Breaking Time

by Luke Derricks

  “Certainly,” said the friendly man called Ethos.

  The friendly man stared blankly into the distance for a second.

  Dawn looked at Ray, who in turn looked to Luke. Luke shrugged. What was going on?

  “Match found,” said Ethos. “Connecting.”

  Dawn whispered, “Is he some kind of robot?”

  Luke shrugged again.

  “Hey Simeon!” Ethos suddenly said aloud. The others looked around for another person to mysteriously appear. But no one did. Ethos continued talking. “A visitor named ‘Chuck’ just came in through the Ningishzida Gateway. He’d like to see you.”

  Who was he talking to? No one was around.

  Luke leaned closer. He didn’t see any Bluetooth piece or cell phone type device anywhere. It looked like he was just talking out into the air.

  “Thank you,” said Ethos. Then the short man returned his focus to Uncle Charlie. “He’ll be with you momentarily. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “No, thank you,” said Charlie.

  “Very well. We’ll continue to monitor you during your stay. Should you need my assistance, just call for me.” He bowed respectfully and then – instantly – disappeared.

  “Whoa!” exclaimed Dawn.

  Luke shook his head. “Incredible.”

  Ray asked, “What was that all about? Who was he talking to?”

  And just as Charlie opened his mouth to answer, the man they came to see suddenly appeared before them. He was a middle-age man, good-looking, dark hair. He wore a white and blue form-fitting one-piece suit.

  “Chuck?” said the newly arrived man. He seemed happily surprised. “Good to see you again! It’s been a while!” They embraced with a warm hug and several pats on the back.

  “Simeon,” said Uncle Charlie, “this is my nephew Luke, and his friends Ray and Dawn.”

  “Hello, hello, hello,” he said to each of them, gently nodding each time. Then he asked, “So what brings you here?”

  Charlie looked back at the giant marble stone wall behind them – the place where their portal had appeared. It was blank now, except for some engraved writings along the edges – similar symbols and writings to the ones they saw inside the Temple of the Gods chamber at the center of the massive pyramid.

  “Do you still have your Astaria crystal?”

  Simeon stared off blankly for a second. “Yes, it’s still registered in inventory. Why?”

  “I think someone else has one too.”

  “Wait, Astaria?” asked Luke. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his glowing pink crystal. “Is that what this is called?”

  Charlie nodded.

  “My research has been pointing to the existence of more crystals,” Simeon said. “Where was the other one found?”

  “I’m not sure. I thought he might’ve stolen it from you.”

  “Doubtful. But we can check.” Simeon glanced at the four of them. “Permission to port you all?”

  “Granted,” said Charlie.

  “Wait, what’d he just ask—?” said Dawn.

  Instantly, they found themselves inside a large room. The garden landscape around them had vanished in the blink of an eye. Now they were inside some kind of museum – tall pillars, glass-encased exhibits, enormous statues of strange creatures and heroically-posed figures, and wall-to-wall video screens providing education, information, and virtual tours all around them. Some exhibits looked like interactive holograms. But a lot of the artifacts, tablets, bones, and other remains here appeared authentic.

  Simeon led them toward a particular display against one of the walls. Along the way, the others looked at the various artifacts and items in the museum. Luke stopped to stare at something strange. It was a semi-metallic full-body suit of some kind, like something Iron Man might wear, or Master Chief from the Halo video game series. A really advanced space suit – or some kind of high battle suit. He wasn’t sure.

  “This way,” said Simeon, making sure Luke didn’t fall behind. They walked up to a display case along the wall. And there they saw a dark pink crystal, similar to the one Luke had. But not exactly the same. It was dark – and it wasn’t glowing.

  Beside it rested a stone tablet with ancient writings. Above it, in the video screen that ran along the wall, text and pictures explained the history and importance of the items in this display. Detecting their proximity, the educational video started.

  “Legends tell of a sacred crystal—”

  Simeon interrupted it. “Pause guide,” he quickly said to the screen. It immediately stopped. “See,” he said, pointing at the crystal in the display. “Still here.”

  Charlie leaned in closer. “And no one’s used it?”

  Simeon laughed. “That thing hasn’t worked for nearly four thousand years. Yours is the only one that still has any power in it, as far as I know.”

  “Wait, hold on,” said Luke. He looked at the glowing pink crystal in his hand. “You mean to tell me this thing runs on batteries or something?”

  Charlie shook his head. Simeon said, “If it were that simple, we would’ve found a way to recharge or replace it.” He sighed. “No, whatever its power source may be, we can’t find it.”

  Luke stared at the crystal. What exactly was this thing?

  Charlie sighed. He was clearly troubled. “I think Mastermind somehow found another one.”

  “Who?” asked Simeon.

  “Long story.”

  “Oh, he definitely does,” said Luke. “He showed it to me. I mean, on the original timeline. Before I went back in time to save you.”

  “Yeah, about that,” said Dawn. “I’m confused about something.”

  “What?” asked Luke.

  “You went into the sphere, got your power, and then went back several minutes in time.”

  “Right.”

  “And then we escaped… before you—the other you, the original you—came back out of the sphere.”

  Luke gasped. “You’re right. The other me is still inside that sphere!”

  “That’s what I’m confused about. Is he?” asked Dawn. “Does that mean there’s now two of you?”

  Luke quickly thought it over. “Oh my gosh, you’re so right. Normally, I should’ve returned to the moment I left, without affecting my original timeline. But now that we’ve changed history…”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” said Ray. “You mean to tell me, that right now, there’s a second you … and he’s about to exit the sphere with Mastermind and all his mutants there?”

  “If he hasn’t already,” said Luke, suddenly horrified.

  And that’s exactly what happened.

  Back on the desert planet, in the center of the massive high-tech pyramid, in the room known as the Temple of the Gods – Mastermind and his band of mutants stood around the center pedestal.

  “Why won’t this damn thing activate!” exclaimed Mastermind, frustrated. “Unless…”

  Just then, Luke spit out of the sphere, flying several feet across the room. He crashed into Shadow, who made a shrieking cat noise when he did. Her fur raised and she hissed at him.

  On the ground, confused, Luke looked up and saw himself surrounded by a bunch of humanoid monsters. And his uncle, Ray, and Dawn were nowhere to be seen.

  He immediately feared the worst.

  “Grab him!” shouted Mastermind. He was a little confused by the whole situation, though. Only moments ago, he saw this exact same kid escape through a portal with the others. What was he doing here now? Thrown out of the sphere.

  The sphere. Where people get their powers. Two Lukes? Could it be? It didn’t make any sense. Unless the boy’s super power was self-duplication – no, that couldn’t be it. Only one of him would’ve been ejected from the sphere. He’d only be able to duplicate himself outside the sphere. It couldn’t be any illusion or other trick, either, for the same reason.

  Mastermind’s eyes suddenly lit up. He cracked the most sinister grin.

  “Let me go! Let me go!” s
quirmed Luke, held by several of the mutants.

  Mastermind chuckled deviously. He walked over to Luke. “Look into my eyes.”

  “Should we go back for him?” Dawn asked.

  “You saw those guys!” said Ray. “You really think we could take them?”

  Luke shook his head. “Obviously not. When I left the sphere, you guys were goners. The only way to save you was to go back in time.”

  “That’s it!” exclaimed Dawn.

  “What?”

  “Go back in time. Even farther back. Warn us before you even go into the sphere. We can be ready for them. Or lock the door, or something!”

  Uncle Charlie seemed uneasy. “I dunno, Luke. Think this one through carefully. Using time travel already created one big problem.”

  “He’s right,” said Luke. “We gotta be smart about this. Okay, let me think. If I went back in time before I even went into the sphere, that still wouldn’t stop Mastermind from coming. It’s not like I could’ve gotten into the sphere any earlier, either, giving us enough time to leave before Mastermind shows up.

  If I go even farther back, I could maybe prevent us from falling down into that pit. But you guys,” he said towards Ray and Dawn, “would be coming later anyway.”

  He thought about. “I suppose, technically, I could go even farther back… warn you about Mastermind before you went on your date, Ray… you guys could avoid getting kidnapped in the first place.”

  Of course, that also meant Dawn would never get her super power. And who knew how else that might change history. If their date continued uninterrupted, they might’ve stayed out later, and by the time Ray got back home, the portal might’ve been closed in their living room. Which meant Ray wouldn’t wander into the pyramid and get his super power either.

  Technically, Luke could go way back in time and warn his uncle about Mastermind long before anything happened – warn him not to talk about the crystal around the janitor. Which would mean Luke’s parents would still be alive to this day too.

  “I know what to do,” he said.

  “What’s the plan, Luke?” asked Uncle Charlie.

  “I’m going to save Mom and Dad.”

  “What?” exclaimed Ray. “You can do that?”

  “Whoa, wait Luke,” said his uncle, very concerned. “Look, I want them back just as much as you. But you do realize, if you do that – none of this will happen. I see where you’re going. Prevent Mastermind from overhearing anything. Prevent my mistake. But you realize… if you do that… you won’t have this power anymore. None of you will.”

  “Major paradox,” said Ray.

  “Does that mean,” asked Dawn, “if he no longer has this power, then he won’t be able to go back in time and stop it, and since he didn’t go back to stop it, everything happened as normal like the first time, and then he gets the power to time travel again, and goes back to… Ahhh!!!” She laughed, holding her head. “Headache.”

  “The grandfather paradox,” said Luke. “I see what you mean. But… I dunno. Time travel was just a theory until now. Who knows how it actually works!”

  “Luke, just be careful,” said Charlie, gently laying his hand on Luke’s shoulder. “Tampering with your own timeline…”

  “…can be very dangerous, I know,” said Luke.

  They all looked at him. If he was successful – and didn’t cause the universe to explode or something – they might all suddenly find themselves back at home, with no memory of any of this, living normal lives – completely unaware of anything ever being any different.

  No Mastermind. No mutants. No crystals. No powers.

  Just ordinary lives.

  But safe lives. Safe from powerful evil villains like Mastermind.

  Charlie saw the look of determination in Luke’s eyes. The old man nodded with some hesitation. “Good luck, Luke. Be careful.” He cleared his throat. “I was working at the university at the time. I was giving a class on ancient Sumerian civilization. Meet me after class, and show me your crystal. Tell me everything. I’ll believe you. You’ve always been honest with me your whole life. And when I see your crystal, it’ll remove all questions. I’ll have to lock up my crystal and hide it forever. To make sure something like this never happens again.”

  Luke nodded slowly, fully realizing the consequences of his actions if he were successful. “Okay,” he said with a sigh. “Anything else?”

  “Just be aware of who might be around in earshot, eh?”

  “Right,” said Luke.

  It was a plan. The best one he could think of. If it worked, he’d stop Mastermind from becoming Mastermind. He’d save his parents. He’d never see the crystal. Never get this power. But at least his parents would be alive. And evil men like Mastermind would never rise to power. No mutants. No super powers. Just ordinary ignorant lives.

  He’d miss having this super power. His dream power. Especially after only having it for a brief few minutes. It wasn’t fair. But at least they’d all be safe. They’d all be safe and sound.

  He took a deep breath.

  “Okay.” He looked at his friends, perhaps for the last time. He didn’t tell them this, but there was a chance he’d be stuck in the past. In re-writing history, and preventing himself from acquiring this power, one of several possibilities existed.

  One, he might simply pop out of existence. The other him would continue to exist. Living a normal life with his parents still alive. Stuck at a dead-end job and watching movies, reading comic books, playing video games. Completely unaware he ever had the chance to be something much, much more.

  But that’d be okay. There was another possibility, though. Changing his past like this could create a paradox. He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, or what would happen. Maybe nothing. Maybe the universe would self-destruct. Maybe some unknown force would prevent him from changing his own past, thus protecting the universe from any paradoxes ever existing.

  Three, he might successfully change history but still continue to exist. He may or may not get to keep his time travel power. But even if he could somehow still travel through time, he’d return to a totally foreign present day. The last eight months he remembered would’ve been totally different. Maybe he’d still be dating Amanda for all he knew.

  Time travel was a delicate thing. Suddenly now that he had this power – it seemed like too much for one person to possess. What gave him the right to change his or anyone else’s past? It just… didn’t seem right.

  What if, unintentionally and completely accidentally, he bumped into someone in the past, made them a few seconds later to their destination than they did originally, which caused them to not meet the person they were going to marry. And whatever kids they’d have would never be born. And what if one of those kids would’ve gone on to cure cancer… or what if one of those kids was the great-great-great-etcetera grandfather of Simeon here?

  It was called “the butterfly effect”; a small change in the past can trigger another minor change in something else, which affected something else slightly differently, on and on, until some major cataclysmic change happened that never existed in the original history.

  It could start with anything. Holding a door open for someone. Or standing in their way. A single word. Or a single glance. Most of the time, probably, these things made no meaningful difference. But any one of them could create a chain-reaction the fundamentally and dramatically alters the future of the world.

  Somehow real-world time travel felt a little different than Luke always imagined. For him, it was about adventure and exploration. It was just a really, really cool thing he always wanted to do. But now as he stood, prepared to go back in time to intentionally change history – a small part of him worried that he might make things much worse, even though his intentions were noble and good.

  He took a deep breath. He had no choice. For even though there was great risk – and in all likelihood, if he was successful, he might cease to exist – he had to do it. Because a greater evil, a worse threat, w
as already in motion.

  “Here I go.” He closed his eyes to focus.

  Luke activated his super power. He felt himself travel through time.

  And then he opened his eyes.

  Dawn, Ray, Charlie, and Simeon were still there, staring at him. He was still in the museum in the future.

  Huh. Odd. He tried again.

  This time with his eyes open.

  Nothing happened. He focused. He concentrated. He willed himself all the way into the past.

  But nothing. Nothing worked. He never left.

  “Luke?” asked Ray, not sure what was going on.

  “I can’t— I can’t— It’s not working!” he exclaimed.

  “Calm down, take it easy,” said Charlie gently. “Are you doing exactly what you did before?”

  “Yes!” he shouted.

  “Could it be because of the other you?” Dawn asked. “Maybe the power jumped from you to him, or something?” She shrugged.

  That would suck. Luke didn’t like the sound of that.

  At all.

  “Hmm,” said Ray. He looked around their immediate area. He spotted a nearby artifact. Some small stone carving of a pregnant woman with big breasts. Probably a fertility goddess or something. Whatever. He waved his hand at it, and the stone artifact lifted into the air.

  “Be careful with that!” exclaimed Simeon. “That’s priceless!”

  “Sorry,” said Ray. “Just testing to see if I still had my power.”

  “The powers don’t go away,” said Charlie. “Not as far as I know. Could it maybe be a limited range thing? Maybe you can only go so far back in time?”

  “I’ll try that,” said Luke, desperate to try anything, afraid he might’ve lost his power before he even got a chance to enjoy it. He wanted to go back in time one minute. Just one single minute. He could still do that, right?

  Everything around him shifted into a red blur and suddenly he was back exactly one minute ago. He stood beside his one-minute-younger self.

  “What the—?” remarked his younger self.

  “Just testing! Bye!” Luke quickly said. Everything shifted to a blue blur and Luke returned to the present moment. He saw his friends – and no second self – there waiting for him.