fandomhigh | Practical Philosophy, Monday

"Let's get away from the moral philosophy for once," Ender said. He sat on the lawn with his legs crossed underneath him, enjoying the outside in a way that seemed almost Zen if you didn't know there was a voice whispering news and snark in his ear roughly every dozen seconds or so.

"The multiverse. We all have to deal with it by pure virtue of being here at all," he continued. "Some of us were ripped out of our universes against our will. Some of us were brought here by other parties. Some of us simply opened up a brochure and saw a neat blurb about a school and enrolled, only to show up here and find things weren't as we thought they were.

"I've had a younger version of my older brother show up," he added wryly. "My partner has a long history of seeing various relatives from various time periods show up. Sometimes the line of events in one person's history meshes up neatly with that of another, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes we have to sit back and watch as different versions of people we know go through events we already know the outcome of - sometimes we even live in fear of that. Sometimes we try and change it."

He smiled a little.

"Today I'd like to invite you all to talk about how you think this works. About how it's affected you, if it has at all, and how you handle that," he said. "Have you had other people from your world show up? How did you get here? How do you think this mess of timelines and universes really works? Is there a method to the madness, or is it a hodgepodge, working differently from one universe to the next, and are we just lucky nothing bumps into each other and explodes?"

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The multiverse.

"I haven't had anyone show up," Anders ventured. "In a way it's a relief. What if they knew something about my future I don't want to know? They wouldn't need to tell me. I'm sure I'd see it in their faces."

He ran his hand through the grass and added thoughtfully, "As for how this all works, I imagine the worlds and the island all connect through the Fade. There are demons and spirits there; why shouldn't there be different places on the other side?"

"How would you feel if they did?" Ender wondered. "Curious, in spite of yourself? Or would you want nothing to do with it?"

He took a sip of his water.

"I don't think I could break away from curiosity," Anders said. "If I know, I can try to change it. I can't do that if I run and hide."

"So you believe that's an option that's on the table?" Ender asked.

"It has to be," Anders said. "I don't believe in fate, if that's what you're asking. Things happen because men make them happen."

"I came to visit Vider last year," Soren volunteered. "And when I needed to find some place to continue my education in peace, this place came to mind. So at least we were expecting each other's presence. I don't know what I'd do if I'd come here to find a Vider who was- different- from the one I'd known." Except that was more or less what had actually happened, he just couldn't say as much. "As for how all these different universes connect- perhaps there's something like the Bifrost which once connected the old Asgard with my world, before the gods came over to stay permanently."

"A bridge across different universes?" Ender said. "Fandom's one hell of a roadside oasis, in that case."

"No one from my universe that I've seen," Barry said with a shrug. "Rest of the island is pretty much what I expected and is what I need to do my work."

"What is it about it that you need?" Ender asked.

"I've got a whole bunch of people from my universe here," Joker answered. "Most of 'em are from my future, but Liara's from some time in the past. Except she went home. I've got no idea which of them are from the same timelines, but I'm pretty sure none of them are from the same timeline as me -- I mean, c'mon, if their-me was me-me, just older, I'd have told them to tell me 'hi'."

He shrugged. "Soooo... Mostly, I'm trying not to think about it too hard. I try not to think about most things here too hard, because most of it's completely impossible. As for how it all works? My current theory is that either the island itself or someone in charge of it is an omnipotent god-like being with a twisted sense of humor."

"Have you asked any of them about the future?" Ender wondered. "Or do you believe that the small change of you being here at Fandom will throw your personal timeline so far out of whack, it doesn't even matter?"

Joker snorted. "No, they won't tell me about the future. I mean, I understand why -- I've seen enough sci-fi to get the whole 'don't alter the timeline' concept. It's just frustrating."

He shrugged. "Buuuut... In the future, I'm their pilot. That's really all I need to know."

Practical Philosophy, Monday

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