Everything in Time

Pushing hard against the door's push bar, I threw my back into one last heave and the rusty slab of metal finally gave. The door swung wide with a horrendous shriek. I stumbled out into the alleyway, nearly dumbing the load of trash I was carrying over my shoulder. Rotting trash lined the building as if the various metal bins strewn around haphazardly were mere decaying decorations. I deposited my disgusting package in one of the dumpsters towards the front of the alley next to the street. My sudden exit barely registered the temperature difference, but the walk back started to let the cold seep through my thin polo. "At least with the temperature going down it won't smell so bad back here." I mused to myself.

A loud electronic chirp drew my attention to a rusted out dumpster. It chirped again, louder this time. It sounded almost desperate. I rummaged around, picking damp bags off of a strange wrist device. The smells assaulting my nose made me gag hard, but I pulled back with the device in time to gulp down "fresh" air and prevent vomiting. I detached my apron and used it to wipe residual sludge marks to read the display.

It flickered briefly before some circular figures appeared, quite clearly an alien language, that I somehow was able to understand. Grimacing from the squishy, gross arm band I shoved my way back indoors, away from the cold. I gulped down the warm air, just now registering how cold the weather was starting to become. One of my co-workers was lounging against the dingy tiled hallway, eyeing me strangely; or rather, what I had returned with. "Dumpster diving now are we?" His golden locks were slicked back in a greasy sheen and a smoldering cigarette was hanging limply in his fingers. He promptly dropped it in a small bucket of ash and joined me on the way back.

"You know that the owner considers anything in the dumpsters 'his property'." He remarked snidely, before attempting to snatch it from me.

I saw through his ruse, and kept it out of his reach. "So what? I doubt he even knows what two percent of the stuff that gets thrown out is, on a daily basis. Now keep your greasy fingers off this. Its already gross enough." One of my fingers slipped on something stuck to the side and I nearly dropped it as we re-entered the small cafe. I retrieved a gallon ziplock, like they would miss one of those anyway, and stored the device in there before I packed it into my backpack. Just to make sure I didn't get anything gross on my stuff.

Leaving the shop, my co-worker Barry, locked up and waved goodbye. So we went our separate ways. The walk home wasn't very exciting, I did see a rat dragging a piece of pizza for the third time that month. Other than that, I reached my apartment without incident. Entering the small apartment, I breathed out a sigh of relief, not realizing I had been holding it in. I gingerly retrieved the zip-locked gadget from my bag and emptied it into the sink. It joined a single plate from this morning's breakfast with a clunk; which triggered the screen to flicker. I turned the water on and let it wash away some of the gross sludge. It flowed down the drain with satisfying rapidity.

As soon as I felt it was good, I scrubbed it while inspecting it further. Thankfully, it was undamaged and looked like a weathered, black, metal ammo case with a digital display and what looked like retractable shutters on the side for... batteries?

It wasn't anything I had ever seen or heard of and the wristband itself was made of a material that looked like fake leather, plastic, silicone, and metal all at the same time. I made a move to slip it on my wrist, and the moment I slipped it over my hand; it expanded itself to slide smoothly into place. It stopped and tightened itself in place in the most comfortable spot.

The display lit up with the odd language I can weirdly understand. It was asking if I was a new user. I selected the circle that I understood as yes and it chirped three times. After three, I felt a hard pinch on the wrist. I let out a yell of surprise and tried to yank it off, but the device buzzed with a warning on the screen. "Completing DNA sequencing. Do not remove."

"What the F***." I yelled and again attempted to remove the device. I felt a smaller pinch and instantly starting feeling tired. Did this thing just drug me?! Before I could get my phone out I slipped into unconsciousness.

I awoke to myself still sprawled out in the doorway between my small kitchenette and the living room. The machine was still attached to my wrist, and this time the display was telling me the machine required a single fuel rod before it could initiate "Jump". Whatever that meant. Maybe it's from an alien species. That would mean Earth isn't alone in the universe. Before I got to thinking of where I would even look for a 'fuel rod', there was a knock at the door.

I checked the peephole to find two men in black suits and sunglasses. Real secret service looking Men in Black type. The, run for your life because it's probably not for anything good, type. My heart leaped into my throat and I quickly and quietly went to my room and grabbed a couple shirts, pants, underwear, and socks. I also threw my toothbrush into a bag with some other essentials and opened my bedroom's window to the fire escape. The men had quickly decided I was either not home or ignoring them. The pounding on my door ceased in time for a shockwave to follow me out the window. Whatever they used would've surely liquified me from the inside if I had been in the main area. Shaking off my brush with death, I still wasn't out of the realm of capture. Making my way down the rusted fire escape, I could hear them storming through my home. I hit the ground and made it onto the main street.

I wasn't sure where to go; so I turned left and started walking. The device was still humming softly and blinking the fuel warning, and that gave me a thought. I pulled out my phone and started searching for electronic stores nearby. After twenty minutes of walking and searching without luck, my mind switched thoughts. If this is here, then there must be conspiracy theorists that no one will believe. Well, not no one.

This search had somehow been more fruitful. A theorist was nearby so I switched directions and picked up my pace. It started to feel like I was being watched, so I glanced at the next few turns and broke into a jog. Living so close to my job had been great for my cardio, because I wasn't very active outside my job. It felt like that was about to change though.

I passed a show window that had a mirror angled to let me see behind; so I stole a glance of two men in suits pushing through people behind me. That brief glance sent me into a panic sprint. The next two turns came fast, making my arrival at the location slightly jarring. There was a coffee shop with a black door set beside it with the number 314 overhead. I burst through the door and slammed it behind me while I took the stairs three at a time. There was a door immediately at the top to the left, so I started banging and shouted, "Jared?! Jared Kissinger! I'm Orion Smith and I'm being chased by two men in black suits!"

The door jerked open an inch before stopping. A sliver of a weathered skin with a crazed blue eye looked out. "Did they have sunglasses and no discernible weapons?" A shaky low voice asked. "Yes. Well I couldn't see any weapons, and I wasn't about to stick around. Can you hide me? They are right behind me!" I said, feeling even more panic rising.

In response, the door shut before it fully opened. I saw the door at the bottom open in time for me to disappear. The man, or woman, now that I could see the rest of them, it was hard to tell who they were. They led me to a room down an evenly lit hall and into a room painted completely black with newspaper clipping, various documents and pictures, and lots of bright yellow string tacked up all around the room. They led me to a picture that showed both the men in great detail, from what looked like the top of a building. "These are the men chasing you?"

"Yes!" I couldn't believe it! Someone else really did know who they were, or at least knew they existed. "Who are they?" I asked as the pounding on the door started.

"I have a theory that they are some sort of time agent." They started herding me to another section of the wall, that was spiderwebbed with yellow string, connecting together pictures from different eras. Except in every era there was the same two men in impeccable suits and glasses. There were even pictures of ancient drawings and tablets from different pre-industrial and even pre-farming era civilizations that depicted or mentioned two men in strange attire and solid black eyes.

They put their hand on the wall adjacent to us and pushed open a false wall. "Hide here." They then pushed the wall back in place and I heard the pounding stop. "Open the door, Jared Kissinger, or we will blow our way in."

"Not necessary!" I heard the door jerk open like before. "What do you want? You don't look like the police. I'm also an atheist."

"We are searching for a wanted criminal. He looks like this." I can only assume he held up a picture of me. "We have reason to believe he may have forced his way in and threatened you for refuge."

"No man like that, and no I have not been threatened. And if I were to feel threatened it would be by you."

"Please allow us to at least search your apartment. He may be here without your knowledge."

"There is no one here I don't want here."

"He is a very dangerous criminal. This is for your safety."

"How do you know my name?"

"That's not important sir. Let us in or we will let ourselves in."

I couldn't let this get out of hand. So I felt around in front of me and found a little crevice to grip and push. The door swung open smoothly and I exited into the room again. I quietly tiptoed out into the hall and to the left into a half-kitchen. There was a very nice looking, stainless steel knife set. Maybe now I would finally put my krav maga and kobudō to use. At least now my dad didn't waste the money sending me to those classes. I took the two medium chef knives and walked up to Jared.

"You are going to let yourself in? That makes me even more suspicious. Now I'll kindly ask you to piss off."

"Not gonna happen." I gestured silently with the knife but I could tell Jared saw me by the subtle nod. He took a slight step back as I slammed the door shut with my whole body. Then I grabbed Jared and dragged him back with me to the other room and slammed that door shut too. I crouched just inside the door and entered a stance for a quick strike. I heard the outer door explode and a thick smoke drifted in under the door. Thudding steps approached before the door crashed open and one man entered first. I lunged for his throat and surprised him by slashing it wide open, sending him stumbling backward into his partner. They both crashed into the hall. I followed up by swiftly dispatching the other man with a knife to the face. And now that I really was a criminal, I searched their bloody bodies for I.D. or anything I could use. There was what looked like the handle to either a gun or a sword, and a badge that was a clock that had no hands and the numbers were in roman numerals. A banner stretched across the bottom with a latin phrase that read 'Omni Tempore et Tempore Omnibus'.

"Do you know what this means?" I removed the badge and tossed it to Jared. He swiped it out of the air and inspected it a little too closely.

"Omni, everything. Tempore, Time." He paused as he continued to inspect the badge, turning it over and over in the single light he had in the blackened room. I continued searching the bodies and discovered a few more strange possible weapons, but what I found most intriguing was the devices that looked remarkably similar to mine but sleeker and more efficient. "I think the literal translation is "All Time and All Time, but I think they were going for something like, 'In All time For All Time'." He paused then muttered. "Very dead brained."

"Sounds like it." I detached the device from one of the guys and slipped it on my wrist. It cinched itself like the others, the only difference was this one flashed a red warning, this time in English. 'DNA Unregistered. Contacting reinforcements.' Well that didn't bode well.

"They should've gone with Tempus Omnia, et Omnia pro Tempore. It's like the three musketeers, but with time. Time for Everything, and Everything for Time." He shuffled over to the bodies and started dragging them into the hall and down two doors. "No Doubt they'll send more, so you are not safe here and if you stay, I won't be either."

I let him drag the one guy off as I searched the other and found another curious artifact. A slim vial filled with a slightly glowing purple and blue mixture that never seemed to combine but always moved. Like a vial of lava lamp. That's when the device on my wrist vibrated and displayed a new message. 'Vial Detected. Please insert Time Fuel Vial to initiate Jump'. The port was still open on the side, waiting for me to insert the vial. Practically begging me in fact. I got a desperate feeling from the device. I slipped it in and the machine buzzed, almost happily, and displayed the question. Jump? I hit yes without hesitation, and with no idea where it was taking me, everything went black.