Reality Lottery - Part Three

"Alright, let's bite this bullet. The three new worlds you can choose from are a world where aging is strangely determined, keeping you young for a very long time; you got a lucrative career right out of High School, allowing you to live life how you want; and a world where classic fantasy races exist, Elves, Dwarves, you get the idea" the older man explains, ending the last one with a shrug.

I lean back in my seat a little, staring in confusion at the man across from me as he simply looks at me expectantly.

"Well...which one would you like?" he asks, a little unsure of how he is meant to handle this sort of process.

"Um...can I get some more information about those...uh..." I stammer, unsure what to call the descriptions given to me.

"Oh...right...of course" says Patrick, tapping his forehead slightly "Of course you would like to know more." The man begins to type away at the computer, his tongue sticking out a little in concentration as he rapidly works on something beyond my sight line.

Suddenly he too leans back, sighing a little before turning to me. "Alright, which would you like to hear about first?"

I sit in silence for a while, hemming and hawing as I try to think of which to ask about first. The fantasy world sounded rather straightforward, though it could have some hidden twists. The last one sounded like a normal life for all intents and purposes, though I would still need to ask a question or two.

"Can I hear more about the...aging one?" I ask, fiddling with my thumbs awkwardly.

"Sure...just...let me..." Patrick states, pausing between words as he concentrates on the screen. "Wat...would you like...to know?"

"I...well I guess how the age thing even works" I reply, shrugging a little as I struggle to think of what to ask.

"Well...you picked a tough one there" Patrick says with a sigh, scrolling through whatever he had on the screen as his eyes dart back and forth across the text. "It looks like...they don't know either" he states in a slightly disappointed tone, his own shoulders slumping. "They've literally described it as 'magic' but there is no evidence of magic existing in that world. I suppose it's just arbitrary."

"So I could age faster there?" I ask, my blood running cold at the thought of shortening my own life thanks to the magic of some new reality.

"No no, baseline appears to be the same as humans here. People age normally until they're eighteen and then it becomes sort of variable" Patrick says reassuringly, shaking his head. "In fact, it appears largely identical in terms of the world. It just looks like some people look younger and live longer"

"Do you...have any information about me?" I ask, shuffling a little in my seat.

"Not...much...Oh I have some information from your driver's license" he chirps, brightening up as he finds some useful information. "It says...oh there are two numbers here" he mutters, quickly reading the screen more carefully. "Appearance Age, Nineteen...Date of Birth..Thirteenth of May...Nineteen Eighty-Six" he mutters, his eyes going wide as the words leave his lips.

My face grows pale as he states the other me's date of birth. "I'm Thirty-Six over there?" I say in shock, leaning in as I try to get a look at the screen. However, as I move Patrick quickly tilts the screen away from me.

"Sorry, can't let you look at company records" he clarifies, waving me back a little with his free hand. "But...yes it looks like you're aging...very slowly"

"So I would...you know..." I mutter, trying to phrase the question through the sudden shock I had been hit with.

"Yeah...you would get that long life" Patrick says softly in response, apparently lost in the same sort of shock I was dealing with. "Would you...uh...did you have any other questions about this world or would you like to move on?"

Still reeling from the shock I slowly shake myself back to reality, at least the reality I called home for now. "Um...yeah, can we talk about the fantasy world?"

Patrick, still mentally working through the thoughts of the first alternative world, slowly begins to bring up what information he had about the fantasy race world. His eyes glaze over a little before he too shakes himself free from the lingering thoughts and clears his throat.

"Alright...So in the second choice it appears that many classic fantasy races exist" Patrick states, trying to return to a more professional tone.

"So...like Dungeons and Dragons?" I ask, trying to get a frame of reference.

"I'm...I'm not sure what that is...but like Lord of the Rings I guess" Patrick replies, struggling to explain what was outside of his frame of reference. "Elves, dwarves, orcs, halflings...there's a bit of a list."

"Is there any magic or anything in this world?" I ask, blushing a little out of embarrassment as I ask the next question "Does magic exist anywhere?"

"Some worlds...I believe have magic, but I don't know about this one doesn't" he responds, pausing in thought as he thinks back to other worlds he has read about. "This looks like our world as well, just with the elves and stuff"

"Is there any...information about me? I mean the other...you get it" I ask, still struggling to talk about another self in some other world.

"Yeah...let's see...You just enrolled in college, Bachelor of Arts, and your date of birth is...that can't be right" Patrick says, muttering the last bit under his breath.

"What is it?" I ask, moving to lean in but pausing as I remember how he had reacted before.

"Well..." Patrick says, trailing off as he scrolls up and down on the computer before finally giving up. "It says your date of birth was...The Thirteenth of May...Nineteen Forty-Nine"

"I'm Seventy-Two?!" I shout, recoiling in horror.

"Yeah...and just starting college...you graduated some sort of school last year...I think there's something more here that we just don't have the information for" Patrick says in a defeated tone, slumping a little in his seat.

"Am I...an elf?" I whisper to myself, trying to get some sort of understanding of the situation. It made sense, the advanced age yet still doing things that seemed like a young person would do. Either that or being some other form of long-lived fantasy...thing.

"Sorry? What did you ask?" Patrick asks in kind, not catching my quiet muttering.

"Oh...uh...never mind" I reply, deciding not to bother him further looking for information he didn't have. "Can I hear about the last one."

"Sure...let me just" Patrick mutters, more at ease this time as he rapidly clicks away at the mouse. Shifting a little in his seat Patrick leans in, reading the screen more deeply as he leans against the desk.

"Alright...so there is a big change here" he says, swallowing hard. "It looks like...well I don't know how to really say this...The racial distribution is...a little different in this world, with people who we'd call Japanese apparently being swapped with Caucasian individuals" Patrick stammers, trying to sum up the lengthy history lesson on his screen.

"Wait so...English people..." I begin to ask, trailing off as Patrick talks over me.

"Would look Japanese by our understanding" Patrick responds

"And America? Australia? France? New..." I begin to riff, listing countries before I'm cut off again.

"Those too, it looks like things are just...flipped" Patrick says, shrugging a little with his face still displaying his own shock.

"And myself? I'm..." I ask, Patrick quickly cutting me off again.

"You'd be Japanese too" he explains, trying to drill the situation into my dense skull. "And before you ask...just let me...there we are. You were born on the Thirteenth of May Nineteen Ninety-Four, the same date we have on our system."

Sighing a little a lean back in the chair, looking up at the egg-shell white ceiling. "So...I have a well-paying job there right" I say, remembering the initial bit of information.

"Yes...I don't have any information on it...but...you just bought a house last month...your third house I mean" Patrick explains, trying to create some sort of understanding about the wealth of this alternate me.

"Three...fuck, that's...I need a moment" I mutter, getting lost in thought as I continue my staring match with the roof.

"Please, take your time" Patrick calmly states, giving me a warm customer service smile. "Though...You don't want to keep your other self wait too long do you? Those three other people must be wondering if they're going to be picked to become...well you."

I try to work out where I was going to go. Patrick was right, it was cruel to leave these other versions of myself in the lurch while I selfishly tried to work things out. However, this was my only chance at this sort of thing and I can't help but shake the worry that I won't make the right choice.

Sighing to myself I have a little bit of a stretch, my body still waking up from the rude awakening I had gotten this morning and from the rushed cup of coffee.

Patrick drums at the table, breaking the silence with a little cough as I bring my gaze down to face him.

"So sir, what will it be?"