Sunday, March 18, 2018

A new story- "Sacrifice Obsidian"

Chapter 1

And I came upon the field where there would rest the dead in a day, and it was covered in roses and lilies, wildflowers and brambles, with birds chirping from the nearby meadows. Nary a foot had trodden through this field in the last month, and truly, this field had no significance other than being a random shrug of chance. It would be the last standing place for soldiers fighting in a war that never happened, not recorded in any history book you or I might have read or will read or might have heard about discussed in a cafe, and yet, it had happened, and it will happen, and then it will happen again. There was never any monument to this battle, and there shouldn't have been, and yet there would be, standing in the middle of a field of dirt, later remade into a town square with a quaint shopping mall. There would be no more roses or lilies, no more wildflowers, and the birds would perch atop streetlamps and primitive automobiles rather than the branches of trees.
This shouldn't have happened. This shouldn't happen. I failed.
My estimated probability of reconstruction had fallen below 1%, and I was pulled back forward, leaving another failed mission behind me. I would have to appeal to try again, but given my two previous failures, I wasn't likely to get a fourth.
The Bureau reception room buzzed into focus, and I was greeted by the familiar blank white wall and the smell of clean cotton.
"Tailor 3712, your third attempt to mend the timeline has failed," came the officious voice of the Golem. "Your probability of success fell below 1% and rendered avenues of options moot. The degradation of your genetic makeup has reached 5%. Do you appeal to attempt case number 40PD once more? It is estimated that the degradation of your genetic makeup will reach 8.3% depending on various factors of your interspersion with a standard deviation of 2%. As a reminder: at 10% degradation, we cannot withdraw you without significant damage to your nervous system."
Significant damage... maybe it's a price. They probably wouldn't ask me unless they knew something I didn't. How do I prevent a war that never happened?
"I appeal."
"You will be notified of the decision within 24 subjective solar hours. You may return to your residence. Any attempted unauthorized temporal incursions will result in banishment."
Sounds like they want me to stay.

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