#TimeTravelingGhost EP 8: Post 85: 2025 Arkham 2 of 2 parts

#Wss366 Slip #MastoPrompt Brunt #TimeTravelAuthors 03/27. Alternate timelines?

[Continued from previous post.]

“The second is that I would like you to take notes on what happens. Deposit them regularly and secretly. You will want to review them later.”

“Where do you want me to leave them?”

I hadn’t thought about that. I manifested a phone and searched for a mailbox rental place. “Rent a box in the name of Sarah Lock…”

That was a #slip. I could feel Emily’s eyes boring into me. What is it with her and that name?

“Lockhorn. Sarah Lockhorn,” I improvised. “At Arkham Mailstop.”

“That’s too obvious. They’ll spot her depositing mail,” Emily said, and took the full #brunt of another of her glares.

“Who?” Ms. Dubois looked between us, mystified.

“I’ll explain in a minute. That’s item three,” I said.

“I could leave them in my office?”

“No,” Emily and I said together, and I continued, “It’s going to be ransacked.”

“I don’t suppose you’re going to explain that,” the professor said, her tone petulant.

“No, I’m sorry I mentioned it,” I said.

Dubois sighed. “You know the hole in the big oak in Franklin Square Park? I could slip them in there.”

“Where’s that?” I asked.

"Behind that awful modern art statue. You know, the one that looks like a rock gnome giving the heavens the finger.”

I didn’t know where that was, either, but I figured I could find it. There couldn't be many statues like that.

"That will do," I said. "The third thing is to watch out for anthropomorphic rabbits wearing ICE Nine vests. Try to stay away from them. But note anything you see. It's important."

“What? Rabbits?”

Emily and I both shrugged and smiled.

Faust:

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#TimeTravelingGhost EP 8: Post 85: 2025 Arkham 1 of 2 parts

#Wss366 Slip #MastoPrompt Brunt #TimeTravelAuthors 03/27. Alternate timelines?

Even with the abridged version, Emily’s eyes had glazed over by the time Professor Dubois finished. For my part, I only understood the high-level stuff. The salient details were twofold: first, that Faust knew more about time travel than I ever had and might have information on the Rabbits; and second, that while every time-particle had minor differences, alternate timelines were almost impossible. Time-pressure quickly erased significant deviations.

Emily had a question about that. “So you’re saying that saving Archduke Ferdinand or killing Hitler wouldn’t change history?”

"Exactly. There would be a short-term disturbance, but things would ultimately settle back into place. Faust tried to save Margarete several times, but she was always executed or died violently."

“But something like a meteor that caused the dinosaurs to go extinct would be enough?”

I saw what Emily was getting at, but I wasn't sure how she had arrived at the conclusion that there was a deeper reason for us to have witnessed that event. Besides, how do you influence a meteor?

“Possibly… I suppose. At least locally, but not on a universal scale.” Then, Ms. Dubois turned to me, said, “There were three reasons for your coming. What is the second?”

Goethe's Faust:

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#TimeTravelingGhost EP 8: Post 84: 2025 Arkham

#Wss366 Shower #TimeTravelAuthors 03/25. brief/short

Professor Dubois looked confused and, perhaps to buy herself time to think, stroked the rat, and said, “Patroclus deserves a treat for his hard work,” and opened the bottom drawer, extracting both the bottle of brandy and a container of rat food.

“Patroclus, that's the first recorded individual… ghost to transcend time. You were quite clever naming him,” I said.

Emily snickered. “Show-off.”

There was a #short pause while Patroclus enjoyed his meal, and the professor and I sipped the inexpensive brandy she had offered me. I guessed it was what a professor could afford.

“So, why today’s visit?” Ms. Dubois asked, looking over the rim of her tumbler.

“Three reasons. First, tell us about time-travel. Why can we do it?” I answered.

The professor looked perplexed, so I added, “For reasons I can’t explain, I don’t remember anything. Professor Skully has explained to us about time-streams, particles, and pressure. But he didn’t know the details.”

“Good old Dana. I didn’t know he listened to me. Okay, so you want details. Time-travel has been my life's work. After I realized that my mother’s spirit had visited me and given me a time-travel book, I became convinced that magic was the key.”

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted. “Your ‘mother’ visited you and gave you a book?”

“Yeah,” Ms. Dubois said, as she opened the top drawer and took out a dog-eared copy of “The Time Machine.”

I glanced at Emily; we both recognized it. Not too long ago, by our time, I had given that book to a young girl waiting for her mother to recover from surgery.

The professor continued, “My mother used to #shower me with gifts, but this one was special.”

She sighed and put it back in the drawer. “Of course, it took a long time to pick up the trail. It wasn’t until I obtained a copy of ‘Faustus Pakt’ that I made any headway. He talked about what he’d seen, but the key was that the formulas had come from ‘Pompilius’ Spiegel.’”

“Who?” Emily interrupted.

“Faust, of course. He relied heavily on Pompilius’s book, which is also rare. That’s where I learned that you have to tear the soul from its moorings in the present to project yourself into the past. Let me show you the pentagram.”

“Be #brief,” Emily said. “The two of you can be so pedantic. We can already time-travel, so we don’t need any complicated rituals.”

Patroclus:

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#TimeTravelingGhost EP 8: Post 83: 2025 Arkham

#Wss366 Spoiler #TimeTravelAuthors 03/21. March/step

“What are you doing in my office?” My living counterpart asked, looking between Emily and me. “#March right out of here, you two, and make an appointment!” she snapped. “Students!”

“You see her,” I said. “You can see Emily!”

“Of course I see…” Ms. Dubois looked at Emily again and did a double-take. “She’s transparent!”

It seemed a suitable moment, so I removed my disguise. “And I’m you.”

“Good Lord!” the professor exclaimed.

“Have a seat. You look faint.” Emily gestured to his chair. “We need to talk.”

Ms. Dubois slumped into her chair, her eyes darting between us.

“If you need a drink, feel free.” This time, Emily gestured toward the brandy drawer.

I had to smile; she did love needling me.

Instead of accepting the offer, the professor finally said, “So I’m going to be successful at time travel.”

“Yes,” I replied. “We’d like to know more about that.”

The professor abruptly rose from his chair, almost dropping the rat. “Come with me. Professor Skully will believe me if he sees both of us together!”

“We decline,” I said. “We’ve met him in the future. It would be a #spoiler now and could mess up the timeline.”

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#TimeTravelingGhost EP 8: Post 82: 2025 Arkham

#Wss366 Irish & #StPatricksDay #TimeTravelAuthors 03/17. Patient or patience in your story

Rather than leave the way we had come, I decided to time-trip out. The less information we gave our foes, the better. Apparently, they knew we could time-travel, but we could hold dematerialization as a trump card.

I took Emily’s hand and thought about our next destination. “Take us to my university office on the day the pink rat arrives from the future.”

The familiar sensations of time-tripping took over, and we appeared in a small academic office. Green streamers hung from the window, and a mega plushy papillon wearing an emerald top hat sat in the guest chair. A small plastic Buddha rested on the desk next to a picture of a young woman and me. Behind them stood the brick wall of an #Irish pub. The picture triggered a sense of profound sadness, but no memories.

Emily burst out laughing when she saw the clothes I’d manifested. “Nice duds. Is that what the daring avant-garde wear in your time? Absurd, but it’s charming in its own way.”

I pulled the floppy hat down and the N95 mask up higher, hoping they might hide how red my cheeks were. They probably matched the large cherry-red sunglasses I was sporting. I’d considered wearing a hijab but was unsure about the cultural implications of a nonbeliever wearing one. “I told you I don’t want people to see two Professor Henrietta Dubois’s.”

“Professor Tweedledee and Dum,” Emily joked.

I tipped up my glasses and rolled my eyes. She laughed.

“And this must be a young Tweedle-dumb,” she said, looking at the picture. “You look happy.

She stopped, tapped a signature, and said, “Who's Sarah Lockwell?” The amusement on her face had faded.

“I don’t remember.” My response wasn’t an evasion. I truly didn’t remember.

“Shame,” she said, but it didn’t sound as if she meant it.

Next, she walked around the desk, materialized her hand, and opened the bottom drawer. “Brandy. You were a bit of a lush, weren’t you, Professor Dumb?”

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m a spy, sleuthing.”

“Well, be careful. You’ll get caught snooping.”

“You’re the only one who can see me.”

“Right, I forgot.”

After that, I sat #patiently on the edge of the guest chair while Emily continued to investigate. “Faustus Pakt, Liber Juratus, Pompilius’ Spiegel,” she read as she browsed the books on a shelf. “You had quite an interest in Faust and medieval grimoires.”

Having no memory of my prior reading, I didn’t comment.

Emily had moved back to the desk when the door opened, interrupting her investigation. In the corridor stood an outraged Professor Dubois, carrying a pink rat in a cage.

Medieval Grimoires:

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#TimeTravelingGhost EP 7 Post 81: 12 May 1999: London

#Wss366 Sock #MastoPrompt Humble #TimeTravelAuthors 03/15. Does anyone have fun (or want to have fun) with time travel?

When Nostradamus spoke next, he had adopted the clipped accent of a Londoner. “I know you won’t take this advice, but you'd be better off enjoying your travels than meddling in divine affairs.”

“1900s Paris is lovely. You would enjoy it. The World's Fair was fabulous. Or how about settling into a #humble croft in Cornwall? You could enjoy the peace and quiet, not to mention the fresh country air. Or maybe somewhere more idyllic, like Tahiti before Captain Wallis arrived? I will say nothing of your visit here if you say nothing of what I have told you.”

I wanted to #sock his smug face. His advice amounted to, “Ignore the evil around you and have fun.”

Emily and I had discussed this several times, and enjoyed the pleasures of wherever we ended up. However, we wouldn’t let evil fester without at least trying to do something about it. After all, we were the “chosen ones.” In my words: “Fair may be foul and foul may be fair, but something stinks in Denmark.”

Rather than say that, I equivocated. “You might be right. We've discussed getting a villa in Versailles.”

“Prudent. While you're there, invest in some Monet or Tissot paintings before they become wildly famous. Though I warn you, 1789 is a terrible year.”

From the enslaved populace songs, chants and demands,
While princes and lords are held captive in prisons.
These will in the future by headless idiots
Be received as divine prayers.

          [Nostradamus, Les Prophéties, Quatrain I.14]

“Now, if you will excuse me, I have a consultation with the president of Sole Fruit,” the prophet said, waving toward the door.

Nostradamus:

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#TimeTravelingGhost EP 7 Post 80: 12 May 1999: London (1of 2)

#Wss366 stasis #MastoPrompt Figment #TimeTravelAuthors 03/13. Cultures in your story

“A history of cruelty and tyranny,” Emily replied. “That’s what it is.”

“There’s a Christian relic, an unknown da Vinci painting, and other priceless artifacts. Locked away in an archaic vault!” I said.

“Very British, wouldn’t you say?”

I joined Emily and looked at the objects next to her. In front of the tube was a plaque that read, “Di Xin’s ‘Pào lào’ (Roasting Pillar), c. 1046 BC.” In the display case were Chinese coins labeled "Goose-eye cash coins minted after Dong Zhuo melted down the Twelve Metal Colossi, 192 AD." On the wall hung a Chinese painting labeled "Daji Watching the Bronze Fire at Night" by Fei Danxu (1831) that depicted a beautiful woman with an amused smile.

“A multi-#cultural display of cruelty and depravity,” I said.

“Yes, they even have Lenin’s embalmed body and Vlad the Impaler’s mummified hand.”

“How did they get here?” I asked.

“Time-travel,” a deep voice said as dim lights came up. Startled, I turned to face the voice. “Mercury's court warned me about you, but I never thought you would show up here: Mademoiselle Henrietta Dubois and her mysterious companion. Quite a troublesome pair. #Figments of a hope that can never be. The Countess Bathory should have disposed of you when she first met you, but I suppose she thought it would be amusing to watch the mischief you cause.”

“More likely,” I thought, “she knew she couldn’t dispose of me.”

Di Xin, Pào lào’& Daji:

[Continued in next post]

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