[ time to get started, then. moves his mug aside so he can gesture at the table, launches into an explanation like it's second nature, ]
Lesson one. Your world - the planet you live on, its sun, and all of the stars in your sky... that's your universe. [ he splays his fingers and moves them in a wide circle. ]
But there are an infinite number of universes running parallel to yours... so we cleverly call them 'parallel universes.' Some of them might be very nearly identical to yours, with some minor cosmetic changes. Maybe Braavos's sails are lime green rather than purple. But others will be nothing like yours at all - different stars in an unrecognizable sky. [ holds his hand up in the air, in a wide arc. ]
You can think of the multiverse as pages in an impossibly massive book. It's nothing like that at all, but if it helps. You exist on one page, one universe, and you can't see or touch or hear any other page, you can't visit them... unless you know how to punch through, like ALASTAIR does. The page we're on right now has been torn to shreds, until only a little piece remains.
We're here to stop that happening to the rest of the book.
no subject
[ time to get started, then. moves his mug aside so he can gesture at the table, launches into an explanation like it's second nature, ]
Lesson one. Your world - the planet you live on, its sun, and all of the stars in your sky... that's your universe. [ he splays his fingers and moves them in a wide circle. ]
But there are an infinite number of universes running parallel to yours... so we cleverly call them 'parallel universes.' Some of them might be very nearly identical to yours, with some minor cosmetic changes. Maybe Braavos's sails are lime green rather than purple. But others will be nothing like yours at all - different stars in an unrecognizable sky. [ holds his hand up in the air, in a wide arc. ]
You can think of the multiverse as pages in an impossibly massive book. It's nothing like that at all, but if it helps. You exist on one page, one universe, and you can't see or touch or hear any other page, you can't visit them... unless you know how to punch through, like ALASTAIR does. The page we're on right now has been torn to shreds, until only a little piece remains.
We're here to stop that happening to the rest of the book.