The Effect

The truth is that there are two universes, existing simultaneously in adjacent layers of spacetime, each a twisted mirror of the other. This binary cosmic arrangement is the result of probability expansion and extinction, creating a dna-like helix of inflating and collapsing moments of reality. Technically, it adheres to the multiple worlds theory, although with there only being the two versions of reality, bound together in orbit around a single line of fate, they are constantly editing each other. There were not two movies about genies with two different actors, there was only one movie, and it changed when the universe it first appeared in edited the corresponding different version in the other universe, and the collapsing probability wave erased the second version from the timeline. But, consciousness is not fully bound by time and space, so some of those whose impressionable minds connected with the extinct version of reality remember. Human consciousness, being small eruptions of the universal consciousness that existed before matter coalesced in either universe, has always had the ability to warp it's own reality, but in most people the talent is negligible, wasted on wishing to the stars for winning lottery tickets and finding good parking spots.

The cartoon show about the family of bears, shows a different, and more dangerous phenomenon. Not the story books, mind you, but the animation, specifically the vhs tape cartridges. The difference between the two universes was as small as the spelling of the family name. When the probability wave collapsed, someone could not bear to lose that small detail, and remembered it with such force that reality bifurcated around those vhs tapes, bringing both spellings of the name into the same universe. Now there are instances of the same cartridges with two different labels, two different cases, and two different name spellings. Dangerous how? Bringing the two together to be seen by any other person in this reality, who does not remember the reality that existed prior to the probability collapse, causes a mental link with the other version of themselves. From that moment on, they will be plagued by phenomena such as deja vu, time slips, fugue states where they see clearly the other life they might have lived, reality bleeds from one universe into the other, until they are driven mad.

There is an instance of a more subtle, but nonetheless powerful manipulation of our reality, about a simple advertising logo for a garment manufacturing company. They had chosen an image that encapsulated a clever pun within the name of their company, which happened to be somewhat similar to the logo of a breakfast cereal company. The chief difference between the two was the inclusion of a cornucopia basket. This was not a problem until the garment company started selling stock, and included a cornucopia in the decorative illustration of the company name on the stock certificate. Most people would never have seen the similarity had there not been a lawsuit filed, and the story picked up by a nationwide news network. When that happened, every household in America saw the two logos side by side, and many got them confused. The collective power of all those consciousnesses projecting their confusion caused a ripple in reality, where the incorrect memory was passed back and forth between both universes repeatedly until it became a partial edit in our universe. Presumably something similar happened in the other universe as well.

A similar thing happened with the fate of a man named Nelson Mandela. The probability flux triggering event was a medical emergency he experienced while in prison. The news networks prepared two different versions of their report in advance, one saying that he died, and another saying that he recovered, so that they would be prepared in either eventuality. In our universe, Mandela recovered, and was returned to prison, where he remained for several more years. In the other, he died before he could receive medical attention. In both universes, the news reported that he died. In the other one, it was true, while in ours, they simply failed to load the correct feed into the teleprompter. The news anchor read it live without knowing the truth, and everyone watching believed it. Once the truth was known to the executives, the news corporation chose not to air a retraction. Millions of people went about their lives believing that Nelson Mandela had died, for years. But then the news reported that he was being released from prison, and all those people experienced a break in their perception of reality. Their minds reached into the universe where he had died, and other details leaked through, from the lives of their counterparts. Memories were altered, sparking chain reactions of reality edits that continue to bewilder the masses.

Some individuals had reality shifts so drastic that they spawned new fractal nodes in the shape of our universe, wherein they became trapped, vanishing from the lives of those who knew them from the moment of the shift. These fractal nodes are unstable. They decay as they spiral out into nothingness, carrying the unfortunate victim along as threads of reality unwind. This is how the universe expels it's waste. To be caught up in that is to be digested, broken down into quarks, and expelled into nothing. That is, unless, by sheer force of will one were to hold onto their consciousness, bearing the agony of dissolution, until the spiral retracted upon itself, rebuilding the individual from quarks up into a form that the consciousness has imagined for itself. Such a being might be capable of reshaping reality at will, fully and consciously, into whatever they desire. Many ancient cultures attempted to induce such a condition, through the ingestion of mushrooms, frogs' mucus, or scorpions, or by allowing the bite of the Caucasian viper. Their successes were few and expensive. But, look around you, observe what is happening to the world we perceive. The sky is crumbling away from a black abyss. The horizon terminates in an orange haze. Monstrous forms move sickeningly through the fog. Buildings are merely vague shapes that disintegrate when you look away from them. This reality is dissolving, dissolving because we are trapped in a spiraling fractal node of the conjoined universes. Look at me, see my face. Do you know who I am?

I am you! The real you. While you are my shadow, my reflection, my other! I am determined to ride out the spiral, to survive, to become that powerful version of myself, of us. What will you do? What will you do?!