Page 100 of Gifted Destiny

“I am uncertain,” he replies.

“Please explain your answers,” she urges, reminding me of a stern professor. Her paw lifts when we open our mouths at the same time. “One at a time, please. I am versed in many languages but not that of four people speaking at once.”

Kodi snorts in agreement, but he may just be feeling left out.

“Let’s go from left to right,” I suggest. “Bren, you start.” The order isn’t entirely random. Bren will say what many of us are probably thinking, reducing the need for repetition. He’s also bouncing in his seat, eager to explain.

“I might have believed the Timekeeper if it weren’t for the devices. When she handed us the little buttons to place behind our ears, I figured the process involved manipulating our minds to some degree. I also don’t believe time travel is actually real. If it were, Cronos wouldn’t have any need to interfere like this. They, whoever they are, wouldn’t need any assistance to achieve their goal – if their goal is to acquire the libraries’ power.”

Bren seems like he has more to say, but Sage’s nod indicates approval. Avery takes over. “My doubts set in when I realized our link to Kodi wasn’t entirely severed. The Timekeeper insisted that Kodi didn’t exist on other timelines, which means that we shouldn’t have felt anything if we were in an entirely different place and time. I admit that I do not know much about the manipulation of time, but this anomaly struck me as wrong.”

Sage nods again. I take a deep breath. “After Avery encouraged me to find my link to Kodi, I also found my link to you. You seemed just as near. The library we were supposedly taken to wasn’t a library.” My nose wrinkles. “It wasn’t anything at all. If these were true timelines, shouldn’t they be more similar but also more different? I understand the concept of nature versus nurture, but it doesn’t make sense. I felt as if we were deposited into a performance – one in which the actors were real but the scenery and the environment were conjured.”

I nudge Garrett, indicating I’m done, and he clears his throat. “I agree with the others and can’t give specific details. I will say, however, that it felt wrong. I have been immersed in virtual reality environments before – computer simulations thatfeel nearly real. With the device behind my ear and the slight dizziness in my senses when we arrived, it felt like that.”

Sage gives each of us an appraising glance before addressing Kodi. “And you? I realize you didn’t travel, but what is your impression?”

“You’re right. I didn’t travel,” Kodi replies. I can tell he feels grateful not to be forgotten. “But the others didn’t either. The Timekeeper led them deeper into the blue fog. I think she thought I couldn’t see them, but I could. They didn’t actually go anywhere; they just stood there like they were in a trance. I acted like I couldn’t see them. This went on for a while before the guy that looks like Addington showed up, and they came out of it.”

I am not the only one that gapes at Kodi. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?” I hiss.

Kodi shrugs. “I tried to, but there was too much going on. You kept saying we’d have the conversation later, so I was waiting for it.”

Sage’s whiskers twitch again, and she speaks before anyone else can chide him. “You weren’t supposed to be able to see them anymore, but I might have had a hand in that,” she says smugly. “It was my effort to ensure that none of you believed Cronos’ lies. I needn’t have worried, however. Your instincts are perfectly correct. Garrett has the most accurate explanation. These other timelines, as Cronos calls them, are merely simulated worlds. They exist only in a virtual sense.”

“How did …?” I start, but Sage holds up another paw and her tail flicks against the floor. I press my lips together in an effort to stay silent.

“Please allow me to finish. I know the questions you have. The ones you met while traveling are characters based on algorithms that input certain factors. These algorithms act just like Zosia said – calculating nature versus nurture and simulating the outcome. The computer created a version ofZosia as she might have been if she’d been raised in a boarding school with living parents. Although the adults were led to believe that Addington’s betrayal prevented her from shifting, it isn’t true. No computer simulation can create a librarian in her true form. Cronos has attempted and failed at this endeavor for longer than I know.”

While we contemplate Sage’s words, bursting with questions, she begins to pace. The movement is short-lived in the small area but displays the impressive muscles of her body and the shades of her feathers. Many of her feathers are black, but just as many are dark grey or silver. Her fur is several shades darker than my golden coat, but the color shifts in a way that makes me think she can appear lighter or darker at will.

“I understand that your encounter with a computer simulation does not explain how you brought back a living, breathing person. The simulation is primarily a ruse, invented to deceive those Cronos keeps under their control – employees and actors alike. This is not the whole of their tricks, however. They can also copy a soul, like the man who joined you here. I’m convinced that he’s been waiting in reserve for some time.”

“Copies,” I breathe. When Sage doesn’t immediately shush me, I brave a question. “Can they not copy librarians? Is that why there aren’t any other sphinxes?”

“That is correct. The process you underwent as a child – I believe it was an attempt to copy your soul – not necessarily steal your magic. Stealing your magic would have rendered it useless.”

As I contemplate this, Sage’s expression grows amused. I think it’s out of place until she speaks and explains why. “Ask your questions, curious guardians.” My men are bursting with curiosity and the need to know – just like me.

“Where is Cronos?”

“Why haven’t we heard of them?”

“Are they the enemy?”

“How many libraries are there? Are they like you?”

The questions are fired rapidly. I join in, adding the last one.

Sage sits in the center of the platform again and regards us. The feline features of her face still manage to appear mostly human, and I can’t decide whether it’s a trick of my mind. “I understand it’s not easy to believe something that goes against everything you’ve learned or think you know, and I appreciate your trust. I don’t ask that you offer it blindly, and I hope that you will remember this as new discoveries are made.

“I shall try to address your curiosity, but I can’t offer an answer to every question. A long time ago, I knew more, but I am currently limited by my stability in this location. Let me begin where all things begin – at the beginning. Scientists and other brilliant minds have determined the cause of the habitable universe your kind calls home. It involves multiple complicated interactions that you can read about on the science floor, so I won’t rehash the details. As for the current state of your solar system, its makeup is somewhat different than you know. Three habitable planets all circle the same sun with a similar orbit, distance, and gravity. The topography of each planet might differ, but their creation was not without some … meddling.”

She pauses, and the sudden silence is nearly deafening. I don’t believe any of us are breathing. Sage is a storyteller – that much is certain. Although her words aren’t that descriptive, we all have an image in our mind of three Gaias, lush, green, and populated. We don’t doubt her despite what we’ve been taught. She seems to gauge this before continuing.

“These three habitable planets were once in harmony and communication with each other. They made up the Triad of Zhi. Gaia is the planet we currently occupy. Alongside her are Pangaea and Atlantia. When the planets were prosperous and cooperative, they each housed a library. Now, only two arefunctional, and they are both on Gaia. The Eastern library you’ve heard of currently resides in Nepal. She used to exist on the planet of Pangaea. The library on Atlantia is currently hidden and can only be called forth by their next librarian.”

Again, we burst with questions, and I’m surprised we don’t bombard her with them as we did a moment ago. She nods once and thumps her tail in appreciation, her actions seeming to praise our patience. “As I said before, I do not have all of the information, but I can answer a few of the questions burning within you.”

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