1984-07-16 “Beyond Belief” for Will (born 1962)

Will Robertson sat between Hannah Madison and Emma Gray and across the table from Kent Marlon and Merritt Gray. He was only sure about one thing.

The check from Benevolence Worldwide was real. And generous. A month’s salary just to deliver a letter and some checks.

“You know this is beyond belief, right?” Will said.

“We know,” Merritt replied.

Will shook his head. “Let me recap all this. There are eight people, all born exactly on an equinox who have swapped places with what seems to be exact duplicates of themselves, but at different dates.”

“So far, so good,” Merritt replied.

Will shook his head. “All four of you right here belong in 1984, but three of you have been back in 1880 and Merritt has been in 2024.”

“Right.”

Will went on. “And all of you have spent some time in 2024, where there’s a 62 year old version of me that says no Hannah or Merritt worked for NYC SysCo until 2024?”

“That’s right,” Merritt said. “That version of you is my boss. Department director for re-engineering”

“Okay, so,” Will went on, “one happy day in 1880 in Memphis, a Merritt and a Emma were hanging out and sort of vegged out, and that lines up with July 4th, 12 days ago. After vegging for a while, they went back to being… normal… time-travelers.”

Kent nodded. “The Merritt in 1880 shifted there from 2024. Us 3 shifted there from 1984”

Will shook his head. “Look… go with me on this… This Emma came to 1984 from 1880 but there was still an Emma in 1880 going on about her business, right?”

“Right,” Hannah replied.

“So, this has to be some kind of alternate dimension or parallel universe. Especially since me in 2024 says you two never showed up for the orientation we just finished.”

“Right,” Kent replied.

“Okay…” Will replied, “the letter supports that theory. Look again where it says, ‘Tell them to use their knowledge of 2024 to invest profitably and to prepare for a future in which they might be called.”

Merritt nodded. “And in the meantime, it says to just settle in and do good deeds?”

Will nodded. “Not those exact words, but yeah…”