[How do you start something like this ...? Man, it would've been much nicer if he could just play it off, but that seems kind of impossible.

If he actually ever read that guide, this would probably be a bit easier on him.]

This is going to sound pretty weird, but just bear with me, all right? [Well, here goes.] There's something a little ... weird about our world. It's sort of like it's got two timelines in it. [ ... ] Did the old man tell you anything about that?