The Continuum Paradox: 03. The Other Me

 

Entering Continuum

Walking into Continuum’s facility felt like walking into a science fiction movie. People in lab coats, tech I’d never seen before, rooms buzzing with an energy I couldn’t place. And Hastings, cool as ever, explained what my first mission would be: To meet myself.

Not literally, of course. Continuum wanted me to “merge” with an alternate life – one where I hadn’t published the expose, where I’d made the opposite choice. In this other life, I’d kept quiet, stayed safe, climbed the corporate ladder, and become something I never thought I’d be: rich, powerful, and – well – ruthless.

They told me the merge would give me temporary access to this “other Aria’s” mind and memories. I’d feel everything she felt, see the world as she did, even if just for a while. Hastings called it “experiencing a paradox of identity.” I just called it terrifying. But curiosity got the best of me. I agreed to the mission.

I was lying in some sort of chamber, electrodes all over my head, a helmet that hummed softly. Merging isn’t like traveling or dreaming. It’s deeper, stranger, and far more personal. The process starts by focusing on the pivotal choice that split your timeline. For me, it was the moment I decided to publish my whistleblower report. Continuum told me to imagine the opposite choice – to picture myself staying silent, trading my morals for a quiet life.

And then, just like that, I was her. Alt-Aria. My memories – her memories – flooded in like a tidal wave.

Alt-Aria

I woke up in a penthouse suite with glass walls overlooking a glittering cityscape, in a world that wasn’t mine, but somehow was. My reflection stared back at me; I was wearing a silk robe that felt alien against my skin. My hands had diamond rings that sparkled with the kind of luxury I’d always despised. I reached out instinctively for my laptop… but instead, my hand fell on a glass of champagne.

In this timeline, I hadn’t exposed the scandal. I’d played along, worked the system, and climbed the corporate ladder to become an executive in one of the most powerful tech companies in the world. People respected me. Feared me. But they didn’t love me. They didn’t know me.

For the first time, I felt the weight of that choice. In this life, I’d traded my convictions for comfort, and it showed. I had money, power, and influence – and I used it all to keep people like the old me, prime-reality Aria, far away. This Aria was ruthless. Calculated. She’d play the game, not fight it.

Living as Alt-Aria was intoxicating and horrifying all at once. I saw how one choice could reshape not just my life, but the lives of everyone around me. Old friends had become enemies. Family ties had frayed. I was rich, yes – but at what cost?

The Decision to Betray

The longer I stayed in Alt-Aria’s world, the more I discovered. She wasn’t just a corporate titan; she was a gatekeeper, sitting on innovations that could have changed everything. Renewable energy sources. Advanced AI. Technologies that could have saved my crumbling reality.

But she – I – hadn’t shared them. Why? Because profits mattered more. The board wouldn’t allow it. My alternate self had traded her soul for a seat at the table.

It was harder than I expected to walk through that world as Alt-Aria. People I’d known my entire life looked different – they were jaded, changed, or simply gone. I ran into my former best friend, Lena. In this world, we’d never had a falling out because of my choice. But here, she despised me, called me a sell-out behind my back.

As I lived her life, I realized just how far she’d gone. Alt-Aria wasn’t just ambitious; she was ruthless. She had enemies who knew her secrets. And now, by merging with her, I was living her risks.

Every step I took in that life revealed new secrets. Hidden behind my sleek corporate persona were files on emerging tech, like energy devices that could power cities for decades, sustainable methods to reverse pollution. Tech that my company had buried. Alt-Aria had been protecting corporate interests, guarding patents that could have saved prime reality.

That’s when I knew what I had to do. I had to get these blueprints for those buried technologies and take them back to Continuum, to our world. So I did something Alt-Aria would never have dreamed of: I betrayed her world. I stole those blueprints, encrypted them, and prepared to merge back.

-Aria Kairos
2124