Time Travellers

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Dan

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Iris is a modern time traveler that's apart of underground city that lives below the heart of NYC. Iris is specifically a part of an organization that fixes anomalies in the timeline that leads up to the 21st Century - their time. Iris' reputation puts her up to the top of the food chain, becoming a part of the inner circle of the said organization. Iris is assigned to Alan Clarke, the career anomaly that no one's been able to save. Alan has been in a time loop for a long time, so long that not even the organization knows when it first occurred. Over time, Alan has lost all knowledge of who they were and are, they re-live everything from the start of their first anomaly to the last, which always results in their death. Iris must save Alan from the time loop but can they do so without causing their own anomaly that might cause severe consequences upon the 21st Century?
 
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Like a cliché morning, the sun rose over the city that never sleeps or one of them that never sleeps. Many of its residents already wide-eye awake and bushy tailed in the bustling East Coast City. Among its residents is another making her way across from Central Park towards Upper East Side. It would be better to take transportation there, but there was only one subway in the sprawling metropolis that sent her towards her work. She bided her time, looking through useless posts on social media, even working as a Time Investigator. She liked the normalcy that went on above the surface. How little did the outside world know of the underground society that coexisted along theirs.

Just outside JG Melon, she was let off at the curb. Thanking her driver before paying them and exiting the car. She watched as the car drove away, joining the stream of vehicles trickling down 2nd Ave. The Investigator would continue to walk the rest of way towards 76th St, placing her mobile away as she did so. There was an old subway station around here that was sealed away in the ‘50s. Or that’s what they want you to believe. The subway station was well alive and bustling. She continued towards Café Noi, a small business that was an affront to what lie beneath it. She made her way inside, greeting the owners before making her way into the back, behind a well-hidden door that opened up to a dark vast space. Dipping beneath the compact frame, her heels clicked against the metal stairs. The only sounds of her heels as she went down, continuing until she made it to another door, her hand wrapped around the knob to open up to a bustling subway station.

The hidden 76th Street subway station with busy bodies joining the stream of people. Closing the door behind her, it would fade into the brick wall, becoming one with its surroundings again. Among the people, she found a familiar face in the crowd, “James!” She rang out.

An early thirties male looks up from his phone, a smile spreads across his face at seeing, “Iris, better hurry!” He made a hurry gesture to her. Rolling her eyes, she briskly paced around the other commuters, finally reaching him just as the train came screeching in. Like the others waiting on the platform, they entered the train as soon as the doors opened. The metal box screeching away, rumbling deep into the bowels of the earth.

Iris takes a seat beside the window, James joins her and settles in. She looked out to see the train picking up speed, then to her colleague. “What did Amelia say about last night?” She opted to ask.

“She was understanding. I mean, I just got promoted.” He smiled, the entire office went out for drinks in the city of Aevum—the underground metropolis beneath New York City.

“Congrats again, James. Now, I wonder which Investigator you will become an errand boy to.” She looked up like she was pretending to ruminate.

“No time for jokes, Smith.” James retorts, “Though I must admit that I requested for you.”

“That’s a surprise considering you rather be your own boss, no?” She quirked a right brow at him.

Their mornings always start off like that, but before it was Iris teasing the ever-living out of James, who just finally made his way up the hierarchy. The scenery outside the train changes from a brick wall and darkness to an underground, luminescent city; buildings are built within the earth itself except for the golden, spiral building smack dab in the middle of the underground city. Unlike above, Aevum had no problems with poverty or unequaled rights, everything here was and is equal from the start. Though it was likely because of the system put in place. The locomotive continues through a transparent tube, the speed nearly airless and without the rumbling from before as it finally reaches the next station.

“Now at Aevum Central Station.” The conductor would speak across the speaker system.

The duo disembark from the train, entering another bustling stream of bodies in the central station. They’d continue till they reached the golden building in the middle of Aevum known as Time Investigating Organization. They enter the building with colleagues. By passing security and presenting passes, they would then take an elevator to the top floor, where the Time Investigating Bureau would be. Upon entering the floor, they meet a secretary at the front and behind a frosted glass are the many cubicles laid out, followed by offices down other hallways.

“You must stay here and wait for someone to come pick you up.” Mia, the secretary says to James.

“Sorry J, can’t get you out of this one.” Iris says to the male looking at her.

“Take a seat. It shouldn’t be long.” Mia adds.

Iris checks in with Mia then heads into the floor behind the glass, finding other workers already there and in their cubicles. The Investigator would continue passing them all, greeting out, ‘Good Mornings’ and ‘Hellos’ to those greeting her first. She’d fish out her keys and open her office, upon entering to find a new vanilla folder sitting on her sleek desk. This caught her interest as she shuts the door behind her, then sets her things to the side. She picks up the folder and opens it. On the front page is stamped, “Cold Case Anomaly #1”, the very first one of its kind to be unsolved in her division. She sat down at she flipped the paper over to be met with an old sepia photo of a male, likely in his mid-twenties, “Alan Clarke, huh.” Iris sets it back down to go brew herself a cup of coffee to jolt her awake from the tiring commute.
 
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@Dan

Time Period: 19th Century London

The sounds of bells woke Alan up from his slumber. He looked around. He was laying down, in the bed of a flat in downtown London. The room was lightly lit, with light filtering in through the curtains of a nearby window. Right... he was here. Alan had been in this time period for quite some time now, probably about 2 years now. Of course, he knew that he didn't age, he never did. He just jumped around from one anomaly to the next, sometimes at differing times. He could go through the same loop multiple times, and yet leave at different times. Alan sat up. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. It was... 9 o'clock in the morning, if his clock was right. He stood up and got out of bed. Time for another day.

He walked through the flat. He had managed to rent the flat with money from some jobs he worked. Of course, it wouldn't matter, he would just lose the flat when he went into the next anomaly, or if time got reset in this anomaly. He sat down at a table, and ate some fruit. Alan didn't even remember who he was, or who he had been. He just knew his name, Alan Clarke. He didn't remember where he came from, or how he even got trapped in this loop. He didn't remember anybody from his past life, all he knew was the anomalies.

Oh, the anomalies. Alan's never-ending torture in this hell-scape. He could never leave, he could never escape. He was forced to live through all of these anomalies, die, and then restart from the beginning, going over and over again, never stopping, keeping Alan trapped in a sort of grim immortality. Even if he tried to kill himself, time would just reset, and he would be back to life, before he tried to kill himself. The torture and pain of living in this hellish land would never stop.

Alan finished his breakfast, and stood up and got changed. He changed into the normal clothes of this time period. He looked up at himself at a mirror on his dresser. He looked at himself. The man in the mirror was like a stranger to him, completely unfamiliar, and he knew nothing about the person in the mirror.

Alan sighed. Time to get moving. He opened the door to his flat and exited, shutting the door behind him. He walked down the stairs and outside.He emerged onto a sidewalk, next to a busy street. Cars were moving from left to right, and people went out about on their day, not knowing that their entire life was to be trapped in here with Alan.

Alan started walking down the sidewalk, trying to enjoy this beautiful day in his misery.
 
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After returning back to her office, she took a quick dip of the liquid and set it down beside the folder. Iris found it strange that they’d hand her off a case already deemed unsolvable, the other investigators found it impossible. But did that stop her? No. She took a seat as she started looking over the information. The male was likely caught in an anomaly a long, long time ago. It was certain that he likely had no idea what it was he was walking into by the testimonials provided. Other investigators found that he was in a constant loop and even if they tried to disrupt the process, they’d likely cause something harmful to happen in their time. Iris started drumming her nails against the desk, thinking about how this would go.

She got up from her desk and headed towards the archives. There she would find herself thumbing through other anomalies, that would at least have some semblance relating to this Clarke. Even at TIO, the top investigators managed to make minor damage to their timeline, like for one, one of them were too cocky and caused a ruckus that happened in late 2016. Let’s just say politics was a subject that no one spoke lightly about. She shut the last cabinet once she found the last piece of information she needed. Calling in one of the techies to ask them about what could happen if they’d attempt to enter at just the beginning.

“That’s a no-go. One of the other detectives entered at the start and…let’s just say Mother Teresa would be disappointed.” She spoke, placing her tablet in front of her to show the disaster that struck.

“Yikes. What about the middle? I notice Freya tried to enter at the end, but well…more disaster.” Iris pursed her lips.

“I mean…” The woman pulled her tablet back, ran some tests and see what would happen, then turned it to Iris, “It would result in more disaster, likely even more damaging than entering at the beginning or ending.”

Iris got to thinking, “What about somewhere between the beginning and middle. Surly there has to…”

The woman ran more tests, this one showed minimal damage, but there would still be death on her hands. “It’s showing minimal damage, but are you sure its worth it to kill off innocents?”

The question weighed on her, “Fu- sorry.” Iris retorts, “Run more tests until you can find absolutely no deaths. I want to solve this anomaly with the tiniest of damage back in our century.”

“Alright. I’ll send it to you when I’m finished.” She headed out of her Office.

Iris nods as she takes another sip of her coffee, looking over the files she collected.
 
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@Dan

Alan continued to walk down the streets. People were up and about, going about their day, getting ready. The markets were starting to get crowded. Alan could do anything. In the end, it wouldn't matter. He could kill somebody, steal, he could literally do anything, and he would be fine. This world had basically no consequences, as Alan could never die, and time would either loop or he would switch to a different time period, leaving all of this behind. He was able to do anything, with no worry of retribution or anything like that.

Alan had noticed multiple 'strange' people every now and then. They seemed to just show up. They also seemed to be not from this time period, like Alan. They talked differently than people from this time period, and even looked different. And they always seemed to have an interest in Alan. They followed him around, watching him, for some reason. They must have known that he wasn't from this time period. Peculiar, but they always seemed to disappear, vanishing without a trace that they existed.

Alan stopped in front of a shop. He could use something to eat. He could buy it, or just steal it. He went inside. He would decide what to do later.
 
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A pang of a headache trickled at the back of her skull. All of this information laid out before her and yet…none were even the slightest of what Anomaly #1 was. His case is the most unique one to exist at TIO – she found to her disappointment. Iris closed the last file and stacked it with the others in the corner of her desk. Looking down to find her mug empty of the caffeine she desperately needed. She stood, taking her mug as she was ready to head back out.

Hours have passed since she last talk to the technician. Another one had cropped up, it was one of the younger technicians and handsome to boot. The frosted door opening to reveal said technician with a tablet in hand. Apparently, he must’ve been happy about something because he came strolling in like a kid who got candy.

“Kieran.” Iris said, stopping in her tracks.

“I found it.” He said, “The answer to your anomaly.”

“Well, let’s see it.” Iris said, stepping closer to the male. Kieran turned the tablet slightly to show her. A model of the timeline from the 19th century, it displayed he was there now.

“He’ll jump to another era soon. I got to pinpointing to a sliver of a chance between the 17th and 18th centuries. He’ll be there in the third or fourth jump. If you get there before he turns up, there will be no damage since he hasn’t cropped up there.” Kieran explained.

“That’s just what I needed. Say Kieran, you didn’t get a promotion yet?” She smiled.

“N-no. But I’m happy to help in my current station.” He retorts.

“Ah, let me know if you want that promotion.” She winked at him, “Looks like I’ll have to get familiar with the 17th century. Isn’t that when the great states were born?”

Kieran grew red in the ears, “U-um I don’t—Yes. Technically, 1776.”

“Maybe I can seduce our first founding father?” She pretended to think on it.

Kieran was going to object with that absurd notion. “Relax, red ears. Ivory teeth aren’t my thing.” She winked at him, “Now, better get back to your station.” He stumbled out of her office, his heart thumping erratically in his chest. Iris had an amused expression as she walked out right after him to get another cuppa joe.
 
@Dan

Alan browsed the mercantile shop. It had a wide range of items. From food to sweets to drinks and even to common household items. It was quite convenient, having every thing there at once. It was definitely a convenient store. No, that didn't sound right. Hmm. Alan thought on that. Wait, what was he doing. Right, he was shopping, not thinking up new words. He shook his head. He was still a bit tired.

He picked up a small loaf of bread and paid for it. He walked out of the store, munching on the bread. It was a tad bit stale, sure, but it was still tasty, and edible. He crossed the street, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a carriage. The driver yelled some swear words at Alan, but he continued walking. Yeah, he was a bit reckless, because he couldn't physically die. Sure, he could get injured, and it would hurt a ton, but when time reset or he jumped to another time period those injuries would mysteriously disappear.

He didn't really have anything to do today. No work, nothing. That was the problem with living in a place where time is irrelevant and you have all of eternity to yourself, it gets really boring and lonely sometimes, and often you have nothing to do. So, Alan walked around. Just enjoying the sights and sounds, relaxing, and trying to decide what he would do. He thought he had a lot of time remaining in this period, but little did he know that he was about to jump to the next anomaly, and that he might meet someone new.
 
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Iris returned to the office, setting the fresh cup of joe to the side. She wandered over to the window that stretched from ceiling to floor. No sun, no amount of weather could reach this low, but there was a crack in the earth that allowed for a natural waterfall to spill into the reservoir below. Aevum built itself up around it. And from the top floor, she could see it from her office, a view unparalleled elsewhere in this underground city. After sparing a few moments to appreciate the view, she returned to her desk to look over the new data.

The thing about time traveling was, it had to be approved, and had to be treated with such delicate hands. Unlike what the entertainment industry portrayed up on the surface, you couldn’t chant some words and a magical portal would appear or some device to pop up wherever you wanted to. There were laws set in place, procedures to follow, and to not disrupt the flow of time. The butterfly effect was just as real. If you stole a coin from the 15th Century and brought it back to the 21st Century, something disastrous would happen.

Iris would need to prepare the paperwork needed to disrupt the timeline, if only for a few hours. Time worked differently, it could be years spending in say the 16th century, would only amount to a few hours, at most in modern times. Sighing, her hands went clacking over the mechanical keyboard. Unfortunately, holograms weren’t a thing yet.
 
@Dan

Alan walked into a small park. It was fairly nice, with little people around. A musician played on a violin, with some people around them. It was spring during this part, so the trees had full green leaves, and the birds were out and about. Alan sat down on a bench, relaxing. This would be a pretty nice place, and Alan would have enjoyed being here, if he wasn't trapped within this nightmare. Ironic, he was in this place with nice weather and good scenery, and yet he despised every second of it. Most people wanted to be immortal, to live forever. Well, here Alan was, he could never truly die, stuck forever in immortality, hating every blasted minute of it. That was the thing, wasn't it? Something always came with a price. For Alan, it was never-ending torture.

He watched as a squirrel ran past him. Poor squirrel. It didn't even know that this life was fake, non-existent, and yet it continued to go about it's life, running around and doing all the things squirrels do. The squirrel would be dead in the present day, yes, but it just kept on living out its happy little life. Alan admired that, going about their life without worrying about time, he wished he could do that.

Still, he continued to relax in the park, watching the people and the wildlife go about their business.
 
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Iris received a confirmation notice within the next hour. Being in the inner circle gave her leverage over the other Detectives working in TIO. The Chief, himself, gave her insight into other cases if it related to hers. Usually it wasn’t permitted to dip into ongoing investigations. After replying back again, she started gathering her things; basically, a time traveling device that looked like a watch, and whatever clothing she would need to wear for a specific era. The wall in her office went up after she pressed a button in the side panel that looked like a painting.

Picking through the clothes rack, she plucked out something based in the late 17th century that would carry into the early 18th century. Being sure to clothe herself as low-class, hierarchies were still a thing back in those days. Being a woman in those eras was unkind, it were a conservative society she was glad she wasn’t born into. After changing into said clothing, she grabbed a few more outfits and had them placed into a trunk. Grabbing it, she stepped away into the chamber of sorts that looked like a tube and the wall went back down to cover the hidden room. The door closed with a hiss, and she set the time to late 17th century.

“Here we come, Clarke.” She whispered to no one.
 
@Dan

Then, Alan stood up. All of his hairs stood on end. What was going on? His head started hurting immensely. He dropped to his knees, holding his head. Oh no, he was about to go into a new time period! But it was so early in this anomaly! Why was he going now? It was fairly early in this anomaly, why was he about to shift now? He tried to stand up, leaning inside a nearby tree. His vision was starting to fade, his head was spinning. It normally took a while to fade into a different time period. No memory would be left behind of him, there would be no evidence that he had ever existed here.

He fell to the ground, as his legs gave out. This was all going too fast, and Alan was starting to panic. He tried to move, but could only barely move a tiny bit. This wasn't going good. He was about to jump to another time period, he knew it, but it was all happening quicker than normal. His vision had completely faded, and his consciousness was starting to fade also. Soon, the jump would happen. Alan was never awake or conscious for the jump, so he didn't know what happened. All he knew was that he would be somewhere else in a different time. And so, as his conscious thoughts started to fade, the jump would soon begin.
 
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In a flash of light, she had appeared in the 17th century right in the back alleys of London, England. For some odd reason, this part of the timeline was of importance to this anomaly. Iris’ watch appeared in the form of a silver-made pocket watch. She tucked it away into the made-pocket in her dresses. The alleyway, she found, was a river of feces. She was lucky to have appeared beside it and not in it. With a screwed-up face of disgust, she pulled up her skirts and started from the alleyway and into the major street of Old London. There were wagons everywhere, and it was bustling. ‘Now, what does a single lady do in a time like this?’ Iris suddenly thought, forgetting to brush up on 17th Century History. She had a faint idea that women were likely seen more as objects and property in this era.
 
@Dan

Alan lost consciousness, and drifted into a dreamless sleep. What felt like five seconds later, he woke up, in a bush. His head hurt like hell, and there was a ringing in his ears. He tried to stand up, but his legs made that difficult, as they felt like mashed potatoes. He stumbled around, trying not to fall. He rubbed his eyes. Alan looked around. This place seemed... even older than the last one. Then, he realized which time period he was in, 17th century London. He could tell because of the clothes that were being worn by the people, by the technology that was currently being used, and the fact that Big Ben couldn't be spotted.

Alan started stumbling down the streets, still groggy. The houses and buildings seemed to also be from an older time period, and the roads weren't all that great either. He would need to find a place to stay soon. So, he went around, exploring and looking for a place to stay.
 
Iris would look around her, knowing she won’t receive help by asking the locals. If anything, the British of this era—it looked—were getting ready to ship off to the “new world.” The Detective leisurely looked around the bustling streets, walking to not get in their way. She was grateful she didn’t have to live in this era. It would be most difficult. Iris looked into a shop, stopping to admire the intricate details of pocket watches on display. Subconsciously, she delved her hand into the pocket of her dresses and felt the circular round. She went into the shop, looking over wares while she was being looked at by the Owner. Iris knew she would have time to kill, and it was easier to blend in with the crowds than be spotted by the anomaly as it would disrupt the timeline.
 
@Dan

Alan stumbled down the streets. Why had he been dragged out so quickly? That was weird. And now he was in a different time period all together. He passed multiple people walking down the street. The people eyed him oddly. How peculiar he must have looked, wearing clothes that hadn't even been created yet. People would think that he was weird, because he was wearing clothes that weren't normal at the time, and looked completely different from everyone else. Horse-drawn carriages passed by on the street. The street, itself, was just a soggy, muddy dirt path, with plenty of holes filled with water, it was definitely a miserable road, and that this was without a doubt a poor borough.

Clouds blocked out the sun, making it impossible to see what time it would be. The gloomy effects of the weather made everything seem drtier, darker, and all the while gloomier and poorer. It gave everything a grayish tint of color. He had been here many times, he knew where to go. Maybe he could try something different, bt he would need to figure that out later. First, he needed to get his bearings and manage to fully clear his mind.
 
Iris was inspecting the watches, careful to avoid any lingering eyes on her. Among the customers in the store, she didn’t stand out as there were ladies in there with their husbands looking too. After admiring a few more, she left the store, and this time with a pair of eyes lingering on the time traveler. Out into the street, she would continue walking down the street till she found herself in The Royal Exchange, a place were she stuck out, but suitably. Iris found it a pleasant choice to wear a hat to obscure her face. It gave her an aura of mystery. Iris would continue to walk down the pavement. Until she stopped to look at the newsstand, a boy was yelling out to passersby. On the front page, she checked the date, 18 April 1775.
 
Alan walked down the street, looking around. He was way out of place here. People kept on looking at him weirdly, and some times suspiciously. He didn't understand it, but it was probably because he wasn't wearing the clothes that were the norm at this time period. Funny how just a different set of clothes makes you look entirely different from everyone else and even draws some contempt from some people just because he wasn't wearing the clothes that everyone else was wearing.

He noticed a newsstand, with a boy yelling out. He saw a woman looking at the newsstand and the newspaper. Maybe she would know when he was. Alan tapped her on the shoulder, trying to get her attention. "Excuse me, ma'am? Sorry to bother you, but do you know what the date would be?" He asked her.
 
Iris was reading the news headline. War was breaking out in the American colonies. Seems it was going on longer before her arrival. She began reading the first few sentences when she felt a shock of electricity jolt in her shoulder. Iris knew exactly what this was. It was the anomaly. Without bothering to look up, she was thankful for the hat obscuring her face. She grabbed the newspaper she was reading and gave it to the anomaly. It was too early for to be interacting with Alan Clarke; she hadn’t even begun her investigation into this century. There was something here that meant to this anomaly and she would have to find it first before talking to him. Right after giving it the anomaly, she disappeared into the stream of nobles on the street. It was easy to disappear into a world without technology she was used to.
 
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Alan watched as she handed the newspaper to him and ran off. That was... weird. She just disappeared like she didn't want to be noticed by Alan. That behavior was strange, even for this time period. He hadn't even seen her face, it was obscured by a hat. Strange. He hadn't ever seen anything like that before. He looked at the newspaper. Huh, so the American Revolution was already going on, huh? He looked at the date. Alright, at least now he knew when he was. Maybe he would head over to America. He hadn't been over there in this time period, not yet at least, but he had all the time in the world, he would head over there eventually.

He continued to walk down the street. He successfully pick pocketed some people without them ever knowing. It was a skill he had picked up over his many years in the time anomalies, and a skill he had perfected. Then, he pulled the pocket watch out of his vest and looked at it. He had nicked it off that woman earlier when she wasn't paying attention. Alan examined it. It seemed fairly well made, and seemed quite shiny. It must be quite valuable. But... there was something else about the watch. It seemed... different from most. Alan couldn't tell what it was that made it feel that way, but he would figure it out later. He tucked it back into his pocket, and walked down the street, little did he know that he had just stolen something very valuable, something that might be able to get him out.
 
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Iris continued down with the crowd before breaking off into a nearby alleyway. Giving herself the opportunity to calm herself before checking her pocket. Her eyes grew wide at the device gone, she wandered if the anomaly had pick pocketed her. No worries to her, though. There were measures set in place, that if a device were gone, it wouldn’t work for anyone except the original owner—whom was her. She wasn’t exactly stuck in this time period since she always came with a back-up device. Being at the top of TIO, you never came unprepared for the unpredicted. The Time Investigator checked her wrist, seeing the back-up device disguised as a bracelet, hidden away into the sleeve of her dress. Still, she wouldn’t leave without some shred of reason why this time period had meant something to this anomaly.
 
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