by TheTimeTrust
"What's up, Doc?" said a smiling Kristofer Schanz as he greeted the man he considered to be one of the greatest influences on his career as a chemist.
"Kristofer... it really is you," Dr. Henry Quantos said as he looked into the man's face and recognized the young man he once knew. "Up until now, I was not sure what to believe. But, seeing you here in front of me, it's undeniable."
"Look, Dr. Quantos," Chance said, "things have been a little bit strange for me today, so I'm hoping you can shed some light on things for me. Why is everyone -- including you, apparently -- acting like they've either never met me or, in your case, haven't seen me for years? I've been working with the MBL for months now, and I've even become something of an unofficial leader among the guys. I've made friends here -- Shirley, Velo, Danny, and all the rest. And you, Doc -- don't you recall all our morning talks? And there's another thing... Pete has been acting really strange lately... and more than his usual brand of homespun quirkiness, I mean."
Henry sighed, put his briefcase down on the coffee table in front of the living room sofa, and sat down. "Perhaps you had better start from the beginning, Kris. Tell me everything. Tell it to me as if... as if I did not know it myself. Uh... And perhaps you'd better put on a pot of coffee. We're going to need it."
"Sure thing, Doc." As Chance walked into the kitchen area of his living room and set up his coffee percolator, Quantos clicked open his briefcase and flipped through the contents as if making sure they were still there and were unchanged, shutting it again after reassuring himself about them. Nothing had changed.
"So where should I begin? When I invented Chance, or earlier?"
"I think I already know a little bit about that and the experiments you conducted to test your newfound powers of luck. Start with when you arrived in Mandelovia..."
"Well, as you know, I came to Mandelovia to seek your help. I wasn't sure what to do with this new formula I invented, and I wanted to use it in a way that would help the world somehow. You were the only man I knew I could trust. I'd attended all your lectures when I was younger, and you'd always answered my letters with such well-reasoned replies."
"What happened when you arrived in Mandelovia?" Dr. Quantos asked him, almost impatient for an answer.
"That's when things began to get strange. After arriving safely at the airport, I took a taxicab into Old Mandelovia. It was there that I was accosted by this little homeless man who asked me for spare change. I gave him some, but after I turned my back on him and began walking, I was alarmed to hear the screeching of tires going down that narrow, cobblestoned street. Well, I had remembered to take a few drops of Chance before and after the plane trip, so I leaped forward immediately in order to do something. I wasn't really thinking, but I was sure that no harm would come to me. There was a mother pushing a baby carriage right there in the middle of the street -- I know it's a cliche, but it's the truth -- I ran over to her and just stood there as the vehicle bore down. I didn't know what else to do.
"Well, luckily enough for all of us, the car spun out of control and crashed just a few feet away into the opening of a narrow alley only about a meter wide. It looked like no one had been hurt, but upon closer inspection, that little homeless man was the only one hit. I tried giving him a few drops of Chance in an attempt to save his life somehow, but it was clear that he was already gone. That was Pete Glover, of course.
"I was extremely shaken from this incident, Doc, and I went to my hotel room immediately after giving a full report to the police. I ended up sleeping off the rest of the afternoon and the night, and in the morning I woke up with a bad headache, but I decided to have a shower before going down for breakfast. That's when I first saw the ghost. It scared me out of my wits, Doc. It was certainly not anything I was prepared for. At first, I thought that my mind must have snapped. There was no way that spirits or ghosts could exist, I believed then. But there in front of me was the ghost of Pete Glover. I slipped on a bar of soap, then, as I hadn't bothered taking any Chance yet that morning, and everything suddenly went black. I don't have any memories of the next few hours, but when I finally came to, I was in the complex at Malvan-X looking up at your face, Doc.
"From what we, you and I, could reconstruct -- and as ludicrous as this sounds, it was the only explanation -- when I passed out, the ghost of Pete Glover had somehow taken over my body and lived my life for a few days, even going so far as drinking the entire bottle of Chance after mistaking it for alcohol. Thus, the powers of luck I had were now internalized. And while Pete was in control of my body, I had become much wealthier. Of course, you sent your Chief of Security to retrieve me after I missed our appointment, and it wasn't until I was brought there that I regained control. That was when I first met Daniel Hearn as well, and I helped you save him. But Malvan-X had been cursed by the bad luck Pete's ghost brought it through his fear while possessing my body, and no amount of good luck could save it. The complex was destroyed, along with every other Malvan-X complex across the world, but we were saved by Tobias. I fell in with the guys, and we hired you on as our scientific adviser with all the money I now had."
"And you've been with them ever since," said Dr. Quantos, "eventually leaving Mandelovia for La Perdita, where you met Kit Piper and founded MBL Consulting."
"Of course, Doc. You should know all of this already."
Dr. Quantos sighed once again. "I think I'm going to need some coffee."
"I'll get it for you," said Chance.
"Meanwhile, why don't you tell me what happened on your last mission?"
"Sure," Chance said as he poured a couple of cups of coffee, giving one to the doctor and taking one for himself. "Well, actually, now that I think about it, I'm not really clear on what happened. I recall our apartment being attacked by one menace after another, until we were transported to this... this Castle of Crossed Destinies, it was called. After that, things got strange. We were back at the apartment again, and Pete started acting strangely, like he was supposed to still be alive, and I was the ghost. I soon discovered that we had never in truth left the Castle, and I went to assist my teammates with whatever help I could provide. After that, we left the Castle and came back here. And that's when everyone started acting strangely. Hmm... Do you suppose the Castle might have had something to do with it? Perhaps it scrambled their memories of me in some way?"
"I'm afraid not, Kristofer," said Dr. Quantos, his long face looking suddenly very old and tired. This was taking a lot out of him. "It looks like there was some kind of mix-up at this Castle of Crossed Destinies you speak of, but it wasn't what you think."
"What do you mean, Doc? If you have something you need to tell me, please do so."
"This isn't going to be easy to hear, I'm afraid, Kris."
"I'll be glad to hear any answers you can provide, Doc. Just tell me what's on your mind."
"You're dead, Kristofer."
"Wh-what?"
"Well, no, you're alive, of course, but the Kristofer Schanz of this timeline is most assuredly dead. I'm afraid, Kris, that Pete was right. He was the one who joined the guys and helped found MBL Consulting, not you."
Chance looked into the doctor's unflinching eyes for several moments, but it was obvious he was serious.
"I-I'm not sure how to take this, Doc. Needless to say, I think you're wrong..."
"Kristofer, I brought documents and photographs with me: a copy of your certificate of death, a photograph of your tombstone, the obituary column in a Mandelovian newspaper from January, and several photographs of Pete and the others."
Chance frowned and rose from his seat, turning away from him. "L-look, you can show me whatever you think is proof that I'm dead, but it doesn't prove anything. Somehow that Castle has screwed with everyone's minds, including yours. Maybe it's even screwed with history. I'm not buying any of this."
"It's the truth, Kris. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The Castle was responsible, yes, but the only thing it changed was making Pete into a ghost and bringing you into his timeline. Nothing else has been altered, I can assure you."
Chance turned to him and was about to say something, but stopped. He turned angrily to the window with his back to Dr. Quantos and said nothing. The silence hung in the air like a black void for several moments.
"Kris..."
"Doc, please don't..."
"I'll leave you alone, then," Dr. Quantos said as he finished his cup of coffee. "And I'll, uh, leave the briefcase as well, in case you want to take a look at it for yourself."
Chance didn't reply as Dr. Quantos stood up and walked over to the door. Quantos turned back and said, "I'll be staying here for a few days, Kris, if you want to talk."
He waited there for a few moments, and just as he began shutting the door, he heard Kristofer Schanz mutter in a strained voice, "Thank you."