Chapter 23
The disorienting vortex of light and color snapped into focus.
The sounds of beeping machines and the scent of antiseptic vanished.
Adam found himself standing on cool rough concrete. He looked down.
He was still in the vacant construction lot. The rusting machinery stood like silent metal sentinels around him. He was still wearing Sophia’s clothes—the simple blouse and the skirt.
The synthetic hair of the wig was still tangled around his shoulders. He was back.
So it shifted my timeline forward he thought. A sense of wonder mixed with relief.
This is my new return point. I can come back here now. I don’t have to go through the whole day again. I don’t have to see James. I don’t have to deal with Philips. I start here.
The implications were enormous. This new checkpoint gave him a massive advantage.
It was a head start he had never had before. He could prepare he could plan he could act without the constraints of school and the constant threat of his known enemies.
A new question immediately surfaced in his mind. Could he still choose to return to the old timeline? Could he go back to the moment he woke up in his teacher’s office? The system had asked for his permission this time.
That suggested he had a choice. He filed the thought away for later.
Before he could ponder the mechanics of his ability any further a series of familiar blue windows began to materialize in front of him.