Chapter 33
“Ah, the teens finally emerge,” came the amused voice of Beth Calavicci, as Ben followed the younger Addison to the kitchen, with the older Addison bringing up the rear.
Beth was at the table next to Al, a newspaper open in front of her and a coffee in hand. She brought her coffee mug to her lips. “I sure hope you girls weren’t up too late.”
“Oh, let ’em be teens, Beth,” Al said with a wave of his hand and a grin. “And you know, if Janis falls asleep halfway through prom, that’ll be her own problem.”
“It’ll be ours if we have to come pick her up early,” Beth shot back, poking her husband in the side.
Taking a seat at the table, which was laid out with a spread of various breakfast foods, Ben smiled as he took in the scene of Al and Beth having a quiet breakfast together, just enjoying one another’s company. Sometimes he felt so lucky to be a time traveller, and this was one of those times.
“I think I can handle one or two hours less sleep,” he said, pouring some corn flakes into a bowl. “Not all of us fall asleep on the couch mid-afternoon, you know.”
“What?” the holographic Addison said, her head tilted.
Those weren’t my words, thought Ben. He closed his mouth, a little uncomfortable, as Al gave him a look of mock hurt.
“Well, when you get to be as old as me, you’ll change your tune,” he said, pouting.
“I’ll be sure to schedule a reminder email for 2055,” Ben shot back, once again finding the words just coming out of his mouth automatically.
Uh, Janis? Is that you?
“It’ll come sooner than you think, you know,” warned Al. “Just you wait and see—old age really sneaks up on ya. One day you look in the mirror and bam! You’ve got grey hair, and wrinkles, and your back hurts.”
Having leapt into an old man before, Ben had to concede that point.
“And that’s if you’re lucky enough to live that long,” continued Al. “Some of my best pals when I was your age didn’t make it past Vietnam.”
“Here we go again with Vietnam…” Ben once again said involuntarily, before shovelling a spoon of cereal into his mouth. “I know, Dad,” he said, his mouth full. “War is Hell. Good people died for nothing. Hanoi Hotel was awful. Count myself lucky and all that. Times change, Pops. They ditched the draft and we’ve moved on as a society.”
“Ben!” Older Addison hissed. “Stop that, would you! What’s gotten into you? You’re acting like… like a teenager…”
I know! I don’t know how to stop!
Even the younger Addison was looking at him with wide eyes, worried that an argument was about to break out.
“There’s no need to take that tone, kiddo,” Al scolded. “And you are lucky that there’s no draft this time, ’cause we’re already in another war that’s resulting in pointless deaths. History has a way of repeating itself, Jan, ’cause much as we like to think we learn from the past, we don’t, and politicians never change. Trust me, I have to deal with those putzes on the daily.” He grunted. “Let’s just hope this war don’t last as long as ’Nam did.”
Knowing just how long Iraq and Afghanistan did last, Ben opened his mouth to respond, but the holographic Addison stared him down until he closed it again.
The Addison eating breakfast was looking away awkwardly, sipping at a glass of juice.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Beth said, closing her paper. “Let’s not get into this again.” She looked to Al. “Honey, why don’t you go see how Sammy Jo’s doing?”
Al nodded, and stood. “Yeah, okay.” He pointed a finger at Janis. “You’d better be on your best behaviour today at the Project. That means no giving anyone lip. Capisce?”
“Yes sir,” Ben said with a casual two-fingered salute.
Al left the room, leaving Beth to pick up where he left off.
“I wish you wouldn’t give your father that attitude, Janis,” she said. “You know how he gets about the war.”
“I know,” Ben said, feeling terribly guilty about the display. “I couldn’t stop myself.” At this, he met the older Addison’s eye.
“Well, make an effort to in the future. Please. He gets real upset when he thinks about his time in the camps, and the pointlessness of it all, you know?”
“Sorry, Mom.”
“Okay, now, I need the both of you to be ready to go in a half hour when Sam gets here. Can you do that?”
“Okay.”
“Yes, Missus… um…” Addison trailed off, apparently realising she didn’t know the surname.
“Calavicci,” Beth finished. “Please just call me Beth.”
“Right. Okay, Beth.”
“Okay.” Beth smiled, and headed out of the kitchen.
When she was finally gone, Ben sighed deeply. “Wow. That was embarrassing.”
“Real mature stuff,” the younger Addison remarked, smirking. “You’re really inhabiting your role there, huh? Bet you’d do well in drama club.”
“It’s that psycho-synergy thing,” Ben said, rubbing his eyes. “Sam told me about it—personality merging with the person I leap into. But he could control it.” He groaned, letting his forehead meet the tabletop with a thud. “Janis just took over there for a minute. I wanted to stop, but she just kept going. God, I feel like such a jerk.”
“Psycho-what now?” Older Addison asked, tapping madly at her handlink.
“Psycho-synergy. You have a Sam there, go ask him about it.”
“Okay, maybe I will.” Addison disappeared, leaving Ben alone with the younger model.
“So how much of Janis have I been talking to all this time?” the bewildered teen asked, looking him over. “Is she like, still inside there with you?”
“They’re here, but usually they’re… quiet. Janis was too, before this. She must have just felt very strongly about pestering her Dad.”
“That’s creepy.”
“You’re telling me. I’m the one who’s blurting things out before I even realise what I’m saying. And I didn’t want to upset Al of all people.” Ben folded his arms, shaking his head sadly. “In my time, he’s not around any more.”
“Oh, that sucks. I guess he’s not exactly young, but… ”
“Yeah… well… if it happens again, feel free to pinch me, or stomp on my foot or something. Something physical that a hologram couldn’t do. Anything to snap me out of that.”
“Noted,” Addison said with a grin. She glanced at the door, before leaning towards him. “Say, what do you really look like, Ben?”
“Uh, you’ll find out some day. Don’t want to spoil your future too much, right?”
Addison pouted. “You realise this is all I’m gonna be thinking about for the next twenty years or however long it takes to finally meet you?”
“Um… try to act surprised?”
Addison rolled her eyes. “Fine. First thing I’m gonna do when I finally do meet you is kick you in the shins for the injustice of it all.”
“Well… that version of me is gonna be very confused about it, since he won’t know you.”
Addison frowned. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Okay, your shins are safe for now.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Now we’d better get ready before Sam shows.” He grinned. “I can’t wait to see the old Project. I want to read all the documentation, see how Sam tackled the quantum field matrices that I found so taxing when I was building our Accelerator…”
Addison smirked. “Wait, I thought you were some kind of badass undercover spy kinda deal. You’re actually a nerd?”
“Nerds are cool in 2023.”
“Oh, yeah, sure.”
“Well you can’t prove otherwise.” He winked, and stood, collecting his cereal bowl and leaving it in the sink before heading for Janis’s room to get ready.
As he opened the door, he jumped as he found an older Sam waiting for him inside.
“Hi, Ben. How’s my world been treating you?”
“Oh, not so bad,” he said, closing the door. “I take it Addison told you about the—”
“Psycho- synergy. Yeah.” Sam nodded. “Well, it’s not like Janis is deranged or dangerous, but I—uh—understand you may have butted heads with Al.”
“Yeah, I feel awful about it,” Ben confirmed. “I couldn’t shut Janis up.”
Sam nodded. “Teenagers. Janis may have been smart as a whip, but she could give some serious attitude at this age.”
“You told me last leap that I might need Addison to talk me out of these episodes.” He frowned. “Wait, that was—”
“The other timeline me,” Sam said, nodding. “It’s alright, I remember.”
Ben raised his eyebrows. “You remember?”
Why does he remember and Addison doesn’t?
“It’s a long story. But yes, I do recall that conversation, and it was as correct then as it is now. I’ve given Addison a few pointers, ways she might be able to bring you back to yourself if it comes to that. But it’ll be trial and error.”
“You could just turn it on and off at will. How can I learn that?”
Sam pursed his lips, shoulders giving a light shrug. “It’s not easy. Took me a long time to master.”
“No time like the present to start learning.”
“Okay, but I don’t know if this is going to make any sense,” Sam said. “I guess the key is to become the gatekeeper of your own consciousness. You have to act as kind of a bouncer, to decide what goes in and out.” Sam scratched his head. “It’s really hard to explain, you know? You’ve got to feel out the other mind. Each one has its own unique flavour, so when there’s a thought or an action that’s demanding to come through, you can differentiate if it belongs to you, or them. And then you have to beat them back. It’s a conscious effort, so you have to be on the ball. That means no drinking, no drugs, and try and get enough sleep if you can help it.”
“Dear god that sounds exhausting,” Ben said, opening Janis’s closet and rifling through her clothes.
“Oh, you have no idea,” Sam said. “Luckily, most leapees don’t fight for control. It’s the strong personalities you have to watch out for.”
“Like Janis?”
“Like Janis,” Sam chuckled. “But, like I said, you shouldn’t have too much of a problem with her, even if she does seep through. We’re all on the same team, right?”
“Yeah. Right. Thanks, Sam.”
Sam offered him a warm smile. “Listen, take care of the me in your time, would you? He’s going through a few things right now. And if he needs some time to himself, let him have it.”
“Okay,” Ben said, though he wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean.
“And now, back to your regularly scheduled hologram,” Sam said with a flourish of his hand, as he dissolved.
It was really nice to see this Sam, he thought. But, he thought he’d detected some sorrow under the smiling exterior. Maybe it was just seeing Al again.