Dome of Souls (Book 2 of 2, after Story Less Told)

Ch18: Beginning and Ending

"So you remember two worlds, and were never designed to be able to filter either. Explains why you are such a broken man." she admitted.

"I downloaded the other Greg's experiences to fill the chunk where I was asleep, unfortunately it seems that the similar timelines start to differ greatly around the time I went under, so it's hard to know what I remember and what is real. I even remember people that died and yet...here they are again. Seems the multiverse repeats key elements and discards others. I remember wars that never happened to the Earth you knew. World war 2 ended very different than the history books read, I remember an empire that I built that no longer exists and to everyone else...it never did. I've lost 2 empires, Izzy. I've even lost you before. You never noticed how I seemed to know you even before we met?"

"You're so confident, you seem to know everyone before you meet them. I assumed it was a combination of creepy stalker tactics and just sheer brute confidence in reading people." she sighed.

"We had a time, the two of us. Half of me and another you. That Orrah Gravenstead was very different than you are, but you don't forget that face no matter what the name or story is behind it is. Sometimes I even forget which one I left behind when I went into cryo."

"How do I know all this isn't just you manipulating me? How do I know you don't just believe in some crazy past that never existed? 2 Alternate universes, 2 Gregs, merged personalities, one with another Izleena. Where is the other you copy now?

"Classified. Even I don't know exactly, just waiting."

"Greg, you are damaged, crazy, too old to know what is real anymore. You could just be an old man with dementia and a need to belong somewhere in a world that left you behind. Everything could be cryo-dreams and defective implants playing tricks on you. Even you admit that you've suffered from hallucinations and memory gaps with inconsistencies and errors in your burned-out cranial implants." she said looking sad rather than angry.

"Maybe...it's possible. But too many people believe it without my excuses to make it up. You may hate me, Izleena...but I remember a you that I didn't. I remember a you that trusted me until the day she died, and this you might have, until Tatiana died. So why can't you trust me this time?" he asked.

"Greg, you're ill. You're mentally unstable. That's exactly why they exiled you. You may not be evil, but you get confused. You do things that don't make sense because you believe in things that aren't always real and you blend them with the truth until you don't know which really exists. And you're powerful enough to do serious damage, even believing you are doing the right thing. That is why you are stuck here and why I keep trying to make you understand this. I'm not plotting to destroy you, I'm trying to keep a sick old man where he can be helped, and maybe with some cooperation, even fixed." she explained.

"Well, that was a wasted bit of conversation." he sighed in disappointment.

"No it wasn't. I understand you now. You're not a tyrannical monster, hell bent on hurting others, you're a confused old man with weaponry he can't control and didn't ask for. I pity you, Greg. I understand why your children fight so hard to get you freed, but it's not what you need to heal. You need help, here, confined and safe from yourself and your demons, where the council can breathe easy, and I can help you through this. You were right about one thing...we're not enemies. You're just a sick patient, and I need to have more compassion for you. You can't help it, but you need to work with me to get better." she said with a genuine smile.

"Do you really believe I can heal after so long? Can this much damage even be fixed, let alone buried in the past and moved away from as a better person?"