[ WP ] technological breakthroughs decades ahead of current human knowledge begin appearing anonymously on Wikipedia .

Jimmy was not an arrogant man. He had used his influence once or twice to change the world, and he was aware of his personal power as one of the co-founder of Wikipedia, but he was not an arrogant man. Despite that, he could not help but feel affronted, having to wait in front of a door which led to the room of a middle-aged nobody. Who have ever heard of Zachariah Elmer? Not him, nor Wikipedia, that ’ s who. 
 
 Not even the new Wikipedia knew him. 
 
 “ Sorry, my room ’ s a mess, Ji- er, Mr. Wales. ” Elmer said apologetically, which smoothed Jimmy ’ s rising impatience slightly. Something fell to the floor, and he heard the man inside swear loudly. “ It ’ s fine, you can call me Jimmy. I don ’ t really mind if the room is messy, by the way. ” he glanced at his iWatch and wonder if it was wise to skip a day of work for this. The police will probably think he was avoiding them. 
 
 Elmer ’ s hesitation was palpable. Then, the door was unlocked and opened. Jimym was greeted by a surprisingly clean man. A grey cat tried to dart out. Jimmy reached down and stroked its fur. It purred. “ Um, hi. I ’ m Zack, but you probably already know. ” Zack said awkwardly. “ You ’ re a lot older than how I imagine you. ” 
 
 “ You uploaded a photo of me as a gray-haired old man. ” Jimmy observed. 
 “ Did I? Sorry, the Augur doesn ’ t really know what is appropriate to put up. ” the Augur was the name of the mysterious editor who had gripped the media ’ s attention by vandalizing Wikipedia articles with what appeared to be information from the future. 
 
 “ The government wasn ’ t happy about the Augur. They think it ’ s a second Wikileaks waiting to happen. Plus, they know where you live. ” he stopped petting the cat, and it darted away. 
 “ So this is a cease and desist? ” Zack asked without any defiance in his voice. 
 “ Of course not. The Augur is changing the world. If I stopped him, I ’ d probably get assassinated. ” Jimmy said, standing up. “ May I come in? ” 
 “ Yes, of course. ” Jimmy walked in and, despite Zack pulling his workdesk chair out for him, sat on the messy bed. Zack dropped heavily onto his chair. It creaked. 
 
 “ I ’ m guessing you want explanations. ” Zack said. Jimmy ’ s eyes followed his towards the laptop, which is automatically copy-pasting information from Wikipedia… to Wikipedia? 
 “ The Augur is a computer program. It can access the internet of a universe parallel to us. ” 
 
 “ How? ” the Wikipedia founder blurted out. The trials and tribulations of the past month rendered him not questioning this extraordinary story. 
 
 “ Uh. Magic. ” Zack said, making an awkward wave with his hand. Before Jimmy could talk, he spoke quickly. “ No. Really. I was developing a web browser on my custom OS, and it turns out the thing is connected to a different universe ’ s internet. Heck, it doesn ’ t even need a functioning internet, although obviously I need that to connect to our internet. ” 
 
 “ So you ’ re telling me that you somehow created the first portal to an alternate reality. And it ’ s a web browser. ” Jimmy stared at the screen. “ But why Wikipedia? ” 
 
 Zack glanced at his own laptop. The Augur is copying an article on electric cars. He made no indication of answering. 
 
 “ Why even share it? ” Jimmy asked. “ The information you have in your hand. It could make you powerful beyond imagination. ” The man had faced his own demons when it comes to power. 
 
 “ If you had access to knowledge that nobody else had known before, won ’ t you want to share it too? Everyone go on Wikipedia. If I posted it on a random site, nobody would actually listen to the Augur. ” 
 
 “ We blocked your IP for a while. We thought the Augur was a vandal. Until Hurricane Erin. ” Jim pointed out. 
 
 “ And now everybody ’ s listening, aren ’ t they? ” Zack asked. “ Well, I know I should hand the laptop over to the government. Or maybe even CERN. The folks there would go nuts. You know, I sent myself an e-mail in that alternate reality. ” 
 
 “ Did he reply? ” 
 
 “ Yeah, he said it was an interesting read. He made the OS and the browser 30 years ago and it was terrible and inefficient, and it wasn ’ t something he was proud of. He said he doesn ’ t know why a kid thought it would be funny to make up an outrageous story about them. But, it was cool to read. ” 

