by RP Halliway
“Join the crowd,” Silas laughed.
“The ‘reclaimed memory’ kids are another crazy thing. I don’t know how to process that. I can totally get behind the idea that kids have stronger connections to the multiverse and anything outside of it. But that doesn’t mean I understand it.”
“That’s the statement of the year!” Evie said, causing Noel and Silas to both laugh.
“From the perspective of the ninety year old,” Noel continued, “how does that new connection form to the child if the old man is still alive? Where do the memories go if the person died? And how long is it before the person can reclaim their own memories? And why is it different people?”
“Very good questions, my friend,” Silas said.
“Also, is there a delay between death and the next step to allow memories to linger and make a home in a young kid?” Noel asked. “How long is the delay? And what causes it?”
“And what about reincarnation or ‘respawning’ in another universe?” Silas added. “So many questions.”
“That’s the deep part. It leads to so many different possibilities. Like is this universe specifically crafted just for you?”
“Just for me?” Evie asked.
“Absolutely. Everything in this crazy world could be tailor made and constructed for Evie’s learning and growth, for some unknown cosmic reason.”
“You mean Silas is a construct?” Evie asked, poking him in the arm.
“Potentially,” Noel said. “Everything from history, math, science, the weather, and every person, all of it has been constructed just for you—for some reason. To give you an experience of some sort. Knowledge.”
“That’s crazy,” Evie said. “George Washington was created just for me?”
“And if this universe is specifically crafted as ‘Evie’s Universe’, then it is quite possible that every person ever living in this universe is a Non-Playable Character, or even a different manifestation of Evie herself,” Noel said.
“Me? Everybody is me?”
“Could be,” Noel answered. “There is no way to understand the cosmic realities. But if the simulation is just for you, then you would have the opportunity to ‘play’ every role throughout your universe to learn from it.”
“That’s even crazier.” Evie shook her head as the new ideas swirled around in it.
“Simulation theory can get very deep,” Noel said.
“Like The Matrix simulation?” Silas asked.
“More involved than that,” Noel said, “but it’s a good starting point. There aren’t babies powering the world, and we don’t have computer connections in us. But the idea that we live in a simulation makes sense when you think about the total number of universes making up the multiverse. If we live in one at a time, it will take an eternity to visit every one.”
“Eternity is a long time,” Evie said.
“That it is, dudette,” Noel said with a loud laugh. “A very long time. Though it’s quite possible that each of us will never visit some—or many, or most—of the universes. And if our form exists in that unvisited universe, then something like an NPC would need to fill in for us.”
“The multiverse is sounding more like a computer game every time I think about it,” Silas said, shaking his head. “Spawning points in every universe and NPCs all around us.”
“And we are NPCs in the universes we never visit,” Evie added. “Plus there are universes where we are never born.”
“True,” Noel said, “and taking all of those into account, there are still so many possible universes for us to live in that it’s mind breaking.”
“Would knowing about respawning into different universes change things?” Evie asked, her voice quiet and slow.
“In what way?” Noel asked. “Knowing things does totally change behaviors. Every experiment is corrupted by observation. Watching people causes behavior changes. From children being near parents, to adults turning on ‘church mode,’ to having to act a specific way at work . . . All of us are masters of change due to observation.”
“And criminals and rioters,” Silas said. “They definitely behave differently when they see cameras around.”
“Exactly. It’s impossible to count how many different personalities each of us can create for all of the different situations.”
“Besides observation, knowing about respawing—if true—if someone doesn’t like their current situation, they could just try to respawn into a new life,” Evie said.
“There are many people that think suicide is the way out of so many different troubles,” Noel said, “some of which are actually trivial in scope. Respawning wouldn’t seem a big factor.”
“I was just wondering if learning about the multiverse is worth it,” Evie said.
“My mentor loved to ask the bigger questions like that—why do people do things in general, and what is the end goal of knowledge. There was never a perfect or ‘right’ answer, but my answer is simply ‘live your best life.’ So that’s what I try to do.”
“What is your best life?” Evie asked.
“Just be kind to each person, and don’t stress the little shit!” Noel said. “Life is a gift, so make the most of every day.”
“The sandwich philosopher!” Silas said.
“Absolutely correct!” Laughter filled the car.
“What about the psychics?” Silas asked, wanting to know Noel’s thoughts about Brenda and Maddie. “What do you think about them?”
“Dude! I’m all in on psychics! There are totally connections to different universes that feed information. And the fact that you found two people to talk to you is amazing.”
“I gather you’d like to be with us next time?” Silas asked, though he doubted there would be a next time.
“Definitely! I’d ask questions all day!”
“Always the philosopher,” Silas said.
“Always. So my first question for the psychics would be how they learn it. Is it something mechanical like riding a bicycle, or something purely intellectual, like memorizing multiplication tables?”
“Why would that be important?” Evie asked.
“It creates the basis of a world view. For example, having a mechanical component defines the world as needing physical manipulations to produce effects. This is the ‘Harry Potter’ world view.”
“Harry Potter?” Silas asked.
“The use of a physical wand and chantings to produce effects. Without the wand or the proper utterance, an interaction cannot exist,” Noel said. “The mythology of magicks, wizards and witches, and whatnots. Written spells, incantations, potions, and all that. Very physical magicks.”
“Well, Mademoiselle Ranier said she didn’t read tea leaves,” Silas said, laughing.
“Good info, dude! Another data point to add to everything.”
“And what about a purely intellectual mechanism?” Evie asked.
“In an intellectual system, all of the interactions would be through mental or psychic or spiritual connections. There is a connection beyond something that can be physically studied. It opens the possibility for many abilities in tons of people. And the Bible sort of backs up an intellectual mechanism. Jesus tells us to pray in secret, and not for show. But Elijah prayed on the top of Mount Carmel for fire to come down, and prayed as a show to the people, rather than for himself. The connections don’t need to be physical for many things.”
“Interesting,” Evie said. “You mention the Bible a lot. Are you religious?”
“Not particularly. Though it might be better if I was. The Bible has some pretty powerful credibility, more than many other works, anyway. Which could turn out to be unfortunate for me.”
“Why unfortunate?” Evie asked.
“If the Bible is true, and I don’t have the right religion or belief, I would be looking at a pretty terrible eternity. But eve
n aside from religion and moral teachings, I find many stories of interest in the Bible.”
“Such as?” Evie asked, growing more curious, recognizing her own struggle.
“The book of Job,” Noel said. “It’s an early story in the Bible. It deals with beings—angels or demons—that travel to and from heaven and Earth. This could be good evidence for the cloud theory again.”
“Better than the witnesses?” Evie asked.
“Possibly. In Job, a devil or demon talks to God, and gets permission to ‘disrupt’ Job’s life.”
“Hence the ‘Patience of Job,’” Silas said. It was one of the few stories he remembered from the Bible.
“Yes,” Noel said. “To summarize the story, that devil gets permission to take everything Job has, family, livestock, health, and so on, and Job doesn’t understand why it’s happening.”
“That’s not Patience,” Evie said.
“True,” Noel said, with a small laugh. “The Patience comes in when his friends—and even his wife—turn on him and tell him he has sinned, and needs to come clean with God. Of course, Job can’t remember sinning, and defends himself to his friends and wife over the course of more than thirty chapters. But Job also doesn’t just ‘curse God and die’ and after those thirty chapters of accusations of sin, God then finally talks with Job to put things into perspective. He had Patience. He recovered. And he got double of everything taken from him.”
“But only ten more kids, not twenty,” Silas said, remembering that part of the story.
“Right,” Noel said. “God promises Job that he would end up with double everything that was taken from him. Job had lost his ten children—seven sons and three daughters. But he only had ten more.”
“And why does that matter?” Evie asked.
“Many people use it as a condemnation of the Bible,” Noel said. “Because ten is not double ten in any maths that we use. But the true answer may be that the first ten kids went to heaven, and when Job arrived in heaven he found them waiting. And then the second set of ten kids arrived—presumably after Job—giving him a total of twenty kids in Eternity.”
“You could interpret it that way,” Evie said.
“The relevant portion for the discussion about time and the multiverse is the fact that—let me look it up quick . . . I know it’s in the first chapter . . .” The phone went silent as he searched for the reference. “Is that the ‘sons of God’ came to present themselves before the Lord. That implies something off the Earth, and then Satan—it is Satan himself in the story, I forgot that fact—travels to Earth and has his dealings with Job. More evidence for a cloud existing outside of the multiverse.”
“But that doesn’t mean there are multiple universes,” Evie said.
“True,” Noel said. “There could be just this one universe—slash lifetime—and still be a cloud outside of time.”
“You mentioned time in the Bible,” Silas said. “Do you remember what they are?”
“Sort of,” Noel said. “The one I remember best is something like ‘a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day’ to God.”
“That’s New Testament somewhere,” Evie started typing on her phone. “I don’t know where.”
“I don’t either,” Noel admitted with a laugh. “I just remember the phrase. But that gives some evidence that time may not exist outside of our view—again supporting a cloud theory.”
“Here it is,” Evie said. “Second Peter 3, verse 8: But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
“Ah, so it seems there might be a disclaimer then,” Noel said.
“What disclaimer?” Evie asked. “The ‘with the Lord’ part?”
“That seems like it to me. It could be referring to after death, where time doesn’t matter in heaven.”
“Does that line up with the theory that there is no time outside of the cylinder?” Silas asked.
“I’d say so. If the cylinder is ‘Change’ and not ‘Time’, then any being outside of the cylinder, like in the cloud, would not experience time the same way we would.”
“And the witnesses watching could view a thousand years of history, in a ‘day’ as we know it,” Evie said. “And take a thousand years to watch one ‘day’ on Earth.”
Noel let out a low whistle. It was brain-bending to say the least. And something that all three of them knew they’d be thinking about possibly forever . . . if such a thing as forever even existed.
Chapter 16
As the noon hour approached, the couple watched as the traffic condition report on the GPS app turned from green, then to yellow, and then many of the roads turned to the red color—warning that traffic speeds were significantly reduced due to bottlenecks or accidents.
“We could stop for lunch,” Evie suggested, seeing the nervousness grow in Silas’ face.
“Actually,” Silas said, his shoulders dropping to release a lot of tension, “That is a fantastic idea. Thanks.”
“No problem,” she said, smiling on the inside. “Where would you like to stop?”
“You know those signs we’ve been seeing for the last hour? Best historical museum in the area?”
“Oh, yes,” Evie said, with a laugh. “Tourist trap for sure.”
Silas looked over at Evie. “Absolutely! But, this might be the only time I get to pass this way.”
“You think we should?”
“Why not? Besides, we need to stop for gas and stretching and lunch. And traffic should be cleared up a little after that.”
“Very true.” She typed into her phone and brought up a webpage. “Seems to be not as bad as some tourist traps. The website says cost is $15.”
“That’s doable. Lunch and tourist trap it is.”
They veered off the interstate at the marked exit, slowing along the off-ramp, and the couple followed the map and the signs to the museum. They seemed to be one of the few cars actually parked there.
He looked around for any signs. “I wonder if they’re open.”
She pointed to a sign on the door. “It says ‘OPEN.’”
“Then let’s do this,” he said, grabbing the food. “Looks like there is some shade over there.” He pointed to a small stand of trees with cut grass underneath.
“Nice picnic area,” she said.
They ate the remnants of the sandwiches.
She leaned back against the tree and took in their surroundings. “This is quite nice. Even if we don’t tour the museum, this is a nice little picnic.”
“Shootness!”
“What?” She asked, laughing as Silas looked around. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t have any drinks. We finished the water already.”
The couple looked around and he jumped up “There is a pop machine.”
Silas ran over and checked the prices. “Two dollars?” he said to himself, thinking tourist trap. He pulled two bills from his wallet and fed them to the machine. He selected the drink and ran back.
“Two dollars for a soda!” he told her, handing her the drink.
“I don’t mind sharing.” She recognized his desire to not waste money.
“Time for a tour?” he asked after the food settled.
“Fine by me,” she said getting up and heading to the museum front entrance, followed by Silas.
The door opened noisily, not from just the bell announcing the opening, but also from the creaking of the neglected hinges.
“Welcome!” the man behind the counter said. “Looking for a tour of the museum?”
“Yes,” Silas said.
“Excellent!” the man waved them over to the counter. “Thirty dollars please.” He took care to visibly count Silas and Evie by pointing with his finger, as if double checking for himself more than anything.<
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Silas handed over the bills, and the man quickly shoved them in his pocket.
“I’m Ceril, proprietor of the museum.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Evie, and this is Silas.”
“Silas? That’s a very good, and appropriate, name in the museum. Well, Evie and Silas, follow me.”
The museum lived up to the hype of being a tourist trap, although there were many nooks and crannies that Ceril showed the couple most regular visitors wouldn’t spend much time on.
“I have a small room out back,” Ceril said at the end of the interior tour. “If you would like an extended tour.”
“Of what?” Silas asked, not sure how safe that would be, with just the three of them in the building now.
“Oh,” Ceril said, his smile growing bigger exposing a couple missing teeth, “A personal project of mine. I’ve been working on constructing a large scale map of the entire Civil War.”
“Sounds pretty cool,” Evie said, “I don’t know much about the whole history of it.”
“Would you like to see it?” Ceril asked, an anticipatory smile growing into a wide grin.
“How much?” Silas asked, a bit wary—both of the situation and the cost.
“For you two? No charge!” Ceril said. “I’m just happy I get to show it to someone.”
The trio walked out the side door of the museum, Silas taking a moment to watch the traffic patterns, and gauge distances, and then rounded the corner to the back to a ‘small’ shed.
“This isn’t very small,” Silas commented, seeing the size of the building, which looked very much like a full size barn.
“It is a very good size for the display,” Ceril said, maintaining the big grin on his face while opening the squeaky door.
Silas and Evie were completely unprepared for what they saw.
A small platform stretched almost the entire distance from one side of the barn to the other, and on the platform was an outline of the East Coast of the USA. In small detail were dioramas of the different battles, important towns, and arrows and timelines for the entire war. Blue and Gray clumps of tiny soldiers provided relative numbers for each side at each battle.