[PSL] time travel, time travel

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Martin had always known that Lukas would kill him in the end. If not along the way, then surely at the end, once he'd gotten what he wanted out of Martin, whatever that turned out to be. When the Lonely rose up to swallow him, he'd accepted his impending death with ... what?

What did he have left, really? Numbness, mostly. A hallucination of Jon in the Lonely, looking for him, but - but that was impossible, ridiculous. His mind playing cruel tricks. He settled himself down in the frigid surf, knees drawn up close to his chest, unshed tears frozen to his cheeks and lashes.

And then. A door. A door that shouldn't exist, that couldn't exist. That he shouldn't take at all. The Lonely was terrible, yes, but it was quiet, and it was peaceful. Martin was aligned enough with it by now to very nearly enjoy it, in a strange and terrible way. The Spiral would be infinitely worse than this quiet beach.

But ... it was hope, too. In a strange way. Hope enough that Martin found himself turning the door handle and stepping through, leaving the false comfort of the Lonely behind him.

The transition was unpleasant. Long. But Martin couldn't remember it after; he only remembered stumbling out through the door of a supply closet somewhere deep in the Archives, blinking up at the dim bulbs that pretended to be sufficient. What time was it? Had he escaped? Where were Lukas and Elias now?

And where was Jon? ]

Comments

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Sorry Jon. He's only saying this because he thinks you aren't real.

Martin sinks slowly into his desk chair, holding his head in his hands. ]

Yes. The Lonely. I don't know why I didn't realise it sooner. It's the only option.

[eyediot]

[Jon watches him, then slowly reaches to ... Nudge him.]

This? Is not a hallucination. [He gestures to the bloodied tissues on his desk, his blood on Martin's hands.]

Something weird's been going on here since Jane attacked and you found Gertrude's body. [God, he can hear the static on the tape recorder picking up. Busted old thing.] I've been trying to get to the bottom of it. But this? This is...

I don't understand.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Martin lets out a soft, miserable noise. It's ... not quite like anything Jon has heard before out of him; it's far more despairing than the usual panic. ]

So it's a realistic hallucination. Probably why Helen was there in the first place. Spiral and all. God --

[ But then he stops. Something else catches his attention instead. ]

Wait. What - what do you mean, since Jane attacked.

[ That is not the milestone he would have used to describe anything recent. ]

[eyediot]

Jane... Attacked the Archive. I've only been back a few weeks. [Look, his WORM HOLES are still healing, he hasn't even taken off all the bandages yet.]

We haven't even gotten rid of all the fire extinguishers yet.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Jon's worm holes are still healing. And the fire extinguisher is still under his desk. And --

Something is very wrong here. Something that isn't just the Lonely. ]

What day is it? What - what year is it?

[eyediot]

... It's the second of October. [And because he asked:] Twenty-sixteen.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Twenty --

If Martin hadn't already been seated, he would collapse into his chair now. As it is, he just sort of ... goes limp. Staring ahead at nothing. It's 2016. It's two-thousand-bloody-sixteen-- ]

Oh. Oh god.

[eyediot]

[Yeah, his paranoia is kicking up pretty hard. But at the same time, Martin looks.... Genuinely. Upset.]

Right.

So.

Again I ask: who are you.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ He is both extremely genuine and extremely upset now. A hallucination would be an answer. This? He doesn't know what this is. ]

I ... I'm Martin Blackwood.

[ His voice wavers a little. ]

Martin Blackwood, from September 2018.

[eyediot]

...............


That's not possible.

[curriculum_fictae]

I-I bloody well know it isn't! But - but it's happening anyway!

[ Even as he blurts out his own misery, he's thinking rapidly. October 2016. What's next at this point? He dimly remembers this, he thinks. Didn't Helen get trapped in a door right around now? ]

[eyediot]

This is some-- It has to be some elaborate prank by Tim. He put you up to this.

[Tim and Sasha know he's trying to get to the bottom of something, that Jon's falling into paranoia. He knows because they're starting to get annoyed and suspicious of him. It'd be easy to get Martin in on it.]

Fine. Fine, if they want to do this, then I'll just. I'll keep working to find the truth.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Oh. Oh.

He should probably object to the thought of Tim getting Martin to play a prank on Jon but -

He only barely gets his hands over his mouth before a small strangled sob escapes him. ]

Tim's still alive?

[ Of course he is. It's 2016. ]

[eyediot]

What?

[curriculum_fictae]

I - I guess he'd have to be. If it's only 2016, I -

[ Wait. Tim being alive is good, yes, but that means there's another problem. ]

-- Sasha. You - you have to get away from Sasha. She's not - not Sasha.

[eyediot]

[Yeah, they've just completely forgotten all about the tea now huh? And even though the tape should have run out by now, it's still somehow going. Jon's paying it no mind, not when Martin is... having some kind of break down. He doesn't fully understand it.]

And you're not Martin, even if I can't explain it. We've dealt with supernatural beings and-- and stories of cults and anything else, but time travel? Even that's a little far fetched.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ It is far fetched. Even with all the things they've done, they haven't encountered that, right? No statements --

Wait. ]

No, it's. It's happened. We have a - a statement. I've seen it. 0092204, given by Anya Vilette.

[ He remembers faking follow up work for it while preparing for the Unknowing. ]

[eyediot]

What?

[That's enough to pull Jon out of his spiraling thoughts. Statement 0092204? He hasn't encountered that one yet. The name doesn't ring a bell off the top of his head either.]

I haven't read it yet. Where is it?

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Martin has to close his eyes a moment, trying to remember. ]

I think ... in a box on top of the row E shelving? Nowhere near the rest of the Hill Top Road statements.

[eyediot]

['The rest'.]

Hill Top Road.

[God, he's starting to hate that house. He covers his mouth with one hand while he thinks. Gets up and paces around his chair once. Twice. Eight times.]

Come with me.

[And then he's off to find this. This time travel statement.]

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Sorry, Jon. Martin didn't come here to make a mess of your life, but. Well. That's just how things are in this world, it seems.

He trails after Jon helplessly, hunched in on himself and half leaning over his smaller boss. Strangely enough, his footsteps don't make any noise at all. ]

Do you - do you need me to get it down for you?

[eyediot]

I-- [UGH. Damn him and his height.] We'll see.

[HE'S A BIG BOY HE CAN GET A STEP STOOL ALL BY HIMSELF AND EVERYTHING. But he stops at the end of Row E. There isn't much on the top shelf, but there are a few boxes. He reaches for the stool.]

I'll check the one on this end here. You check the others.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Martin sort of ... looks at Jon. At the stool. And then back up at the shelf. ]

It's the one on the left.

[ He points helpfully. Don't be daft, Jon, of course he knows which box he got statement out of. How else would he put it back properly? ]

[eyediot]

............. I don't know how I feel about this twenty-eighteen Martin Blackwood know it all.

[But fine!!! He picks the stool up and moves it to the one on the left and climbs up, digging through the files. And wouldn't you know, there's statement 0092204.]

Well. At least he's accurate.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Martin flushes dimly, the thin prickling of colour strange against his pallid cheeks. ]

I - look. Despite all those terrible things you said about me, I'm actually not a bad assistant.