A MIND OUT OF TIME

Shawn was surprised to see Theora sitting in the corner table of The Fresh Start. He knew this was the time of day when she was normally working. Still wiping the spoon he was holding, he walked over to her.

"So, what brings you here so early?" he asked her, concernedly.

"I'm going to have a baby," she told him.

"Congratulations!" Shawn laughed. "This is a cause for celebration!"

"My boss doesn't want me to have it," Theora added glumly. "He's ordered me to get an abortion or he'll have me declared unfit."

"What business is it of his?" Shawn wasn't laughing any more. His eyes were full of anger and indignation.

"He believes it will cause too much controversy for Network 23." Theora explained.

"Why would he believe that?"

"Let me start from the beginning," Theora said as Shawn sat down across the booth from her.

Edison rushed into Bryce's studio followed by Murray.

The teen was at his computer, his fingers flying over the keyboard while several looping patterns appeared on the screens in front of him.

"Bryce, we need to talk," Edison said.

"Busy," Bryce replied, coolly.

"It's important," Edison told him.

"Five minutes," Bryce bargained.

Edison yanked Bryce out of his chair, eliciting a look of annoyed surprised from the young genius.

"Theora's pregnant, Bryce."

"And...?" Bryce asked. "What's that have to do with me?"

"The baby's yours," Murray told him. "Dr. Duncan ran a paternity test on the fetus and you came up as the father."

"How can I be the father?" Bryce asked. "I don't know all the particulars about creating a baby, but I'm pretty sure it involves some sort of physical contact. And since I've never even kissed Theora, I'm pretty sure I'm not the father of her child."

"Then why is the network's medical computer saying that you are?" Edison demanded.

"I have no idea, Edison," Bryce said, "Now. Let go of me. I've got work to do."

"You're telling me that you met a time traveler?" Shawn asked, his voice low.

"It seems that way," Theora said, letting out a low sigh. "On the one hand, I can admit it's impossible to believe."

"I don't know," her brother smiled. "From what you've told me in the past, if someone were to invent a time machine, Bryce would probably be it."

Theora nodded. "The only thing is, nobody else would believe me."

"You probably shouldn't tell them anyhow," Shawn warned. "If word of the machine's existence got to the wrong people it would be very dangerous. So, here's the question. Why would Bryce come back in time just to get you pregnant?"

"You think he came back just for that?"

"Look, a woman can only get pregnant for three days out of one month, right? So he had to pick out a date within those three days." Shawn waited for Theora to process this, then continued. "So, like I asked before, why would your friend come back in time just to give you a baby? Why not impregnate you then. Or someone else?"

"I don't know." Theora said, honestly.

Once he'd attained the rough time of Theora's conception from the Network database, Bryce quietly hacked into the securicam files for her garage apartment.

He watched quietly as a man of about twenty-six helped Theora inside. She was having trouble staying upright, and Bryce wondered if she were drunk. It didn't seem likely. Then he wondered if this man had drugged her.

That worry was quickly laid to rest as the stranger covered Theora, who was still fully dressed. The man then took up a spot on the sofa and remained watchful until sleep overtook him.

Fast-forwarding to the following day, Bryce was annoyed when he saw Edison walk in.

"He knows that Theora had a visitor, and he still thinks I'm the father of her child," he complained. "What's up with that?" He listened to Theora introducing Faer to Edison, then fast-forwarded until he arrived at the point where Faer and Theora began to undress each other.

Quickly switching it off to give Theora her privacy, he leaned back in his chair.

"Well, he seems like a nice enough person," he remarked to his pet parrot. "But if he's the man who impregnated Theora, then why is my DNA showing up on her paternity test?"

"Because he is you," Theora said from the doorway.

Back                         Home                              Max Headroom Main Page                              Next