The Salvation Paradox

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Scott.”

Scott turned from the windows at the front of the Zaman Research Center, and looked at Dr. Janice Smith.

“No worries, Janice.”

“Shall we?” Dr. Smith pointed back over her shoulder with her thumb.

Scott nodded and followed a few steps behind.

They passed under the white fluorescent lights and plain white walls. A solitary potted tree stood like a lone soldier against the monotony of the undecorated hall. It was plastic, of course. Plants usually didn’t grow well, if at all, outside of the greenhouses.

Of course Scott had seen a flower or two in private homes, but most people didn’t prioritize caring for things like that any more.

Janice opened the door to the small briefing room, and gestured for Scott to enter.

Scott stepped into the familiar room and sat in the same chair he always did.

Janice followed, and closed the door behind her.

“I really do appreciate you coming in on such short notice. This couldn’t wait.” Janice placed a file folder in front of Scott. She walked over and leaned against the wall to Scott’s left. Her arms crossed and her foot bouncing nervously, she watched Scott read the file.

Scott looked up at Janice and cocked his head.

Janice nodded. “We found her. This…” she laughed in disbelief, “this could change everything.”

Scott inhaled and exhaled deeply to center himself, and flipped back through the pages of the file.

“I kind of feel sorry for her, you know?” Janice continued. “Seems like she was trying to fix the world, but instead triggered the Cataclysm.”

Seemingly ignoring Janice’s comment, Scott continued to re-read the pages in the file.

“There’s no entry event listed.” Scott looked back up at Janice.

“We have one, but…” Janice paused. “We’re trying to find another.”

“What’s the likelihood of finding a secondary?”

Janice shook her head. “Not very. We were lucky to find the one we did. You know how spotty the records are.” She took her glasses off and sat down across from Scott. “I’m hoping we find something else, but the one we have is probably our best bet. Unfortunately.”

“Might as well tell me now then.”

Janice nodded somberly.

***

Scott hesitated briefly, then knocked. A moment passed, then he heard the door being excitedly unlocked.

The door opened, and a pretty young woman stood in the doorway.

“Scott!” She smiled and put her arms out.

“Judith.” Scott nodded and smiled wryly. They embraced and kissed.

“If I knew you were coming, I would have put on something nicer.” Judith leaned back slightly to look up at Scott.

“It’s fine.” Scott shook his head. “I mean, I like it, but you know it’s never been necessary.”

“I know.” Judith smiled. “But it’s fun, and you know I aim to please.” She winked and kissed Scott again. “Speaking of which.” She lightly ran her hand over Scott’s chest. “Shower?”

Scott nodded.

“Good.” Judith took Scott’s hand, and led him into her apartment. After shutting and locking the door behind them, Judith soon had their clothes off and the two of them in the shower to enjoy the warm water and each other.

***

Judith ran her fingers over Scott’s chest as they lay in bed. Soft, green light outlined their naked forms.

“Are you okay?” Judith asked. “You seem further away than usual.”

“Hmm?” Scott looked at her. “Yeah. Guess I am. A lot on my mind.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Maybe. I don’t want to burden you with my problems.”

“It’s not a burden.” Judith shook her head. “We’ve known each other for years, even if it’s been in this capacity. But it’s up to you what you want to share.”

Scott smiled gently, lifted her hand off his chest, and kissed it. He then pushed himself up and turned so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. After a thoughtful sigh, and a sip of water from the cup on the nightstand, he stood and walked over to the window of the one room apartment.

The streets below were illuminated by the sparse streetlights and dim glow from the green and purple sky. It was a tragically beautiful, reminder of how the world had changed.

Scotts eyes drifted from the sky, down to a handful of figures walking about the city. He looked at the tiny yellow flower that grew in a little clay pot on the window sill.

“What are you thinking about?” Judith asked from the bed.

“You. Standing in a field of these yellow flowers, beneath a blue sky.” Scott smiled wistfully.

“It’s a nice thought.” Judith smiled.

“Do you ever think about what things were like?” Scott asked without turning from the window.

“Hmm?” Judith responded as she sat up and drank some water herself.

“You know,” Scott continued. “Before we broke the world?”

“I guess I have,” Judith answered. “It’s not like I have any memory of it, but, yeah. I’ve wondered what it was like back then.”

“What if you could fix it? Make things go back to the way they were before?”

“I mean, that would be amazing, but I don’t really understand what you’re getting at.” Judith got out of bed and joined Scott at the window.

“Have I ever told you what I do for a living?” Scott knew he hadn’t, but wasn’t sure how else to broach the subject.

“Uh-uh.” Judith slid her arms around Scott’s waist and rested the side of her head against his back. “Though I have been curious how you afford to keep me as your exclusive.”

Scott placed his hand on Judith’s, and absent mindedly caressed his thumb over her wrist. “I work for the Z.R.C.. I’m a…” He hesitated. His eyes continued to scan the sky. “‘Time Architect’. At least that’s what they call it.”

“If you don’t really want to tell me, that’s fine you know.” Judith let out a small, lighthearted laugh and turned her head to rest her forehead between Scott’s shoulder blades. “You don’t have to make something up to impress me.”

“What? No.”

“So you’re telling me, what? You’re a time traveler?” She slid around in front of Scott, rested her arms on his shoulders, hands loosely crossed behind his neck, and looked up at him. “So are you from the future… or... ?” She smirked coyly.

“No no no. Nothing like that. I’m from here. From… now.” Scott shook his head and looked down into Judith’s eyes. “And ‘Time Manipulator’ is probably a more accurate description of what I do.”

“You’re being serious.” Judith leaned back slightly. Her eyes searched Scott’s for any sign that he was just teasing her.

Scott nodded.

“I wouldn’t lie to you.” He caressed the small of her back. “Especially about something that might make you think I’m crazy.” He managed a wry chuckle.

“I’m not sure I’m convinced you’re not,” Judith teased.

“Fair enough.” Scott smiled.

“So what exactly are you and the Z.R.C. trying to do with your ‘time manipulation’ as you put it.”

“We’re trying to fix The Cataclysm.”

“Through time travel?” Judith raised an eyebrow.

“Exactly.”

“But if the Z.R.C. has the technology, or whatever, to manipulate time, why can’t you just use all that to fix things here?”

“That’s a fair question.” Scott responded. “They’ve been working on that project as well, but…” Scott shook his head. “The damage is too great and too widespread. The reversals that have been found would take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to get things to even a fraction of the way they were before. But if we can stop the Cataclysm before it happens…” Scott’s voice trailed off.

“So what, you find who caused all of this, go back, and shoot them?”

“Not exactly.” Scott, still holding Judith’s hand, walked backwards toward the bed, and sat. “If there wasn’t an attempt like that already in history, I couldn’t literally do what you are suggesting. Initiating an event of such clear change would have disastrous repercussions.”

Judith shook her head.

“Any change in the past affects the timeline, and alters what we know and experience in the present,” Scott began to explain. “With that in mind, the Z.R.C. wanted to experiment with small, subtle changes. The spelling of a book title. Images in a logo. A song lyric. A scene in a movie. Things of little importance, but still make a change.” He began to run his finger slowly down Judith’s forearm. “The timeline still moves forward, but the change is so indistinct, most people don’t notice.”

He traced his finger down her forearm again on the same relative path, but turned his finger ever so slightly when he reached about halfway down..

“We then started to manipulate the big ones. Life and death. But only in what we called “fifty-fifty” scenarios. Someone surviving a car crash. Dying in prison. Things like that. Larger changes to be sure, but still easy enough for people to explain away as simply misremembering the event. So when the change is made,” his finger altered its course a bit more on the third pass, “you can’t be sure if it’s the same or not. But if I make a major change…” he ran his finger down the side of her arm, “...you’ll definitely notice.”

“So how does it work?” Judith ran her fingers through Scott’s har. “The actual time travel, I mean. Do you step through a portal, or something like that?” She laughed a little at the silliness of the image.

“No.” Scott chuckled. “Nothing like that. We search historical records, as spotty as they are, until we find someone that was present at the event we want to change. Once found, we focus and lock in on that person and ‘entry event’, and transfer the Architect’s consciousness into the individual. It’s kind of like extreme remote viewing, if you’ve heard of that. Once the change happens, The Manat Device, which basically allows us to do all this, detects the anomaly, and pulls us back into the present.”

“How do you know you actually changed something though?” Judith asked. “Wouldn’t your memory change as well?”

“The consciousness of the person who caused the change doesn’t alter.” Scott placed his hands on Judith’s hips. “Something to do with having your consciousness linked to the event on a very real, and cosmic level. Everyone else, however, has their memories merge with the new timeline, or reality, or whatever you want to call it. At least for the most part. Some people retain echoes of the original event. The Architect’s memory doesn’t get replaced like that though. The new set sits on top of, or next too, the original memories.”

“That would drive me insane.” Judith shook her head.

“For a lot of the Architects, it does.” Scott sighed. “The weight of carrying multiple timelines is too much for a lot of people. The mind can snap as a result. It’s an awful thing to see.”

Judith frowned sympathetically.

“Because of that,” Scott continued, “we aren’t supposed to make attachments here. But I find having something tangible, physical, em…” he didn’t finish the word.”...to ground me helps.”

“Am I part of your grounding then?” Judith smirked. “Is that the reason you come to see me?”

“That’s part of it.” Scott smiled wryly.

Judith smiled, leaned down, and kissed him. She gently pushed Scott back onto the bed and straddled him.

“Are you close to being able to fix the Cataclysm then?” Judith asked.

“We are.” Scott nodded. “We’ve found the person responsible, and we have our entry event.” He gave a somber half smile.

“Why do you sound so sad about that?”

Scott took a breath, and hesitated. “If I’m successful, it’ll create a paradox. I’d have never had a reason to travel back in the first place. My consciousness won’t have a fixed point to return to. The world will be set right, but... I’ll be stuck.”

The remnants of Judith’s smile faded. Her eyes searched Scott’s face.

The twitch of a smile that Scott tried to force offered no comfort.

“There’s a chance you’ll come back though, right?” Judith asked.

“The slimmest of chances, but it’s..”

“Then let’s hope for that.” Judith cut him off. A sad smile appeared on her lips. “And, well, let’s just enjoy tonight.”

Scott nodded.

Judith leaned forward, laced her fingers with his, and kissed him.

They spent the remaining hours of night with their bodies entwined. Dawn would be there soon enough, and Scott would be gone when light broke.

***

“Could you get me the file on Evelyn Jones?” Dr. Hamilton stood outside the NICU, observing the newborns. “Or at least emergency contact, or next of kin, if it’s logged in the computer instead.”

Nurse Dunn, who had come to check on Dr. Hamilton, answered. “Of course.” She turned to leave, then hesitated. “Why do we need next of kin for a miscarriage?”

Dr. Hamilton turned and looked at Dunn. He shook his head, confused at her question. “Ms. Jones died in childbirth.”

“But…” Dunn cocked her head. “I could have sworn it was a miscarriage.”

Hamilton shook his head. “You must be confusing her with someone else. Been a stressful day.” He smiled softly and reassuringly.

“I must be thinking of someone else then. I’ll get that info for you.”

Hamilton turned back to the infant ward window as Dunn left to get the requested information. Hamilton had delivered many difficult births, but he couldn’t shake the sense of failure he had in not saving both mother and child.

“Here you go.”

Nurse Dunn’s voice brought Hamilton out of his thoughts.

“Thank you.” He took the file. “Nurse Dunn?”

“Yes?”

“Does that baby seem... sad to you?”

“Which baby?”

The Jones child. He’s just lying there. Not crying or fussing. He just seems, I don’t know, depressed. Lonely. It’s almost as if he knows he…” Hamilton let the thought trail off. He felt it was strange enough to see depression and loneliness in a newborn, much less an awareness of his mother’s death.

Nurse Dunn studied the infant for a moment.

“I can see what you mean now. I suppose he does look sad.”

Hamilton sighed.

“Thank you for this.” He raised the file slightly.

“Mmhmm.” Dunn nodded.

Dr. Hamilton walked away to go make his calls.

Nurse Dunn stayed and watched the infant for a few more moments.

“Poor kid.” She smiled sadly, and returned to her duties.

***