Please make sure to see the last parts of this series. This following is a direct follow up on the last part.
[Part 1]
[Part 2]
[Part 3]
[Part 4]
[Part 5]
I tapped my clipboard as I looked up at Earl.
“So…Earl?” I faked a confused look.
“What’s your credentials” I said looking back at my workstation
I couldn’t help but to smile a little. I knew so much more than he could even imagine.
“Ehm, I-I” he said with a slight stutter
“I used to work with nuclear reactors and I’ve had an internship for the past year at an atomic research facility” He continued.
I smiled again and turned around.
“No no, not professional credentials” I said shaking my head.
“What do you do in your spare time?” I asked with a smile again.
“W-What?” Earl smiled and slightly chuckled
“I’m not sure I follow,” He said, looking at me with a slight smile.
I smiled back and looked at him with a serious face before that face turned into a faked hopeless smile
“I have no choice you’ve convinced me” I said shaking my head and waving my hands in the sky.
“You’re Hired!” I said pointing a finger at him in a joking matter.
“Oh..Alright? No actual questions?” He said with a surprised look.
“What do you mean? I’ve learned everything I need to know already” I said with a serious face.
“I got everything setup in the lab for you” I told him, ushering him out of the office.
We took a walk through the facility and I showed him around all the rooms he’ll soon come to know. My thoughts drifted away as I started to ask myself what I’m doing. I started to doubt the career choice I’d made going here. I miss the simple life I thought before I heard someone calling my name.
“Paul! Paul!” I hear Miranda call.
“What’s up?” I gestured for Earl to stay.
“How’s he looking?” Miranda asked, glancing over to Earl.
“He’s a good kid” I said with a smile of remembrance.
“Alright she said, So what do you think? Should we hire him?” She asked. She looked like she didn’t like him that much.
“I already did,’’ I said” Smiling back.
“He might save your life one day!” I said with a smirk.
“I highly doubt it, but alright” She said with a chuckle before going back to the nursery.
I walked back to Earl and continued with the tour. We talked about old television shows we watched when we were young as we made our way through the long corridors.
“This place needs some white walls,” He said while looking around the rooms.
I laughed a little before I finally spoke.
“Yeah sure Earl, I trust your judgment” I said looking down at the floor with that same thankful smile.
You see I haven’t known Earl for very long but I knew I could trust him. I mean he did save both mine and Miranda’s life after all. So that counts as something good in my books.
A few hours went by and I got no work done. I just stared around the room not thinking about anything besides the past days.
“Why do I do this again?” I thought to myself as I scratched my head.
“Sure It’s cool and all but I’m not up for this shit” I continued to myself.
I stood up and started walking back and forth in the room.
“I’m going to quit” I stopped as I thought it.
I walked quickly over to a cupboard I had in the corner of the lab. I picked up a notepad and started writing.
“Hey Earl. I can’t do this anymore. I need to get away from this stuff but trust me. You’ll fit right in. That’s why I’m giving you full control of this project and everything that we’ve established so far. Everything you need to know is in the laptop and if you have any problems with Miranda, Tell her I told you it was fine, Alright? Anyway, We’ll meet one day and I will tell you how everything went. But all you need to know is that I won’t know you, I won’t recognize you. That’s all you need to know. God’s speed friend, I owe you my life.
//Your friend Paul”
That’s what the note said. I ripped it off the notepad and unlocked my laptop. I quickly wrote out a message and sent it to Miranda.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do this. I’m putting Earl in control of this project and you must trust me. If you do not let Earl work on this thing I’ll be dead and so will you. So listen to me carefully. He’s the key to time travel, He’s the one that will invent it I know it. I can’t tell you how I know I don’t have time, you just have to trust me. Good luck old friend, I wish you the best.” I pressed send before leaving my laptop in the lab with the note attached to it folded in half.
Right as I was about to walk out of the lab I met Earl in the doorway. He had a look of confusion and concern as he looked at me and then at the laptop, then back at me again.
“You good there boss?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
“yeah yeah, I’m alright I’m just hungry, are you hungry?” I said with a stressed voice.
“Come let’s get something to eat!” I said, dragging him along towards the dining hall.
“Oh shit I almost forgot” I said to Earl, He turned around as we approached the dining hall.
“I need to do something!” I said turning around.
Earl looked at me strangely but he let me leave.
I walked hasty towards the stairs that led to the exit. When I reached the stairs I walked up them trying to look as normal as I could.
“Good day fellas” I said bowing my head slightly to the guards standing at the exit.
“Good day, Paul” The right guard said with a slight nod.
I opened the door to the exit and walked over to my car. I started it up and drove off. I drove for I don’t know how long before I came out to a small town gas station. I filled my tank up and continued to drive off. I drove for hours upon hours before I finally arrived at my destination. My old warehouse…
You see I’m writing this from my old desk where I once conducted business and I feel like I need to explain some realizations that I’ve come to know recently. First of all let me clear up some things about Jakob. You know how in part 4 of this story one of the hypotheses was that time travel basically only splits the timeline in 2 equally probable outcomes of an action. You see I now know why I recognized Jakob. Jakob isn’t really Jakob. He’s, well, me. But older and from one of the timelines where I hold a grudge against Miranda for dragging me into this mess. A grudge big enough for me to travel back in time to kill Miranda before we had the ability to invent time travel. I mean It’s my best guess and I think I’m not far off sadly.
Another thing that I want to clear up is why I even write this. Well I had too. If I didn’t, the future wouldn’t turn out as it’s supposed to. So now you might understand why this all has happened and I will give you the pleasure of knowing my real name, I mean I don’t exist anymore anyway. Miranda made sure of that. So let me tell you a dead man’s tale.
My name’s Charlie, Charlie North. I’m still a dark-web courier, and these were my stories.