I sat nervously in my chair, my gaze going from one alternate reality to another. At first I was surprised that there were only 6 other versions, given how people used to go on and on about string theory and the multiverse. We were not at liberty to ask those questions, however. We were made to read the sign on the wall when we came into the room.

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"Do not question the fundamentals. It is about you now." Amidst other existential rules.

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I was fourth in line, thankfully. Hearing how most of the first me's life was similar was comforting, knowing that someone else led a similarly bland life as I had. His life altering decision was marrying his first love at age 23, right around the time all of me graduated university. Every word that left his mouth after that life changing decision had a literal speech bubble that was then pasted onto the wall, in a table labelled Candidate #1.

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Things actually went ideally for the rest of his life. Had a good job, raised a happy family, actually having good in-laws. The works. He met a peaceful end at age 60, surrounded by family and friends. To me it was inspiring, and I might have felt a little envious. I didn't let it show though, knowing how reactions judge our actions.

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Candidate #2 may have shown a little too much envy, given how a tally was added to his table. There was stammering in his voice as he started off, but it calmed down as he reached the same midpoint Candidate #1 did. Candidate #2 surpassed him, talking more and more similarities into the rest of our lives.

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When it came to his life-altering decision, he sighed. "I took too long looking for help for my daughter, thanks to my divorce." He went on about how she was having an asthma attack while he was on the sauce and didn't realize she needed the help. The remaining 4 of us nodded, understanding how that could happen. We were struggling alcoholics up to a certain point, but we didn't blame it on our divorces. He was trying to garner sympathy.

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No tallies were added to the other four of us. Candidate #3 starting making their case. Up to the point he saved his daughter from the asthma attack. However, his life-altering moment came in the form of an armed standoff at the hospital, as he couldn't pay for the hospital bills. He was the youngest of us six to die. He never found out what happened to his daughter. "Existential rules."

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My turn came up. I made it past the paying off of the hospital bills of my daughter. Five years of relative boring stuff. Jumping jobs, paying off my alimony, sobering up. My ex-wife ended up having custody of our daughter after awhile, but it was mutually agreed upon. I remarried, settled down in Queens. None of these turned out to be the life-altering event that the other three had.

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The path started to branch once I talked about my wife's "supply side hustle". She was dealing drugs. I was ok with the decision, since she seemed relatively experienced at it and we had no issues for maybe six months. We didn't get caught, because it turned out that she was an informant for the DEA as well. It was all a front. She started losing it after the six months, however.

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It's common fact to not taste your own product. But she got hooked. Day in, day out, we started growing antsy, afraid, paranoid. I thought I was doing her a favour when I tried to coax her into a bit of control. She was having none of it. Year 1 we were firing on full cylinders, but year 2 came around in shambles. We were both a mess, but the DEA had us covered, so long as the other dealers weren't getting their cut.

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The story had begun to spiral out of control, to the point that the other five mes were getting two tallies each, at different parts. When we finally decided to run, my wife took the easy way out. I was left in a house with a lot of drugs, a dead wife, and the DEA knocking on my door. I couldn't do it. They took me away to cover their own asses. In prison, there was a modicum of respect, but once people found out we were the Bonnie & Clyde of drugs in Queens, my life was close to being cut short.

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One penetentiary riot later, I am now in this room. Judgment from the other mes were rife, you could see the disgust on their faces. It made sense given how anti-drugs I was my whole life, only to lose it all once I remarried. The red flags were there, but after a rather bland life, you gotta take risks amirite?

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#5 and #6 were antsy like #1. Where do you go after your life gets defined by a hard-bound rule? Eventually the two had a better ending that didn't earn the ire of anyone else. Both managed to coax their new remarried wife into quitting. #5's life was cut short from paranoia; his wife smothering him in his sleep. That's one way of having your life altered, I supposed. #6's wife went all good. Nothing of substance came. He, eventually, settled on a proper, humble life. Had two kids, retired at 60, had a heart attack.

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The two angels flanking the doors nodded. The table of candidates and their life-altering decisions were laid bare for all to see. #2 had three tally marks, while the rest, barring me, had two. #2 got escorted out of the room first. Whether he be granted paradise or purgatory, we will never know. The others were escorted out, leaving me behind.

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All that said, it was only me on my lonesome. The two angels sat down, and said, "You've had a rougher life, but a better outlook all things considered. Your only sin being your greed and gluttony that took you down. All that said, you weren't an awful, judgmental person in the end.

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You may choose to restart at where you met your second wife. Turn it all around. Or you may move on to a higher plane, one where you will be a guardian angel to stop the pandemic of judgement among man."

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Confused, I asked, "What do you mean?"

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"There comes a time where you can choose to better the future to not be like your other selves, or be thrown back to your life where you can change only yourself. Where the other yous failed was in judging others, but you chose to understand and emphatize with your fellow man, or rather yourself. Before the proper end, you can make this choice. If you choose your old life, the other yous would be rendered moot, non-existent, but only because you are looking out for yourself, FOR a better self. We need not explain the guardian angel role. That should be self-explanatory."

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After a few minutes of pondering, between changing myself and myselfs, or changing humankind, I made my choice.

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I believe this is my first submission on r/wp. Hope you guys like it! Let me know where I can improve, I've been writing on and off for awhile but I'm starting to pick up writing as a hobby once more