You leave the library and climb into a tower that seems older than time itself. Three mirrors reflect three versions of you: young, prime, and elder. They speak over each other in a loop of age and time. The tower leans in, curious to know your answer.

Question:
You stand before a temporal mirror that shows three versions of yourself: Young (age 20), Prime (age 35), and Elder (age 70). The mirror speaks: ‘I am 35 years older than my young self but 35 years younger than my elder self. Together, our ages sum to 125 years. How old am I in this moment?’ But wait — time flows differently here. If temporal years are 1.5 times normal years, how old am I in normal years?

Hint: “The mirror boasts of standing two strides of thirty-five from youth and age—yet its arithmetic doesn’t quite keep a straight face. Unmask its true number, then shrink it back to ordinary time by undoing that one-and-a-half stretch.” Use a decimal point.

ChainQuest