One day I managed to draw Aelfric into a candid conversation. Although, after learning more about his nature, I can no longer say with certainty that even this conversation had not been known to him in advance.

But that is not the point.

After all the hints, evasions, and speculation, I finally asked him directly:

“Are you human or not?”

He looked at me for a moment and answered with a question of his own.

“Would that change anything?”

“For me, yes.”

“What matters far more is how others perceive me. Even if I wanted to answer your question definitively, I wouldn’t be able to.”

“Fine. Then answer another one. Is there only one world? Our world? Or are there others?”

This time he answered immediately.

“Here I can give you a direct answer. No. There is not just one world. There are many worlds, and they coexist alongside one another.”

“Can you predict the future?”

Aelfric smiled faintly.

“It seems today is a day for interrogations. Come. Let me show you something instead.”

We walked through a maze of rooms and tunnels. Eventually, he stopped in front of a massive door that looked more like the entrance to a bank vault than anything else.

“The purpose of this door isn’t really to protect treasures,” he said. “Though many people would pay extraordinary sums for what is inside. Its primary purpose is to isolate radiation and prevent a temporal wormhole from consuming one world into another. Think of it as a kind of black hole. Fortunately, it is stable at the moment.”

He pointed to a status indicator above the door. It glowed green.

After a series of touches against the metallic surface, the mechanism came to life. Air hissed through hidden vents as the enormous door slowly opened.

Beyond it was a small airlock chamber. Only after the first door had completely sealed behind us did the second one unlock.

The room beyond resembled a sterile modern laboratory. A metal table stood in the center, surrounded by several chairs. Various instruments occupied the counters. A safe stood against one wall, and beyond it was yet another door.

“In a way, I am a collector, just like you,” Aelfric said. “From time to time, the anomaly creates artifacts from different worlds. They serve as anchors—points where space and time intersect. By studying them, one can make certain observations and, occasionally, educated guesses about the future.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t understand any of that.”

“Then let me show you.”

He opened the safe and carefully placed several objects on the table.

They looked like coins.

I picked one up.

DEEP SEA CIVILIZATION

The inscription appeared on several of them.

“These are the artifacts,” Aelfric said. “They show how your world might have looked under different circumstances.”

I examined the strange designs with fascination. Some depicted divers in old-fashioned helmets. Others showed beings resembling octopuses.

“Zero Joule? One Joule?” I read aloud from the markings.

“The meaning is not always obvious without context,” he replied.

He slid a larger piece toward me. It was closer to a medal than a coin.

“This artifact reflects the present moment.”

I looked at the date.

2026

The reverse side depicted a military scene.

“The War in the Strait of Hormuz,” Aelfric explained. “A familiar situation, isn’t it?”

I said nothing.

“This is what I call an anchor artifact. A point of divergence.”

He placed two more artifacts beside it.

One bore the word Ukraine and the date 2026.

The other was marked Arctic and dated 2037.

“If you arrange them along a temporal scale,” he said, “these represent two possible paths forward.”

“You mean the future?”

“A possible future.”

His finger rested lightly on one of the artifacts.

“The very existence of these objects suggests that certain scenarios may come to pass. They do not predict the future with certainty. Think of them as hints—echoes of possibilities.”

“And what difference does that make?”

“Sometimes, a great deal. A possibility can be strengthened. Or it can be restrained.”

“And which future will our world choose?”

Aelfric was silent for several seconds.

“Unknown.”

He carefully gathered the artifacts and returned them to the safe.

“That choice belongs to your world.”