DTH Jon found himself lying in the darkness again. This time, at least he was awake.
He knew the course of action he had taken was risky. The timeline had branched several times since his arrival but he couldn't take the chance of hopping back to any of those points. This building whatever it was, may have been occupied by the same people who captured him. For that reason he hopped out of the non-sequitur and back into one of the normal divergences. He hopped back to ARD Jon's timeline just as he had left to go to Sage Jon's non-sequitur timeline.
He knew that the non-sequitur universes generally had a significantly different history and there was a high chance the building wouldn't even exist. He rationalised that this universe only varied from his own since his birth. Going by the limited knowledge he had of the building's construction, he believed it was probably a lot older than he was. He decided this made it worth the risk of hopping back on to the regular timelines. Luckily for him it looked like his gamble had paid off.
Out there somewhere ARD Jon and his Karyn were waiting for his return. He mentally noted to remember and use the next branching point to hop back to the two of them whenever that time came. He knew if he used the original hop point he'd diverge the timeline and that might have, theoretically at least, contradicted his memories.
He began thinking about it and started to question his own logic. ARD Jon might be five miles away or a thousand. DTH Jon had no idea where he was. His best guess was some sort of secret government facility in the middle of nowhere. If his actions here were so far away from home surely that wouldn't create a paradox and there would be no need for a new divergence. It was another matter he thought should discussed with Sage Jon, if he ever got that opportunity again.
He gave himself a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, as he lay on the concrete floor. It felt cold on his bare legs.
He slowly got to his feet. He had memorised the room layout but he knew there could be any number of unseen obstructions between where he was and his destination.
The darkness remained and he silently cursed the lack of ambient light. DTH Jon thought about how to acquire a source of light. He had been deprived of his personal possessions so he couldn't even use his phone light to guide him.
The thought crossed his mind that he did have one personal possession. He turned on the DTH and adjusted the controls for the screen. He set it to maximum brightness and quickly regretted it when it nearly blinded him. It was significantly brighter than he expected. It wasn't as bright as his phone light but it was bright enough to illuminate nearby walls in a dim glow.
The room appeared empty and he slowly made his way to the door with his improvised flash light.
Luckily for him the door was unlocked. He pushed it open cautiously and moved into the corridor.
The light situation was somewhat better here. Windows lined the corridor wall near the high ceiling. The windows were boarded up but a little daylight penetrated the corridor from the small gaps in between the boards.
Jon thought that the building had been abandoned until he noticed the faint glow of several emergency exit signs. There was still power so most likely the facility was just mothballed rather than outright abandoned.
He walked up the corridor till he found the door he was looking for. He listened carefully for the sound of human activity but only heard the quiet echo of his own footsteps.
He soon came to the door he wanted. It was the one Karyn had indicated.
He opened it. None of the light from the corridor appeared to penetrate the dark room. Slowly he moved forward into the darkness. He needed to be inside the room.
He mentally prepared himself to act quickly for the next stage of his plan. Firstly he returned the brightness level of the screen to normal, then he pressed several buttons on the DTH and activated it.
