He'd been assuming causality worked linearly, change past, future updates accordingly. But what if it didn't? What if the two timelines were parallel rather than sequential? What if he was living in a quantum superposition where both states existed simultaneously until something forced them to converge?
I need an experiment. Something measurable. Something I can verify.
But not here. Not in this house.
Because in the future, in five years, this house would be ash. His family would be dead. Everything in this room would be burned, scattered, lost.
The hospital room. That's still there. That's where my future body exists. If I change something THERE in the past, something that exists in both timelines, I can verify if the changes transfer.
But there was a problem: in the past timeline, that hospital was just a hospital. He had no reason to be there. No way to access it at midnight without raising suspicion.
Unless...
His mind raced through possibilities.
The clinic. Mom works at the clinic. It's not the same building as the future hospital, but it's the same medical district. Close enough that if I needed to go there for some reason...
No. That was too complicated. Too many variables.
Think simpler. What exists in both timelines that I can access NOW and verify LATER?
His eyes drifted to the window, to the city beyond.
Public spaces. Landmarks. Things that won't burn. Things that exist in both eras.
The central park. The ceremonial hall. The,
Wait.
Velbrax Market.
The market had existed in his previous life. Still existed in the future he visited. A permanent fixture of Cindralith's underbelly, the kind of place that survived regime changes and disasters because it served everyone.
Kael Venrik's stall. I know where it is. I know it exists in both timelines. If I leave something there, mark something specific, I can check it in the future.
He grabbed his jacket and slipped out his window, the same way he'd done for training. The house was quiet, his parents asleep, Mira probably still texting friends about the ceremony despite her promise to sleep.
The streets were empty at this hour, just scattered night workers and the occasional patrol of Order ravens circling overhead.
Rei made his way to Velbrax Market, keeping to shadows, moving with the practiced efficiency of someone who'd spent weeks learning to be invisible.
The market was mostly shut down, stalls closed, vendors gone. But the structures remained. The wooden frames. The stone foundations. The permanent fixtures.
He found Kael's stall, or rather, the space where it would be in the morning. The awning was rolled up, the display cases covered, but the back wall was exposed.
A wooden support beam, weathered and scarred from years of use.
Perfect.
Rei pulled out a small knife, the same one he'd been carrying since building the plasma blade, and carefully carved three symbols into the wood:
REI07/11RIFT
Simple. Deliberate. Unmistakable.
He carved them small enough to be overlooked by casual observation, but deep enough to last. Then he took a photo with his phone, timestamp clearly visible: 12:17 AM, July 12, 442 A.R.
Satisfied, he made his way back home, climbed through his window, and pulled out his notebook.
Alright. Now I sleep. And when I wake up in the hospital room five years from now, I find Darius, convince him to wheel me to Velbrax, and check that beam.
Simple. Measurable. Definitive.
But even as exhaustion pulled at him, his mind wouldn't quiet.
If the timelines are causally linked, that means every change I make is rewriting the future in real-time. Which means I have to be even more careful than I thought.
But if they're parallel...
Then what the hell am I actually doing? Am I saving my family in THIS timeline while a completely separate version of them still dies in the other one? Am I creating NEW futures instead of fixing the broken one?
The questions spiraled, but sleep was finally catching up to him. His eyelids grew heavy. His breathing slowed.
Tomorrow I'll know. Tomorrow I'll have proof one way or the other.
And maybe... maybe I'll figure out what Elise Varen was really looking at when she stared at me like she knew something I don't.
The darkness pulled him forward.
Through five years.
Through death and rebirth.
Through the space between timelines where consciousness traveled and bodies slept.
And Rei Ashborne, who'd already died once and refused to do it again, surrendered to the Rift.
447 A.R. – 3:17 AM (Future Timeline)
Rei's eyes snapped open to the cold hospital air and flickering lights.
His broken body. His useless legs. The familiar sounds of the future he was trying to prevent.
For a moment, he just lay there, heart pounding, anticipation and dread warring in his chest.
The market. I need to get to the market.
He looked around the small hospital room. Darius wasn't here yet, too early. He usually arrived around 6 AM with breakfast and whatever news he'd gathered.
I can't wait that long. I need to know NOW.
But he couldn't exactly wheel himself to Velbrax Market in a hospital gown with paralyzed legs at 3 AM without attracting attention.
Think. There has to be something I can check here. Something that would prove,
His eyes landed on the small window.
The mechanical birds were perched outside as always, their glass eyes blinking in synchronized patterns. But something was different about them.
He strained to see better, pulling himself up slightly despite the pain.
One of the birds, the one closest to his window, had a mark on its wing. A scratch pattern that looked almost deliberate.
Three lines. Arranged in a way that,
No. That's just wear and tear. I'm seeing patterns that aren't there because I want this to work so badly.
But the more he stared, the more convinced he became. Those scratches formed shapes. Almost like,
Like letters.
R. E. I.
His breath caught.
That's impossible. I carved those letters six hours ago in the past. They shouldn't be on a mechanical bird. They shouldn't be anywhere near the hospital. Unless,
Unless the timeline is adjusting. Unless reality itself is trying to accommodate the change, and it's manifesting in unexpected ways.
Or I'm losing my mind and seeing things that aren't there.
He needed confirmation. Real, undeniable confirmation.
The door creaked open. Darius entered, earlier than usual, carrying a tray but looking troubled.
"You're awake," the former bodyguard observed. "Good. We need to talk."
"I need to go to Velbrax Market," Rei said immediately.
Darius raised an eyebrow. "At 3 AM? In your condition?"
"It's important. I need to check something. At Kael Venrik's stall."
"The black market merchant?" Darius' expression grew more suspicious. "What could possibly be so urgent that"
"Please." Rei's voice carried an intensity that made Darius pause. "I can't explain why. Not yet. But I need to verify something. Something that will help me understand... what's happening to me."
The bodyguard studied him for a long moment, then sighed. "You've been acting strange even by your standards. Having those dreams again?"
"Something like that."
"Fine. But we're not going at 3 AM. We'll wait until 6, when the market actually opens and I won't get arrested for wheeling a crippled kid through restricted districts." Darius set down the tray. "In the meantime, you're going to tell me why this matters so much."
Rei hesitated. How much could he reveal? How much would Darius believe?
"I think," Rei said carefully, "that I'm experiencing something like... temporal displacement. Memory echoes from events that haven't happened yet. Or have already happened. I'm not sure which."
"You mean precognition? Awakened foresight?"
"Maybe. Or something stranger." Rei met his gaze. "Have you ever felt like reality isn't quite stable? Like it's shifting around you in ways you can't quite define?"
Darius was quiet for a long moment.
"Yes," he finally admitted. "Especially the past few days. Like I'm forgetting things I should remember and remembering things that never happened. Thought I was just getting old."
"You're not getting old. The world is changing. And I think..." Rei paused, choosing his words carefully. "I think I might be part of the reason why."
"That's a concerning thing to say, kid."
"I know. But I need to verify it. I need to know if changes I make in one... state of consciousness... affect another state. The market carving will tell me."
Darius absorbed this, his soldier's mind clearly working through implications. "You're saying you exist in multiple states simultaneously. Like quantum superposition."
"Maybe. Or maybe I'm just crazy and hallucinating all of this."
"If you're crazy, then so am I. Because I've been having those dreams. The same ones. Over and over. And they feel more like memories than dreams." Darius pulled up a chair. "Alright. We'll go at 6 AM. But you're going to tell me everything you know about what's happening. No more cryptic hints."
Rei nodded slowly. "After we check the market. After I know for sure."
"Deal."