He closed his eyes and hummed over it for a bit, then pushed his glasses back up, winking.He handed it back to me.
“And now… it’ll send me a beacon that says we’ve berked up the operation.You do this, we get to start over clean.Comprende?”
“Vic.I know you want me to trust you, but I’m not going to kill myself,” I said.
“Yeah, well, you better avoid seeing yourself going forward,” Vic said.“The timeline is already swiss cheese at this point and it’s only going to get worse.You have to promise me you will activate this card if there’s even the remotest chance you will bump into yourself.”
“That’s a hard ask,” I said.
“Do you want Eddie and Nagisa back or not?”
I stamped my foot.
“Fine,” I sighed.
“Alright, then.Grab the shaft.”
“You’re filthy,” I said, and then the world swam around me.
I blinked.The room we were in was the same room as before.Nothing seemed to change much at all.
“Where are we?”I asked.
“Here’s the thing,” he said.“This is the same room we were just in, from before we jumped.”
“So where are we?”I asked.
“Hartshome Cathedral.”
“And when are we?”
“I think I sent us the right direction, but we are about an hour before we arrive at the docks.Which means we have to boogie.”
“Where are we going?”I asked.
“This is the tricky part,” Vic said.“I think you and I have worked it out a few times already, but the previous path you took—we have to avoid you directly but plunk you down in the same place as you ought to be.”
“Why?”I asked.
“Because,” Vic said.“You know why Eddie never came back for you when you fell off the back of the bike?”
“No,” I said.
“Because he’s going to grab this version of you,” Vic said.“In fact, he already has, a few times.We’re just repeating the cycle.”
“How do you know all this?”
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” Vic said.“Just listen to what I tell you to do.There’s a car out front.It’s mine.We are going to set up a few blocks away from the docks.When you see Eddie’s gang roll up, we’ll get ready.The past you falls off the bike, right?Well, you have to pop out and startle Eddie.He picks you up, and then you have to explain to him what’s going on.”
“That we’re actually from the future.”
“Exactly,” Vic said.
“And why will he believe me?”I asked.
“Because we know where Corcoran is, and how to stop him already,” Vic said.“Have him drive you to Feedworthy.The you in the past is going to stop by Tamara’s and go and meet with Nagisa at the mall.The you here goes with Eddie to Feedworthy.”
“What’s there?”I asked.
