Microstory 1157: Kivi Bristol

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The entity known as Kivi Bristol is an anomaly, even amongst all other people who experience time beyond the norm. There is no one in time or space like her...except for all of her copies. The smartest, and most well-versed, in the salmon-chooser underworld don’t even know exactly how she works. Every once in awhile, a new version of her will pop up. One is a lawyer, the other a waitress, yet another a nomadic wanderer. This version will have her own background and memories, and won’t necessarily have any knowledge of her single-timeline alternates. She always looks the same, and she always has the same name. Her personality is always about the same too, but not exactly, because environment influences an individual’s character as much as—if not more than—nature, which explains some people’s radically different life choices across alternate timelines. No one is sure how she came to be, or what the point of this all is. Sometimes it appears she was born, but other times, we think she was just randomly called into existence. Is she a chooser, or is just a salmon? She doesn’t appear to have any control over this, which would suggest that someone else does, but some have posited a different answer. They believe there is one Kivi who is the real one, and she is the one who ultimately created her own alternates. At some point, a copy’s memories and knowledge will be integrated into this master copy, but not shared with the others. This is theoretically her variation of immortality. None of the copies lasts particularly long themselves. In fact, some only appear for a duration of minutes. But, depending ultimately on how many Kivis there are, the master could carry with her the cumulative experience of thousands of years, or more. Of course, again, no one even knows if this person exists. People tend to think there are only two basic types of time travelers: those who control time, and those who are controlled by people who control time. It’s perfectly reasonable to suspect, however, that it’s possible for time itself to impose its will upon someone. After all, that’s how it works for most people. The majority of life in the universe only sees linear time, and has no choice but to see it that way. It’s clearly possible to see it differently, yet they are bound to the one way, and perhaps the only reason this is considered normal is because it’s the most common, but that doesn’t mean it’s correct. All accounted for Kivis don’t know who they are, or why they are the way they are. They just try to live their respective lives to the best of their abilities, and maybe someday, one or more of them will get some answers.