The concept for Victoria & Seth, the second book and third music album in the Null Paradox steampunk multiverse, is about the character’s sometimes serene, sometimes tumultuous relationship. A series of Storytimes shares the background of both characters.

As with the first book and music album, Gertrude & Grace, each chapter in the upcoming book Victoria & Seth corresponds to a song on the third album. The songs share additional details about the book.

We’re releasing each song ahead of the book.  Three have been released and fourth is being released on 2024 May 8.

Null Paradox | Grief & Grieving

We’ve described the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler process of grief and grieving, On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss, in an earlier letter.  But it’s time to reveal that Victoria’s own process includes ten stages as related to her relationship with Seth.

• Phase 1
  • Denial
  • Anger
  • Bargain
• Phase 2
  • Despair
  • Resentment
  • Depression
  • Numbness
• Phase 3
  • Acceptance
  • Recovery
  • Possibilities

This list makes it seem like the grief and grieving process is linear, but it’s far from it. Victoria jumps back and forth between stages, from being strong to backsliding. Then starting again.

Null Paradox | Physics

The nonlinearity of Victoria’s grief brings me to the multiverse concept. It’s the basis of worldbuilding within Null Paradox.

Physicists describe the multiverse as an object that contains all possible universes. At its core, the Null Paradox multiverse is the same, but how we navigate the infinite permutations of each universe within the multiverse is different.

Victoria Zero

To keep things understandable, the primary Victoria is Victoria Zero.

In Null Paradox, Victoria’s life is actually a series of tiny hops from one universe to another stitched together to create the life she experiences. This is facilitated by a machine briefly described in the first book, which plays a more significant role in the second book.

But what do all the other Victorias do in the multiverse? Do they wait around until it’s their turn to play a fleeting part in Victoria Zero’s life? Or do they have a life of their own that is briefly absconded by Victoria Zero?

And how far do they, as people, stray from Victoria Zero?

The answer to the last question: the essence of Victoria remains the same through all the possible permutations. But there are significant variabilities in their relationships and actions. 

Unsurprisingly, what Victoria looks like changes too.

Victoria One

Make no mistake, Victoria Zero is feisty, loving, and a warrior.  

But Victoria One is darker. In her universe, she wasn’t as accommodating to Seth during their relationship. The repercussions of Victoria One’s actions aren’t as different as you’d imagine from those experienced by Victoria Zero. But the acceleration of the repercussions is significantly faster in Victoria One’s universe.

If you linearly aligned their timelines, Victoria One experienced things before Victoria Zero. If only there was a way for them to communicate… Which brings us to a future story about The Bully.

Victoria One
Model | Analise Rios
Concept, Photography, AI Prompt Engineer | Tom Libertiny
Image | MidJourney AI