[ WP ] The good news is , I 've been here before . The bad news is , I 've been here before .

Amidst the sound of blaring alarms, David and I reached the central junction. Immediately a feeling of calm came over me. We were in the right place, and this battle would be over soon. 
 
 `` Listen to me, David. We are running out of time. If you fail to reach the control center and trigger the system overload, everything and everyone we know will be destroyed. But I know you can do it. I know you *will* do it.'' 
 
 David looked at me with a confused expression, and paused for a moment before he spoke. 
 
 `` What do you mean by that?'If *you* do n't make it,''I know *you* can do it,' What's all this'you' talk for? You're coming too, are n't you?'' 
 
 `` I may have helped you get this far, but I fear I can not go any further. You will find the main control room 200 meters down this corridor, then another 100 meters down the corridor to the left. The entry code is 56298. In approximately 90 seconds the Grand General himself is going to walk through this door, and when he does I want you to already be starting the overload sequence.'' 
 
 `` It's... You're... What? How do you know all this? Stop talking crazy and let's get going!'' 
 
 I put my hand on David's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. I could see his fear, but even in the midst of that fear I could see his resolve. In a past life I would never have believed that a single youth and an old man would be capable of stopping the Grand General, but looking into his eyes in that moment I had never been more sure of anything. 
 
 `` You are not listening, David. Once you have activated the overload, you must immediately get as far away from here as you can. If you fail to escape, you will be lucky if the blast only incinerates you.'' 
 
 `` Lucky? *That's* what you call lucky? What could *POSSIBLY* be worse than-'' 
 
 `` If you are *NOT* lucky, You will find yourself caught in the spacetime disruption that the energy release will cause! You could find yourself transported to any point in time! Any place in the universe! But what *could* happen is not important, because you are not going to *let* it happen! What is important *right now* is that I need you to be at a point in space 75 meters further away from here than you currently are, at a point in time approximately equal to this one! Now go!'' 
 
 As David ran down the hall, his boots drumming on the metal floor, I turned and awaited my expected company. 
 
 About a minute later, David activated his communications. 
 
 `` Alright, I think I can see the Control Room! But you *still* have n't said how you know the entry code, or even where this room is!'' 
 
 `` David, there is much I have n't told you. There is much about me that you do not know. For our purposes, suffice it to say that there is good news and there is bad news. The good news is, I have been here before.'' 
 
 The Grand General walked through the door. Even after all this time, after all my efforts to redeem myself, I was haunted to gaze upon what I had once been. 
 
 Though I knew how this fight would end, I also knew that this act would finally be enough to soothe my restless soul. After all, what better redemption can one find than in stopping oneself? 
 
 `` The bad news is, I have been here before.''
