Voyage to Saga: Base Reality (Part XII)

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“People keep saying that, what exactly does that mean?” Vearden asked. All these little nicknames that people who could manipulate time give to themselves. They seemed so...self-serving. Who does that? “Do you run a school district, or something?”

“No, nothing so reputable,” the Superintendent responded. “Superintendent, not as in a leader; superintendent, as in I fix things. I don’t run these universes, I just make sure they run themselves.” He held his hand up pseudo-defensively. “But please, you may call me Gaius. It’s not my real name, I just like it.”

“Very well. And this is.....base reality? What exactly does that mean?”

It didn’t seem like Gaius had a good answer for that one. He paused for a second. “I don’t wanna say anything that’s going to make you feel unimportant, but let’s just say that your universe sprouted from mine, and relies on mine’s continued existence in order to exist itself.”

No good response. “O...kay.”

“Now. Ya’ll ready for this?”

“That sounds like a reference,” Vearden said.

Gaius smiled again. Then he lifted a normal black pen and clicked it once. Suddenly, Vearden knew what he was talking about. That was a lyric from a pop song. Why was he not able to remember that upon first hearing it? He shook it off as Gaius was continuing on with his introduction. “Tell me—and remember that I know the truth, because I know literally everything about you—have you ever heard of a deus ex machina?”

“Yeah,” Vearden answered honestly. “It’s when there’s no logical reason for something to happen in a story, but the writer just decided it would.”

“That’s right. It’s not a good thing. Critics frown upon it. I am no different, but I have recently found myself using them. Now, what I’ve done here is an interesting case. I didn’t actually require a deus ex machina, but what I did require was a series bridges. I needed connections between the universes in my domain, and fortunately, you’re genetically predisposed to that sort of thing. I needed you to establish your presence in these realities so that I could more easily enter them whenever I need to. And in order for this to work, you needed to have a profound effect on the narrative, rather than just sitting back and watching.”

“Can’t The Shepherd do that? She’s the one who brought me here.”

“Well, she can only get me halfway. Yes, she can open windows to other universes, but she can’t establish herself in them. She can barely cross the threshold. That’s why you never actually saw her in one of them with you.”

“But she—”

He cut Vearden off, “went into that last reality? Yes, now she’ll be able to go to any universe that you have created bridges for, as will your wife and the scientist, or anyone else, really. You see what I’m going for here? Vearden, you’re a doorwalker. For a period of time, you were the doorwalker. You just created the Gretchen and Danuta team. They’re going to be very important to me down the line.”

“I see. Almost.”

“Close enough.”

“So can you give Saga back to me now?”

“I could, but I still need your help with a few things.”

“What might that be?”

He opened his arms to present his surrounds. They weren’t all that appealing. His apartment wasn’t too small, but it was dirty and old; not the best place to live. “I’m not lovin’ where I am in my life. I don’t expect a mansion, or anything, but I could do with a few upgrades. You can help me with that. I’m even more powerless than the Shepherd. I can’t usually personally experience anything but linear time. You’re my loophole.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Just go back in time and make a few changes.”

“Then I get Saga?”

“That’s right, Vearden, you get Saga. Jesus.”

“No, I don’t need him. I just need her.”

“Ha-ha.”

“What do I do?”

“First, don’t be afraid. We need to form a bond.” Gaius stepped closer and pressed his lips against Vearden’s, while holding him in a tight embrace. After a few seconds, he released and stepped away.

“What are you, a crossroads demon?”

“It’s either that, or you drill into my skull and touch my brain with your finger.”

“Is that true?”

He shrugged ambiguously. “Maybe.” He nodded towards the closet door Vearden had just come out of. “Open the door, and my mind will navigate to the proper point in space and time.”

Vearden did as he was asked. The doorway turned into a portal to reveal a child’s playground on the other side of a chain link fence. A young girl, and a young boy, were wandering around near the portal, which the girl ignored. It was unclear if the boy could see into the room, but he could definitely sense their presence. He started examining the edges of the portal, trying to understand it.

Gaius watched the boy intently. “I become my own inspiration.” He then redirected his attention to Vearden. “Close it.”

Immediately after Vearden shut the door, it transformed into a different door. In fact, they were standing in a totally different room, which looked like it was in a different apartment. It was much nicer. They had just altered history. “Is that it?” he asked.

Gaius thought for a moment. “Not quite. Open it again.”

Now they were looking at a teenager standing in the hallway of a school. The teen could definitely see them. He eyed them both carefully. Gaius leaned forward and said, “leave her alone.”

“Who?” the teen asked.

“You know.”

“Okay.”

Vearden closed the door again. It didn’t change. “That was you, right? I mean, he looked exactly like you. He didn’t seem that surprised to be seeing an older version of himself.”

“I would never be surprised by something like that. Rule Number Zero, act like ya been there. Again.”

Vearden opened the door. The same teen was there once more, but he looked a few years older. He was standing on what appeared to be a farm, gently petting a cow. Young Gaius, or whatever his name was, waved at them from the other side of the portal. Older Gaius gave further instructions. “You need to find a clever way of getting out of this. This is all well and good, but something is about to happen, and you need to be back home when it does. When it happens, you’ll know, and it is where you go next that you’ll truly find yourself.”

“How am I supposed to—” young Gaius asked.

“Make it seem like their idea. Make yourself...look...not well. Use the only skill you and I have.”

Young Gaius nodded understandingly. “I have a few ideas.”

Vearden closed the door, and it transformed dramatically this time. They were standing in a prison cell.

“Ssshhhit!” Gaius cried. “That idiot. Again.”

Vearden didn’t want to be in here any more than Gaius did, so he gladly took the handle. It didn’t budge.

“Oh my God. Of course. Why wouldn’t it be locked, I’m a criminal!” Gaius started scratching at a tattoo on his shoulder that hadn’t been there before. “Okay, I think this can work if we time it right.” He started banging on the door and screaming to the guards. “Hey, boss! Help! Help!”

“Open eleven!” the nearest guard commanded.

Gaius had his own command. “Now!”

Vearden pulled at the pocket door just as the buzzer rang out, releasing it from the locks. They were once again standing before the farm, but it was now nighttime, and the younger Gaius was searching for something.

“Oh, hey, a goat got loose. Would you be able to find him?”

“Dude,” the older Gaius said to his younger self. “Not that idea. You take it way too far. Just keep it simple.”

Young Gaius peers into the prison cell. “Yikes, okay, got it.”

Vearden closed the door, and they were now standing in a house.

“Hmm,” Gaius said to himself. “All right, I know what to do.” He prepared himself mentally, then nodded. “Go.”

The Gaius on the other side was probably negligibly younger than the older one. It was like they were just looking into a mirror, because it was the exact same house, with no change in furniture. “What now?” a frustrated younger Gaius asked, almost rhetorically. “What did I do wrong this time?”

“Don’t argue with them. I know it sucks, and I won’t lie, the television service in the new place is probably going to be the worst you’ve experienced in recent times. You have to tough it out, though. Your relationship with your parents is more important, and it’s a better house, so just agree to it.”

“Fine!” the younger Gaius reached in through the portal with an attitude and slammed the door shut himself.

“I didn’t he could do that.”

“He’s operating on a lot of energy right now.”

Vearden finally looked around. They were standing in yet another place. This was indeed superior to the previous one. It had two floors.

Gaius took a deep breath and muttered, “car.” He then spoke to Vearden, “you can take my old car, but you’re gonna have to get me a new one. Well...a new old one.”

“Is this the last job?”

“Second to last one. I promise. With this one, you won’t be seeing a younger version of me. I’ve never met the person who lives there. I just want her car.”

Vearden hesitated.

“I’m going to buy it, not steal it. Calm down and open the portal.”

He obliged, revealing a dining room table covered in documents. Gaius reached in a took a set of car keys. “Close it up real quick.”

“You said you weren’t going to steal it.”

“I’m not, I’m just hiding her keys so she agrees to sell it to me. Oh, don’t give me that look. She’s not allowed to drive anymore anyway.”

“How would hiding her keys make all that happen?”

“You stick to what you know, and I’ll stick to manipulating reality to create my own future? Kthx, byeee.”

“Who is this woman?”

“None of your business. Close the door, and then open it again. Or do you not want to get Saga back?”

Knowing he had no choice, Vearden closed the door for a second, then reopened it. They were now in a bedroom that had the same architecture as the dining room. Gaius reached through and dropped the keys into a purse.”

“That’s it?” Vearden asked as he closed the door for yet another time. “I’m free?”

Gaius picked up a piece of paper and started scribbling something on it. He then handed it to Vearden. “Go to this listing and request to take a look at the car they’re selling. Then buy it, no matter the condition. The car will take you to Saga.”

“Can’t you just—?”

“Vearden, I need the car to be at a certain place at a certain time so it can be used for something important. If it makes you feel any better, if you don’t do this, Mateo dies.”

Vearden nearly gulped at this.

“Buy the car, drive to Saga, and leave the car exactly where it is when she appears. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“Here, take my old phone so you can call the sellers.”

“No,” Vearden said. He was remembering what the insane doctor who had given him a lobotomy once said. There was a moment when he was different, like he had changed into someone else, and it was then when he warned Vearden to accept only the car and Saga from the Superintendent. “I don’t want the phone.”

Gaius studied his face for a good long while. He then put the phone in his pocket, coming back with the pen from before. “I’ll make the change.” He clicked the pen. “Now go forth.”

Vearden completed his final tasks, ultimately buying a piece of crap old Toyota Camry from a lovely couple. As he was driving it down the road, the scene changed, and he found himself in the middle of a jungle. Gaius, the Superintendent hadn’t lied. There she was, waiting for him with that beautiful crooked smile. He jumped out of the car and tackled her into a bear hug.

She laughed.

“Oh, Saga, how I’ve missed you. It’s been years for me. The Pentagon thing probably only felt like yesterday to you.”

“Actually, no,” Saga said in her sweet and comforting voice. “I feel a deep sense of emptiness. I don’t remember being anywhere, but I know I wasn’t here, and I know I’ve missed a lot.”

He hugged her again. “Then let’s go find a way back home, and get you caught up.”

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Microstory 555: Battleship Participating in War Games Goes Missing

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Centuries ago, when our ancestors came together to build this new solar system for us, they had a few things in mind. First, they didn’t want any money. When you have the ability to alter gravity, manipulate matter, and have an endless supply of energy, inequality simply doesn’t make any sense. If you’re a citizen, and you contribute positively to society, then you have the right to anything you need to live a satisfying life. Another thing we wanted when we came together was peace. Most of our predecessor cultures had already achieved world peace, and few of us had any problem with each other, but still, it needed to be said. We all had to agree to solve problems nonviolently, and to make sure everyone felt like they were in a safe environment. These goals of peace and prosperity have worked well for us. The Core is running smoothly, pretty much on its own, and most of us wouldn’t have it any other way. Of course, that’s us, and we all know that we are not alone in this universe.

Our third major goal has always been to be prepared for absolutely any scenario that might suddenly come about. The Martians spent centuries working on their law system to account for even the most absurd possibilities. We have an entire planet dedicated to studying illegal scientific experiments...so that we’ll know how to deal with them if someone else happens to invent them. So it only makes sense that, through all of this, we’ve maintained a healthy military contingency. Historically, the Eridani have been our most respected and experienced military professionals, so we have conceded to their expertise. A wholly volunteer military branch of the government has continued to study and train, all for a reality where someone may attack. As part of this unfortunate aspect of our society, the military has designed periodic events known as war games. Friendly combatants gather in a star system far from The Core, and begin running scenarios against each other, testing our defenses, and teaching maneuvers in a more practical setting. During one of these recent “games” a training battleship called The Sudifroe went missing. Simulated “enemy” ships were monitoring its approach from the second moon of Wilnayko when it suddenly disappeared. It did not explode, or simply drop into a simplex dimension. It vanished, leaving no trace as to its path away from the battlefield. It has been missing ever since. Anyone with any knowledge regarding the current whereabouts of the Sudifroe is being asked to contact an authoritative body immediately.

Microstory 554: Telescope Reveals Most Planets Aren’t Flat

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Double rough scientist and enterprise leader, Golzar Germano has made one of the most important discoveries in recent history. When Germano was a child, he dreamed of being whatever he wanted to be, and rarely listened to what others told him. His parents were at a loss as to how to discipline their son. It seemed that, no matter what they said, he would always do the opposite. They eventually learned how this worked, and figured out a way to get him to fall in line by demanding he do the opposite, and letting him “defy” them. Upon growing up, Germano began to understand his own personality better, and decided to use his contrary attitude to his advantage. When he came of age, he went through the normal testing phases, and was told that he was a natural-born Warrior. This was unsatisfactory, what with him being a complete pacifist and all. Once again, he chose to go against the grain, and rough into a different suit. As a Creator, he studied all of the natural sciences, but found himself particularly fond of astrophysics. After a few years of working in his field, he had become bored with his life. He had only attained Mariner rank, and had very little interest in pursuing it further. He has had this to say about his decision to rough into a second suit, “I’ve never wanted to be like everyone else. Nor have I wanted to be special. I chose to not follow my suit, nor even try to trump into a higher rank of the suit I chose. Nor did I think I would be well equipped to handle the life of a double packer, which a lot of people assume I’m going for. Being a jack of all trades sounds nice, but it’s not for me. I have a wide range of interests, but that does not include all of them. I just want to be me.”

With his experience as a scientist, and now as a Leader, Germano went on to form his own company. He gathered the best scientists and support staff from all over the system. In fact, no one under the rank of Karek was allowed anywhere near his laboratories. He instructed his Creators to develop the most marketable inventions for his Providers to sell, and eventually, Majorwood Industries was one of the top names in electronics. His true passion, however, was still astrophysics. These inventions were really only tools used to gather enough capital to accomplish something else. He wanted to build a space telescope. Not only that, but he wanted to build the best telescope in the system. He called it TALON. Many of TALON’s predecessors were capable of determining the features of distant stars, but none was able to grasp the details of any orbiting planets. So far, the only exoplanets cataloged are not flat; they are spherical, news that will shock all physicists. Only around a hundred planets have so far been observed in the last few months, but Germano, and Majorwood, are confident enough to announce the fact that most, if not all other, planets are, in fact, spherical. The next question to answer now...is why? Why are we different? How did our flat planets come to be? After that, Golzar Germano has another question...how do we go to these fantastical round planets, and what would it be like to stand on them?

Microstory 553: Area Hospitals Experiencing Impossible Cures

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Doctors, and other health professionals, at a number of hospitals on the border of Vermont and Captain Mason are baffled by a string of unexplainable recoveries. Reports have come in so far from eleven area hospitals of a record number of people being miraculously healed of terminal diseases. Children’s wards have especially seen high numbers of these cures. Authorities have attempted to pinpoint the source of the phenomenon, under the assumption that some new drug has been invented with governmental regulation. Security footage in all twenty-four cases has been erased, further cementing the theory that this is being done to them by some individual, or possibly a group. Tests have revealed no proof that the patients’ systems encountered any chemicals compounds that could have done this to them. Patients were suffering from a wide range of diseases, having nothing in common across the board except for all conditions being fatal, and having short prognoses. The Domestic Affairs Service has taken point of the investigation, and requests anyone with any information to please call the hotline at the bottom of this page.

Microstory 552: Woman Reaches Naked Orange Plex Swimming

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The thing about simplex dimensions is that they’re full of energy. This is perfect for us, because everything that needs to get done requires energy, in some form. Organic creatures consume food, utilize its nutrients and caloric value, and then expel the rest later. A house is heated and cooled using energy collected from solar rays. Land vehicles used to run on this crude form of fuel called petrol. What the simplex dimensions—also known as the astral planes—do for us is allow us to travel great distances at very short intervals. They do this not only by giving us a shortcut around normal space, but also by providing an endless supply of energy. Interstellar spaceships are designed to accrue this energy to power the vessels themselves while they’re within astral space. It’s a very convenient sort of symbiotic relationship we have with the universe, but it comes at a cost. In order for this energy to be what is it, it must also be dangerous. Enter plex radiation stage left. Plex matter being volatile enough to make vessels operate means that it’s just volatile in general. Radiation can be extremely detrimental to even the heartiest of beings. No known living creature is capable of withstanding infinite amounts of radiation poisoning, but all creatures can be shielded. That’s another thing that spacefaring vessels do for us. They provide a space for us to wait and move around, but they’re also a barrier so that the deadly radiation found all over the cosmos doesn’t harm us. But bulkheads aren’t the only kind of shielding technology we have.

The advancement of materials sciences has led to the discovery of nanofibres capable of radiation shielding even at the smallest of thickness. Telekinetic bubbles can keep radiation at bay so that it doesn’t get anywhere close to reaching the body of its user. Still, this technology is not perfect, and always comes with a level of risk, which is why we generally still use ships to travel through space. The recently founded Canto Society seeks to alter this paradigm through the pursuit of what’s known as “naked plex swimming”. The concept of falling through simplex dimensional space without the protection of a vessel has always but just that; a concept. In all the histories of all the planets of our ancestors, it’s rarely attempted, and never achieved. A woman named Silica Barker has proved, however, that the feat is not impossible.

Four people in the history of this solar system have died while trying to swim naked in a simplex dimension. The Canto Society was formed to combat these tragedy by implementing a series of precautions and guidelines. Its leaders have been studying the possibility by looking at the problem through multiple lenses, and at multiple angles. What they’ve learned is that the technology required to pull it off has already been invented. Most of the adult population is equipped with devices capable of sending users to simplex dimensions, but only in certain ways. Bionic conduits are a special class of nanorobots that are injected into the body, and remain there indefinitely. They have a number of different jobs to complete, most importantly maintaining the health of their host. They can also, however, push the user into the indigo astral plane, which essentially allows anyone to teleport across a planet in the blink of an eye. Similarly, coverbands—which is made up of a special type of fabric—allow the user to teleport to anywhere within orbit of the planet, about as far as a standard lunar satellite. They also protect that user from the pitfalls of the vacuum of space, including everyday radiation. The halo is a kind of computing device that the user will often keep in a floating telekinetic field just over their head. It is designed to allow travel anywhere within the solar system.

Now, individually, none of these is able to send the user to an interstellar simplex dimension, like astral yellow or red. They are, however, capable of doing it if they’re harmonized. By operating all three devices simultaneously, and in sync, a new gateway to the orange astral plane can be opened. Though, it requires strength, patience, and willpower...which are three of Silica Barker’s specialty, which is why she was the first person in history to succeed in this endeavor. Many simulations and test runs were completed by the Canto Society in the months leading up to this experiment, with most of them proving to be even more successful than predicted. The system leadership granted approval of the full testing phase, and the Canto Society picked Barker for the honor since she was known to already be a particularly adept teleporter. Since news broke of Barker’s accomplishment, others have voiced an interest in replicating her endeavor, but the Canto Society isn’t taking any chances. Just because it happened once, doesn’t mean it can happen again. Anyone wishing to pursue this new adventure will be subject to rigorous testing. You can contact your local chapter for more information, but leaders in both the Society, and the government, urge citizens to not attempt this on their own.

Microstory 551: Defense System Test Reveals Dangerous Flaws

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Before our new solar system that we’ve literally built from scratch can be officially declared completed, we need to put on some of the final touches. Though we’ve created a sort of paradise for ourselves, our leadership recognizes that not everyone in the universe shares our vision. The Exiles have made it clear they want nothing to do with us, though that could change in just a few generations. The Anarcho-capitalists ran off to a new galaxy, we’re still not sure where. We know that scattered sects of Amadesis followers remain alive, but inactive. We have no idea where they’ve gone. And finally, there could be other threats out there of which we are simply not cognizant. As much as we would like to be open and carefree, we must remain cautious and vigilant. We must protect ourselves from all known threats, and all unknown threats too. A special department has been tasked with doing this for us. They’ve come up with hundreds of ideas; some good, others not. They’ve whittled them down to things that we can effectively implement, with the right amount of redundancy, but it is still a work in progress. This much has been brought to light.

The Core Defense Strategy is no perfect system, but engineers, and other professionals, are working hard at shoring up flaws. One such of these flaws presented itself during a test yesterday. A fleet of “enemy” ships were built all the way on Montisaltom, which means the CDS system had never encountered it before, and could not perceive it as non-hostile. One by one, and sometimes in groups, these ships were sent to The Core, and programmed to attempt to break our defenses. Most of them failed, but one managed to get through, and could have caused a heavy amount of destruction had it been a real threat. It would seem that there is a small region that lies just before the decided upon system borders, and interstellar space. If a ship exits a simplex dimension in this perfect zone, but then immediately transports itself deeper inside using one of the lower dimensions, it can bypass all alerts, at least long enough to establish a stranglehold. The blue simplex dimension, for instance, is so slow that only an incredibly patient crew would be willing to take the time to travel here from another star system. It could take years. It is for this reason that lower dimensions have, up to this point, remained unmonitored. Basically, we’ve never been worried about global or interplanetary travel within the system. Rest assured, however, that these flaws are currently being removed through some extra programming. Other weaknesses have recently been found as well. For instance, we’ve decided to eliminate onslaughts coming from all stars in the immediate vicinity that a threat might chose to utilize as staging post. The system leadership would like to remind every citizen of The Core that we’re all in this together. If anyone has any ideas for how to improve our society, or protect us from danger, they are encouraged to voice their concerns.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: July 6, 2121

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When Leona Reaver was thirty years old, she was senselessly killed in a car accident. Her husband, Horace, flew into a fit of rage, and killed a great many people. It hadn’t been his first time, but it was the first time it had had consequences. He had the ability to redo every single day one extra time. Usually, his murders took place during the first round, but her permanent death had destroyed his mind, and his capacity for self-restraint was lost forever. But then their daughter, another time traveler, came back with a proposition. She would send his consciousness back in time to when he was a child so that he could start over. Unfortunately for him, too many things were different. Yes, his beloved was still alive, but they didn’t meet when they were supposed to, and she ended up falling in love with the man who had been responsible for her death in the other timeline.

Leona ended up figuring out how to hack into Mateo Matic’s temporal pattern, and join him on it. Her alternate husband grew even angrier for this, and made many attempts on Mateo’s life, always failing, and eventually being killed himself. She and Mateo continued their adventures, but they were not always together. At one point, he was sent back to the 1940s so that he could witness a now-friend of theirs murder Adolf Hitler. This major alteration in the timestream created a third reality. Mateo himself was never born. Leona’s parents both died, causing her to be adopted by a lovely couple; ironically the same parents who had adopted Mateo in the previous timeline. Leona’s brother was never born either, she never fell in love with Mateo, and she never became a time traveler. She spent twenty-eight years of her life totally oblivious to all this.

It was only then that she was ripped from her life, and thrown into a world with time manipulators, salmon, and powers that be. Five years later, one of these time manipulators finally caught up with her. Nerakali had the ability to extract memories from an alternate timeline, and implant them in the mind of the version of that person in the current timeline. She called this blending, and it is how Leona was able to remember her old life with Mateo, even though all those events had been erased. This was all common knowledge to her friends and family. What they didn’t know about her—what she never breathed a word of—was that Nerakali had also given her the memories of that original timeline. She could remember her time as Horace Reaver’s girlfriend, and later wife. This was important, because at the moment, on July 6, 2121, Leona Delaney was alone on a beach with Horace Reaver. It was awkward, but they were going to have to talk eventually.

Earlier that morning, Saga Einarsson stood before everyone, and explained what expiation they were charged with completing. It wasn’t really her, though. A time manipulator was taking control of her body, and speaking her orders without having to actually be there with them. Every three days, a new person would go missing, and this time it was a woman named Stendahl. Like with all the other people Arcadia had taken from them, no one could actually remember this woman. It was hard for them to wrap their minds around the possibility that they experienced these deep, personal connections with people, only to have them torn out of time so thoroughly that they didn’t even feel loss. Leona and Paige were different, though. They couldn’t remember details, but they did feel that someone was no longer with them. Before Téa was taken, she donated her socks to Leona, which provided a sort of psychic connection that could not be completely severed. She did the same to Paige by donating a pair of her pants.

There were a few things about Téa Stendahl that Leona knew to be true. Téa was born a man in the eighteenth century. In his twenties, he became a salmon, and started uncontrollably jumping forwards in time. Through this, he eventually met Aura Gardner and Samsonite Bellamy, though they all three had different names. Téa, while going by the name of...oh, what was it? Theodore. Yes, Theodore Bolton. Leona couldn’t believe she managed to remember that. Upon Theodore’s death by what might have been a car crash, he was sent forwards in time once more, to the year 2018, but it wasn’t really him. He was reincarnated into a new family, becoming Theo, Leona’s younger brother. At first he knew nothing, because he was just an infant, but over the years, memories started coming back to him. By the time he was an adult, he could recall as much about his literal past life as anyone could of their earlier experiences. He later met up with his old friends from the past, and did his best to maintain a relationship with his now-sister, who was a time traveler herself.

This was all well and good, but then Mateo did that thing where he went back in time and helped change history by killing Hitler earlier than he would have died. Since this changed Leona’s upbringing, it meant that the man once known as Ed Bolton could no longer be reborn as her brother. Hell, his mother, and their mutual father, never even had the chance to meet. And so the powers that be, the people controlling all of this, simply chose to place him in some other family. This was when he became a she, and she was named Téa Stendahl. Since Nerakali had blended Leona’s brain, she could remember her former brother-slash-now sister. She could remember feeding him baby formula, and teaching him how to walk, and helping him with math homework. She could remember the love she felt for him, the pain of having to leave him behind all year, every year while she hopelessly jumped forwards in time, and the joy of seeing him every moment she could. But Téa never understood any of this. Sure, they could tell her that she was born as Theo in an alternate reality, but that was not something she could truly comprehend. Leona eventually had to face the reality that she no longer had a brother. Reconciling the contradictions between the three lives she remembers living was something she’s never really been able to do. It was a work in progress.

Another thing, however, that Leona could remember of Téa Stendahl was that she had a history of letting people down. More importantly, she had a history of making things up to the people she loved. Leona always knew that, no matter what, Téa would do everything she could to make it right, to repair any damage she had caused. And so this was their job for the next three days. They were tasked with working with someone who either they had wronged, or had wronged them. This was why Leona and Horace were sitting on the beach together, forbidden from going far enough away to find one of the other groups. Their special location was their old camp; the one they supposedly used for decades before being assigned the construction of a new camp. Their memories had been altered, which meant they hadn’t actually spent all that time there. It was just a falsehood, but it still felt real, which made it that much more sad to see the camp in such poor shape. They hadn’t come back in years, and the shelter was falling apart. It was a mess; a suitable symbol for their new lives as island survivors.

When Mateo and his friend went back to 1945 and killed Hitler, life for Horace Reaver was destined to change as well. His salmon time power was different before. He would still go back and relive every single day, but he had no memory of the first time around. He possessed only feelings; a sort of déjà vu on steroids. Everything he did felt familiar. This gave him an advantage—say when betting on a sports competition, or getting into a bar fight—but it was also stressful. Nothing felt exciting, and he could never really do anything spontaneous. Fortunately for him, his luck would change. He met a young man by the name of Serkan Demir. They started battling this evil corporation together, and quickly fell in love. They spent decades as a family, along with Paige, whom they had accidentally brought with them on a trip from 1970s Stonehenge. He was not the twisted killer from the first timeline. He did not murder people for sport, and then rewind the day to absolve himself of all consequences. Nor was he the ruthless business magnate of the second reality, so obsessively focused on reclaiming his love, Leona, that he no longer cared about anything else. He was a new man...a good man.

At some point, though, this new Horace Reaver encountered the brain blender, Nerakali Preston. For reasons known only to her, she blended his brain as well, implanting memories of the first and second realities. Suddenly he could recall all the death and destruction he had purposefully caused. He could remember killing his own mother as a child to prove to himself that he was a time traveler. He could remember killing his own fiancé, in this bizarre ritual sacrifice, before going back in time and marrying her. He could remember going on a killing spree after one of his best friends literally drove her to her the true death. And he could remember being given a second chance, and wasting it by dedicating his life to his former friend’s misery. This was likely what Nerakali had in mind when she forced these memories upon him. She wanted Horace to go after Mateo again, to rekindle their hatred of each other in the future. But this did not happen, because not only could he still remember the reality where he was good, but what she didn’t know was that he had forgiven Mateo even before the third reality was created. He did not return to his life as an adversary. Instead, he became friends with Mateo and Leona, and that was what he remained, even today. Leona knew this, but it was still awkward between them, because they were two of only a handful of people who had memories of all three alternate realities.

They stared at the ocean together. Every once in awhile, one of them would open their mouth, as if to say something, but they never did. They now had less than three days to air their grievances, which might be enough, but they had to start sometime. If they didn’t come to some kind of understanding between each other about what they knew, and what they felt, Téa would remain lost forever. If they didn’t complete this expiation, Arcadia would never her bring her back from the void, and they would never see her again. To most of the others, this probably wasn’t that big of a deal. After all, the whole point was that they couldn’t remember she existed in the first place. But Leona could. Mateo, wherever he was, could too. They would feel that pain for the rest of their lives, so it was time to get to work. She looked Horace dead in the eye. “You go first.”

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Voyage to Saga: Back Burner (Part XI)

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“Wow, that was a trip,” Gretchen said after they left their last universe, and stepped into the hotel suite.

“How do you feel about it?” Vearden asked. “Be honest.”

“I feel great,” she replied. “We did a lot of good there, I think.”

“Okay...” he said hesitantly. “I don’t love that you seem to be so earnest about all this. It is a dangerous life.”

She scoffed. “Every life is dangerous. I could get hit by a bus on my way to Magnate. I could have an aneurysm for no reason at all. But this right here, what we’re doing? This is living. I’ve never been so excited to wake up in the morning, and I won’t apologize for that.”

“Well,” The Shepherd began after teleporting in, “you will have to wait for a few more mornings. I won’t be sending you off until then.”

“Is this the last one?” Vearden asked, hopeful.

“Technically yes. If you succeed in this one, you’ll be sent to Base Reality. I have no idea what will happen to you there, it’s the most dangerous one. I mean, I guess this next one won’t be pretty either. It has real monsters that make themselves look like people.”

“We can handle it,” Gretchen said with confidence, worrying Vearden even more. “All of it. Both of them.”

“Meta, please,” he begged. “Try to exercise a little caution. Last time, we were dealing with superheroes, and supervillains. Somehow we got lucky, and it wasn’t all that risky, but it could have been so much worse. I never know what I’m getting myself into. Never underestimate your enemy.”

Gretchen took a sufficient amount of time to absorb what he was saying, enough to make him feel better. “I will. I will concede to your expertise, and experience. For now, I follow your lead.”

“Thanks.”

Suddenly they could hear muffled voices on the other side of the door that usually led to a void. The Shepherd was noticeably shocked by this, so much so that she didn’t know what to do. The voices drew nearer, and they could make out what they were saying.

“It’s here, this is it.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, this is it.”

“It just looks like a door.”

“It’s probably on the other side of the door, jackass.”

The doorknob jiggled. Vearden placed himself in front of Gretchen. The Shepherd stepped into a defensive stance.

“Lanzo, you didn’t happen to bring your lock pick kit, did you?”

“From the future? No, I didn’t. You were the one that wanted me to stop doing that kind of thing.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” came the voice of a woman. The doors burst open, and four strangers were looking into the suite. They were fascinated by this, which was understandable since it didn’t quite fit with the barn scenery they were currently standing in.

Three out of the four immediately drew firearms and pointed them at Vearden, Gretchen, and the Shepherd. “Kansas City Police Department!”

The three travelers held up their hands. “We’ve done nothing wrong,” Vearden argued.

“How are you doing this?” one of the male police officers asked.

“Uh...” Gretchen pointed towards the Shepherd. “She’s doing it.”

Apparently, the Shepherd had quickly grown tired of pretending to be harmless. She dropped her arms and took a step towards the intruders. “I am indeed. Can I help you?”

“Where did you come from?”

“Another universe. Well...” she looked to the other two. “They’re from another universe. I’m from all of them.”

“Is it you? Did you do this to us?”

“Did I do what?” She honestly didn’t look like she knew what they were talking about.

“The Back Burn,” the other male officer questioned. “Did you do it?”

“I have no idea what that is,” the Shepherd responded.

“So it’s just a coincidence that you’re here?” the female officer asked skeptically. “The whole world is sent back in time all at once, and you expect us to believe that three people from another universe just happen to show up later.”

“The whole world?” the Shepherd asked, taking another step, and ignoring them when they tensed up because of it. “How have I not heard of you. That’s brilliant. Do you want me to, like, reverse it, or something?”

Now the police relaxed a little bit. “Would you really be able to do that?” the woman who wasn’t holding up a gun asked.

The Shepherd shrugged. “I can do just about anything to reality.”

“Well, no,” the first male officer said. “What’s done is done.” He took a deep breath, and decided to put his gun back in its holster. “And Tadala is alive.” He lovingly looked over to the female officer, Tadala, who put her gun away as well.

“Lanzo,” Tadala said, “it’s cool.”

The third officer wasn’t sure it was safe yet, but he too put his gun away. “You better be right about them, Delvidian.”

“This suite exists within a void,” the Shepherd began to explain. “It’s constantly zipping through parallel universes.”

“Like the building?” Lanzo asked.

“What?”

“The building. From...The Building? You must not have that series where you’re from.”

“Guess not.”

The Shepherd looked at Vearden, and went back to what she was saying, “I don’t have complete control over its location, which is why a challenge sometimes happens quickly after another, but others have a longer waiting period.”

“So, you’re, like, explorers?” Delvidian, who seemed to be the leader, asked.

“No,” the Shepherd said to him. “Just visitors. We did not mean to come here.”

“I’m afraid I might have had something to do with that,” the other woman said. “Hi, Danuta here, big fan of travelers, interested in joining you, actually. We’ve been looking for answers to the Back Burn, and my instruments either picked up on your...hotel...or it summoned you. I’m still not sure what I did.” She started fiddling with her device.

Delvidian stepped forward and nervously presented his hand for a shake. “If you truly had nothing to do with the Back Burn, then we could use some help understanding it.”

The Shepherd thought about this for a second while she was shaking Delvidian’s hand, then she looked over to the presumed scientist. “You expressed some interest in joining us?” She turned around to look the suite over, her way of presenting it. Her face stopped at the door to the closet.

“Yes,” Danuta said enthusiastically. “That would be amazing.”

“Górski,” Tadala said. “You can’t go. This universe needs you.”

“Let her go if she wants to,” Lanzo said. “We have this chick now.”

“I can help,” the Shepherd confirmed. “Górski can have the suite. Vearden won’t be needing it anymore.”

“What does that mean?” Vearden asked.

“You’re done,” the Shepherd told him. “Time to come out of the closet.” She nodded upwards at the closet door. A bright light was shining underneath.

“Base Reality?”

She shook her head to mean yes. “The only one they say matters.” She stepped to the side so that she could see everybody. “I’ll stay in this universe for now.” She handed a keycard to Danuta. “This will take you anywhere you want to go. I’ll let you figure out how it works. It doesn’t have to be a hotel suite. It can be a library annex...or a police box...or a diner...or an office building. Vearden, Gretchen, step through the closet, and you’ll get your instructions.”

“I wanna go with her,” Gretchen said. The words scared herself, like she hadn’t known she would say them until she already had.

“Who?” Vearden interrogated. “The Shepherd?”

“No,” Gretchen answered. “Danuta. I’m not done yet. You showed me literally endless possibilities. I can’t pass up this opportunity.”

“Well, what about us?”

Gretchen looked towards the Shepherd, and then the closet. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again one day.” She gestured towards Danuta. “This obvious genius will learn how to navigate.”

Vearden looked to the Shepherd, who would offer no help, and seemed to be rather neutral on the matter. He put on an apathetic face, hoping this would make Gretchen uncomfortable, and force her to change her mind. “I can’t stop you.” It didn’t work, she was firm in her decision to travel across all of time and space and reality.

“All right, let’s do this.” The Shepherd followed Delvidian, Lanzo, and Tadala out to the new universe.

Danuta and Gretchen moved to stand next to each other by the bed.

Vearden placed his hand on the closet doorknob, but kept his eyes on his wife. “You can’t promise we’ll find each other again.”

“We will,” Gretchen disagreed. “I have faith...in you, doorwalker.”

The door closed behind the Shepherd, and the cops. Gretchen and Danuta started examining the magical hotel keycard. Vearden opened the closet door. A thirtysomething man was waiting for him on the other side with an ugly smile. “Hello, Mister Haywood. Welcome to Base Reality. I am The Superintendent.”

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