Generation 1, Chapter 38

Emit was concerned that some catastrophic event occurred in the past. He had to find what that event was before the future finished rewriting itself. At times like this he almost regretted discovering time travel. He knew too much and he was responsible to keep the timeline on track.

As he walked towards his front door, he contemplated the changes that were occurring. They were all related in some way to the technology used in robotics. Then he remembered his stroll through Legacy Park, the legacy statue for the Pioneer in Robotics had changed, in fact it was gone. At the time he hadn't noticed but now it's absence was significant.

Emit stopped to pull up information from the time almanac to see who was supposed to be the Pioneer in Robotics. The name the time almanac provided was Adam Van Winkle. It was his discoveries that all their technology was based on. Emit smiled remembering how he met Adams father, Peter. They had become good friends. He remembered helping Peter with a decision he was struggling with. He pondered for a moment trying to remember what that decision was. Emit recalled that Peter was concerned how his divorce from Vallari would effect the future. There should have been only minimal changes. It had been vital that Peter and Vallari produce Adam and since Adam was already a child there was no concern over his parents becoming divorced. So what happened since, that prevented Adam from pursuing robotics?

As Emit continued to research, he became saddened to learn that Peter, his friend, died of cancer soon after marrying Jean DeGraf. Emit know that Jean and Peter had been destined to meet and he had wanted to tell Peter about her when they discussed his and Vallari's divorce. But he had decided against it letting the future unravel as it should without his help. However the future the almanac had shown then was that Peter and Jean were to live a long, happy life together raising a large happy family. Peter was supposed to be the backbone of the family, the stronghold, the safe haven his kids could go to for guidance and support that helped them all contribute towards the future.

Emit kept searching, seeking information as to what happened, hoping he would learn what could be done to change this timeline. What he found broke his heart. He learned that after Peter's death, Vallari sued for custody and control of the children's inheritance. Despite Peter's will and the court battle, Jean lost the case as the judge ruled in favor of Vallari, feeling that the children would be better off with their birth mother than with their step mother. Peter left each of this children well provided for, along with seeing to it that Jean would have what she needed. If Vallari had used a little common sense the money would have been enough for them to live a comfortable life or she could have left it alone and let the children have it when they turned eighteen. But Vallari neither had common sense or love for her children and spent all the money in a vain attempt to maintain her looks in one plastic surgery after another. Within four years the money was gone.

Adam being the oldest took it upon himself to support the family. Upon graduation he took a full time job in a factory and worked overtime every chance he got. He had tried to take night courses at the local community college but he found he had little energy left to pursue his dreams in robotics and soon dropped all his classes. Sadly Windy, his best friend since childhood abandoned him and moved to Bridgeport in search of a rich husband. After several years of working to put his siblings through school Adam announced his plans to go to university once the twins graduated from high school. Everyone was happy and supportive of Adam, knowing he had sacrificed a lot to give them what they needed.

Vallari on the other hand was trying to find ways to keep Adam at home, taking care of her. Adam however refused to be manipulated stating he had stuck around to ensure his brother and sisters had what they needed. Now that they were moving on and starting their own lives, he was free to start his. As far as Adam cared, Vallari could fall off the face of the earth and no one would miss her. Despite Vallari's advanced age, she was still a force to contend with and she gave Adam her trademark smirk and told Adam that revenge was sweet. Adam had heard her say this all his life and it never meant anything good.

Adam was adamant that he was leaving despite Vallari's attempts to make him stay. He quit his job, loaded up his car with what few possessions he had and waved goodbye to Appaloosa Plains, vowing he would never come back.

Adam never made it to University, the police report read he fell asleep at the wheel and hit a tree. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Emit knew Vallari was responsible for the accident. He wouldn't put it past her; although he doubted her intent was to kill, to maim yes, to punish him for leaving, definitely.

Emit knew he should only go back as far as the car accident, prevent Vallari's sabotage, so that Adam could go on to University and become the Pioneer of Robotics. However he felt the injustice of all that Vallari had put the Van Winkle family through. He wanted to erase the pain they endured because of Peter's death. If he could prevent that, then this whole time line could be corrected. Emit spent days searching the almanac for when the cancer first appeared and his search led him to Vallari.

It began shortly after the divorce was finalized, Vallari was feeling cruelly mistreated. She wanted Peter to suffer the way he was making her suffer. She wanted it to be slow and painful, so she acquired a mild poison. The poison upon ingestion would cause nausea and dizziness, not something that would cause death but would definitely cause discomfort and pain. She wanted to avoid poisoning the entire household, it would cause to much suspicion, so it would have to be done at the lab. Vallari knew one of Peter's lab assistants and knew he would do anything for her. The lab assistant agreed to sprinkle the poison onto Peter's lunch, however he mixed the packet of poison up with a packet of irradiated dust they had been using on lab mice in their work on finding a cure for cancer. When lunch was delivered the assistant sprinkled the irradiated dust onto Peter's sandwich. From that one dose, Peter's cancer began.

Afterwards the assistant went back to work not realizing his mistake until he went to give the lab mice the irradiated dust and found the poison instead. He knew there was nothing he could do about his mistake, so he simply disposed of the poison and when he was done for the day, never came back to work. He moved soon afterwards to another lab in Twinbrooks. Emit thought if he had only confessed, Peter might have had a chance, he would have known what was happening and sought help sooner. Better yet, if Vallari had an ounce of goodness in her she wouldn't have asked someone to poison her ex-husband.

Emit knew he could go back in time, prevent the poisoning and this whole sequence of events would be erased. However if he did that Peter would never meet Jean, who would never move to Appaloosa Plains to fill the position of lab assistant. It had been her concern for Peter's well being that caused her to seek him out when she noticed he had left the meeting. If he changed that one horrible act, then another set of variables would take over and Peter would die a lonely old man not ever having take the chance on love again. Effecting his children's attitude towards love and commitment, bouncing from one ruined relationship to another, never settling down and essentially the Van Winkle family line would die out. There had to be another solution. 

As Emit sought a solution to help Peter. Peter's time was fast running out. He was no longer able to continue his work at the lab, growing too weak and tired he needed to rest frequently through out the day. However he continued to hope for a miracle and worked on this notes he took from the Science lab so that he could continue his research at home. He knew he was close but he feared he was missing something and the chemotherapy he was on was affecting his ability to remember things, so he often found himself repeating experiments. He knew he had to continue, his work may one day help someone else, even if it was too late to help himself. He wasn't ready to give up, even if his body was losing the battle.