Shifting Reality

Chapter 1 by cutie569 cutie569

Identical Twins John and Jane Smith have always considered themselves the most average people in existence. Tonight, that same average life will lead them to an astonishing adventure.

John and Jane were relaxing in the room they had shared since they were small. Times and furnishings had changed but the pair were still most comfortable together.

"Let's see now," A voice said as a man in fine traveling clothes blinked into being in the middle of the room. "I think I've got it this time."

"Well done, my love." A stunning woman blinked in beside him, their backs to the siblings. "Now all we need to do is find this 'J. Smith' and we can get started."

John cleared his throat, causing the two visitors to spin quickly on their feet. "I'm John Smith."

"And I'm Jane Smith. Now is there any reason why we shouldn't call the police?"

"Oh my." The man said frowning slightly. "There are two of them."

"Unexpected, but we can still make the most of it." The woman replied. "I'm sure you two saw our unorthodox entrance?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Jane asked.

"Well, we hail from a dimension sufficently removed from your own to operate by different rules. My given name is likely going to be impossible to pronounce so you can just call me Dick. And my lovely companion here is... Suzy."

"Dick, Jane, John and Suzy?" John narrowed his eyes. "Sounds like a set up for a bad joke."

"Yes, I suppose it does." Suzy mumbled. "Oh well, it can't be helped. The long and short of it is, Dick and I have a little wager and we need a very average person to help us with the bet. Our research showed one 'J. Smith' to be the most average person in this dimension and so we came to ask for his, or her help."

"So how can we help you?" Jane asked suspiciously.

"Well, we can't explain the exact terms of our wager, as that may taint the results, but we would give you the power to reshape reality as you will it, and by accepting that power you agree to let your actions be monitored extradimensionally. We would resolve the bet ourselves, and the power would be yours to keep. At no time will you be morally judged on your actions before, during, or after the terms of the wager. So what do you say?" Dick asked, looking at a pocket watch.

"We've got a few questions." Jane said cautiously. "How exactly would you give us this power?"

Suzy fielded this one. "As we said, our universe operates on a different set of rules from yours. It's an easy task for us to alter your reality. Hell, it's so easy we don't even do it ourselves. We've created this reality shifter to do it for us." She paused and held up a glowing dodecahedron. "Once this merges and syncronizes with your body you can will a change and it will happen."

"How exactly does this affect our reality? I mean would people be able to trace it back to us?" John asked.

"Oh heavens no!" Suzy said laughing. Leaving the shifter to float and bob in midair, she produced two strands of yarn, one blue and one red. "This blue thread represents your 'normal' reality, and the red thread represents a change. When you introduce a change into reality," She paused to tie the red thread into a knot around the blue. "the change is focused here, where you put it. but then it ripples out," She sqeeezeed the knot in her hands, flattening it out and turning the thread blue and red. "altering the past, present, and future to reflect your change."

"So can we undo a change?" John asked.

"Not in the traditional sense of pulling out a change and having reality revert to normal. You'd have to make a change that negates your first change." Suzy responded.

"And what limits does this power have?"

"Absolutely none. Bring back the dead, erase the living, change your name to John Doe for all we care. Nothing is beyond the power of your will. So are you interested?"

"Sure!" Both siblings said at once.

"Excellent!" Dick said. "There is one tiny little catch. We had assumed that our 'J. Smith' was a single person and as such, we only brought one shifter with us. Now they are easy enough to make, but the window between out dimensions is nearly shut, and won't open again for another thirty days in this dimension. So one of you can take this one we have with us and the other will have to wait a month for our return. Or there is a slim possibility that the shifter can bond with both of you at the same time, but I don't reccomend this option. So who will take this shifter?"

John, Jane, or split down the middle

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