Challenge 880

Turnabout

In J. H. Malone’s Drunk on Time: Saul helps Cannelita find her car key but without using Liesl’s scanner:
1. In what way do Saul and Cannelita engage in a form of time travel?
2. How do they change the past without creating a paradox?
3. How might Saul’s approach to searching for the key have been more efficient than using the scanner?
4. Has the scanner yet revealed anything to Saul that he didn’t already know or couldn’t imagine?
In Crystalwizard’s Quantum Fantasy:
1. Why might one come to the opposite conclusion, that everything is real?
2. What does the quantum level of reality actually do? What might its purpose be?
In Jeffrey Greene’s Only You Will Find Me, Elspeth is obviously a ghost. At the end, does Elspeth become real? Or does Alan Brierly die in the snow? Or does he go to live with Elspeth as a ghost, his love fulfilled only as a dream?
In Martin Grise’s The Knighthawk:
1. Why would the U.S. Army be fighting the Climate Wars abroad? In the state of global warming described, would the Middle East even be inhabitable?
2. Is it geologically feasible to build a sea wall in south Florida?
3. How might Oversteen discover that Ryan is the blackmailer? If Oversteen did find out, why might he laugh?
In Natan Dubovitsky’s Near Zero: In light of Yegor’s weekly calendar of emotions, does he have a true emotional conflict with regard to Mamaev? How might his state of mind be described? What might happen if Yegor met Mamaev again on a Sunday? Would he know what to do?
In K. A. Williams’ Meredith’s Perfect Boyfriend: How might Meredith’s previous, current or prospective boyfriends feel about her acquiring an upgrade for her android, Bill?
In Bill Kowaleski’s Martin Betrays the Conspirators:
1. Have Jason and Miles taken exceptional care to keep their relationship secret?
2. What does James tell Jason about the fossil-fuel cabal? Would anything come as a surprise? Whom does Jason contact?

Responses welcome!