Parallel Problems

      “Alright, move the sofa to the left of the coffee stand,” Adam commanded the movers. His voice had a hint of authority, one he was surprised by himself, that filled up the spacious but empty living room. He had moved in just a day ago, but he wasn’t the kind of person to procrastinate through things that need to be done. Spending most of his time bouncing in the foster system didn’t let him relax. He had to be at the office for his first job the very next morning, so getting everything where it belonged was crucial. Lucky for him, he didn’t have much furniture to organize. The men in the orange outfits quickly adhered to Adam’s directions and were ready to leave within a few hours.

           The worn-out sofa grunted as Adam collapsed on it. He looked around at the house, thinking about all the work that still needed to be done. Excitement filled him up as the thought of finally starting an independent life, away from foster care, began to creep in. He finally had control of what his future would be, unlike what he was used to. However, beneath the layers of joy and thrill, a familiar sting of loneliness tugged at him. Family was unknown to Adam, like a puzzle with missing pieces. He had been part of many but couldn’t call any of them his own.

           BANG!

           Startled, Adam quickly sat up. Curious about who could possibly be at his door, he reluctantly got up and went to check. He was cautious, climbing warily up the stairs, slightly frightened by the unexpected interruption. When he got to the front door, nobody was there. Not a single clue of a human being ever being at Adam’s porch revealed itself. It had rained the previous night, so footprints should have been leading to the door frame. Instead, all Adam could see was a large beige envelope. It was addressed to one Sylvia Roberts.

           Sylvia Roberts, Sylvia Roberts, where had he heard the name before? Then it hit him: Sylvia Roberts was the one who had sold him the house. Adam remembered her being very kind but scared. She was very adamant about selling the house, as if her life depended on it. Adam didn’t question her because it was the first house that he could afford. He tried to resist the urge to open the envelope, but curiosity was getting the best of him. Why hadn’t the letter gone to Sylvia’s new address? She must have already changed all of the mailing addresses. More questions ran through his head, finally forcing him to discover whatever was inside.

           He saw two things inside: a letter and a mysterious wheel with at least 50 characters on it. The wheel looked like it was decades old, veiled with horrifying secrets. After investigating the wheel, he set it aside and delicately unfolded the letter, making sure he didn’t rip the paper. The letter was encrypted, full of interesting shapes that matched up with the ones on the wheel. Ah-ha! It was a cipher wheel. Adam rushed to grab his phone and try to find out how to use it. Decoding the letter took several minutes, each one filled with growing suspense and confusion. Adam scanned the letter twice, making sure that what he decoded was actually what was on the paper.

           Sylvia,

           Thanks to your research, we have found a way to communicate across the multiverse. Even more so, we have found a way to communicate with our parallel selves. We know you probably don’t want to witness “the destruction of the universe,” but we’d like to invite you anyways, at the research center tomorrow at 11:11 a.m. Besides, without you, none of this would have happened. You see, we are using the parallel version of you from Universe S11O as the vessel. You are destined to perish in the process either way, but if you come you can see the start of a brilliant future. It’s your decision in the end.

           That was it. There was no signature; nothing to tell Adam that this wasn’t a joke. Confusion spiraled inside of his body. He skimmed the paper once more trying to grasp its contents. “-communicate across the multiverse… parallel selves… destruction of the universe…two days… S11O.” He had read the right thing. But what did it even mean? The letter looked like it had come straight from a ridiculous sci-fi movie; one that made even the smartest brains question reality. Was this letter just a sick, elaborate prank? Or something much more horrific? Adam knew that he needed to find out. He couldn’t possibly be the reason for the end of the universe. Sylvia Roberts. That is who needed to talk to. With urgency, Adam pulled out his phone from his pocket and called her number with his trembling hands; thankfully he had saved it when he was looking for a place to live. He had thousands of questions, none of which had answers.

           “Hello, who is this?” a scared voice asked on the phone.

           “Is this Sylvia Roberts?” Adam asked.

           “How did you find me? I don’t want to do it anymore.”

           “Do what? Hello? This is Adam Rodriguez.”

           “Adam Rodriguez? You’re the guy I sold the house to!”

           “Yes, that is me.”

           “Is everything alright?”

           “No, actually. I received a letter that was addressed to you from an unknown source. I- “

           “I don’t want anything to do with whatever you want to tell me. It was something I was part of a long time ago and have nothing to do with now.”

           “Please understand. The letter says something about a way to communicate across the multiverse. Something about destruction of-“

           “They found the way to communicate? But that isn’t – “

           “Can you just tell me that this is a joke, and we can finish the topic here? I just called to let you know that a letter had arrived in the mail for you.

           “You don’t understand! This is not a joke. It is a sick group of so-called “scientists” that want to bring destruction to what we know. Do you mind if I come to your house in about an hour?”

           “Is it really necessary? I have a really busy day tomorrow and I’d like – “

           “You won’t have anything to do tomorrow if we don’t fix the problem at hand. Please. We need to solve this.”

           “Ok, fine. I’ll be waiting.” Adam hung up the phone call. Sylvia better come first. Whatever was happening didn’t sound like good news. While waiting, Adam decided to do some research on the “multiverse.” The internet didn’t have much information on it, except for one document.

           Travelling Across the Multiverse: A Theory Now Closer to Reality

           Adam clicked on the article without hesitation, determined to find as much information about what was going on as possible. The article talked about a group of scientists that were in their 60’s had devoted their entire lives to finding another universe. It talked about how their research was getting them closer to potentially interacting with other universes, with the most contributions from one Sylvia Roberts that had mysteriously left the group. Adam was nearly done with the article, when he saw an old woman walking on the sidewalk leading to his porch. She had gray hair and gray eyes. Her face looked as if someone had stolen all the happiness from her life.

           Adam raced down the stairs and hastily opened the door. “Hi Ms. Roberts, come on in,” he urged her.

           “Thank you, boy,” she replied back. “Now we must hurry, we cannot waste any time.”

           “I know, but I don’t entirely understand what is going on. What is this ‘multiverse theory’ and everything connected to it?”

           Sylvia sighed, took a seat, and got ready to explain. “The multiverse theory suggests that there are countless parallel universes, each one with its own version of reality. It’s a complex idea; one that most people dismiss as science fiction, but we decided to believe it. We were close to proving its existence, but things went terribly wrong. Some wanted to use the knowledge for the betterment of all parallel worlds, while others wanted to manipulate reality.”

           “And you decided to leave them because of that?” Adam asked.

           “I did. They were becoming obsessed, willing to risk everything for the experiments. They stopped caring about how it affected the people around them. I just couldn’t bear to be a part of it.”

           “But you have to stop it. Billions of lives are at danger!” Adam exclaimed.

           “Can I have a look at that letter?” Sylvia asked. Adam quickly handed the piece of paper to her and watched as she looked over it. “We need to go to the lab tomorrow.”

           “We? I have nothing to do with this. I don’t want anything to do with this.”

           “I know it sounds scary, but this is a two-person job. The cipher wheel you used to decode the letter transmits DNA to the lab. They need our universe’s version of DNA to unlock the parallel version.”

           “That’s why they sent you that letter. And now that they have mine, my body can be used as the vessel.”

           “You catch on quickly for an 18-year-old. Now tell me, are you in or out?”

           Adam knew he didn’t have a choice. If he didn’t go and stop this group of psychopaths, he would die along with the rest of the planet. The rest of the night quickly passed by as he awaited the moment he would be the reason for the multiverse’s fate. The plan was simple. All he had to do was steal the DNA that the scientist took from him and destroy the control panel. Sylvia said she would handle destroying the panel. All he had to do was get the DNA.

           The next day had arrived, and Adam found himself outside with Sylvia. He knew they had to act carefully and not let anybody suspect them before it was too late. Adam disguised the DNA extraction device he was going to use to get his sample back as a wristwatch, but Sylvia was holding something that seemed like a button in her hand. Adam figured it must be to shut down the control panel. Both of them entered the research center, ready to save the world. Adam had studied the building through Sylvia and knew exactly where to go. The place didn’t have any security, so sneaking in was quite easy.

           “Ah, Dr. Roberts. I didn’t think you would show up” Adam heard somebody say. This was it. Sylvia needed to stall for just a few minutes and turn off the device for just 30 seconds.

           “Why would you think that?” Sylvia sarcastically replied. She kept going on and on about meaningless topics with the man in charge but found she couldn’t stop him much longer. The operation was about to begin, when Adam heard a bunch of screams from the control room. Sylvia had tried to turn off the device. Adam knew he didn’t have much time to extract his DNA. Sylvia’s life was in danger, but he couldn’t think about that. Seconds felt like hours as Adam tried to hurry in his work. Sylvia was weak and old and couldn’t possibly hold the strong men much longer. The screams had stopped, and the lights on the machine were turning on once again. Adam had to think of something to stall the scientists until his job was done.

           “FIRE!” he yelled. “THERE IS A FIRE IN THE BUILDING. PLEASE EVACUATE.” Everyone looked around in confusion, but Sylvia knew what was going on.

           “You did this! You are the one who’s trying to destroy us,” the head scientist yelled at Sylvia.

           “Maybe I am,” Sylvia replied right back. “But do you want to wait to find out?” The scientist gave her one last look before he ran outside the building with the rest of them. Adam quickly caught up with Sylvia, showing her that the job was done.

           The two quickly ran outside of the building, trying to figure out how to deal with the angry scientists that were waiting for them. Just as they got out, the research center behind them blew up. Sylvia had managed to plant a bomb inside.

           “How did you know about the bomb?” she asked Adam. He didn’t. Now he knew what the thing she was holding in her hands was. He knew that Sylvia too didn’t care about what happened to other people. She wasn’t trying to save the multiverse; she had plans much more sinister than he could imagine. He figured it out. Sylvia was the one who had written the letter, to purposefully involve Adam. She didn’t want to be the one who died when the door to the multiverse was open. She had used Adam. Without hesitating, Adam broke the DNA extraction, leaving Sylvia extremely confused.

           “Why did you just do that?” she exclaimed.

           “Because you never cared about anybody’s lives either. I called the police minutes ago in the building to arrest the scientists. Looks like you are going to go too.”

           “Why?” she protested. “I haven’t done anything wrong.” The police arrived before she could ask any more questions. They got out of their cars immediately and began to handcuff the scientists.

           “Sylvia Roberts as well, please. She planted a bomb in the research center and the button in her hand is evidence.” The police grabbed her as well and pushed her into a car.

           “You haven’t seen the end of me!” Sylvia exclaimed before the cars drove off. Adam stood in thought for a long time in front of the damaged building. Three days ago, Adam was trying to find a life that he could truly take control of. He never expected to deal with the horrors that he faced that weekend. A world he was never exposed to started to reveal itself. A dangerous, sinister world, where nobody could be trusted. Reality itself couldn't be trusted.