“Yes, the Apoka dates are usually based on the death of someone you were
emotionally attached to,” the clerk said. “In fact, you wouldn't even be here if it
wasn't for your mother,” the clerk added.
William didn't remember much about his mother. He was five when she died.
“It was a plane crash if I recall,” the clerk said. “She chose Chortazo. If she
would have chosen Apoka and relived her life starting at her last point, you and
your sister may not have been born at all. Your life doesn’t become fixed until you
have an Apoka Point.”
William gasped. He hadn't thought of his mother in years. She had been a faded
memory for him. He hadn't even had a dream with her in it since 1991.
“And then there's your grandfather in 1999. You don't know but there were so many
lifetimes that he lived before choosing Chortazo. In one, you had a stepmother and
stepsister. In another, you had a half-brother. All of those times he chose Apoka
were times you died. Stories that ceased to be since he chose Apoka.”
His grandfather had helped raise him along with his grandmother after William's
mother died in the plane crash.
“Then there was your grandmother's death in 2005. She chose Apoka over one thousand
times. The only time she chose Chortazo was the one life where you happened to
survive. Every other lifetime, you ended up dying before her.”
While the clerk's story seemed far-fetched and inconceivable, William got the sense
that the man sitting across from him told the truth.
“And finally, your father. He also chose Apoka every time you died. You died so
many times, Mister Further. It's as if fate wants you dead but the way the system
works, you keep coming back.” The clerk sighed. “It worked out perfectly for you,
since your Eklektos date is years after your father's death, you could never create