McKay 2050

Chapter 8

        "Hello I'm looking for Leon McKay," Esmeralda told the guy behind the secretary desk who was hiding beneath a snuggie and eating popcorn while watching the latest Netflix hit.

        "Keep looking then," he muttered without bothering to turn up to look at her. By now her short attention span had led her to forget McKay and instead focus on the show as well. Instead of being inside a television the actors and actresses were somehow displayed as mini holograms, not even to the height of a pencil, running around the surface of the desk and playing out a scene. If it wasn't for their diminutive size and slight transparency they would have been identical to tiny human beings. Small fairies putting on a show for the human overlord.

        Carlos remained uninterested to Esmeralda but still noticed her presence. Assuming that she was there to stay for a while he decided to annoy her before she could distract him from the show. "Have you seen it before?"

        "No," she muttered, a sort of mystical amazement in her voice as if she was completely enthralled by the scene.

       "It's Mercy's Last Breath. The new Netflix original. Cat dies in the third episode and Al goes insane. Matt tries to kill Al in episode 5 but Juno sacrifices herself. Hailey and Houston don't end up together because Kirk manipulates Hailey into killing Houston in episode 10. Nadya finds Cat's dead body and she and her brothers run away and die of hunger in the forest by episode 13. Al finally dies in episode 18 when Den finds him in a basement. Matt begins to regret everything so naturally he kills Den and Sam in episode 23. Then it's revealed that Kirk was the mastermind behind everything and Hailey was his daughter," Carlos revealed. The spoilers spilling out of his mouth like the boxes of weights falling on one of the hologram characters, blood spilling out as their bones crunched.

        "Ooh I didn't know they let stuff like this air on television," Esmeralda noted. She stared at the figures for a bit before losing interest and running off. Carlos sighed in relief and glanced up at Esmeralda for the first time. Suddenly a moment of recognition flashed through his eyes as strangely specific memories trickled back to his head.

          "Hey wait," he called out. In an instant Esmeralda's head swiveled around just in time to see him stand abruptly and drop his blanket. It was in that instant, as the two pairs of identical green eyes met, that he immediately lost any confidence and resolution to tell her the truth.

        "Listen... I-uh... I know you.... from the... from the 30s yeah...,"  he continued to mutter incomprehensibly, unsure if there was even a way to put what he was thinking into words. It wasn't some kind of abstract concept or a feeling, no not unless you were feeling particularly philosophical, it was a simple truth that he was finding impossible to utter. "Your... uh yeah... the 30s... your brother..."

        "Arvin?"

        "Huh?"

        "My little brother! Arvin! He was born in 1933! You should see his photos! He had fluffy little cheeks and his eyes were so bright," she continued to rant on about how cute her little brother had been at birth while Carlos narrowed his eyes cautiously.

        "No. I have no idea who that Arvin is. Don't you remember me? Everything I've ever done for you? It's me Ca-," he was stopped mid sentence by a hand on his shoulder. A warm and firm hand, a familiar hand. He flinched slightly as he recognized it. As if sensing his discomfort the head of the hand rested upon his other shoulder. Carlos squinted slightly to the right to see McKay smiling at Esmeralda.

        "Esme, long time no see," McKay laughed as if he actually knew Esmeralda. It was actually a bit frightening to see McKay's abilities in firsthand. He would often change from an annoyed reclusive hermit to a full on cheerful extrovert if needed. Often he would carry on conversations with Claudia to the left and his arm entwined with Carlos' to the right. Scowling at the left and in a spilt second turning to Carlos all sunshiny and giggly. Even more alarming was when he was alone with Lovure, or more accurately: when a cold brokenhearted nihilist made campaign plans with Lovure. He would say she reminded him of his mother, who was unfortunately residing at the Las Vegas Cemetery along with the rest of his family. Everyone decided to not question him any further.

       "Do I know you," Esmeralda asked innocently, as if he hadn't handed her his card just a while ago.

        "This is unfortunately the man you're looking for. Leon McKay," Carlos told her. Esmeralda glanced at the card in her hand to verify it was the right person. McKay noticed how uncomfortable Carlos had been since he arrived so he did the only thing he could think of.

        "So what's the deep dark tragic backstory secret you were about to tell Esmeralda," McKay asked, leaning in even closer to Carlos' ear. Carlos grimaced slightly, the muscles on his face tensing instead of relaxing.

        "Well I'd love to tell her but this is a public space and I don't want any morons wandering in while we're talking," Carlos hissed. McKay was taken a bit aback by this and the way he reeled his neck back proved this further. Esmeralda meanwhile was struggling at a kindergarten level.

        "Mormons? Did you say mormons? There's a mormon church down the block so if you want to avoid them we can go somewhere else," Esmeralda suggested. McKay let out a soft chuckle.

        "She really is just like you. A younger and less traumatized you," McKay noted. In a moment of fury Carlos pushed back his arm, hitting McKay square in the jaw.

        "Ok you know what I wanted to tell you," Carlos asked. Esmeralda blinked a few times. "I invented the time machine. I made it for your sake, but I don't think you needed it. You would have been happy in the 50s wouldn't you?"

        "Hold up! The way you say this implies that we are not in the fifties," Esmeralda muttered. It came out more like a question than an observation.

        "Welcome to 2050," McKay laughed. Carlos flinched as if a rather unpleasant memory had returned to him.

        "No... but... how...," Esmeralda whispered. She took a step back and glanced around the room. All this new and extravagant equipment and technology. The weird clothes and cars. They had been in the back of her mind all day long, nagging at  heart, yet somehow she had managed to pretend nothing had changed. It was a lie, bit weren't lies so beautiful in an abstract way? Wouldn't it be best to have lived in eternal bliss even if it came with eternal fraud?

        "I invented time travel. I wanted to prevent my family from falling apart. When I finally succeeded I realized that there was nothing I could do to help them. When I realized I had wasted all my life in vain I escaped to a time where I couldn't be followed by my failures," Carlos muttered. As the words spilled out of his mouth like an endless waterfall of solitude and bitterness, dark black water devoid of a single ounce of joy like the woeful feelings built up in his soul. "I thought I'd never have to face the past again. Yet here you are, sister."