The Path

Two men fell out of the swirling green mist, hitting the coffee table, and knocking a vase of flowers from the fireplace. A revolver skittered across the carpet, and one of them scrambled to retrieve it. The man propped his shoulder against the closest wall, grimacing at the painting of an angel protecting a flock of sheep above his head.

“That could have been a smoother landing.”

“Well, sorry for not being able to make it a smooth landing while dodging bullets.”

“At least you managed to get a deserted house. Doesn’t sound like anyone is home.”

The other grunted as he pushed himself off the floor and walked to the bay window overlooking the street. He eyed the sprawling garden and pulled a stopwatch from his pocket.

“We don’t have a lot of time. Let’s get moving.”

His companion pushed himself off the wall, wincing as his ankle twinged from where it had struck the coffee table. He limped out into the dappled sunlight of the lawn and cast a skeptical eye on the quiet street. His nose wrinkled as a light breeze wafted the heavy perfume of the garden. The street was quiet, though he could hear music from a nearby house.

“You’re sure this is the place? It seems too mundane for her.”

“I might not have stuck the landing, but I got the coordinates right. You think I’d ruin our one chance at this?”

He started when a laughing girl burst through the hedgerow with a little dog at her heels. He was about to dismiss her when her green eyes caught the sunlight. Sure that his calculations had been correct, he moved into her path.

The girl ran into his chest and gave a surprised gasp. She smiled though as she steadied herself, placing a hand over a golden heart-shaped locket that peaked from her dirt-stained overalls. Seeing the locket, any doubt in either man’s mind disappeared. They were in the right place.

“I’m sorry. Didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Not yet.”

Sneering, he leveled his revolver in front of her face. She gasped and shrunk back. The little dog growled at her feet. A bullet whipped past her shoulder, and the man heard a thump behind him. The girl ducked, screaming as she put her hands over her head to shield herself. But the man was already turning, alerted by the thump of a body hitting the pavement. He turned to see a woman in a lab coat standing over his companion, wiping a syringe with her sleeve. “No,” he breathed.

“I expected this from Andrews, in all honesty, but you had me fooled Lt. Ferris,” the woman smiled, which was made haunting by a jagged scar over the left side of her face. Sunlight glinted off thick-rimmed glasses perched atop her thin nose. His hand shook as he turned the revolver towards her. His vision swam and distantly he heard the beeping of the stopwatch in his pocket. Time was up, and he slumped forward, unable to fight the dizziness that overtook him. Two uniformed men moved to grab him, and he no longer had the strength to break the hold on his arms. He’d been warned about Time Sickness, the disorientation that came from traveling to the past, but it wasn’t supposed to happen this fast. As he was dragged back into the green mist, he caught the smirk on the woman’s face. She’d known.

“What’s going on? Why did they try to hurt me? I don’t understand!”

“They were misguided.”

The woman smiled, and took the girl’s hand. “You can call me Doctor Lizzy. I’ll make sure those men don’t try to hurt you anymore. Oh! I know. Why don’t I show you the future? Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“The future? Yes!”

Lizzy steered them toward the green haze and they stepped into a room filled with computers and people in bright green suits. She handed one of them a battered controller, and motioned for the girl to follow her through a doorway. The girl spared the green-suited people a glance, but they had already turned to the computers, seemingly indifferent to their surroundings. They walked through a series of hallways, passing other people in green and yellow attire. The people barely registered Lizzy or the girl, their eyes locked to some place above the girl’s head. One man, dressed in blue overalls and cleaning the floors, had seemed to stare through her when she’d greeted him.

Lizzy opened a door to an office with large windows that overlooked the streets below. The girl was drawn to the window. Through the streaks of a summer rain, she could see the sprawling city. While Lizzy had said this was the future, the city didn’t look much different from the big cities her mother had taken her to for plays and festivals. The only difference was the people, who bustled about in monochromatic suits like a sea of walking rainbows.

“Wow.”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Lizzy smiled. “There’s no crime here, war is forgotten, people live simple lives under the watchful eye of our Founders.” She turned and pressed several small buttons on her desk. “We’ve invented so much. Sustainable energy, better food production; you’ve seen we can time travel.”

The girl startled when the door whooshed open behind her and a woman wearing a yellow suit strode into the room and set a tray of tea and sandwiches on the table. Her eyes were like frosted glass seeming to stare through the girl as she bowed to Lizzy and left.

“Care for a snack? I believe it was almost lunch time at home,” Lizzy smiled. The girl nodded happily and bit into a sandwich. “You’ll have to head back soon. I wouldn’t want you getting Time Sickness like Mr Ferris. And your family would certainly miss you if I kept you too long.”

“Do you have a family?” the girl asked. Lizzy smiled and took the girl’s hand again, leading her to another set of doors.

“I do. Would you like to meet them?” she asked pleasantly. The girl nodded and Lizzy pressed a button, revealing an elevator. She toyed with the chain around her neck as she smiled down at the girl, and gold glinted and clicked quietly against her fingernails. “Ah, here we are.”

The elevator gave a pleasant chime above their heads and they stepped into a well-furnished apartment. “Darlings, I’m home,” she called out. Silence greeted her. “They must be napping,” she winked down at the girl. “Let’s go wake them up.” She walked briskly into a doorway that stood dark and empty at the other end of the room. The girl peered inside and stumbled back as her eyes fell on the occupants of the two chairs that faced the doorway. Their limbs and fingers were jointed like a dolls, their faces painted as if they were smiling, and their bodies placed as if they were having a conversation. Lizzy bent and kissed the man’s stubbled cheek, and ran her nails through the doll-girl’s dark curls. A computer screen behind them flared to life, and Lizzy chuckled at something written there before patting the man’s hand. “She is, my love. I stopped an assassination attempt,” she said casually.

“What… I don’t…”

“They were killed,” Lizzy said sadly. “It’s why the technology for Time Travel exists. I wanted to save them, but even with my abilities, I can’t change time any better than Mr Ferris or Mr Andrews.” She straightened and walked to a balcony overlooking the city below. “So, I decided to make a world where no one else will die. The mind is uploaded and I can speak with them.” She toyed with the chain at her neck again.

“Why?” the girl’s eyes darted back and forth between the dolls and Lizzy. “Why were they killed?”

“To stop this utopia,” Lizzy snapped. She sighed and smoothed back a stray curl from her forehead. “Well, I guess it won’t hurt to tell you,” she leaned further against the railing and turned to face the evening sunlight. Her scar glowed red and angry in the setting sun that peaked through the rain clouds. “Many years ago, I worked as a botanist perfecting a plant that would follow commands. It was a useful little vine that could hold and fetch things. Until I found that the pollen could limit human thought, and with a little prodding, make someone as loyal and hard working as any ant in a colony, a bee to the hive.” She laughed. “Some people didn’t take kindly to my research, and tried to shut me down, shut me up. My husband and daughter were caught in the crossfire.” She turned her eyes to the girl, and removed her glasses. “So I released the pollen into the atmosphere. Everyone has their work, everyone obeys, everyone lives happily under their queen.” Her green eyes shimmered as she smiled.

“That’s horrible!” the girl cried. “That’s not living. You’ve made them robots!”

“What would you know about life?” Lizzy straightened. “You’re not even thirteen. You don’t know the pain life will give you, yet.” The girl rushed at her and Lizzy easily caught the hands that slapped at her lab coat.

“All those people in the halls, they looked through me because you’ve made them drones. They’re puppets, not people anymore! This ‘utopia’ is just your dollhouse.” She shoved against Lizzy with all her might, knocking the taller woman against the railing. Lizzy stumbled and her eyes darted to the street below. “Yes, in my time there is war, and there is famine, but there’s love and friendship and hope. You took that away from them!” Lizzy had to release one of the girl’s hands to catch the railing, and the girl shoved again, unbalancing Lizzy and she winced as the railing dug into her hip.

“Stop,” Lizzy shouted, but it was too late, her foot slid in a puddle, and she started to lose her balance. The girl kept pushing, her anger and frustration at this future blinding her to Lizzy falling. Lizzy’s grip slipped over the rain-slickened railing0, throwing her further off balance. Wind caught at her labcoat, and she felt herself tipping over the railing A golden, heart shaped locket slid from beneath her dress shirt, glinting in the setting sun, and the girl gasped. Lizzy clutched at the railing, but could feel her fingers slipping over the metal. “I guess I should have predicted that you’d be volatile.”.

“Wait...I didn’t mean to…” the girl stammered.

“It’s ok, Elizabeth,” Lizzy smiled up at her, her dark hair catching the wind and her green eyes glinting.

“You’ll do better next time.”