Chris stared at his watch as the seconds passed by. He was not sure which one was crazier; when time stopped, or when it sidestepped to an alternate timeline.
The sound of the car honking behind him interrupted his thoughts. Seeing the green light, he stepped on the gas.
Chris surveyed each shop as he maneuvered his car. At least, most of the places he knew were still there. CVS at the corner of Milk Street and Congress, the Dunkies where he always gets his caffeine fix, and Leventhal Park in front of his office.
His car came to a rolling stop at the red light as several white flakes found their destination on the windshield of his car. One by one, they announced a flurry of snow to come. The verdant grass that carpeted Leventhal Park had turned to muddy brown in anticipation for winter. The luscious canopy of leaves were all gone except for the eerie branches that stuck out like death’s fingers. His gaze fell through the seemingly infinite branches that were not visible until now. He looked at the topmost tip, down to the trunk.
No matter how many branches there were, they still belong to the same trunk, he thought.
Suddenly, a breakthrough hit him. That’s it! This alternate reality is like a branch from the same trunk, he thought as he turned on the speakerphone. In his mind, he reasoned that before this alternate reality branched out, it should belong to the same past that he knew. And he knew just where to start.
“Phone,” he said. The voice activated speakerphone on his car sprung to life.
“Phone Activated,” said the Siri like voice.
“Dial Procyon.”
“Calling Procyon Technologies…”
After a few seconds, a voice on the other line beamed. “You have reached Procyon Technologies. This is front desk, how may I help you today?”
“Please connect me to Human Resources.”
“One moment, please.” A short beep came followed by the on-hold music. Chris tapped the steering wheel with his fingers in quick succession as he waited.
In what felt like a long time, a voice on the other line answered. “Good morning, this is Helen Stacey from Human Resources.”
“Hi Helen, this is Professor Chris Reid, Head of Quantum Physics, I was wondering if -”
“Oh Professor,” Helen interrupted. “How’s it going? By the way, I would stop calling myself head of quantum physics if I were you. You know how touchy Peter Hayes is about his position.”
“Oh right,” he chuckled. “Old habits die hard eh? How long has it been? Was it like three… or four years since…” his voice trailed off, encouraging Helen to fill in the information.
“How long since Peter assumed position, you mean?” Helen asked, “You, of all the people should know that. Remember how angry you were back then?”
Chris cleared his throat. “I guess, I took the saying forgive and forget quite literally after that.”
“Well, it was three years ago. The same time Project Sirius was decommissioned. You even called him a nutcase, that he just got the position because he is the top dog of Stradmore Industry.”
“I see,” he said.
It was not a secret that Procyon was hard pressed to strike a deal with Stradmore Industries at that time. After all, Stradmore spearheaded the latest advancement in Nanotechnology, and a merger with them would place Procyon at a very competitive position.
YOU ARE READING
The Parallel Shift
Science FictionAfter Professor Chris Reid crossed the portal to another Parallel Universe, he gained the ability to control space and time. However, a dark figure followed him and threatened to destroy the balance of his reality. Only Chris could stop him there i...
