Trapped Inside This
There was an industrial safety technology company which designed a marvelous device which could generate a time-field in a facility which, when a human came to grievous harm or the said device was tampered with, would automatically reset to a period before injury leaving everyone’s minds and memories in tact. Despite being marvelous technology, one of the greatest leaps forward in millennia, possibly ever, the company was wracked with mismanagement and the technology had numerous issues. Ultimately, the company went under, leaving one prototype still running in a remote testing site which had been too difficult to remove and too far out to really effect anything anyway.
Fisher was a wandering mercenary. Highly effective at any job given to him, his clients knew to be careful about him because he was not forgiving. He could never let a grievance go. He had to always be the ultimate power over his own life. If anyone got one over on him or otherwise offended him it was a matter of course to pay them back for it. Some might think it was to send a message to others not to mess with him but really it was so he could prove his dominance over his personal reality to himself.
Gael was a young man who, in a feeble attempt to avoid getting a real job, turned to petty crime and scams. Eventually he discovered the prototype device and decided he could take advantage of it to scare people out of their money rather than simply tricking them. Unfortunately for him—and maybe fortunately for us—scammers always lack in basic human qualities. If he had any sense at all he would have picked a better target.
Gael was perched on a steel catwalk suspended over the rest of the warehouse. He looked on with horror as, instead of just running him down this time, Fisher clenched his fist and crushed a solid concrete pillar.
“We’ve done this three times now, why don’t you get it? You can’t hurt me! I’m sorry for trying to rob you but, can’t we just talk this out reasonably? Otherwise we’re just going to keep going in loops.”
Fisher pulled a piece of re-bar from the base of the pillar, reared back, then threw it like a javelin towards Gael. He ducked reflexively but found the shot went high, instead striking one of the steel cords holding up the catwalk. Gael began to scramble back across the whining, sagging catwalk, desperate to get through the door before the thing finished folding under its own weight.
Fisher saw his mark escaping, shot forward and leapt up to the third floor door, pulling his heavy body up.
Fisher was not dumb, he understood what was happening faster than Gael did. It was true, he would have to let Gael escape to give him his proper treatment. They had been in this cycle for… it was hard to say since his watch kept resetting but it was likely a few days now. Despite this, he was still absolutely enraged. He noticed the reset was a little delayed, there were always a few seconds before it kicked in. Every time he killed Gael, he knew it hurt real bad for just a little bit. It was not satisfying but he would settle for this over letting him get free. If he escaped he would never live it down, that would be the worst thing that could happen.
Fisher found a hefty stone holding open a door and whipped it down the hallway. It was so fast, Gael didn’t have time to hear the loud crack it made as it tore through the air, it crashed through the back of his skull first.
Gael was standing on a catwalk looking down at Fisher on the ground. He rubbed the back of his head without thinking. He was the kind of man who let pain lead him, ironically leading him into much worse pain than if he had just applied for a cashier position or something. Regrets aside, this man, although brutal and violent, was not known to be a criminal. He could probably negotiate down to being maimed and turned into the police. He would live, he would do some time and get medical treatment. It was not like he could just escape anyway, he would shut the door and he would never have time to get the heavy steel thing open again before Fisher overtook him. Maybe, though, he could still find an easy way out…
“I give up! I can’t keep doing this. Time keeps resetting yet I still feel sore. If you’d just let me leave, take me in to the police so I could get medical treatment, I’ll leave peacefully. Alright? Can you calm down for just long enough to consider it?”
Fisher rubbed his chin. That was an acceptable deal, tune him up a bit then take him to jail? He would not have killed him anyway, he was that in control of himself at least.
“Alright, sure. Any trickery though, it’s over for you. I’m not about to kill you but if I get the idea you can’t be feasibly taken into custody then I’ll start making adjustments.”
Hearing his ascent, Gael had already turned around and walked back through the porthole. Deciding that he would rather keep his enemies close, Fisher leapt up to the catwalk, walked through the door, then picked up Fisher by the shirt. Jumping back down, he wrenched open the door with his right hand and stepped back out into the light.
The warm sunlight and fresh air had a cooling effect on Fisher. He set down Gael, looked up and began to think out loud.
“You know, although it’s only a few seconds since I walked in there, I wish I got out to enjoy this day a lot sooner. I lose track of myself so easily, it’s hard to feel like a fool, isn’t it? Hard to let go of your wrongs because now you realize anyone can walk up and do what they want to you. Regardless of what you can do about it, you can’t help the world coming in and effecting you. Maybe I need to just accept that, maybe it’s even a good thing. What about you, son? You’re not too bright but maybe you have some potential, you ever thought about a real career, like being a mercenary?”
Looking down, Fisher was promptly blinded by a handful of dirt thrown in his face. Eventually he could open his eyes again but could still hardly tell what was happening because he was seeing so much red.
Gael was running parallel to the entrance to the facility thinking, even if he could not escape he could still make it back to the relative safety of the time paradox. He took advantage of this option when a massive chunk of concrete missed his calf by a single inch, the massive rush of air nearly knocking him off balance.
Seeing him turn and escape back into the building, Fisher bore down and sprinted as fast as he could – which was quite fast – after him, picking up such great speed and force that by the time he rushed through the wall the entire side of the building folded in behind him.
Gael had gotten up to the catwalk and was making his way up to the roof when he looked down and saw Fisher pulverizing a concrete pillar. He narrowly ducked the steel spear going overhead only to look in horror as it took out the cables holding the catwalk in front of him. He turned and ran through the door as Fisher followed in pursuit.