"Some things have to happen just the way they happen."
Noah Bishop, Kay Hooper's Bishop FBI series
Torchwood Four; Dublin, Ireland
Saturday, September 19, 2020
Keara Montfert:
When I thought my ability was defective, I wanted a better ability. I watched what being a psychic allowed the others at the Fellowship of Inner Peace to do, but never considered the consequences. Knowing the future was powerful. I've never had power before and had no idea what I was asking for.
Knowing the future is a burden. At times, it's like being cursed. I know what's coming. Not entirely, but enough. I know what has to happen. In some cases, I know why events were staged. It doesn't matter that people I care about are going to be traumatized. Or that someone is going to die. I can do nothing. It has to happen. I'm not sure if that makes me a voyeur or an accessory. There is no understanding or forgiveness even from myself.
It gives me insight into the version of me that has done things I can't comprehend. Our ability isn't perfect. I don't see everything. Even after all Other Keara has experienced, she doesn't see everything. It's the limitations that make it maddening. I don't know when or where but I know that she failed to see and prevent the death of a woman she loved. A woman who accepted her unconditionally. That drove her to try and fix what went wrong. Somewhere along the way, different versions of that woman drove her to try fixing everything. She's crazy.
What's crazier is I know there is more than one other me involved. They saved me from a horrific life. That pain and horror and trauma made them capable of things I'll never understand. My role is the group's conscience. We can sense each other, and our motivations and frustrations. Different experiences gave us different perspectives. Although there are a few similarities.
Collectively we view people, and various versions through time and parallels, much the same way. John is a kindred spirit. He's broken, lost and has done things for himself and others that no one will understand. He needed Anwen to save him from himself. Then he lost her. Much the same can be said about Aman. Except the current one has a better chance to be what he wants and not what's expected. Idrissa has lost the love of his life and has settled into the role of widower honoring his martyred husband in a conflict he will never understand. General Williams is a warrior without a war trying to be something he has no idea how to be. And Jack. The inspiration to all of us. He's trying to protect a world that isn't his own in a way that honors The Doctor or the only friend who knows who Jack really is. Circumstances outside his control forced him to change. Much like a fairytale, he rose from humble beginnings to become arguably the most powerful man on the planet. Rather than crown himself, king, he lives in a town most people haven't heard of and spends his days making sure people worldwide are safe as he can make them.
Unlike Jack, we're not on the front line. We're playing chess. Like a game, it has rules. The universe spawns parallel universes based on major decisions. If a general has two options and one will win the war and the other will lose, a parallel universe will diverge from that moment. Everything prior to that decision in the parallels is the same. At some point, Other Keara realized that Jack changing this timeline was ignored by temporal law enforcement. Anything after Jack is free game. Which allows Other Keara, right or wrong, to test theories and make changes.
Knowing, justifying and accepting are very different concepts. As the group conscience, I'm the only one agonizing over ethical, moral and general considerations. I somehow have to live with the endless game where people are the pieces. They need me for my sanity as long as I can keep it.
Southeast Asian Island; South of Vietnam
From her mind's eye, Keara watched one more pawn enter play beneath the terraformed paradise of colorful birds and playful mammals. An ancient labyrinth of catacombs reached down into the earth. A disruption had jarred the aging hibernation pod. The hiss of air echoed through the store room followed by creaks and groans. The lid opened.
Groggy, the man pushed himself up and swung his legs over the edge. Dim light and stale air told him a lot of time passed while he was sleeping. The malfunctioning read-out indicated how long he'd slept, but not the location. As his mind cleared, he remembered why he entered the pod.
With any luck, his ship was nearby. He had the advantage. If the Time Agency knew where he was, they would have come for him already. They would pay for what they did to his father. They didn't have a problem with his issues as long as he was useful. When they didn't need him anymore, they killed him.
Keara felt for the angry, traumatized young man who was only a few years older than herself. His anger was directed at people who ceased to exist when their parallel universe was destroyed. Eventually, he would realize he was very far from home. She wanted to tell him it was over. That he could and would find peace. But she could do nothing for him. His actions were needed. Without realizing it, he would change the world.
