Thanks to WAA01 and Killerarmyguy for the edits.
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Chapter One
There suspended before him was his daughter; at least genetically, she was his daughter. Yet she was born from a man from another timeline, the very man that had sent him back to his own. His eyes ran down Jill's face noting the similarities between hers and his own. Glancing up when a panel in the ceiling opened up and dropped down a projector from an age long ago. Turning his head to the left as a white light flooded the wall. He had to assume it was Carol, given her advanced age when her face appeared on that very same wall.
"
My dearest love, I know you may not know me, yet I've had the utmost pleasure in knowing you. To be your wife, to give you children I know you adored wholeheartedly. I know if you had survived your fight with the Red Scare, you would have loved your grandbabies too. That wasn't meant to be, not for us, but I still treasure every moment I had with you. That's why I took it upon myself to ensure this base, this home that you built, still stayed standing until you were born once again. You know you and I had a big laugh knowing that you were your own great-grandfather
." Aron felt his face heating at that. "
But anyway, the reason I left this message here in this room is because, if you're here, that means you've advanced enough to help our daughter. I implore you, Aron?! My love, please do everything in your power to see that Jillian (Jill's given name) is finally freed from that device so she can live a normal life, or as normal as one can get being the child of Void
." Aron felt his heart thump hard when Carol smiled into the camera like she was smiling at a lover. He knew she never got remarried, nor did she ever date again. At least, that's what his family had always told him when he would ask about her ever since he had returned from the past. "
I know you can do it, Aron. I know you have the brains to figure this out. I didn't share your bed, your life, and not know that about you
." Aron did feel for her as Carol broke down into a fit of coughing that lasted for minutes.
"
I apologize for making you see me like that. You don't need to see this old woman dying on you. I know you, the present you, has no feelings for me. I get that, but I hope that there's enough familiarity between the Aron I know and you that you don't give up on our baby. Can you do that for the woman that's loved you all this time
?"
"No wonder where they learned how to guilt trip me from," Aron grumbled as he crossed his arms. Peering down, lifting up the paper in his right hand, he knew he needed Aminah's eyes on this. Just to get a second opinion on what he suspected Jill's powers were powered by. Turning his gaze to Jill, then to the stack of papers, then back to the wall of the now still image of Carol. What they were asking him to do wasn't an easy thing to accomplish. He had no idea if it would work or not. For all he knew he could just end up fucking the whole thing up. Lowering his arms to his side, stepping up in front of the cryogenic tube as his eyes took in his daughter from another time. "Veil?" Aron spoke, never taking his eyes off of Jill as he waited for her to respond. His past self had created Veil (Virtual Empathetic Intelligent Lifeform) to run the base and his suit, now his suit. He had altered the original design when he made his new one to fit with his powers, whereas the original was designed for the past Aron, who didn't have any superpowers due to how he was thrown back into time.
"Yes, Void?"
"What are the readings on Jill? Is she dead?"
"No, father, she isn't dead."
"You mean she's been in suspended animation all this time?!"
"Your design hasn't once dropped her vital signs. I make sure Jill is still with us every day. I talk to her. I've told her a lot about you, so maybe when you find out what's wrong, she won't be so shocked when you bring her out."
"I told you to keep this a secret, didn't I? Even from me," Aron spoke, staring up at the camera Veil's only means of sensing the outside world... for now.
"Yes. The past you feared that if you knew before you were ready, you'd make some kind of blunder, and the past you wasn't willing to take that chance with Jill's life."
"Yeah," reaching up and scratching the back of his head, "I can understand that," Aron mumbled, thinking if it was either Henry or Nettie in that tube, he wouldn't take that chance either. "Has her mutation changed at all during her sleep?"
"No, father, Jill's readings have stayed steady."
"Huh, I wonder why," Aron mused as his right index finger stroked his chin. "Veil, do you have a list of the materials used in the tube's construction?"
"I do. I have the video of it as well if you'd like to watch it."
"I would," Aron nodded, knowing there had to be a clue in the way the tube was constructed to keep Jill's mutation from running amok.
"Would you like to watch it now?"
"No, send it up to my lab and put it on my partition of the mainframe. I don't want anyone catching wind of Jill just yet."
"I understand. I will reengage the safety measures once you leave the room."
"Veil?"
"Yes."
"I didn't tell you other things to keep from me, did I?" Aron asked with an arched eyebrow.
"No Void, you did not."
"I see," reaching up and wiping away the frost on the glass so he could take stock of his daughter, "keep an eye on her, will ya?"
"Of course, father."
Looking back as Veil sealed that hidden room once again when he had stepped out of the room. Noting how the normal lighting had been restored as all returned to normal the moment that room was sealed again. Chewing on his lip as he read down the printout as he walked towards the elevator. There was one person in his household that could possibly confirm what he was seeing. Hearing the voices of men, the pings of hammers, the hums of saws in the air as he stepped into his living room. He knew they were hard at work preparing to lay the foundations for the two new rooms that were being added to the addition. Nodding to the man who led the way into his home with a load of 2x4s beneath his arm as he headed towards that section of his home. Cocking an eyebrow when he caught Tazia checking out the man as he walked past him as he closed the living room door behind him to keep the secret entrance to their base hidden.
"What?!" Tazia stammered when Aron just simply shook his head and walked off. Leaving her standing there in the kitchen, rather confused, holding her coffee mug. "Aron?!" Tazia's voice called out to him as he continued his trek towards their bedroom, where the subject of his search was bound to be.
Seeing the crib mobile spinning on its own, knowing Nettie was showing off as Aminah laid there close to their daughter, currently reading a book. Her smile lifted the corners of her lips as her gaze lifted towards him. The moment she did, Nettie's mind entered his; he knew when she grew older, she was going to be one of the most powerful telepaths in the country. While she had some telekinetic skills, yet her powers were more focused on her telepathic one, or he could be completely wrong, and that's just the powers that have revealed themselves to him. The others were just waiting in the wings for the right time to show themselves.
"Oh, you do, do you?" Aron mused when Nettie whispered in his mind that she had a stinky butt. He knew Aminah would have taken care of it if it had happened earlier. Smiling down at his daughter as she gave him that gummy grin as he lightly tickled her stomach. "Then how about I change you, hmm?" Nettie threw up her tiny arms as to say: 'Yeah!'
"Aron?" Laying down her book, "What do you have in your hand?" Aminah inquired.
"Here," handing the printout to her as he held Nettie in his arms, "read it over and tell me if your conclusions are the same as mine," Aron said before leading Nettie over to the changing table.
"Aron?! Where exactly did you get this?" Aminah asked, examining the yellowed, aged paper.
"From down in the lab," Aron answered as he kept his back to her. A warm smile lifted his lips as Nettie squealed and giggled as he went about to unfasten Nettie's onesie. Slyly peeking over his shoulder, noting how Aminah's eyes were scanning down the paper then the next one that was attached to it. "Now, who's a clean girl?" Aron cooed down at his daughter.
"
I am
!" Nettie giggled in his mind.
"That you are." Hearing her laughing in his mind and aloud as he planted a raspberry on Nettie's stomach. Feeling Aminah's eyes on him as he lifted their daughter off the changing table before he turned around.
