Auld Lang Sine (Sinewave Londinium's Birthday Tribute)

Sinewave and her Admin: Paradox

"Admin! Admin!"

Hm? Ah, hello Sinewave! And happy birthday to you! I hope you've been having a good day? (And please don't tell me you've just spent it at home, or worse, working, replacing circuit breakers and rewiring sheds and so on all day as you so often do, you bloomin' workaholic...)

"About that...that is why I am here. I do not mean to inconvenience you, but...how is it that the entire city-present AND past-seems to have suddenly become aware that it is my birthday? How is that even possible?"

Good grief, anyone would think you're ungrateful for all the love you've been getting! Madam Generator, if you're going to try and tell me that birthdays are a 'source of inefficiency'...

"No, that is not my cause for concern. What is concerning, Admin, is that in somehow...contacting people from the past, I fear you may have created some sort of time paradox! Have you even considered the consequences of influencing the past in such a manner? I think not!"

(Sigh) Don't get your circuits all frazzled, dear; everything is fine. I have not created a time paradox!

"You have influenced people from my past, causing them to do things they otherwise would not have done, and thanks to whatever you did, I am even observing some effects from these interactions today! I do not even understand how you did what you have done, let alone can guarantee that this temporal 'butterfly effect' will not have far more serious consequences for the very nature of space-time as we know it!"

(I know I'm falling into the trap that is an argument with Sinewave Londinium, but what can I do? She's never gonna get off my case about supposedly messing with the laws of physics otherwise...)
Sinewave. I am your admin. I am your creator. I am not your creator in the sense of having built you, nor am I your creator in the sense of being a god, but rather, as regards you, I am something in between the two. And that means I have certain...privileges, shall we say, that allow me to do things that wouldn't be possible otherwise. So don't worry. I haven't broken time or created a black hole or destroyed the universe or anything.

"But-"

Sinewave. This is probably one of those things that you just can't understand. It's...beyond science. But trust me, I haven't caused any problems, any paradoxes. After all...all these friends of yours, from the past and the present...they come from different universes. The version of you that's speaking to me right now, that version of you is somehow aware of all of these friends in all these different universes and timelines, and that's because this is the only version of you that can talk to me. So it might be a bit of a mess to you but that's because you're on the same plane as me; as your admin, I'm aware of all those different universes and timelines and stuff too. So, yeah, this version of you needs to be too, otherwise we would have a paradox.

...

...

You okay there, bud? (Oh dear, I've broken her...)

"...Fine. I suppose this is confirmation of the many-worlds interpretation, if nothing else..."

There are universes where your history went in different directions. There are universes where the technology of your day was even more advanced than it is in this one, where steam really took hold, airships and sky pirates ruled the skies, alchemists dabbled in potions and poisons, and your kind, rather than being a scientific curiosity, flourished. There are universes populated by fantastical beings who, in this universe, exist only in mythology and folklore, and where the laws of science are not absolute. There are universes in which you yourself are powerful beyond even what your creator could imagine, where you can channel lightning itself and power the entire city if you wanted to. You exist in all of these universes, but those versions of you only experience the events in their respective native universes. This version of you-the one I'm talking to-is the only version who gets to experience all of them. And that's fine, it doesn't create a problem, because this...Admin-verse, for want of a better term, is basically on a higher plane of existence, like we're in four dimensions while all those other universes have three. We can see what happens in all those universes and I, as your admin, can reach down into individual universes in which you exist and influence things without messing with the yous in other universes.

"...I understand, but...how did you reach out to everyone in those universes who isn't me? You can only create and affect things that are tied to me, as I understand it, correct?"

Really? You haven't figured it out? After everything I just explained to you? I'm surprised.

"There is more to this?"

Of course. The truth is...your friends, all those amazing people who wished you a happy birthday, in all those universes and timelines, today and years ago? Guess what?

...

They all have admins too. You didn't think I was the only Admin in existence, did you? I told you, I'm not a full-on god.

"I suppose not, but...that means..."

Yes. I reached out to all your friends' admins to make this possible. They gave their own beautiful creations the nudge to wish you a happy birthday, in each of the respective universes they have access to. Is that not incredible?

"...Quite... As are you, Admin. Thank you."

No problem. Though, that might be overstating things just a bit. I'm just...efficient, that's all. (At least...I hope so...I haven't even finished her biography which I started over a year ago...oops.)

"I would expect-and accept-nothing less of you."

Yes, ma'am. Anyway, happy birthday, Sinewave, and here's to the time we've spent together, the time we have yet to spend together, your amazing and fascinating friends and their equally amazing and fascinating admins, as well as the ones we haven't met yet, and all the love and support that has been shown us both.

To everyone else in the Admin-verse...thank you. <3