The Comparison

The emergency meeting began at 7:06 AM.

Aditi 1 looked troubled.

Aditi 2 immediately noticed.

Aditi 3 immediately noticed.

Aditi 2: What's wrong?

Aditi 1: Nothing.

Aditi 2: That's never true.

Aditi 3: Never.

Aditi 1: Fine.

Aditi 2: Proceed.

Aditi 1: I was looking at someone else's life.

The room collectively sighed.

Aditi 2: There it is.

Aditi 3: Classic.

Aditi 1: I know.

Aditi 2: Who?

Aditi 1: Irrelevant.

Aditi 2: Agreed.

Aditi 1: They seem happy.

Aditi 3: Dangerous.

Aditi 2: Very dangerous.

Aditi 1: Why?

Aditi 2: Because you're comparing your behind-the-scenes footage to their highlight reel.

Aditi 1: I hate when you say reasonable things.

Aditi 2: I know.

Aditi 3: What specifically triggered this?

Aditi 1: They seem ahead.

Aditi 3: Ahead how?

Aditi 1: Just...

Ahead.

The room became quiet.

Aditi 2: Ahead of what?

Aditi 1: Life.

Aditi 2: That's not a race.

Aditi 1: It feels like one sometimes.

Nobody argued.

Because everyone understood.

Aditi 3: Can I ask a question?

Aditi 1: Sure.

Aditi 3: Would you trade lives with them?

Aditi 1: What?

Aditi 3: Fully.

Everything.

No edits.

You get the whole package.

The room waited.

Aditi 1 thought about it.

Longer than expected.

Then:

Aditi 1: No.

Aditi 2: Interesting.

Aditi 3: Very interesting.

Aditi 1: I mean...

Some parts maybe.

But not all of it.

Aditi 2: Exactly.

The room got quiet.

Aditi 2: Everybody wants someone else's highlights.

Nobody wants someone else's entire operating system.

Aditi 3: Ouch.

Aditi 1: Big ouch.

Aditi 2: You don't actually want their life.

You want one or two things from their life.

Aditi 1: That's probably true.

Aditi 3: Definitely true.

Aditi 2 stood up.

She walked to the whiteboard.

Aditi 1: Oh no.

Aditi 3: She's diagramming.

Aditi 2: Correct.

On the board she wrote:

THE THINGS WE ALREADY HAVE

The room watched.

Aditi 2: Studio.

Aditi 3 smiled.

Aditi 2: Business.

Aditi 3 smiled wider.

Aditi 2: Friends.

Aditi 1 nodded.

Aditi 2: Jelli.

Immediate unanimous approval.

Aditi 2: Apartment.

Freedom.

Health.

Possibility.

The list kept growing.

Aditi 1: Huh.

Aditi 3: Huh.

Aditi 2: Interesting, isn't it?

Aditi 1: What?

Aditi 2: The list is longer than I expected.

Aditi 3: Same.

For a moment nobody spoke.

Aditi 1 stared at the board.

It wasn't a perfect life.

Not even close.

There were still problems.

Still questions.

Still uncertainty.

Still several active investigations.

But it was undeniably a life.

And a pretty good one.

Aditi 1: Can I admit something?

Aditi 2: Sure.

Aditi 1: I think I forget that sometimes.

Aditi 3: Me too.

Aditi 2: I know.

Aditi 1: How?

Aditi 2: Because I forget too.

The room froze.

Aditi 1: You do?

Aditi 3: You do?

Aditi 2: Of course.

Aditi 1: I thought you were immune.

Aditi 2: I'm Operations.

Not a wizard.

Aditi 3: Important distinction.

Aditi 2: Very important distinction.

Narrator:
The meeting ended at 8:01 AM.

The person from the internet continued living their life.

The board continued living theirs.

For the first time all morning, nobody wished to trade.

End of Chapter 16.