Out The Window

"Justin, don't you see?" Joe said excitedly, "Now I can go home!"

"If...you can find the right version of yourself," Justin said now pacing back and forth, "Then you could try, but you will still be stuck with the ability to see other dimensions."

Joe watched Justin walk around the now very different workshop. The benches were filled with old junk but only a few inventions. Out of the very few inventions, Joe only recognized one. Sitting on the table was the Bringham projection box.

Justin continued to pace while Joe focused on different versions of himself walking all about the workshop. The longer he sat the more versions of himself appeared. When the versions came into view, so did the world they lived in. It felt like he was walking about in a dream of himself.

In most of the versions, Joe saw Justin working along side of him to create mechanical wonders the world had never known. But one version he saw himself standing over Justin with a strange weapon. It looked like a modern rifle with rings of copper down the barrel. On the bottom side were a steam tank and odd looking generator.

He watched as that version of himself shot the weapon at Justin. Out of the gun came a burst of electricity laced with fire. When the burst of energy hit Justin, he turned into a pile of ash instantly.

"Don't touch any of them yet!" Justin yelled, "We need to travel through time together. If we get separated, our future version may have stumbled onto many different kinds of troubles that we would not be familiar with."

"The version I just focused on wasn't good!" Joe said with a shudder, "I watched myself kill you."

"Yes, I saw a similar version a minute ago," Justin said, "There are some important rules I have learned. But first, let's get back to normal time. "

Justin reached out and grabbed Joe's arm while jumping to another time. Once again Joe felt the world go blurry as they jumped into the future.

"There, back home," Justin said with his glasses and crazy hair back to normal, "There are many things you will have to learn for yourself. One of those is how to focus on the world around you without going crazy from the other dimensions you see. Here put these on."

Joe grabbed the set of goggles that Justin was handing him. They had a lens in them with a dark tint. These ones had no wood at all. The goggle portion was made entirely from brass with a leather pad around the eyes and a gold buckle on the strap. Once they were in place he could no longer see versions of himself.

"Those will help you block out most of the shells," Justin said as he rolled around the shop, "That's what I call the other versions of myself. They're shells, not entirely me, or at least not until I choose them."

"This time travel thing is all very confusing," Joe said with a sigh, "You said back to the normal time before we time traveled. What do you mean the Normal time?"

"It's not time travel," Justin angrily huffed, "It's just part of the fourth dimension. We can see other versions of ourselves, versions that made different choices than those we actually made."

Justin rolled over to a cabinet across the shop and pulled out a brass sphere the size of a basketball. There was a Dark circle engraved into it with many other lighter circles in all kinds of directions around the sphere.

"This is my model of how the dimension works," Justin said hanging the sphere on a track that ran around the room, "The track is world time, the sphere is my life... well, a representation of our lives now. Before the experiment, we saw life as a circle, not a sphere. Our life in normal dimensional space would only allow us to have one life were the choices we made became the only option we had in life."

"Okay, that makes sense," Joe interrupted, "But why does this all matter? I want to go home now!"

"The life we have without jumping," Justin continued without answering the question, "Is the normal life, it is what you will always be able to focus on more intently than anything else. It also draws you into it, like you are supposed to be there. If I jump ahead ten minutes, eventually I will have to come back to the moment right before I jumped."

How does this all affect the future?" Joe was suddenly interested in Justin's theory, "I mean what future am I from, are there other futures where I don't exist, can't you just go back in time and undo mistakes?"

"My theory on the future after my death is all conjecture," Justin said rolling over to sit on the bench next to Joe, "See, the track or world time goes on two-dimensionally so to speak. My speculation is that the Normal timeline is the one that will continue on regardless."

Joe was going to ask a bunch more questions when the door to the workshop burst open. In came a young girl dressed in a long black dress with long sleeves and a turtle neck.

The dress looked like a corset that laced up the front with blue fabric behind it. The strings of the dress tied at the bottom and were also bright blue. The dress had buttons of silver and she wore a fedora with a blue feather to match the dress. On her wrist was a watch that was most definitely made in the creation workshop, with exposed gears and a body of rosewood.

"Hello, kind Sir," She said as she walked to a cabinet across the room, "You look like you have come to join me as an apprentice?"

"Umm....Kind of," Joe said taken back by the beauty of the young woman, "I'm kind of from the future."

The girl turned to Justin with wide eyes, "Is he back from the time capsule we made?"

"Yes, he is," Justin said, "Maxine, this is Joe, my distant grandson."

Maxine had pulled a pair of black pants out of the cupboard and put them on under her dress. She then pulled up a fold of cloth and zipped the bottom of the dress off.

"Good day Joe," Maxine said extending her hand to Joe, "I look forward to getting to know you and learning all about the future! What year are you from?"

"I'm from 2016," Joe said, "A year that is very technologically advanced."

"I'm sure it is indeed," Maxine said with a worried look on her face, " Justin may I have a word in private?"

Justin and Maxine walked out of the creation room and closed the door behind them.

Joe looked around the creation room realizing it was the room he had had as a bedroom in the modern world. He wondered if there secret cubby he had found existed yet.

Joe went to the small window and lifted on a rock in the middle of the stone frame. The rock pulled up effortlessly revealing a small hidden compartment. In the compartment sat a leather bound book, a quill, and an inkwell.

Joe reached into the compartment and grabbed the book out. On the front of the leather book, etched into the cover and inked black, was the name "J.J.Bringham."

The book had bits of folded paper stuck here and there, most of the which had rough drawings of inventions with details scribbled about the invention on the page.

Joe flipped to the first page of the book itself and found that it was a detailed log of Justin's traveling through time. There were also some different invention ideas scribbled into the margins of the main journal.

Justin heard a shuffle outside the door and quickly replaced the rock in the window sill. He shoved the book under his shirt and tucked it into the back of his pants.

"Maxine had the same concerns I did," Justin said as they came into the door, "She recognizes that we don't entirely know how the future will be due to my jumping around. My theory predicts that it won't really change the course of the future, but it's still unknown."

Joe watched Maxine walk over to a work bench and sit. She walked with purpose and her face no longer carried the lightheartedness it had when she first showed up. Something about her conversation with Justin had changed her mood.

"So even though I can now travel through dimensions," Joe said trying to make sure the book didn't fall out of his waistband, "I still can't go back to my timeline because I may not even exist there anymore?"

"Why don't we give this all a break for now?" Justin said trying to avoid talking about it more, "We should get you set up in a room and changed into normal clothes. Maybe a bit of fresh air would do you some good too? Maxine, why don't you stay here and work on that airship model. It needs balanced to account for the basket collet."

Justin handed Joe a pile of clothes out of a closet. Two shirts, a vest, an overcoat, a pair of black pants, white socks, and some black shoes.

"What about the vest and roller shoes we constructed before we jumped?" Joe said staring at the traditional clothes in has hands, "I really would like that style, this seems like it will be a bit constricting."

"Yes, well we can spend the day tomorrow constructing those things," Justin said impatiently, "But for today you should blend in with the average royal community."

Justin rolled to the door in a hurry and threw it open, "Giles, my grandson to a guest room. Make it the second floor and be sure he gets anything he needs."

Justin turned to Joe as Giles came in, "Don't jump yet, we need to jump together to make sure we keep these versions of ourselves together. Otherwise, we may have a big issue on our hands. Just keep the goggles on and you will be fine."

Giles guided Joe up the stairs to one of the bedrooms. On his way through the castle, he noticed that all the doors and their frames had elegant wood carvings. In the future, they would be replaced with modern doors and trim.

They passed multiple suits of armor that Joe recognized as still being in the castle in his time. The looked a bit newer than he remembered.

Once inside his room, Joe changed into the clothes that Justin had given him. The pants came to just below his knees, and the shirt flared out at the waist. Joe had seen the style of dress these come from in paintings around the castle, so he made himself look like the one in his room. With his belt over the shirt and socks pulled up to meet the pants.

The bed was a stuffed feather mattress in an elegant four post bed frame. The wood at the head and foot of the bed had been carved with elegant leaves and animals. The bed was enclosed with blue drapes that had a gold Bringham seal embroidered into it.

Joe pulled the drapes back and laid on the bed to read the journal he had found.

He learned a great deal as he read about the mistakes and shortcomings that Justin had experienced during his first jumps. The more Joe read the more he realized that Justin had a hunger to travel farther into the future than his life would allow.

Joe flipped to the end of the book and found four entries that changed his thoughts towards the entire day with Justin:

***

"Today was a monumental day in the search for greater freedom in time travel. After ten tries there has been a success in bringing back a live person from the future. It is a nice change to not have to get rid of the body of a dead man from the future."

***

"After five minutes of trying to keep the man alive, I now have another dead body on my hands. Next time will be a bigger success, I know why the formula has failed. I am going to have to train an assistant to help me make the preparations to create true time travel. I will be enslaving people from all times in the future. I will simply bring them back from their time, expose them to the purple smoke and use them to travel through time. I will rule all people from every time in human existence."

***

Maxine will be a great assistant, I never knew she wanted to learn the art of inventing. Giles was my first choice, but his daughter is much more intelligent. She will be able to help me create a creation room that can fly through the air.

***

I am growing suspicious of Maxine, She has learned a great deal but she has been snooping around through my things lately. I am afraid that she is going to try and stop me from enslaving people. She will feel the wrath of her king if she gets in the way.

***The last entry was the day before Joe arrived. He lay on the bed stunned by what he just read. He was being used to travel into the future.

Joe thought back to when he had told Justin about being a relative, he had a genuine disappointment on his face. He really was concerned that something may make him disappear in future times.

Joe sat and theorized that if Justin traveled to the future, he may not be able to get back if Joe no longer existed. Being that Joe was Justin's direct descendant, it was likely he would not exist if Justin traveled into the future.

Knock Knock Knock!

The loud knocking on the door startled him out of his deep thoughts. shoving the journal under his bed mattress, he headed for the door.

"I'm coming," Joe said straightening his clothes, "Just finished getting dressed."

Joe opened the door to find a young servant girl he guessed was about ten. She was wearing a plain white dress with her hair pulled back and tied with a strip of cloth similar to the dress.

"Hello Sir," The young girl said nervously, "I was told to ask if you need anything. There is always food if you desire. Giles told me that you will be wearing King Bringhams daily wear clothes, we can bring you clean clothes anytime you need. Anything you request we will try to find a way to make it happen"

"Thank you," Joe said smiling at the young girl, "What is your name young lady?"

"Um..... " The Girl mumbled uncomfortably, "No one ever asks our names, we are the servants Sir, but my name is Penny."

"Well, Penny," Joe said surprised by her response, "What a beautiful name to match a beautiful little Girl. You will find that I treat all people as equals, regardless of status."

"That's very kind of you sir," The girl said beaming, "You are a very kind gentleman indeed."

With a small curtsey, the girl ran down the hall with a giggle. She rounded the corner before the stairs and nearly ran over Giles as he came up the stairs.

"Slow down young lady!" Giles whispered, "If you had run into King Bringham he would have had you whipped."

The girl still beaming just nodded in reply and went on her way at a walking pace.

"I'm sorry if she was bothering you Mr. Bringham," Giles said walking towards him, "She was supposed to make sure you didn't need anything."

"She was fine," Joe said, "Giles can I talk to you about Justin?"

Giles eyed Joe suspiciously, "Yes, I suppose you can."

Joe walked back into his room hoping Giles would follow and close the door, But Giles just stood in the hallway waiting for an invitation.

"Please come in," Joe said, "And close the door behind you if you would."

"Sir is something wrong?" Giles questioned as he closed the door, "You are being awfully sneaky about this."

"Yes, well it's a bit of a touchy subject," Joe said walking to the window, "I found a journal of sorts that belongs to Justin. I have some serious concerns about what he is up too."

Giles' face went from slightly anxious to a bit relieved, "Well, now we have three of us who are aware that Justin has gone mad."

Joe sat on the bed relieved that he didn't have to try and escape the large man. His suspicion that Giles and Maxine were trying to find a way to save humanity was indeed correct.

"It has been ten years since the accident in the creation room," Giles said standing in the middle of the room, "At first Justin was excited to share his adventures through time. But he started to disconnect from reality, he gained so much knowledge that it became hard to talk to him. The past two years he has become power hungry. "

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Mr. Bingham!" The voice of penny, the young girl, came from outside the door with a cry, "Have you seen Giles? I need to see him about an urgent matter!"

Giles ran to the door and pulled it opened, "What is it penny why are you crying?"

"I went by Master Bringhams creation room, I know I am not supposed to," She whimpered, "I heard him yelling at Maxine and she was screaming."

Giles took off down the hall with Joe hot on his heels. Giles jumped from landing to landing on the stairs as they ran for the creation room. Once they reached the door, Giles stopped to listen outside the door.

"Why haven't you gone in?" Joe said out of breath from chasing Giles down the stairs, "We should stop him."

"If I barge in there to save her," Giles said, "I will be executed and her along with me. If I escape, well not a place in Scotland will be safe for us."

Joe pushed past Giles, grabbed a sword from a suite of armor and barged into the creation room. Maxine was hanging upside down in the center of the room above a barrel of water. Her hair was wet and Joe didn't know if she was dead or unconscious.

Leaning against a workbench was Justin, his red hair more crazy than usual. In his hands, he held the Rifle Joe had seen earlier.

"Giles, it's nice of you to join your old friend. I hear you want to overthrow your king?" Justin said in a crazed voice, "You ready to watch your thieving daughter die?"

Just as Justin threw out the question Maxine began to squirm in the center of the room, "No, father... go take Joe and get him away from, here. He is going to use him to build a time machine. He has found a way to travel through time without restriction, Joe is the only missing..."

Justin hit her in the back of the head with the rifle knocking her unconscious. Her head began to drip blood instantly, turning the barrel of water pink.

Joe gripped the sword in his hand tightly as ran towards Justin. He raised it to swing as Justin shot the gun, launching an electrically charged fireball into the air.

The fireball hit the sword and ricocheted across the room burning through the rope holding Maxine. She fell into the water barrel head first with her hands tied behind her back.

Joe swung the sword as hard as he could towards Justin and felt the sword hit something solid as two more fireballs were shot out of the rifle. One hit a table while the other turned Giles into a pile of ash instantly.

"ARHHHH," Came Justin's agonizing scream, "My arm!!"

The room filled with sparks and smoke as a table of chemicals burned from one of the fireballs. Joe ran to the barrel and hoisted Maxine out of the water. Navigating the smoke-filled room by memory, Joe threw a brass fitting through the window and pushed Maxine out onto the ground.

Jumping out the window himself he could hear Justin screaming for the guards to come and stop the man who had tried to take his life.

Maxine coughed and sputtered for a moment before gasping for a breath. Joe pulled her to her feet before she had even caught her breath.

"We have to get out of here!" Joe said urgently, "The guards will be after us."

"Mmm..My, " Maxine sputtered, "Ff..ahem.."

"He didn't make it," Joe said, "Justin Killed him, I'm sorry."

They made their way into the forest behind the castle. Joe had spent his childhood playing in the forest and headed for the best hideout he could think of.