He hurried down the street toward his glider. He was running late for an important meeting and worried about how it would affect his work. Not that anyone kept close tabs on him—his position was important enough that he was free to do as he pleased. But he preferred to set goals and boundaries for himself and disliked breaking his own expectations.

As he reached for the door, he heard his name being called.

“Professor Roche! Wait up!”

Halden paused and turned.

A young man was running toward him, waving his hands in the air.

“Sorry to barge on you like this, but I’ve been trying to see you for a long time... You’re a hard man to find!”

“That’s because I’m very busy. In fact, I’m kind of in a hurry right now...”

“I just want to know if you’ve received my application. I haven’t heard back, and it’s been four weeks—”

“And you are?”

“Oh! Sorry. I’m Greg Groggan.”

Something clicked in Halden’s head, but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

And why was that name so familiar?

It came back to him in a flash. He’d read the man’s application. Very ordinary. Basic. Unremarkable.

He turned to open his glider’s door.

“Just call my secretary tomorrow, she can give you all the answers you want.”

He felt a hand grab his arm and froze.

“No, she can’t. I’ve talked to her. She says she doesn’t know, that you haven’t decided yet. Please! This would be the opportunity of a lifetime for me. Working with you is all I’ve ever wanted.”

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Halden frowned. Why hadn’t he said no yet? It was true, he remembered now. He had put the man’s file aside, feeling he should give it further consideration. Something unusual about his profile. What was it?

He clicked his tongue as he glanced at Groggan.

“Why?” he asked.

The younger man blinked, surprised by the question.

“Why what?”

“Why do you want to work with me?”

Something else bothered him. This whole conversation... Why was it lasting so long? And why wouldn’t it? He was in a hurry, of course, but it felt more like this surreal moment should have been cut short already.

But why? How?

And what the heck was so surreal about any of this?

The hand dropped away from his arm, but Halden did not enter his glider. He turned again to face the man, curious to hear his answer.

“I think you are way ahead of your time,” said Groggan. “Your work on thilium physics is incredible. And I want to learn from the best.”

“That’s very commendable, but you are only one among hundreds who feel the same. What makes you so special that I should pick you as my assistant?”

Groggan opened his mouth, then closed it. Twice. He frowned.

“That is not fair,” he said.

“Few things in life are fair, young man.”

“That’s not what I mean. I know I’m probably not the brightest person you could pick, but how much could you possibly teach someone who already knows so much? Where is the challenge with that? It’s not fair because that’s what always happens. Scientists always pick the top of the class, as if those were the ones who needed the help of a great mind like yours. Where is the logic in that?”

This was ridiculous. Why was he wasting his precious time with this stranger? Enough was enough. He would not hire Groggan. He had so many other great candidates to pick from.

“Fine,” he heard himself say. “You’re hired. If you can show up at the office tomorrow at six. And that’s six in the morning.”

The younger man gaped at him.

Halden was just as shocked. How could he have said that? He tried to backpedal, but the words wouldn’t come out of his mouth. It sunk into him he was committed now. Of course, there were no witnesses, he could pretend this conversation never happened. But that was not the sort of man he was. He was stuck with this decision and would have to live with it.

Groggan was talking, he realized, but he couldn’t hear him. Though he remembered what he had said. It had been a long time ago, but...

It was confusing. Different memories swirled in his head, merging and exploding like ripe tomatoes hitting against a wall. He couldn’t tell anymore what was now and what was then.

Or what was to be.

He realized why it had felt surreal. None of this was real. He was still stuck in the Fault—whatever that thing was.

He remembered.

The shove, his dead daughter playing at the Regency, an older Groggan giving him a message from himself, the visions of death and destruction... and now this.

What did it all mean?

Before he could make sense of it, everything blurred. The young man’s face distorted and melted into the stark whiteness around him.

Then he fell.