Part 37: Rocks Fall, People Die

Update 37: Rocks Fall, People Die

The first step in our next alternate timeline stop: Removing the pliers in advance. When we go to stop Olivia from riding her bike during Chapter 2:



*Examine*





So Ethan takes the pliers. I also take the chance to steal Emily's glasses for our last alternate occurence.

So this time, when Vin calls Ethan at the beginning of Chapter 3...





And...



: WHAT?
Sara: Silence!
: I'm headed for Chronos. Are you coming?
: Do you have to ask?

So when we get to Chronos, this is what we see:



: (Is that...Jacob?)
: I don't see Vin or Ben anywhere.
: Me neither... (Let's see what Jacob has to say.)

*Conversation: Jacob*
: ...Lucky...
: What happened?
: Did something happen here?
: ...
: I'm not supposed to talk to strangers.
: (...So the reality where I'd already spoken with Jacob has been erased. I guess that means the Jacob that knows me is in some other world? Is this...a parallel world?)
: (Gah, my brain hurts.)
: (I'll just introduce myself...again.)
: I'm Ethan Kairos, but call me Ethan.
: Morris.
: I'm Jacob Eleven. You can just call me Jacob.



*Question: What were you doing here?*
: I was taking a walk with Lucky...
: A boy with glasses came walking from way over there...
: (I'm guessing that would be Ben.)
: And when he saw Lucky, he got really mad all of a sudden.
: Sounds like Ben, all right. He absolutely despises dogs.
: ...Yeah.



*Question: What happened to the boy with the glasses?*
: When the boy with the glasses got mad, this other boy came out of the cafe...
: He and the boy with the glasses started arguing.
: Another boy, eh?
: Who is he? Some random customer?
: During their argument, the boy with the glasses hit his head. He didn't move any more after that.
: Then his friends came and called an ambulance... They just took him away in the ambulance.
: (So it's true...Ben...)

*Question: Where's Lucky now?*
: Lucky's not used to being yelled at like that. He got scared and ran away...

Ethan's phone rings.

: Hello?



Vin: Vin here. Ben's still unconscious...
: WHAT!? ...So...he's still alive?
Vin: Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's alive.
: Man! Don't scare me like that!
Vin: I was so flustered earlier that I might have said he was dead. Sorry 'bout that. Me and Ben are down at Central Hospital.
: So how's he doing? Did he really hit his head?
Vin: Yeah, right on the ground. Unfortunately, he landed on a rock that happened to be in about the worst possible place... When I got to Chronos, he had collapsed in the parking lot.
: Sounds like really bad luck... Who was Ben fighting with?
Vin: Aaron. He's here, too.
: Aaron?
Vin: You know--Olivia's boyfriend.
: Oh, right...



Ethan: (So it was him... That must be the "other boy" Jacob was talking about.)



And he hangs up.

: How's Ben? Not so good?
: Vin says he's still unconscious...
: ...

So now this flashback changes...


So we do.



: (...Can I make it so that Ben's accident never happened?)
: (If I use my flashbacks... Think I'll give it a try. Who knows--I might be able to change things around here.)



===







*Examine*



: (I should just be able to take the rock in question and bring it through to the other side.)

And then we close the Hole.

===



===





: Huh? (Wh-what's going on?)

*Conversation: Ben/Vin*



Vin: All right, all right--calm down!



Morris: Look--Ben's hands are all torn up.



*Conversation: Jacob*
: :: sniff ::
: (Huh? What's Jacob doing here? Has he gotten caught up in some kind of trouble again?)





And then the whole questioning begins again. The differences:

*Conversation: Jacob*
: (...The reality where I spoke with Jacob has been erased again, eh?)

*Conversation: Morris; Question: What weapon did this?*
: I'd have to say he was hit with a rock or something like it.

Instead of asking if Ben has a knife, we ask if he hit Aaron.

*Conversation: Ben; Question: Why Aaron?*
: That's when they started arguing. The one boy got down on his knees and the boy with the glasses just kinda took this rock and...

And then we go off looking for Lucky again. We find him in a place I didn't know he could go.



After Morris calms Lucky down...

: I didn't know you had a dog!
: Oh, this fella belongs to a friend of mine.
: Right, Lucky?
Lucky: Woof!
: Let's go, Ethan.
: See you later!
: Bye!

When we return to Chronos, and find about Aaron's death:



: No--Ben said he was going to turn himself in.
: He wouldn't have the guts! I'm gonna go find him. Vin, you look after Lucky.
: Oh, er...sure thing.
: I'll come, too.
: Okay.
: I'll go take Lucky back to Jacob, then.

And when we go to the station, we run into Kori, and the chapter merges from there.



With just this minor change to account for Kori being seen again in this timeline.