[but if you don't do your own field work, then how can you shut yourself up alone in a cabin for years with minimal human contact? how can you trust no one else will steal your discovery of the paranormal and go public before you can?? the only way to be safe is to go it alone!!
He accepts the chin nudge, lets it help his indignation fade. Fuzzy feelings, back together, yes ♥ ]
...for access to research an equilateral triangle wouldn't normally have?
I'D HEARD ABOUT THE THIRD DIMENSION, ANYONE WHO STUCK THEIR EYE INTO COUNTERCULTURE HAD HEARD OF IT. IT WAS KIND OF A STORY TOLD BY A GUY WHO'D DIED IN A GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL FOR MENTAL PATIENTS - HORRIFYING PLACES, BY THE WAY, REAL JAIL IS BETTER! - SO THERE WASN'T A LOT THAT WAS RELIABLE! BUT WHEREVER I WAS GOING TO BE IN ORDER TO NOT FEEL AWFUL ALL THE TIME, IT WASN'T IN THIS DIMENSION. THE CIRCLES - THAT'S THE GOVERNMENT - HAD KNOWN ABOUT IT AS LONG AS EVERYONE ELSE HAD, EVEN IF THEY DENIED IT! BUT INSTEAD OF EXPLORING IT, THEY WANTED TO CLOSE US OFF AND KEEP IT IT FROM EVER CONTACTING US AGAIN. THEY WERE PRETTY CLOSE, TOO, WHEN I GOT ONBOARD.
[Shrug.]
SEEMS CONVENIENT THAT IT LINED UP LIKE THAT, BUT IT WASN'T! THERE WAS A THREE-DIMENSIONAL FIGURE THEY WERE IN CONTACT WITH, WHO SPECIALIZED IN WORKING WITH GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES. YOU MIGHT KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING!
SURE, I RECOGNIZED HIM AT SOME POINT. THE ONLY PERSON I TRUSTED BACK THEN WAS ME, SO I MADE SURE I CAUGHT HIS EYE. THEN WE WERE ABLE TO WORK FROM BOTH ENDS OF THE DIMENSIONAL BARRIER! THEY MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS WITH ME. WITH US! I WAS WHERE I NEEDED TO BE, BECAUSE I'D ARRIVED IN TIME FOR MYSELF.
[Bill thinks, taps his foot.]
...LOOK, TIME TRAVEL IS FUN, BUT IT'S HARD TO WORK INTO A STORY.
THE FUTURE VERSION OF ME TOLD ME THAT WE WERE GOING TO MAKE A DEAL. THAT SOUNDED FUN - I LIKED THE IDEA OF BOTH OF US NOT BOTHERING TO PRETEND WE WEREN'T SELF-INTERESTED. EVERYTHING ABOVE THE TABLE! HE SAID HE'D GET ME OUT, AND THAT WAS EVEN BETTER. I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE WE WERE GOING, BUT, SURE, JUST ABOUT ANYTHING'S BETTER THAN THE SECOND DIMENSION. I ALSO DIDN'T KNOW THAT WHEN TWO DIMENSIONAL COUNTERPARTS TOUCH, THE PARADOX COLLAPSES THE WHOLE THING.
[Bill turns a shaking-hands-with-himself gesture into a flat clapping motion - boom.]
SURE! SINCE I MADE THE DEAL HAPPEN FROM BOTH ENDS, I COULD EXPLAIN THE MECHANICS TO YOU, BUT A WHOLE UNIVERSE CEASING TO EXIST AT THE SAME TIME DOESN'T ACTUALLY GO NOWHERE. 'CEASE TO EXIST' IS KIND OF AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION. ALL THE MATTER COMES APART, BUT DOESN'T GET DESTROYED. A SUFFICIENTLY POWERFUL ENTITY CAN CONVERT IT STRAIGHT TO ENERGY!
THAT HURT A LOT, BUT THAT'S HOW I ENDED UP LIKE THIS!
...
THE NEXT TRILLION YEARS ARE LESS IMPORTANT! A LOT OF BEING ALONE IN BETWEEN UNIVERSES.
Mixed feelings about destroying universes is more moral consideration than I ever expected to hear from you, you know.
[This is great tbh. Ford could have lived with evil cackling mania as long as the maniac listened to him. He's used to having very very very low standards, and "I have mixed feelings about omnicide" is blowing them out of the water.]
[Bill just floats over to settle in Ford's general space and magnets to him.]
IT WAS NEVER FAIR THAT I KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU BUT YOU DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME. I WANTED IT THAT WAY! BUT THE WAY I USED TO DO THINGS STOPPED WORKING, SO, THERE IT IS.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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He accepts the chin nudge, lets it help his indignation fade. Fuzzy feelings, back together, yes ♥ ]
...for access to research an equilateral triangle wouldn't normally have?
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I'D HEARD ABOUT THE THIRD DIMENSION, ANYONE WHO STUCK THEIR EYE INTO COUNTERCULTURE HAD HEARD OF IT. IT WAS KIND OF A STORY TOLD BY A GUY WHO'D DIED IN A GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL FOR MENTAL PATIENTS - HORRIFYING PLACES, BY THE WAY, REAL JAIL IS BETTER! - SO THERE WASN'T A LOT THAT WAS RELIABLE! BUT WHEREVER I WAS GOING TO BE IN ORDER TO NOT FEEL AWFUL ALL THE TIME, IT WASN'T IN THIS DIMENSION. THE CIRCLES - THAT'S THE GOVERNMENT - HAD KNOWN ABOUT IT AS LONG AS EVERYONE ELSE HAD, EVEN IF THEY DENIED IT! BUT INSTEAD OF EXPLORING IT, THEY WANTED TO CLOSE US OFF AND KEEP IT IT FROM EVER CONTACTING US AGAIN. THEY WERE PRETTY CLOSE, TOO, WHEN I GOT ONBOARD.
[Shrug.]
SEEMS CONVENIENT THAT IT LINED UP LIKE THAT, BUT IT WASN'T! THERE WAS A THREE-DIMENSIONAL FIGURE THEY WERE IN CONTACT WITH, WHO SPECIALIZED IN WORKING WITH GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES. YOU MIGHT KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING!
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It was you! You went back in time, made contact with your old dimension, and helped your past self destroy it?
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I CAN NORMALLY MOVE FREELY BETWEEN THE PAST AND FUTURE. I DON'T DO IT A LOT, BECAUSE TIME BABY GETS IN THE WAY -
[Fucking hate that guy]
BUT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I GOT CREATED. IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT...
[You do it yourself!
He illustrates this with almost tying his arms in knots showing the paths of the timeline crossing over itself.]
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Did you realize you were you?
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[Bill thinks, taps his foot.]
...LOOK, TIME TRAVEL IS FUN, BUT IT'S HARD TO WORK INTO A STORY.
THE FUTURE VERSION OF ME TOLD ME THAT WE WERE GOING TO MAKE A DEAL. THAT SOUNDED FUN - I LIKED THE IDEA OF BOTH OF US NOT BOTHERING TO PRETEND WE WEREN'T SELF-INTERESTED. EVERYTHING ABOVE THE TABLE! HE SAID HE'D GET ME OUT, AND THAT WAS EVEN BETTER. I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE WE WERE GOING, BUT, SURE, JUST ABOUT ANYTHING'S BETTER THAN THE SECOND DIMENSION. I ALSO DIDN'T KNOW THAT WHEN TWO DIMENSIONAL COUNTERPARTS TOUCH, THE PARADOX COLLAPSES THE WHOLE THING.
[Bill turns a shaking-hands-with-himself gesture into a flat clapping motion - boom.]
WE MANAGED IT, THOUGH. WASN'T EVERYBODY SURPRISED! HEH, HAHAH, HAHAHAAHAH -
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...I should've guessed. That is the simplest way to destabilize a universe.
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THAT HURT A LOT, BUT THAT'S HOW I ENDED UP LIKE THIS!
...
THE NEXT TRILLION YEARS ARE LESS IMPORTANT! A LOT OF BEING ALONE IN BETWEEN UNIVERSES.
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[Holy shit. An entire dimension, turned into energy, and used to turn Bill into what he is.
He doesn't need the mechanics, he pretty much gets the idea.
Whoa.]
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[Bill looks subdued. He sort of did. And the way he is now is a constant reminder of that.]
I'M TRYING TO PUT IT BACK. QUENTIN'S HELPING ME SEE IF IT'S POSSIBLE.
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And for the next trillion years, you were alone?
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So, you would tear your way into a reality and remove its physical laws, causing it to collapse, then move on to the next one?
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I HAVE REALLY MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THIS STUFF NOW.
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[This is great tbh. Ford could have lived with evil cackling mania as long as the maniac listened to him. He's used to having very very very low standards, and "I have mixed feelings about omnicide" is blowing them out of the water.]
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AHAHAHAHHAHA, YEAH, I KNOW.
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...what's wrong?
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What I mean is, I'm glad. To know the whole story. And that you're...going to try to be better.
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[It's been an awkward, horrible process and it will probably continue to be.]
I'M GLAD IT'S... OKAY. I'M GLAD YOU'RE HERE, I GUESS.
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I'm here, all right. And, if there's anything I can do to help, just say the word.
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IT WAS NEVER FAIR THAT I KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU BUT YOU DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME. I WANTED IT THAT WAY! BUT THE WAY I USED TO DO THINGS STOPPED WORKING, SO, THERE IT IS.
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Well. Here's to things being more fair! And...to it working.
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So do I.