Juncture 5.3

To get to Dierdre’s office, I had to walk up a surprisingly large amount of stairs. This was odd because so far, everywhere I’d visited in the building had been on the same level. This was the first that had any difference in elevation.

I stopped to catch my breath at the top of the stairs. I had been walking for what felt like hours, aeons even. Objectively it was presumably around five, maybe six minutes. I reasoned that it was probably some sort of temporal anomaly around the area put there to give ample time to warm Dierdre should anyone be attempting to get at her.

Yeah. That was definitely it.

After I had taken some time to catch my breath and gather my wits around me, I continued on my way. The hall up here was much smaller than the lower ones. They were also darker. The halls below were a bullet-grey, but the section of the building that I was in had an eerie red hue on the metal.

At the end of the hall was a lone steel door with what looked like several hundred industrial bolts and locks. I walked cautiously over to it.

Nothing happened. It didn’t swing open eerily, there was no clangor as I approached. Just a quiet hall with a heavy door at the end. I was kind of let down; the ambiance had made me feel like I was in some sort of horror movie.

I lifted my fist and knocked. As my fist made impact with the metal, I felt an odd shock leap from the door to my knuckles. I rapped once and pulled back instinctively.

Several seconds passed unspectacularly. Suddenly, all of the locks pulled back and unlatched themselves simultaneously, creating a huge noise. That was shortly followed by the door itself swinging open, to reveal the room behind it.

It continued the trend of defying my expectations. The interior walls were a bright, sunny yellow, studded with impressive modernistic paintings. The entire room was carpeted in thick, orange shag carpet.

I walked in and my shoes were enveloped in the carpet. There was another door across from the small foyer, though this one was wooden and old-looking. I stepped forward, sinking into the surprisingly deep carpet, and knocked again. I was incredibly confused. It was as if the entire setup of the office was meant solely to distract people who enter.

Once again, some time passed, then the ornately carved swung open. An elderly looking lady stood behind it.

She had her silver hair up in a severe bun, and an enormous pair of thick glasses covering the majority of her face. They made her eyes look enormous, and the rest of her look tiny. She was leaning on a thin, shiny black cane.

“Hello Marc,” she began, “Sit down please.” She pointed at two stools next to an open window. It was the first window I’d seen in the entirety of the facility.

“Sorry, are you…?” I left the question hanging as I walked over to the stool.

“Dierdre? Yes, that’s me. Surprised, are you?” She asked, raising one thin eyebrow as she limped over to the other stool.

“Oh, okay. Do you want some help?” I asked as I reached out to help her steady herself. She shook her head and waved a hand.

“So you have an issue,” she said as she righted herself on the seat and laid the cane across her lap. I sat down on the other stool.

“Yeah, it’s about the mission I was given.” I answered. She didn’t say anything, didn’t argue or anything, so I continued. “I don’t think that I can do another one so soon. I just finished getting the scrolls from Pompeii yesterday, and I can’t handle another one right now. It’s like, I’m tired. I saw people who died right after I met them. I’m – I’m fatigued. I don’t have the emotional endurance to do something again without any time in between.”

The entire time I monologued, Dierdre was watching me and listening with a patient look on her face. When I had finished, she spoke up.

“Now, I understand what you’re saying; however, I think you’re mistaken or a few reasons. For one, I heard that you actually managed to ensure the safety of upwards of ten people in Pompeii. That’s an incredible achievement, and one that should absolutely not go unspoken.”

“Secondly, I don’t believe you actually read the envelope. Do you have it with you?” I nodded and pulled the slightly crumpled envelope out of my jacket pocket, straightened it out on my pant leg, and handed it to her.

As she took it I felt the urge to defend myself to her. “Well, I don’t know if you know this or not, but-“

“You have dyslexia, and have trouble reading the written word. Yes, I know. It’s on your file,” she said with a tight smile.

“Uh, yeah. So I didn’t read it. I don’t know what it says.”

“That’s fine,” Dierdre responded. She pulled the letter out of the envelope and unfolded it so it made a sharp, crisp sound. “In its essence, it is a letter of congratulation for your outstanding efforts during your mission. It also has, right here at the bottom,” she pointed to the area she was speaking about, “several suggestions for excellent holidays you can take during the next week. Oh, I went on this one several years back, the trip to the Andes before civilization took root. The view is breathtaking, let me tell you.”

She stopped, then continued, “Sorry, I’m getting off track. Anyhow, the issue you came up here for was that you couldn’t do a mission right now, yes? Problem solved. You have a week to yourself. You may go anywhere, and anywhen, at your leisure.” She got off of her stool and leaned on the cane, holding the letter out to me. “Was that all?”

“Uh, yes. Yes, I’m good. Thank you,” I said. I grabbed the letter and envelope and turned to leave, thought of something, and turned back around. “Actually, I do have a question. I can go anywhere over the next week? I just ask someone?”

“Yes. Our travel facilities are yours to use.” Dierdre said. “Though be warned, you can’t go to the same time that you’ve been before. It doesn’t work.”

“Okay. Thank you so much,” I said.

…

The next day I departed. When I arrived at my trip’s beginning, I was on a familiar hill. The once-lush grass was now yellow and grey, shorter and dying. This time I had come wearing thin cloth clothing and a sack tightly packed with several day’s essentials, held up by two rope straps around my shoulders.

I began my hike, following the crumbling aqueducts weaving their way through the hills. Here and there they would end, with hunks of marble fallen in piles and dusty water dripping off of the ends. My hike took longer than it had before. I was in no hurry.

The view was less beautiful than it had been, but it was more impressive overall. The whole area had a somewhat apocalyptic feel to it, yet the skies were blue, there were no clouds, and I could see verdant forests off in the distance.

When night fell I pulled all of the camping necessities out of my bag. A makeshift tent, fire starters, and tightly packed dehydrated food. In a matter of hours, I was comfortably seated next to a roaring fire, chewing on strips of meat and listening to music on a small earphone. That was my one concession, the only non-era-appropriate equipment I had brought along. I nodded my head to the sound of Silver Sun Pickups until sleep took me.

Late afternoon the next day, I arrived in old Pompeii. The area was already drastically different. Every inch of space was grey, coated in ash and soot. People lined the streets. Former people, statues now. It was true what I’d heard. They were frozen in place. But these people were none of my interest. I kept walking on the familiar streets until I found a building.

The inside of the inn was dark enough that I had to close my eyes to get acclimated. Once I did, I began my search. I cleaved my way through the rooms, searching for any more of the eerie statues.

When I had finished my search I still hadn’t found anybody. Julius and his family had made it out safe. The weight in my stomach dampened. I had to certify it for myself, otherwise I would never have believed that they made it out alive.

I slept in the same room as I had before, and left in the morning.