by M. Modak
He did not have a plan, but Kayla was now here. There was no easy solution for Aughra, but he was sure one would present itself. He had a hard time, even after being here, believing that multiple universes existed. Boy, I was wrong.
Kayla was mad as hell. She wanted to know what was going on and where they were. When John would not answer her questions directly, in front of everyone, she started acting hysterical. She hated not being in control. She could be one of the most reasonable people on the planet, ready to give sound advice. He remembered her acting that way the first year of their professional relationship. After they had spent a significant amount of time together, he began to see her dark, irrational side. She could be an emotional wreck. The problem was you never knew which version of her would show up. Right now, it was the emotionally unstable Kayla, in an hour who knew.
The EMT arrived quickly; it had been a slow night. They checked Kayla and him out but only found elevated heart rates. Kayla kept pushing everyone for answers, but no one there understood advanced Entanglement Theory or had any idea what effect S-matter might have on particles in such a state. They all thought she had lost her mind, and for the most part, they were right.
John understood that Michael was her husband in this world, and he was near madness himself seeing her like this.
John kept trying to give her hints about what was happening, but she was too upset to see through his cryptic statements. Finally, he just yelled at her that he would explain later, but she was not having any of it.
The whole time the nurse was tracking her blood pressure. She said to Kayla, “Young lady, if you don’t calm down and let your heart rate settle I’m going to have these young men strap you down.”
Kayla paused just long enough to give the nurse a long dirty look, then she turned right back around and started all over again, now she was screaming her questions at John, “Where is Aughra? Who are these people, and what happened to the lab? Where am I?!”
With Michael’s assistance, the EMT strapped her down to a gurney and took her outside and into the waiting Ambulance where she was given oxygen. After a few minutes, she seemed to calm down. In a calm voice, she asked Michael if she could talk to John. Michael did not know who John was, but he guessed she meant Joshua. He only nodded to her, scared of who she had become and worried about what had happened to his Anna. After Michael left the ambulance, John opened the door, climbed in and shut it behind him.
“John, what the hell is going on? Where are we, who are we? Who are these people? That woman, Rana, she looks like your ex-wife, what’s she doing here?”
John was sure there was no easy way to say this, “Kayla, Aughra has bridged our universe with another parallel universe and somehow it switched our minds with the bodies of people who look exactly like us. Actually I think that somehow they are us but different. It all has to do with quantum entanglement, choice and observation…” He trailed off as he noticed that she was giving him that, stop bullshitting me look. He took a breath and asked, “Do you have the memories of the woman you switched with?”
Kayla looked down at her hands and feet as if she could find some evidence to what he was saying. She said, “I only have my memories.”
“The S-matter must have affected me differently, somehow? I remember every detail of the life this person, Joshua, once had. You remember those dreams I told you about this morning. This is that dream…” he paused in thought then asked, “Did something unusual happen to me just after Aughra turned on?”
“John this is silly, you are you. There is nothing different about you…” But she paused as she took a longer look at his face and arms.
He could tell she was starting to see something. He thought about a scar on his forearm. Joshua had gotten it in a jet skiing accident when he was a teenager playing drunken chicken with a friend on another jet ski. He had done the same thing; only in his life, they had missed each other because he had pulled away at the last possible second. Josh did not. It had been a big day for him, as he recalled, a moment that had always stuck with him for some reason. He pulled his sleeve back and saw the white scar from Joshua’s memory. It ran up from the inside of his wrist, stretched around his arm and nearly reached his elbow. He looked at Kayla. She had seen every inch of his body and could not have missed something like this. Her eyes went wide.
“Did anything happen to me?” He asked again.
“The magnetic fields holding the S-matter in pod 1a failed. It opened and the entire sample poured on you.” She replied, as she looked closer at the scar.
“I remember that. Did any get on you?”
“No, by the time I got to you it was already absorbing into your skin.”
John turned his head in thought, it absorbed into my body? He bit down on his lower lip as he wondered about the effects of S-matter on human tissue. He had seen videos of lab rats affected by extremely low doses of the quantum entangled S-matter. The rats had exhibited unusual behavior. Some seemed to reverse in age by a few weeks while others just disappeared, or were, “lost.” All the rats had been given several tests before the experiment and they were retested after. Nearly all of them had shown increased cognitive abilities. Different abilities had manifested in each but some could interfere with the electrical fields that powered the lights and doors to their cages. Many thought that was how some had disappeared.
They were able to do other things too but that part of the report had been blacked out. The subsequent papers that followed gave many nonsense conclusions, but one statement he had found at the end of one report, by the lead researcher had stuck out in his memory. It said Groups ZA3256- ZA3356 were able to repel gravitational forces over short distances.
He looked back at Kayla and said, “Do you have any scars or birthmarks?” Then he remembered. “That tattoo of a butterfly on your ankle, is it still there?”
Kayla pulled her dress up to her knees and then turned her foot. John saw a perfectly elegant leg, complete with smooth skin and no tattoo.
“Your Anna here and you’re married to that man, Michael, out there,” John said. She pulled her dress up over her waist and was a little surprised to see that she was not wearing panties. She twisted her hips towards John as she strained to look at her backside. She gasped then screamed, “My birthmark is gone!”
Just then, the exit doors flung wide open, “I’m sorry I have to…” The young Ambulance Driver who had helped Michael stuff her inside the Ambulance saw her exposed butt and quickly averted his eyes.
Michael and Rana were standing to the side looking in with their mouths wide open and their heads cocked to one side. Kayla’s face reddened as she dropped her dress.
The young man said, “Sir, miss, I’m sorry but I have to go. Normally I would take you two to the hospital and have the doctor check you out, but you seem ok,”
“It’s not what you think,” Kayla said as John nodded his head.
“Miss I don’t care about that, there has been a sudden emergency just down the street. Actually, there are dozens of emergencies just called in. I can come back for you if you want to wait here?”
“No, that won’t be necessary.” John said.
Kayla had gone pale, but she shook her head in agreement. John helped her off the bed and to her feet. Michael and Rana were waiting just outside the doors as the two reached the ground.
“Look, what you saw in there…I mean I was trying to help…and-,” John stammered.
Kayla interrupted, “I was looking for my birthmark…and... uh, oh whatever!”
John noticed something about Rana had changed, she was not freaking out as he thought she might. She was just staring at him, looking for something. He saw Michael looking at Kayla the same way, though his face was a little red.
Michael glanced at Rana. She said, “Joshua, Michael has invited us all to see your new office.” John could tell something was strange in the way she had said his name. He was sure she knew something was up. He realized that his ex-wife would have noticed hi
m changing like this in an instant. She had a way of sensing anything that changed within him. It was no different now. He looked at Kayla for back up but she was still in shock. He knew the calming effect from the oxygen would soon ware off, and she needed somewhere safe to rest. She was a strong woman, but being ripped from your own universe and placed in another woman’s body was something anyone would have a hard time getting used to.
At least John knew he could trust Rana. He did not know Michael, but he was a person Joshua had come to trust in a short time. Michael was also someone with great talent at solving problems and he had connections all over the world. He needed answers. If he and now Kayla had switched bodies, could it be that more people would follow or was it just localized to him and her because of their proximity to Aughra? And there was something else. He felt that this was where he should be. He didn’t understand it. It was just a feeling... Joshua was use to them, these feelings. Joshua trusted his feelings though he did not always act on them.
John looked at Rana and then at Michael, trying to decide how much he should tell them, how much could they handle? He decided he would have to lay down his cards and trust what his guts were trying to tell him, these people could help.
“Ok Rana,” John turned to Michael, “we need to talk. Your office is probably the best place for us to go.”
Michael looked at his wife. He saw the body of Anna, but he knew instinctively that she had changed. He only wanted to understand that change and know if the woman he loved was in there somewhere.
*******
The elevator stopped at the top level and the four of them stepped onto the hardwood floor. They had all traveled in Michael’s car; no one had said a word the whole way. Kayla had regained her strength as she kept trying, unsuccessfully, to steal quick glances at John in the back seat. It just made the tension worse. He could tell she fully understood the situation now, though she had not quite gotten all her bearings yet.
Kayla was a quick study, and she knew things about people that john never could, at least not until now. Right now, oddly enough, he understood the dynamics between the four of them better than anyone did.
He remembered back when he was running the lab by himself, when he was drunk and depressed all the time, he had noticed her easy way with the other team leaders. They respected and trusted her. Therefore, after getting to know her, intimately, he asked her to keep up with the office politics for him and help the team stay happy and focused on their task. He gave her an official promotion to Lab manager and a big raise.
She rarely brought any personal problems to him. Several people had thanked him privately for putting her in charge of Human Resources. He had laughed at that; he had put her in charge of everything, but Aughra. If anybody could manipulate a crowd, it was she, but now something had changed in her.
The group walked silently down the hall. Michael said, “My office is the first door on the left.”
As they passed the lounge, Kayla stopped in her tracks. John followed her gaze to the refreshment stand sitting under a dim light.
“You want something to drink? I can make you some coffee.” Michael offered.
John pealed his eyes away from the refreshment stand and said, “I think… that would be a good idea.”
Michael pointed through the domed foyer to the first door on the left. The gold sign that hung there simply read, Michael. “That’s my office over there. The door is unlocked. Please go in and have a seat, I’ll get us all some coffee and something to eat.”
Kayla hesitated, she was still staring at the refreshment stand; John gently tapped her on the shoulder. She turned without a word and followed. Rana began to move toward Michael’s office.
“Rana, could you help me with the cups?” Michael said casually.
“Sure Michael.” Rana looked at John, but John just kept walking. She turned around and started back for the lounge.
John opened the office door for Kayla and after she entered, he walked in. The door slowly closed behind them.
Michael was waiting by the refreshment stand when Rana walked up. He was just staring at her as if deciding what to say next. Then he simply said, “Well what do you think?”
Rana looked back at the office door checking to see that it did indeed close. She returned her eyes to Michael, “I don’t know Anna, though somehow I doubt she would show her ass to Josh like that, but that man in there is not the Josh I married.”
Michael nodded, “Anna doesn’t even recognize me. It’s as if she has lost her memories or…”
Rana finished his sentence, “It’s as if someone else is in their heads.”
“Has Joshua ever met Anna before today?” He asked.
“I don’t think so. If that were so, it would have been the first thing he would have told me when he got home today…but I did distract him a bit. No I don’t think they have ever met.”
Michael started making the coffee as he thought about it. He pulled some bagels out of the breadbox and started heating them up. When he finished and they were waiting, he said, “Did you see the way the two of them were staring at the refreshment stand just then?”
Rana looked off to the side as she recalled, “Anna stopped and just stared at it for a moment and then Josh did the same thing. I thought it was odd but after all that has happened…”
Michael said, “I know, but the thing is Joshua did the same thing this morning when I first met him. He told me that he had seen one just like it somewhere. Earlier tonight, when Anna and I were getting ready to meet you guys, she told me that before lunch Joshua had said he had seen that same stand in a dream.”
Rana looked up at that. “Josh has been having some strange dreams lately.” She paused with an idea. She pulled out her flexphone and dialed some numbers. After a few seconds, she unrolled the flexscreen and began to read.
Michael began pouring the coffee into Keep Warm mugs and preparing a tray with cream, sugar, honey and milk arranged on it. He took the bagels out and placed them in a warm box. He looked up at Rana to see her eyes wide open staring at her flexphone.
“What is it?” He asked.
She handed him the unscrolled flexphone, “This is a copy I down-loaded from the Dream Journal Josh keeps by the bed.”
Michael took the flexphone and began to read. When he finished he asked, “Is there anymore?”
Rana said,” Yes, he’s had several dreams lately. He told me that over the last two weeks he’s been having the same dreams about a scientist who looked like him. He was working on some big science project. He said it was so real to him that for a moment, just when he woke up, he wasn’t sure which world he was in. I thought it was weird, but you just have to know Josh, he says stuff like that sometimes. He has a big imagination.”
Michael glanced up from the flexphone, “I know. I hired him because of that imagination and his practical way of solving problems. He takes an unusual approach to life. That’s what my team and I like about him. We are in the business of original thinking and practical solutions. Can you download the rest of his journals?” He handed her back the flexscreen.
Rana felt bad for sharing Josh’s personal thoughts and dreams like this, but she was sure that the man in the office with Michael’s wife was not her husband and only Michael understood that. She said “Yes!”
After she downloaded all the Dream Journal files to her flexphone, she sent it all as an attachment to Michael’s personal flexphone. The two of them sat down drinking coffee and began to read. For the first time, all the dreams Joshua had been having were very important to her. When they had finished she saw that Michael was on a chase in the corner of the lounge still reading the same files. When he finished, he sat up and looked at her with a disbelieving glint in his eye. He said, “I can’t believe what I’m reading!”
“Believe it, it’s all true Michael.” Joshua’s voice startled them.
Michael and Rana had been so focused on what they were reading they had not noticed both John and Kayla standing
there watching them. Michael stood to his feet.
“When Rana sent the file to your flexphone a copy went to the computer in your office,” John said, “Joshua’s Dream Journal just appeared on the view screen right in front of us as we were watching the news. We read them too and,” he paused as he looked at Kayla, “it’s all true.”
“You’re Kayla?” Michael said as he looked at Anna.
Kayla met his eyes with compassion. I’m sorry Michael, I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s not only happening to us.”
Rana stood up and said, “What do you mean?”
“Come and see.” John replied. He turned and started for Michael’s office.
On the far-wall, John had 18 of the view screens divided among the 17 major networks, and the last 1 showed Joshua’s Dream Journal. They were all reporting the same thing. Mass chaos was breaking out all over Atlanta and in smaller parts throughout the world. Hundreds of people had collapsed over the last hour and were waking up claiming to be someone else. The CDC had no comment, but many worried that there had been some kind of terrorist attack using chemical warfare. Several times during the live broadcast reporters had changed. A reporter had recently fallen unconscious, and right there before everyone’s eyes, she had gotten up and started acting as if she were someone else. The affect was happening to everyone the rich, poor, men, women, old and young alike. There was no immunity, and it was spreading fast. The only trend was that this was mostly happening in Atlanta.