“What the hell?” Griff blurted. After an exciting morning, he finally found himself with some downtime. The storm clouds were gone and the sun hung high overhead and he sat in the shade of his sail on still waters. It was too hot to get any work done and the exhausted wind wasn’t moving him anywhere so he sat down bored with his phone. Assuming he wouldn’t get a signal, Griff turned on Bluetooth. He set his phone down for a moment to grab his earbuds. When he picked it up again, the Bluetoooth list was populated with hundreds of entries.
“neXus SEA Beacon: Signal Emulator Array- 488”, Griff read the first entry on the list with the hope that it would make more sense aloud. The rest of the entries matched the first. Each one had a different three-number combination. He tried several of the beacons, but none would connect. “Wait a second,” he had a sudden realization. He dismissed the Bluetooth settings and checked for wifi. He was immediately thrilled to see one unsecured access point – neXus Assistance. Griff held his breath and pressed the connect button. He almost jumped out of his skin when the phone rang in his hands.
“He-Hello?” he managed to answer it after fumbling for a second.
“Hello! My name is Kelly and I’m calling from the Club neXus Resort. Are you in need of assistance?”
“Yeah, actually,” Griff chuckled. “Listen, I don’t know how long this connection will last. I was sailing and got blown off course. I don’t exactly know where I am now. Can you let the coast guard or someone know?”
“I don’t know that that will be necessary,” Kelly replied. “What’s your situation like? Are you injured? Do you have food and water?” Griff worried slightly that she didn’t seem in a hurry to inform the coast guard.
“I’m still doing pretty good; it just happened. My boat seems to be fine. I’ve got food and water for a few days. Really, the only thing I think I need is to get some wind to find my way back to the route.”
“Wonderful, that’s easily manageable,” Kelly replied.
“Hahaha,” Griff burst into laughter as a soft gust hit his face one moment after Kelly replied. “A gust kicked up right as you said that, it was good timing,” he laughed some more.
“Better than good timing,” Kelly replied. The wind immediately stopped. Griff looked around confused. “Intentional effort,” she said; the wind picked up again.
“You… you’re making the wind?” Griff asked.
“It sounds way too grandiose when you say it like that,” Kelly replied. “I’m simply using a small gale to push you back into the sailing lanes.”
“How?” Griff asked. “Who are you? WHERE are you? I’m in the middle of an ocean with no one else around.”
“Club neXus is an especially designed resort dedicated to helping those that find their way to us. I am technically in a different universe from where you are now. But I can see you and where you’re headed.”
“You’re in another universe?” Griff asked. “You’re actually talking to me, through my phone, from another universe?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Is it just communication or is there travel too? What I’m asking is, is there any way I can visit an alternate Earth?”
“Of course! Our shuttle service is out at the moment, but they’ll be back by the time you find a port. Let me get some information from you. Have you knowingly sold your soul to anyone in this lifetime?”
