Dissonance (The Machina of Time Book 2)

by Daniel R. Burkhard

  Jarod nodded and turned his back on Wyatt. He led him around the front of the car which dripped already in the heat of the garage. The air felt better than being outside the town.

  The old man didn't answer Wyatt's question but moved toward a white, plastic door. The door, made to appear as though it were carved from wood, looked as though three pieces of wood had been nailed together.

  It swung open as Jarod touched a small pad beside the door. More warm air rushed out, and the smells of a warm kitchen came through the door with it. So many smells hit his nose that Wyatt couldn't be sure how many of them were fresh and how many just lingered in the house.

  Moving through the doorway behind Jarod, the kitchen was not quite what he would have expected. Rather than matching the exterior of the house, the interior was well appointed. Everything, from the refrigerator to the range, glowed in the dim lighting. The pale gray paint on the walls offset the white countertop and the dark, almost black appliances. The kitchen could have passed for one in his time, but he had no idea what year this was.

  "Take a seat while I find you some bandages," Jarod said.

  Wyatt sat at the table that was outside the kitchen area. It too had been painted black with gray accents that matched the walls. "Why are you helping me?" Wyatt asked as Jarod moved around the kitchen and along a hallway that moved at ninety degrees to the garage entry door.

  Jarod didn't answer but left Wyatt sitting at the table for a few minutes. With all that had happened, the anxiety was slowly slipping away. An earlier version of Jarod had tried to kill him, but this version was trying to help him. Had something changed in the intervening years?

  "Take off that hoodie, and let's see how bad it is," Jarod said as he reentered the dining area.

  Wyatt resisted. His back hurt. It throbbed with each heartbeat and the heat of the room made it tougher.

  "Take it off," Jarod said.

  "First," Wyatt said. "Tell me why you are helping me. You tried to kill me one of the last times I got close."

  Jarod stepped closer, dropping some pieces of gauze and a small yellow and white tube of what looked to be an antibiotic ointment onto the table in front of Wyatt. He shook his head and spoke, his voice low and even. "We don't always make the best choices. I was younger, and still a bit foolish."

  "You tried to kill me," Wyatt said. "I wouldn't call that foolish."

  "You had already messed up enough of the past that I didn't feel I had any other choice," Jarod answered through two dry coughs. "Now, take that hoodie off so we can get you cleaned up."

  Several seconds passed as Wyatt watched the old man. He couldn't figure out why the man would be so nice to him. This older Jarod must know something that would explain why he changed, but Wyatt couldn't figure out what to ask him.

  "Take that hoodie off," Jarod said. "If I meant to harm you, I would have done it by now. I would have let you freeze out there."

  "How did you know I was coming here at that time?" Wyatt asked, sliding his chair back from the table. He looked toward the gauze and ointment on the table and wondered if he could apply that to himself. It wasn't possible.

  "You've probably heard this before," Jarod said. "But there are more forces at work here than just the Machina."

  "Great," Wyatt said. "Now tell me how you knew I would be there?"

  "I remembered sending you," Jarod said. "Of course, I had to remember it in a notebook not unlike the one you carry now."

  Wyatt instinctively moved his right hand toward the back pocket of his jeans. He felt the notebook still there as Jarod smiled and spread his arms wide.

  "We're not all that different," Jarod said. "Except that you have been ruining time just as fast as I was able to fix it."

  "I wasn't ruining time," Wyatt said, taking a deep breath and pulling the hoodie off his head. It tugged painfully at the scabs that lined his back and took him three tries to remove it. Jarod backed away and allowed him to work it free.

  With a grimace, Wyatt placed the still damp hoodie on the chair beside the one he used. Only a portion of the hoodie had any staining that appeared bloody.

  "It's not as bad as I thought," Jarod said. "I barely remember the way that sedan ran you down. That was the past correcting itself. Do you see it?"

  Wyatt shook his head as the old man moved around behind him and stretched a piece of gauze over the right side of his back. He felt something cool in the gauze and figured Jarod had applied the ointment onto the gauze before placing it on his back.

  "Why are you doing this to me?" Wyatt asked again.

  "Because you didn't kill me all those years ago," Jarod said. "You thought you had sent me to this place at random, but that was not the case."

  "How?" Wyatt tensed as the gauze touched a portion of his skin right below his right shoulder blade. That area had taken the worse of the road, it seemed.

  "I had been told to prepare for that," Jarod said. "I set it up so that my device, or at least the one you found, would only send me to one location."

  "So, you wanted to go to the year 2100?" Wyatt asked, turning to face Jarod.

  "I wanted to survive," Jarod said, stepping around in front of Wyatt and brushing his hands off on his pants. "That's what anyone wants, isn't it? That was simple. My device could reach beyond the Machina's end."

  Wyatt watched the old man, sensing there was more he hadn't said. The old man collected the red hoodie and moved back into the hallway. As he turned to watch him, the man's changed demeanor struck Wyatt.

  What did that mean for his earlier plans with Hannah? What would that do to Linda's plans to get the notebook?

  How much of the glimpses of the future versions of Hannah, Avery, or Aldan would still exist?

  The questions mounted. He turned toward the hallway. "Do you still have your device?"

  Jarod came back without the hoodie, and Wyatt thought he heard water flowing into a washing machine. "I'm cleaning your hoodie for you," he said. "You should have the best chance of starting your new life."

  "Do you still have your device?" Wyatt asked again as Jarod stopped at the table.

  Jarod shook his head and smiled. After a moment, he collected the leftover gauze and the tube of ointment from the table. "It's getting late. You should get some rest."

  Wyatt shook his head, trying to make sense of things.

  "It's okay," Jarod said. "You can't do anything to hurt me now. That being the case, I see no reason not to be hospitable to you." He smiled over his shoulder as he turned to walk back along the hallway. "You didn't try to kill me, so I won't try to kill you." He turned back along the hallway. "Come with me, and I'll show you to a room where you can rest."

  "What year is it?" Wyatt asked, stepping away from the table and slowly walking toward the older man.

  "It's December 1, 2123," Jarod answered.

  CHAPTER forty-three

  JAROD'S HOUSE

  WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2123

  Jarod had left Wyatt in a bedroom with a queen-sized bed. The bed was soft enough that it seemed flow around him as he lay down. With the bandages on his back, it didn't hurt to lie down. The bed seemed to swallow him, and he slept for several hours.

  He only noticed the passage of time when the sun shone through the window to the right of the bed. The window covering had rolled up automatically and the light had woken him from his sleep.

  For the first time in many days, he felt like he had slept well.

  "Good to see you are awake," Jarod's disembodied voice said through a speaker somewhere near the bedroom's door.

  The white walls and white bedding seemed to reflect the sunlight. Wyatt couldn't remember the color the room had been the night before, but it seemed brighter and more sterile.

  "What are you going to do with me now?" Wyatt asked.

  "Come join me for breakfast," Jarod said. The tone of his voice had not changed. It was like he couldn't hear Wyatt's question. Maybe there wasn't a microphone in the room, or it had been turned off.

>   Crawling out of the bed, Wyatt placed his bare feet on the carpeted floor and stood. His jeans, socks, and hoodie sat folded on the windowsill. That was another thing Wyatt didn't understand.

  Realizing he was just standing there in his underwear, Wyatt pulled on the jeans and hoodie. His back felt better today than it had the night before. The notebook still rested in the pocket of his pants. That could have been a relief, if he knew he would ever get back to a time before 2100.

  Through the window, snow covered the ground, but it had started to melt off near the roadway. In the distance, he saw tall, tree-covered mountains and realized just how small the town really was.

  A moment later he emerged from the hallway into the kitchen, smelling the scent of freshly cooked eggs.

  "Breakfast is there," Jarod said pointing toward a blue plate on the table. "I hope you like eggs. I don't get visitors, so I had to take a guess."

  "Eggs are fine," Wyatt said.

  "How is your back?" Jarod asked, sitting at the table across from the place he had set for Wyatt.

  Wyatt nodded, sat, and took a bite of the eggs. They were too salty, but it was good to eat something. He wasn't sure how long it had been since the last time he had food. It could have been almost twenty-four hours. It could have been longer.

  "Thank you," Wyatt said. "But what do you intend to do with me?" He took a sip of the orange juice that sat in a transparent glass beside his plate.

  "You don't feel the resonance, do you?" Jarod asked.

  Wyatt took a moment to inhale deeply and exhale before answering. For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel any of the dizziness. "I don't think I do," he answered, trying not to be fully honest.

  "Good," Jarod said. "I've been worried about this a little since I picked you up." He took a bite of eggs and talked through it. "My plan is simple. I'll help you get on your feet, but you will be my sensor. If you start to feel the resonance, I'll know something is changing. It's been twenty-three"—he swallowed—"years since you sent me here, and I haven't worried about time travel changes."

  "But now," Wyatt started, "you worry that my being here is going to change everything."

  "Not quite," Jarod said through another bite of eggs. "I worry that your being here will finally draw the others. That's how the loop starts. I worry that things won't happen in a way to prevent the loop. I worry you'll be a fool and trap me in a loop again." He took a long drink of his orange juice and watched Wyatt for a moment.

  Wyatt had stopped eating and stared back at Jarod. "How would the others get here? What loop?"

  "They'd get here the same way you got here," Jarod said. "And before you ask where they are, I'm worried about their absence also. As far as the loop, I don't want to say too much. I'm only here because you didn't allow it to happen."

  "How did I stop it?" Wyatt asked, finally taking another bite of the eggs. At least he had food to eat. As he chewed and swallowed, his mind played through several scenarios that could explain why Hannah or any of his group would not be there yet. Either they had failed, or they had some other reason to not be there yet. He also thought through that word loop. He didn't think he had seen one.

  Jarod lowered his fork and watched Wyatt. "I don't think I should tell you, because that might change it."

  "You need to tell me something," Wyatt said. "I've heard that word used a bit by your earlier versions, but I don't think I understand it."

  With a laugh, Jarod raised another forkful of egg into his mouth. "Time travel ruins everything," he said as he swallowed. "A loop in time is a paradox. If it isn't correct, a person or an object can suddenly have no beginning or end."

  Wyatt thought about Linda. She seemed to have suddenly appeared. "Are you saying that because of the loop, people can no longer exist?"

  "No," Jarod said, shaking his head and taking a drink from his glass of orange juice. "Strange things happen. When you sent me here, I remembered my past, but now I don't. With a loop, it is possible for an event, or an object, to never have a beginning. It simply exists between certain times, doomed to constantly traverse that path."

  Wyatt's mind spun. "Are you stuck in a loop?"

  "Look at where you are," Jarod said. "Do you think you were sent here by accident? Do you think I would take the time to work around your group and try to fix the past you messed up, only to send you away to some random place?"

  Wyatt shook his head. "I don't know what to think. Do we just wait for my group to arrive?"

  "They aren't here yet," Jarod said, sighing. "That means they probably won't arrive. But I'm not ready to stop watching for their arrival." He downed the rest of the orange juice in his glass and placed it back on the table. "Feel any resonance yet?"

  Wyatt shook his head as his mind worked through what it could mean. "Do you think the others will come because of something you did?"

  Jarod shrugged as he went back to eating his eggs.

  "From what I remember, you and Linda had done a decent job of dismantling my group." Wyatt took another bite of his eggs as he finished. "What do you remember?"

  Jarod shook his head. "Things have changed from what I remember," he said. "I'm an old man. My memory is not what it used to be."

  "Obviously," Wyatt said as he thought he might be able to use Jarod's age against him. "You and Linda tore us all apart. You stopped us from fixing what the Machina needed fixed." He watched the way Jarod stopped eating at that statement and waited for more reaction.

  They both ate quietly for the next few minutes. Wyatt felt frustration and anxiety swelling. Hopefully, he would feel the resonance soon signaling someone had found him. Watching the older Jarod, he worried he had been trapped in this future the same as he had done for that man.

  It took a few more minutes for Jarod to finish his plate of eggs. Wyatt couldn't finish due to the frustration that grew inside him. He pushed the plate toward Jarod. With a shrug, Jarod removed the plate and motioned toward the sofa in the front room.

  "This is where you will stay for the next while," Jarod said. "I need to know what the others will do. I need to be sure the loop is broken."

  "Are you still worried about my group coming for me?" Wyatt asked. That gave him a little hope. Maybe there would be a way out of this future.

  Jarod shook his head, but only after his eyes narrowed. "When your group comes for you, I'll get them," he said. "That will stop any further loops." The old man was not as good at hiding his emotions as he might have been at a younger age. He looked toward the window as worry lined his face.

  That gave Wyatt a little more courage as he rose from the table.

  Wyatt faced Jarod. "Your plan is for me to simply sit here, in your house, and wait for something that might not happen?"

  "I'm sure it happens," Jarod said, motioning to his right temple. "I've seen you come back from this, but this time I am prepared." He turned his back on Wyatt and moved toward the two large picture windows opposite the garage door and the kitchen. They extended across the entire wall of the house. They had been covered the night before. The glass sat flush with the inner surface of the wall.

  After looking through them for several seconds, Jarod touched a wall pad between the two windows. They opaqued. It reminded Wyatt of a demonstration he had seen of welder's goggles growing dark when light hit them, but this time the windows changed to the same gray coloring of the wall.

  The growing frustration took hold of Wyatt as he stepped into the seating area. One large, leather sofa sat to the right, with an old-fashioned wicker chair beside it. The chair looked out of place, but that was where Jarod motioned for Wyatt to sit.

  "If you have seen me return back from this, why are you trying to hold me here?" Wyatt asked. Jarod's comment gave him some hope.

  Watching the older version of Jarod, he knew he could easily overtake the other man. But what kind of trouble would that put him in?

  "Because I have studied it out," Jarod said. "In my memory, your return makes things worse. This time, you
will draw the others here."

  With a shake of his head, Wyatt stepped a little closer to the older man. "You're wrong. No one is going to come looking for me"—he thought back to the overheard conversation where his group talked about their difficulties trusting someone—"because they lost their trust in me."

  Jarod motioned toward the chair but didn't respond.

  Wyatt's mind played out possible scenarios. He didn't see any way for his group to come to this year. It was too far ahead. They would need one of the devices Jarod's versions had to travel here.

  "Are you sure you have never felt the resonance?" Wyatt asked as he stepped nearer the wicker chair. For fear of being tied down, he didn't sit in the chair. Instead, he decided to see if he could interrupt Jarod's plans.

  "No," Jarod said.

  "You've never felt the sickening feeling that something was wrong?" Wyatt took another step closer to the chair.

  Jarod stepped back from it. So far, it didn't appear the older man wanted to tie him down to it. Wyatt continued to watched Jarod, waiting for Jarod to answer his question.

  "It's important to you that I stay here and help you," Wyatt said. "But I think you owe me the courtesy of answering a few of my questions."

  "Courtesy?" Jarod said. "Think about the way I collected you, cleaned your clothing, and fed you. I could have let you suffer in the cold out there. You could have died from exposure."

  "Thank you," Wyatt said, nodding his head and spreading his arms. At least now he saw some emotional response from Jarod. "But if you want my help, you are going to have to answer my questions."

  Jarod motioned toward the chair. "Sit down, and I'll consider it."

  Wyatt glanced toward the chair. Before taking a seat, he stopped in front of it, and tried to sense any effects of the resonance.

  Nothing. He was alone. The timestream had not changed yet.

  He wondered if that was due to his sudden launch into the year 2123. Had he lost his ability to feel the resonance? He feared his group wouldn't come for him.

  That thought made him pause in his thoughts for a moment. Anxiety welled up inside him, but he sat on the chair.