Microstory 2504: Regret Seer

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I can see your regrets, and show you your potential. Before Landis Tipton received the gifts of The Ten Vulnerabilities, I was responsible for two of them. There were five of us in total, and we chose to use our abilities very differently. We were nomads, traveling all over the world—mostly the North American continent—helping people one at a time. We searched for those who were at their lowest, who needed the most help. I was on the frontlines of this mission. Regret is one of the strongest emotions that a person can have, and sight is one of the strongest senses. It was easier for me to pick our targets out of a crowd without having to wait for them to do something to draw attention to themselves. I could just see it. Once I found a candidate, the five of us would explore this person’s life further. We could strategize about what we could do to help this person live a better life. The way we saw it, our tasks were helping the whole world exponentially. Everyone we supported would go out, and pay it forward. With a brand new lease on life, they would find it in their hearts to help others in their own ways. Honestly, we didn’t think to focus on only one of the Vulnerabilities, like Landis has. We were drawn to one another, and it felt like we absolutely had to work together in order to fulfill our destinies. Had we only let the Health Smeller do her thing, what work would have been left for the rest of us? We just had a different perspective. And fittingly enough, I regret nothing. And you know that’s true, because if I did, I would be able to tell, and I’m comfortable enough with my own vulnerabilities that I would be honest about it. I can’t bring my own regrets to the surface, but I’m very good at recognizing them. We did our own thing our own way, and I still think we improved the world. We didn’t always hit it out of the park. There is a reason why we don’t have the gifts anymore, and why we had to transfer them to Landis. But I don’t like to talk about it, because that is something that I regret. Maybe I’m not as brave as I believe. I should be able to talk about what happened. Unfortunately, while I helped countless others see their potential, I could never see my own. But again, the gifts belong to Landis now, and while it saddens me a little that my Vulnerability senses aren’t being used, I’m proud of the work that he’s been doing. That’s why I chose him in the first place. I didn’t know exactly what he was going to do, but I knew that he was on his way to reaching greatness.

Extremus: Year 103

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Silvia and one of the Audreys are gone. Thistle is the only one who may know whether the original, or the clone, is the one who ended up heading off to the planet. He reportedly deleted his own memories of the event, but it really doesn’t matter. For all practical purposes, it’s the same consciousness, just with a different body. He restored her to perfect health to further conceal the truth, but a deep enough medical examination could produce an answer, if anyone were so inclined to try. Extremus!Audrey is choosing to be positive about the situation, taking comfort in knowing that she is raising her baby, even though she will never have any memories of it, or be able to make any decisions on the child’s behalf. There was a ton of philosophical debate about this during the time when consciousness manipulation technology was being developed. In the end, most can agree that you are unique, and even a copy is not really you. They’re just someone who looks like you, and thinks they are you. That’s why programs like Project Theseus and neurosponging were created. They maintain continuity of thought during the digitization and transfer process. There is no copy; it’s you over here, and then over there. Audrey is ignoring that, because it’s not the point. Silvia is being cared for by her mother, and that’s as good as it’s going to get until the Waldemar problem is solved, or at least comes to some kind of conclusion.

Tinaya’s duties to the population have subsided. There doesn’t really seem to be a need for anyone to be directly in charge of promoting growth. They don’t really want there to be someone doing that job permanently. It’s too close to totalitarianism. If you want kids, have kids. If you don’t, don’t. If you can’t care for them, please don’t try. In the end, it’s the public’s responsibility, and if they want the human race on this side of the galaxy to eventually die out, then so be it. Philosophically, it’s not a real problem. A problem is something which has a negative impact on those involved. If no one is alive anymore, there’s no one to feel the negative effects. No one gets hurt. The human race is not inherently entitled to persisting. The fact that they exist does not, on its own, provide any transcendent benefit to the universe. This is a hard lesson to learn, and few have learned it. In an ideal world, they shouldn’t have to. If they do want to live, they should be able to. The only real boundary separates what one person wants from what another does. Everyone deserves the right to decide what they want, even if what they want is to not exist at all.

Oceanus had started to rely less on Tinaya, and more on Lataran, and that hasn’t stopped even as Tinaya’s time begins to open up. So she’s kind of gone back to not having that much to do. At this point, it doesn’t bother her as much. Her son claims that he doesn’t need parenting, because he’s so old, but that’s all changed. The thing with Audrey and Waldemar has really messed him up. It’s affecting his work negatively. The whole point of coming back in time was to help Waldemar, not hurt him. That’s why Silveon didn’t just straight up murder him the first chance he got. He’s having a hard time rectifying this mission with the monster he knows Waldemar to be inside. Audrey put herself in a position to get pregnant, but Waldemar took that opportunity. A decent guy would not have done that. How can Silveon continue trying to make this future tyrant a better person when nothing seems to be working?

While Silveon is questioning his commitment to the cause, Audrey herself has picked up the slack. She’s still with Waldemar because she has to be, and Waldemar is still with her because it helps his reputation. Everyone sees him as the hero who stuck by the mother of his child even though that child didn’t survive. This wasn’t just about population growth, or because she’s hot and young. It’s true love, and they’re in a real relationship. At least that’s how the public sees it. Only a few people know what’s really going on, though even such people are each looking at it from different angles.

Silveon bursts into Tinaya and Arqut’s room. He’s huffy, pacing around in a tight circle. “I need you two to stop me.”

“Stop you from what, honey?” Arqut asks. The two of them are in bed, but just reading.

“Waldemar. He’s still raping her,” Silveon replies. “I wanna hurt him.”

“Careful with that word,” Tinaya warns. “I’ve spoken with Audrey. It’s consensual.”

“We all know it’s more complicated than that,” Silveon argues.

“Yes,” Tinaya agrees. “What we know is that her birthday was two weeks ago, which makes her an adult in the eyes of the law, and even if she weren’t a time traveler, she would be considered capable of making her own decisions about who she shares her body and time with. What we know that the public doesn’t is that she’s far older than that, so even if you subscribe to the idea that humans are not sufficiently mature until their mid-twenties, she’s well past that. So if anyone has the advantage in this relationship, it’s her. So who are you angry with?”

“Well, not her.”

“Then it shouldn’t be with anyone,” Arqut determines.

Silveon scoffs. “Oh, believe me. I have plenty reason to be angry with Double-U.” He’s been having a hard time saying Waldemar’s name lately, like it’s cursed. “It’s not just about this.”

“Yeah, you’ve told us all the stories,” Tinaya reminds him. “We don’t need to rehash his fate, or lack thereof.”

“I haven’t told you everything.” Silveon shakes his head.

“Silvy, why don’t you have a seat on the ottoman?” Tinaya offers.

To their surprise, he does it. It doesn’t alleviate his stress right away, but it’s harder for him to be so tense when his own weight is distributed a little more comfortably.

His parents slide down the bed to join him on either side. “I’m only going to ask you this one more time, and then never again. I will believe you this time.” Tinaya pauses a moment. “I’m not downplaying your fundamental disapproval of their...unconventional relationship. But I think it’s important to establish once and for all if even a small part of you is so upset because you have feelings for Audrey?”

Silveon shoots right back up to his feet, and spins around to face them. “Are you kidding me? Of course I have feelings for her! Have you seen her? She looks no less beautiful as an old woman than she does now. I still see her like that, though; the wrinkles in her face. The way her skin sags. The...experience and heartache in her eyes. I’ve always been in love with her.” He steps over to sit in the armchair. “But I set that all aside, because I thought I would never see that Audrey again. Not the real her. When I came back to the past, she was just this little girl. She would always be far too young for me. Mom, dad, everyone is too young for me. Except, as it turns out, her. I can’t believe I’m telling you this, but I’ve not slept with anyone myself, and I will never be able to. Unless...”

“Unless something changes between her and Waldemar,” Arqut acknowledges. “She’s your only peer. She’s your only hope for love. Even if you met an old person who was closer to your real age, they would see you as a child.”

Silveon takes a deep breath. “Yeah.” They sit in silence for a few moments before Silveon continues, “don’t take me for a fool, though. I wasn’t surprised by that fact. I obviously knew what I was getting into. She’s the variable that I wasn’t expecting. Understanding that I would be alone in this new timeline was one thing, but having one possibility just out of reach? No one prepared me for that. They knew she was coming back with me. She knew too. They could have told me, and maybe I would have handled everything differently. Maybe we could have brainstormed ways to give Waldemar the bump in the polls he would need without a prop family.”

Tinaya has been patiently waiting for her son to get to a point where she could interject, and this is the right place. “There’s a very old song I love from Earth, which was written centuries ago. It goes, when I was a young boy // My mama said to me // ‘There's only one girl in the world for you // And she probably lives in Tahiti. For reference, the singer did not live very close to Tahiti, and might never venture there. The song is about him going all around the world to look for this one girl, because maybe it’s not really Tahiti. That was just one example. She could have been anywhere, and the lyrics never reach a resolution, because the singer missed the point that I am interpreting his mother to be making, which is that you’ll never find the perfect one for you. She doesn’t live in Tahiti, Silveon. She doesn’t live anywhere, because she doesn’t exist. Maybe Audrey would have been great for you in the other timeline, but as you said, she’s out of reach. If you pursue her, Waldemar will never accept it. I can almost guarantee you that he will be worse than what you experienced under his reign before. You may see her as your one shot, but I see her as the only person you can’t be with.

“I probably shouldn’t recommend this, but maybe you’re looking at this all wrong. Don’t think of yourself as an old man in a young man’s body. Think of yourself as a young man with special knowledge. Only the four of us know where you’re from. Find a partner. Recognize your age difference initially, but then ignore it. Put it in a lockbox, and never open it up again. They don’t ever have to find out about it, and neither does anyone else. You’re not a time traveler, Silveon. You’re a seer. There are tons of seers on Earth, and no one thinks of them as older than they look. Just pretend to be a seer.”

“You want me to start a relationship with some innocent girl with a lie?”

“I’m going to let you in on a little secret,” Tinaya goes on, “which I’m surprised you never grew up to learn yourself. All relationships start out on a foundation of lies. People are disgusting, and we never let others see our true selves. It wouldn’t be any different for you than for anyone else. Convince yourself that you are a seer. Forget your past life. Treat it as the gift of foresight. Find a way to be happy, and forgive yourself.”

“Or,” Arqut jumps in, “alternatively, accept your role in this life, and avoid all romantic entanglements. You wouldn’t be the first. Hell, you wouldn’t even be the first time traveler to face this choice. How do you think Lincoln Rutherford and Dalton Hawk got through it?”

“That’s a good point,” Silveon realizes. “I should ask those two how they dealt with their consciousness travel shenanigans.”

“How would you do that?” Tinaya asks. “They live or lived on Earth.”

“You need to get me into the Bridger Section,” Silveon decides. “They have a secret time mirror there.”

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The Advancement of Mateo Matic: July 29, 2511

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At the end of the day, despite the fact that he was in a computer simulation, Mateo jumped forward a year. By the time his IDcode returned to the circuits or whatever, Brian Hiddy had gone off to see what Fort Underhill was all about, and Cecelia Massey was training to be a counselor. Mateo told them that he would be disappearing, but Keilix didn’t really believe it, because it didn’t fall into the category of standard behavior for the program. But that was how Tamerlane Pryce wanted it when he agreed to resurrect Mateo, and even though the latter had since moved on to a new substrate in the physical realm, the rule remained. He only lived for one day every year, and only a few things could alter that pattern.

“Well, what happens when you move on to the other universe?” Cecelia asked. “Does it stop then?” Obviously, during the interim year, she was able to get past the five stages of grief, and come into her own in this new world. She was more relaxed, more self-confident, and there was just a sparkle in her eyes. Though, to be fair, that could have been an avatar modification. There were no limits here. She could make herself look like a cross between a rabbit and a dog if she so desired.

“No, I stay on my pattern,” Mateo explained. “It doesn’t matter what kind of body I end up with. It’s how my brain is wired. You rewire it, my pattern might go away, but then I’m not me anymore.”

“Your brain rewires itself constantly,” Keilix reasoned. “You might be able to grow out of it one day.”

“I’m sure Pryce thought of that in his design. It’s not like I want to anyway. My friends are still on this pattern, and if I were to get off of it, I would be waiting for them for tens of thousands of years, and that’s assuming they live a normal human life span.”

“But you say you’ve not only been to the afterlife simulation,” Cece began, “but you also visited Ford Underhill afterwards.”

“Briefly.”

“So your friends can just find you there. This Hogarth woman might even let you leave, and go right back to them. You said you were friends with her too, right?”

“More like a family friend.” Mateo shrugged.

“It sounds like your best option is to resurrect a second time,” Keilix decided. “You’ll be in a different reality, but at least it’s at base level.”

“That’s true,” Mateo admitted. He lifted his chin and breathed in that crisp, digital air. “Well, tell me what to do.”

Keilix smiled. “Cece, why don’t you handle this one on your own?”

“Really?”

“He’s a pro. It’ll be a good, safe practice.”

“Thank you.” Cecelia was grateful.

“Is it unsafe?” Mateo asked after saying goodbye to Keilix.

“It’s not, like, physically unsafe,” Cece began to explain. “It’s just a delicate process. Your mind doesn’t get downloaded into a body the way it would in the living world. We can’t just plug your IDCode to the right port. It’ll make more sense when we get to the lake, but you have to be sure that this is what you want. You have to will yourself over to the other side.”

“Ah. The prebiotic lake needs to know who you are, and what you want.”

She laughed. “She’s right, you’re a pro.

He was less of a pro, and more of a good listener. He never went to this magical lake before, but Lowell talked about it the last time they saw each other.

They continued to walk in silence. This was a journey, and a profound one at that, so the program didn’t involve simply teleporting to their point of egress, even though that would be easy to implement. Of course, Mateo didn’t need this experience—it wouldn’t be the first time he came back to life—but Cece needed the practice as a transition facilitator. It was important that he let her do this the right way.

They arrived at the lake. It was totally open, but apparently protected by an invisible force field. Or really, it was just that not everyone could pass through. It was all just code. “Hey, Sir Bro,” Cecelia casually said to an old man as they passed by.

Sir Bro was trying to break into the lake area, but that programming was holding him back every time. He just kept banging his shoulder against it, and punching it, but it was unclear whether he was feeling any pain, or what.

Mateo and Cecelia simply passed right through. “I thought the lake would take anyone who wanted to go. He looks ready to me.”

Cecelia shook her head. “You don’t need to whisper. It doesn’t matter what he hears. To answer your question, the lake is not the problem. He’s been banned from Fort Underhill. The color-coded levels you may recall from your first time here are defunct, but some people have more privileges than others.”

“Wait.” Mateo stopped. He looked back up the slight incline where the old man was still trying to force his way in. “Surely Sir Bro is not his real name.”

Cece giggled. “No, that’s just what he wants us to call him. I can’t remember what it was, though. It was something stupid, like Broken...or Braydeck.”

“Bronach?” Mateo questioned.

“Yeah, that’s it! Do you know him too?”

Mateo sighed. “Unfortunately.” He huffed and reluctantly headed back up the trail. “Can you hear me?”

“Of course I can, Mister Matic,” The Oaksent replied.

“Are you old, or do you just look old?”

“I’ve always been old.”

“How did you end up in this time period? You’re still alive, out there in the Goldilocks Corridor, as far as I know.”

“That is a quantum duplicate of me,” Bronach explained. “A piss-poor approximation, if you ask me, in fact.”

“What happens if you get through this obviously 100% impenetrable barrier, and get back there? Will you and your other self have words? Or worse?”

“He knows that I am the rightful heir to the empire. He’ll step down.”

Mateo looked over his shoulder at Cece, who didn’t know what to make of this interaction. “Goddammit,” he uttered as he was turning back around. He reached through the barrier, took Old!Bronach by the elbow, and pulled him through. “You owe me everything for this.”

“How did you do that?” Cece asked, stunned. “People have actually tried. They did exactly what you just did, but couldn’t make it work.”

“Being exempt from the rules that everyone else has to follow is sort of my thing.” Mateo continued to hold onto Bronach as he was dragging him towards the edgewater. “Do we have to take our clothes off, or something!” he shouted as they were stepping in.

“You’re not wearing any clothes!” Cece yelled back. That was technically true.

Mateo turned himself and Bronach around. “What do we do now!”

She stepped down closer so they wouldn’t have to yell anymore. “Wade out until the water reaches your chin, then just start to float. Whenever you’re ready...”

“Thanks, Cece,” Mateo replied. “And tell Keilix that I’m going to try to get a message back here with a little bit more info on what it’s like on the other side.”

“That’s very kind of you. We’ll be waiting,” she said with a smile.

“We’ve been waiting too long,” Leona said.

“Just be patient,” Romana replied. Since yesterday, the two of them had kind of flipped their reactions to this situation, with Leona growing ever anxious, and Romana becoming calmer.

“If she’s a pathfinder—which I had never heard of—shouldn’t our paths have crossed as soon as we got to this universe? Shouldn’t she have pretty much been waiting for us?”

“If you hadn’t heard of them before,” Romana began to reason, “how do you know how they operate?”

“They sound a whole lot like seers to me, and guiding people to the right place at the right time is their whole function in our society.”

“Perhaps it’s the right place, but not the right time,” Angela determined.

It was a long journey to get here, but it wasn’t too complicated. For the Rock diplomatic discussions on the Vellani Ambassador, General Bariq Medley and Judy Schmidt represented the copy of the main sequence that ended up in the Sixth Key. Due to some events that no one on Team Matic had any details on, Bariq and Judy ended up fostering two extremely powerful temporal manipulators. These children grew up, and evidently solved the resource distribution problem in their galaxy by creating a brand new universe. It was here that they could spread out, and not worry about who was going to get what. This was where Leona, Romana, and Angela were now, having crossed over through an transuniversal aperture conduit that was as well organized as the border between two countries. They didn’t travel to any place in particular, upon the advisement of Romana, who said wherever they went, the pathfinder would find them. She was very confident about this, even though this pathfinder probably couldn’t be in two places at once, and there were likely plenty of others who needed her assistance.

So now they were just waiting, unsure if anything was going to go their way, or if they were wasting time that could be used to find Mateo by other means. They were alone in this lounge, so whenever anyone happened to walk by, they would perk up their ears, and hope to see someone who could help. This time, it was a small group of men, so they slumped back in the couch. “Hey. Angela. Angela Walton?”

“Yeah. Do I know you?”

“It’s Pável!” the man said. “Pável Románov?”

“Oh, Pasha!” Angela said, standing up. They gave each other a familiar, but not overly affectionate, hug.

“This woman,” Pável said, looking back at Leona and Romana, as well as his own friends. “She saved my life. She did it after I was dead!”

“Oh, it wasn’t all that,” Angela insisted.

“No, it was everything. I heard you became a counselor.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, I’m not surprised.” Pável responded. “Before it was her actual job to help people, she would volunteer to visit orange hockers in an attempt to rehabilitate them. I tell you, before I met Angie, I was a violent tyrant. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I was sick in the head. My insane policies ultimately culminated in my assassination, after which I basically found myself in hell. I was locked up in a prison. We didn’t really understand computer simulations back then, but there was literally no escape. But she came to me, and got me out of it. She fixed me. And by the time the afterlife realm was taken down, I was a Level Six Plus Indigo.” He straightened up a bit, and stood there proudly. “I’m living proof that people can change, but I couldn’t have done it without her.”

“It’s nice to hear that, and it’s nice to see you again,” Angela told him.

“What are you doing here in The Eighth Choice?” Pável asked.

“We’re looking for a friend,” Angela answered. “What are you doing here? It’s pretty far from Fort Underhill.”

Pável smiled, prouder still. “The leadership from both universes are developing an immigration program. One day, people will be allowed to move freely through the conduits, and even establish permanent residency on the other side from where they were. I have familiarized myself with the design of the matrioshka bodies over here, and give tours as a sort of liaison.”

“That’s very interesting,” Angela said. “I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you.” Pável looked back at his tourists. “Listen, I better get back to it, but here’s my quantum identifier. Call me if you’re ever in the neighborhood.” He beamed his contact information from his wristband to Angela’s EmergentSuit. She beamed hers back. “It was great seeing you again.”

“Yeah, same,” she said as he was walking away. “I probably haven’t seen that guy in over 300 years,” she added after he was out of earshot.

“I think you and Marie need to tell us more about your afterlife,” Leona decided. “You must have so many stories.”

“I have a few,” Angela acknowledged.

Just then, a woman came around the same corner Pável had. “All right. I’m ready to go now.”

“Are you the pathfinder?” Leona asked.

“Yes, she is,” Romana said. Now it was her turn to hug. “Leona, Angela. This is Jessie Falstaff. She’s our pathfinder.”

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you,” Leona said. “Did you wait to come here so Angela could run into her old friend first?” She gestured in the direction of where Pável ran off to.

Jessie looked over in that direction on reflex. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Pathfinders aren’t seers. We don’t see what’s going to happen. We more just feel it. My gut told me to be here at this moment. If you lucked into having an encounter before then, I’m guessing that’s why I waited, but that’s not something I could have known. I don’t even know why I’m here now.”

“My husband—her father—is missing. His name is Mateo Matic.”

Jessie had been all right before—comfortable, and ready to help—but now her face sunk. She frowned, and looked down towards the floor. She also reached for her torso as if experiencing stomach cramps. “Oh,” she said in a breathy, strained voice.

“Oh, what?”

The look of horror on Jessie’s face only grew. “I think he’s dead.”

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The Advancement of Mateo Matic: April 26 2417

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The representatives from the Sixth Key were sent back home through the Nexus, and locked back out of a return trip unless invited. It was still possible to communicate from there, though only if Venus deemed it allowed from her end. The majority of Nexus functions were handed out at her discretion, using whatever parameters she had come up with while the network was being put in place. Generally speaking, interactions between universes was strictly forbidden, but Hogarth’s brane was directly attached to Salmonverse, making this more of a biverse, which was a notable  exception to this rule. Though she could change the rules at any moment, and not worry about suffering any consequences. She was a god in any meaningful use of the term. It wasn’t clear where she even was, if she wasn’t just somehow everywhere all at once. Either way, Team Matic wasn’t going to worry about Heath or the others anymore. They were only in charge of protecting Romana Nieman, and her family, and they had to trust that the Dardieti would do their part too. They had not let them down yet.

Now that all the drama was over, they were all back at the penthouse, with nothing that they absolutely had to do. Leona and Ramses went back to working on their projects. Angela and Marie were learning more about government and society. Olimpia was getting ready for another trip. Mateo and Karla were playing with their girl. The two of them had not been able to leave the room this whole time. It was very important to Durune culture for the parents to stay with their child pretty much non-stop to ensure a healthy and successful familial imprint. The doctor, which in this case was Constance, was expected to be involved as little as possible in order to avoid confusion during this crucial period. Today was day four, which meant that they could probably take short breaks, but this was a months-long process. Short was the keyword here.

“You should go,” Karla encouraged. “Spend time with your wife.”

“It’s okay, I can stay. I want to stay.”

“If you don’t go, I won’t feel okay to go later.”

“What do you mean? Do you want to take a break?”

“I don’t want to take a break. I...”

“Karla, you’re not a bad mother if you spend a few hours away from your baby. I promise, she is not going to forget you. You’ve known her for years. Let me catch up a little. She and I need to share some secrets anyway.”

Karla chuckled voicelessly. She didn’t budge though.

“Go on. Get some sun, or some soda, or whatever you need.”

Karla nodded, internally trying to convince herself that it really was okay. “All right, I think I’ll go to my family’s Wednesday lunch. You have my number.”

“Yes.”

Karla stood up, and headed for the door. Before she reached it, she turned back around. “It’s not a cultural thing, and it’s certainly not a family thing. In fact, I think most of the mothers in our bloodline have not loved the man who helped them pass along the responsibility.” She waited a moment to continue. “It’s just me. It’s important to me. That I...that we...learn to care about each other.”

Mateo smiled at her. “It’s called love, Karla. It doesn’t have to be sexual or romantic. One day, we’ll fall in love. I would know by now if we couldn’t ever. At least one of us would have to be an asshole.”

Karla slowly lifted her chin to absorb his words. Then she nodded once with her eyes closed, and left the room gracefully.

Mateo turned his head to look down at Romana in her bassinet. He expected her to be asleep, but she was awake now, and watching him intently while sucking three of her fingers. “I already love you.”

Karla returned. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

“Did you forget something? Wait, are you okay?”

She kept staring into empty space for a moment. “I think I just met a seer.”

Mateo hopped out of the bed. “Really? Those are...elusive.”

“Yeah. She was old. She was really old.”

“What did she say? Can you tell me?”

Karla was lost in her thoughts. “What? Oh. Um. Maybe?”

“Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. We always do. You’ll learn that about Team Matic. You’re one of us now.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think I am. I think you’re gonna leave. I think you’ll have no choice. I don’t think you’re gonna raise her.”

He pursed his lips in frustration. “Seers see a possible future. That’s the whole point. Knowing of a future you cannot change would be useless, and anyone with such inactionable knowledge has an obligation to keep it to themselves.”

She shook her head again. “I think that’s what she was trying to tell me. You have to go...to protect her.”

“Was she in the hallway? Did she break into this penthouse?”

“I spoke with her for five minutes. Was I gone that long?”

He sighed. “No, you weren’t. I don’t like that either.”

“This building has the best security in two galaxies. It’s not foolproof. There’s some very powerful people out there. I believe that she’s working for someone who is trying to help, and I got the sense that they are working against someone who’s not.”

“I’ve made powerful enemies,” Mateo reasoned. “We’ve been looking at this all wrong. Dardius may only be the safest place for her if I’m not here.”

“We’re never gonna fall in love if you leave, and you may never see her again.”

Now he shook his head. “In my experience, I don’t never see anyone again.” He frowned, and pulled his head back. That didn’t make any sense.

She laughed. “I understand what you mean.”

Mateo looked back over at his precious child. “If I wait to leave until a threat actually rears its ugly head...”

“Then leaving may not do any good,” Karla finished his sentence for him.

“Those Sixth Key people. I don’t think they threaten her directly, but they may have just been the first domino to fall.”

“The seer spoke in riddles, as they are legend to do, so we can’t be sure of anything. We’re on the verge of deciding that you should leave your family behind, but that could be a grand mistake.”

“I won’t leave you alone, and I don’t just mean the cops and soldiers downstairs.”

“Now you really do need to go talk to your wife.”

Mateo did go speak with Leona, along with the rest of the team, including Constance. She was key to the new plan. She was an intelligence apart, and would not feel the sting of being separated from the group like anyone else would. She was a genius, strong, and incredibly difficult to kill. And she was on Romana’s temporal pattern already. She would continue to serve as her doctor, but also probably her nanny, and maybe later her teacher, and eventually her cool aunt. But she couldn’t do it alone, because knowing someone off the pattern was just as important as having someone who was on it. That was where Silenus Koolen came into the picture. He was still heavily invested in the Nieman family, and had expressed his dedication for the last four years. If he agreed to it, he could move into the penthouse, and make sure that things remained safe while the ladies were away. Hopefully he would agree to it.

“Yes. Oh my God, yes. Please!” Silenus cried. “I’m so in. You don’t have to ask me twice. You didn’t have to ask me the first time! I’m ready. I can move in today.”

“Are you sure about this?” Karla asked. “I know it seems like us being gone for an entire year sounds like an easy job, but you can’t really leave the penthouse. Wherever we are when we leave the timestream, you’ll need to protect it. Constance and I will be fine, but Romana can’t take care of herself in any sense. You’ll be long dead before she even learns to walk. This will consume your entire life. You’ll be the guy who lives here.”

“You hear me, girl? I’m all about it. Let’s do it, but one thing, I have a better idea.”

“Oh, no, here we go.” Karla was worried.

“This baby, before she was born, your ancestors had to keep finding mates so they could make an extra baby who would grow up, and take care of this baby, right?”

“Yeah, that’s how it worked,” Karla confirms. “Not in those specific words.”

“Well. What’s changed?”

“Huh?”

“Baby still needs taken care of, right? Just because she’s born, that hasn’t changed. It’s just, instead of being transferred to, like, a new womb, she needs to be fed and stuff.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So I’m there to help with that, right?”

“Well, not that, but that’s what we’ve been asking. Have you not been listening?”

“Oh, I’ve been listening, and I’ve been thinking. You just said it, when I die, she’ll be a few months old. Who’s gonna help ya then?”

“I suppose we’ll have to find someone else,” Karla reasoned.

Silenus nodded coolly. “Why don’t we make someone else?”

“Excuse me?”

“Restart the bloodline. Make Romana some siblings. That way, when I die, they take over my job. And then they have kids, who take it over for them. And so on, and so forth, and ad infinity.”

“I’m not sure what benefit that would have. I mean anyone we trust could do it.”

“Who better to trust than someone who was literally born already invested in their family member’s life?”

“So let me get this straight,” Karla began. “You want to have sex with me to make a baby, raise it by yourself, since I only live one day a year, and then just hope they turn out right for the job when it’s their time?”

“Well, you’re not officially on the pattern, right. You could take a break from it for eighteen or so years. That’s only a few weeks for Romana, and it’s not like you won’t actually be with her. She’ll still see you every day of her life.”

Karla just sighed.

“Karls, if all I wanted was sex, I could have anybody. I’m famous. I’m not as famous as you or your baby daddy, but I’m famous enough. You know how many I turned down just this week. I’m just sayin’. I’m here for it. I’m here for you. I’m here for Romana. I’m thinkin’ about her future. Aren’t you?”

Karla cleared her throat, and turned to Mateo. He had been quietly listening to the conversation with the rest of the group. It felt very much like none of their damn business. “What do you think?”

“I think...you should do..what...you think you should do.”

“Thanks. Helpful.” She rolled her eyes. “Love it.”

“Uh. I have an idea,” Ramses jumped in unexpectedly. “It’s more of an inevitability, though. I think it was destined to always happen.”

“Rambo, maybe we just stay out of this,” Leona suggested.

“Maybe I should just show you.” He stood up, and took a step away from them. “Yeah, I’ll show you.” He teleported away, then returned a few minutes later with a cloning-slash-stasis pod.”

“Which one of us is in there?” Mateo asked.

“Do you remember when we were leaving Scorpius station, and everyone had all of their backup bodies on the Dante, and then I went back, because I was all, I forgot something?” Ramses asked.

“Yeah, I figured you left a tool.”

“Right, after I got my tool,” Ramses began with airquotes, “I first snuck back into my lab, and hid it in there.”

Leona cracked the case. “That’s the mysterious eighth active pod. We couldn’t see who was in it, but you stole it?”

“Yes, of course I did, because it would be stupid to just leave it there. We thought the whole place was gonna get blown up. Don’t worry, I think I was meant to take it, because right before you came to us with the new plan, the pod’s partition mysteriously opened on its own. Now we can see who’s in it.” He turned it around for the big reveal. It was none other than Silenus Koolen.

“Holy shit!” Olimpia shouted.

“That’s...for me?” the real Silenus asked.

“No one else has the right to it,” Ramses said to him. “If it’s built like ours were, you shouldn’t have to worry much about dying in a hundred years.”

Silenus started crying. “This is the best birthday present anyone’s ever given me.”

“It’s your birthday?” Karla questioned.

“Yeah, girl, I thought you were throwing me a surprise party, because it luckily matched up with your pattern. This is better than that, though.”

“Happy birthday,” Mateo said. “You wanna be born again? None of our transfers was that poetic.”

“Hell yeah, let’s do this! It’s not against the law when the Matics are involved.

“Wait, consciousness transference is against the law here?” Mateo asked.

“Yes,” Angela and Marie answered simultaneously. “So is cloning,” Angela added on her own. Due to this new information, they first made sure that Silenus was right that Team Matic could trigger an exception to the relevant laws. He was, and so...he was reborn. The procedure went smoothly, but it was already too late in the day, so they decided to wait to leave Dardius until next year. Besides, Mateo needed time to say goodbye to his new family. He was confident that he would indeed see Romana again one day, but it could still be a long time.

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