Instead of stripping to join the others in the grotto, Gramps found the private room that, he assumed, he and Anne would be sharing.​

     "Who am I?" he asked Claudia. "I know the life I've lived and the people I've loved, and I refuse to let my memories go, but...Who am I?"

     "We were afraid of this," Claudia said. "You're not adjusting."

     "Fuck you, Claudia."

     "Sorry. I'm saving myself for Adam."

     Then,

     Tap, tap on the door.

     "Whoever it is, I do not want company," Gramps said.

     Tap. Tap.

     "Go away!"

     The door opened...

     and a Galatea slipped in.

​     She looked like every Galatea there. White beyond white, but, besides that, spectacularly beautiful.

     This one still wore her flowing, white robes.

     "I'll ask you to leave politely at first," Gramps said, "then I will repeat myself, and, every time I do, I will be less and less polite."

     You don't understand," she said. "We Galateas were each born to lead a force that would rise to defeat The Fours. In each of our timelines, we were unable to do so and were killed."

     "Then who am I talking to?"

     "A miracle. This is all a miracle. With each of us, our fathers were Adam Forwarder."

     Gramps froze. No, it couldn't be.

     "It's true," she said. "I know that you were once Adam Forwarder yourself with your own universe to save, and that, because we lost and our timeline was consumed by The Fours, you have, ever since, blamed yourself."

     "'We' lost?"

     "It's wonderful to see you again, Father."

​CONTINUE