Read Multiversum for Free Online

finger he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. His stubbly face, his unkempt hair with long fly-away locks: for Alex, that was what he’d always looked like, ever since the two of them had met at the finals of the PlayStation tournament.
    â€˜Quit staring at my wheelchair,’ he’d said to him that day. ‘I don’t want to win because you feel sorry for me. My legs don’t work, but my hands sure do.’
    Alex had been struck by the confidence of his opponent, who he’d initially pitied. Then they’d exchanged a handshake, before starting to play. Marco had won the match in overtime. Since that day, they’d been like brothers, with an enduring bond between them.
    Alex tried to snap back to reality. That memory was burned into his mind. It was one of the most important moments of his life: a simple twist of fate had led to the start of a wonderful friendship. He often stopped to reflect on the fact that if he hadn’t happened to see the ad for the competition in the morning paper the day before the tournament, he’d never have met Marco at all.
    â€˜So talk to me. What can I do for you?’
    Alex stared at the row of blue neon tubes on the opposite wall and found himself having to rub his eyes.
    â€˜Do you keep them on all the time?’ he asked, tilting his head in the direction of the lights.
    â€˜Only when I’m here, working on the computers.’
    â€˜Ah. Which means all the time.’
    â€˜Exactly.’
    Alex smiled and started sipping his Coke. On the shelves around him were a vast number of books about the cosmos, science books, astronomy journals, and sci-fi comic books. His attention zeroed in on a book by Stephen Hawking. He pulled it off the bookshelf and leafed through it at random until he came upon a photograph of the physicist and author himself. For a moment, he stopped to think about the life story of the British cosmologist, the sad physical decline of such a great thinker. Then he put the book back where he’d found it.
    â€˜You know about those headaches I get,’ said Alex. ‘Those “hallucinations” of mine.’
    Marco became alert, gazing at his friend curiously. ‘You’ve never really told me about them …’ he said, hesitantly, ‘in full detail.’ He knew how painful the topic was for Alex.
    â€˜Well, I think it’s time to tell you more.’
    â€˜I’m all ears.’
    â€˜There have been some new developments.’
    Marco put his three computers — a PC, a desktop Mac, and a Dell laptop — on stand-by. All three machines worked in sync.
    â€˜Well, you see,’ Alex began, knowing that he was confiding in the one person on earth he’d trust with his life, ‘it’s now clear that Jenny really does exist.’
    He told him everything.
    His encounters with the girl, his fainting spells, their telepathic conversations, and his certainty that she, too, wanted to meet him more than anything else in the world.
    He told Marco how he’d managed to figure out where Jenny lived, and how he’d been able to check that what she’d told him was true.
    He told him about the video.
    About the little boy with a blond fringe and his memo for the future.
    At last, exhausted, he stopped talking. He stood up and walked over to the window, as his friend’s keen gaze followed him. He looked out and realised that night had fallen. The lampposts were illuminating the city streets; the traffic had given way to deserted roads and desolation. A homeless man was doing his best to push a shopping cart. I wonder what that man’s life has been like , he thought. Maybe he used to be rich and now he’s begging on the street. Sometimes all it takes is a single thing …
    â€˜Alex,’ said Marco. ‘I believe you, I’ve always believed you, but the problem is that I really don’t know how I can help you.’
    â€˜I have to go to