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"Quit your whining and co his friend would ease up on the poor kid Tick didn’t like him either, but Sofia seeht do to retaliate

Begrudgingly, Sato finally started walking The sounds of footfalls crunching the thick undergrowth of the forest suddenly filled the air, echoing off the canopy of interwoven tree limbs

Tickto keep up with her pace "I have a question"

"Go on and ask it, then" Mothball pushed an enormous branch out of the way that everyone else simply walked under

"The alternate versions of ourselves in other worlds--does that mean there is one of me in every Reality?"

"That’s usually the case, it is We call ’eh the Realities can grow in vastly different ways from each other, there seems to be a definite pattern when it co to avoid a huge chunk of iant beard

"Even though a Reality overnments and cultures and cliree of people ree bird cawed from overhead, followed by the squeal of a small animal

"So in your Reality--the"

"The Fifth, it is"

"Yeah, the Fifth There’s a really tall version of ht noith parents naht Course, I’ve never erous stuff,closely and listening to every hile Sato hung back, only a couple of steps behind theh he acted indifferent to the conversation, Tick had a feeling Sato was intently paying attention

"Why is it dangerous to s with Tick in Reality Pris She changed directions slightly and headed down a shallow ravine scattered with boulders a the trees "I didn’t want to meet his Alterant in any of the other Realities Not only could it o mad, it could lead to the little sir meetin’ his taller self in my Reality Disaster, that"

"Why?" Paul asked

"If two Alterants nize each other for what and who they are, well, then only one of the poor blokes can survive Still trying to figure out the why and hoe are, but one of them ceases to exist Sometimes that causes a nasty chain reaction that can rattle the Realities to their bones Bet yer best buttons some of the worst earthquakes and such you’ve had were because of Alterants seein’ each other Master George and the Realitants have worked their buns off to avoid such ether She thinks it’s funny Mad, she is Crazy as a brain-dead Bugaboo soldier"

That was the second tiaboo soldiers, but he was too busy thinking about Alterants to ask any more questions

"Whoa, ht freaky stuff You’re tellingaround the universe? I better be a big-time surfer in one of them And a world-class pianist in another"

"Face it," Sofia said with a smirk "You’re a no-talent bum in all of them, just like you are here Or, there Or, whatever"

Paul stuck out his tongue "Sis, you’re hilarious"

"Callher fist