<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0019</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0020.txt">Next (Page 20)</A><BR> But by telling you I'm going to be putting you in a terrible position. I don't know. I don't know if it's terrible but... but I just have to talk to somebody about all this. It's driving me crazy."<P><P>Burchard reached out and touched Keepy on the arm. It was a compassionate touch, not a sexual advance type touch, and he made sure his body language conveyed that.<P><P>"What is it, what's driving you crazy? Come on, how bad could it be? Just tell me... I give you permission, whatever bad situation it'll put me in. Come on."<P><P>She looked up at him. Definitely a goth thing going on. She was short and slim and tragic. Young face, but not-so-young eyes. The eyes made Burchard slightly scared for the first time in the encounter.<P><P>She put her index finger sideways between her lips and squeezed, looking intensely toward computer center. She finally shook her head and sighed and faced Burchard.<P><P>"Okay, I'll tell you. I know I'm gonna tell someone eventually, so I might as well get it over with. Burchard, you are looking at a time traveller. A time traveller who's not very happy."<P><P>"What?"<P><P>"A time traveller. I'm a time traveller. You don't have to believe me, I could easily demonstrate it to you. But I'd rather not. So just, just hear me out. I just want to tell someone what I'm going through."<P><P>"Look, hey, I'm open to new ideas. I'm really, I've been really into time travel kind of ideas and all that. Don't worry. Just go ahead, it's no problem. I'm glad to help."<P><P>"Okay. Okay, I'll tell you. The world is going to end at 4:22 PM and 32 seconds. That's less than 5 hours from now. At that time, the world will just disappear. I know, cuz I've seen it happen. I've seen it twice. The first time, it turned my hair white. White all over. The second time wasn't as bad. I guess I just knew what to expect."<P><P>"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. How could you know when the world was gonna end? If you were there, if you saw it, why weren't you destroyed too?"<P><P>"That's not the way it was. I... can feel time... it's hard to explain, but I can feel forward and back, future and past. And soon after I got my power, I realized there was a problem. Because I realized that I didn't feel anything past 4:22 PM on this date, Monday, January 12, 1687."<P><P>"So you... time travelled to investigate?"<P><P>"Yes. I did. The, y'know, ending was about 8 years in the future from where I was. I had perfected a way of being in two times at once. Just two times superimposed. I practiced a lot. I figured, if I passed into the nothingness, or whatever it is, I'd still be anchored to that other time, so I could pull back. So that's what I did. And that other me, who I was over 30 years ago, will be performing that experiment in five hours, about 200 miles from here."<P><P>"What, here?" Burchard asked.<P><P>"Yes. Here. This time. I did it. I waited... I was so scared. And then, the clock at 4:22:31... and right when it should have gone to 32, it happened. Void. Nothingness. Cold. Emptyness. Loss. I was there for less than a second. But it took me weeks to recover. And my hair turned white, just like that."<P><P>"So wait a minute. You're saying that this event is going to occur... today?"<P><P>"Yes! That's what I'm saying. That's why I'm so sorry I told you."<P><P>She reached forward and held his upper arms, and started to cry. He awkwardly and slowly moved into a hugging position.<P><P>"It's... okay," he said.<P><P>"No it's not. If I hadn't told you, you would have just disappeared and never knew it. Or maybe you'd just keep going, maybe it's just me who can't get past that point. I don't know, I just don't know. I'm so lonely... and I have to go back in time again... set up a new life for myself again..."<P><P>"Now wait, wait," Burchard said, and broke the hug, pushing her gently away.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0020.txt">Next (Page 20)</A>