Anomalies
by Lyndsey Werner
“Morgan! We have to close it!” Raymond shouted. Morgan slowed, as she realized that her husband wasn’t going to see reason. She looked at him, then turned, there was only one way she could stop him from destroying their life’s work. Morgan stood before the breach. “Morgan!” Raymond caught sight of her, and slowed. “Morgan, what are you doing?” She looked back at him, and smiled. “Morgan! NO!” Raymond yelled, but it was too late. Morgan jumped into the breach and vanished.
Raymond woke abruptly as an alarm went off. Another breach, he stood up and grabbed his keys, walking quickly down the hall in the agency he had helped create, the Temporal Containment Agency. It had been three years since Morgan had opened the first breach, and since then breaches had randomly been opening into various eras of Earth’s past, only to collapse a few hours later. As the foremost expert on the breaches, Raymond had worked with the government to build the TCA in order to protect the past and present.
Raymond walked into the control room. Zack, a promising young scientist, glanced up at him. “We’ve got something coming in.” Zack said. “I have never seen anything like this! It’s as if-”
“Enough science.” Sgt. Lena Lopez snapped, loading a magazine into her gun and holstering it. “Where is it?” Zack looked up, his eyes wide.
“Out there,” He pointed out the window overlooking the lobby. “A breach is opening right on our doorstep.” The group looked up collectively and started for the stairs. Lena radioing for security as she went. The telltale shimmer preceding a breach rippled across the air, but it did not stabilize into a portal the way it should have. Instead it collapsed leaving a teenage girl behind. She blinked, and looked around, her long hair tied up in a high rope braid that wiped around her head as she took in her new surroundings. Guns were pulled around her. Lena took point, gun raised.
“Identify yourself!” Lena ordered.
“Sgt. Lopez,” Raymond put a hand on Lena’s gun, “She probably has no idea where she is, or what just happened.”
“What’s the date?” The teenager asked. Lena glanced at Raymond.
“Yes, she clearly has no idea what’s going on.” Lena observed sarcastically. Raymond stared at the girl.
“November 26,” He answered. “Who are you?”
“Why are you here?” Lena demanded, adjusting her stance so that she was ever so slightly in front of Raymond. The girl considered them, looking at the guns around her. Then she raised her hands
“My name is Anom Lee,” She answered. “and I’m here to stop Morgan Wendell from making a massive mistake.”
Dr. Wendell watched the girl, Anom, in the interview room. He’d known Morgan was alive out there. She’d popped up on the TCA’s radar any number of times. Morgan had become unhinged even going so far as to commit crimes when she returned to the present. Morgan seemed to be gaining money and followers; most of his colleagues at the TCA viewed her as a threat. What did this girl know about Morgan? Could Anom Lee really be from the future? Raymond had always suspected it was possible and from the morbid hints Morgan had dropped the last time he’d seen her, Raymond suspected his wife had been there already. But Anom Lee was the first real evidence of the possibility.
“You think she’s really from the future?” Raymond looked up at Director Ryan.
“That kind of controlled entry through a breach seems to support the theory.” Raymond answered. “The technology involved in manipulation breaches is decades, maybe centuries, beyond anything we have.”
“The things she could tell us.” Ryan began.
“Director,” Raymond said sharply. “Preventing temporal contamination is part of our charter. That doesn’t just apply to protecting the past from the present.” Ryan probably disagreed, but Zack chose that moment to sprint up to them, preventing Ryan from arguing.
“You- not-” Zack panted. “You’re not going to believe this.” Zack straightened. And held out a file. “We got a match on her DNA.”
“So she’s not from the future.” Ryan said.
“Oh, she’s from the future. Probably. I think.” Zack stumbled over his explanation. “We actually got two partial matches, it’s…” Zack trailed off as Raymond opened the folder. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open in shock. He just about stopped breathing. “It’s you, Doc.” Zack finished lamely. “You and Dr. Morgan, Anom’s DNA proves it.” Zack glanced at the girl in the interview room. “She’s your daughter.”
Dr. Wendell and Sgt. Lopez took the seats across from Anom. “You’re related to Morgan Wendell.” Lena began flatly. She had no love for Morgan.
“Unfortunately.” Anom replied, watching them as closely as they watched her. Raymond cleared his throat.
“How did you appear the way you did? You seemed to control the breach.” Raymond had fought to be a part of this interrogation, but now he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t ask what he really wanted to ask, he didn’t even know what he really wanted to ask.
After a moment Anom sighed. “It’s not what you think,” She leaned against the table. “I have a condition.” Anom glanced at Lena. “You know what happened to Morgan,” Lena nodded, and Raymond’s jaw tightened. “What you may not know, is that Morgan was pregnant at the time.” Raymond’s throat constricted. “Morgan went through quite a number of breaches. All that travel,” Anom paused, searching for the right word. “affected the embryo.”
“You mean, you.” Lena clarified. Anom nodded.
“I’m not tethered in time.” She explained. “Breaches form around me, or maybe I create them. I don’t know.” Anom glanced away, leaning back. “All I know is that I can only stay in any given time period for a limited time.” Anom crossed her arms. “The longest I’ve been able to stay in one place on my own was about two months, and I have little to no control of when or where I end up.”
“Wait,” Raymond spoke, “What do you mean by, ‘on my own’? What about your mother?” Anom looked at him sharply.
Anom had first breached within moments of her birth. Not that she remembered. There a component of survival instinct connected to her ability to breach, that had, somehow, kicked in the minute she was born, breaching her to the one time she could be tethered to. Far in the future, where, when, people understood breaches and time travel. The scientists of that era worked out how to hold Anom in their time before she’d breached again. That was where she’d been raised. For twelve years, Anom had been happy. Adopted by one of the scientists who’d stabilized her. She had a sister, a brother, and some good friends. Anom’s family had always been quite open about who Anom was, it was even in her name, Anom Al Lee, “anomaly”.
The timeline, as every schoolchild knew, was more or less set in place. Even killing major scientists in the past would do very little to the present; it was only a short period before someone else achieved their accomplishments. Once the first breach was created, an equation materialized, one that laid out the course of time, taking everything into account. The equation that created the timeline was flexible enough for variations, changes in dates, and deaths, but for all intensive purposes, the timeline was stable.
There were only two anomalies capable of altering the timeline in any meaningful way. They’d be suspended in a breach as the equation was unfolding, as the timeline was settling. Anom and her mother, Morgan, had leapt into the first breach moments after it’s creation. Because of that, the equation failed to account for them. The scientists who’d helped Anom could loosely track Morgan, and always kept a worried eye on her movements.
Anom had been unconcerned with all of it. She’d been sure that the timeline could withstand anything her biological mother did. Until that day, the day things, people, started disappearing as if they’d never existed. No one else even remembered them.
Anom ran up to her mother’s office. “Mom!” She cried, bursting in. Her Uncle Sev, another of the scientists who had saved her, grabbed her shoulders.
“Anom, listen to me. We’ve been tracking your mother.”
“Mom?” Anom gasped, panicking. “Did something happen?!”
“Not that mother.” Uncle Sev said. Anom looked at the screens around her.
“Morgan?” Anom asked, rubbing her tear-stained face.
“She’s two years after the first breach.” Sev told the girl. Leading her down to the first floor and outside. “Late November, early December.”
“I don’t understand, where’s Mom?” Anom whimpered.
“I just told-” Sev began.
“Not Morgan! Dr. Lita Lee! Your friend!” Sev looked pained, and Anom realized the truth. “She doesn’t exist anymore. Does she?”
“I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of her.” Sev said in a low voice.
“My brother?” Anom asked. “My sister?”
“You were raised alone.” Sev murmured. Anom looked around, trying not to cry. “Listen Anom, you’re going to have to be very strong now.” Uncle Sev took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You are strong, and I know,” His voice caught. “I know you’ll be okay. Promise me. Promise me that you’ll be alright.”
Anom started to cry. “Uncle Sev?” She couldn’t see his expression, her vision blurred by tears. Uncle Sev hugged her.
“I love you, kid.” He told her, his voice thick and shaking, as Anom sobbed into his shoulder.
Suddenly Anom fell forward, she looked around. “Uncle Sev?” The city was vanishing, as if it had never been built. “No.” Ruins dominated the landscape, remains of a long over war. “NO!” Anom screamed desperately. She heard something and looked up, hoping to see her mom, Uncle Sev, anybody she knew. Instead, Anom saw a predator, massive and deformed, ready to pounce. Anom screamed as the creature leapt, claws outstretched, reaching toward her. Catching nothing as Anom breached away to the distant past.
“Morgan doesn’t share my condition.” Anom answered Dr. Wendell’s question, scornfully spitting out Morgan’s name. “I never really knew her. It’s difficult to stay in one time. Luckily, when I was younger I tended to breach to safer places. I don’t really know why.” Anom sighed. “Sometimes, with other people’s help, I can work out techniques to stay longer. Using things like discipline, meditation, even medication, can buy me a few extra days.”
Dr. Wendell appeared unsatisfied with her answer, he opened his mouth to ask more, but Lena cut him off. “I’m more interested in this mistake Morgan’s about to make.” The contempt deepened on Anom’s face at her mother’s name.
“I don’t know the details. Just the approximate time period and that she’s going to do something.” Anom said. “Something very bad.”
“What exactly?” Lena pressed her. Anom looked at them both.
“Morgan is going to destroy the future.”
“That’s insane.” Ryan snapped, “How can one woman, even one as intelligent and resourceful as Morgan Wendell, destroy the future?”
“It falls in line with what Morgan was talking about last time I saw her.” Raymond pointed out. “She said she needed to ‘remove’ that fifteen year old because his grandson was interfering with her work.” Raymond shrugged. “Since the kid didn’t even have a girlfriend, it does hint that she was interested in altering the future.”
“I wouldn’t put it past her.” Lena said. “That woman would do anything to get what she wants.” Her eyes flicked to Raymond then away.
“Morgan probably isn’t even in this time zone!” Ryan began, but was interrupted by Zack knocking on the door.
“Um, sir, we just got a report.” Zack glanced at Lena. “Morgan’s been spotted.”
Lena stood up. “Get me the location, now, and you two.” She looked directly at Raymond and Zack. “Stay here.”
Anom was waiting for Lena and her team outside. “You can take me with you, or I can find her myself.” She said before Lena could speak.
“Fine, you’re with me.” Lena consented after a moment. “On the way you can tell me how you got out of my holding cell.” Anom sat in front while Lena drove. Lena glanced at the girl.
“So, when are you going to stop lying?” Lena asked.
“I’m not lying.” Anom said. “I’m not telling you everything, but I’m not lying.”
“So you expect me to believe that a girl with no power over where or when she ‘breaches’ to managed to go to our lobby the very day we get our first lead on Morgan in months?” Lena snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“I’ve been trying to reach this day since I was twelve years old.” Anom informed Lena. “I’ve tried dozens of different methods of steering myself. I finally found someone who could help me, but it would only work once.” Anom stared into the distance. “After this, I’ll be stuck wandering again.”
Anom looked at Zack. This time she’d only missed her target by about twenty years, but Zack thought he could help her. A scar ran down his face. He glanced at her. “I’m aiming for November 20th of that year.” Zack said, his voice hoarse from years of hard life. “But there’s no way for us to be sure.”
“Whether it works or not, thank you.” Anom clasped his shoulder. A smile flickered over Zack’s battle weary face.
“You really do remind me of your father sometimes.” He told her. “I hope you can change the past.”
“I can,” Anom assured him, “and I will.” She turned to the bulky patchwork machine that should send her back in time to stop Morgan. “Even if this doesn’t succeed, I won’t stop until I restore the timeline.”
“This will only work once, after you’ve gone, the components will have burned out.”
“I understand.” Anom said. “The algorithms would be meaningless anyway. I’ll have changed everything.” Zack walked to the control panel.
“Anom,” Anom looked at Zack. “You’ve told me about the equation, and I know the timeline is your first priority, but I have a request.” Zack looked up from the controls. “Please, save your father.”
“Zack, you know what I plan to do.” Anom replied. “Morgan won’t be able to target you, and my father won’t die saving you.” Anom smiled. “It’s why you decided to help me in the first place.”
“So?” Lena brought Anom back to the present. “How is Morgan going to destroy the future?”
“Not sure.” Anom answered. Lena gave her a suspicious look. “I’ve been jumping between the past and future for a long time.” Anom hastened to explain. “In the future, they can track temporal anomalies. I’m not a very big impact on the timeline, because I actively minimize situations where I might mess up the timeline.”
“But Morgan doesn’t.” Lena finished, thoughtful but still wary. Anom nodded.
“While I was in the future, one of the scientist told me that they were tracking massive temporal event. It was Morgan, something she did caused a cascade.” Anom looked out the window quickly, unwilling to let Lena see that her eyes were glistening with tears. “After a few hours, everyone and everything in the time had vanished.” Anom took a shuddering breath, getting her emotions back under control. “I knew I had to undo what Morgan had done. I had to restore the timeline, and bring back everyone Morgan’s actions had erased from existence.”
Lena focused on the road. “Heavy burden to bear.” She finally said. Anom felt better. Lena shared her dislike of Morgan, Anom had been worried that she’d have to contend with Raymond and his friends to stop Morgan. Lena’s support was reassuring.
“How old are you?” Lena asked abruptly.
“What?”
“You said you’ve been trying to get here since you were twelve. So how old are you now?” Lena asked again.
“I have no idea.”
“You look about seventeen.” Lena observed.
“I feel a lot older.” Anom said. There was silence for a minute. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
“No, I’m not,” Lena tried to protest. “It’s just…” Lena focused her eyes on the road. “You shouldn’t be this old… you know?” Anom gave a little smile.
“Time travel,” She acknowledged. “It certainly complicates things.”
“You know,” Lena’s eyes were glued to the road now. “The guy in the interrogation room with me, he’s your father.”
“I know.” Anom replied.
“You know?” Lena looked at her startled, then swiveled her head back to the road. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Why didn’t he?” Anom countered, Lena lapsed into silence. Anom glanced at her and sighed. “Honestly, it’s better for me not to get too close.” Anom stared out the window. “It’s already hard for him, suddenly learning he had an adult daughter. If we got close.” Anom paused, fidgeting with her vest. “It would only make it harder when I have to go.” Lena stole another glance at Anom.
“You’ve been through this a lot.” Lena noted. Anom ran her fingers through her hair.
“More times than I care to count.” She said, effectively ending the conversation.
Lena pulled up to the area Morgan had been sighted. Lena went to the trunk and opened it, surveying her small arsenal. Lena looked up as the passenger side door opened. “What do you think you’re doing?” Lena demanded as Anom closed the door. Anom glanced around and raised her eyebrow.
“Is this a trick question?”
“You’re untrained, unarmed, and a minor.” Lena snapped, slinging a large gun across her back. “Get back in the car.”
“I’m trained in six different martial arts, two of which don’t exist yet. We don’t know I’m a minor, and,” Anom reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small gadget that she briskly unfolded into a gun resembling a rifle. “I’m definitely not unarmed.”
“Where’d you get that?” Lena asked, looking somewhat envious.
“Russia, the 22nd century, I think.” Anom answered, loading the gun. Anom looked around as Lena coordinated with the rest of her team. Something caught Anom’s eye, and she smiled.
“I know where she’s going, if you want to try there.” Anom said casually.
“What?” Lena looked up, and she loaded her handgun. “Where?” Anom led Lena to a locked garage, staying low. “What makes you think she’s in here?” Lena hissed.
“You see that lock?” Anom nodded at it. “It’s got a DNA scanner, not suppose to be produced for another 60 years.”
“Can I shoot it off?” Lena asked.
“Not with a nine mil.” Anom answered, and promptly blew the lock, and a small portion of the garage door, away with only a minor crackle of gunfire.
Lena eyed Anom’s gun enviously. “You think you can get me one of those?” Anom grinned, and jerked her head. Lena made entry, and Anom followed. They stared around and then Lena summed up her feelings on what they saw in two short words. “Holy shit.”
All around them were boards with photographs, surveillance photos, profiles, and even some stuff from the near future. Some of them were heavy hitters, politicians, scientists, etc. some of them they’d never heard of. Dominating the far wall were the words “IT’S THEIR FAULT!” A list of names followed, falling into two categories, “Kill” and “Contain”.
“Your name’s under kill.” Anom observed tightly.
“And Raymond’s is under contain.” Lena replied. “We are definitely in the right place.” Lena heard something and turned in time to avoid a blast from a bizarre handgun. It caught Anom in the shoulder and knocked her off her feet. “Six martial arts, my ass.” Lena muttered, ducking behind one of the many boards.
“Lena Lopez.” Morgan laughed. “I was so hoping you’d be first.” Lena cursed inwardly, and tried to radio for back up. “If you’re waiting for your team, I’m afraid that they’re a bit preoccupied at the moment.” Lena considered switching to the large gun on her back, but it would be pointless. “Come out, Little Lena.” Morgan taunted her. “Or I shoot the girl.” Lena took a deep breath. The board wasn’t providing any real protection anyway. Lena stepped out and faced Morgan, her gun raised.
“I don’t think you should.” Lena said coldly. “She’s your daughter.” Morgan’s eyes narrowed.
“I don’t know how you found out about that, but my child is gone.” Morgan smiled. “And now, so are you.”
“Morgan stop!” Raymond stood in the doorway, Zack right behind them. Morgan’s gun dipped in hesitation, and that was all that was needed. In an instant, Anom was on her mother, taking her down using a technique no one had ever seen. Before anyone knew what had happened, Morgan was on the floor, Anom standing over her, holding her gun.
“Nice job, Anom!” Lena congratulated her. Anom released the safety on the gun. Lena and Raymond exchanged a glance. “Um, Anom, what are you doing?” Lena asked, as Raymond took a few steps into the room, closely followed by Zack.
“Something I’ve known I’d have to do since I was twelve years old.” Anom answered. “When Morgan shattered the timeline.” A volley of protests were raised, but Morgan’s rose above them all.
“It wasn’t me! It was them!” She gestured around the room, encompassing Zack, Lena, Raymond, and all of the people depicted on the boards. “When I found my way back to the future to finish my work, everything had been destroyed!” Morgan glared around at them. “I searched that wasteland to discover who was responsible.” She snarled. “Then I came back so I could put a stop to all of you!”
“Wait, a desolate wasteland? You’ve seen it? Then,” Anom faltered. “Dr. Wendell, how many years has it been since the first breach?”
“What? Um, three. It’s been three years.” Raymond answered. “Wh-”
“Dammit Zack!” Anom yelled in aggravation.
Zack started. “Me? What did I do?”
Anom began pacing restlessly. “Not you, you.” Anom explained. “In twenty years, you designed something to allow me to breach to this time period, but he, you, messed up, sent me a year too late.” Anom fired the gun, a warning shot as Morgan reached for Anom’s fallen rifle. “Next one goes in your leg,” She informed Morgan, and continued as if nothing had happened. “It wasn’t his fault really, we were lucky it worked so well. I’m just frustrated, because I really thought that I made it this time.”
“But now I know, so in twenty years I can take it into account, right?” Zack pointed out.
“It’s a good idea, but I’m immune to changes in the timeline. I’ll still end up here, a year too late to stop Morgan.” Anom sighed.
“I told you it wasn’t me!” Morgan began. “It was them!” She flinched as her daughter pointed a gun at her.
“You really don’t understand, do you?” Anom snapped. “There are only two people in all eternity who are capable of changing the timeline like this, and I know that I wasn’t responsible. So it had to be you.” Anom grabbed Morgan by the collar and lifted her up. “And you’re going to help me fix it.”
“Anom, I need to take her in.” Lena said softly.
“I need access to her.” Anom replied, not taking her eyes off Morgan’s face.
“You’ll have it.” Lena assured her. “But for now, we need to lock her up.” Anom released Morgan and stepped away. Lena grabbed the woman and wrenched her hands behind her back, handcuffing Morgan before she could react.
“Would you have done it?” Raymond approached his daughter as she turned her back on her mother. “Would you have killed her?” Anom looked away, gathering her thoughts, then looked back at him.
“Wouldn’t you?” She asked. “If everyone you knew, everyone you loved, was erased from existence, and all that remained was an empty planet, scarred by war. If one woman was responsible for all of that, and more, wouldn’t you do whatever was necessary to stop her?”
“Morgan! We have to close it!” Raymond shouted. Morgan slowed, as she realized that her husband wasn’t going to see reason. She looked at him, then turned, there was only one way she could stop him from destroying their life’s work. Morgan stood before the breach. “Morgan!” Raymond caught sight of her, and slowed. “Morgan, what are you doing?” She looked back at him, and smiled. “Morgan! NO!” Raymond yelled, but it was too late. Morgan jumped into the breach and vanished.
Raymond woke abruptly as an alarm went off. Another breach, he stood up and grabbed his keys, walking quickly down the hall in the agency he had helped create, the Temporal Containment Agency. It had been three years since Morgan had opened the first breach, and since then breaches had randomly been opening into various eras of Earth’s past, only to collapse a few hours later. As the foremost expert on the breaches, Raymond had worked with the government to build the TCA in order to protect the past and present.
Raymond walked into the control room. Zack, a promising young scientist, glanced up at him. “We’ve got something coming in.” Zack said. “I have never seen anything like this! It’s as if-”
“Enough science.” Sgt. Lena Lopez snapped, loading a magazine into her gun and holstering it. “Where is it?” Zack looked up, his eyes wide.
“Out there,” He pointed out the window overlooking the lobby. “A breach is opening right on our doorstep.” The group looked up collectively and started for the stairs. Lena radioing for security as she went. The telltale shimmer preceding a breach rippled across the air, but it did not stabilize into a portal the way it should have. Instead it collapsed leaving a teenage girl behind. She blinked, and looked around, her long hair tied up in a high rope braid that wiped around her head as she took in her new surroundings. Guns were pulled around her. Lena took point, gun raised.
“Identify yourself!” Lena ordered.
“Sgt. Lopez,” Raymond put a hand on Lena’s gun, “She probably has no idea where she is, or what just happened.”
“What’s the date?” The teenager asked. Lena glanced at Raymond.
“Yes, she clearly has no idea what’s going on.” Lena observed sarcastically. Raymond stared at the girl.
“November 26,” He answered. “Who are you?”
“Why are you here?” Lena demanded, adjusting her stance so that she was ever so slightly in front of Raymond. The girl considered them, looking at the guns around her. Then she raised her hands
“My name is Anom Lee,” She answered. “and I’m here to stop Morgan Wendell from making a massive mistake.”
Dr. Wendell watched the girl, Anom, in the interview room. He’d known Morgan was alive out there. She’d popped up on the TCA’s radar any number of times. Morgan had become unhinged even going so far as to commit crimes when she returned to the present. Morgan seemed to be gaining money and followers; most of his colleagues at the TCA viewed her as a threat. What did this girl know about Morgan? Could Anom Lee really be from the future? Raymond had always suspected it was possible and from the morbid hints Morgan had dropped the last time he’d seen her, Raymond suspected his wife had been there already. But Anom Lee was the first real evidence of the possibility.
“You think she’s really from the future?” Raymond looked up at Director Ryan.
“That kind of controlled entry through a breach seems to support the theory.” Raymond answered. “The technology involved in manipulation breaches is decades, maybe centuries, beyond anything we have.”
“The things she could tell us.” Ryan began.
“Director,” Raymond said sharply. “Preventing temporal contamination is part of our charter. That doesn’t just apply to protecting the past from the present.” Ryan probably disagreed, but Zack chose that moment to sprint up to them, preventing Ryan from arguing.
“You- not-” Zack panted. “You’re not going to believe this.” Zack straightened. And held out a file. “We got a match on her DNA.”
“So she’s not from the future.” Ryan said.
“Oh, she’s from the future. Probably. I think.” Zack stumbled over his explanation. “We actually got two partial matches, it’s…” Zack trailed off as Raymond opened the folder. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open in shock. He just about stopped breathing. “It’s you, Doc.” Zack finished lamely. “You and Dr. Morgan, Anom’s DNA proves it.” Zack glanced at the girl in the interview room. “She’s your daughter.”
Dr. Wendell and Sgt. Lopez took the seats across from Anom. “You’re related to Morgan Wendell.” Lena began flatly. She had no love for Morgan.
“Unfortunately.” Anom replied, watching them as closely as they watched her. Raymond cleared his throat.
“How did you appear the way you did? You seemed to control the breach.” Raymond had fought to be a part of this interrogation, but now he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t ask what he really wanted to ask, he didn’t even know what he really wanted to ask.
After a moment Anom sighed. “It’s not what you think,” She leaned against the table. “I have a condition.” Anom glanced at Lena. “You know what happened to Morgan,” Lena nodded, and Raymond’s jaw tightened. “What you may not know, is that Morgan was pregnant at the time.” Raymond’s throat constricted. “Morgan went through quite a number of breaches. All that travel,” Anom paused, searching for the right word. “affected the embryo.”
“You mean, you.” Lena clarified. Anom nodded.
“I’m not tethered in time.” She explained. “Breaches form around me, or maybe I create them. I don’t know.” Anom glanced away, leaning back. “All I know is that I can only stay in any given time period for a limited time.” Anom crossed her arms. “The longest I’ve been able to stay in one place on my own was about two months, and I have little to no control of when or where I end up.”
“Wait,” Raymond spoke, “What do you mean by, ‘on my own’? What about your mother?” Anom looked at him sharply.
Anom had first breached within moments of her birth. Not that she remembered. There a component of survival instinct connected to her ability to breach, that had, somehow, kicked in the minute she was born, breaching her to the one time she could be tethered to. Far in the future, where, when, people understood breaches and time travel. The scientists of that era worked out how to hold Anom in their time before she’d breached again. That was where she’d been raised. For twelve years, Anom had been happy. Adopted by one of the scientists who’d stabilized her. She had a sister, a brother, and some good friends. Anom’s family had always been quite open about who Anom was, it was even in her name, Anom Al Lee, “anomaly”.
The timeline, as every schoolchild knew, was more or less set in place. Even killing major scientists in the past would do very little to the present; it was only a short period before someone else achieved their accomplishments. Once the first breach was created, an equation materialized, one that laid out the course of time, taking everything into account. The equation that created the timeline was flexible enough for variations, changes in dates, and deaths, but for all intensive purposes, the timeline was stable.
There were only two anomalies capable of altering the timeline in any meaningful way. They’d be suspended in a breach as the equation was unfolding, as the timeline was settling. Anom and her mother, Morgan, had leapt into the first breach moments after it’s creation. Because of that, the equation failed to account for them. The scientists who’d helped Anom could loosely track Morgan, and always kept a worried eye on her movements.
Anom had been unconcerned with all of it. She’d been sure that the timeline could withstand anything her biological mother did. Until that day, the day things, people, started disappearing as if they’d never existed. No one else even remembered them.
Anom ran up to her mother’s office. “Mom!” She cried, bursting in. Her Uncle Sev, another of the scientists who had saved her, grabbed her shoulders.
“Anom, listen to me. We’ve been tracking your mother.”
“Mom?” Anom gasped, panicking. “Did something happen?!”
“Not that mother.” Uncle Sev said. Anom looked at the screens around her.
“Morgan?” Anom asked, rubbing her tear-stained face.
“She’s two years after the first breach.” Sev told the girl. Leading her down to the first floor and outside. “Late November, early December.”
“I don’t understand, where’s Mom?” Anom whimpered.
“I just told-” Sev began.
“Not Morgan! Dr. Lita Lee! Your friend!” Sev looked pained, and Anom realized the truth. “She doesn’t exist anymore. Does she?”
“I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of her.” Sev said in a low voice.
“My brother?” Anom asked. “My sister?”
“You were raised alone.” Sev murmured. Anom looked around, trying not to cry. “Listen Anom, you’re going to have to be very strong now.” Uncle Sev took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You are strong, and I know,” His voice caught. “I know you’ll be okay. Promise me. Promise me that you’ll be alright.”
Anom started to cry. “Uncle Sev?” She couldn’t see his expression, her vision blurred by tears. Uncle Sev hugged her.
“I love you, kid.” He told her, his voice thick and shaking, as Anom sobbed into his shoulder.
Suddenly Anom fell forward, she looked around. “Uncle Sev?” The city was vanishing, as if it had never been built. “No.” Ruins dominated the landscape, remains of a long over war. “NO!” Anom screamed desperately. She heard something and looked up, hoping to see her mom, Uncle Sev, anybody she knew. Instead, Anom saw a predator, massive and deformed, ready to pounce. Anom screamed as the creature leapt, claws outstretched, reaching toward her. Catching nothing as Anom breached away to the distant past.
“Morgan doesn’t share my condition.” Anom answered Dr. Wendell’s question, scornfully spitting out Morgan’s name. “I never really knew her. It’s difficult to stay in one time. Luckily, when I was younger I tended to breach to safer places. I don’t really know why.” Anom sighed. “Sometimes, with other people’s help, I can work out techniques to stay longer. Using things like discipline, meditation, even medication, can buy me a few extra days.”
Dr. Wendell appeared unsatisfied with her answer, he opened his mouth to ask more, but Lena cut him off. “I’m more interested in this mistake Morgan’s about to make.” The contempt deepened on Anom’s face at her mother’s name.
“I don’t know the details. Just the approximate time period and that she’s going to do something.” Anom said. “Something very bad.”
“What exactly?” Lena pressed her. Anom looked at them both.
“Morgan is going to destroy the future.”
“That’s insane.” Ryan snapped, “How can one woman, even one as intelligent and resourceful as Morgan Wendell, destroy the future?”
“It falls in line with what Morgan was talking about last time I saw her.” Raymond pointed out. “She said she needed to ‘remove’ that fifteen year old because his grandson was interfering with her work.” Raymond shrugged. “Since the kid didn’t even have a girlfriend, it does hint that she was interested in altering the future.”
“I wouldn’t put it past her.” Lena said. “That woman would do anything to get what she wants.” Her eyes flicked to Raymond then away.
“Morgan probably isn’t even in this time zone!” Ryan began, but was interrupted by Zack knocking on the door.
“Um, sir, we just got a report.” Zack glanced at Lena. “Morgan’s been spotted.”
Lena stood up. “Get me the location, now, and you two.” She looked directly at Raymond and Zack. “Stay here.”
Anom was waiting for Lena and her team outside. “You can take me with you, or I can find her myself.” She said before Lena could speak.
“Fine, you’re with me.” Lena consented after a moment. “On the way you can tell me how you got out of my holding cell.” Anom sat in front while Lena drove. Lena glanced at the girl.
“So, when are you going to stop lying?” Lena asked.
“I’m not lying.” Anom said. “I’m not telling you everything, but I’m not lying.”
“So you expect me to believe that a girl with no power over where or when she ‘breaches’ to managed to go to our lobby the very day we get our first lead on Morgan in months?” Lena snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“I’ve been trying to reach this day since I was twelve years old.” Anom informed Lena. “I’ve tried dozens of different methods of steering myself. I finally found someone who could help me, but it would only work once.” Anom stared into the distance. “After this, I’ll be stuck wandering again.”
Anom looked at Zack. This time she’d only missed her target by about twenty years, but Zack thought he could help her. A scar ran down his face. He glanced at her. “I’m aiming for November 20th of that year.” Zack said, his voice hoarse from years of hard life. “But there’s no way for us to be sure.”
“Whether it works or not, thank you.” Anom clasped his shoulder. A smile flickered over Zack’s battle weary face.
“You really do remind me of your father sometimes.” He told her. “I hope you can change the past.”
“I can,” Anom assured him, “and I will.” She turned to the bulky patchwork machine that should send her back in time to stop Morgan. “Even if this doesn’t succeed, I won’t stop until I restore the timeline.”
“This will only work once, after you’ve gone, the components will have burned out.”
“I understand.” Anom said. “The algorithms would be meaningless anyway. I’ll have changed everything.” Zack walked to the control panel.
“Anom,” Anom looked at Zack. “You’ve told me about the equation, and I know the timeline is your first priority, but I have a request.” Zack looked up from the controls. “Please, save your father.”
“Zack, you know what I plan to do.” Anom replied. “Morgan won’t be able to target you, and my father won’t die saving you.” Anom smiled. “It’s why you decided to help me in the first place.”
“So?” Lena brought Anom back to the present. “How is Morgan going to destroy the future?”
“Not sure.” Anom answered. Lena gave her a suspicious look. “I’ve been jumping between the past and future for a long time.” Anom hastened to explain. “In the future, they can track temporal anomalies. I’m not a very big impact on the timeline, because I actively minimize situations where I might mess up the timeline.”
“But Morgan doesn’t.” Lena finished, thoughtful but still wary. Anom nodded.
“While I was in the future, one of the scientist told me that they were tracking massive temporal event. It was Morgan, something she did caused a cascade.” Anom looked out the window quickly, unwilling to let Lena see that her eyes were glistening with tears. “After a few hours, everyone and everything in the time had vanished.” Anom took a shuddering breath, getting her emotions back under control. “I knew I had to undo what Morgan had done. I had to restore the timeline, and bring back everyone Morgan’s actions had erased from existence.”
Lena focused on the road. “Heavy burden to bear.” She finally said. Anom felt better. Lena shared her dislike of Morgan, Anom had been worried that she’d have to contend with Raymond and his friends to stop Morgan. Lena’s support was reassuring.
“How old are you?” Lena asked abruptly.
“What?”
“You said you’ve been trying to get here since you were twelve. So how old are you now?” Lena asked again.
“I have no idea.”
“You look about seventeen.” Lena observed.
“I feel a lot older.” Anom said. There was silence for a minute. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
“No, I’m not,” Lena tried to protest. “It’s just…” Lena focused her eyes on the road. “You shouldn’t be this old… you know?” Anom gave a little smile.
“Time travel,” She acknowledged. “It certainly complicates things.”
“You know,” Lena’s eyes were glued to the road now. “The guy in the interrogation room with me, he’s your father.”
“I know.” Anom replied.
“You know?” Lena looked at her startled, then swiveled her head back to the road. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Why didn’t he?” Anom countered, Lena lapsed into silence. Anom glanced at her and sighed. “Honestly, it’s better for me not to get too close.” Anom stared out the window. “It’s already hard for him, suddenly learning he had an adult daughter. If we got close.” Anom paused, fidgeting with her vest. “It would only make it harder when I have to go.” Lena stole another glance at Anom.
“You’ve been through this a lot.” Lena noted. Anom ran her fingers through her hair.
“More times than I care to count.” She said, effectively ending the conversation.
Lena pulled up to the area Morgan had been sighted. Lena went to the trunk and opened it, surveying her small arsenal. Lena looked up as the passenger side door opened. “What do you think you’re doing?” Lena demanded as Anom closed the door. Anom glanced around and raised her eyebrow.
“Is this a trick question?”
“You’re untrained, unarmed, and a minor.” Lena snapped, slinging a large gun across her back. “Get back in the car.”
“I’m trained in six different martial arts, two of which don’t exist yet. We don’t know I’m a minor, and,” Anom reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small gadget that she briskly unfolded into a gun resembling a rifle. “I’m definitely not unarmed.”
“Where’d you get that?” Lena asked, looking somewhat envious.
“Russia, the 22nd century, I think.” Anom answered, loading the gun. Anom looked around as Lena coordinated with the rest of her team. Something caught Anom’s eye, and she smiled.
“I know where she’s going, if you want to try there.” Anom said casually.
“What?” Lena looked up, and she loaded her handgun. “Where?” Anom led Lena to a locked garage, staying low. “What makes you think she’s in here?” Lena hissed.
“You see that lock?” Anom nodded at it. “It’s got a DNA scanner, not suppose to be produced for another 60 years.”
“Can I shoot it off?” Lena asked.
“Not with a nine mil.” Anom answered, and promptly blew the lock, and a small portion of the garage door, away with only a minor crackle of gunfire.
Lena eyed Anom’s gun enviously. “You think you can get me one of those?” Anom grinned, and jerked her head. Lena made entry, and Anom followed. They stared around and then Lena summed up her feelings on what they saw in two short words. “Holy shit.”
All around them were boards with photographs, surveillance photos, profiles, and even some stuff from the near future. Some of them were heavy hitters, politicians, scientists, etc. some of them they’d never heard of. Dominating the far wall were the words “IT’S THEIR FAULT!” A list of names followed, falling into two categories, “Kill” and “Contain”.
“Your name’s under kill.” Anom observed tightly.
“And Raymond’s is under contain.” Lena replied. “We are definitely in the right place.” Lena heard something and turned in time to avoid a blast from a bizarre handgun. It caught Anom in the shoulder and knocked her off her feet. “Six martial arts, my ass.” Lena muttered, ducking behind one of the many boards.
“Lena Lopez.” Morgan laughed. “I was so hoping you’d be first.” Lena cursed inwardly, and tried to radio for back up. “If you’re waiting for your team, I’m afraid that they’re a bit preoccupied at the moment.” Lena considered switching to the large gun on her back, but it would be pointless. “Come out, Little Lena.” Morgan taunted her. “Or I shoot the girl.” Lena took a deep breath. The board wasn’t providing any real protection anyway. Lena stepped out and faced Morgan, her gun raised.
“I don’t think you should.” Lena said coldly. “She’s your daughter.” Morgan’s eyes narrowed.
“I don’t know how you found out about that, but my child is gone.” Morgan smiled. “And now, so are you.”
“Morgan stop!” Raymond stood in the doorway, Zack right behind them. Morgan’s gun dipped in hesitation, and that was all that was needed. In an instant, Anom was on her mother, taking her down using a technique no one had ever seen. Before anyone knew what had happened, Morgan was on the floor, Anom standing over her, holding her gun.
“Nice job, Anom!” Lena congratulated her. Anom released the safety on the gun. Lena and Raymond exchanged a glance. “Um, Anom, what are you doing?” Lena asked, as Raymond took a few steps into the room, closely followed by Zack.
“Something I’ve known I’d have to do since I was twelve years old.” Anom answered. “When Morgan shattered the timeline.” A volley of protests were raised, but Morgan’s rose above them all.
“It wasn’t me! It was them!” She gestured around the room, encompassing Zack, Lena, Raymond, and all of the people depicted on the boards. “When I found my way back to the future to finish my work, everything had been destroyed!” Morgan glared around at them. “I searched that wasteland to discover who was responsible.” She snarled. “Then I came back so I could put a stop to all of you!”
“Wait, a desolate wasteland? You’ve seen it? Then,” Anom faltered. “Dr. Wendell, how many years has it been since the first breach?”
“What? Um, three. It’s been three years.” Raymond answered. “Wh-”
“Dammit Zack!” Anom yelled in aggravation.
Zack started. “Me? What did I do?”
Anom began pacing restlessly. “Not you, you.” Anom explained. “In twenty years, you designed something to allow me to breach to this time period, but he, you, messed up, sent me a year too late.” Anom fired the gun, a warning shot as Morgan reached for Anom’s fallen rifle. “Next one goes in your leg,” She informed Morgan, and continued as if nothing had happened. “It wasn’t his fault really, we were lucky it worked so well. I’m just frustrated, because I really thought that I made it this time.”
“But now I know, so in twenty years I can take it into account, right?” Zack pointed out.
“It’s a good idea, but I’m immune to changes in the timeline. I’ll still end up here, a year too late to stop Morgan.” Anom sighed.
“I told you it wasn’t me!” Morgan began. “It was them!” She flinched as her daughter pointed a gun at her.
“You really don’t understand, do you?” Anom snapped. “There are only two people in all eternity who are capable of changing the timeline like this, and I know that I wasn’t responsible. So it had to be you.” Anom grabbed Morgan by the collar and lifted her up. “And you’re going to help me fix it.”
“Anom, I need to take her in.” Lena said softly.
“I need access to her.” Anom replied, not taking her eyes off Morgan’s face.
“You’ll have it.” Lena assured her. “But for now, we need to lock her up.” Anom released Morgan and stepped away. Lena grabbed the woman and wrenched her hands behind her back, handcuffing Morgan before she could react.
“Would you have done it?” Raymond approached his daughter as she turned her back on her mother. “Would you have killed her?” Anom looked away, gathering her thoughts, then looked back at him.
“Wouldn’t you?” She asked. “If everyone you knew, everyone you loved, was erased from existence, and all that remained was an empty planet, scarred by war. If one woman was responsible for all of that, and more, wouldn’t you do whatever was necessary to stop her?”