65 comments

Science Fiction Crime Suspense

It’s not murder because I’m killing myself, and it’s not suicide because I’m still alive.

Nobody thinks twice when weird lights and noises come from one of the stalls of the bathroom-sty at Shannon’s Pub, which is why I like the place. It’s reliable.

I wish I could rejigger my spacial reality trans-shunter so that it didn’t whine and flash like lightning every time I used it, but that’s a problem for another day. The device itself fits into an oval metal case sized for my palm, and I keep it affixed to my belt. My shirt covers it, and even if someone did spot it, they’d take it for a stylised belt buckle.

I leave the bathroom and explore this latest reality. Shannon stands behind his bar, bald and grouchy as always. He’s a reliable touchstone. But then, I feel a pin-prick at the back of my neck. Most realities are different flavours of the same thing, often indistinguishable to me. But I see this is one of the weird ones.

For starters, the Union Jack is not hanging from the far wall. Instead there’s some ludicrous flag. Sure, it’s red, white and blue too, but it’s all stripes except for the top left corner, which is filled with stars for God knows why.

I worry – what if they don’t speak English here? But there’s a telly mounted near the bar broadcasting some bizarre variant of rugby, and I hear the announcer speak. “Touchdown! Incredible! What a day for football!”

Okay, so they speak English here, albeit poorly. I think he said “football” but they’re clearly running around with a rugby ball. I make a note of avoiding sports talk.

I sit at my usual table. Shannon doesn’t react, so I assume this is the usual table for the me in this reality too. Reality 77492. That’s how I keep track of all the… my goodness, are the realities truly infinite? I’m still so bloody new to all this. Well, I’ve taken to calling them reality-threads, and I’ve assigned each one an existential-coordinate. The last five digits are what I call the speculative shift, the difference from the cohesion cluster.

Oh, sometimes I wish I could publish my findings. I would be the most highly celebrated human in history – in all the histories! The name Neville Gaines would eclipse all others for all eternity. But I’ll be damned if I share my trans-shunter with anyone, particularly myself. I must have a monopoly. Anything else could lead to untold chaos.

Now, for the hard part. How can I find myself? Every reality presents its own challenges, and–

–again, my skin crawls.

Someone left a newspaper on my table, and it’s open on the advertisements page. And right there, in front of me, is an ad circled with red pen. “Feeling lost? Looking to find yourself? Come by Dr. Neville Gaines’ self-help support group. 774, 92nd Street. Walk-ins welcome.”

Did… did I leave this here, for myself to find me?

Even the address matches the speculative shift.

I suspect I am expecting myself.

***

The address is a run-down community centre (but they spell it “center” for some reason) in an overgrown field of weeds. There’s a sign taped to the door that says, “Self-help group!”, and it has an anaemic arrow on it.

I go inside, and I see more crude posters pointing the way. Just to be on the safe side, I produce my trans-shunter and key in a new existential-coordinate, one I know is safe. I want to be able to escape quickly, should push come to shove, and from experience – it usually does.

Early last year I stumbled on a coordinate I call Eden. As far as I can tell, it’s a reality where humans just never… happened. No other major beasts either, and the few weird critters I did encounter were utterly docile. It’s a pastoral reality of pleasant weather and rolling prairies. Untainted. For now, it’s also the perfect place for me to store a change of clothes and other supplies, but I already have big plans drafted for it, as a kind of resort-reality.

Next, I check my knife. Mine is dirty work, but I like getting up close and personal when I do it, because it’s the only way to be sure the job’s done. I acquired the knife from a me at speculative shift 108… something 7. Everything there was the same as in my reality, except the me in it developed an interest in material sciences and knives, instead of galvanics and parallelocation. So he never made a trans-shunter, but he did make this thing. It’s some kind of ceramic that’s harder than steel, and when I turn it on – yes, it turns on! – the blade vibrates fast enough to cut through anything.

I return the knife to the sheath I wear under my shirt, and follow the signs. A few turns take me down a carpeted hallway, where I find a door labelled “Gaines’ Self Help!” on a final poster, which also contains a crudely coloured sun with a cloying grin. I hear muffled voices on the other side. Witnesses. I’ll need to escape after all.

I swallow hard. I place my right hand behind my back where I can reach my knife easily, and with my left I reach for the door knob.

But the door opens first.

“Welcome!” says another me. No matter how many times I’ve done this, it’s always a rude shock seeing a living mirror. Wearing plaid no less. “We’ve been expecting you!”

Normally I just lunge, slash, and it’s over. But this time, I don’t move. Something behind him catches my attention.

It’s another me. No, three of them.

My hands fall limp by my sides. What is this? This has never happened before.

“You’re wondering what this is,” says the me at the door. “You’ve never seen this before.”

I scowl.

“Please come in,” he says. “We’ll explain everything.”

I step inside what appears to be a conference room, with grey carpet and a big white table. There’s maybe fifteen of me here. Some are almost identical copies of me, but others less so. There’s a fat one, and one who’s got a beard and long hair. Long hair! And then another embarrassment that’s gone completely bald! What bloody reality do I go bald in!?

“To curb confusion,” says the one that let me in, “we’ve taken to using a naming system based on speculative shift.” He taps a nametag on his shirt which says Local. “I’m Local, because this is my reality.” He goes around the room introducing me to the others, and I follow as though in a dream, desperate to figure this out.

There’s 11122, 38902, 64408 who insists it’s not an “existential-coordinate” but a “chrono-spacial-juncture-hash” (but majority overrules him), 90002 who has an ungodly French accent, and others. The numbers blur in my mind. I’m just on the lookout for any coordinate I recognize.

I’m pretty sure I’ve not been to any of them. And none of the mes show any signs of recognition. I mean, other than the recognition of seeing yourself from another reality.

“So, where are you from?” Local asks. He’s got a roll of masking tape and a marker.

“Um…” I say. “05404”. Drat. I didn’t mean to give him the real number, but I’m feeling overwhelmed.

He writes the numbers down, tears off the tape and pats it on my chest. And then everyone greets me warmly, with a pat, a shake of the hand, and a grin.

What is this? Why are they – I – being so nice to me? I… I hate me, don’t I? Are their realities so different from mine? Did they not suffer a life of inferiority and failure too? Probably not the fat one, but doubly the bald one.

“So,” says Local. “You’re the last one we’ve been waiting for today. I know you’ve got all sorts of questions, but there’s a serious matter we need to discuss so there’s not much time for chatting. We can give you a quick orientation. For starters, where are you from? La Confédération de Louisiane? The Western British Empire? A vassal principality of Tenochtitlan?”

“Um…” Louisiane? Tenochtitlan? “Western British America.” Real reality. “Which, I gather, is not where we are now.”

“Correct,” says Local. “These are the United States of America. Long story short, we successfully gained our independence here.”

I snort, reflexively. The Crown has been crushing rebellions under its iron heel since forever. Nevertheless, I suppose it’s possible that one in a million slip through. Hmm… maybe there’s something alluring about that.

“Nevilles!” Local says, clapping. “Shall we begin? Please, take a seat.”

We sit at the white table. My spot’s between 64408 and one who has glasses. It reminds me I should pay the optometrist a visit.

The table is a circle but we all look to Local when he sits and opens up a folder. I’m still trying to make sense of all this, and I’m completely lost on what my next action is. I see the others and I wonder what they’re thinking. My faces are… unreadable. I give Local my attention when he speaks.

“Good Nevilles,” he says. “Some of you are already aware of what’s happening. I’ll fill everyone in now. You all, in some fashion, have forged trans-shunters in your lifetimes, allowing you to hop between threads–” he raises a hand to forestall interruptions, “–yes, or waves, forms, impressions of reality… let’s not get bogged down in semantics, please.”

We nod.

“No doubt, you have noticed not all of us achieve this. Myself, for example.” He puts a… metal brick on the table with a thud. It’s covered in spiralling wire and blinking lights. The others all grin, as I do. “Yes. Not as svelte as yours. It’s not a trans-shunter, but I did accidentally create a trans-beacon. What it lets me do is… well, I kind of send a message into other realities. A message to myself, as it were. And that message is, ‘use coordinates 77492.’”

We murmur. I feel a chill run down my spine. I picked those coordinates at random. Didn’t I? But what are the odds we all would pick them randomly?

“As you’ve surmised by now, yes, in a way I’ve called you here.”

My pulse quickens. Could this be true? Some sort of trans-reality mind control? What else is he capable of?

“And you’re wondering why,” he continues. “Well, while I love the idea of getting together with myself for a barbecue, this is unfortunately not a social call. Some of you already know what I’m talking about, because you’ve seen it. For the rest, please prepare yourselves for some dire news.”

Everyone at the table tenses, myself included. It’s getting hard to breathe.

“In some realities, we have been murdered.”

Shit.

“And the murders started around the time we invented the trans-shunter.”

Shit shit shit!

I look around the table, and all of me are doing the same. Are any of them staring at me? Frenchie? No, he turned away. I can’t tell if they’re glaring at me with accusation or commiseration. I need to get them off my trail.

“Uh…” I say. “That’s… bad.”

The others all nod and repeat it. Okay, safe for now.

“Yes, Nevilles,” says Local. “It’s horrendous is what it is. So that’s why I’ve called you. One, to warn you. Someone out there – perhaps someone wearing our very own face – means to murder you. Two, so that we can put our heads together to figure out a way to stop it. After all, just one of us can break the barriers between realities. Imagine what all of us can accomplish together!”

The table cheers. By George, even I cheer. Cooperating – what a bloody brilliant idea! Could it possibly work? When I look around the table, I see excitement in their faces. Oh, my God, am I truly the one from the wrong reality-thread? Have I let my twisted experiences cloud my judgement so horribly, that I missed out on something beautiful?

Local walks around the table with a tray of coffee as we chatter. It’s black, Sumatran, and too strong for most people’s taste, which is just the way I like it. Just the way we all do. He says there’s more where that came from. “We might be here all night!” Everyone laughs.

Oh, it tastes divine.

So if I’m the odd one out – my God, what a treasure of scientific research this trans-shunter is. I’ve pissed away my life seeking fame and fortune, but I have before me an unprecedented opportunity to study nature versus nurture. And while I can’t stand working with others, working with myself would be completely different. It’d be like having tremendously capable clones of myself, covering all the things I’m not able to. And there’d be no issues with credit or glory, since we’re all the same man.

Local takes his seat again, raises his coffee in the air. “Nevilles! To a better, brighter future! One heralded by us!”

We all cheer. I feel both dread and excitement roiling in my guts. The possibilities for the future are endless! But… I have transgressed so badly in the past. Can I hide my crimes from them? Well, I know myself better than anyone. All I have to do is distract myself with an even bigger, more ambitious project. Yes… the murders will stop, and they’ll forget all about them.

And maybe they’d even forgive me. After all, they are me. Surely they must understand my motives. They might even agree with them. It can’t be just nurture after all. There is some nature involved.

We set our coffees down, as does Local. He smiles.

Wait. Did he actually drink any?

One of me grunts and falls from his chair.

Shit!

Another two go down. The roiling in my stomach burns, pain creeps through my body, and everything cramps. I can’t move. I can’t breathe!

Local plucks a trans-shunter from one of the dead and leans back in his chair. He beams at each of us as we fall, and his words are the last thing I ever hear.

“It’s not murder because I’m killing myself, and it’s not suicide because I’m still alive.”

July 26, 2022 00:47

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

65 comments

Seán McNicholl
11:17 Jul 31, 2022

Michał, this is brilliant!!! From start to finish, it is flawless! Such a brilliant idea for a story and the twist at the end is perfect, didn’t see it coming at all! The perfect end to the story. The opening and closing lines are amazing and witty. I wonder had all the Nevilles the ultimate intention of killing each other underneath it all? And had the rest of them killed other Nevilles in other universes before arriving there! So good! While I was reading this I was thinking this would be great as a novel, with such a great idea. Bu...

Reply

Michał Przywara
15:39 Jul 31, 2022

Thanks, Seán! I don't know if they all had those intentions, but I'm sure many did, since they must have had at least vaguely similar realities to the POV. And so similar nature and nurture probably leads to similar attitudes (and then the Nevilles that genuinely want to cooperate are the poor saps first to get offed). But with an infinite amount of realities covering an infinite amount of variations, who knows :) I appreciate the feedback!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Kendall Defoe
03:20 Jul 31, 2022

First, "Spacial Reality Trans-Shunter" needs to be a real device one day. Next...I really could not see the road ahead with this one. Perfect. And all I can add is... Shit 💩

Reply

Michał Przywara
05:03 Jul 31, 2022

Heh, yup, it's never great when they're onto you :) Thanks for reading!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Sharon Hancock
02:06 Jul 31, 2022

Ha! Fantastic! Love the first and last lines so much. I laughed out loud several times reading this. The “seeing myself” bit is hilarious. I thought this was the most difficult of the prompts to write about. I always find parallel universe/time paradox stuff so confusing but you did an excellent job of making it clear and the fast paced energy made it so fun. 😻

Reply

Michał Przywara
02:28 Jul 31, 2022

Thanks, Sharon! Yeah, you're right, it can definitely get confusing. I'm glad this was pretty clear, despite Neville's issues keeping track of himself. There was a lot of opportunity to play with words here though, which is always fun :) Always happy for a "laughed out loud" :) Thanks for the feedback!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Riel Rosehill
18:17 Jul 30, 2022

Woah - here we have the opening sentence with the most intrigue that makes total sense by the end! Loved this! It was a great call to make the POV character come from another reality to show our world through his eyes and also to make him the baddie in the group. But then Local who seemed a nice guy is just the same - maybe they all were. Didn't see that coming and maybe I should have, as "maybe they would agree" and "can't be just nurture"... So fun! The first - and last - sentence is my absolute favourite.

Reply

Michał Przywara
18:53 Jul 30, 2022

Heh, I liked the open/close sentence too. I don't think it would make sense in a lot of stories, but this kind is one of the exceptions. You picked up on all the little clues I was hoping someone would see. The little doubts that maybe there's more going on, the similarities between the narrator and the others... Neville even mentions the best way to distract himself, which is perhaps what Local is doing :) I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the read as always.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Beth Jackson
07:22 Jul 30, 2022

Oh I loved this so much, Michał! What a first line! Such great tension and super enjoyable to read - I love the way you always take care of your reader in your work. What an ending, that twist was fabulous. I thoroughly enjoyed this! Thanks for sharing. :-)

Reply

Michał Przywara
16:13 Jul 30, 2022

Thanks, Beth! > I love the way you always take care of your reader in your work I am *so* pleased to hear that :) I think it's something I've struggled with historically -- usually with rambling exposition -- so hearing the work to address it is paying off, is good news. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I appreciate the feedback :)

Reply

Tommy Goround
23:46 Aug 02, 2022

Pardon to hijack. I just love the way you too say "take care of your reader".. it reminds me of Asian Massage more than Christmas. Both can be a spiritual experience.

Reply

Michał Przywara
00:05 Aug 03, 2022

Ha, no doubt :D It's all perspective, isn't it? :)

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Suma Jayachandar
07:00 Jul 30, 2022

Ah, the beauty of this piece is you know what to expect ( that was a killer opening line) but you are totally blindsided as the events preceding the said act take place. I think that part is simply brilliant! Rest, it was a fun ride to take in all those terms you coined ( my fave is existential coordinate). We know the prompt asked for such inventions. And you totally gave it some and more. What I found particularly striking in this story is the transition of intent from the doer to the POV character (in the beginning) and vice versa towards...

Reply

Michał Przywara
16:07 Jul 30, 2022

Thanks, Suma! Yeah, making up the terms was fun :) The whole "science" of travelling between realities needs its own terms, but then I figured different realities would also have their own histories, and therefore different cultures too. I had a much bigger list of such things that never made it in, because the story wasn't about how words were different -- that would have been boring -- but it was still a fun exercise.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Courtney Moore
01:32 Jul 30, 2022

I love when we don't see an ending coming! This was a very unique take to this prompt. I really loved the little hints that brought us to our Neville being suspected, without fully revealing it. Who knows, maybe one of the other Neville's was murdering too. Well done!

Reply

Michał Przywara
16:55 Jul 30, 2022

Thanks, Courtney! Yeah, that's something I wonder too. They're all the same person, more or less -- but also, not quite. Do we have fifteen serial killers all sitting around a table pretending to be friends, and just waiting for an opportunity? Or are there really only two bad apples, from the "evil" realities, that ruin things for everyone? I guess the narrator will never know :) I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I appreciate the feedback!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. 100% free.