Before the conversation could continue, they halted as his house came into view. It wasn't there a moment ago, but now it's in full sight of them and within walking distance. 'This area's a bit tricky.', he says, 'It took me some time to get used to just how quirky time and space can be here. Let's rest for a bit, yes? And then I'll show you some more... interesting things.' They made their way quickly to the house, and the first thing Leilani notices when she gets in is her radio. 'Wait', she says, 'did you steal my radio? Did you break into my house and take it?', and he seems amused at this notion. 'No, it is not your radio. It's always been mine. But it makes sense that you have - or had - one like it. We always do.' Leilani feels staggered by his words, and visibly reels at what she's hearing. Now she wonders if indeed she was crazy, and this is all a delusion that happens within her mind. 'I know what you're thinking', he says, 'and I assure you we're not crazy. Let me fix some tea for us, ok? Then we talk some more.' He returns a short while later with a kettle of tea, and some biscuits. 'I hope you don't mind, it's all I have right now.' He serves them tea, and Leilani finds herself wolfing down the biscuits, she feels ravenous. 'For you it might seem like only minutes ago we met, but in truth it's been hours. In time, one does get used to, well, time.' She looks at him closely : yes, she can tell he looks like the person from afar, though she never knew exactly how he looked like. And yes, it's the same voice, but there's no despair here, no sadness, just resignation. 'What did you mean by 'when are we'?', she asks. Leilani eyes the last remaining biscuits, and hears her stomach groan. He responds with melodious laughter, and tells her they're hers.
'It's... really complicated. Because as far as I can understand, we are not necessarily anywhen. We're not in the past, and we're not in the future. But we're not in the present either. We're in a place where there is no time. Where there is time without a time. Where there is everything without a time.' She speaks through a mouthful of biscuits, and says 'Well, I didn't understand any of that. And what's the thing about you not being you, but an echo?' He taps his nose for a bit, then says 'Well, that's really complicated too. But you too felt one day that the world was not as it should be, right? That something was supposed to have happened, and it didn't. Am I making sense?', he asks. She nods, 'Absolutely.' He clears his throat and says, 'I'm not entirely sure what happened, but it made reality start to... fall apart. Things don't say cohesive. The universe is trying to knit itself back together again. But the problem is that multiple instances of reality are trying to do that at the same time. And all throughout the myriad versions of the universe, there are many, many us. But we, I am sure, are the prime echoes. We are the ones who escaped some fate we shouldn't have. All others are... shades. Hues. Echoes. Not quite us, but not very different from us. There is a constant. You see, none of the others ever meet. No versions of us get to know one another. Sometimes they live out their lives in relative peace, but mostly the sinking feeling of being an anomaly haunts them throughout their lives. They are singing a song to which they don't really know the words to, or even the melody.'
'Let's go', he said, standing up. 'It's almost nighttime and there's something you need to see.' They leave the house, and no sooner are they just a short distance away from it than it's not there anymore. 'Don't worry, it'll be there when we return. By the way, my name is Inaniel. I know, it's a pretty weird name, my friends - when I had them - always called me I. You know, I was supposed to have met someone years ago. Someone not from this reality. But that day never came, and I've lived for a very long time thinking something was wrong. Then I started to notice the weird things around me. Like people's faces sometimes just seemed... I don't know. Blurs. Like they were pixelated, when seen from a distance. And sometimes people would move in strange ways... in fits and starts. No one seemed to notice this but me. And it started to drive me crazy. So much so that I had to leave everything and everyone just to be at peace with my mind. I eventually settled here. No, I was drawn here. I don't know why. But this is the center of it all. The heart of everything. Ah, we're here.' It's a warm spring night now, and they sit by a river, it's timeless water flowing past them. He takes off his boots, and puts his feet on the water. It feels good. Leilani joins him, deep inside her she feels it's the right thing to do. 'Do you know what happens now?', he asked. She took a long breath, and then said at last, 'I think I can guess. If we're the prime echoes, and we finally met, then it means that maybe reality is close to reasserting itself.' He nods, encouraging her to continue. She ponders this for a while, then asks 'How long do you think we'll have?' Inaniel let's out a long, drawn-out sigh, and says 'Very little time, if we're unlucky. Years, if we're very lucky. Look, up there, it's starting!', he says suddenly, pointing at the night sky. It gets dark, darker than dark, a stygian night, starless and bible black. She feels tiny in the immense sea of night. He moves closer to her, and put his arm around her. 'What is that we're seeing?', she asks amidst the echoing darkness. 'The beginning.', he says, 'Or maybe the end.'
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