The Third Option

Note: This is a Stranded in Space™ fanfiction, all Characters and locations appear courtesy of Wildman Games. More on them at the end of the story.The Third Option

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The many-worlds interpretation posits that everything that can happen has happened somewhere in some universe. Every breath we take, every possible eye roll and muscle spasm, or lack thereof, has its own universe to exist in. Essentially creating an infinite number of different universes, almost identical except for one small detail.

This is nonsense.

People championing Chaos Theory and the Butterfly Effect want us to believe that the smallest changes in the initial set of parameters can cause ever more extreme differences in their results as the time frame we observe them in grows longer. Every choice we make could theoretically lead to either our death or our survival.

This is nonsense.

Some people think our universe is entirely deterministic. Every particle has a set position and course in space and they all react according to the carefully arranged laws of the universe. There's no room for variation. Everything that has ever happened and will happen was encoded at the beginning of time. It just has to play out.

This is nonsense.

The concept of free choice might have us convinced we can change our future. You guessed it; it's nonsense.

As any writer worth his salt could tell you, there are only a handful of moments in our lives that we can truly influence. Choosing between tea and coffee in the morning does nothing in the grand story of your life. Events that were meant to happen will happen regardless. But every now and then, for some of us more often than for others, our story diverges. We are given a major decision and our story can be split into two distinct narratives. You could commute to work via public transportation and possibly meet the love of your life. Or, you could drive yourself, come in early and because of that gain that huge promotion you've been hoping for.

It is October 19, 2169 and somewhere on the route from Earth to Elysium, we find a casually floating vessel full of women and a single male. It has been sixteen days since Blake Aster awoke from cryogenic sleep to find himself Stranded in Space with more beautiful women than he could have wished for. He now stands before the closed doors of bridge control. Paige, the AI ensconced in his brain, is trying to calm his nerves. He is moments away from a bifurcation. The continued story of his life will drastically change today. He must make a choice between Ariel, a blond bombshell of a girl, and Haylee, her sexy, red-headed sister.

"...Just shoot me." The words cross his mind, unbidden, as the doors to bridge control slide open. The two Kirsen sisters are waiting for him in silence, their backs turned to each other and the doorway. Blake remained still, admiring the two beauties from the open doors.

"Bang!" as always, Paige is more than happy to accommodate him. Their silent banter always managed to lighten his spirits. "It'll be okay, I promise!" she reassures him, "Just choose who you like more! It will all work out in the end; I can feel it!"

The girls turned to face Blake as he stepped inside the room, offering him nervous smiles. Ariel, wearing a black form hugging suit with red and gold accents, stuttered a small welcome, "H-hi, Blake... It's nice to see you...".

"How excited are you to see us? You look thrilled!" Haylee smirked, determined to come across as more confident than she truly felt. Her blue overalls with the deep décolleté left little to the imagination. Both girls looked stunning, and Blake was about to dive into a desperate ramble when Ariel interrupted him.

"Haylee and I talked last night, Blake. If you don't choose..." she trailed off in that shy demeanour that made her irresistible.

"Then as we said already, we're both walking away." Her sister finished the thought.

"Yeah... We're determined... I'm sure you're wondering if we might eventually give in..."

"We won't. Ari won't let me, and I won't let her."

Ariel began to find her own determination in her sister's confidence, "Yeah. We made a pact. To break that pact would mean abandoning our relationship as siblings and friends. I would never speak to Haylee again. She would do the same."

"Which is why we're not bluffing." Haylee nodded in complete agreement.

The moment of choice was rapidly approaching. It was clear the two girls were not going to let Blake off the hook. Two paths stretched out in his mind's eye. He could pick Ariel. The beautiful blond virgin would love him with abandon, but she was also naive about his wilder, more promiscuous side. Ignoring all the shipwide banter about his sexual escapades and harem building. In stead, she chose to fantasize about living life with just the two of them. The other path offered Haylee, less interested in building a nest and future with him but far more adventurous and accepting of his current lifestyle. The story of Blake's life would be drastically changed by this looming Major Decision.

Indescribable amounts of neutrinos pass harmlessly through planets, moons, spacecraft and biological lifeforms each and every nanosecond. A neutrino colliding with any other particle is one of the rarest events in the universe. Deep in Blake's head, right on the barrier between his biological brain and Paige's artificial home, a neutrino collided. An event so rare, it triggers the nigh impossible. An event so rare that its occurrence breaks the laws that govern our narrative and makes it possible for Blake to force the Third Option.

"It's not going to work, you know." He let his head hang in surrender. "Whoever I don't pick will resent the other. Whoever I don't pick will be jealous of the other. How will you two hang out after I choose? In the future, I mean. Imagine the conversation. 'What did you do today?' - 'I was with Blake.' Do you see that going well?" He had a pleading look on his face.

Ariel seemed to want to interrupt with some twisted logic but Blake wasn't done with his cosmically inspired rant. "It's dumb anyway. There are fifteen other drop-dead gorgeous women on this ship. All willing to share without restrictions or terms and conditions. I'm not the one with an issue here. Why should I even indulge your demands?" Despite his words, Blake felt no anger. He was calm and collected; rational.

The two girls watched him gesticulate with his hands, as if he was collecting the words from a week's worth of frustrated thoughts, hardly taking the time to stop and parse them through a mental filter. pace to and fro, spewing forth his frustrated thoughts from the last week. "Do you even understand what you are asking of me? You claim you're okay with me having sex with anyone else except your sister? You want me to provide joy, gratification, love and caring to any of the other girls who ask it of me, except your sister? You want everyone to be happy and comfortable, except your sister? How twisted is that?" He stopped to look each of the stunned girls in the eyes.

"...B-but..." Ariel began with tears welling up.

Silence fell, and with his inside voice, Blake pleaded with his AI companion. "I should just walk away, Paige. I shouldn't even have entertained this notion of theirs. It's as dumb as you are."

"...That might work, but..." Paige atypically ignored Blake's jab, "...They genuinely seem resigned."

"I don't care. I'd rather they're united against me than divided because of me." he told his incessant companion before continuing his conversation with the sisters, "It's you two who seem to take issue with this, so it should be you two who need to figure out how to proceed. Not me. I shouldn't have even let it go on for this long. I will conduct all my relationships aboard the Endurance the same way. You are both still welcome to hang with me if you want. I will not lie to keep a secret fling, but at the same time, what we do together won't be shared with anyone without your express permission. I will continue to treat both of you the way I deal with anyone else onboard. We talk, we hang, maybe we flirt and it's up to you how far you want to take it. I won't volunteer anything we share, but nor will I lie about it." He paused for a few seconds, letting the girls mull over his words. "Please know that I am not angry, nor do I hold anything against either of you, but the ball is in your court now."

With that speech, Blake Aster had picked the third of two options and forced the universe to change to accommodate him. Oblivious to this momentous occasion, he turned around and left the room, leaving two silent sisters staring at the closing doors.

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It is October 20, 2169, and somewhere on the route from Earth to Elysium, we find a casually floating vessel full of women in cryogenic stasis. A precious accident of fate has awoken a small number of them and thrust them into the life of one Blake Aster. Today one of them, Tiffany, followed her feet into the hydroponics rooms to enjoy the plant's fresh oxygen. Heated Muffled voices trickled in from the corridor, too muffled by the metal doors to make sense.

"... it your way, Ari. It didn't work." Tiffany could barely make out the words through the metal doors. She opened them.

"What's going on out here?" the words fell from her lips, involuntary and irresistible, as if she were meant to speak them. For some reason her mind lingered on she expected to find Blake, but he was nowhere to be seen. She saw only the two sexy Kirsen sisters in the hallway

"Hey, Tiffany..."

"Hello..."

The sisters did their best to keep their voices in check, but their flushed faces spoke volumes about their emotional state. Tiffany frowned, "Hi there." She appraised them with alarming speed, "Is my rival giving you two problems? Your expressions look grim."

"...N-no.." Ariel began her weak protest.

"Liar!" Tiffany's interjection was sharp, but she didn't elaborate.

"More the opposite, in fact..." Haylee offered.

"Really?" Tiffany managed to fill her single world with an entire saga of scepticism and cynicism. "I just want to know what's going on between you three. Maybe I could help."

The two sisters remained silent, loath to air their dirty laundry in public. Their issues with Blake were their own, after all.

"Haylee? Did you two fight over Blake or something?"

"...Yeah, that's definitely the simplest way of explaining it." Haylee hung her head.

"I see. But now things are better? He's having sex with both of you?"

"Nope. We asked him to choose between us."

"Why?" she exclaimed incredulously.

"...Why did we have him choose? ...Because we're sisters... It'd be weird if he was with both of us..." Ariel offered. Haylee avoided meeting their gazes.

"Interesting." Tiffany studied Haylee's face for a second or two before continuing, "Well. This is dumb, girls. It's not gonna work. Everyone on the Endurance knows it's not gonna work. Why not just have a threesome together?"

"What!?" The two sisters exclaimed in unison.

"We're sisters, Tiffany." The words were offered softly but accusingly by Ariel.

"So?" Tiffany countered irreverently, "Blake is a huge fucking pervert. He would love to have you both in his bedroom. You're both pretty sexy. Not as sexy as me, but who is? I'm guessing this was Ariel's idea." She didn't wait for an answer but watched, bemused, as the two sisters stared on in shock. "Grow up. The sister thing makes it hotter. I'd sleep with either of you if you were my sister. Stop being dumb--both of you."

Haylee grew heated, "What the fuck, Tiffany? Why are you being so rude to us? I thought we were friends."

"Ha. Phony." Tiffany interrupted before turning back to the door, leaving the two girls stunned with her final words, "I know you want to, Haylee. You find Ariel hot; stop lying."

With those words Tiffany Spires had reinforced the third of two options, forcing the universe deeper onto the taken path. Oblivious to this momentous occasion, she re-entered Hydroponics, leaving two stunned sisters staring at the closing doors.

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It is October 21, 2169, and somewhere on the route from Earth to Elysium, we find two sisters celebrating their shared birthday the same way they've always done. They've chosen an unclaimed bunk in an out-of -the way part of the Endurance dorms to watch cartoons in bed. But as the blue Platypus outwits the nefarious Python and his inept sidekick in hilarious fashion, Ariel Kirsen cannot stop fidgeting with the hem of her pyjama top. Her sister, Haylee, lay pressed to her side with her head resting on Ariel's shoulders.

"Haylee..." Fidget -- wiggle.

"Hmmm... yeah?"

Silence -- fidget -- twiddle -- twitch.

"Hmmm?"

Fret -- fiddle -- squirm. "uhm..."

"Yes?"

Jitter -- fuss. "...Well... it's about yesterday."

Haylee stiffened slightly, "W-What about yesterday?"

Ariel sat up and turned off the screen, "...Tiffany...". Her voices sounded thin and anxious in the sudden moody atmosphere. They had turned down the lights in this section for better viewing. While it had been cosy just a minute ago, now the low light reflected the girls' low mood.

"Don't listen to Tiffany. She's crazy." Haylee replied woodenly. She swung her feet off the bed and turned her back to her sister to hide the lie. "S-she'll say anything to get Blake's attention."

Silence -- fiddle -- fuss.

"Blake wasn't there though."

Silence -- stir -- squirm.

"Haylee... was-- ... --was she right?"

Silence -- twiddle -- twitch.

"Was she? Haylee? Please tell me." She finally stopped fidgeting.

"Tell you?" Haylee's voice sounded reedy as if from a great distance. "Tell you what?" she asked, looking her sister in the eyes, "What do you want to hear, Ari? Certainly not that I think you are beautiful? Or sexy?". She paused for a mere second. "That I'm jealous of how effortlessly you attract men? Or that, had we not been sisters, I would have flirted and seduced you?" She stood and paced in front of the bunk still occupied by her stunned sister. "Would you like me to tell you that I would have shared Blake with you in a second, family or not... sisters or not. Or... or... or that this whole family-sister thing doesn't bother me at all? I'd be down for a threesome with Blake and you. Hell, I'd be down for just you and me." Irked, she dropped down on the opposite bunk. "Is that what you want me to tell you?"

"...You think I'm... sexy?" Fidget -- fiddle -- fuss. Ariel trembled, her voice unsteady, her demeanour jittery.

"Yes."

"B-but you told me my virginity was all I had going for me!"

"Yes" Haylee deflated, remorsefully. "I also told you my birth control pills were candy. I lied."

"And you think I'm sexy?"

"Yes."

"You're not lying?"

Haylee held out her hand, "Ari, Come uphere for a second."

Silence -- twitch -- squirm. Hesitantly, Ariel reached for her sisters hand to climb out of her bunk. "Do you trust me, Ari? Close your eyes."

The dorms were silent, the light soft. Slowly, the blonde closed her eyes. She unwittingly held her breath. She felt something soft brush against her lips. Again. She finally releases her breath and for the first time ever feels her sister's lips press against hers. For the first time ever feels her sisters lips open ever so slightly. For the first time ever feels her sister's probing tongue. Her mind blank, she leans into the sensation and opens her own lips to accept the kiss. Cliches come and go, each more applicable than the other. Seeing stars, time dilation, the confusion of self.

The two sisters break, catching their breath. Eyes closed, foreheads touching, Haylee smiles as she smells her sisters breath mingle with her own. Silence dominates while reality sets in. "B-but we're sis--" Ariel's words trail off, unwilling to complete the thought.

"So? Do you want more?" Haylee whispered seductively. Her hands inching their way to her sister's hips.

Silence.

"Yes, please."

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From minute to hour, time past by inevitable and inconspicuous. Blake, oblivious to that morning's fateful affairs, continued roaming the halls and corridors of the Endurance when his obtrusive companion alerted him to movement in the mech bay. "Look at Haylee, sitting on a mech, all alone on her birthday..."

"She likes the Mech Bay, Paige. You want me to cry?"

"I'm not trying to! It's just that I love her, Blake... you really have no idea how much I love her..."

"Do you, Paige?" Blake added sarcastically.

"YES!"

A second of silence flew by. Blake realised this was more than just mere playful banter from the perpetually lascivious AI. "... I know, which is why I'm going to go make things better." He paused for effect. "That's what's going to happen, isn't it?"

"Totally!"

Warily he approached the mech, "Happy Birthday, Haylee."

"Blake!" The redhead exclaimed, "Hey. Thanks! ...It's nice to see you."

"And you as well. ...Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not. ...Want me to come down there?" she peered down from her high perch. "Need some help? This mech is a lot harder than the other..."

Playfully Blake replied, "Help is for the helpless. Know what I say? Help-less. Watch and learn." Haylee laughed an okay as she watched him whimsically feign a difficult ascent. "Easy peasy" he quipped.

"Wow, you did that all on your own." Haylee smirked, "Impressive!"

"Yeah..." Blake responded mischievously, "I've always been talented. Shall we sit?"

"Sure!" she smiled warmly, but a silence fell over the mech bay regardless. They sat in silence for a moment or two.

"So..." Blake began cautiously. "Again I'd like to say: Happy Birthday." Pause. "I don't really know how you feel about me ever since..." his voice trailed off.

"Ever since you walked out on me and Ari?" unable to look him in the eye she let her head hang and her shoulders droop. "I'm fine, Blake..." she smiled weakly at him. "Thank you for the happy birthday."

"I see..." Blake mulled it over in his head, "Not that I want you to be... sad, but..."

"You're wondering why I'm fine?" Haylee thought it over. "Eh, I don't really know. I'm rarely sad, I guess. Don't get me wrong, I'm bummed about the situation. But... I'll live."

"That's a mature stance to have, Haylee."

"Why didn't you pick?" she asked him. "...I wouldn't mind knowing while I have you here. I'm just wondering what it was, because I thought you and I were getting along great and I was... somewhat confident after our date."

Blake sighed deeply, collecting his thoughts, "It's really not you, Haylee. I loved our date too." He smiled apologetically at her. "If it were up to me I would be with both of you. If there's a question that needs asking, it's: Why was I forced to choose in the first place?"

Silence.

"...That's a great question..."

Blake decided to take a gamble, "From the beginning, I got the feeling you didn't want me to choose and that it was mostly Ariel's idea. Am I right?" A stillness hung in the air like a thick drapes, "I'm guessing you've been sworn to secrecy..."

Finally Haylee responded, at first her voice was surprisingly soft and meek, "...I wouldn't have made you choose, no. But I get Ari's reasoning..." Trailing off her sentence, Haylee gathered her courage and took in a deep breath before continuing. "We were fighting a lot, Blake. I don't think you realize how much we were fighting. It was more so than at any other point in our lives..." She sought eye contact for emphasis, "For me, the arguing doesn't bother me as much. I could fight with Ari everyday and it wouldn't really affect my mental health all that much. I mean, I'd prefer us not to fight, but at the end of the day, arguing doesn't take a toll on me like it does on her. I can argue and then, five minutes later, be happy and fine. For her, an argument will ruin her night..." She broke her eye contact, turning her head left, "Arguing makes her really sad, and I don't want her to feel that way. It would have been nice not arguing with her..."