After coming back half-dead from exhaustion and still without Eliza’s phone, Angel’s mood had darkened. Sitting on the green easy chair with her ankle elevated and wrapped in bandages from a first aid kit she’d found in the kitchen, Angel told Gabriel with no small amount of condescension that his “sacrifice” wasn’t virtuous when it…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 16
Tag: Philosophy
The Sympathetic Universe Part 15
When light filtered through the windows of the cabin, Eliza began to worry. She stood to do her calisthenics, but when they were done and she had showered off her sweat, the worry came back. When Gabriel came out of his room, sat on one side of the beige loveseat, and asked in French “Eliza,…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 15
The Sympathetic Universe Part 12
Eloy finds himself in the mountains in the middle of nowhere.
The Sympathetic Universe Part 11
“People always ask me,” said Reverend Boden in his characteristic long-short rhythm, “why does the world have suffering if God is all powerful and all good?” Eloy blinked and looked down at his iPod. The display said “Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication.” He rolled his eyes. Knowing his mom, He wouldn’t get to hear…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 11
The Sympathetic Universe Part 9
“C’mon, Eloy,” said Bert, “I’ve got your ID right here.” “Cool, thanks!” Eloy took the id, “Hey, man, why does it say I’m 24? Shouldn’t 21 be enough?” “21 is too exact, yo! It makes ’em suspicious!” Bert spoke with his whole body, throwing his hands in the air, his curly red hair bouncing as…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 9
The Sympathetic Universe Part 8
When The Entity reset its universe it noticed that the comet was still arriving in the same location and preventing Ta’s tribe from being attacked. Did The Cousin change the initial conditions? The Entity checked, and they were the same. It was not going to give The Cousin the satisfaction of knowing it had outsmarted…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 8
The Sympathetic Universe Part 7
The night was warm, and Ta was out underneath the stars. Ko was spending the evening with the other girls, and Ta was weaving baskets while Da nursed. After a moment, Da let go and looked up. He looked back and hit Ta on her chest with a tiny hand. “What,” asked Ta, “what is…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 7
The Sympathetic Universe Part 6
It was strange watching her own life play out before her, but Ta experimented with her duplicate universe, playing out possibility after possibility. Don’t change anything before Da is born. The smallest tweak can prevent a pregnancy or change the children completely. You can’t save them if they don’t exist at all. Obviously, you can’t…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 6
The Sympathetic Universe Part 5
Breaking the rules would be the easy part. Ta understood as well as everyone else that rules were only inviolable to the extent that no one was particularly motivated to violate them. The trick was keeping the break there. If the master of the universe noticed, it would certainly be reversed, and no doubt harder…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 5
The Sympathetic Universe, Part 3
Whoops, the Entity had missed something. It rewound the reality. It couldn’t seem to get to precisely what it was looking for, so it switched to a four-dimensional view. Finally, it found the moment (measured in millenia in our time) where the Neanderthals got eradicated, and moved back to automatic progression through the time dimension.…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe, Part 3