Gatsby and Pilgrim 3
So why was she so angry about the loss of one UFO?
It wasn’t solely the fact that Gatsby the Great had appeared on Maxwell’s Island—a place, she suspected from having spied on certain interactions Harry Maxwell had with other members, that had a closer connection to a parallel universe than anywhere else on earth.
“Pick one,” the woman had said.
“Just pick one,” the woman had said.
“Congratulations,” the woman had said. “You are the newest member of the Paradox Club.”
After that, of course, Pilgrim 3 did study physics.
And she always had a soft spot for Gatsby the Great.
Because it had drawn her to the Paradox Club, she felt a special connection to the book, and she also believed it the most powerful UFO in the club’s collection.
She had read The Great Gatsby in high school, but she read Gatsby the Great over and over, reveling in the disparity between Fitzgerald’s novel in her universe and this alternate version and, of course, delighting in the wildly different ending.
What did it say about the universe where this book had originated that Gatsby was still alive at the end of the novel?
As she had risen through the ranks of the Paradox Club, she had kept Gatsby the Great closer and closer.
It was the one UFO allowed to stay outside the vault, because it was used to test potential members, just as Pilgrim 3 had been tested.
Since becoming keeper of the vault, Pilgrim 3 had often kept the book in her own office and even, on occasion, removed it to her home a few blocks away (in direct contravention of club rules).
So, Pilgrim 3 didn’t care if Gatsby the Great wasn’t strictly necessary to open a portal to another universe. She wanted that book in her hand tomorrow when she became the most famous person in the world, and she was goddamn well going to find it.