I did some chores, answered a few emails – and had an idea. I was starting to have contacts I wanted to keep in touch with, but I needed a private and secure way to do that, that couldn’t be snooped on. Given that I was a techie, I solved that problem with some offsite anonymous email accounts with integrated PGP encryption and no logging, and layered VPN proxied access over that. I obviously didn’t want any cyberpolice to backtrace my location and tell me I done goofed – if that happened, the consequences would never be the same.
I called up Glory, and told her how to access these new emails securely, then I popped back over to Professor Lund and showed him too, sharing with both my new private email address. I would tell H when I met him tomorrow.
Then I could avoid it no longer, I turned on the TV to catch up on what was new in the world today, expecting something new in the world of Quantums. I was not wrong.
The news reports were all about two new and very different Quantums. First, I found out that much earlier in the day videos were captured by several people of a black man in his late forties/early fifties flying across the skies of New York City, before taking off eastward over the Atlantic Ocean at speeds estimated to be in excess of many times the speed of sound – possibly even several thousands of miles per hour.
The Professor was right – these abilities really didn’t obey the laws of physics.
Based on pictures of his face from his slower progress around and through NYC, the networks had tentatively identified him as Kiza Kazadi, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Theories that he was returning to his homeland seemed confirmed when three hours later scattered reports began to come in of an unstoppable man with vast telekinetic power. I learned that the DRC has rich deposits of gold, diamonds, oil, and cobalt which have fueled much of that country’s struggles, not to mention rampant corruption, normalized violence against women, and a leader who has persistently remained despite the end of his term, with no new elections in sight.
If Kiza was returning to clean up his country, I wanted to see if he was making the situation better or worse before I formed any opinions. I couldn’t imagine him making it worse.
The other new Quantum was Jack Boynton. I tuned into an interview with him as it was just starting. He and and another man, both forty-something, were seated together on a couch being interviewed by some host via telecast. Jack had a natty but understated sense of style and seemed quite fit for his age.
The host, Kylie Von Holt, introduced the segment. “Welcome. We’re about to meet one of the world’s first Quantums who also happens to be the nicest guy you’ve ever met. Let’s give a big welcome to Jack Boynton and his husband Mark.”
There was applause – apparently the interview had originally happened on some morning show that day.
Jack sat with good posture, his legs crossed, hands folded on his knee. He replied, “Thank you for having me.” Jack’s voice was high-pitched and silvery with a pleasant cadence to it.
“So, you are a Quantum?” Kylie asked.
“Yes I am.” Jack beamingly asserted.
“Tell me about that.”
Jack glanced at his husband, took a breath, and began. “Well, I’m a travel agent back in Prescott, Arizona, and from time to time me and my husband like to get away and try some of these vacations that I offer, so that I know I am only giving the best to my clients! Well, we got a package that took us to the north end of Flathead Lake in Montana, very rustic, and while we were there, the meteors fell, some maybe a few miles away. So we took a hike to find one, and we did! Mark was a little more cautious, but the rock was all glowy, and purple is my favorite color. Well, you can guess what happened next! I bent over to get a closer look and slipped on the crater’s slope, and fell right on the darned thing! Big explosion of light, yadda yadda yadda, and I got powers!”
Kylie, paying rapt attention and nodding along, asked, “Can you share what your powers do?”
“Sure! It’s kind of related to my business. I can give people experiences that I dream up, virtual vacations, if you will. And the best part is that it takes no time at all! I could right now give you a three day weekend in Vegas, and when you came out of the experience, no time would have passed out here in the real world at all – wanna go?”
Kylie smiled and thought about it – her adventurous side won out. “Sure, take me to Vegas!”
For a brief moment both Jack’s and Kylie’s eyes seemed to lose focus, and then Kylie exploded.
In gleeful laughter, that is. She seemed instantly refreshed and amazed. “Oh my god, Jack! I can’t believe that just happened!”
“Well, technically it didn’t, but you still had the experience, didn’t you! Like when that waiter slipped and all those glasses fell?” Jack turned to the camera, “I went with her of course, to show her around.”
Kylie shook her head at the wonder of it all. “I just had a three day, two night vacation in Vegas, and I remember everything, seeing Vegas at night laid out below me from my 45th floor hotel suite, the taste of caviar, the excitement of playing the games – we even took in a show with Celine Dion! I even remember the dreams I had at night, it was absolutely real!”
Jack beamed at her. “So what I’ve been doing since Monday is taking a few select people from my clientele and helping them book virtual vacations. Some have been like yours, to a real location, but others have been to Wonderland, or Middle Earth – anything is possible! One woman even wanted to experience being a Quantum herself, so in her virtual vacation she had powers! I even helped a trans man have the experience of having an actual male body”
Kylie shook her head again in amazement. “Are there any limits on the virtual trips you can take people on?”
“Haven’t found any yet. I do need to have all the people going on the trip within eyesight. And of course it’s all virtual, nothing from inside ever comes out. But I can make any kind of experience anyone wants, and I’ve given people up to a month of virtual time, and I think I could have done much more, but I was worried they would forget about actual reality if they stayed away too long.”
“Do you have to always be in it too, or can you send someone on a trip that you skip?” Kylie asked.
“No, I don’t have to go along – but I often do, it’s fun to see the worlds people ask for!” exclaimed Jack.
“And I bet you and Mark have taken advantage of this ability a lot too, at home…” Kylie left the implication hanging.
Jack grinned, “We won’t say no!”
“Well, that’s just amazing.” Kylie said. “I wish you at home could experience what I just did. Jack, can they book a virtual vacation at your office in Prescott?”
“Sure can, just come down to the Boynton Travel Agency on Miller Valley Road. We even have some prepurchased souvenirs for some of the more earthly trips!”
I turned off the TV.
Wow.