"Oddly," Merlyn said slowly, "in that time outside this place seems to have no bearing. I mean, I thought it was queer from the beginning, but given my... particular relationship with time ordinarily, I had all but written it off." He sips at his tea, looking up at the flawlessly blue sky with an expression of ponderous consideration. "But it seems, from what others have told me, that 'odd' is the best consideration."
He looks at Fitz properly now, over the sparrow's back, and his large blue eyes narrow a little over the tops of his spectacles. "There are people here from different points along their own timelines. One man may know another, while the other will not meet him for years. And yet the fabric of their timelines seems unbroken. Now, there are two possibilities..."
Oh, dear. He's gone into lecture mode, complete with half-raised finger and declamatory tone.
"Firstly, that the theorists who hypothesise branching realities are correct, and that the related people are taken from neighbouring realities. This seems possible, but goodness, it seems quite the coincidence to dip into so many neighbouring realities and not pick up two from the same timeline.
"Secondly, my preferred theory, we have not been transported here at all. We are, in fact, copies. That makes far more sense. The virtual is, after all, cheaper and easier to transport than the physical, and with the technology at this world's disposal, it would be easy to construct a rough clone to hold the translated information. That would also explain how they seem able to constrain our linguistic and metaphysical skills.
"Either way, it seems very probable that in some timeline or other, you are still home and doing what needs to be done, which I gather by your tone is probably important." He sounds rather satisfied with that little lecture, settling back on the bench with one bony ankle crossed over the other. "Cold comfort, I know. But cold comfort seems to be most of what's on offer around here."
no subject
He looks at Fitz properly now, over the sparrow's back, and his large blue eyes narrow a little over the tops of his spectacles. "There are people here from different points along their own timelines. One man may know another, while the other will not meet him for years. And yet the fabric of their timelines seems unbroken. Now, there are two possibilities..."
Oh, dear. He's gone into lecture mode, complete with half-raised finger and declamatory tone.
"Firstly, that the theorists who hypothesise branching realities are correct, and that the related people are taken from neighbouring realities. This seems possible, but goodness, it seems quite the coincidence to dip into so many neighbouring realities and not pick up two from the same timeline.
"Secondly, my preferred theory, we have not been transported here at all. We are, in fact, copies. That makes far more sense. The virtual is, after all, cheaper and easier to transport than the physical, and with the technology at this world's disposal, it would be easy to construct a rough clone to hold the translated information. That would also explain how they seem able to constrain our linguistic and metaphysical skills.
"Either way, it seems very probable that in some timeline or other, you are still home and doing what needs to be done, which I gather by your tone is probably important." He sounds rather satisfied with that little lecture, settling back on the bench with one bony ankle crossed over the other. "Cold comfort, I know. But cold comfort seems to be most of what's on offer around here."