rented house when he saw Amanda, Randy’s girlfriend, near a cab. Amanda was watching the cab driver as he loaded her suitcases.
After Alex parked his car he walked over to Amanda and asked, “Are you going on a trip?”
Amanda looked at Alex before saying angrily, “I’m going to the airport. I’m going home to stay.”
Alex shot Amanda a shock look while asking in a disbelieving tone, “You’re quitting Harvard?”
“Alex, I’m only attending Harvard because of Randy and I broke up with him.”
“You broke up with Randy?” Alex shockingly asked. “Why?”
Amanda took a deep breath to calm herself before saying, “Alex, since Tuesday, Randy has shut me out of his life. He’s completely obsessed with that alternate reality theory of his.”
“Amanda, before you leave in a haste, let me go in the house and talk to Randy.”
“Don’t bother. He’s not even home. He’s at the electronic store buying things.”
“That’s good, isn’t it? I mean he has his mind focused on something else; something other than that theory of his.”
“Alex, Randy had a breakthrough this morning on his theory. So he believes anyway. He now believes that he can create a device that can open a wormhole into other realities. He is now at the store buying the things that he needs to create the device. As he was leaving I told him that I wasn’t going to be here when he got back. His words were, ‘You’ll return when you see my name in the paper after winning the Nobel Prize.’ Alex, I’m done. I can’t handle this.”
The cab driver stepped up and asked, “Are you ready, ma’am?”
Amanda faced the cab driver before saying, “I’m ready.” She turned back towards Alex. “Goodbye, Alex. You are a good friend.” Within seconds Amanda got into the cab and closed the door.
Alex watched as the cab driver got into the driver’s side of the cab and drove away. Alex then waited for fifteen minutes for Randy to return. When he didn’t return Alex got into his car and drove away.
Tuesday, October 19, at 11:10 A.M., Alex rang Randy’s doorbell. He waited for Randy to answer for only a short time before knocking hard. After a few more seconds of waiting he reared back and as he was about ready to pound, Randy opened the door. Randy didn’t look at Alex when the door opened, but stood in the doorway while writing in a notebook. Randy was ten days unshaven and his hair was a mess.
“Randy, you’ve been absent from school for two weeks,” Alex pointed out. When Randy didn’t respond Alex tapped Randy’s notebook. “Hey!”
Randy looked at Alex before saying, “I’m glad you came by.” Randy then walked away from the door while not paying attention as to if Alex was going to follow. “There is something I want to show you.”
“Randy, I just came by to give you a warning from Prof. Blumberg,” Alex said as he did follow.
Randy faced Alex before saying, “I’m not concerned about his empty threats.”
“Randy, I don’t think he’s threatening. He’s tired of your absentees and your joke science papers that you are emailing him as your assignments.”
“Those papers I send him aren’t jokes. I’m very serious about those papers.” Randy gestured into the direction of his makeshift lab as he continued to say, “In fact, come with me. I want to show you a breakthrough I had.”
“As long as it is not on your alternate reality theory I will see your breakthrough.”
“Alternate reality is real and I can prove it within a day or two.”
Alex gave Randy a curious look while questioning, “What do you mean you can prove it?”
“If you come with me I will show you what I mean.”
“Randy, we’ve been friends since the first grade so I’m saying this as a good friend. You need to come back to reality before it is too late. Now you are the best science student Harvard has seen in a long time, and if it wasn’t for those papers you are sending Prof. Blumberg even he would see that, but as it is, you are about ready to be expelled.”
“Alex, come with me and I will show you what I learned.”
“No, I won’t,” Alex said while taking a stand. “Prof. Blumberg is right. Traveling into another reality is nothing more than a science fiction writer’s imagination. A person can not travel into a different reality like in that TV show.”
“You’re wrong and I will prove it.”
“Randy, you need to see someone about this obsession of yours. I see now why Amanda dumped you.”
“Amanda just didn’t understand why this was important to me.”
“She’s not the only one. Now I’m going back to Harvard and I suggest you do the same before you are no longer a student there.”
“In a day or two I will prove to you that alternate reality is not just a science fiction story.”
Alex shook his head in frustration before turning towards the door and walking out.
Randy walked back into his makeshift lab. The lab had a dry erase board with an equation written on it. Not too far from the dry erase board was a workbench with pieces of a remote spread about. He sat down at the workbench, placed the notebook to where he could see it, picked up a small resister and soldered it to the main portion to the remote.
Thursday, October 21, at 12:35 P.M., Randy knocked on Alex and Doug’s dormitory door.
Doug opened the door and when he saw Randy standing there with a remote in his hand he said, “So you didn’t fall off the edge of the universe as the rumors have been saying.”
“Very funny,” Randy said before holding up his remote, almost at eye level. “I did it, and I want to show Alex. Where is he?”
“He is at the library.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you later.”
When Randy went to leave, Doug uttered while stepping into the hallway, “Wait! I’m going with you.”
In the library, Alex and four others, Kenny Johnson, Brandy Harrison, Cindy Hartford and Benjamin Bell were sitting at a table not too far from the exit.
Randy and Doug saw Alex and the others as they entered. As Randy and Doug stepped up, Alex faced Randy and said, “Wow, your record in solitude is fifteen days.”
“Alex, I did it,” Randy said as he again held up the remote. Everyone at the table gave Randy a confused look. “I haven’t tested it yet, but I didn’t want to test it without a witness.”
Alex shook his head while saying, “Test it right here and now. And when it fails, I want you to drop this obsession with AR traveling.”
“It won’t fail,” Randy said before pointing his remote
