Kahli gasped and Froufrou squelched as they watched the severed head of the Supreme Time Protector soar off into the void amid the cackles of the alternative Supreme Time Protector.

"Wow, Froufrou. They just killed each other," said Kahli.

Froufrou squelched with discomfort.

"FOOLS!" cackled the alternative Supreme Time Protector. They leapt to their feet, seemingly unscathed. "I am not slain yet, nor will I ever be!"

"What?" Kahli frowned. "But the Supreme Time Protector stabbed you in the gut with a machete! Blood was everywhere! Blood is still everywhere."

The alternative Supreme Time Protector laughed, and laughed, and shook their hooded head. "Foolish Kahli, you really think this is my blood? This is no more than an illusion! It's a [spell] I learned specifically for moments such as this - moments wherein it is absolutely vital that I protect myself from bad actors... Even if I am the bad actor. That is, an alternative version of myself. Did you really think that someone with a [CLA] as high as mine would ever let themself just get stabbed to death?"

"But didn't you say you wanted to die?" asked Kahli, incredulous.

"That was just a figure of speech!" spat the alternative Supreme Time Protector. "If I wanted to die, I wouldn't be a Supreme Time Protector, and I wouldn't have such a high [CLA] [attribute]! It's all part of my plan!"

Kahli looked to Froufrou with a shudder. "Froufrou, I have a bad feeling about this alternative Supreme Time Protector that you've brought in to our timeline. Please, whatever you do, don't do something like that again. I feel like, oh, I don't know. I feel like they might be evil or something."

"Evil? Bah! I'm no more evil than any other version of me! That much, I can assure you. And along with that, all I did was act in self defense when coming under attack - I defended myself, and I protected my own life. That's all that you saw."

Kahli sighed.

"Now, Kahli, I do believe I owe you a bit of an explanation," continued the alternative Supreme Time Protector.

"About why exactly you keep trying to murder alternative versions of yourself?" asked Kahli, thinking of the other recent situation wherein she almost didn't get her [Time Manipulator] [class] because the Supreme Time Protector seemed to pull out sharp weapons and get slashing whenever multiple versions of themself showed up.

"No," replied the alternative Supreme Time Protector. "I want to explain to you why you don't need to be concerned about losing your own existence if Froufrou does not select this timeline as her chosen timeline to proceed through."

"Oh!" Kahli had almost completely forgotten about this timeline being, for Froufrou, a nested [checkpoint] within one of her own scenarios. "Yes, that would be great, actually."

"It's really quite simple. The easiest way to understand it, is to visualize with a system. Please, see this."

[Alternative Supreme Time Protector wants to share a visualization with you]

[Accept shared visualization?]

Kahli agreed to shared the visualization, for now.

[Processing visuals...]

"Visualize with me three timelines," replied the alternative Supreme Time Protector.

They watched as three green orbs apparated in the void, highlighted by text from the system.

[Timeline A]

[Timeline B]

[Timeline C]

"Now," continued the alternative Supreme Time Protector, "I want you to visualize a parent timeline, we'll call it [Timeline X], that is the source timeline of those three timelines."

The three green orbs slid down a little in the space where they hung as a fourth, larger orb apparated above them. This orb, too, was highlighted with system text.

[Timeline X]

"Now, let's say that [Timeline X] splits off into timelines A, B, and C by means of a [checkpoint] wherein Froufrou consciously chooses between three timeline scenarios. Those scenarios are, consequently, timelines A, B, and C. Following me?"

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

A small, blue rectangle with faint text apparated under [Timeline X].

[Checkpoint]

"Yea," said Kahli with a yawn. Most of this sounded like old news to her. Froufrou squelched in a similar tone.

"Great. Okay, now for the fun part. So let's say that Froufrou is presently here at her [checkpoint]."

A small, with dot faded into existence over the blue rectangle, with even smaller text hovering right above it.

[Froufrou]

"So, Froufrou is at the [checkpoint], and once she has viewed all her scenarios she will pick either [Timeline A], [Timeline B], or [Timeline C]. But what happens from a timeline perspective when she makes that choice? After all, it's not like all of those timelines can simply cease to exist, is it? No, it's not. See, once a timeline had been set into motion, whether by a direct act of creation or indeed something like this wherein a [checkpoint] has split one single timeline into many different choices, it cannot just simply end unless such events take place that may be considered apocalyptic in nature."

Froufrou and Kahli both got a bit of an uneasy feeling on hearing this.

Kahli coughed with suspicion. "Are you saying that, essentially, every timeline that doesn't get chosen immediately experiences the apocalypse?"

"What? No, that's absurd, Kahli," replied the alternative Supreme Time Protector. "What I'm saying is that the only way for unselected timelines to end would be world ending events. Otherwise, they must proceed onwards in the direction they have started in - that is to say that every timeline either of you has experienced at a [checkpoint] has proceeded on as if it were a primary timeline. The key difference is in your own conscious experience and awareness. That is to say that, for you two who are using and manipulating time, you only choose one timeline - but for the people in said timeline, that singular timeline is de facto reality."

"But what about Froufrou herself, in this example?" asked Kahli. "After all, you've got her here as a kind of dot. What happens when she picks a timeline?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" The alternative Supreme Time Protector clapped and chuckled. "Behold!"

The small, white dot that represented Froufrou divided into one white dot and two gray dots.

"Let's say that each of these is Froufrou, but two of them are alternative Froufrous that match each timeline. That is to say that, as a timeline splits, an alternative version of everyone in each timeline is created in perpetuity. You follow?"

"I think so," replied Kahli. Froufrou squelched with interest.

"And so, after Froufrou has seen how each timeline proceeds and selected one, we can visualize it thusly," replied the alternative Supreme Time Protector. "Let's say, for instance, that Froufrou selected [Timeline B] in this example."

The white dot floated down to land on [Timeline B], and the two gray dots floated to [Timeline A] and [Timeline C].

"With that, the effect is that when a timeline splits, everyone in that timeline - including the person using a system to choose the timeline they're consciously experiencing - gets split in the same manner. So, to answer your question, Froufrou will go on existing in this timeline regardless of whether the currently cognizant Froufrou decides to select this as her primary timeline. However, she'll only go forth to consciously experience one timeline - the timeline she has selected from her [checkpoint]. This same principle applies to this present [checkpoint] - there will be alternative versions of yourselves created in each scenario, and indeed you'll keep on existing in any scenario you witness. In fact, there are also countless other scenarios, indeed. If we wanted to, we could extrapolate the visual, but that would probably get out of hand quickly. The important thing to understand about all this is that your [skill], in all essentials, is really splitting time in three and then allowing you to choose between that split."

Kahli took a deep breath. "Wow. That's... kind of dark, when you think about it."

"Yes, it is," replied the alternative Supreme Time Protector. "And that's why the original me from this timeline, the version of myself that I happily decapitated, was always telling you to treat these worlds ethically. Not that you necessarily seemed to really grasp the weight, although now I hope you do."

"So wait a second," said Kahli, "You're telling me that I need to treat my alternative timelines with kindness. And yet you, admittedly, decapitated yourself? Why am I supposed to believe your advice at all?"

The alternative Supreme Time Protector chuckled. "Yes. I'm... hypocritical in that way, although it was in self defense you must realize. Really though, you ought to heed my warning."

Kahli sighed and rolled her eyes. "So, are you going to try to kill me and Froufrou now or something?"

"What? Of course not! Do you think I was planning on establishing some rule, some evil dominion over your timeline? I'm just here to act as an advisory entity as you go through your timelines, Kahli. So, go ahead - check out your scenarios. I'll be here to offer my input. That's all!"

Kahli looked dubiously dumbfounded. "You Supreme Time Protectors are an odd bunch."

Froufrou squelched in agreeance.

With that, Kahli looked down at her big left foot and focused on the first timeline. She briefly glanced at Froufrou.

"So, Froufrou, I guess it's time for us to find something out. Do timelines still act the same when they've been nested in this fashion, or do we have any surprises in store for us?"

Froufrou squelched, decidedly unsure. With that, Kahli looked down at the scenario again.

[Now viewing scenario 1]

"Omar! You put down Froufrou this instant!" cried Kahli as she lightly kicked off her big rock.

"Oh yea?" said Omar with a sneer. "What are you going to do about it, Kahli?" He powered up his flaming arm and lifted it closer and closer to Froufrou's hand bag as Froufrou cowered. "I'm going to send this thing back to hell from whence it came!"

Froufrou, along with fearing the pain of death, found this very insulting. She was not from hell, she was from the Pit of Despair. There was a pretty concrete difference - mainly that the Pit of Despair was quite cold and wet, and hell was not classically known for being either of those things. If Froufrou had lips to speak, this would've been what she said.

Instead, she watched as Kahli kicked her big rock down and away from herself. Froufrou knew where this was going. And indeed, although at first Kahli dropped out of the air, soon enough she was soaring back up towards Omar with a fiery fist outstretched, propelled by the boomerang impact of her big rock. Froufrou focused on Omar, who looked a little surprised.

"Well fuck me diagonally," he said. "I forgot she could do that."