He barely makes it to the train as Madden is left behind on the platform by just a matter of seconds. When Dr. Tsun arrives at his destination, he receives directions to Dr. Stephen Albert's home, knowing that Madden is approximately twenty minutes behind him. To this point, time and reality have progressed normally. Upon reaching Dr Albert's house, normalcy is cast aside. Dr. Albert greets Dr. Tsun warmly even though he does not know Dr. Tsun or even that he was coming. Dr. Albert immediately begins to talk about "the garden of forking paths", a labyrinth of which Dr. Tsun's ancestor, Ts"ui Penm wrote (Borges, 2877) . Dr. Albert shows Dr. Tsun a copy of the ancient text. Dr. Albert explains that the book is the garden and that time is not a constant, linear progression. He explains a reality where infinite times exist simultaneously and out of reach of one another, where ever decision every person makes causes a new fork to branch off of one path and begin its own. The book itself is infinite in that it simultaneously presents all possible outcomes for the situations and characters contained within. Dr. Albert states:.
In the work of Ts"ui Pen, all possible outcomes occur; each one is the point of departure for other forkings. Sometimes, the paths of this labyrinth converge: for example, you arrive at this house, but in one of the possible pasts you are my enemy, in another, my friend. (Borges 2879).
A long discussion takes place during which the reader may forget that Dr. Tsun's purpose for coming here was to get a message to Berlin. Without warning, Dr. Tsun shoots Dr. Albert just as Madden bursts through the door. It turns out that Dr. Tsun had no knowledge of Dr. Albert before their meeting that night. The name of the city in which the English hides the weapons cache is Albert. Dr. Tsun hopes that when Berlin receives news that he has been arrested for the murder of Dr. Albert, they will interpret his meaning.
