Time Agent | ONC2024

19. Confessions

"What do you mean?" Seven's weak protest fell on deaf ears.

Jean grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the room.

"Come in here while I finish dressing and then we'll go and talk to Sophie. We know you're a time traveller from the future, it's the only thing that makes sense."

Seven was distracted by the large bed, with two pillows and rumpled blankets on both sides. For a moment he forgot everything else.

"You and Sophie?"

"What? Oh that." Jean chuckled. "Sophie and I have been having sleep overs since we were kids. She's like my sister. We just share a bed, we don't have sex."

He flung an arm around Seven, drew him close and kissed him fast and hard on the mouth. His eyes twinkled. "You're the one I fancy, so maybe now you can tell us the truth."

Thoroughly disconcerted, Seven sank down on the edge of the bed, watching as Jean pulled on a shirt, and a jacket over the top.

"Come on, let's join Sophie in the kitchen," ordered Jean. "I need coffee."

Seven had only a few moments to reach a decision on his way downstairs. He took a seat at the kitchen table so that he was facing both of them, and waited a moment while Sophie poured the coffee. Jean wanted the truth, did he? Well, perhaps he was right. The time for prevarication had passed and he would go straight to the heart of the matter.

He turned to Jean. "I told you and Jacques at least part of the truth last night. We know there's a time machine somewhere in this area and I've been sent here to find it."

"Wow!" Sophie let out a soft breath. "It's true! You really are from the future." She reached out and delicately stroked his arm. "Wow."

Jean's eyes were shining.

Seven gave an embarrassed laugh. This was hardly the reaction he had been expecting. He cleared his throat.

"Hold on, Marcel should be here for this. I'll give him a call." Jean disappeared but came back a minute later with a frown. "He's not answering."

"Perhaps he's on his way here," Sophie suggested.

"Never mind about your friend," Seven interjected. "You can fill him in later. You need to tell me where the machine is, it's really important."

"Why?" asked Jean. "Why is it so important?"

"Do you need it to get home?" The thought popped into Sophie's head.

"What? No. I have another way to return to my time, that's not the problem."

"Then what is?"

"It's dangerous, that's what. An unqualified person is going back in time and trying to change things. Every time that happens, you risk a break in the time line."

"What does that mean?" Sophie kept her eyes on Sven, deliberately avoiding looking at Jean.

"If someone changes something significant, the timelines will diverge and you'll end up with two different timelines, branching in different directions."

"You mean it creates a new timeline? It doesn't just replace the original?"

"That's right."

"And that happens every time someone goes back to the past?"

The questions were coming thick and fast.

"No, not every time. If the person doesn't change anything, merely observes, then their impact is minimal, more like a tiny hiccup. Most people wouldn't notice anything different."

"So why is it dangerous? I don't understand."

"Perhaps dangerous is the wrong word. Let me try and explain. When the change to an event occurs, the new timeline splits off from the original. At first the only differences will relate entirely to the immediate consequences of the changed outcome."

Seven could see he'd confused them. "I'll give you a simple example. Say that in the original timeline, someone is murdered. If someone goes back and prevents that from happening, then that person will go on living, making new choices and taking new actions, impacting the world around them in new ways."

Jean and Sophie both nodded to show they understood. Seven continued.

"And for every minute that passes, the differences between the two timelines will expand exponentially. People the world over might make different choices in the new timeline, resulting in different consequences, and so on and so forth. A ripple effect."

"Okay, I can see that," said Sophie, "but... well, I still don't understand why that's so bad. I mean the original timeline is still continuing, right? It hasn't been wiped out."

"That's true, but the amateur time traveller who tries to change the past according to their own desires or beliefs, is playing with people's lives. Who gives them the right to change history, to decide who lives and who dies? They are playing God."

Jean gulped, he hadn't thought of it in those terms before, but Sophie had.

"So, what's your role in this, Sven?" she asked. "When you find the time machine, what are you going to do? Tell them to dismantle it?"

"Something like that," agreed Seven. He sipped his coffee.

Jean was getting a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"But what if they won't? I can imagine if a time travel project was being run by a government department, or a private company, they'll have their own agenda, they certainly won't listen to an outsider."

"Oh, I think they'll listen to me," said Seven calmly. "Now, where exactly is this device?"

Jean took a deep breath. "It's not a device, or a machine... it's me."

"What?" Seven stared, disbelieving.

"It's me," repeated Jean. "It's something I was born with."

"No, I don't believe you." Seven was shaking his head in denial.

Sophie opened her mouth, probably to say she also had the ability, and Jean kicked her ankle, hard. For once, she kept quiet.

"It's true, I discovered the ability when I turned eighteen. I've no idea how, but it's something inside me. I'll show you."

Jean vanished, right before Seven's eyes. He reappeared a minute later to find Sven staring at him in utter horror. The blood had drained from his face and he looked like he might faint.

"Hey," said Jean, with an uneasy chuckle. "It's not that bad. I agree with what you said. I promise I won't try and change anything that's already happened."

Seven closed his eyes, battling to come to terms with the astounding, devastating news. This was going to test him to his limits.

(Author's Note: did you pick up the prompt reference in this chapter? )