and trying to make a nice groove to settle into. Amanda couldn't help comparing him to their new cat. "The way I've always thought of time travel, and what you've said kind of confirms that, is that if there is no chance of doing it, and it is pretty far-fetched let's face it, then there is this world, or a world at any rate, and we live in the present. Sounds right, yeah?"
Dale and Amanda nodded. Dale was about to say something but Amanda put a finger to her lips — there would be time for them to talk later, she wanted to hear this.
"Okay, so we have this world, we live in the present, and the past has happened, we can all agree on that. Now, the future is yet to come, so obviously that hasn't happened. That's what we all believe. But, and this is where it all goes screwy, as soon as you have a device that allows you to travel both backward, and forward, then all hell breaks loose."
"That's what we've been telling you, Peter, we know that," said Amanda.
"Yes, but you don't understand how it all works, or you wouldn't be letting me talk. Now hush, or I'll lose my train of thought." Peter gathered his thoughts for a moment, then continued. "So, now we have our Hexad, so we can jump to the future. But unless we actually make a jump then the future need not be there, and the fact is that the future can never have happened, as it hasn't happened yet."
"So how do we jump to the future then?" asked Dale.
He's making sense, he really is.
"Because you aren't." Dale and Amanda stared at him blankly. "What I think happens is that if you jump forward then you are jumping to a different timeline. Or a different universe, to be more precise. The fact that you jump forward is an impossibility as it hasn't happened in our own world, but by doing the jump you create another universe where the future is the past in that time."
"So you are saying that jumping to the future is impossible. Hmm, you could be right," mused Dale.
"Exactly. You create an alternate reality, and you jump forward as far as you are concerned, but in reality it is the past somewhere else. And when you jump back from that alternate universe then you come back to your correct one. Usually," added Peter. "Each jump forward creates who knows how many different universes, as there could be an endless number of choices you make right as you jump, or when you set the Hexad to do it. All of that has to be accommodated." Peter moved his arms from behind his head and put them in his lap, cracking his knuckles like it was a job well done.
"Except," said Amanda, "that you had to have a special Hexad to jump to alternate universes, or it had to be me and Dale. Our closeness seemed to allow us to do it without needing a special device. That's what Tellan said anyway."
"Maybe, or maybe he got it wrong. Maybe he doesn't really know, or maybe he's lying."
"Why would he do that?" said Amanda.
Peter shrugged. "I have no idea, I don't know the man. But if he's, you know, 'The Caretaker,' as in for real," Peter made bunny ears, "then he probably has more important things to worry about than a bit of time travel shenanigans anyway."
"Don't tell me you know what that means too?" said Dale, sighing.
"What?"
"The Caretaker. You know what it means?"
Dale got a frown from Peter. "Well, duh, he's The Caretaker."
"Ugh, I give up," said Dale, watching as Wozzy got up and headed for the kitchen as though he owned the place.
"Hmm, I don't know. It sounds convincing but who knows how it really works?"
"Guys, I'm telling you, this is it. If you make a jump then you simply have to create an alternate universe, and that's why everything goes down like you said you were told. Too many jumps equals too many alternate universes with too much going on in them, so things just set stuff right the best they could and got rid of the problem by not having people in them to do the jumps. Although, er, um, I guess if that happened then surely the universes would disappear too, as there wouldn't
Dale and Amanda nodded. Dale was about to say something but Amanda put a finger to her lips — there would be time for them to talk later, she wanted to hear this.
"Okay, so we have this world, we live in the present, and the past has happened, we can all agree on that. Now, the future is yet to come, so obviously that hasn't happened. That's what we all believe. But, and this is where it all goes screwy, as soon as you have a device that allows you to travel both backward, and forward, then all hell breaks loose."
"That's what we've been telling you, Peter, we know that," said Amanda.
"Yes, but you don't understand how it all works, or you wouldn't be letting me talk. Now hush, or I'll lose my train of thought." Peter gathered his thoughts for a moment, then continued. "So, now we have our Hexad, so we can jump to the future. But unless we actually make a jump then the future need not be there, and the fact is that the future can never have happened, as it hasn't happened yet."
"So how do we jump to the future then?" asked Dale.
He's making sense, he really is.
"Because you aren't." Dale and Amanda stared at him blankly. "What I think happens is that if you jump forward then you are jumping to a different timeline. Or a different universe, to be more precise. The fact that you jump forward is an impossibility as it hasn't happened in our own world, but by doing the jump you create another universe where the future is the past in that time."
"So you are saying that jumping to the future is impossible. Hmm, you could be right," mused Dale.
"Exactly. You create an alternate reality, and you jump forward as far as you are concerned, but in reality it is the past somewhere else. And when you jump back from that alternate universe then you come back to your correct one. Usually," added Peter. "Each jump forward creates who knows how many different universes, as there could be an endless number of choices you make right as you jump, or when you set the Hexad to do it. All of that has to be accommodated." Peter moved his arms from behind his head and put them in his lap, cracking his knuckles like it was a job well done.
"Except," said Amanda, "that you had to have a special Hexad to jump to alternate universes, or it had to be me and Dale. Our closeness seemed to allow us to do it without needing a special device. That's what Tellan said anyway."
"Maybe, or maybe he got it wrong. Maybe he doesn't really know, or maybe he's lying."
"Why would he do that?" said Amanda.
Peter shrugged. "I have no idea, I don't know the man. But if he's, you know, 'The Caretaker,' as in for real," Peter made bunny ears, "then he probably has more important things to worry about than a bit of time travel shenanigans anyway."
"Don't tell me you know what that means too?" said Dale, sighing.
"What?"
"The Caretaker. You know what it means?"
Dale got a frown from Peter. "Well, duh, he's The Caretaker."
"Ugh, I give up," said Dale, watching as Wozzy got up and headed for the kitchen as though he owned the place.
"Hmm, I don't know. It sounds convincing but who knows how it really works?"
"Guys, I'm telling you, this is it. If you make a jump then you simply have to create an alternate universe, and that's why everything goes down like you said you were told. Too many jumps equals too many alternate universes with too much going on in them, so things just set stuff right the best they could and got rid of the problem by not having people in them to do the jumps. Although, er, um, I guess if that happened then surely the universes would disappear too, as there wouldn't
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