What's in a Name?

 "I have a few questions."

Rick said this while sitting down, having coffee with the man identifying as Jim. Rick senior was nearby, exploring aspects of the Beatles Statue.

"Shoot," replied Jim.

"You're not the James Cameron."

"No. I'm not James Cameron."

"But you go by Jim. You're using his name and somehow taking credit for his movies?"

"Oh no, I didn't take credit for anything. I did make the movie Titanic."

Rick was perplexed. "How? Wouldn't the real James Cameron have some issue with that?"

"He would if he existed."

Rick looked back wide-eyed at Jim.

"James Cameron doesn't exist in this reality," Jim said. "There are a number of things different here from the reality you and I know. He is just one of them."

Rick couldn't believe it, "James Cameron doesn't exist."

"That's right. So, no Terminator. No Aliens. No Abyss. Definitely no Avatar or Titanic. They never existed."

Rick sat there looking down, shaking his head.

"This is the strangest thing I have ever seen. I went to bed with the world around me last night as it has always been. Then this morning, I woke up..."

Jim interrupts Rick, "To unusual pain and a completely different reality."

Rick pondered that last statement by Jim. He looked around the harbor, glancing at the Titanic and looking back around the city. Although places seemed the same, there was something different beyond the ship. He could feel it in the air. He could taste it in the coffee. This wasn't the United Kingdom he had been living in before today. He looked back to Jim and had to ask the next pertinent question.

"So, how did you get here?"

Jim leaned back in his chair and took in a deep breath. After he cleared his breath, he looked away from Rick and began to speak, "I woke up to an alternate reality in 2023. I remember everything about the day before, like you. The smells. The air. What everything looked like. I was in New York City. When I woke up the next day, my back was absolutely killing me. It felt like someone had stabbed me multiple times in my lower back. My head hurt. I just felt horrible. Then, when I started my day, the pain began to subside, and I was fine. So, I went about my day like I normally would. Everything seemed exactly the same as I made my rounds through town. Making my deliveries. That's when I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"The Twin Towers."

"The World Trade Center Twin Towers?"

"Those are the ones."

"They were still standing?"

"Yes. Apparently, the attack on September 11 never happened. It was the only change I saw otherwise, but a pretty significant one, to say the least. I had grown up with those towers gone. The Freedom Tower stood as the lone World Trade Center tower.  So, that was the first clue that something very odd had happened to me. I went back home and looked up as much as possible on the internet. Nothing, not one trace of the attacks, was found. I don't know how or why. I was too scared to leave my home because I was afraid I would find something else bizarre, and I decided to sleep it off. But that is when it happened again."

Rick was practically drooling listening to this story. He gazed across at Jim, who leaned closer to the table before them. Jim looked Rick dead in the eyes.

"The next morning, I woke up in a state of pure paralysis. It was like something was holding me down in place for whatever reason. I could not get out of bed. All I could do was lay there. Then, after what seemed like hours, I could finally move. I shot out of bed and went back outside. This time the change was very noticeable."

"Like seeing a ship that has been on the bottom of the ocean for over one hundred years," Rick added.

"Exactly. The world I was in was noticeably different this time, right from exiting my home. Typically I could see the Empire State Building in the distance from where I lived. It wasn't there."

"The Empire State Building doesn't exist?"

"Nope. It was never built because John Jacob Astor never died onboard the Titanic. Instead, The Astor Empire Complex was built after his death, much later on. It houses a building 170 stories tall."

"170? That's taller than the Burj Khalifa, right?"

"Right. That doesn't exist, either. There were just so many noticeable changes. It was hard to take it all in. For instance, take out your phone and look up something for me."

Rick looked at Jim for split second and then started reaching into his pocket for his phone. Once he had it, Jim started talking again.

"Now, ask Siri to look up the Gettysburg Address."

Rick looked down at his phone and held the screen down to pull up Siri. "Siri, bring up the Gettysburg Address."

Siri searched the internet briefly and responded, "I'm sorry, I could not find anything about the Gettysburg Address. I found something about Gettysburg, which was a town in..."

"Wait? Gettysburg never happened? The Civil War in the United States never happened?"

Jim chuckled a bit and then sipped his coffee, "That's not the half of it. Abraham Lincoln never existed."

Rick was wide-eyed again, "Lincoln never existed? So, what did that mean then?"

"A lot, Rick. Robert E. Lee was the President in what should have been Lincoln's term. So, as you can imagine, things went a little differently in the United States from then on."

"President Lee? So, I take it slavery was never abolished, then?"

"Not even close. The Confederate States of America took over everything. There's actually still slavery there today, in 2028. No one ever wanted to do away with it. The world in the last 160 years has been quite different."

"Unbelievable. This goes way beyond movies and ships."

Jim sipped his coffee again, "Oh yeah."

Rick tapped his finger on the side of his cup. He had to ask the next question because that was the one really burning inside him.

"What did you mean I could our ticket out of here?"

Jim smiled, "I'm glad you finally asked. I wasn't sure if you ever would. In all the time I have been here, I've never met someone who remembers the world I was from until you. It was such a lonely time, for way too many years."

"Too many years? I thought you said you've only been here since 2023? That's only 5 years."

"That's the year I'm from, Rick. But 5 years is not the amount of time I have been here. You remember that the film Titanic came out in 1997, right? And that it still did here too."

Rick nodded and started realizing that Jim had been there since the 1990s.

"I've been here, in this reality, since 1992."

"1992? 36 years?!"

"That's right."

"But, you don't look old enough to be here 36 years. That's what grabbed my attention about the James Cameron stuff. He's like in his 70s in our world."

"I know, I'm 56 years old. I was only 20 years old when I arrived here in 1992."

"Wow! This is just a lot to take in."

"Believe me, I understand. Sometimes I hardly believe it. But it is true."

"So, have you tried to get back to our world? I know you said you never have seen anyone else before me, but has anything ever provided a way?"

"Nothing has given me any way home, Rick. Not once. Just you showing up now is the only change I've ever seen that connects me back to my original home."

"My gosh. In our world, I would be 20 years older than you by now. Well, older than your 20-year-old self."

"It'll start hurting your head when you think about it like that."

Rick grabbed his head, "My head already hurts. I think I've drunk too much coffee."

"Be glad you can have coffee. This is a hot commodity in the Federation."

"Federation? The Confederate States, you mean?"

"That's what they call themselves now. They've become quite interesting since I left in the 90s to pursue a film career here."

"I would say you've done very well for yourself."

Jim chuckled, "Yeah, I'll say. When I got here, I wanted to unwind once when I found a place to live and watch some old movies. But there was no Terminator. I started looking up things, as best I could before the internet, and saw none of his movies existed, so I tried to recall what I knew from memory to write the stories myself. Someone here picked them up, and I got to start making the films I once loved."

"Kind of like Yesterday."

"Yes! Exactly like Yesterday. I got all sorts of acclaim and money, treated like royalty. I definitely felt like the King of the World."

Rick laughed, "Even though it was kind of a rip-off, right?"

"Well, better to rip off and have a life than have nothing. At least, that is how I felt when I realized I couldn't figure out how to get back to my own world. I would have given anything to return home to my family and friends. I just couldn't figure out how."

"But you think I might can help you, right?"

Jim looked up at Rick, "I'm hoping so."

Rick leaned back and looked around again. He looked at the ship. He looked at his dad. He looked at the table and the ground. Finally, he looked back to Jim.

"If I'm going to help you, what is your real name?"

"Do you believe you can help me, Rick?"

"I would like to hope I can, so I can get home too. If there is a way."

"Where there's a will, there's a way. My will to thrive and survive helped me become rich here. Maybe that can help us get back home. All we have to do is believe it."

"You haven't answered my question, though?"

Jim took the final sip of his coffee, peering over the cup back at Rick. When he was done swallowing, he finally answered him.

"What's in a name, Rick? Except for what's right in front of you sometimes. My name is Richard Martin Smith. I'll be glad to show you some documents that prove it. We're not the same person, but sharing the same name is quite a coincidence. Maybe that's how the mystery can start being solved for us. Do you believe my name is the same as yours, Rick?"

Rick was speechless again. Part of Rick's mind wanted to believe there was no way this was true. But Rick couldn't shake the feeling that Jim was telling him the truth. He would need to see that proof, though.

"Why don't you show me those documents? Do you go by Rick or Richard?" Rick said.

"Actually, I prefer Marty. I can give you a ride over to my place."

"Marty. Don't tell me you have a Delorean that you drive?" Rick chuckled.

Marty replied, "Actually, I do, but not today. I just called an Uber to take us and your dad to my home."

R.M.S.

Rick woke up that morning and felt odd.

His back was aching. His neck was sore. He felt as if he had just been hit by a truck. It was odd, to say the least.

The day before, he had been at work. He did his usual teaching job, hoping his message was received. Then he went to a local restaurant and got roast beef with new potatoes. Dear old meat, and three. He came home, relaxed in front of the television, watching mostly reruns of classic films while falling asleep on the couch. 

He later woke up, noting the time, headed off to bed because he knew Saturday was coming. He could sleep in and had nothing to worry about for at least one day. He crawled into bed, and the lights were out. It was a typical day for Rick.

So, why was he aching so badly this morning?

"Alexa, good morning?"

The artificially intelligent ball of plastic and circuits exclaimed, "Good morning. Today is April 15, 2028. On this day, the Hillsborough Disaster took place in 1989. One hundred people were killed, and 800 were injured."

Rick groaned, now sitting on the side of his bed, wiping his face. He peered over at the Alexa device on his nightstand, looking out of the corner of his uncovered eye. That was uplifting, he thought.

"Alexa, play some 80's music."

Alexa responded, "Here is a station you might like."

The familiar sound of the 80's song "Power of Love" began echoing around the room. 

Rick chuckled, still wiping his face, "Interesting choice."

He recalled the film the song originated from, the Back to the Future classic.

Rick arose from the bed and headed into the bathroom to take a shower and straighten up. As he did, he turned back to look at Alexa on the nightstand and saw the yellow notification light was on. Despite loving the song, he decided to interrupt it.

"Alexa, notifications."

Alexa stopped the music, "You have one new notification. Today you're supposed to meet with your dad. Richard Martin Smith, Senior, sent you an invite to meet with him for an adventure, just the two of you."

Rick's eyes lit up as he stood there with his toothbrush still in his mouth. I'm supposed to meet with dad today! His mouth now dripped with toothpaste as he uttered, "Alexa, what time?"

"You are to meet with him at 9:15 AM."

"Alexa, what time is it now."

"The time is 8:55 AM. You better hurry, or you're going to be late."

Rick thought about all the extra details in the invite. His dad still hadn't figured out that you don't have to include those details in the subject of the message. However, that was trivial because he was about to be late!

Rick threw on some clothes as fast as he could and rushed out the door, requesting an Uber along the way. His dad had never been a patient man and was quick-tempered at times. He was not a man you left waiting. Fortunately, Ubers are quick to find even in the city.

There was a problem, though. As soon as Rick left the apartment, his back, neck, and buttocks all were aching, as they had been when he first woke up.

What did I do in my sleep?

He hobbled down the stairs to the main entrance of the apartment building and proceeded out the door as quickly as his body would allow. The Uber was already there, but he had taken so long that they were almost certainly preparing to give up on his fare.

He finally made it to the car, a late-model Renault Clio. The driver asked him where he was going.

"What do you mean?" asked Rick.

The driver looked at Rick's phone and said, "You never programmed the destination."

Rick looked down and realized he hadn't. Probably due to the pain he was in, he simply forgot.

"The Titanic Memorial, please."

"You mean museum, right?" Quipped the driver.

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, do you have anything for pain?" Rick asked, squinting through waves of pain still radiating up his spine.

"Sorry, none on me right now."

Rick thought, maybe they'll have something there at the...did he say museum? Why did he say museum? It's a memorial, at least I thought?

Rick shook his head, mostly from dealing with the pain but also shaking off that he must have heard the man wrong.

The streets were packed today, and it was already 9:20 AM. Rick knew dear old dad would not be happy with his tardiness.

There were so many people, though, all culminating at the memorial. That was kind of odd to him, but then he remembered. The director of the film was going to be there today. Some sort of event commemorating the sinking. But this was what his dad wanted to do today.

"Hey, I'll get out and walk from here," Rick said as he tapped the driver on the shoulder.

"You sure. You looked like you could barely walk a minute ago."

"I'm fine, thanks."

Rick paid the man with his phone and proceeded out of the car. It was funny, he could move good now and seemed to get stronger as he moved toward the memorial. That was until he noticed that he wasn't at a memorial at all.

In the bay, sitting directly in front of a building he did not recognize, sat...the Titanic.

He stopped dead in his tracks. Rick had been to this memorial a few times, and certainly creative replications abounded over the years, but this was a full ship. It stretched from the Isle of Man nearly to the Beatles Statue before the Queensway Tunnel. The ship was huge and resting there intact. That completely blew Rick's mind.

"What in the..."

Rick was interrupted by what he was saying when a familiar voice chimed in. "Son!"

His Dad was yelling for him.

"Dad!"

"Come on, or we'll miss the next tour of the ship."

"Tour? Dad, are you seeing this?"

"Seeing what? You were supposed to be here before 9:15. Our tickets are for 9:30. You know how hard it is to get them and tour the greatest luxury liner of all time."

"Dad! What is going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dad, that's...that's the Titanic."

Rick senior looked over at the ship and then back to his son, "Yeah. So?"

"YEAH?! SO?! How?"

"What do you mean how?"

"How is it sitting there?"

"Are you on some sort of medication, son?"

"Dad?"

"Hallucinogen of sorts?"

"Dad! That ship has been at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for 116 years! How is it sitting there? Intact?"

Rick senior stared at his son. He had a legitimate look of concern on his face as he did, "Son, the Titanic was decommissioned in 1952. Forty years after it was launched."

Rick was speechless.

Rick senior looked back toward the ship for a glance and then back to his son, "Do you not remember that? We've talked about it before."

Rick was stumbling over his words, "I...I really don't know what is happening right now."

"Are you feeling ok, son?"

Rick could tell his dad was really worried about him.

"I'm fine, but I don't understand what I see. It's not possible."

Rick senior looked at the ship and then back to his son. He walked over to him and said, "Why don't I show you the impossible then?"

He smiled at his son as passers-by continued, oblivious to the two men.

Rick thought, am I dreaming? How can this be real? The Titanic didn't survive it's maiden voyage. It sank, with 1500 souls. How is this possible? The ship is here now?

Rick's shock finally eased off as he continued to stare at the vessel. He knew there was only one thing left to do, as curiosity was killing him.

"Let's go have a look, dad."

Rick senior patted his son on the shoulder, and the two men followed the crowd to the Titanic. 

Rick couldn't believe his eyes. He was walking through history. A legend. A ship that had sat at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean was now in pristine form, all decks intact, all flooring original, and all amenities still present. The grand staircase was as beautiful as he had seen in pictures and movies. He walked the steps up and down several times, his breath nearly leaving his body. They walked past first-class cabins. They maneuvered through the dining halls. They came to an area retrofitted for war and housed injured from battle. This noted the ship's service in World War I and World War II. Updates were present, such as radar and sonar, which came along later. Captain Smith, the first captain of the Titanic, had a memorial honoring him, with a long line of successors that followed. The ship had a grander history of forty years of service that was more impressive than the legend of the sinking. But Rick could not shake that the sinking was all he ever knew. These new details he was learning for the first time on this day, 116 years after the ship set sail.

Then Rick came to the onboard museum for the ship, and an automated voice outlined what took place on the fateful night of April 15, 1912.

The ship never sank. Instead, the ship plowed the bow into the iceberg, breaching the first two compartments and crushing much of the forward part of the ship. But the ship stayed afloat. In all, only 113 passengers and crew lost their lives that day onboard the Titanic. The other 2000+ passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the ship and sailed to New York for needed repairs. Captain Smith was noted as a hero in the evacuation efforts, and First Officer Murdoch was condemned for his actions causing reckless endangerment to the ship, passengers, and crew. In his defense case, he noted that had he not performed the actions he did, there could have been a greater loss of life. The courts ruled him negligent and stripped him of his rank and command. He never sailed again. However, the Titanic sailed on for many years, surviving wars, plagues, and mother nature, as the voice continued on.

"That's unbelievable", Rick said.

Rick senior looked at him, "About what?"

"This was a hypothetical situation."

"What was?"

Rick kept reading some and then answered, "There was always speculation that plunging the ship forward into the iceberg might have saved it from sinking."

Rick senior looked at his son confused, "But that is what happened, son. Murdoch drove the ship dead ahead into it and killed hundreds in the process."

"But he saved thousands! Don't you get it, dad? He saved thousands of lives. The man is a hero!"

Rick senior was really worried for his son, "Son, that man blatantly and negligently killed innocent people with his actions. There are over 100 people whose lives he ended that day. This day, 116 years ago."

Rick looked at his dad, "From where I'm standing, he saved the lives of 1500 people that actually died."

Rick senior looked more intensely at his son, and his brow furrowed. "You really believe that, don't you, son?"

Rick looked back at his dad, "I don't just believe it. It's the truth."

Lights started flashing all around as a man approached them both, with a crowd following close behind.

Rick and his dad looked in the man's direction as he approached and were in awe. The man entering the museum was the director of the Titanic film. 

"Oh my", said Rick senior.

Cameras and film crews were all around as the director began speaking. "Thank you for following me in here." The crowd began to laugh.

"This was the actual inspiration for the film. I always wondered what would have happened had First Officer Murdoch not ordered all ahead full. He rammed the ship into the iceberg rather than trying to go around it. It was a risky move for the time, and most people think he was a bit crazy for doing it, but when you see my film, you get an idea of what could have happened."

A video behind the man starts playing scenes from the film Titanic. The film was the same one from 1997, with the same stars and circumstances that happened before, with the ship sinking. Even the same song was written for the film, but this time all as a hypothetical situation.

Rick was beside himself and could not hold his comments in, "That's it!"

Rick screamed this out as the scenes from the movie played, garnering the attention of everyone in the room, including the famous director.

"That's what I remember! That's exactly how things went. Ok, well, even though you proved some things were slightly different from your adaptation, but this is the truest telling of the Titanic disaster ever made. The gallantry and chivalry, and the angst and tragedy. All of it is what captivates people about the Titanic. The loss of life and all that came with it, man's hubris and folly. Mixed with their engineering and skill. The film was as breathtaking as the disaster itself. That's why it made over two billion dollars worldwide."

The crowd stared at Rick, and a man within it said, "I thought the film made over three billion worldwide?"

The crowd laughed, but three men did not. One was Rick himself staring back at the director. Rick senior was another, staring at the back of his son's head, filled with concern. The other was the director, that didn't stare at Rick. He looked at him, and a small smirk came across his face.

The director faced Rick more and walked up to him, asking a man with a microphone to step away. He looked back at Rick and asked, "By any chance, did your back hurt this morning?"

Rick's eyes got wide, "What?"

"Your back, neck, any part of your body?"

Rick was stunned, "Yes. Why..."

"I can tell in your eyes you believe what you're saying, don't you?"

Rick nodded in agreement.

The director looked down and smiled, scratched his head, and looked back up to Rick's gaze.

"The funny thing is, I had that happen to me once. What's funnier is that is how I remember the Titanic too. That's why I made the film the way I did."

Rick was speechless.

"I'm Jim." He extended his hand out to shake Rick's. "I think you and I need to have a talk. Because something has affected both of us, and you might just be both of our tickets back home."