THE MOMENT
Walt was enjoying the laugh. He was in an old buddy's backyard having a beer to celebrate the General's retirement. The General was that same pal he'd served with when they were younger, sitting next to him. Walt didn't make a career of the military and instead found his way into journalism. It so happened that having a hard-working, respected soldier friend working his way up at the same time he was trying to build a reputation worked out well for him. While he never earned a scoop of the century, he had plenty of notable stories under his belt. And, on the eve of General Turner Rush's last day, they were once again talking about old stories.
They were good friends, and each took their work seriously. Walt knew he didn't know everything the General did, and he was respectful enough to never ask. Except for tonight. He wasn't seriously asking, but he felt that the retirement was enough leeway that he could make a playful comment.
"So, you're finally going to tell me the truth about how the moon landing was faked, right?"
"I suppose there's no harm at this point," the General laughed and nodded, and Walt assumed he was just joking around.
"But, hey," he turned on his seat to face Walt. "I'm not going to take it for granted you're retired too. This is as off-the-record as we get, everything I reveal to you is only for you. Agreed?"
"Sure, of course," Walt chuckled, but Turner held a stern expression.
"Off the record," he repeated. Walt felt flutters in his stomach. Part of both of them always taking the job seriously meant jokes were never carried beyond this point. If even once, Turner had made him agree to something off the record just for a joke, it would've completely broken the trust.
"You're ... serious..," he asked to be sure. Turner gave him a subtle nod.
"Yes, of course, off the record!" he agreed.
"Faked," Turner nodded.
"Are you telling me that the moon landing was fake?" Walt asked. It couldn't have been a joke anymore.
"Yes, but not the way you would know... or probably even consider," he chuckled. "I'm sorry," he apologized immediately upon seeing how pale Walt became. "I got carried away and didn't quite realize how much I'd have to share... this is off the record... but it will change your life," he said. "We can drop it there."
"That's not gonna work," Walt shook his head. "Out with it. I'm practically 60; ready for life to change anyway."
"So, it's easy for me to say all this, and you'd believe me, but I would also want to prove all my claims, and that's where I realized how much things would change for you..." he said.
"Alternate universes are real," he added. "I've visited some. Now that I'm retired, I can show you around the multiverse."
"I need you to tie that to the fake moon landing really quickly...," Walt said. It almost didn't make sense that alternate universes were accessible, but the moon wasn't.
"Right so...," his bald head bobbed left and right as he considered the angle to take. "There's this company, it's a 'multiversal corporation', named Sharp Development. Well, there are a few, but that's the important one here. Without detailing every step... Sharp Development owns a lot of alternate Earths... including this one," he said. Turner paused to give Walt a chance to say something, but he remained quiet to hear more.
"I know you've never heard of them, I can explain all that later. The important thing is, they've owned this Earth for centuries already, long before we 'went to the moon'. They worked mostly in the background, but they own tons of Earths, and they've kind of seen it all before. For reasons I can also explain later, they're not happy with manned missions anywhere off the Earth..," he said. Walt was still listening intently and Turner smiled.
"So, with all that in mind, the moon landing as YOU know it, was faked. Real moon landings have happened, and the company knows how important that milestone is for humanity. So, it's kind of... a copy & paste job in most instances. Camera quality was so poor that a lot of the time, they get away with the exact same footage. But, they're also a super advanced corporation with portals between realities, so in some cases, they'll actually film a fake moon landing on location. We've been to the moon," he nodded. "But, that particular moment was faked for our Earth; to save resources."
"Huh," Walt replied. It was a lot to take in. Most of the time, it was easier for him to process things by asking more questions to keep the information flowing. And if this company had that kind of control over some large number of alternate Earths... what did that mean for the greater universe?
"So...a moon landing did happen, but ours was faked.... what else do they have access to that we don't?" he asked. "How many times have they made first contact!?"
"Not one," Turner smiled and shook his head. "That was the thing that was hardest for me to wrap my head around."
"What,.. that they haven't met aliens yet?"
"The fact that there are no aliens," Turner grinned. "The company owns billions of alternate Earths, and it's one of six major corporations with a pretty similar footprint. Easily over 60 billion known universes... and in all of them, Earth is the only planet to actually exist."