He had learned to step to the side of the day.
* * * * * * * * * *
Look, I was just kidding about him stepping into some other dimension. In my heart, I knew that was a possibility because this is a Pynchon novel. But my head, which absolutely rules my heart, kicked my heart in the teeth and yelled, "No! That is dumb, heart! Go to Hell!"
So Lew does have a magic power and it absolutely has enough similarity to him crossing over from another timeline to this one to be seen as evidence to the theory of Lew's past life being that of a different Lew from this dimension, and Lew a strange traveler from another having replaced him. He had simply stepped too far to the side of the day one time and wound up here, perhaps filling the vacuum of the sinful version of himself who purposefully stepped too far to the side of the day to leave his sinful past behind him.
"learned to step to the side of the day"
This is perfect phrasing for keeping this seemingly magical ability in the realm of science. First, Lew had learned the technique. And while, sure, you can learn magic, one's first reaction to the verb "to learn" is educational and scientific. Secondly, "stepping to the side of the day" sounds technical. He is performing a feat that can be summed up in simple words, although it could definitely use some clarifying. And we are invoking "day" which syncs up with the title and the theme of light. It also suggests "invisibility," as if he's avoiding light somehow, and thus becoming unseeable by those around him.
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