Part 1: Quarantine
Part 2: Odd Jobs
Part 3: Shuck
Part 4: The Old North
Part 5: Dirty Dave
Part 6: Multipliers
Part 7: Kilogold
Part 8: Analysis
Part 9: Reversal
Part 10: Miss Meta
Synopsis(spoilers ahead if you want to read the story from the beginning)
Victor Meta is a time traveler who lived with his wife Janet and his young daughter Mira in a quaint timeline on the edge of obscurity. However, one day he was ambushed by soldiers of the Legion, and was forced to ally with a con artist named Shuck to save them from certain doom. By carefully manipulating time, he was barely successful, thanks to additional help surprisingly provided by his own daughter, now an adult time traveler.
But all of that pales in comparison to the revelation that Mira brings. They were not alone in being targeted. The time traveling family of Meta has been attacked throughout history. And now they need to figure out how, and why.
Shuck was still sputtering with how many questions he had, while adult Mira was simply enjoying the attention. Child Mira was taken by Victor’s wife Janet to a child care facility, as they couldn’t return home until they understood what was happening. Meanwhile, Victor watched Shuck with a wary eye. He was growing more certain that the con artist had some nefarious designs with each passing second.
Shuck managed to formulate a coherent question. “Okay, okay… let’s just slow down. So, you said your father gave you his pocketwatch when he died, correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Shuck gestured at Victor. “But he’s right here! Surely, that’s a time toggle, right there?”
Mira laughed. “Of course not! Shortly before a Meta dies, he or she takes his pocketwatch back in time to their eldest son or daughter. Then-”
“What happens if they die unexpectedly? The basis of your time travel still does not allow for predicting the future!”
Mira stopped laughing, annoyed again. “Please let me finish my sentences, Shuck. But to answer your question, a pocketwatch of a dead Meta will automatically jump into the hands of it’s designated heir at the point in time when they are confirmed as ready. It’s customary that a new holder of the artifact be alone when receiving their pocketwatch, or at least not around the one who gives it to them, for the purpose of preventing their parent from learning if they die from a sudden tragedy. This maintains the timeline integrity.”
Shuck fumbled with his words, still struggling with all the questions he had. “Well… that’s just… how… where did the first pocketwatch come from, then?!?”
Mira frowned. “I don’t know. Same as all the pieces of infinity, I suppose… but no one knows where those pieces came from, either. It’s usually speculated they come from some time before the very earliest point of history that we are able to travel to, but since we can’t travel to that time… we don’t really know who made the pocketwatch, how they made it, or even… why. Other than legends, of course. If the creators really wanted us to know, we probably would already… but that just doesn’t seem to be the case.”
Shuck rubbed his head in frustration. “Ok, fair enough I suppose… but here’s a bigger question. What happens if a parent Meta has more than one child? There’s only one pocketwatch they can give..”
Mira stopped short. “Hmm… excellent question.”
Both looked at Victor. “What’s that look? I’m not explaining anything to either of you. This has already gone too far!”
Mira looked at him pleadingly. “Aw, but I haven’t seen you in so long… and I don’t understand why you hate Shuck so much. Didn’t he help you save me and Mother?”
“That’s not the point! He’s a con-artist. He absconded with the money we were supposed to split!”
Mira looked at Shuck, confused. “Is that true?”
Shuck frowned, shrugging with disinterest as he answered. “I mean, I can see how he would believe such a thing. In reality, I helped him earn a substantial amount of wealth by getting around some Meta regulations, unbeknownst to him at first… I have the money under my control, sure. But I told him I can still spend it as he sees fit. I fail to see the issue.”
Mira looked back at Victor. “See? He’s not a bad guy! Besides, we are getting off track… are either of you aware of the Fourth Consortium?”
Victor looked at Mira incredulously. “You really shouldn’t speak of such things around a non-Meta… but I’ve only ever heard of the Third. What do you mean, Fourth?”
Mira, ignoring Victor’s advice, continued to explain for Shuck’s benefit. “The Consortiums are large meetings between the majority of Metas. They are unique in that they span across time, yet can only be attended by Metas who are in the know on specific events. This is obviously to maintain timeline integrity, given the inherent instability of having large scale meetings between time travelers.”
Shuck shook his head, intrigued. “Fascinating… what were the past three Consortiums about?”
Mira laughed as Victor briefly panicked. “Now, that is something I DEFINITELY can’t tell you. The risk in doing so is massive. Only the ancestors of previous attendants are informed of what they were about. But this one, since all of us were involved with this event, I can talk about. I’ve known about it for years now, but now is the first time I realized that all of us are attendants.”
Shuck asked the obvious question. “How do you know that?”
“Because the Consortium was about a massive orchestrated attack on Metas in their places of residence! Not only did the attack take place throughout time, but it also happened in such a way that we couldn’t inform Metas ahead of time due to the parallel nature of… um… it’s complicated. But the point is that it was orchestrated. And the Consortium will tell us more.”
Mira stopped walking at the end of the bridge, turning her back to the massive coliseum like structure behind her. “...and here we are!”
Shuck looked up at the impressive structure. While other stadiums would have many pillars, this one appeared to sit on sparse stilts, with the central platform being visible even while outside. “Hmm… I don’t recognize most of the materials, though the construction probably uses some gravity fabrications to support the entire thing. Clearly, it wouldn’t be able to remain standing otherwise. But there is no one here. You made it sound like this was some massive event.”
Victor glanced at his pocketwatch, frowning. “Mira, do you have our seats?”
“No.”
Victor sighed, approaching a woman waiting in ticket booth as she daydreamed. “Greetings. We are here for the Consortium.”
The woman started, standing up straight and adjusting her uniform in surprise. “Oh. Right. Of course… which one?”
“The Fourth.”
“Names?”
“Mira and Victor Meta… oh, and do you have one for a Shuck as well?”
The woman looked around behind the counter, and produced three tickets. “Yes, in fact. Here you are. Enjoy the Consortium!”
Victor swiped the tickets, smiling politely but with a clear note of annoyance. He handed the two extra tickets to Shuck and Mira respectively, mumbling to himself. “As if a Consortium would be anything but a pain…”
As they entered the coliseum, Mira gave Victor a disapproving look. “What happened to all those puns? Are these meetings really that bad? I didn’t think you had ever been to one.”
“How can they be anything but bad? It’s a massive meeting with impatient time travelers. And yes, I’m including myself as impatient. Everyone will have other places they wish to be, while being forced to remain until the meeting is over with. I guess you could say… we have to put our lives on Pause.”
Mira let out a half hearted chuckle, though Shuck simply rolled his eyes. Mira found their assigned seats, and quickly sat down. “Well, father… I’m personally rather excited. We are going to be part of history! Don’t you find that incredible?”
After looking at his own ticket, Shuck sat down to her right. “Well… to be fair, everyone is a part of history. It’s just a matter of who gets remembered, and who doesn’t. Am I right, Victor?”
Victor sat down on the other side of Mira. “Pretty much. In the meantime, we will be sitting on rough, uncushioned seats until the meeting is finished. My back is going to be killing me by the time this is over…”
Shuck looked around. The coliseum was still deathly silent, with only the three of them in attendance. “Um… okay. I was expecting something to start by now. How long will we be waiting?”
Victor fiddled with his pocketwatch. “Certainly no longer than we need to. Everyone ready? Well, if you are seated, I guess that means you are. Hold on…”
A time bubble erupted around the three, but then automatically constrained itself around Victor, Mira, and Shuck’s seats only. The world around them spun and rushed by as others could be seen finding seats and forming their own time bubbles and blinking out of existence. Finally, the world blinked back into normal speed as the coliseum was filled with Metas. Though all the time jumpers wore similar white robes covered with pockets, there was a substantial portion of the crowd wearing a wide array of clothing from all periods of history. Clearly, Shuck was no special case for this Consortium.
An overtly elderly and frail Meta stepped out into center stage, as the crowd remained silent. He coughed once or twice before speaking, his voice effortlessly heard by all given the arena’s built in sound amplification kinetic fabrications. “My children… ancestors… brother, and sisters… we face a crisis unlike anything we have seen before. Compared to the Great Sealing and the Infinity War, this attack has been… unheard of. The first ever orchestrated attack across timelines against any and all Metas that were lower than class five. Some of you may have saved your friends and family from being kidnapped… most of you have not.”
The crowd grew restless with angry shouting before the elder simply raised his hand, quieting all of them without a word. He continued. “Those who have fended off your enemies… I will need to have you meet with one of our selected spokespeople. We must gather all of the most effective strategies employed, and learn everything we can about our foe. The Legion has shown themselves to be stronger than we gave them credit for, but we will show them that we are not ones to be trifled with either.”
Victor sighed, mumbling under his breath. “Oh, thank god…”
Mira looked at him, confused. “What? Happy that we weren’t singled out specifically? Or that we won’t be sitting here this entire meeting just listening?”
“Neither… I just realized the seats do have cushions. They only exist in this current time zone, and are under the actual seats.”
Both Shuck and Mira looked at Victor incredulously as he put a seat cushion on his seat, and reclined back with a contented sigh.
Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying the story, you might also enjoy some of my other published work on Amazon! It’s set in the same fictional universe, but follows different characters.
Gatekeepers, Book One: Unquestionable Truth
Gatekeepers, Book Two: Order of Gravitas
Same post on Minds