Life on Mars

Chapter Five

It was one of those rare moments when one might question reality itself. When one might test the other senses to ensure it wasn't a dream, Touchreik did just that; mentally noticing the invigorating aroma of the pines wafting across from his left and the breeze licking the tiny hairs on his face. If this was a dream, then his perceptions were deceived at every level. What Doctor Touchreik saw was beyond any normal mental comprehension.

"I'm you." Those words had been spoken to him in his own voice from another being.

The apparition, standing like a scarecrow in the morning light was a tatty, older and unkempt version of himself. He stood motionless, arms outstretched with a fedora and stick in one hand & glasses in the other, a waft of air blew his long grey beard onto his left shoulder. The expression of pride, relief and joy in the man's eyes was as much his own. He struggled to grasp the magnitude of the illusion. Locking eyes with the figure, he fumbled behind his back for the door handle and pushed it open with a creak. He reached his right leg backwards and felt for the ground, stepping backwards out of the transporter. Not for a second did he break his gaze as he walked around the front of the vehicle and approached. Their noses almost touched when stood eye to eye, studying every detail in the face. As a likeness, he was faultless, greyer skin and slightly thinner in the face. Up close he smelled of stale embers and earth, reminding him of the humanists he despised. Allowing for the older man's slight stoop, their height was identical. In terms of build, they were a carbon copy of each other. Touchreik slowly raised his shaking hands up to the man's face and grabbed his cheeks firmly. He remained expressionless as the doctor pulled at the beard, rubbing the cheeks with his thumbs as if the skin might peel away. Then he stepped back and turned away to study the wooded area the man had emerged from.

"How've you done this?" he whispered, hands on hips scanning the horizon.

"It's real; I'm actually you. Isn't it obvious?" The professor dropped his hands, slapping his thighs as if that were evidence enough.

"It's some form of illusion, maybe a virus in the augmented reality chip."

The professor plopped the hat onto his head and pulled the peak forward. "You're offline," he said.

The doctor snatched at the back of his neck and realised he was right; he'd left his chip back at the office.

The professor walked past and for a moment, they stood side by side, staring at the horizon. The professor rubbed the back of his neck and spun to look him up and down.

Taking a deep breath, he sighed. "My name is Professor Algeria Touchreik, I was born in the year 2479 and I will be 78 years old this year, on the same day you recognise 37 years."

"Impossible," said the doctor looking past him.

"Look." The professor stood square to the doctor with legs splayed; he whipped the sides of his coat back like a cowboy ready to draw and yanked his shirt upwards to show his belt. It was a crude garment that served no purpose hanging loosely about his waist. It had an oversized chrome buckle and in the centre were eight mechanical dials.

"I am seventy-nine years old; I came back in time from the year 2557," he said, nodding towards the belt.

The doctor didn't answer, he stared at the belt and then back up at the professor. The dials had numbers on them, all upside down. If he understood what the professor claimed, then it only served to add to the insanity.

"Who else would know about Ramona? Even Duke doesn't know, does he? Only we know," the professor said.

The doctor turned to look up at the house, three crows perched on the apex barked down at them in the still morning air. He turned once more, as if the man might be gone, but he wasn't. He walked away from him across the dusty gravel drive and fell hard onto the bottom step of the old building. The professor followed him, kicking a stone hard and watching as it bounced under the wooden steps.