Journal - "Breakthrough"

The following is an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Θ, of R.I.F.T-TG’s Operational Consensus. He has personally allowed the declassification of this entry, as it contains limited information on the Mercy Investigation that would not be released otherwise. Read with care.
Upon viewing the reports from Supply Team Mercy, I must admit that I am both very intrigued, yet thoroughly disturbed. The implications it has are numerous, and they apply not only to the everyday lives of human beings, but also to existence as a whole. I feel driven to dive deeper, to find out how it is that this woman came to be, but I am also terrified of what I may find by doing so, especially when considering other studies that we have made over the years.
The woman brought back by Supply Team Mercy was indeed an exact copy of Mercy-4, down to the smallest detail. However, there was no evidence that she was altered or lab-developed in any way. She appears to be a natural human, rather than any sort of shape-shifting entity or even a clone. Obviously, this generates only more questions than answers, chief among them being, “How can there be more than one Mercy-4?”
The Science Division has been working constantly at finding the answer, starting with interviews. Both Mercy-4 and her doppelganger were brought in for individual questioning. We asked them both a series of personal questions to see if their stories matched one another. There was very little deviation, aside from a few minor details, like how many dogs they have owned in the past, what their favorite childhood toy was, or what their favorite subject in school was. What really caught our attention was the answers they gave our questions about what they remember before arriving in the Backrooms.
Obviously, from the report, it was said that Mercy-4 arrived approximately three months before her counterpart. However, there were other details that did not match. For example, Mercy-4 said she was living in Miami, Florida, before she arrived, while the other one said she was in France at the time. The doppelganger also remembers countries under a different name, compared to Mercy-4 and even me. For example, she called the United States the United Republic, which included what I know as Canada in its territories. There were many examples of such inconsistencies, but considering that I may declassify this journal entry in the future, I best not step on anybody’s toes by giving out too much information about the investigation. Suffice it to say, the other Mercy-4 does not remember the world the way many of us do. Still, this was enough to propel the investigation further.
Why does she remember a different world?
Is she truly just a false copy with faulty memories?
Could she really be who she says she is?
Naturally, this brought me back to an old theory that we, R.I.F.T-TG, published some time ago. We posited that the Backrooms, as we know it, acts as a threshold between realities, which explains certain phenomena like the Mandela Effect, which occurs when a large group of people remember events, locations, or individuals differently from how they actually are. If this were the case, we could, theoretically, find alternate versions of ourselves in the Backrooms, as this would be the only place we can all commune without restriction from our respective realities.
It is an exciting thought, yet it is also unsettling. The Mandela Effect has reared its head here in the Backrooms as well, or so we thought. I myself have encountered individuals that somehow “remember” me, despite never having met them before. They can sometimes even thoroughly recall memories of interactions that we never had. Could it be that I also have a doppelganger out there somewhere?
Come to think of it, I ended up in the Backrooms through my own hubris as a scientist in the Frontrooms. Who is to say that other versions of me will not make the same accidental discovery? Of course, with that question in mind, I also wonder how many already have. Surely, it cannot be that many, since I have yet to encounter just one so far, but I still wonder.
If I am right, and there really are other versions of me out there, this could change everything. Science is often a series of world-changing discoveries. This one just might be world-shattering. It will not only change the way we see the Backrooms, but also the Frontrooms, the people we meet, every instance of “faulty” memory we encounter... It will change how we perceive our very existence. The potential for such discoveries fills me with vigor, yet it also instills immense dread. I want to go further down the rabbit hole. Hell, I want to chase the White Rabbit across all of Wonderland and back until I find the truth, but I fear I may become a resident of Wonderland in the process, having lost myself to madness in my relentless pursuit of answers.
In the end, I know the fear will not stop me. It never stops me. I am not ashamed to admit that I am a slave to my own hubris. That is how I ended up in the Backrooms, after all. The way I see it, if no one ever even tries to find the answers to all these questions...
Then who will?
At the time of declassification, the Mercy-4 Doppelganger has been allowed to go free, though she has elected to remain with R.I.F.T-TG in hopes of finding answers to this mystery. Supply Team Mercy has since volunteered to look after her until further notice.
Category:Riftverse Canon
Category:Tales