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Chapter Text

Year: Unknown, World: Eva

The sight of the dead body in front of him arose no particular emotion in him. Actually, it left him untouched. And yet, the body was his own. This was the day he was going to die. 66 years in the future.
The young man just stared at the body, his eyes trailing over all the little parts of it – but his gaze never lingered anywhere. He studied his own future body with a certain curiosity but also detachedness. Like one would study a dead bird at the side of the road. A weird place to die at, he thought. A narrow and small underground safe room with earthen walls and one small light bulb that only shone so dim that one could thought the only colours in the world are black and dark orange.
“You do not feel sad.”, he heard a voice observe behind him. A voice he knew too well. His own voice.
His other younger-older-self stepped forward and crossed himself three times before he bent down to the body. The young men realised that in a moment like that he was supposed to toll respect to his older self. But he could not. Younger-older-self closed the already glassy eyes of the oldest self and then stood up gracefully. For a few moments both men stood in grave silence, neither of them looked at the body.
He has gotten older, the young men thought while his gaze lingered at his living-older-self. Most of his hair has gotten gray now with only a few brown streaks in between. Wrinkles decorated his face with the cleft under his lip looking just like another more colourful wrinkle.
I have gotten older, the young man thought when his eyes wandered to a mirror at the opposite site of the room. Serious eyes sat deep in his hawk-like skull. His expression was stern and there was no indication left that the man in the mirror was once a child.
“You are 24 now”, his older self added as soon as the younger man had contemplated about how much he has grown in the last years, “in 9 years, Mama will give birth to us. And once again, we have to take care of ourselves, guide ourselves and be tough when you have to make hard decisions. And then accept that we have to die.” The older Unknown weakly gestures at his older body.
“I have carried this cross for 33 years now. It is now your time to take charge”, the older Unknown mused, his gaze never moving away from his younger self. “You already know what is coming for you. What you have to do. How you will end. But do not despair. I will be by your side. Well, at least for the next 33 years.”
The older Unknown now retrieved a lighter from his pockets. “To destroy is all we do. It will only be fair if we ourselves are eventually destroyed.”
With a firm grip, the older man passed on the lighter to the younger man. “You have never questioned any of our decisions. And that is the most vital part. This safe-house which I brought us to will be our last resting place. But it is not meant to last.”
Now, the older man opened a backpack which he had previously set down on a mahogany table next to him. Inside was nothing but a canister of fuel. “Let’s destroy”, he uttered nonchalantly and opened the canister.

*

Year: 1959, World: Eva

His memory flickered back to when he was just 18 years old and graduated from school. He was sitting on the bench in front of the old school building and waited for the other boys from his class to arrive. The only one who was already there was Tronte. His son. For several years they attended the same classes. Sat next to each other in class and worked on yet another exercise the teacher imposed on them.
He never understood why his mother told him to go to school in the 1950s alongside his son. It was weird. Especially because the thought of ever having children appalled him.
But Tronte was a nice guy. Maybe he did good with him. Only when Tronte spoke of his home life, the Unknown got a bit uncomfortable.
He knew that his older self was apparently happily married to Agnes and lived in a small house a bit outside Winden with his wife and his son. However, there was also the second world where a Tronte – who looks exactly the same as this one next to him did – running around who had never heard of his father. The thoughts were so weird that he tried to get rid of them. But when it was just him and Tronte alone he could not help but mill them over in his head again and again.
“I cannot believe this part of our life is over”, Tronte suddenly said next to him, without looking up. He was fiddling around with a huge camera on his lap.
“Mh”, hummed the Unknown.
“What are you going to do after school, Hans?”, Tronte asked curiously, despite being still clearly occupied with his camera.
Hans Müller. That was the name the Unknown provisionally got when he was registered for school. He was one of five Hanses and one of eight Müllers in the school. Nothing to arouse suspicion.
“I’m going to work full-time in the family business.” The Unknown shrugged. It was the truth, technically. “You?”, he asked although he already knew that his son was going to become an investigative journalist.
Tronte’s eyes lit up meaningfully. “I got an internship at the Windener Zeitung. As photographer. Obviously.” Demonstratively, he held up his camera with a big grin.
“Smile.”, he demanded jokingly, although he had never seen the Unknown smile in the many years they went to school together. The Unknown furrowed his eyebrows, unimpressed. Tronte took a picture anyway. “Once the film is developed, I will sent you the photo,” he promised. “Say, I never got your address. Now that we will not see each other as much it would be nice to keep in touch through the mail now and then. I know it is weird but –“
The Unknown shuddered because coming up with excuses about his home life had become so tiresome already. However, before Tronte could ask anything else, branches cracked behind them. Both boys spun around.
“Claudia!”, Tronte cried excitingly when he spotted the red-haired girl in the moss-green coat that was a bit too warm for this time of the year.
“Hi Tronte. Hans.”, Claudia gave him a small wave. The Unknown returned it, then lowered his gaze, when Tronte threw his arms around Claudia enthusiastically and put a passionate kiss on her lips.
However, after a few seconds Claudia quickly let go of her boyfriend. But Tonte did not seem to notice. “What are you dong here?”, he asked, still a bit out of breath from so quickly jumping up when he saw Claudia and ran to her.
“I wanted to congratulate you”, Claudia said, “and also tell you that I got accepted into the Economical Engineering program in Berlin. Not that I had any doubts that I would not get in. But I just wanted to tell you as soon as I got the letter from the university.”
“That’s great news!”, Tronte beamed and closed the distance between his and Claudia’s face again, but his girlfriend quickly pushed him away.
“About that…”, she said reluctantly, looking a bit uncertain in the Unknown’s direction. “Things will become different with you here in Winden and me so far away in Berlin. We need to talk about that.”
“I know.”, Tronte assured her. “But not today. Today is for celebration!”
“Okay”, Claudia grinned. “Walk with me for a bit before the ceremony starts?”
“Always”, Tronte said, but turned to the Unknown with a mischievous smile on his face. “We are also not done talking yet, Hans. Will we chat after we receive our diplomas?”
“Of course”, the Unknown said relived that he once again escaped telling a lie. While Tronte and Claudia vanished behind a corner of the school building but their vivid laughs were still audible, he put his hands into his trouser pockets. He had not realised that he turned them into fists.

*

Year: 2052, World: Eva

He and his older self parted ways after they had made sure the last bit of fire was extinguished.
His older self dropped him off at the cave like building in the middle of the desert that served as Erit Lux’s base and housing to members of the inner circle. While his older self fixed the keys and buttons of his round time machine that would teleport him to 1970, he suddenly looked up. “By the way, Tronte just told me that Jana gave birth to their son Ulrich,” he uttered, studying the expressionless gaze of his younger self.
“Mh,” said the younger Unknown. He could not bother to hide his disinterest.
“Do not worry. I felt the same way about… everything,” the older man waves around his hand extensively, “but you will eventually grow to appreciate this just as much as I do.”
The younger man also did not bother to reply.
“Well. Then, see you around. Mama will tell you as soon as there is a task to do,” the Older Unknown sighed, then he vanished in golden sparks to his cozy little home in 1970.

The Unknown went to his room silently, without bothering to go and greet his mother in her study. He felt so tired of always obeying orders. Of creating chaos. Planned chaos. Maybe he should start to incite unplanned chaos for a change.

When he arrived in his small chamber, he noticed that the bed next to his was still unoccupied. Due to a lack of rooms, the Unknown had to share his room with Hanno, who was currently a lanky 17-year-old and usually only brabbled about the time when Erit Lux would finally let him travel somewhere else than to 1987 where he was attending school. The Unknown just shrugged it off. Maybe they finally send Hanno on his first mission to make him finally shut up.

Exhausted, the Unknown fell onto his bed. His hair and his clothes still stank like smoke. But he was too tired to get up to shower or to merely throw off his clothes. He did not know the exact time of the day- though he presumed it to be late – but this day felt longer than any other day he has lived before.

Just when he began to doze off, someone knocked on his door relentlessly. At first he was hoping the knocker would give up hope but the noise conveyed that the person on the other side of the door became more and more impatient with every passing second.
“In!”, he finally groaned and got out of bed, quickly tugging a lose strand of hair behind his right ear.

Silja, Hanno’s mother, marched through the door. She was a woman of about fifty years now, but only a few gray streaks ran through her hair and the big scar all across her face did not look any less fresh than when she was a young girl (the Unknown sometimes had to accompany a younger Silja on missions).
“Where’s Hanno?”, she asked briskly. “He promised to take care of his sister tonight.”
The Unknown knew that Silja would freak out and probably tell Eva if she found out Hanno was missing.
“Sick, I guess,” The Unknown shrugged, “hasn’t left the bathroom for almost one hour now.”
Silja peeked over the Unknown’s shoulder and noticed that no light was switched on in the bedroom. The Unknown held his breath, full of tension, but eventually Silja shook her head and a look of concern replaced the anger on her face.
“Should I bring him something? Tea would always be good…”
“No. No!”, interjected the Unknown, trying to keep his voice steady. “He already told me that if he was to take something, he would immediately throw up again.”
The look of concern on Silja’s face did not vanish. The Unknown was relived that she believed him because he was usually an honest man. Or a good liar.
“Tell him to catch up with me tomorrow before he goes to school. Bartosz and I are leaving for a task early tomorrow,” she said softly, before bidding the Unknown good night and gently closing the door. Annoyed, the Unknown fell onto his bed again. He already had enough drama of his own – he could not really deal with other people’s family drama at this moment.

He could not trace how many minutes or hours had passed, but he had at least managed to sleep before Hanno rumbled into the room.
Seconds later, the Unknown sniffed to make sure he was not only imaging the smell. “Did you consume alcohol, Hanno? And by that, I mean a lot of alcohol?”
If he was not so tired he would probably grin at the young boy.
“Nonofyerbisness,” Hanno muttered and plummeted on his bed. Seconds later, he began to snore.
“Stop snoring,” the Unknown reprimanded him.
For a few seconds, Hanno was quiet. Then it broke out of him. “I’m so freaking frustrated. Nobody is telling me anything! But I finally want to do something! I really want to!”
“Sh,” the Unknown shushed him, “quiet or you wake everyone up.”
Even though there was no light in the room the Unknown knew that Hanno pouted.
“Hey, I had an idea today. You might like it,”, he said suddenly, “have they ever told you there is a world that is almost parallel to ours?”
“No,” Hanno bolted upright in his bed.
“So, I have already been there a few times. And I also happen to be tired of doing everything Mama tells me to do,” the Unknown slowly trailed, intent on keeping all of the younger boy’s attention. “Do you want to create chaos there?”
“When do we start?” Hanno grinned mischievously.

Chapter Text

Year: 2052, World: Eva

There was not really anything to eat. With a deep sigh, the Unknown grabbed a cucumber; that was the only thing besides an already opened yoghurt can in the small fridge somebody had installed in the earthen room that served as the dining room of Erit Lux. It was weird to call it dining room because he barely saw the other members of Erit Lux and there was not really an occasion for which they could all come together. With a blunt knife he cut the cucumber into small pieces, slowly putting one by one into his mouth. He was not enjoying himself. The cucumber tasted like rubbish. But as long as he was fed he was not complaining. He would leave all of this behind him anyway. If only Hanno could think about waking up earlier. Suddenly, slow but confident footsteps approach the room. The Unknown turned around in the crackling chair and froze when he saw the woman in the door.

“Mama,” he said cooly, catching himself again.

“A word? In my study?” He could never really read his mother. But this time he was sure he caught a small glimpse of sadness on her old, scarred face.

“Yeah. Once I am done with breakfast.”, he retorted, as there were still two pieces of cucumber left.

Still expressionless, his old mother nodded and walked out of the room without a word. Her back was as straight as ever. He sighed.

‘
“I thought you would come to my office yesterday,” Eva said, putting her elbows on the big mahogany table.

Her son just shrugged. He had never been a man of too many words. This pained her a little because when he was still young he would often come to her study. And although Eva was busy trying to figure out how exactly things worked and what terrible move she had to start next in order to keep the loop going, she always pushed her papers away when he came into her room. Her little angel.

“Can you read me a story, Mama?”, he often asked.

“If you promise to go to bed afterwards, little one”, she replied and put a hand on her lap in order to indicate that he should climb up there.
The subject that interested him most was Greek mythology and he loved Ariadne as much as she did. Eventually, he started to ask questions about the play – he appeared too wise for his young age - that Eva also asked herself when she first read the play as a teenager.

“Why does Ariadne do all the things she does?”, he asked one day during his seventh year. “Why is she waiting for a man to come around and save her? Shouldn’t she do what she wants the most?”
“Little one”, Eva said and gently put her fingers into his curly hair, “at this moment it might seem unimaginable to you. But sometimes we have to hold ourselves back to save what we love the most. In many ways, I am like Ariadne in this aspect. But these are just adult things. You do not need to worry about this for a long time.”

She looked in his eyes. They darted from one place to another, showing that he tried to comprehend what he just heard. In this moment she was reminded that he was only seven years old. A kid.
Suddenly his voice answered, although it sounded smaller than before. “What do you love the most, Mama?”

“But why, you of course,” she said and smiled. However, he did not look convinced. “Hey, what’s up.”

“I am worried. A lot”, he confessed.

“I just told you not to worry, my little one”, Eva said and gently huddled her son.
She saw the tears glittering in his eyes but at the same time she also noticed the determined look at his face that he wanted to hold them back.
“Tell me what’s bothering you”, she begged.

“It’s just… all the things you said about love. That you have to hold yourself back. And be sad for such a long time and do things you don’t like, like Ariadne. And if the things Silja recently said are also true… then love is dangerous.”

Eva put her son’s face into her hands, lifted his chin and looked into his face intently. “What has Silja told you?”

Caution took over his face. But she knew that her young one could not hide things from his mother.
“I don’t know if you have noticed, Mama, but she got so big recently. I promise, I really did not want to ask her and be rude. But one day I was so hungry and Silja has only gotten bigger and bigger. And I was jealous because the fridge is always empty and yet she is so big. And then I asked her why she is not sharing her food with me. Suddenly she laughed and said it was not because she had too much to eat. She said,” at this point tears actually streamed down his fresh face, “that she is bursting from love.”
In horror he stared at his mother’s face, looking for comfort. At this moment he just seemed like the most normal seven-year-old son. One moment he asked the deepest philosophical questions about Ariadne and in the other he could not grasp the concept of pregnancy.

When she did not answer immediately, an entire waterfall of tears began to stream down her son’s cheeks. “So it is bad,” he cried, “it is horrible. I love you, Mama and now I know I will explode just like Silja will sooner or later.”

“Hey, shhhh,” Eva tried to calm him down. For people from the outside perspective her son’s thoughts might have evoked one chuckle or another. But she only wanted to see him smile again. “No worries, my little one, only women can become big because they love too much.”

However, this did not have the expected effect on her son. Suddenly he began screaming hysterically. “So you will explode, Mama? No! No! Please don’t explode!”

Now, Eva actually had to chuckle. Curiously, her son looked up, with a confused look.
“Why are you laughing, Mama?”

“I won’t explode, little one. And Silja will be fine again soon.”

Upon hearing that answer, he smiled and hugged his mother with all of his little strength he had.
“Now, now”, she said and patted him on his back, “what about the promise you made? About going to bed?”
He groaned but at the same time he also yawned.
And deep down she knew this was one of the happiest moments in her life that had seemed so hopeless ever since the apocalypse of 2019.

That little boy from the memory that flashed up in her mind in that moment was long gone. Instead, a young man with a hard expression stood in front of her, his impatient body language showing that he would rather get to leave this room again quickly.
And to be completely honest, she did not know what to say to him herself.
After a few seconds of very exhausting silence he shrugged once again and said, “I was tired.”

In response Eva sighed and rubbed her temples. Her son stared and crossed his arms. He obviously grew more impatient with every passing second.
“Actually, you were there last night. I mean, your older self. And we talked.”
And we hugged, she added in her thoughts, for the first time in over ten years. I miss how things used to be.

When he heard these words, his expression softened a little bit. “What did we talk about?”, he asked.

“About the burden of this. Of everything.”, Eva replied quietly. She knew that there was usually no uncertainty and fear in the tone of her voice which also surprised her son. He uncrossed his arms for a moment, but only to cross them again a few seconds after.

“Aha”, he said, unimpressed and Eva’s hope that she might actually be able to reconnect with him sank dramatically. This was a hard blow.

“One question though, Mama”, he said and she felt her own gaze lighten up. “If you are so tired of doing all of this yourself, why don’t you stop?”

She sighed and quickly reached out with her hand as if once again to indicate to come closer to her, just like the little boy in her memory. But she quickly put her hand down again, before he could notice anything.

“Because they are some things worth fighting for. A lifetime of sacrifices over a few moments of happiness. If it were up to me I would have given you the most normal childhood you could have dreamed of.

She meant those words, really. But her son just snorted. Any chance that he might have sympathy for her desire to be close again had faded. “Do you even realise how hollow you sound?”

And without any further gesture he walked out of the room. She sighed again (having lost count of how many times she did so in the past twenty-four hours). She would have followed him but she had to go over things again. Little details, but details that would save them all.

*

Year: 1970, World: Eva

His body full of tension, Tronte sat at the kitchen table, staring at the empty white paper in his typewriter. In the next room, Jana gently tried to put Ulrich to sleep.

“Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf…” The nursery song was supposed to be calming. But Tronte was anything but calm. He was supposed to be happy, he had pursued his dream job and had his own little family. And yet, the same woman haunted all his thoughts again. Claudia Tiedemann, in all her might and glory.

They have not made love in months, have not seen each other in weeks. But today he saw her. And he realised he made a big mistake by obeying Claudia’s command – not to talk to her again.

‘
However, he remembered the last time they spent a night together all too well. Claudia lay in bed, a satisfied smile on her face, her face propped up on her elbow which rested on the clean white bad sheet. Tronte would have given everything to share this happiness with her. But he sat on the oaken edge of the bed, deep in thoughts.

“What’s wrong?”, Claudia asked, noticing the frustrated expression on Tronte’s face.

He could never hide anything from her, so he gave up to keep this secret any longer. “Jana is pregnant. She just told me a few hours ago.”

He looked into her face apologetically. Her never knew in which of her eyes he could sink into deeper… the ocean-blue one or the warm brown ones. But at this moment he felt like he had no access to them. Claudia was always unreadable but he felt like that she had entirely cut him off at this moment.

“This doesn’t change anything”, Tronte tried to explain, “I told I would leave Jana at any second for you. I know, things might get a bit complicated and scandalous but I…”

Claudia stopped his flow with one stern look. He always assumed he was an independent mind but Claudia only had to lift a finger and he felt like he wanted to be dominated by her. It was weird that he enjoyed it but at this moment he also felt something else. Fear. Of losing the woman of his life.

“Maybe it should”, she said, her tone as unreadable as her facial expression. “Change something, I mean.”

“How?” Tronte tried to keep his voice steady. So many times Claudia pushed him away from him. But he was afraid that this time it was going to be final. And he could not lose her now for good. Not when such chaos as Jana’s announcement had interrupted his perfect little life. If he did not show any weakness, maybe she would draw him closer and kiss him passionately. Promise him that everything was going to be okay.

“You need to fix your own mess, Tronte.”
“My life isn’t a mess.”
“Oh yes, it is. And please don’t talk to me again until you’re ready to admit that”, she said confidently. “Now if you don’t mind I would like to sleep.” She drew the blankets over her beautiful body until only her fire red curls were visible. “You can get a whiskey from the kitchen if you need one. But don’t drink too much. You surely promised your wife you wouldn’t be home that late again.”

Tronte did not know what to say. Well, he knew Claudia was right and even if he had the courage to leave his pregnant wife he was not so sure Claudia was committed to be in a relationship with him. She was also an independent mind and needed no one to prove her life on this Earth meant something.

As he stood up from the edge, he considered to touch her hair. Twirl her curls in his fingers. He shook his hair. Quietly, he left the room and quickly found his way to the front door. He walked home although he had parked his car in a nearby parking lot of a restaurant. He lit a cigarette with a portable green lighter Jana gave him for his last birthday. Fix your own mess, Claudia said. Maybe he should do that. But at this moment he had never known a bigger coward than himself.
‘

Although it had been months since they had this conversation, Tronte kept replaying it over and over again in his head. It never made sense to him. But today, after what he had seen, something finally clicked.

Windener Zeitung had sent him to the AKW to conduct an interview with Bernd Doppler (although, to be honest, Tronte always volunteered for the articles for which a reporter had to travel to AKW in hopes that he would see Claudia). And today he saw – but for the first time he wished he had not. She passed by a few seconds after he had left Doppler’s office, a bulk of paper with untidy scribbled notes under his right arm. Everything of her appearance made the impression arose that she was very busy; she was carrying three huge folders in her delicate, beautiful hands.
Tronte stared.
“Hello”, Claudia said coolly and nodded as if to formally greet a stranger, “do you mind opening this door for me?”
Dumbfounded, Tronte wanted to stutter something, anything useful but eventually – after he had realised that no words would come out of his mouth – he just nodded, quickly knocked on Doppler’s door and opened it to let Claudia walk through.
“Thank you”, she said formally, without looking at him.

Their interaction was so short and awkward, but still Tronte had noticed something. Claudia was pregnant, not that many months in, but still visible. Claudia was always so busy – she said so on so many occasions when they were together. He did not think – and also did not want to imagine – that she could have been with any other man than him. This child was his. And yet she did not even bother to acknowledge that he had a right to know.

He wanted to slam a fist on the table but decided to breathe in instead.
Jana still sang in the room next door.
The white paper stuck in the typewriter was still empty.
He could not bear it any longer – determined he left his working place at the kitchen table and went to the telephone on the kitchen counter and dialed his parents’ number.

Chapter Text

Year: 1970, World: Eva

The Unknown put down the phone, reflecting on what he just heard. Although he knew how everyone’s life would eventually turn out to be like, it still pained him to hear his son’s conflicted situation on the other end of the line.

Agnes leant in the kitchen’s door frame, studying his face with a particular curiousity. He playfully raised an eyebrow and Agnes looked away, chuckling. He loved her so much. When he was still living with Erit Lux he could not imagine how he could ever fell in love with Agnes, whom he always only knew as a little girl. The entire thing about predestination weirded him out. He swore that he would do everything his mother expected him to do but he would never fell in love with Agnes.

‘

However, one day when his mother sent him to another mission, he was surprised not to see his older self there – but the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
She smiled at him, coyly. “Hey you, long time no see.”
Everything about her seemed familiar but he could not place her anyway.
“Hello”, he said, unusually shy and afraid that he might be offend this stunning woman.
“I think we can drop all these formalities. We have known each other for so long!” She grinned “And also we are not here to talk but fulfill the mission Eva sent us on.”
Suddenly he recognized her. “Agnes”, he whispered in surprise.
“Guilty”, her smile grew even wider and warmer and his heart began to beat even faster. His fingertips became sweaty.
“What are you waiting for?”, she asked, benevolently ignoring his nervousness. “We better get started.”

Over the next few weeks they went on some more missions together. And the Unknown suddenly realised that predestination did not always have to be bad.

They started living together.
Had a wonderful son.
Never questioned the missions that were occasionally still incoming.

The Unknown always thought that his little idea of paradise could not be destroyed. But then, a few weeks ago his older self – his last mission before his death – rung his doorbell to pick him up for a mission.

The Unknown let his older self in and they were waiting in the kitchen for the youngest Unknown to arrive. While the Unknown went to the fridge to grab two bottles of beer, the older Unknown peeked through the door that enabled him to watch the living room. Agnes had fallen asleep on the sofa, a white woolen blanket tucked around her. The older Unknown smiled fondly and the younger Unknown was relieved that after all these years he seemed to love Agnes just as much.

He opened the bottles with a crack and gave one to his older self. The older Unknown took a hearty gulp before he suddenly muttered, “She doesn’t have much time left.”

“What?”, the slight smile on the Unknown’s face vanished, thinking he misheard.

But his older self craned his head with a sad look. “Agnes. She only has three years left.”

The Unknown drew in a big breath, setting down the bottle on the counter because his hands were shaking so much. On one hand he was relieved that she was not going to leave him right away but on the other hand he could not bear the thought of losing her, his promise that everything was going to be okay.

He breathed out. Breathed in.

“I have to tell her. Once we’re back from our mission.”

“Don’t.” His older self gently patted his back. “You’ve got to appreciate the time you’ve got. There’s no need to dwell about what is inevitable.”

He sighed. He was conflicted. Maybe he had to think about his words again. But as soon as he was back he swore, he would shower Agnes in a thousand kisses and never would let her go.

“Listen”, his older self began but he was interrupted by the loud thuds of the youngest Unknown who stumped into the kitchen, an impatient expression on his face.

“Can we go now?”, the youngest Unknown asked. “This house is so ugly. I don’t want to live here.”

‘

Seeing Agnes now, so radiant and so beautiful he could not imagine telling her what he had learnt from his older self weeks ago. She smiled her milk-white-teeth smile and the Unknown could not help but to move the corners of his lift upwards too.
“Was that Tronte?”, Agnes inquired.
“Yeah”, the Unknown answered. “He just learnt Claudia is pregnant. Said his whole world turned upside down.”
Agnes’ smile disappeared for a moment to be replaced by a worried frown. But then she closed the distance between herself and her husband. She slung her warm arms around his hips and he nestled his head on her soft shoulder.
“Don’t you ever wish you never knew what happened next?”, Agnes asked.
The Unknown did not answer. But oh, he yearned for a simple life more than anything else. Especially with the knowledge he recently acquired. He could not let it slip from his mind.
Agnes was not bothered by his silence. She quickly kissed his neck.
At that little move of affection, the Unknown actually managed to produce a small grin. “I didn’t expect that to happen.”
“Oh, I’m sure you did”, Agnes teased him, “and I am also sure you knew what I’m going to do next.”
“Uh-ha, is that so?” Now the Unknown felt a bit more lighthearted. His previous worries disappeared to some distant corner in his ever busy mind.
His little grin made a reappearance when Agnes slowly turned her back to him and suggestively pointed to the big black buttons on the backside of her red summer-dress.
“Would you be so kind?”, she asked sweetly.
His eyes slowly wandered over her ivory white, perfect skin while the dress on her body became more and more loose and would eventually fall off on the marble floor. Today he would be very kind.

*

A few hours later.

Perplexed, Silja stared at her father who was bustling around the hearth while he prepared coffee for the strange man in the living room. Roughly thirty minutes ago, the doorbell suddenly rang. Even though they rarely got visitors, Silja did not suspect any surprises. Maybe it was the postman. Or one of her father’s colleagues who came over for an early after-work beer. Although visits of the latter kind have become rarer after Daniel Kahnwald died a few years ago.
Claudia was one of the last people Silja expected to see on the other side of the door. She must have come straight from work since there was still a slight aura of professionality around her; only a few straws of her ever tidied-up hair had gotten lose and now whipped up and down while Claudia panted slightly.
It was no wonder she seemed so easily exhausted. She could not hide her bump anymore. Although her sister’s condition was news to Silja she was not even surprised Claudia failed to mention anything to her closest relatives. They were never particularly close, especially because Claudia was more than 12 years older than her, mainly had lived with her own mother, had only visited rarely (and also seemingly uninterested) and had almost cut all ties when she moved away for a few years after school. Sometimes, Egon and Claudia would talk on the phone but their conversation was usually brief and general (although Silja did not eavesdrop on these conversations too often). The woman right in front of her was practically a stranger.
“Hello”, Silja still managed to say with a polite smile.
Claudia just briefly looked at her and then very graciously pushed past her sister through the door.
“Am I too late?”, she asked impatiently, ignoring the greeting.
Silja shrugged. Typical. “Late for what?”
“No, you are just on time”, another voice appeared to say not from far away.
Silja spun around and cautiously considered the man she had never seen before. He was around 60 and although age might have not been very kind to his body, his gaze and the tone of his voice appeared unusually sharp. Apart from that everything seemed to be average about him – not someone you would really pay much attention to if he were not to open his mouth. No – there was one thing that seemed odd about his face. Silja never thought herself to be much of a curious girl, so she hoped she would appear rather unobtrusive while she silently studied his face while she tried to keep a seemingly bored expression on her own face. Finally, she noticed what stood out so much to her: A bright red scar cutting parts of his upper lip int two halves.
Silja just stared at him, unsure about what to say and whether to let him pass through the door.
“Hello. I guess we haven’t had the pleasure yet, Silja?”, he said, a somewhat amused undertone nuanced his voice. His mouth remained in a neutral line but his gaze only seemed to have become sharper; he was quickly scanning over her as if he knew something about her that she did not know herself.
Silja felt uncomfortable but she would not let a man feel her uneasiness. That was what her mother always told her. Although Silja loved her father quite dearly, the bond between her and her mother had been almost unbreakable. Her death a bit more than two years ago came unexpected and shook Silja hard, but she gradually learnt how to cope by only relishing on the plenty good memories she had of her mother. And there were a lot. Nothing else was more important to her to make her mother proud of the woman she was becoming. And she felt like her mother would beam full of joy, knowing that she did not even flinch when this creepy stranger obviously tried to get the upper-hand over her.
She probably would have not lasted for much longer if her father had not appeared behind her.
“Oh, good to see you!”, he said, obviously not surprised about the unknown visitor. “Please come in!”
Reluctantly, Silja stepped aside and let the creepy man pass through the door.
Face to face with Egon, the man took his hand and firmly shook it. “Thank you. You made the right decision.”
“I know”, Egon said. “Never had any doubts about it. Eva has never been anything else but kind to me. But I still must confess, I’m a bit worried.” He quickly gazed over to Silja. What could that possibly mean?
“That’s more than understandable”, the man said sympathetically. “But I guess we’d better settle the business soon. As I know Claudia, she is not the most patient person.”
Egon chuckled. Nothing of this made any sense to Silja.
“Uhm, Papa, I guess I’ll just go upstairs and do my homework there”, Silja muttered and already turnt around.
“No, my dear, please stay”, her father urged her. “This concerns you as much as us all.”
She did not know what he could mean by this at all. But still, she followed her father and the unknown man into the living room, curious and conflicted at the same time.

- One hour later –
“You’ve got to be kidding me”, said Silja, mouth agape. Only seconds earlier she had witnessed how Claudia had carefully handled a metallic device the size and shape of an apple and then vanished entirely in a stream of golden sparks. Previously, the creepy man had explained to Silja that there was a secret on-going war against time – “A war you unfortunately have to participate in now”, he sighed. Several times Silja opened her mouth in protest and was about to call out the man’s obvious tricks but her father signaled to her to keep her calm while Claudia had to control herself to not constantly roll her eyes in annoyance.
As a final act of demonstration, Silja should witness how Claudia embarked on a journey through time. Initially, Silja was very sceptical when the man offered the small device to her sister. Claudia, on the other hand, appeared to be rather relieved that she could leave this curious meeting and work on what the man and Claudia had merely referred to as “the task”.
And now, after Claudia had vanished, Silja’s scepticism had turned into pure indignation.
“Papa, how can you even believe that? This man is not even trying to conceal that he lies to our faces. And Claudia is just playing along with his tricks!”
“Silja, dear”, Egon began, “listen, please…”
“No, I have listened for over one hour already! And I can’t believe how all of you could be fooled so easily. I –“
“If I may be so bold and interrupt here”, said the man, “what else do you think this could have been, Silja?”
Silja snorted in response. “Nothing. Anything. Teleportation. Some tool to make yourself invisible. There is certainly an explanation for this.”
The stranger chuckled. “You believe teleportation and invisibility are actually in the realm of possibility? Interesting.”
How could this man dare to mock her? And why did her father not even try to interfere? Silja really could find no explanation why older men should find pleasures in making fun of a young girl but she grew more annoyed with every second.
“Okay”, Silja pushed back her chair. “If you may excuse me now –“
“Silja”, her father looked her pleadingly in the eyes. “What he says is true. And it is now your time to start your own journey. Although I hate to see you go –“
Silja sighed. “As if I’m going anywhere. I still have two years of school to finish. So until then you are still stuck with me until I can finally leave same old boring Winden.”
Upon this response she thought a hint of tears was glimmering in her father’s eyes. “As much as I wish this could become reality, it is actually time for me to let you go now.” He stood up. “I have prepared a suitcase for you already. But before you actually go… This may prove to you how sincere our intentions are.”
He held out a letter in a neat white envelope to Silja. In her indignation she only grabbed it haughtily but when she saw the hand-lettering, she drew in a sharp breath. It was a letter from her mother.
“I guess it’s best if we grant you a few moments of privacy”, the unknown man said sympathetically. But Silja did not really register his presence anymore. Like in a trance she wandered out of the living room and placed herself on the creaking staircase of their apartment, carefully tearing open her mother’s letter.

*
My dearest Silja.
It feels unusual to keep secrets from you. But your father told me that it is best if you can enjoy your life carefree as long as possible; and I wholeheartedly agree with that. Hopefully I can tell you the truth myself – but your father urged me to write this letter in case I should not be there with you when the time arrives. The imagination of this scares me – but every day I see you grow up and I know you are going to become on the strongest women I have ever known. I am proud of you.

*

Silja stopped at point while she unsuccessfully tried to suppress her tears. After she collected herself again, she read these lines again, hands trembling, before she laid eyes upon some quite curious words.

*

What I am going to tell you now will sound delusional. Be assured, I would not believe myself either if somebody told me this story. My maiden name is Hannah Krüger and just like you I was born in Winden which I have long considered the most depressing town on this planet. I do not know when – and if – you may read these lines but I hope you will not immediately think of me as insane.
1971. This is my birth year and maybe the year in which you may read these lines or are presented with the truth in some other form.
This is perhaps the most shocking revelation. But attached to these papers you will find proof in the form of a coloured photograph, something that is still rare these days.
My departure from what you may regard as the far future took place in 2019. I have always hated this town but for some unfathomable reason I decided against leaving: Love. Please forgive me that these words are not directed towards your father – I will keep it brief.
Ulrich Nielsen was the man of my dreams – I knew as much since I have first laid eyes upon him. He was good-looking, gentle, perfect and always friendly to me and I was sure we were going to get together. Even when he broke my heart and married one of the most undesirable women in town I never thought about leaving. I would never quit! I knew we would get together – and we eventually did. Only a few weeks into our marriage I got pregnant and wagered myself the happiest woman in the world. A child of my own is what I have always wanted! Do not worry dear, this is not your origin story I was too afraid to tell you.
The baby was not due until a few more months when I woke up with a strange feeling – I kept ignoring it but in the afternoon I suddenly started to bleed. I knew if I was not going to call an ambulance fast I would lose the one thing that brought me even more joy than finally being with Ulrich. As I was getting up to call for an ambulance a storm was approaching fast outside. No, not a storm – something bigger that I could not quite place. Every step hurt but as I was close to the phone – already as scared as I have never been before in my life – I once again froze because I was encountered with what I thought to be a ghost. Egon Tiedemann was standing in front of me – Winden’s infamous police officer during the time of my youth and a man that had died over 30 years ago! I tried to suppress a scream but in this moment everything became dark.
I woke up feeling exhausted and knowing that I have lost the precious thing that was growing inside me. A man I had never seen before but with an aura of familiarity was sitting by my bedside, wearing a grave expression. Soon I learnt that this was the young Egon Tiedemann and that for some strange reason I have traveled in time. It took me weeks before I started to believe Egon even the smallest thing – but by the end of my first year in the past I have realised that he and Erit Lux have saved me from a terrible fate. This salvation reached its climax when I was given what I am most grateful for until this day: You, my dear Silja.
It may all seem like complete nonsense and I can understand if you choose to believe neither me nor your father. But Erit Lux has saved me – and they will also save you.
I love you and I am proud of you.

*

By the end of the letter, Silja was sure that her face was just a stage for the Academy Award worthy performance the waterfalls full of tears performed on her face. She reread the letter twice carefully to make sure at least the paper could be salvaged from becoming wet. Eventually, she took the courage to look at the attached photograph and gulped hard when she saw the photo of her mother smiling in the arms of a man she could not recognise. Its backside read “Hannah and Ulrich Nielsen, 2018”. Even without the photograph she would have believed her mother’s letter. She would have never lied to her.

A few minutes later Silja stepped back into the living room, back straight and chin up. “I am ready”, she said, observing her father’s and the other man’s surprised but relieved facial expressions. She would make her mother proud.

Chapter Text

Year: 2019, World: Adam

Frowning, the Unknown observed Hanno who stood next to him, mouth agape. He had to repress the urge to make a snarky comment and reminded himself that the younger boy had anticipated his first journey in time for such a long time. Still, he was surprised that Hanno seemed so pleased by his announcement that they would spend their time in the Winden of this time living in a shed. Which was not particularly a great upgrade from the underground bunker, or cave as the Unknown referred to it, that they called their home for most of the time.
The shed had belonged to Helge Doppler, who has been living in a retirement home for the past years, and the Unknown had observed that Helge’s remaining relatives never have appeared particularly interested in the maintenance of the shed. Therefore, he was certain that they might be able to spend their time in Winden without any need to relocate. And if they really wanted to incite chaos, they should not only stay in 2019 to do so. Though he has not told Hanno yet.
“And we will really live here?”, Hanno asked for the hundredth time.
The Unknown deliberately ignored this remark just like the ninety-nine ones that came before.
He stepped closer to the writing desk that he had already prepared a few days earlier and retrieved some documents which he handed to Hanno who was clearly about to make the same remark for the one-hundred-first time. These documents included a passport and a student ID and some other unnecessary bureaucratic papers that would really raise no suspicion of actually originating from a different time and, in addition, a different world.
Over the years, the Unknown had become quite skilled at document forgery, an accomplishment he was quite fond of.
“I have already enrolled you at school”, he explained to Hanno. “But don’t get too excited, kid. If anything is remarkable about this school it is that it has remained static in every sense. Since you are already familiar with the school you won’t have any trouble to get around – but there is not really anything to be excited about.”
To the Unknown’s annoyance an even wider expression of gaping had replaced Hanno’s earlier excited facial expression. With enormous eagerness he snatched the documents from the Unknown.
“So this is really happening?”, he asked, for a change, although for the taste of the Unknown it was still too similar to the original repeated questions. “But wait – where did you get these photos of me from?”
Exhausted, the Unknown snapped: “Could you please spare me all these question and answer games, and save your enthusiasm for constant inquiries for your classes?”
In return, Hanno looked at him quite shocked and for a moment the Unknown felt bad for being so rude to the younger boy who obviously had been looking forward to this change in location. Because unlike the Unknown who had been going on missions for Erit Lux ever since he could walk Hanno had never experienced any great change in location except his seemingly monotonous visits at school.
However, Hanno quickly collected himself and, to the Unknown’s horror, started once again: “Can I ask one more question?”
“You just did”, the Unknown replied dryly. But then he shrugged and sighed. “Go ahead then.”
“Can I take a walk in the woods?”, asked Hanno. “I am really looking forward to explore our new surroundings.”
“Not today”, the Unknown retorted and was met with visible cluelessness in Hanno’s face. “Both of us really should rest. Besides, it would be a great shame if you got lost in the woods on your first day here.”
Although he doubted it would be such a great shame after all. Especially how drained after he felt after all these minor annoyances of today and the past few preceding events.

*

- The next day –

Hanno could not say why he was fidgeting so nervously. It was not like he had never attended school before. And honestly, most of time classes were rather boring. What he loved the most were the extracurricular activities and meet-ups after school. However, most of the time he could not really participate in these because he had to immediately travel back to the cave where he usually had to watch his sister. All the adults were always so secretive about their business and whenever Hanno asked whether he could also finally contribute his share they only told him the time would come soon enough. Hanno was tired of soon. He wanted now. He wanted to be young and careless like his classmates, to go on parties where they stayed up the entire night. He wanted to see more than just the bleak walls of the cave or the damp little classrooms at school.
It was not particularly the missions the older ones always acted so self-righteous about that excited Hanno but the promise that they went on these missions in order to create a better world. For Hanno, this better world could not emerge soon enough. And the Unknown’s offer to accompany him to a time, and moreover a world, Hanno had not seen yet seemed to be the right opportunity for this scenario.
When they had arrived, Hanno was greatly disappointed how easily the Unknown could declare this potential for new experiences as a big nuisance. He had been seeing different places ever since he was a little child and appeared not even grateful for all the possibilities and new encounters a change in time and space offered him.
Hanno pledged that he would do things differently and embrace everything that he was going to be confronted with. Although he already hated to agree with the Unknown’s statement that the school in Winden really only showed little to no differences compared to the one he was attending in the other time and world.
Even when he entered the oddly similar classroom to attend his first class of the school year, History, he was stunned that Frau Schmidt was still a teacher at this school. Although she was obviously years older and probably close to retirement it was kind of ironic how much the Unknown’s statement actually held true.
A few minutes before Schmidt entered the classroom, Hanno had slipped into the room, surprised that almost all seats were already occupied and people were chatting with each other eagerly. From his previous school experience he was used to students only lazily strolling into the classroom, preferably after the bell had already rung minutes ago. To his dismay, Hanno had to slip in an unoccupied seat in the front row while several students were eyeing him curiously. The red-haired girl in the chair next to him on the other hand was visibly annoyed that he had chosen that seat when she wordlessly rolled her eyes and pushed her neatly assembled school supplies closer to the edge of the other side of the table. However, Hanno knew that there was no need to feel discouraged after what some people might regard as an unsuccessful start into the new school year in this different, yet still somewhat strangely familiar atmosphere. However, when Schmidt entered the classroom, he had to suppress the urge to draw in a sharp breath, afraid that she might remark that she knew him from over thirty years ago.
This is a different world, he ritualistically reminded himself again, no need to panic about this possibility.
After Schmidt had provided the class with general information about the class – and really did not seem to feel as if an alternate younger version of her already knew the boy in the first row – she started her lesson with what she loved the most: Pestering her students with quizzes on the dates of major historical events. The girl next to him – Franziska, Hanno knew now – raised her hand every time and Hanno felt how many students behind them sneered at her by grimacing awkwardly at her whenever Schmidt’s back was turned. Franziska did not seem to care much but Hanno began to feel uncomfortable. Especially when Schmidt’s eyes really finally landed on him, he thought he was slowly forgetting how to breathe.
“Alright”, said the old lady, “what satisfying results we got today. But before I let you off, I want you to understand that history is more than just the mere repetitions of what you can find in books. Since most of you already had to bear with me for several years, I think it will be quite enlightening to get a new perspective on some things. Would you mind answering a question…” – she kept looking intently at Hanno, who thought he would turn blue soon if her gaze lingered on him much longer, “Sorry, could you remind me of your name again, please?”
“Hanno Tauber”, he retorted, half-relieved that he was able to let some of the air he was holding escape. “I can try.”
He was afraid some of the students behind him would snicker at him like they did at Franziska but everyone kept quiet, not sure what to make of the new boy yet.
“What would you say is what makes history so important and something that should be taught? Would it not be more sustainable to let people read the historical records and let them decide for themselves what conclusion they’d like to draw from them?”
“Uhm”, he began. Great start. Then he breathed in deeply. If he was about to embarrass himself he could just beg the Unknown to choose another time where he apparently wanted to instigate chaos. (Although “chaos” and the Unknown were two components Hanno could hardly combine together in his mind. But after all, there was so little he knew.)
“I believe history relies on perspective”, he started, thinking about the secretive nature of Erit Lux, “and especially when things have happened a long time ago, you will not immediately have access to all the information and insights that would allow you to get a genuine objective picture of what happened in the past. Everything you got to know has already been put through a filter by somebody else. Eventually, it is up to oneself to decide what we want to do with these facts. We can accept them but also reject them – either by just not believing them or finding new facts that can back up this opinion.”
Hanno was quite surprised by his own answer. He usually did not care much for participation in class, and he already knew how boresome Frau Schmidt’s history classes can get, but his conflicted feelings towards Erit Lux must have prompted him to blurt out the words. For a moment, everything was silent and Hanno tried to look around as much as possible without moving his head. Franziska next to him had raised an eyebrow but otherwise her expression was completely unreadable.
“Excellent”, proclaimed Schmidt after what has seemed to be minutes for Hanno but in reality were likely only two seconds after he has ended his sentence.
He already expected to be pestered with more questions when the ever-annoying school bell rang and relieved him of that duty.
“Alright”, Schmidt tried to unsuccessfully shout over the students who all eagerly packed their backpacks. “For next week please read page 28 to 40 about the fall of the Roman Empire.”
Some students groaned loudly while others conveniently pretended to not have heard Schmidt. Only Franziska was eagerly scribbling down into her notebook.
When Hanno looked over to the notebook though he noticed that it was not the homework she was writing down but random coordinates he was unable to associate with anything.
“Can you please leave me alone?”, hissed Franziska, closed her notebook and quickly strode out of the classroom.
Hanno inattentively threw his own school supplies into his backpack and hurried out of the classroom to avoid the chance to find himself alone with Schmidt and maybe light a spark of recognition in the old woman. He was paranoid, he knew.
In the halls, he was surprised to see another girl from his class wave at him lazily.
Something about her was familiar but Hanno was quite unable to pin it down. Maybe she was related to one of the students Hanno attended school with in the other world? This would not surprise him since the Unknown had made it quite clear to him that Winden was one of the towns where everything stayed static and families refused to leave from.
Unsure what to make of this encounter he walked closer to her, trying to keep up what he perceives a cool composure. If she just wanted to play a prank on him there was always the option to whine until the Unknown would give in. Hanno knew that the man was stubborn but not even he was able to emerge triumphant over an ever-complaining teenager.
“Hi?”, he said and immediately recognised the obvious confusion in his voice that obviously did not line up with his intended cool demeanour.
The girl’s face remained unreadable. Exactly this unpredictability seemed to be what confused Hanno the most, he realised. He was used to the adults at Erit Lux being unreadable. But school students were usually quite predictable, usually preoccupied with their own turbulent emotions, homework or flimsy crushes on yet another classmate. But she was different, somehow.
Hanno thought all this while not even merely a second passed and the girl stated, matter-of-factly: “I liked what you just said in class.”
“Uhm, thanks”, replied Hanno, unsure what to make of this. He had not paid particular attention to her in class. Maybe he should have, now that she may use his earlier words against him in any way. He only remembered that he was among the students who sometimes would roll her eyes at Schmidt or Franziska. If this was any indicator he was prepared for trouble. Although her statement had seemed genuine.
When nothing followed, Hanno considered turning around and forgetting this encounter was the best option. And time and dimensional travel, of course.
“Wait”, the girl suddenly said, when she noticed the slightest commotion. “I know this is probably weird. But I wanted to talk to you about… student theatre. If you are interested, I mean.”
Hanno raised an eyebrow. “And why do you think I should be interested?”
The girl shifted, now an expression of slight confusion on her face. Good. Finally some readability.
“We are doing a very complex play this year. And I feel like only a few students have the basic capability to take such a beautiful play seriously and engage further with its motifs. And – I know, this is really super weird – but from what you have said in class I think you would fit in quite well.”
This was definitely not what Hanno had expected. “Consider me intrigued.”, he said, “which play are you doing exactly?”
“Ariadne”, the girl said with a grin. “Have you heard about it before?”
And in this moment Hanno had an epiphany. The scar on her face was missing but he knew that girl – or rather the woman she was going to become. In an alternate world. Eva.
Whatever. This day had just become more interesting than he had ever expected.