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Chapter -37- Back to the Future

Thursday, August 31, 1893 - 9am Duplex home in Cambria Niagara Falls, New York ...

Reno took a deep breath. He turned to face Reinhardt St. Leonard and said, "I've tolerated your bullshit for almost two months, now. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you. If it wasn't bad enough that you're a huge asshole in 2023, you're ten times worse going into 2050. To have held my tongue for almost two whole months ... well, I'm done with that shit."

Reinhardt rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Life is not a comic book, Reno. Ironic your father bought you so many as a child; your childhood was as much of a lie as your future. Your childhood is as much of a lie as your marriage."

"I'm sick of the chiding."

"Tesla's machine is nearly completed. Two weeks, tops. And then we go back to killing one another, and your make-believe matrimony will have been for nothing."

Reno tilted his head, eyeing Reinhardt closely. "Your math crap is already part of the design. What's to keep me from killing you right now? I don't need your shit anymore."

"You need me to make last-second adjustments to the equation before we travel. Else, variables such as air pressure, temperature, water pressure from the falls, and other factors will send us to the wrong day, month, or even the wrong year."

"I'm willing to take the chance."

Reinhardt scoffed. "I have read the report on you, when you were in stasis, Reno. Your telomeres change slowly, but you age none-the-less. Like Kerii, and like her sister, you have an expiration date."

"You're _about to have_an 'expiration date' if you don't shut the hell up."

"You can't kill people unless it's in self-defense or to save the life of another. That is your problem, Reno. Your inability to take my life guarantees my successful future."

"I'll see you on a battlefield when we get back home," Reno said. "I'll put your ass in the ground when we're at war."

"By then, it will be too late, Reno. I will be the President of America, with an annual military budget of one-point-three trillion dollars. You wish to fight then? Very well. But remember this: You are a quarter of the warrior that Nathanial Carrington was. You'll never be him. He was the one man I feared throughout the twentieth century. You? I will never_fear _you."

"He died because he's old, but if you trust him to be a badass in his heyday, then trust that he made the right decision to hand me the torch."

"Oh Reno ... you are simply not the anomaly that Nathan, the real Nathan Carrington was. You are just a police officer from San Francisco, and nothing more."

"Y'know, what's to stop me from grabbing you and taking you up to the Klondike? If I remember right, they're about to discover gold up there. You want to freeze your ass off in Alaska?"

Reinhardt sighed. "You are boring, Reno. Truly."

"You're immortal. You're patient. You've already got callouses on your feet. I could drop you off at Rabbit River, or creek, or ... whatever it was called. My brother had to do a book report on it. It was a body of water just lined with gold, named 'Rabbit' something. See? I could do you a favor and get you out of my hair."

"I am not waiting one hundred fifty-seven years to take my rightful place as a leader of a nation."

Reno rubbed the scuff on his chin. "I bet if people really knew you faked your birth certificate, and that you weren't born in America, they would freak out. Then again, where _is_your real birth certificate? Is it a cave painting in Europe or something?"

Reinhardt smirked. "You believe I am forty thousand years old? The First Age of Enlightenment took place twelve thousand years ago. The city you saw beneath the Atlantic ... that was built two thousand years later. It went into the sea nine thousand years ago. It sank to the bottom of the sea seven thousand years ago. Survivors spread out - the most prosperous moved to what humanity calls the Fertile Crescent. Sixty-five hundred years ago came the Garden known as Eden. And, Reno, it wasn't a garden by your standards. God didn't eject tribes or people from the garden. The climate changed. The fertile ground became swamps, marshes, and, to the north, it became desert-land and weeds."

Reno furrowed his brows in confusion at why the man was engaging in a monologue.

Reinhardt continued. "I have lived through the First Age history, what mundanes call 'prehistory.' A modern automobile from your time, not waxed and taken care of, will rust away to dust after a few decades. You cannot fathom thousands of years. There is little left to find, and that which exists was stored away by the Parker family. Any true proof of our existence is now at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in 2050."

"What are you talking about, Reinhardt?"

"You have lived for three decades, Reno. I have lived for over seven hundred decades. I have forgotten more than you will ever learn in your life time. The average mundane genome is designed to break down after two centuries. The mind of a mundane can survive two-thirds of that time."

"But a simple bullet will put you down, same as most. Isn't that a shame? You're not so tough."

"I'm immune to disease. My white cells are evolved to the point that they could infect foreign viruses and bacteria, and destroy them. My blood could cure diseases you've never heard of. The Spanish Flu, the deadliest outbreak in the world, was a _joke_compared to the super virus that ended the First Age. To date, it's the only virus evolved enough to kill my kind. But we obliterated it several millennia ago. Now do you understand my point? Our kind outlived our only natural predator."

"The question you should be asking me is, do I care? Not really. You're just rambling."

Reinhardt smirked. "My God, you are a small-minded man, Reno Nevada. I endured a comma for longer than Nathanial Carrington was alive. One hundred eighty-seven years, I slept. We had nanotech to keep our bodies functioning. It slowly rebuilt the mind, which had eroded from that virus. Yet, my kind triumphed."

"God, man, get to the fucking point. Seriously."

Reinhardt balled his hands into fists. "My kind can endure anything. Your threats, while amusing, have no effect. My fear of Nathan Carrington was one born from the mystery of knowing nothing about him. But he died, just like you will."

"I thought people your age didn't have powers."

"My brother and I ... we were the first generation to volunteer for permanent genetic engineering. Our powers helped to keep the deities in line. The Order of the Esoteric Council saved the mundane humans from their own foolish creations. When you threaten me, it is akin to a single ant threatening the sole of my shoe, Reno."

Reno opened his hand. Lightning glowed around his palm. Arcs of current danced in a cylindrical pattern around his wrist. "I get it, you think you're The Man. Look, you're not needed right now. You're so big and bad, yet you need Tesla's help to build a machine to get you home. You need my_ability to power it. So guess how impressed I am with _you? It's somewhere on the scale, in an order of 'impressed' magnitude, measuring at 'not very.'"

Silence.

Reno smirked. Sure, Karla could have worded it better; her delivery would have been cleverer, but Reno didn't care at the moment - he got his point across and that's all that mattered.

"You are a _child_compared to the man who gave you those powers."

"Tell you what: Leave. Come back when it's time to go. I want to spend some time together with my wife. I'm tired of arguing with you. It's been two months, man. Just ... leave."

"You cannot depart without me. Very well. Perhaps I will go and enjoy the World's Fair one last time. Perhaps I will visit your friend, Mayor Harrison. Yes, I know you warned him about the man working for the hunters."

"Don't you _dare_touch the Mayor of Chicago. I will find you and I will fuck you up, Reinhardt."

Reinhardt sighed and rolled his eyes. "Obviously you do not know your history, Reno. Mudgett flees Chicago. Perhaps if you asked the Mayor to search for 'Dr. Holmes.' Alias aside, Mr. Mudgett is caught when the hunters have exhausted their use of him."

"What?"

"You forget, Reno. I've already lived through this time period. I exist, right now, in England. I make visits to America, and I am plotting my way to replace Justus as Justiciar less than a century from now."

"But I changed the future. I told Harrison."

"You told him, but did you change anything?" Reinhardt turned around and walked to the front door. "The Esoteric Council now knows that Harrison was informed by an unknown source. The hunters who ignorantly work for the European EC are watching Harrison. They are waiting to see how he will respond. If he even thinks about moving against their operation involving Mudgett ... well ... Harrison has his own life in his hands. If time plays out the way it should, he will die in October."

Reno pointed towards the front door. "Get out, man. Just get the hell out."

"That's right, Reno. Go and enjoy your make-believe vacation with your pretend wife. By all means, ignore the fact that the succubus will die soon from age." Reinhardt walked through the front door. "Perhaps I'll visit Buffalo. I believe McKinley was shot there ... or rather, he _will be_in eight years."

"Why are you telling me all this shit?"

"Because, Reno. You probably can't save the Mayor either. You can't save anyone. Why do you think Raul drinks? He cannot save the world; neither can you. You cannot play 'god.' I will return in ten days." Reinhardt pulled the door shut behind himself.

Reno turned to the nearest wall and buried his fist through the wood paneling.

Moments later, Kerii came down the stairs. She saw the hole in the wall and the fading marks on Reno's knuckles. "Nathan! What is the matter?"

Nikola came through the front door from his duplex dwelling next door. "I heard a loud noise; a mirror fell from the wall on my side. Thankfully it landed on the sofa, else it would have shattered."

Reno turned to Tesla and shrugged. "Hey, sorry. I had another argument with Reinhardt. I told him to leave for a few days so I don't haul off and break him over my knee. Then I punched the wall."

Nikola pulled the front door shut, until the latch touched the plate. He opened the door, pulled it shut, opened the door, and, on the third pass, latched it into place. He folded a handkerchief used to turn the knob and placed it into his pocket.

Reno grimaced. "Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you."

"I've been awake since before the sun came up," said Tesla. "I do my best work when I am undisturbed. Reinhardt has left? I am glad, you know; he was arrogant, noisy, and his presence made it difficult to think at times. I will be headed to the falls today."

"Do you need any help?" asked Kerii.

Tesla shook his head. "No, I should think it would be best if I go to the park and feed the pigeons. I like to think; feeding them clears my mind. I will be back after sundown. Sometime around midnight, earliest."

Reno gestured for Tesla to follow him into the kitchen.

Once alone, Reno turned to him and said, "Listen, Nikola, I was thinking about going into town with Kerii today. She's always wanted to be married, see ... and I wanted to take her to the court and make it official."

"Ah ... well then ... congratulations."

"What should I get her? Like, as a wedding present? Maybe a necklace of pearls or something?"

"My God, no. Absolutely not. Pearls are abhorrent and I detest them. Why on earth would anyone wish to wear a piece of sand sucked on by a muscle at the bottom of the harbor, where children urinate off the pier? Disgusting."

Reno arched his brows. "You usually make jokes ... but I can't tell if you're joking this time."

"Not at all. Would you wear a polished piece of sand that you've sucked on in your cheek for a predetermined period of time? No. No, you most certainly would not. So help me, if you bring her home in one, I will send the both of you to live elsewhere."

Reno blinked, fairly amused. "Well then."

"Now, if you'll excuse me. I wish to feed the birds and read a bit of my Mark Twain novel before I resume experiments on my wheelwork of nature." Tesla glanced down at Reno's hand and paused.

Reno grinned. "You're a celebrity you know. You should go and meet Mark Twain some time."

"Perhaps I shall." Nikola reached into his pocket and withdrew his handkerchief. He reached forward and took Reno's hand and shook it, with the handkerchief used to prevent skin contact. "Congratulations, Mr. Carrington. She is a fine, intelligent woman with a sharp mind and a clever wit. I do hope that you will both live happily as the day is long, Nathan."

Reno smiled somewhat, shook the man's hand, and said, "Thanks."

"I like her. We speak to one another in French at times. She asked me to teach her more. I haven't the time, but ... perhaps one day."

Reno grinned inwardly. He knew how much Tesla loved himself. "How many do you speak?"

"Nine languages," said Tesla. "Fluently, of course. That is if you count Serbian and Croatian as two - they are similar but there are many differences. Enough so that I count them as two languages."

"Jesus Christ, nine languages?"

Tesla grinned. "First, you simply remember the words, how to conjugate the verbs, and then you speak them by opening your lips and moving your tongue about in a graceful manner." Tesla feigned a smile, adding, "Like so: Dovi?enja."He nodded, and walked out of the kitchen.

Reno heard him announce something to Kerii in French. A moment later, the front door clicked into place. Three times, of course.

Reno made his way back to the bottom of the staircase. He looked up at Kerii and smiled. "Grab your Sunday best. Put on something nice. Pick out something for me to wear - something you like seeing me wear."

She tilted her head from where she stood, halfway up the staircase. "I beg your pardon? It's Thursday, Nathan."

"I want to take you into town. Wear something really nice."

"Where are we going?"

"Buffalo."

She eyed him. "Is this because Reinhardt mentioned the city?"

"No. But I'd like to stop by the courthouse and I have a few errands. I want to spend the day with you. Let's go to the city and do something fun."

She smiled and headed upstairs to get ready.

X

X

August 31, 1893 - 1:05_pm _Buffalo, New York ...

Kerii swallowed down the flood of emotion."I always thought ... this would be the best I..." Words failed. She wrapped her arms around Reno. She whispered into his ear. "Thank you for this, Reno."

The notary handed back the marriage license. "Congratulations to you both."

Reno looked down at the marriage certificate and license paperwork. It was labeled 'Nathanial Carrington' at her request. They shared a kiss. "You know, I've been thinking ... maybe I should stay a while longer."

She interlaced her fingers with his and they headed out of the office of the clerk of the court. A moment later, they emerged outside of the Buffalo courthouse.

Reno cringed at the sensation of something soft and small hitting his face. The sound of Kerii's amused giggling put him at immediate ease. He looked around and came to face Tesla. "I thought you were leaving?"

"You have no best man. I went to buy bird seed." He glanced at Kerii and nodded. "Never use rice. It would kill the pigeons. Rice expands when wet, and their bellies are rather small." He turned back to Reno adding, "You honestly thought I would leave you to flail about the biggest day of your life?"

"I'm..." Reno was speechless.

"Having a wedding like this is a far more efficient use of your time, Nathan. Well done. No crowd of people; no germs."

Reno offered his hand.

Tesla glanced at his palm. It was empty - no more birdseed. He reached for his handkerchief but paused.

Reno grinned and discretely created a hot flash over his palm. "There, no germs."

Tesla smirked. He reached forward and took Reno's hand. They shook as gentlemen. Reno pulled him into a surprise half-hug. "Thanks for coming. That was good of you, Nikola."

Nikola stepped back and adjusted his dress clothes. "Yes, well ... so long as there are no photographs. It's not that I dislike them, I just ... not in this suit."

Reno grinned. "Your suit's fine."

"I have another I like better for photographs. It stands out better. If you'll both excuse me." He glanced down at two pigeons, which started on the bird seed on the steps of the courthouse. He lifted his gaze back to Reno and Kerii. "I would suggest Niagara Falls for your honeymoon, however I have too much work at the falls. Might I suggest..." Tesla paused, seeing Reno's hand aloft. "Yes?"

"I'm taking her home."

"Home? To California?"

Reno grinned and turned towards Kerii, directing his words to Tesla. "To see Boston. It's not terribly far. We'll be back in two days. The house will be as quiet as you like."

A slight grin tugged at the corner of Tesla's mouth. "Very well then. I should like to feed the birds without the two of you yammering on, after all."

Kerii tilted her head, not understanding Tesla's brand of humor. "But we never..."

Reno laughed. "He's joking, hon. C'mon. We have a train to catch." He nodded to Tesla. "Any questions about power before I go?"

"I did have one question, although the timing ... well, it matters nothing of the sort, I suppose. Your small glass device. The one that does 'messages' and 'stock quotes,' and 'instant weather.' How would you imagine it works?"

"Uhm, why?"

"Just humor me?" Tesla smiled somewhat, but it looked more like a grimace.

"There are things called servers that receive the request for information from the phone. It sends the information back on another ... frequency or whatever, so that the information doesn't get its 'send' and 'receive' data messed up. I don't know how to explain it, that's the best I've got. Why are you asking?"

"I've pondered such a device for a time. My only roadblock is how best to display such information. Mm, I cannot hope to invent every_thing, I suppose." He held his hands up. "I'm kidding, I am here to save the world in _my way. I would very much like to find a way to power your device and communicate with it, Nathan. I should hope to finish my work on electromagnetic radiation, or as I imagine you call them in your future, Hertzian Waves."

"Uh, never heard the term before."

"How else do you transmit wireless signal in your time?"

"Uh, radio waves and ... stuff?"

Tesla scoffed with a slight grin. "Radio. What a silly name for ... I take it back. I like it. Germans have more than enough things named for them as it is. I would like to consider how to communicate with your device using the electromagnetic radiation. Do not fret yourself about changing the future. I am quite sure it will be invented soon enough."

Reno grimaced with a nod. He linked arms with Kerii and brought her hand to her lips. "We have a train to catch, babe."

"You'll see soon enough," Tesla said with a nod. "I would love to see your future, you know."

"You would hate it," Reno said with a chuckle. "Everything is already thought of and most of it is already invented. And if you have a good idea but not the money or resources to build it, you get your idea patented and sell it. Some make a business out of that - they have a think tank to come up with ideas and they patent them. Then there are patent wars."

"Red tape always has a way of holding back brilliant men, Nathan. It's no different than now."

"Yeah, but there are a whole lot more people doing it in my time. See you 'round, Nikola."

Reno and Kerii headed towards the train station, grinning at one another. Once they were out of earshot, Reno told her, "Considering my powers, meeting that guy is like meeting megastar celebrity."

Kerii shook her head and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. "Mm. I find it amusing you make such an attempt to act normal in his presence."

"I'm too busy looking at you." Reno said, looking her over with a grin. "You're easier on the eyes."

"Oh, you don't find him handsome?" She grinned. "Reinhardt most certainly does."

"Oh geeze." Reno shook his head with a grin.

"And with all due respect, the train station is nowhere near the direction to which we're walking."

"We're talking the lightning express. Just wanted to get away from the public." Reno put his arm around her. "So you're really okay with taking the last name Carrington? What if the real Nathan Carrington shows up?"

"There are many people with a similar name in the world. So long as I know the difference, such is all that matters." She ran her thumb over his knuckles. "You really wish to take me to Boston?"

"I thought, since we're so close, you might want to see it one more time. I hear it's a nice town. I've never been there."

She smiled. He smiled.

One alley later, they assumed the form of a lightning bolt together.

X

X

Sunday, September 10, 1893 Niagara Falls, New York ...

Tesla shook his head."No, Karl. Lemons can light one of Edison's bulbs. The body produces electricity, as well. The brain, like many electric machines, produces waves. The proper frequency can surly link two minds. That is why Plato was wrong - what myth calls a 'soul mate,' science can prove is mere compatibility on a mental level."

"Charles, please. Call me Charles." Charles Proteus Steinmetz drew glasses from the bridge of his nose and cleaned them with a handkerchief. The man stood almost half Tesla's height, and his English was nowhere near as refined as Tesla's own.

Instead, the two men spoke in German and some English.

Tesla shook his head. "For you, I have great respect. You may not allow me to call you "Steinie, however despite our differences, I particularly enjoy your work with Alternating Current and I respect your appreciation for lightning."

Charles marched up a ladder and placed a piece of chalk on a blackboard. He wrote out something that could only best be described as the language of engineering. "You promised me something incredible. So far, it seems that you wish only to harness the power of Niagara Falls for George."

"This isn't for George. Westinghouse has given me a holiday - a month of Sundays as the Americans call it."

"They fancy their euphemisms, just as the British."

Tesla wrapped a coil of copper thread around an exposed spherical section. "Have you ever read Mark Twain?"

"No."

"I fancy his work. I dare say it has saved my life at times."

Charles hobbled down from the ladder. He approached a blackboard across the small makeshift garage, where Tesla's machine was under construction. Charles climbed up another ladder and moved close to a series of equations on the other blackboard.

The garage was surrounded by blackboards, most of which were covered on both sides with chalk equations. Charles eased down, drew the ladder back, flipped the chalkboard over in its frame, pushed the ladder up to it and climbed up to the sixth step. "I'm not sure if your friend is a genius or insane. Why would he tune the machine to these frequencies? The power required would quite literally need a thunderbolt."

"But not just any thunderbolt ... one from a consistent source, steadily powering the machine."

"Then why do we need Niagara?" asked Charles.

Tesla approached him, his head coming to the same height as Charles' shoulder, who stood on the sixth ladder rung. They both stared at the chalkboard in silence.

"Nikola?"

"Mm? Ah, yes, Niagara - it is a constant energy source. It is clean, it is powerful, and it will power the receiving generator rod."

"What are we creating here, Nikola?"

"An energy field. It must be specifically tuned so the frequency output is equal with the equations, which Reinhardt wrote on this board. Can it be done?"

"Following instructions is a simple task compared to machining the parts we require. The real issue I see is a lack of electricity."

"Electricity is plentiful. We're standing in a shack near a powerful waterfall. Now we harness it properly."

"This will power one section of your machine. Your excessive, unnecessary ... machine, Nikola."

"Yes, well, the word you are looking for is superfluous. I am delighted by what we are creating."

"You probably already own the patent to it, don't you?"

Tesla laughed. "How does one patent an energy conduit?"

"How do you see this as a conduit? In what manner do you mean?"

"A hallway. A passage of travel."

Charles climbed down from the ladder. "What are you doing, Nikola? You cannot travel on a thunderbolt! You would need to create a vehicle carried by such, at the very least. That would be stretching it!"

"Electricity can attract and repel, can it not?"

"Yes..."

"Imagine a horseless motorized carriage, able to hover over the ground. It would be beautiful..."

"Nikola, the math, here, is suggestive of teleportation without a carriage." Charles dusted chalk from his hands. "You are no doubt a brilliant man, however the body cannot manage the excess energy. Instead of moving flesh and bone from point A to point B, the side effect would be to char the body. Water within the body would evaporate. At best guess, you burst into flame."

"Charles ... Charles, calm down."

"This was a dangerous endeavor. I still do not understand why you asked me here, Nikola. However, if I am swift, I can make the train bound for Manhattan before nightfall."

"Wait, Reinhardt and Nathanial are depending on us."

"And this machine - will it feed a family? Will it put food on my table?"

Tesla scoffed. "I adore women - they will one day achieve equality, and then they will transcend men. However, a wife and a family would only hold me back from my work. I would not do the disservice of being a part-time family man, and I will not allow myself to be a part-time scientist."

"It was a euphemism, Nikola. I'm leaving." Charles Steinmetz turned for the door. He stopped in his tracks, looking at a man who, at best guess, was in his upper twenties. Besides that man stood a young woman who appeared in her mid-to-late teens.

Nikola gestured towards the couple. "Mister and Missus Nathanial Carrington! This is Karl..."

"Charles," said the shorter of the two men.

"This is Charles'Proteus' Steinmetz. Nathan, he wishes to leave. However, we require his mind."

Reno blinked. He tilted his head. "I thought you prefer to work alone?"

Tesla gestured to Steinmetz. "As much as I prefer to work alone, having a second mind allows me to talk myself through ideas."

In broken English, Charles said, "Ah ... yes, he is liking to hear himself speaking. He also likes to making of the promises for that which he cannot making of the delivering."

Tesla spoke to Charles in German. They quibbled for a moment, and then Tesla looked up at Nathan and Kerii. "Please demonstrate for him."

"What? Here? I don't even know him."

Tesla sighed. He approached Reno and said, "The man is a genius. He is about to walk through the door, and the pace with which I work greatly increases..."

Kerii smiled. "He thinks of things you don't."

Tesla opened his mouth to argue such a point but ... he couldn't. "He is a great man and deeply understands his sub-discipline. If he walks through that door..."

As if to punctuate Nikola's concern, Charles Steinmetz hobbled through the door. The short German man said, "My hip pains me; my feet ache. I was promised an extraordinary demonstration of lightning _before_building this machine. I am looking at the equations. I am not making the findings in regards to the power output. No quantifiable source exists, not even Niagara."

"Charles..."

"No. No thank you. Good bye."

Reno nodded. "Auf Wiedersehen."

Charles turned in the doorframe. "That is an expression used when makings of the assuming that we will see one another again. Your English good bye would be far more accurate."

Nikola turned to Reno. "Nathan, this is no such time for calling the man's bluff. If you wish a machine to create an energy field, show him the 'quantifiable' energy source we will require to power the machine."

Charles left the garage.

Reno sighed and turned to Kerii.

She nodded to her husband and said, "If you trust Nikola, then trust his judgment now. Have you_ever_ seen that man ask for help until this very moment? Go on."

Reno ran his hands back through his hair. "Alright, alright."

Kerii turned to Tesla. "You and I must have a bit of a chat. Yes, it is important. And no I will not take 'no' for an answer." She approached Nikola and said, "Sit down for a moment. Try not to doze; I want your undivided attention."

Reno glanced over his shoulder as he left the garage door. Once outside, the nearby dull roar of the falls made it impossible to hear what Kerii was saying to Nikola.

Reno quickened his pace, approaching Charlie, who made his way up a dirt road. Reno hurried to catch up to the short gentleman. "Hey, wait up. Charlie, right?"

"Charles," said the man. "The village isn't far."

"Hey, look, the least I can do is give you some company. If you don't like what I have to say, we'll part ways when you get on the carriage back to Buffalo. You hop on your train and you take it back to Manhattan. But, at the very least, give me until we get into the village to explain things."

Charles continued walking. He cut his eyes to the left, studying Reno's face. "Forgive me, I am not recalling your name when Nikola was made the introduction."

"Nathan."

"And your last name, Mister...?"

"Just Nathan, man. You want me to call you Mr. Steinmetz, that's fine. But I'm not as smart as you. I'm not some brilliant engineer. So how about you just call me by my first name?"

"Mm. And were you granted an ... how do you say ... do you have an education, Nathan? In today's world, it's of the imperative."

Reno chuckled. He took smaller steps to match Charles' stride. "A few years in a community college. Criminal justice, man. I was a homicide inspector in California."

"Ah."

Reno grinned somewhat, eyeing the man's expression.

"Are you staring at me?"

Reno shook his head. "Just judging your thoughts by the look on your face."

"Ah. And what judgment have you ... of the making?"

"You're wondering what Tesla is doing hanging around me. Someone trying to build a hypothetical machine should be hanging around engineers, scientists, and mathematicians, not a retired copper. Am I right?"

Charles looked up at Reno with a hint of a smile. "So ... why are you being of the here?"

"Because I'm a human battery and a human capacitor. I can discharge energy in the air all around us, and..."

"I've heard quite enough of such mockery, Mr. Nathan. That will be all, thank you."

Reno sighed through his nose. He quickened his step, turned around, and faced Charles. The shorter man had no intention of stopping, so Reno walked backwards.

The silence was awkward.

Reno held his hands out, side by side, and created an arc of electricity between his palms.

Charles came to an abrupt stop. "Mein Gott..."

Reno increased the thickness of the current, making the arc thicker and brighter. "Did he tell you what the machine is for? It's for me to get home."

"Gottes wille," he murmured. "I am not ... I cannot..."

"Let me ask you something: You believe in electricity and machines right?" Reno lessened the intensity of the current, but kept his palms connected by the glowing beam of electricity. "Why do you do it? Be honest, man - why do you love what you do so much?"

"I ... wish that someday we make the good things of life so that persons around the world. We exchange toil for plenty and prosperity."

Reno continued walking backwards. He kept the lightning trick between his hands. "And when machines do the work of fifty people, you now only have one job - the repairman."

"So you abandon the field for an assembly line out of the hot sun."

"And one day machines will build machines." Reno dropped his hands. "Look, you're not wrong. Machines make life easier. But they also mean that the world changes and adapts each time a new invention comes along. So, are you here to make money, or are you here to make the world a better place?"

"Both."

Reno turned around and fell into step besides Charles. "Do you know Voltaire?"

"I am familiar with a few pieces of the workings of Voltaire, ja."

Reno grinned. "With great power comes great responsibility. Do you know how many times I've heard that thrown my way since manifesting my powers?"

"What responsibility is it that you are making for you?"

Reno sighed and stared straight up at the sky as they walked. "Where I'm from, there's a guy trying to use technology to hurt people. Think ... war machines. It's not _exactly_like that, but it's a lot easier to follow if you think of it that way."

"I am willing to entertain your story, Mr. Nathan."

"This guy, let's call him Doctor Bird for the sake of easy ... well, where he's at, I can't get back there without the machine. I'm stuck here, in America, with one of his generals, named Reinhardt. The guy is pretty well educated - he's the one who put the math on the one chalkboard. It's his equations that will get me home."

"Why would he give you such help?"

Reno shrugged. "He wants to get home, too."

"Does he possess your ... ability?"

"No. He has a different ability. He offered a truce and, while the détente is a little bit shaky, he's offering the math to get home in return for me to protect him so he can ride on my coattails back to where we're from. So we're stuck working together."

"When you say 'general', he is opposite to you in a war?"

Reno nodded in reply. "I need to get back to where I'm from so I can help my friends and family. I gotta help the world. It's my responsibility. Tesla is helping me save the world, man."

"And the other man ... Reinhardt? Where is he from?"

"If you're worried about him being German ... don't. He chose the name."

"Ah."

"Look, Nikola says we need you. I need Tesla, and so I need you, too. How can I help you? Is it money? Do you have children to feed? Are you religious? Help me to help you."

"Children? Nein, I have no offspring. Religion? Mm, if such exists, science will either prove or disprove such things. I have faith in the truth. Truths can be ... how you say ... proven - there will be evidence."

"Just tell me what I can do to make your stay worth it."

Charles rubbed his hip, staring at the ground. "I am sore, Herr Nathan. My back, you may have noticed, has a hunch. I walk this way because of my hip. I'm sure you have noticed my height."

"I can get you a bottle of ... wait, no, I can't. Look, if you're going to help me, I need you sober - so what do you take to help with aches and pain?"

"Willow Bark tea, I suppose, would be quite nice."

"I'll get you whatever you want. But please ... please, man, I need your help. I was willing to let you walk, but Tesla and my wife are smarter than me - they see you're important. So I wanted to show you my secret, so that you'd consider staying."

Charles sighed softly and nodded. "I left because ... I felt Nikola's machine was an impossible task of no meaningful consequence."

"And now?"

"You are a convincing man, Herr Nathan."

Reno glanced back down the dusty road. "We walked about a mile. You want to take the shortcut back?"

Charles glanced back towards Niagara. The spray and humidity in the distance caused a slightly cloudy effect. "If only there were being of such..."

Reno offered his hand. "You wanna shake on it?"

"Mm ... very well." Charles reached for Reno's hand. "Again, you are very convincing Herr..."

In the blink of an eye, they appeared adjacent to the garage. A crack of thunder rumbled high above. "...Nathan." Charles looked around in surprise. He covered his ears. The sound faded and Charles lowered his hands. "What...?"

"Shocked?" Reno smirked. "Sorry, that was a bad pun, huh?"

"How did we...?"

"I took your hand. We just linked up with all that energy in the upper atmosphere. We came back down, right here, as lightning."

"That is ... not possible."

Reno arched his brows. "Watch, bud." In a flash, he became an arc of electricity. The bolt sprouted up from the ground and struck the rooftop of the garage.

Reno appeared, sitting on the crest of the roof. The boards and roof became singed, with a hint of black char.

Reno called down from the roof, "It's quick. You can travel in a flash. Again, sorry about the puns, but ... yeah. Beats walking, don't it?"

"Come down from there! You'll fall!"

Reno linked up to the ground as a thin bolt of current. He materialized standing in front of Charles. "You ready to get started?"

"I ... ja, I will ... mein gott, I have no proper wordings."

Reno grinned and opened the door to the garage. "I'll go into town and find you that tea. What was it called again?"

"Willow Bark tea."

Reno followed Charles inside. "Okay, everyone, Charles is going to stay but we need something called Willow Bark tea." He cut his eyes to Kerii. "You want to help me find it?"

She nodded with a grin. "I will help you find it."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm taking you shopping. God help me."

"And you're stuck with me now," she said with a brilliant smile. "Till death do we part."

"If you let Nikola go into one of his rants, he'll tell you that we become energy when we die, and you're stuck with me forever."

"No complaints." She followed Reno back outside and they began walking together.

"So, what was the mysterious talk with Nikola all about?"

"Just bonding," she said. "I told him I would move to New York when you return. He is not interested in women, and I would be comfortable to have such a man as a friend."

"Look," Reno took her hand. "I know what I'm asking of you - you're a succubus and I'm ... I get it. I can't ask you to go on a feeding freeze. You won't live long enough to see me when I come back. "

"I know you're giving me 'permission' to feed when necessary. I will not ... not with a man. You are my husband. I choose only you."

"You need to."

"Then ... women only, Nathan. It will suffice, I assure you."

"Will you be able to find what you need? There's a lot more same-sex stuff in the future, but I haven't seen anything of the sort around here."

She offered a wry, mysterious sort of smile. "Perhaps it is far more ... open in the future. People are people - it happens quite often, if one knows where to look. People simply do not speak of it, due the fact it is taboo. People can be arrested for such activities."

"Alright, well, you know I would never starve you. I really should stay a bit longer."

She linked arms with him as they walked. "You intended to return months ago. It has now been over three months. You have given me so much more than a lasting and enjoyable relationship."

"I'm glad you think so." Reno held her hand firmly. Their bodies linked up with the sky and, moments later, appeared in Buffalo.

X

X

Friday, September 15, 1893 Cambria, outside of Niagara Falls, NY ...

Reno sat up in bed with a grunt. He slid out of bed, made a quick detour to the bathroom, and headed downstairs.

He stopped in front of a grandfather clock, opened the case and pulled on the weights, keeping it wound. He closed the glass door on the body and looked up at the time.

Seven thirty-five in the morning.

He rubbed his face and walked through the living room towards the kitchen. Something stood out in his peripheral vision. Reno paused and backtracked. He turned to face Reinhardt St. Leonard sitting on the sofa.

"Good morning, Reno."

"I haven't see you around for a while. So ... now what?"

"We go home. I've just come from the Falls. Tesla and Steinmetz are testing a low-power version of the machine. They've figured out what it does."

"I told Tesla I was from the future."

"You didn't go into those details with Steinmetz, but he figured it out."

"How do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter. Listen, when we get to the future, we should agree, here and now, to walk away. We part ways like gentlemen. War comes later. No one puts a dagger into the other man's back."

Reno stared at him for a moment. "Neat. You want some coffee dickhead?"

Reinhardt sighed and shook his head. "You're speaking to your sworn-in President of the United States, Reno. Have some respect for the office, won't you?"

Reno spoke from the kitchen. "That's the beautiful part about America. I can call you a shitbird and it isn't against the law. Respect is based on your job performance. So, how about that ... shitbird."

Reinhardt offered no reply.

Reno reemerged from the kitchen with an empty coffee cup. "Do you know what your brother did to Karla? He all but raped her. He scarred her emotions, he forced her to do something she didn't want to do, and he left her reeling with guilt, awkwardness, and he exposed her to a gross perversion of life's darker side."

Reinhardt glanced at the empty coffee cup in Reno's hand. "Sounds to me as though you've rehearsed that speech, Reno. Where's the coffee?"

"The water is still heating up, you idiot."

"You have the power to put off high amounts of energy, and you're going to wait for water to heat on the stove?"

"It's a gas stove, Reinhardt. I refuse to use my abilities in the kitchen. Is that so hard to understand? You see, that's one of our many differences - you don't think about things, you just do them because it sounds good. Kill the president? Sure! Join up with Aris? Sure! Sounds good!" Reno's sarcastic tone changed, growing dark as though angry. "When we get back, you're going to take responsibility for all the bullshit you've caused."

"I told you, Reno ... do not stab me in the back. If you try, you will die."

"All I hear is empty threats." Reno leaned in the doorframe to the kitchen. "What if I can't create enough juice? What if the technology doesn't exist to make use of the energy cores just yet?"

"I wrote out the equations carefully. I may not have the understanding of math that Neill Kincade possesses, however, you should know that, compared to modern engineers, I would be considered brilliant."

"Yeah? Steinmetz disagrees. He thinks there are inconsistencies. He also thinks the machine will not be able to handle the electricity needed to do what you want it to do."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Reno glanced down at his empty coffee cup. "What if I send just you?"

"Why would you do such?"

"I just got married, Reinhardt. And if I don't get you out of my hair, we're going to be stepping on each other's toes."

"What are you proposing? Do you wish me to spare the lives of your friends? Is that it? An honor system?"

"That's up to you, but I won't hold you to it. I'm not that trusting."

"What are our options, Reno?"

"I could send you forward a few years, so we don't destroy the machine. I spend that time with Kerii. Then, when we know it really works, the technology and the design of the revision will be better. I'll have evolved my powers. Then we make a try for 2050."

Reinhardt thought about it. A smile crept across his face. "Deal."

"It's better to test it first, you know? I just..."

"You've already sold me on the idea, Reno. You can stop speaking now."

Reno walked back into the kitchen. He made two cups of coffee, walked back through the living room, and headed upstairs.

Once in his bedroom, he shut his door and offered a cup of coffee to his wife.

She was awake, sitting up in bed. She took the coffee and met his gaze. "You have to know he's up to something."

Reno chuckled. "Man, insulation gets so much better in the future."

"So you agree?" Her voice lowered. "Do you believe he is looking to take advantage of you?"

Reno nodded. "Yeah. I know exactly what he's up to."

She tilted her head and took a sip from the hot coffee, careful not to burn herself. "I ... am delighted you're willing to stay. What is it that you think he will attempt?"

"His next play?" Reno kept his voice low, speaking so only she would hear him. "He's going to make some last minute 'calculations' because there's one less person going through."

"What's his ... ah ... 'play' Nathan?"

"He's going to make changes so that he returns to 2050. He's tired of waiting, hon."

"And you have a counter-move?"

Reno shrugged. "What if I can't change someone without going with them? I've never done it before and I'm not even sure I can, but I suppose he doesn't have to know that just yet."

"What are you planning?"

Reno grinned. "Maybe I'll throw him into it and see what the energy does to him, heh. Hell, I really don't know to be honest. I'm not some strategist or general with clever plans."

Kerii wrapped her arms around him. "You have the capacity to be all that and more. You only need to know what you are capable of, and learn to believe in yourself, Nathan. I'm delighted you're staying."

"The future isn't going anywhere. I'll live my life with you, and go back later."

"I have a confession to make."

Reno shrugged. He already knew, because he knew she read the file from the tablet, when they were in France. "I've been thinking about things, Kerii..."

"Yes?"

"The files said you're alive when I get to the future, right? That you ... die in my arms or whatever, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, then how come you're not alive in 2050? If you're Karla's sister, and she's never mentioned you, then it's probably a sore subject for her."

Kerii looked down.

"I never make it back to 2050, according to the real Nathan Carrington's files ... am I right?"

"You ... don't arrive in 2050," she admitted. "You don't go quite so far. I read the files and I die in 1906, before Nathanial Carrington manifests his abilities and appears to the EC to help. However, I take solace in the fact he saves my sister from herself. She ... is in a rather dark place, currently. It's a reminder to the fact I only have thirteen years to live."

Reno nodded. "Look, you're not immortal, I get it. I'll just stay ... we're in this together. I can return to the future later. Hell, it'll give me time to prepare and get better with my abilities. Then, when I go back, I'll handle whatever comes my way."

"You are a good man, Nathan," her voice lowered, adding, "...Reno. I love you." She set her coffee cup on its saucer, and placed them on the night stand. Kerii turned to her husband and embraced him with both arms. "I love you."

He returned the hug and smiled. "This won't be the usual vacation. I'll have to get a job so we can support ourselves."

"What will you _really_do about Reinhardt?"

"I don't know if I can really send him into the future. I mean, if I can only send myself forward to 1906, according to Carrington's notes."

The closet door opened and Reinhardt stepped from it. He brushed himself off and adjusted his tie.

Reno narrowed his gaze. "What the hell..."

"Oh, Reno, you _know_about my ability. Astral projection. So ... you have files from your last time loop, made out to yourself? Very clever."

"No, Nathanial made the notes. The real Nathanial Carrington. He delivered them by putting them in my father's car. I got them in 2023, but I couldn't read them until 2050 because of the type of formatting used for the file."

"Ah. So, in the last loop, we went forward to 1906. Obviously, at that point, the technology was better, and we continued on our journey before the other Carrington made his public appearance. Likely, that is when his ability manifested."

Reno shrugged. "So you were listening. Neat. Now what? Only one of us goes?"

"Obviously my math calculations were off - there must be too much mass, perhaps?"

"Or not enough power for two."

Reinhardt tilted his head. "So, you'll send me. You'll send yourself through later, after living thirteen years with your wife. We both arrive in 2050. You're older, wiser, and your powers will have evolved."

Reno stared at the man for a moment. He took a deep breath through his nose. "If you don't get out of my bedroom, I will strangle you. All of you - every one of your projections."

"Reno..."

Reno handed his coffee cup to his wife and slid out of bed. Nevada adjusted the lay of his white pajama pants and shirt. He pushed his hands together, cracking his knuckles.

Reinhardt narrowed his gaze.

Reno approached Reinhardt with a clenched jaw. He took a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth. "What even makes you think I can turn someone else into a bolt of lightning without being a part of the bolt? So give me a break. Maybe you should just go sit on your ass for thirteen years, and we'll go then. Huh? What do you think about that?"

Reinhardt glanced at Kerii, and then back at Reno. He licked his lips with a frown.

Kerii smirked. "Nathan, you just rained on his parade. This man, a killer, who clawed and killed his way to the Presidency, and sold his soul with a lie and a smile ... has just come to realize the folly of his plans to deceive us."

Reinhardt paced the room, trying to consider options.

Reno shrugged. "Why are you in such a hurry to get back? You've lived all these, like, thousands upon thousands of years or whatever. What's thirteen more?"

Reinhardt narrowed his eyes again. "It is none of your business."

"Okay, the first power core is, like, three miles under the surface. Watson told me his fiancée died for it over a hundred years from now. There are two of them sitting somewhere under America. When do you suppose America will have the technology to bore down that far? Good luck."

"I have a brain aneurysm. Sigyn wanted her husband's location, and attacked me for the information."

Reno furrowed his brows. "Go on."

"She is far older, and a far more powerful warrior than I assumed. When she came to the conclusion that I would not give her the information, she split my head open. I yielded."

Reno gestured with his hands, rolling his wrist as if to tell Reinhardt to get to the point.

"Best doctors in America worked on me." Reinhardt pushed his hands through his hair, displaying a bit of a scar on his scalp. "But I'm a ticking time bomb because of that ... woman."

"So you want to...? What? Go back to the future and kick her ass?"

"Why do you think I left America and returned to Aris' city? There is technology in the Capital of the First Age, which is capable of saving my life. I need to return to the future by any means necessary. If I die with you, at least I tried."

Reno sighed. "I'm not leaving my wife. If it's between you and her, I'm not feeling very sorry for you. You've lived your share of lifetimes, and you aren't even trying to make my life easier when I go back. So now what?"

Reinhardt continued pacing again. "I ... think there will be a way to take all three of us back to our time."

Reno glanced at Kerii. He turned back to Reinhardt. "What? How?"

"Do you know what plasma is?"

"Yeah, sort of. It's residue from high energy stuff, or something. Wilfred tried to explain it."

"It can be used to intensify your ability. Your Chevelle, so ingeniously created by Dr. Wilfred Greg ... it used plasma captured and repurposed for the sake of nearly doubling the..." Reinhardt saw the look on Reno's face and sighed. "It does not matter."

"Keep it simple, stupid."

Reinhardt grimaced, trying to ignore the insult. "We can use it to bring all three of us through time. Would this be acceptable?"

Reno and Kerii exchanged glances. She nodded. He nodded back. Reno turned to Reinhardt and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. Now get the hell out of my room, you weirdo."

The astral projection faded away.

Kerii and Reno were alone again.

He sat down on the bed and took his coffee cup and saucer from her. "You'll get to see all the things I've told you about. Your sister has these pills that make it so you don't have to feed unless you want to. It's all the stuff you need from your feed, but in the form of a pill that you swallow. It allows her to have a normal relationship with her husband."

Her eyes misted up. She took a deep breath and nodded. Kerii reached for her coffee cup and took a sip from it. "Knowing that this other man, Nathanial Carrington, will soon manifest and appear ... that he will save my sister from her present self ... I can leave with a clean conscience, knowing I haven't abandoned her."

Reno nodded. He put an arm around her and drew her close. With his other hand, he drank from the mug of coffee. "It's going to be a little awkward to explain things to Nichole, but ... you can't help who you love, right?"

"Are you called Nathan in the future as well?"

Reno nodded. "Some of my old friends still call me by my real name, but I'm being encouraged to embrace Nathan's identity in 2050. The real Nathan died in 2023, and your sister changed my name to his, so that I could ... I dunno, keep up his legacy or something. I doubt I'll ever be half the man that guy was, from all the wild crap I've heard about him."

Kerii rested her head on his chest, half sitting up, propped by pillows and the headboard. "I do not care what time we live in, so long as we are together."

Reno took another sip from his coffee. He looked down and saw that his pinky was extended to counter-balance the way he held the handle. "Well, at least I picked up some class while I was here. And a wife. God, I feel like Emmett Brown, bringing my wife from the late 1800s into the future with me."

"I fail to understand the reference..."

Reno grinned. "You'll see, when we sit down and watch the Back to the Future trilogy."

"Ah. I look forward to accomplishing a great many things with you."

"I'll drink to that." Reno finished his coffee. The thought of returning home and having his wife at his side ... he honestly looked forward to it.