by E. C. Myers
“They wanted to give us a head start, they said,” Ephraim said. “But they were really giving themselves a second chance.”
“If a multiverse reaches its Omega Point, every universe in it reaches it, too. Not so great for most of them. Our universes still had millenia of living to go. But it's a great deal for the transhumans whose clock was running down,” Scott said. He looked up. “Tick, tock. Tick, tock.”
“Bastards,” Nathan said.
“They were willing to wipe out most of the multiverse to save themselves?” Ephraim asked.
“They used us,” Scott said. “It wasn't enough for them to commit suicide, they had to take everyone else with them.”
“I assume there's a way to change the plan, if you brought us here,” Ephraim said.
“A massive dump,” Scott said.
Nathan giggled. Scott and Ephraim glared at him.
“Of data,” Scott said. “If we're approaching the kill screen of the multiverse—game over—then the only thing we can do is hit reset early. Before it runs out of space.”
Scott waved his hand over the console again, and the circles started disappearing from the screen until there was only one left, right in the center. He put his coin on the console, and the circle became a silver disc, which slowly rotated.
“We have to start over,” Scott said.
Ephraim gazed at the screen.
“This is what Dr. Kim's trying to do,” Ephraim said. “You agree with her?”
“She's a very smart woman,” Scott said. “She's picking up the multiverse's slack, adding order to a chaotic system. She's bought us some time, but she's being too selective. It's like bailing water in a paper cup—you'll never work fast enough and the cup won't hold together for long. More realities are spawning every nanosecond, taking the place of the ones that are gone.
“Entropy has to take its course. Nature abhors a vacuum, but it abhors artificiality even more,” Scott said. “And too much order is just as unnatural.”
“You want to get rid of everything all at once,” Ephraim said.
“This is the last thing I want to do, Ephraim. But this isn't about what I want. It can't be personal. That's where Jena is getting this wrong.”
“But all those people in the multiverse…”
“We can't save everyone.”
Zoe had told him the same thing. He knew it made sense, but…
“How do we choose one universe out of all those possibilities?” he asked.
“Pick one randomly,” Scott said. “That seems fair. It doesn't really matter, so long as some life goes on somewhere and has the chance to split into new realities when the multiverse settles down again.”
“Why haven't you done this already?” Ephraim asked. “What do you need us for?”
“To make this work right, we have to delete all the data we have on those other universes and disable all the coheron drives—simultaneously. And funny as it seems at the moment, I can't be in two places at once,” Scott said.
“So call them and tell them what to do,” Ephraim said.
“If I contact Jena and ask her really nicely to please destroy her drive, she probably won't listen. I need someone I trust implicitly to pull this off.” Scott looked at Ephraim and Nathan. “You two will have to do.”
“Thanks,” Nathan said dryly.
“You have to delete all the recorded coordinates for every universe you've visited, except for the one universe you're going to preserve as the template. Every file, every backup. If it's even written on a piece of paper, that might be enough to keep it real. Information is that powerful.”
“What if someone's memorized the coordinates to a universe?” Ephraim asked.
“Kill them.” Scott stared at him impassively then burst out laughing. “Just kidding. I think we only have to worry about physical records, but then again, I've never done this before.” He smiled. “Or maybe I have. Maybe we're all part of the multiverse's grand design.”
“Does a video recording count?” Nathan asked, looking at his camera.
“You asked which universe to save,” Scott said. “I think the one we have the most information about makes a good choice. That'll stabilize it and give it preferred basis. You have a lot of footage of your universe.”
“But every universe has tons of footage. All those security cameras. All the videos uploaded to the Internet. That's probably even more true in the future, right?” Ephraim asked.
Scott nodded. “But this is the only footage of a universe that exists outside of the universe it was recorded in.” He snapped his fingers at Nathan. “Keep recording.”
Nathan gave him a thumbs-up.
“This feels awfully selfish,” Ephraim said. “I don't feel much better about this than Dr. Kim's plan. Why is my universe any better than hers?”
“I'm not saying it is.”
“Are you sure there's no way to prevent more than one universe from disappearing?”
“It's risky to try to save too many. Some universes will probably stick around anyway, once there's enough room in the buffer. When we erase the information we've been saving and remove the coheron drives from the multiverse, it'll all be up to chance—as it should be. The universes may simply disappear, or they could merge in unpredictable ways. But that's better than wiping the slate completely clean and pushing all of us to the Omega Point, yeah?”
E pluribus unum. One from many.
“Okay.” Ephraim took a deep breath. “Tell us how to pull this off.”
Ephraim and Nathan appeared in the atrium of the Everett Institute. Ephraim grunted as his ears popped from the change in pressure and elevation while Nathan knelt and retched.
Ephraim stretched his jaw to clear his ears and helped his friend to his feet. Nathan had tears in his eyes.
The gyroscope of the Large Coheron Drive was still. Ephraim reached into his pocket and touched the token Scott had given him. The smooth metal disc vibrated gently against his fingers, as if reacting to its proximity to its sister machine.
“Is that it?” Nathan cocked his head back to study the LCD. “It's smaller than Scott's.”
“Uh-huh,” Ephraim said. He checked the cameras positioned all around the atrium, wondering if Dr. Kim was watching them. He'd expected alarms to go off when they arrived, but it just showed that she no longer counted Ephraim as a threat, and she didn't know about Nathan at all.
“Put your hand on that panel.” Ephraim pointed at the flat black plate mounted beside the door to the control room.
Nathan glanced at him skeptically, then pressed his palm against the biometric scanner. A moment later it pulsed green, but it didn't open. A numeric pad appeared on the screen.
“Crap. Your analog is more paranoid than I thought,” Ephraim said. “What would you use?”
Nathan thought for a moment, then typed in 1-2-3-4-5.
“That's a stupid password,” Ephraim said.
“That's why no one would try it,” Nathan said.
“Well, it didn't work.” Ephraim squinted at the skylight. He'd lost all track of time in Seattle Below, but it looked like early morning here. Doug's blue balloon bobbed lazily against the glass. “We'll have to find Nathaniel or Zoe for access, then.” Preferably Zoe. “Let's head up.”
Nathan's handprint opened the doors to the main portion of the building without any difficulties.
They walked quickly down the corridor to the elevator.
“Should we take the stairs?” Nathan asked. “To preserve the element of surprise?”
“If anyone's paying attention, they already know we're here,” Ephraim said. He pushed the call button, and the elevator started down from the top floor.
He tensed as the doors opened, but it was empty.
“What floor?” Nathan asked as they entered.
“Ten.”
Nathan jabbed the button and hummed his own elevator music as they rode up. Just as Ephraim was going to throttle him, the elevator dinged.
“Te
nth floor. Mad scientists, evil doubles, and ex-girlfriends,” Nathan said.
The doors opened. Ephraim peered out, but there was no one waiting for them.
“It looks clear,” he said.
Nathan nodded. “I'll cover you.”
“With what?”
Nathan smiled and pointed the camera at him.
“Great.”
Ephraim stepped out of the elevator and looked around. It was empty. Where was everyone?
“It's quiet,” Nathan said.
“Don't you dare say what you're about to say,” Ephraim said.
He held up a hand. There were voices coming from the conference room on the left. He turned back to Nathan.
“You hear that?” Ephraim whispered.
Nathan nodded.
“I'll check it out,” Ephraim said.
“What if it's Dr. Kim?”
“Maybe I can reason with her. I have to face her sometime.”
“That's your brilliant idea? You're going to talk to them?”
Ephraim eyed Nathan's camera. “It works in movies. Er. It sometimes works in movies. For a little while.”
“It never does,” Nathan said. “Well, hardly ever. She isn't going to listen to you.”
“Probably not.” Ephraim eyed Nathan's camera. “I have a cooler mission for you, in case talking doesn't work out.”
Nathan grudgingly gave him the camera, and Ephraim told him what he wanted him to do. Then they split up. Ephraim took the left side of the lab, and Nathan went to the right.
Dr. Kim's office was dark, but the conference room was lit up and occupied.
Ephraim approached the door. The last thing he expected to see inside was Nathaniel, Zoe, Jena, and Hugh playing poker.
The door was locked, but his handprint released the latch. He opened the door.
“Surprise,” Ephraim said. He grinned.
“Get him!” Zoe said. Nathaniel and Hugh jumped from their seats on either side of the door and closed in on Ephraim.
Ephraim held up his hands. “Guys! It's me!”
Hugh pinned Ephraim in a bear hug from the right. Nathaniel glowered at Ephraim.
Ephraim flinched, waiting for the blow.
“No!” Jena said. “That's Ephraim!”
“Duh,” Zoe said.
“Not Ephraim,” Jena said. “Ephraim. Look at his face.”
“Nice. Who did that?” Zoe asked. “I'd like to congratulate him.”
“Et tu, Zoe?” Ephraim said.
This was hardly the welcome he'd hoped for from his friends.
Zoe stared at him hard, and her mouth parted slightly. She approached Ephraim slowly.
“It is you, isn't it?” she asked.
“Good to see you, too,” he said.
Zoe kissed him. For a moment, it was just the two of them.
“Guys, get a universe,” Nathaniel said.
Zoe broke off their kiss. She looked at Hugh. “You can let him go,” she said. “He's the real deal.”
Hugh released Ephraim and brushed off his T-shirt. “Sorry about that,” he said. “Glad you made it back. Can't wait to hear how.”
Ephraim met Zoe's eyes. “Not so easy to tell analogs apart, is it? I'm waiting for an apology.”
“I didn't expect to see you again,” she said.
“Now why does that sound so familiar?” he said.
“So. Maybe this isn't the best time for a romantic interlude,” Nathaniel said.
Zoe showed him her middle finger.
“I have a new philosophy. You should always take time to let people know how you feel,” Ephraim said. “Or what are we trying to save?”
“Eph, I'm so sorry,” Jena said. “I didn't know what else to do. I believed Dr. Kim.”
“What changed your mind?” Ephraim asked.
“She's bonkers,” Jena said. “She took the other Ephraim to scout other universes. She's looking for analogs to bring back here. You were right. She isn't leaving anything to chance anymore.”
“I'm glad you found the controller,” Nathaniel said. “Hugh and I hoped you would use it to sneak back here.”
“You two worked together?” Ephraim asked. “Thanks, it was brilliant. I'm sorry I doubted you, Nathaniel. I thought you were with Dr. Kim.”
“I was on the fence. I figured I was better off playing along until I knew for sure. But as soon as she sent your analog and Jena after the coin, it was evident she wasn't thinking clearly,” Nathaniel said. “And I told her so.”
“Is that why you were all locked up?” Ephraim asked.
“Dr. Kim is convinced that we're conspiring against her,” Hugh said.
“She was right about that much,” Nathaniel said. He and Hugh pulled two laptops out from under the table. They opened them and started typing while Zoe gathered the cards together.
Ephraim looked around the room. “Where's Doug?”
Nathaniel rapped on the table. “Come on out, champ.”
Doug slowly emerged from under the table. He beamed at Ephraim.
“Eph!” Doug said. “You came back.”
“Hey, kid.” Ephraim ruffled his hair. Doug's face was sticky. He clutched a nearly empty bag of gummy bears. Ephraim smiled.
“Seeing that other Ephraim totally flipped the boy out,” Jena said. “That's why he was hiding under the table. He's better at telling analogs apart than anyone.”
Ephraim sat down, and Doug crawled into his lap. “Show me what you guys are working on,” Ephraim said.
“Nathaniel got us into the mainframe,” Hugh said.
“Tricky, because Dr. Kim set up so many password blocks,” Nathaniel said.
“Fortunately, I designed this software. Or rather, my analog did,” Hugh said. “So I know all the backdoors.” His fingers flew rapidly over the keyboard.
“And we're exploiting them to copy the database of all the coordinates,” Nathaniel said.
“That's wrong,” Ephraim said. “We have to—”
Hugh held up a hand. “I finally figured it out. The multiverse is all about observation. And observation is about acquiring information,” he said. “As long as information about these universes is stored somewhere, in some universe, they can't decohere. Once Dr. Kim has everything she wants in this reality, she's planning to purge all the rest. But she won't be able to if we take backups to other universes.”
“We may not have the portable coheron drive, but the LCD can still send each of us on a one-way trip,” Zoe said. “We can get back home!”
“I'm impressed, Hugh. You're right. This plan will definitely work,” Ephraim said. “If we were going to follow it. But we can't.”
“We have to,” Jena said. “We have to save as many universes as we can.”
Ephraim shook his head. “We have to delete all but one of the coordinates we've recorded, disable the LCD and Charon devices, and let nature run its course. Only one universe will survive, but it should be enough to start off a new multiverse.”
They all stared at him in disbelief.
Nathaniel stood. “Kid, you were against Dr. Kim's plan from the start. You wanted to save every universe. This is how we do that.”
“I was wrong. But that doesn't mean she's right. I have it on good authority that we need to wipe everything in the database.” Ephraim checked his watch. “In exactly forty-seven minutes.”
“On whose authority?” Nathaniel barked.
Ephraim locked eyes with Nathaniel. “I met one of my analogs. An old friend of yours.”
“Ephraim's still alive?” Nathaniel said. “How? Where?”
Ephraim flashed the coin Scott had given him.
“He had another coin?” Nathaniel said. “That bastard.”
“He did what he thought he had to,” Ephraim said. “And so are we.”
A wave of nausea passed over Ephraim. Jena and Zoe lowered their foreheads to the table, and Nathaniel slumped in his seat, face pale and sweat glistening on his forehead. Hugh moaned pitifully. Doug started bawling.
Then the feeling passed.
“Shh,” Ephraim said. He hugged Doug and rocked him gently. “You're still here.” He scanned the room with his eyes. Everyone was accounted for. “We're all still here.”
Doug pressed his face into Ephraim's T-shirt. The boy's tears and snot soon wet a spot on Ephraim's shoulder.
“What was that?” Ephraim asked.
“Dr. Kim and your analog are back,” Nathaniel said. “The same thing happened when they left with the Charon device. They'll be upstairs any minute.”
The group gathered in front of the elevator. The elevator was already descending, the numbers above the doors counting down from ten.
Nathan wandered over, hands in his pockets.
“Did you guys feel that?” Nathan asked. He belched and held a hand to his stomach. “Pardon.”
Nathaniel gaped at his younger analog. “I'll be damned.”
“Probably.” Nathan sized up his older self. “Not bad, old Nathan.”
“Where did you come from?” Nathaniel asked.
“I had to keep Ephraim out of trouble.” Nathan grinned.
“Good to see you, Nathan!” Jena said. Zoe nodded.
Hugh shook Nathan's hand and introduced himself.
“You've been holding out on me, kid,” Nathaniel said to Ephraim. “What are you up to?”
“You'll see.” Ephraim raised his eyebrows questioningly at Nathan. “Did you…?”
“Mischief managed,” Nathan said. “Pretty sweet setup, like you said. And my best work ever, if I do say so myself.”
“How about the other thing?” Ephraim asked.
“Couldn't find it,” Nathan said.
“Okay. Well, you have perfect timing.” He checked his watch. They had forty-two minutes left. The elevator numbers were counting up from the ground floor.
They lined up in a row facing the elevator: Ephraim, Nathan, Nathaniel, Zoe, Jena, and Hugh. Ephraim held Doug's hand, but the boy hid behind him, peeking out around Ephraim's legs.
“Cute kid,” Nathan said. “He takes after his mother.”
“Thanks,” Ephraim said.
When the elevator doors opened, Dr. Kim's face briefly registered shock before she composed herself and stepped out. Ephraim's analog trailed behind her. He flipped the coin over and over like a movie gangster, one hand in his pants pocket.