Nathan was in the garment district of Metric and had found a number of places that made jackets very similar to the one he was holding. It was frustrating, but it solidified the community atmosphere of the place. Plans, patterns and designs were shared among the various shopkeepers and each individual built onto the basic idea rather than quibble about basic copyright.
He thought he was stuck, but a helpful merchant told him what he should have already known. “This has been in a paradox” he said, adjusting the optics on his glasses. “That’s not important..” Nathan began, but realized he was incorrect. “No, that would take some extra reinforcing to stay existing.”
As the words left his mouth the merchant flipped through his peers catalogues. “This one here” he said, touching a blank card to the particular advertisement, making a fresh business card for Nathan to find the place with.
“We don’t like to openly condone paradoxes, but this card should get you to the right person.” The merchant sighed. Untamed paradoxes could make whole neighbourhoods vanish, so making things to help facilitate working with them was frowned on in some circles. There was always a ‘test’ to see if the person getting the information was suitable for the task. Nathan’s reputation for making sense of things and keeping them under control very much preceded him and got him through some strange doors. It didn’t get him past the test though, as stray time duplicates and artificial clones still stumbled into things.
Nathan stood at the desk for a short time longer than was comfortable, and then tapped the card on the table, freeing any nano-ink bots that didn’t have a good grip to the paper. It made the thing look a little worn, which meant he could go straight to the location, rather than make a round about trip. The merchant smiled knowingly. The whole procedure for going to a Paradox Enabled business was a bit of security theatre, mostly padding the time so you’d think about what you’re doing. Very few people knew the link between the condition of the card and likelihood of finding the destination. Nathan had been through the trip a few times and noticed about the third time.
Most people who had figured it out partially thought each of the nano-ink bots were supposed to fall off at a set rate -- depending on how well you looked and a few other intangible variables. While other people got caught up in the drama of finding a particular location and the web of places they went in the meantime, the Detective saw through the illusion and noticed that the more use the card got, the faster he got to where he needed to be.
The idea was that more people could talk you out of causing a paradox, or at least prepare you for it. While that was part of their job, their real task was to evaluate you and ‘age’ the card, effectively stamping a passport.
Shortcircuiting the whole procedure, tapping the card for instant wear, was only possible for a very small window, and you had to have pretty good timesense to know when that was.
The merchant grabbed the card back from the Time Detective and put a finger on the corner of the paper. A few more of the nano-ink bots moved, and cleared out the less helpful versions of the address. “Not taking the scenic route?” asked the vendor rhetorically.
Outside his Timeship, the Polished Lightning, had finally decided on a new designation.
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