St Agnes Anglican Church

“As the sign here reads, this is the second belltower to be constructed at this point.” There’s something matter-of-fact about the way your Handler speaks that reminds you of a university professor. “The first became unsettled because of shifting earth beneath our feet. Yet if I told you what was responsible for that, you’d think that I was crazy…”

With this cryptic statement your Handler strides off, leading you down the side of the church to the memorial garden, where rose bushes grow against the fence. “A wise man once said, that if you move even just your hand, everything else in the Universe also moves.”

You’re not quite sure what to make of that, except that it sounds like something you once read inside a fortune cookie. The thought makes you hungry enough that you should probably eat a mint before the Handler continues speaking.

“That’s why you have been recruited—to be the moving hand of The Firm. You’re capable of doing what the rest of us cannot.”

“But… you can move. You’re doing it right now,” you say.

Your Handler approaches one of the rose bushes at the back of the garden. “To cause material change you must… first… be… material.” Your Handler reaches out for a rose bush and closes his hand over the thorns. You wince, but a moment later your Handler shows you the palm of his hand, the skin unblemished.

“How did you do that?” you stammer. “Are you… are you a ghost?”

Your Handler laughs, a booming, resonant sound that fills the garden and bounces back at you off the church. “No. I’m not a ghost. I’m a hologram, sent from the future.”

“How does that work?”

“It’s complicated,” he says, dismissing your question as easily as one might change their Facebook status.

“Every action you take, every… move you make, has an impact on the world. Simply by being here now, you’re altering the future. You’re helping to prepare this place—Grange—for What Comes Next.”

“What does come next?” you ask. “And if you’re from the future, prove it. With next week’s lottery numbers, for example?”

You both laugh awkwardly for a moment before fading to silence. “Seriously, I could use those numbers.”

The Handler clears his throat before hurrying on. “What Comes Next, I’m afraid, is unavoidable. But the impact of those events may yet be… mitigated. It all depends on the choices you make.”

“Is it a pre-requisite of time travel that you only speak in riddles?” you ask.

“An unfortunate side-effect,” says your Handler. “So then, one final riddle on the paradox of humanity: why do we always yearn to see the future and change the past, but so rarely yearn to see the past and change the future?

“You have a choice, Recruit. I can show you What Comes Next, but if I do, you will not be able to return to this timeline.”

“Alternatively, you can change the future in the here-and-now by helping us to obtain a weapon of cosmic proportions. This weapon may be used to counteract future… situations that will inevitably arise. If you choose this option, I will not be able to guarantee your safety, but I can assure you that you will be ensuring the safety of many others in Grange—nay, the entire planet.”

The choice is yours. Will you:

Kirkcaldy Reserve: Accept the Firm’s mission to enable a powerful secret weapon hidden in nearby Kirkcaldy Reserve? You don’t need to see the future to want to change it. To make this decision, walk down Military road with the beach to your right and turn left onto Grange Road. Follow the road away from the beach until you reach Kirkcaldy Reserve on your left. Head towards the children’s playground.

OR

Sea Eagle Statue: Head back to the beach, to the sculpture of the Sea Eagle, in order to see What Comes Next? The idea of unleashing some mysterious super-weapon without knowing the facts doesn’t sit right with you; you’re determined to make your own plans to help protect the future. Head back to Military road, turn left and then turn right onto Grange Road. Follow it towards the beach to find the Sea Eagle.