Founder Ian

Ian pushed the door open and entered the Time Variance Authority.

Behind the door was not an ordinary office lobby, but an endlessly extending white space.

Countless floating screens drifted through the air, each one showing images from a different timeline: humanity colonizing Mars in the year 3000, the end of the universe in the year one million, the rise of the dinosaurs five hundred million years before the Common Era. Countless moments from countless parallel universes were playing out on these screens all at once.

Staff in gray uniforms moved through it all, busy and orderly. Some stared at screens, recording data; some operated floating control consoles; some hurried down corridors and vanished behind distant doors. The whole space was filled with a low hum—the sound of time flowing.

It was the echo of countless moments happening at the same time.

No one noticed him.

Ian stood in the doorway, his gaze sweeping over the space. At last, his eyes settled on a huge sign in the distance—a symbol combining an hourglass and a clock.

A line of words was written beneath it.

Time Variance Authority.

This was the place.

Ian took a deep breath.

Then he spoke.

His voice was not loud, yet it echoed through the infinite space, making the floating screens tremble slightly. "Someone come here."

All the staff stopped what they were doing.

Then they went back to work.

As if they had heard nothing at all.

Ian froze for a moment.

He looked down at his right hand. Purple light was still pulsing there, proving that he really was here, that he really existed. Then he looked up at the staff again—they were not far away. Some were operating control consoles, some were recording data, and some were speaking in low voices.

There was