Sigmund Deaves: Timepiece

Chapter 8: Planning

"Owww," Sigmund groaned as he lay on his back in pain and confusion. Did I just get mugged? He quickly took inventory of everything on his person. Pocketwatch? Check. Wallet? Check. Phone? Check. Glasses? Oh, yeah, everything is blurry. Wait, was my vision somehow further messed up when I got hit? He felt his face. Nope, glasses just fell off.

The glasses, when Sigmund finally managed to grab them from where he was laying, were completely intact. Above. Status report. Above: Well, you decided to try the command, "By Jessica Ozark," I don't know why you decided on her, and now you're on the ground. Below: Ha ha! You got beat up by a girl! A part of Sigmund felt cheated, but he quickly realized that Below was an idiot and he shouldn't listen to that part of his brain. Another part of Sigmund wanted to make sure that he had, in fact, been beaten up by Jessica Ozark so that he could make sure that his hypothesis was right. Sigmund was pretty sure that the pocketwatch was somehow linked to the user's mind, so if the user knew where he wanted to go than the Timepiece would know where to go. This could all be tested by telling it to go to a position neither he nor the Timepiece knew.

He flicked open his phone while still on the ground. Sigmund never thought the ground could feel so comfortable before that moment. Of course, Matt was the first number on his contact list, so dialing didn't take too long. It took Matt slightly longer than usual to answer the phone, so by the time he finally picked up Sigmund had almost decided to give up. When Matt answered the phone he was breathing heavily.

"Hello... sir," Matt heaved.

He probably would ask what Matt was doing, but Sigmund realize he probably wasn't in any better shape. "Yo," he coughed out, "...sorry, lungs. I need you to be in the Chess Room tomorrow before school. I'll be doing something that requires a bodyguard."

"Yes, sir!" the bodyguard statement oddly seemed to cheer Matt up slightly, "so I'll just have to stand there while you talk, or do you need me to keep watch from somewhere else?"

"What're you doing at work that would cause you to breath so heavily?" Sigmund asked.

"Nothing important, I'm just closing up."

"Cool, see ya at the Chess Room. Don't let me down."

"Yes..." the "sir" part was cut off by Sigmund ending the call.

The next statement was made to the Timepiece, "Chess Room."

The city alleyway was suddenly replaced by the Chess Room. Sigmund found himself leaning against his desk with his head in his chest. Did she hit me in the solar plexus? Either that or I'm just a massive lightweight when it comes to fighting. He grabbed his table in an attempt to wobble to his feet. Generally, it was a success but while doing it a thought occurred. This seems rather familiar. Oh, I really hope this doesn't become a trend.

Sigmund was aware that he could easily check whether the experiment worked or not simply by trying it again. However, he did not want to risk getting attacked again. So, logically, the only plausible course of action would be to confront Jessica Ozark about whether she could recall the events. Below: You're just a scaredy cat. Now, with Below's interjection, Sigmund knew that doing the exact opposite would be the correct choice. A perfectly sane person would simply have used the Timepiece to jump back home and rest off the injury, but Sigmund wasn't perfectly sane. Instead, he opened the pocket watch and said, "Twelve hours into the future."

This time while he was jumping Sigmund made sure to pay attention to the Timepiece. It didn't move at all. That's odd; every other time I jumped through time the watch would portray a different time. Above: You jumped forward exactly twelve hours. An analog clock like the one in the Timepiece wouldn't change. The time displayed was 5:35, this gave him a little less than two hours to prepare. Why do I care about the amount of time it takes to prepare? I have a time machine, so I can take as much time as I want. True to his word, Sigmund prepared for every eventuality in the two hours (give or take a few days) he was given before school started.