Maximus raised his head to look at the young woman. She was dressed in grey overalls like her counterpart, and she appeared to be frightened of him. He knew his experiment had been successful, but he wasn’t sure how successful it was.
“Where am I, please?”
“St. Mary’s Chapel.”
“Where?
“I said St. Mary’s…”
“I meant what town and State is this?
“Akure in Ondo State.”
Max drew in a sharp breath and stopped hunching. Chron had been very successful. An involuntary smile made its way onto his face.
“What year is it?”
“2023” The woman answered with a frown and slightly upturned lips.
“Yes!” Max let out a shout, throwing his fist into the air and startling the timid woman.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry.” He began to walk towards her but she retreated a bit, stopping him from approaching any further. “I was just happy about something. Please, can you tell me how I can get to Benin City? I need to be at the NMD before the end of today.”
The young woman continued to stare at him in confusion. “NMD? The one that was shut down ten years ago by the General?”
“Shut down? General? What General?”
The young woman stopped answering him and began to look at the back of the church, towards the same direction her counterpart had run to.
“Please, the NMD director, Doctor Osakpolor. What about him?”
She didn’t say a word, as she continued looking back and forth between him and the church building.
“Please. Help me.”
She began to retreat. “Leave now and ask someone to direct you to the Retirees complex. Don’t let the soldiers see you. You’re not dressed appropriately.”
Before he could ask for clarifications, she equally dropped her broom and fled towards the church. Max could hear voices coming from the back. He heeded her advice and ran out of the compound.
***
December 23rd, 2023. 01:00 pm
Retirees Complex, Akure.
He kept his head down as he walked through the stuffy walls of the apartment building complex reserved for retirees. He had resorted to taking corners and shortcuts after getting the needed directions because people kept staring at him. It wasn’t difficult to see why.
Everyone wore grey overalls, although he saw some people wearing sweaters on theirs. No one talked to anybody, and the horns he had attributed to busy highways came from the few green army trucks patrolling the streets.
It was certainly not 2013 anymore. Max wondered what had happened and what changed. At the complex’s gate, he had been told to go to apartment 12, and he was almost there. He could not wait to see the pride on Doctor Osakpolor’s face when he hears that the Chron worked.
In front of door number 12, he stopped walking and knocked in three short raps. He waited with bated breath as soon as he heard footsteps shuffling within the apartment.
The door opened a bit, kept in position by a chain attached to the frame. The older version of a face he had known for six years before the time travel appeared between the little space.
“Yes? Who are you?” The usually cracked voice of his former head of department asked.
Max was surprised. “Doctor Osakpolor, it’s me.”
“Who?”
“Max. Maximus Okoro.”
The blank face morphed into a sneer, taking Max aback. “Of course, I knew it was you. I was just hoping it really wasn’t you. So much for hope.”
“But…but…I don’t understand.” Max stuttered. “I thought you would be happy to see me. The Chron worked. It did.”
The door was suddenly slammed.
Undeterred, Max began knocking again, this time, loudly.
Opening the door and unhooking the chain, Dr. Osakpolor whispered. “Stop attracting attention you dimwit, and get in here.”
Maximus was pulled into the apartment. While Dr. Osakpolor locked the door behind him, Max’s gaze perused the bland and almost empty apartment. The furnishings were bare and he couldn’t see any personal effects.
“You ruined the country.” Dr. Osakpolor’s voice stung him out of his assessment.
“What? How?”
“I told you not to mess with the continuum. I told you to leave it be, but you were so determined to show us you were a brilliant Physicist. I took the Chron from you and that wench, but you stole it back and in your selfishness and unfounded pride, doomed us all to a terrible fate.”
“Dr. Osakpolor. What happened?”
“Only one of you made it out of the time loop and it was Sarah. We all thought you were dead. Wherever she went when you were in there, she had gone to make powerful allies. She married General Isa Adedipe and together with the power of the Chron in her hand, they overthrew the civilian government and began a reign of terror like we’ve never seen. They retired the Ministerial and departmental heads and forced us all to live here, every citizen has to wear a colour assigned to their respective States, and we can not own passports.”
“That is impossible.”
Pointing at a bulky magazine on the almost empty table, Dr. Osakpolor responded “Be my guest. Check that out.”
Max walked to the table with a hint of dread in his stomach. He was now sure Dr. Osakpolor wasn’t lying. He got to the table and picked up the colourful magazine. Right on the front page was the smiling face of Sarah, looking a little older than the day she smashed an object into him. She was wearing a blue pantsuit and the headline was alluding to the fashion sense of the country’s first lady.
Maximus turned to look at Dr. Osakpolor, the magazine still in his hands. “How… How did we do this?”
“Pride.” Dr. Osakpolor grumbled. “Messing with what you had no business messing with.”
“How bad is the situation?”
“There’s a magazine in your hand, read it.”
Looking through the various headlines on respective pages of the magazine, Max felt nausea rising from the pit of his stomach slowly. Letter bombs, workers on strike, children forced to become young workers by families who can’t survive with two incomes, reduction of minimum wage, banning of automobiles for workers below level 14, and lots more.”
“And that’s a magazine that actually praises them.” Dr. Osakpolor said to Max.
Maximus dropped to his knees, his head hung low, and his glasses slowly fogged with tears. He remained in that position for a few minutes until Dr. Osakpolor couldn’t take it anymore.
“Get up! Your sorrow is no longer needed.”
Putting his hand in his pocket, Maximus ignored the older man and brought out a small silver pocket watch.
Gasping, Dr. Osakpolor stared at the timepiece. “Is that…?”
“Chronovore? Yes. I didn’t destroy it like you ordered.”
“But it never worked.”
“Because it needed a life source and that was too risky.”
“A life source? You don’t mean…?” Dr. Osakpolor’s eyes bulged.
Max nodded, beginning to turn the dial of the clock. “ Yes. The user’s life source.”
“No, Maximus. Yes, you messed up, but sacrificing your own life to fix things is not the answer. I’m sure with our brilliant minds in sync, we can come up with something…”
The now ringing pocket watch cut off a frantic Dr. Osakpolor. Maximus smiled, but a tear followed, rolling down from his lazy eye.
“This is faster Dr. Osakpolor. I’m sorry I let my ego do this to the country. Chronovore will take me back to the lab, and leave me with enough energy to destroy Chron. I hope you stop Sarah. The former you always knew she wasn’t to be trusted.”
“Giving your life to correct your mistakes?”
Max nodded and the ringing became more frantic.
“Maximus!”
The older man shouted as a blinding light filled the room and he was suddenly alone in his apartment.
