The Reality Bomb

A decade ago, scientists made an incredible discovery. Alternate realities existed. An infinite, or so near infinite that the distinction barely mattered, number were just barely beyond the walls of our own reality. Every choice or encounter could be tracked to an alternate reality, as could more uncontrolled circumstances.

The scientists were able to view worlds inhabited by wildly different species than humans, humans with different characteristics, and worlds so alarmingly close to our own that the change may not even have been discovered without weeks, months, or years of research.

The governments of the world stepped in and laid down some rules, banning any communication between realities. It was for the safety of multiple universes, according to them. It was a running theme, it seemed, as no other realities attempted to break through the walls and reach out to us.

The technology was there, though. Now that the walls had been revealed, it was possible for people to do their own research to find ways to break them down. Terrorist groups, seemingly interested in pure anarchy over any particular message, would occasionally create devices which could tear through these walls, to a small degree.

One event, a gunman would fire into a crowd of people with a specialized gun, which would shunt people to another reality or swap them with a counterpart, or simply swap their form with a counterparts.

More common, however, were the bombs. Devices which could be set and cause mass confusion and changes among a larger area. Usually, they were designed to encompass entire city blocks. As with the gun, victims could find themselves into a new world entirely, or have their bodies swapped with one of their alternate selves, sometimes a far cry from what was considered human.

Even worse, due to the sheer number of universes and the inherent randomness of the weapons, it was all but impossible to undo the changes caused by these weapons. Governments set up funds which would be dispersed to victims, and generally made any adaptations needed as easy as possible for the new or altered citizens.

Now, we will follow one of the recent or soon to be victims of such an event.