For the longest time, scientists have theorized that there are an infinite number of different timelines, just like there are an infinite number of different universes. Fortunately, the discovery of portals has confirmed the credibility of the latter. However, even centuries after the first portal was created, there was yet to be a discovery made that confirmed the credibility of alternate timelines. It was, and remains to this day, nothing but a theory.
But of course, the concept of alternate timelines wouldn't have even been brought up if they didn't exist, and they most certainly do. Just because one cannot prove the existence of something doesn't mean that that something never even existed. We already know all about the main timeline, where Alex helped Jesse and his friends defeat the Wither Storm, discovered the truth about her backstory, and went on many new adventures afterwards. However, that was just one timeline among trillions of others. There are a countless number of different timelines, and the reason for that is because none of them are exactly the same. For instance, there could be a timeline where the previous Order of the Stone never split up and continued being the heroes that everyone thought they were. There could be a timeline where Aiden never grew jealous of Jesse and his friends, resulting in the events of the Portal Hallway never happening. There could even be a timeline where PAMA has figured out how to travel to other worlds and has managed to successfully brainwash every single being in the multiverse, making them "useful." The possibilities were endless, which made traversing these timelines very difficult.
And yet, it was no surprise that the Ancients were able to travel to and access different timelines like it was the easiest thing ever. Not even Admins like Romeo, with their seemingly limitless power, could replicate such a feat. It's best to think of the timelines as a single tree with an infinite number of branches. The Ancients existed before space-time even existed, meaning that they were around before there were any timelines, because time itself had not come to exist yet, and as logic dictates, you can't have different timelines without time. When comparing it to the tree metaphor, one could argue that the seed from which the tree grew represents the starting point of reality itself, before time came into existence, and the Ancients resided in that one little seed. Then, there was the Big Bang, and just like that, EVERYTHING came into existence, including time. Since the Ancients were there since the very beginning - and even before that - they witnessed the birth of the first timelines. They watched as each of those timelines sprouted and diverged into different timelines, like the branches of a tree. And as a result, they knew exactly where each specific timeline could be found, how to access them, and how to manipulate them to their own whims. In a way, the Ancients became the caretakers of the tree, and over a very long course of time, they began to abuse their newfound power.
And as luck would have it, one of Herobrine's favorite pastimes was sending his victims to random timelines different from their own. He would watch them try to acclimate to their new surroundings, but due to the stark differences in their new and old timelines, they would find it impossible to do so, and eventually, they would die in various amusing ways, mostly by giving up hope and committing suicide not long after. Herobrine never grew tired of that hobby, so when it was time for him to start his little "game", was it really that big of a surprise for him to send Alex to an alternate timeline where the other version of her died during childbirth?
Yes, there is even a timeline where Alex died while Xara gave birth to her, and it was currently the one where the main Alex was trapped in. In that alternate timeline, Xara fell into a deep depression after the death of her baby and ended up committing suicide. Romeo took pity on Fred and decided to do something that the Romeo in the main timeline would never have done: give up his powers. As a result, Fred and Romeo lived the rest of their lives as normal humans before dying of old age. Romeo never killed Fred, there were no more Admins left in the world, and most importantly of all, the world was never bedrocked over.
You would think that would be a good thing, since if Romeo never became a tyrant and literally had the entire world forever entombed, then far less people would have died and there would've been less pain and suffering present overall. But there is also such a thing as the butterfly effect, a phenomenon in which the flap of a butterfly's wings can trigger a tornado in another country, or a small change can cause a massive change later on. And nowhere else is it more prevalent than in this particular timeline. After Romeo and Fred eventually died of old age, life moved on normally for everybody else. At first, it didn't seem like anything had changed. But it turned out that in the main timeline, when Romeo covered up the entire world in bedrock and created an entirely new one above it, he had inadvertently prevented another future disaster: overpopulation. In Alex's original timeline, there was plenty of room in both the Overworld and the Underneath for everyone to live comfortably, even though the people who were forced to live under the bedrock had very rough lives in comparison to the people who lived above it. But in the alternate timeline, since Romeo never created a second world above the first one, there was only one world for everyone to live in, and it only took a few thousand years before the world's resources began to run dangerously thin. Pretty soon, starvation and disease became rampant, entire forests were burned to the ground to make way for clustered towns and cities, and people being packed inside apartment rooms like sardines became a very common sight.
One day, the world leaders finally had enough and decided to arrange an important group meeting to address the serious overpopulation issue that had remained unsolved for hundreds, if not thousands of years. By some amazing coincidence, these world leaders were the same people who used to be a famous group of heroes in the main timeline: Soren, Gabriel, Magnus, Ellegaard, and Ivor. These people used to be an ordinary bunch of "nobodies", but after discovering Romeo's command block, they used it not to become heroes, but to become the most powerful men and women in the world. And right now, it was up to them to find a solution to all of this before the world's resources are completely used up. "If we don't do something about this overpopulation issue, the whole world will soon end up in ruins!," said Soren. "You think none of us already know that?," Magnus snarked. "Trust me, you don't need to keep reminding us. We already see the effects of it every day of our lives."
"But the situation has become more unbearable than ever before," said Ellegaard. "Thousands of people are dying left and right from starvation and disease because there's just not enough food to go around." "Not to mention that people just don't care anymore," said Gabriel. "Even though people are literally collapsing on the streets, they go ignored because everyone else is too concerned with their own survival." "Whatever our solution is, it has to be something big," said Ivor. "Planting a few more wheat fields here and there just won't cut it anymore. We need to do something drastic." With that said, the group began coming up with various ideas, each of which were shot down. "We could...have more towns and cities built," Ellegaard suggested. "That won't work," sighed Gabriel. "There's already too many of them as it is. Adding more would only make the situation worse." "Maybe we could...organize everything?," said Magnus. "You know, make sure that everyone has a daily quota of food." "Since when did you care about organization?," asked Ellegaard, raising an eyebrow. Magnus snorted and looked away angrily. "That won't work either," said Ivor, shaking his head. "There's too many people in the world and too little food. If we were to divide that already meager food supply so that everyone receives the same amount, it wouldn't nearly be enough."
"I don't see you coming up with any fresh ideas, Ivor," growled Soren, wanting to take his frustration out on someone. "And I don't see you coming up with any either," Ivor retorted. The two of them glared at each other, but said nothing else. "Everyone, relax," Gabriel said calmly. "We need to start thinking rationally." "Well, I'm fucking tired of thinking rationally!," Magnus suddenly exploded, leaping up so suddenly that his chair flew back and crashed into the wall. "Magnus, calm down," said Soren, giving him a warning glance. "No, I'm not gonna calm down!," yelled Magnus. "Why the hell are we doing this anyway?! Why is it OUR responsibility to fix this stupid overpopulation problem?!" "Because that's what we all agreed to," said Ellegaard. "When Soren found the command block and told us his plan to gain authority and fix the world, we agreed to stand by his side. Are you really going to back out now?" Magnus huffed. "...maybe," he murmured. "Sit down, Magnus," Soren sighed. "No, I won't sit down!," Magnus snarled. "This was YOUR plan, not ours! You can do whatever the hell you want, but leave the rest of us out of it!" "Magnus, shut the hell up!," hissed Ellegaard, nervously glancing at a stone faced Soren. "I just wanted to be a griefer!," Magnus continued ranting. "A simple, normal griefer! Was that so much to ask? But nooo! You had to convince us to go along with this stupid plan of yours, and look where we are now!" "SIT! DOWN!," Soren roared. Magnus grew pale with fright and immediately sat down, but forgot that his chair was no longer underneath him and ended up falling to the floor. After that, there was incredibly tense silence in the room.
"...I really hope that the rest of this meeting won't have any more of these...outbursts," Soren whispered icily. "Magnus, grab your chair and sit back down. You look ridiculous." His bravado completely gone, Magnus meekly went to get his chair back, then sat back down quietly. Gabriel reached over and rubbed his back in pity. Ivor suddenly began coughing into his elbow, and it suspiciously sounded like she was saying the words "control freak" while doing so. Soren quickly turned to glare at him, but Ivor acted as though he did nothing wrong.
"You know, Soren," Gabriel said slowly. "You're partly to blame for all of this. If you hadn't destroyed the command block ten years ago, we could've used it to solve this issue in a snap. In fact, we could've used it for a lot of things, like erasing world hunger, getting rid of crime, and maybe even rendering things like war and medicine obsolete." Soren groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, thank you for reminding me, Gabriel," he said sarcastically.
As said before, Soren and the others had decided to use the command block, just like their main versions have done. However, during the height of their power, people began to hate their new world leaders and did everything they could to find dirt on them. After the sixth or seventh time of someone breaking into their headquarters, Soren began to let his paranoia get the best of him. He was afraid that, given enough time and effort, someone would discover the command block that they used and figure out that they were nothing but frauds. So Soren decided to go down the route that he thought was best at the time: destroying any and all evidence - namely the command block - that could potentially expose them to the world. He managed to do so by using the command block to materialize an enchanted book out of thin air, one that held the power of the command block itself. Then, he used that book to enchant a weapon and used the weapon to smash the command block into smithereens. It was a long and complicated process that Soren honestly thought was never going to work in the first place. How ironic it was that the command block gave him the very means to destroy it.
And looking back on it now, destroying the command block had to have been one of the stupidest decisions he had ever made. He wasn't sure if it was because he panicked or got high on his newfound power, but one thing he knew for sure was that he regretted that decision ever since. Gabriel was right. If Soren hadn't overreacted and destroyed the command block, he'd still have it with him and be able to use it to fix this tiresome problem once and for all.
"Anyway, let's get back down to business," said Soren, but was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. Soren gritted his teeth in anger and gripped the edge of the table until his hands turned white and numb. "Gabriel," he said slowly. "I thought I told you to inform everyone else that this meeting is PRIVATE and should not be INTRUDED on." "I...I thought I did," Gabriel said nervously. "I'm not sure what's going on." Ellegaard cleared her throat. "Whoever is at the door, please don't bother us until our meeting is over," she spoke loudly. However, the knocking on the door continued persistently. Soren groaned and rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Just let in whoever's at the door," he sighed. Ivor got up from his chair and opened the door. "Well, who is it?," asked Soren. "It's a man and a woman," Ivor answered in confusion. Said man and woman let themselves into the room as if they owned the place. The man had white hair, a small white beard, dark glasses, and wore a purple suit. The woman had light blue hair, a long face, and wore a strange, black and red dress. Both of them immediately took two of the empty seats at the table. Soren narrowed his eyes in irritation. Who did those two think they were?
"Excuse me," Soren said in annoyance. "Who are you people and why did you just barge into our meeting uninvited?" The man barked out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, forgive me," he said insincerely. "My name is Hadrian, and this is Mevia. I'm sure you've heard of us before." "Uh… no, we don't," said Magnus, shaking his head. Hadrian's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Well," he huffed. "Perhaps I should jog your memory a little. Me and Mevia...are Old Builders." Ivor suddenly began choking on thin air, his face turning purple and his eyes bulging out of his head. "...is he okay?," asked Mevia, pointing towards Ivor with a confused expression on her face. Gabriel sighed, got up from his chair, and began thumping Ivor on the back. "Come one, get it out of your system," he said. Finally, Ivor managed to start breathing again and stared at Hadrian and Mevia with wide eyes. "Y-you're...Old Builders?," he asked, scarcely believing what he was hearing. Hadrian's nose wrinkled. "We don't really like being called that," he said, "but that's what you know us by, so… yeah." Soren also knew who the Old Builders were, but unlike Ivor, he was not at all pleased that two of them had decided to barge into their meeting unannounced. "And what is the meaning of this intrusion?," he asked irritatedly.
"Oh Soren, you wound me!," gasped Hadrian, pretending to be hurt by holding a hand to where his heart was. "We came here to help, of course." Everyone else in the room except for Soren widened their eyes in surprise. "Soren, maybe we should hear them out," said Ellegaard. However, Soren was still not convinced. "If you're so interested in helping us, then where were you for so long?," he demanded angrily. "Where were you when thousands of men, women, and children were starving on the streets? Where were you when families and loved ones were torn apart by horrific diseases? Where were you when so much death has occured to the point where people had to step over dozens of rotting corpses to reach their destinations?" Maya seemed visibly disturbed by what she was hearing, but Hadrian was completely unaffected. "We had a few problems of our own that we needed to solve," he said. "You see, the Old Builders are no longer what they used to be. Some of us have become demented, power hungry thieves who were willing to do anything for power, namely Otto and Harper, two of our fellow Old Builders. They thought it would be a good idea to overthrow me and Mevia, and enforce their own brand of tyranny onto the world. Fortunately, we found out their plot just in time and were able to have them...permanently done away with, if you know what I mean." Soren nodded to show that he indeed knew what Hadrian was talking about. "But it was a long and bloody battle," Hadrian continued, shaking his head in "sorrow". "And in the end, it took us literal decades to put those traitors down. I assure you, if it wasn't for Harper and Otto, we would've come to help you much sooner." Now even though Hadrian put up a somewhat convincing performance, Soren was not born yesterday. He knew that Hadrian must've embellished some parts of his story, or was just straight up lying. Still, there was one thing stopping him from outright kicking them out.
As much as he hated to admit it, Ellegaard was right. They were not going to be able to fix this problem on their own. They needed outside help. "Alright, fine," Soren sighed, leaning back in his chair. "You obviously already know what the issue is, so let's get to the point. How do you plan to solve this overpopulation problem once and for all?" Hadrian and Mevia gave each other toothy, sneaky grins. "We're glad you asked," said Mevia, sounding almost like a sports announcer. "Now we heard that you're all the world leaders of this world, and by god, you all must be doing a pretty terrible job if THIS is the result!" Soren, Magnus, Ellegaard, and Gabriel's eyes twitched, but they said nothing. "And sure, it's easy to blame the people who are supposed to be the great leaders of this world, but when you really come down to it, what's REALLY the cause behind all of this?" She paused for a moment, as if expecting them to start making random guesses like they were on a game show. "Correct!," said Hadrian. "Chaos! Pure, unadulterated chaos! There's nothing else that will bring down a civilization faster."
Soren began to grow impatient. He didn't have time to sit there and watch their obviously rehearsed act. "Explain," he said bluntly. "Alright, alright, hold your horses," Hadrian chuckled sinisterly. "Now when you really think about it, it's no surprise. There's just too many things to take into consideration. Too many hidden factors and variables. You can't possibly keep track of all of them." "And that's why we've got something that'll blow your socks off!," Meva interrupted, causing Hadrian to stop and glare at her. "Mevia!," he hissed. "Don't interrupt me in the middle of my great speech!" Soren couldn't help but roll his eyes. He wouldn't exactly call what he just heard a "great speech". "Well, what is it?," asked Ellegaard, curious as to what Hadrian could be implying. Hadrian grinned. "Well, I'm glad you asked," he said. "Tell me something. Have any of you ever heard of...a computer?" Everyone else in the room looked at each other in confusion. "Ladies and gentlemen!," Hadrian proclaimed. "Do I have a product for you! Mevia, bring it out." Mevia nodded and took out a strange block that was glowing an ominous red.
Soren's eyes widened in shock, as did everyone else's. They had never seen this type of block before in their entire lives. "What is that?," asked Gabriel, leaning forward. "Why, it's one of our best inventions, the Redstone Heart!," Hadrian said proudly. "It's the most efficient power source in the entire world. But that's not quite what I was talking about earlier." The Old Builder's smile grew wider. "How would you like to meet a good friend of ours...PAMA?"
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When I finished my story, everyone was completely silent. They were all just staring at me, and even though each of their faces were covered up, I could tell that they were absolutely bewildered by what I just said. After a while, Jimmy covered his face with his hands and began murmuring, "Damn it, Alex" while shaking his head. "That's a very interesting story that you just told us," said the leader. "It almost sounds impossible." I sighed heavily. "I did tell you that you wouldn't believe me," I said, then squeezed my eyes shut in preparation for another shock. The robed woman was about to press the button again, but the leader stopped her. "Let's not be too hasty," he said. "I said her story was ALMOST impossible. I do think that there is a grain of truth in her story." I opened my eyes and stared at him in shock. Hank, Jimmy, and even the other robed people did the same thing. "Boss, what are you talking about?," asked Hank.
"Tell me something," said the leader, ignoring Hank's question. "This Soren fellow that you brought up a few times. What did he look like? I want you to describe his appearance as much as possible, and make sure to leave nothing out." I stared at him in confusion, wondering why he was so interested in what Soren looked like. "Well, he was almost bald," I said. "He had an orange beard, an orange moustache, and orange hair on the sides of his head, almost like giant sideburns. His nose was kind of bulbous and he sometimes wore a-" "-a pointed hat with a buckle around it," the leader finished. I blinked in surprise. "Do...do you know him?," I asked. The leader sighed, then reached up and took off his hood. My eyes practically bulged out of my head in total shock. The man dressed in the white robe...was none other than Soren.
"...S-Soren?," I whispered, scarcely believing what I was seeing. It was almost surreal in a way. Right now, sitting right across from me was the man who had a hand in raising me and shaping me into the person that I am now. The man who I came to forgive and see as part of my own family. The man whose corpse I saw not too long ago. The man who was...currently glaring at me like he had never seen me before in his entire life. "Yes, I'm Soren," he said. "Now the real question is how you already know us when we haven't even met before." "Us?," I echoed. "Yes, us," said Soren, turning to the other robed people and nodding his head. One by one, the rest of the council took off their hoods, and if I wasn't surprised before, I was definitely surprised now. "Uncle Ivy?," I whispered, staring at my own uncle's face. "Ellegaard? Gabriel? Magnus?" Ivor raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but said nothing. "Really? Uncle Ivy?," Jimmy snickered quietly, earning an elbow jab in the gut from Hank. "Well, Alex?," said Soren, impatiently drumming his fingers on the table. "Aren't you going to reveal how you know us?"
"W-what are you talking about?," I asked. "I already told you guys everything. In fact, you were all there!" Needless to say, none of this was making any sense to me. "And yet, we don't recall anything that you just told us," said Soren. "The way I see it, there are three possibilities about this. Either you're delusional, lying to our faces, or you are actually telling the truth." He sighed heavily. "And I can't believe that I'm going to say this, but I'm starting to lean towards the third possibility." "Uh...boss?," asked Jimmy, raising his hand like a schoolboy. "No offense, but what the hell are you talking about? You're not actually implying that her story is true...right?" To everyone's surprise, including myself, Soren nodded his head. "I do believe her," he said. "Her frankly outlandish story is the only explanation for all of this." "Okay, Soren, I respect you," Magnus spoke up. "I really do. But...come on! Didn't you hear what was coming out of that woman's mouth? Admins? A Wither Storm? A freaking murder mystery?!"
"Like I said, it's the only explanation that makes sense, as incredible as it may be," said Soren. "Really think about it. She can't be a spy, otherwise she'd be a very bad one. And she can't be lying to us for two reasons. The first reason is that she has too much to lose, namely her own life. Do you really think someone would risk their own life to uphold a lie?" "...no, I guess not," Magnus admitted. "And the second reason," Soren continued, "is that her story is far too incredible to be a lie. When someone is aiming to fool people, they try to make their lie as believable as possible. Who in their right minds would tell a story as bizarre as hers and expect other people to believe them?" "So she's NOT in her right mind," Gabriel suggested. "She's obviously insane. So why should we believe anything that comes out of her mouth? Why don't we just execute her already and be done with it?" I stared at Gabriel, gobsmacked by what I was hearing. Since when did Gabriel become so cruel and callous? Better question, HOW THE HELL IS HE AND EVERYONE ELSE STILL ALIVE?! Seriously, I thought I was going to die from anticipation before it's ever explained to me. That is, if Ellegaard's itchy finger hovering over the button and the shock collar wrapped around my neck didn't end up killing me first.
"Now, I thought the same thing at first," said Soren. "But Alex doesn't really strike me as an insane person." Everyone looked at me with scrutinizing looks, to which I responded with a nervous smile and a shaky thumbs up. I honestly must've looked pretty pathetic at that moment, what with me being cuffed to a chair and all. "Although there are varying levels of insanity, you can usually spot the telltale signs of it if you were to look closely enough," Soren continued. "A twitching eye, for example, or constant nonsensical rambling, or a jumbled up thought process. And yet, Alex has displayed none of those signs so far. She is as sane as you and me." "Which really isn't saying a whole lot," Ivor snarked. "And besides," said Soren, "how else do you explain how she knows nearly everything about us, even though we've kept our identities a secret since the war began?" "You have a point, Soren," said Ellegaard, putting the remote away. I'll be honest, I was beyond relieved when I saw that remote disappear in her inventory and hopefully stay there forever. "So...you believe me?," I asked hesitantly, daring to get my hopes up. "As a matter of fact, I do," said Soren. "Not only that, I have reason to believe that you are from an alternate timeline." ...okay, THAT was not something I expected to hear.
Seeing that everyone else was about to argue, Soren raised his hand up, and just like that, they immediately settled down to listen to what he had to say. It was honestly very surreal to see something like that. Even though Soren - MY Soren, that is, since it was pretty clear by now that THESE people were not the same Order that I grew up with - was a leader of a famous group of heroes, he wasn't exactly someone who exuded power and authority. THIS Soren, on the other hand, was clearly someone who knew what he wanted, as well as someone who knew how to act. This was probably what my Soren would've been more like had he been allowed more time to develop as a leader, minus the cold and calculating nature that he also seemed to exude. "Now I want you all to hear me out before saying anything," said Soren. "None of you may know this, but I've recently developed an interest in alternate timelines and have been researching them in my spare time. And while the concept itself is little known and the evidence supporting it is very little, I do believe that they are a real phenomena. Not only that, I believe that our little guest here-" I couldn't help but feel slightly insulted by that remark, brief as it was. "-is from one of those timelines." "I'm not so sure about this, Soren," said Ivor. "This is a very far-fetched idea, even for you." While they were talking amongst each other, I was starting to get a grasp on their dynamic. Soren was obviously the leader, but he wasn't a very good one. Sure, he knew how to keep the others in line, but the ways he did so were callous and almost cruel in nature. Nearly everyone in the room was too afraid to stand up to him. Ivor seemed to be the only one who was willing to trade scathing remarks with him from time to time.
"Maybe so," said Soren. "But that's a risk that I'm willing to take." He glared down at me, and I couldn't help but squirm around in my chair and look down at my feet. With that one glare alone, he made me feel like the smallest and most insignificant piece of trash in the world. "There was one thing in your story that really caught my attention," he said. "You mentioned that you were able to defeat PAMA and the Old Builders in your own timeline." I meekly nodded. "So if that's the case, you should be able to know all of their strengths and weaknesses." I nodded again. Soren appeared deep in thought for a moment, then gave me a smile that was obviously supposed to be seen as warm, but just came off as cold and calculating. "Then you're in luck, Alex," he said. "Now that you have some use to us, we won't execute you." Gee, thanks for sparing me, I thought sarcastically. Really appreciate it. You want me to get down on my hands and knees and kiss your feet or something? Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to say any of that out loud. "So...does that mean you'll let me go?," I asked hopefully. Soren gave me an amused and pitiful look that said, "What do you think?" I slumped into my chair and groaned.
"Perhaps I should bring you into the loop first," said Soren. "You see, this 'Herobrine' fellow must've sent you to a timeline far different from your own, which of course, is this one. But while YOU see that as a curse, WE see it as an opportunity. You may be wondering why we keep mentioning PAMA and the Old Builders so often." "It's because they're the reason this world is so fucked up," said Magnus. Soren gave Magnus a narrowed glance. "Yes, thank you for sharing that blunt observation, Magnus," he said. "And yes, Alex, the Old Builders and their bucket of nuts and bolts ARE responsible for everything that has happened here. You see, for centuries, the world has been suffering from overpopulation. People were dying left and right, not from mob attacks, which had become the least of people's worries, but from hunger and rampant disease. Every day, the streets would be littered with rotting and malnourished corpses. It was an awful time for everyone." "That's why we became who we are today," said Ellegaard. "The versions of ourselves in YOUR timeline decided to use their command block to foolishly play hero. We, on the other hand, used our command block for a more noble purpose. We used it to gain absolute power and authority, becoming the great leaders of this world. And we wanted to use that power to erase the horrors of this world and bring it back to its golden age."
It was both strange and angering to hear this version of Ellegaard sound so snobbish and full of herself. Sure, the main Ellegaard was a little arrogant too, but she knew her limits and never looked down on anyone. This Ellegaard, on the other hand, was nowhere near as kind or humble. With the way she talked about themselves, they must've seen themselves as gods or something. And it wasn't just her. Soren, Magnus, and Gabriel were also drastically different from the ones in my own timeline. They were far crueler and far more mean spirited, to the point where it was incredibly jarring. Out of all of them, however, Ivor seemed to be the only one who resembled the version that I came to know and love. "But even after asserting ourselves as world leaders, it still wasn't enough," said Gabriel. "The truth is, we didn't even know where to start. We tried building more towns, but they quickly got filled up due to so many people flocking to new places just so they could escape their own terrible lives. We tried dividing the food supply evenly between them, but the supply was too small and everyone ended up getting just half of a loaf of bread each. Nothing we did was working." There was one thing that I didn't get, however. "If you guys have your own command block," I said, "why didn't you use that to fix the world instead?" "Because SOMEONE decided to destroy it," growled Ivor, glaring at Soren.
"You know I had no choice in that matter," Soren hissed back. "If we kept it around, it'd only be a matter of time before somebody found out!" "Here's the thing, kid," Magnus addressed me. "We got desperate. We were willing to accept any help we could get. So when help literally came knocking on our door, we just couldn't resist." "The Old Builders, Hadrian and Mevia, interrupted one of our meetings and offered to help. Judging by the story that you just told us, I'm sure that you already know those two quite well." I nodded. To this day, I still held some resentment towards them for what they had done. Forcing people to kill each other over and over again was bad enough, but keeping someone as psychotic as Patrick around and using him as their own lapdog, siccing him on anyone who tried to oppose them? That really crossed the line for me. At least when Harper created PAMA, she ended up regretting it afterwards.
"The Old Builders presented a 'solution' to our problems," Soren continued. "They told us about two crucial inventions that they had been working on before their arrival: the Redstone Heart and PAMA. They insisted that these two inventions would be the end to all the bad things happening in the world." I squeezed my hands into fists with anger. "Hadrian and Mevia did NOT create PAMA," I snapped. "Harper did." Even though PAMA was definitely Harper's biggest regret, the thought of Hadrian and Mevia stealing her credit like that pissed me off to no end. "And I am inclined to agree with you," said Soren. "I always thought their presentation was a little fishy. Anyway, the Old Builders claimed that PAMA could organize anything and everything in just the span of a few milliseconds. It IS a computer, after all. They said that PAMA could use its amazing calculations and thought process to find ways that could not only get rid of world hunger forever, but even make the world into a brand new utopia." I inwardly frowned, knowing exactly what PAMA's idea of a utopia would look like. "And in return, all we had to do was give them a high position of power in our government, just below us. As suspicious as I was, the offer was just too good to resist. We accepted their deal and allowed them to install the Redstone Heart into our power mainframe, while also letting them rig PAMA to draw energy from the heart. But as you no doubt already know, things spiraled downhill very quickly after that."
"Let me guess," I drawled. "It started to make people more 'useful' by taking control of their minds and turning them into mindless puppets." "Not yet," said Soren. "I don't know how the PAMA in YOUR timeline took control, but OUR PAMA was very subtle in its takeover. It didn't just start brainwashing people willy nilly. At first, it did its job very admirably. It took numerous factors and variables that we hadn't even considered into account, and as a result, less people were dying from overpopulation. You still saw the occasional dead body here and there, but it was nowhere near as frequent as before. We actually had hope for a while." He sighed heavily. "But of course, things rarely go according to plan, if at all. After a few years, the Old Builders came back again and suggested that we give PAMA more leeway in its actions. We were rather caught off guard by that, but since they've already been doing such a great job so far, we had no reason to be too suspicious. So we allowed PAMA a bit more leeway, just as they said." He sighed again. "But alas, a 'bit more leeway' was all they needed before making their next move. PAMA has decided that it wasn't our meager food supply or our messed up politics that were the problem. It was the population. There were just too many people, too many mouths to feed. And despite the many deaths that occur every day all over the world, the population is STILL growing larger with each passing year. So PAMA has decided to start… exterminating them." "...w-what?," I whispered, staring at Soren with wide eyes.
"Exterminating them," Magnus repeated. "You know what he's talking about. Genocide. Natural selection. Survival of the fittest. Pick your poison." "As Magnus so eloquently put it," said Ellegaard, giving Magnus a distasteful look, "PAMA didn't start killing random people right off the bat. It was very systematic about its method of killing. It only targeted children, mentally sick patients, the elderly, and the handicapped. Basically, anyone who wouldn't be as 'useful' as grown men and women in their primes." "If anyone didn't serve their purpose to society, they had to be exterminated," said Ivor. "For a while, that was PAMA's motto." "...and what happened to the people that PAMA decided to spare?," I asked nervously. "You should already know the answer to that question, Alex," said Soren. "They were chipped." A sick feeling welled up in my stomach. PAMA had chipped people in my own timeline, including my friends, but for some reason, this felt much more brutal and realistic. Maybe it was because of the fact that PAMA had decided to kill off children this time, something that the PAMA in MY timeline didn't do. At least, I HOPED he didn't do that. "And what about Hadrian and Mevia?," I asked. "Did PAMA brainwash them as well?" Soren shook his head. "Not only has PAMA decided to spare those two, but it also let them retain their positions of power. We weren't so lucky. PAMA wanted to chip us as well, so we gathered as many people as we could and hid ourselves deep underground, where nobody could ever find us. Nobody except for you, that is." "It's true," Hank said gruffly. "Me and Jimmy heard an alarm telling us to evacuate here. But only a handful of people, including us, actually made it. Everyone else got captured by PAMA's forces and were either killed or chipped." "It was the most terrifying experience of my life," said Jimmy, shuddering.
"It's unknown why PAMA had decided not to chip the Old Builders," said Soren. "But we do have a hypothesis. We have reason to believe that the Redstone Heart is actually dying. And without the heart, PAMA can't go on. It needs a power source to survive, and a very powerful one to boot. Materials like coal and wood wouldn't be anywhere near enough. The heart is the only thing that could keep PAMA going." "Hadrian and Mevia are the only people who know how to fix the heart and keep it going for a while longer," said Ellegaard. "As a result, PAMA can't chip them or kill them, otherwise it'd risk losing power and die. And the Old Builders KNOW this. They took advantage of PAMA's weakness and used that advantage to not only stay alive, but also keep their positions of power. As dangerous as the computer is, it is not the real threat. The Old Builders are." "And while we hid away like cowards, they had managed to build themselves a tyrannical regime right above our heads," Gabriel growled. "Yeah, if you thought YOUR world had it bad, what with the villains and monsters popping up all the time, you really ain't seen nothing yet," said Magnus. "Up there on the surface, everything's pretty much gone to shit. Nearly everyone up there is either dead or brainwashed by PAMA. Anyone who hasn't been chipped yet won't stay like that for long. PAMA's basically turned the entire human race into its own slave force. And if that's not bad enough, there's constant search parties for any remaining survivors, which makes hiding damn near impossible. It's a wonder that PAMA never found US yet." "And just outside of PAMA's influence, there are groups of bandits, killers, and rebels who would do anything to survive," said Soren. "The world has become a total wasteland."
"But why are you telling ME all of this?," I asked. "How do I fit into any of this?" Soren leaned forward with narrowed eyes. "Because we believe that you were sent here for a reason," he said slowly. "We believe that YOU have what it takes to defeat PAMA and the Old Builders." "WHAT?!," me, Jimmy, and Hank cried simultaneously. "Didn't you hear what I said?!," I cried in bewilderment. "Herobrine banished me here as a part of his stupid game! There's no 'divine reason' or anything like that! Why the hell would any of you think that I'M the one who's gonna take down PAMA and save the world?!" "Because you've already done both before," Soren said calmly. "You already know all of PAMA's weaknesses, and you've saved your own world twice. I can't think of a better candidate." A stern scowl formed on his face. "And remember, you don't have a choice in the matter. Your life is literally in our hands. We could have you executed without batting an eye. We could even have those two guards shoot you right now." I nervously glanced at Hank and Jimmy, who seemed slightly uncomfortable by the whole ordeal. However, something told me that they WOULD shoot me if they were ordered to. "The only reason that you're still alive right now is because I deem it so," said Soren. "You've already been put into this situation, and whether you like it or not, you'll have to stick with it until the end."
Ivor grumbled under his breath, something that Soren instantly caught on. "Is there anything that you'd like to share with the class, Ivor?," he asked mockingly. Ivor gave Soren a blazing glare. "This is far too much pressure to put on her," he growled. "She's only half our age, for crying out loud! Are we really going to trust her with the fate of the entire world?!" Soren sighed heavily. "While I understand your concern, Ivor," he replied unapologetically, "we really don't have any other choice. Don't forget that PAMA has our names and faces in its database. If we step one foot outside of this bunker, we'll get caught and chipped before you could count to ten. Besides, consider this as a test for Alex. This will show us whether or not she really could be trusted. And if she dies…" He shrugged. "...well, that would be a major setback and a very huge letdown, so let's hope that doesn't happen, hm? But still, judging from that story she told us, I'm sure that PAMA and the Old Builders won't find her so easy to defeat." Yeah, that's easy for you to say, sitting there in that comfy chair with that comfy robe inside a comfy underground bunker, I thought bitterly. Needless to say, I was really starting to hate this version of Soren.
Ivor started grumbling again and turned away with his arms crossed. Soren turned back towards me. "So what do you say, Alex?," he asked. "Are you ready to go on the adventure of a lifetime?" "That's...not exactly what I would call it," I sighed heavily. As much as I was NOT looking forward to going out there and facing PAMA, Hadrian, and Mevia all over again, I also knew that Soren was right. Whether I liked it or not, they had complete control over my life. If I refused to do what they told me, then what would stop them from killing me here and now? "So what should I do?," I asked. "I mean, telling me to go out there and save the world is one thing, but I need to know where to start. You can't expect me to just go face PAMA, Hadrian, and Mevia without some weapons at hand, or at least a plan in mind." "Oh, we're not stupid enough to send you away without any weapons, of course," said Soren. "The guards will take you to our weapons room where you can stock up on anything that you like. Unfortunately, we can't help you when it comes to making a plan. You'll have to do that on your own." I discreetly rolled my eyes. "Thanks for the pep talk," I said. "Now can someone uncuff me from this chair already? It's getting very uncomfortable." Jimmy walked over to me and undid the metal straps around my wrists and ankles, which had become bruised from how tight the restraints were.
"You have no idea how lucky you are," he whispered into my ear. "You're probably the first trespasser that they decided to spare." "They seem nice," I deadpanned. Jimmy snorted. "Guess that shock collar didn't take away your dry sense of humor, huh?," he asked. "Honestly, I've been through worse," I said, standing up and stretching once the cuffs were off. However, before Hank and Jimmy could lead me to their weapons room, Soren stopped us. "Before you go," he said, "there's something very important that you need to know." He took the remote for the shock collar from Ellegaard's hand and waved it tauntingly. "Right now, the setting for this remote is set at the bare minimum of just five hundred volts," he said. "If I want to, I could crank the setting up to ten thousand volts and deliver an electric shock so potent that your eyeballs would melt out of your skull." My eye twitched. "And…," Soren continued, "...the shock collar that you're wearing has a tracking device embedded in it. To put it shortly, we will know exactly where you are twenty four seven. And if you ever decide to run away or defect from our side, well…" He handed the remote back to Ellegaard. "...you'll find yourself regretting that mistake very quickly." He leaned back in his chair. "That'll be all. You may leave now."
Once me, Jimmy, and Hank finally left the interrogation room and began walking through the hallway to the weapons room, Jimmy tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, are you sure you were alright back there?," he asked with a hint of concern in his voice. "You went through some pretty harsh stuff back there." "Oh, I'm totally fine," I replied. "All that happened was that I found out I was in an alternate timeline, and I have to face PAMA and the Old Builders all over again, and that if I don't, I'll get electrocuted to death! Everything's total fucking DANDY!" My voice rose to a hysterical pitch at the end, and I began laughing like a crazy person. Hank suddenly swatted the back of my head with his fist. "Get a hold of yourself, lady," he said sternly. "If you go insane right now, they won't have a reason to keep you alive." I rubbed the back of my head painfully, then sighed. "You're right," I said. "Sorry." "You got nothing to apologize for, Alex," said Jimmy. "The boss isn't exactly a...kind and loving man, as you've already seen." "He clearly doesn't give a damn about anyone else," I said. "So why do you and Hank still serve him? In fact, why do you still serve any of them?" Hank sighed heavily. "Because we owe them," he said. "They're the reason we're still alive right now. If it wasn't for them, we would either be dead or chipped, like everyone else above the surface. It's our duty to serve them." "...was that what THEY told you guys?," I asked. The two guards didn't answer. They didn't need to.
We finally arrived at the end of the hallway, where there was an iron door with a keypad on the wall right next to it. Hank punched in a code, and the door opened on its own with a loud hiss. "Here's the weapons room," said Jimmy. "Help yourself to anything you want. Trust me, you'll need to be as prepared as possible if you wanna survive out there." "Thanks, guys," I said, turning to face the two guards with a small smile. "You know, you two aren't half bad. If we met each other in different circumstances, we'd probably be pretty good friends." However, both of the guards suddenly seemed downcast, their shoulders drooping. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to be friends with us," said Hank, slowly shaking his head. "We did some pretty messed up shit in our past lives," said Jimmy. "You know, before everything went to...shit." "We used to be criminals," Hank explained. "And very mean ones. We killed people." "A lot of people," said Jimmy, nodding sadly. I stared at them for a while, then took a step towards them and slowly wrapped my arms around them, pulling them in a tight hug."You DO know I made friends with a crazy potionologist who unleashed a giant monster on the world, a former hitman who tried to murder me in my sleep, and a childhood friend who used to abuse me, right?," I giggled. "And besides, maybe you USED to be criminals, but I can tell there's good in both of you. Don't let the past dictate who you are, alright? A lot of people in my life had to learn that lesson, including myself. Strive to be better in the present so you can prepare yourself for the future." I chuckled sheepishly. "Okay, that was pretty corny...WHOA!" Before I knew it, Hank suddenly scooped me up in his arms and squeezed me to his chest. "You don't know how much that means to me," he whispered. "Thanks." "Yeah, thanks," said Jimmy, joining in on the hug. "From both of us."
After our little group hug, I entered the weapons room while Jimmy and Hank remained just outside. "We'll be out here in case you need us," said Jimmy, before closing the door and locking it. I looked around the room, which was...not at all what I was expecting. The inside of the room was pure white, which hurt my eyes a little. It was also completely bare. There was not a single weapon to be found. "That's...weird," I said. "Isn't a weapons room supposed to have… well...weapons?" Suddenly, something round popped up from the floor in the middle of the room, causing me to jump. It was some sort of white cylinder with a glowing blue screen on top of it. I looked closely and saw that there was the shape of a hand on the screen. I hesitantly placed my own hand on it. "Greetings," said a female voice, causing me to jump again. "Welcome to the weapons room. Which one would you like to choose?" "Who is this?," I asked, looking around in bewilderment. "Who's there?" But there was nobody else in the room except for me.
"Greetings," the voice repeated in the exact same tone. "Welcome to the weapons room. Which one would you like to choose?" I began to calm down when I realized that the voice must have been coming from a speaker hidden in the room, and the owner of the voice must've been an artificial intelligence, or A.I., just like that cool Jarvis guy in the Iron Man movie that Kevin once showed me. Man, I'd definitely prefer Jarvis over PAMA any day of the week, I thought. "Greetings," the voice repeated for the third time. "Welcome to the weapons room. Which one would you like to choose? Please make up your mind already instead of standing there like a pea-brained nincompoop." ...And this A.I. seems to have just as much sass as Jarvis too, I thought in bemusement. "Um...got any swords?," I asked out loud. Suddenly, a giant hologram popped up in front of me, causing me to jump back in alarm. The hologram showed an entire list of different swords, most of which I had never even heard or seen before. There were the classic wooden, stone, golden, iron, and diamond swords, but the list also featured emerald swords, like the one that Nancy has, netherite swords, which I remembered were invented pretty recently, and obsidian swords, which I didn't even know were possible to make. There was even a BEDROCK sword, for christ's sake! Did people actually figure out a way to mine bedrock and forge them into weapons in this alternate timeline?! I mean, holy shit!
I went over to the hologram and tapped my finger on it, and to my surprise, I was able to scroll through the list and see all the swords that the weapons room had to offer. After a few minutes of scrolling, I was absolutely dumbfounded by the sheer number of swords that I could choose from. There were just too many! How was a girl supposed to make up her mind? But then, one of the items caught my eye as I was scrolling through the list. "Wait a minute!," I cried, quickly scrolling back up. I stopped at the item and used two fingers to zoom in on the picture. "No...fucking...way," I gasped, scarcely believing what I was seeing. But sure enough, it was right there on the hologram, plain as day. "I want that one!," I said excitedly, tapping on the item in the list. Suddenly, the item in question materialized in a burst of light and fell into my hands. I gingerly inspected it, practically drooling in excitement. At first glance, it was just a short metal tube. It didn't look like something that could do any damage. Hell, it didn't even look like an actual sword. But after binging on Star Wars with Kevin, I knew exactly what I was holding. I pressed a small button on the side of the metal tube. A red beam of light shot out from the end of the tube, making a low, humming sound. It stopped at about three or four feet. I gave the weapon a few practice swings, which made the humming noise even louder every time the light traveled through the air. I could feel the intense heat emanating from it. Then, I stared into the beam of light with wide, starry eyes. "...I have a goddamn lightsaber," I whispered.
I couldn't believe it! I actually had a lightsaber! For people who had been living under a rock for their entire lives, lightsabers were the most iconic weapons in the Star Wars franchise, a very famous - or so Kevin told me - series that mostly took place in space with unique planets and aliens. Lightsabers were basically laser swords, able to cut through practically anything, and right now, I was holding one in my hand. Me! Holding a freaking lightsaber! Deciding to make the most out of this moment, I covered my mouth with one of my hands and made heavy breathing noises to replicate Darth Vader's iconic breathing. "Ker...chee...ker...chee. Lukas, I am your mother." "Who's Lukas?," asked a voice from right behind me. I ended up making a very unflattering squeal and spun around, dropping the lightsaber to the ground. Ivor carefully bent down, picked up the lightsaber, then deactivated it and handed it back to me. "Oh! Uncle Iv- er, Ivor! Sorry, I didn't hear you come in," I said, mentally berating myself for that narrow slip up at the beginning of my sentence. I had to remind myself that the person standing in front of me was not really my uncle. You fucking idiot, I thought. Uncle Ivy is dead...he's DEAD…
"The guards let me in here," said Ivor. "Who's Lukas?" "Oh, he's a friend back home," I said. "I'm...not sure if he exists in this timeline or not." Ivor slowly nodded. "Listen, I've come here to apologize on behalf of Soren and the others," he said. "Oh, that's fine," I said casually, waving it off. "It's no big deal." "That's not what I think," Ivor disagreed. "They were far too out of line, even for them. They treated you like an enemy spy even though it became clear that you're not actually a spy...are you?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "No, I'm not a spy," I said, shaking my head. "Like I said, Herobrine sent me here. I didn't even want to BE here." "That's good," said Ivor, before realizing what he had just said. "I meant the part about you not being a spy, not the part about you not wanting to be here!," he quickly said. "Yeah, I got it," I assured him. "Look, you didn't have to come all the way here to apologize. What's done is done. There's no need to stress over it." A thought came to my mind. "Actually, there is one thing you could do to make it up to me," I said. "You could help me remove this stupid shock collar."
However, Ivor shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that," he said. "Not only does removing that collar require a key that I don't have on me right now, but Soren would definitely have me executed if he ever finds out." I gaped at him in shock. "...Would he actually do that?," I asked. Ivor nodded. "He would," he said sadly. "And the others wouldn't even bat an eye. It's not obvious at first, but they secretly can't stand each other. We're not...we're not like the group of heroes that you knew in your own timeline. Maybe we were once like that a long time ago. Hopeful, naive, wanting to make the world a better place. But times have changed us. This WORLD has changed us. We've become no better than the villains that we're fighting against right now, and I'm the only one who's willing to admit it." "That sounds...horrible," I said, feeling incredibly sorry for this version of Ivor. "What about Ramus? Did he ever do something to fix all of this?" Ivor frowned. "That's one thing I didn't understand in your story," he said. "You said the Ivor in your timeline had a brother named Ramus. But I never had a brother. I was an only child." I was taken aback by the news. "Wait, really?," I asked. "But...how's that possible? I'd understand that he wouldn't exist in this timeline if YOU didn't either, but...well, you clearly do. So how could-" Ivor raised a hand to stop me. "I'm sorry, but I've already spent too much time here as it is. If I stay here any longer, Soren will become suspicious. But I also came to give you this." He took out a map and handed it to me. "It's a map of the entire world's surface," he said. "It'll help you avoid stumbling into any dangers." I stuffed the map into my jeans pocket. "Thank you, Ivor," I said gratefully. Suddenly, Ivor hugged me, taking me by surprise. "I wish I had a niece like you," he said. "Good luck. You'll need it." After that, he quickly left the room.
For a while, I stared at the door that he had just left through, and a warm feeling began to fill up in my chest: hope. "Well, there's no use in standing here and doing nothing," I said, a sad but determined smile growing on my face. "Let's get to work." I went back to the cylinder in the middle of the room, placed my hand back on it, and the hologram reappeared in front of me. "Greetings," the female voice said again. "Welcome to the weapons room. Which one would you like to choose?" After a long while, I was finally able to get all the weapons, armor, and items that I needed. Not only did I have my new lightsaber with me, but I also got some new, high-tech armor that was similar to the ones that Jimmy and Hank were wearing, but much sleeker and had the ability to camouflage. The description on the hologram said that this armor was durable enough to withstand explosions from charged creepers at point blank range, a feat that not even enchanted diamond armor could replicate, so bringing it along would definitely be handy.
I also got myself some smoke bombs, in case I needed to deal with any opponents in a non-lethal manner. But the most important weapon that I got, other than the lightsaber, was a futuristic looking bow with blinking lights all over it. It looked similar to the redstone enhanced bow that Olivia showed me once, but much more advanced. The arrows that came with it were actually made out of pure energy, which I didn't even know was possible. The arrows were safe to touch but incredibly deadly when shot out of the bow. The description for it on the hologram said that this bow was so powerful that a single shot is enough to instantly kill a wither, as well as take down an ender dragon in two or three shots. The only downside is that the bow's recoil alone is enough to send the user flying back and potentially break their ribs in the process. Fortunately, I had my brand new high-tech armor to fix that problem, so...yay!
After gathering everything that I needed, I walked out of the room and greeted Jimmy and Hank, who couldn't help but admire how badass I looked in my new armor. Jimmy whistled in appreciation. "You look like you could take on an entire army," he said. "That's kind of what I was going for," I joked. Personally, I was annoyed by how tightly the armor hugged my figure. It looked bigger on the hologram, but upon trying it on in the weapons room, I realized that it was just tight enough to show off my curves and…*ahem*...other assets. I guess the armor was also meant to distract enemies, but...I don't know, it was just a bit demeaning. "So...where's the exit in this place?," I asked. "The only way out of here is through an elevator," Hank explained. "Usually, nobody's allowed to access it, but Soren made you the sole exception. We'll take you there." We ended up walking into another hallway, then another, and then another. It was almost like we were walking through a maze. Finally, we arrived at a door that seemed identical to the one that led into the weapons room. However, after Hank punched in the code, the door opened to reveal the inside of a small elevator. "Here's some food for the journey ahead," said Jimmy, handing me a large sack. I looked inside of it and saw nothing but raw potatoes. "Sorry we couldn't bake them or anything," said Jimmy. "We were kind of behind on schedule."
"That's okay," I said, accepting the sack and storing it away in my inventory. Then, I stepped into the elevator and turned around to face them one last time. "Well...it was nice meeting you two," I said. "Even though we didn't really start off on the right foot." "The feeling's mutual, bud," said Jimmy, his voice slightly cracking. Even with the visor hiding his face, I could tell that he was in tears. "Hey, it'll be alright," I said, smiling comfortingly. "This might not be the last time we see each other. Who knows, maybe after this is all over, I'll come back here to say one last goodbye." "...good luck, Alex," said Jimmy, pressing a button on the wall. The elevator door closed and I felt my insides slightly drop as the elevator quickly carried me to the surface. I was a little bewildered by the guards' somber reactions, but vigorously shook my head. I had to get my head in the game. First thing's first, I thought. Figure out a way to infiltrate PAMA's forces, destroy the Redstone Heart to defeat him, overthrow Hadrian and Mevia, and most importantly of all, find out how to return to my own timeline. I took a deep breath to mentally prepare myself for what was to come and glared up at the ceiling as the elevator rose closer and closer to the surface. Hang on, everyone, I thought with determination. I'm coming.
Meanwhile, Jimmy and Hank were still standing outside of the elevator, silently staring at the closed door. "...do you think she'll actually make it?," asked Jimmy, turning to Hank. Hank slowly shook his head. Jimmy sighed heavily. "Yeah...that's what I thought…"