“I figured as much,” I said, keeping my thoughts on the matter to myself. “So why are you up here?”

“When it comes to me and the other ‘Edwards’ we might all be the same person, but we’re not always of the same mind,” he said. “You know what our purpose is; we’re supposed to minimize damage, rein in the jumps, and help guide the sub-loc to the place they started.” Then he gave me that smile again. “But once in a while there’s a sub-loc who’s incredibly good in the position.”

The idea that I was actually good at this was not reflected in my long string of fails. “If I’m good, then I’d hate to see the bad ones.”

He laughed at that. “You have no idea what you did in your last jump, do you? Most sub-locs just limp from one world to the next. But you soared through Elsewhere like you owned it. In those first few jumps, yeah, you didn’t know what you were doing, but these last two? You exerted your will. You controlled the game.”

And although I didn’t feel like I controlled much of anything, I kind of got what he was saying. Last Friday, I took the change in, rather than letting it roll me. And on Wednesday . . . well, obliterating Ralston and his goons was an act of will. I chose to do it, whether I liked it or not.

“You might be just a lineman on the field,” said Teddy, “but from a universal perspective, you’re a quarterback.”

I wasn’t ready to buy it, but I couldn’t deny that I liked the way that sounded. “Why do you think that is?”

“My theory? It’s all about balance and knowing your center of gravity. Your sport has trained your mind and body to be aware of such things—and that awareness is something you take with you into Elsewhere. You don’t stumble when you’re in there. That allows you to take decisive action.”

He stood up and suddenly tried to push me off the roof.

“Hey!” I shouted. “What the fuck?”

But he only smiled. “You see? I just pushed you as hard as I could. You didn’t lose your balance. You didn’t even have to move your feet.”

He came toward me again and I put up my hands, ready to hurl him off the roof if he tried that again, but he didn’t.

He laughed and looked at me with what I could swear was admiration. “You’re trying to bring the world back to the way it was, but you have to admit, that world wasn’t all that great. What if you could do better?”

Better. Now there was a loaded word. Katie wanted me to do better. Funny, but I thought I was already doing the best that I could.