#TimeTravelingGhost EP 8: Post 87: 2025 Arkham

#Wss366 Suit #MastoPrompt Lessen #TimeTravelAuthors 03/31. Author's choice/promo #WordWeavers 31 Share or tell us about a fun scene you recently wrote.

The rest of the trip was awkward. I kept catching Emily glancing at me. Logically, I knew this was a good sign. I had feelings for her, but it didn’t #lessen the feeling that I wanted to escape. Her jealousy of the women in my life before we met raised red flags.

It was more than that, though. There was a sense of dread and panic. I found myself thinking things like, “Been there, done that,” or “It never turns out well.” It frustrated me that I couldn’t pinpoint why I felt that way. Was it an intuition about Emily, or was it something from my past?

Other than that, the trip was fun. It was nice to just enjoy things without worrying about anthropomorphic rabbits, the Illuminati, or other hidden terrors.

When I asked Emily if she enjoyed herself, she said, “I had a swell time.”

The day we arrived back in Arkham, it was sunny. A robin greeted us from a tree near the station. People had smiles on their faces. It was hard to believe that tomorrow someone would discover my mutilated body in Franklin Park.

It was still early, so I pointed out a café. “That’s one of my favorites. I think it’ll #suit you. They make excellent coffee, and the coffee cake is that old-fashioned kind with lots of brown sugar on top. We can go to the park where you can have some.”

“That’s peachy. I’m glad you’re getting your memories back. Is any of it useful?”

“Memory?” I asked.

“The café?

I blinked. “It wasn’t really a memory. Just a feeling.”

It would have been an inconsequential occurrence, soon forgotten, except for the server's greeting upon entering the café: “How was your vacation, Professor Bijou?”

I was stunned. Had she addressed me as Professor Dubois, I would have assumed my makeup was an inadequate disguise. But this woman knew my name.

I ordered two coffees and some pastries, then hurried out. There were people all around, so I didn’t dare talk to Emily until we reached the park.

We found a quiet bench where Emily sat next to me. She materialized, taking a sip of coffee and a bite of cake. Then she asked, “How did you know the way to the park?”

It was the third shock in a row. I answered, “I don’t know. I just did, and I know where the statue and oak are as well.” That was something I hadn’t known before. This wasn’t like returned memory.

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#TimeTravelingGhost EP 8: Post 86: 2025 Arkham

#Wss366 Minister #TimeTravelAuthors 03/29. Characters' eye colors

We wrapped things up from there and departed, leaving behind a mystified professor. I suppose we could have told her that a prehistoric race of giant rabbits was about to gruesomely murder her, but if events were immutable, why add that grief to her life?

Now we had to wait to retrieve any letters Ms. Dubois might have left for us. The best time for that would be just before they found her body. From Professor Skully’s story, we gathered we had a narrow window of opportunity before time-pressure would erase the letters.

In the meantime, we would wait rather than risk a time-trip.

That left us with a few days to enjoy ourselves. Had it been later in the year, we might have gone to Vermont to enjoy the countryside. Instead, we took a train to New York to see a few shows. Since money was no object, I bought tickets to The Great #Minister, a play about Winston Churchill. It would be a good history lesson for Emily.

On the train down, we discussed what we would do next. We had already rejected time tourism or finding a cozy refuge. That left three options: go directly to investigate the Council of Nicosia; visit Faust for more information; or experiment with commands by doing some safe time-tripping.

Once we had made our decision, Emily looked at me, her cobalt eyes surrounded by little creases. "So, who is Sarah Lockwell?"

“Are you jealous?” I asked.

“Just answer the question.”

“I truly don’t know who Sarah Lockwell is. I only used her name for the mail because it was the first thing that came to mind. Please believe me!”

She continued to peer into my eyes.

It was disconcerting, so I nervously asked, "What do you see?"

“They are brown like good fudge.”

She looked away. “Okay, I believe you. But if you’re lying, you’re a real mug.”

“Oh, boy,” I thought. “Are things going to get complicated?”

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#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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