3.

Having gone on the run, from what or from whom, either and both being a little unclear to say the least, and despite what the video message had said along with having made somewhat of an escape from my friend's bedroom window, I knew I had to make some changes.

For me, any and all disbelief just had to be suspended. Risk and danger are real. I need to protect myself, for the time being at least, and give in to unusual precautions.

If indeed people are coming after me then I can't really go around using my own name. I could not use any bank cards that I own. I could not use the internet, well, it had to be cautious if I did, and I could not use my own phone for fear that it would give away my position, though if there really are people from the future coming after me then who can know what kind of methods they could and would be able to use in regards to being able to track me down.

At such a point of having only just begun a journey of going on the run, I basically had nothing besides the clothes I was wearing, the small amount of money in my pocket and the laptop that I managed to take with me from my friend's apartment.

In an attempt to gather my thoughts, I decided to give the video a second look to see if there was anything new that I could take from it. Did I come across something new? Did I hell ... there would be plenty new I could take from the video, as the whole thing was somehow completely different to the video I had previously watched.

Could things really get any stranger? Of course it could.

To begin with, the version of me in the video starts things off by standing with his back to whatever device he was using to record on; this was not the way the previous video had started. I'm slightly startled with what I see when my counterpart turns around.

Once again, as before, I look older than I do now but maybe not as much so as I did in the original video though that is not what had startled me. What did startle me however is the sight of a rather large facial scar on the left cheek of my alternate. The scar looks to be at least three inches long sloping slightly downwards from left to right. One heck of an injury must have befallen him to leave a mark like that behind.

'Hello friend,' the same opening words as before, 'not quite the video you were expecting, huh? I am you and being you I or maybe we, if that can be said, found that memory stick that you are watching this video on, and the consequences that this brings, has altered the time from prior to finding the memory stick up to the time the initial video was or is supposed to have been made. ...

Are you with me so far? Of course you are, for you obviously enough are me. So now, even though we have seen that video, it will never actually be made, well unless something changes a decision you are to make in your not-too-distant future. I can only speculate that the original video will never be repeated though don't quote me on that.

The decision I have mentioned, what decision you may ask yourself? Guess we will have that covered soon enough, bet you never expected to ask yourself a question through a laptop in a manner quite like this, huh?

Anyhow, enough of the self-indulgence, what it is that we were warned of in the first video does still exists in my timeline. It is real. It is all very real. We still make a certain ... let's say ... discovery. I'm sure it is the same discovery as before but who really knows? We didn't specify them and for reasons of necessity, it won't be defined here either.

All that really needs to be known is that there are still those who are still coming for you, for it, they won't stop coming for you, so do what you have to, and be safe.'

Oh, my word, ... my word indeed. Needless to say, that this is where the new or should I say second video ends, but there cannot be a second video at all if the first one no longer exists or will even ever be made, can there? I am no temporal mechanic. Maybe I am living some kind of alternate existence, it seems less of a maybe and more of a certainty. Now that is one heck of a statement.

What the hell is this thing that I am meant to create? And what is it which is wanted so badly that all this is happening? So, it would seem time has apparently been altered already, bringing me into this alternate existence.

The future is heading in a different direction than what it would have if I had not come across this memory stick. My mind begins working overtime wondering as to if there is anything I can do in the here and now to alter it further and make it work to my advantage.

It may be safe to assume that I get into some sort of scuffle with those who have come or are coming to find me, thus causing the scar I could see in that second video, or more precisely alternate first video. I guess avoiding any and all physical confrontations may be a wise thing to attempt, though I am aware that there are other ways that I may acquire such a scar on my cheek and as it is, avoiding confrontation of any sort is easier said than done.

I could also just hide and lock myself away somewhere though that would not be such a wise thing. It would be conducive to nothing. I will need to eat, need to survive, and I want to have some sort of life that does not involve me hiding, running or being chased.

At this time, I was hesitant about involving anyone else I know or knew with what was happening to me, but I needed help. I needed some sort of fake identification. I needed a way of moving forward without being me and I knew a guy who could help me out with just that.

Strangely enough and just like before, I would come into contact with my friend, not the same friend as before, at an opportune moment, before I had the chance to go contact him. Imagine that. ... I didn't quite explain to this particular friend why I needed to do what I needed to do, and this particular friend was alright with that. Not asking questions suited him just fine, so he told me.

He had everything I could want or need done and ready for me in a matter of a couple of hours including a bank account with enough money to tide me over for quite some time.

In my mind, I also needed to believe that these tactics of mine, if tactics are involved at all, have not been or will not be anticipated by either time or whoever it is that is coming for me, but what do I know?

I am an honest person; I have always worked hard to get what I want in life though I find myself in a unique predicament so I have to do what I can to survive, right? I told myself that I would not take unnecessary advantage of this new bank account. The money within it obtained through somewhat nefarious albeit necessary means ... and not taking unnecessary advantage of it is something easier said than done.

I did not ask as to exactly where this money came from, but I do indeed know that it was not acquired legally. Desperate times as they say. Temptation affects the best of us and gets us all eventually, I guess.

Well, the six months since finding the bottle with the memory stick have indeed passed. In some ways it doesn't feel quite so long and in other ways if feels as if a lifetime has passed for my life is very different now to what it was before that day on the beach. As with where I pick things up I have yet to come full circle.

Obviously enough in such a short period of time I have become a very different person. I had been so carefree, easy going and so focused on work. Well, I wouldn't say I was quite carefree though I wanted to be. Now I am constantly watching my back, wondering if someone knows what has been going on, and wondering if the next person walking towards me is actually coming for me.

I don't dare play what is on that memory stick, half out of fear that someone may be eves dropping and half out of fear that it may once again reveal something new, something I may not want to hear or see. See why I didn't say replay the memory stick video?

With my newly acquired identity and current situation, life has me contemplating taking up a position on a fishing vessel. Such a position would take me off land and out of harm's way. It would be something I hope would give me some sort of peace of mind, hopefully taking away the constant need I have with looking over my shoulder. That would be a plan but not a fool proof one.

I have met with the captain of one vessel in particular. I came across this fishing vessel randomly, or so I like to think, and despite my lack of experience he ... this captain fellow ... is willing to take me on. I am sure it will be hard work and would come with poor pay, but as I said ... money is not a problem thanks to my friend and my new identity. It has more to do with keeping myself occupied and, of course, out of harm's way.

For a fishing vessel this thing I am on is huge, definitely more of a small ship than a large boat. I even have my own resting quarters, which is something I am most definitely glad to have.

And just for the hell of it and knowing that I am about to put my laptop away for a while and against my better judgement I decide that I should give that video another look. I just couldn't help myself, it's like an itch I needed to scratch and after all, it has been quite some time since I watched that second video slash alternate first and only message.

Despite the fact that I do have earphones I let it play while being more than a bit weary that someone may overhear the video contents.

Third time to watch the video ... or a memory stick video ... and for a third time it is once again it is something completely different than what it had been before. This time it is short, much shorter than the two previous videos. It is direct and to the point. My alternate seems to be the same age he was in that second video. The scar is still on the cheek though the hair looks a little different. My alternate looks somewhat distressed and has only five words to speak to me.

'Get off that boat now.'

What the hell? It took a few seconds for the briefness and urgency of that video to sink in and then another few seconds for me to actually react to it. Once I do begin to react, I quickly place everything that I took out of the large carryon bag which I had brought on board with me ... back into it, and then I make a run for it in an attempt to leave the boat.

Unfortunately for me, we had already set sail and had moved more than just a few feet away from shore. I could just jump over and swim to shore but I decide against doing so. The captain is nearby me at this particular moment.

'Having a change of heart?' he asks.

'Just having a moment of questioning myself as to if I have made a good decision to come aboard' I say turning towards him.

'Well, it is only a seventy-two hour or so outing and we will be returning to our point of departure so if you still think you have made a bad decision coming aboard then you will be a free man when we do return. Do you think you can survive until then?'

'Oh, I'm sure I can.'

'Good, we will be getting together for something to eat in about an hour or so if you are up for that?'

I offer a nod of appreciation and return to where I had just come from. My mind can't help but wonder as to what I am letting myself in for. What is it that my older self is trying to prevent? Something happened in his past on this fishing vessel. He was where I am. Something is yet to happen and by deciding not to jump I guess I have made the decision to allow that something to happen. Thing is ... what is this something?

Once I have a moment to myself, I realize that I had not removed the memory stick from my laptop from when I last viewed the content of the memory stick, so I immediately go to take the laptop from my bag. The memory stick is not connected to the laptop. I search my bag and there is no sign of it. It is not anywhere around by my sleeping area either and I would spend that next hour looking for it without having any success.

How could I have been so careless? I need that memory stick and I most definitely need to ensure that no one else gains access to it. But for now, I waited ... unseen, uncertain, and unwilling to surrender to fate. The game was still on and in full motion, and I was not ready to fold.