The Advancement of Mateo Matic: August 3, 2149

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Mateo National Park wasn’t the only thing named after him, but it was the largest, and it alone was too much. He didn’t love that they had done that, but he could see why they would feel the need to. After all, he was in the general vicinity when Leona saved the Petrovichi children’s lives. She had it best—or worst—here, depending on who you asked. Leonte was an entire continent, of which there were many regions, each with some other variation of Leona’s names. He learned that even his once-mother, Aura had somewhere named for her. Lorania was the island he and Xearea were stranded on for awhile with violent immortal, Ambrosios, and Marcy’s mother, Aldona.

He woke up alone the next year in the penthouse of LIR Towers, which no one in the history of this civilization had ever utilized. It was designated exclusively for Mateo, and any of his compatriots. After some time admiring the beautiful view of the city, he put on his clothes and opened the door to the common area. Lincoln was eating his breakfast, and staring out the window as well. Everyone else had apparently begun their day.

“What’s out there?” Mateo asked.

“You can see the sign for this place in the reflection of the building across from it,” Lincoln began to explain.

“Yeah...?”

“I’m honored they named it after me,” he said, pointing to said reflection with the end of his spoon. “It’s just made me realize that my initials could be pronounced as the word liar.”

Mateo tried to stifle a laugh.

“It’s not funny.”

“Well, you are a liar.”

Lincoln smiled, and had to agree. There was a huge secret between them, which they weren’t even allowed to discuss amongst themselves. Who knows what else Lincoln knew that he could tell no one about? He was probably fully aware how this whole expiation mess would turn out. “They tell me you met Catalina.”

“We did. You remember her?”

“How could I forget? She’s my ex-girlfriend.”

“She didn’t describe it that way.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t know.” Upon seeing Mateo’s confusion, Lincoln realized he needed to clear things up. “We dated in the reality where Horace and Leona were married, and then also in the one where he goes back and changes things; the one you’re from.”

“Oh.”

“We broke up just before my point of divergence. When you went back in time and killed Hitler, it created a reality where I decided to just never date her in the first place. In fact, I avoided her in high school. I ended up running into her when her brother was in some trouble, but only accidentally. I never meant to get involved.”

Mateo nodded politely.

“What is it, Matty?” Lincoln pushed knowingly.

“You remember her from a reality that you never experienced.”

“No, I didn’t technically experience it, but...we’ve been through this.”

“We have, but...” Mateo hesitated. “I’ve never really asked you anything. I don’t mean about how your power works, but for actual insight.”

“You wanna know the future,” he stated.

“I do, and I don’t. If knowing will make things worse, then I don’t. If I can’t prevent something bad from happening, then I don’t.”

“Sounds like you just don’t want the truth, full stop.”

“Did you know about the mainlands? Did you know this was a bustling planet?”

“I did, yes.”

“Do you know about the next car wreck that happens somewhere down there?” He gestured to the streets below them.

“I do.”

“How long?”

He simply placed his open hand up, then lowered the fingers one by one until they were gone, indicating a countdown.

“Does it hurt? Seeing all of that, all at once?”

“I don’t see it all at once. I can just see it. Imagine that the universe—all of time and space—is a giant cosmic painting. Most people can only see their tiny little section. I can step back and see the whole thing, or I can zoom in on some other section. Most of the time I just focus on my own brushstrokes, though. I’ve expanded my purview in recent years, for the sake of our friends, but I still don’t see that much. Not if I don’t want to.”

“What do you see right now?”

“Do you recognize this building?” he posed.

“No, should I?”

Lincoln moved his gaze around the room. “Of course it wasn’t this room, but it had similar design features.”

“What did?”

“Horace and Paige. They live here, a few stories below us. I believe they weren’t allowed to tell you at the wedding. You were probably meant to believe they were living on Earth.”

“Why would Arcadia want me to think that?”

“I dunno, she thinks your sensitive.”

Mateo inhaled and exhaled deeply. “She’s right.” After a pause, he continued, “does that mean she won’t let me see them?”

He started nodding; lightly, but unceasingly, like James Spader.

“Is that a yes?”

“Let’s just say...if you asked Darko whether he would want to see them too, he wouldn’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Well, why w—?” Oh, crap. “Are you telling me that she tore them out of time?”

He nodded again, this time more deliberately.

“She promised she wouldn’t. And she’s not much for lying.”

“She promised she wouldn’t tear them apart. They’re both gone, so neither one can miss the other.”

“When did she do this?”

“Yesterday midnight central,” Lincoln answered.

“She’s not letting me complete an expiation for them? That would be a lie.”

“I don’t claim to know her rationality, or her intentions.”

“But you know how this ends. You know whether I get them back or not.”

He sort of cringed, searching for the best response. “Let’s stick with the painting metaphor. What Arcadia does to the timestream is complicated. She paints over reality with something new. If you look real close, you can see that it’s changed. Rather, I can see, but that doesn’t mean I can see what’s behind it.”

“Arcadia, come here now,” Mateo prayed.

She appeared in kitchen, already in the middle of preparing a meal, as if she had been there the whole time. “You two broke the rules. You’re not supposed to be talkin’ about this stuff.”

Mateo got up and took her by the arm, ushering her away from the foodstuff. “I cannot deal..with another villain..peacocking their power over me..by cooking or eating.”

“Fair enough.” She followed with zero resistance.

“What have you done to my friends?”

“I did what I do. I took them out of time.”

“Why? You’re not even giving me a chance to get them back. What’s the point?”

“There is no point. If I don’t take someone out of time at least ever few years, I will surely die.”

“Hell you tryna say to me?” he asked angrily.

“I’m kidding. They were bugging me, so I dismissed them. What’s the big deal?”

“Arcadia, you can’t just get rid of people you don’t like. That’s...cruel. It’s mean.”

“I look like an angel to you?”

“A little bit.”

“Well, that’s very kind, but I wasn’t raised by a lovely couple who don’t think twice about adopting a random little boy whose mother isn’t all there. I wasn’t raised by anyone, I was just created. So what do you want from me? What do you expect me to do, Mateo? Be a decent human being? Bitch, I don’t know what that looks like.”

“I think you do. I think you’ve seen enough of the goodness in others to at least emulate it. You’re just not trying hard enough.”

“If it makes you feel any better, you won’t be required to complete an expiation. Once these are done, whether you succeed in them all or not, I’ll bring ‘em back alive.”

“It doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Well, I can’t control everything. I’m trying to give you a nice honeymoon, and you’re wasting it by holding secret conversations with this guy. Where is your wife, do you even know?”

“She’s an independent woman who’s free to explore the world on her own.”

“How modern of you.”

“My relationship with my wife is none of your goddamn business. I appreciate  that you believe giving us this bastardization of a honeymoon is the right thing to do, but it’s just as much of a violation as it was to force us to get married. I don’t see why you’re so invested in us.”

“I wanted to give you a gift before I had to take it away.”

“What are you taking away?”

“Leona!” she screamed. “Leona and Serif. Did you think they were exempt from this? Out of everybody, Dar’cy is the only one I can’t corrupt, which makes Leona fair game. I hadn’t intended to remove Serif, but once she started existing...” she gave Lincoln the stink eye, “suddenly I could take her from you too.”
Of course she would do that. He didn’t really ever think Leona was exempt, but didn’t want to think about it. At the very least, he assumed she would be the last one, so he could get her back the fastest.

“I didn’t think I would have to actually tell you, because I figured you would enjoy your time with her while you still had it. But come 2151, she’s gone. They both are, and their expiation will be the worst. It will hurt the most, and you will be at risk of failure to a higher degree than you’ve known. I brought you to the Dardieti mainlands so you would have three final days with her. I suggest you don’t waste the two and a half you have left.”

Mateo moved closer so his face was right in hers, wanting to hit a woman for the first time in his life. Instead, he slammed his fist on the breakfast table hard enough to break at least a couple bones. In a chilling voice, he simply said, “fuck you.”

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The Mystery of Springfield, Kansas: Chapter Four

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As part of my research into Analion, which is this window manufacturing company I’ve never heard of, I look at their website. I have lots of different windows open at the same time, and I’m multitasking, because sometimes that’s just how I work. I stop everything else I’m doing, however, when I find a picture of all the Vice Presidents, because I recognize every single one of them. They’re the kids who disappeared at the same time as Rothko Ladhiffe. They’re a little older now, so they don’t look exactly the same, but it is undoubtedly them. I just can’t believe it. I should have kept better track of them, but I was just so obsessed with protecting Springfield, so everything beyond its borders seemed irrelevant. So not only did they stick together, but they formed a company. I don’t recognize the President, or the Executive Vice President, though. Either the two of them are even more powerful than these kids, or there’s some other reason they’re not just in control of the place themselves.

Regardless of whether there’s a mystical artifact in the President’s office, I need answers, and it’s about goddamn time that these vice presidents give it to me. I rush out of the coffee shop to jump in my car, only then remembering that I don’t bloody have one. I barely got to Topeka, but now I have to figure out how to get out of it. That will be next to impossible, because I don’t have an identity anymore either. Though I was outside the boundaries of Springfield when it made its final descent into the void, I had no life elsewhere. I’ve tried getting back to my bank account, and the like, but they’ve been erased. I might as well have never been born. Completely out of options, I just start walking. I don’t plan on getting all the way there like this, but maybe I can bum another ride from a nice man in a truck.

No truck, but a man does approach me after a half hour of wandering on the streets. “Kallias Bran?”

“Huh?”

“Is your name Detective Kallias Bran?”

I just stand there in shock. Who the hell is this guy? “Yeah?”

“I’ve got somethin’ for you.”

I instinctively place my hand at my hip, readying my sidearm.

The stranger pulls an envelope from his coat pocket.

“What’s this?”

“Money.”

“Money? Why are you giving me money?”

His face betrays some slight level of horror. “Wait, I did this wrong. I totally messed up my line. I’m supposed to call it a letter. We need to go back and try again.”

He snaps his finger and disappears. I revert back to the position I was in just before he showed up, as does everyone around me. He’s just reset time.

He walks up again. “Kallias Bran?”

“We’re not gonna try it again. Just tell me what the money’s for.”

He looks surprised. “You remember that? But...but, I reset time.”

“Yeah, I’m immune to some of those things,” I explain to him, not fully understanding it myself. “What do you want?”

“Ah crap. It was this whole bit. It’s not raining, though, so I don’t know why we were trying.”

“What in God’s name are you talking about?”

“The money is just for you, to spend as needed. We are aware that you are in a bind, and require transport to Kansas City. I am not authorized to transport you myself, but this should be enough.”

I look through the envelope he hands me for the second time, and thumb it open. “There’s, like, thirty thousand dollars in here.”

“There is?” he asks, still just as surprised as maybe he always is. “Oh, here ya go.”

He flicks the envelope with his finger, which causes a second envelope to magically appear just under the first one. He does it two more times, and I nearly drop them all on the ground.

“I don’t need a hundred and twenty thousand dollars either.”

“Oh, that’s only a hundred twenty? I’m not great at math.” He tries to flick them again.

“No, no, no. That’s quite all right. I would just like to know who you are, and why you care what I do?”

“Have you ever heard of a deus ex machina? God in the machine?”

“Yeah...” I say, because I sorta remember that from High School English class.

He smiles and tips his hat. “Sometimes the machine breaks down. I’m The Repairman.” Then he disappears, leaving in his place a greenish bag.

I open the bag, but close it quickly. Of course, it’s more money; at least a million, probably closer to two. A little note is safety pinned to the handle. As I read with my eyes, I can hear an actual real-life narration in my head. “We have reviewed your case, and determined that about twenty-six years have been stolen from your life. Though we cannot fully repair the damage caused by the temporal anomaly, we hope these funds will sufficiently compensate for any loss in wealth that you should be enjoying from those years of hard work.” There’s a post-script on the back. “Do not spend any of this on a bus ticket. You have a magic door knob that can cross into other dimensions.”

I don’t spend the money on a bus, but I do figure out how to command the Escher Knob to take me to the Kansas City bus station. Here I stash the cash in a locker since I don’t really have anywhere else. I try to get the knob to take me to the upper levels of Analion Tower, but it won’t do it. I pull up the memory of the pictures I saw of the building from their website. D’uh, I can’t magically teleport myself in there. The building itself was constructed into the shape of a cylicone, which is the same technology used to make the Escher Knob work. It’s basically warded against unauthorized entry, like a giant safehouse. When you can manipulate time to the degree of the kids I know from Springfield, you’re bound to form an enemy or two, so it’s no surprise they sought protection. They can’t hide from me, though. I simply pull up a trusty map of the city, and Knob to the closest building. Then I just walk.

I get into the lobby, but security won’t let me by, because what reason would they have to do so? I could have all the money in the world, but I would still be nobody. As grateful as I am to that Repairman, and whoever he may be working with, I would have been happy with just a driver’s license. I leave the lobby and sit down on a bench next to a lavish water fountain. I open my bag and examine my resources. Okay, I already know the knob won’t work. I don’t know exactly what the HG Goggles do, but probably nothing useful right now. What I could really use is some psychic paper, but all I got is this half-empty pack of gum, a broken shoestring I’ve been meaning to toss, and the Rothko Torch. Oh and my gun and badge, but I don’t really wanna do that, because what if they look close and try to figure out what Springfield, Kansas is? Plus, I have no official business with the vice presidents, and whether I’m a real law enforcement officer or not, I still respect the badge, and I refuse to abuse its power.

So it looks like we’re back to the flashlight, with its indeterminate power. If the building is cylicone, then time magic should work while inside it, just maybe not against it. From what I’ve learned about these objects, along with other crazy things I’ve encountered throughout most of my adult life, is that you have to be creative, but also remember what things seem to be. The goggles don’t have the power to paint the future, because goggles aren’t a tool for painting. You would need a cylicone paintbrush for that, if such a thing exists. A normal flashlight is used for one thing; to shine light. You can use it to illuminate your path, or it can brighten your surroundings to find something. Or it can be a beacon.

I stride back into the lobby, giving off the impression that I am up to no good, which isn’t what I was going for, but whatever. A security guard standing guard in the corner approaches from the corner of my eye to corner me for security. Before she, or the receptionist, can get anywhere near me, I raise the Rothko Torch up in the air, pointing it towards the top of the giant atrium that runs all the way up. I flip it on, and suddenly feel the light pulling me upwards, like an alien abductee—oh, I’m sorry...an experiencer.

“We got the message.”

I’m standing in a conference room of some kind. At least that’s what it looks like it’s going to be, once they finish construction. Apparently the building isn’t quite ready for prime time, despite being in full use. “Ishimaru,” I say to the one woman in the room with me.

“Hello, detective,” she says.

“You don’t call, you don’t write, you don’t teleport in and get me up to speed. What the hell is this place, Yatchiko?”

She looks at the walls in a more general sense. “A failed experiment.”

“What were you trying to do?”

“Save the world,” she answers.

“From a window company?”

“The company was just the beginning. Is the beginning,” she corrects herself.

“Forgive me,” I say to her, “I’ve forgotten what your power was. Are you the one who can read minds, or whatever?”

“No. I can change time. Move things around.”

“I read the literature. The company’s older than you.”

“No, it’s not. I just make people think that.”

“I need your help. I need to find Springfield. I hear you have some kind of astrolabe?”

The word seems to smell bad to her. “I know what you’re talking about. It is not here.”

“Well, I read—”

“Then what you read was fake news,” she interrupted. “The astrolabe couldn’t be further from Analion Tower. I would never let it within these walls.”

“Then what good are you?” I ask callously.

“I’m not,” she says as profound truth.

I let me breath go, realizing only then that I’ve been holding it for however long.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t help.”

“Please. I’m desperate. If there are survivors, and they’re lost, or hurt, somewhere, they need my help.”

“Sometimes we help people in ways they don’t want, but instead need. You want to find your missing town, but you need purpose. You’ve lost that, but I can get it back.”

“Whatever you’re about to do...don’t do it.”

She smiled coolly. “It’s done.”

I start to feel drowsy, and then I’m drifting down towards the floor, or maybe my bed. When I wake up, I’m a retired former detective of the Kansas City Police Department.

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Microstory 690: Sneak Into Atlantis

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Millennia before our ancestors arrived at their waypoint, Earth, our ancestors’ ancestors came first. The first of them were sent there in an ancient science experiment that went wrong, but they would not be the only ones. Over the years, more of them arrived, along with people from more distant planets. Meanwhile, the outsider population continued their species, and grew on their own. Even after recreating the technology to return to their homeworlds, many chose not to, because Earth was now their home. There is a literally universal mandate that states no non-Earthan may interfere with an Earthan. Lactea has had a history of disparate cultures encountering each other, and sharing their knowledge. This is not allowed when it comes to the Earthan humans, and as much as we detest the galaxy of Lactea’s way of life, it is a rule that we respect as well. We found temporary ways of protecting our presence on Earth from its natives, but our predecessors came up with a more permanent solution. They sunk the island they had settled on into the sea, keeping the waters at bay using telekinesis. Though rumors of their conspiracy remain, people on modern day Earth typically believe either that these Atlantians have died out, or simply never existed in the first place. When our people showed up on the planet, they uncovered the location of Atlantis, and made contact. Their island, though not the largest by any means, was also not particularly small. It would have taken some doing, but our then population could have fit entirely within the confines of Atlantis. And some of us wanted just that. Of course now we realize how ridiculous and idea that was, because of how our numbers have increased since then. Why, we would have needed to live in artificial dimensions, and even then, we probably couldn’t all live there without alerting Earthans to our presence. Still, Eido Kimena felt differently, and she fought against the native Atlantians, urging them to either share their undersea kingdom, or leave. Though she ultimately came to Fostea in an exodus ship, she spent more time in Atlantis than anyone. Before she left, an Atlantian—or possibly a group of them—stole from her what we now call The Saw of Kimena. A brave group of mercenaries were sent to infiltrate Atlantis, and retrieve the artifact so it can later be bequested to Eido Kimena’s replacement. They did this with very little pushback. Apparently, even though the Atlantians were keeping the saw in a museum, they did not care all that much about it being stolen back. What the mercenary thieves found while there, however, was something more terrible than any of us could have imagined...

Microstory 689: Recognition of the Resurrection

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The new force of Faith could not have come at a more opportune time. A special subsection of the verifiers were tasked with determining whether the resurrected Sacred Savior was truly what he was purported to be. They have been working on this ever since he first returned. They held discussions—some private, some with audiences. They consulted with scientists and other experts. They referred back to the Book of Light, Sotiren Zahir’s personal memoirs, and other related literature, like the Book of Ivanka. They interviewed the resurrected one several times, and monitored how he behaved under uncontrolled conditions. Though they kept the details secret, they did recently reveal to the public that they were only marginally closer to an answer than they were when they first began. A few of today’s recent events started turning the tables on their progress, however. Firstly, we learned that the resurrected one traveled from a planet called Shalda, to a planet called Mubhir, during the darkness. The star that Shalda orbits was the first to be cleansed of the quantum darkness, and Mubhir’s was the last. Though we still have no real idea how it is that the darkness was abated, we take this as a divine signal that we should fully trust him. While the Ring of Law seems generally incapable of verifying taikon which have already been accepted as canon, it tested positive upon exposure to the resurrected. This seems like pretty conclusive evidence that we have not somehow been tricked by the Darkness, or some other opposing force. Furthermore, the special council of verifiers sort of laid out a tentative time limit for themselves, expecting to have an answer by this very day. It would seem like nothing could stop the resurrected from being officially recognized as the true Sacred Savior, but it was the Book of Marsali that really sold it to the verifiers, the Highlighters, the Lucidares, and common Lightseers across the galaxy. Marsali reminded us that faith is still faith, and that no amount of proof is strong enough to tear it down. Though the Book of Light warns us of trusting false idols, we must also remember the guidance of the Light of Truth. We must rely on the belief that it will protect us against evil. So this is what we have done. The verifiers released a statement today, confirming that the man we thought to be the Sacred Savior, Sotiren Zahir, was exactly what he appears to be: our hope.

Microstory 688: Force of Faith

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While the quantum darkness was a perilous and depressing time for Lightseers, we returned from it stronger than ever before. We saw an uptick in conversions, of course, as people now had definitive proof of the Light’s power. There were changes for preexisting Lightseers, though. After careful study, experts now strongly believe this to be a attributed to a nonmaterial, but measureable, force. As vague as it may sound, we call it the Force of Faith, and it is sort of a cousin of the Light of Truth. It cannot be seen, as the Light can, but it is just as divine. While the quantum darkness can permeate vast distances for insidious and malevolent purposes, the Force of Faith does so to strengthen belief. While probably nothing is capable of precluding crises of faith altogether, this new force is a mighty enemy against it; a ward, a wall, a shield. Scientists are still trying to understand and codify this new physical phenomenon, and are unsure why it has not been detected before. The obvious answer is that it did not exist before; that it was somehow created out of necessity, and is responsible for the salvation from the darkness that preceded it. The truth is that we still do not know, but that’s the point of faith, isn’t it? If we knew things to be true with undeniable evidence, then it wouldn’t be faith at all; it would just be a standard fact. Perhaps religion thrives in the face of adversity, and requires the opposition of those who do not believe in it. If everyone believed, no one would be special, and the Light wouldn’t matter so much anymore. Perhaps. Whatever the truth, we believe in this, never more staunchly than now.

Microstory 687: Book of Marsali

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Marsali Porra was not a Lightseer, nor did she ascribe to any religious beliefs. She was a completely unbiased historian, and she was not human. Some believe Peter Fireblood to have built the Marsali model himself, but most of that conjecture is based solely on how close they were. They were associates and contemporaries, but no historical record suggests that he had anything to do with her creation. She was a Class MI-9 artificial intelligence, which means that she was purported to have a soul. Salometers are one of the few technologies that are illegal in Fostea, so we’ve not been able to prove this one way or the other. Marsali, whatever her condition, dedicated herself to—or, to the skeptic, was programmed to—observing and recording history, particularly the events in our galaxy. She is capable of transferring her consciousness to multiple substrates, and can in fact, exist within our interstellar data network. There have been no confirmed sightings of her since the Sacred Savior was revising the Book of Light, and starting to work on his memoirs. There are those who believe her to have not avatared herself to an android body in centuries, instead choosing to remain without our datawork. This would certainly make sense, as it would allow her to monitor everything we lowly humans are doing simultaneously. She is one of few independent automated systems in the galaxy. They’ve not been banned, but we value human ingenuity and hard work above all else. Though full automation on par with the dirty communists in Lactea is possible, we choose to do everything ourselves. Regardless, we have no cause to prevent someone like Marsali from existing, and most Fosteans seem to be okay with it. Over time, Marsali has released volumes upon volumes of our collective history, which is a service she apparently provides completely free of charge. She has now changed tactics, however, in order to align with taikon predictions. She has released the Book of Marsali, which reexamines the events surrounding Sotiren Zahir’s birth, life, and death; reportedly giving the audience a fresh new look on how his teachings impacted the shape of things to come, through the lens of hindsight. It will be released later today.

Microstory 686: Find the Ring of Law

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Since the taikon began, a special group of Lightseers have been going around to verify the validity of them. We can’t just take anyone’s word for it. Simply claiming an action to qualify as a taikon is not enough, so it is absolutely vital that we make sure they are truly happening. Still, as dedicated and intelligent as the verifier council is, they are as flawed as anyone. Some of their rulings have come into question by people wishing to ensure the integrity of the system. We do not condemn these challenges, for without them, our faith could not truly be pure. The primary creed of Lightseed is rely only one oneself, but trust in others. This statement may seem self-contradictory, but it is the most important thing anyone can learn on their journey through the Light. It tells us that no one in this universe can get you what you need except for yourself, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it on your own. Let people help you as they can. Be wary of their motives, but do not dismiss them outright. You never know what damage you can do to your own agenda by ignoring relationships that can make, or break, you. It is with this maxim that we not only allow challenges to Lightseed decisions, but encourage them. If we never hear more than one perspective, then we can’t really ever know whether ours is the right one. Out of all challenges drawn against the taikon verifications, not a single one has resulted in a reversal of their ruling. So far, every taikon has been accepted as the right one, and we have been able to successfully move on to the next ones. The Book of Light warns us, however, that things might be getting a little more difficult. We won’t necessarily be able to depend on the way we’ve been doing things. Though the quantum darkness has seemingly been eradicated, it remains in each and every one of us. We were all profoundly affected by its emptiness, Lightseers and nonbelievers alike. That will continue have an impact on everything we do from now on, up until the foreseeable future. It was important, then, that we find the Ring of Law, which is said to be powerful enough to discern the legitimacy of anything, taikon included. We never knew what happened to the ring centuries ago, but we know where it is now. If the quantum darkness did any good, it was to show us the way. Out of all that blackness, one shining light overwhelmed all others. Its location was marked on a dead moon that orbits Hiereus, which was where the original Eido Seamus spent a great deal of time. From now on, we will no longer have to count on but the words of the verification council. We will have proof. All we need to do now is carry out a ceremony bequesting the Ring of Law to the new Eido Seamus.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: August 2, 2148

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No one was torn out of time come August 2, 2148. During breakfast, Mateo kept doing a headcount, making sure that he wasn’t crazy. This wasn’t the first time Arcadia had broken her pattern—just saying that she does have any pattern may be a bit inaccurate—but still, this was making him nervous. What did she have in store for them? Was it good? Bad? Neutral? Was it a break? Were he and Leona meant to have their honeymoon now? After they were done eating, the two of them went out for a swim in the lake that The Cleanser had used for the Six Days Seven Nights tribulation. Leona had convinced him that there was no use fretting about the possibilities. When they had an opportunity to rest and relax, they needed to take it, and not worry about secret plans.

“I suppose we could use some time to talk,” he said while slowly slipping into the water.

“Yeah, we’re married, and we never talk about it,” she agreed.

“Are you wishing we weren’t?”

“No. It wasn’t right that she forced it on us, but I’m happy it happened. I want to be married to you. We’ve been together for thousands of years.”

He chuckled at the remark, knowing that saying it had been thousands of years wasn’t really doing their situation justice. “We’ve not really taken time to go over the Serif thing, though.

“Oh, are you still in love with her?”

He was silent at first. The three of them cared for each other deeply, but it wasn’t an equal bond. Though Mateo now knew that Serif didn’t exist until a few days ago, his memories of her from before that remained intact. He could remember when they met, and how their relationship developed. Leona’s feelings grew at the same time, and they eventually had to admit that the best way to describe it was polyamory. Even as such, though, Mateo and Leona were the primaries, with Serif being a third-wheel. That wasn’t an insult, though, as it was Serif who made this claim for herself. She called them collectively a tadpole tricycle, which was a design that involved having two wheels in the front, and one in the back. “Without me,” he falsely recalled her having once said, “the tricycle falls apart. Two wheels in that configuration are completely unstable. But have no fear, because a tricycle with two wheels is a bicycle. You would simply have to redesign the relationship to account for my absence.”

“I guess she should be included in this conversation. I didn’t forget about her, but I sort of avoid talking to her about it, because I know she’s all right. I know she’s not upset about our marriage, or that she wasn’t part of it. That’s just the kind of person she is. You would love her, Leona. If you gave her a chance, you would feel as I remember you feeling.”

“Well, that’s the thing. If what you two say is right, and that my memories of her were somehow corrupted, then all we should have to do is finish the expiations. If I’m really supposed to love her, then my memories of her should return, along with those of everyone else we’ve lost.”

“Rrrrriiiiight, well...”

“Well, what?”

Well those memories can’t return to you because they don’t exist. Mateo was saved by the bell when none other than Serif burst out of the bushes.

“There’s a boat!” she called down to them. “Whoever’s on it has probably gotten to the beach by now.”

They ran through the jungle, and then down the beach to find a sailboat anchored far off shore. Passengers were still on their way in three inflatable motor boats. The islanders stood there in shock, not knowing whether the people who had arrived were friendlies, or else.

The group of newcomers smiled kindly, though, so things were looking up. The oldest one extended his hand in friendship, which Leona took hesitantly.

“We have been granted passage to your island so that we may thank you for saving our lives. We’ve been waiting to do this for many years.”

“Who are you?” she asked.

“The children. In Petrovichi.” He gestured to his group, all of whom were smiling as warmly. “You made a tea for us that cured us of our disease.”

“But you died. We watched you,” she argued. “Some of you, at least.”

“It just made us look dead so our parents would let us go. We were then brought to this world where we’ve lived ever since.”

“How did we not know about you,” Darko asked.

“We weren’t allowed to come here until you had experienced your time in 1921. It’s a big planet. You’ve not seen it all. In fact, you’ve seen very little.”

“It must have been hard for you to grow up alone like that,” Mateo said.

“We weren’t alone. Not by a longshot. This world is teeming with life. We are not here just to thank you, actually. We’re here to take you there so you can see for yourself.”

“Is this an expiation?” Mateo asked.

The leader stared at him. “I don’t know what that means.”

They all piled into the inflatables and then onto the sailboat, including Marcy and Dar’cy. It was a little tight, but they were all able to fit with decent breathing room. “Are we gonna get there before the three of us jump into the future?” Serif asked, not thinking until that moment that these people may not have any idea what their pattern was.

“Ira,” the leader, whose name was Anisim, said.

Ira knew exactly what he meant just by him saying her name. Through the little window, Mateo could see her fiddling with the instruments.

“Best hold on to somethin’,” Anisim recommended.

Just as Mateo grasped some kind of metal bar, the boat flew into superspeed. He looked down to see the water flying away from them faster than it should have been possible for any boat. The clouds were doing the same. The wind, on the other hand, was a different story. It was definitely coming at them at a high rate, but not as high as it should have been for as fast as they were moving. This was a magical boat, one that was capable of subverting the traditional laws of real-time. It probably operated on the same principle as Serkan and Horace’s friend and speedster, the mysterious masked K-Boy.

Anisim smiled at the newbies and their dumb newbie reactions. “It would take us days without the cylicone design,” he explained. “It’ll get even weirder once we reach land, though.”

“What happens then?” Darko asked.

Anisim just smiled wider.

About an hour later, they could see land up ahead, and were coming upon it too fast. They would either have to slow down soon, or the magic boat was even more magical, and could stop instantly without throwing them all overboard. The islanders tightened their grips and kind of leaned back and squinted. They couldn’t help but not fully trust the mainlanders to not kill them all. Their fears were unwarranted, of course, but it was true that the boat never stopped. It kept flying over the land, as if it were simply more ocean. It started to twist and turn through trees, around mountains, and even between buildings. Yes, there was a city of highrises, and even skyscrapers. If this was just the coastal city, what did the rest of it look like? How many people lived here, and exactly how advanced we they? He couldn’t see too many details at their current speed, but he did see people walking around. Some of them watched the boat fly by them, but no one appeared to be shocked by it. This could have been an entire world of people who experienced the manipulation of time on a regular basis. How did they not know this place existed? How long had they been there?

A half hour later, the boat slew down to more comfortable speeds, and finally came to a stop. They were in a region of the mainland called Sutvindr, which Anisim described as the Kansas of Dardius. It hadn’t occurred to Mateo to name the planet that he supposedly owned, but he was glad he never did. That was a good name, and it would have made things weird for it to have more than one. But then he started thinking about the fact that there were so many people living here. It wasn’t really his at that point anyway, nor was it ever Gilbert’s. It was easy to own it when the Tribulation Island was the only area populated, but now that he discovered there to be so much more, that all seemed even crazier than it had before.

“How many people live here?” Leona asked. They were standing at the edge of another city.

“A few billion,” Anisim answered. “Maybe four? I guess don’t really know.”

“That’s half the population of Earth when we first left,” she pointed out. They’re all refugees?”

“I guess you could call us that. But not all anymore. The majority of people here are descendants of these...refugees. They’re not all from the same timeline, and not everyone is human. We even have a subpopulation of Dardieti natives that we didn’t know about when the world was first settled fifty-two years ago. They did not yet have complex language, but now they’re productive members of society.”

“You did all this in half a century?” Lincoln asked, impressed.

“Eh, time...right?” was all that Anisim said.

“How long do we get to stay here?” Marcy asked. “There can’t possibly be enough time to see everything.”

“For you there will be,” Anisim said. “For these three,” he added, gesturing to Mateo, Leona, and Serif, “not really. I believe we have you for the next three or so years.”

“Wow,” Dar’cy said, eyes wide.

“Where do we start?”

“Come on.” Anisim motioned for them to follow as he walked off. “Mateo National Park is just up ahead.”

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