Chronocide 0: Snowblind

Hazel’s answers had to wait. Wrought was staunchly opposed  to conversing in the frenzied aftermath of a terrorist attack, something  everyone agreed with once the shock wore down. So without any  understanding of what was going on, Hazel and Simon sat in the back of  an armored transport as it hurtled its way through the city streets.  Simon was shaken up, but remained quiet, staring down at his lap with  his brow furrowed in thought.

Soteria and her mother were  talking. About what, it was hard to hear or grasp, but she caught  snippets of her mother talking about ‘Earth’ and ‘temporal anomalies’.

Wrought, however, had been looking askance at Hazel with a strange expression for practically the whole ride. .

Hazel  too, had been sneaking glances at Wrought, but mainly she had her  attention on Simon, leaning over and putting a hand on his hand to  reassure him silently.

Simon grabbed her hand, giving it a firm  squeeze as he gave her a wan smile. For a day that started so average,  so normal, it certainly had taken a turn.

However, conversation was light, almost nonexistent until they pulled in towards a large complex.

It  was fenced in behind high, guarded fences. A complex of buildings.  Lodgings to one side, and a military training ground to the other. In  the center, a tall building bearing the starburst and peace sign of the  Pax Republic, its architecture distinctly 1970’s postmodern.

A government building and a military training facility all in one, packaged together like a fortress at the edge of the city.

Soteria  sighed once they passed the gates. “To think that an attack like this  would happen on Peace Day…the Goddess Pax would be so disappointed.”

So  this was where her mother’s Goddess of Peace had originated. Hazel  couldn’t help but cynically think that it was obvious someone would make  an attack on ‘peace day’. What was a terrorist attack but a rejection  of peace? A declaration of war?

She took in all the  strangeness of her surroundings as they drove, letting it wash over her  like the tide of the ocean as she held Simon’s hand. She was probably in  shock from everything that happened, but she felt strangely calm in  this odd moment.

This, whatever all this was, was the  ultimate surprise. Maybe she was laying in her bed and all this was a  dream. A mixed up reflection of her desire for a military career, her  fears about school, her mother, about the person she herself might  become in the future…

But she didn’t think so. Something about it all felt too strange to be anything but real.

Anyway,  it was pointless to try to analyze a dream for meaning while it was  still happening. Meaning was something you found in hindsight, not in  the breathless present. Reflection was for the past, and action for the  present.

She squeezed Simon’s hand again.

Simon looked up at her with a pensive expression. His fingers squeezed hers tightly, a lifeline he didn’t want to let go of.

Her  mother sighed, leaning back in her seat. “I think you’ll find it’s the  best time for an attack like this,” her mother was saying in an echo of  her own thoughts.

“I imagine you still don’t go out much, with  your condition, so the opportunity was there. Not only, but to strike on  Peace Day is to make a statement of aggression not only on you, but on  the deity you believe in.”

She tapped out a cigarette as the car  rolled to a stop, and put it between her lips, “But it seems the  goddess Chronia had an eye on her divine sister today, given we arrived  in the nick of time.”

“Hm.” Hazel’s older doppelganger huffed through her nose.

Soteria  stood as the car stopped, “come, we can catch up in my office. I know  it must be overwhelming, but I have a number of questions for you all.” 

“I  get the feeling it’s pretty overwhelming for you too, ma’am,” Hazel  said, finally speaking up. She stood smoothly, and helped Simon to his  feet, keeping him close.

The older woman smiled warmly, nodding  her head. From this distance, Hazel could see the dark circles under her  eyes that were hidden the best they could with makeup, and the  weariness in the creases of her smile.

“Perceptive as always, Hazel Kovalenko…” she chuckled gently, “I’m…in a bit of a state of shock, yes.”

Simon  followed Hazel close as the group hopped out of the transport, and onto  the cement below. Soldiers saluted them upon their return, which  Soteria returned, before heading towards the large doors just ahead.

Simon  looked around, taking account of the complex with a curious wariness.  “...for a place worshiping a goddess of peace, they sure seem to have a  preoccupation with war.” he whispered low enough for only Hazel to  hear. 

“If you want peace, prepare for war,” Hazel murmured back. “That’s what some people say.”

Hazel  had always been saddened that she found the adage was true. Peace was  something that had to be defended; it wasn’t something that would happen  on its own. It was just human nature. You’d have a peaceful community,  say, of kindergarteners, and some bully would come in and start throwing  rocks. And ‘being peaceful’ wouldn’t do anything to make the bully  stop. Sometimes Hazel had to step in on the playground, and stop a few  rocks.

It was something she’d certainly done for Simon a few times in the past.

He  sighed , shaking his head, “and it seems even in a new world, it’s  still true.” Still his eyes lingered on some of the men in uniform as  they passed through the doors.

“I hope President Costa has some answers for us..”

Soteria  led them down the hall, past men and women in prim suits and uniforms  going to and fro on government business, past reception desks and  security-locked doors. The deeper they went, the more security there  was, and the more the security stepped aside when the President gave a  wave of her hand.

Soon, they were deep in the building, passing  through a oak-walled hallway with hanging photographs on either side,  heading towards a pair of double doors with the Pax Republic emblem upon  them.

Wrought walked behind them, cautious and quiet as she took up the rear. 

Hazel  successfully fought off the urge to keep looking behind her at Wrought.  This alternate universe version of herself who was older, and didn’t  seem all that fazed by her presence. What was her story, Hazel  wondered. 

What was the story of any of this? Where had  the events begun in the tangle of the threads of time that led them  here, a terrorist attack, and a return from another universe.

Somehow Hazel assumed she would not like the answer.

They  passed photographs, there was Soteria standing in front of a large  bipedal…monstrosity. That was the first word that came to Hazel’s mind  when she saw it. Like a mecha. A great, and bizarre machine of war. In  the picture, as lights flashed behind Soteria and she smiled and  gestured towards it, her own mother stood off to the side, seemingly  preoccupied by one of the many computers hooked to the thing. 

There  was another picture– a speech with Soteria flanked by a person Hazel  could only assume to be Wrought Heron, and a grimly serious man with  sandy colored hair that was going gray at the temples in a military  dress uniform.

And beyond the pictures there was the door, which  they were quickly ushered into. It was a large, but ultimately simple  office. The Pax Republic flag hung behind a wooden desk, upon which were  a number of photographs and a paperweight shaped like a coiled dragon.

And  in the center of the room, a conversation style meeting area, with a  desk in the center of it. Soteria gestured towards it. “Please, have a  seat.”

She looked up “Georgia, dear…can you have the secretary bring us some water?”

Wrought nodded once, before sauntering towards the door “I’ll be right back, then ma’am.” 

Georgia–  it was somehow a shock to hear that it was, she presumed, Wrought  Heron’s name. She had assumed it would simply be Hazel,

She pulled out a chair for Simon and one for herself, scooting her chair just a little bit closer to the one for him.

Simon’s  hand found hers, giving it a squeeze as he took a deep, deep breath.  “Wow. I have to say it’s been one heck of a day so far, huh?”

Stella sat in her chair , leaning on her hand with a nod, “It didn’t go quite as I planned.” she admitted.

As  Soteria settled opposite them, she folded her hands on the table with a  warm and gentle smile “I know this must be confusing. It’s…odd for me  as well, I assure you.” 

Hazel nodded. “I’m getting the  sense that it wasn’t your intention to pull us into the middle of some  kind of terrorist attack, right mom?” She folded her fingers together on  the table in a mirror of the President’s gesture, mostly to stop  herself from fidgeting.

“Mmm, if that was the plan, dear, I would have brought a firearm with me.” Stella said dryly.

She  shook her head “I didn’t expect it to be Peace Day, and I certainly  didn’t expect an attack the moment we stepped foot back home.”

“I’m…”  Soteria stammered briefly, “so, so very sorry, Hazel. Something like  this is the last re-introduction I could have wanted for you.” 

Hazel’s  fingers tensed, wound together as they were. “You say  ‘re-introduction’, and I gather from the way my mom talks that we’ve  been here before. Can someone please explain that? Even just a bit.”

Soteria  got up, and hurried to her desk. As she began rooting around inside it,  Wrought…Georgia…walked back in and settled in a chair by the wall with a  thin smile “Water will be in in a moment.

“Thank you , Georgia.”  Soteria said distractedly, “I..ah..well.” she bit her lip “I think I  have something that may help you understand.”

Stella glanced at  her daughter “Dear. This is the world I was born into. I was born in  Uldovia back before the great war, before defecting to the Pax Republic.  If there wasn’t the accident, it’s where you would have grown up as  well.”

She frowned slightly “And…well. There’s a bit of a sticking point there, as well.”

“Huh.” Simon whispered softly “This explains so much about your mom, Hazel..” 

“It  sure does,” Hazel said, her voice rather thick as she tried to digest  this information.”I guess I turned out to be an alien after all. And you  got dragged along for the ride?”

She watched the  president, her motions flitting, tense and birdlike. What exactly was  she so nervous about, Hazel wondered. She was used to politicians on TV  being so composed. Or at least angry. Madam Soteria didn’t give off the  impression of a woman given to anger.

She waited patiently for whatever she was going to be shown.

“I guess so…” Simon mused “I think I’m lucky I thought to come over today, huh?”

“Luck  likely has nothing to do with it.” Dr. Kovalenko leaned on her hand. “I  know what Soteria is trying to tell you, and the implication is simple.  You were always meant to be here, as was my daughter.”

Soteria  returned, giving Georgia a nervous smile, before she pushed a small  bundle of photographs towards Hazel “here. Careful, they’re quite old.” 

“Always  meant to be here. Huh.” Hazel shook her head, musing on it as she took  the bundle of photographs delicately in hand. She started looking  through them, not certain what she would find. “I hope you’re not upset  you got kidnapped, Simon. I doubt we’re going back.”

“It’s not  like I had much to go home to aside from you, Haze,” Simon said with a  shake of his head “I’m a little rattled, but…I’d rather be where you  are, than alone back home.”

The first photograph struck Hazel  like a knife. It was an old, faded photograph…the grain in the image and  tone of the film gave the impression that it must have been taken  sometime in the 1960’s.

In the photograph were a group of  people. She stood there in a military issue infiltration suit, her arms  around two figures. One was a young man with an eyepatch over one eye,  and a handsome beard. Chestnut colored hair and a bright blue eye looked  straight at the camera as he flashed a peace sign. He looked like he’d  been recovering from wounds, dressed in combat fatigues and smiling at  the camera with her. For that matter…she looked a little banged up  herself.

And the other figure. It was Simon, dressed in a  military dress uniform with a pair of chunky headphones over his ears.  Like the ones on his old communications set. He was saluting the camera.  

Behind them was her mother, trying not to be caught too much in  the camera as she stared off into the distance, thoughtful and  contemplative as usual.

On the corner, it was written ‘Snowblind 1965’. 

Hazel  felt like her vision was shaking just to look at it. At a glance, she’d  guess that the person in the faded photograph must be a young Wrought  Heron, rather than herself. But then why was Simon there.

She felt bile rising in her stomach, and fought it down. This picture was obviously from years in the past. How could it be her?

She looked at Wrought seriously, and said, “Tell me honestly. Is this you, in this picture?”

Wrought  shook her head. “Before my time, big sis,” she said dryly, as she  pulled a cigar out from a small box on the bookshelf behind her. “That  was before I was made.”

“Made?” Simon asked in surprise, before looking at the photograph and paleing “...is that me in there? But that’s from…”

“1965,  yes.” Soteria said softly, “during the Pax/Uldovian Crisis. You and  young Officer Erikson were part of a special operations program sent  behind enemy lines on an important mission. You saved not only myself,  but the entire nation of Pax from a nuclear disaster with your  ingenuity.”

She gestured to the photograph. “Only for you to vanish not long afterwards.”

“But how?” Simon asked with a furrow of his brow “I mean, I think I’d remember helping save the world.”

“Unless  it didn’t happen yet,” Dr. Kovalenko spoke up, “which I admit I’ve been  worried was the answer since you were young, dear.”

She nodded  to Hazel. “Time is relative, and hardly linear. It’s..possible, that  this is an operation you’ve yet to take part in…in your personal  timeline, at least.” 

Hazel bit her lip. “Huh. Time is relative.”

The  gears in her head were slowly turning, putting what was happening  together in her mind. Time was relative. Time travel? Was that what  happened at the parade? Had she somehow moved moments back in time?

And how did that connect with Wrought Heron.

She  looked at the woman. “You said ‘made’. Maybe we should put a pin in  that. I’m still stuck.” She paused for a moment. “Something happened to  me. At the parade…”

Soteria cocked her head to the side. “Aside from you stopping that terrorist before he could harm innocents?”

Simon  sat up with a nod of his head. “Yeah, it happened to me too! One second  we were dying, and the next…Hazel was up and stopping the bomber before  he could hit the detonator.” 

Hazel nodded. “The first  time that it happened, I didn’t stop it. I guess it was some kind of  vision, or something? It felt real. Does this make sense to anyone at  the table, or do I just sound insane?”

Wrought grimaced slightly, putting her cigar to her lips, “I heard about this before, myself.”

With  a nod, Soteria glanced at Stella with a thin smile. “yes…it’s a state  secret, but one we all know.” Her fingers twiddled gently together in  though, before she said “It’s part of an affliction.”

“Affliction  sounds like it’s negative. It’s simply a mutation.” She glanced  sidelong at her daughter. “A side effect of my research into the  Chrononaut program back in the day. Contact with the space between space  and time results in mutation among individuals caught within it’s  rays.”

She gestured to herself, “for me, physical trauma sends me into a parallel universe. For Soteria, it’s the time quakes.”

Soteria winced , glancing off to the side.

“And I’m certain Wrought has her own abilities, though I admit, I haven’t seen them firsthand.”

“It’s different for everyone,” Wrought took a long puff off her cigarette, “and especially for you.”

Simon  chewed his knuckle. “Time powers stemming from time/space energy  mutations? Hazel are you sure it was a vision? I mean, I saw it too..” 

“I  don’t know,” Hazel said, shaking her head. “You saw it, too. I thought  so… You said everyone in this room knows about it?” She asked the  assembled.

Soteria nodded slowly “you’ve told me about it in the  past.” She said warmly “and I was deeply involved in the original  experiments, so I…I am well acquainted with the effects.”

Simon  put his hand on his chin, “time travel experiments. So your mother must  have been hurt, bounced to Earth…and then…worked her way back here.” he  mused softly.

“Try not to let it spread too much.” Wrought warned  with a shake of her head. “never know who’s listening, and if you want  them knowing just what you can do.” 

Hazel nodded. “I  won’t spread it. But did I say whether it was visions, or something  else? Because I thought it had to be a vision. But I felt like I lived  through it. Like I was really dying, and then I got snapped back…”

“Reset,”  Soteria murmured “ You explained it as a ‘reset’. At the moment of  death your body protects itself by pulling you back to before the trauma  event, so you might avert it.”

Simon leaned on his hand “....huh. LIke hitting continue in an arcade game after you kick the bucket.” 

Hazel took a breath, stilling her body as she felt it start to shake. “That… sounds like quite an amazing ability.”

Simon  shifted, his hand patting her leg under the table, just to show her he  was still there for her. She could feel the slight tremor in his own  hand, even as he kept an easy smile on his face.

“Ah, y-yes.”  Soteria nodded, “you certainly were blessed by the gods, Hazel…it’s an  ability I’m thankful you have. It’s saved your life again and again,  from my understanding.”

Wrought puffed thoughtfully at her cigar “I have to admit, I’ve always been a little jealous.” 

Hazel cocked her head, looking at Wrought curiously. “It’s only me, then? I’ll treat it with the reverence it deserves.”

With an ability like that, the possibilities were endless, weren’t they?

Simon looked like he wanted to say something, gently squeezing her leg…though he kept his mouth shut.

“Indeed…” Soteria said softly “I …imagine you don’t remember me.”

She  looked off to the side “After you appeared back in the 60’s, you became  a friend of mine. A dear friend. You helped me through a dark time in  our lives, before disappearing. I always held onto hope that one day you  would return to Pax…”

Wrought sat , cautiously off to the side  as she took another pull from the cigar in her mouth. She closed her  eyes as Soteria spoke, nodding slowly like this was something she had  heard before.

“I was a good friend of your mother’s too, though  the knowledge that you were related didn’t come out until after you were  gone, I’m afraid.” Soteria continued.

“She was the head of my R&D department, along with her protege, and my finest scientist and companion.”

Stella nodded , a slight smile of pride on her face, barely perceptible.

“We  both became bound to the timestream together, so it’s little surprise  that you are as well…though ah…your connection seems a bit more intense  than my own.” 

“I see,” she nodded. “I’m sorry to say I  haven’t met anyone in the room here now aside from Simon and my mother.  As far as I knew, I was born on earth, and I’ve spent all 19 years of my  life there until today.”

Which meant there was only one conclusion– no, don’t jump to conclusions. There were at least two likely possibilities.

The first was that she would in the future go through these events that there were photos of.

The second was that, unbeknownst to the others here, that was some other Hazel and Simon in the picture.

“I  was absolutely born on Earth,” Simon agreed as he turned the picture  over between his fingers. “I mean, I was a foster kid, but I think  someone would have mentioned if I was some kind of space baby or  something.”

Stella pushed her sunglasses up, “I’ve watched over Hazel, and to an extent, Simon for my entire life stranded on ‘Earth’.”

“Heh, kinda a funny name for a planet.” Wrought said dryly.

“Indeed,”  Stella continued, “And I can confirm at no point did she vanish to  partake in any clandestine operation. The closest she came was signing  on for the JROTC in high school.” 

Hazel nodded. “I’ve  read a lot of spy novels, and done my fair share of training, but I’m  afraid I’ve never done anything like what you’re describing. Sorry to  disappoint, ma’am.”

Soteria shook her head. “I would never be disappointed in you, Hazel.”

Her  fingers folded before her, her brow creased, “you appeared out of  nowhere. You saved my life after an Uldovian attack in retribution for  some…recent unpleasantness. You seemed to know of us, and that you were  to be involved in something coming up. Knight, a major at that point, he  didn’t trust you very much, but I had a good sense about you.”

She  squeezed her hands together, “...and then you accomplished the mission,  saved world peace, and vanished all at once. They said you died…but I  never believed it.” 

“Huh,” Hazel reflected on the  information, and filed it away for later.”Uldovia attack. Saved your  life. Knew you. Knight didn’t trust me. Went on a mission. Vanished. Got  it.”

Stella shook her head, “if it’s to happen, it’s to happen.  If it’s another of those dimensional tricks of fate, then it’s not our  concern.”

She leaned on her hand, something about that past  mission making her voice clipped and her affect drop. It always fell  into that neutral, chilly tone when she was upset. “We’ll just trust  that things will go as they should, hm?”

Soteria nodded slowly,  “of course..in any case, I’m very glad to have you back. All of you. We  can simply use this as an opportunity to be reacquainted…I’ll  re-establish your previous positions in the military and development  sectors…If you’re so inclined?”

Wrought closed her eyes while she smoked her cigar, huffing a soft breath through her nose. “Soteria…” 

Hazel felt her heart leap into her throat.This was exactly what she had always wanted…

“I don’t have any on the job experience, ma’am,” Hazel said,”But I’m willing to learn, and I’ll trust your judgment.”

“We  can get you training,” Soteria said softly. “You won’t be stationed  with your old unit, of course, but you have a place here as we acquaint  you with the job.”

She glanced at Simon with a smile, “and for you, Officer Erikson, the communications office has been missing you terribly.”

Simon flushed, blinking and stunned, “the communications office? I mean…thank you?”

Stella rested on her hand; “and I’ll be getting my job back too, Soteria?” it was almost like a demand.

“Of  course! Justine will be delighted to see you again, Stella.We need you  back in R&D.” Soteria clapped her hands together with a genuine  smile. Hazel could see the beads of tears in her eyes.

Whether it was political maneuvering or not, every little action of President Costa’s radiated genuine care and feeling.

Hazel  couldn’t help but smile a little. She felt dizzy, and overwhelmed. This  was hardly the way she had imagined her day going, and there was so  much to absorb. But she couldn’t help but feel a little bit happy, even  if it was just the shock of it all.