Title: Dimensionality
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Author's note: So this chapter is kind of an interlude between the first half and the second half of the story. Pay attention to the change in POV, it will be important. Also, probably a good idea to read the Author's Note at the end.
Interlude: Paradox
Life is a paradox; you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
-Nancy Cartwright
Future Max POV…
By the time they made it back to Michael's apartment, all the tension that had previously simmering in the air between Max and Liz had faded away. Though Max was still considered by his worries about Tess' loyalties and his own fears of disappearing, the fact that he and Liz were on better terms was enough to ease his troubled mind.
Unfortunately, the relaxed state was not to last. As Liz pushed open the door to Michael's apartment, Max found himself greeted by the sight of Michael and Maria arguing, Isabel sitting with her head buried in her hands on the edge of the sofa, and Courtney leaning against the far wall with her arms folded over her chest.
Isabel looked up at the sound of the door opening, and surprise and horror flickered quickly across her face. Max remembered with a start that she had not been here when he started fading away, and even though Alex had most likely had the foresight to warn Isabel what was happening to her brother, this would be the first glimpse she got of his translucent form.
"Oh, God…" she breathed, shaking her head. "You… you're…"
"Yeah," Max said, his gaze sliding past Isabel to Courtney. He frowned at her for a moment, then looked over at Isabel again. "I don't think I have a whole lot of time left."
"But why? What happened?" Isabel asked worriedly, rising to her feet and crossing to his side.
Max shrugged. "We knew this was going to happen," he said pointedly. "We're changing the future, remember? Making it better."
"Trying to make it better," Courtney muttered under her breath. "There's no proof you've succeeded."
"Nobody asked you," Maria snapped.
Liz stepped around the two Evans siblings and moved to Maria's side. Max watched her for a moment as she placed a hand on Maria's arm in a calmingly reassuring gesture. Then he lifted his gaze back to Isabel and said, "Don't worry. It will be fine."
"The other you is suspicious. He's asking questions, and I don't… I don't know what to tell him." Isabel gave an almost bitter chuckle and ran a hand through her hair. "I doubt he'd even believe me if I told him everything that happened."
Max didn't answer. He, too, had his doubts about how much of this his past-self would believe. But Isabel was already so clearly distraught that admitting to his own vague fears seemed like a bad idea.
"Where's Tess?" Maria asked abruptly, staring past Max at the door as though she expected it to open any minute.
Max hesitated, unsure exactly what to say, how to explain the conversation that had passed between the two of them. He couldn't really go into the details of it, not without Tess present. And, anyway, it was more her story to tell. She had to be the one to decide what to say to the others.
"She still at the pod chamber," he said finally, giving a shrug. "I think she needs to… contemplate a few things first. She'll be back eventually."
"With or without the skins?" Maria demanded.
Max didn't answer. He didn't think she would betray them. This Tess seemed too… honest. The Tess that had betrayed them had been colder, more duplicitous. He wasn't sure when that had happened, or why. Tess herself seemed not to understand how she could have become a traitor. And yet, he knew how circumstances could change a person. He had watched himself become almost unrecognizable in at least two of the other timelines, changed because of events that had set him down the wrong path.
But he felt reasonably confidant that they could trust her now.
He wouldn't have left her alone with the Granolith otherwise.
"You left her alone?" Courtney hissed incredulously.
"I trust her," Max replied defensively, eyeing the rebel skin. "Why do you even care?"
"You trust a lot of people, Max," Courtney answered, shaking her head. "They still make mistakes."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Maria asked sharply, stepping forward until she was directly in front of the skin. Hands on her hips and eyes blazing, the abrasively blunt blonde continued, "You think you're somehow perfect and the rest of us are all flawed?"
"It's remarkable how incredibly self-centered you all manage to be some times," Courtney answered, refusing to be intimidated by Maria's anger. "And how increasingly blind. How do you not see the obvious?"
"What are you talking about?" Max asked.
"Every time you came back, you talked to one person. Usually Liz, occasionally Tess. Every time you put the burden of saving the world on one person. And every time, you fail." Courtney explained, her tone indicating how little patience she had for them. And how little she thought of all of them, as they apparently could not figure this out for themselves.
"We know that," Max said, his own patience wearing thin.
"But you still don't get it," Courtney huffed. "How many times does Isabel die because she tries to take on Khivar by herself? And what about Kyle? He nearly pulls the group apart when he makes a deal with the FBI by himself, even if he was only trying to keep his daughter safe. Max leads the FBI to the group when he goes – by himself – to confront Kyle about this supposed betrayal. Tess nearly destroys the group when she decides to move to Seattle without telling anyone that she's back on Earth, when she leaves the group after a fight and moves to New York, when she gets Alex to translate the Destiny Book without letting anyone else know what she is doing. Liz does ruin everything when she decides to go to boarding school without consulting anyone."
Max stared at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Michael scratching an eyebrow with a bewildered expression and Isabel shivering against the onslaught of Courtney's words.
But Courtney wasn't done. "And do you want to know why you keep failing? You're a group. If you want to include humans, fine. Go ahead. But that doesn't make you any less of a unit. You can't win without working together. You aren't strong enough to take on Khivar and all his skins, to stop a bloody civil war, unless you do it as a team! My God, how do you not see that?"
"Look, I don't know how they do things where you come from," Maria said coolly, "but here in America we don't have to consult every single person we know before making a decision."
"You certainly do in the military. You do in a war. There is a chain of command, and no one makes a decision unilaterally," Courtney answered just as coldly.
"This isn't a…"
"Isn't what, Maria? Isn't a war? Do you really believe that? Stop thinking of yourselves as normal rebellious teenagers. Stop thinking of yourselves as in complete control of your own destiny. You aren't, not any more. You might not want to be fighting this war, but Khivar isn't going to care about that. He isn't going to care about any of your desires. He wants you dead, and he will not stop until he succeeds. You can run and you can hide, but he will never stop looking for you. Do you understand that?"
Max folded his arms over his chest. He was annoyed by Courtney's tone, by the way she was treating them as though they were all children incapable of understanding anything. But… he also found himself reluctantly accepting the simple truth that she was also probably right.
He had limited memories, but it was enough to tell him that every time they had ever had even the slightest victory over the skins, they had been working together. Every time he or anyone else had tried to deal with a problem on their own – a serious problem, and not just something minor – it had ended up causing a lot of damage.
"It doesn't take two people to start a war," Courtney said softly, looking around the room. "It only takes one person. And right now, that one person is Khivar." She leaned back against the wall, her words coming more slowly now, as though she was thinking carefully about everything she wanted to say. "You only have two ways to end this war. You can either defeat Khivar, or you can let him defeat you. There is no other option."
"That's depressing," Isabel murmured.
Courtney's smile was bitter and ironic as she nodded. "Isn't it?" Gesturing towards Max, she continued, "You want to know why he's fading away? What it is that he's changed? He's told all of you. He's placed the burden of saving the world on all your shoulders, not just one person's. That's a start… but unless you start acting like a team, it won't be enough."
She walked past all of them, pausing for a moment at the door to look at Max. Her gaze was scrutinizing, and Max couldn't help but wonder what she saw.
Then she said, "Good luck," and walked out the door, leaving the apartment in silence.
There wasn't much to say after Courtney left, and Max was too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice anything else. He was dimly aware of Isabel leaving, claiming she needed to return to her house to keep an eye on the present version of Max. He doubted that was the real reason, though he didn't call her on it. But he knew Isabel well enough to know that she just wanted to be alone right now.
She always did prefer dealing with emotional turmoil on her own.
But if Courtney was right, that was a trend that had to stop, or he'd end up where he started, and Isabel would still die.
A few minutes later the phone rang, and after a short conversation, Michael turned to tell the others that Tess had returned to the Valentis' house, and Kyle and Jim were going to stay with her.
Max accepted the news with a weary sigh and continued to stare moodily ahead, seeing nothing, wondering if they could save the future.
But not everyone wanted to stay quiet.
"Do you think she's right?"
Max shrugged, not much of an answer.
"Groups can make bad decisions," Michael continued thoughtfully. "It's not just an individual's trait."
Max answered with a wry nod of his head. "I know." They'd made bad decisions in the past, all of them. Separate and as a group.
He looked over at Liz and Maria. They were talking, and Alex had disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, probably to get a glass of water.
"I don't know why I ever though I had to put this burden solely on Liz," Max said after a moment of silence. Or Tess I don't know why I couldn't ever figure out what Courtney realized so quickly."
"Sometimes you need someone on the outside to tell you the truth. Sometimes you can't see the answers because you're too wrapped up in everything."
Max licked his lips and let his mind wander back to his first few moments here, in this time, and added, "I don't know why Liz never told me."
"Never told you what?"
"That we'd done this before," Max answered gravely. "I visited her in the past. Well, a different me. A future me. But she never explained that. She never once told me… even when we came up with this plan, even when we were discussing all the possible ways we could save the future by changing the past… she didn't mention it. Any of it."
Michael was quiet as he contemplated this, then he said, "She was probably just trying to protect you. Maybe she thought if you knew that you had failed at this once, you'd lose hope. So she lied to keep you strong. It's a very Parker thing to do."
Max couldn't help but laugh at the droll tone that accompanied that final comment. Then he sighed and wrapped his arms around himself. "I was supposed to go to Liz. That was the plan. But I went to Isabel instead. I don't know why I did, but… if I hadn't, we would never have gotten this far. Because I would tell Liz that this needed to be kept a secret and she wouldn't tell anyone and… and we'd just end up repeating everything all over again."
"Guess it's a good thing you went to Izzy, then. "
Max nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess. She's the one who dragged me here, made me face everyone."
"Is it… difficult?"
Max nodded again. There was no way he could possibly find the words to convey just how difficult it had been to see all the people that he had loved. All the people that he had lost.
Michael didn't push the issue. In that sense, he was so completely different from Isabel, Maria, and Liz. He was content to leave things unexplained because sometimes words were simply superfluous.
Instead, he said, "You know, Courtney left out one rather important factor." Max looked at him, eyebrow raised, and he continued, "We're still going to make mistakes. Even if we make less of them, we will make them. Together. As a group, And she's ignoring the fact that if our success can be that much greater as a group, so can our failures."
Max couldn't argue that point, so instead he said softly, "That's a risk we'll have to take, then."
Michael folded his arms over his chest and lifted his chin defiantly, as though to challenge him, as though to ask why anyone would be willing to take that risk.
"Either way, it's risky. This is a war, though, so the risk isn't unexpected. And I'd rather try and fail than not try and wonder what would have happened."
"I'd rather just not fail," Michael said bluntly.
Max grinned. "Yeah. Well, there is that…"
Michael gave him a shrewd look, then said, "You're very different from this time's version of you. He's more of a… well, he'd rather…"
"Wait and see? Play it safe? Stay hidden and hope things blow over?" Max shook his head. "People change, Michael."
Michael nodded slowly, a little reluctantly. "Yeah…"
They lapsed into a momentary silence.
"Parker looks happy."
Max glanced over at Liz. She was smiling as she talked to Maria, a faint glow warming her cheeks. She wasn't looking at Max, but every now and then she would turn her head and he'd catch sight of her eyes, sparkling with hope.
"So… you never outgrow the creepy stalker phase, do you?" Michael pressed.
Max grinned and turned his focus to Michael. "Guess not," he agreed. Even though he knew he only had a short amount of time left, everything felt so much easier, so much lighter, now that he knew Liz believed in their future.
Even Michael's grouchily mocking words had no effect on him. He didn't care if he was labeled as a stalker. He was perfectly content to take Michael's insults if it meant being able to stare at Liz.
"Great. So I have to deal with your pathetically sickening love-struck behavior in the future, too," Michael muttered, scratching his eyebrow absently.
Max shrugged. Then he looked over at Maria. She was pulling idly at a few strands of blonde hair, and her expression was clouded and suspicious as she studied Liz. She seemed to notice a change in Liz, because she said something that caused the brunette to flush deeply and started gesturing frantically with her hands, a sure sign that she was embarrassed.
Even Maria could tell that the tension between Max and Liz was finally gone.
"So… you and Maria… that relationship going anywhere, yet?" Max asked in a would-be casual voice.
Michael's expression soured even further. "It isn't going anywhere at all, Maxwell," he said firmly.
"You love her," Max protested, his words blunt and to the point.
Michael shrugged. "Too much to put her in danger," he argued. Max opened his mouth to protest, but Michael pushed on, raising his voice just enough to prevent Max from interrupting, while still keeping it quiet enough so that the three humans couldn't hear him. "No, Max. You're not going to talk me out of this. I am too dangerous for Maria to be around."
"You're with her in every single timeline," Max said softly, looking down at his translucent hands. Michael was one of his best friends, was the closest thing to a brother he would ever have. But that did not stop him from occasionally wanting to physically knock some sense into the stoic and taciturn hybrid.
He was not with Liz in every timeline. He loved her, always. She was his soul mate, she was the only person he could even imagine wanting. She was everything to him. And yet, despite all that, despite their nearly epic love, despite his determination and her promises, they had not ended up together. Not in every timeline.
There was very little he wouldn't willingly sacrifice for Liz. And even that had not always been enough.
And Michael… Michael, who did always get the girl he wanted, who did always end up with the love of his life, who was always given the opportunity to be with his soul mate… Michael was willing to throw that all away.
It made Max furious.
He sighed heavily and said again, "You end up with her. Always."
Michael gave Max an unreadable look, then said simply, "And she dies. Always."
"That wasn't your fault," Max murmured quietly. It hadn't been Michael's fault, not in any timeline. In fact, if anyone had proven to be a danger to Maria, it was Liz. Every time Maria died, she was protecting Liz. Every time the pixie blonde was killed, she still somehow managed to save Liz's life.
But it wasn't Liz's fault, either. It wasn't any of their faults, not really. If only Michael could understand that…
"And it wasn't even the same people that kill her in each timeline. Some times it was the skins. Some times a different faction of aliens. Some times rebel humans," Michael continued, no longer looking at Max. He was staring instead at Maria, who seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that she was the topic of such a heated conversation. "I wouldn't even know what to protect her from, not when there are so many enemies."
Max didn't answer.
"What was it like when she died?" Michael question suddenly.
"Michael, when Maria died… you changed. You changed until you were someone I barely recognized, and I know you better than pretty much anyone else here. It was… difficult. Painful to see…" He trailed off for a moment, knowing that he couldn't explain what he wanted to say. Michael would never fully understand what it was like for him to be a healer, and yet now have the power to help his friends when they needed healing the most. If he had been able to mend Michael's heart after Maria's death, he would have done it. But he couldn't… he didn't have that power.
None of them did.
"We might be able to save her," Max said, rising to his feet. "I can't promise that… I won't make promises I can't keep. But we still have a chance."
"And I might still lose her," Michael said.
Max folded his arms over his chest. "If you walk away from her now, you'll lose her as well." He looked over at Maria, watching as she continued to talk to Liz, then added, "And you'll end up hurting her."
"I'd rather have her alive and hurt then dead and happy," Michael defended himself.
Max gave him a shrewd look. "If the situation was reversed, if you were the one who kept dying, would you rather have a few happy years with Maria before your death or a lifetime of being separated from the person you love?"
Michael didn't answer, but he didn't have to. They both knew the answer he would have given, had it been his choice.
"What do you think Maria wants?"
Michael narrowed his eyes. "Do you think you know Maria's preferences better than I do?"
Max smiled faintly and said, "Sometimes you need someone else to point out the obvious truth to you, Michael. Sometimes you can't see the answers because you're too wrapped up in everything."
Future Max POV…
He was alone when it happened.
He'd slipped into Michael's bedroom for a moment to escape the sounds of Michael and Maria bickering. Alex had left, claiming that if he didn't return home his parents might actually ground him. Liz was still there, but she was far more patient than he was, and the continual arguing did not seem to bother her quite as much.
He felt the churning sensation in his stomach, the weightless feeling as the ground seemed to suddenly fall away from him, and then he was dizzy and lightheaded. The colors in front of him blurred…
And then he was gone.
He was alone when it happened, when he finally ceased to exist. But, surprisingly, it did not bother him as much as he thought it would. This wasn't his time, and these people weren't the family he remembered, not yet. And anyway, he would be alone in the end, even if they were here with him, because he was going somewhere they couldn't follow.
But maybe his own Liz would be waiting for him on the other side.
Present Max POV…
He knew better.
Isabel was spouting some list of lies, a twisted story that didn't make sense and had far too many holes in it, and he knew. He knew that his sister was keeping something from him, had been keeping something from him for a while. The feeling had started after they'd rescued Tess from Whitaker, but it had intensified over the past two days until he could no longer ignore it.
What was worse was that now Michael was lying to him as well.
He'd been fooled at first by the story about nightmares. Michael had come charging into his room, worried he was in danger, and he had actually semi-believed his friend's claim that he had just had a bad dream.
But he knew better now.
Something was happening now, and he was determined to figure out what it was.
Isabel had just gotten home and was downstairs talking to their parents. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he did know that as soon as Isabel made it up those stairs, she'd try to keep an eye on him like she had been doing for the past several hours.
He didn't want her suffocating presence. He wanted answers, and he wasn't going to get them from her.
Grabbing his coat and car keys, he made a decision.
Which was how he ended up climbing out of his window and scrambling across the lawn towards the car, hoping to avoid detection. Luck was apparently on his side, because no one seemed to notice as he slid into the car and turned it on, then pulled out into the street.
Whatever was happening, he did know that his sister had spent a lot of time at Michael's apartment over the past two days. The answers had to be there, and he was going to find them.
Already, a thousand horrible scenarios were running through his mind. Had something happened to Isabel? Is that why she was acting so jumpy and awkward around him? But why would she go to Michael instead of him? Why would she ever think that Michael could offer something he couldn't?
Unbidden, thoughts of Destiny rose in his mind. Surely Michael and Isabel hadn't… No, he forcefully pushed that idea aside. That simply wasn't possible. Whatever it was, it had to be something different.
Were they in some kind of danger? Were they not telling him because they were afraid for him? Were they trying to protect him?
Or were they afraid of him? Were they trying to protect themselves?
None of it made sense. But his worry had long since turned into a gnawing fear, and that fear would not leave him alone.
He reached Michael's building and raced up the stairs to the apartment, ready for anything.
Well, almost anything.
As he flung the door open, he found Michael and Maria standing in the center of the room, arguing. Maria had her hands on her hips and her face was flushed, and Michael was glaring at her defiantly, obviously furious as well. Liz and Alex were standing on the other side of the room, near the window. Alex was watching the argument with some concern, but Liz had her eyes fixed on the door to Michael's bedroom.
The entire scene might not have been so strange, but everyone froze when the door opened, and all four pairs of eyes fixed on him in a strange sort of confusion and alarm.
"Ma-Max," Liz stammered, apparently the first to find her voice, "what are you doing here?"
He was surprisingly hurt by the tone of her voice, by the suspicion and apprehension. Was she afraid of him? After all this time… how was that even possible?
"What's going on?" he asked, his words sharper than he had intended. He saw Liz flinch, saw her gaze flicker to the door leading towards Michael's bedroom. He wondered what was behind that door, wondered what his friends had gotten themselves into now.
Were they in trouble?
"Nothing is going on," Maria said in what was clearly a valiant attempt at acting normal. She didn't quite succeed, though she did manage to throw an impressive glower at Michael as she added, "Space Boy here is just being an idiot."
He might have believed her words, but Liz was still nervous and even Alex looked apprehensive, and he knew something was happening.
"Look," he said, trying to sound reasonable, "if something is wrong, just tell me."
"Nothing's wrong, Maxwell," Michael said shortly.
Max rolled his eyes. "You're lying. You and Isabel…" he looked at Maria for a moment, then over to Liz and Alex. "Is everyone in on this? Does everyone else know what is going on? Everyone besides me?"
It wouldn't have bothered him as much if it was just Michael and Isabel. Or even Michael, Isabel, and Liz. But Maria? Alex? What was going on, and why were all of them trusted with it when he wasn't? Did Tess know also? Kyle and Valenti? Was everyone involved in this secret?
He tensed, clenching his hands into fists and then releasing them. He drew a slow breath, trying to will away the frustration and fear that continued to solidify in the pit of his stomach.
"Max, nothing is going on," Liz said, moving towards him. She stopped in front of him, taking his hands in her own. "Trust me. We would tell you if something was happening."
He swallowed. He wanted to trust Liz, he really did. It was Liz, after all. He loved her, loved her more than he could ever really express. And at almost any other point during the past year, he would have happily believed anything she said, accepted it as the truth simply because she said it.
But why was his gut telling him not to believe her? Why were his instincts screaming at him, informing him over and over that Liz was lying?
She looked again at the door to Michael's bedroom. A quick glance, so fast that Max almost missed it.
But behind Liz, Alex had turned his attention fully to the door, as though contemplating something, and even Maria was slanting quick looks in that direction.
Without thinking, without pausing to contemplate the impulse, he pulled his hands out of Liz's grip and walked past her to the door of the bedroom, throwing it open.
"Max, no!"
"Maxwell, wait!"
"Don't…!"
The three cries of alarm and Alex's intake of breath were enough to tell Max that he had been right about his suspicions, but when he yanked open the door, the room was empty.
The other four seemed completely stunned, and Liz rushed past him into the room, looking around frantically.
"He's not here!" she said, breathless and distraught.
"Who?" Max demanded harshly, but Liz didn't answer.
Then the world tipped on its axis and he was suddenly thrown into a memory of something he had never witnessed, of an event he had not experienced… and yet one that felt so real…
The Granolith was a cone-shaped source of energy that vibrated and hummed like neon lights. Max stood before it, hesitating for one moment as he thought over everything that he was about to do, everything he would irrevocably change. Then he met Liz's gaze and felt his heart stiffen with determination.
And he plunged the crystal activator into the metal core, watching as a stream of blue erupted into the air above them, creating a vibrating inverted pyramid of iridescent light.
"Max…"
He turned back to Liz. He could see the tears pooling in her dark brown eyes, and knew that this was goodbye. Tentatively, he reached out towards her, linking his fingers through hers as their hands touched.
Finally, he managed a hoarse, "I love you."
She smiled back. "I don't regret a single moment of this," she answered.
He reached up and placed his hand against the cool swirl of energy. It absorbed him, pulling him apart, scattering his essence into a million particles, then reassembling him within the energy. He did not feel pain, although he knew the process must have hurt him somehow. But nothing seemed to matter much anymore, and through the vibrating iridescent energy, he could see Liz looking up at him.
"I love you," he whispered, his words caught in the hum of the Granolith.
He reached out his hand towards her, and she lifted her own towards him. But the world began to fade around him, and Liz stumbled and fell to the ground. The last image he saw was the pod chamber crumbling around her still body and then…
Nothing.
"Max? Yo, Maxwell? You still with us?"
Max tore his gaze away from the fading vision, and looked at Michael. "I… yeah…"
Alex was wandering around the room, apparently still looking for something, and Maria was gazing about with a stunned expression on her face, her mouth open and her eyes wide. Liz looked close to tears, obviously upset about something, and he had the strongest urge to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything would be alright.
Instead, he continued to stare at Michael, bewildered by what he had just seen.
"What happened?" Michael asked.
"I… saw…" he shook his head, unable to figure out what he had witnessed. He blinked and rubbed his eyes with one hand, then asked, "Who was here? Who was in this room and where is he now?"
Michael didn't answer, but surprisingly, it was Alex who spoke up. "We should tell him. If… if the other one is gone… there's no reason not to, is there?"
"The other one? Who is the other one? The other one of what?"
"I'll tell him," Liz murmured wearily, running a hand through her hair. "Michael, you should tell Isabel and Tess that… that he's gone. They should know. And Kyle and the Sheriff also."
Max inhaled sharply. So everyone else did seem to know what was happening. He was the only one left in the dark.
And yet, strangely, he felt no anger at this final revelation, this confirmation of the truth behind his previous worry. Instead, his apprehension was focused on what he was about to learn, because some sixth sense was telling him that he wasn't going to like it.
"You sure you want to be the one to tell him?" Maria asked in a low whisper to Liz, but Max still managed to catch every word. "I mean, you could make Space Boy do it. If it's easier for you."
Max was surprised to see that Michael didn't object to that. Though he was clearly not thrilled by Maria's apparent desire to put Liz's feelings over his own, he still seemed willing to be the one to explain what was happening.
But Liz shook her head. "No. No, I should be the one to tell him."
"Tell me what?" Max asked, feeling the dread grow within him.
Liz came to his side and placed her hand on his arm. "Why don't we sit down? We… um… we need to talk."
Author's note: Alright, so here's the deal. Future Max is gone, so now we turn out attention to Present Max. The rest of the story is going to be told from his point of view. But it's going to be a bit different from the first half of the story.
The first half has taken place over the course of two days. The rest of the story is going to move at a much faster pace. I'm going to take specific events from this timeline (starting with mid-Season Two and moving forward into the future), and we're going to see if the pod squad can save the world this time, see if maybe they've learned something from their mistakes in the other timelines. So… same number of chapters for this half, but we're probably going to cover several years in their lives.