A Million Pigeons

By MotherMonster310

1999, The Rosenfield Cemetery

Gwendoline Engel closes her hands ever so tightly, feeling the warmth and innate compassion of her companion while listening intently to what he has to say, as a stream of unbridled tears flow down her cheeks.

As her companion confesses the ramifications of his decision, he clenches his fist around a gun, mulling over the inevitable.

All the while, a figure cloaked in the shadows behind a tree witnesses surreptitiously what transpires in front of his eyes—vowing to himself that, no matter the cost, he will put an end to the events that have led to the current predicament.

Present

Max Daskalov opens his eyes as he wakes from a frequent fever dream—one where he hears "Look over the horizon, Max... and I'll always be there... waiting for you" being uttered by a feminine voice, beckoning him while humming a tune of unknown origin. Although he can't see the figure's face with much clarity, he is most bothered by the tune... as if he had heard it countless times, but can't seem to locate its origin buried deep within the chasms of his mind.

Keeping the dreams a secret, he continued to perform his prescribed nominal duties for Chrono Corp. And despite the dream, today is no different.

Time travel was discovered in the late 22nd Century and is stringently regulated by Chrono Corp. Its initial discovery was kept a closely guarded secret, hidden from prying eyes. Then the core heuristics of time-travel technology were inadvertently leaked out into the open by a surprise security breach in the labs.

Abused by criminals and international terrorists, whose abhorrent actions have led to the copious amounts of anachronistic events that slowly degraded the very fabric of the space-time continuum, time travel was outlawed and its knowledge erased from the public domain. Proliferation of contraband time-travelling tech and its misuse led to "The Great War," an apocalyptic event that nearly wiped out the feeble remnants of humanity.

That was when Jake Longfellow, grandson of Nikola Longfellow—the scientist who had discovered time travel in the first place—established Chrono Corp, a peacekeeping time-monitoring authority which occasionally puts an end to the multitude of anachronisms that destabilize the time stream. Ever since Chrono Corp's inception, Jake has headed the organisation, keeping a strict eye on the activities of everyone involved in the organisation—lest the technology falls into the wrong hands and causes more damage than it already has.

Max is summoned by authorities and is ordered to investigate a horrific murder in the city of Lost Angels. A writer named Lucile Benson was found dead in his bathtub in the wee hours of the morning. Hailed as one of the best agents since the organisation's founding, a perplexed Max requests the reason for investigating a seemingly ordinary murder unrelated to chronal tampering, when it's revealed that the chronal-anomaly detector had in fact picked up residues of chronal energy at the scene during the preliminary investigation. These residues are usually found after the use of time travel.

Max reaches Lost Angels, a sardonic and ironic play on the name of Los Angeles. Once a place of cultural renaissance, now a cesspool of scum and villainy—where the less-fortunate members of this decadent neo-society have taken refuge since the Great War.

Max begins examining the crime scene. He finds traces of chronal energy and four different crude symbols carved out of the man's flesh. Max then asks around Lucile's seedy neighbourhood. It is revealed by some neighbours that Lucile had visited a dentist for his treatment of gingivitis, caused by consumption of low-grade food scraps.

Max boards his hoverpod and feels a sense of déjà-vu—like he's done this scene before, like he'd known exactly where to look for the evidence. Unable to decipher his feelings, Max heads back to the Chrono Corp headquarters, mulling over the details of the case while waiting for the coroner's report. The coroner discloses that the man had died due to natural causes, a myocardial infarction to be more specific, which was likely due to his unhygienic lifestyle.

Max is left with yet another enigma, as he doesn't seem fully convinced with the report. He reaches out to Abner Fitzroy, a forensic specialist and an old acquaintance. Max finds Abner to be nervous beyond his usual self, as Abner reveals that the four symbols found carved on the man's body are musical notes—although heavily distorted and written upside down. Abner offers Max a cup of tea, which—despite being Max's favourite beverage—tastes funny.

Max claims as much, but Abner, nonchalant to the remark, feeds the symbols into the decoder.

The machine hums back a familiar tune...

The very tune Max has been hearing in his fever dreams, which leaves him even more distraught.

Abner suggests Max look into Lucile's past and reinvestigate the crime scene for clues that he might have overlooked while he continues to decipher the conundrum of Lucile's seemingly ordinary death.

As Max is about to re-enter the slums of L.A., he is harkened back to the headquarters of Chrono Corp for the investigation of a new murder that has taken place in the outskirts of the city. En-route Max is debriefed by his superiors that the victim is Ashley Bloodworth, an aging and reclusive singer who lived all alone in Bloodworth Manor inherited by her parents and barely ventured out in the open. Similar to the previous case, residues of chronal energy are found around the crime scene and no possible explanation of her death as reported by her butler who found her dead in the morning. As reported Max finds fresh residues of chronal energy but to his surprise he also finds residues much older that can't be accounted for, which leaves Max more confused than ever and he experiences another episode of mild déjà vu. As Max is about to leave, he notices some scribblings etched on the underside of the bed next to Ashley's corpse and as he reads them, he is reminded of something familiar but unsure as to what it might mean. Blissfully unaware, Max notes it down hoping to decipher it with the help from Abner all the while a cloaked figure follows his footsteps carefully from behind the scenes. As Abner tries to decode the meaning of the writings, he reveals that Lucile died due to torsade's de pointes- a rare medical condition that leads to severely irregular heart rhythms and may lead to cardiac arrest. Max unfamiliar with the term presses for a lucid explanation when Abner reveals that the condition occurs due to overexposure of chloral hydrate, a chemical compound usually used by dentists and the human body metabolizes the compound into untraceable metabolites thus not popping up in the toxicology report. Abner also discloses that the residues of chronal energy found at the crime scenes made no sense as their source of origin seems to a point in space-time before The Great War which should be virtually impossible as all data before the war is lost. Max realizes that someone went to great lengths to murder Lucile without leaving a trace and requests Abner to decipher the scribbles. As Abner uses a search algorithm to make sense of the writings found, he is unsuccessful but theorizes that it may be some sort of a poem or a part of a song due to its rhythmic nature. Unable to keep the burden of secrets to himself Max discloses his recurring fever dreams, déjà vu and details that entails them which piques Abner's curiosity further. Abner retorts that he was visited by a cloaked figure who helped him to crack the case of Lucile's death but refused to divulge his identity all the while the figure's mannerisms reminded him of someone very familiar.

With the revelation of the newfound evidences Max finds it hard to understand what exactly is going on and how the musical notes, the writings scribbled, a murder disguised as a heart attack, another unexplained death and now a mysterious figure in the mix his fever dreams, déjà vu all connects back to him. Max decides to take some time off from active duty claiming he needs a psych evaluation to sort out his recurring dreams and is unfit for active duty as ruse to dig deeper into the puzzle. He visits the dentist incognito so as to enquire about Lucile's treatment but finds the chamber empty and the nurse declares that the doctor has been missing for quite some time. On his way out, he is cornered by a gang of mercenaries whose sheer number overwhelms him shortly after a tussle. Fighting for his life Max escapes into the meandering burroughs of L.A. navigating his way through the neon-filled menagerie of decrepit apartments, slums and a plethora of denizens with a singular emotion on their mind... revenge. Frantically he reaches a quaint abandoned church into the heart of the city where he is cornered on all sides with nowhere to escape. As all hope seems to be lost, the shadowy figure inadvertently reveals his presence and knocks him unconscious not before uttering the word 'A Million Pigeons".

As Max wakes up the next day in Chrono corps' infirmary recovering from near fatal wounds, after discharge he's summoned to the headquarters by Jake who reveals that Max has to be put under arrest for the manslaughter of many civilians of L.A. last night. Flabbergasted beyond belief Max demands an explanation when Jake reveals that the corpses found around the church bears the wound from a semi-automatic handgun whose firing signature is exclusive to Chrono Corp's agents. Max tries to defend his side of events as Jake retorts that since the gun has a DNA lock activation specific to Max himself and no other suspects could be identified. Unable to defend himself without any concrete alibi Max gives in unwillingly and he's put into isolation in the most secure wing of Chrono Corp. Soon he starts hearing voices inside his head which Max believes to be his psychosis progressing but it is revealed to be Abner who's trying to contact him. Abner discloses that the tea he offered him was laced with nanites which are now acting as a miniaturized radio inside his body as a means to contact him and directs him to rendezvous back at his residence. While in the prison cafeteria Max stages a riot among the prisoners as a diversion tactic and escapes the prison undetected with the help from Abner who has supplied him a mental blueprint of the facility. Max sets his course for Abner's residence when the mysterious figure contacts him via an UHF radio signal to avoid detection and requests him from reaching Abner's residence disclosing that Abner has been already assassinated. Shell-shocked to hear the news of passing of his close confidant, Max retorts as to why he should trust him after the altercation at the church when the figure promises that all his questions will be answered. Meanwhile Chrono Corp notices Max's absence and puts out an APB (all-points bulletin) and a special taskforce with a strictly shoot to kill on sight twisting the narrative by presenting Max as an agent gone rogue. With no other options left Max agrees to the figure's demands and soon meets up at Rosenfield Cemetery. The mysterious figure meets up with Max and takes him to a gravestone reading "Gwendoline Engel, musician and a loving human being, 1985-" to which Max suffers a seizure as a flutter of images courses through his mind.

The figure finally reveals himself to be none other than Max himself, albeit an elder and more disgruntled version of him which discombulates Max even more. Soon the authorities catch up with both the Max's at Rosenfield Cemetery when the older Max opens up a chrono vortex, a time travelling portal and forces the younger Max to jump in so as to escape the authorities where they can't follow him. The pair ends up in a state of suspended time where time ceases to flow as the older Max reveals the entire enigma. He introduces himself as an alternate time variant of the present Max and has been trying to locate his younger self multiple times succeeding finally. He reveals that Max has been a decorated police officer once and living his life peacefully but psychologically miserable nonetheless. Suffering through great hardships in his early childhood and beating all odds against his abusive parents he had followed his dream and succeeded professionally nevertheless. Although extremely efficient at his job, Max suffered from severe depression and loneliness which took a drastic toll on his mental health. Once he was appointed as a security detail to prevent a supposed bomb threat for a music concert of an international pop star Gwendoline Engel, where he first heard the famous song "A Million Pigeons", which instantly struck a chord with him. Gwendoline has been the protégé of Ashley Bloodworth the famous aging musician and Lucile Benson as her collaborator has quickly taken the world by storm with her songs. Max had successfully saved Gwendoline from the threat at hand and she had personally thanked him by inviting him to a dinner. Although pop music was his least favourite genre out of all, there was something inexplicable about Gwendoline's songs that he couldn't resist listening to over and over as a breath of fresh air in his dreary mundane existence. Soon they grew close but Gwendoline always refused Max's romantic advances citing various reasons which made Max quite anxious as to what the actual reason might be. Upon coaxing, Gwendoline reveals that she was sexually assaulted multiple times in her youth which had led to her being a cynical person and severe trust issues especially with men. Both of their traumatic past acted as a bonding and Max reassured her that he doesn't long for her physical intimacy but wants to comfort and protect her as a friend. As their diverse hectic schedule kept them apart, Max in her absence went through his dour existential crisis after battling his own personal demons. In such moments Gwendoline used to hum the tune of A Million Pigeons and say "Look over the horizon Max...and I'll always be there...waiting for you" and Max instantly felt a sigh of relief as if every pain, sorrow and misery had vanished from his life. Her voice felt as if it was some kind of a sweet molten nectar flowing like an endless stream caressing his inner ears and healing all his blistering fresh wounds in an instant. But soon after the discovery of time travel and the upheaval that it brought upon the world, Max suddenly drifted away further from Gwendoline, submerged in his duties and responsibilities and was quickly hired by Chrono Corp's head honcho brilliantly arrogant Jake Longfellow himself as the perfect agent. Max decided to quit his job as he wanted nothing but to escape from his life and longed for Gwendoline but seeing as how it would disrupt his plans Jake made an offer to Max which he refused it nonetheless even after countless arguments. In retaliation, Jake orchestrated to take revenge on Max for his insubordination and to teach him a lesson had schemed to remove every trace of Gwendoline from Max's life, firstly by killing Lucile, then Ashley and finally Gwendoline by sending her severed head to Max in a gift wrapping. Unable to bear the insane reality and filled with blood curling vengeance Max had hunted down Jake but instead Jake tricked Max into an unending time loop each day waking up to live out his worst nightmares. Every time Max had come close to discovering the horrific truth Jake had implanted Max with a set of false memories to keep him busy and killed him at the end of the loop. On one such loop Max had escaped the authorities by hiding inside a time vortex like presently where he couldn't be located as the chrono vortex exists outside conventional time and space and ever since then he had been trying to contact his younger self. The older Max also reveals that the Great War is a hoax created by Jake to hinder his younger self from ever investigating his past life. Since he couldn't risk himself meeting his younger self in person as it would result in disastrous consequences nor could he participate in the events directly, he had been leaving clues at the crime scenes such as the musical notes, the lyrics of the song and finally the name of the song to make his younger-self-aware of the entire lofty conspiracy. The older Max also divulges that it was him who had visited Abner to guide him and solve the mystery of Lucile's death, injecting the nanites in his tea cup and save his younger self at the church from the hands of the mercenaries. Since the gun is DNA activated, he had no problem using it and intentionally slaughtered the mercenaries so as to keep Max isolated and contact him surreptitiously. Since Max had been living the same day over and over, he had been suffering from the multiple déjà vu and his fond memories shared with Gwendoline came flooding back to him in bits and pieces in his fever dreams. The older Max proposes that in order to terminate the time loop he has two difficult choices to make- first he must travel back in time and prevent his younger self from ever meeting Gwendoline in the first place so that none of the past events ever take place or alternatively kill Gwendoline himself as her existence is the nexus point of the entire events in all timelines. Faced with such an impossible task Max retorts to his older self that in his entire life Gwendoline was the one person who brought him peace so he cannot make the first choice which leads him to opt for the second choice but he can't bear to do it himself. Max instructs his older self to do it for him but not before meeting Gwendoline for one last time before losing her forever. The duo travels back in time to 1999 and requests Gwendoline to meet them at Rosenfield Cemetery to which she agrees. As the younger Max hides behind a tree, he witnesses his older self, confess the entire narrative and his feelings in a final farewell to which she listens intently as tears flow down her cheeks. As the older Max is about to shoot her, she closes her eyes to meet her demise when Jake and the authorities reaches the location. The older Max distracts the unwelcomed visitors in an all-out violent shoot out and in a desperate attempt tells his younger self to kill Gwendoline himself. Max knowing full well what he is capable of requests Gwendoline to assure him that everything will turn out to be perfectly all right to which she replies "Look over the horizon Max...and I'll always be there...waiting for you" all the while humming the tune of "a million pigeons". Witnessing the setting sun over the horizon, Max closes his eyes and in a shocking turn of events shoots himself and opens his eyes from his fever dream hearing "Look over the horizon Max...and I'll always be there...waiting for you" thus beginning his time loop once more.