The-Man-Who-Folded-Himself-David-Gerrold

I will find the answer!
* * *
Yes. Of course.
* * *
I know what my mission is. I know who I am. I should have realized it when the timebelt was first
given to me.
I am destined to rule the universe.
I am God.
* * *
But I must never let them find out, or they will try to kill me.
* * *
I think I will kill them first.
* * *
If I ever get out of this room, I will kill them all!
* * *
I made a point of cautioning Danny, “I don’t know if he can be cured. But I am sure we can never trust
him with a timebelt again. I think we’ll have to be very careful to see that he doesn’t get out. A
paranoid schizophrenic running amok through time could be disastrous—not only for the rest of the
world, but for us as well.”
Danny was thoughtful as he peered through the one-way glass. “It’s lucky that we caught him in time.”
His voice caught on the last word; I think—I know—he was a little shaken at seeing the drooling
maniac he might have become. I hadn’t gotten used to the sight either. I said, “I think he wanted to be
caught. We got him at a point where he was still conscious of what was happening to himself.”
“If he ever does get his hands on another timebelt,” Danny asked, “he could come back and rescue
himself, couldn’t he?”
I nodded. “That’s partly why it was so hard to trap him. We had to get him into a timeline where he had
no foreknowledge of where he was going, otherwise he would have jumped ahead to help himself
against us. We wouldn’t even have known about him if he hadn’t kept coming farther and farther back
into the past; one of us must have eventually recognized what was happening and gone for treatment,
then come after this one who was still rampaging around. That’s when I was called in to help. We had
to deny him any chance to look into his own future until we could get the belt off him. The fact that he
hasn’t been rescued yet is a pretty good sign that this is the end of the line for this variant.” Danny
grinned. “Well, just the fact that we’re standing here talking about it proves that.” “Uh-huh,” I said. I
put my hand on his shoulder. “I’m from a line where they caught it in me before it got this far. I never
went through that.” I pointed at the glass. “You, you’re a variant too. You’re from even earlier.
Neither of us is in there. He could be incurable—and if that’s the case, then he has to stay in there.
Forever. He—and I mean all of us—has to be either completely safe, or the timebelt must be held
beyond his reach. The consequences—“ I didn’t have to finish the sentence. Danny bit his lip. “You’re
right, of course. It’s just that I don’t like seeing him there.”
“It’s for his own good,” I said. “More important, it’s for our good. If time travel is the ultimate
personal freedom, then it’s also the ultimate personal responsibility.” “I guess so,” he said and turned
away from the glass. I didn’t add anything to that and we left the hospital for the last time.
* * *