Chương 176: Chapter 174 – The Quest for Uncertainty

Rowan's heart stopped when he found Thai's bed empty. The blankets were twisted and thrown aside, as if she'd left in a hurry. After everything they'd learned last night…

"Thai?" he called out, trying to keep the panic from his voice.

"Pumpkin, where are you?" The sound of the urgency in Rowan's voice brought Celestia and Seraphina rushing from the adjacent room. One look at Thai's empty bed and Seraphina was already shifting into action.

"I'll check the kitchen," she said, hurrying past him.

"She probably just wanted some breakfast, she must be famished by now." But they both knew Thai wouldn't go wandering the halls late at night or this early in the morning. She wasn't familiar with the layout, she had only been there a short time before they headed out to the Dwarven realm and this time… this time she had been so sick.

"Check the bathroom, she may have gotten sick again during the night," Rowan called out to Celestia, who was still trying to pull herself from her sleepy fog.

"Yeah," she muttered as she mechanically made her way down the hall. Within minutes, the entire facility was awake and searching. Regina methodically checked and secured each exit, while Roxie and Illianna searched the living quarters. Alex and Elena split up to cover the labs and storage areas, their footsteps echoing through the corridors.

"She's not in the bathroom," Celestia said, the fog lifting.

"She has to be here somewhere, Rowan, it's not like she can simply vanish without a trace," Seraphina said, trying to sound reassuring. She joined Rowan in checking Thai's usual hiding spots.

"She wouldn't just…"

"I found her!" Celestia said in a low voice, just loud enough for the others to hear.

"Everyone, come quickly, but quietly." Relief surged as they converged on the computer room. Celestia motioned to where Thai lay curled up on the floor in front of Shirley's monitor. Her small form was peacefully sleeping, one hand tucked under her cheek. Someone… Shirley? …had dimmed the lights to a soft, comforting glow. The screen displayed gentle waves of calming blue light, pulsing slowly like a lullaby.

"Has she been here the whole time?" Rowan whispered, his relief palpable as he knelt beside his daughter. Thai didn't stir, her face serene in sleep.

"I have been monitoring her vital signs," Shirley's voice was barely audible, clearly modulated to avoid waking Thai.

"She is perfectly safe. She simply had trouble sleeping and came to talk." Illianna smiled softly, watching her granddaughter's steady breathing.

"Some things never change," she murmured.

"Even as a baby, a good bedtime story always knocked her out."

"Should we move her?" Celestia whispered, watching Thai's steady breathing.

"No need, based on my readings, she should be waking up on her own here momentarily," Shirley replied softly.

"The teleport system calibration is complete. Once she wakes, you can begin your journeys, whenever you are ready." The screen's gentle blue waves shifted slightly. As if on cue, Thai stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She blinked a few times, momentarily confused by her surroundings, then smiled up at the gathered faces.

"Morning," she yawned, stretching like a cat.

"Is it time to see Mommy yet?" she asked, oblivious to the panic she had caused. Rowan couldn't help but chuckle.

"Good morning to you too, Pumpkin. And yes, after breakfast, we'll be heading to see Mommy." He helped her to her feet, noting how much steadier she seemed compared to the day before. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Thank you for our talk, Shirley," Thai said, turning to the monitor.

"It helped lots."

"You are most welcome, Thai," Shirley responded warmly.

"If I can be of any further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask. You will all be pleased to know that currently, Thai is fully recovered with no long term damage."

"How would you know that, Shirley?" Mikale asked, shaking his head.

"I don't see how you could without running a series of diagnostics."

"I am capable of running a full medical scan on any species, Mikale. I would recommend that you lay off the Emberbrew and drink more water, you will find that you will sleep much better and perform at peak performance," Shirley stated.

"So you performed a full medical evaluation of Thai, while she was… asleep?" he asked, impressed.

"Yes, Mikale, I am capable of doing a full medical workup without invasive painful processes, allowing the subject to rest while it is being completed," Shirley answered. Mikale looked at Alex.

"Well I need to learn more about this, this could revolutionize medicine as we know it! Can you imagine falling asleep instead of being stuck with needles and having to undergo uncomfortable procedures to find out what other uncomfortable procedure you will need to fix the problem?" he said, dumbfounded.

"I understand your excitement, Mikale. It would indeed be quite revolutionary to introduce this technology to the medical field, but as we have discussed before, there are certain things that cannot happen without affecting the timeline. This is one of those things," she said.

"This technology will not be available for general use for another one hundred years. I do apologize for any confusion I may have caused."

"So, why were you able to mention it in the first place?" Alex asked.

"I mean if it is something that does not exist, cannot exist and will not exist for another one-hundred years, how did your filters not red flag it?" he asked, realizing that maybe Shirley was not as infallible as he originally thought.

"Wonderful question, Alex," Shirley began.

"I was able to tell Mikale about it because, on the current timeline trajectory, every projected iteration shows his involvement in the early research that eventually leads to this technology. At this point in the path, he is positioned to become indirectly responsible for its development. Others will build upon his work and expand it into several pioneering medical advances. Ironically, it is because of your collective work that this part of my functioning even exists."

"Wait, what?" Mikale said, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to wrap his head around the concept.

"How am I indirectly responsible for its creation?"

"This is one of those things I cannot reveal without potentially influencing the future decisions you will make, potentially altering the timeline in irreparable ways," she replied.

"Does that mean we win?" Alex asked.

"I don't understand what you mean when you say win, Alex. Winning implies there is some form or accomplishment or achievement where the subject reaches a goal before others. I was not aware that there was some form of competition underway," she said, flatly.

"You know the war against Mordak," Alex said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

"Alex, there are no winners in war. You have one group that loses everything and an opposing group who loses less. When anyone loses anything, I do not see how that can be considered a win," Shirley said mechanically.

"Mordak may be your perceived enemy now but that only holds true in the here and now, it is not necessarily how it will remain."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"It's Mordak who set everything in motion, it's his plotting and scheming that have got us all here. How can he not be the enemy, or remain the enemy? Once we stop him then maybe we can bring things back to the way they should be."

"Alex, your perception of the way things should be is not necessarily how they are or will ever be. Time shifts, new branches of the timeline are created, circumstances and ways of thinking all change. Decisions made today are not always the same ones you would make tomorrow given new information. I am not a fortune teller and I cannot tell you with any degree of certainty what lies ahead. The only thing I know for certain is on this current timeline, both sides will suffer losses, both sides will succeed.

What that looks like I cannot say," Shirley said.

"Right now your attention should be focused on getting Illianna and Roxie back to the Elven Realm and Thai back to her mother," Shirley added dismissively. Alex looked over at Mikale, who looked as confused as he felt.

"I think she just told me to bugger off," Alex said, rolling his eyes.

"She's right though, we need to get everyone where they should be."

"She's not wrong, but now we're getting into some pretty theoretical ideas about time, space, free will and destiny. It's way too early for such a heavy conversation, and my stomach is begging for food. What do you say we go join the others and get some breakfast before we play shuttle pilots?" Mikale said, realizing everyone else had left the room.