The All-Time New Year’s Eve

It’s been a bit since I’ve just written a story and posted it. So here’s one I wrote today, in honor of the New Year.

The All-Time New Year’s Eve

“I’m time-looping and people are disappearing!” 

I open my eyes. I’m standing in a narrow closet-like room. It’s an Arrival Room for the All-Time New Year’s Eve, which, for one night, welcomes all the time travelers from across the centuries.  That makes sense. The voice, on the other hand…

I turn to find Reginald standing just a few feet away. We Time-Split together to get here, so that’s not surprising. However, his eyes are wide and he’s saying it again. 

“I’m time-looping and people are disappearing!” 

“You’re groundhogging?” I ask, crossing my arms. 

“Yes, but no,” he replies. “My Chronos is resetting along with Kairos.” 

I narrow my eyes, but before I can reply, Reginald continues, “Yes, I know it’s impossible. But it’s happening!” 

“How do you know your Chronos is being affected?” I ask, forming a pair of glasses from my Time-Bubble and examining his temporal aura. It looks healthy. 

“On my first loop, I tried to leave to go to my house,” Reginald says, “because I needed the bathroom. I ended up here, but I didn’t need to go to the bathroom.” 

It takes me a second to piece it together. Chronos – your body’s biological clock – keeps moving forward even when when you travel backward through Kairos – the eternal stream of time. It keeps in sync with your temporal place in the world. For me, that’s in the mid-2010’s. For Reggie, it’s… the 3000’s? I’m still a little fuzzy on the dates from his time. Something about a First Interplanetary War. 

Regardless, the point is this. If Reggie is looping back to this moment, his biological clock should continue to be moving forward, evidenced by his memories of the loops. But… “Your biological need for the bathroom got reset, too,” I say out loud. 

“I don’t know how I’m keeping memories,” Reggie says, seeing that I understand. “But yes, I loop back here in the same exact state as I did the first time. I don’t know how, but I assume the Time Lock has something to do with it.” 

Since this is a New Year’s Eve party, it’s required that your Chronos aligns with the event. So, in my home time, it’s 10:00 PM on December 31st, same as it is here in 1899. 

“All right,” I say, taking off my trench coat and reaching for a hanger. “I understand the first part of your statement. What’s going on with people disappearing?” 

“Each time I come back,” Reggie says, likewise taking off his coat, “there are less people in the ball room. No one seems to notice.” 

“Interesting,” I say. “What else have you learned?” 

“Nothing,” Reginald mutters. “I’ve tried to do everything perfectly, I’ve tried Splitting as soon as I arrived, I tried waiting until midnight, I’ve even waited until they kicked me out. But on these last few loops, I’ve noticed less people in the ballroom.” 

“Right. So what’s the plan?” 

Reginald motions to the door. “I happened to chat with one of the people who disappeared, probably two or three loops ago. They arrived at 8:30. It made me wonder if that’s somehow connected.” 

I follow him out the door, looking down the hall to the ballroom wing. I know why I came, but I’m still working to convince myself that it would be worth it. Each Time-Splitter gets one chance to attend the All-Time New Year’s Eve, since meeting ourselves is supposed to be a calculated risk we’re all dissuaded from. But the only time traveling friend I have is Reggie. There’s no one else for me there. 

So without any sort of longing, I start after Reginald, who’s rushing past doors marked in five-minute increments. At the end of 9:00, he turns the corner to track down the 8:00 PMs. A second later, I’m standing beside him, staring at an unlit length of hallway. 

“Here’s 8:55,” he says, holding up some kind of futuristic flashlight.

“But why are the lights off?” I ask, pulling out my own version of a flashlight – a cellphone. 

We make our way down the hallway, checking numbers, until we come to 8:00. Reggie tries the door, and with a soft click, it opens. We exchange glances, then we step through. 

The room, illuminated as Reggie finds a light switch, is bare of any coats or accoutrements that are usually left in the Arrival Rooms. Empty hangers swing as the door softly closes. “Anything that seems noteworthy?” I ask, walking the length of the room and looking for anything that might have been missed. 

“No,” Reginald replies. “It’s like they never showed up.” 

“Maybe they didn’t,” I say, looking over at him. “Hey, is this the first time you let me know about the loop?” 

“This is the earliest,” Reginald says. “If I do it later, you just end up chatting with Mr. J.” 

“He is here?” I ask, remembering why I had decided to come this year. Mr. J was my mentor, before he died while time-splitting a few years ago. After the year I was coming out of, I could use an older, wiser person telling me to keep on keeping on. 

“Yeah, he’s here with his wife,” Reginald says. “He knows my parents, but it’s before your time.” He’s standing in the center of the room, rubbing his chin. “This doesn’t make any sense, does it?” 

“None,” I agree. “Let’s check all the rooms back to ours.” 

“Good idea,” Reginald agrees. 

For the next fifteen minutes, we make our way back up the hall, opening each door and doing a quick check before moving to the next one. However, each is as empty as the first. 

We round the corner to the 9:00 PMs. Reggie notices something. “Wait! What are you doing in there?” he shouts, running for a door further along the hallway. I don’t know what he’s looking at, but I follow close behind. I half-notice a door open beside me, but ignore it until a figure steps out behind me. 

I faintly hear a dull crack, then the lights go out. 

I wake up in a dark room, sprawled across the floor. “Reggie?” I whisper loudly. 

“Reginald is busy,” an accented voice replies. “Glad you’re awake. And I apologize for knocking you out.” 

I sit up, rubbing at the back of my head. The room has no lights except for extraordinarily high tech monitors on the wall. I blink at them, trying to make out the figure sitting in front of them. It’s a tall man, but recognition is inches out of my reach. “Who are you? What’s going on? Why did you knock me out?” 

“Your friend has been caught in a time-loop, as I’m sure you’re aware,” the man says, spinning. That mustache is familiar. Why is it familiar? “We both thought the other was responsible for it, and I may have knocked you out in my overzealousness.” 

“I’d like to ask my questions again,” I say, “Who are you? And what in 1543 is going on?” 

The man laughs, reaching down a hand. “Nikola Tesla, my friend.” I take the hand, blinking softly. “You are Brandon, correct?” 

“You can call me Brand,” I say as Nikola lets go of my hand and turns around. I see images of the halls on the screens. They’re pretty rudimentary, but far beyond anything else I’ve seen in this time. “You have security cameras?” 

Nikola nods. “I have been assembling them all night to try and capture why this time-loop has been occurring. They are tracking temporal energies of all the guests.” 

“So you don’t know, either?” I ask. 

“No. I have been in a time-loop since 8:00 PM. I am now repeating my fifteenth cycle, and have only just figured out how to set up this system. Your friend, as far as I can tell, is on his sixth.” 

“Is anyone else repeating with you?” 

“No one that I can see,” Nikola says. “Someone has tampered with my temporal framework, allowing for Chronotic looping. But because I am the engineer and the center of the framework, it captured me, too.” He looks at me. “Do you understand all that?” 

I nod. “So what are your theories?” 

Instead of answering, Nikola points. “There! Movement into 9:15. I’ll shut that one down next.” 

“Shut it down?” I ask. 

“I have been freezing Arrival Rooms in sequence, trying to narrow down who may have interfered with my framework. But, I will continue with that. I need you to go to Albert Einstein. See if he brought anything worth stealing here.” 

“Stealing?” I ask. 

“Yes, of course,” Nikola says. “It is the perfect crime. All of these great men and women of time-travel from across history. All of them, unaware that there is a time-loop that they are not a part of, because they use Kairotic Displacement. This individual has all the time in the world to search through and find whatever they’re looking for. If we can narrow down the victim, perhaps we can locate the thief.” 

It’s a good theory, I figure. “Where’s Einstein?” 

Nikola points to the screen. “He’s the one wearing the outlandish top hat in the Gold Room. Atrocious fashion sense, Albert.” He looks at me. “Hurry. If he’s not the one, come back here and I’ll give you the next traveler to interview.” 

“Perfect,” I say. “Just one question. How do I get out of here?” 

Nikola motions to a door in the back of the room. “There will be signs for the Gold Room. Just follow them.” 

I do so, taking my time as I wound through hallways. In the Gold Room, I find a loud bustle of men and women, with the noise of 1990’s rock vibrating the floor. I spot a with a loud top hat, but as I approach, I’m overtaken by a movement like the tide catching me on the ocean beach. For a second, I feel like I’m floating, then I’m standing in my Arrival Room. 

“I’m groundhogging, and I think there’s a thief!” Reginald shouts behind me. 

I turn. “I’m aware,” I say. “Nikola talked to me.” 

“Oh, good,” Reggie breathes a sigh of relief. “I didn’t want to try and convince you again.” 

“It seemed like it got reset faster last time,” I said. 

Reginald nods. “Nikola must be getting better at manipulating the loop. He wants to figure it out so we can enjoy the party.” 

“I was about to interview Einstein,” I say. “Does this mean I don’t need to?” 

“I assume we should check back with Nikola,” Reggie says. “But first, come here. I have something I want to check out, just not alone.” 

He leads the way back out the hall and through the Arrival Rooms. We pass through the dark hallway, coming to a closed door. “I saw someone come running back down here last loop,” Reggie explains. “I was going to follow when Nikola reset it.” He leaned on the door, humming as the handle refused to turn. “Looks like it’s locked,” he said. 

“Maybe Nikola has the key,” I suggest. Following Reginald – he’s always been better with directions – we make our way back to the security room. 

The screen is set up, but the inventor is not there. “Look,” I say, pointing to one of the pictures, moving wildly. “He must be installing that one.” 

“But where is he?” Reginald asks. “Why don’t we see him?” 

I lower my eyebrows, studying it. There are figures trailing in the background, but Nikola is not present. “It tracks the temporal aura of things right? Like you.” 

Reggie nods slowly. “But I can only see auras if they’re out of their actual time,” he says. “Do you think it’s working the same way?” 

I look at him sharply. “Reggie, old boy, I think you’ve cracked the case.” 

He purses his lips, annoyed at the nickname. “Well, Dr. Manifestation, get on with it.” When I look confused, he rolls his eyes. “Right, that show is after your time.”  

“The cameras only pick up on people out of their time,” I explain. “Same as the whole temporal system. So someone from this exact Chronos could come in and be basically invisible.” 

Reggie’s eyes brighten. “That’s why Nikola couldn’t find anyone! It’s not a time-traveler!” Then he becomes confused again. “But then how is the loop occurring?” 

“I don’t know yet,” I admit. “Nikola said someone tampered with his framework. Maybe that has something to do with it?” 

“That narrows it down,” Reggie says, looking across the screen again. “We need to get a list of people who are here from this exact time.” 

We realize it at the same second. “They’re not guests,” I say. 

“And no one should be able to get in unless they’re Time-Splitters,” Reggie adds. 

“Which means no one would ever suspect them,” I conclude. “We have to get through that door.” 

We rush out of the room, running for the dark hallway again. But as we come into sight of it, the same tidal feeling sweeps over me. I’m standing in front of Reggie. It’s 10:00 PM, and we’re in the Arrival Room. 

“The door,” we say in unison. 

As soon as we leave the room, the wave sweeps us back in, rewinding the clock mere seconds. 

“What in 1543?” I shout. 

“I’m trying again,” Reggie says, stepping past me and into the hall. He turns to grin triumphantly, then we’re reset once more. 

“What’s going on?” I ask, stepping up to the door. I put my hand up to the open space, but feel a thin resistance. 

“Temporal immobility,” Reggie says, coming up to stand next to me. He shows me a pair of glasses, made from his Time-Bubble. I duplicate them and slip them on. 

Outside, I can see that Kairos has frozen. “Our Arrival Room must have been frozen,” I say. “Nikola said he was doing that strategically to narrow down suspects.” 

“But we’re the only ones who can help him!” Reggie complains. He throws up his hands and paces away. 

I crouch, angling so I can see down the hall. “What if I created a frozen Chronos bubble around me?” I ask, taking off the glasses. 

“Come again?” Reginald asks, coming back to stand next to me. 

“Kairos is frozen right now,” I explain, “but we travel through Kairos all the time. How?” 

“Time-Splitting,” Reginald responds, like I’m the dumbest person alive. Which I might be. 

“With our Time-Bubbles,” I point out. 

“So if we Time-Split, but instead of traveling far through time, we just stay in the same moment?” Reginald asks. 

“That’s my idea,” I say, forming a crystalline Time-Bubble around me. I walk forward, the bubble moving lethargically with me. Crossing my fingers, I step past the threshold. I brace, waiting for the now-familiar wave to reset the loop. 

Instead, I find myself in an empty hallway, Kairos swirling as I move through it. Reginald steps out behind me in a Bubble of his own, and we begin to walk down the corridor. “Should we try the door?” Reginald asks. 

“Check the rooms as we pass,” I suggest. 

As we move, looking into the rooms, we find frozen time-travelers staring vacantly at us. Collages of centuries and civilizations that remain motionless as we pass. “Why aren’t they moving?” Reggie asks. “We could move in our room.” 

“They’re not frozen in their time, just in our time,” I remind him. 

“Oh, right.” 

We turn the corner for the 8:00 PM’s. The light is off, but we can see well enough through the glass of our Time-Bubbles. Of course, at the end of the hall, the door is closed.

“Breaking it would require… What exactly?” I ask. 

“Same as us,” Reggie says. He expands his Time-Bubble so that it covers the door. “It’s frozen, but if we pull it out of time…” He tries it, and though the handle jiggles, it’s still locked. 

“Now what?” I ask. 

“I guess I try to pick it?” Reggie shrugs. “Or we look at the rooms past ours, toward the ballroom.” 

“Good idea,” I agree. 

We come back around to where we started, moving past it to the doors beyond. These rooms are empty, which makes sense when I think about it. We’re frozen at 10:00 PM, which means these guests haven’t arrived yet. We move on, to the ballroom. 

In the middle of the paused scene stands what looks like a man in armor. Unlike the others, he is moving, putting his hands into the pockets and clutch bags of the crowd. The things he touches become moveable only after he touches them. 

He sees us seconds after we step in, becoming motionless. “He doesn’t think that’s going to work, does he?” I ask Reggie. 

“Couldn’t tell you,” Reginald replies as we take a step forward. 

The man cuts and runs to one of the other dancing halls to the side. Reggie and I dash after him, much quicker without metal armor weighing us down. In moments we’ve caught up with him, and he settles into a wrestlers stance, peering at us through thin slits in his face plate. 

We stare at each other. “I think he’s talking to us,” Reginald finally says. 

Right. Sound can’t travel unless the air molecules are allowed to move, which is impossible when time itself is frozen. I extend my Bubble to surround the man. 

“… than that, how are you moving?” he demands. 

“Time-Bubbles,” I said, motioning to the structure around us. “How are you?” 

“Electronic disruption of temporal flow,” the man says. 

“Oh, that’s funny,” Reggie says. “I thought you were asking him how he was doing.” 

I ignore Reginald, taking another step closer. “What are you doing here?” 

The man’s breathing is loud in the empty space. I toy with the idea of shrinking the bubble so I don’t need to hear it. “What’s the secret?” he hisses. “How do you do it?” 

“Move?” I ask. “I told you, Time-Bubbles.” 

“Time Travel,” he says, raising a hand. I think it’s meant to be threatening, but it’s not. 

“We… Split?” Reggie tried. 

“We form one of these Bubbles around us,” I say, “Then fall into the time stream. I don’t know how to explain it to you.” 

“But where’s your device?” he demands. “There has to be one. A way to start the process.” 

“I always thought it was magic,” Reginald says. I continue to ignore him, just like the man does. 

“There’s no device needed,” I explain. “We just do it.” 

“Impossible,” the man says. “There must be a futuristic technology implanted within you. That’s how it’s done.” 

“This guy is crazy,” Reggie says. 

The man finally acknowledges him. “I am not crazy. I am Thomas Watson, and I will be the one to bring time travel to the general public! Too long has it been a toy for the rich and privileged! Now, every many will be able to claim the glories of history for themselves!” 

There’s silence as Reggie and I digest this. “What?” I finally ask. 

“Thomas Watson,” Reginald says. “You know, the whole ‘Watson, come here, I want to see you? The assistant to the guy who invented the telephone. What was his name again?” 

“How do you know the assistant’s name, but not the inventor?” I ask. 

Reginald shrugs. 

The man is growing heated. “I’m not a mere assistant. I will be the greatest name in technology, premiere before Edison, Grey, Bell and Tesla. You will not forget my name! It will go down in history, forever and eternal, as travelers from across time use my technology to see ancient history and future advances!” 

“Buddy,” I say, “I don’t know how to break this to you, but some people just can’t time travel. It’s not a technology that you can give to everyone. It’s more of a philosophy.” 

“Yeah,” Reginald agrees. “It’s adapting your body to become the technology necessary through temporal superpositioning displacement.” 

“You made that up,” I mutter to him. 

“It’s a working theory,” he corrects. 

The man’s hands drop. “You’re lying,” he seethes. 

“What I want to know,” Reginald says, “Is how you’re able to create this time loop.” 

“I’m not in a time loop,” the man says. He motions. “This suit just makes time very slow, so I can find your secret technology!”  

“I’m so confused,” Reggie says. “How is he not in a time-loop, but we are?” 

“And how does he not have a temporal aura?” I complain, motioning to the suit. “There’s no way that wouldn’t give off so much radiation.” 

“Though, if he’s moving too fast for the camera to detect,” Reggie pointed out. 

“I think we’re missing something,” I say, scratching my head. “Do you ever loop, Watson?” 

“Share your secret and I’ll share mine,” he says, raising a hand in that non-threatening way again. 

“How about this,” I offer. “I’ll take you to the dawn of time travel, and you tell us what’s going on.” 

“Oh, nice,” Reginald whispered. “The tourist trap. I prefer End of All Days, but Copernicus’ Island is cool, too.” 

Watson seems to consider it, then sticks out his hand. “Take me there, then I’ll tell you.” 

“Okay,” I say, reaching out a hand. 

“Are you sure it’s going to work?” Reginald asks. “We haven’t been able to Split out of here so far.” 

“Worth a try,” I say, taking Watson’s hand. The Time-Bubble glows around us, and I feel Kairos shift. 

It’s suddenly moving around us, the men and women beginning to slowly unfreeze. Then it stops again, and we drop into the pure, unadulterated stream of Time. 

It looks like white lines of light to me, veering around the egg-shaped dome protecting me and Watson. I don’t know what he’s seeing. 

We arrive to Copernicus’ Island after a short flight. People think time travel is instantaneous. They’re wrong. 

The Island hangs over the stream of Kairos, created from frozen time energy. No one knew how Nicolaus Copernicus had formed it, just like no one knew how he had discovered time travel. We just knew it had happened. 

We alighted, and I dismissed my Bubble. The island itself created a similar effect of safety, making mine redundant. “Welcome to Copernicus’ Island,” I say, motioning to the small city that had grown up around Copernicus’ own mansion. No one lives here permanently, but museums and hotels still popped up.  

“Copernicus?” Watson says, falling to his knees. “He is the originator? The first time traveler? The secret will be in his writing, then!” 

“Not quite,” Reggie corrects. “He never got around to writing about his time traveling. He died in disgrace before that could happen.” Technically, he faked his death, but I’m not about to get into the details with Watson. 

“Now, how did you loop?” I ask, crouching next to Watson. “I know you couldn’t have done all that in just one go.” 

Watson is quiet as he surveys the glowing land. “My helmet,” he finally whispers. “It collects the electrical impulses I receive, then I send those back to my earlier body.” 

“Mental chroniatic displacement,” Reggie says quietly. “An old brain living in a younger body.” 

I give him an annoyed look, then say to Watson, “And how does it stop?” 

“When I tell it to,” he says, still enraptured. “All of this, it could be mine?” 

I settle next to him, sighing as I sit. “Look. Not all of us get to be time travelers. And not all of us get to hear the first words spoken over the telephone.” I shrug. “But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a world out there for you, Tommy, old boy.” 

“I apologize for my friend,” Reggie says. Watson and I ignore him. 

“There’s so much to do,” I say. “Have you thought about being an actor? Or maybe a carpenter?” I list a few other options, but Watson cuts me off. 

“There’s truly no technological component to your Time-Splitting?” he asks. 

“None,” I confirm. 

“Very well,” he says, standing. “Then take me back, sir. I will return to my days of drudgery. And perhaps, someday, I will come here myself.” 

“One question,” Reginald interjects, “Do you have the schematics for your mental resetter?” 

“Why?” Watson asks. 

Reginald shrugs. “Because that may prove more useful than you think. If you can send impulses to the past, maybe it’s possible to send matter.” 

Watson stares at him for a long moment. “What?” Reginald asks. “Did you not think of this before?” 

“I…” Watson begins. 

“I think you should get back to your workshop,” I say, also rising and taking Watson’s hand. My Time-Bubble forms around me. Having to protect someone who’s not a Time-Splitter wears on your temporal battery, though his armor did seem to make the job easier. Still, I take a long breath and pull us back through Kairos, until we arrive at the frozen party. 

As we land, I sense a difference in the air. It’s subtle, but more easily noticeable through my Time-Bubble. Reggie takes a long breath through his nose. “The framework has been fixed,” he says. 

“Thank goodness,” I mutter. 

In the center of the room, a tall man with a mustache is waiting for us. “Who is under that armor?” he asks. 

“Thomas Watson,” I say, pushing the man forward. Between the three of us, we explain what had happened. 

“As soon as you left,” Nikola says, “the framework reset itself. Good thing, too.” He turns to Watson. “And you, what will you do?” 

“I’ll keep working,” Thomas Watson says. “I will return someday to the Island of Copernicus. You will not be able to stop me.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Reggie says. 

“You may try,” Nikola says. “Come. Show me your devices.” As they leave, he looks at Reggie and I. “Good work, you two. I am not easily impressed, but you are impressive.” 

As they disappear, Reggie heaves out a long sigh. A long moment passes between us. 

“Celebrate at home and try again next year?” I ask. 

“Yep,” he replied. 

Our Time-Bubbles form around us and we fall into Kairos, letting it carry us back home. I decide I would see Mr. J and get my chance to go to the All-Time New Year’s Eve party. Just not this year. 

After all, I have all the time in the world. 

And yes, Brand is the same Brand as in Drake Saves the World! from A Canterbury Christmas. If you don’t know that story, you should check out the book!

Some other fun notes: the real life Thomas Watson did in fact take up acting. 1543 is the year Copernicus died (or faked his death and invented time travel in this world). And Brand and Reggie first appeared in a short story called “Timeless,” where they saved Brand’s ex-girlfriend Annie from time-zombies (basically).