Forward (3 of 3)

Here is the conclusion of my sci-fi short story Forward. 

Part 1: http://www.abctales.com/story/macashton/forward

Part 2: http://www.abctales.com/story/macashton/forward-2-3

Part 3: Forward

Dom watched in amazement as memories of his first kiss, his wedding day, and winning a spelling bee in the third grade flashed before him like a movie. He was rooted in each memory for a minute or two before the bearded man would yank him out and move him again. After walking down the aisle with his beautiful bride, the world went black. Dom floated motionless in space. He could feel the chair beneath him, but otherwise there was only the absence of anything.

     “We’ve got you calibrated. This is where I’m going to leave you.”

     “Floating in black space?”

     “This is the edge of the present moment. You’re currently one tenth of a second ahead of the flow in time, just before anything interesting happens. From here, you can access whatever you want to simply by focusing on it. You will have one hour to look at whatever you like, and I’ll give you updates when you have thirty and fifteen minutes left in your time. Are you ready to continue?”

     Dom felt like an explorer, looking out over the misty shores of the new world. There were millions possibilities just a thought away. “Yes, I’m ready.”

     “Right, signing off then. Have a nice trip. Remember, there’s a kill switch by your right hand if it all becomes too much. It’ll wipe your memory of the experience and bring you back slowly.”

     “Slowly?” There was no response, only the brilliant hum of the future coming into being. Alright, let’s start with something easy then. Dom concentrated hard on a point in time ten years from that day. He pictured his office building, and what working would be like. The world around him whirled in muted grey tones, and he was sitting behind an equally grey desk, yelling at someone on the phone about a return policy.

     He had a large, corner office with a view of other large corner offices, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of sunshine. It wasn’t direct, but it was only two or three refractions away from being so. This is brilliant! A video call popped up on his computer screen and his hands moved, as if on autopilot to answer it. On the screen, a beautiful woman with light hair popped up.

     Next to her face he could see a small image of his own. Ten years? Looks like it hasn’t even been ten minutes. Age is going to be kind to me. Dom felt his apprehension begin to dissipate as his future unfolded before him. He didn’t want to waste any more time listening to the conversation, and consciously focused on shifting to a new point in time. He focused on his son’s face.

     The office building faded from view and for a moment, he hung in space. Colors swirled around his head and he was sitting in a modern apartment. The sound of a knife on a cutting board echoed through the wood paneled hallways. He was sitting on a beige leather couch with a drink in his hand. Other than the occasional thunk from the kitchen, there was no sound. He raised the glass to his lips and burning alcohol blurred his vision. He continued to stare straight in front of him at a blank space on the wall. It felt relaxing in some way, but that could have also been the drink.

     “How long until dinner,” he asked with a tone that sounded a little despondent. It was strange to listen to his voice without any will to speak. Dom was only a passenger, along for the ride.

     “About fifteen minutes,” His wife called from the kitchen.

     The view of his future home was interesting for a moment, but he had wanted to see his son grow up. He thought harder on it and time began to pass at a slightly accelerated rate. There was a ring at the door and he got up to answer it. He opened the door and found a child of twelve staring back at him. He was much older, but Dom could recognize the features anywhere.

     “Hi Dad,” He said, brushing past Dom and walking into the kitchen to greet his mother. Dom didn’t say anything and returned to his sitting position on the couch.

     What is going on here? Dom loved his son dearly, and the flat tone he had greeted him with was strange. The atmosphere of the house was different. He felt like a stranger there, despite the knowledge that it was his home. Time sped up and Dom watched as he ate dinner with his family in silence. Only moments after they had finished, he stood up and walked to the door, giving nothing more than a grunt of thanks.

     “Halfway done,” said a voice from the ether, piercing through the memory like a dream.

     It amazed Dom how fast the time had gone by, but he felt trapped, stuck in this moment. He wanted to know where he was going. The cold night air struck his face as he stepped out of the elevator and on to the city street. It was winter, and a light frost crusted the curb. The vessel in which he was trapped propelled him around the corner and into an alley. Waiting for him was an expensive car with an open door. He got in without hesitation.

     Sitting in the car was a blonde woman with hazel eyes in a black dress. He leaned in and kissed her. She stepped on the gas and they sped through the Midway city streets. Shocked silence was all he could muster. The images he was witnessing went against everything he had ever known to be himself.

     He looked at the woman with great longing, and could feel the blood pump through his body when he stared at her. As he watched her from the passenger seat, he recognized her. The inescapable feeling permeated his brain like a virus. It was the receptionist from Future Solutions.

     Dom’s head spun with the implications of it all. “I am a faithful man,” he yelled, to no one in particular. “Why would I do this?” Dom had never felt such sadness. His relationship with his wife and child had driven him through life. It had made even the most unbearable days in the city worth it. The putrid air, the strangled nest of ties; it all dissipated when he stepped through his front foor. Watching it dissipate in an instant was almost too much to bear.

     Time continued to slip as he got out of the car and walked with the woman to her apartment. He tried to re-focus but found that the grief was overwhelming and kept him rooted in the moment. The only way to pass it was to find a stronger emotion that he could keep in his mind. He tried his son’s wedding. It didn’t work. The birth of his grandchild; time remained rooted.

     “Fifteen minutes,” The voice rang clear again. He was wasting time, staring at one moment in the future when he had all of time at his fingertips. There has to be something. Somewhere I can go where I won’t have to think about this. Eventually he landed on the one place he knew that he couldn’t avoid. I want to find out how I die. The room shook and blurred violently this time, ripping like paper.  

      He left the sordid view of the apartment behind and floated once again alone. Heaviness weighed upon him in every sense. The world flashed and he was sitting back in the wood paneled house, once more with a drink in his hand, raising it repeatedly to his lips. Where the blank wall had been, there now hung a painting. It was of a small lake with a secluded wood cabin. Looking at it brought peace to his troubled heart and reminded him of better times.

     From the kitchen, he heard chopping once more; deliberate thunking of metal on wood. “Everything alright in there?” Dom listened for his wife’s voice, or the sound of his son’s footsteps, but all he heard was the clink of the ice cubes in his glass.

     He stood from the couch and turned to face the kitchen. His wife stood behind the counter, clutching her kitchen knife and weeping gently. “What’s wrong?”

She wiped a tear from her eye and looked at him with a smile. “Nothing, I’m sorry, just something my mother said earlier. You know how she can be.”

     “Oh no, was she at it again?” Her eyes filled with tears once more as she stepped out of the kitchen. He walked forward and held his arms out to embrace her. Things can be fixed here. “It’s alright.” His voice was calm and soothing. There’s still a chance for us.

     The motion was quick and incredibly painful. She stepped into his embrace and drove the knife into his gut. In one fluid motion, he watched the eradication of everything he knew as his life. She removed the knife and slid it in again, higher, inching closer to his heart. The physical pain was unbearable, but watching it at the hands of the woman he loved was worse. 

     “No,” he muttered to the air. “This has to be wrong. I won’t let this happen! Take me out! I don’t want to see anymore!” Dom fell backwards to the floor and watched as his own blood dripped off the knife and onto the floor beside him. “This cannot be my future.” Dom let his hand flirt with the kill-switch, but remembered the memory wipe that accompanied it. Maybe if I just wait I can avoid the wipe.

     “Your heartrate has spiked. We’re going to have to pull you out.”

     He could feel his heart beating frantically in his chest like a beast trying to escape. Cool tears streamed down his cheeks and he could taste the salt. The room around him dimmed from the edges and finally went black. “Let me remember,” He muttered as everything became a white flash.

     Dom sat upright from the table and winced at the soreness of his muscles. “Whoa, take it slow there buddy. The process can cause you to tense up a bit.” The bearded man was standing next to him with a tall glass of water. “You’ll want to drink this. You’re probably feeling a little dehydrated. Nothing to worry about. How was it?”

     “Incredible. I can’t believe it actually works.” Dom took the cup and drank it all at once. Cool relief spread through his aching limbs.

     “Most people can’t.”

     “I wish I could have remembered what I saw.”

     “That’s not for any of us to know. Takes the spice out of it all.”

     “I suppose your right. Thank you.” Dom handed him the water glass and the man led him out of the room. As they stepped past the artificial fireplace, Dom could not help but feel disquieted. He felt as though he had aged for years while his body slept.

     The bearded man opened the elevator and ushered him in. “Thanks for choosing future solutions. Hopefully we’ll see you again soon.” The doors snapped shut and Dom felt queasy as the floor dropped beneath him. In a moment the doors open and he was back in the blinding whiteness of the lobby. He took heavy steps out onto the marble floor.

     “Dominic,” called a voice from across the room. The receptionist from earlier walked up to greet him. “Was your visit satisfactory?”

     The brown pools in her eyes distracted him from the queasy feeling in his stomach. “Yes, thank you very much. I think I’m still in a bit of shock.”

     “I think it gets us all the first time.”

     “You’ve done it?”

     “Oh yes, two or three times a week. It just keeps drawing you back.”

     “Yeah, I suppose it would.”

     “Anyways, here’s my card, feel free to call and schedule another appointment, and let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.”

     “Thanks.” She gave him a warm smile and walked away. He walked through the revolving doors and out into the midday heat. He put the card in his pocket and felt relieved.