Chapter 3: Soucar

Without a flash, or any other unusual occurrences, he appeared. There were no other words to describe it, but that it was sudden. He appeared out of nowhere, running towards the west in a prairie that stretched as far as he could see. He was running fast, and possibly for his life, but only a few feet later he stopped dead in his tracks as he tried to recall why he was running.

He could have sworn that only seconds before he knew what he was supposed to do, but now it was completely gone. It wasn't just this that he had forgotten, it was everything. His name, his personality, his job, his family, and his past. All of it was gone. Trembling he collapsed to his knees in fear.

Who am I?

He tried to recall what happened just before he appeared, but had to wonder if he had really appeared at all. Somehow he had completely forgotten everything he had done just before that point in time. He didn't know how such a thing could have happened, but he was determined to find out.

"What happened to me?" Even his voice sounded unfamiliar.

Relief flooded his mind. At least he could still talk and think. A gentle breeze tugged on his shoulder length brown hair and trimmed beard. He didn't even know what he looked were too many questions that he couldn't answer. The lack of knowledge bothered him. It's as if I should know, but I don't.

He recalled that he had been running, possibly from someone or something. But what was he doing? With frustration filling his mind he threw the round object he had in hand at the ground.

Only then did he realize the round object he had been holding. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands as he examined it. It was completely circular and a half foot in diameter. It was perfectly smooth with a waxy feel. The coolness of the objects touch led him on to know that it was metal, but what kind of metal it was remained unknown. It looked a dark grey color but as the sun reflected off of it he could distinguish a slight green hue.

Hundreds of small points of green lights sped across the shell of the object. They followed no path, but flowed together to make patterns and would then break apart to nothing more than randomness. Amazingly, none of the motions repeated, as if the points of light had a mind of their own.

As he sat down in the tall wild grasses, he could feel a small object in his back pocket. Curious about what it was, he pulled it out. A pocket watch? The pocket watch had a gold outer rim with a silver middle. All of it was thoroughly buffed, leaving its reflection almost comparable to a mirror. An intricate design of a time line in the form a ribbon traveled from left to right. In the exact center of the ribbon it looped around a futuristic looking car with no wheels. In the bottom part of the ribbons loop, he saw that instead of crossing over itself, it actually traveled directly through itself and out the other side. Above the loop the words "A grave mistake" were engraved, while beneath "A promise of peace" was written

He opened it up. Unlike what he would have expected, a digital display covered the inside. Another quality that separated this from any other pocket watch was that instead of counting up, the clock counted down. The time that was now displayed on its face was 23:58. By pressing the only button on its side, it displayed the date; it was 12/31. He pressed the button again, which brought the watch back to the time display, leaving him no control over its settings.

The slight breeze stilled, as the world around him fell into silence. He froze and listened. He heard it again. There was a voice, maybe two. It was distant and quiet and, for some reason, seemed different from an ordinary voice. Testing the new developing theory he had, he covered his ears with his hands. Even though the sounds of the world quieted, the voices still whispered at the same volume. They weren't actual voices. They were imaginary, but nonetheless seemed so real. Since he knew of nothing else he assumed that the voices were normal, and decided to think of other more pressing matters.

He noticed from his cross-legged position that in his lap rested a folded up piece of paper that must have fallen out of the pocket watch. Curious he picked up the piece and started to unfold it. After completely unfolding it he smoothed out the wrinkles and read what it said:

Your name is Soucar Tayler A. Yamen. I am sorry that it has all come to this, but you are now the only one who can restore peace to the world. The Sphere that you are in possession of is the cause of all this. It is the world's most dangerous weapon.

The reason why you may not remember anything is because the Sphere has sent you back a year in time. Do not talk to anyone until you have finished the time jump or you will collapse the current time line and ruin the future from which you came. This will cause the destruction of you and this plan along with it. Please, follow these directions exactly as I tell you.

First, command the Sphere to turn off by saying "Sphere off," and do not turn it on again. When the Sphere is active, it will reverse your abilities if you were to travel through time. Traveling backwards through time will only cause more problems than it will solve, so please do not do so.

When the alarm on your pocket watch goes off, the sun should have risen just above the horizon. Please stay exactly where you are and for your comfort, lay on the ground. As you can probably feel right now, gravitons are being cast upon you from the sun. When the alarm goes off for a second time reach out with your mind and amass these gravitons onto yourself. Immediately as you start to feel dizzy wish to go 31.495867463522 seconds into the future.

You will land in China just north of a hermit named Kiyo Toka. You must tell him that Jay Webb sent you and requests that he trains you in the ways of time travel. I will warn you now, do not tell him where you came from or anything about the Sphere.

Only when you are ready and at least a year has passed, go to the Time Machine and turn the key, then use it to destroy the Sphere. The path will be laid out for you by the riddle of 'Nomen Tuum'. Keep this information away from everyone, only trust yourself. No matter what others may tell you, this is the only way to save our world. You are our last hope. Destroy this device and no matter what you do, do not let anyone see the Sphere. I wish you luck and I am sorry for what I have brought upon you.

Sincerely,

Jay Webb


Soucar was comfortably asleep, when a loud sound startled him awake. He fumbled for the pocket watch and quickly pressed its only button. Relieved that the sound stopped, he glanced at the time; it was 8:23 according to Soucar's clock, but this meant nothing as it counted backwards. The only thing he could find out from the time was that in eight and a half hours it would have been a full day since he first appeared. Remembering the note he jumped to his feet and grabbed the Sphere. Just like the note from Jay said, the sun was just above the horizon. Soucar closed his eyes and could feel the gravitons from the sun flow straight through his body and interact with the fewer gravitons from the earth. With his mind he manipulated their path and parted their flow around him. He had already memorized the time that he would have to jump into the future. He was ready. Now he just needed to wait for his watch to tell him when.

Only a few minutes later, it started beeping again. Soucar once again shifted the flow of the gravitons around him. This time he funneled their flow, placing all of them from within a fifty foot area on himself. It wasn't long after, that he started to feel dizzy as gravity around him started to shift.

"31.495867463522 seconds."

All of the gravitons that flowed around him stopped their usual motion and started to spin violently around him. He kept his eyes closed as he continued to focus on the time. The gravitons made a perfect circle around him as it completely separated himself from his surroundings.

A strange black mist fell around him, cutting off all light from the sun. He found himself in the field he had just been in. He was staring at his hands as he turned them over. Soucar recognized this as what he had done the other day.

"Will I ever know who I am?" His old self spoke aloud as he spotted a scar on his index finger. "Will I ever remember my past?" He felt the pink line on his finger. He wondered how the scar had formed.

He leaned his head back and basked in the hot sun. Time seemed to slip by as he fell deep into sleep. As asleep overcame him, the black mist once again filled his vision.

Light flooded around him as he appeared. Everything felt like it had before, except now the gravitons came from the opposite direction. The gravitons released him, letting him once again live by the gravitational laws of Earth. Soucar opened his eyes and saw in horror that he was falling upside down. He flailed in midair to try to turn himself around for a softer landing.

He groaned as he managed to land on his back. While the pain eased, he wondered how he could have appeared upside down. It took him a few moments to collect himself and get the air back into his lungs. Only then did he remember the direct command on the note to lie down.

He stood up and examined his surroundings. A bizarre new landscape surrounded him just like he had expected. A flat expanse stretched out around him with grey clouds blanketing the sky. Soucar noticed the water droplets on the small vegetation that grew around him. He guessed that it must not have been too long ago since it had rained. Judging from the clouds, it wasn't a stretch to assume that it wouldn't be long until it rained again. Although he could not see the sun, he could feel it's gravitons coming from the west horizon. He only had a few more minutes of light.

Soucar had to find the hermit soon, or else he would need to build a shelter. Soucar didn't like sleeping out in the open especially when rain was involved, however, not a single tree was in sight. Dropping the idea of a shelter he decided the smartest choice would be to walk through the night unless a natural shelter presented itself to him.

After reading the notes' directions once again, he started to head south. It wasn't long before the sun had fallen below the horizon and erased all signs of light. Soucar was plunged into a black night, with absolutely no means of light. Knowing that with such darkness getting injured and disoriented was almost guaranteed, he decided to spend the night on the open plane. Shivering, he settled down for a restless night as he let his mind wander once again.

He couldn't figure out why Jay would even choose him. Wasn't there someone else more qualified? Perhaps he was somehow better than everyone else? Did he even choose to do this or was it forced upon him by Jay, knowing that he would forget.

The worst of it all was that he had no idea if he could even trust Jay. The commands given to him, that he felt so compelled to follow, could all be leading to a trap. Although the note said it was for the good of the world, was it possible that Jay was lying through the note? Perhaps it was better to follow what Jay said since he couldn't even remember his past. It was possible that he even came up with the plan. There were so many questions that Soucar wanted to have answered, but there was no one to ask.

The more questions he thought up only added to his unease and restlessness. He didn't know anything. Even the year or date was unknown to him. Although the pocket watch did give him an idea of the time, the fact that it counted down made the time it gave realized that trying to think through his predicament was not helping him fall asleep, so he turned to what he did know and what he could remember.

At least he knew his name. He knew that he had traveled back a year through time and that somehow he was the only person capable of destroying the Sphere. He did know that he could travel through time and space by controlling the suns gravitons.

This struck him as odd; why couldn't he control the Earths gravitons? Soucar closed his eyes, not because it changed anything, but rather out of habit. He could feel the suns gravitons coming from the west and below the earth's horizon. He tried to feel past all of these gravitons and focus on the fewer gravitons that the earth continuously emitted. Soucar attempted to part the gravitons around him, but nothing happened. No matter how hard he tried, he could only control the gravitons from the sun.

Frustrated, he opened his eyes. The darkness of the night pressed around him, making him feel alone and he have any family, friends, or even a job?

His train of thought ended as a raindrop landed on the side of his face with a soft 'splash'. It was soon followed by another on his leg. Soucar shivered and closed his eyes to catch some sleep. Even though he had only woken up an hour before, he still managed to fall asleep within a reasonable amount of time.

The night carried on slowly. There were several breaks from the rain which Soucar took advantage of. Without fail, he would awaken at the start of the next round of rain. It was a very cold and uncomfortable night that allowed Soucar to sleep only a few hours.

Another rain drop jolted him awake. As he staggered up to his feet he realized that a gray color had pierced through the clouds and shed light down on the soaked Earth. For the first time he noticed a large line of mountains to the south. They were only a few miles away, but their size was intimidating. Soucar took a deep breath and once again headed south towards where the hermit should be.

His mind was blank out of weariness and sullen out of loss as he continued. He walked as if in a trance, until he saw a large pool of water. What did he look like?Out of eagerness, he ran to the pool and fell to his knees at its side. His semi-long brown hair fell in front of his face, as he leaned over the water.

A sad, serious face stared back at him through the rippling pool. He looked troubled and nervous. A beard about half an inch in length clung to his jaw bone, and stretched from ear to ear. Bright blue eyes stared at him with uncertainty and wonder. Even with a semi-young adult face, in his thick brown hair he found several gray strands weaving their way through the rest. Could the gray hairs be the result of a difficult or stressful past?

There was something about knowing what he looked like that brought him comfort. By seeing a mature face in the reflection, it brought him hope. He did have a past; he just needed to find out what it a purpose and hope for a brighter future Soucar pushed on further south.

"Or—" Talking out loud pierced the silence and loneliness of the situation. "—I could find out now." The idea seemed to creep into his mind as he looked down at the smooth Sphere. "If I can go back in time, I could figure out what my life was like." Even while he was saying this, he remembered the instructions on the note that warned him against using the Sphere.

"All my questions could be answered in only a few minutes." His mind fought over what he should do.

Soucar slipped on a slime covered rock. His arms reached out in front of himself to soften the fall. As he landed on his hands his back was wrenched sideways causing the injury from his time jump to reappear. He thought back to the instance when he first appeared in China. He had appeared upside down.

"First I will need to learn how to time jump correctly. If I made a jump now I may kill myself in the process. Then, maybe after I learn, I will find out what is so bad about traveling backwards and if it would even help me remember." With a goal set he continued towards the mountains that seemed to grow larger as he neared.

As the morning turned into evening a rumbling grew louder in Soucar's stomach. He clenched his stomach as he recognized the feeling of hunger. Thirst wasn't an issue because of the rain, but as his hunger grew, he found himself trying to override the feeling of hunger by drinking.

He had walked for more than four hours when he reached the base of the mountains. After climbing only twenty or so feet up the mountain, Soucar had to take a break. It seemed impossible for him to scale the mountain. As he sat on the slope, he looked back towards where he had come. He had traveled quite a distance, but he would have rather done the same thing three times over than scale a mountain.

He was soaked, cold, exhausted, hungry, and sleepy. He wished he could travel back to the warm, dry and peaceful field where he had first found himself. By now the rain was starting to slow, but that didn't make him any drier. Soucar groaned as he got back to his feet and turned towards the mountain.

Before he started his ascent, the clouds parted for a moment. The sun broke through to warm him, but it was soon swallowed up by the clouds. Soucar gasped as an idea formed in his head. He could feel the gravitons from the sun above him. He could use the sun to levitate himself up the side of the mountain.

He funneled the gravitons onto himself, but complete levitation would lift him straight up, not along the side of the mountain. Instead, he used the gravitons to make him lighter. He could almost jump up the mountain, as if he were on the moon. Such a tedious task almost became fun, but it was not nearly as exciting going up the mountain as it was going down the other side. Soucar could jump once and land from eighty to one-hundred feet down the mountain slope without risking a sprained ankle.

It wasn't long before he reached the valley between the first mountain ridge and the second. When he landed at the base of the mountain he released his hold on the gravitons. He almost collapsed as the earth pulled him downwards with its full gravitational force. He noticed, for the first time, that everything seemed out of focus. His mind seemed foggy, as if focusing on the gravitons deteriorated his mental state. Soucar risked using the gravitons once more to jump over a river, before he decided to continue on his own.

Only when he brushed into a tree did he realize the forest that grew around him. The chirping of birds and the rustling of small forest creatures seemed distant and disoriented as he moved south. Soucar didn't see it until he stumbled onto the path that led through the forest. It stretched from east to west without any bends or curves. Although he was unsure, he followed the path east, hoping he would find the hermit. Soucar staggered as he hurried towards what he hoped would be the end of his long journey.

Soucar tripped over a hidden stick and fell flat on the dirt path. The Sphere tumbled and rolled out of his hands to rest beside a tree several feet away. Rain poured down on him as his focus on the gravitons disappeared. He didn't even have the time to stand up before a large net appeared from under a thin layer of dirt and swept him into the air.

His mind panicked, as it weighed his options. He could hide the Sphere before it was too late, or try to escape first and then keep the Sphere safe. The second option was quickly eliminated when Soucar realized that the holes between the ropes were too small for him to fit through. Forcing his mind to focus, he once again funneled the gravitons from the sun onto the sphere. He spotted a bush no more than five feet away. He worked the gravitons to lift the Sphere into the air and slowly towards the west which was where the sun was slowly lowering in the sky. When the Sphere neared the bush Soucar lowered it by narrowing the top of the funnel. He placed it under the bush's leaves and focused once again on escaping.

Before he could attempt anything, he felt a small prick in his back. He reached his arm backward and pulled out a small dart. Blood dripped off the end meaning that whatever poison that had been on its tip had already entered his blood stream.

A soft scuttling alerted Soucar to his attackers position, but he could not catch sight of what or who it was. "Listen, I know who you are!" Soucar yelled out into the forest. "Your name is Kiro—" Soucar reached into his pocket and pulled out the note. "It's Kiyo Toka. I was sent by—" Soucar stopped, not because he couldn't remember the name, but because his tongue had grown numb. He tucked the note back into his pocket as he tried to feel his tongue.

Only now did he realize that his entire back was also numb. A bump had already formed around the small hole that the dart had made. It wasn't long before he couldn't feel his face, which was soon followed by his arms and legs. His sight blurred and meshed together. Everything became indistinguishable.

As his vision darkened, Soucar managed to make out a human form standing just on the other side of the net. Soucar would have called out to him but his muscles didn't respond. Only seconds later, darkness overcame him as his last efforts ended in vain.

This book is finished and even published, so if you want the whole book, you can buy it for $13 at 4133492. Or you could try bugging the author to post more. Who knows, he may cave-in.