11) Under no circumstances is a Creator allowed to deliberately alter the personalities of the chosen beings without expressed permission of the Founders or if the motives are
properly explained.
Physical Cosmology: as a branch of astronomy, this is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution.
July 9th, 2012
Los Angeles, California
6:50 P.M.
Ding
"Really?" a sarcastic voice echoed from the study.
Robert looked up from his magazine, a bemused smile on his face, "Having problems Mark?"
The tension in the air could be cut with a knife as Mark yelled from the study, "Of course not Robert," he turned back to the computer and muttered more to himself than to Robert, "Why would I have problems?"
Robert turned back to his magazine, the smile never leaving his face, "Oh, no reason. It's just that-"
Ding
"Oh so that's how you want to do it?" Mark hissed angrily.
"Need some help?" Robert asked as he set the magazine down and walked over to his den where Mark was feverishly working on the computer.
"Actually yes," Mark admitted dejectedly and threw his hands up in surrender as Robert entered the den.
Robert leaned against the door jam and nodded to the computer, "So what's up?"
Mark sat back in the computer chair with a sigh and pointed at the screen, "your computer keeps freezing up."
Robert shook his head, "in English?"
Mark looked at him, "I can't make it work."
Robert shrugged, "but it was working fine a moment ago."
Mark interrupted him with a look of annoyance, "that was an hour ago."
Robert leaned his head back until it was resting on the door frame, "So what now?"
Mark let out a sigh, "well if I can't fix it I'm going to-hello that's not good," Mark leaned forward and started typing at the keyboard quickly, "oh no, oh no," he kept repeating before he whispered, "uh oh."
"Is that a good 'uh oh'? Or a bad 'uh oh'?" Robert asked.
Mark didn't look up, "since when has someone saying 'uh oh' ever been a good thing?"
Robert shrugged as he stepped forward and leaned over the chair to see the screen, "You never know. So what's going on?"
Mark kept typing away, "your computer just reset."
Robert looked on, "and that means?"
Mark didn't look up, "it means that your computer is rebooting."
Robert massaged his temples, "so we have to start from scratch?"
Mark nodded, "yep."
"Do you know why?" Robert asked as his computer started whirring through the start up sequence.
Mark nodded again, "If I had to guess, I'd say it was because you bought a Mac."
"Always with those jokes," Robert said as he walked back to his magazine.
July 3rd, 3019
Global Science Headquarters
Go City, Colorado
12:15 P.M.
"Now you're going to have to accept that there are some things that I won't be able to tell you simply because I don't have time and by telling you this late in the game I'd be taking away from information that could potentially help you," Dr. Elizabeth Director told Kim as she led the group consisting of her, Kim, Will Du and Josh Mankey through large white corridors that were bright but not to the point where the light hurt the eyes.
She stopped suddenly in the middle of the hallway and turned back to Kim, "first things first," she took a breath and placed her hands on Kim's shoulders, "are you all right? Any bumps, bruises or internal bleeding that we need to be aware of?"
Kim found it eerie staring into Betty Director's two perfectly good eyes but somehow she managed and shook her head, "I'm fine, well apart from the whole jumping through time sitch."
Betty nodded and patted Kim maternally on the shoulders, "I'm glad your back. We've been waiting a long time for you."
Kim looked at Betty with a thousand questions pouring through her mind but right now she only cared about one, "Where am I?" she asked.
Will Du jumped in, "approximately one mile below the surface of the Earth in a Global Science Black Project research station," he motioned for Kim's hand that held the remote and she brought it up slowly to him. He removed the remote from her hand and started tinkering with it as they resumed their walk, "We call this version of Earth, Earth 28,117."
Kim looked at him as he fiddled with the remote, "Earth 28,117?"
"Yes," Betty explained as she swiped her card at a locked door and after a moment of reading her card, the doors swung open with a futuristic hiss, "Not quite like the Earth 15 you came from but still," she turned back as they entered a large conference room that dimmed as everyone took seats before a large blank wall that blinked sequentially.
Kim held up her hands as she sank into her seat with a silent woosh, "I have no idea what you're talking about and if I don't get some answers I swear..."
"I know you're confused Kim so I'll try to explain as easily as I can," Betty promised as the room darkened and the entire blank wall transformed into a large video screen.
"Kim do you know who William James is?" Betty asked from somewhere in the darkened room as a black and white photograph of William James appeared on the screen.
Kim shook her head, "no."
Betty nodded, "William James was a philosopher and psychologist who in 1895 coined the term multiverse," Betty explained, "essentially he reasoned that there is more than one universe out there."
Kim nodded, "Felix explained that theory to Ron and I once," she tried to remember all her history classes, "supposedly when there's some big event, an alternate universe is formed."
Betty nodded, "exactly, in Earth 437 for example, the South won the Civil War," she wracked her brain for more examples, "in Earth 92,498,735 Hitler defeats the Allies in World War II and now rules the world," she paused and added as a footnote, "He actually celebrated his 75th birthday last week."
"And in Earth 47 Ringo was actually a good drummer," Will interjected.
Kim looked at Will with disbelief, "that sounds like a bad fanfic."
Will smiled as Betty let out a light chuckle, "We here at Earth 28,117 had the distinct privilege of having Lowardia come in peace," she smiled broadly, "they've shared their technology with us and now we are in a veritable utopia."
Kim's body instantly tensed up, "Lowardians are here?" she hissed in hatred.
Betty looked at Kim through the dim light as her smile faltered "is that a problem Kim?"
Kim didn't answer but felt her lips curl into a snarl as Will cleared his throat, "Kim...Kim passed through Earth 34,127."
Silence hung over the room as everyone present processed that little bit of information.
"Oh," came the only reply from Betty.
"You mean to tell me that all this technology came from the Lowardians?" Kim spat angrily, her voice barely above a whisper.
"What's wrong Kim?" Josh asked in confusion, "The Lowardians are our friends-"
"No," Kim answered angrily, whirling on the man, "No Josh, the Lowardians are not our friends. They only seek dominance of the Universe to satisfy their lust for blood."
"But Kim," Josh argued, "they're our friends. Their only goal is to serve man."
Kim snorted, "Yeah, I saw that Twilight Zone episode," she let her comment hang over the air for a moment before continuing, "turns out it was a cookbook at the end."
"Not this time," Betty interrupted sternly, "Now we know you weren't with Earth 34,127 for that long but obviously it was long enough for you to develop a hatred for the Lowardians."
"That's putting it lightly," Kim snarled at Betty, "the sheer fact that you could-"
"I don't care Possible," Betty interrupted, "you can have your own prejudices but in all honesty, you were in that Universe for only a few hours," Betty took a deep breath as she fought to keep her anger in check, "the simple fact of the matter is that you are our last hope."
This brought Kim out of her hatred spewing rant, "Excuse me?"
Betty brought the lights up and motioned for the doors, "Will, Josh. Leave us alone."
The two men rose silently and waited until they had left the room before rising to her feet.
Betty buttoned her jacket as she stood to her feet and slowly started walking around the large table, "I know you're angry," Betty lightly touched the chairs as she passed, "you're alone, jumping from random reality to random reality almost like someone's changing the channel on your television," Kim didn't respond, "but I need you to put aside your hatred for Lowardians just long enough for us to help each other out."
"You can't expect me to just-" Kim argued.
"I can and I will," Betty said, her no nonsense attitude dripping off her words, "I need you right now to bury that hatred for them because we'll all die for nothing if you don't."
"Overly dramatic much?" Kim replied in a sarcastic tone.
Betty was silent before resuming her walk towards Kim, "here's a short history lesson for you," she took a deep breath, "five hundred years ago our version of Professor Robert Chen is fiddling with one of his radio telescopes to figure out the formation of the Universe and hits some previously undiscovered frequency that finds something unique," Betty was halfway around the table, "he makes radio contact with a different Earth, an Earth that had just achieved the ability to shoot out radio signals," Betty paused, "When Chen asks who he's speaking too, he discovers that it's himself but from that Earth. That was our first real proof that alternate universes exist."
Betty continued walking, "up until then, alternate universes were only talked about in theoretical physics or in bad Sci-Fi films. But this," Betty paused as she moved her hands as she spoke, "this gave us our first real proof and when Global Science found out what Chen was up too, we absorbed the project into Global Science and with the help of Lowardian technology we've been tracking down all the different universes."
Kim shook her head, "how many universes did you find?"
"As of three months ago, we detected universes numbering in the trillions," Betty explained, "but that's a small estimate."
Kim smiled, "sounds like a big number to me."
"When you think about it, it's not really that big," Betty said. She was silent before snapping her fingers, "Think about Newton's third law: For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Same philosophy applies to Universes."
Kim looked at Betty skeptically, "I thought that only applied to physical objects," to demonstrate Kim pushed her chair away from the table.
Betty nodded, "not a good example but it fits the explanation."
Kim's eye twitched as she thought about the implications, "Every decision I've ever made...?"
Betty nodded, "And every decision you haven't," she let that sink in, "Think about it, have you ever done something stupid that you wish you hadn't done?" she saw Kim nod, "well if you hadn't done it, another universe formed from that point and continued down from that path until another decision came up and then that universe split into separate paths and so on and so forth. You with me so far?"
Kim nodded, "every choice has a second path."
"Or a third...or fourth, but that is exactly the point: this universe that you and I are in, we're just part of that secondary path from another secondary path," Betty said as she took a seat next to Kim.
Kim looked at the ground, her thoughts whirling, "But what about the primary path?" she saw Betty's face take on the look of admiration, "what about the first universe that spawned everything?"
"You know it took our scientists 18 years to ask that question?" Betty asked before continuing.
She opened her mouth but upon seeing Kim's look of confusion Betty shrugged, "no one dies anymore, we don't really rush around as fast anymore."
"No one dies?" Kim asked disbelieving every word, "what about population control? People aging?People just constantly breeding-"
"We colonize other planets," Betty interrupted, "we just finished terraforming Venus last century," she paused as she considered Kim's next question, "you stop aging around your 28th birthday,"Betty shrugged, "we've already colonized most of this galaxy and your father is leading a colonization effort to another galaxy next year."
Kim shook her head in confusion, "my head is starting to hurt and I'm sorry I ever asked," she ran her hand over her face, "let's go back to multiverses."
Betty nodded, "We actually found it rather quickly, within the first week of searching but we found it, the primary universe that started it all," she shook her head as she remembered, "it was not like anything we expected."
"In what way?" Kim asked.
"It spawned everything, this...this prime universe. Everything branches off from that one set path but that universe doesn't spawn from anything," Betty explained, "It is a set path, a guidebook to everything and seeing it like..." she trailed off and let out a satisfied sigh, "seeing it gives your life perspective."
Kim sat up in her chair, "and we can see these alternate universes?"
Betty nodded, "You will, but later. Right now we need your help."
Kim sat back in her chair, "what kind of help?"
Betty smirked and the large wall morphed into a slide show of the entire world. On the screen, children played, animals ran, it was a utopia. Betty watched the slides for several seconds before turning back to Kim, "About nine years ago, we discovered that several of the outlying universes were disappearing. They'd just disappear off the grid and when we programmed our scanners to look, we'd find no existence of that universe ever having existed."
"Random coincidence?" Kim ventured.
Betty shook her head, "That's what Wade and Justine thought at first but then it kept happening and at a faster rate. Within three years, we'd lost over twenty-five percent of all the known Universes. They just disappeared."
Kim looked at Betty expectantly, "what's causing it?"
Betty smiled a familiar smile, "now that's the real question."
Kim twirled her hair quietly for a second before responding, "What's the deal with Josh?"
Betty stopped and stared at Kim, a confused look on her face at the sudden change of subject, "I'm sorry?"
Kim nodded towards the closed door, "Why is Josh here? You and Will I can understand but Josh being here makes no sense," she thought quietly for a second before continuing, "where I come from he's head of our high school art club."
Betty leaned against the back rest of her chair, "In this version of Earth, Josh loves you immensely. You jumped out of this universe just an hour before your wedding to him and bringing him here was the only way I could move you to our facility without causing an incident," Betty shook her head sadly, "After Ron died he was the one who stood by you and comforted you during his funeral."
"But the Mystical Monkey Power-" Kim argued.
"Mystical what now?" Betty asked in confusion.
"Mystical Monkey Power," Kim explained, "Ron got it from Monkey Fist and some old ruined idols and it allows him to heal from almost any wound, gives him mastery of Tai Chi Pek-Wa..." she trailed off as she saw Betty's blank look.
Betty shook her head, "there's no such thing as that Mystical Ape Power here."
"Monkey Power," Kim corrected, confusion reigning when it suddenly clicked for her, "that's what makes this universe different. Ron not having his power allowed him to die, his dying opened a door for Josh..."
"And you have an alternate universe," Betty finished, "now imagine that happening every second of the day with each passing decision and you have every alternate dimension being made."
Kim sat back in stunned silence as the weight of it all hit her, "Holy Crap."
Betty laughed, "That's what everyone's reaction is."
July 3rd, 3019
Global Science Headquarters
Go City, Colorado
12:35 P.M.
"What's your take on all this?" Josh asked Will Du as they stood in the hall. Occasionally a random doctor would pass by and nod courteously to the pair but for the most part, the hallway was quiet, save for the soft hiss of filtered air as it passed through the air vents.
"I'm sorry?" Will asked as he turned his attention back to Josh.
"What do you think of all this?" Josh asked again.
Will shrugged and straightened his uniform, "Betty is a sharp leader and your fiancée-"
"Wife," Josh interrupted.
Will smiled, "my apologies, your wife to be and Betty are two of the sharpest minds that I have ever had the good pleasure of working with."
Josh waited for the other shoe to drop so he asked, "can they fix this?"
Will shook his head, "we're all on borrowed time Josh," he straightened his uniform out of habit now, "you and I both know that Kim being here will kill us all."
Josh looked shocked as Will tugged at the edges of his uniform for no particular reason other than it gave him something to do. When he had finished, he looked directly at Josh, "So, no. I don't think they can fix it," he was silent for a moment before returning to straightening his uniform."
The hallway was silent for a few more minutes before Will turned back to Josh, "but I've been wrong before."
July 3rd, 3019
Global Science Headquarters
Go City, Colorado
12:40 P.M.
"So how do I factor into all this?" Kim asked Betty.
Betty rose and pushed a button that signaled Josh and Will to reenter the room. They were joined by a third person whose face Kim didn't see as the lights were dimming but Kim knew whoever it was, they would help.
When the three had found their seats, Will near a control panel, the mysterious man next to Betty and Josh next to Kim, Betty continued, "About nine years ago when we noticed the Universes were collapsing, Olivia Load discovered a repeating pattern in every universe we discovered."
Kim raised an eyebrow, "a pattern?"
Betty sighed, "Every universe operates on a frequency that-"
"I know, a frequency that controls your molecular arrangement and makes it so you don't phase through walls or something important like that," Kim interrupted.
She felt the stares of astonishment coming from all across the room and defensively asked, "What?"
The mysterious person chimed in, "how do you know that?"
Kim instantly recognized the voice, "you told me Wade."
Even in the dim light Kim could still see the wide smile on Wade Load's face, "which version of me told you?"
"The one from Lowardia's occupation of Earth," she replied.
The smile grew even larger, "So you're saying that that version of me was able to figure out you weren't from that universe in the middle of a war zone with limited supplies and discarded medical equipment?"
Kim shrugged, "those words never really came up in that order-"
"Enough," Betty interrupted, "Wade we're not here to stroke your ego, we're here to figure out why she's jumping and how we can-"
"Actually I'm jumping because I was exposed to a large dose of microwave radiation, solar energy from Shego, a good shot of adrenalin in my blood all mixed together by an electrical burst," she saw the looks of disbelief, "You and Justine told me that one as well."
Betty nodded, "Ok, so you're jumping from universe to universe," she paused, "Why?"
Wade shrugged, "could be that her body is trying to jump back into her universe," he leaned back in his chair, "she'll just keep jumping from universe to universe until she finds the right one."
"Is that what's causing the collapse?" Will asked.
Wade shook his head, "doubtful, there's something a lot bigger than just Kim jumping from universe to universe. In all reality, the universes could have reached their limit and now the prime universe is correcting that mistake by eliminating all the outlying universes."
"In what way?" Will asked.
Wade took a breath, "you know how you blow a balloon to a certain size and then slowly let the air out?" he saw the nods of confirmation, "could be like that, for some reason all realities are being let go."
Betty looked at him, her blue eyes blazing a hole through Wade, "is it going to erase everything and then start the whole process again?"
Wade shook his head, "could be that the universes do this systematically, a constant cycle of clearing everything out and then restarting the entire process."
Will looked at Wade, "you have proof?"
Wade shook his head, "Olivia's still running tests but if we have done this clearing and redoing before, I'm not sure if we would remember it," he shrugged, "so I can't say for sure."
Betty nodded as a forgotten voice spoke up, "Then until Olivia gets you your info what can you tell us?" Josh asked, "and can you fix it?"
Betty shook her head, "we're working on it Josh. In fact we found a lead that might-"
"Question?" Kim asked with a raised hand.
The room went silent as everyone turned back to Kim and Betty pointed at Kim like a grade school teacher, "Go ahead Kim."
"Why me?" she asked.
"Why you what?" Betty asked back.
"Why am I jumping? I mean I know all about the radiation, Shego blast and the ingredients necessary, but why this version of me in particular?" Kim asked, "how did I get knocked out of my universe? I mean, if what you told me about multiverses is true I can't be the only Kim jumping."
"Could be that's what make's your universe unique," Wade reasoned, "a back up from the universe in case of its destruction?"
Wade paused and somberly added, "maybe there are other versions of you and they all keep doing exactly what you're doing and they keep dying. Maybe you're the Kim that gets it right?"
"Why not just say it's all part of the Creator's plan," Kim said flippantly, "at least then we'd all attribute it to faith of everyone's part and there is some master plan instead of the universe making it up as it goes along."
The room was silent for a moment as Will looked at Betty and quietly changed the subject, "you said there might be a lead?"
"You're referring to the pattern Olivia found in the Universe wave frequencies?" Wade asked.
Betty nodded, "Like I said earlier, Olivia discovered a pattern that kept repeating over and over again in every universe's wave frequency," Betty pushed a button and a familiar poem appeared on the wall display, "One traveler for the journey to the creator, as power from beyond the stars will fuel her machine..."
Kim gripped her head in anguish as Betty read the words and they burned in her skull like a poker to the mind, "His love not returned will guide her and stay with her when she becomes lost," Kim recited aloud from memory, "The symbol of royalty will open the doors closed to her and the machine will carry her even as the soul of an immortal protects her," she finished.
Betty had stopped as soon as Kim began speaking, a knowing smile on her face, "so you do hear it. Interesting..."
Kim looked up as the pain faded "what is that chant?"
"I'd say a guide to meeting the Creator, whoever they are" Betty ventured, "but I wonder if you know what it means?"
Kim shook her head but stopped mid shake and looked up, "When I met Tam in Middleton-the Kingdom of Middleton, he gave me something," she fished in her pockets and fished out the bag with the bloody flag in it, "he called it the symbol of royalty or something like that."
Betty was so shocked she almost slipped out of her chair, "you have the Symbol of Royalty," she whispered in reverence.
Kim looked around the room with all the occupants staring at her with their jaws open, "yeah? So what?"
"So what?" Will exploded in excitement, "you found a piece!"
He typed a command into the console in front of him and the words to the chant appeared on the wall before them again.
One traveler for the journey to the creator,
as power from beyond the stars will fuel her machine.
His love not returned will guide her and stay with her when she becomes lost.
The symbol of royalty will open the doors closed to her and the machine will carry her
even as the soul of an immortal protects her.
Will walked up to the video screen and pointed at the fourth line, "you have the Symbol of Royalty, the third piece," he pointed at the screen again, "We're so close," he whispered before turning back, "You're the traveler," the pieces were coming together, "the flag is the symbol of royalty-"
"Back up," Josh interrupted, "What's going on?"
Betty pointed at the screen, "this is a list of items needed to power a machine that can send Kim to see the Creator."
Josh shrugged, "I thought you said we need to save the universe. How does gathering some ancient ritualistic pieces do that? Shouldn't we be focusing on something else?"
Betty shook her head, "this is our only lead and if we lose one of these pieces, we're dead."
"The Machine," Kim interrupted as the device in Paris flashed into her mind, "the Machine in Paris, that must be the machine talked about here."
Betty snapped her fingers and pointed at Kim, "you know where it is?"
She nodded, "You, Ron, Yori and Felix are leading what's left of Humanity to steal it from Lowardia."
Betty nodded, "good. You need to get that machine at all costs."
Instantly the momentum was lost, "I can't give them orders, I'm here."
Betty nodded as she trailed off, "Of course...but when you go back?"
Kim snorted, "whenever that may be-"
Wade stood to his feet and looked around the room, ideas pouring through his mind, "I know why you're jumping to these universes directly." Everyone waited on the edge of their seats, "you're supposed to get the pieces: The Royalty from Middleton, the Machine from Lowardia..."
Josh stood to his feet and joined the group, "that's two, you need three more," he was silent for a heart beat, "and why is she here?"
Betty looked up at Josh, "Kim's here because we need her."
Josh didn't look convinced by Betty so he just stared until Will jumped in, "For some reason this version of Kim was knocked out of her universe and is jumping through the universes," he took a breath, "We saw her jumping and pulled her here. It wasn't that hard seeing as this was the first universe she jumped to."
"The wedding..." Kim whispered.
Betty nodded, "You collapsed before your wedding and we had you transferred here."
"How long ago was this?" Kim asked.
Betty shrugged offhandedly, "about a week ago."
She looked at Betty, "and my family?"
"They've been told that you're undergoing tests," Betty shook her head sadly, "but by the time you could go see them, you're going to jump out of here again."
"And what is that?" Kim asked pointedly, "this...jumping that I'm doing."
"When you jump from universe to universe, your consciousness punches through the current universe, journeys through the nothingness in between universes, before punching through another universe and into that universe's Kim," Wade made a fist and slammed it into his palm for effect, "I'm guessing that's why your headaches have been getting worse and you've started developing nosebleeds."
Kim nodded, "how did you know?"
Wade smiled, "you think you're the first person we sent through?" he saw her look of astonishment, "Tam Agmiln was our first true inter-reality agent. Everything we learned about other universes, we learned from those agents."
Kim looked around expectantly, "then why not send them out to look for the pieces, or better yet send them with me to help me out?"
Betty leaned over the table, "because we never really perfected the technology to the point to where we could send more than one agent out at a time. But you're unique, you're the first natural born jumper. Everyone else was given one of these remotes," Betty held up the black remote Will had borrowed earlier, "and that would make it easier for them to jump."
"Is that why I'm getting headaches and nosebleeds?" Kim asked.
Wade nodded, "when you jump, your mind essentially jumps time zones," he shrugged, "I suppose the best way to describe it is like inter-reality jet lag."
Kim nodded, "and what if I jump to a universe that I don't exist in?" she saw looks of confusion, "a universe that I've died in for example."
Wade shook his head, "We don't know," he was silent for a second, "try to avoid doing something like that."
Kim put on a sarcastic look, "sure thing Wade."
She was silent for a second before thinking back to Tam, "when I jump, what happens to my body?"
Wade nodded, "Your mind jumps, but your body stays here. Essentially your body is left without a brain and it's as if you're in a coma."
Kim nodded and thought back to Tam's body, "and what if I die?"
Silence followed by uncomfortable looks from Wade, Betty and Will.
"What?" Kim asked.
Will gulped nervously, "If your body dies while you're not in it, you don't ever come back to that universe," he looked at Wade and shrugged, "we're guessing."
"And if my body dies while I'm in it?" she asked, "Do I snap to another version of me?"
Woosh-Hiss
The doors opened as if on cue and in strolled a scientist that kept her long hair pulled back in a permanent ponytail. She wore a white lab coat and she carried her small lithe body with surprising grace. She walked up to Betty and handed the Global Science leader a folder, "Time table's been pushed back eight hours thanks to Miss Possible arriving."
Betty nodded and scanned the folder's contents, "so thirteen hours now Olivia?"
Olivia Load shook her head, her hair waving ever so slightly, "no, eight hours now."
Betty let out a sigh as Kim interrupted, "Hello? What happens should my body die and I'm still in it"
Olivia turned to Kim, her chocolate colored eyes cutting through to Kim's soul, "You die. Permanently, it's what happened to Tam and it will happen to you if you're not careful."
Wade placed a hand on Olivia's shoulder, "Olivia, remember what I said about your bedside manner? You need to be kinder to people."
Olivia turned and shook her head in confusion, "I'm answering her questions. Without Kim, we all die so I don't think we have time to be indirect."
Everyone turned back to Kim who had sunk back in her chair, "dying in an alternate universe was not how I planned to go..."
Josh knelt next to her, "you're not going to die Kim," he hugged her tightly, "I'll make sure of that."
Betty watched Josh hug her but noticed Kim didn't return the hug with a mixture of sadness and wonderment in her gaze.
"Could it be...?" she asked in a voice so low that no one could hear her.
Will flashed her a look as her heard her mumble something but he quickly dismissed it as Kim asked another question, "What do you mean without me, you all die?"
This was the moment Betty had been fearing ever since Kim showed up, "Its...its..." Betty stumbled with her words before Will took over.
"You act as a tent pole that keeps a universe from collapsing," he explained, "so long as you stay here, the universe doesn't collapse," he sighed, "the only problem is that you jump out of here in about three hours."
"And then what?" Kim asked.
"Even though Olivia said eight hours, within three hours probably less, our universe will collapse," Betty finished, "killing everyone and everything inside this universe."
Wade nodded, "a universe is a lot like a bubble, pretty to look at, incredibly fragile to the touch and when it pops, the universe is gone."
Olivia shrugged, "when you punched through the first time, you created a tiny hole that's slowly erasing our universe. Essentially we are a bubble that is popping in slow motion," she turned to Wade to get confirmation before turning back to Kim, "that's why in about eight hours we're all dead."
Kim sat back in the chair, "that's a lot to take in."
Betty approached Kim and sat next to the woman, "I know and for that I'm truly sorry," she squeezed Kim's shoulder tentatively and felt Kim place a hand on Betty's and squeeze back, "but you are the only hope we have."
Kim nodded but was lost in her own world for a moment before turning back to Betty, a look of determination in her eyes and when she spoke, her voice carried new meaning to it, "All right, let's get to work."
Disclaimer: I own Nothing except the idea.
Author's Notes: Not a lot of action this chapter but here we finally have some answers. Some of you guessed what the real issue was but here you get it in me explaining it to you all.
Schrodinger's Cat is actually an experiment where you put a cat in a sealed box and thanks to the theory of multiverses that cat is both alive and dead at the same time. I know I just greatly reduced the complete definition but that is the gist of the experiment.
Of course if you have any comments, questions, concerns or you wish to sing my praises, feel free to drop me a review.
Special thanks this time goes out to Joe Stoppinghem (I'm one musical number away from George Lucas), Mr. Wizard (Wait until Paris), Darev (It's the past), Twuscany (Big indeed), Sentinel103 (That brings the count up to 145), Taechunsa (I bet your theory is closer than you realize), CajunBear73 (You should be glad he didn't say let there be bears), TemporaryInsanity (Hmmmm), Eddy13 (There. Happy now?).
And to you the silent reviewer, thank you so much for coming back and reading every week. You are the best.
TRS