Paradox (2 page)

Eyes trained forward, Zac moved with
caution down the new hallway. He felt like Lucy in the
Narnia
books,
disappearing deeper where he thought there would have been nothing. Only this
wasn’t a doorway to a magical land. This passageway was clearly manmade.

His eyes adjusted to the dim light, and he
felt the ground dip slightly. The carpet beneath his feet turned into concrete,
and he could tell he was walking down an incline. Was the source of the blue
light underground? Whatever it was, it reflected off the walls.

Zac stopped, unsure if he should go on.
His dad might be waiting for him. And what if the bookcase closed behind him?
He could be trapped until someone finds him down here.

He could hear a faint humming sound in the
distance beckoning him to continue. He took a deep breath; the air smelled
clean down here, almost as if some kind of ultra-air purification system was in
place. He pressed forward.

Going deeper, the ground seemed to level
out, and the blue light grew brighter. The passageway turned a corner, and Zac
followed it and immediately saw what was causing the blue light.

In front of him was a large platform, a
sort of floor shaped like a pentagon. Surrounding the pentagon on all sides was
a cage of glass, looking like its own separate room. Zac couldn’t find any door
handles; each wall was a solid panel, carefully cut. The pentagon itself looked
like it was made of glass or thick plastic, translucent. The light came from
something underneath it, though as he approached it, he couldn’t tell what it
was exactly. It could have been hundreds of light bulbs for all he knew. But as
he gazed down through the glass walls, it seemed like source was moving, almost
a gel-like substance.

Zac looked around the room for some kind
of light switch. There had to be one somewhere. He felt along the walls, trying
to distinguish what he could among the shadows. He circled the pentagon and
came upon what looked like another hallway. It was dark except for a small bit
of light that reflected off a wall in the distance.

How big was this place? Did his dad even
know what was down here? He went further down the new hallway toward the other
light source. He could hear his footsteps echo off the walls. He stepped as
carefully as he could. He had a feeling he shouldn’t be down here, but his
curiosity tugged at him.

To his left he saw a small office with a
computer monitor, the source of the other light. The screensaver swirled, a
bright tube-like object moving back and forth across the screen. Zac nudged the
mouse with his hand and a new screen popped up.

Three words appeared on the screen:
TEMPUS
OPERATOR PASSWORD
. A cursor blinked in the box below it. What did it mean?
Whose computer was this? Zac looked around on the desk for a clue, but the desk
was bare, cleaned off by its user. Clearly, this person didn’t leave anything
out for prying eyes.

He looked at the concrete walls around the
desk. Being down here reminded him of being in a cave. Once, when he was
younger, he and his parents took a tour of a cave and went down inside of it.
In the middle of the tour, the lights suddenly went out and blackness engulfed
the cave. He thought it was all part of the tour experience, that they just
wanted to scare the people and let them see how frightening it was to be lost
in a cave. The tour guide turned on his flashlight and insisted that it was not
part of the normal tour, then guided them to the exit.

When they reached the exit, they walked
into the sunlight only to find trees uprooted, power lines down, and pieces of
buildings sprawled out all over the ground. A violent storm had ripped through
the area, causing the blackout.

Thinking back to it, Zac was unnerved.
What if the lights went out down here? He didn’t have a flashlight with him,
and he didn’t know his way out. He turned to leave, wanting to get back to the
office. He’d ask his dad about it when he saw him. Maybe they could come back
with flashlights or something.

As he turned to go, something caught the
corner of his eye. He saw his reflection in a small piece of glass. He moved
closer and saw what looked like a metal box embedded in the concrete wall. It
reminded him of the fire extinguisher chambers that were always in buildings,
but this one was only the size of a shoe box.

He felt along its edge, searching for some
sort of latch. He ran his fingers along the smooth metal and could feel the
jagged concrete along its sides. There was nothing.

Zac pressed against the glass, careful not
to break it. With a
click
, the small door popped open. He pulled the
glass back and peered inside.

All he could see was something that looked
like a pen or a small flashlight. He picked it up, turning it over in his
fingers. It didn’t look like anything extraordinary.
Probably
just a small flashlight for emergencies.
He squinted in the darkness and
put it close to his eyes, trying to figure out how to turn it on. The light was
too dim; he’d have to take it someplace brighter.

Finding his bearings, he made his way back
to the room with the blue pentagon. By now he had lost track of time. He’d have
to just get a quick glance at the object and rush back up to his dad’s office.
For once, he was actually grateful that his dad seemed to have forgotten about
him for a little while.

As Zac approached the source of the light,
he nearly jumped when he heard a hissing sound. One of the glass panels around
the pentagon swung open, and the humming sound grew louder.

Zac looked around the room, searching for
someone else who might have walked in and remotely opened the door.

No one was there. With trepidation, he
stepped into the glass enclosure and looked down at the blue lights. They swirled,
thick strands of a darker shade joining each other and expanding, then sinking
down into the substance. It reminded him of a lava lamp.

Zac held the object in front of him and
searched for something that might show him how to turn it on. It was the size
of a magic marker and was made from a lightweight metal. It was different than
any other flashlight he’d seen before. The casing was textured and had a thin
strip on the side of it that reflected the light and looked like an LED screen.

The top of the device was made of the same
kind of material. It was round and flat. Zac held it to his eye, and it looked
like he was looking back at himself. He could make out something deep inside
the object, something that looked like a computer chip.

The humming grew louder as he paced back
and forth on the pentagon. He could feel heat coming from the floor and was
filled with a sense of unease. At that moment, he had the strange desire to
call out to someone, to not be alone.

He gave the pen-like object one more
glance. Why was there a computer chip inside it? He gripped it in his hand and
placed his thumb on the smooth surface on the top of the object.

In an instant, Zac felt his body surge
with a violent heave. Blue light exploded all around him, and the air was filled
with a buzzing sound like a machine vibrating violently. His body shook, and he
felt a numbing sensation as his ears started ringing.

He could feel something like electricity
in the fillings of his teeth. He struggled to breathe. It was like someone had hit
him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. His heart pounded like a hammer
smashing against his rib cage, threatening to jump out.

What was probably only seconds felt like
an eternity as he tried in vain to move out of the
pentagon.
His knees began to give, and he collapsed to the floor, his legs shaking like
jelly. The blue light faded, and he his ears soon filled with sound. Air rushed
into his lungs, and he gasped for breath, clutching his chest as his heart
struggled to regain its rhythm.

Sensation flowed back into his hands, and
he could feel something soft under them.
Something smooth.
His vision was still blurred, although it was coming back into focus. He felt
queasy, his stomach lurching. Without warning, he vomited, the acidic taste
lingering in his mouth. He coughed and his throat burned.

Zac remained still for a few moments,
collecting himself. As everything came back into focus, he stood up and looked
around. Something wasn’t right.

The glowing blue pentagon was nowhere in
sight. The concrete walls, the underground hallway… everything was gone.
Instead of solid floor below his feet, he saw grass, some of it covered with
splotches of his vomit.

He looked behind him and saw what looked
like the city. It seemed to him like he was in a park or a field. What had
happened? Did he just dream everything earlier? Or black out on the way to his
dad’s office?

He ran toward the lights of the city,
searching for the office building. It was missing. But that was impossible. He
recognized all of the other buildings around him. But his dad’s building was
missing.
How could it be missing?
Zac thought.
It’s been there for
ten years.

It was dark outside, much darker than when
he had arrived at the office. But now, the sun was just below the horizon in
the east. By the look of the sky, it must’ve been early morning rather than
dinner time.
Strange.

Zac pulled out his cell phone. The display
was blank. His battery must have died. He knew he had to find a way to get
ahold of his dad. He saw the hospital across the street and knew that someone
would be there no matter what time it was. He started to go when his foot hit
something. He bent down to pick it up.

In his hand, he held the small cylindrical
device that he found behind the glass. Only now, the thin reflective strip down
the side was illuminated with several glowing bars.

The hospital was buzzing with activity
when Zac walked through the doors. The morning sun was just rising over the
horizon outside, casting a pale yellow light over the streets and buildings.
The blinding glare reflected off the glass windows, and he shielded his eyes to
block the sun.

He looked for a phone that he could use. A
man moved past him in a hurry, pushing a wheelchair. Zac spun around and
watched, standing in the middle of the hallway.

“Can I help you, sir?” a voice behind him
said.

Zac turned to see a woman with black,
shoulder-length hair. She wore a polo shirt with the hospital’s name
embroidered on it and carried a clipboard in her left hand.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, looking around the
hospital as he answered. Something about this place seemed different, he
thought. He hadn’t actually been in the hospital for a while, but it just
looked…

“Can I help you find someone?” the woman
asked, interrupting his thoughts. She walked backward, leading him to a desk
with a computer. She set her clipboard down and began typing something. The
keyboard was outdated, and the monitor was large and bulky. It looked like the
hospital hadn’t upgraded their computers for a long time.

Zac tried clearing his thoughts, taking
his attention off his surroundings. “Sorry,” he said, “I’m not here to visit a
patient. I just need to use a phone to call my dad.”

“Your dad?”

“Yeah.
His name’s
Daniel Ryger. If I can just use a phone…”

“Hold on, please,” she said. She typed at
the keyboard and stared at the screen, waiting. “Okay, it says we have a Ryger
registered on the eighth floor in Maternity.”

“Huh?” Zac said. “No, he’s not a patient;
I just need to call him.”

The woman stood back, cocking her head in
confusion. “So wait,” she said, holding her hands up, “I’m a bit unclear as to
what you’re asking me for. Are you a family member or a friend?”

Zac shifted with uneasiness. He felt like
he was being interrogated. Maybe if he could just slip past her, he could find
someone else who didn’t seem to be in a hurry and who would actually listen.

“Yeah,” Zac said, trying his best not to
sound like he was lying, “I’m family. Thanks for your help.” He smiled, hoping
she wouldn’t see through him as he walked down the hallway toward the elevator.
He quickened his pace, casting a glance over his shoulder. The woman was still
watching him. He slowed his walk so he wouldn’t seem suspicious.

Passing a drinking fountain, he stopped to
get a drink, trying to wash away the bitter taste of vomit from earlier. Seeing
the elevator ahead, he moved on, eager to get out of the woman’s line of sight.

He pressed the button and waited. The
elevator seemed to be taking forever. Maybe he should take the stairs. But if
the woman thought he was acting strange earlier, ducking into a stairwell might
not seem like the best idea.

The light above the elevator slowly made
its way to the button for the ground level. Nervous, Zac put his hands in his
pocket and felt the pen-like device. He pulled it out and looked at it. It
definitely wasn’t a flashlight. This was the brightest light he’d seen it in so
far, but it didn’t seem to help much. He couldn’t tell what it was. The lights
on the side of the object were still there, though he had no clue why it was
lighting up now. Something happened back in that strange room that made it turn
on. But it didn’t make any sense that he would suddenly go from being inside
that room to being outside.

Unless…

Deep in the back of his mind, Zac had a
thought. Maybe this was some sort of a prank. Someone had followed him and
wanted to mess with his mind. Someone had found him in that room and had done
something to him and left him outside. And now that he was recovering, nothing
seemed right. It would explain why he started vomiting and feeling dizzy. It
was the effects of whatever they used on him.

The elevator doors opened, and Zac stepped
inside. He stared at the row of buttons, not sure what one to press or where he
should go. The door was sliding closed when a hand shot through the opening and
the doors retracted.

“Sorry,” said the man who stepped in. He
carried a briefcase and was wearing a long, tan overcoat that reached down to
his ankles. His glasses framed his face under the rim of his dark brown hat,
and Zac could see beads of sweat trickling down the sides of his nose,
collecting at his mustache. “What a day. Not going to make it to work on time
today, but it’s for a good reason.”

Zac smiled but stared ahead. He hated
elevators. It was always awkward being trapped in the small space with people
he didn’t know, forced to make small talk or to maintain an awkward silence.
“What floor?” he asked.

“Eighth,” the man said.

Zac pressed the button. The elevator
lurched, and he could feel the pull of gravity as it traveled up to the higher
floors.

“You going to eight, too?” the man asked
when Zac didn’t press another button.

“Me?” Zac said, caught off guard. He
stared straight ahead, determined not to make eye contact. “No. I mean, for a
moment. I just need to find somebody.”

The man nodded, and then added, “He’s my
first. My wife’s totally calm about it, but I’m a nervous wreck.”

“About what?”
Zac
asked, not sure what the man was talking about. He could see the man’s blurry
reflection in the metal elevator door, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn
and talk to him.

“Being a father for the first time,” the
man said, wiping his brow with his coat sleeve. “I have no idea what to do with
kids. But everyone says you can’t prepare to be a parent, it just sort of
‘kicks in,’ and you get this whole parental instinct that takes over.” He gave
a nervous laugh.

“I’m sure you’ll be a great dad,” Zac
said, watching the light climb through the row of numbers, moving from six to
seven.

“I sure hope so. I haven’t been able to
stop worrying. We only picked out the name last night. Isaac. My wife’s not too
crazy about the name, but we compromised. She’ll probably call the little guy
‘Zac’ for short.” The man smiled at the sound of it. “Isaac Joshua Ryger. I
think it has a nice ring to it.”

The elevator stopped, and the door opened.
The man stepped out, but Zac stood, not moving. “Wait a minute,” he said.
“What’s his name?”

“Isaac.”

Zac took a step out of the elevator. “Did
you say your last name’s Ryger?”

“Yes,” the man replied. He held out his
hand for Zac to shake. “Daniel Ryger. And you are?”

Zac took his hand and looked with stunned
curiosity at the man. Now that he was actually looking at him, he saw an
obvious resemblance. But there was no way… the man facing him looked just like
pictures Zac had seen of his dad from years ago. But Zac never remembered him
having a mustache.

“Dad…” Zac said in a whisper.

“I’m sorry,” Daniel Ryger said, “I didn’t
catch that. Did you say your name is Dan?”

“You’re… you’re my…” Zac stopped short.
“But you’re younger…”

The man pulled his hand free and gave an
uneasy smile. “Well, I hate to be rude, but I need to go see my new son. He’s
right down the hall.” He hurried down the hallway toward the glass windows,
taking off his hat and stopping to stare at what was behind it.

Zac stood at the end of the hallway,
watching the man.
This man who had the same name as his own
dad.
This man who had a son with the same name as his
own.

Zac walked toward the man and when he was
closer, turned to see the baby the man was looking at through the window.

“Is… is that him?” Zac asked.

“Yep.
That’s
him,” the man beamed. “Isn’t he beautiful? The whole world awaits him. I can’t
help wondering what he’ll do with his life. All the possibilities... and who
knows what the future holds for him?”

Zac stared at the baby, bundled tightly
and laying in the plastic crib, sleeping soundly. “What’s today’s date?” he
asked without taking his eyes off the newborn.

“September 22,” the man answered. “A date
I’ll never forget. Today’s the day when my whole life changed for the better.”

As Zac looked on, watching the tiny little
person in front of him start to squirm, trying to get his arm out of the
swaddling, a sudden realization came to him. He didn’t know why, but if what he
thought was correct, then this man standing next to him was his father.

And the baby in front of him opening its
eyes, blinking in the light... that baby was
him
.