There Are Many Tokyos In Flower

Chapter 14: Paradoxes and Parallels

"Holy half-baked shitballs," Rin continued cursing. She threw her hands up during her disrespectful diatribe and let her derrière descend on a nearby deck chair. "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!"

"Does she do this often?" Martin asked Darla, who only shrugged as they watched Rin gibber, her voice trialing off even as her mouth kept moving.

"I think you broke her," BIRD said.

"What?" Martin asked. "How did I break her? She told me to say that to her."

"Yeah, she told you tomorrow," BIRD explained with all the patience of a tech-support employee on his last day of work. "But today, it means she just proved that you met her in the future, then travelled back in time. For a theoretical physicist working on the possibilities of time travel, this is a lot like a theologian finding proof that God exists."

"I didn't lose my shit like this when I time-travelled," Martin protested.

"That's because you're too stupid to see the implications of what you did," BIRD said. "For you, having that stupid macguffin in your pocket is just a convenient plot device. For someone who actually uses their brain, a working method for time-travel is like knowing there's a button to end the universe. For instance, what happens if you cause a paradox?"

"What's a paradox?" Martin asked.

"What?" BIRD's eyes widened, and it took a step back, trying to get as far away from Martin's head as his shoulder would allow. "Please tell me you're not serious."

"Gonna order a pint of battery acid just so I can dunk you in it," Martin warned the little robot.

"Holy shit. You really don't know what a paradox is," BIRD said. "This is why government's can't scrimp on public education. Look, a paradox is a contradiction, like when two things are somehow true when they're mutually exclusive. Like you being able to walk and talk, despite being as astonishingly stupid as you are."

"Barkeep, a pint of the strongest industrial acid you have," Martin said.

"What the little robot means, we don't know the consequences of travelling back in time," Rin said, and she stepped up to Martin. "Darla, Craig, I think we're okay. This isn't one of those problem guys I keep getting."

"You sure, Rin?" Darla asked. "Was kinda looking forward to this one. I'm honestly not sure Craig and I could take him. Guy's pretty dangerous."

"Really, it's okay. And thanks again."

Darla and Craig both pushed-off the bar and took their formidable bulk back to a nearby table. Martin watched them both leave, and let out a slow sigh of relief as he felt he could finally relax. "So I'm not the first guy who's ever tired to tell you he met you in the future?"

"Some desperate guy hoping to 'get to know me better' by claiming we already met? It happens every other week," Rin admitted. "Often enough we had to work out this routine to deal with them. It's almost as bad as being a romance writer on Wattpad, and getting DM'd by Hi-Boys every other day."

Rin gestured to a nearby table. "Come on. Let's sit, so you can tell me about travelling backwards in time without an audience."

Martin's old training kicked in, and he looked around, weighing his options. He eventually settled on one table in the far corner of the room, near the back exit. It had no windows, and if he sat with his back to the wall, he could keep the entire room in his line of sight.

Except, he realized as Rin was now halfway across the room, he wasn't the one picking the table. Martin caught up only as Rin sat down at a table in the closest corner, near two windows so large Martin could drive his bike through either one. It was only very reluctantly that he sat down in the seat across from her and waited.