ourselves."
"So? We know it exists, we did it. We jumped."
"Yes, but we were done with it all, right? We did what Tellan asked of us and ensured that the other us finished what they started and put the Universe to rights. But now..."
"Now what? Come on, you're making me really nervous here."
"Now we have to time travel again. At least two jumps."
"What! Why? No way, I'm not going to risk messing up entire worlds or anything."
"We have to, don't you see? We've given ourselves no choice."
Dale stared at Amanda, face a mask of confusion, then he stared first at the note, then at the tin. "Aw, shit. I get it. We buried this tin and the note, so, well, so we have to jump to make sure we bury it now, right?"
"Exactly. We do it in the future so that means we have to. We have to take a tin and write whatever is on that note and jump back in time so we can find it like we just did. We messed up."
"And if we don't?"
Amanda stared at Dale and wondered if he was really considering not doing something that clearly had to be done as it had, to all intents and purposes, already been done by them. "If we don't, then we probably cause a warp in reality and... Look, I don't know, but do you want to risk it? You saw all that craziness when we jumped before, inverted worlds and meeting ourselves, all the madness Tellan talked about, do you want to risk any of that happening? Getting caught up in any more insanity?"
"Absolutely not, it's why we haven't touched the bloody Hexad, isn't it? So we can try to carry on as normal, even though deep down we both know this isn't normal, or even real." Dale swept a hand across the room, indicating everything. The note fell from his fingers so he picked it up.
"What do you mean, not real?"
Dale sighed. "Amanda, look, let's stop kidding ourselves. This is all a lie. It's not our world. Things aren't quite right, are they? The little things, stuff like plants in the garden not where they used to be, the pub being different, countless things. They all make sense but they aren't how they were."
"That's just a byproduct of the time travel, isn't it? But it's still all real."
"Okay, it's real, it's just not our real. But we live with it as we have no choice, and now we will probably make it all a damn sight worse. Ugh, I can't believe we've done this to ourselves."
Amanda moved to Dale and hugged him. He was right, they'd messed up, but maybe it wouldn't be as bad as they thought. Maybe if they jumped and put the tin in the garden that would be it. No loops, the circle would be closed and everything would be all right. Or all right-ish, anyway. Amanda stepped back, feeling better after the closeness.
She sighed deeply, tried to feel brave and squared her shoulders. "Okay, what does it say?"
Dale unfolded the note and read, "Welcome to the Hexad experience. You guys are in for a busy day. Dale. p.s. How's the hangover? If I remember right then it was a bit of a mad night. Drink some more coffee, trust me, you're gonna need it."
"See?" said Amanda, feeling like her stomach was about to explode through her skin it churned and hurt so much. "We've disrupted things on an epic scale."
"Huh? I don't get it. The note doesn't make any sense."
"Dale, it makes perfect sense. You have to remember that we would have read it the day everything went crazy. If we'd dug it up that morning, the morning after we had the conversation, then it would make perfect sense. The us that buried that note thought we would dig it up then, but we didn't."
"Okay," said Dale, looking utterly bewildered, "then that means a different version of us buried it. That means we are in the clear, right?"
Amanda slumped into a chair, not knowing what was real or right any more. "Can I see it?" Dale handed her the note and she read it herself. "Well, it's your handwriting. You wrote it so that means you have to write it."
"What!? Look, this is just stupid. The other me, the one probably living my life right now, where everything feels
"So? We know it exists, we did it. We jumped."
"Yes, but we were done with it all, right? We did what Tellan asked of us and ensured that the other us finished what they started and put the Universe to rights. But now..."
"Now what? Come on, you're making me really nervous here."
"Now we have to time travel again. At least two jumps."
"What! Why? No way, I'm not going to risk messing up entire worlds or anything."
"We have to, don't you see? We've given ourselves no choice."
Dale stared at Amanda, face a mask of confusion, then he stared first at the note, then at the tin. "Aw, shit. I get it. We buried this tin and the note, so, well, so we have to jump to make sure we bury it now, right?"
"Exactly. We do it in the future so that means we have to. We have to take a tin and write whatever is on that note and jump back in time so we can find it like we just did. We messed up."
"And if we don't?"
Amanda stared at Dale and wondered if he was really considering not doing something that clearly had to be done as it had, to all intents and purposes, already been done by them. "If we don't, then we probably cause a warp in reality and... Look, I don't know, but do you want to risk it? You saw all that craziness when we jumped before, inverted worlds and meeting ourselves, all the madness Tellan talked about, do you want to risk any of that happening? Getting caught up in any more insanity?"
"Absolutely not, it's why we haven't touched the bloody Hexad, isn't it? So we can try to carry on as normal, even though deep down we both know this isn't normal, or even real." Dale swept a hand across the room, indicating everything. The note fell from his fingers so he picked it up.
"What do you mean, not real?"
Dale sighed. "Amanda, look, let's stop kidding ourselves. This is all a lie. It's not our world. Things aren't quite right, are they? The little things, stuff like plants in the garden not where they used to be, the pub being different, countless things. They all make sense but they aren't how they were."
"That's just a byproduct of the time travel, isn't it? But it's still all real."
"Okay, it's real, it's just not our real. But we live with it as we have no choice, and now we will probably make it all a damn sight worse. Ugh, I can't believe we've done this to ourselves."
Amanda moved to Dale and hugged him. He was right, they'd messed up, but maybe it wouldn't be as bad as they thought. Maybe if they jumped and put the tin in the garden that would be it. No loops, the circle would be closed and everything would be all right. Or all right-ish, anyway. Amanda stepped back, feeling better after the closeness.
She sighed deeply, tried to feel brave and squared her shoulders. "Okay, what does it say?"
Dale unfolded the note and read, "Welcome to the Hexad experience. You guys are in for a busy day. Dale. p.s. How's the hangover? If I remember right then it was a bit of a mad night. Drink some more coffee, trust me, you're gonna need it."
"See?" said Amanda, feeling like her stomach was about to explode through her skin it churned and hurt so much. "We've disrupted things on an epic scale."
"Huh? I don't get it. The note doesn't make any sense."
"Dale, it makes perfect sense. You have to remember that we would have read it the day everything went crazy. If we'd dug it up that morning, the morning after we had the conversation, then it would make perfect sense. The us that buried that note thought we would dig it up then, but we didn't."
"Okay," said Dale, looking utterly bewildered, "then that means a different version of us buried it. That means we are in the clear, right?"
Amanda slumped into a chair, not knowing what was real or right any more. "Can I see it?" Dale handed her the note and she read it herself. "Well, it's your handwriting. You wrote it so that means you have to write it."
"What!? Look, this is just stupid. The other me, the one probably living my life right now, where everything feels
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