CHAPTER 8

Chronology is Confusing

“Hey, watch where you’re sitting.” Jack spoke up just before Benjamin sat down on him in lecture. “Can’t you see this seat’s taken?”

Benjamin looked down at the small green Nogical. “You’re too small. Get up.”

“Are you saying just because I’m small I shouldn’t have my own seat?”

Benjamin grabbed for the Nogical but missed. “No. I’m saying you shouldn’t have your own seat because you’re not a student. Anyway, all you ever do in lecture is fall asleep.”

“That’s not entirely true.” But after evading Benjamin’s reach, Jack levitated so Benjamin could sit.

“What part of it’s not true?” Benjamin planted his bottom in the chair before Jack could change his mind.

Jack settled down on the arm rest. “I normally stay awake for at least the beginning. And I stayed awake the whole time last year when Mr. Hermes talked about genetic engineering.”

Andy plunked down next to Benjamin. “That’s because he kept using you as an example. If I remember right, you were standing on Benjamin’s head so Mr. Hermes would notice you.”

“I wasn’t trying to get noticed,” Jack said. “I’m just very interested in genetic engineering, that’s all. Anyway, tonight’s lecture is going to be great.”

“What’s it on?” Andy asked.

Jack smiled. “I don’t have the time to tell you.”

A bell chimed, and Mr. Hermes called the lecture hall to order. “Quiet down. We have lots to cover.”

Not that anyone really needed to be told. Lecture might be late at night, but it was always full of cool things they never learned about anywhere else.

“Who knows anything about chromosomes?” Mr. Hermes asked.

Gary’s hand shot up like a rocket.

Andy whispered to Benjamin and Gary. “Don’t boys have YY chromosomes and girls have XX?”

Gary shuddered, still waving his hand in the air. “It’s XY that guys have and XX that girls have,” he whispered back to Andy.

“Whatever,” Andy said.

“You’re on the right path, Andy.” Mr. Hermes looked around, ignoring Gary. “Anyone else besides Gary Goodweather?”

Gary kind of lowered his hand, but threw it back in the air when Mr. Hermes sighed and looked at him.

“Yes, Gary?”

Gary smiled, and the words fell out of his mouth. “Everyone has twenty-three pairs of chromosomes. Twenty-two of these are matched and the final pair determines if someone is a boy or a girl.”

Mr. Hermes crossed his arms. “Almost correct, Gary.”

The smile evaporated from Gary’s face. “What do you mean—almost correct?”

“Every human has twenty-three pairs. Every telegen has twenty-four,” Mr. Hermes said.

“We have an extra chromosome pair?” Gary didn’t even bother raising his hand.

Benjamin couldn’t believe Gary didn’t already know this. Gary knew everything.

Mr. Hermes pointed to a holographic display with little red and blue balls bouncing around on it. “The twenty-fourth chromosome pair is known as the temporal chromosome, and it determines if and how well a telegen can temporally phase.”

Gary’s chin fell so far it would have hit the ground if it hadn’t been attached. “Temporal phasing! Are you kidding?”

“What’s temporal phasing?” Andy asked.

A long line appeared on the holographic display. “Time travel,” Mr. Hermes said. “The extra chromosome pair determines how well a telegen can time travel.”

“See, I told you this would be interesting,” Jack whispered in Benjamin’s ear.

“Nobody thought temporal phasing was possible until the birth of a telegen named Kronos. Born in Atlantis, Kronos discovered early on the ability to displace himself in time.” Mr. Hermes pointed to the display and a map of Atlantis appeared along with the image of a man in a white toga.

“Kronos the Greek god?” Iva asked.

Mr. Hermes nodded. “But not just Greek. He was known as Enki, Saturn, Shaneeswara, or even Nimrod. His control over time travel led him to be viewed as a deity—the god of time.”

Heidi leaned forward in her seat. “So he made himself a false god just like the other Atlantian gods.”

“Yes, and Kronos’s mother was Gaea, the original false goddess,” Mr. Hermes said. “In the midst of traveling every when in time, Kronos had six children, none of whom he could stand. I guess the feeling was reciprocated because one of the oracles of Delphi told Kronos his own child would kill him.”

“So did they?” Andy asked.

Mr. Hermes shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. We enter the age old debate of whether time can be altered. Once a timeline presents itself, can any actions we do now or anything we think to do in the future change what the timeline will be? If we travel back in time, can we change the future as we know it now?”

Benjamin turned, half to Jack and half to Mr. Hermes. “So what’s the answer?”

“The answer is that we just don’t know,” Mr. Hermes said. “It’s impossible to tell if an action we make now would have the ability to change the past.”

“Did Kronos try?” Heidi asked.

“Sure,” Mr. Hermes said. “The story goes—and here I think we diverge somewhat into myth—that Kronos ate his six children, or at least the first five of them. When he ordered his wife to bring him the sixth and final child Zeus, she instead brought him a stone which he ate. Now I myself think I would know when I was eating a stone, but I also don’t think I could eat another telegen whole. Or course, Kronos was fabled to be a Titan—a telegen who could make himself enormous. So I suppose Kronos could have enlarged himself, eaten his children, and then returned to normal size. But let’s not get caught up with details. Zeus grew up and forced his father to throw up the stone and the other five children, all of whom were still alive inside Kronos’ belly. The regurgitated stone supposedly was placed by Zeus at the center of the world and forms the cornerstone for one of the most powerful telegnostic cities of ancient times.”

Iva’s eyes bulged out. “You mean Delphi.” It wasn’t a question.

“Good, Iva,” Mr. Hermes said. “Yes, Delphi was the city formed around this stone, known as the Navel of the World, and is probably best remembered for the oracles who lived there.”

“So can anyone time travel?” Benjamin asked.

“It all depends on the flexibility of the temporal chromosomes.” Mr. Hermes fiddled with the holographic control pad and the red and blue balls reappeared. “They need to bend every cell in the body out of phase during the process. Some telegens can time travel whenever and wherever and however often they want. Others are limited; their chromosomes need more time to bounce back. Most telegens can time travel only with the aid of telemagnifiers, and even then only on a limited basis.” He stopped and thought. “Not that this is a bad thing. Time travel is kept under tight control by the government and all displacements need to be officially recorded in the ruling hall. Time travel telemagnifiers are not something you can buy; in fact, buying and selling them is illegal.”

The image of Morpheus’ basement popped into Benjamin’s mind and apparently Andy’s, also.

“I wonder if Morpheus has any in the trunk in his basement,” Andy asked.

“You know I can time travel as much as I want, and I don’t need any telemagnifiers,” Jack said.

“So do you ever do it?” Benjamin knew the answer. Really, nothing the Nogical did surprised him.

“Sometimes,” Jack said.

“So what kinds of things is time travel allowed for?” Andy asked.

Images of dinosaurs and volcanoes and wars crossed over the screen. “Damage control,” Mr. Hermes said. “The Department of the Preservation of Time is responsible for acting on tips received to track down rogue time travelers from both Lemuria and Atlantis.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to time travel?” Benjamin asked Jack.

Jack smiled. “Definitely. And sometime you’ll have to try it.”

“When?” Benjamin asked Jack.

Jack closed his eyes and sat back for the rest of lecture. “Maybe sooner than you think. Or maybe later than you think. It’s all just a matter of time.”