Scene 7

 Scene 7: Moral Quandary

Abigail stared at the flickering light of the dying fire, her mind wandering through the twisted pathways of time. So many loops, so many failures, so much blood on her hands. David's face swam before her eyes, his warm smile marred by the deep crimson stain across his chest. She had lost count of how many times she had watched the life drain from those gentle brown eyes.

"I can't keep doing this," she whispered. "There must be another way."

Across from her, Detective Elias prodded the embers with a stick. "You know as well as I do, there are always consequences. Change one thing, and everything changes."

Abigail bristled at his defeated tone. "So I'm just supposed to let him die? What if it was your wife?"

Elias froze, pain etched across his weathered features. For a long moment, the only sound was the crackling of the fire. "It was. Thirty-two years ago."

Abigail's throat tightened. "What happened?"

"Car accident. Drunk driver." Elias kept his eyes on the glowing coals. "I wanted to go back and stop her from getting in that car. Maybe I could have saved her." He looked up, meeting Abigail's gaze. "But I didn't. The universe has a balance, and we can't tip the scales without consequences."

Abigail leapt to her feet, hands balled into fists. "That's easy for you to say! He's not your husband!" She stormed off into the trees, years of anguish boiling over. He didn't understand. No one understood except her.

She ran until her lungs burned, then collapsed against a moss-covered log. Sobs wracked her body. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. All she wanted was to save the man she loved. Was that so wrong?

As her tears subsided, the familiar weight of responsibility settled upon her. She had a duty to uphold as a scientist, no matter the personal cost. With a weary sigh, Abigail rose and made her way back through the gloomy forest to their makeshift camp.

Elias sat quietly beside the waning firelight. Wordlessly, she joined him. For a long moment, they stared into the hypnotic dance of the flames.

Finally, Abigail broke the heavy silence. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that." She paused, gathering her composure. "But you have to understand, I can't stop trying to save David. I won't."

Elias gave a solemn nod. "I know. But we have to be careful. Who knows what damage we might do." He rubbed his unshaven jaw, brow furrowed in thought. "Have you considered...have you tried going back before that day? Maybe you could prevent his death another way."

Hope flickered in Abigail's chest. "I've thought about it. But the farther back I go, the more variables come into play. It's hard to control."

"But worth trying?" Elias held her gaze, empathy radiating from his tired eyes.

Abigail managed a faint smile. "Worth trying."

They sat in contemplative silence as the stars emerged overhead. For the first time in forever, Abigail felt the faintest stirrings of hope.

***

The Louisiana bayou loomed before her, primordial and timeless. Somewhere in the tangled waterways lay the key to saving David. If she could just intercept Professor Heisenberg before he recruited David for Project Chronos, none of this would happen.

Abigail wove between snarled cypress knees protruding from the tea-colored water, pausing occasionally to check the tracking monitor clasped in her fist. Heisenberg's locator signal remained frustratingly out of range. Overhead, Spanish moss swayed from weathered branches, sending diffused sunlight dappling across the glassy water.

Something splashed off to her right. Abigail froze, eyes scanning the stillness around her. Another splash, followed by a faint sucking sound. She crept toward the noise, lips pressed tight. If it was a gator, she only had a few seconds before it submerged.

Peering through a screen of sawgrass, she spotted a small aluminum boat moored against a fallen tree. A figure in a trench coat and fedora was bent over, stuffing a heavy sack into the boat's compartment. Professor Heisenberg! She had found him.

Pulse pounding, Abigail slipped behind a tree and watched as the professor clambered into the boat and puttered down a narrow inlet. As soon as he was out of sight, she raced to the mooring and leapt into a second boat tied there. Thank goodness he hadn't been alone. This might work after all!

She motored down the inlet in pursuit, weaving between draping curtains of moss. Rounding a bend, she spotted Heisenberg's boat just as it disappeared into a tunnel-like channel. Killing the engine, she allowed momentum to carry her forward until the boats bumped together with a hollow thunk.

Heisenberg whirled around, eyes narrowing when he spotted her. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded in a thick German accent.

Abigail stood her ground. "I'm here to stop you from recruiting my husband."

The professor's lips curled into a sinister grin. "Ah, you must be Abigail. I wondered when we would meet."

Abigail blinked in surprise. "You know who I am?"

"My dear, I know everything about David Turner and his meddlesome wife." Heisenberg moved toward her with alarming speed, a syringe glinting in his fist. "Now hold still, this will only hurt for a moment."

Abigail's instincts took over. She seized the oar and swung it at Heisenberg's head. He stumbled backward, surprise registering on his face for a split second before the oar connected with a sickening crack. Without hesitation, she brought it down again and again, brain matter and blood spraying in a hot, wet mist.

Finally, the professor lay still, head a pulpy mass of bone and tissue. Abigail dropped the oar, nauseated by what she had done but knowing it was too late for regret. She had to find David before someone else did.

Clambering over Heisenberg's corpse, she rifled through his belongings until she found a leather journal and a brass pocket watch engraved with a spiral symbol. This must be the key to locating Project Chronos!

Hope bloomed anew as she sped away from the grisly scene. She was one step closer to saving David. No matter what it took, she would find him.

***

Abigail tumbled through the void, panic rising as she clung to the damaged time device. Blazing light seared her eyes. The walls between dimensions were fraying, leaking temporal energy like radiation.

With a bone-jarring thud, she crashed onto glossy white tiles. Fluorescent lights flickered above. Groaning, Abigail stood on shaky legs and took in her surroundings. She was in a long hallway lined with locked doors numbered 109 to 199.

A clinical antiseptic smell hung in the air. She peered through the smudged glass window of door 157. Inside was a small room outfitted with a metal chair and table. Streaks of rust colored the corner. A detention center? An asylum?

Unease skittered down her spine. She needed to get out of here. Now.

Hurried footsteps echoed from around the corner. Before she could react, two men in white uniforms appeared, faces obscured by medical masks. One held a loaded syringe.

"There's the stray!" He lunged toward her. "Get her!"

Abigail turned and fled down the hallway, feet skidding beneath her. A hand grabbed her shoulder and she cried out, twisting away. Wild-eyed, she swung the time device. It connected with the orderly's jaw with a nauseating crack. He crumpled to the floor.

The second orderly backed away, hands raised. "Easy now..."

Ignoring him, Abigail raced for a door marked EXIT at the far end. She burst through to find herself outside, surrounded by a high, electrified perimeter fence. Guard towers loomed at intervals, searchlights slicing through the night.

Would she never escape this endless maze?

Keeping low, Abigail crept alongside the fence. A massive concrete building rose ahead, dark except for the glow of a single window on the third floor. There! That had to be the control center. If she could get inside, maybe she could override the security system.

Pulse drumming, Abigail made for a darkened corner not illuminated by the roving searchlights. The fence here was older, chain links rusted and warped. after several frantic minutes of pulling and prying, she managed to bend a section wide enough to crawl through.

Dropping to the muddy earth, Abigail scooted under the fence. jagged metal scraped her shoulders but she kept going until she tumbled free on the other side.

Clothes filthy and torn, she crept along the building's perimeter. Rounding a corner, she spotted a drain pipe running up the side of the building. It would have to do.

Gritting her teeth, Abigail shimmied up the slick pipe, muscles burning with exertion. don't look down. Don't look down!

At last, she reached the third floor window. Peering inside revealed an empty control room, monitors flickering in the darkness. Abigail pried at the window but it refused to budge. Out of options, she used the time device to smash a ragged hole in the glass big enough to crawl through.

Ignoring the razor-sharp shards, she tumbled inside and raced to the main console, quickly locating the security controls. Lights flashed red as she bypassed locks and deactivated alarms. The electric fence powered down with a low hum.

Success! Now to find David.

Skirting broken glass, Abigail slipped into the darkened hallway. The musty air hinted at decades of neglect. What kind of awful place was this?

Creeping past rows of locked doors, she descended a stairwell marked SUBLEVEL 6. The air grew cooler, laced with an odor she couldn't quite place. Like copper pennies.

At the bottom, long shadows enveloped a cavernous room filled floor to ceiling with clear cryostasis pods. Inside each pod floated a naked human body, suspended in icy preservation. Abigail gasped in horror and shock.

A loud bang sounded from above. "She's down there! Search every pod!"

Abigail's eyes desperately scanned the sea of frozen humanity. Where was David? She had to find him before the guards did!

Then she saw him, adrift in Pod 117-B. With trembling hands, Abigail initiated the revival sequence. Machinery hummed as David's pod slowly drained of viscous fluid.

His eyelids fluttered open, meeting her teary gaze. "Abby? What...what is this place?" His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.

"No time to explain. We have to get you out of here!" Footsteps pounded the metal stairs. They were out of time.

Abigail helped David from the cramped pod, ignoring the bite of cold liquid soaking her clothes. He leaned heavily against her, legs unsteady beneath him.

They had nearly reached the stairwell when blinding lights speared the darkness. "There they are! Don't let them escape!"

A phalanx of guards rushed toward them, weapons drawn. Abigail clasped David's hand, willing her damaged time device to work. "Hang on!"

Searing light engulfed them. A gunshot cracked. And then silence.

***

Abigail blinked, vision swimming into focus. She lay sprawled on rough wooden planks, daylight filtering through warped ceiling boards. Where was she?

Then it came rushing back. The cryostasis facility. David's pod. The hail of gunfire as they made their escape.

"David!" She sat bolt upright, heart seizing. Where was he? Was he...?

"I'm here." His voice came from nearby, weak but steady. Abigail crawled toward it and nearly wept with relief. David was propped against the wall next to a grimy window, pale but alive. She threw her arms around him, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"I thought I'd lost you," she gasped between sobs.

David held her tight, stroking her hair. "Looks like we lost them too. The time device must have transported us here somehow."

Abigail pulled back, composing herself as she took in their surroundings. They appeared to be in an abandoned warehouse, all rusted metal and broken glass. Shadows stretched long across the floor, signaling late afternoon.

"Any idea when we are?" she asked.

David shook his head. "No telling. Could be years in the past or the future." He gestured to the window. "Looks quiet out there though."

Abigail stood and cautiously peered out onto an empty street lined with crumbling brick buildings. Cars parked along the curb looked like relics from the 1970s.

"I think it's the past," she said. "But the device was damaged. Our presence here might have caused a fracture." She chewed her bottom lip, considering their options. Meddling was dangerous. But so was doing nothing.

David rose unsteadily to his feet. "Well, we're not going to find answers here. Let's see if we can figure out when and where we are."

Abigail nodded. Answers first, then they could decide their next course of action. She helped David across the dusty room toward a metal door hanging crookedly from one hinge.

Together, they stepped out into the unknown.

***

Night fell quickly, shadows creeping between neglected buildings. They had wandered for hours without encountering another living soul, but Abigail couldn't shake the feeling of unseen eyes tracking their movement. The desolate streets and faded shop fronts told a story of economic ruin.

David shivered beside her on the crumbling bus stop bench, still weak from cryostasis. His blue lips and pallid skin tore at her heart. They needed shelter fast, or exposure might accomplish what the gunfire had failed to do.

Rustling in the alley across the street caught Abigail's attention. Gripping David's arm, she watched as a disheveled figure pushed a laden shopping cart out of the shadows.

Abigail stood. "Wait!" she called. "Can you help us?"

The figure paused, regarding them warily. Abigail saw now it was an elderly woman wrapped in fraying shawls. Wisps of white hair peeked out from under a wool cap.

"We just need someplace warm to stay for the night," Abigail implored. "Please."

After an agonizing pause, the old woman beckoned them forward. "Come quickly now, dears. It isn't safe out after dark."

They followed her and the squeaking cart down the alley to a sagging wooden door. The interior opened into a cluttered room furnished with castoff chairs and rickety shelves. A potbellied stove radiated blessed warmth.

The woman busied herself building up the fire while David collapsed gratefully into a moth-eaten armchair. Abigail perched on a crate piled with books and faded newspapers.

"Thank you for helping us," she said. "I'm Abigail, and this is David."

The woman nodded, her eyes kind. "Folks call me Ruby. Make yourselves comfortable." She brought two chipped mugs of hot broth and some stale bread. "Eat up. You both look half starved."

Abigail sipped the broth, savoring its comforting heat. "Ruby, can you tell us...what year is it?"

"Why, it's 1979 of course," Ruby replied, brow furrowing.

Abigail met David's shocked gaze. 1979. The cryostasis facility must have been some kind of secret government operation. No wonder those guards had been after them.

Ruby was studying them intently. "You two aren't from around here, are you?" At their hesitant looks, she raised a gnarled hand. "No need to explain. Your business is your own. But you should know, times are hard right now. This whole area's been hit bad since the factories closed."

Abigail felt an ache of empathy for this stoic woman who had seen such hardship. "Have you lived here long?"

"All my life." Ruby settled back in her chair with a sigh. "My Harold used to work at the tire plant before it shut down. When he passed, I just couldn't bear to leave our little home. Even if it is a bit empty these days." Her eyes held a deep loneliness that broke Abigail's heart.

Later, after Ruby retired to her curtained-off bedroom, Abigail and David discussed their situation in hushed tones. This fractured timeline was their responsibility now, for better or worse. Could they sit idly by while people suffered? Or was the risk of altering events too great?

Abigail glanced at Ruby's room, thinking of the quiet strength that persevered even amidst hopelessness. No, she couldn't let fear rule her. Not anymore.

She met David's gaze, new resolve settling inside her. "I think I know what we need to do."

***

Over the next few weeks, Abigail and David worked to quietly improve conditions in the declining town. Abigail leveled her scientific expertise toward innovating new industries and technologies, using her knowledge of the future to seed ideas ahead of their time.

David tapped into his savvy business skills to reinvigorate the local economy, partnering with community leaders to reopen shuttered factories and stores. His charisma and vision inspired optimism in a town accustomed to disappointment. Together, they channeled their knowledge into channels of lasting change.

It was empowering, Abigail realized, being able to directly shape events and steer them toward more positive outcomes. All her life she had focused narrowly on her research without pausing to consider its wider impacts. Here, she experienced the true rippling effects one person could have. It was humbling, yet exhilarating. For the first time, her abilities were making a tangible difference in people's lives.

Abigail found herself growing close to Ruby too. The elderly woman was overjoyed by the town's turnaround, crediting it all to "a touch of heavenly grace." Abigail didn't have the heart to reveal her and David's role in the recovery. Ruby's friendship was a balm to her soul, easing the grief of so many hardships past.

Together, they passed many evenings talking over tea and listening to scratchy records on Ruby's phonograph. Abigail would close her eyes and pretend, just for a moment, that she belonged here. That this humble room was truly her home.

David healed steadily day by day until he was back to his former self. His passion for their work was rekindled, his eyes regaining that familiar determined gleam. "We're really doing it, Abby," he'd say with boyish excitement. "This town has a future again."

And wasn't that a miraculous thing? She had saved David and helped save an entire community in the process. Maybe Elias was wrong after all. Maybe things could be different.

But deep down, an icy doubt remained. Changing the past was a dangerous game, however noble their intentions. Whatever new future branched off from this decision, only time would reveal whether prosperity or ruin waited down its path. They had taken an irrevocable step. Now they could only hope the currents of time stayed on their side.

For today though, Ruby was baking her famous blackberry cobbler, and the air smelled of sugar and possibility. Abigail let the uncertainty slip from her shoulders. She was exactly where she needed to be.