Thief of Time - Repair

“Except in the case of the Glass Clock of Bad Schüschein,” said Susan, watching his skull. “They found that quite upsetting, even though it’s got a kind of happy ending.”

I MAY BE BECAUSE THE STORY IS TRUE.

Susan had known Death long enough not to argue.

“I think I understand,” she said. “You made sure the book was there.”

YES . OH, THE RUBBISH ABOUT THE HANDSOME PRINCE AND SO ON IS AN OBVIOUS ADDITION . THE AUDITORS DID NOT INVENT THE CLOCK, OF COURSE . THAT WAS THE WORK OF A MADMAN . BUT THEY ARE GOOD AT ADAPTING . THEY CANNOT CREATE, BUT THEY CAN ADAPT . AND THE CLOCK IS BEING REBUILT.

“Was time really stopped?”

TRAPPED . ONLY FOR A MOMENT, BUT THE RESULTS STILL LIE ALL AROUND US . HISTORY WAS SHATTERED, FRAGMENTED . P ASTS WERE NO LONGER LINKED TO FUTURES . THE HISTORY MONKS HAD TO REBUILD IT PRACTICALLY FROM SCRATCH.

Susan did not waste breath saying things like “That’s impossible” at a time like this. Only people who believed that they lived in the real world said things like that.

“That must have taken some…time,” she said.

TIME, OF COURSE, WAS NOT THE ISSUE . THEY USE A FORM OF YEARS BASED ON THE HUMAN PULSE RATE . O F THOSE YEARS, IT TOOK ABOUT FIVE HUNDRED.

“But if history was shattered, where did they get—”

Death steepled his fingers.

THINK TEMPORALLY , SUSAN . I BELIEVE THEY STOLE SOME TIME FROM SOME EARLIER AGE OF THE WORLD, WHERE IT WAS BEING WASTED ON A LOT OF REPTILES. WHAT IS TIME TO A BIG LIZARD, AFTER ALL? HAVE YOU SEEN THOSE PROCRASTINATORS THE MONKS USE? WONDERFUL THINGS . THEY CAN MOVE TIME, STORE IT, STRETCH IT…QUITE INGENIOUS. AS FOR WHEN THIS HAPPENED, THE QUESTION ALSO MAKES NO SENSE. WHEN THE BOTTLE IS BROKEN, DOES IT MATTER WHERE THE GLASS WAS HIT? THE SHARDS OF THE EVENT ITSELF NO LONGER EXIST IN THIS REBUILT HISTORY, IN ANY CASE.

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The Thief of Time - p87-88