Things at work were uncommonly slow, and Jacob had some time to mess around with his data on the shifting phenomenon. He decided to map out what would have happened had no one time shifted. He sketched out his ideas, then cleaned them up.
After the first round of shifting which led to what he called the “Normal Placements” only 4 people were in different timelines: Merritt, Emma, Hannah, and Kent. The others—Jacob, Shay, Addison, and Devon—were “normally” on the timeline where they belonged.
Looking at Hannah was straight forward. Hannah-2002 didn’t shift. Hannah-1962 would have tracked through her last days at Syracuse and eventually made her way to NYC SysCo in 1984 where she had a job waiting. Hannah-1858 would have finished her medical training, been turned down for the job in Memphis, and would have ended up a burlesque dancer.
Kent-2002 also didn’t shift. Kent-1958 would have been an electrician in NYC who did some volunteer work on the side. Kent-1854 would have been a Pinkerton detective hired to guard Shay (who didn’t shift).
Merritt-1856 would have, after graduating from UT, gone to Memphis to work on the sewers. Merritt-1960 would have, after graduating from Georgia, ended up working at NYC SysCo in 1984 (where Hannah-1962 would have been). Likewise, Merritt-2000 would have, in 2024, gone to Canada to get the car and would have driven back to Atlanta, probably by way of Omaha possibly arriving there on July 4 before ending up in NYC.
Cross-reference Emma-2005, who would have in 2024 hitch-hiked to Memphis but by mistake ended up in Omaha on July 4. Emma-1961 would have, in 1984, ridden a bus to Memphis and arrived there at the bus station on July 4. And Emma 1861 would have hopped a boxcar and would have arrived in Memphis on July 4, 1880.
Jacob looked at his notes and asked who would have met whom?
Jacob decided to arrange things by years and locations ASSUMING no one had time-shifted.
In 1800, Everyone—all 8 time travelers—would have ended up in Memphis
In 1984, Hannah, Merritt, and Kent would have ended up in NYC. Emma would have ended up in Memphis. There were no known 1984 versions of anyone else.
In 2024, Everyone—all 8 time travelers—would have (assuming Merritt ran into Emma in Omaha) ended up in NYC.
Jacob decided he had something interesting enough to discuss in depth with Merritt.
“I see what you’re saying,” Merrit said after Jacob went over everything. “It is interesting.”
Jacob added a thought. “If you count everyone 3 times, there are 24 of us. Twenty of us are accounted for. Half of those… All 3 yous, all 3 Emmas, 2 Kents, and 2 Hannahs… are normally shifted. All of the mes, Shays, Addisons, and Devons that we know of are not normally shifted.”
Merritt was slow to respond, but finally said, “So the 4 we don’t know about are you , Shay, Addison, and Devon born into the 1984 timeline. What about the Toms and Wills?”
Jacob had not thought about them. “Interesting… No shifting we know of…”
Merritt said nothing for a moment, then replied, “So what do we do with this?”
“I have no idea. I just had some time to fill…” Jacob answered. “I just feel sorry for Emma-1965, if she hadn't shifted… She’d have ended up in 1984 all by herself in Memphis.”
“But she did shift… back to 1880. And that Emma is here in 2024. And that Emma is back in 1984, but…”
Jacob finished the idea. “I wonder how the 1984 versions all ended up together in the woods…”
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