Zoe turned back to face Al – whose blank expression offered no clue as to whether or not he cared that I had been hurt (which was disconcerting, considering the fact he said he’d been there when I died, which I assumed meant we were chums of some sort) – and pulled her chair next to his, sitting back down.

“So, Al…now that Sir Dicksalot is briefly outta commission…please tell me – in the simplest possible way you can – what the “In-Between” is?"

From my pathetically breathless perspective from the sofa across the room – (look, she throws a mean right hook, OK?) – I saw Al consider her statement for a moment, before finally answering her.

“Very well, Zoe. The “In-Between” is an artificial pocket universe, apparantly accessible only to the majority of time-travellers during a physically or emotionally heightened state. Letrodacta is possibly the only one who can enter this universe at will, likely because she is its creator, and has created the unusual quantum rules that govern that universe…"