As every other night, the scientist left the observation centre with tired steps, walked to the closest irish pub, and order a paint of guinness. That day he wasn’t waiting for any of his colleagues, nor he had brought a newspaper to try catching up with a world that made him dizzy and uncomfortable. That day, after over 20 years, his research was finished. With a slightly trembling hand, he dialled her phone number, and asked her to meet him at the pub. After a few seconds of silence, she agreed.
When he was only 30, he had created a whole revolution, not only proving that parallel universes existed, but also developing the tools to observe them. As Hugh Everett had predicted, every time a sub-atomic event had multiple possible outcomes, all of them actually happened, thus creating a network of branching universes, with all the realities that were physically possible.
At first, they only observed empty universes, were the Big Bang hadn’t happened, or energy and matter travelled around aimlessly. The first time they found a universe in which Earth existed, he made it again into the cover of Time magazine, and he insisted that she took the picture. Becoming rich didn’t change his routine. He worked till late, drunk beer, avoided conferences. Each time she had a new exhibition, he chose his best suit, and admired her black and white pictures. He asked about her life in the last few months, they drank champagne.
As years went by, his technology got better, and he started observing only universes that were similar to his own. He saw planets with impossible races, others in which humanity got stuck in an early state, or was already extinct. On the contrary, observing worlds with enhanced technology allowed him to change the reality of his. Thanks to that knowledge, he was able to restrict his search to worlds were he existed. Like a distorted circus mirror, he saw all possible versions of himself. Becoming a family man, living in the street, robing banks. He sometimes saw himself as a scientist, watching universes at the same time he did. He covered them old, with an artisan’s patience. Until he finished the last one, he didn’t make that phone call.
He didn’t remember the last time they had seen each other. She had less exhibitions lately, and he couldn’t really keep track of time anymore. She looked older, although it could be the lack of make up. As always, she wore black. When she sat down, he finally got the courage to speak.
“I have seen all the possible universes. Milliones of slightly different worlds, comprising everything that can have happened. I have seen every singly one of those realities, and not even in one of them, we are together”.
She got up, with a sad smile. She looked at him for a few seconds, without saying anything, and kissed him on the forehead. Then she invited him to her next openining in London, and left, leaving him in the reality he had always been in.
The scientist sighed, and took another sip of beer, wondering if, in another universe, the kiss had been different.
When he was only 30, he had created a whole revolution, not only proving that parallel universes existed, but also developing the tools to observe them. As Hugh Everett had predicted, every time a sub-atomic event had multiple possible outcomes, all of them actually happened, thus creating a network of branching universes, with all the realities that were physically possible.
At first, they only observed empty universes, were the Big Bang hadn’t happened, or energy and matter travelled around aimlessly. The first time they found a universe in which Earth existed, he made it again into the cover of Time magazine, and he insisted that she took the picture. Becoming rich didn’t change his routine. He worked till late, drunk beer, avoided conferences. Each time she had a new exhibition, he chose his best suit, and admired her black and white pictures. He asked about her life in the last few months, they drank champagne.
As years went by, his technology got better, and he started observing only universes that were similar to his own. He saw planets with impossible races, others in which humanity got stuck in an early state, or was already extinct. On the contrary, observing worlds with enhanced technology allowed him to change the reality of his. Thanks to that knowledge, he was able to restrict his search to worlds were he existed. Like a distorted circus mirror, he saw all possible versions of himself. Becoming a family man, living in the street, robing banks. He sometimes saw himself as a scientist, watching universes at the same time he did. He covered them old, with an artisan’s patience. Until he finished the last one, he didn’t make that phone call.
He didn’t remember the last time they had seen each other. She had less exhibitions lately, and he couldn’t really keep track of time anymore. She looked older, although it could be the lack of make up. As always, she wore black. When she sat down, he finally got the courage to speak.
“I have seen all the possible universes. Milliones of slightly different worlds, comprising everything that can have happened. I have seen every singly one of those realities, and not even in one of them, we are together”.
She got up, with a sad smile. She looked at him for a few seconds, without saying anything, and kissed him on the forehead. Then she invited him to her next openining in London, and left, leaving him in the reality he had always been in.
The scientist sighed, and took another sip of beer, wondering if, in another universe, the kiss had been different.
