now playing: until i found you - stephen sanchez
"i would never fall in love again until i found her"

 

it took them three years.
 

three years of waking up in an empty bed and being reminded of the void in her life and the growing hopelessness with each passing day that they still had no way of finding her.

 

she used to dislike the strong scent of coffee in their home in the mornings, but on days she missed her more than usual, she would brew a cup so the aroma would fill the home, providing a comfort and reminder of her lover.

 

three years of hoping, waiting, and worrying each day until finally the message she had been waiting for reached her phone in a small blue bubble.

 

dropping everything, including her unfinished breakfast, irene hurried out the door with one destination in mind.

 

atlas research institute

 

“oh, irene, you’re here already.” wendy greeted without turning around from her workstation.

 

“what’s the discovery?” irene asked, heading straight to the point because that was all she cared about.

 

wendy adjusted her glasses, picking up a tablet and holding it out for irene. “this.”

 

irene looked at the screen, vaguely understanding some of the data and figures from her years of watching her girlfriend’s work.

 

“this means…” irene said.

 

“we finally found a way to control the jump.” wendy said, looking at her and irene heard her own heartbeat pounding as she held her breath, not knowing what to expect from the researcher next. “as you know, seulgi was the first to get close to figuring out how to do that. but before she could finetune the method…” wendy closed , choosing her next words carefully, before deciding to skip the mention entirely.

 

“so it took us years to refine the method until we can actually control it and actually map out which universe to go to.” wendy tapped a few buttons on the screen in front of her and irene looked up at the overhead screens to see a digital projection of a map of the multiverse. “using each universe’s unique earth code, we can actually direct a jump to a specific universe.” wendy said, touching another icon to bring up strings of numbers associated with the different worlds.

 

“there’s so many.” irene murmured, remembering seulgi’s excitement three years ago when she told her there could be an infinite number of universes to discover, despite other theorists’ beliefs that there was a certain number of universes existing.

 

irene took a shaky breath, noticing wendy’s silence after her comment and she didn’t need to be told to understand.

 

her voice dropped to a whisper and she felt the sinking feeling that always followed after the soar of hope. “but you don’t know where she is?”

 

“i’m so sorry.”

 

irene took a deep breath, looking away to recollect her emotions before she spoke again. “what about the parallel self theory seulgi had?”

 

wendy’s expression showed confusion before realisation and her eyes grew wide. “the idea that we have unique codes just like the earths.” she mumbled, turning around to use her computer with urgency in her movements. “if i remember correctly- and i’d probably have to check with seulgi’s notes again- but you’re right. that could work.” wendy said, almost breathless from excitement.

 

the doors slid open and irene turned to see another researcher in uniform walk in. “you called, wendy?”

 

“joy, this is irene. irene, joy.” wendy waved her hand behind her in a hasty introduction without taking her eyes off her computer.

 

“hi.” irene said to the unfamiliar girl who greeted her back with a kind smile.

 

“what’s going on here?” joy asked, casually sipping her iced coffee.

 

“hold on…” wendy was busy with running lines of code on her computer and joy frowned, peering over her shoulder.

 

“i thought we already figured out a way to get the earth codes.”

 

“this isn’t for the earth.” wendy responded, before finally turning around to face them both; joy’s expression full of confusion while irene’s expression was slightly anxious.

 

“joy, irene is seulgi’s girlfriend. you know, kang seulgi?” she said and joy’s mouth dropped at the mention of the name.

 

“who doesn’t know kang seulgi?” joy asked, incredulous. “she’s a legend!” she then turned to irene, expression turning solemn. “i am so sorry for what happened. i joined only last year, and heard about the incident from them, it’s really so unfortunate.” joy sighed. “you are so strong.”

 

“thank you..” irene said, somewhat desensitised to hearing the same words from people who knew about what happened.

 

“so we know how to jump to a specified universe, but we don’t know which one seulgi is in.”

 

“wait, what?” joy stopped her from continuing. “am i deducing this correctly? you are planning to find seulgi in one of the millions of universes?”

 

“infinite.” irene murmured.

 

“how will you know where to go? it’s.. it’s simply absurd- no offence- to think that you can possibly jump to the right one that seulgi went to.” joy said, pacing a few steps. “unless you know which universe was programmed when the accident happened to seulgi.”

 

the accident three years ago. it was a breakthrough when the institute first revealed their prototype machine for jumping to another universe in the multiverse. seulgi had warned the higher ups it wasnt ready but the politicians and investors of atlas demanded a demonstration. just as seulgi foresaw, the machine couldn't be reliably controlled or programmed to follow their commands, and when she rushed forward to save the volunteer test subject and put an end to the demonstration, the jump happened to her instead and she disappeared from this earth.

 

“it wasn’t programmed to anything.” wendy admitted. “it wasn’t ready.”

 

irene tried her best to suppress her frustration. three years, or even if it were ten or twenty, and she still would not forgive the institute for forcing the rapid progression of the machine without the right testing.

 

“but irene reminded me of an idea seulgi had.” wendy said. “seulgi believed in parallel universes, in alternate selves. which means we must each have a code like the earths.” wendy explained.

 

joy looked at her incredulously and they could tell the gears in her head were turning. “are you saying that instead of programming the jumps to the earth, we can program it to..”

 

“yes! if we can just map each person's unique code, we could direct the jump to the person instead and not the earth.” wendy said, eyes lighting up.

 

“that…” joy started, furrowing her brows. “that could actually work.” she said, making irene release a breath she didn't know she was holding. “but to do that we would…wait.” joy went forward to use wendy’s computer and the two of them launched into quiet discussion over the technicalities of the idea.

 

irene stood awkwardly, looking around the research lab she hadn’t visited in a while and her attention caught on to the workstation in the corner that used to be seulgi’s.

 

the memories of visiting seulgi at work, coming to keep her company every time she worked late nights, listening to seulgi try her best to explain physics to her, and bothering her with silly hypotheticals, made her heart ache and she missed all of it.

 

“have you considered that the jump could’ve failed?” joy asked in a hushed voice, unaware that irene could hear.

 

“what are you saying?” wendy mumbled back.

 

“the jump would have had to project seulgi billions of light years away. what if it just.. stopped halfway? she might not have even made it to another universe.” joy said.

 

“it's a possibility, but it's still worth trying...” wendy said. “for seulgi, and for irene.”

 

“it's been three years..” joy said softly, and wendy knew her meaning. with hardly any hope of finding seulgi again, with her being lost in the multiverse, it was a wonder that irene hadn’t given up or moved on.

 

irene cleared politely behind them and wendy remembered she was still waiting.

 

“oh, sorry!” wendy turned to look at her. “i’m not sure how long it might take us to work this program out. but i can let you know as soon as we do.” she said.

 

irene nodded in understanding. “that is okay. thank you for helping me with all of this.”

 

“sorry.” wendy said wistfully.

 

irene looked perplexed, “for what?”

 

wendy shrugged. “that you have to wait longer.”

 

“oh.” irene gave a small laugh, shaking her head. “it’s alright. i’ve waited three years, a while more is nothing.”

 

wendy smiled and nodded, looking at her with admiration. “you really love her.”

 

irene felt slightly choked up, as the emotions that came from being back in the room with so many memories and the hope of finding seulgi came rushing in. she had to remind herself this was real and they really were getting closer to finding seulgi.

 

it was painful, but she would never give up until she found seulgi and brought her back to their universe.

 

in the meantime, she just hoped seulgi was okay in whichever universe she landed in.

 

and she hoped that in another universe, they would be happily together without this pain of being separated.

 

~

 

“are you positively, absolutely, unquestionably sure about this?” wendy asked again.

 

“yes.” irene replied for the nth time.

 

“but you know the risk of this, right?” wendy said with an anxious look. “what if something goes wrong? what if you can’t make it back? or what if you don’t go to the right one?”

 

“wendy, i’m sure it will be fine. the machine has been tested and people have survived the jumps. i will be okay.” irene said confidently while joy adjusted the helmet over her head and she winced at the tightness, making joy mumble an apology.

 

“and plus..” irene said when joy stepped back. “i have nothing to lose.” she smiled reassuringly but wendy probably couldn't see it behind the helmet.

 

“…fine.” wendy said with a sigh as she turned to the screen to press in some commands. “let’s just hope this works.”

 

it took almost two months for wendy and joy to find a way to use human dna to determine a person’s unique code in their universe. with the help of geneticists and other specialists in the multiverse research team, they created a program that could calculate an individual’s code. of course, it was impossible to guarantee absolute accuracy because they didn't have access to other people in alternate universes to compare codes with. but for now, it was the best they could get.

 

irene breathed in slowly, calming her nerves. “so as soon as you press that, i’m going to jump to the universe that seulgi is in.”

 

“yes…” wendy said. ideally. she thought.

 

“and how long would that take?”

 

“our cadets describe it as a brief moment of blacking out. brief as in, maybe 5 to 10 seconds?”

 

“and you said when they arrive, they feel…”

 

“a little nauseous, a little dizzy.” wendy replied, pressing a button that made the machine light up.

 

irene gulped, realising how it was really happening and suddenly felt uneasy and frightened by the unknown.

 

“you ready?” she heard wendy’s voice, strangely distant.

 

“yeah.” irene took a deep breath. “i’m rea-”

 

a force yanked her backwards so fast that she couldn’t even make a sound and the world went completely black before a brilliant light appeared before her eyes.

 

irene gasped, opening her eyes which she didn't realise were closed and looked around in bewilderment.

 

where was she?

 

she was outdoors; the clean blue sky above her and the lush trees were the first things she noticed. irene looked around at the buildings that looked ordinary enough and new. it looked like the world she knew, just on a good day and perhaps in a clean neighbourhood.

 

then the effects of the jump hit her and irene’s stomach lurched. she stumbled over to grab a tree trunk for support as she felt the world spin and there was an incredible sense of motion sickness she’d never felt before.

 

this is not a ‘little’, wendy!

 

she used all her willpower to keep herself from throwing up, keeping her eyes squeezed shut and taking deep breaths.

 

“miss? are you okay?” a voice called towards her and irene looked up warily.

 

a pair of all too familiar monolid eyes gazed down at her with concern and irene’s soul almost left her body.

 

“seulgi...” she breathed out before desperately pulling her into a tight hug, tears already escaping her eyes. “i found you... oh my god, i really found you.” she sobbed into her shoulder.

 

“um…”

 

seulgi’s hands reached up to irene’s wrists and she pulled them aside to loosen her hug, shocking irene.

 

her expression was sheepish and a little flustered. “i’m sorry miss, i think you have the wrong person.” she said, holding irene back by her shoulders at arm’s length.

 

irene looked back at her incredulously because how could she possibly be wrong at recognising seulgi? her own girlfriend whom she had been with for five years and knew like the back of her hand. the person in front of her was obviously seulgi; she had the same eyes and nose and lips and she had the scar on her-

 

irene looked at seulgi’s temple and her heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach when she realised that she didn’t have the scar on her left temple that seulgi had.

 

this wasn’t seulgi.

 

or at least, this wasn’t her seulgi. because when irene looked at the woman before her properly, she was wearing a well ironed white uniform, with a name tag reading seulgi kang, senior researcher.

 

well, . irene was meant to interact with people from other universes as little as possible to prevent any chaos that could occur if people knew she was from a different universe. not all of the universes knew of the multiverse, afterall.

 

“incredible.” seulgi spoke in a voice filled with awe, drawing irene’s thoughts back and irene’s heart pained to hear the voice that sounded so much- exactly- like her seulgi’s voice. “you’re from another universe.”

 

“what?” irene stuttered, shocked to be exposed and she feared for a moment what that might mean; if people from this alternate universe knew that she wasn't from the same universe.

 

seulgi’s eyes were full of curiosity and wonder. “how did you get here?” she asked, looking around them. “no, which universe did you come from? and how much do you know about the multiverse?” she asked excitedly.

 

“i-i don’t…” irene fumbled with her words, not knowing how much she was meant to divulge to this alternate seulgi.

 

“sorry, you must be in shock after the jump.” seulgi considerately gave her some space by stepping back. “i should’ve introduced myself properly. i’m seulgi, i am a senior research at the institute of multiversal research. we have been studying the multiverse for decades, and as far as we know, not many universes have established methods for jumping between the multiverse. you being here is simply phenomenal.” seulgi said, looking like she was holding back from fully expressing her excitement. “if you don’t mind, could you come with me to the institute? i would love to learn more about your universe and why you came here.”

 

irene was about to say no, because wendy said not to interact with them, but one thing seulgi said stood out to her.

 

“you said you have been studying the multiverse for decades.” irene said.

 

“ah, not me specifically. but our researchers here have been doing work on it for almost half a century.” seulgi said.

 

“so you must have advanced technology for multiverse travel then?” irene asked.

 

“i suppose you could say that.” seulgi smiled and irene stared a little too long, still in disbelief that she was interacting with an alternate seulgi that looked exactly like her seulgi.

 

“then you could help me.” irene said, “i am looking for someone from my universe.”

 

“you are looking for seulgi?” seulgi guessed to which irene nodded. “and do you know that she is in this universe?”

 

irene nodded again but then paused, “i mean, she should be. because we traced her code to lead me to this universe.”

 

“code?” seulgi tilted her head. “are you talking about a MSI?”

 

“a what?”

 

“a multiversal subject identifier.” seulgi explained patiently. “it's a line of unique characters belonging to every person, or even animal, and alternate selves will have a different MSI.”

 

it was similar to the theory seulgi had, giving irene a small surge of pride. “and you have a way of identifying this accurately?” irene asked, intrigued.

 

“yes, we have developed an accurate system for recording the MSIs of our population.”

 

“how do you identify the MSI?”

 

“it’s not very simple.” seulgi admitted. she checked her wristwatch, “i need to head back to the institute now, but…” she looked at irene with a warm smile, “if you come with me, we can talk more. perhaps even find a way to help you find your seulgi.”

 

irene was immediately compliant, trusting that this seulgi and this universe would have the resources she needed to get to her seulgi. and maybe it was because this seulgi was so… seulgi, that irene easily trusted her.

 

“this world doesn’t look very different.” irene said as she followed seulgi down the street. “but much cleaner.” she added.

 

“it used to be polluted, but that was before we were able to multiverse jump and find new resources.” seulgi told her, walking up the steps to the entrance of the institute; a large building with high tech security.

 

irene knew about the security because the doorway lights turned red and an alarm went off the moment she stepped past the entrance.

 

“oh.” seulgi calmly retrieved her key card from her pocket and scanned it with the device next to the door. she pressed a few numbers and the alarms and lights stopped immediately.

 

“what was that?” irene asked, cautiously walking to catch up with seulgi again as she walked down the long spotless corridor.

 

“the sensors recognised you weren’t from this universe. your MSI was different.” seulgi pressed for the elevator and they waited.

 

“so it can just read my MSI?” irene asked.

 

“not exactly.” seulgi gestured for her to enter the elevator first. “it just read that you didn’t have the same MSI structure as our universe.”

 

“oh, that makes sense.” irene murmured. she had so many questions and so many things that were unanswered in their universe that might be answered here that she didn’t know where to start.

 

the elevator door opened, revealing a large research facility that extended upwards for multiple storeys and was bustling with researchers all wearing the same uniform as seulgi.

 

“this looks amazing…” irene said, finding it similar to futuristic movie set designs.

 

“it is quite.” seulgi smiled, directing irene towards one end of the building. “i never asked, but are you a researcher in your world? you seem knowledgeable about the multiverse, and you managed to jump to ours.” seulgi said.

 

“oh, i’m not a researcher. but seulgi was.” irene explained. seulgi looked at her, as if waiting for more of an explanation but the words were stuck. it was awkward to talk about seulgi to seulgi, especially when they looked exactly the same.

 

“she was my girlfriend.” irene said in a slightly quieter voice.

 

“oh, yes. that makes sense.” seulgi smiled widely. “and you are looking for her because…”

 

“there was an accident. she wasn’t meant to jump but she did and no one knows where she ended up.”

 

“fascinating…” seulgi mumbled, turning to the desk behind her and using the computer. “when did this happen?” she asked, still focused on typing.

 

irene bit her lip, “three years ago.”

 

“three years-” seulgi stopped typing to turn around, looking at her with a concerned expression. “you have gone three years without her?” she asked, eyes filled with what could be described as sadness.

 

“yeah.” irene said, voice almost breaking as tears formed and she had to look away from the seulgi copy. “couldn’t do much about it...” she added in a half whisper and seulgi looked sincerely sad for her.

 

“that’s heartbreaking. i’m so sorry that happened, irene.” she said.

 

irene smiled sadly and shook her head, “it’s alright, i just-” irene stopped and frowned, realising something. “i never told you my name.” she said.

 

seulgi looked surprised but not for too long and she smiled instead. “you didn't have to.”

 

just as irene was about to ask more, a voice behind her caught both of their attention.

 

“seulgi-ah, i thought you said you already sent me the analysis for universe 318 but i-”

 

irene turned to glance at the person approaching them who had a very familiar voice and she was stunned when she found herself looking directly at herself.

 

“an alternate me.” irene (the other one) murmured, managing to look calm but still in awe. “how did this happen, seul?” she asked, looking at her fellow researcher.

 

“she jumped into our universe and i happened to be nearby when i saw her.” seulgi said. “but um, irene meet… my irene.” seulgi said with a slightly bashful smile and a small wave of her hand towards her irene.

 

“that’s incredible, i’ve never met an alternate self.” other irene said, walking to stand next to seulgi and she was still looking at irene, making irene feel a bit self conscious.

 

the irene from this earth had slightly darker hair tied up neatly and she wore the same uniform seulgi wore. the other difference between them was that she had a ring on her fourth finger and when irene looked across, she realised seulgi had a matching ring on her hand. the realisation hit her and she couldn't decide between being happy for them or being jealous of them.

 

“it is pretty extraordinary.” seulgi agreed.

 

“which universe are you from?” irene asked her curiously.

 

“um…i…” irene looked to seulgi for help.

 

“i don’t think their universe has established that yet, my love.” seulgi answered for her. “irene’s seulgi jumped to an unknown universe, so irene is looking for her.”

 

“her seulgi is lost?” other irene asked, incredulous. “we have to help her find her.” she said immediately, turning to face her wife.

 

“we will help her. i promise, sweetheart.” seulgi spoke to her gently and irene’s heart ached at the sight of them. it was almost like watching herself and seulgi, and as if she didn't miss seulgi enough before, now it was multiplied by a hundred.

 

“irene’s universe tried to jump using their seulgi’s code- i mean, MSI.” seulgi explained to her wife who joined her at the table with the computer. “but i don’t think they have the exact combination down. it must’ve brought her here because the code they used matched mine instead.”

 

“it must’ve been a neighbouring universe then.” irene said, activating a map on a different screen.

 

“is that your map of the multiverse?” irene asked, looking at their hologram. each universe was denoted with a small circle and she noticed some had labels with numbers or letters. there were different distances between the universes and links between the thousands of them that were shown on the screen.

 

“yeah. the closer the universes, the more similar they are.” irene told her.

 

“which one is this?”

 

“we are universe 129.” irene replied.

 

“so you know about all the other universes?” irene who was not from universe 129, asked.

 

“no, we don’t.” this time it was seulgi replying. “it’s practically impossible to have information on every universe, considering the infinite possible universes out there and the constant emergence of new ones.”

 

“but we know about some because we have trained jumpers whose job is to explore the multiverse.” irene-129 said.

 

irene raised her eyebrows in surprise, feeling like her mind had been read. “how did you know i was going to ask that?”

 

irene-129 lifted a shoulder. “i guess we are pretty similar.” she said with a smile.

 

“wait, so you also agree that there are an infinite number of universes?” irene asked seulgi.

 

“also?” seulgi looked confused. “but yes… our research points to that.”

 

irene smiled a little sadly. “seulgi believed in that too.” irene said.

 

the couple exchanged glances, feeling sorry for their counterparts who were separated.

 

“well, you can tell her all about it when you see her again.” seulgi said cheerfully.

 

“do you have a way of finding her?” irene asked, hopeful.

 

“not exactly…but it might be our closest bet.” seulgi said. “first, we need to sequence your whole genome to determine your MSI.” she said to irene. “if we can understand the structure of your universe’s MSI, we can probably estimate what seulgi’s will be.”

 

“so we can’t get the exact one?” her wife asked.

 

“not without the live person being here.” seulgi replied, turning to find a file from her drawer. “i’ll get the sequencing started, here’s the analyses for 318, and could you also check if yeri is scheduled for a jump today?” seulgi asked, handing the file to her.

 

“yes boss.” irene rolled her eyes good naturedly at her, making seulgi grin.

 

“thank you, i love you.” she said.

 

irene couldn't resist a smile, leaning in to give her a short kiss before pushing her back to her desk to do her work and she walked to where visitor-irene was standing.

 

“i just need to finish off a few tasks, but i’ll come back later. it was nice meeting you, irene.” she smiled.

 

“you too.” irene said, feeling almost shy and she tried not to stare but it was fascinating to talk to another person who looked and talked exactly like her.

 

“alright, irene number two.” seulgi said, bringing her attention back to her and she put her glasses on. “i just need to collect a few dna samples from you.”

 

~

 

irene didn’t know how much time had passed since she was in this other universe but the sky was still bright and the institute was still full of researchers busy with their tasks even after what felt like a long time.

 

“so what i’ve done is compare your MSI to irene’s- this universe’s irene.” seulgi said, “and using that pattern, i will try and figure a way to predict your seulgi’s MSI using mine.” she explained, taking a bite of her sandwich.

 

irene nodded along, trusting seulgi’s expertise and intelligence.

 

“but the problem is…” seulgi said, distracted by opening her sandwich to take out the lettuce.

 

“don’t do that.” irene said instinctively, making seulgi look at her with a surprised expression and irene realised she was forgetting this wasn’t her seulgi.

 

luckily seulgi didn’t take offence and broke into a smile, “not you too.” she joked but she complied and left the lettuce in her sandwich.

 

“where was i? oh right, you know what epigenetics are right?” seulgi said, waiting for irene to nod before she continued. “MSIs are a similar concept - as in they can change depending on the environment.”

 

“are you suggesting that seulgi’s would have changed because she has been in a different universe?”

 

“precisely.” seulgi said, looking almost proud of her. “therefore, i can’t guarantee we can locate her exact universe with the MSI we have. perhaps if we had done this earlier it would work, but since it's been years, her MSI must have undergone some changes.”

 

“oh…” irene felt her heart sink.

 

“but it might still work! so don’t give up hope.” seulgi said quickly with an encouraging smile.

 

irene smiled back with a little effort, “thank you. i really appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”

 

“of course, i want you and your seulgi to be happy too.” seulgi said warmly before having an idea. “you should tell me what your seulgi is like. i’ve never jumped and i’ve never met an alternate me before, so i’d love to hear about her.”

 

“oh, well,” irene felt herself at a loss for words all of a sudden. she didn't know where to start and what to tell her. there was so much she could say about seulgi but she would need at least a full day to get through everything.

 

“she was…” irene started, staring off into space as she thought about what words to use. “…just wonderful. she was my best friend, my happiness, my soulmate. she was just everything to me, you know?” she chuckled softly at her own cheesiness but she couldn’t help it. “she had the kindest and gentlest soul, always helping others, always loving, always cheerful. she was like the warm sunlight on a winter day; everywhere she went, people would be cheered up by her presence.”

 

“how did you meet?” seulgi asked, voice coming out soft to match irene’s tone.

 

“i knew her when we were children.” irene replied and she smiled as a fond memory came back to her. “she was so reckless and brave even back then. she fell out of a tree when she tried to get my kite that was stuck and ended up with this scar on her temple.” irene said, smiling wistfully. “but i think that was the moment i started liking her.”

 

“that’s really cute.” seulgi said, looking like she was close to tears. “your relationship sounds beautiful.”

 

irene laughed, “i’m sure yours is too.” she said. “how long have you been together?”

 

“we were together for 3 years and married for 5.” seulgi replied, smiling at irene’s surprised reaction that was common when people learned they were only together for a short time before marriage. “i knew from the second date that i would marry her, but she still made me wait a few years.” she chuckled.

 

“you just knew.” irene said, not so much a question but just saying it in awe.

 

“i did.” seulgi smiled. “and maybe you being here proves that i was right.”

 

irene looked like she was thinking deeply about something and it was like seulgi could tell what she was thinking.

 

“when you find your seulgi again and she learns about everything you did to find her, she’ll be an idiot not to marry you.”

 

irene laughed, amused at hearing those words coming from seulgi. talking so casually about the future as if it was bound to happen made her temporarily forget the fear that she would never find seulgi. it felt nice to think differently for a change.

 

“hey you two.” the other irene greeted as she came back to the area they sat in and she had an amused smile on her face. “hope you’re not falling in love with another me.” irene joked to her wife, making seulgi shake her head and pull her down to sit on her lap since there were no extra chairs nearby.

 

“i would never love someone else that wasn’t you.” seulgi said sincerely, earning a smile from irene as she intertwined their fingers on her lap.

 

irene was watching them and she couldn’t complain about them being affectionate because she knew that was exactly how she and seulgi acted back then too.

 

“how is the progress?” the married irene asked, directing the question at seulgi.

 

“we’re just waiting for the analysis. but i think the only way is for her to try multiple universes and use the sensor.” seulgi replied, resting her head against irene’s shoulder.

 

“i see.” irene said quietly. “tired?” she murmured and seulgi hummed in response, making irene smile and reach up to caress the side of her face reassuringly. “by the way, yeri isn’t scheduled for the next two days.”

 

that made seulgi perk up a little, “great.” she said.

 

“you’re not planning to…”

 

seulgi gave her wife a guilty smile, “i am.”

 

“i’m not sure that’s the best idea, seulgi-ah.”

 

“she’ll be okay.” seulgi reassured.

 

irene, who heard the exchange between the couple, finally spoke up. “sorry, what is this about?”

 

the other irene gave a small sigh after deciding her wife had made up her mind. “yeri is one of our trained jumpers. seulgi wants to send her with you to find seulgi, since you will have to jump to multiple universes.”

 

“oh.” irene frowned a little, remembering how concerned irene-129 seemed about the idea just a minute ago. “i think i’ll be okay on my own. if it’s a dangerous trip then i wouldn’t want any of your jumpers to risk themselves.” she said, feeling bad for how much inconvenience she might be causing for them.

 

“oh?” seulgi said, glancing at her wife who looked at her as well and they both smiled amusedly, which confused irene.

 

“no, irene.” irene said in her usual, gentle tone although it looked like she wanted to laugh. “it’s you we’re worried about.”

 

~

 

because kim yeri was…something.

 

“no way! there’s two irenes!” she exclaimed. “how did this happen? did you clone her or something?”

 

“no, we didn’t do any cloning.” seulgi replied quickly before the younger could get any ideas.

 

“woah, they look exactly alike.” yeri marvelled, getting closer to irene as if inspecting her and irene timidly leaned back.

 

yeri turned around to look at the researchers, “hey, you know the phrase ‘go yourself’? now you can actua-”

 

“yeri! watch your language.” irene-129 scolded before looking at irene and mouthing an ‘i’m so sorry’.

 

as irene-129 dragged yeri aside for a stern reprimanding, seulgi apologetically approached irene. “this was why my wife was worried that i decided to pair you with yeri.” seulgi said, “she’s not exactly the most…how do i put this… easy kid to deal with. but she is incredibly talented at what she does.” she smiled.

 

“how old is she?” irene asked.

 

“19.” seulgi replied. “she’s not a bad kid or anything, just mischievous, very honest, and irene happens to be one of her favourite targets.” she shrugged, which definitely did not make irene feel very reassured.

 

“well, i know that seulgi never does anything without good reason.” irene said, “so what’s yours?”

 

seulgi looked surprised but also pleased to hear that. “yes. that is right.” she adjusted her glasses. “do you know what universe incursions are, irene?”

 

irene searched her memory for that word but couldn’t recall hearing about it and shook her head.

 

“incursions occur when two universes collide and lead to the destruction of both universes.” seulgi explained, bringing out her small glass tablet that lit up with a holographic display. irene watched with fascination at the hologram that depicted what looked like a sky splitting open into a dark galaxy.

 

“research on incursions are still in the early stages, but we suspect they occur if someone messes with a universe that is not theirs.” seulgi explained, “basically, the more one interferes with a universe that isn’t their own, the greater the risk of causing an incursion.”

 

“that makes sense.” irene mumbled.

 

“it means that you need to minimise your impact on the universes you jump to. don’t try to change anything, don’t interact if it isn’t necessary, and…” seulgi faded out to a stop and shook her head instead, as if deciding against finishing her sentence. “the reason why i chose yeri to go with you is because i can count on her to keep you focused on the task.”

 

“focused?” irene questioned.

 

seulgi looked reluctant but sighed, “can you guess why incursions happen?”

 

“you just told me.”

 

“as in, why do people who have jumped interfere with the universe they don’t belong to?” seulgi asked.

 

irene pondered the question for a short while. “because they want to change things? maybe they want to help them with the knowledge they have, but end up changing the natural order of that universe.”

 

“you’re not wrong.” seulgi said, “but the biggest reason people interfere is because they get tempted by the universe. they become engrossed in the new universe, they forget their role and they think that is their reality. some go as far as choosing to stay in the universe permanently, and that is very dangerous.”

 

irene nodded understandingly until it suddenly clicked. “you are worried that i will do that.” she said quietly.

 

“it’s not that i don’t trust you.” seulgi clarified. “but i hope you understand that you will be seeing all kinds of things later. things you don’t expect, things that are unimaginable. and you will be seeing versions of her and possibly yourself.” seulgi sighed. “i’ve seen our best jumpers lose sight of themselves and i just…”

 

“it’s alright, i get it and i’m not offended or anything.” irene reassured. “i understand your concerns. thank you for letting me know.”

 

seulgi smiled appreciatively, nodding her head. just then, her wife and yeri returned from their little chat.

 

“are we good to go?” seulgi asked, glancing at yeri questioningly.

 

yeri nodded, looking much more cooperative now. “yes. how are we doing this?”

 

“well, since we can’t know seulgi’s definite MSI, we can’t program the jump to the exact universe she is in.” seulgi said, taking a small device resembling a watch off her table. “but we developed an algorithm to estimate possible MSIs, hoping that might take you to the universe she is currently in. i have already loaded that data into your jump controller.” she told yeri who nodded and looked at the device strapped around her wrist. “this will be synced, so yeri will be in control of where you go.” she said, looking at irene who nodded. “but you will need to stay near each other for the jump to work.” she added, since irene wouldn’t know about this.

 

seulgi handed the watch-like device to her wife, who offered to help irene put it on.

 

“so when we arrive at a universe, how will we know if her seulgi is there?” yeri asked.

 

“yes, about that…” seulgi took out a handheld device from one of her desk drawers that looked less technologically advanced than their other devices.

 

“what the is that?” yeri asked, receiving a glare from irene-129 for her choice of language.

 

“this is a sensor.” seulgi said. “for detecting if there are multiple presences of the same person in one universe. we have refined and implemented this technology for security purposes, but we haven’t developed a better portable sensor.”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter