by Jason Ayres
“I’m going for the garlic and ginger king prawns, pan-fried and tossed with chilli and spring onion batons,” declared Vanessa, closing the menu emphatically. “Though I am not sure I would recommend that for you. They are very generous with the garlic.”
“That doesn’t bother me,” replied Josh. “I’m going to go for the garlic butter with my steak, so you’ll be in good company.”
“Henry doesn’t like garlic but it’s not a problem in my case,” said Vanessa. “We’ve had separate bedrooms for years, haven’t we, dear?”
“Indeed we have, oh light of my life,” said Henry, delivering his reply in the same tone, laced with undertones of contempt, of her previous remark.
“Yes, I couldn’t stand his snoring,” replied Vanessa. “Amongst other things. He’s got sleep apnoea and sometimes stops breathing for up to a minute at a time. It used to freak me out when we were younger.”
“But not anymore?” asked Alice, thinking that Vanessa probably wouldn’t be remotely upset if Henry popped his clogs in his sleep.
“I wouldn’t know. I’m forty yards away on the far side of the house now. It’s lovely and quiet over there. I actually enjoy a proper night’s sleep these days.”
“You’re not the only one,” replied Henry.
“I’m surprised you get any sleep at all these days since you started bringing Dani home with you,” said Vanessa. “Good, is she?”
Just like at the institute earlier, the atmosphere between Henry and Vanessa was making Alice distinctly uncomfortable and she decided to intervene.
“Look, you two, I don’t know what’s going on in your marriage, or what your problem is with each other, but we’ve accepted your invitation to dinner and I think you could at least show us the courtesy of not spending the whole evening taking pot-shots at each other.”
“Fair enough,” said Vanessa. “I think we can manage it for one evening, can’t we, Henry?”
“Yes, we really ought to,” replied Henry. “We don’t want to scare these two away before we get a chance to discuss what we invited them here for in the first place, do we?”
The waiter returned to take their orders, after which Josh decided it was time to move the conversation forward.
“Exactly what is it you have asked us here to talk about? You’ve been hinting about it all day and I think it’s time we cut to the chase.”
“It certainly is,” said Henry. “I take it you were impressed by our little demonstration earlier?”
“Without a doubt,” replied Alice. “Though I’m still a little uneasy about the way you shut the other Henry down.”
“It was merely an experiment, and one that, as you saw, still needs work,” said Henry. “What’s important is that you look at the bigger picture.”
“Perhaps if you elaborated a little further?” asked Alice.
Henry took a large swig of his wine and began his explanation.
“Today we showed you how the process works, but we didn’t explain what we hope to achieve with it. Our intention isn’t just to create conscious android replicas of healthy living humans. There’s a lot more to it than that.”
“We want to give people immortality,” added Vanessa, by way of confirmation. “If we can perfect this, there’s no reason why anyone should ever have to die again. If we have the ability to upload a copy of everyone’s brain before death, then they can theoretically live indefinitely.”
“In an android body?” asked Alice. “We all saw the problems that caused this morning, just over the relatively trivial matter of the android not being able to enjoy a steak. What’s going to happen when we’ve got millions of dissatisfied robots running around who can’t eat, drink, have sex or all the other things that make living in a human body so pleasurable?”
“They can have sex,” said Henry, drawing a dirty look from Vanessa, who for once bit her tongue.
“But can they enjoy it?” asked Alice. “Can they actually feel the sensations?”
“Well, not exactly, not at the moment,” conceded Henry.
“It doesn’t bode well, does it?” added Alice.
The conversation broke off temporarily as their waiter returned with a mouth-watering selection of starters. After a few moments of small talk where they commended the outstanding food, Alice steered the conversation back on track.
“An android wouldn’t be able to enjoy this, for a start,” she said, as she took a bite of an exquisite crab and avocado concoction.
“Not yet,” said Henry, “but there’s no reason why we can’t develop pleasure sensors within the android body to simulate all of life’s pleasures.”
“And there are other possibilities where this wouldn’t be an issue,” said Vanessa.
“Such as?” asked Alice.
“Cloning for one,” said Henry. “I’m sure you’re aware of the latest research on that front. It’s now possible to grow a complete adult human body from just a scrap of DNA in a matter of days.”
“It may be possible but it’s also extremely controversial,” replied Alice. “You must be aware that the international scientific community is totally opposed to it.”
“Didn’t the King of England recently have a brand new heart put in, grown from his own DNA?” asked Vanessa.
“That’s completely different,” said Alice. “You’re talking about a medical procedure to extend someone’s life which is something doctors have being doing with transplants for generations – not creating a complete copy.”
“There are other implications to making people immortal you might need to think about, too,” said Josh.
“Such as?” asked Vanessa.
“Right, well, for a start we’ve got ten billion people on this planet already. The Martian colonies have already spread out over half that planet in barely twenty years. If no one’s ever going to die, where are we going to put all the extra people? What happens when we’ve got twenty billion, or thirty billion? Where are we going to put them all? I really don’t think you’ve thought about the implications of all this.”
“Believe me, we have thought about all of this,” said Vanessa. “That’s why you’re here. What we have in mind is quite different to all those other options, and it’s something we believe you can help with.”
“It’s as simple as this,” said Henry. “What’s the one thing most people crave when they get older? Especially those near the end of their lives? I’ll tell you – they want to be young again.”
“And he doesn’t just mean young as in a newly grown replacement body,” added Vanessa. “What people really want is to be able to go back to the time when they really were young. How old are you now, Josh?”
“Fifty-five,” said Josh, which was technically true if you went strictly according to the calendar. Due to all his messing about in time, though, his body was a year or two older.
“If you could be eighteen again,” said Henry, “would you rather be eighteen now, or eighteen back when you really were that age – with all the music, culture and fashions of the time?”
“Back in your era,” added Vanessa.
“Exactly. You could hang out with all your friends back when life was fun and responsibility-free, you know, all those people you lost touch with over the years as life got in the way. You could see family members who’ve passed on who you thought had gone forever. And think of all the other possibilities – having the chance to live your life all over again, doing things differently and correcting mistakes along the way.”
“If it was me, I wouldn’t marry you for a start,” said Vanessa.
“Hey!” protested Alice. “You promised to knock off on the insults, remember?”
“Sorry,” said Vanessa. “I couldn’t resist.”
The waiter returned with their meals, and Josh was certainly not disappointed when he saw the huge steak on his oversized plate, along with all the trimmings.
“Wow, this looks amazing,” he said.
“I promised you wouldn’t be disappointed,�
�� said Henry.
As Josh cut his first slice of steak, he thought about what Henry and Vanessa had said, his mind alive to the possibilities.
“In answer to your previous question, obviously most people would say the latter,” he said. “If I was eighteen now, in 2055 I don’t think I’d enjoy it as much. The music’s crap for a start.”
“I had a feeling you would say that,” replied Henry. “Which is why I hope you can help us.”
“How exactly?” asked Josh as he bit into a delicious, beer-battered onion ring, though he was already pretty sure what Henry was going to say next.
“You’re the world’s most knowledgeable academic on the subject of time travel,” said Henry.
“Well, I dabble a little,” said Josh modestly.
“Don’t flatter him too much,” interjected Alice. “His ego’s big enough already!”
She was as curious as Josh about what Henry had in mind, but was also a little wary. She was concerned that Josh might say more than he ought to, especially as he was already half a bottle of wine to the good.
“I’ve read everything you’ve ever published, and we’ve talked about time travel theory many times,” continued Henry. “But I can’t help thinking you’re holding out on me a little.”
“I guess I may not have told you everything,” conceded Josh, at which point he felt a sharp dig in his ribs from his wife beside him.
He looked across and saw her shoot him a warning glance that he knew only too well – it meant “Shut up”.
But Josh wanted to know more. He couldn’t come this far and not hear them out.
“The word on the street,” continued Henry, “and by the street, I mean the elite scientific community – is that someone has already discovered how to time travel and is keeping quiet about it. And unsurprisingly, you are the odds-on favourite.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve heard such rumours,” said Josh, trying to keep his cards close to his chest.
“Oh, I think they are more than rumours,” said Henry. “You see, one of the other things I’ve been conducting research into here is the theory of the multiverse and I’ve made some rather interesting discoveries. To summarise, by using a system of measuring the number of atoms in the known universe and then comparing them against certain mirror images that I’ve uncovered, I’ve proven to myself beyond all doubt that duplicate universes do exist.”
Josh looked across to Alice on his right who caught his eye, giving him a concerned glance. Henry was uncomfortably close to reaching the same conclusions they already had.
“Your looks betray you,” said Vanessa, picking up on the body language between Alice and Josh. “You do know more than you’ve been letting on.”
“I’m not exactly sure what you’re driving at,” said Josh. “One minute you’re talking about time travel – the next it’s alternate universes. Where’s the connection?”
“I was rather hoping you’d be able to tell me,” replied Henry. “You see, once I’d established the existence of these alternate universes, it was a relatively straightforward task to catalogue them. I’ve given each one its own unique identification code based on the number of atoms in it. This number varies by a miniscule amount from one to another, but enough to make it unique. And do you know what else I discovered?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me,” said Josh, who was now seriously wondering exactly how much Henry had worked out. For all his flamboyance and joking around, he knew Henry had a brilliant mind.
“I could measure not only the size of the universes, but also the exact time it was created and its point of origin, which is where it got really interesting. I discovered that nearly all of these duplicate universes were created within the last few decades, and most remarkably of all, the vast majority were created in and around the Oxford area – where you just happen to live. That’s an amazing coincidence, don’t you think?”
“Isn’t it just?” added Vanessa.
Josh remained silent as Henry continued in full flow.
“The biggest shock was discovering that this isn’t even the original universe,” added Henry. “It was identical up until October 31st, 2029, at which point the diversion occurred. The original universe, the only one in which the number of atoms is unchanged since the Big Bang, is still there, but we aren’t in it. Presumably our original selves are over there, alive and well, and presumably doing whatever it is they do over there, blissfully unaware of our existence.”
“I really don’t know what you think I have to do with all of this,” said Josh.
“I think the time’s come to drop the pretence,” said Vanessa. “We think you know all about the multiverse and how to achieve time travel, and what’s more, we think you’re already doing it. We also believe whatever you’ve been doing has been somehow responsible for the creation of all these other universes.”
“Josh, could I have a quick word with you outside?” said Alice, turning to the others and adding, “Cigarette break.”
“Really?” said Vanessa, rolling her eyes. “Who still smokes these days?”
“Just give us a minute, will you?” replied Alice. “I need to speak to Josh in private.”
Leaving the table and heading back out to the lobby, she turned to Josh and asked, “What are we going to do? They’ve got it all pretty much figured out.”
“I suppose it was inevitable someone else would eventually,” said Josh. “The same is probably true of every scientific discovery in history. If Einstein hadn’t come up with the special theory of relativity, someone else would have figured it out. Perhaps we should just come clean.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Can we trust these two?”
“I’ve been chatting to Henry for years. He feels like an old friend. We’ve nothing to fear from him.”
“And what about her? I’m not sure about her at all.”
“I’d like to know more about what they’re proposing, so I don’t think we have any choice. They obviously know we’re the ones behind the time travel so what’s the use in denying it? How about we go along with it to a degree by admitting we know how to time travel, but not give too much away about how it all works until we know exactly what it is they want?”
“They’ve already told us,” said Alice. “It’s obvious. All that stuff about being able to go back in time to being eighteen again. They want to see if their whole mind transference process can be adapted to send a person’s mind back in time into their past body, and they want to use your time travel knowledge to help them do it.”
“There’s only one way to find out for sure,” said Josh. “Shall we go back in?”
“OK. But remember what I said. Play it cool and don’t commit to anything. At least not until we’ve had a chance to run it by the others.”
“Agreed,” said Josh. “And let’s look on the bright side. We were bound to get found out by someone eventually. There are far worse people out there than these two. We could have found ourselves being held hostage by some hostile agents from some rogue regime, plotting to use our technology to take over the world. At least these two are friendly. We can’t come to any harm with them – can we?”
“Let’s hope not,” said Alice, but she still had her reservations.
“Come on, then,” said Josh.
Together they walked back to the table where Henry and Vanessa were waiting.
Chapter Four
March 2056
Alice and Josh had returned to Oxford, rested and refreshed after many months of travelling around the world.
After a few days to get settled back in, they had arranged to meet the rest of the Time Bubble team for drinks, back in their old local in the small Oxfordshire market town where most of them had grown up.
As he heaved open the ancient wooden door that had graced the front of The Red Lion since time immemorial, Josh was pleased to see that the rest of the gang were already there. They were seated on high stools around one of the tall, square tables
that ran all along the right-hand side of the pub.
The pub had barely changed at all in the whole time Josh had been going in there, which had been a long time. It was getting on for four decades since he and Charlie had sneaked in there for an underage pint while they were doing their A levels, something that Craig, the landlord of the time, had turned a blind eye to.
Chronologically, Josh’s first visit to the pub had been even earlier than that. He had called in for a pint during his lengthy stay in 1992, and even back then it was barely distinguishable from today.
The pub may not have changed but he and his friends certainly had, all affected by the inevitable passing of time. There was no denying that middle age had well and truly arrived. Josh’s oldest friend, Charlie Adams, was now greying and developing an ever-increasing girth, brought on no doubt by his love of fine wine and cheese.
His wife, Kaylee, by contrast, was as fit and beautiful as ever in her mid-fifties, her long, blonde hair as lush as it had ever been. Whatever she was using to keep the grey hair at bay, it was certainly working.
Sitting on the opposite side of the table from Charlie and Kaylee were Peter and Hannah Grant. They were now both in their mid-sixties now, but as full of life as ever, despite the weathered lines on their faces.
It had been a long time since Josh and Alice had seen their friends and there were many hugs and kisses exchanged before Josh headed for the bar where he was greeted by the final member of their team, the pub’s landlady and his former girlfriend, Lauren.
She was the wild child of the group and always had been, free and liberal in her sexual attitudes and with a belly full of fire for anyone she took a dislike to. Many had felt the sharp end of her tongue over the years, which to be fair had been in most cases more than justified. No man or woman had ever managed to tame her, and she had never married or had children as a result.
“Welcome home, stranger!” she said enthusiastically. “I bet you’re glad to get back to some decent beer, aren’t you?”
“Too right,” said Josh. “I’ve had to make do with lager most of the time I’ve been away. I’ve never understood why the rest of the world doesn’t brew proper ale.”
