Time Will Tell (Part 2)

### **READ Time Will Tell (Part 1) FIRST!**

The Overseers had organised an experimental space shuttle, the Enterprise, to give Anderson and Jeremy transit to the other Earth. Jeremy explained "We will need to get to the device and stop ourselves turning it on. We will have to destroy the device so that it cannot function. That should stop this", to which Anderson nodded frantically. After the hasty flight, the shuttle flew over the part of Seattle that had Facility 40. "Where shall I land? Preferably at an airport", the pilot inquired, but when he looked back, both Anderson and Jeremy where gone, along with two parachutes. The duo were dropping toward Facility-40, both packing a Glock-26, fully loaded. They glided through a window, but when they landed in the office a floor above the Control Room, they both frowned and ran down a stairwell. "WE NEED TO GET THERE BEFORE OUR PAST SELVES TURN ON THE DEVICE!", Anderson shouted frantically. By the time they reached the room, past Anderson was already pulling the lever. Present Anderson, acting frantically, shot his past self twice in the head. He glanced to present Jeremy, and frowned. Both versions of Doctor Gerald Anderson flickered in and out of existence, while present Jeremy runs to the panel and switches some knobs frantically. In a flash of light, the present duo appear back in the present, right after the original failure. They simultaneously shouted "GODDAMNIT".

The only difference this time over was the presence of two past Earths, and according to Jeremys Chronon Sequencer, one was from slightly longer ago than the other. They chose the oldest Earth to go to, and now had to fix things without repeating their past mistakes. Repeating the same flight, this time they knew what to do right. They jumped out with their parachutes, and landed through one of Facility 40's windows. This time they got the right one, and they take their Glock-26s and open fire at the observation window. The window, being made of tempered glass, doesn't budge, and the duo fail once more as the machine is activated.

Running to the armoury, they take a Spas-12 shotgun each, and leave to board the Enterprise. Repeating the same old flight, Anderson and Jeremy race toward Facility 40 to stop their past selves activating the device. This time however, Jeremy's frantic shotgun firing kills his past self, forcing him to activate the machine. Grabbing M4A1 assault rifles instead, the two researchers are determined to fix the timeline this run. This time however, they approach Facility 40 from the wrong side, and end up in the cafeteria instead of the control room.

The loop was getting old. The same old flight, same old parachute, same old attempt to destroy the device. Every time, something just seemed to go wrong. The timeline was getting messed up. This loop would look like a tangled ball of wool on the continuum. The past Earths were flickering, and they were running out of tries. The duo fly through the window and appear in the room like always, and Anderson suddenly produced a large RPG. Jeremy would question it, but he doesn't. Anderson fires through the window, and the whole scene seems to go in slow motion. The rocket smashes through the window, and past Anderson produces a compact Glock-26. The rocket flies straight through the Anderson Device, crashing though and detonating. The machine is destroyed, but as the bright light engulfs the scene, past Anderson shoots present Anderson and the two collapse as it all disappears.

Jeremy finds himself standing in a control room. A damaged Anderson Device stands at the centre of a large chamber, with a shattered observation window dividing the rooms. Anderson is on the floor, bleeding. He's been shot in the chest, and it takes a moment for Jeremy to register Andersons injury. Jeremy kneels next to the dying Anderson and shouts for a medic. "Looks like we fixed it after all! Good show! Maybe its good that I die, taking the knowledge of that device with me. Now, just know this. DO NOT MESS WITH TIME, IT ALWAYS BITES BACK AT YOU!", Anderson dies, leaving the usually cold and clinical Jeremy to shed a tear in sorrow. The lead maintenance worker walks in and gasps. "What the HELL? The device was just meant to be turned on! And I find the machine broken and the lead dead!", he says in disbelief, "Whats gonna happen with all this rig? Project Cronos? Whats gonna happen to all this work?". Jeremy stands, still in shock, and looks at the destroyed Anderson Device. "Only Time Will Tell."