(Untitled)

[gone_byebye]

Ray walks into the Bar with a brushed-metal robot dog takka takka takka-ing at his heels. There's no visible slime, and he only smells a little bit of ozone, but that's what happens when you come to Milliways without changing out of your jumpsuit and proton pack first. "Bar? I realize it's still morning in New York, but I've been on my feet for

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[bloody_rockgod]

"Hey, Ray," says Charlie and Eyebrows at the robot dog. "Who's your friend?"

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"Oh- hi, Charlie. This is Francis. Francis, say hi."

The dog cocks its head (no visible ears, one glowing yellow panel across the place where eyes and forehead would be on a normal dog, a pitty area with something like nostrils at the muzzle, no mouth) and makes a "WHURF" noise.

"Francis is from a dystopian future about a hundred and twenty years down the road, but I don't think it's my world's future for various reasons. The person he was trying to run down gave him to me and I had him reprogrammed."

[bloody_rockgod]

"Hi, Francis," Charlie says, and almost offers his hand to sniff--but it occurs to him that would be very pointless with this particular canine.

"Well, I'm at a loss to ask an intelligent question about any of that last part."

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Actually, Francis proceeds to lean forward and sniff at Charlie's leg- although the motion of air is tiny compared to a biological dog's sniffing.

"Oh, um, translation: he used to chase people down for a dictator's government. Have you ever met John Preston?"

[bloody_rockgod]

"I don't think so." He watches the dog sniff. "Good thing I'm not currently a pet owner--though you probably will smell toddlers," he tells the dog.

"Dysopian futures and dictators. Makes a bloke wonder why he gets out of bed in the morning."

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"On the chance that we get the future that leads to Admiral Kirk's world instead?" Ray says with a shrug. "There's decent futures out there as much as the ugly ones, as far as I can tell."

[bloody_rockgod]

"Hmm," says Charlie. "Ever wondered how it happens? How all these possibilities come into being? I mean, I think I believe in free will and all . . . but there's the free will of one person and the free will of an entire civilization . . ."

He smiles self-consciously. "Sorry. I went to Mass this morning. Makes me think deep-ish thoughts."

[gone_byebye]

"When I was in college," says Ray, "there was a story I read by Larry Niven called "All The Myriad Ways". It postulated the discovery of the infinite possibilities of existence- the scientific discovery that, somehow, every single possibility springing from every single possible choice of every sentient being at every single moment existed somewhere, spanning out into an infinite number of worlds. The story ended with society falling apart as people started acting on the premise that some version of them, somewhere, was doing the right thing, so why should they have to do it themselves?" He shakes his head. "Niven was kind of depressing, but it was an interesting take on all the possible endings of our various actions. I didn't buy his take on it, you understand."

[bloody_rockgod]

"The only alternative me I've ever encountered was a boring sod," Charlie says. "I think I'd like that story, though. Even though I don't think actual alternatives is something that could be proven by science--wouldn't knowing about it wipe it out, like?"

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Ray smiles, just a little bit. "I've been to... uh, five, I think... different continuums in which some version of me existed, only differently done or with some different choice in his past. I've never been there at the same time as the other me, you understand, but I know there are at least those alternative lines out there if nothing else."

[bloody_rockgod]

"Hm . . . you know, younger-me came in here a few times last year. And it was weird afterwards--it was like, I had memories I knew I hadn't had before, but it made perfect sense they were there.

"Time's a tricky bugger."

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"Seriously? I've never had that happen. I've read about that kind of incident, but never personally experienced it." Ray frowns thoughtfully. "I wish I'd known at the time. It would've made fascinating research material if that was okay with you."

[bloody_rockgod]

"Sure, research me all you like. Though without mini-me it probably wouldn't do any good.

"He came in while I was out for a bit and couldn't get back in. I assume that's why--two of us couldn't exist in the same place at the same time. Some sort of physics . . . thing." He waves a hand vaguely.

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"Well, I was thinking more of some of the philotic abnormalities that would've been circulating around you at the time. But yeah, I'd've needed the younger you to make it really work well." Ray nods. "I've only ever heard of two people being present here in the Bar in multiple forms at one time. One of them was Tim Hunter, and one of them was my colleague Dr. Spengler."

[bloody_rockgod]

Charlie blinks. "Philotic abnormalities?

"Well, Tim's magic--he does a lot of strange things. Or did." He frowns. Haven't seen him in a while.

[gone_byebye]

"Philotics is a branch of physics from Valentine Wiggin's universe that deals with the fundamental interconnectedness of energies, people, objects, and entities in general," Ray says. "I had to use the concepts of that science once to get myself out of one of the alternate continua and back to here. Everything that you interact with winds up connected with you on an extremely basic and fundamental level to greater or lesser degrees."