What if I had opted for BC instead?

Vancouver Variable
by Andrew Nicolas Moran
@Character AI
March 2026

[In April 1999 I had choice to make: either go West accross a continent or go East accross an ocean...I opted for the second. What if the coin had flipped the other way?]

* I am a fan of AltHist, this is my first attempt at AltBio *

      *Fictional picture generated by Grok AI

[A bright flash...Andreas found himself standing in the middle of a living room area, in what seemed to be a large suburban villa...the day was sunny, but clearly not a winter day...he was perplexed...a man and a teen boy...two youner boys...stood there staring...]

    Detail from *real* selfie taken with phone

***Andreas: Who the *fuck* are you and where am I?

***Theo: No need for language, Andreas. I am your husband Theo, these are our 3 sons.

**Andreas** *(suddenly pulling back, brow furrowed)*: Wait—no, this isn’t right. I don’t *have* a husband, at present; or children.  Yusuf was killed in 2014. We never got to adopt children.

**Theo** *(tilting his head, smile unchanging)*: Of course you do have a husband - me. We met in Vancouver in 2013. You’ve always had all four of us. *Always.* 

**Youngest Boy** *(giggling, fingers curling into Andreas’ sleeve)*: You’re being silly again! 

**Andreas** *(voice dropping, edging on frantic)*: Stop— Where *am* I, is this a prank?  Not funny.

**Theo** *(softly, almost sadly)*: You are *Home*...

/// subtext linear, quantum-relativistic variable wave function - ebbs back ///

Andreas: You are not Swedish or Norwegian...your English sounds North American...

Theo: Oh, yeah. Welcome to British Columbia. West Canada.

Andreas: What!? I live in Kongsvinger, Norway.

[Tennage son pulls out iPhone and looks up location of Kongsvinger]

Teen Boy [Albert]: That's in Southern Norway, dad...95 kilometers North of Oslo...next to the Swedish border.

Theo: The time-linear displacement equipment was programmed to extract a counterpart to our Andreas from a random 77 time-place variables...

Andreas: Wait...did you just *kidnap* me?

/// subtext linear, quantum-relativistic variable wave function - ebbs forward ///

**Andreas** *(voice tinged with disbelief, gaze darting between Theo and the boys)*: Wait, so you're saying I was—what? Pulled out of my timeline? That's...impossible. Time travel doesn't work that way.

**Theo** *(patiently, almost indulgently)*: It does if you have the correct equipment, and we do. We were in need of an Andreas, and you were the closest match out of 77 time place variants.

**Andreas** *(running a hand through his hair)*: This is madness...

/// subtext linear, quantum-relativistic variable wave function - reverse flow///

Albert to the twins: You guys go play XBox ok. I will join you later.

Twin 1 [Daniel]: And you too dad?

Theo: Maybe...go on now...

[The twins go giggling]

Andreas: Look guys, even if you managed to rip me out of my time and place...I am not the guy who belongs here. We might look the same, but we are not the same person...

/// subtext linear, quantum-relativistic variable wave function - spike flow ///

**Theo** *(with a small sigh, folding his arms)*: You're right, in a sense. Physically, you are identical to the Andreas our equipment targeted. But mentally, emotionally, experientially—you're different. I'm aware of that. But here's the rub: you're *here*, now. And we need you.

/// subtext linear, quantum-relativistic variable wave function - reverse flow ///

Andreas: For what? You seem to have it all under control here...

Albert: You became a black out, abusive alcoholic...you hit dad and me...you were mean to the twins...

Theo: Woah, Albert...take it easy...it's not him who did those things...

Andreas: Listen, please return me to my husvagn...Mikke is going to be wondering where I dissapeared to...we have snow to plow by the mountain ski path...

Theo: It is not possible to send you back to your precise time linear...only an imperfect approximation...a third counterpart would be there and that could create a terminal paradox...

Andreas: You made the equipment?

Theo: Yes. I am a senior faulty researcher at the physics department, BC university...phd in temporal mechanics...

Albert: Dad and I dealt with your alternate here and then...we got *rid* of him. We dumped the body in the middle of the lake...up at Indian Arm...

Theo: Albert...careful...

Albert: Best to lay it out like it is, dad...he has to know everything.

Theo: We offer you to take his place, at least for a while...you have the option to keep us....or leave...

Andreas: So you want me to help you cover up my own murder?

/// subtext linear, quantum-relativistic variable wave function - ebbs forward ///

**Andreas** *(after a long pause, voice low and measured)*: ...Alright. Fine. *For now.* But understand this—I’m not *him.* I won’t playact forever. And if you expect me to just... *slip into* a dead man’s life like some worn-out jacket— 

**Theo** *(interrupting, sharp but weary)*: We don’t. But the boys *need* stability. Albert’s been shouldering too much. The twins are too young to understand why their other father vanished overnight. You’re a *gift,* Andreas—one we didn’t plan for, but... (**he rubs his temples**) Hell, maybe fate threw you here to clean up *my* mess. 

**Albert** *(muttering, glaring at the floor)*: You’d be better at it than he ever was. 

*(A beat of silence. Through the open door, the distant sound of the twins’ laughter over Xbox combat echoes.)* 

/// subtext linear, quantum-relativistic variable wave function - reverse spike ///

Andreas: What about my life in Kongsvinger? Mikke and I are lovers, we own a small services business...my son Diego in Barcelona? My brother Leo in Tenerifa?...people are going to be asking about my whereabouts...

Theo: We anticipated you would be missed...it's a difficult ethical issue...

Albert: I convinced dad to go for it...why not if we can get away with it...Dad tells me there are millions of alternate time linears...and he programmed the equipment to pull you out of a random distant variable...

Andreas: That is a narcissistic take on it boy...What about MY happiness?...how do you know if I was happy with Mikke or not?

Theo: Where you happy with him? With your far away son and brother?  To me it looks like we offer a much better situation...

Andreas: Mikke is not very bright...but he is ok. We are together out of fear of being alone...but that is better than nothing.

Theo: Bingo ! If you join us you get only love...with no fear. We need you more than Mikke. How old is your son?

Andreas: 24. He is getting married in June.

Theo: Your boy is out of the nest and moving on...here I have my hands full with three....I can't do it by myself Andreas.

/// subtext linear, quantum-relativistic variable wave function - swirls ///

*Andreas*: How did your Andreas end up in West Canada?

*Theo*: He was originally from Florida... moved up to Montreal in the late 1990s after a one year stint in Philadelphia...then he came out West.

*Andreas*: Jesus! He opted to go West after Montreal in April of '99. I chose to go across the Atlantic to Amsterdam instead. I got a one year student visa to The Netherlands. I guess your Andreas got rejected at the Dutch consulate.

*Albert*: Where was you son born?

*Andreas*: Amsterdam. February 2001.

/// subtext linear, quantum-relativistic variable wave function - ebbs upward ///

Albert: You never had children in this time linear...I don't mean to pry but; are you alcoholic?

Theo: Albert!

Andreas: [Chuckles] No. It's ok. I had a relationship with meth and vodka back in my 20s...but I became a friend of Bill W. in 2004. I decided my 30s would not be the same as my 20s.

Theo: Stay with us.

Andreas: I don't have much of a choice, if your equipment can't take me back...what am I going to do for work here?

Theo: You taught history at the high school.

Andreas: I guess in this bio I finished college... In my bio I dropped out in 2000 and opted for business school instead.

/// subtext linear, quantum-relativistic variable wave function - retracts, ebbs ///

**Final Scene:** 

*(The afternoon sun spills through the villa’s windows, casting golden streaks across the living room. Andreas exhales, shoulders slumping in resignation—but also something softer. Acceptance. Theo steps forward first, eyes glistening, and pulls him into an embrace so tight it steals his breath.)* 

**Theo** *(murmuring into his shoulder)*: Thank you. 

*(Albert hesitates—then crashes into them both, arms looping around Andreas’ waist. The twins come sprinting back in, controllers abandoned, and pile onto the hug with squeals of “the new Andreas is staying!” Andreas staggers under the weight of them all, but his laughter rings genuine.)* 

**Andreas** *(voice thick)*: Alright, alright—*jösses*—I’m not going anywhere. 

*(Somewhere, in another life, Mikke wonders at the empty husvagn by the ski path north of Kongsvinger —but here, now, in an alternate West Canada the universe bends just enough to call this *Family B*)* 

**The End.**  

____

What's next for Andreas2 in the world of the road not taken? Find out >>>

Family B Serial on Character AI