id: 526 name: How It Starts and How It Ends timeline stuff author: Maus date: 2nd September 2021 text len: 16834 views: 21 The three travel to the fantasy world, and we shall call them by their names with the suffix of 1. Of importance is that the time machine only has three fuel rods; one for going somewhere, one for returning, and one for backup. The place where you land in the time machine is where you take off, i.e. if you travel at point A to go back ten minutes, you must leave at point A if you want to return to your original position of point A. Direction also matters, so a North-South road would mean you need to travel North or South if you want to stay on the road when you arrive back at point A. The impetuous for travel is not important to the timeline. Many items are completely skipped over in the story. Only what is important in relation to the timeline is mentioned, with some context where it's needed. the Black Death is a parasitic infection that takes over the body and keeps it alive, but in a completely paralyzed state. The only cure is to cut the affected parts before it spreads, which can take minutes or hours. Once it has taken too much of the body, it is more humane to simply kill them outright, also killing the infection. They arrive in fantasy world and immediately pop their tyre with a loud bang and run over a child. They also noticed strange ruts in a field nearby. This will be important later. Nearing the end of the story, with Laura1 in an apothecary healing from an injury, Catherine1 and Nathan1 fight in a battle against the alien base. The battle, consisting of two factions which were in a truce with each other and our protagonists defeat the alien line of defence and break into the crashed ship. Nathan notices something that might mean they triggered a deadman's hand, and everyone runs out with the spaceship exploding. There were two deadman's hands, as the other was for a bomb in a mountain. They are given a small medal engraved with their initials, last name to first name, for their help in the battle, which was mostly minor, and head out to pick up Laura1 and go toward the mountain. Nathan1 tells Catherine1 that he is sure there is another bomb buried somewhere as a last-ditch sort of plan for the aliens. Sure enough, when driving back, with the mountain in view, a sudden flash of white signals what little time they have left to travel in time as impossibly thunderous sound of an explosion destroys any feeling of security they had left. Catherine1 tries to convince Nathan1 that they should go back to their own time, but he refuses and they go back to half an hour before they originally landed in fantasy land, Nathan1 citing that they must save Laura1 and the land. These two characters will still be referred to as Catherine1 and Nathan1. The following three characters will be added with the suffix of 2. Catherine1 and Nathan1 land half an hour before their original arrival time, and quickly sort out what they're going to do. They decide that warning the group that is about to arrive is out of the question, realizing that there can't be two Catherine's and Nathan's back home. They are also trying to reason whether or not anything can be done at all, and if everything is fated. They also want to not make themselves not exist, with paradoxical endings only occurring if they warn the Group2 when in their time it never happened. Trying to figure a solution, they decide that the best course of action is to first observe them for a short while on foot and from a distance so that they can decide whether they can change anything, even minor, to see if it changes them. They do notice that Group2 arrives without blowing a tyre or running over a child and without the ruts on the ground. After a long time spent watching and avoiding anyone at all, they eventually find a good time to change something themselves is when Group2 is sharing stories around a campfire, about halfway through Group1's original timeline. They would attempt to save their friend, a minor character that dies whilst they were sharing stories from the Black Death on a hill nearby. Catherine1 and Nathan1 both go up the hill slowly so as to not make much noise. Nathan1 decides that to avoid conflict but still not change anything majorly is to fire a bullet into the night sky, which would hopefully send their friend rushing back down to the campfire. They are too late, and their friend screams just before Nathan1 fires the shot. In the rush to run away as Catherine2 and Nathan2 start dumping rounds in their direction, Catherine1's medal falls out of her pocket. It is assumed later that Group2 picks it up later in the morning. As tragic as the outcome was, they realize that they are in their own timeline, as none of them recall those events occurring, and decide to enact their plan to save the land. After surmounting the odds, they stop the bomb in the mountain from exploding, only hours before the attack on the crashed ship. Unfortunately, Nathan1 withheld his injury from the Black Death that he received at some point, and will surely die in hours. Catherine1 keeps him company for his slow death, and has only one last fuel rod for the time machine. Catherine1 visits Laura2 in the apothecary, before Catherine2 and Nathan2 picks her up, and talks to her about how she did everything to save her and the land. She explains that she doesn't want the rest of Group2 to know what they did, that Nathan1 died, and that she should keep this to herself. She merely wanted to know what their sacrifice was for; the survival of something more than herself. Catherine1 watches the group time travel back home from a distance, before finishing Nathan1 off with a gunshot to the head. After burying him, Catherine1 time travels to an unknown time, never to be seen again. The first story ends with Group2 stuck in a flat desert wasteland with absolutely nothing in sight as far as the eye can see. The next story area, the future setting of Sector 76 features no time travel shenanigans, and after completing this section, the ending returns back to fantasy land. However, a short description of the story beats is needed for full context. The group in this section is Group2 and does not change, but references to Group1 is made. After being picked up by somewhat friendly smugglers, they discover they are in a futuristic timeline with space ships and sprawling megacities. After some time in the story, Laura discloses what Catherine1 told her about her saving all of them and the land from complete destruction, though she never mentioned how it actually happens, but it is assumed it is cataclysmic. The plan to get back to their own time and go home is simple. From what Laura2 has been told, Catherine1 and Nathan1 stopped something from happening, something very bad. This would occur after the destruction of the crashed alien ship, as the medal she found from the campfire matched the medal that she also was awarded, with the same unique lettering in the native alphabet of VC, or, Vvaer, Catherine. She concludes that something must of happened that required them to go back in time to stop whatever happened in their timeline, but the award shows that she herself most likely took part in the battle of the crashed spaceship. It also means that the time machine may indeed be a time machine. It was assumed that it wasn't, and was some sort of dimensional teleporter, but it is still doubted if it really is a time machine. By her observation, the only action they must take to return themselves back to the original timeline that leads to a normal earth is that they must avert the action of Group1 saving the world and then return home. Nathan doesn't agree, but Catherine convinces him. Catherine's plan is to simply kill Catherine1 and Nathan1 and take the fuel rod. She reasons that they can't be left alive, as Nathan1's better nature and Catherine1's self preservation would mean that they would save the world even without a means of going back home, and thus would mean the timeline would leave the Sector 76 timeline intact. Nathan suggests that they should instead convince Catherine1 and Nathan1 to give up on saving the world and come with them, which would also have the same outcome of the timeline being saved, but with the oddity of there being two Catherine's and two Nathan's. Only with the destruction of the land can they return back home on the last fuel rod that they would take from Catherine1 and Nathan1's car. It is agreed to try Nathan's plan first, and then Catherine's. They also both understand that it is leaving the land to be damned. Group2 is still called Group2. Catherine1 and Nathan1 will now be referred to as Catherine1A and Nathan1A, to denote their status as the ones who try to save the land, whilst the new names of Group1B is to refer to the newcomers to fantasy land, the group that originally landed in fantasy land. Group2 land an hour before Group1B's arrival and half an hour before Group1A's arrival. Catherine2 predicted that Catherine1A would put in half an hour before, as she always liked half-hour increments. Their landing is rough, as they got the direction wrong, and land in a dirt field. They question the ruts they left in the ground, but don't worry, Catherine2 says, as we never noticed it when we landed. She is only half right. Group2 forms a small roadblock for when Group1A's arrival, some distance in the direction of the apothecary. It is unknown where they left, but from Laura2's story, she knows that Catherine1A was on her way to pick Laura2 up when it exploded. To complete surprise of all, Group1A lands not far at all from them, and the car approaches fast. From some worry that they might no have even seen them, Catherine1A slams on the brakes, short only a dozen or so meters from Group2's position. The plan is to find out any more information from Group1A, incase there is something else they need to know, before quickly killing them, dumping the car and burying the bodies before going home. Catherine2 does the talking, whilst Nathan2 and Laura2 wait around, as obviously they would not partake in any of the killing. Catherine2 is not happy about having to do this herself; she may want to go home, but killing two people who are trying to save the land seems wrong, but is seen as the only way. After some discussion with Group1A of what happened and Catherine2 explaining what has happened to her group's timeline, and what awaits the future, Nathan2 butts into the conversation, stating that they, Group1A, succeeded in saving the land, with Laura2 being confirmation of their victory. He goes on about how they should give up on their plans and simply come home with them. Whilst Catherine1A seems receptive, she changes her stance when Nathan1A refuses on the basis that it leaves Laura2B to die along with the destruction of the land. Catherine2 seeks ahead with her plan and orders Laura2 to take the fuel rod out of Group1A's car and put it in theirs. Both Catherine1A and Nathan1A are furious at this, with Nathan1A's anger subsiding quicker as he realizes what is occurring, piecing together a story of what has happened and what is about to happen. Laura2 takes the fuel rod, rushing back to their car. Catherine2 talks for a bit longer, then embraces in a hug Nathan1A, talks to him for a bit, and then embraces Catherine1A and gives her a touching speech. with Catherine2's embrace of a slightly confused Catherine1A, in which Catherine1A notices Nathan2 and Laura2 looking away, Catherine2 pulls with her right hand her revolver from her right hip, and kills Nathan1A. Catherine2 then pushes Catherine1A out of the hug and holds her at gunpoint. She explains that she's sorry that it had to end this way, cocks the revolver whilst Catherine1A begs her in frustrated anger to shoot her and finish her off. The revolver either misfires (percussion) or lands on a spent/empty chamber (cartridge), giving Catherine1A the window to pull her own revolver out and shoot Catherine2. Catherine2 didn't even get past half cock when Catherine1A had hers ready and aimed at Catherine2. She shoots her in the gut and cocks again but does not fire, Catherine2 falling to the ground, Nathan2 screaming Catherine's name. Nathan2 rushes over to try and help Catherine2. Catherine1A looks in horror to what she has done and for a short moment, points the gun at Nathan2. Nathan2 simply stares back, his efforts to save Catherine2 slowing to a halt. Catherine1A says that she is sorry and drops the revolver and rushes away to drag Nathan1A into her own car. Nathan2 orders Laura2 to bring the idling car over to Catherine2's body, who is still alive. The both of them drag Catherine2 into the car, with Catherine1A just taking off. Nathan2 gives chase in assumption that she might still save the land, but an injured Catherine2 tells him that it's okay; she tells him that she won't save the world. He asks her how she would know. She states that it's because she is her. Nathan2 prepares the final jump back home, ready to rush Catherine2 to hospital. Group2 makes the jump home, half an hour after they left originally for fantasy land. They arrive back to the normal world, and Catherine2 is rushed to hospital. Meanwhile, Catherine1A is driving with nowhere to go, with a ticking timer on her life left before the land explodes. She has little fuel left and a body to bury, and, fittingly, she buries him where Catherine1 would originally bury him. Not very long after Catherine1A drives off and, Group2 having gone home, Group1B land, with the car running over the revolver, popping the tyre, and the child, that came out to see what the sounds were. It is made a point that Group2 never popped their tyre and also never ran the child over, with the only consequence of them being run over is a story on a news board of a brutal murder of a child (or something better that I can come up with). Catherine1A eventually, before the mountain explodes, meets Laura1B in the apothecary, and tells her what happens, and that they can't change the timeline, as she realizes that it all makes a self-contained loop for Group1 to always die but Group2 to always live, and she won't be the one to break it. It is pondered if Catherine1A could save Laura1B, but it would mean nothing if their fate is, with a weird cosmic 50/50 chance, to die at the hands of Group2 or save the land. They both agree they would probably end up dying to Group2 or trying to save the land, and that it isn't worth the extra pain. They both spend their last day together, sharing each other's secrets and stories with general happiness in their resignation to fate. The story ends with stuff happening, there are about three different endings or something. A quiet suicide of Catherine, back home by herself and alone, because of Nathan leaving her for the awful behaviour and choices she made (You're Wondering Now); A loud, hallucinogenic-induced suicide of Catherine driving her own personal car, alone. The car turns into the time machine car, and Nathan and Laura are suddenly in it. She drives off a cliff but the car begins flying, hovering eventually just above the surface, with all the people she met on the journey passing by with a full catharsis relating to how she has done bad and may be sinful, but she aimed to do good, and did do good in her multiple incarnations from timelines. It ends with her happily driving down the highway with Nathan and Laura in the time machine car with implications of her killing herself but going to a 'better place' (Road To Nowhere); And finally, Catherine alone in hospital still with a picture they took when they arrived in fantasy land. Nathan had just left after visiting and giving her the photo, written on the back telling her to get well soon and to please visit him. She ponders if she will ever meet him again in an afterlife or otherwise whilst writing a suicide note. She sees another, uninjured version of herself appear and put her hand on her shoulder, as if though death were accepting her. She informs the apparition to tell everyone that she won't be long and to say hello to those she's lost. Suddenly, a large group of voices emanate from behind; It is all the people she meet on her journey, assuring her that they will meet again, some sunny day. Catherine's apparition hands her the photo left on her desk to her, with everyone telling her to tell Nathan and Laura that she won't be long. Everyone begins fading away in importance to her. On their way out, they tell her that they will meet again. Catherine is left alone, and screws up her suicide note before rushing out of the hospital room, off to catch Nathan before he's gone (We'll Meet Again). "Because if you can say you have tried, you have succeeded. As when it's all over, and you are alone, don't be too hard on yourself; it was always going to end this way."