Galaxia

by Kevin McLaughlin

  He smiled when Bentley appeared before him, though there was a tinge of disappointment in his eyes. “You haven't been practicing your meditation much, have you? To be thrown so quickly and easily from our contact like that.”

  Bentley wanted to make sure she projected a frown at him, but grabbing onto any emotion threatened to knock her out of her meditation so she maintained a neutral expression instead. “Good to see you again, too, Legba. And no, I haven't been meditating a lot lately. I … haven't had the time.”

  Legba smiled knowingly at her. “Have you not had nothing but time lately?”

  It was sometimes frustrating how you could get nothing past him. Was mind reading one of his powers? “Well, I guess you could say that. We were traveling – to you, actually, since you decided to disappear in the middle of the battle without saying anything, and we came across – I guess what Jade calls a field of unstable quantum particles. It's been destroying our ship repeatedly, but only Loco and I remember it. We're trying to devise a way out of it but … I'm not sure if we're on the right track.”

  The lack of reaction on his face told Bentley that Legba already knew all of this. “That is why I have been trying to get in touch with you. I had sensed this quantum instability in the system, it has been interfering with some of my own abilities, as well. I did some searching for the cause, and wouldn't you know it. I wasn't the least bit surprised when I found that you were in the center of it. The universe seems to draw you into these kinds of things, don't it? Or do you seek them out? Perhaps this is the result of a heart for adventure.”

  If it was possible for her to roll her eyes in meditation she would have. “Hardly. So are you going to help us?”

  Legba, as usual, seemed allergic to giving a direct answer. “It is not just you and your ship who this impacts. Each time your ship is torn apart and is sent back to its original state in the moments before the fluctuations began, the quantum instability grows larger. It has already expanded to surrounding systems, and the growth is exponential. A few more times and the whole galaxy may be stuck in your quantum loop, forced to relive the same day over again just as you and your crew do.”

  The shock of that nearly knocked Bentley right back out of her meditation. Being stuck in the loop was awful, but she never imagined it endangered anyone not aboard the Chesed. All that time she had selfishly spent on herself was actually putting the whole galaxy in danger. If she couldn't fix this, it would all be her fault.

  But Legba still hadn't agreed to help, though she was sure he knew something useful. She needed to try a different tack “You know the plan we have devised, where we create a hyperspace bubble to escape the storm — well, the field of unstable quantum particles we have been calling a storm because it kind of looks like one — It failed the first time but we just made a change to our engine's power efficiency calculations. Are we on the right track?”

  “Oh, absolutely. You have done everything that can possibly be done to increase your ship's chance of survival. I'd say your plan has a 96.4% chance of success.”

  If they weren't separated by thousands of light years she would have hugged the dirty old bastard. “That's a relief.”

  “And that is why your ship will certainly be destroyed again.”

  That is what it took to knock Bentley back out of her meditation. She swore, drawing Jade's attention, and stormed off from the Engine Eoom to find a place where she could be more alone.

  What the hell did he mean that the ship would be destroyed again? Didn't he just say they had a greater than 90% chance of success? Legba's mysterious crap was really getting the better of her this time.

  Bentley went back to her room, locked the door, and had her corteX play some relaxing music to drown out the persistent electrical hums of the ship. She didn't feel calm right now, she felt like running around her room and throwing things in panic-rage. But she kept at it, waiting and waiting until the rush of energy faded and her body naturally started to relax. She blocked out the worldly distractions, sought peace, and eventually found it.

  Legba was shaking his projected head when she found her connection with him again. “This is why you need to practice your meditation more. You are as easily startled as a cat when dogs are nearby.”

  Bentley had to force herself to suppress her growing frustration. “Well, can you blame me? You just said nothing we can do is going to stop the loop, which is going to expand to encompass the entire galaxy!”

  “I said no such thing. I told you your plan has a 96.4% chance of success. That's pretty good.”

  “You also said our ship was going to be destroyed anyway.”

  “Yes.”

  They were going around in circles. Bentley needed to pose a more specific question to get anything useful from him. “Why is it going to be destroyed if our plan has such a good chance of success?”

  Legba smiled, approving of the question. “What do you know about probability at a quantum scale?”

  “Let's pretend I know nothing about it.”

  “Oh, it is an interesting topic, I suggest you look into it. A simple way to look at it is this: whenever there is a chance of something happening it both happens and doesn't happen. The world we perceive is the world of the most likely probability, whatever has the highest chance of happening is what occurs. That is why you can sit in a chair and not randomly slide through it, even though there is a chance that the particles composing you and those of your chair could sync up in exactly the right manner for you to phase through it, that is incredibly unlikely, and thus in our world it does not happen. But while it might not happen in our perceptions, it does happen, in a different quantum state of our universe. There are an infinite number of quantum states for our universe, with an infinite number of Bentleys trying an infinite number of times to get out of the time loop she found herself in.”

  Sometimes she wished the answer to things was just, ‘Because its magic, that's why'. Much easier to understand. “Are there any Bentleys who all this makes sense to?”

  “Why, yes. An infinite number of them.”

  She sighed, or she tried to, but it came across on her mental projection as a kind of whistle. “So, if I'm following this at all, you're saying that because there's a chance that our ship will escape and a chance it will be destroyed, both things are going to happen. But shouldn't we perceive the world in which we escape since that is the higher probability.”

  He gave a little clap. “Yes! Very good. And normally, you would be absolutely right. But this time, there is an additional variable that is throwing a new complication into the mix.”

  There was always something. “And what is that?”

  Legba pointed his finger at the top of her head. “Your memories. At the quantum level, things behave differently depending on whether they are being observed or not. And you and the Iwa have already observed the destruction of the ship, that is your expected result now, and so that will continue to be your perceived universe. You can try as many times as you like, but because your memories will continue bringing you to the same conclusion no matter what you bring your probability of success to.”

  It took effort not be forced out of her meditation again, but she managed to hold on to the link. “So you're saying that because Loco and I remember the ship being destroyed, it's going to be destroyed?”

  Legba paused and looked thoughtful. “Why, yes, I guess that is the simplification of the matter. Perhaps I should have just said that instead of going through the whole explanation about quantum probability.”

  “So it's hopeless.”

  “Oh, no. No, no, not hopeless. If your memories are the problem, the solution is easy.” He held out his hand as if handing over the solution. “You simply must erase your memories.”

  Bentley succeeded in making her projection frown. “I've already lost my memories once. It's not a pleasant experience.”

  “Well, not all of your memories this time. Just the ones about your time in the loop. Oh, and I suppose you wil
l need to leave the knowledge of how to escape the storm, otherwise things will just start from the beginning again.”

  “Won't that knowledge be contradictory without my memory of how I got it?”

  “Oh, yes, absolutely so. But I wouldn't worry too much about it, humans are very resourceful in explaining away such phenomenon.”

  If there's one thing Bentley never wanted to happen again, it was to have her memories messed with. If there was a second thing, though, it would be to be stuck in a time loop aboard the Chesed for all eternity. “So how would I go about erasing this memory?”

  Legba wore an excited smile. “I will teach you how to make one of my favorite tools: the Memory Scooper. I believe you will be able to construct one just out of the stuff on your ship, though you may have to cannibalize some systems. How attached are you to the ship's life support?”

  “We kind of need that. For breathing.”

  “So spoiled. Well, we'll figure something else out. Anyway, what you're going to want to do is get the largest spoon you have…”

  “I'm sorry,” Bentley cut in. “Did you say spoon?”

  “Yes, a spoon. I suppose it doesn't technically have to be a spoon, any vessel with a handle and a curved end will work, but it's a Memory Scooper. It just doesn't feel right without the scooping motion.” He mimed a gesture like scooping up ice cream from a bowl.

  “Fine, I’ll get a spoon. What's next?”

  +++

  “So you're going to stab this thing into my head and that's going to scramble my brains?” The tone of Loco's voice showed what he thought of the idea.

  Bentley was holding the makeshift Memory Scooper Legba had instructed her to build. The old serving ladle was now covered in wires, transistors, and miniature energy cells, and at the deepest part of the ladle's curve there was a nasty looking spike, which all the aforementioned wires led to. “Not stab, exactly. It's more like a scooping motion … in your ear … with a spike.”

  “Oh, yeah, that sounds much better. Thanks for clearing that up, Bentley.”

  She waved the converted ladle in front of him and he flinched. “Look, we don't have time, okay? The loop is about the start again. If we don't do this, the whole galaxy can be caught with us. Is that what you want?”

  “The more the merrier?”

  Olofi, standing off in the corner by the viewport, laughed. “Wow, Loco, I never knew you were such a coward.”

  He glared at his fellow Iwa. “Who are you calling a coward?”

  “Well, you're scared of a little needle, aren't you? And here I thought you were this big, tough guy. I only wish I was going to remember this, I'd never let you live it down.”

  Loco grumbled but couldn't do anything about it. “Fine! Let's just get it over with.”

  Bentley handed the device over to Shango, who looked it over warily. “Everything should already be set up according to Legba's instructions. Hit the button on the front side for Loco, and do the one in the back for me. A little green indicator will flash when the appropriate memories have been removed. Hopefully, I did all the building and setup right, and you're not about to erase my knowledge of the alphabet and how to wipe my own ass.”

  Loco frowned. “Olofi's wiping mine if I forget how.”

  Olofi was not smiling anymore.

  Shango turned the device over in his hand. “Are you sure about this, Bentley?”

  “No, but there's no other choice. We're out of time.”

  He nodded, and flipped the switch on the bottom to turn the power to the device on. “Good luck, Bentley. See you soon.”

  Chapter Eight

  Smack.

  Bentley received a rude wake-up call in the form of a smack to the face. She rolled off the bed and spun to face whatever it was that had decided to assault her in her sleep, but all she was faced with was the slumbering form of her lover, Svend. Apparently he had rolled over in his sleep and accidentally hit her. The smarting in her face did not care that it was an accident.

  She got up on the bed and gave him a light kick with the edge of her foot, flipping him to his back. He moaned and rolled over, intent on going back to sleep. “Oh, no you don't.” She prodded him with her foot some more, pushing him gently towards the edge of the bed until he slid right off it. There was a crash followed by a scrambling sound as the covers followed after him.

  Svend slowly rose from the floor, grumbling and rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes. “What was that for? You know, if you wanted to wake me there are gentler ways to go about it.”

  There was something familiar about that response, though Bentley couldn't put her finger on exactly what. Well, this probably wasn't the first time she had knocked him off the bed, he had probably said something similar before.

  What followed was an awkward conversation between the two new lovers, as were many of their conversations when the two of them were alone. Their relationship was new and confusing to both of them, and neither really knew how to behave.

  Fortunately, they were both saved from their inability to communicate by a knock on the door. It was Jelly Bean. “If you both are awake, Shango has requested the crew gather on the bridge A-S-A-P. That means, 'as soon as possible.' If you are not awake, please awake now.”

  A short time later, Bentley made her way down to the bridge, where Shango declared that today they would be cleaning the ship to make up for allowing it to get in such a bad state over the past few weeks. “...There's garbage everywhere, the kitchen is filthy, and I'm pretty sure something’s rotting in the fridge. That would explain the smell. It's one thing to need a break, but my ship is not a flying trashcan.”

  Loco was in a particularly bad mood since learning that Shango had hidden his special stash of booze and wouldn't return it until after the ship was cleaned, and when he was in a bad mood he got even more sarcastic than usual. “Well, your ship does carry trash, and it flies, and what's a can anyways but a metal vessel for carrying stuff? So I'd say, technically, it is a flying trashcan.”

  This conversation also felt familiar to Bentley. When was the last time Shango had instructed them to clean the ship? Maybe this just felt like déjà vu because there was always conflict between Loco and Shango when it came time to straighten up the ship.

  Eventually duties were assigned. Poor Olofi had gotten himself trapped into cleaning the bathrooms. Loco took Svend to help him collect trash, though everyone knew he was probably going to have Svend do all the work while he searched for where Shango had hidden his booze. And Bentley was left in the kitchen.

  As Bentley cleared out the fridge, she couldn't figure out the source of the rotting smell that was stinking up the kitchen. It certainly wasn't anything on any of the shelves. On a hunch, she decided to search for a hidden compartment underneath the bottom shelf, and was surprised when she found one. I never knew this was here. Wonder what made me check for it? I must just have great instincts.

  In the hidden compartment she found a jar of the foulest smelling liquid. She had no idea what it was, but whatever it was, its time in their kitchen was done. The entirety of its contents went down the drain including two small balls.

  She had been cleaning the kitchen for around an hour and making good progress when Jade's voice came over her corteX. “Hey, guys. I'm getting some weird readings down here in the Engine Room. It's probably nothing, but I could use a hand to take some measurements while I run some tests. Any volunteers?”

  Olofi was the first to volunteer, but he was shut down immediately by Shango, who told him that he needed to finish his assigned duty.

  Bentley started making her way towards the Engine Room. “I'm on my way, Jade.”

  She was walking quickly as she made her way down the hall that would take her to the access ladder for the Engine Room. So quickly, in fact, that she nearly slipped, and would have if she hadn't noticed the floor was wet in time. Thankfully, she was able to catch herself in time and keep on her feet with nothing more than an embarrassing stumble.

  Jelly B
ean rushed over to her. “My apologies, Bentley. Shango has instructed me to mop all the floors on the ship. I am glad you were not hurt.”

  Bentley waved it off. “No harm done, I suppose. But you really should put down a 'wet floor' sign when you mop. The next person might not have my cat-like reflexes and could seriously hurt themselves.”

  “I will make a note of that. Thank you, Bentley.”

  She reached the Engine Room and helped Jade run her diagnostics by reading out loud the outputs on the various panels located around the room. Bentley instinctively knew she had to be careful to read them correctly, because certain digits, like the lowercase 'l' and the number '1' looked frustratingly alike.

  While they were working, another revelation came to her, though she wasn't sure from where. “Hey, Jade. Do you think it is possible the reason the readings keep changing isn't because of a bug in the sensors, but because the engines are trying to run in multiple states at the same time.”

  Jade pulled herself away from her work to shoot a curious glance at Bentley. “That's shouldn't be possible. It's far more likely a sensor problem. Although … if it was something so strange and unique as what you suggest, that would be really interesting. And much more fun to test for.”

  A short amount of testing later and Bentley's theory ended up being proven correct. Jade was as impressed with Bentley as she was excited about the implication. “That was brilliant, Bentley. Where did you even come up with that idea? I would have never considered it.”

  She just shrugged, legitimately unable to come up with an explanation of where her stroke of genius had come from. “Maybe it is from my lost memories? Perhaps I was like a physicist before all this?”

  Jade beamed. “That would be so cool! I'd be curious to see what else you know, I'd love someone to talk shop with. But first … we should probably try to figure out what's causing this problem and how to fix it before it causes something bad.”