"Ah, I see. That really adds up."
"Yeah. And that's it, I guess. All you gotta know."
That was my response to her fascinatingly logical chronological breakdown, the way she neatly tied her thoughts to mine.
"But Kairi, I have so many questions for you."
"No need. This definitely ain't the right time. We gotta save Hele— I mean, Professor Helena. Alright, pardon me. I would like to apologize. That was rude."
"Wait, why not? Time's stopped. Also, you really went all formal on me all of a sudden. Duh."
"And you suddenly went all casual, like some high school student."
"Okay, what's that supposed to mean? You mean teenagers?"
"Meh, never mind."
It felt kinda infuriating, honestly — the way experience shaped your mind, which ended up to be so differently between each other.
"Anyway, let's get to the point. If I'm here, doesn't that mean I failed to save her?"
She only nodded immediately.
A direct, no-nonsense kind of nod — the kind that made you feel like an idiot.
Nope, correction: a failure.
"I suppose the situation's a bit clearer now. Since we never actually ran into Professor Helena in the present timeline, maybe the distortion hasn't even happened yet."
Damn. Now she legit had gone full scientist mode just now.
"Hm, I see. I keep wondering though — was there any actual rule to my ability?"
"Well, you kinda figured out most of it. Actually, 90% of it by yourself."
Now that's interesting...
Return-By-Memory — the ability I named myself, a subversion of "Transcription."
So powerful it gave me brain damage and vivid delusions for days.
"So, got any idea?"
"Okay, can you stop talking like an average school teenager? Seriously. It's hurting my ears."
Seriously, please go back to that archaic, elegant Selene I used to know.
Hearing you talk like this messes with the perfect "Selene" image I've been crafting inside my head.
And yeah, I really did that, even though she never permitted me to.
"Perhaps. I'll try my best. But these new words are gold, you know? Also, you already knew I'd never allow you to do that. Why keep going?"
To irritate you, what else?
"Because, Selene... listen to me just once. These words are like viruses. They're cancerous. You know what I'm saying? Look, even I couldn't escape from them."
"I see. Alright. Fair argument."
After that little banter, a brief silence fell between us.
A few seconds, no more, but heavy enough.
Then, soon after, I continued and broke the silence.
"Okay, back to the main topic. Do you have any strategy?"
"Strategy? What strategy?"
Okay, now she's starting to sound like a meme reference and it's killing me.
"I mean — we need to save Professor Helena, right? Got any idea how to do that? I'm struggling and almost dying for help here."
Apparently, there were a few ways I could think of.
But I had to make sure — really sure — before picking one.
"Hm..." She propped her chin up, deep in thought.
"Nope. Sorry. Got none."
Okay, wait.What do you mean you got none?ARGHHHHH.
"Fantastic. Genius."
"Thank you very much."
"It was sarcasm."
"Okay."
I couldn't tell if she was genuinely thinking about the situation or just toying with my feelings for fun.
Either way, it wasn't funny.
I had to move on, think about something else.
I propped my chin up too, tilting my head, furrowing my eyebrows in deep focus.
Honestly, I found three ways we might solve this.
But I needed to ask her of these first — just in case.
"Okay, first of all... how does the interval disposition work?"
"It works by replenishing the time you have left into the current state of your own memory."
"Interesting..." I muttered, genuinely intrigued by the slow-burn revelation.
"And what about Helena? Is she still alive? Also, is it possible to change the scene without harming the present timeline?"
"Well, assuming you're present before the scene happens, that would be more than plausible."
More than plausible, huh.
I repeated her words internally, searching for a solid solution.And in doing so, I realized: One possible method had to be eliminated.
"And what is it, Kairi?"
"Maybe stop prying into my privacy next time."
"Well, it can't exactly be closed either way."
"I know. Just stop making it so obvious, will you? People'll get confused."
"People? What do you mean?"
"Never mind. Sorry. That was... something strange to ask."
That one method — the one I'd have to cross out — was warning Helena about the chronology.
But maybe... maybe I was missing one piece.
"Also, Selene... did you know the way I returned back to this timeline?"
"Hold on. You don't remember?"
"No. Apparently my consciousness got cloned..."
Wait.
That's it.
"Cloned? What do you mean?"
"Alright, let me teach you something in-return."
She nodded, willing to humor whatever conspiracy theory I had up my sleeve — which, to be fair, she had done herself more than a few times.
"Okay, so — let's hypothetically say that my current consciousness — the 'me' right here — doesn't have any real connection to other versions of me in different timelines. How do you think they're connected?"
She thought about it.And then, like a light flickering on, revelation struck her.
Her eyes widened, her head pulled back slightly.
"So... you're suggesting that your consciousness is, has been, and will be duplicated every time you enter a new timeline?"
"Exactly. So the theory that my consciousness just gets transferred — no copy, no split — never really made sense to me."
"Actually, you were onto something here. But your ability doesn't exactly let you do that."
"What do you mean?"
"Suppose it really got duplicated. Then how would you remember anything between timelines?"
Now that was the tricky question.
"Hm... what if my memory doesn't get duplicated or transferred — but something in-between?"
"Hm, as in it gets echoed or relayed through some medium?"
"No, not exactly. There's a theory that might explain it."
"And what is it?"
"Quantum entanglement."
My mind wasn't exactly the brightest when it came to advanced theories, but I'd watched enough science videos to recognize that one.
"What is it?"
"Well, you're definitely not gonna get it at first, but — let's put it in layman's terms."
Honestly, I could hardly ground these terms without some help, so...
Time to make Selene work that brain of hers for once.
"So, how would you explain it, Selene, my dear?"