who lives this alternate version of your life, the version in which you never go back in time for this particular mission. Maybe that version of you never travels in time at all. Maybe, because of the changes you've made in the past, he's living an entirely different life altogether. He's the one who gets to enjoy the benefits of what you've done." A look of anger flashed across his face. " You have nowhere to go. You don't belong anywhere in space and time. You can't go home, unless you want to kill that other version of yourself, bury the body, and step into his shoes. But that seems..."
"Extreme?" Raven asked.
"Unlucky, at least." He shook his head. "That's why we're nomads. We are the ones who've traveled back to change the past, only to find there's nowhere for us to return. The universe cuts you loose, patches itself with another, less troublesome version of you, and time goes on..." He pitched his empty coffee cup into a barrel-sized rubber wastebasket lined with a black bag. "That's what the universe will do with you, if you carry out your mission."
"Are you saying I shouldn't carry out this 'mission'?" Raven glanced at the wastebasket, full of plates, cups, and plastic dinnerware, feeling disoriented in a world where people threw away so many things with so little thought.
"Oh, no, wait, do what you want, that's your choice." He pulled back from the table, raising his hands with his palms out, as though he didn't want any responsibility to splash onto him. "Being a nomad has high points, too. You can see the sights, the past, the future...and we always know when history changes."
"Does it change very often?" Raven gave him a little smirk.
"All the time. You'll be walking down a city street and the entire place shifts--the city becomes a ruin, or grows twice as large. There might be a different language on the signs around you. The level of technology might advance or regress--horses to monorails and back again. The entire world might change, but few people notice, because their lives and memories change with it. Anybody who does notice seems crazy to everyone else. Our memories don't change, Raven. It's a benefit of being a nomad, if you choose to consider it a benefit."
"I'm not a nomad yet, though," Raven said. "Only if I complete this 'mission' you keep talking about, right?"
"That's true. You aren't one yet."
"So why are you here? What do you want from me?" she asked.
"I'm here as a favor to you. I'm talking to you as a friend."
"You're not my friend. I don't even know your name."
"Eliad," he said.
"Seriously?"
"That's just what you asked the first time we met," he said. "And I'll tell you again: it's a very common twenty-fifth-century Atlantean name. You usually call me 'Eli.' Or sometimes 'Lad' or 'Laddie' when you want to annoy me...I wish I hadn't mentioned that."
"So why are you here, Laddie? To warn me about becoming a time nomad?"
"No, forget I said anything about that. As far as your decision-making goes, just drop that information for now."
"I know how to make my own decisions."
"It will be your funeral..."
"What?"
"Possibly." He shrugged. "Some sort of gunmen from the future are hunting you, aren't they? So your life is currently in great danger."
"Have you seen them?" Raven sat up.
"No, relax, I'm just remembering what you've told me. You must be careful. We know you lived through this mission the first time around, because you and I met later. Now that I've intervened and changed things, anything's possible. They might kill you this time around because I'm talking to you right now. There's no way of knowing how things will change because of my presence."
"Well, thanks so much for that," Raven said.
"It's just a warning. Here's the real message--from you. From a future version of you, anyway. A probable future version of you, I should say, who may or may not come into existence now that I've intervened with the original--"
"Get to the point!"
"We have arrived there. Here's the
"Extreme?" Raven asked.
"Unlucky, at least." He shook his head. "That's why we're nomads. We are the ones who've traveled back to change the past, only to find there's nowhere for us to return. The universe cuts you loose, patches itself with another, less troublesome version of you, and time goes on..." He pitched his empty coffee cup into a barrel-sized rubber wastebasket lined with a black bag. "That's what the universe will do with you, if you carry out your mission."
"Are you saying I shouldn't carry out this 'mission'?" Raven glanced at the wastebasket, full of plates, cups, and plastic dinnerware, feeling disoriented in a world where people threw away so many things with so little thought.
"Oh, no, wait, do what you want, that's your choice." He pulled back from the table, raising his hands with his palms out, as though he didn't want any responsibility to splash onto him. "Being a nomad has high points, too. You can see the sights, the past, the future...and we always know when history changes."
"Does it change very often?" Raven gave him a little smirk.
"All the time. You'll be walking down a city street and the entire place shifts--the city becomes a ruin, or grows twice as large. There might be a different language on the signs around you. The level of technology might advance or regress--horses to monorails and back again. The entire world might change, but few people notice, because their lives and memories change with it. Anybody who does notice seems crazy to everyone else. Our memories don't change, Raven. It's a benefit of being a nomad, if you choose to consider it a benefit."
"I'm not a nomad yet, though," Raven said. "Only if I complete this 'mission' you keep talking about, right?"
"That's true. You aren't one yet."
"So why are you here? What do you want from me?" she asked.
"I'm here as a favor to you. I'm talking to you as a friend."
"You're not my friend. I don't even know your name."
"Eliad," he said.
"Seriously?"
"That's just what you asked the first time we met," he said. "And I'll tell you again: it's a very common twenty-fifth-century Atlantean name. You usually call me 'Eli.' Or sometimes 'Lad' or 'Laddie' when you want to annoy me...I wish I hadn't mentioned that."
"So why are you here, Laddie? To warn me about becoming a time nomad?"
"No, forget I said anything about that. As far as your decision-making goes, just drop that information for now."
"I know how to make my own decisions."
"It will be your funeral..."
"What?"
"Possibly." He shrugged. "Some sort of gunmen from the future are hunting you, aren't they? So your life is currently in great danger."
"Have you seen them?" Raven sat up.
"No, relax, I'm just remembering what you've told me. You must be careful. We know you lived through this mission the first time around, because you and I met later. Now that I've intervened and changed things, anything's possible. They might kill you this time around because I'm talking to you right now. There's no way of knowing how things will change because of my presence."
"Well, thanks so much for that," Raven said.
"It's just a warning. Here's the real message--from you. From a future version of you, anyway. A probable future version of you, I should say, who may or may not come into existence now that I've intervened with the original--"
"Get to the point!"
"We have arrived there. Here's the
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