Brian Weston's Story

Waking up to the ringing sounds of his alarm clock, Brian sat up and raced to shut it off. He worked with the machine diligently until he decided to yank the cord from the wall. He was tired, more so than usual. His sleep was always interrupted by that infernal alarm clock. He knew that this alarm clock meant that his whole perception of the world, everything he knew to be in the world of science, was flawed in many dangerously frustrating ways.

He took one last look around his humble abode before putting his mothers’ amulet around his neck, hit hat on his head, and a nice comfortable jacket for warmth and heading out the door. He always felt a sick feeling in his stomach whenever he was to meet the Time Machine. That thing was almost a dream in his world of engineering. He never thought that he’d experience so many things through an almost impossible creation.

Brian felt the cold encase him as he exited his front door and begin traversing the small towns’ streets. He walked down his usual path to the café and wondered why he still agreed to work with the machine. He wondered why the Time Machine wanted them travelling through time distorting it the way they had many times in the past. The world he grew up in was hardly the world it was today. Brian’s thoughts wandered as he realized that he was just down the street from the post office.

He felt a sigh of relief to see that Avin was there before him. He always felt weird being alone with the machine. It talked in a strange mechanical tone and seemed to force emotion into what it said. Brian laughed a little when he saw how uncomfortable Avin was by wearing the moccasins. Taking a deep breathe, he walked a little faster towards his destination.

When he arrive he smiled and asked, “So, big fella, what brings you to disturb my sleep this time?”

Cocking its head to the side, while looking up at Brain, it said, “Mr. Weston, I apologize for the intrusion of your sleep. I just thought that maybe my business was more important than those silly dreams of yours. Have you come to like the new setting that you two created on your last journey? I think this cold is great change from the constant overheating I suffered from before.”

Ignoring the Time Machine, and looking over to Avin, Brian asked, “How have you been fairing?”

Brian, who was far too focused on Avin moving around and twitching, almost barely heard a word of what Time Machine had been saying. He heard blips of, Servere consequences, and Avin helping as much as she could, which Brian felt wasn’t very much in tweaking with extremely advanced technology. Brian loved messing with the futuristic machinery but he didn’t like boring Avin with it all. He could tell that she wasn’t into it as much as he was.

His worst fear, which he assumed was also Avin’s, was not doing something they weren’t supposed to. He knew that the paradox wouldn’t affect them until the time in which they actually aged to that point, but it was still a thought in his head. Could they damage the future to the point where it was unlivable? He saw Time Machine smile in his direction at mentioning the laboratory and him being more able to handle it. He felt sickly thinking that they’d bring future tech back to the past for a machine whose intent was unknown.

Brian looked at the machine and asked, “Why exactly do we need to get this, thing, from the lab?”

With an awkwardly forced laugh, Time Machine said, “Brian, don’t you listen? I’m not going to help you. You’ll know what I want when I see it. There might be some kind of military force guarding it, or a team of dedicated scientists who might still be working on it. You know? Well, I’ve said too much. Oh, by the way! I hope you guys brought some boots and heavy jackets! It’s really chilly in the future! Thanks to you too!”

Brian, who noticed Avin cringe at the idea of wearing boots said, “Military guards? Are you sending us to our death?”

Time Machine, whose expression went from partially human, to cynical and mechanical, said, “Even if one or both of you are to die, I can simply travel to a point in time where you were still living, and more willing to help my cause. People who completely decide to never help me get erased Brian. I shouldn’t have to make that clearer. And, since I’m not connected to one particular paradox such as you two, a death for me means the end in all time. I can’t risk this like you two can. Plus, I’m asking that you help me nicely. It’s not like you won’t benefit from this too.”

Brian took a moment to absorb what the machine had just told him and muttered, “Erased? Why should I know anything about people being erased? And, I suppose that human death paradox isn’t simply something you knew already. I’m guessing you found that out from experience?”

Time Machine smiled and exclaimed, “Are we ready for the future!”

Brian watched Time Machine open himself up into a magnificent machine. The way it unfolded into a meticulously exquisite machine was almost jaw dropping. Other than the fact that it was a learning experience every time he went back and forth through time, it was also scary and kind of sickening. He never stood at quite the right spot when he was about to teleport. In fact, he was probably covered in more vomit than he could ever have dreamed to of been. Avin did get quite sick, and it always seemed to slip his mind.

His feet seemed to fall out beneath him as he stared Avin in the face. She gave him an awkward look before spewing up onto his nice jacket. Brian himself almost vomited before Time Machine said, “Children! Who is going to clean up that ugly mess? Mr. Weston’s jacket looked bad before that Avin. Why must you insist on making it worse? Now he’s just going to smell bad.”

Brian looked down at his jacket and mumbled, “Well, I suppose I could’ve gotten a better one. I’m always too busy helping out some crackpot machine. Oh well…”

Brian looked over at Avin’s sickly expression and then all around himself. The fact that Avin had thrown up on him had not upset him in the least. He knew he could just procure a jacket from the future. His anger was all towards the machines ability to constantly get into his head. He wanted to badly disassemble the machine and be rid of it. First though, he wanted to fix the things that he had damaged in his present and throughout the past.

The only fond memories he had of his past were killed in the instance of one day. He hardly remembered that day. He seemed to have blacked it all out. All he remembered seeing was his mother’s smiling face. That was something he never wanted to forget. He had to just remember that he was making her proud. Well, he hoped so anyway.

The machine came to a loud rumble as usual and started beeping as if to have reached a destination. The routine had been to wait for the machine to take about five minutes to cool down before leaving. So, they did. Then, the machines doors began to open. Brian’s eyes cringed at the flood of light and his body shivered at the creeping of the icy air. Their destination was a cold one, just as Time Machine had promised.

Taking a look at Avin, he whispered, “Are you ready kid?”

Brian, forcing a smile at Avin, walked towards the outside. The wind blew in his face and his eyes squinted as he continued on. The warm fluid on his jacket quickly turned ice cold and practically frozen. Brian thought, I’m definitely going to need a new jacket. He took his first glance at the outside world and his stomach dropped.

The town wasn’t there anymore. It was more of a ram shackled broken society pieced together with sheet metal and insulation. Brian barely noticed a warm glow over the shanty town, which seamlessly drew him to its presence. He heard Time Machine give off a muffled laugh as it returned to its disguised form.

Time Machine then boomed out in a loud voice saying, “Let your wits be about you! That comment is mostly to Avin, since I know that part is hard for her!” It giggled to itself a little before continuing to say, “Also, you’ll find that the residents here are more than what they seem. Be careful and follow your instincts to the lab. If you’re not careful, well, I’ll just find past versions of yourselves who are. I do like who you two have become though. You’re almost not human. It’s charming to see fellow robots mindlessly doing as you’re told.”

Feeling a tremendous weight come over him, Brian continued on to the small settlement. He didn’t manage to see Avin’s response to Time Machine’s insult. He just trudged through the thick snow and tremendous winds. He didn’t want to cloud his mind with unclear anger and bad calls. He knew his life was on the line.

When he saw a huge gate that encased the town, he slowly made his way toward it. A guard posted on a position above him shouted at him and Avin to remain still and wait for someone to approach them. The guard raised a menacing weapon up at them. Brian wondered how often the guards used such a weapon. He hoped that it was just created as a deterrent for humans and not something far worse.

The gate opened slightly and a man dressed in a hazmat suite approached them and asked, “Are you two from Salvation?”

Brian stared at him confused and said, “No? What’s Salvation?”

The man in the suite approached him with a geiger counter and tested their radiation levels. He studied the results for several minutes and tested Brian and Avin thoroughly. His face wasn’t visible through the dark shaded mask on the suite, so Brian wasn’t sure what to expect from the man. The man then lowered the instrument and removed his mask.

The man’s face was unshaven and covered in scars. His brown hair fell to just about his shoulders and seemed matted and unclean. He had a long scar on his face that seemed to have been an almost life ending wound due to the sheer size of it. His eyes were a dark color, almost black, and made his appearance almost frightening.

His voice was warm and inviting as he said, “You two are lucky to have made it here safely. The wilderness out there is practically uninhabitable. How’d you manage to survive with those light jackets for so long anyway? You two are very lucky to have found us indeed. Please, come on in.”

Brian almost lost it when Avin suddenly reached out and touched the man’s scar. He wasn’t sure that randomly touching someone like that was socially acceptable in any time period. Avin spewed out her introduction of herself, and Brian, and then he seemed to turn white in shock, as if he had just seen a ghost. The smile on his face was gone as he quickly reached for a fierce looking weapon at his side and pointed it at Brian’s chest.

He said, “Brian and Avin? You too haven’t aged a bit.”

Brian, who was no longer in his comfort zone, said, “Buddy, I think you have us confused with a different Brian and Avin.”

He looked at Brian with his dark eyes and said, “Seriously? How many girls do you know named Avin? Anyway, come inside you two. We’ve got some talking to do. Oh, and Avin, it’s warm inside.”

Taking a deep breathe, Brian walked through the door with Avin at his side. He didn’t want her to see the fear in his eyes so he kept himself in front of her. The people inside of the building sneered disgusting, untrusting looks in their direction.

A voice over an intercom busted out through static saying, “Neil, report to my office with our guests immediately!”

Neil shot Brian and Avin a quick glance before saying, “If you two are from Salvation, which I’m sure you are, you won’t last long in these borders. I’m not sure how you two remained as human as you are from that lab, but I sure won’t have you here corrupting our good people. That place is a lost cause and so is everyone that was inside. You monsters will be analyzed and then discarded. Well, unless you can convince us you’re not from there. You’d need some kind of time machine for that.”

Brian remained breathless as he followed Neil to a large steel door. Neil ushered Avin inside and commanded Brian to sit in a chair. Neil sat down beside him and waited for a couple more guards to appear. They were clad in similar hazmat suits and all carrying the geiger counter and a rifle similar to the guard patrolling the outer gates perimeter. Brian’s thoughts were racing but he knew he needed to find out about the place they were referring to. Salvation was obviously very important to where Brian needed to be.

Neil whispered to the guards before then saying, “The boss and I are going to interrogate Avin. You, well, you are going to be taking a trip to our lovely holding cells.”

Jumping up, Brian said, “You can’t do th…” before being cut off by a crippling blow to his chest by the butt of a gun. Brian fell to the ground gasping for breath as he tried to regain the flow of air in his lungs.

With a big laugh, Neil opened up the door and walked in. The guards picked Brian up off the ground and began walking him down to the dank unground portion of the building. He finally caught his breath again and tried reasoning with the guards. The guards didn’t say a word but still seemed nervous to be around him.

As the guards stopped him at a huge gated area, Brian laughed a bit. The holding cell was his apartment. I guess it wasn’t the last he was to see of it then. The guards all raised their rifles and opened the gates. A loud ruffling of noise came from inside as Brian was forcibly tossed into his former home.

The Darkness surrounded Brian quickly as he heard a voice in the distance. He quickly reached into his pocket and found his knife still there. He slowly approached the noises in a defensive stance. The darkness seemed to only grow darker as he grew closer to it. Brian thought, I hope Avin can do what she needs to do long enough for me to make it to that lab.

Brian’s thoughts collapsed as soon as he saw movement in the shadows. He heard a gentle breathing consume his hearing. It was all he heard. It was terrifying. He was scared.

The shadow darted towards him, but he jumped to the side, narrowly escaping the shadow beast. Brian jumped to his feet and ran towards the steps that would’ve led to his housing area. When he reached the corridor he realized the steps were almost all but gone. He quickly ran and jumped up to them, trying to pull himself up as quickly as he could. When he looked up, the darkness was standing before him. Its face was removed from the shadows revealing an almost identical version of himself.

The monster glared a smiling array of razor sharp teeth at Brian and then pulled him up the rest of the way. It hissed at him as its eyes narrowed to an attack. Brian lunged out of the way and pushed the beast to the side. The monster quickly descended upon Brian and grabbed him by his jacket, which he quickly threw off to keep running.

Brian saw a slight crack in the wall and ran with all his force into it with his shoulder. The wall budged slightly and sent Brian crashing painfully onto the ground. The monster, however, slammed into the wall and crashed right through it. The resulting crash sent it falling two stories down onto the soldiers below, whom could be heard screaming throughout the facility.

Brian whispered to himself, “Please Avin, stay safe in this place.”

He then helped himself to his feet and looked through the hole to the ground below. The soldiers’ hazmat suites were there, but covered in gory blood. Brian took a breath and tried to make his way down through the hole. As Brian found footing and places to grasp, he realized how weak the materials had become in the frozen oasis that had engulfed their home. He fell from nearly fifteen feet into the blood and gore below him. His legs took a brunt of the fall and caused him to writhe in pain over his injured knee.

Quickly, Brian jumped into a suite of an unlucky guard. He picked up one of the rifles and marveled at the technology that had been presented before him. Before pressing on, he covered his face with the tinted mask and went on his way. A plethora of security teams rushed by him as he made his way back to the entrance. The shrill screams of dying guards filled the entire complex as it began to go dark all throughout the place.

Brian approached the gates when suddenly a soft voice in the darkness behind him said, “Salvation will consume us all eventually, Brian. Do you have what it takes to overcome your fears and insecurities? Obviously you didn’t before.” The beast then laughed menacingly and went on its way through the darkness.

Brian turned around and began to run back towards where Neil had taken them before being lifted off his feet and flying through the metal gated exit. Brian landed hard in the snow before realizing that he had to get what Time Machine wanted and then get back to Avin. He was hoping he would be able to succeed where his past self wasn’t able to.

Brian, who was clad in hazmat gear, made his way through the forest to a light glow that hung over it, which he hadn’t noticed before. He thought, I guess it is good we didn’t go to this, Salvation, place right away. The radiation would have killed us for sure. I’m sure that’s a mistake we made in the past. And, if a past version of me was that dangerous, I’m sure Avin’s past self is just as deadly.

The forest itself seemed to become more menacing as he approached the outskirts of a gated facility. The fence was clad with barbed wire and what use to be an electric grid. In the suit, Brian wouldn’t have to worry about the electric current, just the razor wire that would make him vulnerable to the deadly radiation. He decided to find the main entrance and force his way through there.

After about ten minutes, he saw the gate, which seemed to be almost impenetrable. He saw a terminal that would require an access code and began trying to hack it. He figured the technology on the terminal wasn’t as meticulous as futuristic development would have predicted it to be. His advanced knowledge of technology in and of itself helped him to find flaws in the protective measures and caused the security lock to be easily deactivated.

The lock on the gate gave a distressed shutter from the fact that it hasn’t been used in a while and then clicked open slowly. Brian made his way through the gate and onward towards a small facility located in the center of the mostly barren lot within the gated perimeter. The building was plain white and had only one small door. Brian slowly walked up to it and put his hand around the handle. Taking a deep breath he slowly opened the door.

Inside, he saw a small manhole, a flashlight, and some rope. He grabbed the rope and light and then opened up the manhole cover and made his way down the ladder-like rungs to the depths below. He managed to keep his cool while making his way into the darkness. When he reached the bottom he turned on the flashlight and began looking around the dark room.

The lights beam scanned the room until it rolled over something curled up in the corner. He then quickly shot the light back over it and walked towards it slowly. The rifle he acquired from the guard was not firmly in his grip as he approached the figure, which appeared to be human as he grew closer. Brian was no more than five feet away when the figures head quickly shot a glance in his direction and smiled a maw of sharp pointy teeth in his direction.

He raised the rifle completely and opened fire. The rifles kickback caught Brian off guard and sent him backwards as the rifle continued firing upward towards the ceiling. The beast pounced onto Brian and tackled him to the ground with a powerful blow to his stomach. Brian’s fears began to consume his thoughts as he fought for a better position on the ground from the monstrosity which now how the upper hand.

He looked it in the face and saw that this creature was Avin. She looked almost delighted to see him but continued to struggle with him on the ground. Then, she opened up her jaw and bit deeply into the side of his suite, puncturing it and his flesh. The immense pain shot throughout his body as Avin continued to tear into him.

He screamed and then reached for the gun which had been thrown to the ground a couple feet away. Avin, seeing him reach for the gun, then contorted her body around and dug deeply into his arm with her claws. Knowing he had no other option, Brian dug into the pocket of the suit and pulled out his knife. Avin did not see him open the blade and was unsuspecting as he forced the blade into the monsters back.

Warm blood oozed from the beast as it screamed in pain on the ground. Brian sat up, reached over his body, and grabbed the rifle with his left hand. Putting himself into position, he pulled the trigger and watched the monstrous version of Avin get pulverized by the explosive rounds of the assault rifle. He fell back and felt his side, which was extremely tender, as well as his right arm, to confirm the fact that the suites worth had been compromised. He screamed out in pain, and anguish, as he pulled himself up and prepared to go deeper into the depths of the laboratory.

The inner workings of the laboratory consisted of an overlapping system of large open areas and tight confined corridors. Brian’s head was full of puzzled thoughts and pain. The pain shot through his body with each step. The warm blood from his arm oozed down to his fingertips and dripped loudly onto the floor of the deathly silent lab.

As Brian travelled deeper and deeper into the lab, which took him further and further beneath the ground, he noticed that everything seemed to have been used recently. The warmth in the surroundings returned as if it was still a running facility. He could hear things being moved around. He thought he even heard voices.

He made his way down another long flight of steps and saw a young scientist walk into a dark room at the other end of the corridor. Brian’s instincts kicked in as he stalked down the walkway silently. He took point with the assault rifle and walked into the room. He saw the scientist sitting in a chair and typing away at a computer.

The scientists’ voice threw Brian off as he said, “Mr. Weston, we finally meet. I think I know what it is you’re looking for. Regrettably, I won’t be the one to give it to you. You being sent down here was just a ploy. You don’t even know what this lab did, do you? You had no idea of the dangers here. Well, take a seat and maybe I can fill you in.”

Brian pulled a chair out from under a desk and steadily sat himself down into it. The wound on his side rang out in pain as it touched the arm of the chair. The scientist looked at it with caution and then looked up into Brian’s eyes. Brian was studying the man very seriously and waited for him to continue speaking.

“Well, now that we’re both comfortable, I’ll continue. You, met, the abomination, right? You look like you barely came out alive. I regret to inform you that you will soon become one of them. I’m sorry. We have no cure for the corruption that engulfs your being. It was, well, is an awful side effect of the experiments that took place here. No doubt you noticed a young man whom suffered a disfiguring wound on his face? He was lucky that the beast they contained didn’t bite him. The claws are just for wounding. He was changed by that. We all were changed by the sudden disruption that the old man’s creation had brought about. It was terrifying. Our lab, and the stability inside of it, was compromised. Salvation died with the creation of those beasts. They blamed radiation and all that. No, it was the malfunction of time. People were too smart for their own good. We probably killed the world as we knew it. I’m not sure if this future will even be here soon, or if I’ll even be alive in the next. It’s all uncertain.”

Brian, whose face was white from the shock of hearing about his certain demise, softly said, “Where is…the thing I need…to get Avin out of here?”

The scientist then said, “Oh yes, the thing that brought about the corruption. Well, it’s through those two sealed doors. By touching it, and being exposed to the corruption around it, you will change into one of those beasts quicker. I have some good news though. You might be able to save yourself. The mechanism changes the flow of time around itself. I know that you were attacked and may be able to save yourself from the outcome. You just have to tell your past self of this occurrence and the dangers involved with the technology. Let me further tell you about the mechanism now. It was developed by the old man who claimed leadership over everyone in the shelter beyond these woods. He first created his Time Machine, and then he used it to craft the device. This device will meld your timeline into a visceral and surreal experience. You will see things that were, are, and could have been. Your life will be presented to you fully. Do you understand what you must do, Mr. Weston?”

With a smirk, Brian answered, “I’m going to do what I must. I’m going to save myself and then this world.”

Brian then walked out of the room, removed the entire hazmat outfit and made his way through the double doors to grab the device. Upon entering the room he noticed that everything was changing around him. He saw a shiny blue cube that was being grasped by a mechanical claw. He removed it and then froze. Tears welled up in his eyes as his entire life pulsed through his head.

He was the world through the eyes of his younger self. He saw his mother there too. They were in a vehicle together and his mother seemed scared, nervous, and worried all at the same time. In the distance he saw a big flash of light as Time Machine walked out in front of the car. The car crashed into him and caused a devastating wreck.

Brian’s childhood self was awake, crying while a crinkled car crushed his left leg and his mother was sluggishly leaned up against the steering wheel unconscious in the car. Time Machine tore the door off and grabbed his mother and pulled her from the car. He watched on as Time Machine walked away with her body speaking loudly to her. She was barely conscious as he walked over to the highway overpass with his mother’s body.

As Brian’s mom became more aware, she began screaming and trying to fight Time Machine. He laughed and threw her over into the highway below. Brian’s last vision of his mother was of her murder. He knew that now. He knew that he had to kill Time Machine.

He took off running back to the top of the facility as fast as he could. He felt a sense of adrenaline overcome him as he forced his way up countless stairs and beyond. He then stopped for a quick breath and looked at the machine. It was like nothing he’d ever seen before. He was hoping it could do as the scientist had said; save him.

As Brian began to reach the main room of the lab, he heard gunfire and a struggle up above. He knew that he would soon be infected by Avin’s monster form. His heart began racing as he ran up the steps and saw himself fighting off the beast on the ground. The monster heard him coming and looked up at him.

Brian looked at himself on the ground, aimed the rifle at Avin, and then pulled the trigger. The beast didn’t go down so easily though. She jumped to her feet and ran at him at the stairs. She punched the weapon out of his hands and watched it slide across the room. He watched her grin in his direction as she pounced on him and knocked him down the stairs with her.

Brian, who had just seen a sickly version of himself get tackled down the stairs, jumped up and grabbed his assault rifle and ran over to the stairs. At the bottom, he saw Avin clawing into him. The Brian at the bottom of the steps was screaming for help, and he obliged. He opened up a volley of rounds at Avin, who then screamed in pain as she turned her attention back to him. The creature rushed into a ventilation shaft as Brian tried to gun it down.

At the bottom of the steps, Brian sat up and looked at the mass of blood he was losing. He knew he had to tell himself of the dangers of the device and that Time Machine had killed his mother. He needed to tell his past self of the disservice that had been done to him in his life. So, he stood up and climbed painfully up each step towards himself.

At the top of the staircase, and still in shock, Brian watched as the now bloodied version of him, climbed the steps. He couldn’t believe that the flow of time had been distorted so drastically. He saw a blue glowing object in his hands too. He wondered if he would’ve suffered the same fate had his future not come to save him.

At the top of the staircase, and then into the center of the room, both of the Brian’s looked into each other’s eyes. Wincing in pain, the future Brian told his past self everything he needed to in order for him to survive with the device and get out of the future alive. He also told himself about Time Machine killing his mother. He looked through the hazmat suites protective helmet into Brian’s expressions as he was flooded with sudden betrayal at finally knowing what had happened to his mother.

So, grabbing an extra hazmat suit for Avin, Brian climbed out of the lab with the device, while leaving the past version of himself behind in order to destroy the lab for good. He reached the top of the ladder, with the device hidden in a pouch in his suit, and made sure he sealed the exit as tight as he could so nothing else could escape later. He heard nothing but the wind now as he exited the small building and began running back toward the broken down little town where Avin was being held. His heart sank as he began hearing loud explosive gunfire coming off from the distance.

Back in the lab, Brian was dying, and he knew it. He could feel each waking second become harder and harder to keep awake. He slowly made his way back down into the facility, knowing that the monstrous Avin was stalking his progression. He made his way back to the scientist, who jumped up and screamed for him to leave immediately.

Brian aimed his assault rifle at the scientist and shot him in the chest three times. The scientist’s eyes grew wide as he slumped to the ground almost instantly. Brian coughed up blood as he sat into the computer chair and rifled through the files on the computer, trying to find out how to destroy the facility. He felt a chill run down his spine as a soft feminine voice touched his ears.

“Brian…” The voice said, drawing his attention to the dark Avin standing in the doorway, “You always thought you were so smart. Well, she will probably kill you. She is unpredictable. Your whole life was just a lie. I know this. Why didn’t you? Now, you gave the device to the meat that injured me; whom you let injure me. If you want to erase this laboratory from the timeline, all you have to do is destroy a part of the timeline itself. Since you and her already crippled the world thus far, there probably isn’t any going back. Too bad you will never truly know this.”

After speaking, she narrowed her eyes and displayed her sharp teeth to him. She walked over to him as his breath began to slow down. Suddenly, she opened her mouth as wide as she could and went to bite down on Brian’s neck. He quickly clicked the mouse before she reached her destination.
Taking a notice to the sudden click, Avin stopped and looked at the screen. Her eyes grew to anger as she saw that he had set the lab to self-destruct. With one swift slash of her slaws, Avin cut deep into Brian’s throat. She grabbed him and tossed his body through the glass that had kept the room separate from the device control room.

The monster saw the countdown reach ten seconds and run towards the exit as quick as she could. The monsters great speed wasn’t enough to beat the clock as the base began erupting in flames. She reached the exit and tried to leave, only to realize that it had been sealed up almost permanently from the outside somehow. She screamed one last monstrous growl as the flames reached her and disintegrated her body along with everything else in the laboratory.

Off in the distance, now racing through the woods, Brian could hear the terrible explosion that was taking place under the ground. He knew that his future self had taken care of the base for now. He was hoping to find Avin safe, but he was still worried terribly about the gunfire that was still ringing out through the air. He thought he could see something in the distance running towards him and he stopped and raised his rifle in anticipation of anything.

The figure took the shape of a young female. It was Avin. A sigh of relief tore through Brian as he lowered the weapon. He was glad to see that she was safe.

Calling out to her, Brian said, “Avin! It’s me! Listen up. I’m going to toss you a suit, just like mine. You have to put it on. The device, it’s well, it contaminates genetic life forms when they come into contact with it. Don’t worry about the shoes or anything. Just put it on.”

He could hardly see Avin’s face, but he didn’t see her move one bit. He threw the suit to her and it landed nearby. He was hoping that she would put it on quickly so they could figure out what to do next. Brian wasn’t sure if she knew that Time Machine was evil, or if she knew that it killed his mother.

A strange, unfamiliar voice drifted into Brian’s ears from behind him and said, “Brian, how pleasant it is to see you alive. It’s so nice to know that you cheated death itself to help me. Why Brian? Why are you so loyal? It never made any sense to me. You’re the perfect pawn.”

Turning around, and seeing Time Machine looking back at him, Brian softly said, “I only do what I have to.”

With a smirk, Time Machine put his hand out. He motioned for the device in Brian’s pocket. Brian looked up blankly at the menacing machine. Brian looked at the gun in his hand and dropped it to the ground. He then looked back at Avin and frowned beneath his heavy suite.

Brian’s heart began to drop as Time Machine grew more impatient. He just stood there, looking up at Time Machine, as it motioned for Brian to do its bidding. It then grabbed Brian by the shoulders and lifted him off the ground. Brian closed his eyes and wished he had never gotten the device for the evil machine.

Like a whisper in Brian’s ear, Time Machine said, “Why do you defy me now; now that all is lost? You know I’m going to bring you back to your time. I wasn’t lying about that. You can trust me. Can’t you? I mean, what is a friendship without trust? Think about how your insolence is going to affect Avin. If I have to kill you, Brian, you are destroying all the work that I have done all these years. Do you think mankind can really survive without the likes of me anyway? Your species is pathetic. Just give me the device. I will make sure you and Avin return safely to your homes, better than when you first left them.”

Brian then took a deep breath and reached into the pocket. He grabbed the device and held it in his hand through the heavy glove. He pulled it out and held it at his side. Time Machine then tossed Brian into a large tree and knocked the wind out of him. The device flew swiftly in the air into the soft snow on the ground.

Suddenly, the snow around the device melted and turned the brilliantly green grass brown. The device seemed to morph into something else as it sat on the ground. Time Machine walked over to it and smiled. He glanced back to Brian, who was slumped over by the tree and laughed.

Time Machine looked back at Avin and said, “Okay, let’s go.”

Brian was in shock still. He was hurting. His mind and body were aching. He could feel the deep bruising starting to occur on his back and sides from the impact against the tree in the forest. He had no idea what to expect from their new destination, and when the portal finally dropped them off, he was certain that he was familiar with the surroundings.

Brian noticed that they were surrounded by trees. They were in a grove, an all too familiar grove. Maybe it was a place he had visited as a child? He wasn’t too sure.

He looked at Avin and noticed that she was deep in thought. He wondered what she was thinking about. She looked over at him only briefly. It was as if she couldn’t even look at him. She also looked very frustrated with everything, and Brian didn’t blame her.

His heart was filled with mixed feelings about his sudden realization of who he was. He saw Avin simply walk away into the trees, away from him. He knew then that she didn’t want to be around him anymore. He thought that their entire friendship was now on the edge of ruin. The only friend he ever had was a simple teenage girl and even she was abandoning him now.

He too, began venturing into the forest and through the trees that seemed to dot up endlessly all around him. His mind wondered about his mother, his father, and then back to Avin. He didn’t like being the offspring of such a great evil. He began questioning his very own memories. He wondered if anything he believed to be true was ever really so.

His footsteps followed the crunching of fallen leaves and twigs that rested on the floor of the forest. He heard the chirping of insects and birds alike. The forest was alive, for now. He and Avin would kill everything soon enough. The thought of their exploits through time infuriated him. He wondered what made Avin so high and mighty as to abandon him, after saving her life countless times.

Brian felt lonely. Brian felt hurt. His mind was racing so much that he barely noticed the transition from grass and leaves to hard asphalt. Brian then heard a loud beep of a horn, a screech from tires, and then felt his body suddenly get tossed into the air and back onto the ground. Then, he felt nothing and saw only darkness.

Time Machine, well, the evil mechanism posing as Time Machine, looked down at the corpse before him. He knew where he sent Brian and Avin. He knew that big change was coming. He was about to change the course of history for himself this time.

He had the device needed to overpower his counterpart. He had the strength to turn the tides and ensure that he was the ruler of everything that would ever call the earth its home. The only flaw he had, that he was aware of, was his cool down period on time travel. He knew that he would have to correct that someday soon. Make his creator pay for designing such a flaw into his circuits.

So, he waited the allotted time and then went back into the past. He saw trees. They were green. The sun was shining brighter than bright. He hated this warm climate.

So, he ran through the forest in search of the two kids that would kill him and his plan for good. He had to change that. Suddenly, he felt pressure hit him from behind. A tree had just cracked over his body and sent him crashing through the wildlife of the forest, until he landed hard on cement.

Looking up, the evil machine saw Brian, just standing there in awe. Then, a car crashed into the robot and rolled over him with its tires, but the vehicle also accrued a great deal of damage as it careened off the side of the road and rolled over several times. Brian quickly ran over to the car, not even looking at the commotion with the evil robot, and saw a young lady and her child unconscious in the car. He quickly tried to help them regain consciousness so they could get to safety.

The evil robot smiled in his direction and then turned his attention to Time Machine, who had just appeared at the edge of the forest with Avin. He then started running towards Time Machine with undying determination and quickly pulled out the device from Salvation and shot a concentrated beam of energy from it into his chest. Time Machine attempted to jump out of the way but only had enough time to save Avin from the blast. The evil machine laughed in a terrible manner as Time Machine collapsed onto the earth.

Looking at Avin, the evil Time Machine laughed out, “Avin, are you ready for a permanent time out?”

Brian, who had just gotten the attention of the young woman in the car, was in shock when she said, “Is Brian okay? My son! Is he okay?”
Brian then chocked out, “Your son...is Brian…Weston?”

Wide eyed, the women then jumped back and grabbed a gun that was hidden beneath her seat in the vehicle. She pointed it at Brian and then began to cry. It was as though she had never had to threaten anyone with a gun before. Then, she wiped her tears and looked over at her son again.

She then closed her eyes and said, “I’m sorry.”

Brian, who was about to scream out, was then grabbed from behind and tossed through the air towards Avin. Standing in his wake was the evil Time Machine. The gun went off and pierced deep into the metallic structure of its body, but it didn’t seem to hurt the machine at all. Then, the woman opened her eyes and screamed out.

The machine then laughed out, “Nice to meet you again, madame! You look lovely as ever! This time, I’ll have to kill you and your son!”

Brian hit the ground hard next to Avin. The air was knocked from his lungs and he struggled to catch his breath. He saw Time Machine punch into his more than evil twin, and then ushered Avin through a portal and told Brian to go through as well. Brian didn’t think it was right to though. He didn’t want to leave the woman that was his mother, behind.

The weirdest thing about being where he was right now was that he couldn’t remember getting there. He couldn’t even remember why he wanted to destroy the twin Time Machine so bad either. He just knew he had to. He looked deep into the realistic eyes of Time Machine for a couple of seconds before saying what he had to say.

“Time Machine,” He began to say, “I can’t just let this thing destroy my life again. Even if I’m not who I am today, I can’t let my mother die.”

Time Machine looked at him unsympathetically and said, “If she lives, Brian, you will die.”

Brian breathed a light sigh, stood up, and walked over to Avin next to the portal and said, “Avin, I’ve known you for a very long time. We’ve done countless things that only we will ever remember or believe. I just don’t want my past to consume both of us. So, goodbye.”

Upon saying that, he pushed Avin into the portal and grabbed the device from Salvation. The device reacted differently to his touch this time. Time Machine looked at him and smiled a slight smirk. Brian felt power beyond mortal men, flowing through him. Brian then turned his gaze upon the evil Time Machine, who was now beginning to regain his composure and get back on his feet.

Time Machine then said, “I just hope Avin finds what she needs to figure out who she is and why she is.”

The words barely even meant anything to Brian, but he knew that Time Machine had planned everything out like this for a reason. He knew that Time Machine wasn’t about to let an even crazier version of himself roam through space and time. Brian just had to defeat his nemesis and save himself from his situation. He knew that Avin would be able to take on whatever was put in place for her.