"What did you say?" I stared at him, my confusion growing.
"Silver River. I don't know where you're from but I've never heard anyone call it Milky Way."
I continued to stare at him for a while.
Finally, I stood up. "I will excuse myself."
"It was nice talking to you."
"See you when uni starts," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.
I squeezed myself out and quickly walked down the stairs to the door, rushing out.
I noticed a bodyguard from the Johnson family standing just behind the door, wearing a black suit. But I only gave him a quick glance before hurrying down the hallway.
I left the economics building and walked all the way to a two-story building, the university library.
I rushed through the door.
The university library, where all the books were stored, was either an architectural wonder or a nightmare, depending on your viewpoint.
Stairs, narrow aisles and corridors, shelves from floor to ceiling, nooks, and crannies created by what was, in effect, a gigantic metal scaffolding built within the building.
Almost no one would be coming here at this time of the year. The library was dead quiet, other than that one conversation to my left.
A guy was talking to the old woman with curly grey hair who worked as a librarian.
I wanted to immediately step in and ask what I wanted, but I knew this guy.
Raheem Reddy.
He was Indian, with bronze skin and short, onyx black hair; not very tall.
I walked up to them and patiently waited.
Not far from the front desk, there were also a few desks with computers. Two students were using them at the moment, writing something.
I turned my attention back to Raheem, who was asking the librarian way too many questions.
He was actually part of my major, so it was a crazy coincidence that I ran into him here.
He didn't care much about making connections, so he probably got here immediately after getting some information.
I would have probably rushed to ask the librarian, but I didn't want to immediately ruin my relationship with Raheem. In the future, he would create a software start-up and become a multi-millionaire using his brilliant ideas for econometric applications.
Finally, he finished talking with the librarian, and I immediately stepped in.
"Are there any astronomy books? Something for beginners," I asked the librarian.
She smiled warmly, "Of course there are. Our astronomy program is one of the best in the country. We have many astronomy books. Could you show me your student card?"
And that's when I realized... I didn't get my student card yet.
"I'm a new student," I began, trying to explain myself. "I didn't receive my card yet. I won't be leaving here. Could I just take a look at one book?"
She looked at me for a while, thoughtfully. Finally, she nodded. "Alright, but sit down so that I can see you. Astronomy books are in sections 12-13."
"Thank you." I said and I made my way to section 12.
I hastily picked through the books, glancing at their covers.
My eyes darted from title to title until one caught my attention.
It had a galaxy drawn on the cover, a spiral of stars and cosmic dust sketched across the deep velvet of space.
I picked it up, hastily.
It looked just like the Milky Way...
With its glowing core and winding arms stretching outward.
I didn't see anything strange about it. It was exactly as I remembered, exactly as it had always been.
But the title...
"The Celestial Objects Of The Silver River."
I grabbed it, walked to the front desk, sat down, and opened the book.
I could see the librarian glancing at me from her desk as if I were some sort of exemplary student taking time out of his day to read.
The book started with an introduction to the solar system, providing information about the sun and the planets.
Mercury
Venus
Earth.
I saw that the names of the planets were the same, but somehow the galaxy mentioned was called the Silver River.
How could everything else be identical, yet the name of our galaxy be different?
The section on the Silver River was just as detailed as any description of the Milky Way I'd ever read. But every time the text referred to it, it was the Silver River.
I decided I needed to do some research on the internet.
I put the book back and asked the librarian if I could access the internet for a minute once I got my student card.
She agreed.
I left the library and came back 20 minutes later with my student card in hand.
At this point, there were many ideas brewing in my mind.
Had I not just traveled through time, but also jumped between realities?
But how could everything that has happened so far be the same as in my previous life?
Were the differences just so insignificant?
I quickly got access to the internet and searched for Wikipedia. It was created in 2001 so the page for Milky Way should already be there.
"It's not here," I muttered to myself in disbelief. I furrowed my brow and tried another search, this time typing "Milky Way chocolate bar."
I found information about the chocolate bar. It was written that the chocolate bar was named after a popular malted milk drink. There was no mention of the galaxy.
Frustrated, I typed "Silver River" into the search bar.
"Silver River" yielded a Wikipedia article. I clicked on it and began to read through the page.
It had a detailed description of the galaxy.
It included an annotation that read: "Influenced by Chinese myths."
I leaned back in the chair.
I looked at that for a while before my hand found its way back to the mouse.
At last, I found it— a tiny annotation titled "Milky Way."
I scrolled through the article, reading about the Greek mythological origins of the term "Milky Way," where it was believed to be the spilled milk of Hera or the path of souls to the afterlife.
So somehow the planets are called after the Greeks, but the galaxy after Chinese myths?
Fuck.
What's this all about?
Should I be concerned?
RING! RING! RING!
That's when I got a call. I fumbled for it in my pocket, but the ringtone was already bouncing off the walls in the quiet library.
"Please, not in the library," the librarian said with a stern look.
"I'm sorry," I mouthed apologetically and quickly walked out to take the call.
It was Chloe.