Time is linear. It continues forward in one direction, never stopping, never reversing. The lingering past, the now present, and future beyond expanding out on and on. This is the most basic understanding of time. Einstein added the concept of space-time linking both time space and adding time as the 4th dimension of our universe. He showed that time is not as constant as we humans thought it was, instead it is malleable dependent on the conditions of the universe. Both speed and gravity have a hold on time stretching and squishing it when viewed relative to another observer.

However a new understanding of time has been established. Centuries after Einstein’s theory of time a new theory has been proposed, Erwin Ludwig’s theory of Time Refraction. Just like how light can be refracted using a medium the same can be done to time. Using a special type of matter as the medium our time stream can be refracted into an entirely different time stream creating a wormhole to alternate worlds. If refracted at the correct temporal angle time can even be forced to rewind. There are also possibilities of creating a looping time by refracting at very exact points in space-time.

This simple idea of time refraction allowed for the understanding that time is connected beyond our universe extending to other universes. Leading to the idea of the Time Braid, the concept that all streams of time are tightly held together in a braid like rope.