If You're Him and He's You… Who Am I
Chapter 35
XXXV
Max looked Durj'ori in the eyes…
"Durj'ori, we need answers… straight answers. Michael found everyone you said needed to be found… What are our chances now of this timeline returning to its rightful path?"
"Not Michael," the Nogi-K'ya said. "Rath."
"What do you mean," Liz asked.
"I mean that Michael doesn't exist anymore. At least his body doesn't. When the timeline changed, two things changed for him: Rath was never killed… and Michael was never born."
"So that really is Rath I met on Earth?"
Durj'ori nodded.
"But…" Liz shook her head. "From all that I've heard, Rath was warlike… angry. And besides, he remembers all the people from Roswell! Rath wouldn't even know them!"
Durj'ori thought a moment. "It is possible that Rath received Michael's consciousness when Michael ceased to exist. They are the same person… essentially, you know."
"But… why is he acting like Michael?"
"Michael's consciousness may have pushed Rath's consciousness into the background. But I assure you, it is Rath. The body is. The mind is, too. At least, Rath's mind is there. I believe it is probable that Rath could not cope with having two streams of consciousness active at the same time, one that he was unfamiliar with… so Michael's consciousness became dominant. But that is not to say that he is Michael…"
"Thanks for being so specific," Liz mumbled. "Now I'm really confused."
"Well, it is a fact that Michael who existed in the timeline he is trying to bring back does not exist at this time. He was never born. It is equally certain that Rath does exist and that Rath is the one you have been in contact with on your planet. The fact that [b]Rath[/b] may have two streams of consciousness in his mind –his and the one that was Michael's- does not alter these facts. Rath has allowed the stream of consciousness that once was Michael to dominate… for the time being. That could change… especially if he becomes aware of the fact that his own stream of consciousness is being suppressed. Right now, it would appear that he believes he is Michael and has allowed that stream of consciousness to dominate. He is undoubtedly unaware that he is doing this."
"I studied about split personalities and multiple personalities in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences," Liz said. "But this is still hard to accept."
"Michael's stream of consciousness could cease to exist completely," Durj'ori said, "if Rath's consciousness does awaken. It is an aberration that it even exists. There was no Michael in your timeline; therefore, Michael cannot exist. His consciousness must have been overpoweringly strong to survive. Even so, it will only be able to survive so long as Rath does not… or cannot… push it out."
"What about me," Max asked. "Am I Max… or Zan?"
The Nogi-K'ya looked at him and nodded. "You are Max. Rath changed the timeline for you when he found Liz and she found out that she could use the spheres. Liz's coming here to this future created this timeline that you are in. It's like a bubble… one small bubble… in a huge frothing cauldron full of bubbles. That is why we forbid the Nogi-K'ya to alter time until all the possible ramifications and effects have been studied and determined… and that process can take hundreds of your years."
"I'm beginning to see why," Liz said.
"If Michael was never born…" Max said, "How is it that I was born in Liz's altered future?"
"Do you want the short two-week explanation or the complete, seventy-year explanation?"
Max started to speak then decided not to.
"Never mind. I probably wouldn't understand it anyway. I'd hate for you to spend seventy years explaining it and then have to ask you to repeat it."
Durj'ori smiled. "Why? That happens in our councils all the time."
Max and Liz looked at each other, their eyes wide.
"But what you should know now," Durj'ori said, "Is that there is a significant danger to you… to your very existence."
"What danger," Max asked.
"We aren't sure. It may take longer than your lifetime for us to find out. But we have seen it's effects."
"What effects," Liz asked.
"Extermination…" Durj'ori said. "the complete elimination of all life… all living beings… all living things… on Antar."
Max paled visibly. "When?"
"We don't know. We believe that it will happen soon. We probably do not have enough time to find out when it will happen exactly before it happens. But it will happen… Unless you can discover what will cause it and prevent it from happening before it happens, the timeline you are attempting to bring back will become a dead timeline… and Antar will become a dead planet."
"I need to go to Earth with Liz and tell Rath," Max said.
"No! You must not!" Durj'ori said emphatically. "You do not exist in that time! We do not know…"
"Oh yeah, that's right. You'd need about three hundred years to determine all the ramifications and effects."
"Well… maybe only a hundred and fifty in this case."
"It might as well be three hundred," Max said dejectedly. "What do you expect me to be able to do then?"
"Liz must return and warn Rath so that he can watch… and you must be wary of anything in this time… this bubble… that might cause disaster."
"I don't even know what I'm looking for."
"Nor do we," Durj'ori said. "Nor do we. Good luck, my friends."
tbc