The Continuum Palace
Larna slowly opened her eyes. Her headache was telling her that the night before must have been one hell of a party. She did not really remember much. Her mind was still swimming. She was going through a range of confusing states that left her bewildered and disorientated. A bright light coming from somewhere above her dazzled her. She tried to rub her eyes with her right hand, but found that her arms were useless. She struggled to comprehend the feelings of paralysis that ran through her entire body. She could sense the floating motion as she was drawn up towards the light, but everything else was confusing. She looked around her wildly in an attempt to understand. Everything else around her was in darkness. Her mind was racing trying to work out what was happening. The last thing she actively remembered was being manhandled inside a warm, humid room. She remembered every single detail of the torture that Shadow put her through. The stool, the nipple clamps, the rack, the whips and the red-hot pokers. She understood that that was a Dreamscape reality and that it was not real, but the pain certainly felt real. She knew that she faded fast and was very close to the edge. Larna could not quite remember how she had managed to escape from that place. The last thing she could picture, she was secured firmly in a spread-eagled position, hanging several inches off the floor, and the skin was being ripped from her back by a whip that struck her with unerring regularity. Every part of her body had been screaming out for release. Every muscle in her body had been ripped and stretched to breaking point. However, those feelings were gone now. She felt nothing now. Her whole body was numb and lifeless. She could not move. Had Shadow killed her? Was this the afterlife? Was she ascending to a high plain of existence?
Larna glanced down at what she was wearing. That would give her a clue as to where she was. Part of the recent lingering memories that she had was the fact that she had been completely naked. Her clothes had been ripped from her body as part of the humiliating torture that Shadow had put her through. She was now wearing her old clothes. Larna’s looks and clothes were both designed to give people the appearance that she was just a stunning young woman and no threat to them. In fact, she was as lethal as the most dangerous snake. A small, tight figure hugging black leather mini-skirt, which, at about eight inches long, just covered her buttocks was over the top of a pair of tight pattern fishnet stockings. On the top was a black leather shirt over a black lace bra. The shirt was tucked into the mini-skirt. Her jacket was a black leather motorbike jacket with matching black leather motorbike boots on her feet. The boots had got a number of buckles on the side and came right up to about halfway up her shinbone. Around her neck she had a gold chain with a cross on the end. The cross lay just in-between her breasts. It was her mother’s necklace and Larna was never without it. On her right wrist she had the wrist part of a pair of handcuffs that they use in the present day. Her father gave it to her when she was young. She used to keep it in a box until she killed her foster father, now she wore it constantly to keep reminding herself that the police wanted her. She had long auburn coloured hair with a white streak, about one centimetre wide, running down the middle. It was tied up in a ponytail. It was waved back from her forehead, with a tiny fringe down her forehead. She did not only have a feminine figure, but quite a muscular-toned one as well, the perfect fitness trainers body, and with the look of the actress Hudson Leick, she could be classed among the most attractive women in the world. Her hazel coloured eyes could cast a spell over any man. Her face had just the right amount of make-up. Her eyes were surrounded by a dark eye shadow and her lips were a bright red with a black surround. She does not really need any make-up. She could have easily been mistaken for a pin-up and not a highly trained mercenary. The tattoo of the Chinese for Eternal Devotion, which she did herself in memory of her late husband, adds a strange look to the right side of her neck. Not only was she a Fox to look at, but also she had needed cunning and slyness to keep her alive for over half of her twenty-one Erayear life. Larna then noticed the Thala on her left wrist. That had not been present inside the Dreamscape realities. Larna was still not convinced. The Thala could all be an elaborate decoy set up by Shadow. Larna could not figure out why Shadow would stop the torture when she was so close to succeeding with her plan and change it to this floating-in-a-light situation. Larna looked around her, straining to see through the darkness as much as she could. She had to try to find out where she was.
Suddenly, she popped up through a circular gap in a floor. It was like she was being spat out of a test tube. She jumped up into the air slightly. The new surroundings were not much different to those that she had awoken in. She still found herself in darkness. The circular beam of light cascaded down on her like a waterfall. The light bounced off her like water hitting the rocks. Her head flashed around in all directions. The darkness around her made it impossible to see anything. After a few moments, another beam of light flicked on. A chair, similar to that used by a dentist, was illuminated in a similar spotlight light. The signs around her were sending out different signals. The lights and the chair were too surreal to be part of the real world. Yet, Larna still could not get her head around why Shadow would change a winning situation for her in one Dreamscape reality into this. She could not believe that this was some afterlife environment. Despite the mixed signals that she was getting, Larna did not know of any other possible explanation.
“Quit playing these games Shadow!” Larna called out at the top of her voice. “Show yourself!” she demanded strongly.
“Shadow is not here, at least not yet,” the Guardian said from the darkness. He remained well hidden in the cover of the shadows for the moment.
The Guardian stood with his arms folded across his chest. As he was standing in the darkness, he could clearly make Larna out in the beam of light. He was confident that the effect of the light would hold this dangerous character in place while the preparations continued. The Guardian was a huge man. His large form was well hidden under the monk-like cloak. His head and face were hidden under a large hood that came down to cover half of his face. The Guardian glanced towards the other chair briefly. He wanted to get Larna strapped into that chair sooner rather than later. He did not want to tempt fate for too long. Larna snapped her head around in the direction that the voice had come from. Her eyes fixed in that direction and a fierce menacing snarl started to appear on her expression.
“Who are you?” Larna screamed out angrily. “What is this place?” she then demanded fiercely as she tried to move inside the light.
Larna found that he was completely paralysed inside the light. She could not move a muscle. Her eyes flashed to the darkness again.
“What is going on? Let me go!” Larna demanded strongly.
Her slightly French accented voice could go through a range of expressions. Larna could turn on the sexy charm or she could send a chill down the spine. The aggression in her voice during the last sentence was just typical of the spine-chilling mood that she could turn on. She heard footsteps coming toward her through the darkness. A figure wearing a cloak slowly came into view through the darkness. It moved slowly. Had Larna not heard the footsteps she would have thought the figure was floating.
“I will answer all of your questions shortly,” the Guardian stated firmly in a tone that displayed the fact that he was not going to be bullied into changing his routine. He would go just as fast as he intended.
Larna strained her body again in an attempt to twist and turn her whole form. She just could not move a muscle. “You might find this amusing, but my fuse is getting shorter by the second,” she spat toward the figure.
“There is nothing that you can do Ms Fox, so you’re better just accepting the situation than trying to fight me. The more you fight, the more this will hurt,” the Guardian expressed in his usual calm flat emotionless voice.
“Screw you!” Larna barked with fire burning behind her voice. “Threats don’t scare me. Let me out of this right now!” she ordered strongly.
“You are in no position to demand anything of me. But, having watched you closely, that has never stopped you before has it,” the Guardian expressed with a deep sigh when he realised how futile his attempted threats were going to be with Larna.
Larna’s eyes started burning a hole through the cloak and hood of the man coming towards her. She did not like being caged like this. Being helpless was not something that Larna did easily. In the Dreamscape reality that she had just been inside, it had taken red-hot pokers, whips, racks and painfully limbs stretching to drive the fight from her. Larna would rather die than give in without a fight.
The Guardian started circling around her like a bird of prey circling its target. Larna’s eyes never left the man. She watched his every movement, while trying to work out a weakness that she could possibly exploit. The Guardian could sense everything that she was thinking. He had a limited mental telepathy ability to pick up on the most forward thoughts of the individual in his presence. The pictures in his mind were more of mood impressions, than clear ‘they-are-going-to-do-this’ images.
“There is little point in you trying to find a weakness in me,” the Guardian expressed with a smug smile on his face. “There is nothing that you will be able to do to exploit it. While you are in my domain, you are powerless to do anything,” he pointed out confidently.
“Let me out of this light and I’ll show you how powerless I am,” Larna said through gritted teeth. She was not showing any sign of being intimidated by her surroundings or the large man pacing backward and forward in front of her.
“I have seen what you are capable of Ms Fox. That is partly the reason why you are here,” the Guardian reported as he stopped pacing.
Larna did not say anything. She just continued to glare at the Guardian with the same hated filled expression on her face.
“I was going to wait until you were more comfortable, but you are pushing my hand,” the Guardian explained with a deep sigh. “Larna Fox, you stand charged with committing crimes against the Time Continuum,” he announced at the top of his voice.
“What?” Larna asked in surprise. “Ok, this is a joke right?” she continued with a broad smile on her face. “I’m still inside the Dreamscape and this is just Shadow’s twisted idea of a joke,” Larna concluded shaking her head with disappointment.
“This is not a joke. You are not inside the Dreamscape reality anymore. In fact, you are not inside any reality at the moment. You’re in the Continuum Palace, the focal point of all Temporal Reality Event Sequences. I am the Guardian. I am responsible for the Time Continuum. I monitor each reality to ensure that they are all in balance. Your travels through time have created too many ripples in the Continuum for me to safely control. You must prove to me that those trips through time have been worthwhile. If you cannot, then I must restore a Temporal Reality Event Sequence that does not include humans having the ability to time travel before it is too late,” the Guardian pointed out firmly.
“Cut the crap,” Larna snarled fiercely. “If you had been watching anything to do with my Temporal Reality Event Sequence, you would have seen that I was not given any choice in the matter. I did not want to become a time traveller. The General Council forced me into going back,” she argued strongly. “They locked an explosive collar around my neck for Christ sake,” she pointed out bluntly. “Sure, it may have given me the chance to get my revenge on the man who killed my husband, but when they said that I was the cause of the nuclear explosion and that I had to go back to prevent New Arizona from being destroyed, then what could I do?” Larna asked reluctantly.
“You could have said no. There are countless number of TRES’ that do not contain a nuclear explosion,” the Guardian said as he pointed across to the room to a large display in the distance.
Larna could not make it out completely, but she could tell that the display contained a huge number of lines that wrapped around and snaked between each other like a complex knitting pattern. She could just make out a glimmering crystal sitting in front of the display. Larna shrugged it off.
“You do not just say no to the General Council of New Arizona,” Larna defended. “Especially when they have a loaded gun to your head,” she continued lightly.
“The first time may have been on a forced volunteered basis, but there were other trips that were not forced upon you,” the Guardian pointed out.
Larna stopped smiling. The tone in this mans voice was telling her that he believed every single word of what he was saying.
“I am glad to see that you are coming to understand,” the Guardian said as he read Larna’s thoughts.
“I don’t think you would like what I am coming to understand,” Larna said with a smug playful grin on her face.
“You think that I am crazy. You’re convinced that you are being held by a madman who has been driven out of his mind,” the Guardian expressed reading Larna’s thoughts out loud.
“Good guess,” Larna said with a deep sigh and a shake of the head.
“You do not have a choice Ms Fox. I am going to judge you for your crimes. You can either put up some form of defence or I will make a judgement on the things I have seen right now,” the Guardian said.
Larna immediately picked up on the sense of amusement in the man’s voice. His last statement had been made without the slightest hint of conviction. Larna glanced towards the chair in the other beam of light. The Guardian turned his head also.
Larna did not take her eyes off the chair. The Guardian could sense that she was trying to work out what to make of the device. He turned his head back to look at Larna. Larna started to shake her head again.
“Crimes against time,” she stated with her sexy smile coming on to her face. “Shadow has got to be behind this,” Larna expressed confidently.
“Shadow is an unfortunate victim of your trips through time,” the Guardian stated bluntly.
“Victim?” Larna asked in astonishment. “She is a dangerous black witch who could destroy you with a click of her fingers if you gave her a chance,” she argued flatly.
“I know all about Shadow. I have already judged her,” the Guardian reported strongly. “She could not defend her actions. And I doubt that you have got the memories to defend yourself either,” he snapped bitterly frustrated by the arguments that the defendant was making.
“Check the records pal. I have helped people,” Larna snapped sharply.
“Really,” the Guardian said with a deep sigh.
“I helped Heather,” Larna pointed out confidently when she picked up on the suspicion within the Guardian’s tone.
“Oh yes, the young woman who was abducted by aliens. Did she not escape by herself? She would have escaped with or without you. She would just have arrived in a different version of the future that’s all. You cannot say that her life with you has been uneventful,” the Guardian pointed out smugly.
Larna shook her head as she looked back to the chair. The Guardian immediately picked up on the thoughts running through Larna’s mind again.
“The chair will help me to picture your memories. It will dig deep into your subconscious to pull out the memories that will either help you defend your actions or condemn you,” the Guardian explained without waiting for Larna to ask the question.
“Well, it would appear that you’re holding all of the cards,” Larna said with a deep reluctant sigh. “That just happens to be when I become the most dangerous thing to handle,” she then added as her cheeky playful smile returned to her face.
“Ms Fox, you have a simple choice to make. You can beat me senseless then spend eternity trying to find your way out of my palace or you can sit in that chair and defend your actions. You have not been found guilty yet,” the Guardian persuaded in his most diplomatic tone. Inside he could not really see any other verdict, but he was starting to enjoy the little game.
The Guardian had never found any of those he brought to his Palace innocent. He was so sure of the facts that he considered himself to be beyond making a mistake. Larna could still not see his face, so she was not aware of the smug look that was starting to become a permanent feature.
“It seems to be all about a question of trust,” Larna said as she looked up and down at the light surrounding her.
The Guardian pushed a command sequence into the control panel on his left wrist. The light withdrew up into the ceiling a few seconds later. Larna stepped forward. It felt so good to be able to move her limbs. Subconsciously she was still feeling the affects of the torture that Shadow had subjected her too. Larna just needed to shake the cobwebs from her muscles. Feeling paralysed had done nothing to help her shake the memories of being stretched on the rack and being whipped. The Guardian waved his right arm around toward the chair in a — after you — motion. Larna walked up to the man in the cloak. She fixed her eyes on to the shadows under the hood. She could not see the man’s face, but she just wanted to show that she did not like being ordered around. The Guardian looked back at her flatly. He had to admit that she was a stunning young woman. He had had the opportunity to see more of her than Larna would have liked, but even just looking deeply into her hazel eyes pulled at his heartstrings. Larna walked confidently across to the chair. Her eyes were still flashing around in all directions in an attempt to see anything else in the darkness. The darkness around them was all consuming. It did not give away any of its secrets. Larna did not want to show any signs of giving up.
Larna looked down at silver metal chair. It had not been designed with comfort in mind that was for sure. It was a basic metal structure. The main parts of the seat were grooved to fit the body perfectly. There were no visible straps on either the footrest or on the armrests. The headrest was a simple pad of material. The Guardian moved up right behind Larna.
“Please,” he prompted as he motioned again to the seat.
Larna turned to face the man sharply. “Just what is this going to do?” she asked before she committed herself to sitting in the seat.
“As I said, a cable will be inserted into the back of your neck so that the computer can access your memories,” the Guardian explained calmly. “It will recreate events from your past,” he continued confidently.
Larna slowly slipped back on to the seat. She could not see much of a choice in the matter. She was going to have a fight on her hands, but this was going to be a different sort of fight. The moment that she touched the seat the familiar paralysing sensation washed over her body. The chair did not need to have any fastening straps to hold her inside. The same effect that was generated by the beam of light was also present in the chair. Larna’s eyes fixed on to the Guardian. She snarled at him menacingly in a — you have deceived me — expression.
“Don’t worry, the paralysing effect is there for your own protection,” the Guardian reported with a confident smile on his face.
“Sure, and my mother was an astronaut,” Larna replied sarcastically. “You can tell me honestly if this is a restraining device you know,” she pointed out trying to persuade the Guardian that she would not be offended by that admission.
“I am telling you the truth. When inserted into your neck, the device can generate uncontrollable spasms,” the Guardian expressed with a solemn calm look on his face.
Larna could not see his expression, but there was something about his tone that told her he was telling the truth.
“Now hold still. You might feel a little buzz and tingling as the needle goes through,” the Guardian said as the mechanical arm started to move up behind the seat.
The arm guided the needle up through the gap between the headrest and the top of the back support. Larna’s neck was full exposed in this gap. There was nothing she could do to move away from the device. She could not move a muscle in the seat. The Guardian was correct. Larna grimaced as the needle stabbed her sharply in the back of the neck. The tingling sensation came next as she felt the needle bury right through her skin and start to enter her brain stem. Larna clenched her fists tightly as the tingling started drilling right through into her head. Her whole head felt like it was buzzing. The buzzing would just not stop. The sensation felt like five cracking migraine headaches all rolled up into one brutal torment. The Guardian placed his right hand lightly on to Larna’s left arm in an attempt to show her caring. Larna closed her eyes as the buzzing throb made it painful for her to see any light.
“The feelings will die down shortly,” the Guardian said calmly.
“They better had,” Larna said through gritted teeth. “I hope this is not your form of wiping my memory clean!” she snapped sharply.
The Guardian backed away from the chair. He did not reply to that statement. A chill ran down Larna’s spine. Suddenly the pain stopped. Larna slowly started to open her eyes. The Guardian stood in front of her with his arms folded across his chest.
“I suggest that you start at the beginning. Your first trip through time may have been forced upon you, but you interacted with a number of people in the past. I need you to prove to me that those interactions were justified,” the Guardian expressed firmly.
A large screen came down several feet away from the chair. As Larna watched, a scene started to play out in front of her that came from her own past.
The Guardian is the protector of the Time Continuum. He holds a court to decide whether Larna’s trips back in time have been worthwhile.