Chapter Five: Information

“Great uncle Warner, you don’t mind, do you?” Rebecca sent the cutest puppy dog expression I’d ever seen my way, and my heart positively melted.

“Well, no, I don’t,” I replied with a bashful expression, unable to look her in the eye. I’ve never been one to act cool in situations such as this one.

“Elijah!!! Get your butt down here!” Rebecca screamed out loud, and the very prim and proper Elijah poked his head out from the top of the stairs, his words coming out in grumbles.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him that way, which was a big step up from the stoic expression he always wore.

“What do you need, Becca? I was reading for my post-graduate research on the phenomenon. The Theory of Evolution and the Powers That Be I don’t have time for your side quests,” Elijah said, and contrary to what I thought, he still made his way towards Rebecca after lots of grumbling.

“Yeah, yeah, we know you’re the smart one. But listen, isn’t this a good time for you to put your big brains to work? We have a living specimen right here! Someone who has been affected by the phenomenon, even enough to age backward, Which makes me wonder if there are others like that in the world. I wouldn’t doubt it for a second. But have we met any time travelers?”

Rebecca fired at Elijah, and I was barely keeping up, my eyes roving from one to the other.

“I am not a specimen; I am—“ I tried to defend myself, but they weren’t even listening. It was nice seeing them that way. Knowing that even if I didn’t have a life for 50 years, I was still treated no differently by my sister.

Even if she was a downright pain in the ass when we were younger,.

“Okay, ready. And no, you didn’t convince me,” Elijah said at last, and I smiled, but not at them. I enjoyed the banter the two had going on and didn’t want to disrupt that in any way. I just wanted to see them blossom; that was what I was looking forward to. Everything else was a bonus.

“Tell us all you told Grandma.” Rebecca was focused on me again, her all-too-intense gaze reminiscent of her father. Saul acted like a hellion from hell, and I was shocked to discover that he was one of the most respected scientists of the era.

He had the mad scientist look down, though. And Rebecca was following in his footsteps without realizing it. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

“First, I got here, and I can remember everything vividly from a few days ago. Yet I’m told it’s been fifty years. I don’t know what happened, but I don’t feel any older than a teenager. Neither do I have the back pain that most old people complain of.” I added the latter part as a quip, and Rebecca picked up on it immediately.

“Of course, you’re not old; you can pass for my little brother. Not that I have one, mind you. I think Elijah would be jealous if I did,” she said, sticking her tongue out at Elijah and ruffling my hair. Rebecca always said whatever she wanted to and didn’t bother with the schematics of wrong or right.

“For the umpteenth time, little sister, I don’t care if you have a thousand little brothers. I don’t have a sister complex.” Elijah adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and I didn’t get to see his eyes when he spoke. For all I knew, Rebecca was probably right.

“Who cares? Also, you’re the geek here, so try to explain the phenomenon to our great-uncle here, who’s barely a teenager.”

Remember what I said about Rebecca not exactly knowing what’s the right or wrong thing to say? Well, that’s how you know she’s the real one.

“Okay. I’ll bring you up to speed. The phenomenon happened around 50 years ago, coinciding with the time of your coma. Great beings tore a hole through space, and out of it, giant monstrosities made their way out. For some people, that was the end of the world. For others, that was the beginning. After a while of hiding, people fought back. Those who hear the ‘Voice’ often develop abilities. They’re usually in tiers. I don’t have one, nor does Becca.”

I started thinking. Usually, I’d dismiss everything they were saying as a bag of bull, but I didn’t even know the culture of the place I was in. And I heard the ‘Voice’ he mentioned, which was a curious thing, because how could that voice have affected my reality?

I couldn’t see myself as an old man; I didn’t even retain the form I was meant to have, which spoke of something underlying happening behind the scenes.

I needed to get to the root of everything, and I needed Rebecca and Elijah.

“Now, I’ll need the both of you to help me get acclimated to this world and how it works. I need to be prepared. Also, how do people check if they have abilities?” I asked, and the siblings shared a look. It was full of meaning, and maybe something they didn’t want me to know.

“The trigger is trauma,” Rebecca said. At last, her usual bubbly self was nowhere to be found. I finally understood why my fascination the week before felt odd to them because trauma was no joke; it could ruin everything.

“Okay, just checking,” I said with a dismissive smile as I stood up and stretched my body, making several cracking noises.

“You know, he might be an old man,” Rebecca whispered conspiratorially to Elijah. I pretended I didn’t hear it.

I knew I was missing a piece of the puzzle, or several pieces. But at least I could live in this new world and try to find my way around. Then live a life of peace.

It was a month later before I realized how wrong I was.