The Traveller

London, 2011. The landing was easy, done with the experience of one who'd performed it so many times he could probably do it in his sleep. No, he'd better not say that out loud. Somewhere in another reality there probably WAS an alternate version of him checking reality anomalies which required landing whilst asleep.

He fired up the computer. Fantastic, this reality had Wi-Fi and an Internet. Well that would make his job that much easier and quicker. Brilliant, it even had a Wikipedia. At least it was better than that last place, heck they hadn't even had a space program so no satellites, no GPS and sadly no Internet. He'd had to do all his research in libraries, eventually locating the anomaly - Werner Von Braun had died as a baby so no rocket research. He'd been glad to leave there but London had looked so different without any Blitzkrieg, it looked old was what it looked.

"Anyway" he thought, "back to here". Dickens had lived, Kennedy had been assassinated, Von Braun here too as well as the many other names he knew to check from his previous trips. Minutes of looking became hours which became days then weeks. After 8 months he finally hit the jackpot under music. Somehow that guy was still alive in 2011! There he was, the required anomaly, large as life when he should have been long dead.

Elvis Presley, still alive and still performing when the traveller knew full well he had died in 1977. Reading further it appeared this Elvis wasn't just ONE anomaly, he was several. The third line of his Wikipedia entry read 'Born in Newport, Wales, Presley moved to Cardiff, Wales with his family at the age of 13' and then the realisation struck the traveller. This was not the superstar he had known from his own world.

Reading about Elvis he discovered that 'Jesse Garon Presley took the name of his twin brother Elvis for his stage name as a tribute to his memory after he was killed in a car crash in January of 1940'. Wow, no original Elvis and his brother had lived to replace him! For another week he left the computer program logging the various anomalies concerning the 'New Elvis' as the traveller now thought of him, his appearance at Live Aid which relaunched his career to an entirely new generation and his massive donations to many charitable organizations.

The traveller skimmed through the data, amending where necessary before a particular entry caught his eye. 'Presley miraculously survived being killed in the September 11th bombings at the World Trade Centre. It appeared he had been booked to play a short corporate gig in the Windows on the World restaurant located in the North Tower. Despite calling the venue to make them aware he was suffering from severe stomach flu Elvis promised he would perform that day. Elvis had arranged for a car to take him from his hotel to the World Trade Centre but the car had engine problems which was later discovered to be an oil leak. This incident left Presley stranded over 2 miles from his destination.'

With this final anomaly logged and appended all that remained was for the traveller to advise Elvis of his presence here and the delivery of the correct time line. After his performance at the Welsh Assembly the traveller approached Presley and presented his credentials. "I've been expecting you for quite some time" Elvis said to the traveller which threw him off balance. Presley reached into his jacket pulling out his wallet.

"Research Anomaly Division, Interception Branch" said Presley flashing him a badge the traveller instantly recognised from his training. Elvis passed him a small data device which the traveller took and inserted into his log. It informed him that in his own reality the ability to travel between parallel Universes should not have been discovered for another 200 years and that all current field agents were being recalled prior to amendment.

The traveller in turn gave Elvis his own data cube he had been compiling. Presley didn't appear to be surprised by the information. "They told me when I was hired to wait for you. I was the meta anomaly. They said I should have died at birth, should have been born in America. It was why I took my brothers name, I knew eventually you would spot the many inaccuracies. It just made it easier for me to make incursions that would lead you to me."

The traveller returned to his vehicle and logged the data cube Presley had given him. As he was preparing to jump to his own reality his screen flashed one final message from Elvis. "Thank you very much. Elvis has left this reality". The traveller jumped for the final time saddened that he would never remember this meeting as it would never have happened.

During the jump the traveller recorded his final voice log "Final jump back to reality. Apparently we shouldn't have discovered parallel Universes yet so we are all being recalled home prior to Amendment. I wonder what my new life will turn out to be. Agent Bruce Springsteen, final entry".

The End.