Synopsis

 

 

Every person who has ever lived has at one time or another asked themselves, “What if I would have done ___ differently?”   According to What If, Inc., you are now able to answer that question for any specific event in your life.

           

What If, Inc. has created a self-contained Pod that looks much like a tanning bed.  This Pod, however, interfaces electronically with its user and can recreate any moment of the user’s life.  The Pod allows the user to change a specific event from the past, and see the new scenario carried out to its conclusion.  The Pod creates a virtual experience whereby the user sees, hears and feels everything just as if he were actually living the event again.

           

Enter Ryan Jones, a 32 year old divorced adjuster for a large insurance company.  While he likes the people he works with, he feels trapped in his job.  Even further, Ryan is in a serious rut in his personal life.  He doesn’t have a girlfriend, and pretty much goes through the motions from day to day.  Early in the book, Ryan is driving home from work and sees a billboard that reads, “What If, Inc. …Explore the Possibilities”.

           

Since there is no further information on the billboard, Ryan researches the company and learns about What If, Inc.’s claims.  Being an adjuster, Ryan has learned to be skeptical, but it sounds too good for him to pass up.  Ryan decides to go through an introductory session at What If, Inc. to see if the technology is as good as they claim.

           

Ryan chooses a short session based on an experience he had as a freshman in college.   The session proves to be quite accurate, and the technology blows Ryan away. Ryan becomes a member of What If, Inc. and begins using it to explore times in his past.  This is Ryan's first step down a treacherous path and we are with him all along the way....

           

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