"So," Loren began, after they had both had a few minutes to calm down. And in Loren's case, to catch her breath. "Why don't you want to use the Time Matrix?"
They say that you shouldn't just go messing around with time. That it's extremely complicated. It's true that I could go back and kill the first group of Yeerks to evolve, but who knows what else that would change? Besides, to be honest, I guess I'm afraid of the Ellimists.
"The Ellimists? Who are they?"
Well, according to what some Andalites say, the Ellimists are the race that built the Time Matrix. Of course, there are still those who say the Ellimists never existed, as well as others who say they're gone forever. And there are also those who say they never existed at all. But, most of them agree that it was the Ellimists who made the Time Matrix. A lot of them say that when the Ellimists first used the Time Matrix, they all vanished.
"Oh. So, you think that if you used the Time Matrix, you'd disappear like the Ellimists did?"
Either that, or I would just make them angry.
"So, what are these Ellimists, anyway?"
As I said before, the Ellimists are the race that created the Time Matrix, Elfangor paused, wondering how to better explain something that was really only a myth in his world. They are rumored to be all-powerful beings, who interfere with the lives of others for their own amusement. They are also said to live beyond the normal spacetime dimensions that we inhabit. Of course, no one knows if these stories are really true. And now the Ellimists are simply considered characters from tales that Andalite mothers tell their children.
"Fairy tales," Loren said, nodding.
Are these fairies magical creatures in human mythology?
"Yeah. We have Fairies, and elves and leprechauns and Santa Claus and hobbits and werewolves and vampires," Loren giggled. "We even have aliens from outer space."
Yes, Elfangor said, laughing a bit himself. Those outer space aliens can be quite troublesome.
Loren put a hand on her chin; Elfangor was starting to recognize this as a pose Loren often took when she was thinking. He wondered briefly if all humans did this.
"But, doesn't the Time Matrix by itself prove that these Ellimists are real," she asked, after a few minutes of contemplative silence.
Well… I don't really know. Elfangor thought for a moment. If the Ellimists are real, then they've moved beyond the normal spacetime dimensions that we're familiar with. If they truly have moved beyond the four dimensions that we live in, then the Ellimists would have powers unlike anything that we have seen before. Imagine… never mind. Elfangor shook his head, something he had picked up from Loren, sure that she would not want to hear him go on and on about spacetime geometry.
"No, tell me. Unless you have something more important to do,"
There weren't any shipboard tasks that were clamoring for his attention right now. So, smiling at Loren's eagerness, Elfangor proceeded with his talk.
Well, as you probably already know, there are four spacetime dimensions that we normally experience. There are the directions forward/back, left/right and up/down. Then there is the fourth dimension, which is time. But, there are also six other dimensions. These are curled into themselves, so we don't even notice them. All we feel are the three dimensions of space, plus the one of time.
Loren nodded, this was pretty much what she had learned while in geometry class. Elfangor saw her nod, and wondered what the gesture meant; she didn't ask him to stop though, so he continued.
Imagine for a moment, that instead of being able to move in three dimensions, we were only able to move and see in two. Call these hypothetical creatures the Flatties. A Flatty couldn't move in the third dimension, just the other two.
"Like they lived on a piece of paper. Or a pane of glass."
Yes. It would be exactly as if they were drawn on a piece of paper. And if someone were to come along and draw a box around one of them, they would never be able to get out, because the lines of the box would be like walls to them. But imagine if a three-dimensional person, like one of us, came along. They would be able to lift the Flatty right up out of his box, and put him down somewhere else. The Flatty wouldn't know what was happening, of course, since the Flatties wouldn't know about the third dimension.
"So, what you're saying is that we're kind of like the Flatties. But we live in three dimensions, so we'd be Cubies, I guess."
Yes. And if a creature that existed in more dimensions than we did came along, they would be able to do things that seemed impossible from our point of view.
"These Ellimists, that's what they are? People who live in a higher dimension?"
Maybe. Like I said before, no one really knows about the Ellimists. All we know is that the Time Matrix was built a long time ago, by a race that once existed, and is now gone.
"Well, that's a relief," Loren said lightly, smiling at him.
So, yes. Maybe we could use the Time Matrix, and jump in and out of different time periods. But, we also might run the risk of disappearing like the Ellimists did.
"Or else we might just make these Ellimist guys angry."
Or that, Elfangor said.