Of course, no one knew what Froufrou was squelching, and all they did was gag and complain at her various odors. In hopes of appeasing this, the sentient mess of writhing tendrils suddenly focused her distributed mucus membranes on making her [skills] visible to everyone in the bright white void.

"By Theseosus her single self, the one god, I do believe I finally understand what's going on!" said the alternate Supreme Time Protector with a thunderous vibrato affecting their voice.

"Oh my gods, just spit it out!" barked alternative Kahli.

Froufrou shivered at alternative Kahli's words. It was so strange to see someone so similar to Kahli in appearance, and yet so different from her in demeanor. Then again, Froufrou was sat next to her alternative self in the void, and alternative Froufrou was probably the starkest contrast in mannerism and personality to Froufrou that could've rightly been possible.

"You see, everyone, the thing of it is is that this version of Froufrou, this alternate Froufrou, can actually do something known as twist timelines."

"What in the fucking hell is that supposed to mean?" spat alternative Froufrou. She turned to herself, bristling with fury. "Why I oughta, if you get so close as to twist one itty bitty little-"

"Calm down, Froufrou, please," said the alternative Supreme Time Protector as their pitch black cloak billowed in the void. "This is wholly a good thing. You see, Froufrou, this alternative Froufrou already went through and acted out each of your [checkpoint] scenarios. And, news flash, they all turned out quite badly for you."

"Fucking of course they did! She doesn't know what she's doing in this timeline, the damned... uh... what's the word... idiot!"

Froufrou squelched in a light sardonic tone. She, of course, obviously had a much higher [INT] than alternative Froufrou, but that was neither here nor there nor truly anywhere at all. That being said, Froufrou was beginning to think that alternative Froufrou had maxed all her points out on [CHAR] - which was just as well, but it wasn't a choice that she would've rightly made.

"This is a good thing! Don't fight with your alternative self, Froufrou!" said the alternative Supreme Time Protector. "See, she can actually enter a state of meditation and modify one of your timelines in order to achieve a more favorable outcome! Of course, at this point, it will probably have to be a favorable outcome for both of you, but if you can stomach it enough to work with yourself a little here, I think you'd be surprised at how well things could turn out!"

Froufrou squelched with glee. This indeed sounded like a most favorable plan. Hopefully, her alternative self would be happy to help her get back to her own timeline if she made sure to twist the timeline in a way that benefitted her.

"My species doesn't have a stomach, you fucking dingus!" spat alternative Froufrou. "We have a distributed network - much like the mucus membranes that make up what you might call our mind - of acid-based semicells that slowly seep the energy out of anything we ingest! Try to curb your interspecies ignorance!"

Froufrou squelched anxiously. Although this was indeed true, her alternative self didn't necessarily have to deliver the information in such a brash manner, she felt.

"Sorry," replied the alternative Supreme Time Protector. "I was just-"

"Just shut the fuck up, or just nothing, capiche?" Alternative Froufrou turned to face Froufrou. "Me and myself over here need to put our heads together and meditate our way out of this shitshow, eh?"

Froufrou did her best to squelch in an amiable manner, although its lack of stinkiness probably gave away some of her hesitation. that was to say that her alternative self did not seem to be the best meditation partner, but it didn't seem like she had much of a choice, either. After all, with both herself and her alternative self in the same timeline, Froufrou wasn't entirely certain how-

"I just thought of something!" said alternative Kahli. "How will Froufrou and this strange, nonverbal alternative Froufrou both join a timeline? How do they use her [skill] in tandem? It just... I mean, it made enough sense when there was just one Froufrou here in the timeline. It only made sense that if the Froufrous swapped places, then they'd get to experience one another's scenarios. But now? What exactly is going to happen when they enter the twisted scenario together? How will that even work?"

Froufrou was indeed impressed at alternative Kahli's line of questioning - although she was also a little annoyed, as she felt almost like her thoughts had been rightly interrupted at quite an inopportune moment.

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The alternative Supreme Time Protector nodded solemnly. "Your assertion is prudent, and yet, I'd err on the side of optimism here. See, this is something about being a [Time Manipulator] that both of you - or, should I say, all three of you - will learn now, and then you'll learn it again, and again, and again, in so many different ways. That is to say that, the underlying backend of the systems that allow us all the [class] of [Time Manipulator], as well as all systems by and large across the cosmos and across the omniverse, is all made of the same stuff. With that, one can infer that wherein such events like timeline switching occurs, the systems working in tandem to uphold such a function to the backend will always flow in the path of least resistance. And with that, you can think of it thusly - would it take more energy for the system to reconcile the two of you both being in the same timeline, or indeed penalizing you in some odd manner? Or, would it instead simply function most similarly if you both did and did not impact the [checkpoint] function of [Seismic Sense] in any unique manner? Which would take less energy for the systems running on the backend of reality to cause as an effect? These are things you will catch yourself thinking of many times you use your [class], as is the nature of being a [Time Manipulator]. We of this [class] dare to lurk where others do not, we tread paths that are misunderstood, or indeed not understood or even conceptualized at all. We are the dark horses of systemic power, and our [class] is but the biggest echo of this fact."

It was then that the alternative Supreme Time Protector made a distinct realization that had them feeling, if anything, rather foolish - for as soon as they finished their soliloquy, they rightly realized that both Froufrou and alternative Froufrou - and this statement was true regardless of which Froufrou one would consider alternative or not - had both entered into a state of meditation and had not rightly heard a word of which they had just spoken. That was to say that the only person who might've heard anything was alternative Kahli - only for the fact that it seemed that alternative Kahli had almost fallen asleep whilst standing upright, and when the alternative Supreme Time Protector gestured to her for acknowledgement all she could rightly do was nod in an awkward acknowledgement.

----------------------------------------

Time, of course, was infinite in the void in the sense in that no matter how much would have passed in normal reality, none did, however there was of course still the local time in the void of the [checkpoint] that very well did seem to pass. With that, it seemed to the alternative Supreme Time Protector that about twenty local hours passed before the Froufrous finally exited their meditative state and resumed normal consciousness. It was of course soon after this that alternative Kahli resumed normal consciousness as well - that is to say that, the sound and smell of alternative Froufrou talking and Froufrou squelching woke her up from her extended nap.

"Well, that was some deep shit! Fucking met a sentient walnut that saw past the veil of reality!" said alternative Froufrou with a chuckle. "Now I feel fucking covered in ointment!"

"What?" asked alternative Kahli.

"I think he means to say that he feels anointed," replied the alternative Supreme Time Protector.

Alternative Froufrou writhed with excitement. "Yea, what they said!"

Froufrou squelched with a lack of enthusiasm. Sure, she was incredibly proud of how she'd managed to twist the scenario, but for one the entire work was exhausting - it wasn't like alternative Froufrou had really been able to put much effort in herself, and plus the whole business with the sentient walnut was just obnoxious to the max. And obnoxiousness was not something Froufrou liked maxing out. How could alternative Froufrou not realize that the walnut entity wasn't really seeing through anything at all, and instead had just done a whole lot of dissociatives and managed to somehow hallucinate up their meditation session? Clearly, not everyone - including apparently even alternative versions of herself - was cut out for deep meditative trance states.

All that said, Froufrou felt great about the twist she'd cooked up for this timeline. However, within that twist, she'd also made a realization regarding what the alternative Supreme Time Protector had been saying about the path of least resistance vis a vis the [checkpoint] feature of [Seismic Sense]. Froufrou now understood that what would happen on entering the twisted timeline was that she would come to consciousness in the alternative timeline's scenario, and alternative Froufrou would come to her senses in the normal timeline's scenario. That was to say that Froufrou had to be very careful about how she twisted the timeline in order to ensure a favorable outcome not only for herself and her own timeline, but also for alternative Froufrou to the point wherein her alternative self would sign off on it and play ball, otherwise they'd both end up having quite a wretched downfall.

With everything understood, alternative Froufrou directed alternative Kahli to look down at her big left foot. Froufrou would never get used to seeing an alternative version of herself boss an alternative version of Kahli around in such a way, but if everyone played their cards right, she wouldn't have to much longer - and then hopefully not ever again.

"Best of luck to all of you," said the alternative Supreme Time Protector. "And alternative Froufrou, if you would consider this. While we alternative timeline folks do not always see eye to eye, it is mighty beneficial to have allies within nearby timelines. Trust me on this fact, for I do not bring it to you lightly. Now, twist on, young [Time Manipulators], twist on and twist off!"

Froufrou squelched. She didn't like that the alternative Supreme Time Protector seemed to think of her as the alternative Froufrou, but that was neither here nor there or anywhere at all. With that, Froufrou watched as alternative Kahli focused on the timeline. She'd decided they would twist the third scenario, as it was the closest to being a good fit. It really just needed a couple of small tweaks to end up just right.

"Here we fucking go - we twist this timeline, then bada bing, bada boom, everything's hunky dory!" said alternative Froufrou with a sound that almost mimicked a squelch.

Froufrou squelched in agreeance. She was ready.

[Now viewing scenario 3 (twisted)]