Kahli stood there in the infinite void, wondering just how she was going to manage to prevent the Supreme Time Protector from stabbing their past self to death after getting into a heated argument about.. Well, about whatever it was they seemed to end up arguing about. It had been something different each timeline. That being said Kahli was becoming increasingly convinced that, regardless of what she said or did, the Supreme Time Protector was going to end up summoning their past selves into the void and getting into some sort of an altercation. With that, she was also becoming increasingly convinced that she was going to be forced to twist one of the timelines. These, so far, hadn't been following any certain pattern as her old timelines seemed to have in the past. Instead, they seemed to be ending almost at will, and indeed also far more erratically.

[Clarification: Nesting timelines can come with... unexpected results. Nesting timelines can be incredibly powerful in that it can essentially allow you to multiply your already powerful ability to select timelines, but, with that comes some quirks. One is that nested timelines are far more unstable than normal timelines from checkpoints in time. The best way to understand this is through analogy, as explaining the formulae behind this function could quickly go - no offense to you intended, Kahli - over your head. That said, if you disagree, leveling up your INT may allow your system to eventually divulge the specific formulae that control this nested timeline function. Regardless, for now, think of it like this - one checkpoint in time is like a damp sheet of scroll paper. A nested timeline is a damp sheet of scroll paper that has been folded over itself. Through this folding, there can somtimes emerge tears in the scroll paper that warp its original function. In this very same way, nesting your timelines can affect the way your system processes the timeline in a way that makes it less structured and predictable than a first layer timeline. That being said, all three of these timelines are still quite viable. That is to say that your system will only ever show you - at least in its current state - timelines that are possible to manifest. A good comparison to describe this function is that your system wets a bunch of pieces of scroll paper and folds them all over - only about half of those folded over pieces of scroll paper stay intact without breaking apart in some way or another. The non-viable timelines are those timelines that break apart when they're folded. This happens with normal checkpoints in time as well, though at a less accelerated rate. With that in mind, if you ever get to the point wherein you can nest your timelines more than twice, this will become even more of an issue. Not something that you necessarily need to act against at this time, but it is something that it would be best for you to be aware of.]

Kahli was at this moment incredibly grateful for the fact that she had chosen to enable verbosity on her system messages. For a moment, she tried to imagine what the clarification might've been from her system had she not enabled this feature. It probably would've said something vague about how there was a formula that determined how nested timelines functioned, and left it at that. How obnoxiously frustrating that would've been - at least now, Kahli felt she had the proper context.

And with that context, Kahli felt for the first time that she may have been more close to realizing the true challenge she was facing at this [checkpoint]. She already knew what her end goal was - simply, she wanted to make it so that she could obtain the [Time Manipulator] [class] while also earning support from Froufrou; that had always been her end goal. Sure, Kahli didn't want the Supreme Time Protector to die, because she wanted to learn from them - however, if she was not going to be able to prevent that death, she at the very least needed to make it so that the Supreme Time Protector granted her the [class] she wanted before dying.

At that very same time, Kahli felt that she had to be certain before obtaining said [class] that she had Froufrou's blessing. Why? It was simple: Froufrou had [paired] with Kahli, and through that, Kahli had gained her system. It was something that hadn't seemingly happened for more than five centuries, so [pairing] was in that context seriously significant. Along with that, Kahli quite liked Froufrou and felt she had an excellent rapport with the strange little entity. She didn't want to dash her relationship with Froufrou against the rocks.

So, how was that to be done? It was a tough egg to crack, that much was for certain. Kahli's first thought was that she couldn't talk to the Supreme Time Protector. After all, she'd tried that, and all that had happened is that they had immediately launched into a bit of an unrelated diatribe and completely ignored what she was saying, speaking over her and disregarding her every intention as if everything that Kahli said was nothing but outright foolishness. At the same time, there was the opposite end of the spectrum in the first timeline in that Kahli had immediately shifted to talking through the issue with Froufrou - and with that Kahli knew that even talking to Froufrou was in its own way a bit of a misstep.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

This was because, as important as being on the same page with Froufrou was, taking the time to talk to her had ended up causing the Supreme Time Protector to kill their past self almost automatically without any intervention. This also led Kahli to believe that the almost default state of this timeline was one wherein the Supreme Time Protector ended up dying. So, Kahli needed to protect the Supreme Time Protector - but she also needed to protect her relationship with Froufrou. How could she win?

Suddenly, Kahli had an idea. At this point, it felt like the only action she could possibly take. With resolve in her mind and in her heart, Kahli looked down at her big left foot. There lied the circle that held the third and final timeline. It was time to see what she could do.

[Now viewing scenario 3]

Kahli did not say anything. She kept her mouth closed. Froufrou squelched, and squelched, and squelched, and Kahli said nothing. She said nothing to Froufrou, she said nothing to the Supreme Time Protector, she said nothing to anyone at all. She even did her best not to think anything, either.

"Um, are you okay, Kahli?" asked the Supreme Time Protector. "What do you think of the [class]? Are you interested at all?"

Kahli said nothing. And, indeed, Froufrou squelched on - she squelched to the high heavens. And still, Kahli said nothing. She just stood there, tapping her big left foot.

"Kahli, seriously, we need to talk about this. We need to level here, and I mean it figuratively - that is to say, I can't really literally level with you, and truthfully I have no real idea whether you even have enough [XP] to level up at this point anyways, but regardless, I need to figuratively level with you. This [class], [Time Manipulator], is a tremendous opportunity but also a tremendous liablity. I need to know that you have a level head, and that you are trustworthy enough for the power of such a [class]. Additionally, your little pet in your purse seems be producing odors that are some of the worst I've sensed in all my infinite lifetime. With that, I'd say you might want to consider taking better care of it. Its digestive system can't be in great shape if it's producing odors such as that, Kahli. I mean, you might want to consider taking it to a vet or something, I'd be worried that it had worms or maybe irritable tendril syndrome or something with the smells it's producing."

Kahli wanted so badly to tell the Supreme Time Protector that Froufrou was a she, not an it, but indeed she stayed strong and said nothing at all.

With that, the Supreme Time Protector seemed at an absolute loss - and indeed, so did Froufrou.

"Look, Kahli, I just want to know if I can give you the [class] or not. If you won't talk, will you at least throw me a hand gesture or a facial expression or something?"

Kahli did her best to stay completely still. It seemed to be the only way.

"Ugh, great, now the only thing I can think of doing is to ask my future and past selves on how to handle this situation!" groaned the Supreme Time Protector.

Kahli wanted to try and stop them. She wanted to react. But the only course of action that felt like it would have any impact on her timeline, was the act of inaction itself. She tried to channel Unit 5a23 as she stayed silent and did nothing.

Soon enough, the Supreme Time Protector opened a rift in time and invited into the void two of their other selves. And, indeed, soon enough they were arguing. Still, Kahli stayed strong.

Regardless, the argument soon took a turn that was... far different than the other two. This was a unique timeline, after all. See, what happened was that the Supreme Time Protector of the future and the past both seemed to turn against Kahli in this moment.

"Look, I'm just saying, I've seen this version of Kahli in multiple timelines where we end up dying! I think she's up to no good."

"I agree with you, me. I think she's got it out for us."

Soon enough, before Kahli could even fully realize what was happening, all three versions of the Supreme Time Protector had drawn daggers and charged towards her. It was only as they stabbed deep into her chest that realization finally struck. It was either them, or her. Someone's blood seemed doomed to be spilled in this timeline.

[You died]

[End scenario]

With that, Kahli awoke, alive as ever, in the endless void. Now she had a choice to make. She had to decide how to proceed in order to get what she wanted. At this point Kahli wanted three things - Froufrou to be on her side, to obtain the [class] of [Time Manipulator], and to not die. She was going to have to twist a timeline in order to get there, that much was obvious.