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Authors: Devon Monk
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stared up at the ceiling. A moment later, he looked back at me.
“Time broke. A piece of it flew off like a ball on a rubber string, and now that piece is winging back to its rightful place in the flow of time. When that happens in three days, all these extra years the galvanized have been living . . .”
“Three hundred years,” I said.
“Three hundred years,” he agreed, “will come due like a bill that hasn’t been paid. The galvanized will die.”
“And so will I.”
His lips went tight, a white ring spread around them. “Yes. When you were little, when you were eight years old and dying and I implanted your mind and thoughts into the galvanized body you’re now wearing, I didn’t know about the experiment. I didn’t know time was broken. I need you to understand that, Matilda. I never would have done this, done this to you, if I’d known about the time experiment.”
I reached over and took his hand in mine. He looked so sad, so worried.
“Of course I know that,” I said. “You
saved
me, Quinten. You were only thirteen. You didn’t know what would happen. And no matter how this ends, I love you. You gave me years I never would have had.”
His eyes glittered and he wiped at them quickly, as if I hadn’t noticed. Then he smiled and it was his “I’ve got a plan” look. “This doesn’t have to end. You don’t have to end. Your life doesn’t have to end, and the galvanized don’t have to die. We can fix this. We can fix time.”
“Don’t you think us Cases have done enough damage trying to control time? Our great-grandfather was the madman who started this whole mess.”
“Yes, he was,” Quinten said, his growing excitement clear and his eyes shining with something more than tears: hope. “That’s my point. His calculations must have been off by just a fraction, but when one is meddling in time, one must be precise.”
“All right, Einstein, you’ve lost me,” I said. “What are you talking about?”
“We can, if my theory holds true, change the calculations of his experiment and make it so that time didn’t break. It will simply stretch, as he intended. And since we will have allowed it to mend in this time space, the galvanized won’t die. You, my dear little sister, will not suffer an early death.”
The fire of fanaticism lit his eyes and words. In front of me was a man who had spent years tracking down the solution to a very complicated problem. A man who had sacrificed his own freedom to find that solution, and very possibly a man who had gone a little off his rocker in doing so.
“I knew this would happen someday,” I said.
“What?”
“You. Losing your mind.”
“I haven’t—”
I grinned at him.
He just pointed one finger at me. “The calculations of Alveré Case’s experiment were so close to being correct. I was finally able to put the last pieces of the puzzle together when I was working for House Orange.”
“Working? I thought you were a prisoner.”
“Well, yes. I was that too, but he gave me unlimited access to his histories.”
“House Orange histories told you there was a way to fix time? That sounds like trustworthy information.”
“This new thing of yours?” he said. “Doubting everything I say? I can’t say that I’m a fan of it.”
“If you don’t like it, then don’t take off and leave me alone with no way to contact you—with no way to know if you’re alive or dead—for three years.”
He sat back at that, surprised at my words.
I was surprised too.
I swallowed and reached out for his hand again, holding him, knowing he was here, real.
“Three damn years, Quinten.” My voice faltered down to a whisper. “I thought you were dead.”
“Matilda,” he said just as softly, “Tilly. I’m sorry I didn’t contact you. I couldn’t. Not even at the beginning. They were watching me so closely, I knew they’d find you. But this was so important—”
“Nothing’s more important than us. Nothing’s more
“Time broke. A piece of it flew off like a ball on a rubber string, and now that piece is winging back to its rightful place in the flow of time. When that happens in three days, all these extra years the galvanized have been living . . .”
“Three hundred years,” I said.
“Three hundred years,” he agreed, “will come due like a bill that hasn’t been paid. The galvanized will die.”
“And so will I.”
His lips went tight, a white ring spread around them. “Yes. When you were little, when you were eight years old and dying and I implanted your mind and thoughts into the galvanized body you’re now wearing, I didn’t know about the experiment. I didn’t know time was broken. I need you to understand that, Matilda. I never would have done this, done this to you, if I’d known about the time experiment.”
I reached over and took his hand in mine. He looked so sad, so worried.
“Of course I know that,” I said. “You
saved
me, Quinten. You were only thirteen. You didn’t know what would happen. And no matter how this ends, I love you. You gave me years I never would have had.”
His eyes glittered and he wiped at them quickly, as if I hadn’t noticed. Then he smiled and it was his “I’ve got a plan” look. “This doesn’t have to end. You don’t have to end. Your life doesn’t have to end, and the galvanized don’t have to die. We can fix this. We can fix time.”
“Don’t you think us Cases have done enough damage trying to control time? Our great-grandfather was the madman who started this whole mess.”
“Yes, he was,” Quinten said, his growing excitement clear and his eyes shining with something more than tears: hope. “That’s my point. His calculations must have been off by just a fraction, but when one is meddling in time, one must be precise.”
“All right, Einstein, you’ve lost me,” I said. “What are you talking about?”
“We can, if my theory holds true, change the calculations of his experiment and make it so that time didn’t break. It will simply stretch, as he intended. And since we will have allowed it to mend in this time space, the galvanized won’t die. You, my dear little sister, will not suffer an early death.”
The fire of fanaticism lit his eyes and words. In front of me was a man who had spent years tracking down the solution to a very complicated problem. A man who had sacrificed his own freedom to find that solution, and very possibly a man who had gone a little off his rocker in doing so.
“I knew this would happen someday,” I said.
“What?”
“You. Losing your mind.”
“I haven’t—”
I grinned at him.
He just pointed one finger at me. “The calculations of Alveré Case’s experiment were so close to being correct. I was finally able to put the last pieces of the puzzle together when I was working for House Orange.”
“Working? I thought you were a prisoner.”
“Well, yes. I was that too, but he gave me unlimited access to his histories.”
“House Orange histories told you there was a way to fix time? That sounds like trustworthy information.”
“This new thing of yours?” he said. “Doubting everything I say? I can’t say that I’m a fan of it.”
“If you don’t like it, then don’t take off and leave me alone with no way to contact you—with no way to know if you’re alive or dead—for three years.”
He sat back at that, surprised at my words.
I was surprised too.
I swallowed and reached out for his hand again, holding him, knowing he was here, real.
“Three damn years, Quinten.” My voice faltered down to a whisper. “I thought you were dead.”
“Matilda,” he said just as softly, “Tilly. I’m sorry I didn’t contact you. I couldn’t. Not even at the beginning. They were watching me so closely, I knew they’d find you. But this was so important—”
“Nothing’s more important than us. Nothing’s more
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