By midday, both girls had brought their daily activity over to the world on the other side. Even without an ambitious goal to aspire towards, the girls knew it would be irresponsible to neglect their other half of their life’s obligations.

Kori was still finding herself off drift even in that regard. Sure, she was still a bit tired, having slightly underslept due to restlessness, while Rosa had instead actually overslept in exhaustion. It had given Kori a lot of time to think.. but even that had proved as efficient as it had all dawn. Rosa meanwhile was back in Drew’s office.. and supposedly doing nothing important. That concept was leaving Kori feeling baffled, considering Rosa had marched there with an obvious feeling of obligation.. but then had just started to slack off doing nothing but casual conversation about matters of industry? Of course, Kori had taken time for herself last dawn in a very similar way, she wasn’t complaining about that. It just felt strange, somehow, like Rosa was still working to accomplish something even while relaxing. However, if Rosa was going to invest her attention into the place’s leadership, Kori would have to check with Tristine to see if anything else around here needed help.

“Oh, hey, Kori. You pick a funny time to show up. We had a mid-dawn power failure here, old core might not be getting enough maintenance. I actually just finished fixing the darn thing.” “Oh, sorry.” “Oh, not blaming you or anything, technically that was completely my bad. Drew gave me such a hard time about it, something about needing to respect the foundations of my own people. All of that stuff.. was made by conduits? It was rough enough getting into this industry, I’m surprised just how much our people just.. at a time.. just did.” “Oh, yeah, it’s quite the sight, really. Historically though, our people would have only done this sort of thing for a short while. Conduits learned as they were threatened by humans, then things got too tense, humans then took their many.. many more generations of experience and shoved it down our throats.” “Idiot humans. I mean, not all of them.. but…” Tristine sighed, a feeling Kori was all too familiar with. This was a factor of life Kori had complained about for years, silently, like many conduits. However, there was more familiarity about it than just that.

“I.. I actually don’t think this is just a human thing. Ignorance stemmed with being possessive of the accomplishments of their people. I mean, if humans had come here and found conduits at a far more technologically progressed development, we would have still had conflict. Then, if the conduits had won instead, it would possibly be the humans being oppressed for being foreigners to the world.” “That’s some deep thinking, for someone who…” “I’m saying this because of the societal conflicts of the other side. There, humans and elves aren’t at each other’s throats, but mostly because there didn’t seem to be a reason for it. What we have instead is some grand organization that has basically achieved world domination by monopolizing the most valuable resource. Seems there is even a secret behind their success, and they are doing everything possible to protect it. It’s basically the same idea, all over again.” Kori filled Tristine in on a few of the related details, just to build a comparison. All of this stuff was on her head, especially considering the current issue she was seeking a resolution for. Tristine listened, trying to understand as much about the people of a world where most of the science didn’t make as much sense.

“Ah, so now you’re going to have to stand up against that overbearing oppression, too. It makes sense you don’t want to just fight it out though, we did.. and look where that left us. But if the goal is to make people like you, both you and Rosa, then I’m sure you’ve both got this in the bag.” “It’s really not going to be that simple…” “Well, of course. But to the people there, you’re not a conduit. You’re just one of the regular people. That’s already an advantage. Think about that scene in the aerospace terminal, when you sort of walked in and saved me from getting bullied. You did that as a conduit, the people most hated around here, and people were talking about it for ages afterwards. I’m certain there are still tales about that scene, of the enforcer that held the peace. Take away your conduit handicap, suddenly everything is actually even easier. I mean, really, can you honestly say that this foundry is so many times more intimidating than not just the collectivity of humanity, but even the outstretched reach of aerospace stuff. Aerospace is basically a branch of the human government, so it should be pretty easy to compare.” Tristine was actually finding Kori’s tale of politics actually far too easy to understand. It seems matters of politics really didn’t change much between such diverse realities.

“If you’re worried about handling things with a lot of formality, consider things from a business perspective. Drew brought our business up from a simple warehouse to an actual contract business for aerospace technologies.. well, until that stopped. He was always doing business meetings, a whole ton of presentations to market work for everyone. He had me help with some of the presentations, though I wasn’t actually allowed to attend. If you want a big organization’s attention, wouldn’t it work to do something similar?” “Wait, did I walk in at a bad time?” “Oh, Sophie, hey. I was just helping Kori here with a project she was stressing over in magic land.” “Presentations. You know, that’s something I know a few things about. Then again, I know almost nothing about your.. magic land. What kind of presentation are you thinking about at least? Maybe I could offer a few tips that might actually work there?” Tristine was surprised by Sophie’s unexpected arrival, even if Sophie was only on break. Kori could tell something was stressing Sophie too, but she couldn’t tell what that might be.

“Yeah, I have no idea about that either. Also, it’s not magic, it’s just a different kind of.. science. Unless you’re talking about the sciences involved, people are still just people.. from this side or the other. But supporting Rosa’s market venture in order to uncover the organization's greatest secret.. I have no idea what that’s going to take.” “Ah, so.. a presentation. But you don’t have a topic yet.. which you’re going to need for a presentation. Seriously, is my sister really this ambitious.. no matter which dimension she’s in? I thought I was making waves, but.. this is something else. I’m not used to this at all. Oh, and no, I’m not disrespecting the stuff that you and Yhzia did, you were both clearly trying to go places with that stuff. It’s just.. strange.. having a sister I know so little about.” “Well, technically this version of her didn’t exist until very recently, so I don’t think you’re being fair to yourself. It isn’t like either of us are really all that used to each other’s ‘dimension’ either.” Kori was getting the impression she had stumbled upon Sophie’s ongoing concern, possibly stemming from their sudden arrival again. Rosa might be Sophie’s sister, but that was only a technicality in how the world asserted itself.

“Actually, maybe Sophie might have a point. I mean, sure, no one has memories about it.. but are we certain that nothing ever actually happened? Did the world just give you both bodies to walk in hence-after, or did it give you an entire history to go with it. Just like with conduit history, just because no one might remember it.. doesn’t mean it never happened. Rosa herself feels far too natural to everything, like a case of muscle memory.. even with any of our scientific stuff. She doesn’t even have an accent anymore. Honestly, it’s pretty unnaturally quick, like she’s more like remembering stuff instead of learning it.” “Exactly. So, if she came here with a complete history.. then that just means no one got the memories to go with it.. but not that things never happened. We have actual family registry records of her, just how much else might actually exist? She’s put so much work into learning.. or even remembering.. about her life here. I want to at least learn what I should know.. to remember what was made to have happened. She’s my sister!” Even Tristine jumped when Sophie’s palm slammed the wall in that last statement.

Kori pondered the idea, realizing that Sophie might actually be on to something here. Even when she went back in time, switching to a new timeline, there were always those small factors that adjusted to the new timeline, stuff that made that timeline different. In much the same way, it might be that their convergence across the temporal plane resolved more than just a body for each of them.. it might have also resolved their own individual history. Sure, in that case, it came with group amnesia, absolutely no one remembered either Rosa or Axln. However, that’s basically the same concern she had in Ruixsi history, no one knew it. Just because no one remembered, did not mean it did not happen. This was still an idea that would be difficult to prove, if both planets had simply been redesigned with evidence of both of their presence created at the time they breached between the veil.. or if the entire timeline had been rerendered and the people had been left ignorant to the change.

Possibly the most concerning part of this idea is how much it establishes Rosa and Axln as more than just a secondary self. If this timeline claimed that they had always been a resident of their planet, then that was under-appreciating the other half of their sense of selves. Both aspects had to be considered equally. Actually, even if that wasn’t true.. and their presence was only a matter of creation in the instance.. the future shows they couldn’t diminish the value of their alternate selves either. Such alternate selves apparently become mothers. In matters of family, that would even make Sophie a future aunt. They have an established future, and there honestly is a good chance of an established past. Even if that past had never happened, it was still a foundation of both of their identities. Investigating such matters of history could actually be very important. To help with such an investigation, Kori pulled out a holo in order to call upon Holi’s assistance.

“Hello, everyone. I hear there is some need for gathering some information from historical databases, correct?” “Oh, Holi! Yes, we’re trying to discover if there are any past records of Rosa floating around. Wait, didn’t we try something like this before?” “Personal records in most cases are kept strictly confidential, to the point that even the person in question would have to run through hoops to get the base records needed. However, it seems my newly acquired administrative credentials provide all the access to records we might need. So, don’t worry Sophie, I can actually make this work out fairly easily. Notably, there are some base code arguments that still prohibit me from looking up personal records without explicit consent. To simplify that then, do you want me to search your own personal records for anything that might relate to Rosa?” “Oh, yes please, thank you.” Sophie’s eyes were positively glistening at Holi’s offer. While Holi began such a process, the four of them wandered over to a meeting room to get comfortable in, this was certainly going to take a while. Tristine felt a bit out of place with how things were going, but she was still welcomed along as a bit of an outside understanding to how this uncertainty was about to proceed.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Okay, so, all three sisters appeared to have followed each other through education, going to the same schools in turn. Because Rosa and Fiona were twins, they even shared a class. School records show a number of times you were involved to end a dispute between the two, as they appeared to constantly compete with each other growing up, and Sophie was the family member seen as capable of bringing the most reason towards the two. I suspect this left them feeling rather isolated as they competed directly with each other. Oh, this would mean that Kori would have technically met Rosa on the same day she became friends with Fiona, though Rosa would not have become friends with Kori in the process. History will tell that the only thing that brought Rosa and Kori together was Fiona’s death. Anyway, both twins brought their competitions into various scientific competitions growing up, and a number of science fairs Sophie registered to help out in as basically clean up crew. Obviously, you were there watching over your sisters, though that didn’t continue for long. There is no record why it stopped, the reasons were obviously personal. Either you didn’t like helping out at something you hardly understood, they didn’t like you getting in their way, or even something completely different.” Holi was clearly even trying to speculate with the information she was reviewing, there were some things such logical records would be unable to tell.

“Sophie, of course, was working on her own textile pursuits, her interest in designs and fashion landing her in numerous related clubs. As your attendance in science events diminished, your own fashion pursuits increased. Then there was that contest you entered, the design contest for some sort of dress, where you won a minor award. Wasn’t a first-place thing, and wasn’t the biggest of contests, though none of the events the twins would have competed in landed them with any actual award. Soon after that, you attended a graphical design competition.. but not as a competitor? Oh, both of your sisters were actually competing. They lost, horribly too. I guess both twins started to suddenly include their third sister in their rivalry. There were quite a number of other graphical competitions too, much in the same way. Both attended.. doing slightly better each time. Oh, and then here, Fiona managed to pull off her first place award in a graphics competition. That would be soon before Fiona and Kori would have started their joint venture into holographics. The competitions ended there too, even the science-related ones. Fiona just completely stopped attending any more of such things.” Holi even kept an expression of perplexion fitting to such a review. It was obvious that Fiona had felt there wasn’t any need for further competition, and she had started going ahead with her own individual lifestyle.

“So far, that’s not far off from what we end up remembering. Fiona and I were always getting into trouble, Sophie showing up being the mature one. It didn’t feel like we were competing with anyone, though I did drag her through a lot of science fairs.. stuff we tried to do well enough in. Fiona was always very encouraging in my ambitions in the field, considering I was a conduit and so was rather hesitant in applying myself to such interests. Sophie was there, those science events, though Fiona never liked imposing on her like that.” “Yeah, Fiona said she wanted me off her back, to give her space, though I could tell she just didn’t want me doing something I was struggling to keep doing. She even was the one who encouraged me to just pick up something of my own interest instead, which is why I even entered that contest. Soon after though, the girl suddenly took up an interest in graphical design.” “Well, you sort of took her offer and then accomplished something she had never done before, win something. Wasn’t that the same thing that got you your textile scholarship, which is how you became an apprentice stylist? Fiona felt that some of her efforts were.. stolen in that turn of events, it was even your first competition and it made your future. I never understood much of her graphical stuff, but she picked up on it really quickly. Most of our science fair offers were honestly mostly my design, though we never told anyone. She was just there supporting me in the process. Meanwhile, she doodled a lot through school, so I had recommended she tried making something more out of that.. which eventually won her own contest.” Kori and Sophie might both remember things that didn’t match this history exactly, but such memories certainly made room for the same things. What left them both perplexed was in where this then left poor Rosa.

“So if both Fiona and I managed to kickstart our future from such competitions.. then what happened to Rosa? Wouldn’t she have just felt.. isolated and unaccomplished?” “Searching for her in any other competitions after that, it appeared she had attended a few robotics design competitions, where she scored highly for structure and yet poorly for aesthetics and scripting. Both of those things would be Kori and Fiona’s strengths, so that might have really stung. Oh, there is even a critical review of her work from the head of the contest. Something about having a base talent in the field, but without any true passion. Ouch, yeah, it even acknowledges she’s really good with such a craft, but that she would fare even better discovering her own passions instead. She stopped going into such competitions after that.” “Seriously? Ouch. I hope I was there to comfort her or something, though.. I guess being one of the two who were going somewhere with their accomplishments.. she might not have exactly been open to my support.” “Well, it seems you did at least provide her with a recommendation into a lower tier of the same fine arts educational program you yourself were enrolled in, as a bit of open study lessons. She tabbled all over the place, from sculpting to painting to music even. She absolutely failed in sculpting, he designs more intent on function than aesthetic. Painting, that was something she had a growing talent for at least, though she was far less about expressing reality than she was about capturing imagination. That was even a recorded feedback from her courses, she managed remarkably well to deliver abstract art.” Sophie nodded at Holi’s historical assessment, feeling that such to be a positive direction she could appreciate going. Even Kori could spot how Rosa might really have a place with abstract design, considering how the girl handles holos. Rosa really did accomplish more when she was unbound by her own expectations.

“Considering how much the Rosa I know on the other side has been, she’s still been quite devoted to her.. robotics.. for her whole life. This actually might be a lesson she would have to revisit, applying herself a bit more into the fine arts pursuits and passions that.. actually might run in her family. Well, not all of them I suppose, her disregard for literature would probably make her a poor writer, even in abstract poetry. Maybe just simple arts would be for the best, I worry how poorly her musical experiences might have gone for her.” “Actually, no. She had an amazing talent for the musical and performing arts. Not dancing, mind you, that did go as poorly as you seem to be expecting. Her acting was actually reported to be reasonably good, but her musical skills were impressive. Instructors have mentioned that she had an untapped singing voice which could easily go places, and her ability to handle most instruments comfortably was considered very highly. Oh, she even was a part of a large concert, doing her own solo performance.. which landed her more than a few invitations to join established groups. She never did, though.” “Wait, she’s officially on record as being very skilled handling most instruments? That’s hilarious! Sorry, no one else would get the reference. On the other side, instead of calling their devices of technology machines.. or robots.. they call the stuff ‘instruments’. Yes, she’s been very good at handling instruments there too.. although, I guess not as well as she might have liked. I sort of stepped on her accomplishments there too, being even more skilled with such instrumentation. Musical instruments.. that’s something I would have never expected.” Kori was struggling to speak through her own laughter, Holi stopping to allow for enough time for such a fit to settle down.

“Never expected.. hmm. Sorry to interrupt you three as you walk down memory lane like this, but I’m just wondering. Kori, are you at all skilled with musical performances yourself?” “What? No, I’ve never done anything like that before.” “No, probably not, although I expect your talents would land you some basic DJ qualities that could script out song transitions at least. Holi herself could just perform well if she was upgraded with the right qualities, but she wouldn’t exactly be a part of the original project.. so that wouldn’t matter at all.” “Tristine, you aren’t making any sense, what are you talking about?” “Oh, well, remember earlier how you were saying that you needed a way to capture the interest of society? If Rosa has skills in the performing arts that are as incredible as her history makes it sounds.. then why not stage such a grand performance as your own presentation? I mean, I understand very little about music myself, but I’ve had quite a number of repair jobs with a lot of places, some of them in theater productions. There is quite the quality that goes into the assortment of machinations required to deliver a quality musical performance. Wouldn’t it stand then that if you could create such quality resources with your established backing and support, even using a schooling system of your own.. which probably has its own fine arts division.. you could then catch the attention of a massive crowd with a quality performance.. ending with a disclosure behind giving thanks to the financial backer you’re trying to raise attention for.. who would then receive credit for any of the high quality instruments used in such a performance? I mean, I still don’t know how well technology translates over there, but it at least makes sense in my head. Am I really that wrong?” Tristine looked flustered as Kori gave her a blank unending stare. Of course, Tristine almost seemed to have lost it in that bit of a rant.. but she wasn’t actually potentially wrong.

Kori was only caught off guard because, in all honesty, she had never expected to have an answer given to her from someone else on this side. She had expected this was completely her obligation, completely her burden to bear, and had never opened to the idea that outside, unrelated people.. who understood nothing about the situation.. could really be this helpful.