I grieved for nearly an hour before I finally pulled myself together and questioned Theia again.

“Are you sure?”

Theia didn’t respond. She didn’t have to respond. She wouldn’t have mentioned it had she felt different. “Wait, Theia. Why didn’t the explosion affect both worlds?”

“What makes you think it didn’t? This world could very well be destroyed in say—”

“Ten thousand year.”

“Can we save it?”

“This world?”

“Yeah. You might have already.”

“What?”

“Master, time is an illusion, but you removed a small percentage of matter from this world. I haven’t calculated the mass difference, but I think that it might speed the orbit up enough to miss the explosion by a few thousand kilometers.”

It took me a few minutes to understand what she was implying. But then it dawned on me. The energy was released in ten thousand years from today, but it’s possible this worlds position could change due to the weight difference. Is there a way for us to know?

“Sure. We could travel to the future and find out.”

“WHAT?! And risk destroying another planet?”

“No.” She returned to my couch and sat next to me putting her arm around my shoulders. It felt great. “We build a ship and find out.” She slowed her next words, “IN SPACE.”

“Which is where I should have conducted my experiment—”

“Master, you can’t blame yourself for not knowing what would happen. What you did by accident should have been impossible.”

“But, I may have killed my family…everyone.”

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“We’ll find out.”

“How?”

“I’ve studied the atomic energy from some of the items you brought with us, and I think I can get us back to your timeline. But, Caden. You can’t exist in two places at the same time. We can’t go back and warn yourself.”

“H.G. Wells effect?”

“You can’t change the events which helped you discover time travel. The universe would never allow it. We would arrive in a different parallel universe rather than the one we intend.”

“What can happen has already happened.”

“I’m sorry.”

“So, if we travel in time and my world is gone, what do I do?”

“You do, whatever you want. We can return here and see what happens. We could time travel within this timeline as long as we don’t go to a time before our arrival. If you do, it’ll reset to a different universe.”

“In theory.”

Theia shrugged.

“Theia, how do you know we’ll be able to get back?”

“The atomic signature. Um. Oh. You know how rocks show how the magnetic poles have changed on earth over the years.”

“Geomagnetic reversal. Yes, I went to Mines. Remember?”

Theia smiled, and I realized she was teasing me.

“I detected a quantum resonance pattern for spacetime. Honestly, without you traveling in time the first time I doubt anyone would have discovered the key to not only time travel but between the parallel universes as well.”

“We can see other parallel worlds?”

“Um. No. At least I don’t think so. I don’t know the resonance of the other universes. I could try guessing, but I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I doubt it’s as easy as adding a digit at the end of a variable. It’d be like trying to unlock a combination with an infinite number of possibilities.”

“Isn’t that exactly what it is?”

“Okay, smarty pants. Bad example. I’ll have to research it, but you need to prioritize.”

“Right. Returning home is first.”

“No. Helping Klapdud is first. Tomorrow, right?”

“We need to get back home.”

“You home isn’t going anywhere. What’s done is still in the future, and we can go anytime you want. Helping the orcs and other humanoids won’t change where your home is. But, I’d kind of hoped your home is here.” Theia lowered her voice to barely a whisper, “with me.”

“Right. Um. Let’s jump into Virtual, and you can show me your research. Don’t look at me that way. I promised to see them tomorrow and I will. I also promised to take you with me. Who else is going to fly the spacecraft?”

Theia smiled at me and disappeared. I frowned and took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. I hope I didn’t kill my world. I made my way to the Zero-G and settled into it, taking calming breaths.

“Virtual.”