The Paradox Corridor

Chapter 28: All Questions Answered...Maybe

I sighed with relief, as the destroyer of worlds was finally put in a place where it could do no harm. As I thought about all that had happened, I heard a shriek from the corner. I turned and looked at Stephen, who was still holding on for dear life. Even though he had tried to commit genocide, I still didn't want to send him through the time vortex: it had already damaged him enough. I began working furiously to stop the vacuum that I had so hastily created. However, in my haste I didn't realize that I had accidentally made it extremely difficult to deactivate, and as I frantically tried to stop the vacuum I saw Stephen's hands begin to slip. I redoubled my efforts, but as I continued to toil I watched with horror as Stephen's right hand slipped off the rail. As I worked to the sound of the wailing siren and screams of fireballs up above, I heard a noise coming from the corner. I realized that it was Stephen, and that he was yelling something. I didn't have enough energy left to turn up m ears, so I blocked out all noise completely as I continued working. Suddenly, I hit my own firewall, and with horror realized that I had just activated my own DEFCON 1: if anything strong enough to hack me did so, I would automatically shut down. I realized that my primary systems were beginning to shut down, which included my programming system. Because of this...I was unable to stop the vacuum, and, as that was a new system that was technically not even legit, it would not shut down with the rest of me. I tried everything I could, but as more and more of my systems shut down I had less and less options. Finally, all that remained active was my consciousness and the vacuum. With no other options available, I watched Stephen slowly lose his grip, resigned to whatever fate had in store for me. Finally, after an eternity, Stephen's left arm gave way, and he fell straight towards me, screaming the whole way.

"I HATE YOU!" I heard Stephen as he flew through my door for the final time. And there was his final victory: right before his death at my hands, my creator cursed me, and my entire existence, all in those three words. As the rod zapped his body relentlessly, I heard his shrieks of pain linger on even after he flew through the portal. I can still remember them to this day... After that, I blacked out.

Here's what I think happened: I believe that, after awhile, the vacuum eventually overcame me as well, and that as I sucked myself in. My DEFCON 5 must have activated activated, which only activated if I was somehow sent through the time vortex; what it does is change my form to better suit time travel so the vortex wouldn't rip me into pieces. That is why I look so much different than I use to: apparently this form suits me better for time travel, although why I have absolutely no idea. If anything, it's larger and less protected, but it worked, so I have no complaints. Why I ended up on Earth and not where everything else landed I also have no idea, but it's possible that my DEFCON 5 had something to do with that. The next thing I knew, a little kid found me and switched me back on. Apparently, according to the Custodian, I had literally appeared overnight, and that a barn had appeared around me. I realized only a few years ago that the barn was mostly the time travel protection disguising itself to fit the time period. In my new form, my purpose was completely changed. As the custodian grew up, me and him discovered more and more of what I could do. The first incident happened about 15 years ago, when the custodian was fifteen-"

"Wait, what?!?" cried Amber in shock.

"The custodian is definitely not 30 years old," said Andrew, scoffing.

"Time energy affects things in many different ways, twins," said the Paradox Corridor, "I gained my 'special energy' from it, Stephen stopped aging with it, and the custodians' body became old while his mind remained young due to that same energy. Weird, huh?"

"I knew that he seemed younger than he looked!" said James, at this point just simply accepting all that was happening. The Paradox Corridor continued speaking,

"Anyways, the first incident happened while the custodian attended high school. It was the middle of the day, so of course he was at school while I hid out at the barn. After my remodeling, I became unable to move by levitating, so its not like I could go anywhere."

"I remember that day quite clearly," said the custodian, picking up the story, "I was being bullied for the fifth time that day. You will find that I was quite the nerd back then."

"And still are now," texted the Paradox Corridor snidely. The custodian laughed and continued;

"Anyways, the bullies of my school were beating me up as usual when all of a sudden, something really weird happened."

"I was deep in thought when suddenly an alarm went off on one of my new unknown programs. It read "LYLE IN DANGER", and had three options-"

"Oh, yes," cut in the custodian, "My name's Lyle, by the way. Lyle Quinn. Nice to meet you all!" he said, shaking all of their hands in turn. James was quite surprised, in retrospect, that they had known this man for hours without knowing his age nor his name. Just like the man himself, it was very odd. The Paradox Corridor "sighed" and waited for all of the formalities to end, then continued;

"The three options were INTERFERE MENTALLY, INTERFERE PHYSICALLY, and EMERGENCY TELEPORT. I choose interfere mentally, and-"

"All of the bullies just stopped there, dead in their tracks, for all intents and purposes frozen. Then, they started moving again, patted me on the back, and left," interrupted Lyle.

"That was the first new program of mine that me and the custodian, sorry, Lyle, discovered the use for. Over many years of trial and error, we discovered all of the other new programs and their uses. The interfere physically option, for example, brought me via teleport right to Lyle, and the emergency teleport brought him straight to me (thats how he escaped the ship earlier, by the way). And do you remember that strange, helpful presence that you kept feeling earlier, the one that enabled you to stay cool under pressure, react to things faster, stand on friggin swords (so cool!), throw rocks that weighed over three times your weight, and fly a super awesome spaceship/truck? That was me. All of it. Apparently, using my special energy, I can do a lot of useful tricks with people's minds and the laws of physics. Here's a funny restraint, though: I can only use these powers for good. I physically CANNOT do anything bad with my powers, which is probably why I talk so much trash all the time. So that should explain pretty much everything that happened today. Right?"

"...No, it really doesn't," answered Andrew, "for one, where did our robot come from? Why did it attack us?"

"Who is this weird guy with a bowler hat I keep seeing?" asked James, "and why did a Gal...whatever it was attack us? Where did it come from?"

"And what does the vision I keep seeing mean, and why am I seeing it?" asked Amber, just now remembering. The sound of thunder from outside shook the room slightly.

"And what is up with those clouds?" finished James.