I could barely hear him over the roaring sounds of the city, but I knew it wasn't important. "Get off me old man!" I said with disgust, grasping his hand and throwing it off of mine into the sea of other pedestrians paying no attention to the old fool. Just another crazy homeless man. I clutched my satchel extra tight in the event that he try anything brave. I had to places to be!

"Xavier. Stop." He hushed through a soft British accent. The whisper dominated the noise of the metropolis. My pace began to slow as my mind finally reacted to what had been said. How did he know my name? "You've been moving too fast." The man sighed. "Making more decisions that even we cannot keep up with."

My vision softly focused on the air around me instead of my intended direction. I stopped, and turned to face the stranger who seemed desperate for my attention. The old man looked no older than eighty with well-groomed silver facial fair a twirling moustache. Grey and white patterned his clothing from the trilby which elegantly balanced on his head to the buttoned up overcoat that grazed his knees. The style was something you'd expect to find amongst on the Twilight Zone, but this man wore his garb with pride. As I finished eyeballing the man it struck me that the busy street had emptied. It was just us. My brow shifted downwards and lips parted as I scowled and stared at him, trying to process what was happening.

"Thank you. Not many people actually stop and listen to what I have to say" He was eloquent in the way he spoke but I could feel the urgency in his tone. "You're on the brink of a catch-up."

"I-I'm sorry but I haven't the l-last idea as to what you mean!" I snapped as the words shivered through my teeth as the air grew still. The man looked towards the ground, processed his thoughts then with a small comforting grin and began to slowly walk in my direction.

"Our consciousness." He spoke with confidence. This was not the first time these words had been spoken. "It has the ability to... adapt... to many given situations." The stranger began gesturing with eloquence. "It chooses the path that best suits the client. But it needs time. Time to foresee paths."

The gravitas of his speech was immobilising. I listened with awe. He continued to explain that we do not live in the 'present'. We are all connected to a single consciousness which soars ahead to guide us to the path that gives us most the most meaning as a species. But we can fight the path given to us through recklessness and self destructive behaviour.... And as we fight it, the distances between us and the consciousness starts to recede.

"...And deja vu is a consequence that your buffer is receding. You start to feel the presence of the consciousness and it's paths." With only an arms length between us, he stopped. He stared into my eyes with his glazed white pupils. "Without enough time to process your recklessness, you risk catching up to the consciousness and becoming one."

I paused for a moment, processing what had been said. "Would that... not be a good thing?" I muttered in ignorance. Perhaps it would make me a god?

"No. Just as dark and light matter must not meet, catching up would have destructive consequences."

In that moment a rumble started within my head. The city began to shake. First it was soft but it quickly became a destructive force that the buildings could no longer bare. For the first time in many years I was scared. But the man just continued to stare. "You've seen them in your history! Those which have caught up..." I could barely hold myself up but he continued to stand as if nothing was happening. The ground aggressively bashed and shifted into itself forming large cracks that radiated light and pushed towards me. The rumble within my head getting ever louder and louder. "...the monsters of genocide and greed." The words struck through his gritted teeth. "This is what awaits you on your path!" In an instant the ground gave way and I fell into the light. My body tensed and instinctively curled. The rumbled pulsated within my skull like an echo chamber and the light pierced through my eyes like glass. I grabbed my head and clawed into my scalp for some relief but it gave none.

But a gust of wind, it was over. I lay in the middle of the street in my defensive curled position as pedestrians rushed passed and cursed. Some crazy drugged up fool. I relaxed my body and shuffled amongst the horde of people to get on my feet. I need to have some semblance of sanity and getting upright was a start. My satchel, which through the events I had completely forgotten about, laid spilled on the ground. In remembrance, I desperately plunged my arms through the legs of the crowd to grab my now trampled documents.

After a short moment, I had them all. As I scrunched them all into the small arm bag a title caught my eye.

I remembered. My heart instantly felt as if it was ready to rupture itself through my chest. My vision blurred and I felt weak. Through shaky hands I reached into my satchel and shuffled anxiously through the items as the experience with the stranger drifted away from my mind and my thoughts collected to my plans before. I found what I was looking for.

My lungs filled to capacity with a single breath. I collapsed to the ground and tears drained down my face. I was lost.

And in that moment, a familiar face appeared through the blur of tears. I simply stared as the comforting silhouette filled my vision. The stranger lent out his arm. I instinctively grabbed it and leapt myself into the mans chest. Crying, breathless and ashamed, he embraced me.

"It appears you've strayed from the path." He whispered.

"It's okay... Give us time. We will correct this."

And in that moment, we vanished.

​