Parallel Predicaments

3

"Good heavens, this is unbelievable. Are you really Nami? Nami from 2024?"

I asked impatiently, "Who are you, exactly?"

She claimed, "Can't you recognize your own voice? I'm you, from ten years in the future. It's 2034 here, and it's miraculous that I'm able to call my past self."

It seemed like another AI scam call, so I retorted, "I'll admit this is an AI scam, but you've got the wrong person."

"Wait, don't hang up. Coco will die!" she yelled from the other end.

"How do you know Coco?" I glanced at Coco, who was browsing through phone cases at the counter.

"Of course, I know. Coco is also my friend."

"What do you mean she will die?"

"I don't know how this happened, but Coco is alive and well in 2034. It was you who told me to call you today and insist that Coco will die in her home at 10:40 tonight."

I laughed, "So, I asked you to call me? That's redundant. Your scam isn't clever. If Coco died in 2024 as you claim, how could she be alive in 2034?" I hung up after that.

Coco inquired, "Who was that? I heard you mention my name."

"Just a scam call claiming to be me from the future, saying you'd die today."

Coco laughed, "You should've passed the phone to me; I'd have loved to have a word with this scammer. If they knew what we do, they'd regret it."

"So, you believe that call was really from the future?" Sheldon asked across from me. We were back in the lab.

"I was skeptical, but then you've mentioned how quantum fluctuations could spawn countless universes, with numerous past, present, and future dimensions coexisting on the same timeline. I was worried the caller might be telling the truth, so I went to find Coco. And everything she said came true—Coco died exactly at 10:40!"

"Did you mention any of this to the police?" he inquired.

"No, they'd never believe such a story."

Sheldon advised, "Good, Nami. Don't mention this to anyone else."

"What do you mean? You don't believe me?"

"No, Nami, I believe what you're saying. But have you considered that the call might have been the murderer's scheme, designed to make you believe? I know accepting Coco's death is hard, but your story is illogical and unfounded."

I pulled out my phone, "I have the call log. Once I redial this number, you'll believe me."

But scanning through my phone, I couldn't find the number. Then I remembered the caller ID had been blank.

Sheldon watched silently as I put away my phone, "Even if you don't believe me, you should at least believe in your own research. Didn't you say parallel universes are everywhere?"

Sheldon sighed, "Alright, let me explain. All matter in the universe is made up of quanta. Physicists observing quanta found their states vary with each observation, suggesting the existence of multiple universes. They might share the same spatial dimensions but differ in temporal ones, or vice versa."