Only Humans

No Time Wasted

'Where are we going? Robin asked, eyes darting from one to the other.

'Nowhere until you've finished that coffee.' The man was looking down at his own cup. 'But afterwards we'll be taking you to a place where you can learn to give people time.'

'Me...? I mean, did you see me this morning? Worst time management ever. I can't even sort my own shit out, let alone...'

'It was bad time management, but you can become better at it.'

Robin let out an exasperated sigh. 'Seriously? Early to bed, early to rise? Or should I go for a morning run? I can't...'

'It's not that kind of time management', cut in the woman. 'It's about managing how much of your time other people take.'

'I live alone. I know I let people walk all over me sometimes, but...'

'Wrong.'

The man's expression was serene. His eyes were the only thing that betrayed his slight impatience. The whitish green was beginning to be tinged with orange.

'I think she needs a shock', the woman said. The man composed himself and his eyes paled again. He took a few seconds before he said:

'You are offering up your time for people in need of it.'

There was a moment of silence, almost like the moment after at the accident, but to Robin it felt more like relief rather than the shock it was intended to be. It was as if a secret she had been burdened with was finally out in the open, and with it the implication that the other world existed and that she was already part of it. Of course that's the way it is. Of course that's where her time went.

'The reason why it feels like you are losing time in the morning is because you really are. That's exactly what's happening. At the morning you are at your most vulnerable and most receptive so you offer up your time without even realising it.'

'Yes but the only person I'm spending time on is... myself.'

Robin knew this wasn't a valid argument. This was just what you were supposed to say in a moment like this, to tease out all the information, to get confirmation of what you had suspected for a long time.

The man obliged.

'The time that passes is not all spent on yourself. You are donating chunks of your morning to others in need of it. You are...' But at this point the woman cut in.

'Listen, we both know you understand. It's okay if you're not surprised. Ask the questions you want to ask, not the ones you think you should be asking.'

Robin felt another of the straps in her chest give. She had not realised before how painful it had been to keep every breath in so tight.

'The place where you came from... is it a secret organisation of some sort? Or an alternate universe?'

'It's not alternate, it's very much the same universe we're in right now,' smiled the man. 'Just not all facets are perceived by everyone.'

'So the multiverse theory is real?' Robin asked. It briefly crossed her mind that this might be an elaborate setup or a dangerous scheme, and these strangers were playing to her narcissistic tendencies. She was so ready to believe that she surprised herself. But she promptly decided that she would rather undergo a dangerous test of those beliefs than pretend they weren't there.

'Of course it's real and everyone knows it. Everyone spends most of their sleeping hours roaming free between universes. But you don't even have to do that to give time to others. You are very much able to do it here and now.'