Chapter 13
Something was happening, alright. The vid screen above the control panel showed a view of the room just outside the pod, and as soon as I pushed the lever, Word and the technicians started moving backwards. I found myself watching everything that had just happened outside, but in reverse. It was working. Thank the Magna Draconis. I was traveling back in time. I pushed forward further on the lever and things sped up. It was like watching a movie on rewind now.
Now that I had moved back in time, Word's black draconium gear was no longer interfering with my gold armor. I breathed a sigh of relief and quickly reduced the amount of energy I was feeding into my armor. I had to conserve my remaining gold energy for as long as possible. I would have really liked to have had a good meal and some rest right about now to replenish my energy, but that wasn't an option. Still, I felt better now that I didn't have to run the gear at full power anymore.
My relief was short lived, though. I still didn't know where I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to do in the past in order to stop Word. Scales. Why couldn't these prophecies come with more detailed instructions. If my destiny was to serve the prophecy then why didn't they just write down what I was supposed to do and be done with it. Why do they always have to be so vague.
OK, let's see. Word said he had caused an "unfortunate accident" for Connor in his childhood. Assuming Connor's childhood period would be before he was age 10, that means I'd have to search through 10 years of Connor's life to find what Word did. I didn't see how that would be possible. Connor was an orphan raised by the priesthood, and nothing was known about his earliest years. I had no idea where to look for him. And even if I could find him, how do I know at what point in time Word decided to strike? If I had more time, I suppose I could find Connor and guard him until Word appeared, however that could take years and I didn't have enough energy to power the gear for that long. I was down to a matter of hours now at best. There had to be another way and I had better think of it quickly.
The vid screen was showing much activity in the room outside the pod. It looked like I had reached the point in the past when the technicians were building the time machine. In reverse, it looked like they were taking it apart. The equipment in the room decreased rapidly until the room was empty, save for a few workbenches and tools. I was now at the point in the past just before work began on the time machine.
Wait! What in the Magna Draconis is that? Two Word Paynns?
It was a weird sight, but the vid screen showed two Word Paynns talking to each other in the room outside the pod. The only way I could think this could happen would be if after the time machine had been built, Word traveled back in time to meet with his earlier self. If he did that, he must have had to tell his past self something important. This seemed like something I should check out. One of the Word's may reveal a clue about how I can fix things.
As I watched them, they walked out of the room backwards. Since I was moving backwards in time myself, this meant they had just come into the room. I figured this was as good a place as any to drop in on them, so I moved a little further back in time and then pulled the control lever back to the center position.
The room outside was empty, so this was a good time to step out and have a look. There wasn't enough room in the pod for me to turn around, so I pulled the door to the time machine open with my tail and backed myself out the door. As soon as I got my head out the door, I saw the another pod standing next to mine. That was the pod that the other Word Paynn from the future must have arrived in. It looked identical to the one I had traveled in, which made sense since it was in fact the very same pod, just from a different time period.
This was actually kind of interesting. The law of conversation of matter states that matter cannot be created or destroyed, yet here were two instances of the same object which was composed of the same matter existing at the same time. In a sense, the arrival of the time machine created matter where none had previously existed. Normally, this would be impossible, but apparently time travel allowed an exception to the rule. It would seem that the law of conservation allowed matter to be shifted in time just as it allowed matter to be shifted in space. Since the matter in the pod was here now and not presently existing in the future point in time from which it had left, then conversation of matter was still maintained. So multiple copies of the pod could exist at the same time, as long as they had all come from different points in the future. Very drac concept. And to think, I'm the only dragon in the world who knows this. I felt a bit of pride at having figured this out on my own and it helped lift my spirits a bit. If I managed to survive this ordeal, I promised myself I'd find a way to tell all this to Connor.
Now, time to find the two Word Paynns. I headed out of the room to look for them. I went down the hall and quickly heard their voices in a nearby room. This time I looked around on the floor and made sure I wasn't leaving tracks again. I wasn't going to make that mistake twice. Everything was clear and I entered the room where they were talking to listen in.