Wyatt continued his approach as he shook his head. "Why did you do that?"
"I didn't expect that question," Hannah said. "You asked me to do that. Only when I did it, I think I drove worse."
"What are you talking about?" Wyatt asked as she motioned for him to take a seat across from her. He pulled the chair out and sat down. "I don't remember asking you to do that." He stopped short of asking any further questions as his mind replayed what she had just said. "What do you mean when you did it?"
Hannah's smile faded and she placed both her hands on the empty table in front of her. "I mean what I said. I know it makes it tougher," she said then looked toward the front doors of the restaurant. "Do you want something to eat?"
With a laugh, Wyatt shrugged. "Why not? What good would it do me to say no?" he asked. "You seem to have made a pretty large mess of things."
"No," Hannah said, her smile returning to her face. "This mess is not my doing. The mess I made, you just fixed. I think now it worked the way you intended when you asked me to help."
"I didn't ask for this," Wyatt said, shifting his weight in the chair. It was suddenly uncomfortable to sit and talk to her. She seemed to know more about what was going on than he did.
"When was the last time you visited me?" Hannah asked.
"October 15, 2039," Wyatt answered.
Hannah nodded, glancing up and to the right. After a moment, she blinked and looked back at him. "What time was that?"
"I got there at 11:30 am.," Wyatt said, leaning back and folding his arms. He felt exhausted, and a little lightheaded. The latter might have been from the lingering resonance that had hung in the background ever since his wrist terminal was taken.
He watched Hannah's left wrist, and saw she still wore what looked to be his wrist terminal.
"You seemed nervous," Wyatt continued as she nodded. "And when I left, you took my wrist terminal." He pointed toward her wrist. "Now, you are wearing it."
Her smile faded and she glanced down at the wrist terminal. "I wondered how you remembered that."
"Do you remember it differently?" Wyatt asked. "I was stepping through my portal, and you took it off my wrist."
The door to the restaurant opened and a teenage young man emerged with two paper sacks. The salty smell of fresh-cooked fries followed him out. He smiled from behind his acne littered face and placed one sack in front of each of them. "Anything else I can get you?" he asked, smiling.
"No. This is great, thank you," Hannah said.
The young man looked at Wyatt with that same smile. Wyatt smiled back and the young man vanished back through the front door.
Wyatt stared at the paper sack in front of him as Hannah opened hers and retrieved a small carton of fries. The smells of the fries and fresh burgers made Wyatt's mouth water and he opened the brown bag in front of him. It crinkled as he removed the hot fries and stuffed a few in his mouth.
"You probably aren't sure of the last time you ate, are you?" Hannah asked between bites of her burger. She spoke with her mouth full but swallowed before finishing the question.
"I'm not sure of anything anymore," Wyatt said.
Hannah nodded and took another bite of her burger. Wyatt pulled his burger from the paper sack and unwrapped it. The red wrapper crinkled like a waxy parchment paper. The paper tore easily as he held the burger for a bite.
It was still beef. He felt the burger's grease on his chin and grabbed a napkin to wipe it clean.
"It's good, isn't it?" Hannah asked. "You never would believe that a future like this would still make something so greasy." She laughed and took another bite.
"What are you doing here?" Wyatt asked after another bite of his burger. The mayonnaise and ketchup from the burger ran onto his left hand, but he continued to eat as he waited for her to answer.
"I'm doing what you asked me to do," Hannah said. Holding her burger with her right hand, she held up her left hand. "This was a wrist terminal you gave me. You told me there were some things to fix that I had to do."
"Was driving that car one of them?" Wyatt asked, motioning over his shoulder. Her face seemed to darken for a moment. Her smiled faded as she looked beyond him toward the corner.
She nodded. "But I misunderstood who needed to drive it."
That sent a chill down Wyatt's spine. "Why would I tell you to drive that car?" he asked.
Hannah shrugged then returned to eating her burger. They ate in silence for a few minutes, until both had completed their burgers.
Wyatt wiped his face with the napkin, placing it into the paper sack when he finished. Having the sack between him and Hannah calmed him slightly. He could see her eyes clearly, but only a portion of the rest of her face as she finished her burger.
Sliding both sacks out of the way, Hannah watched him. "You worried that car would run you over," she said, her eyebrows raised with concern.
Wyatt had a slight memory of that experience. It seemed sitting here with Hannah brought back some of those memories but trying to remember them still made his brain hurt. He closed his eyes at a brief stabbing pain.
"What is it?" Hannah asked, stuffing a fry in her mouth.
"It's even more messed up than it was before," Wyatt said, leaning back again in the chair. "When did I tell you I was worried about that car?"
"When you came back to the warehouse the last time," Hannah smiled as she spoke and leaned across the table toward him, pushing the fries out of her way. "That's right, you won't remember it the way I do. It was October 15, 2039. You seemed quite worried about something and that is when you gave this to me."
Wyatt's mind spun with the thoughts. "You were the one that was worried," he said. "You were worried someone was following you. You kept seeing a person watching you even when you went home."
"Home?" Hannah said. "Where did I call home."
It was like talking to another woman altogether. Her memories were different from his. "How much have you changed without being able to feel the resonance?"
She clasped her hands together on top of the table and glanced over her shoulder. "I don't think I have changed anything too drastically," she said. "I've only done what you asked me to do."
This wasn't working. Wyatt wouldn't get the answers he wanted out of her. He reminded himself that she was not out to get him. Obviously, she had experienced something that made her think her actions were needed.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Wyatt asked, folding his arms. After a moment, he unfolded them and grabbed a few fries to eat. They were salty but had grown cold. It was the oddest date he had ever had, and it was his second or third with Hannah.
"I was in the warehouse near lunch time," she said. "You stepped through your portal quickly and told me you needed my help. Things were changing all around you, you said. You needed me to help because I was not affected by the resonance." She sighed and pulled her hands back from the top of the table. "You gave me your wrist terminal and this"—she held up a small notebook Wyatt recognized as his list of location codes—"and then you acted really worried. Someone was after you."
"Did you see who it was?" Wyatt asked. He remembered the way Gene seemed to have a similar notebook.
"No," Hannah said. "Wait"—she looked away—"there might have been that thinner blonde woman, but at the time, I only saw you. You had me set a location code, time, and date, and open a portal for you."
"When and where was that?" Wyatt asked. The thin blonde woman seemed to be the same one Gene had spoken with.
Hannah frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't tell you. Because you feel the resonance, you told me not to say."
"Come on," Wyatt said. "You have to tell me."
"I can't," Hannah said. "You said you might try and use our relationship to get that information from me, but it was important I do not reveal it."
Why would he have said that to her? Wyatt couldn't wrap his mind around it. He leaned back and looked along the street. A few cars moved in the distance, but other than t
hat, the streets were mostly empty.
"Are you okay?" Hannah asked.
Wyatt didn't answer for a few minutes. Sitting on the corner as he was, he could look along both intersecting streets. Four blocks behind him sat the sedan he had used to run down the earlier version of his group. As he looked back that way, he noticed a figure moving closer. The figure had a familiar gate, as he moved along the street in their direction.
"Who is that?" Wyatt asked, gesturing over his shoulder with his right hand.
Hannah squinted along the street and let out a sigh. She didn't answer.
"Who is that?" Wyatt asked. "No one else is moving along this part of the street, and now that familiar man is moving between the sedan and where we sit. Do you know who he is?"
"We need to get you out of here," Hannah said, pushing back from the table and standing. "Come on."
"Who is that?" Wyatt asked again, but he thought he already knew the answer. "Is that Jarod Whiting?"
"Come on," Hannah said, stepping away from the table. "We have to get you out of here."
He rose from the table and followed her, taking one last glance toward the approaching figure. He felt certain it was the figure of Jarod Whiting approaching, with someone moving along the street behind him. He wondered if that second figure was an older or younger version of Jarod. The figure behind Jarod looked to be even more familiar.
That figure behind Jarod strode with determination in his steps. That figure was another version of Wyatt, but he was too far away to see clearly what he wore, beyond it being jeans and a cream shirt with red streaks.
Following Hannah along the cross street, they quickened their pace to a jog. Wyatt felt the resonance growing inside him as he struggled to remain on his feet. The dizziness seemed to come in waves.
"Are you okay?" Hannah asked, slowing to walk beside him.
Wyatt shook his head and glanced toward her. The worry that creased her lips and forehead helped to calm him. "I need to get back," he said. "I can't stay here."
"I know," Hannah said, pulling him into a narrow space between the building the housed the restaurant and the next building. It wasn't so much an alley, as a narrow walkway. As they entered, she stopped and turned to face him. "Tell me where you need to go?"
Fear filled Wyatt and he shook his head. Would telling her the location, date, and time his group would have returned to ruin things?
"I already have a lot of location codes stored in your wrist terminal and your notebook," Hannah said, smiling at his concern. "You told me I would need to help you. So, tell me when and where the portal needs to open to, and I'll get you there."
"Why don't you give me back my wrist terminal?" Wyatt asked. "If you really wanted to help me, you'd give that to me."
"And be stuck here?" Hannah said. "I wouldn't be able to help you if I do that."
"You really think you are helping me?" Wyatt asked. "Tell me what I asked you to do? Did I tell you to do this?"
I've already told you all I can tell you," Hannah said. "Honestly, that is all I can tell you now."
Wyatt shook his head.
"Come on," Hannah said. "Give me a place to send you before he gets here."
The decision was impossible. He wasn't sure he trusted her. He only remembered her taking his wrist terminal. Her explanation of how she acquired his wrist terminal didn't match any of his memories. He couldn't shake the thought she had been lying.
"He's going to be here soon," Hannah said. "Hurry."
"Will you give me back my wrist terminal?" Wyatt asked. "I need to get out of here."
Hannah shook her head and turned away from him.
Left with no other alternative, Wyatt stepped closer. "How do I know you are really trying to help?"
She turned to face him with her eyebrows knit with confusion. "I may not feel the resonance the way you do," she said. "But I know something has changed. You aren't the same as the man that asked me to do this. I'm scared, but you said I could help you."
Her words stung Wyatt. He found himself watching her as she blinked a few times. It almost seemed she was blinking back tears, but he was afraid to ask. Instead, he moved close enough to place his right hand on her left shoulder as she faced him.
She looked directly into his eyes, and he thought he saw the same playful person he had known in her slight smile. Her eyebrows softened and the worry lines on her forehead vanished.
"You can trust me," Hannah said. "I'm doing this to help you, but you need to hurry."
"Okay," Wyatt said, wondering if he would be able to catch his group when he went back. "I need to go back to April 2, 2090, at 3:00 pm. The location code is R333PS."
Hannah worked the settings of her wrist terminal and activated her portal. "Be careful," she said as Wyatt stepped through.
CHAPTER fifteen
DORMITORY ENTRANCE, R333PS
SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 2090, 3:00 PM
The others coughed and stepped around him as Wyatt emerged into the area near their dormitory entrance. His stomach lurched and it was all he could do to keep down the burger and fries he had eaten. On top of that, his head ached, and he remembered at least two different outcomes to the trip they had just done.
"Did you run yourself over?" Brooke asked as she rose to her feet. Compared with the others, she looked like she had been in a struggle or a fight. Her right pant leg was torn below the knee. The seam had split just above her shoe, and she worked at her wrist terminal for a moment before looking at him again.
Wyatt shook his head and shrugged. He focused on her question and not her appearance. In his mind, he could again see both outcomes. He remembered the car running him over and it barely missing Avery.
"What did we just do?" Avery said. "Now, I was either almost run down by that car or missed completely." She stepped closer to Wyatt as he worked his way to his feet again.
He shook his head, not wanting to speak yet for fear of losing control of his stomach. The resonance this time was terrible.
"You messed with all of our memories," Aldan said. "Are you the reason why everything is different?"
"No," Wyatt said. "You remember seeing the older version of Hannah there, correct?"
"She didn't cause this," Aldan said.
"How can you be so sure?" Jeremy asked.
"She doesn't understand time travel. She doesn't feel the resonance." He shifted to stand nearer their dormitory doorway as Lenny opened the other doorway and stepped through.
"Did that trip help your memories?" Lenny asked.
"No," Brooke said.
"It made it worse," Avery said. "Now I remember it twice."
"But do all of you remember being there that first time?" Lenny asked.
Wyatt nodded his head and looked around. Brooke gave him a quick look and turned back toward Lenny. Aldan and Jeremy both nodded.
"How do I know what really happened?" Avery asked. "I was either out of the way or almost run over." She raised the leg of her pants and shook her head. "I don't have a scar."
Lenny raised his hands and turned his attention on Wyatt. "How about for you?" he asked.
Wyatt didn't want to answer. It seemed his actions had ruined everyone else's memories. If he said what he really felt, they might not be happy with him.
"Did you drive that car or not?" Aldan said.
"How did you get back here?" Brooke asked.
"It seems clear he got back here with Hannah's help," Aldan said, folding his arms and smiling at Wyatt.
"How big of a mess did you make?" Lenny asked, then raised his hands. "On second thought, it's like the original reason why you came to find me. I shouldn't hear it." He frowned and stepped away from them toward the dormitory entrance, seemed to think better of it, and turned toward his office. "You had better come with me."
He opened the door leading to his office and gestured for them to enter. Wyatt was the last to enter and couldn't get past the smile on Lenny's face.
"We did what you suggested," Wyatt said. "
Now you don't know what to do with us."
Lenny shook his head, his eyes tracing the others as they moved in the hallway before coming back to Wyatt's. "This is a strange time," he said. "I'm trying to understand it just as much as you are. I don't think it is just one person making the changes, but it doesn't seem like the Machina knows who it is."
"Someone is ruining my past," Wyatt said. "And you think the Machina hasn't seen them?"
"Maybe the Machina has seen them," Brooke said. "Maybe this is just its way of correcting what is wrong."
"Aldan let out a sigh that seemed to express the frustration Wyatt felt at Brooke's comments.
"Let's go and discuss that," Lenny said, gesturing for them to enter the doorway. "Some things shouldn't be said out here."
They moved in silence for several minutes until they piled into Lenny's office. Avery and Brooke sat on the two chairs, as Jeremy and Aldan moved to stand on the right side of them. Wyatt felt more awkward and remained on their left side.
He glanced toward the office doorway and realized it was the first time he had entered the office without feeling the resonance. Lenny seemed to see him studying that area and laughed.
"That is an adjustment made by the Machina," Lenny said. "I trust none of you felt the resonance at the threshold of my office." He watched each of them for a moment.
They all shook their heads.
Lenny pushed the door closed and sat in the chair behind his desk. As he leaned back, he watched each of them.
"What do you know about the changes we've seen?" Wyatt asked. "I know you don't want us to talk about it, but we went back to see if we could figure it out."
"And you all remember that mission now," Lenny said. He leaned forward and placed his hands on the clean desktop, with his palms down.
"We remember it," Avery said. "But differently. I remember two versions of being back there."
Wyatt remembered at least two, but now a third. His mind seemed to have recovered from the changes he had caused. He could picture two memories, one of being under the car before blacking out, and the other of the car aiming for Avery. But he also remembered seeing himself there after the sedan drive, with a cream shirt with red streaks.
Dissonance (The Machina of Time Book 2) Page 13
