About Time

Grumbling. The council could sense a lecture so dismissed themselves leaving Lore and Char alone with The First. They met in what had been the middle of the circle.
“They’ve heard this before. I think it’s best we do it like this.” They smiled. “So, as The Reaper we expel a large amount of temporal energy. It’s the same energy that gives the Quatarrians their trademark immortality and their devastating weaponry. While normally, the guns are the only way of utilising this energy, as The Reaper, it flows freely. When inserted into the anchors, it creates a charge. Twenty six Reapers doing this at the same time, in the same places and it creates a link.” The First removed a rubber band and looped one end around Lore’s finger. “You’re representing the anchor in the past.” They put their finger through the other end. “I’m the anchor in the future.” They moved away from Lore. “This is how the two points look now. But us putting the energy in is the equivalent of one of us letting go.” The First removed their finger sending the band flying into Lore’s hand.
“Now both ends are in the same place though.” Lore sucked at their injured finger.
“Well, in reality we both should have let go at the same time. The band would have contracted and landed somewhere between us. That’s where gravity comes in. The two planets will meet in a state of Null Space; an area outside of space and time. Their gravity, coupled with the elastic like energy will allow the planets to fling one another into the opposites original position.” Charrlene smiled at her partner’s explanation. Lore and Char nodded along.
“How did you figure this all out? I know you’ve been at it a while but, this is a bit mental.” Char began to fidget with the elastic band.
“It’s a long story… but I think it’s time to tell it.” The First pointed to a nearby bench. The four sat together. “First time round, I didn’t start the cycle immediately. I watched as Quatarr was destroyed then I spent the next forty five years looking for a way to petition The Protectorate to investigate. I failed. A couple years later, a young man approached me in the street and told me he could solve all of my problems. I told him to mind his own business. A year after that, I see the same man. His hand was covered in these strange burns,” The First held up their own hand. “and he told me the same thing again. Turns out he was an emissary, a speaker for one of the Cornerstones.”
“Cornerstones?”
“There are four Cornerstones to reality: Life, Death, Space and in this case most importantly, Time. The man was The Emissary of Time. He told me that he needed my help and in return, I could stick around till the job was done. You know the job so you know I said yes. In return for saving Quatarr, along with extending mine and Charrlene’s lives, Time also halted the other council members aging. I have managed to pass this off as ‘Reaper burn’.” They brandished their hand once more. “But I know my time is nearly up. That’s why this time we must succeed, failure is not an option.”
“What about Loren? Why’s his hand like yours?”
“Those who make a deal with Time are marked by it. I ensured the council’s survival by convincing Time to ignore the paradoxes where we’re concerned. Loren bartered his life to ensure that you wouldn’t have to live it. He gave himself to Time so we could win this time.”
“Why does Time want to stop The Temporal Sciences Guild though?”
“Have you ever invited someone into your house and they’ve ignored all of your rules and trapsed dirt into your carpets?” The First looked to Charrlene angrily. “Time willingly gave us the ability to explore time, but The Guild has abused that power. It’s a matter of cosmic justice.” The First’s face was now red with anger. Their rage was growing exponentially. “Time is not for mortals to manipulate to such an extent. Its existence was meant to allow civilisations to learn from one another and their own mistakes.” They spoke with a stolen passion. Charrlene placed her hand on The First’s shoulder.
“Thanks for filling us in.” Char broke the awkward silence.
“Time has big plans for you two.” The First nodded as Lore and Char retreated, unsure of what to make of the vague prophecy.
Those words bounced around in Lore’s head as they sat alone in their quarters. As explained, they found a lockbox under their bed. They had guessed the combination and were sat mulling over whether or not they needed the information the two cubes contained. The inlay of the box had been customised to perfectly house the memory cubes and their labels. The leftmost cube’s plaque read ‘Skills and Secrets’ while the one on the right contained their memories from their life before the cave. Lore removed the left cube and activated it. It contained an impressive array of linguistic, cultural and historic information in addition to highlighting the locations of a series of safehouses Lore had set up. Lore set this cube aside once the data had been transferred. They picked up the second and without a seconds hesitation drove it into the floor. Obsidian shards erupted from the crash site, the black glass flew in every direction, each miraculously missing Lore before shattering further against the bulkheads. At ground zero, under Lore’s shaking hand, a roll of paper.
“If found, user made the right choice.” Lore smiled as they reread the note. It no longer really mattered who they were before, that wasn’t who they had become now. They had forged this path, albeit with a little help, but their life was now their own.
“We’ll be leaving in a minute. The First wants us with them on The Occam’s Razor.”
“Which time zone did we get?” Lore stood to leave the glassy carnage.
“We’re off to the past. The present team don’t need The Razor, or the Rexel crews.”
“Alright then. Destiny, you’re with us.” Lore and Char stood by the bridge entrance. Destiny emerged a few moments later clad in a suit of the clones armour.
“We’re going into battle…” Destiny started awkward but quickly regained her confidence. She strutted off of ahead of Lore and Char.
“We’re going into battle.” Char repeated. She turned Lore to face her and wrapped them in a tight hug.
The walk to Occam’s Razor was a short one but felt an eternity long. It was a slow burn but it was dawning on them, the end was in sight. Future Management.