Learning to Love Time Loops Without Going Insane

Cal woke up the next loop as usual but rushed out of bed as soon as he heard his father’s voice. “Coming, Dad, no problem, I’ve got it right now. Go ahead and get to work.”

“Alright, just don’t get in any trouble, please.” Stan sounded suspicious of Cal’s readiness to do any kind of chores, but he didn’t have time to further investigate, or he’d be late.

Cal waited for his father to leave the driveway before he looked at Bug and asked a single fateful question. “Bug, what do you remember?”

She looked up at him with a giant dog smile on her face. “We’ve had two great adventures now, and it’s really weird when the sky goes white like that, but Many Legs. She’s very nice. Did you know she used to have a dog too? She really misses him. I think it’s very mean what those bears put her through.” Bug spoke like an eight-year-old who had just drunk a whole pot of coffee.

Cal was amazed his life had managed to get somehow even weirder. He leaned down and scratched Bug behind the ears. “Good girl, but I’m going to need you to do something for me.”

“What?”

“No talking in front of Dad until I tell you it’s safe, okay?”

“Aww, but why? He heard me talk last time.”

“I know, and I know this is all really new for you to learn. Right now, only you and I remember things from before the white flash. So whenever we end back here on this day, that means everyone else has forgotten what’s going on. Hopefully, we can change that in the future, especially considering you’ve joined me in this, but I don’t know. I think we need to talk to future Andy this time around, so no big dangerous adventures.”

“Okay,” Bug looked around the room and then trotted off to her food. “Hey, Cal, now that I can talk, can I eat more steak?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thanks Cal”

Cal still decided to bring Andy into the knowledge circle this time. He wanted both young and future Andy’s thoughts on Bug. Andy spent the rest of the time talking to Bug and learning how she perceived the world, and he just kept muttering “fascinating” over and over. Bug had the goofy expression on her face that she always did when getting attention and kept interrupting the questions, demanding that he throw her a ball or stick before they continued. Cal smiled at the interaction, happy he wasn’t totally alone in these loops anymore, even if a talking Bug would take a lot of getting used to.

Cal sat his father down later that night, planning his usual talk when Bug walked into the room. “So, about that steak we discussed earlier, how about tonight?” Stan nearly jumped out of his chair. This was one of the few times Cal had ever seen his father startled and burst out laughing.

“Dad, just listen,” Cal managed to get out between laughs. He broke down the loops' events as usual, including the now-talking Bug.

“So does this mean if I were to eat some of the power, I’d end up remembering too” Stan did not look like he particularly liked the idea of eating a weird glowing rock.

“I don’t know. Keep in mind this also gave Bug the ability to talk and reason more like a human, so there’s more to it than just remembering the loops. That’s why I need to discuss this with future Andy this time around. See if he has any ideas or guesses about how we secure the stone without causing a white flash or an alien hit squad tracking us down.”

“What are your plans in the meantime? Keeping our little Bug quiet doesn’t seem like an easy task.”

“No, it doesn’t, but I’ve been thinking about that, and while she can talk, her formal education is nonexistent. I think we should buy a larger plot of land, and I’ll stay there with Bug for now. I plan to work on her educational basics, reading, math, that type of thing. I’m also considering hiring her a tutor, but that gets more complicated as I’ll likely need to find someone I think I can pay enough to keep quiet about her.”

“And what about you, this loop? Besides Bug, how do you want to spend it?”

“This is going to sound strange, but I think I’m going to enroll in college. No clue what I’m going to take yet, classes-wise. Hell maybe I will just start taking random ones each loop. I figure, though, if I’m stuck here for years each time that, I should probably start learning as much as I can. Thanks to the last few loops, I’m probably one of the resident experts in the world on caving, so why not see where I can push my brain.”

“If nothing before had convinced me, you deciding school mattered would have brought me on board with the repeated apocalypses.” Stan laughed, stood up, and walked to the freezer. “Well, I guess we owe Bug a steak thanks to your promises, though you better break out those lotto numbers if we are planning for this to be a nightly thing.”

“STEEEEEEAAAK!” Bug shrieked, running around the kitchen.

Cal spent most of this loop in college just taking each course he could to see what he enjoyed, where some of his most significant knowledge gaps were, and what he most enjoyed. He quickly learned that anything in the math area was not going to come easy to him, but he was determined to at least press through the basics and see where he could get in future loops. On the other hand, he found he enjoyed history a lot. This loop he spent reading as much as often as he could. He figured since his time was more or less unlimited, he could branch out and read in-depth historical accounts instead of the history books that covered things in broad strokes. He was happy he found something else he could enjoy through his new infinite existence.

Bug, on the other hand, was something different. He had eventually managed to find her a tutor. She was a former professor of English who also used to train dogs. She was retired now and in her seventies, but Cal had learned she was a shut-in with no real family left. This made her the perfect person to befriend and bring into his world.

“Hi, this is Cal. We spoke on the phone about my strangely intelligent dog,” Cal spoke into the intercom beside her door.

“Yes, and if I remember right, I said I wasn’t interested.” A cranky older voice responded.

“I understand, but I brought Bug with me, and I promise if you just give her one minute of your time, she will spark your interest.”

“Do you promise to leave me alone forever after the minute is up when I tell you to get fucked?” Cal liked her more already.

“Absolutely.”

Cal heard the door being unlocked from the inside, and an older face appeared at the gap. “Well, get in here.” Cal looked her over once inside, and she looked in decent shape for someone her age. That was a good sign. “Alright, young man, prove the dog is so special that only old Ethel Rose can train her.”

“Well, I didn’t say only, but you are probably the best, at least in the state.”

“Get on with it kid!”

“Bug, you’re free to talk.” Cal looked down at Bug as he spoke.

“Really, you haven’t let me talk to anyone new since I scared the mailman.” Bug’s tail started wagging vigorously.

“I… need to sit down.” Ethel slowly got the words out as she settled into one of her chairs. “This isn’t some insane joke, right? Bug here can actually talk?”

“I can, I can also play fetch. I’m not very good at reading, though. Cal keeps trying to teach me, but I don’t understand how the lines talk.”

“And that’s the core reason why I tracked you down. Bug needs a real education. Better than something I can provide. I owe it to her.”

“How exactly can she talk?” Ethel reached her hand out for Bug, and she gladly walked over for her head to be pet.

“I can’t really explain that yet, but, and this is going to sound insane, I know if I were to try to get you to teach Bug again. Do you have something I could tell you right off the bat that would confirm I was telling the truth?” Cal wanted to cement his ability to get her on board easily in future loops. He had no idea how long Bug would take to catch up to a human adult in terms of knowledge. He had been trying for years on his own and had made very little progress. She was able to do some basic math, but he could never get past a block on any kind of reading. She just seemed unable to grasp the difference between text versus talking and why it wasn’t talking to her when she looked at it.

“You show up unannounced and tell me Brutus was a good dog and deserved better, and I bet I listen much faster. Kid, you, this is all bizarre, and I’ve heard a lot of weird shit from students over the years.”

“I know, trust me, I know. Now, our next problem is logistics. I live several hours north of here, so commuting daily is out of the question. Would you prefer I buy a house down here or buy you one up there?”

Ethel thought about it for a few minutes. “Hmm, it is probably best to keep Bug in her comfort zone for now. I need to work out how to structure her education, but I think I will start at the early grade school level and go from there. Oh, and make sure I have a nice backyard. I want plenty of birds to visit.”

“No problem, I’ll have your walkthroughs started this week.”

“Good, good, now get out, I need to think, talking dog, still can’t believe it.” She muttered as Cal and Bug excused themselves.

And that was how Cal and Bug spent the rest of the loop, him in college and her in remedial school. Ethel and Bug made a lot of progress, starting with pattern recognition and slowly building up her brain’s ability to process differences there. Ethel had decided to start Bug even further back, around the toddler level, and go from there. It took years longer for each concept to be mastered than it would a human, but she was learning them, and she wasn’t really aging either. That became very apparent when Cal hit thirty, and Bug was still running around like a pup. By the time thirty-seven rolled around, she was still going strong.

On the afternoon of May 8th, Andy knocked on Cal’s door. “Hey, buddy, ready for the last day of this go around?”

“Not particularly Cal. I feel like I must just be doing the same thing over and over again. So much time wasted. Think of what I could accomplish if I had the same memory retention as you.”

“Yeah, but it’s just memory. The details get fuzzy the longer out you go from when it first happened. What we really need is a way to pass diaries across loops or even a whole vault. Now, that would be great.”

“Yeah, that’s a pipe dream. We haven’t even figured out how to pass me across loops yet.”

“True. Wanna grab something to eat before the big event?”

“I could eat.”

They were sitting on the couch enjoying another round of tacos while Cal caught Andy up on Bug’s education when future Andy took over.

“The vomit bucket is beside the couch. There’s Coke in the mini-fridge.”

“Ah, yes, I see you can learn, good.” future Andy grabbed the bucket and walked out of sight for a few minutes.

“I still don’t like you!” Cal called after him.

“Why didn’t you bring the dog?” He asked once he returned. He grabbed a coke and sat down.

“I’d like to keep Bug thinking Andy is nice, not a jackass.”

“Seems like a waste, but whatever, I still don’t have any real power here. I’m guessing you want to discuss the stone more. I’ve already told you everything I know.”

“Yes, but what can you guess?”

Future Andy sighed loudly. “Grab your laptop. Let’s see if we can determine the locations of the alien attacks.” It took a few minutes, but they were able to pinpoint Dallas, Detroit, Seattle, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Cairo. There were more sightings in other countries, but the details were sparse, and Cal figured he’d need to be in that country when it started for better local news.

“Initially, I thought they were attacking other places, perhaps with fragments of the stone, but based on what happens when you try to split it anytime after the last bear interaction, that seems unlikely. That means they are attacking for other reasons.”

“Great, so we just have more mysteries on our hands.” Cal interrupted.

“Yes, I never said this was going to be easy, it took me a very long time to even bring you into this. I know you think I’m a giant asshole, but let’s see how well you are doing once you hit your twentieth loop, let alone your one hundredth.”

“Wait, how long have you been at this?” Cal was genuinely curious about just how many loops Future Andy had struggled with the little sliver of time he had to effect any change at all.

“Long enough that I don’t know anymore.” Ugh, now he actually felt bad for future Andy. Cal was not happy about this revelation.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry, but what do we do from here? I’m running out of ideas on how to stop the aliens.”

“I think you were on the right track with studying the stone. Try keeping that up, but see if you can beat the bears to it so that it’s more sturdy. Also, if you have someone willing, why not try and see if you can bring them into the loop the same as the dog? Couldn’t hurt to try.”

“Thanks, so back to more experiments.”

“Good luck.” Future Andy was back to his usual sarcastic self. “You’re going to need it.” The white flash hit as he chugged down the rest of his coke.