"Time travel is impossible, yet E99 is capable of it. These are not incompatible statements. [...] Physics will compensate for the historical alterations, merging entities from the 'weaker' universe with ones present in the stronger. Those that cannot be merged will be separated, creating two identical subjects. Tragic is the case of the clone who belongs to the reality which has been rendered invalid."
Impacts of E99 on the Fields of Quantum Physics and Philosophy"So, are you enjoying Moscow, sis?"
"I like it when you're not shoving a camera in my face, Masha."
She laughs and tucks her phone in her pocket. The Volk Club reminds you of the hipster bars back in London, minus any openly gay folks. Russia has the wrong climate for them.
"It's for historical purposes," she says. "Some day we might find an actual smile on your face."
"Good luck with that," says Adrian, staring down the empty vodka bottle. "We gave up on that effort when Professor Partridge fell into a pond and she didn't even laugh."
"He might have gotten hurt," you protest.
Adrian waggles his eyebrows at Masha, who nods with a smirk. She takes out the phone and points it at you.
"Soooo," she says. "How is your love life?"
"Flatlining," Adrian says. "She dumped her boyfriend a few months back. He was needy."
"He set himself on fire to prove his love for me," you say. "Needy doesn't cover it."
"English guys are all neurotic idiots," says Masha. "What you need is big strong Russian man. See the guy at the bar?"
Tall, handsome in a cold way, black sports jacket and jeans. Device in his hand, looks like a pocket watch with a few orange lights inside.
"Masha, I am not nearly drunk enough for a one night stand," you say. "And even if I was, I'm not letting you take video evidence."
Masha grins. "Come on, live a little! You're going back next week, hardly like it matters."
You depart, prompting a two-person chorus of cheers. You'll never hear the end of it otherwise.
The tall guy scans you top to bottom, closing the device with a small click. You tap your painted fingernails against the glass bar. Of all the people you could spend the night with, he's not the worst.
You can never think of what to say in these situations.
There's a game called Singularity that was released a few years ago. It was an alright game, nothing special. I thought it would be interesting to set a game in the same universe and see what I could do with the premise. No real plan beyond that; we'll see where it goes.
You've probably guessed but this guy is bad news. Like a cancer diagnosis, however, he is unavoidable bad news. What matters is how you react to him.
Author
Topic: Adrift [SG] (Read 810 times)