The '86 Fix by Keith Pearson

Author:Keith Pearson [Pearson, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781543031096
Google: qYFnAQAACAAJ
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2017-02-09T00:00:00+00:00

PATH RESTORATION: 17/05/86 - DURATION: 39H:48M.

As I stare at the screen, the ’48M’ changes to ‘47M’. I study the words and suddenly, the initial spark in my brain ignites a firestorm of memories. The rotating square, the psychedelic colours and the sense of falling. As I stare at the screen and try to process the barrage of memories flooding my mind, the text changes again. ‘47M’ becomes ‘46M’. The numbers are decreasing, and logic suggests that the ‘M’ signifies minutes, and therefore, the ‘H’ must be hours.

I focus intently to recall the text I entered into the computer before the madness ensued. I’m sure the duration option was 1-48, and I entered '48'. A potential connection dawns on me, and I raise my eyes to the top of the TV where a small digital clock displays the time at 8.14am. I do some quick maths in my head. If I take the original 48 hours that I set for the ‘duration’, and subtract the 39 hours and 46 minutes currently displayed, I’m left with 8 hours and 14 minutes — the current time. Working backwards, the ‘duration’ countdown must have begun at midnight.

While I now know what the duration is, I have no idea what it is I’m set to endure for the remaining 39 hours and 46 minutes, or what happened to the other 8 hours and 14 minutes since midnight. I think back to the intense pain in my head when I first woke up. I remember breathing deeply while counting the time of every breath. I remember I needed sleep to escape the pain. I must have fallen asleep, and that would explain the missing time. But it doesn’t explain why I’m currently residing in my teenage body, or how my dad apparently discovered the fountain of youth while tending his shrubs.

It’s clear that the computer has more answers than it’s willing to share, so the obvious course of action is to fathom-out what it’s doing. I hit the ‘Enter’ key. Nothing happens. I work my way across the keyboard, striking every key with increased frustration, but the computer stubbornly ignores me. What if I just switch it off? Will it end this nightmare, or will it send me into a computer-generated purgatory? I flick the power switch. The computer remains on, the LED light shining brightly, and the text still on the TV screen. Shit. I lean down behind the desk and hit the switch on the power socket. I turn back to the screen, but absolutely nothing has changed. Just to underline the impotence of my efforts, the duration timer drops another minute.

I slump back in the chair and close my eyes. This is too weird, too unfathomable, too unbelievable. This is too much.

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