The Multiverse Adventures

Last Trip

 The sound of the alarm bell. The light emanating from the window. Ronald was slowly starting to sense his new body. He tried to send electrical signals across his nervous system to flex every muscle that he had, from the toes to the head. Everything appeared to be fully functional. Nevertheless, he still felt what only could be described as a massive hungover. His eyelids were extremely heavy and required a force of many gigawatts to open. As he lifted his torso from the bed the information about the surrounding room began flowing through his optical nerve into his neocortex, only to be met by disbelief. The room appeared small, at most 15 square meters. In front there was a standard size window, and he could hear the crowing of a rooster coming from a distance. He could feel the absence of heat in the room with his facial skin. Being afraid to get up, he spent a few more minutes trying to remember how he got here and where here was. His mind was more than resistant to his conscious probing and refused to retrieve any information as to his whereabouts.

Ronald got out of bed and quickly began dressing in what appeared to be lower middle class clothes. A simple pair of non-branded jeans, a t-shirt made out of rough cotton and an equally simplistic shirt. He walked towards the window and after having moved the drapes apart gazed outside. It appeared that he was standing on the second floor of a wooded house with small green in front. At a distance he could see farmland and trees. The absolute quite, interrupted ever so often by the squeaks of various animals, was another factor in the ambiance. At this point Ronald decided to go walk around what seemed like a countryside house. On the ground floor he found his way to the kitchen and using muscle memory began operating the primitive kettle. Was he happy or sad? Did it work? Who is he know and most importantly where and when​? Unfortunately his brain refused to give him any of the answers. Ronald could hear the sound of approaching footsteps, and then a knock. He immediately snapped out and made his way to the front door. Whatever was outside this door would answer all his questions.

“ Dad!Dad! ” came in a boy's voice as Ronald opened the door. Right after he heard another voice, this time of a young girl “ Daddy! Hello! ” Though he was as astonished as he had ever been, he immediately bent down and welcomed both kids.

“ How was school? ” he asked, whilst being surprised at himself for possessing such information

“ Excellent, today we were studying insects. Found the subject so fascinating, reminded me of our field trips when we were young ” answered the boy cheerfully

Field trips studying insects... Does that mean that Ronald was a biologist? Or a zoologist? Perhaps both. He remembered his own trips to the zoo with his grandfather, his fascination with organic life. His recurrent dreams at the age of 6 when he saw DNA molecules recombining to produce new life forms. Oh, how he wanted to be a part of it, to study life and to help his fellow humans. But, then something happened, something dreadful.

“ That is all great, I'm glad that you enjoyed it. May I ask, where is your mother? ”

“ She's still at work ” began the girl, as she was taking off the coat “ but today she said she will finish early, so perhaps she might join us in a couple of hours. ”

Ronald began waiting for her, after sending off the kids to do their homework. Whilst slowly pacing around the living room, he tried ever so hard to remember his past life. Fragments began popping into his mind. A wild sex party at the university. A string of failed grades at mathematics during his senior school years. An admission to a low-tier university. And the resultant loss of interest in science. He knew there was something in him that yearned for an answer. That knew there was something wrong. Another life, more fulfilling materially but less so emotionally. That one time he had been a great person, maybe even a scientist. One thing was certain, he no longer lusted for knowledge, or power. With his left hand he scratched the area behind his right ear in search for something. Something that wasn't there, but he could not remember what it was.

“ Dear Ronald! So nice to see you, how come you are not at work? ” the sound of a female voice came from the entrance hall

“ Dear, what is your name?? ” She looked at him astonished and then gave the answer. Margaret. That name stirred emotions in Ronald and he run towards her and gave her a strong hug full of love. After a while, the two sat down at the dinner table and began their conversation. It took him just a little convincing to get her talking, after having explained that it was essential to re-tell him the essential points of their life together. For some strange reason, Margaret perfectly understood.

“ Ronald, for some reason I've always known that you've had a parallel life. Even though you've never told me anything about it. When we met, you had already finished your degree literature and had moved on. It appeared that you just weren't that interested in the subject after all. ”

“ Did I ever tell you how I got into this? ”

“ Yes, after spending many summers together with your grandfather going to zoos and vivariums anything excessively quantitative repelled you. You tried to study biology at school, seeing that it is the least quantitative subject. But, from what I understood from our earlier conversations, it never quite appealed to you. So when the time came to make your choice of specialisation, you decided to go for the jugular and change your orientation completely. ”

“ Therefore I picked a literature course. They didn't even admit me to a that good of a university. I remember that now, the other students there were very interesting and nice to spend time with. The parties were great and I.... ”

“ When I first met you, you were single. Yet, from what you told me before, there had been many encounters with the opposite sex on your part. You were quite a playboy during your college years. It seemed to me at the time that ever since high school you life had changed. Ever since you came to the conclusion that science was not for you. That you had to take things easy and not always strive for perfect knowledge, or control.”

“ And had I ever had a crush on anyone that wasn't you? ”

“ Well, there was this one girl that you couldn't stop talking about when we first met. I think, her name was Monica. You found her on the internet and said that being with her was your destiny. Unfortunately, she already was with someone. An older man, perhaps 40 years old or more, that worked in the financial services industry. It took me quite a while to dissuade you from trying to pull her into your courtyard ”

“ I see. So, as I understand, we have a solid marriage. Brought up two wonderful children. And on a final note, what is it we do? ”

Margaret let out a heavy breath “ Well, I am a secondary school teacher and you run a small business. A convenience store. ”

“ Thank you ”.

Ronald felt that somewhere, someplace there existed a copy of him swollen to death from beluga caviar and fine champagne, yet miserable and grieving for the loss of a loved one. At the same time there was a copy of him right here, thin and lean yet with a loving wife and two children. A family man living the American dream. So in the end it turns out that wealth and money is not everything. Neither is the knowledge of the subtleties of the universe and the grand theory of everything. For him at this very moment it was better to be at a low level of energy yet happy than at a high level but miserable. Looked at from another perspective, living the dream he was utilising his resources a lot more efficiently then he was being posh.