Edward Graves: Temporal Detective

Jessica accepted the piping hot cup of Tea with shaking hands. “Thanks,” she said with half a smile.

“In all of my travels,” said Edward, “I’ve yet to find anything anywhere which can heal the body, mend the soul or sharpen the mind, as swiftly and powerfully as Tea.”

“That’s so English of you,” said Jessica with a slight giggle.

She was sitting in an armchair with a blanket draped around her shoulders, facing a roaring fire. Edward had assured her that it was a beautiful Spring day outside. Jessica begged to differ. It didn’t help that she’d had to let Edward take her jacket to be washed. Let’s just say that the rose bush hadn’t been the only thing to suffer from her time-travel sickness.

The Library, in which she sat, was a cosy room absolutely crammed with books. The walls were lined with innumerable bookcases, stuffed with volumes of all sizes. In the centre of the room there sat a grand desk with intricately carved designs, atop which even more volumes lay, opened or closed, well-kept or falling apart. At the far end of the room there was a large window through which light streamed over a grand piano, the polished wooden floors and the sheets of paper that lay strewn over it.

It was a beautiful room, no doubt about it; a bit cramped maybe and messy for sure. But despite the mess there was something about the wood grain texture and the crammed bookshelves that just made everything feel homely. It was probably the books. Jessica had always been comforted by books.

Edward sat in the chair next to her and placed a silver tray of biscuits on the small table between them. The chairs were positioned to allow exposure to the fireplace, as well as fireside conversations.

“There you go, freshly baked this morning,” he said, indicating the biscuits. “Well at least I think it was this morning. It could have been this morning. Might have been yesterday, actually. Or last week, maybe next week. The point is that they were baked fresh at one stage or another, when that point was remains to be seen. I tried keeping a day-planner to keep track of these things once, but it didn’t work out. Just look on the bright side, the worst case scenario is that they’re horribly out of date and you end up violently ill. And seeing as you’re already violently ill, I’d call that a win-win situation, wouldn’t you?” When he spoke, it was as if each individual word was pushed forward into the word before, so much so that Jessica was amazed that his tongue didn’t tie itself into a knot.

“Mr. Graves,” said Jessica.

“Please, call me Edward,” he said cheerily.

“Edward, you are by far one of the strangest men whom I have ever met.”

“Why thank-you, I do what I can,” said Edward.

Jessica took a biscuit with a trembling hand and examined it; she was unsure whether her stomach could handle anything yet. But the shortbread smelled so good; the scent wafted through her nostrils like nothing she’d smelt before. Somehow it just smelt fresher, more homely than anything she’d ever encountered. She ate it. Then she ate another and another. It turned out that, not only did her nose enjoy them, but her tongue and stomach did too.

“So what happened to me?” asked Jessica. She wasn’t sure whether it was the sickness she felt in the pit of her stomach or the warmth of the fire or the sweet taste of the Tea, or the smell of the biscuits, but she felt a lot calmer than she thought she should have been.

“Well it’s all very complicated with big words and fidgety sciencey talk,” I wouldn’t want to bore you.”

“Try me,” said Jessica.

“Well you see,” said Edward. “You were in your time. Then, now this is the complicated part so try to keep up. Seriously stop me if you can’t follow this. Then through a complicated system of interconnected forces that govern the physical world as we understand it and as we don’t understand it...”

“You don’t know,” interjected Jessica.

“Now hang on, I never said that. I knew that you’d be thrown off by the science.

“Admit it,” said Jessica. “You have no idea how I wound up here.”

“That’s not...strictly true. Then again, it’s not strictly untrue. I think that the truth is a muddled concept which we can all interpret differently.”

“Do you ever give any straight answers?” asked Jessica.

“Not if I can help it,” said Edward.

Jessica gave him a look that was equal parts ‘too dazed to scream right now’ and ’if you don’t answer me I’ll smack you with the thickest book I can lay my hands on.

Picking up on this, Edward placed his own cup on the table and then stared into the fire for a time before speaking, his fingers gently pressed together into a triangle. “By my best guess, you’re dormant Archaic gene was awoken by my Flux.”

“I’m sorry, your what?” asked Jessica.

“It’s what we call it when we time-travel,” said Edward.

“Oh,” she whispered. “So does this happen a lot?”

Edward thought about this for a while before responding. “Not that I’m aware of. But I think that this may have had something to do with it.” He reached into his waistcoat pocket and pulled out the Eternity Stone by its light, silver chain. It glowed with its familiar dull blue luminescence, contrasting with the orange light from the fire.

“The Eternity Stone? Do you mean that somehow, when you...Fluxed, the energy from you and from the Stone somehow activated my Archaic gene? Then what, I followed you back here?”

“That’s my working theory,” said Edward. “It’s quite remarkable if it’s true. Usually an Archaic will discover their true nature by the beginning of puberty, often during times of emotional distress or excitement - All of those shifting chemicals and hormones and whatnot. I’ve never heard of somebody discovering their Archaic nature this late in life though, nor by artificial means. Huh, I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

Jessica took a moment to appreciate all of this while taking a sip of her Tea. “So what does this mean for me now? Will I be able to get home and if I can, then what?”

“Oh don’t worry, returning home will be simple,” said Edward. “Even if you have difficulty doing it voluntarily, you’ll automatically return home after forty-two hours. That’s the Third Law of Time, it reduces the risk of paradoxes. Beyond returning home, what this means for you is that you’ll need to be trained and taught.”

Jessica nodded, “So is there, like, a Hogwarts for Archaics? Will I get to go to a special Time-Traveller School?” she asked enthusiastically.

“Well usually Archaics train at the Watch, the headquarters of the Temporal Council. But I don’t think that’s what’s best for you. They’re a bunch of old codgers who don’t know a thing about the real universe. You’d be much better off being taught by a charming, sophisticated gentleman with bucket loads of intellect, world experience and rugged good looks.” He smiled and then said rather swiftly, “How would you like to become my apprentice?”

“Your apprentice?” said Jessica. “No way!”

“Excuse me?” said Edward, hurt.

“I think I’m more partner material, don’t you?” she asked.

Edward cocked his head. “It sounds like your upset stomach is causing delusions. You can’t even Flux by yourself and you want to be my partner? Then there’s the other half of what I do. Mastering your Archaic talents is one thing, but I’m a detective. To be a detective you’ll need to perfect your skills of observation and deduction; you’ll need to become an expert in the art of detection and that’ll take some training. I mean, go ahead, try making one deduction about me. Go on.”

Jessica nodded and then said politely, “I’m sorry about your wife and children.”

Edward’s back stiffened slightly and the corners of his mouth dipped a bit, but apart from that he remained unmoved by what she said. “What makes you think that I have a wife or children?”

“Well you’re wearing a wedding ring for starters.”

Edward looked down at the simple golden band on his left ring finger.

“Then there’s the giant family portrait above the fireplace.”

Edward cast a glance up at the large oil painting which depicted himself, a woman and two children – a boy and a girl.

“Nobody likes a smart-aleck.”

“Plus, I noticed that you’re wearing a kind of bracelet made of coloured strands of twine. It looks homemade and well-worn, like something that a child might have made a long time ago.”

“Alright, then how do you know that they’re no longer with me?”

“Seriously?” Jessica said, indicating the messy state of the room.

“OK, fair point.” He sighed. “Not exactly an amazing deduction, but there’s something about you that I like. I get the impression that you’re easily impressed, so you’ll probably heap a lot of praise and admiration on me, so you’re in.”

“I feel a little bit insulted, but I’ll take it. This is awesome!” squealed Jessica before lunging onto Edward in the biggest hug imaginable. “This is going to be great, Jessica Lazarus: Temporal Detective reporting for duty!”

Edward’s arms flailed about and his face stretched into a grimace before he slowly and with great hesitation, lowered his arms to pat her gently on the back. “Just be warned that this isn’t all going to be fun and games,” he said as he was released from Jessica’s death grip. “Well there’ll be some fun and games. OK maybe fifty/fifty. OK it’s mostly fun and games. But serious fun and games. Think of the most serious game imaginable and that’s what this is. It’s Mouse Trap, no Monopoly! It’s like Monopoly, except that it’s nothing like Monopoly.” He thought for a minute, “I’ve forgotten where I was going with this.”

“How about you just tell me what we’re going to do first,” said Jessica.

Edward shook his head. “That’s such a Linear way of thinking, why start at the beginning. I know that it’s a very good place to start, but come on, show some imagination and originality. We can start anywhere, anywhen, why stick to the boring old beginning?”

Jessica rubbed her head. “Why do I feel like this is going to give me a headache?”

Edward played with the Eternity Stone, which was still in his hand and then said, “Alright we’ll go slow and easy for you. How’s the tummy feeling by the way?”

“Much better,” said Jessica. “The Tea helped.”

“Good, because I need you to be in tip-top shape to help me close this case.”

“Isn’t it already closed? You got the Eternity Stone back and apprehended the thief.”

“True, but I feel like I’m still missing something. Why were the Black Glove so interested in one little piece of jewellery, I mean sure it’s valuable, but there are a lot of other valuable pieces in the Archfield Museum, what made it so special? That’s why when we return the stone to the museum we’re going to have a bit of a chat with Dr. Churchill, the Curator.”

“You mean that we’re going to a museum in the future? Do you have any idea how trippy that is?”

Suddenly there was a loud tolling sound as a grandfather clock in the corner struck noon. It was only now that Jessica became aware of the multitude of timepieces scattered throughout the room, all set at different times. The grandfather clock was the biggest and most ornate though and stood in a special corner all on its own. Now that she was aware of them, she could hear the constant, soft cacophony tick-tocking resonating throughout the room.

Edward checked his pocket-watch to confirm the time . “How about some lunch before we start today’s lesson? do you think that you’re stomach is up for some Victorian cuisine?

“Did you really just ask me out to lunch in Victorian London? Hell yes!”

“Excellent,” said Edward as he stood up, “stay right here and I’ll fetch you something a little more appropriate to wear.”

Jessica looked down at her Star Wars t-shirt and jeans and said, “I suppose I’d cause a bit of a sensation walking out there dressed like this eh?”

“Well it’s 1876 outside, you’re practically naked. Besides, your delicate 21st century Australian skin would freeze,” said Edward. “Now stay here and don’t touch anything. Anything! Not even one little touch of one tiny thing, got it?:

“Aye, aye, cap’n!” said Jessica with a mock salute. Natuarally though, as soon as Edward was out of the room and the heavy wooden doors were closed, Jessica decided to snoop around. Because, who wouldn’t?

She steadied herself against the fireplace and then slowly began walking around the room. She examined the books on the shelves and oh what a varied collection it was! There were dusty old manuscripts, barely held together by leather binding; first editions of various classic works of literature; popular works of “modern” fiction; there were reference books and educational tomes on history, philosophy, war and science. There were books that Jessica recognised as new releases, yet were tattered and well-used. There were old classics which seemed brand new. Then there were all of the titles which she had never heard of; she wagered nobody from her time had. Most of the titles were in English, but some weren’t. The more she marvelled at the books, the more she forgot her pain and discomfort. She considered the possibility that she had actually died and this was her Heaven.

About three-quarters of the way around the room she came to a large, burgundy book that sat upon a bronze pedestal. A string of simple golden letters spread out across the cover: The History of the Archaics- vol IV: The Intra-Temporal War.

Jessica began to run her hand over the cover and felt a tingle run up her arm. She ignored it and moved to open the book up.

“What happened to not touching anything?” said Edward, standing behind her with a beautiful purple and white dress hanging over his arm.

Jessica smiled as innocently as she could manage. “Would you believe that I was sleepwalking?”

Edward raised an eyebrow.

“Come on, I’m a bibliophile! You can’t leave me in a room full of books and not expect me to take a look around.”

“Well sometimes books can be dangerous.”

“Edward, I sell books for a living and obsess over them in my spare time. What are you worried about, paper-cuts?”

“No. But books contain knowledge, knowledge is power and any form of power can be dangerous when not treated correctly. Besides, I told you not to, so there!”

“Wow, for a second there I thought that you were being mature,” said Jessica.

“Don’t worry,” said Edward, “there’s no danger of that happening any time soon. Now kindly change into this so that we can step out like a respectable couple. I can’t afford to have another scandal. No matter how much I told Cleopatra to put that dress on, she just wouldn’t listen. Maybe my Egyptian was just a bit rusty. A few of the neighbours actually fainted, can you believe it? That’s Victorian sensitivities for you.”

Edward took Jessica to a room where she could change in privacy and after a good fifteen minutes and several offers of help from Edward, Jessica emerged triumphant.

“What do you think?” asked Jessica as she gave a little twirl. Edward stared at her softly and smiled, his thoughts clearly far from her. “Edward?”

“Sorry, you just reminded me of somebody, that’s all. You look splendid. Or gorgeous rather; ravishing even. Though I must admit that it is a little provocative, but it’s the only thing I had that I thought would fit you. Still, it’s more conservative than your shirt.”

Jessica stifled a laugh; with her exposed arms and neck, she’d probably look like a working woman to the locals. She hoped that Edward would manage to save her from being arrested for indecent exposure.

Edward gave her a pair of black boots and a beautiful black cape and bonnet to protect her exposed parts from the English weather and possibly to protect his reputation as well. He then pulled a grey frock coat over his white shirt and black waistcoat and fixed a black Top Hat firmly on top of his head. Then with his cane in one hand and her arm linked through his other arm, he escorted her out the door and into the street.

Besides a minor flash of embarrassment as they passed the Rose Bushes, Jessica was ecstatic. She pulled away from Edward and ran into the middle of the road. “I’m in Victorian London!” she screamed, twirling around the cobblestone street. A pair of well-to-do Londoners shot her a look of indignation before carrying on their way, eliciting a laugh from Jessica which she had to muffle with her hands.

“Zounds!” said Edward, “So much for being inconspicuous.”

“I’m sorry,” said Jessica, “but I just can’t help it!”

She beamed as she looked around at the neat line of terraced houses and the cobblestones; the chimneys, boy there were a lot of chimneys. And soot, quite a bit of soot, the air was thick with it. It actually made Jessica choke a little, but she didn’t care. To her it was all so beautiful. The grey streets and even greyer sky might as well have been all the colours of the rainbow, for that’s how she saw them.

“So when are we anyway?” asked Jessica.

“Monday, 17th of April, 1876,” said Edward with a twirl of his cane. “It’s Easter Monday as a matter of fact.”

They walked down the street, well Jessica practically bounced, as Edward took her on a tour of all that is and was Victorian London. Though, he made a deliberate decision not to show her some of the darker aspects of his home: The workhouses, the prostitutes, the poorer areas of the city. It wasn’t that he wanted to hide the shameful parts of his home from her; he’d be the first to admit that they were there. It was just that she had a joy and energy brought about by her romanticised notion of what his home was like and, selfish as it may sound, it made him feel all gooey inside to see her so happy.

They didn’t return home until the evening, so by the time Edward had treated Jessica to some Victorian home-cooking for dinner, there wasn’t a whole lot of time left for teaching. Still, he felt that it was important to at least get a start on things, so once they were well fed he escorted her back into the library for class to begin.

“Moving through time is a lot like moving through space,” said Edward as he paced back and forth in his waistcoat and rolled up shirtsleeves, twirling his cane loosely between his fingers. “Think of time as a piece of string. No wait, that’s too cliché, think of it as a roll of duct tape. No, scratch that, that’s a terrible metaphor! I know,” he said excitedly. “A city! Think of time as a city. Most people, Linears, can only walk down one particular street. It’s pitch black in front of them, so they can’t see ahead, but it’s well-lit behind them, so they can look back. They can only walk in a straight t line and they have to keep walking forwards at a constant speed and once they reach the end of the street, wham-bam, thank-you Ma’am, they get hit by a bus.”

“Sometimes literally,” said Jessica, still in her borrowed clothing and sitting in the armchair she was in earlier. Though now it had been moved into the centre of the room.

“Precisely,” said Edward. “Archaics, well we have the run of the city. We can walk or run wherever we want, move forward or backwards. That blue-tinged world that you moved through when you came here? That’s our city Jessica, that’s Timespace.”

“Timespace,” Jessica echoed. “Don’t you mean Spacetime?”

“Nope,” said Edward. “Completely different. Timespace is a different dimension to the one we usually inhabit, think of it as a copy of the normal world but with a whole lot of shortcuts. While you’re in Timespace moving through time is as easy as moving through space and moving through space is as simple as thinking.”

Jessica remembered how she had floated halfway around the world in a matter of seconds and how everything had flowed in reverese at incredible speed. Then she remembered how her body, not to mention everything else, had been vibrating and how she had passed right through solid objects.

“I was vibrating while I was in Timespace,” she said. “I was able to pass through solid objects.”

“That’s because you were out of phase with reality. Time is motion, that’s why we appear to be vibrating when we Flux. Timespace is close enough to regular space for you to be able to use one to travel through the other, but distant enough from it to not be bound by its laws.”

“That is so cool,” said Jessica. “So can we go anywhere we want?”

“More or less,” said Edward. “As long as you can think about it or imagine it then you can go there. Space is a little trickier than time. If you don’t have some way of visualising where you want to go then you pretty much have to take the long way. You were only able to get here so easily because you followed me. Which leads me to temporal defences.”

Jessica remembered how she bounced off of Edward’s door. “You mean like the one that knocked me onto my ass?”

“Excactly. And mind your language, it’s unbecoming of a lady. The first lesson you need to learn, before I teach you anything to do with travelling through time, is how to protect yourself against other Archaics. They’re not all as good-looking as me and they’re not all as well-meaning as me. But a lot of them are as intelligent as me, well nearly. The Thomas Edison to my Nikola Tesla.”

Edward helped Jessica to her feet and held her hands gently. “Firstly I want us to synchronise.”

“I’m going to pretend that that doesn’t sound creepy,” said Jessica.

“It means that our timelines will match one another. Once we’ve done this we’ll only be able to meet in the right order. And the same amount of time will have to pass for each of us. I won’t be able to go without seeing you for five years and then go back to one day after I last saw you, understand?”

“That sounds a little restrictive doesn’t it?” said Jessica. “Not really,” said Edward. “It’s no different to being Linear. The advantages are that it’ll make it a lot easier for us to keep track of one another and we can communicate through Timespace with one another. All you have to do is reach out through Timespace with your mind and we’ll be able to make a link.” He paused. “I should tell you Jessica that synching our timelines is a deeply personal thing and it should only be done with somebody you completely trust. It’s kind of like giving somebody your phone number. Do you trust me?”

Jessica thought for moment and then nodded. “You haven’t steered me wrong yet,” she said.

“Alright then,” said Edward. “Close your eyes.”

Jessica complied but then she took a peek with one eye. Edward had his eyes closed but he immediately said, “No peeking!”

“Just testing you,” she said. She shut her eyes again. Tight.

“I want you clear your mind of all distractions,” said Edward.

“Easier said than done,” Jessica scoffed.

“Just try,” he said. “Try to focus on me and nothing else.”

She did her best to empty her mind. But then the Firefly theme song popped into her head. She managed to push that aside and once again her thoughts were clear. But then she remembered that she had to go to lunch with her friend Jenny in about one-hundred and forty years. She shook her head, as if she could physically shake the distractions out and then she focused on Edward. She could hear his breathing. It was slow and steady. Measured. He was a man completely in control of his body. She felt his hands. They were soft but not delicate. They were lined and scared in ways which she hadn’t expected. They felt like those of an older man who had worked hard his whole life, hidden beneath the facade of a young man’s hands. She smelled his scent, some sort of cologne or aftershave. It had the faint aroma of cherries. She hadn’t noticed it before but it was pleasant and not too overpowering.

“That’s it,” said Edward. “Now I want you to focus on you, your life. Think about the moment you were born. Your childhood; your past and future; where you’ve been and where you’re going. Think of all the time you’ve been on this Earth and all the time you hope to have left.”

Jessica’s mind was flooded with memories, some beautiful and some terrible. She pulled her hands away and opened her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Some of this stuff, a lot of it actually, is personal. I don’t know whether I can just share it so freely.”

Edward kept his eyes closed and his hands open. “I understand Jessica, but this requires us to be completely open to one another for it to work. I’ll be letting you in to my life as well. I’m just asking for your faith and trust. Having said that, if there is anything which you don’t wish me to see, simply lock it away. It’s your life and you’re in control of how much I can see, but keep in mind that the more I see the stronger our connection will be.”

Jessica swallowed hard and then nodded an affirmation. She held Edward’s hands again and she closed her eyes. Once again she felt memories flooding through her mind. She remembered primary school and the day her father left, she remembered high school and meeting her best friend Jenny. She remembered being bullied by Tawny Catsbridge and her first crush, Jason Singh.

She began to feel an energy flowing down Edward’s arms and into her. She could see it now, a bright blue light pierced the darkness of her mind and she began to see things which weren’t memories but were somehow still from her life. She saw her mother, beaming and covered with sweat, holding her as a baby with her father embracing them both. She saw herself as a five year old kissing Billy Evans on the cheek, her first boy kiss. She saw herself making her Captain’s speech at her year twelve graduation.

Then the images mingled with other, less familiar images. A baby with wispy hair was nursed by a tired woman in a night-gown, sitting up and smiling softly. She saw a little boy in a flat cap and braces peering over a counter at a balding man with a kind smile. She saw a fire engulfing a bookshop and the same boy, now a few years older, screaming in the snow. Another flicker of the image and the young boy was Edward, albeit a teenager, in a library with a kindly old man. On and on the images came, now Edward was in a sterile white room wearing a grey jumpsuit, taking a written exam of some kind. Then he was laughing with a group of other young people. Then he sat in a park with a woman, both in full Victorian dress. She gave him a present; a pocket watch. They kissed. Then there were children; a boy and a girl. But then they were gone, so was the woman. Edward was filled with hate and rage. There was fighting; a war. Endless bloodshed the likes of which Jessica had never seen. There was a friend turned enemy; a fight. Things started to get confusing. There was darkness, memories that had been locked away. Then there was sadness and loneliness and a never ending eternity. Oh god, there was pain without end. Never ending life!

There was a searing flash of blue light behind her eyes and Jessica gasped and took a step backwards, opening her eyes.

“I think that went rather well,” said Edward with a smile. “Did you really play the tuba?”

Jessica pressed a hand to her head and then straightened herself. “Mum made me get a lesson, but I hated it so it was just a one off. Edward, I’m so...”

He raised a gentle hand and said, “Don’t. I’ve lead a long and interesting life and it’s not your responsibility to make apologies or offer sympathy. And don’t worry, my life will fade from your mind, like a dream. I bet it already has.”

“But all of those things that happened to you...you’ll still have to live with them.

“We all have our crosses to bear, Jess.’

Suddenly her knees buckled and she began the swift journey to the floor, but Edward caught her just in time.

“Easy now,” said Edward. “I think that’s enough for tonight.”

“Yeah I think I’m a bit jet-lagged,” said Jessica sleepily.

“Well, get some rest Sleeping Beauty,” said Edward as he escorted her to a spare bedroom. “Tomorrow, the real lessons begin.”