[Timeline Stream]
A magnetic storm was raging through outer space. Humanity, having expanded its dominion across the entire universe, had discovered a way to travel freely through space using faster-than-light travel. However, it still lacked the technological capability to alter the fundamental laws of nature governing the cosmos, and continued to explore outer space as an enormous black box.
Admiral Herbert Ryan commanded a space fleet consisting of twenty trillion vessels, each five hundred kilometers long. Even his instruments were thrown into disarray by the magnetic storm, making navigation extremely difficult.
The fleet was stationed thirty-eight light-years from the Milky Way. Each vessel deployed a force field, and they waited for the storm to pass for three Earth days.
The purpose of the fleet under his command was to suppress a rebellion against the United Federation. They were on their way to the rebel territory when the storm forced them to halt.
It happened while he was asleep in his quarters.
Suddenly, he found himself looking at a scene he could not determine was a dream or an illusion.
He was older—much older than his current self, already well beyond his mid-fifties—and was living alone as a farmer on a moon orbiting an unknown planet somewhere in the universe.
He loved wine.
He grew grapes and produced his own wine.
He was unmarried now, and even in that distant era, he had never married.
The present-day Herbert stood in the vineyard, staring at his aged self as he tended the grapes.
He assumed it was a dream.
But without even turning around, the old man spoke while continuing to care for the vines.
"This is not a dream."
It was an extraordinarily strange sensation.
His future self had spoken to him.
"Not a dream? Then where is this—?"
Holding his lower back as though it hurt, the old Herbert slowly stood up. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he looked directly at him.
"You're in the middle of a magnetic storm right now, aren't you? The storm is causing distortions in spacetime. That is why this is neither a dream nor an illusion. This is your genuine future. And the old man standing before you is another version of your future self from a different timeline, brought into this same place at the same moment by the distortion in spacetime."
"Different timelines existing simultaneously? An event that contradicts everything we know about temporal physics shouldn't be possible—"
Footsteps suddenly came from behind him.
He turned around.
Standing there was another version of himself, much younger.
There was no mistaking him.
It was Herbert during his days at the military academy.
"I thought the same thing at first. But here I am. There are two versions of my future self, after all."
The way he spoke, and even the habit of running his fingers through his hair, were unmistakably his own.
"Are you saying the past, present, and future all exist simultaneously…?"
He was stunned.
But these two were not the only versions of himself from different points in time.
From all across the vineyard, more and more versions of himself began appearing, as though reflected in countless mirrors.
Within moments, the vineyard was overflowing with him.
"All of these people are the results of your choices," the old Herbert said. "As I told you, this place exists in a state where every timeline is simultaneously present within the same spacetime. In other words, my vineyard contains the countless possibilities of you—every version that branched in every conceivable direction according to the choices you made from the moment you were born, through the present, and into the future."
At that very moment—
A gunshot echoed across the vineyard.
The sharp sound of a laser weapon rang through the air.
"That's exactly right."
The one holding the weapon was another version of himself, his face covered in scars.
He appeared to be the same age as Herbert was now, but there was something unmistakably different in his eyes.
"Ten years ago, when I was captured by the Granda, my comrades rescued you. But I spent two years being tortured after that. Sure, I was eventually rescued, but they kicked me out of the military. Now I'm a freelance bounty hunter. If I kill everyone here, I'll become the only remaining version of myself across every timeline."
Herbert could not understand what such an act would actually mean.
For a fleeting moment, he wondered whether killing one of his past selves would cause his present and future selves to disappear as well.
But before he could think any further, the scarred version of himself aimed his weapon at him.
"You're first. The version of me from a different timeline."
The instant he said those words, Herbert was suddenly struck by an agonizing pain, as though his head were being crushed.
His consciousness began to fade.
When he opened his eyes again, he was lying in his bed.
"Admiral, sorry to disturb you while you were resting. The magnetic storm has dissipated, and we can resume navigation. Please report to the bridge immediately."
The operator's voice came through the communicator.
Herbert pressed the switch beside his bed to respond and wiped his damp forehead.
Had it been a dream?
And yet it had felt far too real.
If he had truly encountered versions of himself from every timeline, then he had come into contact with an infinite number of parallel versions of himself.
The implications were terrifying.
Unable to forget what he had experienced, he changed his clothes and stepped into the corridor on his way to the bridge.
—
After retiring, Herbert purchased land on Pos, the twelfth moon of the third planet in the Nitaro Sector, intending to spend his retirement in seclusion and produce wine.
But one day, someone appeared in his vineyard.
It was himself from his days at the military academy.
Yes—
That was the day his old age had finally caught up with him.
[Timeline Stream] — The End