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[ 2003 Bishop’s POV ]
Bishop was not having a good day.
Mostly because he didn’t have any clue how he’d gotten here or who the two people with him were.
Both looked strikingly like him but they couldn’t be one of his clones. The primary storage facility had been destroyed and he knew none of the backups in the smaller facilities had escaped.
Even if they had, they wouldn’t get far.
But the main problem here was that he didn’t know what was going on and it made his spine itch with an uneasiness that he wasn’t very fond of. He’d dedicated his life to ensuring that feeling of the looming unknown was minimized in his life as much as possible.
And the feeling was only made worse when the lab coat adorned double started moving closer and muttered a soft, “Fascinating.”
“Are you responsible for bringing me here?” Bishop pushed a bit of a growl into his voice, just enough to put a terse edge on his question.
It did not deter the double in the slightest. He moved even closer, eyes almost shining with interest.
It made Bishop’s hackles stand on end.
“He’s not,” a voice suddenly came from his right side, making him snap his head to look at– at yet another double of his, dressed in all white (why wear all white? that couldn’t be convenient for his work) and suspiciously calm for the situation at hand. Or at least pretending to be. “I believe it was due to an experiment gone awry on my end.”
Bishop scowled, but at least there was an explanation, now. It did not make him feel less wary of the version of him in a lab coat, who was looking between them with a kind of curiosity that Bishop himself deeply understood but definitely didn’t like seeing on this man’s face. Mercifully, he eventually settled on paying attention to the man in white. “What kind of experiment?”
“I doubt either of you have ever heard of a Time Window?”
Bishop couldn’t say he had, but it wasn’t hard to guess what that had to mean. “You invented a time machine? And used it for what, a family reunion?”
He knew, somehow, instinctively, that behind the black visor, his double rolled his eyes. “No, and no. Like I said, this was an unintended consequence. They should be getting us back to our timelines shortly.” Satisfied with that explanation, he looked the other two over, and frowned slightly. It made Bishop want to punch him.
“You got a problem with something?”
“Well, gentlemen,” intervened the other one with a calm, serene tone of voice as he raised his hand in a pacifying gesture. He was the only one not wearing any distinctive gear over his eyes, so Bishop took a note of that, hoping to make it easier for him to differentiate between his two counterparts in his mind.
“There’s no need to be hostile, is there? I think this is a very interesting opportunity for us. You mentioned a time window... I am not familiar with that concept but I am willing to listen if you’re up to explaining it to me. Of course, I would also share some of my own research with both of you in exchange.”
That was... an interesting offer but, he didn’t know if this man had anything valuable to offer him. He also was unaware of his motives and allegiances so sharing information could pose a risk to him.
Going along with it, however... Could be useful.
“That depends on how valuable your research is,” intervened the Bishop with the visor, beating him to it.
A small, sharp half smile bloomed in the other’s face. His eyes lit up with excitement.
“I believe that you’ll find value in what I have to offer, sir. Especially considering the fact that we’re the same person. Any information I manage to get from you two would be world changing. Even just being in this room, in another dimension is already opening so many new avenues of research for me to explore. What I want from you is knowledge for the sake of knowledge and I can give you the same in exchange.”
Bishop was unable to suppress a scoff.
Knowledge for the sake of knowledge? The value of knowledge was in the power someone can obtain from it. Maybe these counterparts weren’t as similar to him as he had first thought.
“Very well then.” The Bishop with the visor responded. “The Time Window is not meant to be a time machine. As implied by the name, it's meant to be a window to look into the past, or the future.”
“So you made a time machine that can’t actually send you back in time?” Bishop asked. This seemed to defeat the purpose.
“This was never meant to send anyone back. It is simply a tool for one to look at a different time, observing. Without anyone knowing they’re being observed.” The response came quickly, as if the question was already expected.
The other Bishop looked fascinated. “So you made a perfect spying tool?”
Visor Bishop frowned, “I didn’t make it, I’m merely collaborating with the inventor.”
Collaborating? That was an odd way to say he’d outsourced. Which was an awful idea, in Bishop’s opinion. Outsourcing hindered quality control and added unpredictable elements. Outsourcing was for things like paperwork or supply orders, not groundbreaking technology.
The third Bishop frowned, eyes narrowing as he tilted his head in interest, “But you do know how it was built, yes?”
“Vaguely. The finer details escape me, unfortunately.”
The finer–? How could he not know? “What do you mean you don't know?”
Visor Bishop shrugged, “The Time Window was being developed for quite some time before I got involved.”
Bishop could feel his jaw ticking, confusion and anger twisting together in his chest as the implications of those words hit him, “Someone was just building a device that can spy on anyone, at any time, and you didn’t investigate until recently?”
“I’m busy with quite a few things,” Visor Bishop said passively.
Bishop quietly swore to never let himself become so lax with his surveillance. In fact, he should redistribute some funds to surveillance when he got back to where he belonged, just as a precaution.
The third Bishop turned, the focused curiosity now back on Bishop, “What about you? Anything intriguing to share?”
Bishop glared at the third counterpart. He didn’t like him, there was something so… off about him that Bishop couldn’t pinpoint. But he wanted this man far away from him. Telling him anything would very likely be a huge security risk.
…but perhaps he could weasel out something useful without giving out secrets to a dangerous person.
So he made sure to keep his face blank, the picture of indifference, as he spoke “What do you have to offer in return?”
The Third Bishop grinned, clasping his hands together, “Are either of you familiar with the mutant turtles that lurk around New York?”
And like that, Bishop’s interest was peaked, cation not gone but certainly lowered. The turtles had been an overall minor but persistent thorn in his side. One he would happily take any knowledge of so he could to finally have those mutants under his control–
“Another time,” Visor Bishop suddenly interrupted.
And Bishop’s head snapped around, a waspish reply ready on his tongue–
Bishop blinked.
He was in his office. At his desk, paperwork piled high around him.
All was normal.
Had… something happened?
Bishop frowned at the time displayed on the wall clock. It seemed like no time had passed but.... he felt like he was missing something.