Carlene went to grab Quinn to pull him into the apartment, but Quinn dodged the attack, causing Carlene to graze the side of his face with her fingertips.
Carlene staggered forward, barely standing, when everything came to her. She watched the fast forward version of Quinns life, pulling her body into shock, causing her to black out. Quinn watched Carlene’s body shake, before rushing out and catching her before her body hit the floor.
Sighing Quinn pulled her body into the apartment and closed the door behind him. He pulled her body onto the couch and made her comfortable. He traced a finger across her cheek, brushing her loose curls out of her face. She really was a beauty, probably the most real person Quinn has ever seen. She had nothing that was mechanical or fake about her. Leaving her be, Quinn moved around the apartment with soft feet, trying to not wake up the other soul still asleep in one of the closed off rooms.
Quinn turned the kettle on and picked up his phone and began the scan of Carlene. By the time the scan had completed, and Quinn was on his third cup of coffee, he heard the shuffling of soft feet against the cool tile.
Thea stopped walking into the kitchen when she spotted Quinn and before she could move towards the emergency button or even make a scene, Carlene began to stir on the couch. Thea ignored Quinn and rushed to Carlene’s side. Carlene flinched at Thea’s touch but smiled when she opened her eyes and saw who was touching her.
Carlene’s eyes shifted to the chair behind Thea and retracted into the couch.
“Who are you?”
“Have you come to take her away?”
“Jesus no. You fainted and I bought you inside. I also figured you would have some questions after everything you saw.”
“Saw?”
Thea questioned, with her eyebrows raised. What did he mean saw? Is the sight getting worse?
“I didn’t mean to; I went to grab his collar, but my fingers brushed against his skin. I saw everything, from the moment he was born to the exact moment he stood outside our door. It was all too fast for me to exactly pinpoint anything, but I saw things I didn’t want to see.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard of this ever happening to you.”
“It’s why I don’t touch anyone.”
“What about me?”
Carlene looked at Thea with soft eyes. Somehow, she knew whatever her answer was going to be, Thea was going to feel offended.
“One of the many reasons why I love you so much, is because I can’t see anything when we touch.”
“Oh.”
Carlene wasn’t exactly right, but Thea felt almost disappointed, that they had been together for so long and Thea never knew of this power.
“Do you remember the last person you touched besides your wife?”
“I don’t have any memories of before I was ten, so the only person I remember touching was my mother.”
They sat in silence for a while before Quinn stood up, drawing their attention back to him.
“What’s your name?”
“Quinn.”
Quinn heard his name fall from Carlene’s lips and very much liked the way her accent caught the tones of his name. He almost let a tiny smile slip, until he noticed the look he was getting from Thea.
“Right, well I’ll be right back, there is someone I want you to meet, someone with a whole lot more answers than me.”
Quinn and Carlene locked eye contact for a moment, before Quinn broke away and knocked on his sister’s door. Jeanie rubbed her eyes and nodded at Quinns request.
“This is my older sister, Jeanie.”
Carlene gaped at the old hag before, and her eyes darted between the two of them. Quinn rolled his eyes, watching the pair in front of him. Thea wasn’t looking at either of them, making him frown. He sat back down, just as Jeanie undid her glamour, making Carlene’s eyes pop more out of her skull.
“Why do you look like that?”
“This is the age I chose to stop aging. I’m actually ninety-five.”
Jeanie sat next to Carlene on the couch, reaching out for Carlene’s hands, who jerked them away before they had any type of skin contact.
“I see. I guess you’ll have the answers the old-fashioned way then. Have you ever wondered why you don’t have memories from before you were ten?”
“I always thought it was normal.”
“No, that’s just you.”
“I’ve always thought it was a little bit weird.”
Thea regretted the comment as soon as she saw the hurt look on Carlene’s face. Carlene unwrapped herself away from Thea and moved to the other side of the couch.
“What does that mean for me then?”
“Well to put it bluntly, you're not human, you're the AI assigned to this earth.”
Quinn almost spit out the sip of coffee he had just taken. Carlene pushed herself off the couch and Quinn could feel the anger radiate off her. Not human? Someone is lying but Quinn wasn’t sure who. He searched Thea’s face and she almost looked bored, like she has had this conversation before.
“Not human? How can this be?”
“Every Earth in the ultimate timeline gets an AI assigned to them after the Great War, to monitor the condition of the rebuilding human race. Your body naturally resets every couple of years or decades, and you simply begin a new human life.”
Quinn watched the tears start to collect in Carlene’s eyes and knew instantly the reaction was genuine. Carlene brushed away the stray tears and sat down carefully, pulling her attention to the outside world.
“What has this got to do with the ripples?”
“What?”
“There are tears in space and time. How is it that I have been here for a couple of months, and I’ve seen them everywhere, and you’ve been here for decades, and you haven’t noticed a single one.”
Quinn was about to start yelling when Carlene suddenly stood up and aimlessly wandered out onto the porch. Quinn noticed the blank look on her face and followed her outside.
“Can you see them too?”
“The ripples? Yeah, I see them.”
“What do you see when you look into them?”
“I’m not sure. There aren’t any pictures of the old worlds, so I’m not entirely sure of what I am looking at.”
They stood there on the edge of the porch, watching as the ripple closed.
“Am I really not human?”
“Jeanie seems sure of it, almost positive that you're the AI for this world. I scanned you while you were sleeping, and I don’t think she’s telling the whole truth.”
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