Page 50 of What If It's You?

“They’re not. But a large enough quantum computer could run more calculations—”

“—per second than there are atoms in the entire universe. Got that part.”

Her eyebrow shot higher and a tiny smile flickered across her lips.

“Okay, well one outcome some of us posit—and again, this is very much in the realm of the theoretical, so please don’t quote me on it—”

“Don’t worry, I’m definitely not publishing in the field,” I said dryly.

“I gathered. Anyway, some of us think that if quantum computers were powerful enough and running in multiple universes, they’d functionally…imagine each other, if that makes sense. And in doing so, they couldamplifyeach other.”

“You’re losing me.”

“Think of it like…a radio signal. If you’re broadcasting from a single point, here, you might reach a range about this wide.” She started tracing a circle on the tabletop with one finger, slowly, over and over. “But if you were broadcasting thesamesignal from here, with a similar range, you’d not only reach further, there’d be an area of overlap.” She drew both circles at once, a Venn sliver appearing in the center, which she cupped between open palms. “If you’re caught here, in the space where both signals are joining, maybe they’re…unable to fully separate you from the background noise, so to speak.”

“That doesn’t sound very scientific.”

“It’s not. But gravitational waves would have seemed ridiculousbefore Einstein, and they weren’t ever witnessed until less than a decade ago. The borderline between science and fantasy really just comes down to how advanced the research has gotten in some instances.”

“I don’t even know what thoseare,but I’ll take your word for it.”

“I’m one of the highest authorities on the topic—you could do worse.” She smirked, then her brows lowered, expression turning thoughtful. “Tell me this: Have you noticed anything meaningful aboutwhenyou seem to…swap places?”

“The first time, it just happened. In my sleep. I remember going to bed with Ollie”—an ache of tenderness flooded my chest at the memory of the two of us drifting off, hand in hand—“but since then it seems to be like…I’m in the same place at the same time in both universes, I think?” I squinted, trying to order my thoughts. “Is that important?”

“Possibly. Probably. If I had to hazard a guess, the overlapping programs combined with an overlapping—well…you—is somehow making the worlds stickier in those moments.” She pulled her fingertips apart and pressed them together twice to demonstrate.

“So how do I stop that? In therightworld?”

“Hell if I know.” She shrugged, pushing back from the table. “I think your best option is to try to execute a technical solution. The computer in this world shouldn’t be interested in you as a data point. And you say the one inthatworld claims you don’t even have a completed profile. But I’d bet good money the background processing they’re both maxing out on right now is you.”

“Great, so I’m going to have to rewrite code that is literally groundbreaking?” I gave a thin, desperate laugh. “I’m barely literate in HTML, there’s no way I’ll even be able to make sense of it, let alone fix it.”

“It’s possible you wouldn’t need to drill down that far,” Dana said, slowly turning her saucer on the table, eyes narrowed with focus. “After all, you didn’t change any code to get into this situation, did you?” She looked up at me, gaze incisive.

“Well, no…”

“And you told me the AI trains itself in the background, correct? And that you can interface with it directly?”

“As far as I know.” I thought back to the questions sounding inside my head as I went through the calibration sequence. “I think there’s a way for me to work with it, but I’m not sure if that wouldchangeit. I mean, what would I even do, ask the program to find my profile? Or…”

“I’m afraid that’s something I can’t help you with, at least not without significantly more computer science knowledge than I currently possess and what I’d imagine is fairly restricted-level access to Pixel’s servers.” She bent to pick up her bag. “I have an appointment, but please do keep in touch. I’d be interested to hear about anything more you learn. In either world.” I nodded vaguely as she headed for the door, then it hit me.

“Wait! Dana!” She turned back, frowning, and I hurried over, lowering my voice. “How will I get you to talk to me? In the other world, I mean. I can’t use The Rock again.”

“Oh, of course.” She blinked a few times, gaze going distant, then turned to me. “You said the split happened nearly five years ago?”

“That’s right.”

“Then…ask me for my recipe for a snow bomb.”

“A snow bomb?”

“It’s just a vanilla cupcake rolled in Pop Rocks, but my sister and I were convinced they were going to make us millions.”

“Oof.” I grimaced.

“I was seven. My tastes have changed slightly in the interim.” She gave me a sly smile. “Snow bombs. Haven’t thought about them in years, no way you could have heard about them from anyone but me. Or Kendra, but if you track down my sister in this other universe just to get in touch with me again, fair play to you, right? On that note—until next time.” She flashed me a grim smile and strode out the door, shoulders thrown back.

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