And here's a bit of another scene tied into both the comics and my own series that I wrote, but I couldn't really think of an organic way to put it in this story. It's mostly relating to multiversal mechanics, and it's not really important to the story elements in the previous chapter, though you can consider it to have happened at some point. To be honest, I probably spent way too much time thinking about this topic. Still, I wanted to add my own discussion to a few ideas from the Life is Strange comic series and figured I'd do it here.
Disclaimer: As before, I don't own Life is Strange, but I do own Beyond Reality.
The Multiverse Learning Center (or at least one of them) turned out to be a facility at the bottom of the ocean on some unknown alien world. Overall, not necessarily the place Max or Tristan would have expected to learn about interdimensional mechanics, but it definitely provided one hell of a view in-between classes. It was almost like being back in school in some ways, just minus most of the bullying, and filled with a lot more variety of both species and different powersets.
Seeing as how they were the two superhumans on their world who could most easily cross between universes, they decided to take the UEW's courses on a few such topics to gain a better understanding of their powers and limits. During one such personalized course attended by Max and Tristan alone, this ended up with an interesting conversation when Tristan indicated that he was the only version of himself in the multiverse.
"We don't usually do this kind of thing." The teaching AI shook its holographic head in response to that particular claim. "But just from a brief scan I've collected from my fellows in the UEW who gave this a passing nanosecond of searching, I've already found hundreds of thousands of records of you still alive in other universes."
"I thought I was the only version of myself that survived." Tristan shook his head, looking at the holographic display in confusion. "Pixie said that when she tried to check my other possibilities, she couldn't see any."
"And how many universes have either of you actually checked?" The AI countered, to which Tristan grew silent. "No offense to you or Pixie, but even if you looked at hundreds or thousands of timelines, that still wouldn't equate to even a tiny fraction of the multiverse as a whole. The UEW encompasses well over a million universes and even we are still insignificant in comparison to the infinite scale of the multiverse, never mind everything beyond it."
"So it's basically like looking for a needle in a haystack?" Max asked.
"Precisely." The AI gave an approving nod. "Even if you have an infinite amount of needles, that would still leave an infinite amount of hay to sift through. Sometimes you get fortunate and can find what you're looking for very quickly, but other times, it's not quite that simple." Another display appeared beside the AI, highlighting a vast (albeit forever incomplete) map of the multiverse the UEW had collected. "Also, Pixie probably can't see every actual possibility at once, because she likely would have gone completely insane if she could." The AI added. "Trust me, we've had experience with someone who had that same problem."
"I guess we never thought about that way." Max noted with a thoughtful expression. "We can probably ask her, but her powers definitely seemed focused on the people and events around her specifically."
"In Tristan's case, his powers also probably are why she couldn't get a good read on him." The AI further explained. "Given the method you use, it's not impossible to track, but it is certainly difficult even for our sensors to pinpoint."
"You guys clearly have a lot more experience with this kind of thing than I do." Tristan said ruefully. "I only know about travelling between realities by disengaging, and even then, I guess I could only freely do it once I figured out how to navigate between the two."
"Hold on, I have a question:" Max spoke up once more. "If Tristan has more than one counterpart, how can he travel between worlds so freely? He could only enter our reality because his counterpart died in it, and thus he could fill the space. Like I could only enter that reality because my counterpart died-"
"Okay, I'm going to have to stop you right there." The AI interjected. "Two different versions of the same person co-existing in the same universe is more than feasible, depending on the method of interdimensional travel. The reason it was different for you was because of this." A holo-display of a familiar dimension appeared next to the AI.
"The Transect?" Tristan asked, his confusion evident.
"Yes, a border realm between worlds, one of many such dimensions that exist in the multiverse." The AI explained. "What's interesting about this one is the metaphysics that you mentioned being a limitation. And since both of your powers were tapping into it when you jumped, or flickered, as you call it, that's why you were having such problems."
"But I only ever entered the Transect with Max." Tristan protested, gesturing to his fellow superhuman as both of them looked at the display in confusion. "Every other time, I just... passed right on through to the other side. I wasn't using the Transect during those."
"Perhaps not directly, but from our scans, you were skimming through it, so to speak." The AI explained as the display showed a holographic Tristan sliding through it. "Using the Transect as an interdimensional shortcut, even if you weren't aware of it."
"Back up a second: A border realm?" Max asked. "What does that actually mean?"
"These are dimensions and universes where travel between worlds can be done easily, at least to those without the necessary means to do so themselves." The teaching AI explained. "There are more lessons on those that will be covered later, but the relevant information for this topic is that the Transect is one, and from our limited studies, it seems to have different metaphysics than most others, which would prevent you from living in a reality where an already living version of yourself is there."
"Wait, are you saying you guys don't have that limitation?" Tristan asked with a raised eyebrow. "That people from the UEW can actually meet alternate versions of themselves personally?"
"Quite easily, yes." The AI acknowledged with a nod. "The specific mechanics of what we use to traverse the multiverse is a bit beyond this particular class, but rest assured, it is much easier to not only traverse realities without relying on a border realm, but you are not limited to going somewhere you are dead or otherwise non-existent."
"Are there any drawbacks to meeting your own alternate self?" Max had to ask, even though she already suspected the answer. "Like, I'm assuming the multiverse won't collapse or anything..."
"Using our methods and plenty of others, no, there's no metaphysical issues that will arise upon meeting one's alternate self." The Teaching AI explained. "The biggest concern is usually whether your doppelganger wants to kill you for whatever reason, from wanting to steal your life, to just being evil in general."
"That's a concerning thought." Max and Tristan looked at each other as the former spoke.
"Well, we're not in the habit of allowing that to happen in the first place." The AI assured them, before abruptly cutting off the display. "Ah, but that is another topic for a different time. My apologies for going off on a tangent there, we shall return to the lesson at hand."
AN: One thing I wasn't a fan of in the comics was the later implication that Tristan was the only version of himself in the multiverse still alive. Not only is it nonsensical due to the very nature of the multiverse, it also led to the odd idea that you can only travel between worlds if your counterpart is dead in one. So, I decided to give my own explanation for why that is, which hopefully doesn't come across as too fan-wanky, but if it does, well, it is what is.
It does help to consider that none of the characters in Life is Strange are experts on all the weird shit happening to them and have self-admitted to basically just guessing more often than not, so in this case, it's fairly easy to come to the conclusion that they simply had inaccurate information about their situation.
Anyway, while there wasn't much Pricefield this time around, I hope everyone enjoyed this bonus scene regardless.