THE IDENTIFIED PATIENT
A NOVEL
by BRENDAN LEE SPRAGUE

"I can only tell the truth . . ."
"What do you remember..?"
"What do I remember..?"
"Yes..?"
"What is your name..?"
"Is that what you want to ask me..?"
"Yes."
"I am known as Lee."
"It is the name of my people."
"We all share the same name where I am from."
"Where are you from..?"
"I am from the year 2032."
"Oh."
"And what are you doing here, in this year..?"
"To warn you about what happens, where I am from."
"And what happens in the year where you are from..?"
He looked at the patient.
"Where I am from, is when the world will end."
* * * * *
"How did you get here..? And why -- are you here..?"
"To warn you. I am here through a mishap in the laws of entanglement."
"Why are you here, now..?"
"To warn you at this present time, since this is the moment in time most necessary to intervene, or express our hopes for the future. We must, stop, the future."
"Stop the future..?"
"Yes..?"
"Hold on, check three."
"Okay, continue."
"What does that mean..?"
"Nothing, it's just protocol. Please continue."
"I was sent here to warn you about the future."
"Okay."
". . . About what is set to come, if you do not listen to the signs that have been laid down before you."
"Very interesting."
"So, same gauge..? Same level..? Anything else..? Just let me know."
"Who are you talking to..?"
"No one. Please continue."
"Um, I was sent here to warn you."
"Look, Mr. Lee -- you arrived here, in the middle of the night, and were found at the hospital, in a random hospital bed, with no I.D. and no recognizable fingerprints in our database. We have no idea who you are, and this story, to be completely honest, sounds ridiculous." "Yes, check three one last time. This guy . . ."
"You must listen to me."
There was a pause.
"We must follow our protocol, um. Mr. Lee."
"What does that mean..?"
"We are going to send you upstairs, Lee."
"However you got here, you're going to stay here."
"Will I be able to use a phone..?'
"Who do you need to call..?'
* * * * *
"Hello. Are you um, oh, Lee..?'
"Yes."
"Please take this."
"What is it..?'
"It is to help you feel better."
"I don't know what it is."
"How many miligrams of this chemical will I receive..?"
"200 miligrams."
"May I ask what the typical, or usual dosage is for most first-time patients..?"
"Um. I will have to ask the doctor about that."
"Do you not know..?"
"No. Um."
"Okay. I guess I will take it."
"How do I take it..? With a injection needle..?"
"No, we just have a pill, and whatever you would like to drink. We have water, orange juice, apple juice."
"I will have water."
He looked her in the eyes.
"Okay."
"Please put it on your tongue so I can see it, and then swallow so I can see you swallow, and then take the pill with the water, okay..?"
"Thank you."
"Okay. What is this drug essentially used for..?"
"Mood stabilization, and psychosis."
"Okay."
He took the pill.
"Thank you."
* * * * *
"Hello, I was trying to use the phone, but it would not work. Is there something wrong with it..?"
"No. Our hours for calling out of the hospital end at 10 P.M."
"Oh. What time is it..?"
"It is 10:12."
"Oh." He said.
"I see."
"Where do I sleep tonight..?'
"You will sleep in this room."
"May I take a shower..?'
"Yes."
"You can take a shower, just use the towel in the room, and shut the curtain on the door."
"The curtain..?'
"Yes."
"Okay."
"We will check on you every seven minutes and thirty seconds."
"Okay."
"What is this hospital called..?
"We are called the Acadia Hospital."
"Where is this hospital located..?"
"This hospital is located in the city of Bangor, Maine."
"Thank you."
"Would you like the light on or off..?'
"I would like the light off, please."
"Okay."
"Thank you."
* * * * * 
"We would like to hear more about you, and where you came from."
"Well, I don't have anything to say, really, other than one thing."
"What do you mean..?"
"I am only here to say one thing."
"Okay."
"So what is this one thing you came here to say..?'
"Oh. I don't really remember all of it. It was something like, God is the final truth. Deny God, through synthesis, and avoid the true power of the artist, and poet in society, and you have killed justice."
"Okay. So, we're going to be upping your dose on Seroquel from about 200 mg to roughly 450, and we may be sending you a little higher upstairs later on. Does this sound okay with you..? Also, you will need to ask permission if you want to go outside with the rest of the patients. I hope you have a good day, Mr. Lee."
"Thank you."
"No problem . . . Mr. Lee."
The doctor exited the room.
* * * * * 
"May I make my phone call now..?"
"Yes. The phone is available. Remember to dial 9 to get out of the hospital."
"Okay. Thank you."
* * * * * 
"Yes. They are holding me."
"I don't know. Please counter-act the drug. Thank you. Yes. Five, along with the abbreviated reduction of power in the left sensor. Please reduce the pain I've been feeling in the pulsor in my neck. It is outrageous. These people. God. I can't imagine what it was like to be alive in this time. Yes..?"
"Lee."
"Yes..?"
"In this year, there is no pulsor in your neck."
"Then . . ."
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Are you using the phone..?'
"Yes. I am using the phone."
Holding the receiver.
"I need to use the phone."
"Oh. Well I have an important phone-call to make right now, but I will be done very soon. Thank you for your patience. I'm sorry for being brusque. Do you know what that word means..?"
"No."
"Okay. Well, I will just be another minute."
"Okay, but I really need to use the phone to call my friend . . ."
"Okay."
"Yes. Hello are you there.."
"Check nine. No. Yes, I'm here."
"Will you find a way to get me out of here..?'
"It's hard."
"Why."
"They use a blue-papering system."
"What does that mean..?'
"You have to go to court."
"Court..?'
"Yes."
"What does that mean..?'
"Based on our inquiry into the system, it reads that in your present hospital location with your present commitment to the agency of that hospital, without any form of rights of your own, you are filed to have a court case roughly one week from now, to determine if you are sane, or to be further hospitalized, etcetera. This court case is the general result of being filed under the laws of a blue paper."
"Oh."
"Okay."
"So, what do I do..?'
"Just be cool."
* * * * * 
"So why are you in the hospital..?"
He looked at her, with remote, as well as non-remote concern.
"I am here because the doctors think I wanted to kill myself."
"Oh." The young girl looked upset, but kind.
"I told my therapist that I was feeling suicidal. I felt depressed. I thought that when you had a therapist there was a confidentiality thing or something. I don't know. He just had this ambulance show up, and before I know it I'm in handcuffs."
"How old are you..?'
"Eighteen."
"Do you go to school..?'
"Yes?"
"What do you study..?'
"The usual boring stuff they teach you in school..?"
He looked at her.
"School is a blessing, in my opinion. The opportunity to learn in the presence of other people. This is an advantage I feel, generally."
"I guess. If you want to look at it that way. i mostly feel like it's just a bunch of fuckin' fascism, and bullshit fascists with no real clue just trying to fucking control the world."
"Where I'm from, we don't use that word."
"What..?"
"The word that starts with the letter F."
"Why not..?"
"It is an anti-word. It doesn't mean anything."
"Oh. Well, where I'm from . . . we don't give a fuck, and where are you from anyway..?"
"I am from the 2032. I arrived in this hospital. I am still working with the doctors to explain why."
"Oh, you're from the year 2032."
"Yes."
"Where -- why are you here now..?'
"I am here to warn you."

"Oh. Okay."

"So . . ."
"Why are you here to warn us..?'
"Because the world will end where I came from."
* * * * * 
"Thank you."
"And please take this, too."
"What is it..?"
"Fish oil."
"These drugs make me feel sleepy. Is this a normal side-effect of this drug..?"
"Well."
"You might feel a little sleepy. We are upping your dose to 600 MG tonight, just so you know."
"Oh."
"Okay. Thank you. May I use the phone later..?"
"The phone is free now. Dinner is in a half hour. Eating is entirely up to you. If you want to sleep instead, a lot of patients do."
"Okay." Lee paused, and looked down.
"Thank you."
* * * * *
"Yes, they are increasing the dosage. I have been trying to keep my cool, as the say. It's crazy in here. They just keep pressuring me to sleep, and feel like a zombie. Is this really how it all started..? God, and the way they talk here. Control..? Um, sorry for the ramble, any news on what I should do..?"
"Just work it out the best you can. We didn't shoot for this. We were trying for a regular hospital, somewhere off the grid, but somehow you ended up in Acadia. Don't worry. It's just five days until the court date. You'll be fine. Have you thought about preparing a letter, or anything you might say in your defense..?"
"I apparently am being told that I will be seeing a lawyer tomorrow."
"Okay."
"Just -- Do that. Be cool for now."
"Mind the chip. Keep it steady. Keep checking in. And stay on Mach 5, know what I mean..?"
"Yeah, sure." He paused.
"But you said I have no pulsor."
"We're working on something else."
"But like I said . . ."
"it isn't really the same in that timeline."
"Okay."
"Be yourself. And never forget who your leaders truly are."
"Okay."
"Have a good night, Lee."
"Good-night."
"You sound sad."
"No."
A long pause.
"Are you okay..?"
"Yes."
Lee looked at his hands, and flexed them, and then looked back up at the phone, and down again.
"I'm fine." He said.
* * * * * *
"Hello. Yes. I am here to visit a certain patient."
"Um, yes, have you signed in..?'
"Yes. Are you working for this hospital..?"
"Um, yes..?'
"Yes. Thank you. I would like to see a certain patient. His name is filed under the name Lee."
"Okay. We will be with you shortly."
"Okay . . . thank you."
"Dr. Balian..?" "Yes..?" "The patient is ready to see you."
* * * * * 
"Hello." 
"Yes."
"Please, tell me your story."
"My story..? I don't have much to share."
"You say, you are from the year --"
"I am from the year 2032."
"Yes. I read this in your report."
"Are you German..?"
"No, I am from Russia."
"Oh."
"I see, you think you are from the year 2032, and you have no fingerprint records, no recognizable identity, and there is no evidence for how you entered this hospital, correct..?"
"Yes."
"So, I am a little confused, a little bit."
Dr. Balian smiled, with a a strange look on his face.
"You say you are from the future, but you are being prescribed Seroquel for psychosis, and you have no available records as far as your identity. I am very confused. Will you please clear things up for me, Mr. Lee..?"
"I am a time-traveler. The world will end in the year I am from. i am only here ot say one thing."
They spoke for several minutes.
Finally, Dr. Balian asked.
"What is this, one thing..?"
"I will tell you when the time is right."
"Yes, but how did you get here, Lee..?"
"How did you get to the Acadia hospital, in the first place..?"
"I don't know."
"Okay."
"I am only here to help you, Mr. Lee."
A long pause, and a sigh. He looked down, and sifted through the papers, and then looked back up, with a careful smile.
"I think you are schizophrenic."
"I have written a report, with all of the dates, and information you have given me."
"I thought you were supposed to help me," Lee said.
"I am supposed to help you."
"May I look at your computer-screen..?'
"Yes. Of course."
"Why are there X's instead of dates..?"
"Um, I don't . . ."
"I think you're the one who's schizophrenic."
Lee looked at the screen again, and nodded to himself.
"Please, Mr. Lee. Your court date is in two days. I am only here to help you."
"I think I am done speaking with you, Dr. Balian."
* * * * * 
"Teach me again."
"Teach you..?"
"Do it again . . ."
"I will need a pen."
"Do you have a pen..?"
"No. We have safety pens."
Julie looked up at Lee with curiosity.
"Can I have a safety pen..?" Julie laughed.
"Yes."
"Thank you."
"Here."
"Okay, now I will need to make sure the pen is resting on a good firm base, for the object to rest upon."
"What is this called..?"
"It is a mind-over-matter exercise, in your time referred to as telekinesis."
"Cool. How did you know about it..?"
"Everyone knows about this where I am from."
"Now, watch."
"I will place the folded piece of paper resting on the pen as if resting on a needle, as I fold it perfectly in half, and then balance it on the centre of the tip. Notice how it spins immediately."
"Oh, wow."
"Can I try..?"
Julie looked at the object. "Sure," He said. And got up.
"Yes."
"Where are you going..?"
"You need space, as well as time. In my reality, we measure everything equally. Each to each. Part to part. Whole to whole. Just as with people, sometimes the best way to learn is without the guidance of anyone but yourself."
"Oh."
She seemed sad.
"Okay..?"
Looking back at the object.
"But um."
She looked up, and said, as she looked at him.
"I kind of wanted you to be here."
"Oh."
"Why..?"
"Because."
"You make me feel safe."
"Hey, look, it's moving."
"I'm sorry." He said.
"Will you come back later..?" She looked up from the paper.
"I wasn't gone for very long, was I..?"
"What do you mean..?"
He seemed confused, and then looked pale, and left the room, while the object kept spinning.
* * * * *
"What is the name of the doctor in charge of this hospital..?"
"The name of the doctor in charge of this hospital is Dr. Rain."
"What is the name of my doctor..?"
"The name of your doctor is Dr. Ricardi."
"What was the name of the doctor who oriented me in the observation unit..?"
"His name is Dr. Wayne."
"And what was the name of the man who said that I needed to go upstairs, and is basically the reason that I am here..?"
"Dr. Ng sent you upstairs."
"Okay."
"Does Dr. Ng still work at the Acadia hospital, five years from now..?"
"What do you mean..? How am I supposed to know that?"
"Thank you."
"Thank you. Yes. Um. Hello. No. You need to have a release to speak with her. She hasn't given permission to speak with anyone at this time."
"Is that phone call for Julie..?"
"Sorry. What..? No. Oh. Please go back to your room. Yes, you need to have a release filled out to speak with her . . ."
"Thank you."
* * * * *
"Please take this."
"What is it..?"
"It is Seroquel. The medication you have been prescribed while you are here."
"It makes me feel sleepy."
She waited for another response. He said:
"I don't like these drugs."
"That's something you need to talk to your doctor about."
"You are incredibly rude."
"Oh yeah..?"
"Hold on, guys."
"I feel spite, and some form of rage towards you, and hope that you are replaced with another med nurse soon."
"Ha. Surprise. Today's my last day." "Hold on, Mr. Lee" She answered the phone.
"Oh."
"Okay."
"Today is your last day..?"
"Yes."
"I filled out my paperwork last week."
"I'm done here."
"You are right."
She was looking down at some papers. "What's the problem, Mr. Lee..?" After a pause.
"Today is your last day."
* * * *
"Julie, I think you should speak with your parents."
"What." She said.
"What do you know about my parents..?"
"I don't know you, or your parents."
"Then why would you even say that..?"
He looked at her.
"They're total assholes."
"That's fine. But sometimes it's important to maintain contact with the outside world when you are in a place like this. Otherwise you might end up being here much longer than you truly wish to be."
She looked partially neutral.
"I don't care."
"I think you should care." He said.
And then appearing suddenly upset.
"How OLD are you..? You look twenty, but you act like you're forty. You're claiming you're from the future, and that the world is going to end, but do you think that is really original..? That's the only thing people talk about in the hospital. Neo-messiahs."
"They're scum."
"What..?'
"Your parents, they are awful, terrible people."
She paused.
"I know. Tell me something I don't know."
"They allowed you to be abused by a schoolmate when you were young. You were alone. They sat by, while it happened in the other room." Lee looked at her, into her right eye.
"You remember this."
"It was the first time you ever went to a place like this. It's hard not to remember."
"Your real name is Julie Lee Sands, and I am a messenger. He will take good care of you, when you meet."
"My name is Julie Lee Smith."
"I know."
"What are you talking about..?"
"Nothing."
"How your life will be some day."
She seemed angry.
"Do you think that human health could be improved, and that you might find a kind service to the world somewhere in the focus of nutrition, and holistic health..?"
She was quiet, and changed the expression on her face, suddenly appearing enlightened, and then enraged, and simply said, "Fuck you." And got up, grabbing her journal and pen.
"And you learned that word from a film called Broken Arrow, that you watched when you were ten years old. It was starring a man who is also portrayed in some of the most violent films ever released in American cinema. Your father allowed you to watch this with him late at night, while you were wearing Berenstein Bears pajamas. Sometime around 10:11 PM. Eastern Time."
"How do you know that..? You don't know anything about me."
"So, you think I'm crazy..?"
"No." She said, blinking.
"I think you're an asshole."
* * * * *
"This place is getting to me."
"Just try not to talk to the other patients."
"Don't talk to the other patients..?"
"I can't help it."
"We're getting a lot of hiccups here, man."
"What do you mean..?"
"Strange plants. Weird animals. Lots of odd anomalies. It's all fried, man. You're gonna have to work this shit out soon. Time is running out for us. The populace is getting thinner. The president is still missing. No one is talking. The fact this transmission is even -- hold on -- getting through right now is a miracle. Can't talk right now. Yes..? Another shadow click..? East or South..? Shit. Okay."
"God, he never talks like that."
"What's going on back there..?"
"Are you there..?"
"Control..?"
"Control..?"
"Hello, Control, are you there..?"
"Why do you talk like that..? Swear words were banned . . ."
"Control..?"
A thirty-second pause.
"Yes . . ."
"Control, are you there..?"
"No."
"Control..?"
"Hello, control, are you there..?"
* * * * *
"Hello. I am your lawyer."
He was about 34 years old.
"I was supposed to see you two days ago, i was told." 
"Yeah, I got held up. I was on a plane."
"You are paid to be my lawyer."
"Yes."
"Because I don't have any money, and any rights."
"Well."
"What should I say in the court-room..?"
"It is best that you don't say anything."
"Okay."
"But, who will speak in my defense..?"
"Well. You just shouldn't have to say anything. You should be fine, without really, you know. It should be fine. I think you'll be fine."
"Okay."
"So, sign here."
"What am I signing..?"
"This is an agreement for me to represent you in the court."
"Okay."
"Your initial is the letter S..?"
"Yes. That is how I sign my name. It is the code I have been assigned."
"Okay, so should we call you S, or Lee, I'm a little confused."
"You can call me the S.S. Lee."
"Ha. Okay. Well, I guess we'll just call you Lee -- for now."
"S."
"Mmhm."
"So, do you think I will be let out of the hospital..?"
"The hospital is a controlled system. Individuals are held based upon their mental state, and kept in the system based upon the decision made by the court."
"Are you an independent lawyer..?'
"No."
"Then who do you work for..?"
"I work for the state."
"So . . ."
"Yes..?" He stared.
"You work the same state that is in opposition to me..?"
"Um, well."
"Well."
"I don't understand."
"Can I find a free consultation with someone else..?'
"I wouldn't suggest that."
"Why not..?"
"You have no other options, since . . ."
"Who do you really represent..?"
"I represent you, Mr. Lee."
"Okay."
"So, please sign here."
"Okay."
"Thank you."
"Okay. We will be seeing each other on the morning of the court date."
"You seem like a terrible lawyer."
"I'm sorry."
Lee looked up.
"What was that..?" The lawyer smiled.
"I said, you seem like a terrible lawyer."
"Oh."
"Okay..!'
"Why do you say that..?'
"Because you represent the same people who are opposing me."
"Okay, well, it's just the way it's set up. Okay..?'
"Okay." "Okay." The lawyer smiled. 
"Thank you, Mr. Lee." the lawyer said.
"Thank you."
The lawyer left the room, before Lee could get up.
* * * * *
"Um, Mom..?"
"Oh my God..!"
"How have you been! I love you!"
"Um, okay."
"Yeah, Mom. I'm fine. I met this weird guy."
"Oh. Great! Well. You are okay. We're all here, thinking of you."
"Okay."
"Mom, can you bring me some things..?"
"Yes. Bring you some things..?"
"A watch."
"Oh."
"I met this guy."
"He's weird."
"Okay. Well, when do you want us to bring you your things..?"
"He says he's from the future. He's kind of the reason why I'm calling you right now."
"Oh."
"Do you remember when I was five..?"
"I'm sorry, Julie, you're breaking up."
"Forget it."
"The phone is cutting out."
"It's okay."
"Bring me a watch, and my electric guitar. The miniature amplifier has a volume setting. Maybe they'll let me use it quietly in my room. Can you hear me..?."
The conversation ended up lasting fifteen minutes.
"Okay, Julie."
"When do you want to see us..?'
"I'll do all the release shit, and you can just come whenever. I guess noon."
"Okay."
"I love you too, Mom."
* * * * *
"I am wondering if I may have a notebook."
"Yes. We have journals."
"Okay. I would like to know if I can have a journal."
"Yes."
"May I have a safety pen, also, so that I can write inside of my journal with the safety pen..?"
"Yes. You may have a safety pen. Are you okay today, Lee..?"
"Fine."
"You seem a bit, upset."
"No, I am fine."
"I just have something rather important I need to get to."
"Oh, have you told the doctor about this."
"What, you mean my great plan..?"
"Oh, you have a plan."
"What is that..?"
"Nothing."
"Why did you just hit that small orange button, after asking me that question..?"
"I have to do time checks. It's part of my job. So what is this plan of yours..?"
"Saving the world."
"Oh." She smiled, looking at my chest.
"That's great."
"Yes. No. She is with the doctor right now. You will have to call back, or I can have you call her. Do you have a good number, or should I just call you back on this one I see on the caller I.D..? Are you good, Lee..?'
"Yes."
"Thank you, Lee."
"What is it, Lee..?"
"I am interested in having a notebook."
"Okay, Lee. It will just be a little while."
* * * * *
A half hour passed. Lee was handed the notebook and the safety pen.
"Thank you."
* * * * *
"I am a resident of the free sovereign states of America. Otherwise known as the U.S.S.A. I am from a world that is different from this place."
"No, that isn't right."
"God, why do I feel like this..?"
"Cheek the drugs, then spit them out." He looked up, and thought about the operator's words.
"I keep forgetting. Fuck."
"Great, now I'm using that damned word."
"is this really happening..?'
"How could I end up in this God-damned place..? At a time like this..?"
"Are you talking to someone, Lee..? You are the only one in the kitchen, I see."
The room fell quiet.
"Oh. I like to think out loud."
"When I am writing."
"Oh. Great..!"
"What are you writing down..?"
"Oh, we have to do checks on our patients, and right down activities, and such. It's just part of my job."
"Okay."
Lee looked down, and totally forgot what he was thinking.
* * * * *
"Hello. Control..?'
"Yes. This is control."
"Um. Yeah. Code S..? I am looking for my operator."
"Your operator..?"
"Yes."
"We are looking into that."
"Hello..?"
"Why aren't I reaching my operator directly..?"
He waited.
"Sorry, S, that was a glitch in the system. It's been haywire in here. I don't want to fill you in with too much of the details, but the more stuff you effect in that reality, the more stuff goes on over here, okay..? So try to keep the effects to a minimum tonight, maybe."
"The effects..?"
A pause. Lee waited for a response, then spoke instead.
"I have some serious writing to do."
"That might be . . . a bad idea right now."
"A bad idea."
"Why..?"
"Remember, the Power of Words."
"I don't remember, what do you mean..?"
"Look it up."
"Look, I gotta go."
"I think I remember."
"You will, if you do choose to write tonight. For now, keep it succinct. Keep it real, and be honest. You are a poet. Not a politician. You are real. You are honest. You are. So, please keep it real. Now, goodnight."
"Please, wait."
"Control..?"
"Control..?"
Lee turned the phone away from his ear. Then a voice spoke, sounding metallic as he moved the phone away from himself.
"Lee, we don't have all night. Even these phone calls are causing miasms in the time-space continuum. You need to understand they can only last thirty seconds at a time now."
"Okay."
"So please keep it to a minimum next time."
He hung up.
* * * * *
Lee looked up from the notebook. It was 3 A.M. He couldn't seem to think clearly.
"I can't do this."
When he slept, his roommate was praying a mantra all night long, and it kept him awake.
* * * * * *
"Talking to yourself again, Lee..?'
"What, oh."
"You are a nurse. What is your name..? How old are you, if I may ask."
"My name is Nurse Jones. I am twenty-five. Tonight is game night, Lee..!"
"Oh, good. What games are you playing..?"
"We don't know yet. We usually let the patients decide."
"Oh."
"How many games do you have."
"We have checkers, chess, puzzles, UNO, and lots of games..!"
"Will you play a game with me..?'
"Sure..!"
"I just have to --"
"No, it is a very easy game."
"Okay, what game is it..?'
"Will you try to stop speaking to me in that false, upward inflection all the time..? I can tell that you are lying, based upon the frequency of your voice, and that you are hiding something from me almost all the time. The game is: be honest with me, or please stop observing me like this."
"It's my job to observe you Lee. Nice to hear that, though. I'll keep that in mind..!"
"Thank you."
"So, is the game to be rude to nurses..?"
"Was I being rude..?"
"Oh, Lee, you have to take your medication now. It is eight thirty. You have missed your Zyprexa."
"Zyprexa..?"
* * * * * *
"Control..?"
"Listen, Lee. It isn't all the time. But we need to cut it short right now."
"Control..?"
"Just . . . "
"Sorry."
"Something is happening."
"Hello..?"
* * * * *
"So I guess you've been gettin' some shit from the staff, huh..?"
"What do you mean..?"
"Well, they treat you kind of differently from the rest of us, I've kind of noticed . . .."
"Yes. I guess."
Lee looked off, in the other direction.
"It could be because I am from the future."
"Oh, yeah."
"Well, you know, beyond that."
"Beyond the future..?'
"I mean, aside from the fact that you're from the future . . ."
"Sure, aleph to that statement, as we like to say where I come from . . . " He looked down.
"You say a lot of weird shit sometimes."
"So, should I -- keep my cool..? While I am here..?"
"Right."
"I don't know what it means to be cool."
"Oh."
"I can teach you that. It's easy."
"Well, basically, it's just like pretending you're someone you're not."
"You just, kind of, become someone else. Whoever you want to be."
"Is that the definition of cool..?"
"Pretty much. Everyone defines it for themselves really, but really what it all comes down to is choosing who you want to be, at any given moment, at any given time."
"Okay."
"Yes."
"I will try to be cool."
* * * * *
"Control, are you there..?"
"Look, Lee, you gotta stop calling us."
"Why aren't you referring to me by my codename..?"
"We are starting to have second thoughts about the program."
"Why."
"This is taking too long."
"What is happening back there..?"
". . ."
"It isn't good."
"Just tell me."
"The population."
"Everyone."
"The cities."
"The water."
"The sky."
"The air."
"And . . . "
There was a pause.
"It's . . . the sun."
"Already..?"
"It's all happening. Just like they said it would."
"I have to go to court."
"I don't know how the system works here."
"Yes."
"Um -- control..?'
"Yes, sorry, Lee. It's been thirty seconds. We just had another landslide in the building."
"A landslide, in the building..?"
"Hello..?"
He waited.
"Hello, Control, are you there..?"
* * * * *
"What is Zyprexa, and why am I now being prescribed this drug without having first spoken with my doctor about the medication..?"
"Dr. Ricardi changed your medication last night."
"Oh."
"I am curious about the legality of this."
"Um. I don't know."
"What time is it, what is your name, and what is your job..?"
"My name is Cyntha, I work the med window, and the time is about eight o'clock."
"What time is it exactly..?"
She looked at her computer. "7:55 P.M."
"Okay, thank you. Do you have a pen, and a piece of paper..?"
"Yes."
"Thank you. May I write this information down in front of you, or will that offend you, as an exclusive witness, in any case, or should I go to the kitchen to write down this information..?"
"Sure."
She kind of smiled.
"I am writing this down."
"The time is 7:55 P.M. and the doctor I have been assigned, Dr. Ricardi, has, according to a med nurse named --" "What is your name..?" "My name is Cynthia Lee." "Who I have been told on December 20th that my medication has been changed from Seroquel to Zyprexa, without informed consent with my doctor, Dr. Ricardi. Which is illegal, and against the law of the sovereign states of America."
"Thank you. I am sorry, but I wanted to write this down, and elocute the words in front of you as a witness of the crime that has been committed against me. I hope you don't mind, Cynthia Lee." 
She smiled. "I don't mind." Then looked back at her computer.
She smiled again, this time more obviously, and then turned back to her computer screen again, and I walked away.
* * * * *
"Is there any reason why you talk out loud to yourself so much..?"
"I must avoid the traps. The voids. if I keep my voice exposed, nothing else can get into me but my own consciousness. It is a measure. I must measure everything, so it's important to speak out loud. Do you know what time it is..?"
"It is Tuesday."
"No, what time is it..?"
"Why are you wearing that watch..?"
"It doesn't work."
"Why not..?'
"My parents gave it to me, but I don't know how to set it."
"Let me see."
Lee took the watch from her, and examined it.
"Here."
He handed it back.
"How did you do that..?"
The time read twelve o'clock noon. It was actually 2:45.
"It is easy. Time is nothing. It is easily controlled."
"Yeah, but you just held it."
"Time can be controlled." She seemed convinced.
"Okay."
"You're really, really weird."
"I have to go to court tomorrow, I'm sorry. I must keep myself. Ready."
"I can't talk right now."
Lee walked away, staring from left to right, but he seemed to be looking up at the ceiling.
* * * * *
"Ready..?"
"I'm sorry..?"
"Your court appointment is this morning at 8:30."
"I thought it was tomorrow morning."
"Yes. We had to change the time."
"Oh."
"Thank you." I said, and went back to my room, and waited again.
* * * * *
"Will you take this..?"
"I am supposed to take this, but I was never prescribed it by my doctor with my own informed consent. You are still aware of this..?"
"Mmhm, Lee. You need to take it so the other patients can get their meds."
"I am taking this, but I do not really think I need it."
"Okay, Lee."
"What are you doing, Lee..?"
"Oh, did you drop something..?"
"Oh, no."
"I, just."
"Your pill is on the floor."
"I . . . "
"Okay, give him another one."
"We are going to watch you take it this time. Okay, Lee..?"
"Okay."
"I am taking it."
* * * * *
"Why do I need to wear handcuffs..?"
"You are presently not considered free from the hospital yet."
"Do all of the patients of Acadia have to wear handcuffs..?"
"Listen man, I'm just doin' my job." He kind of laughed.
"Where are you from..?"
"I'm from Maine."
"But your skin is black."
"Ha. Yeah. You notice that, huh..?" He laughed.
"Why are you a security guard..?"
"Easy pay. Easy enough. Kinda good pay I guess. I don't know. Probably won't last." He laughed, compulsively, again.
"I am here to tell you, it won't last."
"Is that so..?"
* * * * *
"Yes."
"He was found in the hospital with no I.D. in a hospital bed, with no recognizable fingerprints, and no family references. He has been telling us he is from the year 2032, that the world is going to end soon, and that he is here to warn us, and also, yes, there is, one thing, he has come here to tell us."
"Yes."
"Okay."
"And, furthermore."
"He has been rude to the staff, and reported to have been talking to himself in the kitchen. Also, he tends to have a great obsession with wrist-watches, and anything that spins or rotates. He is clearly unstable, and suffering from a profound mental illness. As far as how he got into the Acadia hospital, our investigation is still continuing, but for as long as the investigation still continues, which is one of the reasons why we recommend further hospitalization at this point -- we have simply not felt safe with this individual in our hospital."
"Thank you, Dr. Ricardi."
"Yes, Dr. Balian. You are the therapist assigned to this patient..?'
"Yes. Um. Uh. Yes. Uh. He. Uh. He is. Uh. Schizo-phrenic. This man is suffering from a mental illness, and I recommend further hospitalization, at this point . . . I think. He. Um. Uh. Is. Suffering from a mental illness."
"Okay, and now, S, as I see your real name is signed here on the documents, you have something you wanted to say..?"
"I was born free."
"I was made of water, first."
"And water, is the essence of all things."
Everyone in the room fell silent.
S began to speak.
"I am essentially made of water, and this form of matter is the essential basis for all life in the universe. All water gathers, causes ripples, and reciprocates in and upon itself through time, and everything. We are all connected. We are all composed of the same matter. Born from the same God. Created from the same power. And enlightened by the same primordial thoughts which created us, where we are destined to return -- whereas we are all born from the same matter, we ought to treat one another equally, and the same way. I found that in your hospital system, I have been exploited, and taken advantage of as a 'special case' for various reasons, which disunderstandable to me, are not rational, or logical, to a truly futuristic, or cogently rational, or really enlightened society. I see a lot of disregard for the soul. A separation. And, this fragmentation -- expressed through your negligence, was finally exposed on the date of December 19th, at 7:59 PM, when my informed consent was denied for the sake of a drug unsuitable for my body, which I am under the influence of now. Yet, I am composed, essentially, of water, as are all of the people in this room today. I have made my statements as far as how I got into your hospital, but you have, as far as the law of the soverign states of America go, you have no right to keep me here."
"Okay, Lee."
"So, that it..?'
"Yep."
"Okay, Lee, you are being sectioned for 45 days in Dorothea Dix hospital for psychosis."
They all appeared to be signing papers and documents.
She looked up at him.
"This is the United States of America, Lee. I don't know where you came from, but we look forward to finding out."
"And here, we deal with things like this a certain way."
"Do you understand your rights, Mr. S..?'
He dropped his head, and blinked his eyes.
"No."
He waited, for a moment.
"Mr. Lee..?"
"Yes..?"
"Do you understand your rights..?"
"Oh, no."
And then he blinked his eyes again, and seemed to waver in the moment.
"I'm sorry, was I gone for very long..?"
"Okay..!"
"Please take him back to his room."
* * * * *
The two drivers, one, a nurse, the other, simply a security guard, spoke silenty in the front seats. "I can't believe I ever worked there."
"I'm glad I got out."
"Fucking hated this hospital."
Lee sat in the backseat, and listened, as they spoke about the hospital he was headed to.
They pulled into the parking lot of a large, ancient-looking stone mansion-like building complex,
* * * * *
"What is your name..?"
"My name is Lee."
"Okay, you want us to call you Lee..?"
"I guess."
"Is this your name, or just what you want us to call you..?"
"it is the name of all of my people."
"Where I am from, we all have the same name."
"Okay."
"So."
"My codename is the letter S."
"Otherwise."
"That is fine, we'll call you Lee. Might sound better with the other patients than codename S."
"Okay."
"Okay, so did you bring anything..?"
"My notebook."
"Okay."
"And my safety pen."
"Okay."
"So, we just need you to fill these out."
"What are these forms..?"
"They are to help you understand that you are going to be staying at Dorothea Dix hospital for the next 45 days."
"What happens if I do not sign these papers..?"
"You will probably go to jail."
"I am signing under the name S."
"It is my codename."
"Whatever you want."
"Thank you."
"Are there larger portions of food here, and perhaps better rights than what I experienced at Acadia..?"
"Ha-ha-ha."
"Well, I can asure. We are not Acadia."
"Oh."
"How long has this hospital existed."
"Dorothea Dix was founded sometime in 1895."
"So this hospital has existed through both World Wars..?"
"Well, lots of wars, actually. Yes, I suppose. Sure." He didn't smile.
"You'll be fine here, Mr. S."
"When will food be available..?"
"Tonight at five. Do you smoke..?"
"Yes..?"
"Okay. You need money to buy cigarettes, but we can give you one each time you are scheduled to go outside. Sound good..?"
"Cigarettes can give you cancer, I understand."
"Ha-ha. Um. Sure. I am only asking."
"It doesn't matter anyway."
"Okay."
"So, please take Mr. Lee up to his room."
"Just Lee."
"Okay, Just Lee."
"Please follow Mr. Cronin to your room."
* * * * *
"Your name is Mr. Cronin..?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
"Why do I need to know that..?"
"We try to keep things personal here at Dorothea Dix. We try to relate with the patients. You know. My first name is Ben. I'm a good dude. You can always come to me, anyone ever gives you any shit, allright..?"
"No one will give me any shit."
"Ha-ha. Trust me. You're gonna be given some shit here."
* * * * *
"What is the date today..?"
"Today is the 21st of December."
"What time is it..?"
"It is 7:40 A.M."
"Why is it 7:40 A.M..?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Why is that the time."
"I'm sorry, Lee, you need to go back to your room, because we are doing checks right now."
"Okay."
* * * * *
"What is this television show..?"
"Ha-ha. What..?"
"I'm sorry. I was asking what the TV show is."
"Shut the fuck up dude."
"Oh."
Lee left the room, and looked up at the ceiling, as he walked away.
The other patients looked at him, but hardly noticed.
* * * * *
"I am wondering about when I can go outside."
"You can go outside according to the schedule. You are on the blue team. So, see your name on the board..? Those are the times when you can go outside."
"Okay."
* * * * *
"I would like to use the phone."
"The phone is available until 10 P.M. every day, Lee. Read the board."
"Okay."
He waited.
* * * * *
"Yes. I did not do well. I am in a new place now. It is worse. I don't know. How are things..?"
"The demons."
"What..?"
"Blood, everywhere."
"I'm sorry, Control..?"
"Lee..?"
"Control are you there..?"
"Hello..?"
"Hello..?"
"Control..? Control..? This is codename S. I am trying to reach my operator."
"Hello..? What do you mean by demons..?"
* * * * *
"How long will most patients remain in this hospital."
"Do you see Barry..?"
"Yes. He offered me a job at his employment agency located in Portland. I felt interested, although I did not feel totally comfortable with his leadership skills."
She looked down, then up at me, and then smiled, and said.
"He's been here two years."
"Oh."
She smiled, and then turned back to her computer screen.
* * * * *
"What time is it..?" Lee asked.
A man points to the clock. He is wearing a white shirt, and a tie, and seems to pay no mind to me. I don't understand what is happening back at home. Blood..? Everywhere..? What does he mean by Demons..?
* * * * *
"Lee, you need to do something."
"What."
"You need to get the fuck out."
"Time is gone." He said.
"It's. It's over."
"it's all over."
"What do you mean, what is happening..?"
"Everything they said would happen. Is happening."
"What do I do..?"
"You . . ."
"Control..?"
"You are -- only hope." There was static.
"You need to escape."
"Escape from the hospital."
"Get an independent pass."
"Be civil. What. No, not him. Him too..? Fuck."
"Control..?"
"No. We gotta cut this down to fifteen seconds. Soon we can only talk in five-second intervals. Things are getting worse. Just get the fuck out. Get the fuck out. What..? No..? What, now..? Hold, on, Lee. Okay. Forget the independent pass. There is a tree."
"A tree outside your window."
"Talk to the native."
* * * * *
For a long time, I watched the leaves move outside the window.
The branches reached clear over the fence, but there was no chance of the bars being removed from the window . . .
"I can't do this."
Looking back into the room.
"Not here."
* * * * *
"Hey, Lee, what time is it..?"
"Is that the time-traveler dude..?"
I looked up.
"Yeah, he's from the year two-thousand-fourteen."
"Oh, so he's from the past..?"
"What do you mean, it ain't 2013 yet."
I listened to them as they spoke. Neither of them seemed to make any sense.
"Ha-ha."
"Na, he's been tellin' people he came from like some future world where the world ends. I talked to him once. He's crazy."
"Is it normal in your society to talk about people, directly in their presence, in spite of the fact that they can hear you when they are standing directly across from you..?"
"He says weird shit all the time."
"Messiah complex."
"Obviously."
"One fucked up dude."
"So, when..?"
"Psh. We'll hit him at five."
"I am curious what you are talking about."
"Just wait fool."
He listened, and then walked away.
* * * * *
"So, is there nicotine in these cigars..?"
"Yo, they called cigarettes bro. Just smoke it slow. Make it last. it's one of the only real things they fuckin' give you in here."
"Where are you from..?'
"Me..? I'm from Bangor, Maine. Born and raised."
"Okay."
"Why is your skin black..?"
"Ha-ha."
"Why the fuck do you think..?"
"How do I light it..?"
"The sun..?"
"The cigaratte, though. How do I light it..?"
"With that thing they got there in the fuckin' wall. It's like a heater you just gotta hold the cigarette steady and use your mind."
"What do you mean."
"It only works if you concentrate."
"So you can only smoke if you are honest."
"Kinda. Nah. I mean you just gotta hold the cigarette extra steady. See these freaks walkin' around with unlit cigarettes..? That's cuz they got shaky hands. They can't even light their shit. Half the time they just light it off the tips of other people's smokes."
"Oh."
"Can I light my cigarette off of your cigarette..?"
"Yeah man, I don't care . . ."
"Here."
He held the cigarette with exact precision, and I began to smoke.
"Okay."
"You good..?"
"Yes."
"It tastes terrible."
"Hello. You good..?"
"Yes."
"I said, are you good..?"
"Yes."
There was a long pause
"I'm sorry, how long was I out for..?"
"Huh..?"
S looked down at the cigarette, and reflected, with silent eyes..
"This feels terrible." He continued to smoke.
* * * * *
The two sat and smoked for a while in silence.
Lee noticed the two men talking, and pointing at him from the fence.
"That's what it is, fool."
"What are they doing..?"
"Them boys..?"
"Yes."
"Well they fools gonna be hittin' you at five, bro. You been talked about. Motherfuckers don't like the way that you talk. Especially don't like the way you dress. What's with the striped pants..? Shit ain't the nineties. Fuck dude. You act strange, you gonna get hit. Way it rolls in here."
"I don't understand a single word of the last entire transmission you just spoke to me."
"Whatever dude, you 'bout to be gettin' yo ass kicked. I gotta split."
He got up.
"What..?"
"I said you about to get yo ass kicked, dude. I'm steppin' aside. I ain't gonna watch this shit."
He smiled. "You'll be fine."
"Okay." I said.
* * * * *
"So, what's happenin' bro..?"
"I'm smoking a cigarette. It tastes like burning leaves and wood. Why do people smoke these..? I also feel strange."
"You gonna feel real lot stranger soon, dude."
"Okay."
"Ha-ha."
"Do you even realize how long I've been here..?"
"What do you mean..? Alive..? Or in the hospital..?"
"In this fuckin' system, bitch."
"I don't know."
"Twelve months. That's a fuckin' year, motherfucker.."
"Yeah."
"You know where I came here from..?"
"Where are you from..?"
"I am from the spizzle, the dizzle, and the hizzle of the most finalmost, and most horrible, terrible, and most bad, nasty, and . . . awful shit you can possibly imagine. I'm from the place."
"I can hardly imagine."
"How old are you..?"
"Look, dude. You about to get dropped. I ask the questions here. Fool-ass time-travelin' crazy-ass bitch."
"I am from the year 2032. My name is Lee. The world ends where I am from. We all have the same name where I am from. And I am only here to tell you one thing."
"Okay."
"So, you see this..?"
"What is that..?"
"This is my fist. It's my own personal time machine. It helps me transform people in the things I want them to be."
"That doesn't really make any sense to me."
"See, I'm gonna hit you. Right in the gut. And in five seconds. You're gonna hit the ground afterward. That's time travel, bitch."
"My gut..? Is that where you will hit me..?"
"Yeah man."
"Okay."
"I am ready."
"Wha'chu mean, you ready..?
"I am ready to fight you."
"What the fuck are you doing..?"
"I am positioning myself."
"i am preparing for you to punch me in the gut."
"Oh."
"So it's gonna be like that huh..?"
"You are, truly fucked up dude."
"Please." The man smiled, turning his head from left to right, amazed.
Lee stood,with criss-crossed arms, his legs positioned askew, as though ready to fight.
There was a shudder, and a loud sound.
"Why can't I move my arms..?"
Lee reached out with his palms, and arms outstretched, with his legs positioned askew.
"What is this..?"
"I am simply defending myself." He stood, with his arms outsretched.
"Please, punch me in the gut. I am begging you to subdue me." "Please." "Is it unnatural, in this society, to defend yourself, or am I doing something wrong by taking the air out of your body..?"
He swung, but is fist seemed to freeze in the air. Again, he couldn't move.
Then his body shuddered, and he fell backwards.
"Why -- can't I -- breathe."
"Because you said you would attack me."
* * * * *
"What's happening out there..?"
* * * * * 
"Doctor, please report to field one. There is an altercation in the courtyard."
* * * * *
"It's that Lee character. He's gotten into a fight with someone."
* * * * *
"How. Are you doing this."
"I am simply defending myself."
Lee continued to hold out his arms, with palms outstretched, with his legs askew.
"What is this. I don't. Understand . . ."
"Do you know what you are made of..?"
"I'm made of raw power, bitch." He calmed. "Fuck."
"No."
Lee said. He moved his left palm.
"You are made of the same thing that I am made out of."
He moved his left palm again.
* * * * *
"S. Please let him go."
"Lee, S. My name is Dr. Bill. I'm the head doctor of this hospital. I am in charge here. I would like to speak with you personally, so please, calm down, and please come inside, and speak with me in my office, okay..?"
"Okay."
I let him go, and he lay panting on the ground, completely out of breath.
* * * * *
"So."
The doctor looked up at Lee.
He had both remote, and non-remote concern, I observed.
He rested his coffee cup gently on the table, and then looked up from the mug, and into my eyes. "So, you are from the future..?" He moved gracefully in his chair, and smiled.
"Yes."
"The year..?
"2032."
"Do you know, today is according to the Mayan Calendar, the day of a great 'shift' according to many spiritualists..? And that you are, of course, a mystery as well..?"
"Yes."
"So where did you come from, really, Lee. What is your home like..? if you don't mind me asking." "Mr. Lee." The doctor waited, with interest.
"My home is blue. It was green once. Then we turned it blue again. I grew up as a songwriter. I was an audio engineer. I worked well with materials such as the most natural forms of matter, and in especial metal. I became a time-traveler after graduating from the academy of advanced sciences in numero-astrologico-physico-research. Anyone who understands how the universe functions is allowed to become a time-traveler. That is how it works, where I come from. To know how to time travel, you just do."
"Okay, so what if I believe you."
"Okay." Lee waited.
A pause, and another -- prolonged sip from the mug, looking down at the mug, and then up, with a slow glance into S's eyes.
"What if I say, what I saw out in that field was something that has never been recorded, or known to occur in our modern-day world..?"
"I would say, that makes no sense."
"Why not."
"Because I was born in 1809."
* * * * *
"Lee, it is time for your medication."
"Zyprexa..?"
"Yes."
"I don't like this drug."
"Well, it's what you have on your uh, thing here, so, I don't know," She kind of laughed. Taking to him kind of nicely, spite of of it. "I guess that's what you gotta take. I'm just the nurse. Okay, Lee..?"
"Lee."
"Yes..?"
"The doctor would like to speak with you again."
"Oh. Tell him I am busy taking my medication."
"Okay. He says he is considering an early release for you."
"Oh. Tell him I am still busy taking my medication."
"Um, okay . . ."
* * * * *
"So, I feel drowsy."
"That's the side-effects of the drug."
"What did you mean by demons, and . . . blood, everywhere..?"
"Listen, Lee. We're down to five seconds. I told you to get the fuck out."
"Just go."
"Just go."
* * * * *
I looked at the tree outside.
Studying the bars, I put my hands on one, and concentrated. It started to feel loose, but I didn't feel confident enough with the medication . . .
* * * * *
One day, I heard the alarm go off.
Everyone stood in the hall.
Barry had a wide grin on his face.
I didn't know what was going on.
* * * * *
Another day went by.
* * * * *
"We are out of time."
"What do you mean..?"
"I"m sorry, Lee, either get out, and call us from another line, or don't call us ever again.
* * * * *
"Yes, let him in."
"His name is Richard..?"
The room was silent.
The doctor looked down at the papers, and then up from the poorly-scrawled signature of the newly-received patient.
A large, native American man entered the room in handcuffs. He was seven feet tall.
* * * * *
"Where is Houlton exactly, Richard, why were you heading there..?"
I listened from across the room, from the other side of the cafeteria hall.
"I am going to become a millionare. They owe me lots of money."
"I got a fortune waiting for me in Houlton. My name is Richard. Richard Houlton, and my family is from Houlton. I'm a Native American, see, and that's where all my blood comes from. Look, see. You see this..?"
"What's that you got there..?"
"This is a document that says that Houlton was founded on my family name, and that I am owed one hundred and eighty million dollars."
"Okay, Mr. Houlton."
"So, do you smoke..?"
"Smoke..? Yeah, I smoke weed."
"No, cigarettes."
"Sure."
"Well, it's outside hours now, and you're free to do whatever you want right now. We'll be assessing you again later on, okay..?"
And a blink from across the room. Lee looked up, and then remembered where he was, if anyone was around, he would have asked . . .
* * * * *
"Yeah. Literally. The doctor said he weighs 400 pounds. He doesn't even have a gut. He's literally the biggest human being I've ever seen in my life. Doesn't help much that it says he's into kickboxing in his file. So he literally got here on a bus from Texas, and they just found him sleeping on a bench..? Yeah. What's Lee doing talking to him..? I gotta hear this. Hear, just stand over there . . .
* * * * *
"So, where are you from..?"
Half-blinking.
"I'm from Texas."
"Where you from..?"
"Well."
"I'm really from Houlton."
"See, I'm gonna be rich some day."
"Oh."
"Yes."
"That sounds like a positive future."
"I think I can help you with that."
"You can..?"
"Yes."
* * * * * 
Richard and Lee stood outside, in the courtyard, smoking their cigarettes in the corner of the field.
"Do you see that tree..?"
"Yeah."
"Sure."
"It's probably similar to the trees in Houlton."
"Do you know what that tree is essentially made out of..?"
"I don't know. Wood..?"
"No."
"I don't know."
"It is all composed, everything here, in this reality -- of the same photonic matter."
"Photonic matter..?"
"Yes."
"What is that..?"
"Have you ever woken up, from a dream, but felt like you were still dreaming when you woke up..?"
"I guess."
"Have you ever witnessed the aura, or lights around an object, or the human body..?"
"Well, I've heard stuff about that kind of thing. My Aunt used to . . ."
"Okay."
"Well, that tree is composed, out of the same energetic material you are composed of."
"Oh."
"And you, your body, and your mind, is also essentially composed of light."
"Yeah."
"And you are just as strong, and formidable, as every other element which is essentially equal, and the same, as what you are made of."
"Okay..?" Richard said.
Lee moved his hand.
"Watch my hand, and then the tree."
"I am saying the tree isn't really there, if you don't want it to be. You can change it, if you want to. Would you like to see..?"
"It isn't really there..?"
"Nothing really can be threatened, when you know what it is composed out of."
"I guess I don't understand."
"Do you see my hands..?"
"Yes,"
"Now, wait until the wind stops blowing." They both waited.
"Okay."
"Now watch the largest branch of the tree, in corresponde with the rest." He watched.
"How are you doing that..?"
"It is called, telekinesis."
"Do you see, the leaves on that branch are moving erratically, while the rest of the tree remains still..?"
"Yeah." He said. "I've heard of this."
"Okay."
"So you see." "It is all connected, but we only work with each part one at a time."
"I guess."
"How do you do that..?"
I got up, and said. "All matter and existences in reality are inherently connected at the same root-source."
"Nah, man. You been smokin' a lot of weed here, or what..?'
"Ha-ha."
"Yes. I like their cigarettes. They taste like that."
"Like wood..?"
Lee looked quiet. "Well, yes."
"So, can you move the tree, with a more direct form of force..?"
"What do you mean..?"
* * * * *
Lee looked at Richard.
"That tree branch I just moved. Do you think you could bend it..?"
"Sure."
"Will you..?'
"I don't know."
"How much do you weigh..?"
"I don't know. About 400 pounds, give or take."
"What do you want me to do..?"
"Use your hands." He paused. "To bend it."
"Okay."
"What do you mean..?"
"That branch." He broke it with ease.
"Okay."
"Now, I am curious about that branch."
"That one..?"
A few patients started looking over from the smoking area. One of them put down his cigarette, and pointed.
"This one..?"
He snapped it like a twig.
"Now what do you want me to do..? This is nothing."
The other patients watched.
"Now . . ."
Lee put down his cigarette.
"I want you to do the whole thing."
"What do you mean..?"
"The whole thing."
"I don't know."
"The whole thing."
Richard looked at Lee.
"I don't know if I can do that."
"Just try."
"It's crazy."
"I know you can."
Richard sighed. He wrapped his arms around the trunk.
And groaned.
While S. turned his head toward the nurses on staff, who were as silent as everyone else in the courtyard, Richard struggled to pull the tree out of the ground, but he could not. Lee smiled, and looked directly at the staff.
"Just try."
"I can't do it."
"Just try. It's the effort that counts."
"They're all watching."
"Don't worry about them."
"I can't do it. It's crazy."
"Just do it."
"Okay."
"I can't."
He let go of the tree, and the head nurse walked over to me.
"It's okay."
"Lee. Talk to me in the cafeteria again later."
* * * * *
"So what happened out there today..?'
"Nothing."
"You instructed a 400-pound man to lift a tree out of the ground."
"I would say you are officially gaining some influence over this hospital, Mr. Lee. In a rather unusual, and unorthofox way for most of our patients we have had."
"I am just doing what I've been told."
"Told..?'
"Told by who..?"
"Control."
"Control..?"
"My operator."
"Like I said."
"My name is codename S."
"I can only speak to my operator in five-second intervals now. They say things are getting worse. They say there are demons. Blood everywhere. i appreciate your help, but I need to go out and have a cigarette, and drink some coffee right now."
"Lee."
"Yes..?"
"We are worried about you."
"Okay."
* * * * *
The next day, sometime around after the cigarette break again.
After watching Lee seem to be directing smoke with his hands, while Richard watched.
The doctor spoke to Lee in the hall, and asked to speak with him again.
"Thank you."
"Thank you..? Mr. Lee. I would like to talk with you about a few things." "Do you realize we are considering you for an early release..?"
Lee kept walking.
He was looking up at the ceiling, "No. But . . ." He said, in monotone, and then continued walking.
"It isn't soon enough."
* * * * *
"Hello..?"
"Control..?"
"This is S."
"Codename S."
"It's over."
"What..?"
"The world."
"There are only . . . let me do the math."
"We have to speak for a minute this time. It's the last check-in we'll be doing, for . . ."
"Well . . ."
"Well, what..?"
"We might have to leave you behind."
"What do you mean..?"
"There are only 144,000 human beings left alive on the Earth."
"It's . . ."
"It's just like they said."
"We're being decimated."
"Down to the most worthwhile. The wheat from the chaff. The wheat from the chaff!"
"I am confused."
"What..? Do you mean..?"
"Of course."
"Well, everything they said is true."
"So..?"
"Your wife."
"Yes..?"
"And two of your daughters."
"What about them..?"
"Yes, operator, what is it, tell me."
"What..?"
"Yes, check. Hold on. Yes. I'm sorry, Lee."
"What about them..?" 
"Control..?"
"Yes..?"
A pause. "Yes. I'll tell him right now." "I'm sorry, Lee." He said, with no despair in his voice.
"They're dead."
* * * * *
"Richard."
"Yes."
"I noticed when you asked me to help you sign your file, because I understand you are not good at English grammar, and spelling. I noticed you are a skiller kickboxer. Or, at least, this is what it says in your file."
"Yeah."
"Does this mean you believe you are strong..?'
"Sure."
"Do you win fights..?"
"What do you mean..?'
"Have you ever lost..?"
"I weigh 400 pounds."
"Okay."
"So, I have a question for you."
"What."
"Can you break the rules with me for a second, and come into my room..?"
"Sure."
"Okay."
* * * * *
"So, do you see those metal bars on the window."
"Yes."
* * * * *
"So, uh."
"Yes."
They stood alone, with the door ajar.
"I hear people sayin' you been talkin' about bein' from the future."
"Uh-huh."
"So."
"Is it true..?"
"Let me ask you something."
"Do you remember when you were born..?"
"What do you mean..?"
"Do you remember when you were born..?"
"No."
"Then how do you know you ever were..?"
Lee looked at the bars.
"I don't know."
"What is your middle name."
"Why..?"
"Just tell me what is your full name."
"Why do you want to know..?"
Lee looked at him, with the question still in his eyes.
"My full name on my birth certificate is Richard Lee Houlton, and I am originally from Houlton, Maine, where my father is born, and his father, and his father, where my tribe originated, and my blood comes from. I am on my way back to Houlton, Maine, to make reparations for my tribe, and get the money I deserve for my family, my name, and my people. I am going to make reparations for my family, make lots of money -- and I am going to become rich some day. That's who I am, and that's what I am."
"That's fine, aside, from the extra details."
"Do you think you can break the bars on this window..?"
"I don't know."
"Let me see how tough they are."
Richard Lee Houlton grabbed hold of the bars, and started to pull.
"Seems like the foundation is weak in this building. Maybe if I bust it up a little. Why, you trying to escape..?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Richard looked at the bars, and touched his mouth.
"Okay."
"Well."
"First thing we should do is weaken the foundation."
Lee looked at the bars, and then at Richard.
"Okay."
"How..?"
"Maybe we can kind of hammer the foundation around the bars a little bit, then I can do somethin'."
"Okay. Where do we start..?"
"We need somethin' to break the foundation' up with. Let me look about this room for somethin' good."
"I don't know."
"This is a hospital."
"What about that guitar."
"That was a gift from Julie."
"Do you play it..?" "No."
"Not really."
"I'm gonna use the guitar to break up the foundation."
"Okay..?"
"Will that work..?"
"I don't know."
"Shut the door."
"I gotta get to Houlton."
"You gotta get back to 2032. I don't know you, but I trust everyone I meet. It's just this thing I have. I mean. i weigh 400 pounds. Who's gonna fuck with me..? Allright..? I don't care if you're crazy. As far as I'm concerned, we're in here for the same reasons. We both got shit to do."
"Move out of the way."
* * * * *
"So, what do you think..?"
"I can't get anything."
"What do you think we should do..?"
"It's makin' too much noise. I'm afraid they're gonna hear us."
Richard grabbed hold of the bars and started to pull.
"Hold a second on now."
I waited.
As I watched, I watched very closely, and looked at the base of each bar, and did my best to employ my energy to weaken the metal as he pulled. I worked, as he worked.
"Now, pull."
"It is easy."
"It feels like plastic."
"Just do it."
* * * * *
"Okay, now what."
The pile of fragments lay on the floor.
"That shit was loud."
"Kind of."
"I don't know if they heard us."
"They're probably gonna hear that."
"Okay we gotta go. You see that tree..?"
"Yeah."
"The branches reach over the fence."
"Who should go first..?"
"You should."
RIchard went first.
He climbed out the window, onto the tree, and carefully localized himself in-between two branches. "Come on. No one's out here."
"Hey. Who's that up there..?"
"Fuck."
"Come on..!" "Hey..! Who's that up there..?"
"Go..!"
I jumped.
I hung off a loose branch, and it seemed to be the weakest of them all. "Fuck, God damn it, Lee, you idiot, grab my fucking hand." I grabbed his hand, and he pulled me up. "Now come on." "Thank you." "Now let's go." "Hey..!"
We jumped over the fence.
We both looked at one another, and without question, each of us ran in opposite directions.
* * * * *
"What is it..?"
"The logic, if you really want to think about it, just doesn't exist."
"Who are you..?"
"Me."
"My name is Jones. Lee Jones."
* * * * *
"So, when did he escape..?'
"Yesterday. He's been gone for almost eighteen hours -- along wih a brute of a man he must have manipulated into helping him escape. It doesn't make any sense."
"It makes perfect sense."
Jones crouched, and picked up a piece of plaster from the floor. He examined it, turning it.
"It's like they just pulled it out."
"Mmhm."
"Reach me here."
"This is my cell number."
"And this is my pager."
"I need to speak with Dr. Bill."
"Is he available..?"
"He is speaking with the other patients right now."
* * * * *
"Yes."
The entire cafeteria hall was silent.
"How did they get out..?"
"The two patients who are no longer in the ward are being searched for by the police, and we are now running an investigation to find out how they escaped."
"If anyone here knows anyone."
"That mother crazy."
"He sucked the breath out of my body."
"Is he really a time-traveler..?"
"Did he walk through the walls..?'
"How did he get out, Dr. Bill..?"
"Look. We are still trying to understand the situation. For now, the best you can all do is remain in your typical routine, and go about your days as you normally would."
"I've been here a year. I walked out once with an independent pass. They gonna find him. That fool ain't gonna make it five seconds on the street."
* * * * *
"Yes."
"Hello."
"Hi."
"Can I help you..?"
"Yes."
Lee held out a photo I.D. The name-tag read Dr. Bill, and the faces were remarkably similar.
"Yes." He attempted a smile.
"I would like to donate blood."
* * * * *
I walked out of the clinic with $25 in my pocket, and then went directly to the nearest gas station, while measuring each foot-step as I walked. I counted ninety four and one hundred.
When I reached the counter, I looked directly at the ticket I wanted, but asked anyway.
"Yes. What is your most expensive lottery ticket..?"
* * * * *
"Do you know what this means..?"
"What, what means..?"
"One of our most dangerous patients has escaped."
"I thought you had an intention for an early release..?"
"No."
"We had no intention of an early release . . ." The doctor looked pale, and scared, for some reason. "We were intending to transfer him to Riverview."
* * * * *
"Control..?'
"Are you there..?'
"I'm out. I am gaining funds now."
"Please send me a sign. A message of some kind. I am waiting."
"I am ready."
Lee hung up the pay-phone.
* * * * *
He walked, in four-beats, down the street.
Music was playing from a nearby festival. The Bangor Folk Festival. It was 5:30 P.M at night. He listened, and walked through the crowd, drinking a discarded lemonade someone had left behind.
He approached a man, listening to the blues of a local rock band.
"Is there a casino, or any form of gambling in this town..?" He said.
"Business like that is pretty D.L. in this town."
"We got the slots, though."
The man just kept watching the band play.
"The slots..?"
"Hollywood Slots. Located near downtown. Short walk from here."
"It's okay."
"Can you point, with your finger, in the direction it is located, North, East, South, West..?"
"Uh."
"What, you want me to just point where it is, like I had a laser coming out of my finger or something..?"
"Yes. And I will follow the laser."
"Haha. Okay. Uh."
I guess uh. It would be this way. He pointed northeast.
"Thank you."
The man looked back at the band, without noticing.
About five minutes later, he looked down, and without thinking, saw a one-hundred dollar bill.
Picking it up, he put it in his pocket, and looked in the direction he had been pointing.
He had no idea where it came from.
* * * * *
"Hi. Yes. I am a gambler."
"Okay. You need a photo I.D. to come to our casino, and we'll also need to run you through security, if you know the protocol, all the better."
"Yes. That is fine."
"I don't have a proper photo I.D. though. And I am also an escaped mental patient."
"Oh. Uh."
"Does it also affect you to know, I am from the year 2032. And I am here to save the world."
"Um."
"Hold on."
"I just need to get this."
"Yes. Um. Something."
"Sir, can you come with me..?"
"What's going on..?"
"I am a gambler. I want to make some money."
She saw the hundreds in his hand.
"Okay, come with me."
"Where are we going..?"
"Just come with me."
"Okay." He said.
* * * * *
They walked through a series of halls, behind the casino, where other games, and arcade machines seemed to be set up. Smoke was everywhere. It smelled familiar.
"I would like to know where we're going to first."
He followed her, as she led him to the back of the casino.
* * * * *
"Yeah, we hooked one, he looks crazy."
Lee heard every word.
"Who is he..?"
"No one."
* * * * *
"Here. Take a seat."
"Who do we got here..?"
A man with a big cigar, looked up at me. But not into my eyes.
"He's a player."
"Oh yeah. We got a player here."
"So, what's the game, son..?"
"The game..?"
"Yes."
"I am a gambler. I would like to test my luck."
"Oh. Test it, huh. Why don't you just show it to us."
A seat was scuffed against the dirty floor, and the six men, while the larger man stood at the door, waited for me to sit down. The seventh one stood up.
I noticed a gun on the table, but I said nothing, and did my best not to pay attention to it.
"The game is Texas Hold 'Em."
"Deal."
"What..?"
"Deal."
"You want me to be the dealer..?"
"Hey. You're the man of the night. You're the only thing going on tonight. Let's see you shuffle these cards."
"Okay."
* * * * *
"He keeps getting the same hand."
He leaned back in his seat.
"Nah, I don't like this."
"Okay, so, what's your story man..?"
"You told me that aces are the most important card in the game."
"So I have measured my luck to get aces in every hand every single time."
"Have you ever played poker before..?"
"It is a game played by knuckleheads, in the 21st century, I was told. I only assumed I would know how to play."
"Yo, D..?"
"Yeah."
"You be the dealer."
"I can't take this."
"He's gotten a flush three times in a row, and nothin' but aces before that."
"And when you told me about flushes."
"Look man. You don't just learn something -- and play -- those are my cards. They came from my house."
"Ha-ha." The seventh man just laughed.
"So, what's your story man..?"
"Has anybody had a good hand..?"
"I can't lose to this freak."
"I am from the year 2032, where the world will end. I am a time-traveler. And I Am only here to tell you all one thing."
"What's the one thing..?"
"I can't tell you right now."
"Oh."
"Okay."
"D, you deal. I want to make sure there are no tricks this time."
* * * * *
"What is the best hand in the game..?"
"I quit. I can't do this." One man threw down his cards.
"How is he doing this."
"I've lost $1,000 already. I can't do this anymore. This ain't a bad town. You're lucky we don't actually use this pistol for anything other than show, man."
"Now, listen."
"You've beaten us."
"We don't know how."
"But whoever you are."
"Wherever you're from . . ."
Everyone in the room fell silent, as S counted the thousands of dollars.
"You gotta go."
* * * * *
Lee walked into the unique-looking restaurant.
"What is the internet like in this era..?"
"What do you mean..?"
"Do you communicate, using wireless technology..?"
"Yes..?"
"Okay. Is your computer online right now..?"
"No..?"
"I'm working on a report for school. Um." She looked confused.
"I don't know you."
"Sorry."
"Is this an internet cafe..?"
"No. This is McDonalds."
"Oh."
* * * * *
"How much is a bottle of water..?"
"Do you want a bottle of water, or we also have tap-water if you want. I mean. Sometimes people just."
"I have seven thousand dollars."
"Um. Okay."
"How much does a bottle of water cost."
"Um."
"A dollar..?"
"Okay."
He reached into his pocket, and pulled out two hundred dollars."
"Will this work..?"
"Um."
"Yes..?"
"Okay."
* * * * *
"Hey. Uh. So. Where did you get that money from..?" She asked, walking out of the McDonalds.
"I am only here to tell the truth."
"Well, uh."
"I'm really into you."
"I think . . . you're cute."
"What do you mean..?"
"I am going to drink this water now. Instead of speak with you for the next thirty seconds. Please wait."
I drank the water, and felt recharged.
"What is cute..?"
"You seem interesting. I'm just. I'm just new to this town. My name is LeeLee Johnson. Okay..? I'm totally for real. Do you smoke..? Weed..? I got some."
"Shouldn't you be working at McDonalds right now..?"
"Fuck this job."
"Do you really have seven thousand dollars..?"
Lee looked down.
I removed several hundred dollar bills from my pocket. And looked down. With a neutral, and very emotionless look on my face. 
"This is the money I have."
She reached out, and immediately grabbed it.
"Oh."
He waved as he started to walk after her, saying, "Oh" lightly, and then "Wait."
"Please stop. That is not a good idea."
"I'm sorry. I really need this."
"Okay." He continued to wave.
He waved his hand faster and said, "Stop."
Reaching out, she suddenly froze, and found that she was out of breath.
"I am sorry" Lee said. He walked up to her and grabbed the money out of her frozen palm.
"But that money is important. I need to save the world with it."
"I can't . . . breathe."
"I know. That is because you stole from me." He took the money from her hands.
Reaching out, I removed the other hundred dollar bills from her hand, thought for a second about leaving her one. I left it in her palm, as she stood frozen. Then I looked at the weird, and awkward grimace on her face. "How disturbing." "I am sorry. But you actually don't even deserve this much."
He took the one-hundred dollar bill out of her palm again.
"You will be able to breathe, and move again in twenty seconds."
He sighed, and looked up at the sky. A black bird flew by.
"I have things I need to do."
"Don't follow me."
"Or I will need to hold you for a minute, next time."
"I . . ."
"Are you trying to say something..?'
"My mother is dying."
He left her frozen for another minute, with the note in her left hand.
LeeLee, which is not her real name, stared at the thousand of dollars, with the single letter, with tears in her eyes. A drop fell, and landed on a single initial signed on each one hundred dollar bill, as she stood frozen. It simply read, "S" with a line through it. "This money is being expressed in the name of S Good luck with your treatment."
"Never steal from anyone again."
* * * * *
"So, where you from..?"
"I'm from Houlton. I come from a tribe originally from Maine. But my family lives in Texas. I came here because I'm owed millions of dollars."
"Oh, is that so."
"So, you drink, uh."
"Richard uh. Richard Lee."
"My name is Richard Lee."
* * * * *
Several minutes passed as the two men spoke at the bar.
"I only have seven dollars."
"Beer's a dollar here. You a beer man..?"
"Sure."
"Christ, you want another one..?"
"It's just how I drink."
"it doesn't really effect me much."
"I'm kind of looking for someone."
"He's uh. Well. He's interesting. Let me tell you what he looks like . . ."
"I'm all ears, Richard Lee."
* * * * *
A man. About five foot nine. Dark hair. With perfectly green eyes. A dark, and penetrating look of paleness, almost of perfect neutrality, criss-crossed with a constant sense of knowing, that seemed almost beyond every moment that he was walking, walked into the bar, at 12:38:11 P.M. Eastern Time, and said, "Richard..?"
"Is that him..?"
"No. I don't know who that is." Richard smiled.
Richard smiled at the bartender, and then frowned.
"I have never seen him before in my life."
* * * * *
"Why didn't you recognize me..?"
"I don't trust that bartender."
"Oh."
"I thought you trusted everyone."
"Not everyone. Not now."
Bangor was quiet this time of night.
They stood outside the bar, while Richard paced slowly, looking down, with a lot of questions he would probably never get a good opportunity to ask.
"I think something big is gonna happen. I don't know what. But. I can feel it. And. I think you might be part of it."
"Oh."
"How did I break that window..?"
"You didn't."
"We did."
"What do you mean..?"
"Do you see that..?"
"Yeah..?"
"Press against it, as though it were made of plastic."
"What do you mean."
"The wall of the building. Press your palm against it, and use your entire body to try and place a dent. As though it were made of plastic."
"How is this possible..? I mean. I alwyays thought I was strong. I always knew I was, but . . ."
Lee looked at Richard.
"You don't think you can..?"
Instead, Lee pressed his own palm against the wall.
Soon, a sound emanated from the wall, and a large dent appeared, with a cracking sound.
RIchard looked at the large crackled dent left in the side of the bar.
"I've been off the medication for a little while now. I will be getting better at things like this."
"I have six thousand dollars. Maybe a dollar less."
"Okay."
"We should go to the airport now."
"Where are we going..?"
Richard waited for a response, but Lee just started walking ahead of him.
"I'll tell you when we get there."
* * * * *
"What is this song..?"
"I think the lyrics are about having a lucky day . . ."
"A lucky day in Hell..?"
"Yes."
"I have heard this song before. It is popular in my time."
"it is..?"
"Yes. He is a very popular artist where I am from."
"E..?"
"Yes..?"
"His name is The Letter E..?"
"For Edge."
"Yes."
"Really..? I never even heard of him."
"Fame resides with time."
"We don't always get to choose."
"When our time comes."
"I guess so."
"Are you comfortable by the window, or do you want the aisle seat..?"
"No. You know. I never been on this nice of a plane before."
"This is first-class. We will be served drinks and refreshments. They also have television, and attractive women who serve the passengers, as a part of the system of safety in the sky."
"Yeah, man. I don't really understand you all the time, but I agree they're pretty good looking."
"I have never kissed a woman, or spent time with a female in this timeline. What are they like here..?"
"Um. Well. I mean. I'm a little different from most dudes, so it's kind of not the best to ask someone like me."
"What do you mean..?"
"Well uh, you know how you say you're from the future, and you kinda got your own thing going on..?"
"Yes."
"What is it..?"
Richard looked pale.
"I have a ten inch penis."
Lee simply responded by saying, after a short while, "Oh."
* * * * *
"This is a strange film."
"I can't watch it. I guess if we just lean down in our seats, we won't see the screen."
"These headphones are free..?"
"Yes, the headphones are free."
"I can take them off of the plane with me..?"
"Yes,"
"Okay."
* * * * *
"So, where are we going..?"
"Do you have your ticket..?"
"I think it says the name of the place we are going on the ticket."
"Um."
Richard looked at the ticket.
He folded it, and looked at both sides.
"We're going to Alaska..?"
A pause.
"Yes."
"Is it cold there..?"
"What..?"
"I said is it cold there..?"
"Oh, I'm sorry." Blinking twice. "Um. Yes."
Lee looked at the TV screen, and the film that was playing, and in a very slowly spoken monotone voice, said:
"It is cold in Alaska."
* * * * *
"So, um."
The engines of the plane whirred.
All of the passengers were sleeping.
"What is 2032 like..?"
Lee looked up.
"That is an impossible question, but I can still answer it for you."
"Okay."
"It is different now. Because of entanglement, and since I have broken the law by coming here, I have caused ripples, and side-effects in the 'network of reality' (if you can imagine this) -- so, I am not really sure what it is like right now."
"So."
"I was not always a time-traveler."
"What were you like before..?"
"The reason why I am here is to correct something."
"What is it."
"In Alaska, we can go anywhere. I will show you."
"How do we get anywhere, from Alaska..?"
The plane was silent.
A flight attendant rolled her cart past them, as they both looked up at her, cutting off their conversation as she smiled, and then they just looked at one another.
* * * * *
"All passengers, please make sure your seatbelts . . . We will be landing . . . Anchorage . . . Roughly twenty minutes. Please remain seated while the plane lands."
"So, I am going to bring these headphones."
"Why do you need them..?"
"I think I might need them for something later on."
"Okay."
"We didn't bring much."
"We need to do some shopping."
"Do you really have six thousand dollars..?"
"Well, about $5,200 now. The plane tickets were expensive."
"Oh."
"Why did you get first class, anyway..?"
"Because I need you to be comfortable, and ready for what lies ahead."
"What lies ahead..?"
Lee sighed.
He looked at the TV-screen, and smiled, for the first noticeable time Richard had ever seen.
"I don't know."
* * * * *
"We have arrived in Alaska. We will be unboarding shortly. Please make sure your trays are all in the upright position, and . . . " We listened to the flight attendant speak, and ascended from the deep state of alpha we'd been in for the past twenty minutes of silence, and waiting."
"Okay, Lee."
"We're in Alaska, now."
"Now what..?"
"Shopping. And then we need to get to the collider."
"The collider..?"
"Yes."
"What's that..?"
"In your time, your scientists are now advanced to the point of measuring the birth of the universe through blackholes. They are developing wormholes, in small portals, which can be used to travel to any place in the universe."
"So, that's why you brought me to Alaska..?"
"You wanted to get to Houlton, didn't you..?"
"In order to get to Houlton, you're going to need to help me first."
"What do I gotta do..?"
"Do you know anything about guns..?"
* * * * *
"No."
"I don't know anything about guns. I'm from Texas, what do you think. I own seven pistols and nine rifles back at home."
"What do you want to know..?"
"We only need one."
"Okay."
"You are going to be operator of the gun."
"But I am the one who will be shooting the gun."
"I don't understand."
"So, we need to find where the nearest gun shop is, is the first question. Or the best pawn shop to find a simple weapon to get into the lab."
"The lab..?"
"Where the collider is located."
"But why do we need a gun..?"
"It is heavily guarded..?"
"Why..?"
"Because the collider has the power to both end, and create worlds."
"How do you know about it..?"
"Know about what..?"
"The collider..?"
"What collider..?"
"I don't understand."
"You were just talking about some collider thing, and a lab, and needing a gun, and having some reason to break in there or something. I'm just asking why."
Lee look terrified for a moment, and then suddenly fine. And said an inaudible phrase.
Richard looked at him.
"Are you okay..?"
"Yes."
He started walking. "How long was I gone for..?"
"Come on. We are already out of time."
Richard looked confused.
* * * * *
"Welcome to Alaska. And what will you two be having today..?" They looked at each other.
"Thanks!" Lee said. Richard looked at Lee, as he began to speak again.
"Do you know where there are any gun shops..?"
* * * * * 
"What you got here is a basic glock. Here, you got a .45. This here is a Berenger. I don't even know what kind of gun this is. This, I got from a friend. Don't know where he is anymore. Uh. This one, I don't know. It's shiny."
"Do you think we can trust this guy..?"
"Always follow your intuition."
"So what does your intution say..?"
"He's an idiot."
"How much for this one..?"
"That's $400."
"I'll give you $200."
"Deal."
"Do you have any bullets..?"
"No. Wait. Yes. Here. I got a box of bullets."
"How many bullets are in this box..?"
"I don't know. Hold on wait. Let me count 'em. Uh. Let me see. One. Seven. Ten. Uh."
"There are twelve bullets in this box."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"There are. There are twelve bullets in this box of bullets."
"Oh. Yeah. Now, that's a revolver right there. You gotta cock it, and make sure that there safety see. It's a new type of revolver."
"Thank you."
"We're going to. Goodbye."
"And have a nice day..!"
* * * * *
"Look, man. I've never shot anybody. I always fight with my fists."
"We won't hurt anyone."
"That's all guns do..!"
"Guns kill, man. Don't you know that..? If it ain't for self-defense . . ."
"This is for self-defense."
"But you are going to hold the gun."
"But why do we need the bullets, if we aren't going to hurt anyone..?"
"We will nullify them."
"How..?"
"These are special bullets."
"No they aren't."
"We just bought them from a cracked out pawn shop in some weird hicktown Alaska."
"Yes they are."
Lee looked at his left pocket, then his left hand.
He looked down, with his eyes shut, and said:
"They are special bullets."
* * * * *
"I'm worried, Lee."
"Why do you have the gun, if I'm the one who's supposed to be holding it..?"
Lee didn't say anything.
* * * * *
"We are almost there."
"Where..?"
"To the supermarket."
"What are we going to buy..?"
"Everything."
"What do you mean..?"
"We need a months supply."
"A months supply. Of what. For what..?"
"For the shelter."
"What shelter..?"
"It's carrying over."
"The miasms are getting worse."
"I don't know if I can keep this thing . . . if I can really. I lost the operator."
"What. You lost what..?"
"I haven't heard from the operator in days."
"I don't know what that means."
"I'm worried too, Richard."
"Did I say I was worried..?"
"That is why I would rather be the one holding the gun right now."
* * * * *
"Do you have canned food, flashlights, batteries, and non-perishable products which will last for a long time on the shelf, in case of a storm..? We live up North."
"Oh."
"Yes. We have everything."
* * * * *
"The collider is located in a bunker, somewhere in a secret location."
"Okay."
"So, I'm not so sure about this."
"Trust me."
"What more evidence do you need..?"
The snow falling from the sky started to curve as Lee moved his hand, and it flowed in a side-ways direction, while the surrounding snow fell straight to the ground.
Richard waved his hand, but nothing happened.
Richard watched as the snow curved around Lee's body, as he looked at Richard.
"How do you do that..?"
* * * * *
No cars drove down the street.
"Man. I'm getting cold."
"The only way we can get there is by walking."
"Why..?"
"It's the only way to find it."
* * * * *
They walked for several hours without a word. Richard wrapped his arms tightly together, while Lee walked in a steady, perfect saunter, his arms at each side, staring straight ahead, in the direction of the Northeast.
"Are we almost there..?"
"It might be another sixteen hours."
"Dude, I'm gonna freeze to death."
"No you won't."
"Why not..?"
"Because heat is merely a transference of energy."
Lee turned around, and touched Richards shoulder.
Richard unwrapped his arms from his sides, and said, "Why didn't you do that before..?"
The cold left Richards stiff joints, and he was able to walk smoothly again, with a steady pace.
"I didn't know that I could."
* * * * *
"We need to locate something."
"What do we need..?"
"It's important. To find the base."
"I thought it was a lab."
"I guess it's also a base. That's why we needed . . ."
"The gun..?"
"And this."
"Where did you get that..?"
Lee held out a large electronic device, a radio of some sort.
"It is a radio."
"I need this."
"Why do you need that..?"
"To reach the proper level of tuning, when I am . . . um. I can't explain right now."
"Okay."
"So what do we need..?"
"Sticks."
"One stick, actually."
"Okay."
"We're in the middle of the road."
"Let's go over there."
They walked toward the trees.
"We need a Y-shaped rod."
"Will this work..?"
Richard immediately picked up a perfectly shaped Y-shaped stick from the ground, and held it up, as though amazed by the figure, and shape.
"I don't know. It might work. I mean. It is perfect. Sometimes perfect things can't be trusted."
"Maybe it's a sign."
"Do you believe in signs..?"
"I have been waiting for one."
"Here, give it to me."
Lee held the two ends of the stick in each hand, and the stick immediately started to bend.
"Oh."
"What."
"We're here."
"What..?"
"The bunker is right beneath us."
"The bunker is here."
There was a long pause, and they both looked at the ground.
* * * * *
"So, how do we get in there..?"
"We must find a way."
"Yeah, but."
"It's in the ground. Is there some kind of entrance..?"
"Not the kind of entrance you would normally imagine."
"So, where is it..?"
"Everyone who visits this bunker is a hard worker, according to their family code."
"Family code..?"
"They are all forced to dig."
"Dig..?"
"Six feets beneath the ground."
"Isn't that how deep dead bodies are buried..?"
"I don't know, is it..?"
"Look, that is a flat rock."
"I see another one."
"This is crazy."
"What..?"
"I said, this is crazy."
Lee opend his eyes, and seemed aware of everything again.
"How long was I gone..?"
"You don't remember what you just said..?"
"No."
"Why not..?"
"It is a miasm."
"What is a miasm."
"I am a time-traveler, from --"
"I know, shut-up. Okay, fine. Here, take this, let's just see what's under here, man."
"You dragged me into this, I'm determined to see what's under here."
Richard started digging, and within moments, he was already a foot by foot into the ground. He kept digging, and soon a loud whirring sound began to emanate from the ground after another two feet.
"That is the bunker."
"What is that sound."
"The bunker. It is a low-frequency hum they use in all of their devices and machines. It emanates constantly throughout the framework of the system."
"Keep digging. I will find another rock."
Richard looked up at the sky for a moment, sighed, and then just kept digging, as he panted, and groaned, wondering why Lee wasn't offering any help. He looked up.
Ten minutes went by, and Lee still hadn't returned.
"Lee..?"
He was gone.
"Lee..?" "Where are you..?"
Lee was nowhere in sight.
"Lee..?" Finally, and for the first time in his entire life, Richard looked around in fear, and he noticed a new feeling inside of him, a new fear he had never felt before.
* * * * *
Lee wandered through the woods.
He didn't quite seem to understand.
Something was happening, inside, or -- somewhere -- but he could not define the feeling.
"What is. What is this..?"
He looked up, and was amazed . . .
* * * * *
"Lee..?"
"Lee. Where did you go, Man..?"
Richard found Lee standing in the middle of the woods.
"There' some weird metal hatch. Some weird metal door thing."
"Lee..?"
* * * * *
"It's really loud."
* * * * *
"Lee, what's going on..?"
"What..?"
"You've been walking back and forth in that spot. I've been saying your name. Is something wrong with you. Should we be here..?"
"Something is wrong."
"We need to go."
"Go."
"We need to get out of here."
"Where do we go..?"
"We need to get to the bunker."
"Lee. That is what you've been saying this whole time."
"Did you find the door..?"
"Yes. I found this metal hatch door thing."
"We need to open it."
"The radio." Lee reached into his pocket. "We need to use the frequency. There is a special tuning. A frequency."
Lee looked at the radio, and seemed confused by what he was seeing,
"I think you might be getting worse. Come on. I found the door. Let's just go and see what's under there."
"What door..?'
"The door to the bunker."
"We need to open it." Lee was confused. "What bunker..?"
"Come on," Richard sighed. "Follow me."
* * * * *
"Richard, wake up."
"Lee..?"
"Lee. Are you okay..?"
Richard wiped his eyes.
"The bunker door is exposed. We're there. We've finally gotten to the bunker. Come on. Let's go."
"Are you allright now..?"
"What do you mean..?"
"You've been passed out for the past three hours, now you seem straight as an arrow. Are you okay."
"I usually appreciate it when people tell me how long I've been gone. Usually, no one ever does. Thanks. Yes. I am fine. I don't know what is happening to me. But I feel fine. Let's go."
* * * * *
"It's dark in here."
"Just follow the frequency."
"What do you mean..?"
"That is what I was told. I don't know. Just. Just listen."
They listened.
The sound emanated through the darkness of the halls.
"I can't see anything."
"Touch the walls. Use them to guide you. It is safe."
"What if I step on something."
"This is the most elite, well-manufactured government bunker in the whole of the United States."
"So..?"
"So, I don't think you will step on anything."
"What is that..?"
They saw a light, pouring down a corridor.
"It's lit up over there."
"Okay, go. I'll follow you."
* * * * *
They entered the small, green-lit room. Screens surrounded, but none were lit up.
"What are these screens for..?"
"They're obsolete."
"This isn't the place."
"It's a decoy."
"We need to go deeper."
"Is it a trap..?"
"No. They just try to make the base look defunct. I don't know. It's complicated. These people are hiding. What do you expect from someone who is keeping secrets..?"
"Well, I never trusted the government."
"I work for the government."
"Oh."
Richard smiled, with a bitter look on his face.
"They are your leaders, and it is your birthright to oppose them soverign to your own rights within the state, and truth within yourself as your own leader, at the same time. We are all leaders where I come from."
"So, what are you like in 2032..?"
"I only stay there for about two days at a time."
"So."
"I was not originally a time-traveler."
"Like I told you."
"What's that..?"
"That room is purple."
"It must be the violet room."
"The violet room..?"
"Yes."
They walked down the nearest hall, touching the walls, as they moved.
"The gate."
"I remember this."
"Come on."
Richard looked up, but saw nothing. "We're almost there."
* * * * *
"How do we get in..?"
"It's a force-field."
"How does it work..?"
"The Egyptians had a certain way of . . . I don't know. It's ancient technology."
"The Egyptians..?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
"Here, hold this." He handed him the device.
Richard held the radio.
"Now, hold this."
"Why..?"
"We won't need it. Don't worry."
"I don't understand."
Richard held the gun, confused, in his left hand.
* * * * *
"Now, I need you to stand there, and just be cool."
"Okay."
Lee lifted the radio, and selected a certain station. It began as static.
Slowly, he turned the knob.
"This is the station."
The portal suddenly opened, and the force-field was turned from a dark purple, into white, and then faded into a fog. A large mist appeared in the entrance, blocking all sight to the next room.
"Let's go."
"You have the gun. You must go first."
Richard looked at Lee, and then the exposed doorway, and then slowly entered the portal, one foot, and then his entire body, until he was completely through the mist of fog.
"There is no one here."
"No one ever occupies the violet room."
"What is the violet room..?"
"The gate."
"Here."
He turned the radio back on.
Screens illuminated all around them.
"Now, we need to find their offices."
"Offices..?"
"What offices..?"
"So that we can stop the end of the world. You can go back to Houlton. And I can return to where I am originally from."
"Oh."
* * * * *
"What is this..?"
"It is the control screen. It is hand-operated."
Lee waved his hands over the screen, and an image appeared.
Twelve men were shown, sitting in a circle, around a large, illuminated orb.
"This is the office."
"What am I seeing..?"
"The twelve."
"The twelve..?"
* * * * *
Richard and Lee listened as the twelve men administrated, and spoke about their plans, and recent advents for their plans for the world ahead. He turned up the volume, so that Richard could hear their words.
"Okay, Richard."
"I must go now."
"What do you mean..?"
"This is where we separate. I guess."
"I am sorry, Richard. Give me the gun."
"Why, what are you going to do..?"
"Nothing. I just need to."
He held it up to the radio, and selected a different tuning.
The gun made a latching sound, and then silence.
"Okay."
Lee handed the gun back to Richard.
"It is a different type of gun now. It will work better in your time."
"What is it going to do..?"
"Only use it when you know when to."
"When will I know when..?"
"Okay . . ."
"Do you trust me..?"
"Yes."
"Then after one minute. Precisely one minute. When this screen changes to a room full of empty men, and I am the only one standing in the room, I want you to walk into that room over there, and then say the phrase, "Three, Six, Nine." Over, and over, and over again. "Those are numbers." "They are the secret to everything. And the only thing you need to know. Now I must go."
Lee turned toward the screen, and waved the radio over it, and another sound occurred. Each member of the room seemed to be alarmed.
"I was always meant to do this." Richard watched, carefully.
"What are you going to do..?"
"I'm sorry, Control. I'm sorry. I have failed you. But, I am the operator now."
"Lee..?"
Lee waved the radio over the screen again, and slowly, each member of the room started to hunch, and become closer to the table in front of them. The voices changed from calmly spoken words, to abrupt coughing, and hacking sounds. Richard watched, as it began slow. They all seemed to become sick. Soon, it became clear.
"What are you doing..?"
Richard watched, and looked at the screen . . .
Suddenly, a beeping sound emanated from the intercom of the violet room.
"They only use that for emergencies."
"Good."
"What is it..?"
He moved the radio over the screen again.
The men all fell to their knees.
"Trust me."
"Do you have the gun..?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Keep it. Remember."
Soon, all of the men on the screen were on the floor, and apparently writhing in pain. The volume rose.
"These are the twelve men who control the world."
"They have caused this to themselves."
Richard watched, frozen in alarm.
"Lee..?"
"Is that you..?"
A staticky voice emanated from the cheap radio intercom.
"Are you otherwise known as codename S..?"
"Who is this..?"
"This is the operator."
"The operator is dead."
A coughing sound.
"No."
"No, S."
"No, Lee. The world is fine. Everything is fine in 2032."
"You're lying."
He waved the radio over the screen again.
A man seemed to be hacking, and coughing, and reeling in pain, with a darting look in his eyes, and his lips were moving.
"No. I am one of the twelve men. Look at the screen."
Lee saw his lips moving with a slight delay in sync with the words.
"I have always been guiding you."
"You need to stop this."
"Okay, Richard, after I do this, will you agree to what we agreed to..?"
Richard was frozen with fear.
With a side-ways turn, "I don't believe you, operator."
"I . . . I don't know."
"We need to end this now."
"Take the special gun. Use it to stop the boats. Don't let them settle. Don't let them take sovereignty over your country and free land and rights. Kill all of them, Richard. Especially, kill him."
Lee moved the radio, and placed it directly on top of the screen.
A loud whir emanated from the intercom. It was the sound of vomiting.
"Please. S. Stop."
"Everyone will be known as Lee, ever since what you have done to us."
Richard seemed to silently understand, as he looked at the gun.
"This is not the way."
"Now go."
* * * * *
Richard entered the blue room.
He waited.
"Goodbye."
There was nothing but a flash of light, and then only a small pile of ash on the floor. A great bright mist seemed to fill the room, and a slow, emanating fuzz in the atmosphere, with a slow, and gradual decaying reverberating sound.
Lee was gone.
"Lee..?'
Richard walked back out of the room for a moment.
He looked back at the screen.
Fog seemed to fill the room, and a white, expanding light, which diminished as it grew.
Richard saw, from the doorway, the screen.
Richard looked, and he saw Lee, looking at the camera, in the room where the twelve men were. He was dressed, and appeared exactly the same. "Remember what I told you, Richard."
The twelve men were gone. All of them seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Richard couldn't seem to believe his eyes.
He paused. Lee looked up at the camera, and said, "Richard. What are you doing..? Remember what I told you. Now, go."
"Okay."
Richard went back to the blue room, and started to count.
* * * * *
He stood, and he waited. Listening, to the volume he had turned up, while Lee began to speak through the intercom . . . "Hello. My name is Codename S. Otherwise known as Lee. I am the controller now. I am the singular . . ."
* * * * *
"Three, six, nine." "Three, six, nine." Without any effort, the words repeated in his mind. "Three, six, nine." The words, somehow, not just numbers, but also words, flowed repeatably, neuroacoustically-- and suddenly the singular tones of the word Re-Mem-Ber started to resound inside of the entire room.
The entire frame of the room began to glow.
Richard looked up and stared at the sun.
He looked down, and noticed he was on a long stretch of beach.
People who were barely clothed seemed to fishing, and some sitting, and communing on the shore, and in the water. He also saw several small huts located near the edge of the forest. He took a few steps, but no one seemed to notice him. "Where..?" He thought. With the rest of the classic question lingering in his mind. "Where am I..?"
* * * * *
At first, things were strange.
He got along with the people, because it was a very accepting culture.
But so far, he had not spoken to anyone.
It seemed impossible to approach them, at first. But the natives were kind.
In his constant state of awe, he felt like a new messiah . . . who knew..? They all respected him for his ability to hunt, build, and fish.
They seemed different than he would have imagined.
Sometimes, they would attempt to say things, but he never understood.
This whole thing, at night, they would all occasionally sit together, and look up at the sky.
It was not long, as time went by, that Richard felt a strange suspension of interest from the tribe, where he couldn't help but feel something was nearing. One night, something he could not control. He felt, no matter where. He didn't know where he was. Then he changed his mind. He started to not care, and just paid less and less mind to his original world.
He got used to life here.
Time went by, he slowly began to learn their mono-syllabic tongue.
He began to commune with the natives more.
He told a woman his name one night. "My name, is Lee."
He said.
"I come from," and pointed to the ocean.
It wasn't long that some boats were showing up in the water, and Richard felt bad about this experience, as it seemed he was the only one really able to identify them. No one could seem to see the boats but him.
Several days had passed. He didn't know what to think.
He hid the gun under a blanket.
Looking at it, thinking about Lee, as he got used to his new setting, but still wondered, Or what it was really capable of. He tried to dress like everyone else.
Adjust to their language.
Things seemed simple at first, so he grew comfortable again.
He decided to speak out again one day.
Everyone was silent, sitting around the fire on a full moon night. They seemed vacant to his presence, but he thought they would pay attention.
Only some truly wondered where he originally came from.
He said.
"My name is Richard Lee Houlton." "I am from the future."
"I am from the year 2012."
"I am here to warn you about the end of the world."
* * * * *
The natives looked about, but mostly with care, and regard to his words as he gathered their eyes.
"I have a special way to fight the enemy."
"My name is Richard Lee Houlton."
But they seemed confused.
"The only reason I am here, is because of someone else."
They looked at one another, and spoke in monotone syllables.
"And this is a place that will some day be known as Houlton, Maine, some day."
"Your land will be taken over."
But they didn't seem to understand.
"I. Um. A ship will come."
"I am here to help you."
"And we must fight. To protect our land, and our country."
They all listened, but not a single one seemed to understand.
Their language was different.
"What is he saying..?" He felt like they uttered, as they looked at one another, in their monotone syllables.
Days went by, as Richard pondered the weapon in his hands, and his fellow natives who were too young -- in "time" -- to understand his words.
He rarely associated with anyone.
Eventually, he started to lose touch with them.
He walked the beach at night.
Looking out, in question, at the glowing, noisy ships.
He got dim, and pale, avoiding the sun, and spending lots of time alone.
Soon, he stopped talking altogether. "What's the point." He said out loud one night, at the moon above him. "They don't even see them."
Days went by, while the ships remained in the water.
And eventually he seemed to find that there was no one to talk to but himself.
Often, he would be found at night, with the strange device in his hands, speaking in the strange tongue, while observers would remark on the 400-pound brute from the beach, who arrived, from out of nowhere, in his foreign style, and foreign tongue. 
He had no idea what they were saying about him.
Still, some of them began to understand.
One day, a woman approached him.
"You." She said.
She smiled.
"Yes..?"
"That is an English word."
"You -- is -- English."
Richard smiled.
"English." She intonated.
And then removed three rocks from a leather pouch.
* * * * *
She looked up at him, with a careful, and slow -- half-smile. Although, not a happy smile.
"You. Is English word..?"
"Yes."
"You is an English word."
"Come."
"Yes."
"From . . ."
And she waved her hand at the sky.
"From..?"
And pointed back.
"Yes."
She took out a small pile of stones, and put them on the floor.
One was in the shape of a triangle. One looked like a star. The other was a mis-shapen upside-down T-shaped stone.
"You."
She said.
"And pointed to the star-shaped stone."
"Yes."
"You. Good..?"
"Yes. Good."
"Good. You."
"You, are -- good..?"
She moved the T-shaped stone near the star, and then the other stone above it. He watched, as she moved the stones.
"You."
And then threw the stone across the floor, across the ocean . . .
"Kill..?"
Richard was confused.
"KIll. Kill who..?"
"E . . ." She tried to speak. "E-full."
"Man..?" 
Richard looked at the stones for a while, and looked over at the spot where he kept the gun under the blanket.
He looked back at the old woman.
"No."
"I . . ."
He said. 
"Kill."
And then waved his hands in the air in every direction.
"All."
"Of them."
* * * * *
The old woman spoke to Richard less, in spite of the scoutings from ships from the sea.
She seemed to be expecting something.
They kept sending small ships to inspect the beach, while natives were away from the shore.
Richard silently waited.
He looked at the gun, and thought, every now and then, "What is different about this gun..?"
He looked at it again, turning it. "What did Lee do to it..?" He noticed the bullets were gone.
He couldn't sleep that night, because he kept wondering what Lee had done with the twelve bullets, and what he would do with an unloaded gun.
* * * * *
The night was dark, but bright at the same time.
It was an eclipse, but Richard slept through it, and was dreaming.
He dreamt of the gun.
He thought about how it made the latching sound. And, "What does the radio do..?"
* * * * *
Days went by. Ships would occasionally come to shore and they would talk to the natives, and try to exchange gifts.
Richard just stood by and watched.
* * * * *
"Boat."
She pointed to T-shaped rock.
"Yes."
And then threw it across the floor again.
"Soon..?"
Richard just looked down.
* * * * *
She moved the rocks.
And then she pointed to her throat.
"What should I do..?"
She looked confused.
And then looked at the rocks again.
She got up, and went to the blanket, and lifted it up.
She picked up the gun.
"Oh. No! That is only meant for me."
She aimed it at the floor, and pulled the trigger.
A large beam shot out from the gun, and produced a three-foot hole in the ground.
"You."
And then she handed him the weapon.
Richard looked at the gun. And she handed it to him.
He turned it in his hands, and examined it. "But it isn't loaded."
"You."
She pointed at the star.
When he looked back, she appeared to be angry, and then left the hut very quickly.
Richard looked back at the gun.
* * * * * 
One day, a man in a blue uniform seemed very angry. He had arrived from one of the scout ships one day.
He was pointing at the ground, and then at the wilderness. And shouting. He pointed back, and then threw one of the natives to the ground.
Richard heard the commotion from his hut.
He immediately removed the gun from the blanket, and walked directly toward them.
Stopping, he noticed the native get up by the hand of the foreigner. The soldier helped the native to his feet.
"Teaching them how to fight..?"
He put the gun down, and went back inside.
* * * * *
Days passed, while the foreigner remained in their boats, closer, and more intimate with the natives as time went on.
"Is this the same place..?"
The old woman seemed calm.
A young native woman was sitting crouched on the beach, Richard noticed one morning. And he approached her.
"What..?"
She was looking up at the sky.
She said nothing.
* * * * *
"Hello. My name is Officer Thomas Chivers."
"I am stationed to investigate this island. Do any of you people speak the language that I am speaking..?"
Richard heard him, from the edge of the beach, and listened, but simply waited as he spoke to the natives on the beach.
"We are looking forward to being a part of your land, if you will accept us."
"We have come from a foreign country, much different from this place."
"You." The officer said to one of the natives.
"Do you speak my language..?"
None of the natives seemed to understand.
"Hello."
"You." He said to another native.
"Do you speak, my language..?" He pointed to his mouth. "My language..?" And then his throat. "Do you understand..?"
They all seemed to keep moving, and half-pay attention to him.
The woman on the beach was gone.
He looked back, away from the officer, and paid no attention.
Going back to his hut, he looked at the rocks the old woman left on the floor. They had been rearranged. The star was at the head of his bed. The triangle was facing the Northeast. And the boat was outside of the hut.
* * * * *
More people were sitting on the beach the next morning.
They were all looking at the sky.
It was about 3 A.M. in the morning, Richard imagined, and the moon was obscured by the trees, while no stars showed in the sky, as a result of the bright lights on the ships, where loud sounds, and music could be heard.
"What are you waiting for..?"
Richard stood, with his chest sticking out into the air, and breathed slowly, as he watched the boats, heard the music, and then looked back at the unmoving natives, who remained still.
He went back into his hut, held the gun in his hands. Thinking for a while. What it would be like to have a drink right now. He thought about it, and just looked up.
He aimed it at the ground, and without a second thought, pulled the trigger.
It left a three-foot hole, and was filled with white smoke. He looked back at the gun, and then carefully put the gun back into the hole, and covered it up with the blanket.
* * * * *
"You."
"What..?"
Richard woke up.
"Yes. I know. You think my name is You. It's actually kind of everyone's name where I come from."
"You. Now."
"What..?" "What are you trying to say..?"
Richard was still half-asleep. The sun was just setting. He wiped his eyes, half-awake. He had been napping for the past six hours.
"You no good."
She got up, and left the hut.
* * * * *
When she came back, Richard was confused.
He pointed to himself. "No good..?"
"No."
She said.
She had new stones this time.
One was a circle.
Three were triangles.
Two others were larger circles.
And then there was a larger rock, she had trouble lifting.
"You . . ."
"Yes."
And she pointed as though she wanted him to move it for her.
He lifted the rock for her, and put it where she wanted it to go.
"Them."
"Yes..?"
"These, are, you." "You..?"
She shook her head in disgust.
"What do you mean, I am no good..?"
"No." She pointed at the big rock. "No. Good."
"You." And seemed angry at the rock. "NO GOOD..!"
She walked over to the blanket, where the gun had been laid, picked up his blanket, wrapped it around herself, and then walked out of the hut, wearing his blanket, as though freezing from the cold, and then left without a word.
He stared at the rock.
* * * * *
One day, Richard found the old woman.
She was on the beach, talking to some younger natives.
Instructing them, about something, apparently.
He began to realize she was the elder of the tribe.
Over time, he grew to listen to her more and more.
"You. Sleep." He held his hands against his head, and shut his eyes. "Sleep..?"
"She pointed at her hut. It appeared to be covered in pink leaves."
He was getting more curious about her.
"Yes. Sleep." She pointed to her hut.
One night, while the old woman was resting on the beach, and occasionally going into the water, and then returning to the beach, she appeared to be preoccupied, so Richard felt inclined to look inside of her hut.
He found three books. He looked inside of them.
One was a book written in a strange symbolic language, that was obviously inked in a a red pen of some kind. The other book was a fictional novel from an author named S. Hawthren. The other book was the Bible. It's publication date, and release information was unknown, and it had many notes, and scribbles inside of it, and apparently a lot of extra pages shoved inside of it. She also had several photographs. Some of them appeared to be white, many -- bearded, European-looking men.
He then noticed the mirror.
And the crystals.
And the wheel, spinning slowly in the corner of the room. He looked back, and put the book down.
He looked down, and exited the hut.
The old woman remained on the beach, unaware.
He returned to his hut, and thought about it.
"Lee."
He said, to the open airwaves.
"Where am I..?'
* * * * *
It was the middle of the night.
"They are coming."
"I can feel it."
"Who is that..?"
"What..?"
"Oh, shit."
"Did someone say something..?"
"Who said there. In there. The hut right there. I heard something."
"He said, who is that."
"Yeah."
"It was clearly English."
Richard started to dig, out of fright alone.
"You. What are you diggin' for in there..?"
Richard looked up, hoping to appear confused, and apparently unable to communicate.
"Can you speak..? Let me hear the sound of your voice."
Richard said nothing.
He stopped digging, and simply stood up, and looked at the man.
"I'm a scientist."
"You speak English..?"
Richard said nothing.
"I heard you. I heard you say, from your hut, the words, who is that. I don't forget things I hear. I've studied sound and music my entire life. I have also studied psychology, and how to associate a human voice with a human face. My name is Fletcher Lee Bligh. Tell me, do you speak English..?"
Richard looked down.
He said nothing.
"Okay, well," Lee smiled. "If you want to let me know, just let me know."
"We're coming to shore tomorrow. Anchoring the big boat. You'll be seeing more of me."
Richard knew exactly who he was.
"If you don't understand me, that is fine."
Richard looked down, and said nothing, as though mute.
"Okay." Lee said, and then began to exit.
"I guess you don't understand."
"Well, I guess I was mistaken."
He began to leave the hut. "I'm sorry. Please. Enjoy what we have to offer, in whatever forms of exchange we can offer, and --" But he was cut off.
"Who is coming..?" Richard asked.
The man turned around, and smiled.
* * * * *
"How long have you been here..?"
They watched the fire burn. Sitting alone on the beach.
"I don't know. Two. Maybe three months. Maybe more. They don't understand a word I say. They measure time. By the tides."
"Yes."
"So, you are from the year..?'
"2012."
"Do you know what year it is now..?'
"No."
"It is the year 1499."
"And where you are from -- this is when your world ends..?"
Richard didn't stop staring at the man with amazement. Somehow astonished by what he was seeing. His was face exactly the same.
"Yes."
"And you were sent here by someone else. And."
"He looks just like me..?"
Richard paused, and a tear entered his left eye, praying for the man to remember.
"Yes."
"You look just like him."
* * * * *
"Why do they sit on the beach, staring up at the sky..?'
"Where I come from. We have other scientists. Who are trying to figure that out. Other tribes, in other areas, all over the world, have been doing the same thing."
"Why..?'
"We don't know."
"You say they base time on the tides. Maybe it has something to do with the cosmologies. The outer recesses of the universe at large. I have my theories, but I myself am also not entirely sure, also." He looked at the fire, and stared at the flames, just as Lee used to stare into people's eyes.
"I have only studied so far into these matters."
Richard looked at him.
"You are the same."
"What..?"
"You talk. So much like him."
"Like who..?"
Richard said something, but Lee didn't hear him.
They both looked up, suddenly distracted, and some one of the glowing lights.
"They show up at night." He said.
"Sometimes two at a time."
"We don't know what they are."
"Why is one moving faster than the other."
"We simply refer to them as unidentified flying objects."
"What, you mean like a U.F.O..?"
"Like an anagram..?"
"Acronym..?"
"I don't know."
"I'm not very educated." Richard said.
"Education is weak in my country. Only the rich are fed. I met this strange woman, she is on our vessel now," Lee said.
"Oh."
"She is on your boat..?"
"Yes."
"She has been moving things. I don't quite understand. I think this is referred to a certain form of psychological exercise in which a highly powerful human being can contact matter. In most places, this is regarded as witchcraft, but based upon the true and general science of entanglement, I am beginning to see a better phrase. I may describe this, in the future, as what might be referred to as telekinesis. A new frontier in modern-day physics."
He continued speaking.
"Tele, is in root Greek meaning Far. Kinesis regards moving. This is in a matter of fact a relationship of distance holding to time and space: defied. And -- Oh, Yes. i invented the term. I am a scientist. I am the only known person to ever use it, as far as I know, ever since encountering these new phenomalies. Have you ever heard of this before..?"
* * * * *
One day, strange items started showing up on the beach.
Crates, and metal, steel boxes, with detachable lids, showed up on the shore, filled with canned foods, non-perishables, flashlights, batteries, and random objects from the 21st century.
Richard was the last to find out.
For days, he heard about the discoveries, while the natives stockpiled the goods, and said nothing to the foreigners in the morning they collected everything.
The boxes just seemed to keep arriving on the shore.
"For the storm," Richard thought.
He carried one box to his own hut, opened it. It had magazines. Articles. Information referring to the year 2012. All of it, in a foreign, symbolic language he couldn't understand. It all seemed like computer code. He sifted through the magazines. It all appeared the same, strange, lines, and circles. All of the photographs, and other dates, and times, read from his previous time. All of the information looked up to date. But he couldn't understand a single word of it.
"What have you done, Lee..?"
* * * * *
Holding a photograph in his hand, Richard heard a gun-shot.
He put the photo down. It was a picture of a certain celebrity he was struggling to recognize.
"They're here."
"What is it..?"
Richard looked up, with the question in his eyes.
"What..?"
"He speaks English."
Fletcher looked at Richard.
"Give him a gun."
"No."
There was a lightning flash in the sky.
"Look, Richard. We need your help. We need to stop this. He Warned Us."
"Who warned you."
"The captain."
"Okay."
"Where are you going..?"
With his back turned, almost as though suddenly cast into a film, Richard walked pacedly toward his hut, as though he knew he were being watched by a camera from behind the whole time, crouched down, and started digging into the ground with his hands.
* * * * *
He took off his shirt.
"Salt is the key to life."
With a glass of salt-water, he covered his body in ocean water he had preserved.
He undressed his wet clothes.
"We are all composed of the same matter."
Richard looked down at the gun.
It remained cocked.
He picked up a cloth, and wrapped it around himself, with a metal belt.
"Does it always stay cocked..?"
He looked back at the mirror.
"I am a natural."
"I am originally from this place."
He picked up the mirror, borrowed from the old womans hut.
Exiting the hut, Fletcher seemed to have his back turned, expecting him to come back as soon as possible.
"Richard..?"
"Yes."
"What is that..?"
Richard looked down, and back up at Fletcher.
"My gun."
* * * * *
Lightning flashed in the sky.
Lights shot from East to West.
A boat was on fire, but music still played from the vessel, mysteriously.
"It doesn't make any sense."
"What do we do..?"
"They are just resting on the beach. The natives are worthless."
"What about him..?"
"Yeah."
"How does he know English, and where did he get that -- thing..?"
* * * * *
"Sir, five men are dead."
"Okay."
"Let me find out."
* * * * *
Richard approached the shore.
A light was hovering in the sky.
"What is that..?"
He waited.
In a straight line, the object was suddenly resting against the shore, and something on the outside of the craft seemed to be opening.
"Doors..?"
Suddenly, six figures appeared, each illuminated, and almost too bright to look directly at.
"What is this..?"
"It's them."
"They've come."
"He warned us about them."
"Who are they..?"
"Them." He simply said.
Fletcher cocked his gun, and waited, beside the other two men on the shore, while Richard pondered the comparative power of his own.
They watched and waited.
* * * * *
"When do we..?"
"Wait."
"They are doing something."
A light was moving underneath the water.
It glowed beneath the tide.
"What is that..?"
"If you are really from where you say you're from."
"You think I don't remember, Fletcher..?"
"What do you mean by that..?"
Suddenly, a loud sound, and water shot up into the air from just across the beach.
"Wait."
"What."
"It's them."
"They want to speak to us."
* * * * *
"Yes. Hello. My name is Fletcher Lee Bligh."
The light filaments approached him.
The hovering white light emanated a tone. Bligh picked up his notebook, and read a list of tones to himself for a second, and then said. "Yes. That is in the range of a lower frequency, suggesting." Suddenly, he froze.
"Um."
He was paralzyed. Richard watched, as the light seemed to envelop him.
Yet, for the most -- the entirety of the light was still apart from his body. It seemed to be consuming him.
"I don't know if this is helpful."
"Richard..?"
"Do something."
* * * * *
Richard approached the bulk of the light.
"This must be the body."
A loud sound emanated, as he rested his finger against the trigger.
"Sorry."
He thought.
In some form of neuroacoustic vibration, "But aliens don't mean shit to me." And pulled the trigger.
The body exploded, and Fletcher was released instantaneously.
Nothing but a fading white light, and mist remained in the air.
"What."
"What is that thing..?"
"And who gave it to you..?"
Lee stood up straight, and smiled, returning back to life. And then his smile faded.
"Where did you get it..? Who gave it to you..?"
Richard made sure the gun was still cocked. He had a neutral glance, far-feeling, as though he was in the present, but not really. But also in another place a the same time . . . he looked back at the ocean, up at the sky, then back the ships in the ocean.
He said, "You did."
* * * * *
More ships arrived in the water. They hovered low.
Always arriving in straight lines.
No sound emanated from them.
Their crafts were very silent.
Many of the beings would exit the craft, and Richard killed them for days.
He shot two at first.
On the first day, he killed only one.
Eventually, it got to eleven.
Eventually, he started to kill at least twelve of them a day.
It became his magic number.
He shot the ground.
One night, and buried the gun.
"I can do this."
The night arrived, he felt.
The big ship would arrive.
Could he fight them off..?
Fletcher was attempting to examine the technology, but Richard was the only one who seemed capable enough to handle the gun himself.
They eventually started to listen.
The natives gathered one night.
The old woman was present.
"He."
She pointed.
And waved her arms.
Pointing at the sky, then the ground, then the sky, then the ground.
"From."
And then she said, "Everywhere."
The natives listened.
"We. We learn."
"What are. Words..?"
"Words. Language."
"Way to speak."
She pointed to her lips.
"Co-munn-ic-cate."
Richard simply watched.
"He."
And in a foreign tongue, she said something.
And then she picked up a book, and read a word out of the book.
"Mess."
"Mess . . ."
She tried to read it again.
"Mess-en-ger."
* * * * *
One day, he killed twenty.
The ships kept landing, but they held nothing against the special weapon.
Soon, it seemed like their ships were beginning to retreat.
Richard kept speaking the language.
He spent nights with Fletcher, and talked about "the past" (otherwise, to him, known as the other timeline) -- where they reflected on the future, and the world that they were stopping from existing.
One night, Fletcher said. "I know about a foreign chemical."
"It is a substance that causes inebriation similar to alcohol, or spirits, at first, however, can also be used for means other than this."
"What is it called..?"
"It is called Cannabis. It comes from Africa, Egypt, and India."
"Do you have any..?"
"Yes."
"What do you got..?" Richard asked.
"I have this."
Fletcher held out a large pouch of green flower. "It is mostly from Egypt. I have found it, across my studies. I use it, sometimes, to offer me a deep, rich, and creative power."
"It also sometimes helps with the pain in my body, I am beginning to notice, in larger dosages."
"Let's have a smoke..?"
"A smoke..?"
"I typically eat it."
"Here."
Richard removed one of the small 21st century dictionaries he had found in one of the boxes from the ocean. He removed the last page. "This is tissue paper." "Do you know what a cigarette is..?"
"Yes. Of course."
Richard took some of the loose bud, and began to roll some up in the page from the book.
He put it in his mouth, and then lit it with a stick from the fire.
"Here."
He said, "Try this."
* * * * *
After holding the flame close to the fire, putting the ash into the flames, Richard took a prolonged drag.
"Yes." He said. "Yeah. This is definitely not from my time."
"I feel . . ."
Fletcher had a questioning look in his eyes, but he smiled calmly.
"May I..?"
"Yes."
Fletcher took a hit, and held it in for as long as he could. He exhaled slowly, with a sighing sound.
"Once a pot-smoker, always a pot-smoker right..?" Richard kind of laughed to himself. He looked at Lee, with the familiar look in his eyes.
"Pot. What is pot..?"
"Nothing."
"You seem to know what you're doing."
Fletcher looked up.
"This is different."
"He sniffed the air around him."
"It smells like . . ."
"Verdent. Fresh. Leaves. In the wilderness. Fire and sun. The natural scent. I have never smelled this before."
"We must reach, the soul, of the machine."
"We must act soon. They are advancing." He took another hit.
Richard just looked at him.
Suddenly, Fletcher had a strange look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, how long was I gone for..?"
"Oh."
"That's something you used to say."
"I remember. What. How did you get here..?"
"Richard..?"
"What time is it..?" "Am I alive yet..?"
He looked terrified, and then amazed. He looked shockd, and then aware.
"Lee..?.."
"Yes."
"I am here."
* * * * *
Lee sat quietly in the corner of the hut, surrounded by smoke, as he held the joint, puffing at his own leisure.
"I am a time-traveler. From the year 2032. I have arrived to tell you one thing. I am only here for one reason. What time is it..?"
"Lee. I've been living in this village for the past four months. You said to me yourself that it's the year 1499."
"Then we have no time to lose."
"Lee..?"
"How do you know so much..?"
"What do you mean..?"
"Where are you really from..?"
"Do you have the weapon..?"
"Yes..?"
"Give it to me."
"Now."
"Lee."
"Yes."
Richard was not crying, but his voice was shaky. He was passionate, but appeared to have full, and absolute strength. He stood upright.
Taking another hit off the joint, he looked at Lee, and with tears starting in his eyes, and said, "I'm really glad you're back."
* * * * *
A ship was on fire.
And then another one.
"I don't have any access to the vessels."
"What do we do..?"
"Can I see that..?"
Richard looked down, and handed it to him.
Lee took a prolonged drag off the joint.
"Okay, we need to strike their main craft when it comes."
"Their main craft..?"
"The mother ship."
"The. The big rock."
"The what..?"
"That's what the old woman said. A big rock will come. She says it is a fragmentation of some kind. A distancing from the reality of . . . I am still trying to decipher her words."
"Where is she..?"
They both turned their heads, and the old woman was walking towards them.
"You."
"You no good." She looked away, and kept walking.
"Yes," Lee said.
"You is a fragmentation."
"You is the false mind."
She pointed up at the sky.
And then kicked the ground.
"Go." She shouted. "Now." "You. Go now."
"Now..? What do you mean..?"
She looked up at the sky.
Suddenly, a light began to emanate from the ocean. "Time. To Go Now. Go."
It appeared as though a massive jellyfish. A sound whirred, as though electronically, from the ocean. A light began to grow from the water.
A large apparition from the water grew, slowly, and rose out of the water. The light grew in brightness, and the mass seemed as though filling the entire shore.
"They do not come from the sky."
For once, her English was perfect, and with no native accent.
She began to walk again, back to her hut.
Lee and Richard looked at the water, and then looked back at one another.
The tide seemed to be moving in.
* * * * *
"So, get the gun."
"You are the one who has brought it here."
Richard listened.
"But I am the one who must use it."
"Please give me that."
Lee took another prolonged hit off the joint.
"Okay."
"We must wait."
* * * * *
The creatures, in their glowing apparitions, started to flow out of the ships. Slowly. At first. Richard and Lee watched, as the ships were slowly consumed. Lights, and flashing auroras illuminated the night sky as the natives watched in awe, and prayed on the shore. Soon, the ships were entirely consumed by the light from the ocean.
"What are they doing..?"
"They are taking them . . ."
"What do you mean..?"
Lee took another hit off the joint.
"Sucking the life out of their bodies. Replacing them with . . ."
Richard looked at the glowing forms.
"With what..?
Lee took another hit off the joint.
"The singular identity. They are trying to change us. We need to stop them. Come on."
* * * * *
Lee led Richard to the shore. They stood, and waited. "This is in the perfect location to strike."
"How do you know..?"
"How do I know..?"
Lee smiled, and held up the joint.
"Because of this."
And he took a prolonged drag, and held it in.
"Let's go."
Lee took off his shirt, and began to walk into the water.
"Come on."
Richard watched as Lee swam into the water.
* * * * *
Lee waited about thirty feet into the deep.
He waded.
"What's wrong..?"
Lee looked back, from about thirty yards into the deep.
"I can't swim." Richard said.
"Oh."
Lee returned to the shore, and he began to walk toward the edge of the woods.
He looked up, and then located one.
"Can you do it now..?"
"Maybe."
Lee said, "This one. This is the one."
Richard wrapped his arms around the trunk of a small tree, and began to pull. He groaned, but it loosened from the roots immediately. He pulled it inch by inch out of the ground.
"What now..?"
"Bring it to the water."
They both got on top of the tree tunk, and went into the water. 
"Use your legs. And your arms." 
"Just keep paddling."
They both got on top of the extirpated tree, and began to paddle through the water.
The night was growing darker, as they neared the object.
Lee said nothing.
"What is that thing..?"
Lee looked up.
They continued toward the glowing form . . .
Lee was quiet for a while.
He remained quiet, and then spoke, looking straight ahead.
"I don't know."
* * * * *
A sound emanated from the water.
The nearer they got to the largest ship, they heard the volume increase.
"Lee."
Lee looked at Richard.
"My body is shaking."
Lee put his hand on his shoulder.
Richard's chills went away.
"What did I just do..?"
"It's something you used to do."
"Used to do..?" "Yes."
"I have done this, before..?"
"I think so."
"How do you know."
Richard became quiet.
He recalled the joint, but just said.
"You're just high."
"Okay," Lee said.
* * * * *
"We're there." Lee said.
"Where..?" Richard asked.
Lee suddenly dived off the tree trunk, and went underwater.
"Lee..?"
Richard waited, hovering above the glowing mass, as Lee disappeared into the water.
* * * * *
Several minutes passed.
He resurfaced from the water.
"I don't remember what I'm looking for."
"I think it's a door."
"Can you swim underwater..?"
"Maybe."
"I think I know where it is."
"Haven't you ever swam before..?"
"Once. But I didn't like it."
"Remember that time. Imagine how this will be different."
"We need to save the world."
"Okay." Richard said.
Richard watched as Lee dove back into the water, took a deep breath, and then soon they were both submerged, swimming toward the mass beneath the water, where a massive glowing portal seemed to be exposed, with a translucent opening. Richard was running out of breath quickly, but Lee seemed to have no trouble.
They swam toward the glowing portal. The closer he got, the worse he felt.
They continued, until the water began to clear, and they were walking somehow . . .
* * * * *
Soon, they were inside of a room. The air was very thin, and felt chemical.
"What is that sound..?"
"The heartbeat."
Richard looked up.
"And what are those..?"
Everything was red.
Lee looked up at the red flowing wires on the ceiling, and then back at Richard, and started walking. "Where are we..?" Lee said nothing. "And what are those things..?"
He looked up, and then then back at Richard.
"These must be the arteries."
* * * * *
"Where are we..?"
"We are moving down the throat."
"What do you mean."
Richard seemed confused.
"Where are we, Lee..?"
"It is."
"It is the place where . . ."
"Please, Lee just tell me."
"And where are we going."
They continued down the wet, dripping, red-lit corridor, with oval curved walls.
Richard felt sick.
"If I tell you where we're going, will you stop using up the oxygen for the next three minutes..?"
"Yes..?"
Lee paused.
"So where are we going..?"
Lee paused again, and then, with hesitancy, finally responded:
"We are going to the belly of the beast."
* * * * *
The emanating sound seemed to be increasing in pace and rhythm.
"The sound. It's getting faster."
"That's it because it knows we're here."
* * * * *
They climbed down a stringy, and apparently flesh-covered ladder.
"Is this organic..?"
"It is not."
"What is it made of..?"
"I don't know."
"Keep going."
"We must make it to lower."
"Lee, I feel sick."
* * * * *
They continued, through the red-lit, oval corridors, as the walls seemed to be covered in a mysterious fluid, and darkened doorways went into random areas, which Lee made no notice of. "Do you know how to get there..?"
"It may be another two hours."
"Two hours in this god-damned place..?"
"Wait."
The heartbeat seemed to escalate.
"What are those..?"
They looked at two massive foyers, with oval entrances, and a wind seemed to be passing through. Lee smiled.
"The lungs."
* * * * *
the wind was blowing at least seventy miles an hour.
"Lee. I can't."
"It's too windy. I can't breathe."
Richard tried to walk, but took slow steps, as the air blew against him.
They walked through, forcing their way through the wind blowing against them.
"It's impossible."
Richard took one slow, tired step after another.
His long, black hair flailing against his face.
"Just try."
It took another half hour, while Richard lagged behind.
Lee finally turned around, and began to help push Richard along.
* * * * *
"Okay."
"What now."
"This will be like a waterfall."
"Do you have the gun..?"
"The gun..?"
"What for..?"
"Give it to me."
"What will be like a waterfall..?"
"We need to travel down one of the main arteries to the stomach. You just need to hold your breath."
"Have you ever done this before..?"
"I don't think that anyone has ever done this before."
"What do I do..?"
"Give me the gun."
Lee held up the pistol, and aimed straight down, where a large hole appeared after the laser blast, smoke, and fog. Once the mist cleared, they could see a stream running beneath them. "You go first." "I'll be right behind you."
"For some reason, this seems familiar to me."
"It is something a soul might experience, I understand."
"In the multi-realm."
"The multi-realm..?"
"Yes."
"Where we are all . . ."
"Well."
Lee pushed Richard, and he shouted, "Hey..!" and Richard fell, without hardly a chance to hold his breath, flowing through the vein.
"Sorry, Richard."
"But I'm done talking." "I knew you wouldn't do it on your own."
And jumped in afterward, plugging his nose.
Soon, he was traversing through a flowing red vein of semi-translucent, gel-like liquid.
They both soon stood, both completely covered in the blood-like gel, from head to toe, in a large vacuole, and Richard looked angry. He was quiet.
"Look, Richard."
Richard was standing upright, waiting.
"Look . . . Richard." Lee smiled, somehow ready.
When Richard grabbed Lee by the throat, he only kept smiling, which only enraged him more.
* * * * *
"Richard." Lee choked.
"I have no power here."
"Not now."
"That's right. It's because I'm holding you by the throat after you just threw me down a river of blood, you son of a bitch." RIchard squeezed tighter.
"Richard." Lee choked.
"You need. To kill me."
"What..?"
He said nothing to inform Richard let go.
He saw the confidence in Lee's eyes.
"If I die . . ." -- "In here . . ."
"While I am . . . inside . . ."
"It will disease the system."
"And . . ."
"Send him back . . ." Lee coughed.
"To where he came from."
Richard laughed.
"I always knew you were crazy, Lee."
"Ever since I first met you."
Richard looked terrified with hate.
"Ever since I met you."
"I was just following along."
"So . . ."
"You're a dumb indian."
"What." "What did you say..?"
"You're ignorant. You needed my help to sign your own papers. You're." He coughed. "So dumb. You don't even know how. To spell your own name."
"Hey, fuck you."
Richard grabbed lee by the shirt, soaked in the red fluid, but he slipped out of his hands.
"You brought me here."
"Now, what are you going to do..?"
Once he started, he couldn't seem to stop.
There was nothing that could stop the gravity, the weight, nor the action, or the movement of his stomping feet.
Only red fluid remained where the head used to be, intermixed with the red of the mysterious environs they had been in. The headless corpse lay beneath him.
Richard got up, panting, looking at the headless body.
Richard spat on the headless body.
"Fuck you."
And then turned around.
Suddenly, the sound he was hearing began to increase.
"What is that..?" Richard asked no-one in particular.
The blood around Lee seemed to be changing color.
"What is that..?" "Lee..?" He mysteriously asked the dead body for assistance, to no answer.
He waited.
And he waited.
The pulsation stopped. Suddenly it increased again.
Suddenly, cracks started to appear, as black tiny veins in the walls. A sound emanated, as small sounds grew between a static whir, and a screaming sound.
The walls began to shake, as well as the floor.
A glowing black circuitry appeared in everything around him, and he looked up.
Soon, a new sound arrived.
It was the sound of screaming -- constantly. And it wouldn't stop.
He listened in terror to the emanating scream. It sounded like a thousand voices in one.
"How."
"How do I get out of here..?"
He looked at Lee's headless body.
"Oh my God."
* * * * *
Richard woke up on the shore.
He wiped his eyes.
He looked up at the ocean.
The light was gone.
As a matter of fact, everything was gone.
The natives seemed to have vanished. He walked along the beach.
No one.
He looked about. The huts, everything. It was all gone.
"Hello..?"
The beach was empty, and Richard was not even clothed. There seemed to be nothing, except for him.
The entire beach was empty.
* * * * *
It took days, before Richard realized what they were.
He swam toward the largest area of the rocks.
The objects kept falling from the sky.
"What is this..?"
They appeared to be tiny, thin pieces of paper.
As though like rain, the paper fell down from the sky.
He watched from the shore.
One day, he decided to find out what the smalling objects were.
He picked one up, soaked in water.
He flipped it over, but the face was obscured.
Looking up, he grabbed one as it fell from the sky.
It had a pyramid. A star. An eye. And a triangle.
He turned it over.
And saw the grinning face.
"Lee."
"What have you done."
* * * * *
Richard swam back to the shore, and began to build a shelter.
He lived many days in the woods, and waited for a sign.
Nothing happened.
It took weeks.
More of the tiny pieces of green paper fell from the sky.
This time, it landed right on the beach.
No matter what the level of currency.
The paper just continued to fall.
No matter what the dollar amount. All of the faces appeared to be the same, pale, neutral, awe-stricken grin.
All of the faces were the same.
* * * * *
Richard walked, confused.
For days, he wondered what had happened.
* * * * *
One day . . .
After several months had passed, vacant from the presence of anyone.
A single man showed up on the beach.
He approached Richard.
"Hello."
Richard wiped his eyes.
"Are you a resident of this island..?"
The wind was silent.
He was dressed in black.
Richard got up, from his position on the beach.
The water lapped against his feet.
He wiped his eyes again.
The man, wearing a black tuxedo, stood before him and asked, "Are you Richard..?"
"Yes..?"
* * * * *
"My name is Lee."
"I am a time-traveler."
"I am from the year 1849."
"The world will end where I came from."
"I am a survivor."
He saw the familiar face, and just listened.
"I died in the year I am from, but as a result of entanglement, I have arrived here, from another place, and I know exactly who you are. We have met before, I think; have we not..?"
"Yes."
Richard stood up straight, and looked at the stranger.
The wind started to blow.
"The year right now is not known to anyone, as far as any of the other survivors know."
They looked into one another's eyes. A black bird flew off from a tree nearby, and Richard smiled.
He watched the black bird, as it flew over the ocean, and then back at Lee.
"Do you remember me..?"
Lee looked at Richard, with a knowing stare.
"Yes." He said.
"We have met before."