Not many of us get to remember the moment we were born. I do. I dabbled in life for almost fifteen years before it happened. The life of taking in oxygen and pumping blood. This was different. This is the life of nights spent with a pair of binoculars staking out buildings till god only knows when and jumping off roof tops while being chased by guys with AK-47s. A life where nothing in it is yours, not even your name. Joshua Chesterfield? Who's that? That might still be what I call myself- but that's not who I am. Those lives are so different. In one you're a drone. You go to work, you collect your paycheck and get home in time to cook dinner and if you're lucky enough to go home in time to watch a little TV before going to bed. In the other you matter. You have a bad day at work and people die. If you really screw up- it's someone important. Someone you can't do the job without. In fact- the only thing I think they have in common is that my mom dragged me into both of them. Then someone slapped me. "Damnit, Amelia, what was that for?" "Were you even paying attention?" she said. "No. I just assumed it was more of what you said yesterday and the day before that. Mom and Dad- I mean- Conductra and Gasmaster are robbing some scientific company. You're going in to stop it. I've got no offensive capabilities- yadda yadda yadda- be a look out in case the Explorers come to crash the event," I said. "Well, yeah. That's not the point. I'm trying to go over the plan and you keep dozing off," Amelia complained. "Look Sis, I don't even want to do this super hero stuff. I can make more of stuff you already have. What type of lame super power is that? Honestly..." I said. "It's not the power the matters. It is he who wields that power," my sister said impatiently. "Didn't you get that from an episode of Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues? " I muttered. "No. It was Mister Mystery," she said. "The old 1960s comic book character?" I asked. "All of those old super hero comics are based on guys from the forties and fifties before McCarthy and Nixon scared the old timers away..." she said. The life I live now- it's everything Amelia would have wanted. Sometimes I wonder... if it hadn't been for what happened- what she could have made of herself. Could she have wound up on The Explorers? Or was her posthumous membership the best she'd ever had been allowed? She was impulsive. Reckless. Looking back, what happened shouldn't have been too surprising. As I put my sandwich down, the crackle came over the line. "I'm all right bro, I'm in. Do you see anything?" Amelia asked. I double checked the roof tops. Three shadowy figures were crossing the street. They were two short to be Gasmaster and Conductra. "Yeah... three of 'em." "Alright... go and distract them." "If you say so." I left a ten dollar bill on the table of the deli and ran out the door. The shadow figures ran into a small warehouse. I followed behind them as quietly as I could. I got close enough that I could hear them speaking. "Alright, we sprogging did it," one of them muttered. "Quiet till we reach the darkness, Big Jerk- he might hear us. Triskaidekafiliac 13 said if anyone spots us, we mess up the timestream more than it already is..." whispered another. "But not as much as Pyschoso did when he tricked Josh into being in the science building, right, Parrot Lady?" asked the first. I began to wheeze loudly. "Uh- guys-," said a new voice. "What Craft Faerie?" asked Parrot Lady. "I think we've got a problem..." she said. "Oh- Hello Joshua Chesterfield," said the one identified as 'Parrot Lady'. She pushed a button on her watch and a giant twenty sided die appeared in front of me. Some sort of hatch opened up in front and they walked inside. "Hopefully- the emotional trauma of what is about to happen will make you forget this," she continued. "Otherwise- Trisky is going to be very, very mad at us." "The trauma of what?" I asked, under my breath. That when I heard the explosion. I turned around to see the scientific company in flames. I did a quick turn of my head again and the giant die was gone. I went running back toward the building but it was too late.

Act Two: Death

Josh sighed. Doctor Colm continued writing notes. "Most of that we've gone over before- but why mention those new people now?" she asked. "I- I don't know. I guess I was in shock and I forgot or-or maybe I wasn't sure they were real," Josh said, "Like a dream or something." "But you're sure now..." Colm said slowly. "Yes. I'm sure. I wasn't until- after- you know- the other day. After the incident in the quarantine chamber," Josh responded. "I was wondering when you'd get to that. It's why Andrew sent you here," she said. "It all started three days ago. Right after we finished up with the Histhologists mess. I had gone in for the solo debriefing with Andrew and well- things didn't go so well..." Josh said. I went into his office. He was waiting for me. He said I was late. I can't see how, since I was supposed to be there at 9:30 AM and it was only 9:15 AM. I guess he's just so used to me being a half hour early for my rounds he assumed I was early for everything else. I don't know. I wasn't in my usual apologetic mood. "I'm glad to see you played your part in saving my sister," Andrew said. "My part?" "Oh yes. Major Primeaux and Dr. Traeger's tactics were quite brilliant. They'd have to be in order to outsmart an opponent with access to my brain," he said. "My part?" "It would all have fallen apart if it weren't for you," he went on. "They planned to turn me into- a-a- killer?" Josh asked. "I know you normally can't hold on to a molecular pattern that you aren't touching. I guess they bargained that your body's molecular scanning abilities could fill in gaps on objects you've had time to have prolonged physical contact with using some sort of memory cache hidden somewhere in your brain. Probably in some unused portion of your temporal lobes..." "They did it on purpose?" "I'm normally against teammates becoming romantically involved- no matter how inevitable it is- for the sake of team dynamics, but in this case I guess we should be thankful you've recently been intimate with my sister," he said. That's when things really started to go down hill. "Sir, your sister is dead," I said. "What are you talking about? We played Foosball after family dinner just last night. Unless something else has happened to her that I'm not aware of," Andrew said. "Cece n'est pas un pipe," I said. "This is not a pipe? Explain," he said. "It looks like Angelica Weinstein. It moves like her. It smells like her. Trust me- she does everything just like her... but she's not her. She's not the same woman who took my- well- you know," I said. "Please- her psionic energy was transmitted into the brain of the new body. That energy is the closest thing science can come to a soul. Whether she is in the same body she was in physically is irrelevant. It looks like my sister- according to medical exams right down to a small scar she got playing with her Easy Bake Oven when she was seven- and her psychological exam show she has all of her memories. By means of the closest continuer schema, in all ways that matter she is my sister." "With all due respect sir- you're not the best person to judge things from this sort of perspective," I said. "On the contrary. I understand your perspective totally. I simply don't agree with it," Andrew replied. "Look! I killed someone. Only thanks to the evidence- and the fact that she's out there walking around now- means I can't prove it. The fact remains that I did it. I murdered another human being. One that I love. If I could do it to her- so easily- chances are- I could do it again. I should- I should be locked away. Or given my family history, prevented from ever having the option of doing it again!" I shouted. After that- I ran out of the room. Andrew chased me down into the medical bay. I used my access code and locked myself into the quarantine chamber. The air vents automatically sealed and would remain that way for at least 24 hours. Even Andrew can't undo a quarantine. Then I began to use my powers on the air. Not my duplication powers- the matter annihilation powers. "Oh my god! What are you doing... you're going to run out of air!" Andrew shouted. "Think about what you're doing. Thing about how this will effect your friends. Your family. Angelica-" "That's not Angelica," I said. "Then think about Amelia. What would she think?" My head began to spin. Three figures stood in front of me. One of them looked like the woman I had seen many years ago. The one called Parrot Lady. "Goodbye, Duplicator," she whispered.

Act Three: The Sweet Hereafter

Then there was a squawking kind of a voice. "Hrerro- Hrerro Joshuwa Chesterfield... awwrat!" I looked up and there was a parrot looking down on me. There was Parrot Lady. For a moment there looked like there were about three of her. Then she slowly came back into focus. "Welcome to the year 4242..." "If man still has shoes?" I muttered. "We've brought you to our home in the forty third century because you- Duplicator are one of the five key individuals of your era who change the world. Or at least you were supposed to before the Histhologist thing messed things up," Parrot Lady said. "Who are you people?" I asked. "We're super heroes like you. We work for T.I.M.E.," Parrot Lady said. "Unless we do over 40 hours a week. Then we get T.I.M.E. and a half," replied a guy in the corner. "Shut up, Big Jerk," shouted Parrot Lady. "T.I.M.E. stands for Temporal Incursion Management and Enforcement. We go around history fixing it when it's broken." I was silent for a moment. "You aren't going to say 'that's the craziest thing I've ever heard?' That's what happened when we met Jack Williamson," said Big Jerk. "No, I've heard crazier things. Who are the other key individuals of my era..." "Three of them haven't come into play yet- but one of them we believe you call Steevon Colbair," said Big Jerk. "Stephen Colbert is crucial to saving humanity's future? That's the craziest #*(!ing thing I've ever heard," I exclaimed. "Oh- you say that now. We'll see whose laughing on October 30th 2010. Aside from me- because I was there." "Can you stop giving him information on his future? You'll only make things harder to fix. My telepathy only works on parrots..." said Parrot Lady. "- and news pundits, oh fearless leader," said Big Jerk. "There's a difference?" I asked. "No- not really," said Parrot Lady. "So what's his power?" "I can absorb massive amounts of the media and spit out rapier like insults. That and I have my own death squad because of my magnetic personality," said Big Jerk. Parrot Lady coughed. "Aren't you due in the game room with Craft Faerie and Trisky?" Parrot Lady asked. "Hey, I'm the GM. It's not like they can start the game without me," Big Jerk said. "I still want to ask Trisky about that Jack Williamson thing. We were inspired by a comic- which was inspired by the Legion of Time- which was inspired by us-" Parrot Lady looked at me for a moment. "Just ignore him. We all do most of the time. We mainly use him as a mine detector when deciding which comics to read," Parrot Lady said. "So what's all this about me being essential to history?" "Oh that. See, a few weeks ago we chased one of our enemies- a telepath name Psychoso into the past. We started detecting two histories broadcasting on the same temporal frequency. One was our own- and the other was some dark distorted world where Earth's government was gone, all the other planets were fighting and one of our members was being used as a battery for the entire planet. We traced it back to the source and there you were. Or rather weren't... We slowly corrected history to put you back as best we could- but a few glitches still remain. So we brought you here to protect you while some of us do some last minute course corrections. To pass the time, let me show you what this other timeline was like," Parrot Lady said. "Huh?" "Trisky invented what he calls Chronovision. It will allow us to see it," Parrot Lady said. Sillverback roared. The oil drum flew at Juanita. She wrapped a force field around it. Lucas tried to charge him. The gorilla grabbed his arm and threw him into a flagpole out in front of the World Bank building. Lucas let out an annoyed grunt before releasing a sonic blast. Juanita strained to maintain the force field but the high pitched whine, even with the sound filter on her communications device, was too much. The oil drum exploded. Lucas quickly ducked behind a fire hydrant to avoid the shrapnel. "ARGGGGH!" came two loud screams. "Harmonics to base. We have a 10-13. Estallida is down," he said taking a quick glance over at Silverback, who took some shrapnel in the arm which seemed to only enrage him more. "And you know that 1000 pound gorilla in the room? Well it kind of escaped..." A crackly voice came over the com channel. Lucas quickly charged back in, clearing the way for a first responder to get to Juanita. "Well- and Freckles are handling the evac on the other side of building. We'll send someone as soon as we can," came the voice. "Damn it! Josh stared at the chronovision and scratched his head. "That's the time Silverback tried robbing the World Bank... but that's not how it happened," he said. "Sure it is-" said Parrot Lady. "You weren't there with your Hostess snacks." "Wait- are you telling me that Hostess snacks..." "Saved the world economy? Prevented your friend from a month long hospital stay? No. It's not the Twinkee that matters. It's the hand that uses it," Parrot Lady replied. "That's not the only time you've been important..." Kingston looked down at his supplies. There were twenty more new cases in the last twenty four hours. Weinstein and his people had found a cure. As usual with these super heroes, they were too busy trying to prevent thieves and warlords from stealing the supplies coming in, than making sure they had enough supplies onsite. "How many doses are left?" he asked. "Seven. That's thirteen less than we need," the nurse replied. "What's the Explorers ETA?" "12 hours," the nurse responded. "Damn it! Half of these people- maybe the entire village will be dead by then," Kingston complained. "What the hell does Weinstein expect us to do? We're hospital, not a morgue." Josh stared at the screen. "Most of those villagers were fine- save for a few of the elderly patients-" Josh said. "... fine because you were there to duplicate those seven samples ad infinitum until the entire village could be treated, remember?" Parrot Lady said. "If that's not enough to show you that everyone's life is better with you- how about this one..." Angelica came charging out of the rec room, her face as red as a tomato. Ellie was waiting in the hallway reading a magazine. Angelica was crackling with telekinetic energy and all the objects in her way simply flew from her path. "Where is he?" "Who?" "Thompson! That bastard deserves..." "Probably the second floor- room 307," Ellie said. "Juanita's room? I should have figured. Not only does he post it to the internet- he moves on two days later. I'm going to kill him..." she said. Josh pushed a button on the machine that resembled the pause key on 21st century media playing devices. The image stopped moving. "Wait... whose Thompson?" Josh asked. "A childish, hyperactive prankster who is one of two surviving examples of men playing the role of Prometheus. Humans attempting to transform one of their own into an exohuman. The result was a manchild with the abilities of what you would called a 'Meestar Pataytoe Hud,'" said Parrot Lady. "And Angelica hooked up with him because-" "He was available and she was lonely." Another giant 20 sided die appeared in the room. Out walked Craft Faerie and a man with an goatee who was wearing a Puppet Masters XIII t-shirt. Parrot Lady turned to greet them. "Hey Craft Faerie and Trisky- what are you guys doing here? I thought you were in the game room with Big Jerk and Gecko Lad," she said. "We were bringing the McDonaldson woman here after we rescued her from The Wolf Pack, remember?" said Triskaidekafiliac 13. "No- I said that a month ago. I distinctly remember you telling me you had too much temporal velocity, you went too far- then came to our clubhouse twice and then took her home- five hours late. Then you came home and had me put both of you on laundry duty for three weeks for causing a paradox, remember?" Parrot Lady said. I scratched my head. "You know, I always wondered why she was abducted, everyone got worried and then nobody rescued her but she turned up later just fine," Josh said. "And knowing is half the battle," observed Trisky. "You never said that- though thanks for telling us the plan, Parrot Lady," said Craft Faerie. "You caused another paradox. I want you to go back where you came from right now! Then I'm putting you on laundry duty for the next three weeks..." "You mean the last three weeks..." giggled Craft Faerie. "Grrrrrrr!" Parrot Lady screamed. "It's almost like home," Josh said. "Though it's funny because it's not happening to me." Trisky looked at Josh for a moment as if only now recognizing he was there. "Is it true you broke up with that smoking hot red head?" he asked. "Yeah- so?" "So- she's available?" Trisky smiled. "Trisky- what does the charter say about hitting on historical figures?" Parrot Lady said. "Sprog it!" Josh coughed. "Um- I think I've seen enough of this future. I think I'd like to go home now," he said. "... and then I got dizzy and next thing I knew I was back in the quarantine tank. Doctor Traeger got me out," Josh said. "And you believe this is really the future?" Colm asked. "I'm not sure what I believe. But I have hope," Josh said. The End Characters created by Jesse N. Wiley and various authors

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Text Copyright © 2011 by Jesse N. Willey