I took the Codex from Flossie and inspected it more closely. As far as I could tell, it was made of wood, was very light and had a myriad of detailed carvings all over it. I brushed my fingertips across the surface looking for openings or switches. I found neither.
Nothing about the box stood out as obviously alien or different to anything else in the room, but for so reason it moved around freely. I tried to turn it like a Rubiks cube. Would have been cool if it was a puzzle that needed solvingtwist up, across, down, down, cheat mode activated!but sadly it seed pretty solid with no moving parts except for one. I opened the lid.
How dare y I snapped it shut on the voice mid-screech. Apparently, Yuqi wasnt affected by the ti freeze, either. But she wasnt in control of the box. If only all conversations could be ended so easily.
Nearly there, said Jenny. Shed managed to get her top half through the gap in the window David had slipped out of, and now she was stuck with her legs flailing.
There cos a ti in every relationship when you realise the person youve fallen in love with is an idiot. Its a heartwarming mont. The doubt youve always had in the back of your mind can be put to rest because you finally understand what made them fall for you; stupidity.
I opened and shut the box a couple of tis.
You will lis She was still there. Stop doing tha
Annoying her was fun but not very helpful and probably not very smart. If I died again and ended up back in the void, she would have her revenge. Still, I couldnt shake the feeling that the box held the answer to so question I hadnt figured out yet.
So, where did you say that manual was? I asked.
Why? said Claire from over by Dorma. I thought you said there was no point getting it because of the language barrier.
Yeah, but we could get soone to read it for us.
Claires mouth disappeared into her face as she sucked in her lips. Then why did you stop us from stealing it? she said, hardly moving her mouth.
Are you kidding? Because it was a terrible idea. Theres no way the two of you wouldve been able to sneak past all those soldiers. I ignored the dirty look she was giving . Did Dorma let slip any stray thoughts about this gizmo?
No, said Claire tersely. Thats not how it works. It has to be at the front of his brain for to be able to see it. She had got familiar with her ability remarkably quickly.
When did you beco an expert on how your ability works?
Theres no need to sound so surprised. Were not the idiots you think we are. We can figure things out, too.
You couldnt last ti. And you had no trouble reading my mind. Its a bit odd how things are different this ti around.
Thats interesting, said Maurice as he jotted things down in his notebook, but shouldnt we be preparing?
Preparing for what? I said.
For weretics. He turned back a few pages. You said last ti, Phil appeared with a weretic and ripped off Dudleys head.
Dont say that, youll set them off again, I whispered, waving my hand to get him to keep his voice down. It was too late. The ntion of Dudleys sacrifice had turned Flossie all starry-eyed. I think she may even have started cooing like a dove. Her intense adoration turned Dudleys face beetroot-red. Not often decapitation is considered a romantic gesture.
Jenny let out a short scream and fell out of the window. Fortunately, we were on the ground floor, so she didnt fall to her death. Not that death was that big a deal in this world.
I made it! said Jenny, her head reappearing and disappearing as she jumped up and down outside the window. What should I do now?
Co back in, I said and turned back to Maurice. The plans simple. If Phil turns up with a weretic, we surrender.
Thats your plan? said Claire, not sounding very impressed. Actually, she sounded appalled.
Trust , I said, we wont win in a fight.
Shouldnt we put up a little resistance, for appearances sake? asked Dudley, all fired up thanks to Flossies ardent devotion. Public displays of affection are horrible to witness. The glow you see around people madly in love is common sense leaving their body.
No, I said. Appearances can fuck off.
Dudley seed a little hurt by my casual dismissal of his proposal, but it was okay. Flossie would make him feel better. And then hed be back to make another retarded suggestion.
The more ti we buy, the more information Claire can get for us. We dont know how many tis were going to have to go through this, the more we know the better. Seed like a reasonable plan.
I told you, its not that simple, complained Claire. Just because I can pick up what people are thinking doesnt an I understand it. People dont always think clearly. And just because they think it, doesnt an its true.
I was quite surprised by how a little ti spent in other peoples brains had expanded Claires own view of what went on inside a persons head, and how little it could an.
Yes, I agreed. People often think things that are wrong. Sotis they dont even believe it themselves, but they cant help thinking it. The thing about the brain is, so much of it is operating without our permission. What people think is the least reliable thing about them. What they say is only slightly more reliable. And what they do is the only thing that really matters. But that doesnt an you cant glean so useful information with a little probing. You just have to know what youre looking for.
Claire unclenched her jaw and her infuriated grimace downgraded into sothing a little more perplexed and reflective. How am I supposed to know what Im looking for?
Who the fuck knows? I responded helpfully.
I went over to the door and tapped it with the Codex. Maybe sothing would transfer and the door would be released. I tried turning the handle. Rock solid.
What are you doing? asked Maurice, notebook at the ready.
The only things that should be able to move are us, because we arent from this universe. Sa as our clothes or your notebook. But if this box can move, maybe it has so special property that can be passed on. I shook the Codex over the handle like it was a salt cellar. Fairy dust, maybe?
I tried the handle again, not expecting anything different. It moved. Followed by a scraping sound from behind . I spun around as Varg completed drawing his sword.
Whats going on? said Dorma, suddenly returned to life. How did you move like that? He slumped into his chair, his eyebrows knitted together in bafflent. He peered around the room like he was looking for hidden caras.
Phil must have reactivated ti, and from Dormas viewpoint, it must have looked like we had all jumped to different positions in the room.
Before anyone could answer the Generals question, the door opened. We all ran around the other side of the desk, much to Dormas surprise.
What are you doing? he cried as we rushed to get behind his chair.
Even without establishing a plan of action, each of us unilaterally ca to the sa conclusionthe big guy with the sword could fight the monster.
Varg had no idea why we suddenly legged it away from a re door opening, but he held his sword steady and pointed it at the door. The corded muscles along his arm tensed.
Phil walked in and imdiately raised his hands. Hey, co on, chill. No need to look all freaked out, I co in peace. Do you think you could put the sword away?
Varg kept his sword held out in front of him, although his eyes slid from side to side as he tried to make sense of what was going on.
David walked in behind Phil. No weretics appeared. Which didnt an they werent about, but the lack of screaming and viscera splattering suggested things werent going to go the sa way as last ti. I remained firmly behind Dormas chair.
Are you alone? I asked.
Sure, who else would I be with? said Phil innocently. He looked the sa as last ti, the sa clothes, the sa bulging Buscemi eyes.
Oh, I dont know, I said. Maybe gigantic monsters who eat people.
Phil curled his mouth into one corner of his face in contemplation. Youll have to narrow it down a bit. That could be almost anyone in this place.
Weretics, Phil, Im talking about the weretics youve joined up with.
Dorma leapt to his feet. What? Is this true?
Phil shook his head. No way, man. Youre all tripping if you think Id make a deal with them guys. He shuddered. Just thinking about it gives the chilly willies. Those guys are crazy.
Thats very convincing, I said, but cut the shit, Phil. I already know you made a deal with them.
Phil turned to David. Hes the guy, huh? Figures. Just like Yuqi. He turned back to . Look, we should probably have this conversation in private, so. He snapped his fingers and everything froze again.
Ah, could you just Jenny had managed to get herself halfway back into the room when Phil stopped ti and now she was stuck again.
Ignore her, I said. Shes just looking for attention. What do you an, just like Yuqi?
It was the sa with her, said Phil. She jumped back in ti so many tis, she was convinced she knew everything. What was going to happen, who people were, how they were going to act it was all bullshit. She got more and more paranoid and deranged the more things didnt work out the way she expected. Thats not how it works. Things dont stay the sa. Im not the guy you t last ti. Even though things might look the sa, the choices I made, the reasons I made them, they defined the person you t. Not , him. Youve never t , this , and you cant bla for things he did. I might make the sa choices, I might not, but you dont get to judge based on what youve seen do any more than if youd seen commit murder in my dreams. Im not responsible for those actions, you get where Im coming from?
What he said did make sense. If the universe wasnt nailed down the way I thought it was, then each ti I went back the variables would be... variable. It made the whole ti loop thing a lot less attractive as a way to ga the system.
How did Yuqi get caught? I asked coming out from behind Dormas chair. Do the masters have a way to detect going back in ti?
Phil shrugged. They were waiting for us when we arrived. I an, it probably wasnt the first ti we arrived, even though thats how it appeared to us. Yuqi stalled them while we got away. She probably thought theyd kill her and shed get to do another loop, but they didnt want her to die. They knew, but how
Im back! said Jenny as she fell through the window head first.
I ignored her and looked over at Claire and then at everyone else. I didnt want to make it too obvious, but it was enough of a glimpse to catch Claires slight nod. Phil was telling the truth, at least as far as his thoughts were concerned.
You really did join up with the weretics, I inford him. Which ans youre at least capable of betraying us.
He didnt seem too put out by this assessnt. Everyones capable of it. The only thing that matters is if you actually do it. He reached into a pocket, took out a pack of cards and began shuffling them.
Ace of diamonds? I asked him, referring to the card hed had made to do the ti-stop trick with.
He stopped shuffling and fanned the cards out in one hand. He picked out one card.
Ace of spades. He held up the card. It was hand painted and not quite the sa as the rest. You know, Yuqi wasnt usually that far off.
I looked at my group again, from one to the next, coming to rest on Jenny who had got back to her feet. Was I really in the sa world Id entered the first ti? Were these the real people Id shared the last few months with, or just very similar versions from another tiline?
I looked at the box in my hand and thought about Yuqi. She had been in my place and this was how she ended up, what if I went the sa way? Just thinking about it was enough to drive you bonkers. Talking about it didnt make things much clearer but that was probably because I didnt know the right questions to ask. What I need to do was talk to soone with more experience.
I flipped the box open.
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