Shadows {Book one in the Coriana Johnson series}

Lots of Confusing Things

    "I'll just ask the question that someone should ask at some point ... is this even possible?" I heard someone- Coulson?- say.

     My head hurt. A lot. I wasn't quite sure what had happened, but all I knew was that I was in a lot of pain.

   "Technically, it's-fourth-dimensional perspective," I could hear Fitz say. I started to be able to pinpoint more of the pain. My left arm hurt really badly, and it felt like it was resting in something- a sling?

    "Well, Hermann Minkowski would say yes, for one," Simmons said. Hermann Minkowski? Who? I hadno idea, but I didn't feel like asking. Matter of fact, I didn't even feel like opening my eyes yet. I wanted to figure out what they were talking about first.

"That guy Edwin predicted everything that happened," Daisy said. Predicted? I thought. That doesn't make sense, but I guess I'll figure out later.

    "We had a similar experience with Raina, remember?" Lincoln interjected. Again, I had no idea who Raina was, but I wasn't going to ask.

    "That's a dumb question," May said. I smiled a bit. It's just what I would expect her to say.

   "Okay, got it. So, we all agree it's possible. Now what?" Coulson asked.

    "I can change it," Daisy responded. CHANGE WHAT! I yelled in my mind, but for some reason, I continued to just listen.

   "No," Fitz said.

     "We can reverse-engineer the visions, figure out where this went down, and get there ahead of it."

     "Save that poor man," Simmons said with sympathy in her voice.

     "You can't. I mean, fourth-dimensionally speaking, is all. If you saw the future, then that's the future," Fitz argued.

   "I don't want to believe that. I can't explain how it felt, but it was awful. I felt so helpless. I was inches away from him. I have to save him," So now I was totally confused. What was she talking about? WHO was she talking about.

     "Edwin called in with your name for a reason. Maybe you're meant to change it," Lincoln said. Again, CHANGE WHAT!

   "And we know what this homeless man, Charles, looks like," Coulson said. So now I knew who they were talking about, just not what.

    "And we're running a search," May said.

    "If Daisy can remember details about the location and we get there in time, we-" Coulson began.

     "Guys, there is no time," Fitz cut him off. "She glimpsed the fourth dimension. Time is an illusion. It's how we perceive the fourth dimension. Simmons." Oh, so they were talking about something to do with time.

    "It's mathematics. He's talking about spacetime," Simmons explained. Ok, that's a word I've never heard before.

    "How do you ... How can I explain this ? Right. We're 3-D, yeah ? Okay, but imagine ... imagine we lived in a 2-dimensional existence -flat, just like a piece of paper," Fitz said, and I heard him grab something. I opened my eyes a little bit. I saw him placing a piece of paper on a stack of paper. He bent over and I started drawing a diagonal line on the side of the stack. "We wouldn't be able to conceive of three dimensions, of...of...of a...a cube or anything that's not 2-dimensional, okay?"

   "Yeah," Coulson said.

    "Right, so, we flat paper people would perceive this 3-dimensional cube as many separate 2-dimensional moments. As time passing ... the point on the line traveling through space and time," He continued, running his thumb over the side of the stack so the papers were being flipped as he spoke.