The Path of Fate: Chapter 14
Sei slowly crossed her long, slender legs as she took her seat at her desk. Across from her were two sharply dressed men. It was clear they meant business, from the serious looks on their faces, and Sei wasted no time.
"So, what brings you here?" She asked, already aware, yet wanting to establish the extent of the situation's urgency.
"It is simple, Miss Sei. We need to find out who you took, and see what, if any, impact that person may have had on the past. If it was a nobody, then that is fine. However, we cannot risk having someone who played an important part in our history be wiped from the books forever."
"What do you need?"
"Records, transcripts, data logging, coordinates, video surveillance, audio recordings, it doesn't matter. If the person you brought back from the past sneezed, I want to know about it and I want a record of it."
Sei scrawled a few notes down on her pad, nodding slowly.
"Okay. Now, have you two been briefed by the project head?" She asked.
A nodding of heads, perfectly timed.
"Have you received his speech about how we didn't actually go back in time, we just went to a different place in time?"
"Yes. While we find it to be a little over-elaborate, the fundamentals hold true."
"So then, my question is, how can this affect us? Have we actually changed anything in the past that could hurt us today? The two streams of logic seem to collide and offer no explanation."
A curt smile from one of the men. "If a building beside you were on fire, would that worry you, Miss Sei?"
"Yes, of course. There is significant risk of damage to surrounding buildings."
"Correct. You would evacuate, and take every precaution necessary to avoid unneccesary death and damage."
"Of course."
"Well, Miss Sei, there is a building across the street that is on fire right now, metaphorically speaking. While it may not present any immediate danger, the street is not that wide, and the fire throws some very hot sparks. It would make sense to take every precaution available. This is not something we can leave to chance."
Sei nodded slowly, then made a quick note in her book.
"Alright." She said, straightening up and dropping her pen to her pad of paper. "I'll have one of mine box everything up. It will be ready tomorrow morning. We can either deliver it ourselves, or you can pick it up when you see fit."
"We will come after it first thing in the morning." Was the reply.
Suddenly, both men stood, smoothing out their pants.
"Well, we must leave for now, but we trust you will take care of everything."
Sei nodded, and stood. "We are looking forward to doing our best to help you with your search."
Sei followed them to the door, and nodded to them as they left. She shut the door behind them, and returned to her desk.
000
Meg sighed as she transferred laundry from her washer to her dryer. She had put the video online as soon as the movie had ended last night, and she hadn't had a chance to check it yet. She was kind of curious to see if there were any results, but she had to get this work done. She had work tomorrow and wouldn't have time to do this. As she turned the knob for the dryer, she idly wondered what Jo was doing. She had left her in the kitchen, eating food about ten minutes ago. She had been eating pretty quickly though, like she always did, and was probably finished.
She organized a few jugs of laundry soap on the shelf above the machines, then walked out as she headed for the kitchen.
As she rounded the corner, she saw the bowl of cereal she had made for her, sitting empty on the table. The plate beside it was devoid of any trace of the toast it once held. The glass of orange juice was gone. And the young lady who devoured it all had her back to Meg, rummaging through the cupboards, presumably for more food.
Meg was initially irritated that Jo had gone through the cupboards without her permission, but it quickly faded away as she realized that she wanted Jo to be comfortable here, and to feel like a roommate and not a guest.
"What you looking for?" Meg asked, moving closer. Jo cast a look at her over her shoulder, silver hair cascading over her shoulders and down her back, before turning around wordlessly and pawing through the stuff.
"Not like she understands me anyway." Meg mumbled to herself. She brushed past Jo and opened the fridge. Pulling out another cold can of Monster, she cracked the lid and took a sip.
Immediately, Jo looked over, and her nose twitched as the sharp smell of chemicals reached her.
"Want to try some?" Meg asked, noticing her reaction. She held the can out to her, offering.
Jo stared at it, then slowly moved closer. She reached out and took it from Meg, raising it to her nose. She sniffed at it, then wrinkled her nose.
"Just try it." Meg said.
Jo's dark red eyes flashed up to meet hers, then she raised the can to her lips and took a careful sip.
"Good, isn't it?"
There was a clear moment of indecision painted on Jo's face, before she slowly licked her lips and passed the can back to Meg.
"Don't like it, eh? Well, it's not for everyone, I suppose."
Meg took another sip, then walked over to her computer. It was an old thing, barely running. It sat on a cheap desk she had bought from a yard sale. She never shut it off, for fear it would not turn back on.
As she sat down at the desk, she pressed the space bar on her keyboard. The computer screen came alive, color fading in as the tubes warmed up. Yes, she had that ancient of a monitor.
"Time to see what's what on the net." She said. She opened up the browser, and it took a moment to load. When it finally did, she went to the bookmarked forum she had posted the link to her video in, and scrolled through the topics until she found her post.
Surprisingly, there were already three replies. Scrolling down, she found what she wanted.
-Old Norse
-The language of Scandinavia during the Viking age was Old Norse.
-I agree with the two posters above me, it seems to match what we know about Old Norse language. The modern languages decended from Old Norse are: Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese. Of those, Icelandic bears the closest resemblance to Old Norse.
Meg tapped a nail against her teeth thoughtfully, then opened up a search engine. She ran a quick search on Old Norse, and found out that it was an extinct language. No one spoke it anymore.
'So the closest is Icelandic, then, eh?' Meg thought to herself. It shouldn't be that hard to learn. Or at least translate basic sentences. She wondered just how close Icelandic was to Old Norse. Even if she went through the motions of learning Icelandic, would it all have been for naught? Just because it was the closest out of a group didn't mean it was close at all. Just the closest. It could still be miles away from the language Jo spoke.
Another few minutes netted her some promising results. Around 1100 AD, there are records of writing. They were called the Icelandic Sagas and were written in Old Icelandic, a western dialogue of Old Norse. It looked like she was in luck!
Meg quickly scribbled a few notes down on a piece of paper, then jumped up out of her chair.
"Be back in a bit, hang tight. I need to run to the library!"
Meg slipped into her shoes, and headed for the door. This could finally be the key to breaking the language barrier!
She jogged down the hallway, running her fingers through her long red hair as she contemplated waiting for the elevator. It was usually slow.
She ran past it and headed for the stairwell at the end of the hall. Besides, she thought. A little exercise never hurt anybody.
000
Jo stared wordlessly at the door that Meg had just left through. It was clear she had been given a command to stay put, and while she normally would not accept a command from anyone, this was not her dwelling. She was a guest Meg's domain, and as such, she should retain some measure of respect.
A sharp scent caught her sensitive nose, and she looked toward the desk that Meg had been sititng at seconds ago. The strange canister containing a slightly bitter tasting brew sat forgotten on the desk, and Jo licked her lips as she remembered the brash flavour. It was unlike anything she had tasted before.
She moved lithely over to the desk on silent feet, hips swaying side to side with an unconscious, natural grace befitting the warrior. She stopped when she reached the desk, staring down at the can.
She slowly reached down and picked it up. She raised it to her lips, and took another drink. The taste of it was very satisfying, a fact that intrigued her greatly.
Carrying the drink with her, she moved to the couch. It was a very comfy device, and she had taken a liking to reclining on it. It was very peaceful, and provided a nice rest for her ever-sore lower back.
Jo settled comfortably on the couch, sinking into the softness as she took another sip. Once you got used to it, she thought, it was pretty good. In fact, you kind of...couldn't wait to drink more. It reminded her fondly of the mead and ale that her and her men used to make, and she slowly closed her eyes as memories flooded by one by one. They were only a few days old, yet in this foreign environment, seemed older than the flow of time itself.
Another, more fragile memory worked its way to the front of her brain, despite her best efforts to smother it. Her face darkened and her eyes narrowed as she thought of the beautiful, defiant red-head that her men had cut down so ruthlessly on her order.
It was a strange, alien feeling to have, Jo thought, to miss something that she had never had. She had never had that girl. And had never missed anyone more than she was missing her now.
The pain in her chest grew, and Jo fought against it with every aggressive instinct she possessed. It didn't make sense, to feel this way. Especially over someone so insignificant. She wasn't even a fighter.
Jo gritted her teeth, and tried to calm down. She ignored the thoughts swirling around her head, and tried to find something else to think about. Against her will, her thoughts turned to Meg.
A/N: I understand that updates have slowed to a crawl, but I'm doing my best to write during every spare second I get. Thanks to everyone who is sticking with this, love getting reviews from you all.