"On field agents are going missing! And none of us can find the answer as to why! And still you refuse her help because of a coup that she has proven for years that she had no part of? She can be the solution!" This was the first that any of the board have heard Herb so upset.
"Special ops disappearing and going radio silent is not rare. And who is to say that Miss Cavallone is not responsible for such disappearances?"
"Pish posh!" Dot had to place a hand on Herb's shoulder to hold him back. This wasn't the first that the new board had expressed their disapproval of the former co-chairperson. While Herb had tried his best to join their hands, it was easier said than done when Cielo's track record was shrouded in more mystery than answers. It wasn't like she was particular in befriending a group of oldies that were set in their ways.
Herb just thought that in this state of emergency, they would have put all their differences aside to find an answer. It started with agents' signals suddenly going missing one by one just a few hours ago. But like the board said, that wasn't unusual. Especially considering with all the changes to Commission, it became more unpredictable to control all workers at once.
The problem came when workers were sent to investigate yet never showed up again. It was only supposed to be for a moment. Go into the timeline, see if there was anything major happening that they didn't catch. Then come back to report. That would let analysts determine what the event was, when, and how to redirect it. This was normal procedure. But no one came back.
No matter the time frame, no one was coming back. Then communication ceased. Tubes just stopped sending messages. Like something was blocking the pathway. The ISB showed nothing. No one had any idea what was happening. But everyone was starting to fill with fear of being trapped in Commission. The place that once felt safe outside of Time and Space's touch now became a cage with no one knowing what the outside world had become. All of them waiting for when it was their turn to disappear.
Despite all the panic, the new board was convinced that they could find the answer without Cielo's help. What would it say if they had to rely on the woman they booted off the board? And like they mentioned, how did they truly know that she wasn't the cause? She was in briefcase management; sabotage of other departments wouldn't be hard for her either. She did let Lila free. She let the Umbrella Academy, a group of dangerous anomalies, run free. Cielo Cavallone was the biggest Time anomaly in the entirety of Commission history.
Outside of the meeting room, Cielo let out a light sigh. Though Herb was the Commission's official chairperson, he was still too soft for any of them to actually take him seriously. Even she didn't fully like listening to him at times because of his unrealistic hope for everyone to be friends here. His idea to have her come into the room like a hero was wasting the time she could be using to find the answer to what was happening to the Commission workers.
"You stubborn oldies say all that but still keep me around because you know that Grass is right." She whispered to herself before pushing herself off the wall. "But if you want to be right then fine. I'll break the rules again. Save your asses and get my thanks never."
Commission workers kept passing by her in a rush as she made her way back to her office. The stark difference in their demeanors making Cielo feel a bit guilty. They were all so lost while the board was arguing over nothing important. Who cared who came up with the solution? Shouldn't the biggest concern be stopping all this chaos? She already knew she wasn't going to get any thanks in the end. Free labour really was the Commission's true motto.
Opening up the ISB room she had purposefully picked the one with small dents in the doorknob from a poor attempt at lock picking and some fried wires. Locking the door with a cautionary pull on the handle to make sure she had no more jump scares like the last time that she was here. Setting her briefcase down on the panel, she started to set up everything she needed to access everything the board tried to restrict from her.
"Let's see what's causing all this nonsense. The obvious one to start with, April 2019. What are they up to now?" Her fingers carefully turned the dial to the precise day they should have returned. Flinching back when the board suddenly shocked her.
She stared at the tvs that didn't display anything. Her heart started to race. Her eyes stuttered all over the wires and dials to find the mistake. There wasn't a single one. She had positioned everything as she always had been taught. "Okay- okay no- this is nothing. Of course the ISB would be- whatever that's not important. Um November 1963, JFK's assassination. Maybe we missed something then."
Her hand hovered over the wires. Only to place it over her briefcase. Her work was always flawless. If the problem could have been found by playing with the all powerful ISB, they would have done it by now. She needed to find another way that a normal worker wouldn't ever think of.
"Untraceable agents and briefcases. A broken ISB. No communication among any of the departments. No outside resources either. How fun." She traced over the squares on her briefcase. Tilting her head, she pursed her lips a little. "I have a lot of inside resources. The records room is probably useless in this case. I need something more adaptable and more apocalyptic. If Circle already had an answer I would have heard it by now. Who else is more in tune with this kind of matter?"
She stared back at the blank screens reflecting her face. The ticking of her watch filling the empty sound of the room. "Me? I'm a resource?"
Cielo was a resource? In a way, she really was one. She was the only one that knew more about Commission than even the board themselves. She knew more about Time than anyone. But she already knew this too. That's why she was here alone. But then why was the missing key piece to solving this? Why was her reflection almost alive as she tried to figure everything out?
Before she knew it, her hands were moving again. Without any hesitation or fear of getting shocked, she let her hands move as needed. There was a tingle of electricity that came with each flip of a switch and wire that overlapped dangerously on one another. She knew this feeling. It was the same as a briefcase.
What was she even doing? This wasn't like anything AJ taught her. This type of wire placement wasn't even in Commission textbooks. It was a new formation that wouldn't lead to anything. Messing with the ISB in such an unprecedented way would break it further. That didn't stop whatever she was trying to attempt.
Her hand suddenly came to a complete stop over the final switch. Forcing herself to take a breath, she flicked the board back to life. No shock, giant explosion, or tv screens to blind her with a show of whatever needed to be seen. Instead, a single tv turned on behind her.
A bare, white room with a tube like structure in the middle. Getting closer, she saw the human shaped figure inside the tube. The ISB location's space read 'Founder's bunker.'
AJ had only mentioned the place in passing. It was rumoured that the Founder laid inside. Some say they were a ghost, cursed to forever watch over Time. Some said that they were nothing but a brain frozen waiting to be thawed out. Most just said that it was all rumours to bring some fun into this lifeless place. To think that it was real could just be the key to solving it all.
Electrical statics made her turn around once again. Her briefcase, still connected to the board, was producing blue sparks. "Oh that can't be good."
Cielo turned off the board and started to reset it back to it's dormant state. But none of it was settling the sparks. If anything, it was making it worse as the sparks were becoming full blown lightning streams. The only thing that she could think to stop the briefcase's lighting show was to unplug it. Very tempting. How she missed having reckless Lila around.
Closing her eyes, she stretched out her arm as far as she could. Shimming closer little by little, biting down her inner cheek. Just grab it already! Her hand clasped down on the handle and before she could pull it away, she heard a familiar pop. Which couldn't be possible considering that all briefcases were down.
Peeking one eye open she quickly realized that she was not in the switch room anymore. It didn't take long for her to realize where she was. She didn't know how it was possible that the briefcase managed to set a coordinates for itself but it brought her to the place she needed in the flashiest way. If that wasn't a sign, then she didn't know what was.
"Cielo Cavallone. You're here." An old, rough voice spoke from the middle of the room.
She looked around the room in confusion. "I am? Did you do this?"
"I didn't. You did it yourself." She took a step closer to the tube. "Don't come any closer. Set your briefcase down."
"Um no can do Mystery Founder. Your rules, a Commission worker must never leave their briefcase's side. And while I don't think you're necessarily a bad guy, you are highly questionable."
"Please Cielo. I mean you no harm. Set your briefcase down and I'll tell you how to rewire it out of here." The way that they said her name sounded familiar. It made her somewhat trust the founder. She was brought here for a reason after all.
She slowly sat down with her briefcase set in front of her. "Alright. What do I have to do?"
The Founder's instructions were easy to follow. The two knew briefcases like the back of their own hands. It was almost peaceful working on the modifications. Hardly anyone at Commission was on her same level with the comfort to speak so casually.
"I have to ask," she started as she threaded wires together, "why start Commission?"
"Attach the yellow to the frequency dial, then readjust the wavelength to 230."
"Okay you are not going to answer that. What about your name? You already know mine. Seems only fair that I get to learn yours."
"You never were too good with names." She blushed a bit.
"So you know that about me too. Means you know quite about me. Don't know how I feel about that. I should have deleted my own data the moment Mister fish head told me the truth."
"That wouldn't have worked. I've been watching you for a while. I know where you born. Your high school crushes. What your university dorm looked like. What you diploma said. But there's still a lot that I don't know."
"Okay I'll bite. Like what? What does the all knowing Temps Commission Founder want to know about me?"
They hummed. "Your favourite colour."
She looked around the room in disbelief. "That's it? You lie in a tube for probably days on end with all of human history on command to watch, you are met with your company's biggest anomaly, and the only thing you want to know is my favourite colour?"
"I would."
"How about we make a deal then? I tell you my favourite colour, along with follow your instructions on this briefcase, and you answer me one question. It's not about you or Time, Commission. I have only a single question." When they didn't say anything, she continued. "Five Hargreeves. If you know about me and my history here, the name should sound familiar. He used to be a temporal assassin here. He once told me that I, but not me, visited him in 2002. Do you know anything about this?"
The Founder remained silent. She stood up from the briefcase. "Look I get it if you don't want reveal Commission's secrets or talk about yourself, but as long as I worked in here I've never understood what he meant. And until today, I never worked the switch board the same way it did to show this bunker. You don't have to tell me everything but a little hint would help. Please?"
"You always did love when people used their manners." Her face scrunched up in confusion. Taking a step forward, they didn't stop her this time. So she took another. Until she stood beside the tube and could see the person inside.
An old man with one arm. But she knew this face. She had seen it so many times on kill orders. On the ISB. Those times though, he never looked so fragile as he did now in this tube. "Five? You... W-why- how are you... what happened to you?"
He refused to look at her. "The end of the world."
"But you're Commission's founder. The founder! I know that we hadn't found an apocalypse free timeline but you? How could you not find anything? Just to end up like this?"
"Time was picky about who they liked. It made it very clear that they wouldn't let me do as I pleased."
"Why are you speaking as if Time has a mind?"
"I've seen a lot here."
"But you speak as if there is a chosen person who knows. That you know that this person exists and has what we need. Who is it?" He went silent again. To have Time at their beck and call sounded like a dream for anyone. Yet the way Five looked now described anything but that. In this state and he felt bad for someone else? "Did something happen to them?"
"Holding onto Time is a big responsibility. It can be both a blessing and a curse. For her it was a curse. She was dragged into a mess too big for her own good."
"Sounds like your powers." He cracked a small smile.
"I would have done anything to trade places with her. That wish to stop the end left me here. And her..." he started to cough heavily.
Cielo looked over his body again. Catching the tattoo on his chest. Particularly on the boxes on the top of the design. Looking back at her briefcase, it matched the one embroidered on. Then it came to her. "It's me, isn't it? The one that visited Five in 2002, was she the one that held Time in her hands?"
"Plug your briefcase into the computer. April 2002, Commission headquarters." His eyes gestured to the side of the room. A wall having a few controls similar to the ISB and a singular tv on it.
Her hands shook as she hooked up her briefcase to the wall. This was going to be it. She was finally going to see what brought her and her Five together. And if she could learn this, it meant that she wouldn't be an anomaly anymore. That this could be the end to the mystery and the beginning to how to stop the apocalypse.
What greeted her was her own face on the screen. This was the other Cielo. The one from 2002. "To whoever is watching this, it means one of two things. One, I failed and Commission is making me watch this back as a form of mockery. Or two, that I failed and the one watching this is me."
"What is this?"
"If it's scenario two you're probably asking what is this." The other her straightens up to look through the screen at herself. "You, Cielo Cavallone, are my doppelganger. And I can answer all your questions but you already know the answers. Because where I failed, you will succeed. You having my briefcase is proof of such."
"The plan is simple. In a few hours I will meet with Five Hargreeves. A young version of him with untapped potential but a desire for freedom above all. If I can convince him not to jump, there is a chance that it can create a timeline with no apocalypse. However, knowing the kid well enough, I also recognize for this plan to fail in some form. With the high chance that Five jumps to the 2019 apocalypse, there is the high chance he will return years later to stop said apocalypse. What he lacks more than anything is information and someone to trust. I plan on giving that to him."
Cielo raised a hand up to her head, a small headache forming. "I have been studying multiple timelines for decades. I am the best that the Temps Commission has ever produced. The only question that never was solved was how to stop the apocalypse. I was never going to find that answer. They were. The Marig- the Hargreeves children have the answer. If I could combine my knowledge with their abilities, the world doesn't have to end. The Founder doesn't have to-"
The other Cielo took a deep breath to calm down her rant. It appeared as if she looked somewhere behind the recording. Cielo catching a glimpse of a human silhouette reflected in her eyes. Then she quickly looked away from whoever and focused back to her main objective.
"I needed Five to trust me. But he is never going to do that if I knew everything but the one thing he desires. No, what I needed to do was not hold his hand through the apocalypse. It was to give slight nudges. Ripples. I needed to start blank to him. Gain his interest and trust at the same time without revealing too much. That's where you come in hopefully."
Suddenly she thought of all the so called coincidental meetings and slip of the tongues she's shown. Everything was starting to make sense. "If all goes according to plan and backup plan, my memory and everything that I need to steer an apocalypse free world will have been given to a Cielo Cavallone of that timeline. She- I- you- your mind was created to help Five Hargreeves and his family stop the apocalypse. Its a lot to ask and even more to bet but I wouldn't be risking it all if the result wasn't more rewarding."
The two Cielos started to tear up. "To whoever is watching this and I really hope that its me, please help those children."
The recording came to a stop. The silence of the room letting current Cielo collect her thoughts. "What you're saying... what she- I- I am- what am I? Am I... her?"
"In a way, yes. You've felt it before. How was it that you picked everything up here so easily when you have no prior experience in anything relevant? Being drawn to the unknown of the Umbrella Academy? You saved the life of that Meritech worker. You came here. All of it is evidence that you have her memories and some of her will moving you as she planned."
"Then how I do bring it out? If I have all of her experience and- and my own- not my own, I can use it. We can solve the apocalypse! We can bring Commission back. None of this has to happen. If I can just access it, this can all be solved!"
"Cielo..." he wheezed a bit, "you cannot access your memories."
"What? Why not? You have been saying it this whole time. That I've been using them. Why can't we just plug my brain, find what we need, and use this power to try more timelines?"
"There's a difference between it trickling out of you and you actively using it. Why do you think I deleted all your history here and told Carmichael to keep you out of the timeline? You hold too much power that we have no idea what happens if we try even the tiniest bit of force on your unlimited knowledge. Add in the fact that you have two human wills and consciousness, creates too many variables in what you deem correct. It's too dangerous."
"But she's me? What can she think that is dangerous?"
"There was one thing that she didn't account for." She didn't like how he tried to avoid talking more.
"And what was that?" He took a moment to think about how to properly phrase what was coming next. He knew that she had the right to know about what happen to her. But she was already distraught by Cielo's memories, if she found out more? It didn't make it easier with her picking apart his words.
"When her memories were extracted, she temporarily stored them here in Commission. You inherited more than just her knowledge of timelines. I have reason to believe that Time is inside you as well. That your knowledge is more than what she knew alone."
"Time? The concept? It is inside me alongside another Cielo's memories? This- that doesn't make any sense. How can you even tell? Time can't be tracked like that."
The tv started to play another clip. Five nodded, in a way telling her to just watch.
A shaky, night vision video started to play. It was coming from inside her childhood bedroom. A teenage version of herself sleeping soundly as the footage got closer to her. A small circular device was placed onto her forehead. The red light immediately changing to yellow once attached. They were implanting the other Cielo's memories into her.
Teenage Cielo started to move in her sleep. It started off as simple shifting to the sides. Then she started groaning in pain. Thrashing her legs to kick the blanket around but the worker wouldn't let her touch the device. Pinning her wrists together that the young girl could barely budge them. And then nothing.
Her movements halted, almost robotically laying back as if nothing happened. The worker carefully released their hold and hesitantly stepped back. The light was still yellow meaning that the memories weren't done downloading.
Suddenly, the teenage Cielo sat up. Her eyes wide open. A scene straight out of a horror movie. "Temps Commission. I should have known. What a bold move. And here I thought that Sir Reginald Hargreeves was the crazy minded one. Humans are such fascinating creatures."
Her finger poked at the device. The worker's camera shook as they got closer to stop her from damaging it, but tripped back when she snapped her head in their direction. A chuckle escaping her lips as it continued to inspect over her body. "I see. Her name is Cielo Cavallone. A good brain on her. Logical pathways. Clean history and future, pretty normal for Commission. Quite a number of timelines she's memorized too. A dedication that can be respected."
She smiled at the same time the light turned green. "You're trying to stop the apocalypse. Oh Founder I knew you were desperate but this? You're killing the poor pair while you lie useless in that incubator. But did you ever consider that with her intelligence, she could figure out the harsh truth you fear to face? Or was that a part of your plan too? To kill a woman too close to the truth? Your family is so lucky they are loved dearly. This child not so much."
The device was ripped off her head. Crushed parts thrown at the worker. Teenage Cielo, or whatever was speaking, got up from the bed. Her hand grabbing the worker's camera steady. "You want to play with lives Founder? Then let's play a game. Love versus the world. Her love for you versus what the world requires her to do. Your greatest ally versus the concept you wish to own. She has both in her. A normal human being with the chance to alter timelines Which desire is stronger? This is going to be a lot of fun."
Right before the girl passed out, the video was cut off. This was all a game that Time was playing. One where no matter what Cielo chose will create a bad ending. Her love for Five, to help him, would doom the world. Her goal to save the world, to protect Time that flowed in her, would somehow kill Five. How could she possibly even start to chose which option was better?
"That- that doesn't mean Time is in me. It's... its a joke! I'm sure this Cielo has the same dark humour. A silly goose is she." She made the sound of laughter. "Let's change the subject. Too much seriousness is stressing the both of us out. Maybe being in that tube has done a little too much to the old noggin. How about I take you out of here? Push you around a bit. You never were one to stay still for long."
Accepting that the 2002 Cielo was a Commission member and she implanted her memories into her brain was one thing. To have Time slip in was an entirely different problem. Time was supposed to be untouchable and ever expanding. To live, if what he said is true, in a human mind was unthinkable. It meant that Cielo wasn't only filled with knowledge of multiple timelines. She knew all of history. All timelines that can ever and have ever been produced.
With a forced smile, she pushed the metal door open. To be met with stone rumble and broken lightbulb above her head. For the second time in the past few moments, she became speechless. How long has she been here? "Commission... We didn't even feel anything here? What happened?"
"The Kugelblitz is getting worse. She must have brought you here knowing that this bunker was built with my powers to withstand any paradox." He coughed again. He was getting weaker.
"She or Time?" She whispered. The door slowly rolled back closed. The Commission symbol in front of her. "Kugelblitz. A ball of lightning. A black hole collapsing in on itself. The universe is self imploding on itself. That's why nothing was working. And since it reached this far, then this is it."
She turned back to Five in the tube. "How did I know that?"
"Same as everything else. Your brain is composed of another's, Time's and your own thought process. There isn't anything you wouldn't know in theory."
"But what's the point in even having all the answers if I can't use it as we need?!" She stopped herself from hitting his case seeing the old man's heavy breathing.
"I don't know. All I do know is that you can't save the world. And if your Five tries, he'll end up like me." Alone. Strapped down to one of things he hates the most. Lying here, in constant reminder of his failure.
"Then what do I do?" Her hands tightly holding onto the side of the machine.
Old man Five shook his head. For decades, maybe centuries, he stared up at the same white ceiling asking the same question. "I'm sure you understand what an anchor means to a Commission worker."
"An anchor? Of course. It's standard for anyone working, even those not on the field. It's the first thing that Mister fish head made me choose before we actually learned anything."
"You know, even before I included it in the training, people tended to find one. This is tense work we do here. Whether it be for themselves or for others, we humans want to hold onto something to make all this chaos worth wild. To some their anchor is a something. To many others it's a someone. It didn't matter in the end as long as people had a reason. Why did you pick your anchor?"
She bit her lip. When she first thought of who or what to be her anchor there were some obvious answers. Most suggested family, lovers, or even friends in some cases. There was the thought of making it Five. He was the reason why she joined the place. But the key rule of choosing an anchor was something that she can consider a constant. Someone or something that was unmoving and untouchable. And somehow she came up with her anchor.
"He... he was the only one that I knew would never judge me and my many questionable decisions."
"Then where is he now?"
"What's the point in this Old man Five? You know where he is. Dead. The entire universe is dying. You say it's human nature to be drawn to find an anchor. A reason. What more can thinking about my anchor can help me in this case where everything is gone?"
"I suppose that's so." She sighed, her anger still bubbling under her skin. "But as stated in your training, you need an anchor before you lose your mind. And for someone that has a lot in her mind, you need an anchor more than anyone."
"And now that he's gone? What happens to me now?"
He slowly turned his head to her. Now looking at him face to face she could really see the similarity between him and the younger-older version of himself. His eyes were always so sympathetic. As if they were trying to say sorry with all the strength they couldn't do with their mouths. She already knew his answer with that gaze alone. Find another anchor or break. And when this Cielo breaks, Time will slip through.
She pushed herself away from the case. "I need some fresh air."
"It's not safe out there. My powers are stuttering with each Kugelwave." She didn't listen and rushed out of the bunker.
Commission was gone. No bodies seen or heard. Only her footsteps left prints in the snow. She was all alone again. No, not that wasn't entirely true. She had another version of her and Time lurking behind her at every moment.
Cielo leaned on the fallen ceiling rumble that piled up to block the basement's door. This was where La Resistance kept her during their overthrow of the Handler. Yanking at the door handle she wondered if someone would open it from the inside. This place, the whole building, used to be filled to the brim. There just had to be one person. A person that snuck down here for a break and was miraculously untouched by the Kugelblitz. Instead that miracle was used on her.
With shaking strength, she picked up a stone a bit bigger than her hand. Even with her terrible form she threw the rock at the door with enough strength that it almost bounced at her face. Only barely missing her that it was just a fake threat. Still with a tiniest but of hope she waited. Someone had to have her throw. When that moment passed and no one showed up, she felt the first crack in her mind of what it was like to not have an anchor.
Cielo screamed.
Falling to her knees, banging her fists against the cracked cement floor. Her breathing becomes uneven between her sobs and cries. Why did it have to be her to survive? It wasn't even her that survived. It was her doppelganger that Time wanted. Her body being dragged along the way. Then it begged the question, who was she truly?
Did she really approach Five because the other Cielo wanted her to be as close to the Umbrellas as possible? Did she go through years of school to become a prosthetist to just hold that glass eye? How much of her childhood was her's? Did she become a fan of the Umbrellas because they were the fad or because this was her fate? Who was she?
In an attempt to calm herself down, she hugged her briefcase tightly. Her nails dug into the old leather that she was sure that it would leave marks. Maybe if she got rid of it now, it'll all end. Her pain, suffering, wondering, all of it. She never chose this path like she once thought.
Yet she could end it all.
Her anchor was already gone. The rest of Commission as well. The rest of the universe on its way. Old man Five, himself, was on his own death bed. Even with her now modified briefcase, where would she run to? She wouldn't have to run if it all stopped here. Would anyone even notice if she disappeared like everyone else in the universe? To be wiped out and be written off as a normal person's death, that sounded like a dream at this point.
It was a simple trick really.
The image was so vivid in her head. It was clearer than any pull that the other Cielo performed on her. Take a rock to the head. Smash the control center of her puppeteers. How it would do her no greater joy than to shut up her mind. To shut up Time.
What brought her back to a moment of clarity was the ground shaking. She struggled in finding a reason for going back. Ultimately, she didn't even think before she was back in front of the bunker.
"Old man Five!" Cielo threw open the door. Two unexpected bodies inside. Her eyes landed on the one she least wanted to see in this moment.
She unconsciously took a step back in fear. Knowing Five well, she understood that look in his eyes. He was here to find answers and she held the key to it all. But with everything that she now knows, she couldn't help him. She would only make it worse for him. For everyone. All she wanted to say to him was don't save the world. Don't save her.