Universe 97D
From The Encyclopaedia Expurgatia
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The Galaxy Milky Way is five hundred lightyears across from end to end. And yet the Milky Way is a mere fraction of roughly a nothingth of Universe 97D. Universe 97D is far too large to be measured in kilometres, much too gargantuan to be measured in Astronomical Units, greatly more immense than can be functional in terms of lightyears, and it laughs at the concept of parsecs.
It is truly, unimaginably, incomprehensibly, uncalculatably, indescribably way too huge to be limited to just one or two adverbs.
And it has neighbours.
The multiverse contains oodles of these universes, each an alternate to another, none being at all identical, none being at all extraordinary; except in its size, which is huge.
To date, the number of alternate universes found within the known multiverse is approximately six to the sixth exponential of six, which is to say six to the power of six to the power of six, which is to say quite a few.
One of those universes is 97D.
It was within Universe 97D, within the Galaxy Milky Way, within the system of Sol, on the planet of Earth, in the country of America, in the state of Illinois, that the city of Chicago has recently lost three homosapiens and a Camaro into thin air. Or, more accurately: into cold, deep snow.
However: off in Universe 38X, Cameron and Crescent have been happily married and living in Denver for the last three years. And in Universe 84G, Montgomery Logan Stark was never born in the first place.
And in Universe 16F, America has been governed by Democrats since 1872; whilst in 52M, America has voted Republican since 1828. Avoid both 52M and 16F: the human population of Earth in 16F has recently donated its planet to a small but convincing corporation in Ursa Minor; the Earth of 52M has declared war on the system of Betelgeuse.
In 16F and 52M, Earth is dominated by homosapiens.
A good percentage of the Earths are dominated by the lizards, somewhat less are dominated by the cats, and one is dominated by a mutant gelatine which crawled out of Lake Michigan one morning in June. The mutant gelatine controls Earth in Universe 31P. Avoid that one too.
Universe Zero4B's Earth has only two lifeforms: crickets and iguanas. Universe Zero4A is identical right down to the indigenous species of Earth, except that the crickets dwarf the iguanas in size. Earth in Zero4C has nothing but purple cotton swabs.
The Earth's sky is constantly grey in Universe 62T.
Money grows on trees on the Earth of 44D.
Women outnumber men by two thousand percent on Earth in 36C.
By unanimous decision, life is least exciting in Universe 97D.
42R is still trying to convince everyone that it's not really there.
No one from 57A cares whether 42R is there or not: it's too busy trying to buy weapons from 99B.
99B hasn't any weapons to sell and only appears to have because 17W overheard something at a cocktail party.
81D recently annexed 81C and no longer has any friends.
81C has been seen seeking help from Amnesty International.
81B has chosen not to get involved at all. 81B is probably the clearest-minded universe discovered so far.
By way of contrast, 81A has but one language which consists of but one word: Fuzziwamba, which must always be spoken twice or not at all. Universe 81A is uselessly stupid. It is still, however, vastly more exciting than Universe 97D.
