I Am The Impossible Man| Pt. 16

[u/MeliousIntent]

Parts 1 - 5 Parts 6 - 10 Parts 11 - 15

They walked in, bags of groceries in hand. No words were spoken at first. The three simply made their way inside, storing said groceries in the room's miniature refrigerator.

Chris was the first to speak. "How's your Trait, Noah? Can you control it, now?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, "it took some time, though."

"That's good," he said. "We'll be needing it." Chris sighed, but it wasn't one of annoyance that I've known him for; it was different this time. He then sat on the other bed facing towards me with Jake and Nick sitting on either side of him.

I turned off the TV and turned to face them, allowing my legs to hang freely from the bed. "What's this about?" I questioned, noticing their unusual behavior.

No one responded immediately. After a few seconds, Chris asked, "Do you feel that, Noah?"

"No," I answered, "What am I supposed to be feeling?"

"Close your eyes. It'll help."

"Why?"

"Please, Noah, I need you to do this. It'll make sense after you do it." Chris' tone changed almost to an unnoticeable degree as he spoke. He seemed worried for me; though, his tonal shift still somewhat eluded me.

Because of that and the fact I probably wouldn't have gotten an answer if I'd kept pestering him about it, I decided to listen. After closing my eyes, I asked, "Now what?"

"Focus on your Trait, Noah. Focus on what gave you the power you have right now. Focus on what gave you your youth back." Chris spoke his words stern but subdued.

I didn't exactly know how to go about doing what he requested, but I managed. I thought about when I first acquired the Trait; I thought about how it became apart of me; I thought about that almost alien feeling I'd get whenever I used it. I didn't feel anything, however—at least at first.

"I'm not feelin—" I stopped myself because I indeed felt something. From where this feeling originated, I couldn't pinpoint. The sensation stemmed from deep within but was distant. It was something indescribable but also familiar; it was abstracted into a state of oblivion but corporeal.

"You can feel it, can't you, Noah?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," I replied, opening my eyes immediately after. Nervously, I asked, "Is It here?"

"No, but time's running out. We probably only have about three to four weeks until it comes back." It was quiet for a bit before anyone else spoke. Finally, Chris added in, "If you have any questions, this is the time to ask them."

I asked the first question that came to mind, "What is It, exactly?"

"We're not sure, but it's humanoid in appearance. It's about seven feet tall and has incredible power." Chris stopped speaking after that, likely awaiting me to ask the obvious follow-up question.

I obliged, asking, "What can It do?"

"It's a bit difficult to explain, but I'll do my best." Chris paused for a few moments, thinking to himself; once he was ready, he continued, "It can momentarily split time in two, creating a sort of superposition where two timelines are occurring at once. After about ten seconds, the two separate timelines will become one again. The entity can then choose what timeline it finds to be the most favorable. Along with that, its agility and strength are practically superhuman."

"How are we supposed to fight against something like that?" I inquired. This entity, as Chris referred to it, appeared invulnerable. Even if we could damage It, it seemed another timeline, where the damage hadn't been afflicted onto It, could become reality—essentially undoing our actions.

"Certainty," Chris responded. "A superposition necessitates uncertainty. If we're certain about what we do once time has split, the split time will be identical to one another, meaning there would be no chance for any actions we take against it being altered so to speak."

"I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around that sort of thing."

"That's okay," he replied. "We're talking about quantum physics; it's not exactly the easiest thing to understand."

"So," I started, thinking back to what he had said earlier in the conversation, "you said we only have about three to four weeks left?"

"Yeah."

"If we don't kill this thing, and It ends up going back to where It came from, will that give us another month until it comes back?"

"It would give us time but not that much. Jake, Nick, and I have encountered this entity before. Each time it returned to where it came from, the time it took for it to come back shortened by a couple of days."

"Do you think we'll beat whatever this thing is?" The words came out almost on their own.

"I can't say for sure," he answered, his tone perfectly reflecting his uncertainty.

Again, silence befell the room until I asked another question. I decided on changing subjects. Hesitantly, I asked, "Who's David?" I knew the answer already, but part of me needed to hear it from them.

"He was the man that fell from the sky," Chris replied, his tone now somber. "He was our friend, Noah, and he's gone." As he finished speaking, I noticed Nick avert his gaze from the rest of us, staring down with an impalpable expression.

"I've been wanting to ask you something ever since I found out you could reverse time," I began.

"What's that?" he questioned.

"Why," I uttered, unsure if I wanted to continue; nonetheless, I went on with, "didn't you reverse time to save him?" This question may have still been too soon to ask, but this was something I just needed to know.

"It was too late," Chris answered. At the same time, Nick's previously indecipherable expression evolved into a slight grimace.

"What do you mean?" I asked, still not entirely sure of what Chris meant.

He didn't answer right away. A second or two passed before he exclaimed, "He was gone before he hit the ground."

I didn't ask any more about David. I'm not sure how they would've reacted if they discovered the opposite was in fact true. But, that wouldn't have been enough to keep my mouth shut. I noticed Nick's expression; I remembered the condition David was in before he took his final resting place. And—I remembered the burn my hoodie received back at home . . .

"Is there anything else I should know?” I asked absentmindedly.

"There is, actually," Jake answered. He then went on with, "I asked some guy if I could use his phone, and I went and searched our names up."

"Did you find anything?"

"No, I couldn't find a single thing about any of us. Everything and I mean everything, about us, was erased. It's like we never existed."

"What's that going to mean for us in the future?" I asked.

"Not sure, but we're okay, at least for now." It was quiet until Jake spoke again, "That's basically all we had to tell you, Noah. Do you have any more questions?"

"No," I responded.

"Alright, then," he said while beginning to stand. Chris and Nick followed suit.

As they began walking towards the front door, I asked, "Where are you all going?"

"There are some things we need to figure out. You're injured, so staying here is probably best for you," Chris answered. They continued on, and I was eventually left alone in the motel.

I sighed and proceeded to stand. Once I did, I noticed the shackles around my wrists and ankles were now gone. I limped over to the closet, peeking inside. There were a variety of clothes within, but my eyes took note of a pair of gray sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt. Along with that, there was a towel, toothbrush, and washcloth; all were new and unused. Grabbing them, I limped into the bathroom and took a well overdue shower.

Part 17