Emmett—

Emmett —

If you're reading this, then you've surpassed my expectations. Well done.

I didn't want to send you out here to find this letter. I wanted to tell you in person what you were up against, but the risk was too great. What makes you perfect for this mission is the same reason why you're volatile and unpredictable. You care too much about the variable. I don't believe I could have persuaded you into accepting the truth and assuming your role. You had to witness the Confluence Region for yourself.

There are many cross-dimensional instances where the variable's team, more often than not including you, entered Deadswitch Wilderness on the perceived date of July 13th, 2023 to collect and analyze data on the Alpenglow Glacier.

I know you're a man of science, though perhaps not physics. However, if you're familiar with string theory, you'll know that to solve mathematical inconsistencies within our theories of space and time, we must assume there are dimensions smaller than an atom that house the tiniest particles in our universe.

Perhaps this theory is correct. However, it doesn't account for an anomalous vibration pattern: a dimension curled into the size of Yellowstone National Park.

This is where you are right now, Emmett. You stand where I once stood many years ago, when I discovered the truth.

The Confluence Region isn't a place accessed only by our universe. Instead of universes existing in parallel, the Confluence Region layers time like a delicate confection. We can study the previous experiences of others, and ourselves.

We've traced the variable historically. With each entry, she discovers another piece to the jigsaw of the Confluence Region: how it exists, operates, manifests. This is the largest discovery humanity has ever made, and we must ensure she continues to have opportunities for breakthroughs.

Why her? Whether it's her intimacy with Wilder Feyrer's research or the way she analyzes organically, I don't know. We need more data, especially on the unstable factor she calls The Shadow. This figure may be our key to understanding more.

It is finally 2023 in our world, and we can have a direct impact on the variable from our dimension, referred to as Alpha Timeline within the literature. She must remain in the Confluence Region, and must stay alive for as long as possible. Any efforts by her to leave, while likely fruitless, still need to be corrected. We know from our historical data that the longer she remains healthy and within the region, the more she will learn, and the more our organization will inevitably learn.

Your job is to copy or capture her notes and deliver them to this cache, as well as the notes you write on her. The faster the variable makes breakthroughs in Wilder Feyrer's dataset, and the more she discovers on her own, the better, though we cannot extract you until she is dead, usually between eighteen and thirty-six months, though longer if you can protect her.

This also means you'll be risking your own life. Please understand that I have complete faith in your survival. You've survived many times before.

I am a generous man, Emmett. Survival and extraction won't be your only rewards. As soon as we've gathered enough data from both our own agents and the variable on the Confluence Region, we will open this project up to investors, and your compensation will be handsome.

We believe our firm's influence within the Confluence Region is unique. COtwo Industries is anomalous so far. The next variable that enters from another timeline may come from a place where our firm doesn't exist. The next Siena Dupont, and the next, and the next, may still be in love with you, or at the very least, a version of you. If you live and prove valuable to this mission, I will use what resources we have to isolate her for you. I know how much you care about her.

I am offering you a reset, an opportunity, and a life you've always wanted. Do not disappoint me .

I've left further instructions and your expected schedule in the binder. Good luck, and we appreciate your sacrifice.

—BB