Victor opened the shuttle door and hopped down to the ground of the docking bay. He walked slowly to the other shuttle, the one that should not have been where it currently was. Something was wrong. He felt that tension that he had begun to feel in the early days when he had begun to suspect Dixon.

Gingerly, he laid a hand on the hull of the craft. It was hard to see in the dim docking bay lights, but he could feel the pock marks from asteroid pebbles and debris. This shuttle had sat out in space for a period of days at the least.

A terrible rumbling shook through the docking bay, bringing him back to the present. There was a job to do. He checked his pocket for the black cube and headed for docking bay door.

The main hall was flush with students running to and fro. In the throng Victor spotted Fumio.

"Fumio!" he shouted over the noise and rumbling. The hall shook once more and by the time he caught himself Fumio was standing in front of him.

"Victor, Nexus is about to be torn in two. Help me move people to the half most likely to survive," Fumio spoke calmly, but managed to project his voice above the chaos.

"I can't," Victor pulled out the black cube. "This will save Nexus, but only if I get it to the bridge in time."

Fumio looked at the throng of students. "Alright. I've got a few people handling evacuations, already. But the crowd has gotten thick in the last couple of minutes. You're going to need help if you're going to make it through this throng."

The two pushed and nudged through the panicked crowd, side by side. There were boys and girls running to and fro, some doing what they could to help Nexus and their fellow crew members, others just trying to survive. Victor was glad Fumio had volunteered to accompany him. He probably could've gotten through alone, but it would have taken him much longer.

By the time they arrived at the bridge, the trembling had strangely subsided.

"Thanks Fumio."

"Good luck, Victor. I'll continue with the preparations for a split - just in case."

Victor nodded and stepped through the automatic bridge sliding door. What he saw made him drop the black data cube that he had had at the ready.

In front of him, celebrating victoriously were Rajia, Eve and Miguel. And in the center of the three of them.....Victor saw himself.

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

"I'm sure," said Victor, looking at the green ship outside the ship viewing window. "Blow that green bastard out of the virtual vacuum."

"Fire when ready, Miguel," Eve said.

"Roger that."

A half second later a laser blasted from the Nexus surface. It hit the green ship, but didn't destroy it.

"Shields," Victor breathed. He should've known it wouldn't be that easy to change the future.

"Captain," said one of the deck officers at the monitoring stations, "The ship is gearing it's engines up."

"They're trying to run," Eve said.

"We could let them go," Rajia chimed in. "I mean, are we really going to shoot someone that's running away?"

"Yes we fucking are," Victor said. As long as that ship remained, the people on board this one weren't. According to the other Nexus, it was that green ship that caused the endless misfortunes that followed. "Edgar, don't let it get away!"

There was no established leader or captain yet, and since Victor had just saved the ship no one could argue with him. Strong arming in this way wasn't his style, but there wasn't any time for a vote. Miguel looked to Eve and Rajia for resistance. When none came he shrugged, nodded, and fired several more pulses the green ship began spinning out of control.

"One last shot oughta do it," he said, biting his lip as he fired another pulse.

When the green ship finally burst into pieces, Victor breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now no one has do die. At least, not because of that asshole."

"I'm not sure about shooting down a fleeing ship, but the fact remains that that data cube saved us. Thank you, Vance," Eve said. Victor smiled. This was an Eve that still called him by his last name. He hoped that, in time, they would work their way back to a first name basis. He looked forward to it.

Miguel came from behind his post and ruffled Victor's hair. "You've stolen my thunder yet again, Victor," he said.

"Who said you had any in the first place, Miguel," Eve joked uncharacteristically. Everyone was incredibly relieved.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Victor heard the deck door open and closed. When he turned around, he expected to see Fumio or Lucas, inquiring as to why the rumbling had suddenly stopped.

Instead what he found standing in the doorway was himself, staring right back at him.

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

On the ground next to the other Victor's feet, there was a black data cube, and the other Victor looked just as surprised as Victor himself had been when he turned around.

"What's going on here?" Eve said. Victor noticed that she was backing away from him.

"I don't know," Victor said, stepping over to get a good look at himself. The other him remained silent, looking back at him. "Who are you?"

"I'm Victor." said the other Victor, simply.

Eve had everyone evacuate the deck except her, Miguel, Rajia, and the two Victors. She had them both relate what their journey back to Nexus had been like. It wasn't long before the discrepancy in their histories appeared: one Victor had decided to come straight back to Nexus, the other had gone back to the other Nexus to save the alternate Eve, Rajia, and Miguel.

"Alright then," Rajia said cheerfully. "You'll be Victor One," she said pointing to the Victor that had saved the ship, "and you'll be Victor Two," she said, pointing mirthfully at the Victor that had just walked in.

Both Victor's locked eyes, Victor's expression one of pity, Victor Two's blank with numbness. They both knew what was happening here. Rajia hadn't meant to, but she had vocalized what the rest of them were thinking: the Victor that saved them was 'their' Victor. The name 'Victor Two' said it all. Two? More like too late.

Victor Two tried not to let the subtle rejection from his comrades get to him, but there was already a flutter of anger in his heart. Sure this Victor had chosen them. He had also abandoned them. Victor Two could have saved everyone. Well, so he thought. After all, he had been at least a few minutes behind the other Victor, and with the ship in the state that it was in who knew whether or not he would have made it in time.

Still, he thought of the other Nexus, and of the little ragged girl with the wire bracelet as he looked at these spoiled kids at their elitist school. He saw the 'V' on the back of his 'twin's' hand and looked down at his own. Fuck these people. If they didn't need him on this Nexus, he knew a Nexus that did need him.

It had always been the name 'Vance' that had repelled him. Now it was 'Victor' that gave him a headache. He didn't want to be the second rate version of someone he didn't even respect. Someone who had broken his promise to himself and run from a fight. As the others chattered away, Victor Two picked up the black data cube.

Victor watched Victor Two silently, his expression blank, now. The others continued to chatter, unaware of the silent exchange between the two versions of the same person.

"...and that's why more time passed for Victor Two. He entered the bubble within the wormhole just enough for a few minutes to pass and left. So time froze at that moment," Rajia said.

"I think I understand," Eve said. "When he returned, he returned to the moment that he left the bubble last. A few minutes had already passed."

"Shut up!" Victor Two said. Everyone was startled except for Victor One, who continued to look at Victor Two calmly. As the two boys continued to lock eyes, Victor Two raised his hand so that Victor One could see the 'V' on the back of it. Then, he dragged a sharp corner of the data cube through the 'V' deeply enough to draw blood.

"I'm not Victor here. That's fine. But I refuse to be 'Victor Two' anywhere, especially to a bunch of snot-nosed idiots who don't realize how easy they have it," he said. Blood dripped from his hand as he let it hand slack by his side. "From now on, I don't have a proper name here. I'm no one and nothing."

He turned to Victor One.

"You left them to die. It doesn't matter why. I will never forgive you for it." Then, the boy who had been named Victor Two looked at the slash through the 'V' on the back of his palm. Everyone was silent.

"From now on, refer to me as Slash," he said. "Don't worry: it won't be for long. As soon as I find out how I'm returning to the other Nexus."