Starship Asterisk*

Dr. Skeptic wrote: What happened to the branes that caused the creation of time?
(Branes existed before time)

I'm sorry, but this sounds nonsensical to me. How can something exist before time? It seems to me that at the instant that something exists then time starts.

Where did branes come from? At some point there had to a time when there was no matter or energy and then branes existed. How did all of the matter and energy of these branes arise from nothing?