Dimensional swap

"Done!!" 

A young man in his 20's said with a wrench in hand. He has just finished tightening the last bolt of a peculiar machine. 

He gets off from the machine and looks at the entire thing. It's not too tall and is able to fit in a room. Size wise it's about 2 meters tall and 3 meters in width. It has one chamber and a computer unit. 

"I don't know if it'll work but let's hope for the best. I hope I don't die testing my own illegal machine." 

He says and smirks. The young man in question is just an ordinary man. He has no special features that makes him stand out in the crowd. He isn't academically gifted nor he is a genius. Just an ordinary man doing something out of his reach.

He puts down his wrench. Closes his toolbox. Puts it aside. Cleans the room. The room he is in is pretty messy. Papers and scrap metals are everywhere. Electrical wires are scattered around. 

He cleans the room and gets ready. The machine he made from scratch is supposed to be a teleport machine. He doesn't understand the science behind it. He just picked up some random books on quantum physics, mechanics, technology and so on. Then read those and made a machine from scratch.

He doesn't know if it'll turn on or just explode. If it does explode then he won't have to worry about others getting caught in the explosion. 

He lives pretty faraway from the populated area and no one goes near the area he lives in. More so at night. It's currently 9:00 pm. 

He is ready. He didn't set any coordinates for his teleport. He just pushes some random coordinates and steps inside the chamber. 

"This life has not been the greatest. If I die, that's that. If I live and the machine fails, I will surrender to the authorities. And if I succeed which I probably won't, I will be at a new place. I don't know where. 

If I am teleported to the sea, I will drown. Damn, random means I can end up anywhere. So, I am sure to die. It's not 100 but close to a 100 that I will die." 

The timer is ticking. He is reflecting on his life. He was born in a rich family. But for whatever reason, his parents abandoned him. He grew up on the streets. The one who took care of him told him about his parents. 

He searched for them and found that they had another son. Younger than him. They looked very similar to each other. He understood what was the reason.

Looks are determined by genetics but his genetics failed him. When he was 10, his parents and younger brother passed away due to an accident. 

He thought that it was over. But a month after that, some people came to him and forced him to inherit his family. There, he was given everything from money to education to a good life.

His real name, which he didn't know, is Keith Harding. The sole heir to the Harding family. The Harding family is a major family which produces geniuses. Each of them have various achievements in different sectors. 

But Keith could not live up to the expectations. The reason why he was abandoned was because he was not a genius. He was extremely mediocre. On his 18th birthday, he was kicked out again. Because his grandfather had managed to find a replacement. 

He left without protesting. He was with them for 8 years. He didn't feel anything for them. His parents were gone. But everyone compared him to his dead younger brother. 

Keith liked it simple. He was of age and his family background was not terrible. So, he somehow found a job and studied by himself. 

It wasn't until he was 21 when he had an inspiration. Maybe I should make something. 

It was a sudden and short feeling but he didn't waste it. He studied physics and mechanics even if he didn't understand a thing. Then he needed money to make a machine. 

He robbed his own house. The Harding mansion housed many antiques. He stole a few and managed to avoid the authorities. 

He knew that he would be caught sooner rather than later. So, he hurriedly built a machine which could be called a joke. He was just looking for a place to die. 

The timer hit 0 and he could hear the machine start. 

"Farewell." 

One last time he spoke and closed his eyes. He didn't feel any changes. Did it fail? 

He opens his eyes and finds himself sitting on a sofa. Where am I? He thinks. He looks around. It seems to be a bar. There are many people around and a woman is sitting next to him. 

"Hey, you okay?" 

She asks him. She is wearing skimpy clothes and heavy makeup. Maybe he is at a hostess bar. 

"Yeah. I think I should go home." 

"Okay. I'll get your bill." 

She leaves to get his bill. He searches for his wallet and finds it. That's a relief, he thinks. 

He pays and leaves. He searches his body. A key to somewhere and an address. He checks the address on his phone and goes there. The key is for that room. He checks the nameplate and it says Keith Harding. 

He doesn't think too much of it as it was already midnight. 

"I'll just go to sleep and this is probably a dream anyway." 

He goes to sleep without changing out of his clothes. 

Next morning he wakes up and goes to wash his face. His body remembers where everything is so he didn't make any mistakes. He splashed some water on his face and stares at the mirror.

"This is undoubtedly my face. This is my body. But why do I feel so different? This isn't my house. I don't live in a place like this. So who is THIS?" 

Questions. A lot of questions arose in his mind but there are no answers. But then he noticed. He has memories that are not his. He remembers living with his parents, growing up with them, going to school, graduating from high school and university, having a job and living independently. These are not his memories.

When he thinks calmly for a moment, he arrives at a conclusion.

"What are the chances? My consciousness was transferred to another me. I should make a communication device first." 

He goes out to shop. It's a Sunday, luckily. He meets a lot of people who know the other Keith Harding. He proceeds to act as the other Keith Harding. He buys a few simple stuff and returns home.

Then he started fine tuning his smartphone. 

"If my theory is correct, this Keith should be in my body at my house. I can connect with the computer of my machine." 

After an hour if fine tuning, he managed to connect with the machine. 

"Now, answer the call." 

He waits for the other Keith to take his call. And someone takes it. The videoconferencing begins. 

"Are you me?" The other Keith in his body asks.

"Yes." 

"I couldn't believe what was happening. I was at my usual hostess bar when suddenly I was in this body." 

"I was in my house, testing my machine when I found myself in your body at the hostess bar." 

Two Keiths with identical face and voice were talking to each other. It was a surreal sight.

"I will call myself dark and you will be called light."

Keith proposed to the other Keith.

"Why dark and light?" 

"Search through my memories. You can probably tell because you are me." 

The other Keith frowned after a moment. 

"Yes. My entire life was bleak. So dark is quite fitting for me. Now, turn on the machine and stand inside of the chamber. We will swap places again." 

The other Keith did as he said and they swapped places. Dark Keith then made a call to Keith light again.

"We can talk to each other like this. You can call me if you want. I would like to continue talking to you for the foreseeable future." 

That's how Keith found another him and started talking to him. A week went by. Both of them would talk to each other every night. Keith dark was having fun talking to another him.

"Hey, what do you do for a living?" (Light)

"Nothing. I am a failure that was abandoned at birth. Picked up and abandoned again because I was a failure. So I stole some antiques from the Harding family and am living off the money I made from selling them." (Dark)

"But still, shouldn't you find a life? How long are you going to ignore that. You are still young?" (Light)

"I am thinking of surrendering. I will hand myself over to the authorities and accept my sentence." (Dark)

"You can do better. Don't be hasty." (Light)

"By the way light, do you have a girlfriend?" (Dark)

"Currently not. She broke up with me last month. That's why I was at that hostess bar. I was trying to forget her." (Light)

"She broke up? Did something happen?" (Dark)

"Apparently her parents had chosen a marriage candidate for her. So she won't be able to be with me. That's why she broke up." (Light)

"At least she gave you a valid reason. So you just look like me but you are nothing like me. I had a hunch but I didn't think it would be this apparent." (Dark)

Dark laughs in self deprecation. 

"I didn't get a chance to look at your entire memory either. Do you have a girlfriend?" (Light)

"Do you think I have one? Do I really look like a guy who has a girlfriend?" (Dark)

"No." (Light)

A short, honest and precise answer. Although they looked the same, they were leagues apart. 

From their birth to their upbringing, everything was different.

"I'll call you later. I'm feeling a little hungry." (Light)

"Ok. I'll go and buy some breakfast for me as well." (Dark)

They ended the call. Dark leaves his house to go and buy something to eat. But it's a Sunday. Not many places are open.

He enters a diner and sits at the counter.

"A black coffee and pancake set." 

He orders. The waitress gives him the coffee first. He takes a sip and shivers a bit. He can't tolerate black coffee but he still drinks it anyway.

The pancake set came soon. It has 3 pancakes with maple syrup dripping down. He devoured that plate in less than 2 minutes and orders another helping of it.

After the second plate, he orders another black coffee. It took him 20 minutes to finish his business at the diner. He paid and left. 

"It's only morning and I have nothing to do." 

He laments. As a hopeless mess and a dysfunctional member of the society, he has no personal goals or aspirations. He just wants his life to end. 

He walks to the neighborhood park and sits on a bench under the shade. 

"Being useless has its perks. And I am in no need of money for now. I have more than enough to get by for a few months comfortably." 

He was dozing off on the bench when someone called out to him. He woke up and looked at the person in question.

A woman, probably the same age as Keith. She is gorgeous. But what is she doing here? Why is she calling out to Keith?

"Uhh…anything I can help you with?" 

He is pretty confused. Because he has never had much contact with the members of the opposite sex. So he is bit uncomfortable around women.

"Why are you dozing off in the middle of the day?"

She has arrogant and bossy tone. She looks like she knows him as well. But Keith is very confused.

But he gets up.

"Then I will go home and doze off."

He was leaving after saying that when she called him again. 

"Where do you think you are going?" 

"Home." 

Keith is a little irritated. Because he was leisurely minding his own business. He wasn't being a bother to anyone. But here comes a woman bothering him.

"Well, I will give you the privilege of letting you invite me to your house. Be honored, commoner." 

She even gives a weird laugh. The ones used in movies for the comedic tone. 

"No thank you. I don't know who you are but you can go to your own house. With that, I am gone." 

Keith swiftly took his leave. The girl was probably caught off guard. That's why she didn't get the time to react to it. 

On his way back home, Keith thinks.

"Who was that anyway?"

But he soon lets go of that and enters his home. His days weren't too bad after that. He would talk to light two times a day. He would go out for strolls in the evening. 

His house is like a haunted house so no one dares to loiter around after dusk. By the way, that house is his. He bought for a cheap price. 

And one such Friday morning, he was cooking his breakfast. He generally doesn't cook but he has bought some ingredients so he thought why not.

He put bacon in the pan and cracked two eggs on the side. The bacon fat is rendering and cooking the eggs. He adds salt and toasts some bread. 

But his doorbell rang. 

"It's odd. Who is it this morning? I don't have anything to receive." 

He turns off the stove and goes to check. When he opens the door, he is surprised. He wasn't expecting that.

That same woman who was harassing him at the park almost a week ago, is here. She is gasping for air.

"What can I do for you today?" 

"Why do you live in this abandoned housing area?" 

"Why? I bought this place. It was cheap and I quite like it here." 

He tells her to come inside. It's impolite to make someone stand at your doorstep. She enters the house and takes her shoes off.

"So, who are you?" 

"You don't even know who I am and yet you invited me inside your house?" 

She has a flabbergasted face. But she knew who Keith was.

"Well, if you know me, that's probably due to my family name. But rest assured, I want nothing to do with them. If not, you are probably a detective or something. Trying to catch me? Well, I was thinking of surrendering anyway." 

Keith was ranting but she stopped him midway through. 

"Wait a minute! What are you talking about? You don't remember me? And why would you surrender? What did you do?" 

She is genuinely concerned about him now. He puts his breakfast on a plate and comes to the dining table. 

"Here. I think you haven't had breakfast either." 

He hands her a plate as well. She just takes it from him and starts eating.

"Then, let me reintroduce myself. I am Keith Harding. Former member of the Harding family, currently unemployed. 24 years of age, self taught." 

"Why thank you for the reintroduction. But I already knew that. Then it's time for my introduction. It seems that you really don't remember me.

My name is Sasha Hastings. Daughter of Baron Hastings. I was your Fiancée. We met once, you really don't remember." (Sasha)

Keith tries his hardest to remember. And he remembers that day. His grandfather forcefully dressed him up and took him to a fancy hotel where he was told me meet with a girl.

He was running on autopilot back then so he doesn't remember much. But looking at her again, he found some resemblance.

"It was you, wasn't it? That girl from the marriage meeting." (Keith)

"Why are you realizing it now?" (Sasha)

"Well, I am pretty bad with faces. And I wasn't even interested in getting married in the first place. So I acted that way so you would just reject me. You did reject me and I was disowned once again. Thank you for your rejection back then." (Keith)

Keith bows his head. Sasha is flustered. 

"No need." (Sasha)

"But why are you here? And looking for me as well?" 

"You don't know? Your grandfather has passed away. And the successor he prepared has run away with a lot of money. As the only blood relative, you are the sole heir to the Harding family." (Sasha)

Keith thinks hard.

"Why didn't I explode that day?" (Keith)

He says dramatically. He is referring to his test day.

"If only I had died as well, I wouldn't have to face this mess. No, it's not too late to die. I can try again." (Keith)

He leaves the room in a hurry. Sasha goes after him. She has a lot of questions for Keith. 

Keith is putting coordinates into his machine. Sasha comes in the room. But seeing Keith go into a chamber, she jumps in as well. And they both were teleported.

Opening her eyes, Sasha finds herself in an unknown place. She looks around, it's a forest or something. She tries to get up but feels something under her. 

"Would you kindly move? You are strangling me." (Keith)

Keith who was stuck under legs said with a deadpan tone. She quickly removes herself from him. 

He sits up and breathes heavily.

"You nearly strangled me to death. But I wouldn't have minded if I died between your thighs." (Keith)

"Where are we?" (Sasha)

"I don't know. It was a random teleport. Why did you jump in anyway?" (Keith)

"I thought you were going to commit suicide." (Sasha)

"I was. And you could have died too if we weren't teleported here. Still, I managed to get something out of it." (Keith)

He looks at her thighs. The thighs that were strangling him a bit ago. Sasha hides her legs.

"Anyway, let's go back. I didn't die this time either so we should go back." (Keith)

"This time? How many times have you tried?" (Sasha)

"This makes it the 4th time. Didn't know that even dying was this hard?" (Keith)

He looks around and takes out his phone. Sasha gets up and dusts herself. 

"Oh..we are here then. Sasha, would you like to meet another Keith Harding?" (Keith)

"Another Keith Harding? How can there be two of you?" (Sasha)

"Well, we are in a parallel world. There is another Keith Harding in this world. I met him when I first tried to die. We talk to each other twice a day." (Keith)

Sasha is extremely confused but Keith just holds her hands and drags her along. After walking through the trees, they could see a town. 

"Let me call him." (Keith)

 He calls Light. And it's answered almost immediately. 

"You picked it up too fast. Something happened?" (Dark)

(Well, today is my wedding. So I wanted to let you know.) (Light)

"I am in the area and I thought we could meet but still, you are getting married already. Wasn't it a bit too fast?" (Dark)

"Well, some things happened. Why not come to my wedding? I'll send you the location." (Light)

"But I have someone with me. And we both are dressed in normal clothes." (Dark)

"I'll take care of it. Just come to the location I just sent you." (Light)

Light was in a jolly mood. It made Dark happy that his counterpart is happy.

But Sasha has become even more confused than before.

"My counterpart is getting married today. So he invited both of us. Shall we go?" (Keith)

"What is happening? I can't understand anything you say." (Sasha)

Keith just takes her hand again and starts dragging her along. The chapel wasn't too far from their location. Once they reached it, they entered through the back door and went to the green room.

Entering the groom's room, he saw himself. It's Light, dressed in a white tuxedo. He looks like a bona fide groom. 

"Dark, you are here. And your companion.." (Light)

Light looked at Sasha and he froze. Sasha is still very confused.

"This is Sasha Hastings. We met a few days ago and today she invaded my house and ended up here with me." (Dark)

"Is that so?" (Light)

Dark wonders about his bewilderment. But Light leads them to the dressing room.

"You both should join us. I think my bride would be equally surprised to another me." (Light)

"That's an enticing idea. What do you say, Sasha?" (Dark)

Sasha has not gotten a clear explanation but hearing this proposal from Dark, she agreed. 

Dark is now wearing a black tuxedo. He is the groomsman. And Sasha is wearing a white dress with an elaborate design. But she has not met the bride yet.

"Wouldn't she mind if I join so suddenly?" (Sasha)

"No, I think she would like it. Then, let's go." (Light)

All of them go to the chapel. Many people are attending the wedding. All of them were shocked to see two Keiths. And when the bride entered and walked down the aisle, she was met with Sasha.

Both of them were greatly surprised to see each other as the bride is Sasha's double.

It was a great confusion but the wedding was over. Everyone went to the backstage area and entered the meeting hall.

"Keith, what is happening?" (Sasha)

"Well, my counterpart was in the area so I invited him. He brought your counterpart with him so I thought why not make her your bridesmaid?" (Light)

"Huuhhh?" (Sasha)

This twins problem is beginning to heat up. But Dark stopped them. 

"Well, I am also Keith Harding. But I am from a different world. That is Sasha Hastings. But she is from my world. We are not the same so don't worry." (Dark)

Compared to Light, Dark's tone is pretty serious. So they both stopped their bickering.

"Still, you said that your girlfriend broke up with you. For you to get married so soon after breakup, your ex must be pretty mad." (Dark)

"Well, she is my ex girlfriend." (Light)

Light points at his bride, Sasha.

"So, she broke up with you only to find out that she was getting married to you?" (Light)

"It was blind marriage meeting. When we saw each other, we laughed. And we got married as soon as possible." (Light)

"Good for you. And here my fourth attempt at suicide failed. What's more, I dragged her into this." (Dark)

Dark said while pointing at Sasha. He heaved a heavy sigh.

"You still haven't given up?" (Light)

"Well, I have no reason to live. What's more, my grandfather died. So I have to deal with all the crap." (Dark)

The atmosphere became tense. And on top of that, came in the Harding couple. Light's parents. A jolly man with a handsome face and a beautiful elderly woman. 

Anyone can tell that she was even more beautiful in her prime. They are stunned to see two Keiths and two Sashas.

"Keith, what is going on?" 

Asks his mother, Jennifer Harding. 

"Mom, this is a bit of long story. But meet my counterpart, Keith. He is from a different world." (Light)

"Hello there, Ms. Harding. I am also Keith Harding." (Dark)

"Eh!!" (Jennifer)

"Is this some kind of a joke? Who is this lookalike?" 

Asks his father, Latham Harding. 

"As I said, dad. He is another me. We are the same." (Light)

"We are definitely not the same. But both of us are Keiths." (Dark)

Dark retorted to Light's statement. Because admitting that they are the same would create a lot of misunderstandings.

"First of all, take a seat. I'll try to explain this situation." (Dark)

Everyone takes their seats at his suggestion. 

"You see, I made this machine to teleport to places. But my first teleport sent me here and your son to my world. We both swapped places. Ever since then, we have kept in touch.

Today, I was doing another experiment but a failure led both of us here. I called your son and he said that he was getting married today and invited us. That's it." (Dark)

The Harding couple try to process this information and calm down. But Sasha has been tugging at Dark's sleeves.

"Shouldn't we get out of here?" (Sasha)

"That's true also. I still need to die." (Dark)

Dark has not given up on suicide. But this was heard by the parents and the other Sasha.

"It really is not my place to say anything. But you should not commit suicide no matter what." (Latham)

Dark just stared at him for a moment. 

"It really isn't your place to say anything. You may look like my parents but you aren't. And I have no memories of my parents. Besides, looking at your face, it just triggers a reaction. I want no advice from someone who throws their child on the streets for no reason." (Dark)

His tone was harsh. He was admonishing Latham. Keith himself believes that he is over it. But a trauma takes a long time to heal.

"I was thrown away at the age of one. The reason was that I was not a genius. And when my parents and younger brother died in an accident, I was taken in again only to be thrown out a second time. 

I have gone through enough shit already. I don't want another shit in my life. Once I get back, I will deal with you as well, Sasha." (Keith)

His usual laid back tone was gone. He was angry and sad. He gets up and goes to the changing room to change.

No one said a word. The Harding couple were wondering.

"What he said, was that true?" (Jennifer)

"Yes. He has gone through all of that. Which is why, he is tired of life. The machine he made was just his attempt at dying. But it succeeded so he didn't die. 

I am keeping in touch with him because I want to see what might have happened if that happened to me as well." (Light)

"No, it was my fault. I was tailing him for the past few days. When I gave him the news of his grandfather's death, he was relieved. But when I said that he was the sole heir to the Harding family, he tried to die." (Sasha)

The dark Sasha said. Well, she is from Dark's world so let's call her dark Sasha for now.

"He has been through a lot. I know since I have some of his memories. Even I don't know if I can help him or not?" (Light)

But Dark comes back with his intense look. Sasha just doesn't say anything and grabs his shoulder lightly before they disappear.

"That was a lot to take in." (Latham)

"Yes. I wasn't as shocked as you when I changed places with him the first time. But I can totally feel that his plan will fail. He is lucky in a certain sense after all." (Light)

Dark Keith is still trying to die. But death was literally running away from him. Like he has been cursed by death. 

However, things suddenly changed. Keith is still trying to die. A few months have passed. He has been teleporting to places all this time.

Sometimes, Sasha comes to check on him. But he has told her not to disturb him.

And one such day, he teleported again. He ended up on a barren planet. It has the necessary conditions for life to thrive but somehow it's a barren planet.

He just came back home. Intense nausea hit him as soon as he came back. His head was splitting. He rolled on the ground until the pain subsided.

"What happened all of a sudden?"

He is very confused. It didn't take him long to notice though. His hands are see through. His body is falling apart.

"I guess this is the end of me." 

He just sat on his chair and waited for death. He kept waiting and waiting but he never died.

Except his body is totally gone. All that remains is a faint body of his. It's see-through. 

He was focused on his body but after getting distracted by it, he fell. He literally fell. When he was sitting on the chair, he still had a body. But now that he has no body, he fell. He kept falling through the floors until he saw water and he phased through water as well.

He passed through the mantle and went straight to the core. But he didn't feel anything. He just saw the core of the planet and fell through. Soon he was in outer space.

He should have died but he didn't. He didn't need to breathe, he didn't feel the temperature, the pressure, the radiation. He didn't feel anything.

"Maybe I should go back."

As soon as he thought of it, he was back in his home. Still, his body looked the same.

"I guess I have become a spirit. A ghost or just a bundle of information." 

He knew that his teleports were dangerous. Bits of his data were lost in the process until all that remained was his consciousness. His body is gone forever.

"Still, I am in a sense, dead. I guess I should pack up and leave. First things first, I have to destroy that machine. Humanity isn't ready for something like this yet."

Despite losing his body, he could still touch as long as he concentrated hard enough. It took him a few tries but he managed to destroy the machine.

He has lost his body and is nothing more than a bundle of information. Which means, he is free. 

"I'll go and tell Sasha that I am virtually dead. With that, she will stop bothering me as well."

Saying that he gets to work.