447 A.R. – 6:23 AM
The wheelchair rattled over uneven cobblestones as Darius navigated through Velbrax Market's narrow passages. The early morning vendors were just opening, yawning, setting up displays, the smell of cheap food and cheaper alcohol mixing with industrial smoke.
Rei's hands gripped the wheelchair arms, his heart pounding harder than it should have been.
If the carving isn't there, then the timelines are parallel. Separate. I'm not changing THIS future, just creating a different one.
But if it IS there...
They reached Kael's stall, or what remained of it. The merchant was already there, setting up his displays with practiced efficiency.
"Morning, Darius," Kael called out, then spotted Rei. "And... friend? Didn't know you made house calls."
"Special request," Darius replied. "Kid needs to check something. Won't take long."
Kael shrugged. "Be my guest. Just don't break anything."
Rei's eyes locked onto the back support beam. The wooden post that had been there for years, weathered and scarred.
"Can you wheel me closer?" Rei asked. "To that beam."
Darius maneuvered the chair, bringing Rei within arm's reach of the wood.
And there,
Carved into the surface, worn but unmistakable, aged by five years of weather:
REI07/11RIFT
The carving was there.
Exactly where he'd made it.
Exactly as he'd carved it.
But aged. Weathered. Real.
Rei's hands trembled as he reached out, fingers tracing the letters.
It worked. The timelines are causally linked. Changes in the past directly affect the future.
Which means everything I do, every decision, every conversation, every tiny alteration, is rewriting what comes next.
I'm not creating alternate timelines. I'm editing a single timeline from two points of access simultaneously.