‘That level of quantum temporal cosmology is beyond me,’ Yirella admitted. ‘All I can focus on is that Saints-damned tachyon message that is changing the past – our present – by setting the Olyix crusade loose on the galaxy. Therefore if we can eliminate, here in our present, whatever civilization, species or young god that sends it, then it will not be sent.’
‘Your logic is impeccable. But what about causality? Everything we know about causality dictates that time travel should not be possible.’
‘You are speaking of linear time.’
‘Of course. Our perceptions only enable us to see time as linear. But the very nature of linear time implies that – from an external observer viewpoint – the history of the entire universe from creation to heat death exists in a static form, allowing us – consciousness – to perceive time moving in only one direction. Ergo, the universe’s entirety – both space and time – was created as a complete whole. Which argues that change is not possible.’
‘Except that our perceptions must be wrong, because time travel has occurred,’ she countered. ‘The God at the End of Time sent a message from the future. And you have to concede that this timeline must be different from the one that existed before the message changed the behaviour of the Olyix.’
‘Ah. Well, the very concept of timelines implies a multiverse. One theory – and one that we corpus favour – has it that instituting a causality violation such as time travel is an anomaly that creates a new universe. Meaning, if you go back in time and kill your grandfather, that death happens in a new universe – one where your future self does not yet exist and now never will. A universe in which you are now an interloper – but also one in which you will never have a double. However, if you were able somehow to travel back to your original universe, your grandfather would still be alive there.’
Yirella pursed her lips. ‘Time travellers are gods? Interesting.’
‘More like the builders of time machines are gods. On every occasion the time machine is used – for every tachyon message that is sent through time, or every time someone goes back to kill their grandfather or a tyrant – that act creates a new copy of the universe that branches off from the original.’
‘Meaning every alternate universe is the product of a time machine. But they’re still a perfect copy of the “original” universe up until that point just before the split?’
‘Yes.’
‘So the tachyon message the Olyix detected didn’t actually come from this universe?’
‘In the anomaly-creation theory, yes.’
‘So the God at the End of Time exists only in certain universes, whose history played out in specific ways?’
‘Possibly. But if we take as our assumption that the message was sent from the time of the heat death of the original universe – when the god perceived a condition it needed to address – then this makes our present the desired outcome of this new reality.’
‘Meaning that the God at the End of Time likewise exists – or will come to exist – in this reality, because this is its desired outcome. So the physical conditions for the God at the End of Time to come into existence are present in this universe, right here, right now. Its birth star is real. If we destroy the place it comes from here in the present, then it will never be born, and won’t send a message – which creates another copy universe. The cycle ends, and the paradox loop is broken.’
‘That is our reasoning, which is why we built the detector for you. We do not necessarily think your strategy will work, but we cannot ignore the possibility that it might.’
‘Thank you. I guess that makes the whole universe Schrödinger’s cat. We don’t know the outcome until we open the box, and even then we won’t know because opening the box from the inside means we cease to be the observer.’
‘Correct. Clearly some form of time travel or manipulation is possible; the message proves that. But have you considered the implication of classic temporal theory being correct? That there is only one universe and it is possible to alter the timeline? If so, there will be a considerable price for your strategy of resetting the timeline.’
‘Yes. I cease to exist. As do you, and everyone else alive here and now. In a multiverse, there will still be some universe in which we all exist, but if not, generations blink out as if they never existed.’
‘Not quite.’
Yirella’s eyes narrowed as she studied the imprecise profile of Immanueel’s body, which was almost indistinguishable from any other section of wall now. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked.
‘To negate the evolution of the God at the End of Time will mean the message will never be sent, and subsequentially the Olyix will not commence their abominable crusade. They will not invade Earth. The history of the last ten thousand years will be very different.’
‘Yes, it’ll save us from this whole disaster. That’s the whole point. And if I can’t do that – if your time-travel-is-creationism theory is right – it’ll mean ending the cycle of new universes created by the god’s tachyon message, in which every one contains the same Olyix threat. That alone makes the effort worthwhile.’
‘But my dear genesis human, although the Olyix invasion was an unmitigated disaster for us here and now, the vast majority of Earth’s population is still alive in cocoon form, and our Final-Strike mission will, we hope, result in us reinstating them in their bodies. Not only that, but with the technology available now, a high percentage of them will never have to endure the low socioeconomic index lives they were living up to the point of the invasion. Records indicate that out of the nine billion living on Earth at the time the Salvation of Life arrived, four billion were significantly disadvantaged by the Universal culture’s economic structure that was
