Clock Breakers

Rule 4: Write Everything Down on Round One

Boss' office was unlocked. A single sturdy desk sat in the middle of the floor, facing the door. Bookshelves lined the walls with few empty spaces left. There was a dry erase calendar taped to the desk, completely empty. The room was timelessly quiet, but it wasn't unnerving. Odd, but I suppose my watch hasn't gone mute. I put the bullet container on the desk with the note. Part of me wanted to snoop, but the stillness of the air felt like eyes. I backed away slowly, scanning the shelves one last time. I pulled the door shut, finally turning to the hallway and sighing in relief. What was with that room? Nobody ever saw Boss, and sure, the only communication we had with him was through letters, but why was it so still? I shook my head. Probably just staying anonymous for the sake of safety. If any of us knew who he was, we could out him in an interrogation and then everything would be for naught.

I walked back to the common room, still feeling a bit off center. Jaysk was leaning against the computer desk, sipping coffee. Nash was reclined in a chair, hands behind his head.

"So, where to next?" I asked. Jaysk put down his cup and turned to the computer, quickly pulling up the map.

"You recognize this place?" he asked. I squinted at the screen.

"Yeah, that's... yeah."

"What is it?" he asked strongly.

"It's... it's where I was the first time time... broke."

"Well that explains the fluctuations, I don't know why you felt the need to hide that," Jaysk muttered, shoving past me to sit at the computer.

"Relax, he probably doesn't feel like reliving is all," Nash said quietly.

"You want to give me details while I hone in on your time destination?"

"Des-time-nation?" Nash mumbled to himself.

"It's a college campus," I said, my arms crossed as I leaned against the desk. "Biggest flux point is probably around 10:30 in the morning, that's around when time broke."

"I thought you said you woke up to it broken," Jaysk said, squinting at me suspiciously.

"I did," I said defensively.

"You woke up at 10:30 in the morning on a weekday," he said, turning from the desk to face me.

"Yeah. Newsflash, asshole, I'd already woken up and taken a class that day, and I stayed up 'til dawn working on a paper. Piss off."

"Whatever," he muttered. "You're wrong anyway."

"About what?"

"Flux isn't at 10:30 - at least not the biggest one."

"What?" I asked, leaning over his shoulder to read the screen. Nash walked over to look as well. "Wait, that's not even the right day," I said, pointing to the screen, "time didn't stop until Tuesday."

"How do you know what day it is?" Nash asked.

"It stopped on the ninth," I said. "This is reading a flux on the eighth."

"And a massive one, too," Jaysk said. "Which means a lot of porting and jumping."

"Or just an in-and-out jump-port with a lot of changes made in between," Nash suggested. "But who would want to hide something before your freeze? Were you supposed to find it while frozen?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. I couldn't find anything in those years, even if I knew what I was looking for. I saw and found everything in place and out of place, but the out of place was never wrong."

"Why would he hide something there?" Nash asked.

"I don't know, but we should get going. I hate to say it, but I don't think Cooper was an accident. We need to get these pieces together before more of us go down."