Time Passes And Yet Nothing Changes

(Carter POV)

Five years passed by in what felt like days.

My daily routine included exercise, jump practice, breakfast, cardio, lunch, jump practice, and dinner, with some personal business between dinner and when I hit the hay. After five straight years of practice, my jumping ability had become almost second nature as my jumps would take minutes to mere seconds, depending on the distance.

Not even mention how eyesight jumps are instant. My stock portfolio had increased in value from the original five thousand to hundreds of thousands. After buying more stocks for streaming services like Twitch and getting stakes in companies that made social media apps like Twitter and Facebook.

I never found other Jumpers when I traveled to various parts of the world. Language barriers fell in mere days with my build for this jump, and I became fluent in multiple languages. In terms of my travels, I've been to England, France, Germany, and even Japan, but I did not want to risk my safety by going to too many places, so I kept my travels to a minimum.

However, what does bring a chuckle to my face is the fact that my apartment building is the same one that David is in. I don't know if that's a joke made by the people who created the jump chain, but after he moved in about a year ago, I tried to meet with him and get to know him, and now I understand how jumping can make people feel invincible.

He didn't do it too often when I was there, but I could tell, such as random papers flying across the room when he was going farther or when he went up to his second floor. I said I did not see a thing, so he calmed down, but he wasn't very social with the people in this building.

I could find his jump sites in his room, and after I saw him jump, I would follow him to where he would go. I'll tell you what: going through jump scars created by people jumping was very uncomfortable. I'm very much thankful that I can't create these things when I jump because they are so easy to use and last for a few minutes. Even if they're almost imperceptible in some areas due to how they warp space, they could most likely blend into the environment.

David never saw me follow him, and I did not want him to. Soon enough, he could barely be found in his room at all and would leave in the early morning to galavant across the world. I do admit to feeling jealous; if I could jump with that much freedom, it would be an interesting experience. But I know it would take time for me to become something truly invincible, even with my perks and skills.

I wanted to be able to do what I wanted and when I wanted to do it. But I needed to go to other Jump worlds, and so those five years passed without issue, and I saw my bank account rise from the millions to the tens of millions. I did send a positive review for that guy who helped me out at the Bank of New Cadia, and I even got a message back from him thanking me for my review.

I never heard from the guy again. Anytime I actually had to do my taxes, they would just send me a slip in the mail, and it would just appear out of nowhere in my mailbox because when I was able to access the cameras in my building as well as some outside my apartment I never even saw a mailman delivering anything related to my bank.

Those people were definitely trolls, as I could almost hear laughter every time I tried to find out anything about them, but soon enough, I decided to stop, as curiosity killed the cat after all. I managed to stay under the radar the best I could, and other than meeting David Rice, I made sure to keep to the schedule and use all of my advantages to the fullest.

Yet it never felt like it was enough. I always woke up in cold seats every time I went to sleep, but I never remembered my dreams, but I could guess what they were. But other than some minor inconveniences, I never truly felt threatened in any way. 

About four years in, I decided to learn how to fight while teleporting, taking inspiration from Nightcrawler and other teleporters in fiction. I thank the chain that I was very flexible in pulling off some of those moves and could deliver practice dummies to my door that I could put in my warehouse to use.

But other than David, there weren't many other tenants here due to the rising property prices as the years went by, and fewer people could afford to live in luxurious apartments like this. I had the advantage of knowing how the economy was going to go, so I never really had to struggle with this, but it was a slight reminder of who I was, and I had mixed feelings about it.

I considered therapy, but I was worried that the paladins would be checking psych evaluations and other medical records, so I abstained from such things and mostly focused on self-reflection. But I never shook what bothered me, and I thought it was just in my head. Yeah, it wasn't all business all of the time as I did take some days off, mostly weekends, as I would take a break from the routine and just sit outside on my balcony and watch the sky.

I even bought a telescope to do some stargazing, even though New York was a terrible place to do it. I would take it to some places across the country as well as during times when I could see the Aurora borealis, and I have to admit it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Lost in the sight before me, I forgot to take any pictures, but with my perfect memory, it was of little issue.

Taking a breath, I am taken from my thoughts when I see an email appear from a stock trader I have collaborated with inviting me to dinner with some of his friends, but I refuse. My tin foil hat was on full power as well. I never met another teleporter like me; I was able to comb through records across the country and see people disappearing and dying for unexplained reasons.

When Griffin said that the paladins were everywhere, he wasn't kidding, as they had truly mastered the ability to hide in plain sight. Most paladins could never even be found as they were indistinguishable from other citizens or government workers. And while that stockbroker I was talking about was clean, I don't know if his friends were, and I don't want to take that chance.

My five years in this world were an ironic existence as well. I had one of the greatest powers to be able to go nearly anywhere across the planet, but I was afraid to use it, even if subconsciously. So I tried to distract myself by reading any book I could get my hands on, and after reading a book every week as well as exposing myself to pop culture, I could say that I was happy to have time for such things.

The strangest thing I could see was the evolution of memes, as it was kind of like watching the weird kid in class grow up over time to become something almost monstrous in a way. 

There was one close call in Boston when I was watching the marathon there, but I immediately went into an alley and jumped away as I heard the explosions. While I was physically there, no camera could pick me up, so it was not that big of a deal for me. It's bizarre being a man in the past, as seeing things happen in front of me was like watching a detailed movie.

Except there were real consequences, and these were real people, at least I hope they are, and this whole thing wasn't a dream or simulation like in the Matrix. When I ever felt like this, I would go to the top of mountains and fall from their peaks before jumping and hitting the ground, usually into my gym mats that were inflated so as to break my fall.

The adrenaline and the pure rush would help me think through such things. 

I still had five more years before the end of this jump and two more years before Samuel L Jackson, I mean Roland Cox, came knocking on David's door. I made sure that I never teleported anywhere near David so that if I had been there when Roland showed up, he wouldn't see me as a possible jumper. To him, I was a nice neighbor who liked to hang out sometimes and nothing more.

I had been preparing contingencies for leaving the apartment in case the Paladins ever came knocking and needed a quick escape. This was mostly possible because I bought the Portal upgrade for my warehouse, which allowed me to send in heavier items through portals so I didn't have to move them.

I could get my hands on guns, ammo, food, water, gold, silver, and anything. I essentially stalked my warehouse so if I ever needed to rough it inside of it, I could survive. It truly surprises me how much a person can do when they have ten years worth of time on their hands. I will definitely say that I have not become a master in martial arts, but I have become a decent fighter and a good shot with ranged weapons.

Exercising as well as practicing every day has conditioned my body to a very good place. In addition to my bodily enhancements, I could now lift over 500 pounds easily, and with one punch, I could kill a man if I hit the right spot.

My efforts were definitely showing as my build increased in density as well as definition, which attracted some attention from both genders when I walked about the street. Yet I never committed to a relationship, knowing that I only had a few years here, among other things.

As I stood up from my couch, I jumped to one of my favorite places, the Saint Lous Arch, as the height and shape of the holding just spoke to me. It was odd and didn't really fit in, but you could notice it when you focused on it. I'm not above admitting that I spent at least an hour here on most days admiring the views.

I hope never to get tired of such things. I ate a ham and cheese sandwich, sitting on top of the arch, watching the sky move across the horizon and the sun rise and set. 

Finishing the food, I jumped back to my apartment and lay on my couch while closing my eyes, hoping and somewhat excited to see what came next after that clock hit zero.

Right as I closed my eyes, I found myself chained to a table with endless stacks of papers in front of me, with laughter and screams being heard behind me. Like in all other dreams, I worked and worked until my hands bled and my fingers hurt and cramped, but the screams never ended, and the laughter never ceased.

Writing and writing until my pencil tip broke, and I fell through the floor and found myself back "home," and I sat in the corner hugging myself and shaking. The night would end just like all the others, and I would forget all of this. Hearing a banging on the door, it broke open, and my eyes reopened again. I found my bed covered in sweat and breathing as if I had run a marathon.

"Five more years. Five more years. Five more years." I repeated it over and over again until I stopped shaking and got up to do the same routine and keep moving forward.

I had to keep moving forward.