When he woke up again, he was in an overstuffed chair and thought he might have dreamed the whole thing about floating under water. He didn’t exactly hurt but he was sore all over. His hands went to his sides, feeling for the guns but he wasn’t wearing them. He didn’t sense danger, though. The room felt safe. He remembered the fight with Ricketts and reached up to touch his head. It felt fine, not even a bandage. He must have been out for a long time. Weeks, maybe months. He wondered if he had been in a coma and wondered how he got to a hospital. The building had been on fire and he didn’t remember driving anywhere. Then he remembered other things. The other Jessie and the time traveling bracelet. Scarlet losing the battle against the virus.
He sprang up, ready for pain to hit him but none came. He had definitely been out for a while. He must be in the Tower, it was the only place with advanced medical equipment, the only place that could have taken care of him if he’d been in a coma. It didn’t look like the Tower. The room was grayish and cluttered and dirty. Things had familiar shapes but were different. The door was obviously a door but it was steel and rounded. The floor was a floor but it was textured and made of metal. The desk had strange contraptions on it and the light didn’t seem to be coming from anywhere, it just was. He slid out of the reclining chair and tested his legs. They seemed to work fine. He was wearing the same clothes he’d been wearing when they attacked the Cult but they were clean and all of the rips and tears had been mended. They looked brand new.
The door slid into the wall and it took him a minute to figure out how to make it work. He pushed and pulled and jerked but when he rested his hand on it, it slid away with a quiet hiss.
Scarlet looked up when he entered the kitchen area.
“I’m glad to see you have awakened.” she said “Welcome.”
Jessie ran to her but she held up a hand to stop him.
“I am not for your pleasure.” she said, her voice cold and her features neutral. He stopped, confused.
“I wasn’t going to…” he started then broke off.
He was flummoxed. It was her but it wasn’t.
She went back to preparing some sort of stew. He searched her face, looking for the telltale signs of infection, the dark runners or the blackened eye but they were gone. The three diagonal scars were still there but her complexion was clear. Her hair was long and black, the blonde was only at the roots, like it had been during their first few weeks at the farmhouse. When they’d first got to know each other.
“Scarlet is still healing.” she said. “Her affliction will take another seventeen earth days to purge.”
She continued dicing potatoes or something that looked like a potato.
“She is in the infirmary if you’d like to see her.”
She pointed to another door and Jessie moved across the room on auto pilot. The weird room with weird furniture and weird light and weird, muted colors. He managed to get the door to slide open without fighting it and saw her, encased inside a glass coffin, floating in an opaque liquid. This was the Scarlet he knew. Battle scarred with chopped hair that was more blonde than black. Her leathers and batons were cleaned and repaired and slung over a chair. The room was much cleaner and more organized than the others, it was obviously a small medical facility. He stared at her resting peacefully, at the strange box with unreadable writing and indicator lights that could have meant anything. Why wasn’t she drowning? The other Scarlet said it would be seventeen earth days before she would be purged. He wondered what that was all about.
“Your food is prepared.” A voice called out and he snapped back to the present. He’d pushed her clothes aside and sat down for a moment but time must have passed. He felt like he was still dreaming and realized there weren’t any windows when he walked back into the main living area.
“What is this place?” he asked
She didn’t answer and he sat at the table. The food smelled okay, he couldn’t say it smelled good because he’d never actually smelled what he was smelling before.
“It is unflavored. Spices are available if you would like. I do not know your preferences.”
“Who are you?” he asked and again she didn’t answer.
She stood at the end of the counter and stared unblinking at him and he got the feeling if he were to challenge her to a staring contest, he’d lose by about a week.
“You’re kind of creeping me out.” he said.
“I do not know who you are so I do not know which protocols I should enact.” she said.
“Well,” Jessie said. “I guess we can start from the beginning. Hi. I’m Jessie. How are you.”
“You are not Jessie and I am in optimum health.” she replied.
He looked at her for a long moment, considered meeting his future self, thought about being completely healed by floating in a tank of strange water and took in his surroundings.
“What year is this?” he asked.
She didn’t answer.
“Are you a robot?” he tried.
She was silent.
“Where are the time travel bracelets?” he asked.
Nothing.
Jessie stood, pushed the food away and stalked over to the other door. He had to find out what was going on, where he was and more importantly, when he was.
“You cannot go outside.” she said and moved to intercept him.
“Watch me.” he growled.
“You will die.” she stated.
Jessie kept walking but his eyes darted for a weapon.
“You gonna kill me?”
