Amalgamation

Gary took a sip of the complimentary water as he waited in to lobby of the office building. The white, sterile walls had a somewhat calming effect on him. The building was in a part of town that he regularly visited, yet he had never seen this building before, as it if had sprung up overnight. He nervously glanced around the lobby, hoping to catch a glimpse of the other applicants and size up the competition, but apart from the friendly receptionist, there was no one else in the room. The receptionist gave him a reassuring smile as he caught her eye. 

Gary mentally went over his interview techniques as he waited, a normally difficult process made even harder by the fact he knew nothing about the job he was about to be interviewed for. An email from the Jobcentre had pinged up in his inbox a couple of days ago, a digital last warning that if he didn’t find employment in the next week he would be marked down as “not actively seeking employment” and his already meagre Universal Credit would be sanctioned. A quick trip to a local dry-cleaners later, as his only suit had last been worn at a particularly messy wedding, and he was ready to most likely fail yet another interview.

“Mr Thomas will be with you shortly, Mr Davis” the kindly receptionist said, as she put down the phone handset. 

“Brilliant, thank you” replied Gary, although things were far from brilliant. Since being made redundant a year ago, Gary’s life had mainly consisted of poorly paid cash in hand work for his painter and decorater friend “Mad” John. The word friend was maybe too strong a word for their relationship, since Gary found John incredibly terrifying to be around. He hoped that this new job offer could not only provide him with a steady income and a chance to rebuild his life, but as an escape route from John and his aggressive rants about a coming war with a race of hyper-intelligent, dimension-hopping lizard aliens.

A door opening jolted Gary’s attention back to the present. A well-dressed man stepped out, who Gary presumed to be Mr Thomas.

“Mr Davis, would you like to come this way?”

Gary rose from his chair and went towards the door, picking up the folder containing his CV. As he approached Mr Thomas and extended his hand. 

“I’m afraid I won’t shake your hand if that’s alright Mr Davis. Please take a seat” said Mr Thomas. 

Great, thought Gary. The interview hasn’t even started and already I’ve messed it up. The sparse interview room contained a small table, with two black leather chairs either side of it, cutting through the white glare of the room. Gary sat down on the chair nearest to the door. 

“Interesting”, said Mr Thomas as he closed the door and took the chair opposite. At that throwaway comment, Gary started panicking. Was this part of the interview? Had he chosen the wrong chair? Why was that even important? And what exactly did this company do? He covered his anxiety with a grin, much like a frightened chimp.

“Would you like some water, Mr Davis?” asked Mr Thomas.

“No, I’m fine, thank you” replied Gary.

“But, you have had some?” asked Mr Thomas. “It’s very special.”

“Oh, yeah, I had some while I was waiting.” replied Gary.

“Excellent. Well, we shall get on with things in that case.” Mr Thomas picked up the folder containing Gary’s CV, and began examining it. 

“So, Mr Davis. What do you know of Corporeal Holdings?”

“Well, I’m afraid to say, not much. I couldn’t find anything on the Internet about you, and to be honest, I’ve never actually seen this building before”

Mr Thomas smiled at this. “Of course you wouldn’t Mr Davis. It’s only been here since today”

Gary felt the room start to contract around him. His palms became clammy as he tried to gulp down breath. 

“I’m not sure I follow” he said.

Mr Thomas continued “If I said the phrase multi-verse to you, Mr Davis, what would that mean to you?”

“What, like in the Marvel comics?” Gary asked.

“Yes, something like that.” Mr Thomas confirmed. “This world we are in now is just one of several billion alternate worlds, all co-existing side by side, blissfully unaware of each other’s existence. Unfortunately, we are running out of space, so we will be amalgamating several of these worlds into one. Of course, we can’t have any doppelgangers running into each other, so we are interviewing applicants in order to keep the best candidate for the job. So, in essence, Mr David, you are interviewing for the position of Gary Davis. Any questions?”

Gary took in this massive, cosmos-shattering news with surprising calm. “Just the one, for now. Why is it that despite what you’ve just told me is absolutely insane, why do I believe it?”

“Aha” exclaimed Mr Thomas. “That’ll be the water. It’s a compound we’ve derived that makes the applicant much more susceptible to big ideas such as this. So tell me about yourself, Mr Davis. Why should you be this new world’s Gary Davis.”

Gary thought about this for some time. “Because I like being Gary Davis?”

Even before they’d left his mouth, the words sounded false to Gary. Did he really like being Gary Davis? While there had been a few high points, the lows seemed much more frequent and memorable. The string of failed relationships, the job losses, the crippling anxiety, both financial and social. Gary tried to follow this statement up with something of more substance, but couldn’t find the nerve.

Mr Thomas picked up on Gary’s hesitation. “Is that all you have to say, Mr Davis?”

“Well, to be honest, I’d never thought I’d have to interview for myself. I’m not really sure what to say”

“I suppose, what I’m asking is, what will you bring to this new world that no other Gary Davis can?”

“How am I meant to answer that if I don’t know what the other Gary Davis’ are offering?”

“Well, we don’t normally do this, but seeing as your memory will be wiped after this, I suppose I can share this with you. We have narrowed it down to yourself and Gary Davis of Earth 249140-A. He’s a self-made millionaire who owns his own plumbing business, has been married for 12 years and has 3 children. He regularly volunteers his time at a homeless shelter and once saved an old woman from being run down by a bus.”

“Oh come on” exclaimed Gary. “How am I meant to compete with that? I’m surprised you’re even doing this interview.”

“Well as I said Mr Davis, we run an entirely unbiased selection process here, so we take each case entirely on their own merit. So, would you like to add anything to your statement?”

“What do you want me to say? That I’ve achieved nothing with my life? That I’ve squandered or pissed up the wall pretty much every opportunity that I’ve had, or that I’ve managed to push away anyone who might have actually cared for me?” Gary put his head in his hands. “What happens to me if I don’t get chosen?”

“You’d be assimilated back into the ether, Mr Davis. I assure you, it’s quite painless, and you wouldn’t even know it was happening”

Was this really happening? Gary thought about how much easier this option seemed, just to float back into some unknown part of the universe. Seeing what little amounted to his life so laid-bare in front of him, it seemed the only option. No more stress, no more worries, just blissful unawareness. 

“No.” said Gary. He looked up at Mr Thomas. “I may not be as perfect as this other Gary, yes I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I want the chance to correct those mistakes. I’m a good person, I know that and I think you know that too, and isn’t that the most important thing? If I can be this world’s Gary Davis, I promise you I will be the best Gary Davis I can possibly be”

Mr Thomas finished writing on his form. 

“Well, Mr Davis, that was one of the more impassioned speeches we have heard, I must say. Let me just send this off to the higher ups and we should have an answer for you very soon”

Mr Thomas remove the form from the clipboard and fed it into a machine sat on his desk. It made a whirring sound, a few beeps and then silence.

“That’s all sent off then, we’ll just have to wait a few moments and we should have an answer”

Mr Thomas clasped his hands in front of him on the desk and smiled. Gary stared at him as the clock on the wall ticked with a menacing tone for what seemed like an eternity.

“Any moment now, Mr Davis”