FUTURES04 June 2025A brief encounter.ByJohn Gilbey0John GilbeyJohn Gilbey writes from the academic seclusion of the University of Rural England, and worries a lot about this sort of thing.View author publicationsYou can also search for this author in PubMed Google ScholarIllustration: JaceyYou have full access to this article via your institution.Download PDF I didn’t recognize him at first, but when he picked up his pint of beer I noticed that part of his right thumb was missing — then I knew for sure. He was older, obviously, and was wearing a tweed suit way smarter than anything he’d had when we shared an office. None of this moderated the fact that I was very surprised to see him.Grabbing my own drink, I wheeled my case over to his small marble-topped table. Outside, the lights on the station concourse winked on suddenly and cast extra light across his face. I paused, and he looked up from his phone. He smiled, the same slightly asymmetrical smile that I remembered. “John! Great to see you, it must be years!”Over a decade, probably, I thought as I shook his hand. “Longer than that, I think the Mountain View conference was our last outing …” He laughed, and looked suddenly younger. “That was a good weekend! Remember the meal at that Mexican place on El Camino Real? God knows how much beer we drank trying to sort out the effects of that chilli … Then, that’s right, we tried to get the bus back to the hotel in Palo Alto and ended up in San Jose! Ha! Good times … What’s wrong? Are you OK?” He looked across at me, obviously concerned.“I’m fine, honest. It’s just that … Well, this is awkward … You see, I thought you were dead …”He laughed again, at first. Then realized that I meant it.“I’d say that reports to that effect may have been exaggerated,” he smiled. “But tell me, why did you think I’d expired?”“Well, I wrote your bloody obituary, for one thing. Nature got in touch and asked me if I’d contribute something — that would have been about a week after the accident. I’ve probably still got the PDF on my phone. Hang on a second …”I flipped through the documents folder, and came up with the article. I handed it across, then sipped my pint distractedly while he scrolled through it. He nodded a couple of times and chuckled once, then handed my phone back with a detached, contemplative sigh.Read more science fiction from Nature Futures“Nicely done, John. Nicely done … I like the bit about how I lost my thumb, I deserved that — and the lab manager didn’t. And the stuff about my Svalbard work reads really well. Oh, and thanks for not mentioning Vanessa or Susan. But ‘died in a diving accident’? Where did that come from? I gave up SCUBA diving when I hit 50 …”I put my glass down carefully. “That’s from the inquest. There had to be one, naturally, given the circumstances. The judgement was ‘accidental death’ from an air embolism. Just one of those things, apparently.”He thought for a moment, then looked across at me. “Do I look dead to you?” I reached past the glasses and prodded him in the chest. “You seem real enough, certainly. So you’re saying you didn’t go on a diving trip off Bermuda five years ago?”“Never been near the place … Hmm … Well, we’re both scientists, so let’s see. Faced with conflicting evidence, we review … In your reality, I’m dead — in mine, I’m clearly not. Both observations are robust, but not congruent. Three possibilities, then: I’m a guest in your reality, you’re a guest in mine, or we’re both visiting a third timeline. Interesting … Let’s have another look at my obit …”doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01694-9 Taking time by John Gilbey Missing person by John Gilbey Watershed by John Gilbey Early warning by John Gilbey Solstice by John Gilbey Breakthrough by John Gilbey Geode by John Gilbey Citadel by John Gilbey Infraction by John Gilbey Deep impressions by John Gilbey Review of the year: 2062 by John Gilbey Communicant by John Gilbey Visiting Bob by John Gilbey Intervention by John Gilbey & Brian Malow The last laboratory by John Gilbey Killing time by John Gilbey Corrective action by John Gilbey Unfinished business by John Gilbey Final protocol by John Gilbey Commitment by John Gilbey Permanent position by John Gilbey Meeting with Max by John Gilbey Safety critical by John Gilbey Big Dave's last stand by John Gilbey Finding a happy medium by John Gilbey It never rains in VR by John GilbeySubjectsArtsCultureLatest on:Jobs Faculty and Research Positions, Postdoctoral RecruitmentJointly sponsored by the Hangzhou Municipal People's Government and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.Hangzhou, Zhejiang, ChinaHangzhou Institute of Advanced Study, UCASPostdocs in Genetic Epidemiology/Statistical GeneticsThe Di Angelantonio-Ieva group is seeking to recruit a highly motivated Postdoc in Genetic Epidemiology/Statistical Genetics in Human Technopole.Milan (IT)Human TechnopoleQuality Operations & Management, ManageBiogen is seeking a Clinical Support Manager responsible for managing local SOP, TMF plan, relevant systems/process for clinical operation.Tokyo, JapanBiogen