Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett stepped into the Project Accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were 1 of the clones from another Dyad project known as Project Leda. Fortunately, contact with his own time was made through brainwave transmissions with Al, Sam's monitor and project observer, who appeared in the form of a hologram that only Doctor Beckett can see and hear. Trapped in the past, Doctor Beckett finds himself leaping from clone to clone, putting things right that once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap...will be the leap home.
Act 1
When the blue lighting disappeared, Sam saw that he was in a classroom. Based on the white ceiling tiles, old desks with uncomfortable chairs but the fine grey John Phillips suit he noticed on the professor, he concluded that this was a special high school or maybe a community college.
As I spent a lot of my life in classrooms, skipping 2 grades in high school and earning 6 doctorates, I had a gut feeling that this leap on the surface seemed easy...
"All right students, the written exam begins NOW!" announced the professor.
But eventually would be difficult...
Sam then began looking at the questions across what turned out to be a 4 page exam. He noted that every question was multiple choice or fill in the blank. After checking to see if the beginning of the exam told him to just sign his name and hand it in (a trick that saved Sam in junior high once as it was a "Can you follow directions?" test), he decided to start from the beginning.
"Which colour is NOT on the primary colour spectrum in nails, hint: it's the same as paint.
A) Red, B) Blue, C) Black, D) Yellow"
"What am I in, kindergarten at a prep school?" asked Sam.
"Goderitch, no talking. You don't wanna fail cosmetic and beauty school again, do you? This is your 5th time taking this test. You should've accidentally passed the class by now" asked the professor.
"No sir." replied Sam, and then he saw a reflection on his partially polished desk. Other than the hair colour (bleached blonde) and age (early 20's by Sam's guess), she looked exactly liked who Sam leapt into for the last leap.
"Oh Boy"
Leaping about through time has caused me to try to relate the events of my own past to the present of whoever I'm leaping into, and then doing what I would do in that situation instead of whoever I leapt into because if it worked the first time, I wouldn't be here. Staring at the first page of questions on the exam in some detail, I could tell that whoever I am, I'm a student for cosmetics, specifically for nails. But that reflection disturbed me, am I the same girl that I was on the last leap, just a few years older with a different hair colour? What did Al mean by "others"? Why am I remembering that specific detail from the last leap but the rest of the leap itself is so vague? OK Sam, have I ever leapt into someone who's done nails before? No, closest I ever got was hair. Then again with my Swiss cheesed memory, would I remember being a nail person even if I had? Maybe, maybe not. God, Fate, Time or whatever seemed to let me remember past leaps only when it was convenient for them and not me. Well, let's do our best for...whoever this is.
Sam then breezed through the technical questions (as they related more to chemistry, something that as a scientist, Sam could grasp easily). The artistic questions were a bit trickier, as Sam didn't have as much of an artistic temperament as he did a scientific one (save for Music, of course). Still, most of these questions were common sense (such as the fill in the blank question "When you should apply the base layer before adding the subsequent design in a multiple layer job?" to which Sam quickly filled in the blank with the word "Always"
"Be careful, Sam. And don't talk to me until you're finished the exam and out of the classroom. Ziggy says that there's a 98.3% probability that the professor a, Mr. Joseph Lingard will flunk you out of the class if you talk and it's non-essential. Now, listen carefully, we dug into this girl's past exams and she never got a passing grade on the written half so the professor will suspect you of cheating and flunk you out if you do too well. I never thought I would ask this of you Sam, but I need you to get some of the answers wrong. Ziggy projects a cutoff of 83%. Anything lower but still passing is OK, anything higher and you're out." said Al.
Sam nodded, the professor noticed.
"Is something wrong with your neck, Miss Goderitch?" asking the professor in a tone of voice that suggested that he suspected a signal based cheating scam was afoot. Sam pointed at his head and neck, then made a non-verbal gesture, indicating a tension headache. The professor didn't buy it...
...until Sam's nose started bleeding. The professor immediately took out a royal blue handkerchief from a brown tweed jacket (and matching slacks).
"Miss Goderitch, are you alright? We can set up a makeup date if you can't complete the exam" offered Mr. Lingard. Al pushed a button on his bluetooth set and shouted "It happened again. No a nosebleed this time, readjust the damn frequencies, NOW!"
"No thank you. I can finish, just don't expect me to finish early is all" replied Sam, making sure to stare at the professor and not Al.
"No, of course not. Carry on, keep the handkerchief" said the professor who returned to his desk. Sam then immediately resumed finishing the written exam. Blissfully aware that he couldn't ace it (no matter what his brain was telling him), and also blissfully unaware that the other students (22 others, to be exact) were all staring at Sam.
"That feel better, Sam?" asked Al.
"I feel much better, thank you" replied Sam out loud while staring at the professor, convincing him that Sam was talking to him. The professor nodded, then held an index finger to his lips, indicating to stay quiet, Sam nodded and obliged.
It actually would have taken Sam longer to write the exam intentionally getting questions wrong even if he hadn't had the nosebleed. But the nosebleed was enough of a setback by itself so that Sam only finished the written exam with 8 minutes to spare, with Al staying with him all the way, providing several right answers (and a few wrong ones). Sam then instinctively raised his hand.
"If you're raising your hand because you're finished, Miss Goderitch, just hand it in to me and I'll give you your hall pass so you can move about the campus." stated the professor. Sam nodded, walked to the front of the classroom (trying to ignore the snickering of the classmates) and handed Mr. Lingard the exam. The professor kept his word, handing out the hall pass. Sam immediately left the classroom.
"Campus" was a fairly loose term, as the building seemed to consist of only 3 classrooms (counting the one Sam had just exited) and 2 hallways connecting them, both painted a strange shade of beige. There were not even that many lockers to speak of, and the few that existed were strange shades of orange.
"Al, how come you knew so much about nails?" asked Sam.
"I have 4 daughters now, Beth can't be there for everything. In a roundabout sort of way, they're your daughters too." replied Al. Sam's memory had many gaps in it (though a few were now due to old age as well as the side effect of his method of time travel) but changing Al's life so that Beth never left him was never going to be 1 of them.
"I'm Sarah again" said Sam.
"No, no you're not. Well, genetically I can see why you would say that as they're all identical. Look, part of the bargain of Dyad giving us money was that they altered Ziggy and the leaping software so that you're only leaping into their clones for the foreseeable future. I don't agree with the philosophies of the company either, but there are advantages: We have more money than we've had in years, you'll probably never have a leap before 1984 ever again, so Ziggy is not as stressed. And Dyad is now going to pretty much leave us alone. Who you are though is..."
Al then pushed a button on his bluetooth headset, representing Ziggy.
"...Krystal Goderitch. It is May 5th, 2008...which is actually Krystal's 24th birthday. You're in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, where you were born and raised."
Sam began smiling.
"What's up?" asked Al.
"Remember in the early days of the project when we had a TV show raising money for us?" asked Sam.
"Yeah, but something was never quite right with that show. You do look like Scott Bakula but they only hired Dean Stockwell to play me because he had just gotten nominated for the Academy Award for 'Married To the Mob'. And the episodes were like some kid in a mental institution in Colorado wrote them" said Al in a speech that Sam had guessed Al had given Sam on more than one occasion.
"Well one thing the show got right was that most of our leaps take place with Americans, right?" asked Sam.
Al actually paused for a moment to ponder that question before replying "Come to think of it, yeah. People in other countries need our help, too"
"Anyways, continue with the briefing" said Sam.
Al nodded and pushed the button on the Ziggy headset again "We're in the Modern College of Hairstyling and Esthetics. Which is basically little more than an office building in downtown Sudbury converted to have a couple of classrooms in it."
"Is that common in North America now?" asked Sam.
"More than either of us can imagine. Anyway, you're in your final semester to become a manicurist."
"And apparently this isn't her first time trying either, from what the professor alluded to. I actually have to give her credit for sticking with it despite this many failures" said Sam, out of genuine respect for his host.
Al nodded and continued "That was the written part of the exam. Now you have to do the practical exam which is tomorrow. Krystal never made it to the practical half of the exam in the original timeline but because you just got an...81% on the written half othe exam, you've ensured her of at least that."
"Something tells me that I have to stay for the practical" said Sam, mildly in dread as he would have to learn how to do finger and toenails, although he was long used to having to learn new skills as leaps required them by now.
"Oh that's not all. Also tomorrow, you're scheduled to be fired at your job as a cashier girl at Tim Horton's and while you quickly find another job at a McDonald's, the manager who has been sexually harassing you is never brought to justice until he rapes and murders 5 of your co-workers 1 night in 2019."
"You would think with all of my leaps involving sexual harassment in the workplace, that I would've ended sexual harassment in the workplace by now" lamented Sam.
"Men are relentless in their pursuits of the flesh, and women aren't much better. I'm actually grateful you changed time so I'm not like that anymore" said Al, with some remorse in his voice for the man he never technically became.
"I actually have to give you credit for not being overly distracted by the concept of several dozen student beauticians being here" said Sam.
"I'm not that man anymore. The times I am distracted are an act to keep up appearances with you, actually" said Al.
"I relieve you of that obligation." said Sam, as he began staring at the hallway of lockers.
"None of them are yours, Sam. Krystal has an apartment across the street" said Al. A security guard then approached Sam.
"Escaping early, Miss Goderitch?" he asked. He was an African-American with a very deep voice, being well over 6 feet in height and looked like he could bench press 3 Sam Becketts no matter what Sam's martial arts skills could do. He then immediately flashed Krystal's hall pass, the guard nodded and continued his rounds.
"I'm actually horrified that Dr. Leekie and his company were successful in cloning another human being. The scientific ramifications of what has been accomplished..." Sam said (and let himself trail off) as they exited the college.
"Clones are human beings just like non-clones. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Not even Dyad is treating them like human beings. I understand the medical checkups, but forcing them to have a fake friend or lover watching and influencing their lives..." Al continued (and let himself trail off).
"Yeah, OK, that's even worse. Clones have the right to make their own decisions. Do I live nearby?" asked Sam, desperate to change the subject (although he had no shame in admitting he was wrong in how he felt about the clones).
"Oh yeah, you live in a bachelor apartment across the street above a business called 'The Spa'. We're on Elm street in the downtown area of Sudbury." replied Al as he and Sam exited the college.
Project Quantum Clone Leap, New Mexico
Current Date: November 5th, 2011
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! Where the hell am I?" screamed Krystal in the waiting room.
Dr. Beeks entered the waiting room, deliberately not reacting to Krystal being terrified (as Dr. Beeks had seen every type of response in the waiting room from past leaps and was actually more surprised when the patient wasn't scared or anxious).
"Please state your full name" said Dr. Beeks as emotionless.
"Like, I'm not telling you anything until you tell me why I'm here" said Krystal, bordering on screaming.
"You have been selected for a scientific experiment involving time travel and we need to assess how badly your memory is damaged as a side effect."
Krystal...calmed down immediately.
"That's actually kind of hot" she spoke in what Dr. Beeks would call a "Valley Girl" voice, which struck her as odd, as Krystal was Canadian.
"Again, your name please?" asked Dr. Beeks.
"Krystal Goderitch. I...can't seem to remember my middle name, sorry" she replied, as she began regaining her composure.
"No need to worry about that, the memory loss is temporary and the middle name is probably non-essential. Do you know what date you came from."
"Like, My 24th birthday. May 5th, 2008."
"What city were you in?"
"Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. I was like, about to take my written exam and for the 5th time, the letters on the questions were all like, jumbled around and like, my professor kept ignoring me"
Dr. Beeks wrote down "Possible Dyslexia" on her chart for Krystal, then continued.
"You actually have better memory retention than most people that are part of this experiment, for what it's worth." said Dr. Beeks flatly.
"Thank you." said Krystal, who then leaned forward and saw a reflection of a 58 year old man staring back at her.
"Here we go" said Dr. Beeks, who already knew what was going to happen.
"Holy fuck, I'm a man. You guys like, turned me into a man. No, no, it was a bunch of sorority girls that made me up to look like a man. SOMEBODY MAKE ME LOOK LIKE ME AGAIN!" demanded Krystal in horror.
Dr. Beeks wasn't even able to start telling her that her mind switched bodies with a man when she fainted. This was uncommon for Project Quantum Leap, but not without precedent. Dr. Beeks pushed a button on a nearby intercom:
"Dr. Calavicci, Dr. Beckett, Get in here NOW, we have another fainter!" said Dr. Beeks.
"I'm afraid that won't do any good Dr. Beeks as I calculate an 86% probability that it will be several hours before you are able to revive her regardless of method"
Dr. Beeks sighed.
Act 2
Leaping around in time, I've leapt into somewhere around a hundred women. I still have not completely gotten used to the high heels.
"Is that my place? These shoes are killing me." lamented to Sam as he pointed west.
"Right on, sister" said an older, long haired man dressed in retro 70's clothing. Sam politely smiled as he walked by.
"Yes, but you actually have to walk down to the traffic light over there in order to cross the street. There are a lot of by-law bullies here" replied Al as he pointed South.
"By-law bullies?" asked Sam, who was never very good at slang.
"Yeah. Some places still run on a system where a city worker or a cop gets a commission for every ticket they fill out for any by-law that's broken. So these employees or officers have incentive to write up everything, no matter how small the infraction is. And with Canada having substantially less violent crimes happening partly because they don't have a second amendment..." started Al.
"...Officers have more time to write more tickets, point taken" said Sam as he and Al reached the traffic light. It was traditional yellow like in America, with an orange hand brightly projected. Sam pushed a nearby silver button on a dark green painted traffic post to trigger a change.
"I actually have some sympathy for these by-law bullies if they're actually cops. It seems to be a universal trait that all cops are underpaid, in any country" said Sam.
"Got my vote on that one. Look, white stick figure guy" said Al as he pointed. Sam began crossing.
"I gotta admit, I like the headset. The handlink was getting a little retro" said Sam as they were halfway across.
"It took a bit to get used to as the earpiece was a bit uncomfortable, but Samantha made some adjustments to it and I feel fine now." said Al.
"I couldn't have asked for a better daughter, or wife" said Sam with a grin as he finished crossing.
"OK, you access your apartment from the front via a door to the left of the spa. That leads to a staircase taking you upstairs to a few apartments, you live in apartment #3." said Al. Sam, fearing falling down the stairs and killing himself/Krystal, took off the shoes as they reached the door to the staircase.
"I'm assuming a narrow staircase with an even 50/50 chance of there being a banister to hold onto?" said Sam.
"Ziggy and I agree" said Al as Sam opened the door, there was no banister to speak of as they began walking up.
"Hopefully the nosebleed earlier wasn't a sign of vertigo or the like" said Sam, ever the doctor.
"Hopefully the side effects of leaping into clones taper off with each subsequent clone" countered Al.
"Ideally, I would like to agree with you. Realistically, I think that they're gonna vary from clone to clone no matter what happens. Thankfully, we can at least treat the problem on a clone-to-clone basis, though I would like a cure."
"You and me both, the project is working on it." said Al re-assuringly as they reached the top of the stairs. Sam found apartment #3 quickly, as there were only 4 doors to choose from. Sam analyzed the lock and (as if purely on instinct), took a key out from what would've been Krystal's black push-up bra. After inserting the key, Sam jiggled it inside the lock. Al looked at him strangely.
"I think the lock is older than Krystal" said Sam in response, Al nodded as the door opened.
The apartment itself was a typical above-ground bachelor apartment (similar to a college dorm room, Sam silently noted). There were no walls beyond the basic 4 needed to make it an actual apartment, ones for the kitchen and the bathroom. On the downside, Sam felt very isolated in here. On the plus side, at least there was little risk of a roommate bothering him (unless Krystal was in a long-term relationship or something). Her "bed" was a black futon (probably to save room, which was actually a smart idea on Krystal's part according to both Sam and Al). Her "closet" was actually 3 5-shelf pink Rubbermaid tubs, the wall opposing her bed was where her computer (a simple white Apple Imac), TV (an old Sony Trinitron, grey with built-in speakers) and a collection of DVD's to go with a Black Sony PlayStation 2 (mostly romantic comedies). Krystal did have an old, lightly stained brown dresser (which Sam elected to not open for the moment) and 1 large window which showed a view of a small but nice park, complete with a decent-sized children's playground.
"Nice enough place" said Sam.
"College isn't cheap, Sam. That's why Krystal works at Tim Horton's." replied Al.
"How long until my shift starts?" asked Sam.
"Ziggy says 1 hour and 47 minutes. So you have time to re-apply makeup before you put on your uniform" said Al with a smile, knowing that leaps into women still made Sam uncomfortable after all these years.
"Is Krystal really that concerned about her appearance?" asked Sam, almost in a whine.
"Why do you think she got into nails?" asked Al with a smirk on his face. Sam nodded and headed for the bathroom, assuming the cosmetics were in there.
"Other than that honeymoon leap, and that leap into Aaron not long ago, have I ever leaped to Canada before?" asked Sam as he found the makeup (all L'Oreal, probably from a sale).
"No. No leaping into the land of Anne Murray, Gordon Lightfoot, Igloos as far the eye can see, blubber sandwiches, mispronunciations of the words 'about' and 'house', hockey, snowshoes..." ranted Al.
"That's enough of the Canadian stereotypes." said Sam as he took out a stick of traditional red lipstick.
"Sorry Sam, based on the vibration I just felt in my headset, Ziggy agrees with you." said Al, who then immediately walked through the bathroom door in order to give his best friend some privacy.
It wasn't long before Sam came out (by opening the bathroom door, as he wasn't a hologram like Al). Al (despite being a married man) couldn't help but stare at Sam, wearing the black and brown uniform made popular by all Tim Horton's staff across Canada and around the world.
"Do you still see me as Krystal and the other way around when in the waiting room?" asked Sam.
Al nodded.
"Well can't Ziggy change the frequency so that you at least see me as me when you're in the imaging chamber?" asked Sam, knowing that Al's lecherous shenanigans would be even worse in the timeline where Beth left him in the early 1970's for another man as Al spent several years missing in action in Vietnam.
"Actually, that's a good question. Dyad just upgraded the crap out of us. Ziggy, can we alter the imaging chamber or the neuron link so I finally get to see Sam as Sam when I'm in here? I can but it would probably re-trigger the side effects of Sam being in a clone? Well, there you have it. I'm sorry, Sam."
Sam actually nodded, as if to non-verbally thank his best friend for at least checking.
"How far is Tim Horton's from here?" asked Sam.
"About 7 blocks south of here, and that's far for most Tim's in Canada as Ziggy tells me" replied Al.
"Tell me everything you've learned about nails from Beth and the kids along the way, please" asked Sam, Al nodded.
They were able to get Krystal to the infirmary without incident (which like many other rooms in the project, was sterile, all stainless steel/painted white, although the infirmary also was the only one with a bunk bed, of which Krystal was on the bottom bunk) but they were still unable to revive her from her fainting. Dr. Beeks and Beth were monitoring Krystal when Donna walked in.
"Any luck?" she asked solemnly. Both Dr. Beeks and Beth shook their heads in the negative.
"And Al expressed an interest in re-tuning his link with Sam so that he only sees Sam and not Krystal"
"That would probably kill Sam as we're still in somewhat uncharted waters regarding leaping into clones" said Dr. Beeks.
"Is my husband getting horny from Sam again?" asked Beth, who was actually holding back giggling as opposed to being offended. Donna nodded. Then Samantha walked in:
"Ziggy, update?" she asked.
"There are 5 couples currently engaging in sexual intercourse not including what I believe to be a threesome on project grounds, a bank is being robbed within 50 miles of my central mainframe where I calculate a 99.4% probability that they will never be caught due to a misfiled police report. Despite that it is 7:14pm local time, 2 of Mrs. Calavicci's children are eating cereal"
"I meant an update on Krystal." said Samantha, moderately annoyed.
"Sorry, Miss Fuller, you didn't specify. Miss Goderitch is still in the same deep sleep that she has been in for some time and I still wouldn't recommend reviving her for at least a couple more hours." stated Ziggy after she sighed, seemingly sad that no one got her joke.
"OK, I've had enough of this. There's no way anyone could be THIS traumatized by the concept of Quantum Leaping without a merger of psyches" declared Beth as she grabbed some smelling salts from her desk.
"Uh, Beth" said Dr. Beeks, who held the smelling salts under Krystal's nose. Ziggy didn't even have enough time to make a warning before Krystal shot up awake. Everyone was expecting anger or an episode of freaking out, or maybe Krystal fainting again. Instead, Krystal just began crying.
"I'm like, no longer in my body. The gadgets in here mean I'm like, nowhere near my apartment. I don't even like, think I'm in Canada anymore." said Krystal in between sobs.
"You're like, not even in your own time anymore" added Ziggy mockingly.
"And I thought Beth pulled a dick move" declared Donna at Ziggy.
"I've time-travelled too?" asked Krystal, horrified and crying even harder now.
"I'm sorry that all of this has happened to you" stated Dr. Beeks, seeming to be the only voice of reason.
"Actually, we did go too far in waking you up. We're sorry, the stress of helping our friend Dr. Beckett help the people he takes over has finally gotten to me" announced Beth.
"What about the chick's robot voice I hear?" asked Krystal.
"I was acting under the most likely scenario that you would be so traumatized from being woken up prematurely that you would go into deep shock that would last after the leap had concluded. But clearly, this is not the case. My remark about time, while true, was meant to break the tension and I now admit that that was tactless of me, and I was wrong." stated Ziggy in a rare moment of humility.
"So...I'm taking over like, this Dr. Beckett guy. And he's taken over me?" Krystal asked. All of the women nodded.
"Sadly, this is the least lonely I've felt in like, forever" added Krystal as Samantha handed her some Kleenexes.
"What do you mean?" asked Beth.
"My family is like, not even my real one." said Krystal. The other ladies in the room nodded, having been made aware in their "unofficial" readings of Dyad's files that every clone was put into the adoption systems of the world at some point in their lives at least.
"I have like, few friends. Everyone at work hates me because I'm not Indian or Pakistani or something. Everyone at school thinks I'm a slut when I'm barely like, sexually active with other people. I think that I'm not girlfriend material as my last boyfriend broke up with me at our 2 year anniversary. Our 2 year anniversary? Like, I would never do that to anyone on any anniversary, even in an open relationship."
Samantha (very carefully) put her left hand on Krystal's right shoulder. Everyone in the room who wasn't Krystal suspected that that boyfriend was in fact, a previous monitor put in place by Dyad whose contract ran out. They also silently agreed to not tell Krystal of their suspicions. It was not out of any form of malice towards Krystal (or out of contractual obligation not to tell the clones that they were clones), but due to the reality that with rare exceptions, people forgot that they were ever here.
I had made it to the Tim Horton's where Krystal worked with plenty of time to spare and even without Al's assistance. While I was never really aware of what went on in Canada as I grew up in Elk Ridge, Indiana, I could tell that this was an institution so ingrained into Canadian culture that it was like McDonald's in the United States: Even the people who hated the establishment still went there on occasion. It was a good thing that I noticed that first, as the second thing that I noticed was the entire front counter and drive-thru staff staring at me in complete hatred. In fact, I hadn't seen this kind of animosity aimed at who I had leapt into since I leapt into Jimmy for the first time.
The tiles on the floor were various shades of light brown. The foundations of each table were steel painted in red with the seats painted in a light grey. The counter was mostly the same colour as the tiles, but there was some glass in place in order to help a customer make a choice as to what they wanted (without the risk of contaminating the food by sneezing or some such). The staff quickly returned to their duties when he began staring back at them and was observant to the slang used by each of them while they were taking orders (he had deduced that "Regular" was 1 cream, 1 sugar, "Double Double" was 2 cream, 2 sugar and so on). Sam had reached a black Kronos time clock just as Al had re-appeared.
"It's handprint activated Sam." said Al. Sam nodded and placed his hand down. The scanner beeped and said "Welcome, Krystal Goderitch" in a voice not very different from Ziggy's.
"I was actually worried it wouldn't accept it." said Sam in relief.
"That's why a lot of us back home didn't like the show: It kept going back and forth between your mind switching with another mind vs. Most of you leaping with only the aura of the other person retained. Mostly the former is right but I still see you as her and her as you like everyone else...but even I'll concede that your leap into a pregnant woman, a war amp and a few others did throw the rule book out the window" ranted Al.
"Rule #1 of Quantum Leaping: There are no rules over the whole history of leaping, merely rough guidelines on a leap to leap basis" replied Sam.
"Now if only you could've told me that 17 years and hundreds of leaps and timelines ago" said Al. Sam smiled as a middle aged South Asian gentleman appeared in a uniform identical to Krystal's only it contained the word "Supervisor" under the name "Amin" on the name tag.
"Miss Goderitch, you're early for once, grab a hairnet and hit the front counter." was all that he said before he retreated into his office (which Sam deduced was so small and badly painted white that it was probably the place for a makeshift bathroom while this Tim Horton's was under construction). He immediately went to the back, somehow knowing that that's where the break room was (which due to space, also served as a supply room for the staff).
"Why was the staff staring at me, Al?"
"I actually asked Ziggy that before I went through the imaging chamber door. She says that half of the company hate you because you're white and the other half hate you due to a longstanding rumour that you're the company slut." said Al, who then showed Sam the projection Ziggy made in order to confirm. Sam was too dejected to bother to read the percentages, and Ziggy shut them off, understanding on some level that they were pointless.
"So I'm facing the uphill battle of racial discrimination and the uphill battle of sexual discrimination at the same time." declared Sam with more than a hint of snark in his voice.
"Well, the racial side stems from Tim Horton's hiring an overabundance of South Asian employees beginning in the late 1990's with only enough employees of other backgrounds to keep the labour board off of their backs. The sexual side may in fact be related to the racial, or it could just be jealousy. Ziggy doesn't even know for sure and I don't wish to take a guess."
"It's a moot point. I'll just try to ignore everyone like I tried to do with Jimmy" said Sam, having put on his hairnet under his visor. "Is this the manager who rapes and kills 5 of the staff in 2019?" asked Sam with some trepidation.
"I'm afraid so, Sam. The nozzle who was your boss in your first leap as a woman was a saint compared to this guy." said Al. Sam began giggling, remembering the end of that leap in surprisingly vivid detail.
"What does Ziggy say my odds are passing this part of the leap if I just tell him I'm a man?" he asked.
Al actually pushed the silver button on the Ziggy headset to ask that question, and the gulped at Ziggy's answer.
"What did she say?" asked Sam.
"Well, not only do the original 5 get raped and killed sooner, but you make it 6" replied Al, completely terrified.
Sam gulped, as Al did, and he reported to the front counter immediately. The only things harder for Sam to ignore than the results of his failure were Amin staring at him in a way that would make even Al cringe and the "accidents" that the staff kept trying to set Sam up to cause. Sam, having been subjected to this on previous leaps, avoided every single one of them (which caused the hate and jealousy to only escalate). Then came the first break of 3 for the day for Sam.
"Have Ziggy access the cosmetics textbook my class uses, I want to study as much as I can before the practical exam."
"Good idea." replied Al as he made the appropriate request through the headset. The textbook was then projected precisely 2 feet from Sam's face.
"Ziggy, isolate and highlight the sections of the textbook that I'll need in red and begin turning the pages at 1 page per minute, skipping pages I don't need. Al, when I'm finished, please begin asking me questions pertaining to the relevant data on Ziggy's behalf."
"You got it, Sam" said Al, glad that Sam wasn't thinking about what Amin was capable of.
"Goderitch, when your break is over, switch to drive-thru" stated Amin from his office. Sam shouted "Understood" and continued without interruption. Sam continued this routine for the rest of the day, and actually enjoyed Al testing him on the walk home, several hours later.
"And finally, what is the optimal drying time for nails with multiple fills?" asked Al.
"10 minutes plus 1 additional minute for every additional colour used." replied Sam with a grin.
"Perfect, now if we can just deal with Amin so easily" stated Al.
Act 3
Krystal had calmed down enough to return to the waiting room without needing to be sedated back into sleep (Ziggy calculated that it was about 1 in 4 leaps now that needed the subject to be sedated at some point during the leap). Dr. Beeks still had no idea as to how to best occupy Krystal's time or how to best get in Krystal's head as everyone was still on edge on account of Krystal starting this leap on edge.
"So like, what is this Sam guy doing while he's in my body?" she asked Dr. Beeks.
"We made this project to fix mistakes made by people that they themselves couldn't fix" answered Dr. Beeks, trying not to reveal the true nature of the project.
"And in order to know what the mistake is, people would have to have like, already made it? That means I'm like, in the future? That robot voice was right in my being out of my own time?" asked Krystal. Dr. Beeks mouth hung open, completely shocked.
"That's...correct. You're about 3 and a half years in the future, in Sam's body." she replied, ignoring Ziggy's pleas to shut up in the background.
"Well, I was expecting to be like, more. Like, 50 years or so" said Krystal.
"I can understand that. Even though our technology is actually a generation old now, people are still amazed by it." said Dr. Beeks, making sure to show empathy in her voice.
"So like, you've been throwing this Sam guy around time since I was a little kid?"asked Krystal.
"You would've been about 10 years old when we began." replied Dr. Beeks, while nodding and making notes on a White Ipad.
"Do you like, try to kill Hitler too?" asked Krystal, trying to sound hopeful.
"I'm afraid not, as much as we would like to. Minus 1 really strange trip to the early 1860's and the time he switched with someone who went into 1945 but after Hitler was dead, Sam hasn't been 'thrown' around any earlier than 1953 as that was the year he was born." said Dr. Beeks.
"So that would put him at like, almost 60 years old. He can't leap if he's dead so you're just basically only fixing mistakes in his lifetime. That's like, 1 string in the entire history of the universe." said Krystal.
"He actually called it string theory when he was designing this." replied Dr. Beeks, who again, was nodding. Krystal actually seemed very happy that she had figured this out.
"You're not super smart, or Sam wouldn't be needed. But you're not super stupid either" said Dr. Beeks while gently squeezing Krystal's hands.
"How do I get smarter? This Sam guy is like, a genius. I figured that much out too" said Krystal.
"He was very gifted from the beginning. He was balancing his family's budget before he was 6 years old, but a lot of it came from hard work. You actually are just as observant as he is, maybe moreso. And while you probably won't remember any of this when you go back, if you DO remember one thing, remember this: Keep a lot of diaries. I know it sounds childish but..." started Dr. Beeks
"No no, I like totally get it. I can read back what I've written and get smarter that way" finished Krystal...
...who was then simultaneously smiling and in tears.
"I've like, never been treated as a whole person by anyone before I came here. And the worst part is, I like can't thank you for 3 and a half years once I like, go back." she explained.
"Oh I'm sure that isn't true. Your family must love you very much, and you've must have a lot of friends with your level of energy." replied Ziggy.
"OK I'm like, never going to get used to that voice not having a body attached to it and just randomly like 'appearing' whenever it wants. But no, I'm really not loved at all. I was adopted by parents who I like, think just gave up on me the moment I started getting tits. I can understand them not being able to afford to help me with college but like, they didn't even offer to help me pack when I got my own place. All of my friends were bigger flakes than I was and I couldn't befriend other groups in school without like, offering my body because like, no one cared. Everyone where I go to school has openly called me the "flunky idiot" just because I like, didn't pass the first time. But at least they like, have the decency to mock me in English. At work, they just point at me and speak in like, maybe Punjabi, maybe Hindi. There was a customer nice enough to tell me that everyone is calling me the 'White Ho', which is like, so wrong because I don't sleep with my boss or any of the customers. Part of me like, wants to though. I'm like, so terribly lonely."
By the time that she was done talking, the crying and smiling had stopped. Dr. Beeks just nodded thoughtfully, making an occasional note when necessary.
"You don't have to offer your body to end your loneliness, Krystal. Just stay optimistic, you can't crush the human spirit. Actually, would you like to do my nails? I could use a manicure myself, actually" said Dr. Beeks while staring at the back of her left hand.
"You would let me do that to you? I like, haven't even graduated yet." said Krystal, who was now mildly bewildered.
Dr. Beeks had been having a growing suspicion since this conversation began, now it was time to figure out if she was right "Well, from what I can gather: Do the words on a written test seem scrambled to you, or badly spelled?"
"Like, totally" replied Krystal, looking so shocked that Dr. Beeks assumed that no one had ever asked her that question.
"I think some of your problems are caused by Dyslexia. It's a reading disability where the words look scrambled to you."
"No one's ever bothered to sit me down and figure me out before. I don't even think my own parents have hugged me since I was 11. It was like I disappointed them, but because I wasn't really their kid, they just ignored me, like they weren't responsible. OK, Let's do some nails"
"Oh Sam, that IS beautiful" stated Al, who was staring at a set of nails that Sam had done.
"Yeah, I hope that I do this well painting human nails" replied Sam, who was staring at the pattern he had done on a mannequin he had found in a dumpster on the way home. After Sam had washed the mannequin, he had (somewhat slowly) painted a pattern that was in his imagination for many years: A black base, followed by a light blue explosion. Al had surmised that this is how Sam sees his Quantum Leaping, but said nothing.
"OK Sam, time for feet" declared Al.
"Well, at least this isn't a real human. The doctor in me is listing all of the potential fungi, infections and warts that occur on the feet that mostly don't occur on human hands. I know how queasy you get, so I won't bother you" stated Sam as he began on the big toe of the mannequin's left foot.
"Thank you" blurted Al, then he continued "It's actually good to start on the big toe, as that has the most surface area to take care of so, if you get that one right, the other 4 on that foot are actually easier."
"That was what I was thinking" replied Sam. 20 minutes later, all 10 toenails were finished.
"Not bad, Sam. Not bad at all, I would love to see these on Beth or any one of my daughters" said Al as he inspected the mannequin, Sam smiled.
It was towards the end of Amin's shift as supervisor, with this phone call being his last duty of the day.
"Hello sir, Amin here. Yeah, the staff are improving in speed and quality of service. Well, everyone except Krystal..."
Amin then paused for a moment, knowing that he had painted himself into a corner with that statement. His resentment for her not sleeping with him then consumed him.
"Well sir, she technically conforms to our dress code, but tends to highlight her chest to a point where the staff and customers are distracted. Furthermore, she's clumsy and can't remember any order more than 2 items."
Amin then went silent, listening to everything said on the other end of the phone.
"Sir, don't you think that's a little drastic?" he asked, pretending to question what was presumably his boss, but was silently very excited that he was one step closer to eliminating the one employee under him who wouldn't at least blow him.
"I understand, a surprise test and performance review will do just fine" said Amin with a smile. They exchanged pleasant farewells and hung up on each end. Amin then silently went to work as to how to rig everything for Krystal to fail spectacularly.
Act 4
Time is never truly on my side in any given leap, I've known that since I started. But I find that it's always beneficial to be early if possible. It would be nearly impossible for me to be late to Krystal's practical exam as the "campus" was across the street, but I didn't want to oversleep when I had to be there in high heels in order to keep up appearances.
Sam was actually momentarily surprised that the doors to the school were even open, given how early it was the morning after he leaped. He made sure to put Krystal's white student photo I.D. tag on the front of an otherwise all-blue ensemble (tube top, jeans and heels) so that security wouldn't bother him, but there were no other students on "campus" yet. He reached the hall where he had first exited the previous day. He saw that there was a list of names on the door, a white piece of paper on a yellow door.
"Well, that's a relief. We're all being tested individually. We don't have to perform together" Sam whispered to some relief.
"Yeah, but you're the one who's batting leadoff, kid" replied Al, which startled Sam as he didn't hear any variant of the sound of the imaging chamber door open.
"Not if Krystal has a heart attack first while my mind is still inside of her."
"Sorry Sam" said Al, almost in a mumble.
"Actually, I like that I'm going first. I get to get it over with. I always preferred earlier exams in school. Either I'd go home and help dad milk the cows or I could hit the library early for the next exam or start packing to fly home"
"I liked later exams, more time to fool around with sorority girls" said Al with a smile, which remained even after Sam began glaring at him, Al then immediately left with the imaging chamber door closing behind him, sensing he crossed some sort of line.
"Miss Goderitch, come on in" declared Mr. Lingard as he peaked his head out of the slightly open door. When Sam walked inside, he actually admired the details that were put in to transform the classroom into a "mock salon". There were dryers for hair, mirrors for makeovers and whatever seats were leftover were for nails, but they were all salon chairs in various colours (albeit discontinued from the previous decade or so).
"So, are you my client?" asked Sam with a smile.
"Nope, someone substantially more critical." replied the professor, who then pointed behind Sam. In walked another man in a brown suit, white dress shirt and skinny black tie. Sam had no idea who this was, and actually thought of a way to use that to his advantage.
"Good morning, I'm Krystal Goderitch, how may I help you this morning?" Sam asked, knowing that most clients don't personally know who does their nails, especially the first time they walk in.
"One of each please, a manicure and a pedicure." said the stranger (who Sam was now guessing was the dean of students).
"Certainly sir, please have a seat" said Sam, maintaining eye contact and smiling. Then he continued: "Am I correct in my guess, not assumption, that you don't want your nails painted?"
"No, I suppose not" he replied while fighting off the urge to burst out laughing. Sam nodded, and pulled off the manicure half of the practical exam perfectly.
"OK sir, if I could just get you to take off your shoes and socks and we'll get the pedicure started."
The dean obliged, and each foot had fine, powdery, hyperkeratotic scales. Sam jumped back in fear and exclaimed "That may be the worst example of Plantar Athlete's Foot I've ever seen. I can't safely perform a pedicure on those feet without putting my own health at risk. Unless of course, you have personal protective equipment in here that I can't see. Plus, my diagnosis is of course, unofficial. I recommend getting an official diagnosis from a podiatrist before doing anything about it." stated Sam, who had momentarily forgotten that he was Krystal.
The dean's mouth opened wide, as was the professor's, and they were both looking at each other.
"Congratulations...you passed" announced the professor.
"What?" asked Sam, who was utterly confused.
"It was a trick question. No client is worth risking your own health over. And as you not only recognized that, but diagnosed what was wrong with his foot, I can't help but give you a perfect 100% on the practical exam. Congratulations, try not to spoil the surprise." declared the professor
"Given how much the entire student body hates me, they wouldn't believe me anyway if I did. Just get the athlete's foot treated after the exam" replied Sam as the Dean put his socks back on.
"I will, and it would've been an auto-fail if you even approached my feet. We're not sadists" replied the Dean. Sam nodded and began his exit out of the classroom turned mock salon. By then, some of the students had gathered, and they were all put off by Sam smiling with confidence (there were whispers of the word "slut" and things to that effect, but Sam never cared). He was tempted to spill the beans, but realized that the class was beneath the help, and his smile told them that Krystal Goderitch had passed and was going to be a nail cosmetician.
"Good luck, ladies and gentlemen" was all that Sam said before leaving the campus for the last time.
Project Quantum Clone Leap, New Mexico
Current Date: November 6th, 2011
"OK, you're all done, Miss Calavicci" declared Krystal.
"Thank you very much" replied Elsa Calavicci, the youngest of the 4 daughters of Beth and Al Calavicci. Alberta, Chiara and Georgia Calavicci had already been clients of Krystal (as well as Beth, Donna, Samantha, Tina, who had recently retired from the project and was just coming back to say hello to her former co-workers) and even Tom had a manicure. All 4 daughters had their nails painted black, to go with their hair. And every one of Krystal's clients were pleased enough with her work that the entire project applauded her. In the face of Sam Beckett, one could see the blushing of Krystal Goderitch.
"Thank you very much for your business, all of you" whispered Krystal, overwhelmed by the project's faith in her.
"You're very talented" replied Beth, her daughters nodded.
"So if like, Sam just keeps leaping around, doesn't he ever get like, a break?" asked Krystal.
"Not really, although some of his leaps are easier than others. He had to test the product on himself before it was completed. The part of me concerning the retrieval system was, to put it bluntly, laughably inaccurate and although we've made some progress, we're halfway home, at best." replied Ziggy, who was actually trying to sound more comforting than she generally was.
"Does he have a favourite leap?" asked Krystal.
"I can calculate with 91% probability that Dr. Beckett in fact, has several favourite leaps. He's leapt into himself as a 16 year old boy, he's switched places with the project observer..."
"Who?" asked Krystal.
"My husband" replied Beth as Al walked in. Beth then pointed at him as he briefly stared at Beth's nails. Al then smiled and gave Krystal a thumbs up.
"...He ensured Beth never left Al, I could go on, but I believe that I've made my point." continued Ziggy.
"What's going to happen to me when Sam's like, finished?" asked Krystal, sounding worried.
"Your mind will be put back in your body, Sam will leap into someone else and you'll enjoy the benefits of a slightly improved life. As mentioned to you before, you won't really remember us" stated Ziggy.
"That's like, sad. Sam deserves to come home, as I like, think he's been leaping around in time for almost 20 years already. And there are some people in this world who are beyond the help of like, 1 man changing 1 event in their lives. I wish I like, knew more science and stuff. That way I could help him for helping me. I don't know how I know, but I'm going back in like, 2 hours, tops" said Krystal, nearing tears.
"Well, we'll never forget you, if that means anything to you." said Dr. Beeks.
"It does. All of you like, saw me as a person. I don't think anyone else has ever seen me like that in my whole life."
A group hug formed around Krystal.
Al couldn't stay very long after the group hug, as he had a best friend bouncing around time to monitor. He walked to the imaging chamber wearing a relatively conservative (for his standards) dark purple pinstripe suit.
"Samantha, do you and Ziggy have a fixed location on Sam?" asked Al as he stood in front of the imaging chamber door.
"We do, Admiral Calavicci. He is in the parking lot of the Tim Horton's that Krystal works in. You'll be arriving within 3.5 seconds of Dr. Beckett entering the building" replied Ziggy.
"Thank you Ziggy, I don't have to test the bluetooth" added Al was he opened the door. He could see a decent piece of downtown Sudbury all around him, as it was a clear day and Sudbury wasn't a very big town.
"I did it Al, I passed the practical" said Sam.
"I knew you would" said Al, as if it was already a given.
"No no, you don't understand. The winning answer in the second half of the test was to refuse to do the work. The dean had athlete's foot and..." Sam said, then stopped as Al began laughing, knowing that Sam had answered a trick question correctly.
"That's brilliant, Sam. For the school and you. Let's go in, pass the third one" said Al. Sam nodded and he opened the door. Like many Tim Horton's in Canada, they shared the commercial space with the fast food place known as Wendy's. Sam walked by it, even waving to the staff politely as he approached Tim Horton's. He walked inside and headed for the break room to change into his uniform...
...and then he saw Amin, with his pants off, masturbating to Krystal's personnel file, specifically, the company photo that was attached of Krystal.
"Oh, uh, Krystal, you're early, hello." was all that Amin could say. Sam was outraged.
"Ziggy, get Krystal to remember every rotten thing this nozzle has done" said Al very sternly.
"You, son of a bitch." began Sam. "It's not enough that you...stare at my tits and ass all day, but you spread rumours that I sleep with you to my co-workers, giving me a reputation as a company whore that I like, don't deserve. You've denied me raise after raise, you cut my shifts when you know that unlike every other person you have out there: I'm like, in school. You won't cross train me to be a team leader when I've been here since high school. You break labour laws so that I have to come in for 7am after I've worked from 3pm-11pm the previous afternoon. And now I catch you jerking off to my picture in your office. You sir, are the most disgusting human being I've like, ever met in my life."
Sam didn't know where his screaming at Amin stopped and where Krystal's screaming at Amin began, but he had made sure that the entire staff and over 2 dozen customers had heard. Amin, to be fair, zipped his pants up before he responded.
"Nice speech Miss Goderitch. Unfortunately, no one will ever believe you. You're fired" he calmly stated with a smirk on his face. Sam was devastated, no less so than any previous leap that was similar to this one, which was too many for Sam to count.
"I'm afraid she's not, Amin." stated a man in a light blue dress shirt, dark blue tie and black pants. He was a portly fellow with a nametag the read "Jeff, District Manager"
"Sir, what are you doing here?" asked Amin with a smile of desperation on his face.
"I was hear to witness a performance review of Miss Goderitch, NOT a poor girl defending herself from sexual harassment...and yes Amin, you left your video camera on, so I saw your indecent exposure as well" he announced calmly.
"Sir, what you saw was taken out of context" replied Amin in a way where even the real Krystal knew was rehearsed.
"And what exactly is the right context of having your penis in your hand and rubbing it while reading an employee profile? I don't wanna hear it, Amin, YOU'RE FIRED! Miss Goderitch, I am deeply sorry that you have had to endure such inhumane treatment. How much will it take to compensate you as an appropriate severance package? How about 5 years of Amin's salary? $200,000" asked Jeff, Amin walked out immediately.
"10 years, or my attorney is here before you even call yours, and I'm like, sure the labour board will take a million out of you" replied Sam.
"At least. Canada's labour laws are actually better than America's" said Al to Sam, who was squeezing the real Krystal's hand.
"Fine. $400,000 but you're to never speak of this ever again." said Jeff as he walked to what was Amin's office, specifically looking for the banking info on Krystal's file. Jeff was relieved that Amin didn't "finish" all over the file. He then grabbed a cell phone out of his pocket and began dialling. Sam couldn't hear what Jeff was saying, and the call was over in 10-15 seconds. Sam then stared at Al, Al nodded at him, signalling that the money was not only in Krystal's bank account, but that it had changed her history for the better. The real Krystal (still at Al's side) was picking up her jaw, staring at "herself". Jeff then pointed North, to the door to leave, Sam nodded and was out of the establishment quickly. He noticed the staff had seen the whole thing, and were barely suppressing their rage and jealousy as Sam entered the parking lot.
"This isn't over" said Amin, licking his lips at her as he undid his pants again. He moved to slap Sam but Sam punched him in the face hard enough to knock him out, Jeff had actually seen that too.
"And he goes to jail for attempted rape" shouted Sam. Jeff nodded.
"As Krystal might say, that was like, great" said Al.
"What happens to Krystal?" asks Sam.
"Well, she doesn't retire with the money right away. Instead, she puts the money into the company known as Amazon and in a few years she cashes out with several million in an account that not even Dyad could crack, moves to Kingston and semi-retires. She still does nails now but only as a hobby."
"And Amin?" asks Sam.
"He pleads guilty to attempted rape before Krystal is due to appear in court and once a photo of you is spread around the jail that he's in, he's found stabbed to death in the shower."
"Honour among thieves" said Sam as the blue light rushed through him, triggering his leap.
It was rare for Sam to actually see the blue light that signalled his leap as he was leaping into a new person, but it remained unsettling on the rare occasion that it did. He also felt very disoriented, sensing that something was wrong, he grabbed onto a banister to keep from falling over. There were a few gasps behind him, and when Sam turned around, he realized that he was at a board meeting of some kind. Sam then regained his composure and returned to staring at the window, seeing that the clone he was in this time was blonde like the last one (whose name he had already forgotten) but the hair was shorter, more neatly cut and where the last one was obsessed with cosmetics, Sam could tell that this one was obsessed with everything.
"Well, Miss Duncan, what do you have to say for yourself?" asked someone in the meeting, wearing a grey suit and speaking in an accent that Sam could only narrow down to somewhere in the Scandinavian region of Europe.
"What do you want me to say?" asked Sam.
"7 clones dead, 32 others dead, I would think something along the lines of 'I'm crazy and want the cloning experiment to go public prematurely'"
"Oh boy"