| Generated by Google Flow text-to-video AI software, powered by Omni Flash |
Deflinus was Olimpia’s older brother, not younger. The fact that she was
the only person in the family to have an echo, even after a decade and a
half, strongly suggested to all of them that there was only something
wrong with her. They didn’t realize she heard these fights, but her father
regularly accused her mother of having an affair, which would explain
Olimpia’s unusual condition. They didn’t understand it, but it just felt
like something that would be passed down the bloodline. They conducted
periodic DNA tests to prove him wrong because he kept bringing it up again
every few years, thinking if he could have been duped for the conception,
earlier tests could have been faked too.
Olimpia’s echo was very isolating. She never grew close to her siblings.
They didn’t exclude her maliciously. It really came down to their parents.
They raised her differently than they raised the others, which taught them
to treat her differently too. They actually got a little better when they
were older, but it was too late. She was too scarred to want to stick
around, and didn’t really take their feelings into account as she left home.
“You’re not still using the body that you were born in, right?” Olimpia
asked.
“Delfinus lost count of how many bodies he has used since his sister
abandoned him to their abusive parents. He changed substrates multiple times
in an attempt to correct his curse. Nothing has worked, but he keeps trying
every once in a while.”
“You can’t turn it off, what you’re doing?” Olimpia asked, pretty sure of
the answer.
“He obviously can’t, or he would never. Delfinus stopped speaking for years
because of it. Knowing sign language has not helped. He simply signs his
narrations, instead of the actual words he wants to say. The deaf community
cast him out for signing so literally, and ignoring conventional sign
grammar rules. Had his sister remained, they could have at least struggled
together. She should have stayed.”
Olimpia sighed and shook her head. “There was no way I could have known. You
were older! It doesn’t make any sense that it should have presented itself
so late in life.” When Mateo and Leona’s kids from another timeline showed
up, she actually questioned whether time powers ran in the family. She was
told they only did sometimes. Being that Olimpia’s parents had no apparent
patterns of their own, she was likely unique. She should not have taken that
as gospel, however, seeing as how she didn’t have a power or a
pattern, but an affliction, and those were probably handled
differently.
Olimpia’s watch beeped. “There is more to me than there once was. There’s
more to the world than you know. You have only scratched the surface. In
under a minute, I will quite literally disappear, and you will not see me
for another year, at the earliest.”
Delfinus nodded, and didn’t act surprised at all as he looked through his
bag. “Del knows of time travel. He has not been sitting idly by doing
nothing. He has done his research.” He removed a pocket tent and tossed it
on the ground, which exploded. “He has learned to be a patient man. He will
wait a year until his sister returns.”
Exactly a year later, everything was almost exactly as it was before. The
tent was still open, and Delfinus was right where he was standing when
Olimpia left.
“Okay. Now we have twenty-four hours to figure this out,” she began. “If we
don’t we’ll have to wait another year. I assume you have met with doctors
over the years?”
“Delfinus hates doctors. They always call what he does a psychological
concern, probably built around the trauma of having a sister with her own
medical issues.”
Olimpia sighs. “Well, this one will be different. Doctor Mallory Hammer will
actually listen to what you have to say, and will believe you.”
