The Timeservers

Chapter 82

         Part Four
"Take hold of the future or the future will take hold of you- be futurewise."- Patrick Dixon

New York City, New York

The Spire

Spectre Floor, Floor 96

December 24, 227 P.F.E

0800 hours

They give him the courtesy of letting him sleep in his own bed one last time. He tosses and turns for most of the night, feeling like there's a knot sitting in his belly that he wants to scratch out.
He digs through the room for most of the night, finding what he will need come morning and having to dismantle a wall socket in the process. When morning comes, so does Via.
She steps into the room a little guiltily, carrying some breakfast and a pile of clothing in Historian style. She puts the breakfast on the coffee table then lifts the edge of the bed and puts the clothes under the mattress.
Via marches to the corner of the room and folds her arms. "Get the clothes you came in. I know you kept them. Maybe it can help jog your memory or something when you get out."
"You'll help me remember; right?" Leo asks, sitting down on the couch and picking at the food, aiming for the sweets. If it's the last meal before he becomes someone else there's no need to feel bad about eating crap. "Calories you can't remember partaking in don't count," he quips as he takes a bite from a heavily frosted cinnamon roll.
"Have you decided how much you want to remember?" Via asks, sitting next to him and stealing some of his orange slices.
"Don't tell me about her. She'll probably tell me we're madly in love still and all that, but I'd rather not know how much she betrayed me. I just want to know that she's untrustworthy."
"Don't count her out so quickly."
"I'm sorry, were you there yesterday? Did you not see her betray everyone, her brother, me? You were the one who yelled at her. She made Via Moss break."
"I'm just saying; how could she have pulled off tricking you for all those months? How could she trick her brother like that for years?"
"She's a shadow, it's her job to be like that."
"She would have had to be recruited at thirteen."
"Her mother was involved, she's probably one too."
"You're seriously going to turn on the girl you loved that easily? Don't borrow trouble."
"That's a pretty Historian saying right there. Are you sure you aren't Charlotte?" Leo asks.
"I don't know anymore. Tomorrow your whole life will be something else, disturbingly similar to my past, and you'll believe it. You might even make up memories or something to justify it all. I read about that happening in the Pre Forgotten Era. People would make up memories to protect themselves. Everyone around here would conspire to make anyone believe anything. I don't know what's real anymore." Via brushes her hair out of her face and sighs.
"If you're Charlotte then I know I can move on from Sophia because I know that I love you like I've never loved anyone else. I remembered more last night, and I remembered exactly how strongly I feel for you." Leo shifts, thinking about taking her hand but keeping it to himself instead. She doesn't need that pressure. "Try to remember, please. Remember who you were, remember that you loved me, and I love you. One of us should have that"
"I'll try," Via nods, keeping her head down. "You should get ready. They want you out of here by eight-thirty. They want this done by the end of the day."
"I wish I could remember all of you, Charlotte."
"Me too."