Cade WThe Eleventh Hour

The Eleventh Hour

Cade West, 2021

“We’re running out of time, Jonas!” Kevin shrieked over the roaring of the mob that was banging on the large, steel door to their laboratory. While it was designed to withstand a catastrophic explosion, it was only a matter of minutes until it gave under the sheer mass of the tenacious crowd.

“Then get me some more! It’s still not finished!” Jonas screamed in reply, his voice wrought with desperation. He was soldering the final piece of circuitry together on their prototype. He was getting sloppy in his haste; however, large globs of solder were being left in the wake of his unsteady hands. If quality control was still a concern of theirs, the entire board would have to be rebuilt.

Unfortunately, though, it was not. Kevin looked frantically through the lab for something to hold off the crowd. A prototype railgun? No, there were too many of them to handle conventionally. What about the canister of sleeping gas? No… he wasn’t sure if it even worked; it had never been tested before. Finally, his eyes settled on his answer: the arc lance resting in the corner of the room. Traditionally, it was just used to weld metal sheets together, but under the circumstances, he might be able to weld the door shut with it. He hastily scooped the device up and dashed to the door. Soon enough, the deafening sound of raw electricity arcing through the air resonated throughout the room as Kevin sealed the door. It was nearly enough to drown out the ever-present pounding on the door from the increasingly aggressive mob. “Finished!” shouted Jonas, with a hint of triumph in his voice. Kevin threw the arc lance to the ground and darted to Jonas and the machine. He couldn’t help but notice the glaring flaw in its design, however. “Uh…Jonas? The device still only fits one person.” Kevin stated, his voice trembling from a mixture of fear and excitement. “One of us will have to…” “Relax, Kevin. I’ll come back for you as soon as I make a second machine. After all, time is on our side, right?” Before Kevin could utter any sort of protest, Jonas seized the machines only seat, fiddled with a button, and soon the entire contraption had disappeared in a flash of light. Kevin stood in awe--the machine had actually worked! He waited for it to reappear, with a second seat for himself; Jonas should be sending one back at any moment. ...Any second now.

The pounding on the door grew louder and louder as the steel began to buckle and give under the sheer mass of the crowd slamming themselves into it. Kevin looked back, a sense of panic steadily rising in his chest. Come on, Jonas, I’m

counting on you, he thought. Light was beginning to shine through the increasingly damaged door.

…Oh god, he’s not coming back, is he? And at that moment, the crowd broke through the door. They seized Kevin by the throat with bloodied, bruised hands, and the world went black.

“We’re running out of time, Jonas!” Kevin shrieked over the roaring of the mob that was banging on the large, steel door to their laboratory. While it was designed to withstand a catastrophic explosion, it was only a matter of minutes until they found a way to force it open. “Then get me some more! It’s still not finished!” Jonas screamed in reply, his voice wrought with desperation. He was soldering the final piece of circuitry together on their prototype. He was getting sloppy in his haste; however, large globs of solder were being left in the wake of his unsteady hands. If quality control was still a concern of theirs, the entire board would have to be rebuilt. Unfortunately, though, it was not. Kevin looked frantically through the lab for something to hold off the crowd. A prototype railgun? No, there were too many of them to handle conventionally. What about the canister of sleeping gas? No… he wasn’t sure if it even worked; it had never been tested before. Finally, his eyes settled on his answer: the arc lance resting in the corner of the room. Traditionally, it was just used to weld metal sheets together, but under the circumstances, he might be able to… Suddenly, confusion swept over Kevin. He glanced around the laboratory, at the door that was still holding strong against the relentless horde. He glanced at his partner Jonas, who was still working on the finishing touches on the machine that was still there. It seemed like moments ago… “Kevin! What are you doing about the door?” shouted Jonas, his concern growing as Kevin stood doing nothing. “Right! Sorry!” Kevin shouted in reply; this was no time for deja vu, he thought, as he scooped up the arc lance and got to work sealing the door. As the roar of electricity filled the room, the feeling of deja vu grew stronger and stronger. “Finished!” shouted Jonas, with a hint of triumph in his voice. Kevin threw the arc lance to the ground and darted to Jonas and the machine. He couldn’t help but notice the glaring flaw in its design, however, as the feeling of deja vu grew to be almost overwhelming. “Uh, Jonas? The device still only fits one person,” Kevin stated as he grew increasingly worried about what was about to happen. “One of us is going to…” “Relax, Kevin. I’ll come back for you as soon as I make a second machine. After all, time is on our side, right?” As Kevin opened his mouth to utter protests, Jonas seized the machine’s only seat, fiddled with a button, and soon the entire contraption had disappeared in a flash of light. Kevin looked on skeptically at where the device had been- for some reason, he doubted Jonas would be back. He turned his attention to the door, hoping that the increasingly horrifying feeling in his gut was incorrect, but nonetheless began counting down. The pounding on the door grew louder and louder as he did so, and the steel barrier began to

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crumple and give as he neared zero. As he finally did, the door gave way, and once again the infuriated mob burst through and seized him by the throat as the world went black.

“Oh, no,” Kevin thought, as grim realization dawned on him. “What?! What oh no? The device isn’t finished yet!” Jonas shrieked over the omnipresent pounding on the door to the lab. “It’s looping, Jonas! Double check the equipment! The machine doesn’t work!” “WHAT? That’s impossible! There’s no way it can loop!” “Well, it is! Finish soldering that board, I’ll double check the rest of the machine!” “I… what? Uh, yeah, sure, ok!” Jonas said as he got back to work on the board. Kevin ripped open one of the other control panels and started desperately double checking the other circuitry. In their haste, however, they completely forgot about the door. As the duo worked, the door began to buckle and give. Without the reinforcements of the arc lance, it wasn’t nearly as strong as it could’ve been. In a fit of panic, Jonas mounted the device’s chair and slammed the button to engage. It disappeared in a fit of sparks and a burst of light, leaving Kevin at the mercy of the mob. Once again, the world went black as Kevin let out a shriek of terror.

And so it repeated. Over and over. Each time ended the same way. Kevin tried with increasing desperation to find

a way out of this lab, which was quickly becoming a personal hell. Jonas remained perfectly clueless, time and time again. They tried everything. The prototype railgun, which just malfunctioned and never fired. The sleeping gas, which proved more effective as a mild eye irritant than as riot control. Nothing the pair did seemed to work. And so it repeated. Over and over. Time and time again. Kevin grew increasingly desperate, maddened by his seemingly endless, torturous existence, taking increasingly rash actions to free himself from the overwhelming insanity. His life kept repeating like a dinged disc of vinyl, until he finally snapped.

Kevin howled as he glared at the machine. Jonas looked up in confusion and terror as Kevin collapsed to the ground, pounding his fist into the metal tile. “Kevin, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me!” Jonas yelled. Kevin screamed again and rose to his feet. “It doesn’t work, Jonas! The machine doesn’t work! It just loops this moment back, over and over and over again! It doesn’t work and it never will!” “What? There’s no way! That shouldn’t be possible!” “Neither should the device working be possible! We tried to break the laws of time, Jonas, and it doesn’t work! I’ve just had to relive this moment, over and over and over again!” “Well, maybe this time it will work, Kevin! We can’t just give up!” The pounding on the door grew louder as the

two argued “That’s easy for you to say, Jonas! You’re not stuck reliving your own death forever! I have to stop this!” “Wait, Kevin, you can’t-” Jonas shouted, but was cut off by Kevin ripping the circuitry of the machine from his grip, throwing it to the floor, and grinding it to dust under his heel. For a brief moment, Jonas stared awestruck at Kevin, and even the mob outside seemed to be silenced by the grave action. The silence lasted for only a moment, however, as Jonas threw a punch and nailed Kevin in the side of the jaw, throwing him to the floor. As he did so, the door to the lab groaned and began to once more give way to the mass of people just outside of it. What happened next was the same fate Kevin had seen what seemed like a thousand times before. The door gave. The mob of people entered. They seized both scientists by the throat and the world went black.

Only this time, he didn’t come back.

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