her in controlling her old boarding school.” She began to pace back and forth. “But after a few months, Tracy was put off by Julie’s methods. Their friendship died. And that didn’t slow Julie down much… but what DID set her back was the actions Tracy took afterwards. When Tracy decided that Julie had to be dealt with. And asked to rejoin her.”

“Wait - was TRACY the wizard’s apprentice in Julie’s loyalty story to us?” Elizabeth asked. Carrie shrugged. Elizabeth frowned. “I feel slighted.”

“You know,” Chartreuse broke in, “I’m getting the impression that this Tracy has, like, a fair bit in common with Corry. They both sound… kinda ruthless.”

“Could be how they finally found each other,” Carrie acknowledged. “The internet is funny that way. Anyway, long story short, Tracy begged forgiveness of Julie, she was let back in, and she formed some counter alliance within Julie’s ranks. If you look at paragraph three of that printout, you’ll see how Julie’s methods have included coercion, bribery, even blackmail. Except people also join her voluntarily, so you never know who’s with her for what reason. And Julie makes a point of not revealing that information - or it was like that until Tracy. And now Corry.”

“Julie has some serious issues she should deal with,” Bernard said.

“Wait, I… I’m getting lost again,” Tim sighed. “Why did Julie even accept this Tracy back? She never accepted you back, Carrie.”

“Younger Julie. Sloppier. Learned her lesson, and then took it out on me,” Elizabeth decided.

“Or maybe Julie underestimated this Tracy,” Luci proposed. “Blind to the fact that she could ever lose.”

“Wait.” Chartreuse tapped her fingers against her temples. “Corry obviously didn’t get HIS information from, you know, infiltrating Julie. So unless Carrie provided him with a LOT more stuff than Julie thought was possible, how did Corry, like, come up with the flyer? Because based on how people reacted today, I don’t think the info was, you know, faked.”

“Extrapolation,” Carrie said, before Elizabeth had a chance to speak. “Corry combined what Tracy told him with what he already knew about our school. After all, Julie’s methods haven’t changed outright. Corry was able to draw as many parallels as he could, and quiz me endlessly on some of the gaps. Then he got Tracy to send him that old picture, and BOOM. Despite the flyer not naming names, Corry’s put Julie’s ranks into chaos. He got the whole school wondering who the real Julie LaMille is.”

Bernard spoke in the silence that followed. “Context aside, what of Julie’s reaction?” he pressed. “That’s part of why we’re here. Is she about to lose her mind and start attacking people?”

“No,” Frank answered himself slowly. “Her reaction wasn’t what any of us expected.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “I’m betting Julie simply denied everything, and made people doubt this Tracy person ever existed outside Corry’s imagination. Yeah?”

The five people in their proper time exchanged a glance. “No,” Frank repeated. “That’s just it. She not only confirmed what was in the flyer, she pointed out an ERROR Corry had made. It seems he had overestimated the number of her voluntary followers.”

The three time travellers stared back. “But that’s CRAZY,” Isabella protested. “If even half of what I’ve seen written on this flyer is true, practically every student is going to eventually turn against her.”

“Was Julie hoping for leniency?” Bernard guessed.

“We have no idea,” Carrie said with a shrug.

“Actually, I even heard Julie, like, voluntarily scheduled herself in for counselling sessions tomorrow,” Chartreuse added. “Something that had been recommended by the principal.”

There was a moment of silence. “Well, I guess we’re done with this time trip then,” Elizabeth concluded. “I got to see what was going to happen, you got to see travel to the future, turns out everyone will live happily ever after, the end. At the risk of sounding unoriginal, when do we go back?”

Isabella crossed her arms. “No. NO. I don’t like it,” she said bluntly. “It’s too perfect.”

“I agree, unsurprisingly enough,” Luci said. “However, Elizabeth does have a point. Wasn’t this the outcome we were hoping for? A nice, non-apocalyptic, non-gun wielding conclusion to everything? Hey, here it is, and we didn’t have to lift a finger to create it.”

“In fact, if you three try to lift a finger, this could turn into a disaster,” Frank pointed out. “And I don’t mean at the school. Consider the following: You change something. Because of that, Carrie is unable to save herself from the van at 5:44. It would at minimum change this conversation, and in the worst case, an injured Elizabeth could make for a nasty time… loop? Paradox? I don’t even know. Thus it’s in all our best interests to act like your trip never happened. I know I’m going to. Er, going to have that is.”

The three time travellers again exchanged a glance. “I’m right,” Bernard realized. “We can’t do anything to disrupt this future from happening. The timeline needs to unfold this way.”

“Lovely,” Isabella said, smacking her palm to her forehead. “Honestly Carrie, it’s always something with you! I guess that means we won’t be able to tell past Chartreuse and Tim about any of this either.”

“What? Luci, I’m hurt,” Chartreuse protested. “Seeing as nothing’s going to come of this, why can’t I, like, know earlier?”

“You really think you can fake your way sitting through that explanation, when you would already know it?” Frank asked.

Chartreuse paused. “Welllll…”

“Chartreuse, if we leave it like this, it gets us out of the discussion in a non-weird way,” Tim pleaded. “Please, right now that’s what I’m hoping for the most.”

“Okay then,” Chartreuse sighed. “I guess I can accept it. Though it means I’m now, you know, in on a secrecy conspiracy against myself.” She brightened. “Which, come to think, is kinda neat.”

“Did I at least take one of these flyers with me to study?” Isabella questioned. Her counterpart nodded, and Isabella pocketed the information.

“We’ll clear out of your way now,” Bernard decided. “I only hope that this future turns out to be as good as it looks.”

“You worry too much,” Elizabeth said airily. “Let’s not look the gift horse in the mouth, okay?”

Five minutes later, after the time machine had been reset, Elizabeth, Bernard and Isabella pulled the handle to head back into the past.

“That’s cleared some of the clutter out of here,” Carrie observed, dusting off her hands.

Frank walked over to the sitting room window. “It was certainly a bizarre experience, meeting oneself that way,” he reflected, watching large droplets of rain splatter against the glass. At least it wasn’t cold enough for snow yet.

“It was pretty amazing I’d say,” Chartreuse noted. “You know, I think I’d like to try a time trip myself next. If that’s okay with you guys, of course.”

“I’m just glad it’s over with,” Tim sighed. “Not only the time travel but also the mess with Julie. Maybe life can get back to normal now.”

Chartreuse turned her gaze upon him. “Aw, Tim, I’m so sorry you, like, didn’t enjoy any of this. I hope you can forgive me and that we can still, you know, be friends?”

Tim hesitated only briefly before smiling back at Chartreuse. “I-I’d like that,” he admitted. “And it’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, Chartreuse! I mean, I did agree to come here. It’s only… it’s a lot to take in. It’s easier for me to handle social stuff when it’s just me and Clarke, I guess.”

“Time travel is overwhelming no matter who you are,” Frank remarked. He turned away from the window. “Before you all go, the logical question we need to ask now is - is there anything further to say about Julie’s reaction?”

No one spoke. Then Luci let out a sigh of resignation. “It doesn’t look like it, much as I wish that weren’t the case,” she said. “I mean, we all saw Julie today. She should have been angry, and she wasn’t. She was smiling. Smiling in a weird, contented way, like she got what she wanted. My past self was right, it’s too perfect. We’re missing a piece of the puzzle.”

“It was her birthday,” Chartreuse pointed out. “Maybe Julie decided to, like, accept that the skeletons were out, in order to restart her life at sweet sixteen.”

“Maybe,” Luci said, unconvinced. “I guess I was holding out too much hope that, upon seeing our previous conversation from this side, something else would be triggered.”

“Yeah, well, I got nothing,” Carrie declared. “So we might as well wrap this meeting up.”

Chartreuse looked over at the clock. “Probably best. Me and Luci have, like, less than a half hour until band rehearsal. We’d better get a move on.”

“I don’t want to overstay my welcome either,” Tim said, standing up. “I bet your parents will be back soon.”

Frank pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. “All right then. Thanks for coming,” he concluded. “Also, Tim, Chartreuse, now that you know about the time machine, I see no reason to exclude you from any new incidents that come up. All we would ask is that you continue to keep the secret.”

“Of course,” Chartreuse agreed. “As long as you consider letting me time trip.”

“I’ll keep the secret,” Tim added. “But don’t feel you have to call me in. Keeping me updated through Chartreuse is fine.”

“Fair enough,” Frank said.

Everyone proceeded out of the sitting room.

“Oh yeah, Frank, there was an actual math question I wanted to ask you about,” Carrie remembered, snapping her fingers. “Can you spare a few more minutes?”

“Sure,” Frank agreed. “It’ll be nice to do something mundane for a change.”

Carrie pulled her notebook from her bag while the others retrieved their belongings and headed out the front door. With only a brief backwards glance, Luci joined Chartreuse under her umbrella in her walk towards the high school. His own umbrella open, Tim followed for a short distance before turning away to head for his own place of residence. Meanwhile, Carrie and Frank adjourned back to the Dijora sitting room.

At that moment, none of them felt particularly concerned about the future.

Ten minutes later, the gun went off.

PART 31: PAST MEETS FUTURE

“Damn you, Corry,” she seethed. “You have more stamina than I thought. I played the tape incriminating your sister at the dance. I set you up by putting those prescription pills in Carrie’s locker. I opened myself up to attack, and despite that - you wait. You. WAIT. This is driving me NUTS! I thought for sure, on Halloween…”

Julie raked a hand back through her hair and leaned back against the wall. “I can’t lose to you if you do nothing, Corry. What the hell is wrong, idiot? You know you want to deal with me. You’ve wanted it for two years, so COME AT ME already!”

There was a knock at the basement door to her ‘play room’, making Julie jump. “Who’s there?” she hollered.

“Me," came the voice of Jeeves, the family butler. “Clarke’s called you again.”

She’d stopped taking cell phone calls; he’d resorted to the land line. “Then you should have told him I didn’t want to talk."

“Indeed I did. But following that we had another call from your high school.”

“On the contrary, this time the principal recommended a good counsellor for you,” Jeeves responded. “And frankly Miss LaMille, I’m starting to think that a wise course of action. I would hate to see a repeat of whatever happened three years ago, before you came to this town.”

Julie began to rock her body back and forth. “It won’t happen,” she called back. She swallowed. “I’ll do things right this time,” she finished, too quietly for him to hear.

“Very well,” Jeeves concluded after a moment. “But your parents ARE still due to arrive next week. For your birthday. Ultimately, I believe the decision on counselling will be up to them?”

Julie didn’t answer. Her eyes merely tracked back to the lower drawer of that one particular filing cabinet. “You’ll see. I’ll do things right this time,” she repeated softly.

Mrs. Dijora smiled as she opened the door. “Why Carrie, how nice to see you again!”

Carrie flashed Frank’s mother a quick grin. “Thanks, likewise! Frank in?”

Mrs. Dijora nodded. “He’s downstairs with Luci.”

“Great,” Carrie said, stepping inside. “Euhhh, I can come in, right?” she asked belatedly. Mrs. Dijora simply nodded again, looking mildly amused as Carrie hurried past her to open the basement door. The blonde took the stairs down two at a time, the individuals in Frank’s lab turning to look as she reached the bottom.

“Don’t you ever knock?” Luci wondered.

“I knocked on the front door,” Carrie retorted. “Look, I’m actually glad you’re both here. We’ve got a new date we can time travel to as a test. Once you’re finished with your final checks or whatever.”

Frank adjusted his glasses. “Oh? What date might that be?”

Carrie took in a deep breath. “November 12th. Four days into the future.”

Frank stared back at her for a moment, then he turned to Luci. “Is there something going on here that I don’t know about?”

Luci pursed her lips. “Hard to say, really.”

Carrie lifted an eyebrow. “Okay, I know I’VE missed any connection between me and the– between me and Luci.”

“She suggested that same date to me yesterday,” Frank explained.

“Oh, she did, did she?” Carrie said, folding her arms.

“As I said to Luci then, even if it is possible, given how the device can apparently travel to any time during our current year… I’m not sanguine about travel to the future,” Frank continued. “It will substantially compound the number of unknown variables involved.”

Carrie shrugged. “Your fancy words are outvoted two to one," she pointed out. “Though I would like to know exactly what Luci’s interest is with that date.”

Luci shrugged as well. “The same as yours?”

“You mean Corry?” Carrie pressed. Luci nodded. “So how did YOU know he’d be doing something then?”

Luci hesitated only briefly. “That would take a bit of explanation," she admitted. She boosted herself up to sit on the edge of the lab table, bringing her closer to Carrie’s height. “And while I’ve considered saying something before, it’s only now that the time machine is a factor again that it’s relevant. Thing is, Carrie, you cannot reveal what I’m about to say to Corry.”

Carrie sniffed. “No deal. At least, not if this relates to Julie, since the guy grills me on her every other day. I’m starting to think he’s got psychological problems."

“It doesn’t directly relate to Julie,” Luci assured. “It relates to Chartreuse. However, I cannot say anything more without an assurance of your complete confidence.”

Carrie frowned, and looked at Frank, who shrugged. “Look, I’ll keep quiet either way," he pointed out. “Again, more concerned with the actual travel into the future.”

Carrie fought briefly against her curiosity, but it was a losing proposition. “Okay, Luci,” she agreed. “Nothing to Corry. I’m pretty sure he’ll ease off me after the 12th anyway."

Luci eyed her for a moment, then nodded. “Okay then.” She took in a breath. “For the last month or more, Chartreuse, Tim and I have been working together. Trying to keep tensions from escalating too high at school between the Julie and Corry factions.”

“Seriously? You’re doing a lousy job then," Carrie blurted out. “Julie was accused of stealing that potted plant from Mrs. Latour’s desk the other week, Corry was blamed for messing up Julie’s law case files…”

“It’s not easy,” Luci interrupted. “People are ready to go off at the drop of a hat.” She leaned forwards. “That said, we’ve been pretty sure that Corry’s had something on the back burner. Chartreuse finally got the date of November 12th from Laurie earlier this week.”

“Hrmph. Okay, you’re up on me then,” Carrie grumbled. “Corry only gave me that date today. It makes sense though, that being Julie’s birthday,” she added. Luci nodded slowly.

“Wait, hold on,” Frank protested. “Why would Corry take action against Julie on her birthday?”

“When else?” Carrie retorted. “Corry doesn’t have experience with the long game, not like Julie. When she didn’t do anything after I switched teams, Corry was shocked. Since then, he’s questioned me about her motivations. Obsessively. Now, if you know Julie, you can see she’s been gradually fraying around the edges too - but in the end? No way was he going to outlast her. The date makes perfect sense, now that I know.”

“What DID Corry come up with on Julie’s motives?” Luci wondered.

“Can’t talk about it,” Carrie shot back automatically. She then rubbed the back of her neck. “Mainly because I don’t know. Corry and I don’t go much beyond speaking terms. He only gave me the November 12th date because, once I realized he wasn’t going to wait forever, I asked him to be nice enough to give me a few days heads up.”

“But… then what is Corry about to do?” Frank asked.

“Obviously, we don’t know,” Luci said. “Which is why I proposed going ahead to November 12th, to see something that might help clear things up for the 2DEGS."

Frank blinked. “For the… what?”

Luci blushed. “Uh, the 2DEGS. It’s, well, how Chartreuse refers to our little group of three,” she admitted a bit sheepishly. “See, she, me and Tim, we all have two degrees of separation from… look, it doesn’t matter,” she decided as Frank and Carrie’s stares become more incredulous. “Point is, I’ve always wanted to try a trip to the future too, to verify that it could be done. The time machine is functional again, so why not use it for a good cause like this?”

“Exactly!” Carrie shifted her gaze back to Frank. “Besides, aren’t you curious about the Julie-Corry feud? I say let’s go for it. I mean, for crying out loud, aren’t you at least pleased that I’m suggesting THIS instead of a trip back to deal with you-know-what?”

Carrie had decided that there would be time enough for her mother once the school situation had been dealt with.

Frank sighed. “Well, as you said, it appears I’m outvoted.”

“Excellent,” Carrie said, rubbing her hands in delight.

“There’s just one more thing,” Luci said. “I decided to tell you all that for a reason. Basically, before we go anywhere…” She took in a deep breath. “I want to tell Chartreuse and Tim about our time travelling.”

Both Carrie and Frank turned back to Luci. “What?” they chorused.

The next evening, Tim was shown into the Dijora sitting room. Chartreuse was already there. She smiled brightly at him. “Glad you could make it.”

Tim smiled back weakly.

“I’m so glad we’re getting to meet more of Frank’s classmates,” Mrs. Dijora said, clasping her hands together. “My son said he’d be upstairs shortly, can I get either of you anything while you wait? Juice maybe?”

“I’m okay, thanks,” Chartreuse said. “Tim?”

Tim simply shook his head. Mrs. Dijora nodded and left the room, after which Tim heard her calling downstairs to her son. He turned to Chartreuse. “So why would Luci ask to meet us HERE?” he wondered.

“Dunno,” Chartreuse confessed. “But I would, you know, guess it has something to do with Corry and our upcoming doomsday.” Tim nodded in resignation and took a seat. “Not a bad looking house here,” Chartreuse continued conversationally. “It’s probably got, like, good fung shui.”

Tim shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Yeah, neither would I,” Chartreuse concurred. “Not my area of expertise.”

She winked and smiled again, and Tim found he couldn’t help but smile back. For all her faults, Chartreuse did have a way of helping a person feel more at ease. Still, Tim found it difficult to get comfortable, particularly when not only Luci and Frank, but also Carrie walked into the room. All wearing sombre expressions.

“We’re clear,” Frank remarked, looking down the hall. “Dad’s out like usual these days and Mom’s gone upstairs for the moment.”

“So what’s, like, up?” Chartreuse asked. “Do you all have some new…” Her voice trailed off as Luci motioned for quiet.

“We’re about to let the two of you in on a big secret,” Luci began. “And while I trust you’ll both keep this quiet, there have been some reservations expressed.” Tim saw the younger girl glance at Carrie. “So let me be perfectly clear. What I am about to reveal, you are NOT speak of to anyone else. It doesn’t go beyond the five of us. Okay?”

Tim and Chartreuse looked at each other, surprised. “Okay, sure,” Chartreuse agreed.

“Not even to Clarke?” Tim asked.

“Especially not to him,” Carrie insisted.

Luci fully turned towards the blonde cheerleader. “Well… we are pretty sure he suspects anyway, via Julie,” she pointed out.

“All the more reason not to give Julie any more information,” Carrie challenged. “Clarke is not part of this agreement.”

“We’d prefer you didn’t mention it to him,” Frank offered up. “But we’ll take any other names under advisement, as we did when Luci suggested the both of you.” Carrie sighed in exasperation, but said nothing more.

Tim nodded. “O-Okay then,” he said, biting his lip. “The five of us.”

Luci spoke up again. “Tim, remember how you saw two Carries at the school dance? That’s something that never got properly explained. And Chartreuse, you’ve asked me about that other person caught by Professor Linquist - the one who looked similar to me, yet older. Again, I couldn’t go into any detail.”

The young asian girl began to pace. “This secret will explain everything. My hope is that it will also lead you to believe any information that comes out of what we’re about to do. Plus, Chartreuse, there’s something you’ve been hiding from us in the last week.” Chartreuse flinched. “Please take this action of mine as a gesture of faith towards revealing your own secret.”

“I… I’m not really hiding a secret,” Chartreuse protested. “There’s only this, like, event that I foresaw over a month ago, and I’ve recently had the feeling that it may be, you know, close at hand. If it happens. I could be wrong about the whole thing.”

“Oh, get ON with this already,” Carrie groaned. “Luci, if you’re going to tell them, do it before Frank’s mom comes back down.”

Luci rolled her eyes. “Okay, bottom line. Chartreuse, Tim… the three of us here have access to a time machine.” She let the comment sit there for a moment before adding, “And we’re planning on using it to travel forwards three days in order to see what happens to Julie at school.”

“What?” Tim said, bewildered.

“Cool,” said Chartreuse, without missing a beat. She leaned forwards. “How did you, like, get ahold of something like that?”

Carrie, Frank and Luci all answered the question at once.

“Government agents,” Carrie said.

“Came from the future,” Frank said.

“Through alien technology,” Luci said.

The three of them turned to look at each other. “We’re not sure of its origins,” Frank finally admitted.

“You have got to be kidding us,” Tim murmured.

“We wouldn’t kid about this sort of thing,” Luci assured him.

Frank stepped forwards. “In fact, there was one key argument in favour of revealing the time machine to you now. With the three of us traveling to the future, if something unexpected happens, and we can’t get back… well, it seemed wise to have someone in our own time who knew what was going on.”

“Can we actually see this time machine thing then?” Chartreuse asked eagerly.

Frank nodded. “It’s downstairs. Come on, we might as well explain to you what we’ve figured out so far.”

“Not that you’ll understand most of it,” Carrie added under her breath. Still, she was loud enough that Tim heard her remark. And, based on his understanding of things to this point, he was inclined to agree.

Chartreuse peered closely at the black box on Frank’s lab table, even as he began to explain something about coins. “You know,” she piped up when he paused. “I kinda thought a time machine would be, like, bigger. Aren’t you supposed to be able to ride in them?”

“Wait, let me see if I understand,” Tim said uneasily. “You drop a coin in that thing, pull the lever, and end up in the same year as when the coin was minted?”

Frank nodded. “Exactly. We can rig the month and day internally, even set the time now thanks to some new integrated circuits of Luci’s. There IS random variance, but so far we’ve only been more than a day off target once or twice.”

“Except when we ARE off by more, it can be for a month,” Carrie grumbled.

“Then what’s the pocket watch for?” Chartreuse wondered, pointing at it through the open top of the device.

“Oh, that’s my idea,” Carrie said, smiling as she leaned against the table next to Chartreuse. “It belongs to my family, and it’s going to display the actual time of arrival.”

“Maybe,” Luci yielded. “Thing is, we tried a digital readout, but it risks an overheating problem. This mechanical stopwatch doesn’t seem to affect the internal workings that way - and for whatever reason, it’s hands twitch when the machine is charged. Carrie has a ‘feeling’, so we mounted it inside.”

“Cool,” Chartreuse reiterated, deciding to ignore the skepticism in Luci’s tone. “How long have you guys been, you know, working on this thing then?”

“I found the machine back in September,” Carrie revealed.

“I did most of the initial work that month,” Frank added. “Though have been collecting coins for a few years.”

“And I helped tinker all through October,” Luci finished. “Not always successfully. Which is why you saw me as a twenty year old that day, Chartreuse.”

“This really doesn’t seem that safe then,” Tim put in. “You don’t know where it’s f-from, don’t know what it’s capable of, it’s got r-random variance, yet you’re actively USING it?”

“Some of us have a personal stake,” Carrie noted, crossing her arms.

“Plus we haven’t had any major problems,” Frank assured. “And it’s in using it that we discover more about it.”

“So, like, how many trips have you made?” Chartreuse wondered.

“I haven’t been keeping track,” Frank admitted. “Initially we made a few little test trips. That said, right now, we only have a half dozen or so present day coins left. I’ve seen fewer of them since they first started circulating, at the beginning of summer.”

Luci cleared her throat. “Respectfully - the questions could become endless, and they aren’t important right now. Chartreuse, Tim, I simply felt that you deserved to know.”

“THANK you,” Carrie sighed. “With that dealt with, let’s travel to the future before the future becomes the past. You’ve already set the device properly, right Frank?”

Frank nodded. “For after school on the 12th. That way we can learn about things through the aftermath, avoiding details.”

“Wait,” Luci objected. “Before we go - Chartreuse, that vision you mentioned…?”

Chartreuse felt her mood crash. “My visions aren’t always accurate, Luci,” she protested. “I mean, maybe you heard that in September, I forecasted that we’d finally have a winning football team? That never happened.”

“I doubt you put much effort into that reading,” Luci observed.

“Circumstances have, you know, changed over the last month too,” Chartreuse continued desperately. “I mean, my own detention with Carrie after the drugs might have, like, cancelled out what I saw.”

“Regardless, Chartreuse - if you know something about the future we’re going into, we could use that advantage.”

“Oh no, look, no, you don’t want this knowledge,” Chartreuse said, adopting her most serious posture. “You really don’t.”

“Maybe not. But I think we need to have it,” Luci said.

“Luci, if she doesn’t want to tell us, fine,” Carrie broke back in, with obvious exasperation. “Is this really so important?”

“It might be,” Frank put in, now looking a little more closely at Chartreuse. “Because this sounds significant. Like, drugs in a locker significant.” Carrie pursed her lips at that.

“Chartreuse,” Frank ventured, “we’ll be flying more blind than usual. If you somehow have insight into anything that’s coming… it really could be invaluable.”

Chartreuse shifted her weight back and forth. “Ooooh…” She exhaled, and decided to say it all in a rush. “ISawSomeoneWeKnowFromSchoolFiringAGun!”

No one spoke at first. Until Luci fired off the logical question, “Who?”

“I don’t know,” Chartreuse said sullenly, shaking her head.

“When?” Tim gasped out.

“I don’t know. Soon.”

“Did anyone get hit?” Frank wondered.

“I don’t know.”

“You really don’t know much at all,” Carrie muttered, barely audibly.

Chartreuse spun to face the blonde. “THAT’S why I didn’t want to say anything! You don’t know what it was like to see even that much, Carrie. I mean, if you’d, like, seen someone you knew shooting a gun, could you ever look them in the eye again without thinking about that? I didn’t WANT to know more.” Never mind that even that much had overloaded her vision.

Carrie seemed surprised at Chartreuse’s reaction, causing the pink haired girl to bow her head. “I-I’m sorry, Carrie. I didn’t mean to, you know, snap at you like that.”

“No. It’s fine, I think I had that coming to me,” Carrie yielded after a second. She turned to Luci. “Before I say something else I shouldn’t, can we please GO already?”

The younger girl reluctantly pulled her gaze away from Chartreuse. “Okay. Yeah. I think all the secrets are out now,” she finished.

Except there was too much tension in the air for Chartreuse. “We five do make an odd group, don’t we?” she offered up to them. “Guess I’ll have to, like, change the name of the 2DEGS, huh? How about, er, the time trippers?” Everyone blinked at her.

“That makes it sound like we do temporal drugs,” Tim objected. Carrie snickered, and to Chartreuse’s relief, the others joined in.

“Okay,” Frank concluded, after he finished chuckling. “So, any technical details should be answerable in the steadily growing pile of notes me and Luci have been making.” He gestured towards them. “Chartreuse, Tim, feel free to glance over those while we’re gone.”

“Though we may be back before we leave,” Luci remarked.

Carrie plunked a present day nickel into the time machine device. “We won’t get BACK unless we GO,” she reminded, grabbing the handle.

With another nod, Frank grabbed for their backpack of supplies and moved to take hold of the handle too, right after Luci. On a count of three, they pulled, and Frank felt the temporal void sucking him in. The next thing he noticed were the bright headlights of a van bearing down on him, doing at least 30 kph.

By the time this fact fully registered with him, Frank barely had enough time left to process being in the middle of the road. He realized then that he wouldn’t even be able to cry out.

There was nothing he could do now, except get hit.

PART 30: SEARCH AND RESCUE

Luci grimaced. Geez, what was she thinking? “Let’s get through the rest of this," she decided. The twenty year old scanned back over what she had written. “Though it looks like I’ll need to backtrack first.” She resumed her writing.

‘‘However, something I didn’t know at the time: When I didn’t show up for dinner, my parents contacted the Dijoras and the Vermilions. Then later in the evening, the police. A search was started, which as of Sunday morning, included Frank, Carrie and Chartreuse, all out looking for me.’’

“We’re getting nowhere,” Carrie stated.

Chartreuse ventured a smile at the blonde. “Not true. We, like, know that Luci made it to the store, and that nothing happened at the store. So whatever happened, happened after."

“Brilliant,” Carrie said dryly. “Peered in your crystal ball this morning, I see.”

“Carrie…” Frank said.

Carrie sighed in exasperation. “Okay, I’m sorry, but come on. Wandering the streets is not helping us at this point. We need a plan of attack. For instance, wouldn’t it be great if we could travel back in time a day to see what happened in person?”

Chartreuse adjusted one of the bows in her pink hair. “Hey, least I can do, you know? Luci’s my friend too. Still, I fear Carrie’s right. This doesn’t seem to be, you know, helping. Maybe we should, like, directly question people around here?”

She reached out to tap the shoulder of a man passing by. “Excuse me, sir, do you know anything about…”

The words froze on Chartreuse’s lips as her hand made contact with him. A wave of emotion blasted through her, making her snap her hand back with a gasp. She stumbled and might have fallen if Frank hadn’t caught her.

The wide-eyed white haired man turned. “What? Are you saying something?” he inquired.

“No. Nothing. Carry on,” Chartreuse gasped, trying to regulate her breathing. He blinked at her a few times, glanced at Frank and Carrie, then shrugged then continued on his way.

“Okay, what was THAT little drama about?” Carrie inquired, after the pedestrian had moved off a little ways.

“That guy, the one I tapped, who came out of the library – he knows something about what happened to Luci,” Chartreuse explained breathlessly. “I got this sensation that somehow, he, like, knows where Luci is.”

“What? Where is she??” Frank asked.

“I don’t know. This was an impression thing, you know, not a vision thing,” Chartreuse said, still trying to regain her equilibrium. “Don’t ask him though. Something’s off. It’s as if he knows WHERE she is but not WHAT she is, if that makes any sense.”

Carrie peered closer at Chartreuse. “Oh yeah. Lots of sense happening here.”

“You have to believe me! I mean, remember back when I, like, knew about the drugs in your locker?” Chartreuse reminded. Carrie flinched back.

“Okay, it’s our only real lead so far,” Frank concluded, looking up to see the man turning the corner. “Come on, quick, before we lose him.”

‘‘So they followed him, out towards the wooded area north of town,’’ Luci continued. ‘‘They lost him there, trying too hard to be unseen I suspect, and at that point split up to relocate him. Just my luck that Carrie was the one to stumble upon his cabin.’’

“You can allow me to have a direct look at your brain.” He turned the scalpel around in his hands. “Alas, at this point, that’s the only way for me to be certain.”

Which was when Luci heard a door behind her burst open and a familiar voice shout out, “Freeze!”

The man was instantly on his guard, crouching slightly. “Who are you?” he demanded.

“I’m… the one telling you to freeze,” Carrie’s voice said. “Luci, is that you?”

“Oh please, tell me you have backup,” Luci groaned, her eyes fixated upon the twitchiness of her abductor. She watched as he circled around towards the right, sensing that Carrie was moving in from the opposite direction. Soon they were both in her peripheral vision.

“Luci?! What has he DONE to you?” Carrie gasped as she finally got a good look at the asian’s eighteen year old body.

“Waiiiiit, wait, wait,” the man said. “Are you another of THEM? Come to take this one back to the mother ship?”

Carrie quirked up an eyebrow. “Um. Yes, in fact, I am one of them.”

“Carrie!” Luci hissed. What the hell was she hoping to accomplish by provoking an insane person? The blonde merely waved her off, intent on her original target. The crazy man.

“I should have known,” he said, growing visibly agitated, beginning to wave his scalpel around in the air. “I won’t let you win. I’ll kill you all!”

“But wait,” Carrie continued. “I am not here for this girl. I am defecting! That’s why I’m here now, to warn you - there’s thirty of the others tracking you down at this very moment. You’ve got to get away, before it’s too late.”

His mouth twitched. “You’re lying.”

“Yeah, they’re counting on you thinking that. It means they’ll finally be rid of your interference.”

His eyes flicked back and forth. “I… I can take them.”

“Yeah, they’re counting on you thinking that too. Geez, get going while the going is good! Here, I’ll help you gather up your notes.” She moved backwards.

“Hey… DON’T you TOUCH those!”

With both Carrie and her captor now out of view, Luci only heard him running, a loud THWACKing sound, and the noise of someone falling onto the floor. Then, heavy breathing. Luci squeezed her eyes shut. “Damn it Carrie, why don’t you think before you act?” she whimpered.

“Because if I did, he might have your brain in a jar by now,” Carrie panted. Luci blinked her eyes back open as she felt her classmate start to undo the ropes keeping her in the chair.

“Carrie! What… what just happened?”

Carrie finally caught her breath. “Fortunately, our friend here had a lot of notes, which make for ‘heavy’ reading. But what did he do to you, Luci? You look older than me!”

“This wasn’t his doing,” Luci explained as Carrie undid the last of the ropes, allowing her to rise to her feet. “It started before I saw him. This has something to do with the time machine.”

She could now see the rest of the room, including the apparent owner of the residence face down on the floor, a heavily bound book by his head. There were a number of papers scattered about.

“The time machine? You’re from the future?” Carrie said in confusion.

“No.” Luci took some tentative steps towards the prone figure as she fought to regain her sense of equilibrium. “It’s from when I touched those wires yesterday. In fact, I’m still tingling… this guy seemed to think my DNA was in flux.” As she said that, Luci stumbled and fell, but she was close enough now to reach out and grab a few of the loose sheets.

“Well, I hate to tell you this Luci, but this guy is a first class NUT. We’d better get out of here before he wakes up. I’ll call in the police and let them deal with him.”

Luci shivered slightly as she saw what had to be a lot of her vital statistics listed on one of the sheets she was holding. She wondered what had happened while she’d been unconscious. Still, it was the name at the top which quickly caught her attention.

“Report by Professor Linquist,” she said slowly. “I know that name.”

“Linquist?” Carrie frowned. “Yeah, wait a second. That’s the guy who lived in the LaMille mansion. Before they came to town.”

“I think you’re right. Wasn’t he supposed to be a reputable scientist?”

Carrie shrugged. “He might have won a local award or two, but the guy was a mysterious loner, meaning only slightly less whacked than he appears now. I mean, deciding to sell your mansion, in order to live out of a cabin in the woods? Hardly an upwards career move.”

Luci stared at the page. “But…” Then she froze as her stomach lurched. Oh no. Collapsing onto all fours, the buzzing noise returned.

Luci squeezed her eyes shut, gasping for breath, crying out in pain and confusion as her surroundings shrank and her body experienced another time jump forwards.

When the feeling passed, the first thing Luci became aware of was Carrie shaking her shoulder and calling out, “Luci? Gods, Luci! What the hell happened? Are you all right?”

“The tingling. It’s finally stopped,” Luci realized.

“Okay, that actually sounds bad. Come on, we’re going to see Frank,” Carrie decided. She must have taken off her jacket, as she now draped it over Luci’s shoulders. “I’ll carry you if I have to. Though… maybe not, you’ve gained some weight with your age. But still, come on already!”

“We have to gather up all the papers about me first,” Luci insisted. “I don’t want anyone else to have this information.”

She grabbed for her ID and personal effects, then any sheets which seemed to relate to her in any way. Carrie helped her scan through the pages.

“Why are you helping me here anyway?” it occurred to Luci to ask, wishing the pounding in her head would subside the way the tingling had.

“Because you’re another of Frank’s friends,” Carrie answered. Papers dealt with, she helped Luci back to her feet, grunting a bit with the effort. “Also, I’ve learned it’s not good when bad things happen to semi-decent people. Now, pull yourself together and let’s get a move on! Oh, by the way, Chartreuse is around here too. We’ll have to pass you off as your own long lost cousin, okay?”

Luci stared at Carrie, trying to wrap her head around that response, before nodding and allowing herself to be led out the door. Carrie filled her in as they headed out of the woods.

‘‘In retrospect, Carrie’s actions were nice. In a Carrie-esque way. Is it possible some of my prior opinions of her were coloured by her associations with Julie? And her apparent grudge against me, which came out of nowhere after that as-yet-unexplained missing second day of high school?’’

Luci nibbled briefly on the end of her pencil. She shook her head. ‘‘Anyway. Carrie sent a message to Frank. We all got back together, and then, to let me regain some more of my strength, Carrie and Chartreuse went off to handle talking to the police. This left me alone with Frank… all alone, with him sixteen, and me four years older than that.’’

Her grip tightened. ‘’That’s when everything went horribly, horribly wrong.’’

“Okay, let me see if I’ve got this straight,” Frank said. “Both you and Luci were kidnapped by this Linquist guy, but you managed to escape?”

“Not quite,” Luci admitted. “That was Carrie’s story for the benefit of Chartreuse.”

Frank grinned. “It had the flavour of one of her stories. Is this why you wanted me to wait here with you?”

“Yes. You see… Frank…” She took a deep breath. “I am Luci.”

Frank nodded. “A future Luci.”

“No. There was an accident with the time machine yesterday,” Luci explained. “When I touched those wires it did something to me, something that’s caused me to age rapidly a total of three times now.” Frank frowned and took a step closer, looking Luci up and down more carefully. She blushed mildly at the scrutiny. “Frank, I wouldn’t lie to you about this, honest.”

Frank coughed, stepping back again. “Sorry. But that’s kind of crazy - what do you think could have caused this?”

“It might have something to do with a genetics trigger in the machine,” Luci said tentatively, holding up the pages she’d retrieved. “That Professor Linquist, he’d picked up on the fact that there was a temporal signature fluctuating inside me.”

“Really?” Frank took the pages from Luci and scanned the top sheet. “Then do you think there might be a way we can use this information to change you back?”

Luci stared. “Change me… back?”

Frank looked back up. “Well, sure. You don’t want to stay in the body you have now, do you?”

Luci licked her lips. “I… I don’t know. Why… what’s wrong with the body I have now?” she murmured.

“Well… nothing I guess,” Frank admitted. “It’s just not you, right?”

“On the contrary, there’s every possibility that this is how I’m going to look in six or seven years.”

“In six years, sure,” Frank agreed. “But inside you’re still fourteen. Er, aren’t you?”

Luci looked down at herself. “Inside… I’m not sure how old I am,” she said softly. She turned away. “Frank, I’ve always been an outcast. Too smart for people my age, and too young for people of comparable intellect.”

She brushed some of her long, black hair back off her shoulder. “So this, it could be a blessing. My chance to fit in. The tingling inside me has stopped, so I don’t think I’ll get any older. So… so why can’t I continue my life from here as if I’m twenty?”

“Luci…”

She spun back towards him. “I mean, the time machine could have just matched my physical age to my mental age, right Frank? RIGHT? Maybe that’s what it did. Because look at me. LOOK at me! In this body, I can be taken seriously. No more condescending remarks from older people, no more students whispering about me behind my back. I can start living life anew.”

Frank stared at her for a long moment. “And what of fourteen year old Luci?” he said quietly. “The one who’s gone missing, the one who has a lot of people worried? If you stay at your current age, you can’t reveal who you really are, you must realize that. Think of all the questions it will bring up.”

Luci looked down at her feet. “So I’d have to move away. It’s fine, I’ll leave a note for my parents, and there aren’t that many people who will miss the old Luci.”

“I’d miss her.”

Luci smiled. “Frank, don’t be silly… I can visit. You’ll know it’s me.”

“No, I mean I’ll miss the Luci I used to know. The one I could study with. The one I could chat with over a juice.”

“But I’m still that Luci, only better. Older,” Luci asserted. She reached out to pull Frank closer to her. “In fact, I… I can be even more to you… like this…”

Frank’s gaze slipped down. He quickly jerked his head back up to look her in the eyes. “It’s all right,” Luci murmured. “I don’t mind if you look there. In fact, I… I’ve wanted to be close to you like this for so long.”

Frank’s eyes widened. “Oh, Luci…”

“In fact, I think I can finally say it. Frank… I love you.” With that, she leaned in and kissed him.

He didn’t react.

Then he pulled away.

A single tear splashed down onto the page of Luci’s diary. She pushed herself away from the desk. “This writing is NOT helping,” Luci realized. “It STILL doesn’t make sense.”

Slamming the book closed, she stood and hurled herself back onto her bed, grabbing one of her pillows and hugging it to her chest. Her now too large chest. “Why?” she whispered. “Why did I do that? I suppose I thought I could live out my fondest dream… Except…”

“Luci, this isn’t right.”

She stared at him. Trying to understand. “You think I’m too old for you now?”

“Yes. I mean no. I mean you’re… you’re not my Luci.”

“Frank, I really am her. And my feelings are real.”

“Luci… I can’t. This is too weird. Y-You’ve just experienced something traumatic, w-we have to analyze that first…” He took a step backwards.

“Frank, wait!”

“I… I’m just going to have a look at these notes, okay? I’ll see if there’s anything I can do about what happened and I’ll… I’ll let you know if I come up with anything. Okay?”

“No… no, don’t be like this. Please don’t…”

“Luci, to me you’re still fourteen.”

“But Frank, I do love you!”

“I can’t handle that right now. Not like this. I… I’m sorry, Luci.” He turned and ran.

Luci threw her pillow across the room. “WHY?” she screamed, seized by an uncontrollable rage, her tears starting to flow freely once more. “I’d just escaped from a lunatic, everything was getting better, we’d kissed… MY DREAM WASN’T SUPPOSED TO END THAT WAY!”

Taimu, who had just peered around the door of her room once more, let out a yowl and backed away as he was almost hit by her second pillow. Luci didn’t even notice. Curling herself up into a ball, she simply cried. And cried. And cried.

“It’s not fair,” she choked out. “It’s not fair. I’m the right age now, it wasn’t supposed to end like that….”

It eventually occurred to her that she must present quite a sight, a twenty year old girl sobbing uncontrollably in the basement bedroom of her parents' house. With them out looking for her. Worried about her. Yet she couldn’t stay here. Not now. She swallowed hard, wiping at her cheeks, as another thought occurred.

“Physically, I’m twenty,” she whispered. “Mentally, I’m at least that old. But emotionally… emotionally am I still fourteen? Is that the problem here? And what about socially? I mean, what’s the point of being a brilliant scientist, if you have no friends to share your accomplishments with?”

She rolled her gaze up to the ceiling. “Gods, becoming this age… somehow, it’s lost me everything. Even Frank. I’m going to have to run away… and I don’t want to. I want to stay here! To be myself again! Oh God, whatever am I going to do?!”

Before her tears could flow again, her phone rang.

It was Frank.