Earliest

The earliest memories are of fire and screaming, but there is no context except the boom of the storm, ever present. In your own memories, there is nothing to match this, but without context, you've no idea what this is.

Discrepancy

Five notable discrepancies crop up in his memories between early childhood and adulthood:

# Around 8 years of age, he alternatively remembers seeing seven men open a golden gate out of nowhere. They entered his room, looked him over, looked around, then left.

# Around 13 years of age, he alternatively remembers his third solo magical ceremony at school to be one that summoned an angra mainyu (destructive demon). It remained under control, then was banished by your professor. You were scolded and watched closely after that.

# Around 15 years of age, he alternatively remembers dueling a fellow student named Josiah Hazunam and killing him, then hiding the body.

# Around 16 years of age, he alternatively remembers Elias Craven, one of Josiah's Cabal, seeking revenge. He was turned into a spider in the ensuring fight between his cabal and you and your allies.

# Around 17 years of age, he alternatively remembers the burning of his school (which destroyed evidence of Josiah's death permanently).

Divergence

The memories of Mikhail and this alternative past diverge distinctly around the time he worked with the Sathers. In his own timeline, he worked with them extensively. In the alternative timeline, he never worked with them. Instead, he got involved with politics. He worked with the Alliance of Freedoms, a mix of nationalist separatists, ethnoseparatists, Guardians and their sympathizers, and libertarians and anarchists, all of whom wished for freedom from the tyranny of the Champions. Mao was attracted by their libertarian aspects, and got involved mostly to change some local regulations that were in his way. Instead, he ended up being their international treasurer.

In his own timeline, he was approached by Stephen Nimbus and engaged in the heist. In the alternative timeline, the heist never happened. He instead was working on a campaign in the midst of the Limazari Empire to alter its political direction, far away from Merukis.