Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Duke patted me on the back and stepped away. “You recognize me less and less each time.”.

“Each time?”

Duke shook his head and paced around me. His hands locked together behind his back as he groaned in frustration. His eyes looked through me as if he was too disappointed to make actual eye contact. Everything about his demeanor suggested I was in store for a lecture about doing things the “right” way. Whatever that meant.

“You were thinking about the Nintendo that the younger you was opening this Christmas morning, and for a split second, you contemplated abandoning your selfish mission,” Duke said.

“How do you know that?”

“The same way I know you’re heading to 1619 Empyrean Lane.” Duke stopped pacing. “You’ve done this over and over again, Chasen.”

I didn’t remember traveling back to this morning before now. If Duke was right, that meant I had failed. That realization only motivated me to accomplish what I had set out to do. Duke wasn’t going to stop me. I stalked off.

“Chasen, please don’t go to Victor Sato’s house.” Duke caught up and matched my pace.

“You know why I’m doing this,” I said. “Maybe you should try helping.”

“Why do you think I’m here? Your actions today only cause harm.”

Duke is usually a voice of reason, but how could he discount my motives? Victor Sato finished building a bomb the week after Christmas 1986 and sold it to a domestic terrorist group that set it off in the Cleveland Clinic on June 22, 1987. My mother was there that day, and she never came home.

“Victor is a monster who must be stopped,” I said.

Duke grabbed my arm. “We’re all capable of becoming monsters when we fixate on the past.” He pointed to the mailbox next to me. “1619 Empyrean Lane. We’re here.”

I still had a good ten minutes before Ananova would have my kit transported from the future. We hid behind the bushes in front of the bay window. The curtains were drawn, so we gazed inside at the beautiful Christmas tree. Victor Sato sat in a chair next to the tree, wearing a Santa hat and holding a steaming mug emblazoned with Merry Christmas from RayBae Systems.

Join us again tomorrow for another installment of Ignite a Memory.