Chapter 143.

When I thought back on the sequence of events from last night, I was rather perplexed. The first part was a simple dream or recollection of my past, right? Then when I woke up after in the hotel room, was it actually a second phase to it that led into a nightmare? Or was that something that really happened like I initially presumed in which I somehow shifted between world lines? Or… was I just wasted the entire time?

Well... what if I wasn’t wasted and it really happened. Would that mean I was in the same world line I was in the day before, or did I end up in one different from the one I was originally in? The differences were likely minute details if it was a small shift compared to the large one I may or may not have experienced on the plane.

I was still extremely skeptical about this whole nonsense world line theorem I’d come up with. My theory was along the lines of something a maniac, mad scientist, or conspiracy theorist would come up with. I’d surely be seen as a lunatic if I brought up something like this in a public setting.

“Hey, Val, this is a weird question which I know you wouldn’t be able to answer, but are you the same Val I know from yesterday?”

“What is that supposed to mean? Do you think I got plastic surgery overnight or something?”

“I don’t mean it like that.”

“Oh, you mean the random theory you brought up before?”

“Yeah.”

“Then there’s not really any way I can confirm that myself. Unless you knew every single detail about me from yesterday, there would be no way to confirm it.”

“Yeah, that’s about what I thought.”

“Besides, you could easily misremember something and incorrectly convince yourself that there is some sort of difference when there isn’t.”

“Yeah, there’s that too. Things are just getting stranger and stranger.”

“You had another nightmare?”

“I guess you could call it that. I’m not quite sure about any of it. The first part of my dream was simple enough, but the second part was… how do I put it… indecipherable? Maybe better said, beyond common sense, something a sober man could never understand?”

“If you can’t figure it out now, it’s not like you need to immediately understand it. Just put it aside for the time being until the day comes where you can comprehend it. Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither was human understanding. What we don’t understand now isn’t necessarily true about the future us.”

“But I feel like it’s something very important. Something that could reveal the truth behind everything. At the same time, I feel like it’s something that will destroy me from the ground up and turn me inside out when I understand it. Like I’d understand exactly what has been happening to me recently. Whether I, myself, am a fake as they claimed. I want to understand the meaning of their words.”

“A fake? Are you some kind of fraudster impersonating someone?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. At least, I don’t think it is.”

“Then what?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Are you an indecisive teenage girl, or a middle-aged man having an identity crisis?”

“Biologically speaking I was a man the last time I checked.”

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t identify as a teenage girl. That’s rather unpleasant, Mr. Genovese. To think you had that sort of side to you.”

“Of course I don’t.”

“Jokes aside, it’s honestly not a big deal whether you’re fake or real, Mr. Genovese. Everyone has a fake persona they put on for the public. Everyone around us in the world are phonies to a degree. If everyone is fake, why should you care whether you are a fake or the real deal?”

“Why care? Because it’s the logical thing to do, isn’t it Val?”

“It isn’t, Mr. Genovese. Humans aren’t as logical a creature as you may believe they are. The vast majority of humans are very irrational beings that rarely think logically.”

“If humans are told 2+2 equals 4 is an absolute mathematical fact, there are still many who will get it wrong when asked. They may think it’s a trick question due to the simplicity of the question, they may overthink it and believe there is some deeper meaning to being asked it, while there are others who will even try to disprove it. Some people may purposely answer incorrectly to intentionally appear dumber than they are to try and fit in with other irrational idiots. Others may just want to make things political because they want to feel special.”

“Haaaaah. Just why would they get such a simple question wrong even when they know the answer? Simply out of irrationality. A computer will answer you with certainty ten times out of ten for such a simplistic calculation, it won’t second guess itself like humans like to. To the computer, the answer to 2+2 is always 4 unless there’s some sort of external factor that introduces a bit error or glitch in the system.”

“A computer’s output answer is derived purely upon logic, inputs, and conditions you feed into the system, there are no needless emotions to get in its way like us irrational humans. At times the answer it yields may seem illogical to us, but to the computer, it is the only possible answer that makes sense to it. It will not question or doubt itself like us humans as such an action is completely irrational.”

Question and doubt itself…

“Val, what about error detection and correction processes? That is essentially a computer questioning and doubting itself, isn’t it?”

“Can a computer question or doubt itself on why it needs to do those processes? No, it cannot as it has been instructed through code, it must perform those procedures, but a human can. If the computer is told to do it through code, then it is a perfectly logical thing for it to do.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, this isn’t the only example of human irrationality. Another would be humanity’s sense of values. As much as humans believe they value authenticity, in reality, humans worship convenient falsehoods without realizing it. Do you know why they accept fakes despite being aware that the value is lower than something authentic?”

“For convenience, right? They don’t have to put in as much effort to get something fake as it is more readily available. They can simply deceive others into thinking it is something authentic when it’s not; and though some will, the vast majority of people won’t bother to question it.”

“Yes. Exactly. The action of deceiving simply for the sake of skewing how you appear to others is rather illogical, but humans do it anyway. It’s easier to accept something untrue but convenient than to face the cruel reality that’s staring you directly in the eyes. Mr. Genovese, you are just another normal human in everyone else’s eyes, even if you think you’re a fake, in everyone else’s eyes you are the same as them. With such irrationality in society, does it still bother you whether you’re real or a fake?”

“I’m... not exactly sure, but with the way you put it, I think I’m actually more annoyed with humanity's illogical way of life. You should care whether I’m a fake or not. It makes a big difference.”

“It only makes a big difference to your own sense of self-worth. Nobody else cares how fake or real you are. If something is interesting or intriguing enough, that’s all that matters to others.”

“Val, putting that aside, what are we doing today?”

“Mmmmmm. Good question. As things went smoother than I expected yesterday, there isn’t too much on the agenda aside from waiting to hear back from the big shots at your old firm. Once we do, I can finalize all the specifics of the partnership with them.”

“In other words, I don’t have anything to do then, right?”

“You do. You have a big job to take care of.”

“I do?”

“Naturally you do.”

“What would that be?”

“Of course that would be to keep me entertained while we wait.”

“I don’t think that was in my job description.”

“I wrote it into your contract last night, so don’t worry about it.”

“That’s illegal, isn’t it? There was no mutual consent for that change in my contract.”

“I took your fingerprint as a seal while you were asleep, so it’s all good. From a legal standpoint, I’m covered.”

“That’s blatant fraud, in what way are you covered?”

“Because you’re a pushover who wants to keep his job and you wouldn’t bother to try and fight your boss for being a bit unreasonable.”