I was groggy. Really groggy.

"Is she bound tight?"

"Not too tight! She needs to be able to get loose."

"But not for a minute..."

It was like having a conversation with myself. Who were they talking about?

"Somebody will find her before too long. We've gotta split."

"I feel bad for her."

"Yeah well you got all the empathy, apparently."

How many people was I?

"Somebody's coming already. Quick! Time to go!"

Wait!

I knew 712xb8 sub-H was bound to be another "safe world" in terms of the sector topography. I could assume my position there, though it would be more complicated than my usual situation. Usually my para-Tammys could find their own ends, and I could allow them to play out, from the safety and distance and obscurity of my own reality. But from within the same one? Complicated.

And with the data I'd gathered, I could get my own multiversal scanner up and running. It would take a couple of years, but doable. I'd have time. I'd make time.

I windowed in between the dumpsters behind the Handy Mart. All the subs had a Handy Mart in the same place in every one I'd visited. It was the middle of the night, but the alley was lit by the usual streetlight.

"CLEAR!"

--and there was a zap. A bright flash, and a bang, a shocking pain, and a headache.

I'd been zapped?

Oh, poor Herbert. Faulty wiring in the hand dryer in the multiversal research lab restroom. Could have been anyone!

After campus security arrived, they cancelled the rest of the scheduled appointments on the scanner. People complained, but a man died! Have some respect, people.

But, in all the hubbub, nobody was going to notice if I just happened to slip in. And this time, I wouldn't need to worry about coming back.

It was exactly what I'd been afraid of.

This is why I check up on all my adjoining selves in adjoining realities. To keep make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen.

It was clearly the Tammy Hammer from 7892ooZ sub-J. The hair dryer (not of this earth), and I'm sure a DNA test on the hairs would indicate me as well. Well, indicate her, but you couldn't tell THAT from DNA.

And she was clearly trying to terrorize me. She could be in my room this very minute. In a closet, with some kind of weapon.

No, the hairs were in the door. She left this room. But left me a message.

How did she even get here? There's no Psychic High School in 7892ooZ sub-J, and no multiversal scanner. Maybe she was just a wiz in physics. And shop class. Wouldn't put it past her.

But it was clear I was a target. And the safest thing was to run. God knows I'd done it before.

I headed back to Herbert. And wasn't going to take no for an answer this time.

Herbert wouldn't give me another slot.

"Oh c'mon, Herbie. Just even a little 15 minute quickie?"

Not even my best flirty eyes would make him budge.

"Sorry Tammy," he said. "Scanner time's real tight. We're booked solid. 24/7."

But he couldn't look me in the eye. Was somebody else pulling the strings? Had Ms. Lambert found out I was violating my agreement?

That was unnerving enough. But not as much as what happened next.

Back at my room, the hair in my door was still in place.

Except this time, it was two hairs. I never leave two hairs. They're easier to see. But I assumed I'd just been careless. Not a good sign.

Everything looked fine. Nothing was out of place.

Until I went to the bathroom.

There, on the countertop next to the sink, was the hair dryer from 7892ooZ sub-J.

Slipping into 7892ooZ sub-J was just like all the other of alternate realities I'd visited. Granted, I was targeting realities with extremely high similarities to our own. Like down to hundreds of decimal points. So there weren't going to be differences in atmosphere or gravity or bioforms. These were familiar places. These were places with a me in them.

None of these other Tammys were in Psychic High School though. That was the big difference. These Tammys might be precocious, courageous, vivacious, and hyper-intelligent. But they didn't have multiversal scanners.

They did have somewhat predictable lives, however, and with a little bit of observation it was easy to discern their patterns. Their comings and goings. I knew when this Tammy was at her AP credit courses at the college (nothing at her non-psychic high school was up to her level). And I knew when her mom was at her job.

In other words, I knew when nobody was home.

I also knew this particular Tammy was a bit more vain than I was about her hair. And was especially attached to a particular hair dryer. It was like a particularly huge hair brush. Weird!

I'd read some reviews, and with the bad luck all the other Tammys had been having, I thought maybe a few safety adjustments might be necessary on the appliance. I'd brought my tool kit, and was in and out of there in under 10 mins. Plenty of time to close up the multiversal scanner and clean my tracks before the next scheduled session showed up back in the lab.

I added an extra layer of operational security, and things seemed to stabilize. No more unapproved visits to my dorm room, and no one following me as far as I could tell. And I'm pretty great at that kind of thing.

So when I found some more late-night free time on the multiversal scanner, I dialed in 7892ooZ sub-J to check in on things.

Did I mention that, in skilled hands, the multiversal scanner isn't just a window into our adjacent realities, but a doorway as well?

7892ooZ sub-J was ready for a little field trip.

Working with the multiversal scanner is really rewarding. There's a pretty steep learning curve, but once you master the basics it's a really powerful tool for understanding the alternative realities all around us.

I'm mostly self taught. I was kicked out of Ms. Lambert's Multiversal Engineering 101 because of "continual refusal to adhere to fundamental ethics." That's just because what we were being taught was too basic and I couldn't help but push the envelope. REALLY understanding Multiversal Engineering means not just observing but, when we can, making a difference.

After making my observations in 723xb9 sub-G (poor thing!) and doing initial recon and prep in 7892ooZ sub-J, it was really late and I was ready to hit the hay. I'm lucky I have a single -- no roomie! WITH its own bathroom. You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to get that.

But that night, something was off. I always shut a hair between the door and the frame to make sure nobody's been snooping around, and that night it wasn't there.

I called security and had them check my room. Under the bed, in the closets. It was clear. But it kind of ruined my night's sleep.

Who had been in there? The hair couldn't have just fallen out, could it?

My ghosts were extra murmury that night.

So I dialed up adjacent reality 723xb9 sub-G. Which was the last one one I'd looked in on.

And oh dear, sure enough, I'd been in a car wreck and was in a coma. Brain dead. We'd both gotten our licenses about the same time, but looks like something went wrong with her brakes. What a shame. That put me up to 73.

I turned the channel to 7892ooZ sub-J, the next one with the highest probability of another Tammy Hammer and started my usual reconnaissance.

"Five minutes, Tammy," Herbert hollered.

"Thanks Herbert! No problem! This will only take me a minute."

Getting a slot on the multiversal scanner is hard. They're booked out for months with research projects, but really it's about who you know.

"Hi Herbert," I said, super friendly like.

Herbert looked up from the computer and closed his eyes. Nobody else was around in the research labs at this hour.

"You can have 30 minutes," he said. "We're between appointments. Just make sure you put everything back like you found it."

"Don't I always?" I smiled. "Thanks Herbert!"