Boat is the absolute worst form of
travel imaginable. I'm getting fucking tired of it. Let's just say
that airplanes are not as common or affordable here, not that I would
be able to afford a ticket back home with about the same amount of
money we've got now. I've gotten where I'm going for now. Continuing
the transcribing, I need to get this out before we make a decision.
I have decided it's taking too long to
transcribe everything. I'm going to ask Svaden to help me. I guess
it's time you get acquainted with him.
---
---
TD: 4:08:3729
...at the top of my lungs, both in my
language and in broken Kayani. I also began to run.
I ran to the nearest construction site.
The way I figured it, I needed to get around some people who would at
least slow these guys down by asking questions. If I could just get a
roadblock in their way, so to speak, I could escape across this
foreign cityscape and pray for the best. A man near the front shouted
something at me which I couldn't translate in the moment, and then
“Come on!” He gestured wildly behind him, one thumb over his
shoudler.
A second man, this one younger, raised
an eyebrow and turned to look. He shouted the same word as the first
guy, only there was a notable tone of question to the voice. All I
really knew was that these strangers in their bright colors and hard
hats were trying to help. I feel bad now, because I may have put them
in danger, but neither of us fully knew what was going on in those
moments. Anyway, I heard the guy in the back and even a third voice
call out that word again, “Svaden!”
When I got to the first man, he grabbed
me hard by the arm and I tensed up, thinking he was going to hold me
when he literally spun around and threw me to the person behind him.
I heard comotion as the first guy was tackled to the ground and with
the second person pulling hard to lead me away (if he hadn't, I
probably would have been outrunning him anyway) was hurried away
before I could even dream of helping.
We hurried through the front door to a
building that was in shambles. “Damned steps, Svaden, what did you
do this time?”
I was still trying to figure out what
language 'Svaden' might be when I heard a voice call in answer from
behind us, “I didn't do anything, I've been surveying the east
wall.” My hand was released and the man who was leading me—I saw
where, there was a full length window broken wide open on the back
wall—spun around. I followed suit.
And there I was. In bright red trainers
(sneakers), a bright green vest and equally blinding pink shirt, I
was standing in the center of the broken remains of a cubicle or
rather, Svaden was. Svaden. Me. The other me. The one I saw out of
the window of the van on the day of the many sedatives. The one I saw
with the other Sean. Only, I guess that I am the Other Svaden, aren't
I? This is his world.
What I said next I knew was correct. I
know it still, as surely as I know that any given politician is lying
at any given time.
“You have to come with me, we have to
run right now. Then we need to get your brother and get the fuck out
of the city.” During that long, everlong three seconds I wondered
what he was thinking, “Me from the future?” “An imposter?”
Whatever it was, he was too stunned to argue when I grabbed him by
the wrist and hurried toward the window. He followed me without a
fucking word and, to spare you a lot of nonsense, we ran for HOURS.
TD: 4:09:3729
We didn't find his brother last night. He didn't believe my story about who I was. I asked why he didn't run away from me if he thought I was lying, my our face (his looks healthier, actually) was plastered all over the news. That is to say, we were in news papers, magazines, on the internet and on the Vidscreens (Television) for the still rather low number of people who had them. (Here they're still mostly used for news anyway, not as much drama.) Svaden says he doesn't know but doesn't accept I am who I say I am. I think he does believe that we need to find his brother, who is also wanted in connection to a (terrorism) case.
We didn't find his brother last night. He didn't believe my story about who I was. I asked why he didn't run away from me if he thought I was lying, my our face (his looks healthier, actually) was plastered all over the news. That is to say, we were in news papers, magazines, on the internet and on the Vidscreens (Television) for the still rather low number of people who had them. (Here they're still mostly used for news anyway, not as much drama.) Svaden says he doesn't know but doesn't accept I am who I say I am. I think he does believe that we need to find his brother, who is also wanted in connection to a (terrorism) case.
Jesus, even on the other side of a
dimensional divide, I get to hear that word. Thrown at me, this time.
Whatever. We've been looking around for
a few hours now and the fact that neither they nor we have found him
makes 'Svaden' (it is odd to put another name to my own face) think
that he's in hiding somewhere they used to visit as kids. We're going
to stay where we are (that is to say, somewhere that the spooks
wouldn't think to look) and then we're going in the morning.
Did I mention that I can't sleep?
Did I mention that I can't sleep?
TD: 4:11:3729
Svaden's brother was where we looked but he didn't care for me at all. I wish I could say the rational part of my brain knowing that this wasn't my brother in the same way that Svaden isn't me managed to make some of the distaste I was shown not matter, but I am not a rational person or I would have left Svaden out of it. I just got scared for him.
Here's the thing in case I am caught I
can't really write down everything or as much. We're leaving this
country. Fast. I won't say how, where, etcetra, in case I get caught.
I still want Svaden to have a chance to get the hell out of here. I
will say that we intend to catch up with Zeke (may be the most
Earthen sounding name I've heard since arrival) again in the future,
when maybe he or Svaden himself will be more inclined to believe me
about who and what I am.
TD: 4:25:3729
Well, I haven't written in a long time. Let's see. We live. This is a lot like I used to live, a tiny little shack of a house. Only he and I live together. Myself and I, I guess. We are running out of money. All of the money is his, of course. Though, I guess what's his is mine. I think he's coming around to the idea that asking me who I am isn't going to get him a new answer he hasn't asked in a while. He doesn't say much.
Well, I haven't written in a long time. Let's see. We live. This is a lot like I used to live, a tiny little shack of a house. Only he and I live together. Myself and I, I guess. We are running out of money. All of the money is his, of course. Though, I guess what's his is mine. I think he's coming around to the idea that asking me who I am isn't going to get him a new answer he hasn't asked in a while. He doesn't say much.
I think I need to get something that
can connect to the internet. I'm sure there are good, free hotspots
out there somewhere. And before anyone reads this and thinks I'm in a
city, nah. Or am I? Shit, no real good way to continue with that
thought. Either way we mostly hide during the day. Shades drawn, so
to speak. We've got a cheap little radio that runs on batteries.
We're not talked about on the news programs here. It's peaceful. A
neighbor's seen us already. Thinks we're twin brothers. It'd be funny
if it wasn't terrifying.
I fall asleep to the sound of water.
Won't say what kind of water, just water. He doesn't hate me as much
anymore. I think he's calmed down, I think he thinks I saved him. I
thought I was saving him when I dragged him with me, I was just so
surprised to see him there even though I knew he existed that I
thought they might hurt him thinking he was me.
There's something I do want to say.
There have been earthquakes (which is not the word that is used here,
by the way) all over the world over the last few months. The tropics
have seen more intense storms than usual given the time of year, some
of which sound like hurricanes to me and up in an area about
equatable to Earth's arctic circle, well(crossed out) they've lost at
least one whole settlement in a freak condition shift.
At first I was dumbfounded and asked Svaden how long this was happening. He said that the first reports of weird weather started on the other side of the planet from where he lives, in a country whose name I may have read once but can't guess how to spell from its pronunciation. (Come to think of it, I don't even know if “Svaden” is spelled that way. Does not look or sound Kayani to me.) It basically just started as unseasonable storms, then sometimes the storms would last unnaturally long and produce tornados in parts of the country that didn't get any before. He said, as it turns out, that this started in the late second quadrant last year.
At first I was dumbfounded and asked Svaden how long this was happening. He said that the first reports of weird weather started on the other side of the planet from where he lives, in a country whose name I may have read once but can't guess how to spell from its pronunciation. (Come to think of it, I don't even know if “Svaden” is spelled that way. Does not look or sound Kayani to me.) It basically just started as unseasonable storms, then sometimes the storms would last unnaturally long and produce tornados in parts of the country that didn't get any before. He said, as it turns out, that this started in the late second quadrant last year.
Funny, because that's about the time I
showed up, isn't it?
Anyone reading this may have made the
same connection I have, but if not I'll state it plainly.
They featured footage of what looked
like the aftermath of a tornado in that video put on this blog.
What if I caused that? There's a theory
that comes out of one of the procedural books they gave me that I
haven't really wanted to talk about and I hope you'll forgive this.
The theory is about what happens when
the law of conservation of matter and energy is broken. It theorizes
that the universe itself rebells against the matter and/or energy
that upset the balance. In case you're not following: I'm that
matter, I'm that source of energy. I upset the universe.
The implication that the spooks were
making was that this was the universe's attempt to compensate for me.
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