Chaotic Time Ch 1 (closed)

From the book jacket.
In 2021, the world was changed forever with the appearance of the first anomaly. A rift in space and time with no known origin, the first anomalies were harbingers of death and destruction, horrific monsters from Earth's past and future escaping to wreak havoc. Thanks to the work of Dr. Vincent Seoracis, the anomalies can eventually be predicted. By 2030, anomalies can be detected and prevented before they occur, the technology necessary to do so kept a tightly guarded secret by the organization known as Pure Time. Founded by Dr. Seoracis, Pure Time is dedicated to ensuring that nothing enters or comes out of the anomalies, preventing any cross-time contamination.

But nothing stays secret forever. In 2048, the secrets of controlling the anomalies were discovered by another group. Calling themselves Butterfly after the well-known butterfly effect, this group believed that by sending agents back to carefully selected times and altering past events, the world's future could be dramatically altered for the better. The Chromo Wars began. For every agent Butterfly sent, Pure Time would send back their own men and women to prevent the timeline from changing. So far Pure Time has been winning, but each battle becomes a little bit harder, a little bit closer to irrevocably shifting history's path.

Enter Cyrus DeLeone, Pure Time's best agent in 2114. Sent back to counter Butterfly's best in a mission to 2097, he instead finds himself stranded in 2025, convinced that Butterfly has infiltrated Pure's ranks and sabotaged his mission. Until he finds Butterfly's agent stranded in the same time, with the agents of a third party trying to kill them both and alter history irrevocably. Finally, there is one person whose life has been altered in dramatic ways, one person that must come to terms with it, to the idea of Pure Time, Butterfly, and the mysterious organization behind it all, one person that must do all this and find the answers to save humanity, Vincent Seoracis.

Prologue:

New York, New York, USA

December 15, 2025

04:35 AM EST

The sound of the alarm clock radio snapped him awake, at least it had this time, thrice before it had been the nightmares that his done it. He'd nearly developed insomnia from them alone, it didn't help that his own biological short comings kept him up at times when his body demanded sleep.

“Time can change me, but I can't change time.
Oh, time can change me, but I can't…”

He flipped the thing off, and proceeded to put the print outs from the night before in order in the hanging file folders. He had once again fallen asleep at his desk, the MANCOVA he was working on SAS were still on the screen. It wasn't the first time that this had happened and it wouldn't be the last. It was so common that he didn't even bother to buy a bed to put into his small apartment, what was the point, besides he couldn't sleep in one easy, not any more.

The apartment was a small two room affair, well three if you included the half kitchen that was just to the right of the door when you came and looked out on the main room. The refrigerator was in a little alcove just as you hit the tiles, long counters on both sides, the sink and dishwasher along with cabinets both below and above along the wall that doubled as the front of his apartment. You could hear people coming and going whenever you washed dishes. The stove made up the connecting point for both counters on the right wall, when you came in, with the other counter, and a small pantry standing between anyone in the kitchen and the main room. That's where the area rug began, a faded gray affair, which seemed to be dirty no matter how many times it had been vacuumed or cleaned. The one in the bedroom area, which served as his study, was the same way. The main room was divided, through the use of wooden screens with nature scenes on them, into two rooms, a small den was on the left, clearly visible from the door, while a small eating area stood on the right, somewhat secluded. The left side contained two sofas, in red micro-fiber, four end tables, at the end of each sofa, and a Maple wood coffee table. The two sofas were in the shape of a L, with a lamp on each end table, the rooms only light fixture was on the other side. the semi-circular coffee table was set up just a little over a foot from each table. Several book shelves sat along the walls behind the sofas and a couple of nick knacks were on the coffee table. The “dinning room” only contained table and chairs, and looking at them, you couldn't tell that half the chairs were hand made, as they looked just like the two that came with the table.

The bed room, changed into the study was on the left, one turned from out of the “den”, to go into it, and one would find the places lone picture here, it was hanging in a very simple frame on the wall in line of site from the door that one walked through to enter. Looking at it one could immediately identify the relationship between the two in the picture and the apartment's occupant, they were clearly his parents.

Having showered and eaten, his daily morning of oatmeal and tea, Vincent Seoracis put aside all thoughts of Earth's changing electromagnetic grid and set off to work as commercial analyst for Bryan & Bryan, after all, even holders of a double masters, and just recently a Doctorate in Statistics, needed to pay the bills; especially when they couldn't get a teaching position.

“Wish me luck,”

Vincent said to the photograph, turned and locking the door behind him went off to deal with another day, not knowing that today was the day that everything would change,

again.

Cyrus

Western Eurasia

Euro

November 17, 2114

0913 GST (Global Standard Time)

It was true that what was now called Western Eurasia had once consisted of many different countries, creeds, languages and cultures. But the Desperation
had changed all of that. Students of history would see how the area had already begun a march towards unification, and now what had become a desperate collection of foreign peoples struggling together for survival had reclaimed much of the continent, a fascinating group that offered a place to anyone that found their way to it. The unique fusion of cultures and languages had made Euro one of the global standard; with international diplomacy and trade all taking place in the almost musical tongue. Yet even here, in the heart of what some considered to be the place from which true civilization had begun to reform, Pure Time held sway.

The area had been secure for almost an hour by the time Cyrus DeLeone got out of his personal jumpcraft, the tiny airship a sleep reminder of the speed and accuracy with which he was renowned to act. He was probably at least in his late thirties, though like most of the world he'd gone through age-enhancement;
an observer from an earlier time would mark him as maybe fifteen years younger. Even in a time when wild fashions and complex clothes were the norm he dressed simply, no more then just a comfy, matching set of shirt and pants, both nanoweave of course. Fairly tall and extremely fit, his dark brown hair and eyes made him almost a stereotype.

The town had been completely cleared, scientists and soldiers scattered about the main square preparing for the anomaly's appearance. "Morning," he called out to the guard captain as he approached. "Everything ready?"

"Yes sir!" the guard snapped back, saluting sharply. "Is Butterfly planning to use this anomaly, sir?" he asked, a sudden tone of worry in his voice. "We
were told this was just a routine op."

"You new to this section?"

"Yes sir. Transferred in from Protective Services yesterday."

Cyrus chuckled a little. "Well, you don't have to worry. They send someone to every opening, there's no way Butterfly could get someone out here in time." He pulled out a smoke, speaking as he lit it. "You ever see an anomaly up close?"

"No sir."

He chuckled again. After a while you could almost feel them, get a sense of where they were about to appear, so it was with almost perfect timing that he motioned towards the center of the square. The light appeared first; a shaft of light originating from nothing that pierced the air, only to multiply and spread until it was shining all around from a pinprick of energy. With a sudden motion it spread, the view of the buildings and trees behind it replaced with a maelstrom of twisting, shifting energy and light pulsing with the heartbeat of existence. A voice called out over the loudspeakers, clinical and calm in the face of chaos in material form.

"Anomaly has opened, Anomaly has opened. Five minutes to seal."

The guard was staring with wide eyes at the coruscating and twisting light, his mouth opened slightly at the sight. Cyrus just smiled and nodded; you never
really got used to the sight, at the sight of a funnel being torn in time and space, but it always was fantastic the first time you saw it. Still, it wasn't his job to stare at the lights. People were already milling about the area, techs making necessary adjustments, taking readings, working quickly in the short time they had before...hold on a moment. His eyes narrowed slightly as his gaze fell upon one of the techs, a woman pushing a cart full of instruments towards the anomaly. She was moving oddly, walking a little too quickly, unbuttoning her lab coat, which frankly was odd in itself. Taking a final drag on the smoke he let it drop to the ground and crushed it under his heel. It looked like today was going to be rather interesting after all.

Several things all happened at once. The first, and perhaps the most important, went completely unnoticed by virtually everyone at the scene. One of the techs, rather new to the job and still afflicted with the nervousness that comes with inexperience, noticed that several of the readouts he was supposed to monitor all suddenly jumped into the red. It lasted no more then a instant, and then everything was back to normal so quickly he wasn't even sure if it had actually happened. The others were noticed by everyone. The loudspeaker suddenly blared once more, the voice tinged with panic.
"Signal detected, anomaly's destination altered! Butterfly attacking from the south!"

The soldiers reacted, sounds of gunfire coming from the south, Butterfly's drone soldiers already causing all the distraction an agent would need. The tech suddenly flung off her coat, leaped over the barrier to be no more then a few feet from the anomaly. And Cyrus moved, dashing towards both the Butterfly agent and the anomaly. He was too far, she'd have at least a minute on the other side before he reached the anomaly. But it wouldn't be enough to escape him. He grinned as she tipped him a salute, mere instants before disappearing into the storm of time. Oh yes, this was going to be fun. Always so much more satisfying to bring them in when they thought they had a chance. The sleeves and neck of his shirt expanded and tightened around him as he ran, his simple clothes becoming a nanoweave shell around his entire body.

"Anomaly destination, 2097," the loudspeaker called out as he was vaulting over the barrier, a vague uncertainty in the voice going completely unnoticed. All the warning he needed to be ready, to know what he would find on the other side, just in time to dash through the anomaly, ready for anything she might have prepared on the other side he thought, perhaps just a little over confidently. The truth was, he wasn't.

New York, New York, USA

Brooklyn Boroughs

Hunts Point

December 21, 2018

01:37 PM EST

The apartment appeared to be completely empty; there was no sign of movement or sound coming from the room itself, but there was still a massive influx
of noise and commotion coming from the open windows. It sounded like hundreds, or thousands of people all just milling around out there, excessively loud
engines roaring repeatedly into a constant drone. Cyrus burst through the anomaly, just in time to see the woman start to swing what looked like a lamp towards his head. In a reflexive motion he ducked
down, his forward momentum carrying him on to drive a shoulder directly towards her midriff. It looked like they were in some sort of apartment or something;
probably the home of whoever Butterfly wanted to alter. This fight had to end quickly, before anyone could come home. The girl was quick; he'd barely hit her before she'd flipped over his back, thankfully not taking the chance to stick a blade in it. A lot harder then she looked too, the blow leaving a faint soreness in his shoulder. Cyrus quickly screeched to a halt and pivoted around, his hands darting to his belt and coming up with a knife in one hand and his minineedler in the other; the rounds in the tiny gauss-pistel were covered with enough tranqs to put her out for hours. He grinned slightly as he watched her slide into a martial art stance; always the same story. Bringing knives to gun fights. His feet shifted slightly, poising himself to move with her should she try anything, and brought up his arms with a smile, the gun leveled at her chest with the knife held in his left hand, the hilt nestling neatly into a slot upon the gun's handle. "Only need one shot," he said to her calmly, his eyes locked with hers, watching them for any sign of motion.

"So how about you just turn around and walk right back through-"

The anomaly suddenly flashed brightly, the Butterfly forgotten as the rift pulsed and shrunk, space sliding back into itself until all traces were gone, a whiff of alien air the only sign it had ever existed. What the hell had Butterfly done? Closing an anomaly was impossible, it should have stayed open for hours!

Cyrus was forced back into the moment when the woman's foot suddenly slammed into his hand, the tiny needler bouncing off the wall and falling upon the floor.

“Trust me this is a knife fight, “

The Butterfly said, just as her knife struck out for him. In a smooth, reflexive motion he jerked back, the tip of her knife scoring a slight line against his nanoweave-covered chest.

"Fine by me,"

he retorted, as his now-empty hand darted down to seize upon her wrist, his knife blade streaking towards her head, it didn't make it there. He barely even registered it happening. One moment his knife was about to bite into the girl and end the fight once and for all; the next he was lying upon the floor, his knife lying somewhere, his chest a raging inferno of pain and misery. He gasped for breath, desperately trying to suck air into his lungs, eyes frantically trying to find the Butterfly, find her before she could finish him off. A second shot rang through Cyrus' ears, his eyes finding the Butterfly just in time to watch her drop to the ground. Someone was shooting at both of them? The sheer insanity was dropped in the struggle for survival as he finally managed to get his feet under him, lunging towards the girl hoping to pin her down under his weight. Whatever was going on, this fight needed to end now.

Cyrus grunted loudly as he landed upon the ground, the Butterfly already gone. That had been a mistake; his body was catching up to his brain, and the pain
in his chest suddenly became a blaze of agony all along his side. By the time he managed to look up from the floor she was staring at him over the barrel
of his own needler. "ssSTOP it. Time OUT,” she hissed at him, and he could do nothing but nod. He was uncomfortably aware that anything else would probably
get him shot. Just lying there Cyrus’s brain had time to process more of his surroundings, Cyrus slowly began to notice what Butterfly was already trying to distract herself from with her humming. Nothing seemed right, nothing seemed to match up to what he expected the place to be like. They were in 2097, weren't they?

Gingerly his hand felt for the center of the pain, finding a still hot piece of metal pressed into his side. Carefully he removed it, gritting his teeth,
and held it up in front of his face. It was huge; not even a gauss rifle fired something this big. The only weapons that fired anything like this were old gunpowder weapons. Those hadn't been in use for decades; even 2097 had gauss weaponry available . Once again the Butterfly was talking, and he was mostly ignoring her, until she said something so ridiculous that it required comment.

"Course it's not ours,"

Cyrus muttered, his head turning to stare at her. "Any of ours would have a gauss rifle, or a needler. Unless he's been here for years then it's a local." Truth be told he was barely listening to what she was saying, up until she reached the part about the year. He stared at her incredulously, ignoring the gun once more leveled at his head. "2020. Have you people gone insane? You know damn well that's off limits!” With a grimace he tried to put his arms under him, tried to push himself up to sit leaning against the wall.

"And put that damn thing away before you hurt yourself."

Cyrus' face paled slightly as he watched the shadows on the wall, thrown by the man across the street and the thing ripping into his flesh, heard the agonizing and short screams of the would-be killer.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

It wasn't the most appropriate thing he could say, but at the moment it was all his mind could come up with. "The Desperation. We're in the damn Desperation," Cyrus muttered in a low voice. Anomalies opening, creatures escaping, no one closing or sealing them.
There was no other explanation. They were in the desperate, frantic time before the science was discovered, when monsters from the past and future freely entered this time and killed all they found; when rapidly opening and closing temporal rifts caused unnatural weather events that killed; when diseases long dorminant came back to take out entire towns over night. Little wonder people thought it was the end of the world, and the icing on the cake, was everyone back home thought they were in 2097. Unless they could get to one of those monster-spewing anomalies, there was no way home. By the looks of it, the Butterfly had observed what was going on across the street, as she was trying to empty an already unfilled stomach; Her guard was dropped; the part of his mind always on alert instantly shot his arm out and snatched the needler away, tucking it back into his belt. "Come on," he said harshly as he forced himself up onto his feet, keeping his gaze well away from the windows. "We need to leave, and you're too heavy to carry."

“I’m not all that heavy.”

Was her response & not a very good one.

"I'll alert the media," Cyrus muttered as he headed for the door, glancing out and along the hallway. No one there, which was good. His ribs hurt too much to put together a coherent argument for why they were there. "Now shut up and move, fat ass." Probably an unnecessary remark, but there was no way he was going to be civil to this damn Butterfly, not when her idiot friends had gotten them stuck here. Moving as normally and quickly as he could he headed down the hall to search for stairs, his nanoweave shifting itself around him to resemble a dark, long-sleeved shirt and pants.