Realisations

Voices. Lore couldn’t quite understand them at first but as the haze of their stunning wore off, their senses returned to focus. They sat, blinking in a groggy state until their concern caught up with them. Sobering quickly, they turned to Char who was sat just to the right of them, arms crossed. Neither of them were bound in any way but the room’s door was closed.
“Morning sunshine.” Undulia moved towards Lore’s chair. “Sleep well.”
“Down. They’re too young for you.” Loren appeared to yank at an invisible leash.
“Well, this was unexpected. We knew there would be a few of you but not like this.” She seemed confused by her own statement but pressed on nevertheless. “We have a common goal. We both want to bring Quatarr back. Now are we going to talk or shall I let you sleep on it?”
“You’re threatening us with a nap?” Char shot a confused glare at Undulia. She responded in kind, discharging her sidearm.
“I’m threatening Lore with a nap. No-one cares about the sidekick.” Undulia snapped, returning her pistol. “Now, we both want the same thing, it sounds cliché but we do. If we work together, we can do it much easier. No more resistance, no more fighting, no more running. We just need you to tell us how to do it.”
“Yeah, because last time was rubbish. One ship verses an armada.” Loren scoffed. “Plus our infantry.”
“We know about you’re little theory but that won’t move a planet so… How are you going to bring it back?”
“You’re me from the future right? Why don’t you tell her?” Lore spoke up. Undulia turned to her partner.
“They have a point. How did you do it?”
“Seriously?” Loren stared at her. She wasn’t taking the hint. “Rexel.” She nodded.
“Don’t tell me, I forget everything again. What a life.” Lore’s stilted sarcasm received a nod from Loren. They rolled their eyes.
“The day after your little posse left Rexel five, like a wish come true, I found my Loren wandering the streets alone.” Undulia made it sound so romantic but in reality she simply found an old friend wandering the filthiest streets in the known universe with no clue of who he was or what he was doing there.
“Well, if neither of you know then we’ll have to start interrogating the others.”
“There’s a problem with that…” Loren considered his next words wisely.
“What?” Undulia’s patience was being put to the test.
“Last time, they didn’t know how to get a fleet through and they needed to test The Slingshot somehow so they never developed the necessary technology to move the planet. They still haven’t. I’m afraid that there’s no one on this planet who knows.”
Her actions were certainly louder than her words. She seemed to devolve into a crude precursor to language as she screamed and grunted, throwing pears and apples across the four corners of the room. “Now what?”
“I call Gid to pick us up and they take us to the people who know.” He smiled, trying to get her to follow suit. While she was usually restrained, when she did get angry, it scared him.
“Do it.” Her heavy breathing calmed down until Lore decided to add their input.
“Of course, if you’ve changed anything here, it could bite you in the arse with that plan later on…” Their tone was almost rhythmic.
“Meaning?”
“If you’ve sabotaged something or locked someone up, the future you return to will be different to the present you left.”
“You stay here, I need to get some air. Might as well do something useful at the same time.” Undulia stormed out of the room, initially travelling in the wrong direction but she quickly corrected herself.
“Hello there.” Loren smiled as he moved towards Char’s unconscious body. He placed his hand on her shoulder then swiped it across her face. There was a scream followed by hyperventilation as Char woke up. “Did you miss me?”
She sat there in stunned silence. Her partner now stood mere centimetres away from her yet it felt somehow further. “You.” She tried to speak but her voice failed her, emitting only a dry squeak.
“Well, I had hoped for more but. Yes me! I haven’t the foggiest who you are to me but this place and Undulia make you out to be special. I guess we had something going before I swanned off to gods only know where and left you behind.”
“Why are you doing this?” Char went to stand but Loren quickly stopped her. The emergency manual fell from her pocket. Loren snatched it from her and got comfortable.
“Count the Lores. At least I know that even when I’m ‘good’ I’ve got a sense of humour.” He smiled as he turned the page. Upon reading it, half of his face dropped into a more serious frown.
“Is he having a stroke? Am I having a stroke?” Lore held both of their arms into the air whilst violently inhaling through their nostrils.
“You’re not having a stroke and neither am I. Just a side effect, that’s all.” Loren’s tone had shifted too. “Here.” He returned the book to Lore. “I’ve left you a present now go. I’ll let Char go in a minute. Go.” He all but pushed Lore out of the window. Lore followed his instruction and continued to their designated meeting point. “I’m sorry.” He repeated himself a couple times, each more emotional than the last. “I didn’t want to leave you. Not like that but I had to. I figured out why we were failing every time, why we kept falling at the last hurdle.” It was hard for her to take him seriously with half of his face locked in a wide eyed smile. Char went to talk but he pressed a finger to her lips. “I’ve only got half a minute left. I’ve given Lore the data we need and Undulia is undoing the mess I’ve made here. When you go back, everything should be normal… ish.” Tears filled his eye. “They love you. I couldn’t fake that, you know me.” Char scoffed. “Look. I’m sorry I left and gave you a substitute but you’ll understand. I never wanted this but here we are.”
Char placed her hand on the active half of his face. She wiped away his tears, the action wrenching her confused heart. “I Love them too.” He nodded towards the window as his time expired. She kissed him for the last time. Heavy.