Space-Time of Death: an Al Squires of the Protectorate Novel

Ch.19.3: Just In Time or Out of Time? I Guess We'll Find Out.

After going through a short tunnel connecting the already-opened door to the Chamber itself, Lady Lane entered the chamber which held this Earth's Ouroboros' most prized possession: the Temporalmanac Ultima. It was an exceptionally large dome shaped structure with spartan bare panel walls. In the center of the room was a raised platform with a dais on top. Upon that dais was a large but ordinary-looking leather-bound open book. To the naked eye, its pages would appear blank. However, for those with enhanced visual implants like yours truly, the book gave off a massive aura of energy. Not Wyrd energy, but rather a combination of thermal energy one would expect a supercomputer would expel and what I could only guess as temporal energy.

Of course, in front of the book was Sister Time: paying us no mind as she turned the pages with a gloved hand to search for whatever she was looking for. Her hair was no longer hiding her bad eye, and on her good eye was- of all things- a monocle; one which no doubt held the pair of lenses of the slain Ouroboros agents and Sylvie's lone lens, collected from their eyeballs. Her face seemed to scrunch up a couple of times in what might have been confusion, but more on that shortly.

Holding up my Profound Pen in preparation for the fight to come, I looked over at Lady Lane. She held up the gun in the same way. After a quick nod to one another, I looked back over to Sister Time and stealthily began another gravity equation, one that would pin her to the wall. However, before I could I fling the equation over to her, Sister Time suddenly looked up at us and did some flinging of her own. With her free hand, she made a gesture that made Lady Lane and me fly over to the walls opposite from her; the force causing us to drop our respective weapons. We were held spread eagle in place by her powers the moment we hit the wall.

"Thought you could get the jump on me again, did you?" Sister Time asked. "You've underestimated me."

'Again?' I thought, surprised by the comment. I was about to ask what she meant when Lady Lane spoke up before I had the chance.

"I think it fair to warn you that we've incapacitated your thrall before he could switch off the forcefield surrounding this chamber," she said firmly and fairly. "And that an armed security force is outside along with our colleagues with orders to enter unless we're back within five minutes. Even if you succeed, you're trapped!"

Sister Time scoffed at this. "Did you really think I wouldn't be unprepared for all that?" she asked. "I have a way out of here. As I said, you underestimated me." She returned to scroll the book again. "You're not the first to do that," she continued as she looked on. "In fact, the only one I could rely on for survival besides Time was myself." An amused chuckle escaped her lips. "Quite literally, in fact," she added.

"We know about that," Lady Lane said truthfully. "We read your diaries."

"I thought you might have," she said, unsurprised as she continued to peruse the pages, "I figured that my eldest self would give up the location of my hideaway when you captured her." She chuckled bitterly. "I'd have done the same thing myself," she added, sounding as if she appreciated the irony of the statement. She then went back to her search for whatever she was looking for.

"What is it that you're looking for, anyway?" I asked to distract her. "It must be important to murder and maim a few Ouroboros agents, among others. The date when Ouroboros was officially established in this universe, perhaps?"

This made her look up from the book. "It would be so easy, wouldn't it?" she asked with a creepy smile. "To destroy my enemies just before they even formed?" Her face suddenly turned sullen. "Unfortunately, that is not what Time has asked me to find. But you are right about one thing, it is important. Or it will be, at least." She looked away at me and muttered under her breath. as though she realized she said too much. She then tried to read the book again before I interrupted her.