Novak's Last Theory, Part 7: Every Loop has its Hole

It can't be true.

I'm walking up to the observation dome to meet with the old man. I don't trust him, but he's been right about two things so far: phantom memories are returning to me, like inexplicably familiar strangers; that, and I refuse to accept that he is the real me.

The dome is a large crylate bubble on the top of the ship, fifteen meters across. When I come in through the lock, the old man is sitting on the far side of the room, his back to the planet. Metari looks so peaceful. A globe of browns and greens, splashed with turquoise seas under a swirl of high clouds. So much like Oloreth.

"You're late," he says. Sitting there in his dark suit, his head and beard seem disembodied; like a comet streaking up into the stars.

"We have time. I'd like to discuss your identity further."

"You mean our identity?"

"I thought I wasn't the real Novak."

"Strictly speaking, you're not. My reality prevails in the sense that I am your destination. But you are an Arik Novak."

"So you claim to be the embodiment of my future?"

"I'm not claiming anything. I'm telling you."

"How do you explain your presence here, in the past?"

His jaw clenches. "Future... present... past... everything is fragmented in the loop. Until you make the right choice, I'm just as trapped as you are."

"And what about the boy?"

His face is transformed by a scowl. "Don't speak to me of the boy! When I think of the chances you've wasted because of him, it makes me furious!”

I pause as he fumes, then ask. "Chances?"

"Yes, chances! Don't pretend you haven't remembered."

I concede. "I have remembered some things. Enough to accept that there is a larger cycle. A superset of the daily one."

"And?"

"And that we have eleven days until the loophole next appears."

He scoffs. “Still keeping your pathetic count?” He hunches over his cane, rises stiffly, and turns to look at the planet. “Call it what you want… loophole, nexus, aleph ligature… I don’t care. It's a recurring part of the phenomenon that keeps us trapped here. The important thing is that you listen to me for once and ignore it."

"How so?"

He turns back to face me. "Don’t go in! Every time we get to this point, you decide to follow that wretched child into the hole, and the entire cycle starts over.” He steps toward me. “Stop following him. He is your past! I am your future! If you ever want to escape, you must embrace your future and stop being controlled by your past!”

I listen as he continues arguing his case against the loophole. He has some persusasive points. But I can't bring myself to accept that he is my future. I wish my memories from the previous loop weren't so spotty - I need more information.

I have eleven days to learn as much as I can.

[Jump to part 8: Markers of Memory.]