SECTION 24

You decide to hear Larkin out. It is the polite thing to do and may make her more willing to help you to find a way to get back in time to fix all of this.

“You see,” she continues from the section you just came from, “while we know alternate universes and timelines exist, we still aren’t exactly clear on what makes them start and stop. Some advocate for the idea that every single decision we make spawns two new timelines, one where you follow one path and one where you follow the other. That seems incredibly inefficient to me. Regardless, we have incontrovertible proof that alternate timelines and universes do exist. The fact that you still remember your previous timeline indicates that you have been shielded from the change in some way. Were you exposed to tachyons?”

You nod.

“That has been theorized as a way to protect a person from a timeline change, but I was not aware that anyone had put it into use. But then, how would I? I could have been through multiple timeline changes, and I would have no idea.”

“But I would,” you say. “That’s the whole point of the tachyon treatments.”

“Of course. However, I did see some research recently indicating that exposure to Arcturan coffee increases tachyon decay by an incredible amount. Not that that matters in the current circumstance.”

Still, that seems like good information to have in case anyone offers any to you while you’re trying to save your timeline.

“In any case, it is clear that the Hobus supernova is the branch point between the two timelines. As long as you promise that stopping the supernova from occurring is the only change you will make in the past, I will try to help you.”

“You have my word,” you say.

Go to Section 19.