After what felt like a lifetime of running, made to feel longer by the fact they had no idea where they were going, the team came to a stop at an underpass in central Manchester. The team ducked into the underpass and found a very dark, dingy and dirty walk way lined with concrete benches and a wide footpath. Clock pulled them over to one of the benches and sat down. He crossed his legs and let out a long-laboured sigh.
"So, can either of you brain sacks explain how and what the hell just happened?" Clock says
"How the hell..." Oz said whilst trying to catch his breath "...Should I know!?"
"Well, that "One" isn't someone to take lightly, I hope you both know that"
"Clearly we do now!" Hannah says
Oz sits next to Clock on the bench and catches his breath for a few moments, he clicks a few buttons on his Tech-Man and the gadget reappears. He presses a few buttons and it plays a video of the meeting in the alleyway.
"Who is this guy?" Oz says
"Someone you don't want at your birthday party that's for sure" Clock replies
"If he's so dangerous, why didn't you, ya know..."
"Kill him?"
"Uhh, yeah"
"Well, by the minimal chance I might miss, I had to worry about what that meant for you, I have to ensure both of your safety before I think of anything else"
Hearing this shook Hannah slightly, she did not think that Clock, even in the heat of such a strange occurrence, would think of them. Clock had never shown any sign of having care for anything other than him and his little picture in his pocket.
"Also, I was pretty sure, he was not alone" Clock continues
"What do you mean?" Hannah asks
"In the BCI, Agents are given strenuous qualifying tests. One in every 1,000 pass the initial tests. One in every one of those thousands can with stand the training and synaptic alterations. One of the things I can do is pretty much make a map of the immediate area in my mind and place sounds and slight disturbances in the atmosphere."
"That is awesome..." Oz says in awe
The British Corps of Intelligence, the BCI for short, were the pinnacle of policing in the future. Agents from other organisations were hand picked for trials and qualifying agents were given unbelievable training and equipment. Clock himself had to beat 5 other BCI agents for the opportunity to be on this very experiment.
"Go on..." Hannah says
"From what I could ascertain, there were at least 18 other operatives in the immediate area observing the exchange we had with One" Clock states
"So, you're like, some super soldier bad ass guy..." Oz asks, still in awe
"Oz, stay with us!" Hannah says
"Sorry..."
"I decided to use the Polarity reverse technique because I took an educated guess to determine that the people were clearly watching what was going on, so they would also get hit by the light blast, even at a much lower intensity." Clock continues
Hannah, even though her face did not show it, was absolutely in shock at the levels of precision Clock used to get them all safely out of such a treacherous situation. She knew Clock was a very gifted soldier, but not quite this much. It was possibly the first time she had seen Clock in a good light.
"So, lets stop sitting around like pricks, you geeks better get to work on where we gotta go" Clock says
And the feeling of warmth she had for Clock, as short as it was, disappeared once again.
"Ass" Hannah says, directed at Clock
"Just remember, One won't ever give up. I could tell this is a man that hasn't ever failed" Clock says
Hannah and Oz started to work through data on his Tech-Man to try and decipher where they had gotten to. The Tech-Man was cross referencing old maps and pictures of the area, stored in its archives, with the constellational data it had recorded on landing. This was what was creating a SatNav-like experience. Now underground, this was becoming an issue. Clock did not want to return to the surface yet, so this was going to be hard to overcome.
"Excuse me, you look lost" Said a welcoming voice from the footpath
A young lady, sat on a sort of bicycle with 3 wheels. The back of the bike was converted into a type of Kart. She wore her hair in a tight bun, but it was a lovely strawberry blonde colour. Her eyes were pale blue and looking directly at Oz sat on the bench.
"Uhh, Hi, and yes" Oz says
"Well, I've finished my round, I can give ya'll a lift if you would like?" She said with a big smile
"Pass..." Clock says waving his hand at her to get rid of her
"Will you shut up! Of course, do you know where the University is?" Hannah says
"Yeah! It's at the end of this underpass, then it's a few metres from there, but not far, you just follow the signs!"
"That would be great, are you sure?" Hannah asks
"Of course, it's nice to help people ya know?"
Oz opened the compartment on the Tech-Man and pulled out some of the primitive currency of this time. He walked over to the young lady and held out a random amount.
"Will this do?" Oz asked
"Oh my! That's a small fortune you just have in ya hand there, stranger" She said with a shocked expression
"Take it, we have more"
"I couldn't, I couldn't..."
"Please, kindness is, well, it's rare"
"Yawn!" Clock shouts sarcastically
The young lady separates a small amount of the money and takes that and puts it into her breast pocket. She pulls the cover off the Kart to reveal a large compartment. It has a few empty boxes, they smell so nice that the Team nearly faint with delight.
"What in the fuck is that smell!?" Clock asks, his head half into the back of the kart
"Oh, I'm sorry, that's the flowers, I'm a flower girl!" She says
"Wow, okay I'm done, I'll stay sat here, you save us all, Bye" Clock says, now led in the Kart
"Move over you Ass" Hannah says, squeezing into the kart next to him
"I'm Lila by the way, Nice to meet you!" Lila says with another big smile
"It really is! I'm Osmund, or Oz for short, this is Hannah, and this is..." Oz says, interrupted
"Frank!" shouts Clock, then grabbing Oz close to whisper "Don't use my real name, Idiot"
"Well, let's go then!"
As Lila began to pedal away, down the footpath in the underpass, the Team thought about how Rutherford is now just a bike ride away from them. Hannah was so excited about meeting such an Icon. She was also trying to decide how she felt about Clock being so close to her, his scent was creeping up her nose and she couldn't decide whether it made her sneer or made her weak. She looked up at his bearded face which currently had a childlike smile across it due to the smell of flowers and wondered how he got to be like he was. She looked down to see his picture, the one he held so dear, creeping out of his Jacket. She saw the unmistakeable sign of Blonde hair before Clock pushed it back inside of his jacket. She looked up at him, now looking her directly in the eyes. He looked away from her after a few moments, the joy of the flowers now a distant memory, replaced with a look of true sadness. Whomever it was in the picture was someone Clock couldn't let go of.
YOU ARE READING
Time Flux: Welcome to the New World
Science Fiction[This version of Time Flux is in progress and is without any proof reading or editing, professionally or otherwise. Read at your own risk! On completion it will be edited, rewrote and chopped to bits so enjoy the unabridged raw version of Time Flux...
