A Roll of the Die - 1. Inception
Copyright© 2026 by Michael Loucks
Chapter 66: Day 86
October 18, 2024, Cambridge, Massachusetts
"Matt? Are you OK?" Jerry asked.
Matthias — Matthew — was anything but OK. Memories of the previous three months in Cambridge crashed over him like a tsunami, causing his head to spin and his stomach to reel. He stumbled, nearly tripped, and dropped his backpack, which had been slung over one shoulder.
He shook his head, trying to clear the fog caused by moving between planes. When he had lain down on the platform in Kranos' former laboratory, he hadn't known what exactly to expect. He'd had just a bit of trepidation, causing him to remind Zoë for a third time about the steps she'd need to take to bring him home — remove the shards of the shattered mana crystals, replace them with fully charged ones, retrieve the uncharged ones from Lilia, and stay in the room, except to use the privy.
Zoë had reassured him she knew the steps, and he had instructed her to activate the planar travel device. He'd entered the code he'd found in Kranos' journals into the remote and pressed 'OK'. He'd seen a flash of light, had a feeling like he'd had with the first drop on The Beast, the roller coaster at Kings Island, then complete disorientation and nausea as he somehow entered Matthew's body.
"I just became dizzy and nauseated," Matthew said, sitting down on the closest bench.
He gripped the armrest until his knuckles whitened. Autumn light on the brick paths looked too sharp, as if someone had changed the video settings in Cyberpunk 2077. A group of students passed, chattering about midterms; their voices seemed to arrive a half-second late. He swallowed against a sour rise in his throat and fixed on the date in the corner of his mind — Friday, October, Cambridge — until the ground stopped trying to slide sideways.
Jerry grabbed Matthew's backpack and sat down next to him. Matthew slipped his iPhone from his pocket to check the date. He'd clearly misunderstood the settings on the device and had overshot by almost a month, or the device wasn't as accurate with timing as he had assumed. In the end, though, it wasn't a problem and didn't affect his mission.
"I warned you about Taco Tuesday!" Jerry declared.
"It's Friday!" Matthew replied. "I don't think that was it."
"Obsessing about tonight? I bet that's it!"
Matthew — Matthias — couldn't explain, and he had a lot to accomplish in the next twenty-four hours, but without messing up OP Matthew's life, which appeared to have unfolded as Matthias had planned when he was still Matthew. Just the idea of traveling between planes was enough to make his head spin, let alone all the discontinuities.
"I'm better," he said. "But I'm going to nap after class."
"Probably a good idea," Jerry agreed.
They got up from the bench and headed for Freshman psychology, where they would have a quiz. The walk gave Matthias some time to get his head on straight; he would deal with the new memories and their implications when he was alone in the dorm room.
The psych class seemed to drag on forever, but Matthias managed to focus well enough to give an answer when Professor Petranos called on him. He was also sure he aced the quiz given at the end of class.
"I'll walk you all the way to your room," Jerry offered.
"Thanks. I feel better, but I know you won't take 'no' for an answer."
"You got that right, Bro!" Jerry declared. "Can't have anything happen to my best friend!"
They walked back to the dorms, and Jerry made sure Matthew was safely in his room before leaving. Matthew's roommate wouldn't be back until after the evening meal, so Matthias had some time alone. The first thing he did was pull his, that is, Matthew's, iPhone from his pocket. He entered the number of the iPhone in Nystria, which surprisingly began with +81 — the dialing prefix for Japan.
"I'm safe," Matthias said when Zoë answered. "It took some time before I was alone."
"I'm glad you're safe. I've loaded the charged crystals into the device, and I'll retrieve the final set from Lilia after we finish this ... I'm not sure what to call it."
"A 'phone call'," Matthias replied.
"Do you need me to do anything?" Zoë asked.
"No. Remain there except to get the crystals and use the privy."
"Yes, my Lord. Be safe."
"I will," Matthias replied and ended the call.
Matthias deleted the call from the 'Recents' list of Matthew's phone, but there was nothing he could do about the record of the call at T-Mobile. The call out of the way, he allowed four months of memories to wash over him once again.
He was at Harvard and had made several friends, of whom Jerry was the closest. He and Jerry were both good students, making straight A's. Those memories were positive, but Matthew's memories of Miriam were distressing. Matthew and Miriam had never consummated their relationship, and she had broken up with Matthew just before he had left Ohio for Harvard.
After the new school year started, she accepted a date with Rob Morgan, and they became a couple. Matthew, for his part, had been distraught at the end of the relationship and had moped for the entirety of orientation week. That was when he had met Jerry, who had helped him break out of his funk.
On the last day of orientation week, they had attended mixers hosted by their professors. At Professor Petranos' house, Matthew had met Professor Petranos' teenage daughter. He was surprised they hit it off, and even more surprised when Professor Petranos had not objected to the fifteen-year-old Lily dating the eighteen-year-old Matthew.
Other memories included a new D&D group that thankfully used the 3.5 rules, rather than the horrid mess that was the 5th Edition. The setting was very different, and Matthew was playing a monk, rather than a rogue. Unfortunately, Matthias would return to Nystria before the usual Sunday gaming session, which he was sure he would have enjoyed.
Matthias had to work out a plan that included a trip to the campus library, as well as visits to a garden store, grocery store, and camping supply store, without disrupting Matthew's schedule or causing any unexplained absences. More importantly, he had to keep a date with Lily — an hour at her house with her parents, followed by seeing a movie and going for ice cream.
Fortunately, Matthew and Jerry did not have afternoon classes together, and the ones they did have were not scheduled at the same time. That gave Matthias two one-hour blocks to work with, without messing up Matthew's life or making Jerry or Lily suspicious.
One thing that completely surprised Matthias was the linked names — Miriam was dating Rob, and Matthew was dating Lily — Lily Petranos — a name very similar to Tranos, Lilia's father in Nystria. It was, in Matthias' mind, too much to be a coincidence, and the links reinforced a thought he had — that planar travel was actually moving through the multiverse.
He set that thought aside, as he had so much to do. Despite the risk of running into Jerry, he'd make a trip to the campus library right away. If he did run into Jerry, he'd say he hadn't been able to fall asleep and had decided to go to the library, something Matthew did regularly.
Matthias checked that he had Matthew's student ID card, then left the dorm and walked across campus to the library. To speed things up, he searched the online catalogue on his phone as he walked. He located all but one of the books he wanted before reaching the library and used the information on his phone to quickly gather them, needing less than ten minutes to do so.
The one book he was unable to find was a paramedic manual, and when he asked the library aide, she searched and couldn't find one in their collection. Given he couldn't wait for an inter-library loan, he opted instead for a thick book on First Aid and one titled A Complete Family Medical Guide, which had good information on common ailments and injuries.
"Mind if I ask?" the library aide inquired as she checked out the books for Matthew.
"Mostly research on the medieval period. I'm a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and I'm here on a fencing scholarship."
"Cool," she said. "What year?"
"Freshman."
"I'm a Sophomore. Doing anything later?"
"I'm busy tonight," Matthew replied.
"OK. It's short notice. Ask me out sometime!"
"What's your name?"
"Rose. Do you go by Matt or Matthew?"
Matthias did a double-take and realized she resembled Rose, Priscilla's younger sister in Nystria.
"Matt, usually."
She wrote her number on a scrap of paper and handed it to Matthew.
"Call me!" she said, invitingly.
"OK," Matthias as Matthew agreed, wondering how OP Matthew would react when she asked why he hadn't called her.
Matthias left the library and hurried back to the dorm, arriving without further incident. He debated what to do with the slip of paper from Rose. He couldn't think of anything immediately, but he had some time to consider what to do before he had to return to Nystria. Fortunately, he and Lily had not progressed beyond kissing, so the date wouldn't be a problem.
What would be a problem was the books not being returned, which could cost Matthew money and confuse him. In addition, the things Matthias needed would also cost money, and likely require the use of Matthew's Apple credit card. Matthias ruefully acknowledged his lack of planning, but given he had no access to US currency in Nystria, it couldn't be helped, no matter how much he had planned.
It hit him just then that he didn't have the remote! Panic set in, and he sat down, completely freaked out. Also missing were his clothes and the things he had in his pockets. What had he missed? He used Matthew's phone to call Zoë.
"Did someone who looked like me appear in the laboratory?"
"No," she replied.
Matthias feared that something had gone terribly wrong and that he would not be able to return.
"Is something wrong?" Zoë asked after a minute of silence.
"I'm not sure. I can't find the control device."
"The tome says it would appear within arms' reach."
Matthias smacked his forehead, and, after a quick search of the backpack, found the remote in a pocket, along with the gold and silver coins he'd had. He was still missing something — how to return with the items he was acquiring. Perhaps it was simply that all his possessions, except for his clothes, would transfer. He had to hope that was true.
"I found it," he said. "I'm a bit addled from the transit."
"Shall I bring you back?"
"No. I'll call you again soon."
He ended the call and considered his best course of action. He'd gather all the items, bring them back to the dorm, and on Saturday, remove all of Matt's things, including his clothes, and get into bed wearing the backpack he had planned to buy, filled with all the items. If the device worked the way he suspected, everything would be fine. If not, he'd need to conduct further research and make a second attempt. He cursed himself for his impetuousness, but it was also true he couldn't know without testing.
The timing would be tricky, but Matthew's roommate always went to breakfast at 9:00am on Saturdays, then went to band practice until 1:00pm. Matthew always slept in and ate Pop-Tarts, never leaving the room before 10:00am. Saturday morning would allow the additional time he might need to gather the items he wanted.
Matthias would leave the gold and silver coins to compensate Matthew for what Matthias bought and the books that would not be returned. It would certainly confuse Matthew and would leave a trail, but there was no way around it. Hopefully, Matthew wouldn't completely freak out about it.
Of course, there was the question of the hours missing from Matthew's life — and what Matthew would make of the library books, the credit-card charges, and the record of the calls to Zoë he could not erase. Matthias could not undo any of it. He could only leave an explanation Matthew might believe.
He would write a long note in Matthew's own handwriting — authentication as good as any wax seal — covering the books, the spending, the calls to a Japanese number, and the slip of paper from Rose. Until he returned to Nystria, his job was simpler and harder than any theory of planes — be the Matt that Jerry and Lily already knew, keep Matthew's relationships intact, and give no one except Matthew any inkling that anything was wrong.
Matthias — as Matthew — met Jerry for lunch, then went to Matthew's English 101 class. After class, he hurried to the dorm, left his school backpack, and, after a quick search on his iPhone, headed to a camping and outdoor supply store. He bought the largest backpack they had, along with three advanced First Aid kits, two Swiss Army knives/multitools, and six boxes of strike-anywhere matches.
As the cashier was ringing up the purchase, Matthias spotted a wilderness survival handbook and added it to his purchase. The total showing on the register was high, but his — or, rather, Matthew's — credit limit could handle it, and with the gold and silver coins Matthias would leave, Matthew would come out way ahead, perhaps by as much as $10,000, given the price of gold.
Matthias was running short of time, so he made his way back to the dorm room and packed the backpack with the items he had so far, putting the books on the bottom. He stashed the pack in the back of his small closet, then picked up his books for his political science class. He put them in his school backpack and once again left the dorm room.
The political science class was covering the history of political systems, and by pure chance, the lecture was on feudalism. Matthias was tempted to claim to be Count Matthias of Newtown, but that would likely end with him in a hospital on a psych hold. When class ended, he quickly returned to the dorm, then made his way to the grocery store, where he bought ten pounds of Idaho potatoes, choosing a bag where some of the 'eyes' had already sprouted. He knew from fifth-grade science class how to cause them to grow into full-fledged plants. To further that end, he picked up two boxes of toothpicks.
He checked the garden section, and saved himself a trip by finding seed packets — tomatoes, corn, and, on a lark, roses. He also picked up several packages of tulip bulbs. On a shelf next to the seed display, he found a book on cultivating flowers, which had sections on roses and tulips. All his new crops would need to be carefully managed to avoid the problems of the past in the OP.
With his purchases in a canvas shopping bag he'd had to buy, Matthias returned to the dorm room and re-packed the large backpack, managing to stash it just before his roommate, Felix, from Puerto Rico, returned. They got along, but didn't hang out together, and after a quick greeting, Felix dropped his books on his desk and left the room.
Matthias, on the other hand, stripped down to his briefs, put on a bathrobe and flip-flops, grabbed Matthew's bathroom kit, and went to the bathroom to shower and shave, wanting to ensure he made a good impression on Professor Petranos for Matthew's sake. Matthias thoroughly enjoyed the shower, having not had access to one for nearly three months.
As he showered, he decided he would obtain another twenty mana crystals, at considerable expense, to further test the planar travel device.
Of course, the device would have to be tested on someone who only existed in Nystria, which was a much more complicated process. He'd need to scry, which fortunately did not shatter the crystals, to find a 'safe' place to send whomever Tranos designated. The big concern was ensuring the device was not misused. The last thing Matthias wanted was an outcome similar to the one Kirk and Spock had to resolve in 'City on the Edge of Forever'.
At least in Nystria, the use of the device was limited by the constrained supply of mana crystals, which powered it. They were rare, had to be mined, and there was no way to predict if a vein of ore or coal might contain one. Destroying forty crystals for two trips would create a potential shortage in Nystria, but it couldn't be helped.
That caused Matthias to wonder how the device could be powered in other planes and, more importantly, whether one existed in THIS plane. He had no way of finding out, at least on his current trip, but it was a question for which he truly wanted an answer.
Perhaps, he thought with a smile, it existed and was deep in a Pennsylvania coal mine — the place where the multiverse travel device was located in The Man in the High Castle, which he'd read and also seen as a series streamed on Amazon Prime.
As he finished in the shower, he recalled a book he had once read — Timeline, by Michael Crichton. It had a goofy limerick — 'Quantum foam makes me roam' — that a traveler had mumbled upon returning to his original timeline. In that story, quantum tech had allowed travel in the multiverse, though it was limited by 'transcription errors', as the person was, in effect, beamed à la Star Trek to the alternate timeline.
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