Hmmmm, I think I'll stay in bed another minute. I don't have class for a while, and these pillows have an aphrodisiac deep in their fabric. I drove my head deep into the recesses and folds of the mound of blankets. I was home again.
"I wonder what his deal is"
"You think he speaks English?"
"Yeah, he looks like me and a good portion of us do."
Hunh? I was coming around to the idea of trying to be a real person and do something in the world when I noticed a strange occurrence. I'm fading in, but my dream isn't fading out. I can see all these people and hear them talking and what the fuck they're actually there. Holy Shit, they look like me. I must be dreaming, right? I pinch my finger and it hurts. They are just watching now. "Who are you?", I ask with a faint and dry voice. Trying my best to appear stoic and assured, I hopped out of bed and walked into my bathroom... wait... this isn't my room. Alright what the fuck, "Was I drugged?!" I blurt at these studying faces. So much for remaining stoic, I resigned, I was tense and wanted answers. A couple of them even got bored watching me and walked off to talk with some of the others. A few of my dopplegangers hesitantly start walking towards me and I finally start to register just how many people there are. This room is for all intents and purposes fucking infinite, and the people seemed to be filling just about all of it.
"You've lived a full life, man," one of the approaching men strangely says to me.
"Welcome, this is the room," says another.
I eye them both carefully trying to gauge them. They both seem like me, but they're different. They're authoritative and seem to have deigned themselves welcoming party to this... um... yeah...
"What is this?" I queried. I was starting to become nervous about what my answer would be. This place was obviously some kind of turning point in my life. Either I'm going crazy, I'm being kidnapped in very strange fashion, or maybe I'm no longer alive...
"What the hell do you mean I've lived a full life?" I was scared. I'll admit it.
"You're dead. Effectively. This is purgatory. Or something like that," the one I'll call Carlos said not quite sure of himself. "I've been here for decades, and you know what? It's not that bad. Everyone here has a unique perspective, but more or less the same brain functionality. It's the most scintillating and stimulating conversation I've ever had, actually, without going over my head. You'll get used to the room. It's not so bad. It's not so bad," he seemed to be trying to convince himself more than me.
Carlos spent about the next hour or whatever (time is doesn't really matter anymore) trying to explain this place. He was very patient with me even after I called him a fucking lunatic. I'm starting to accept and kind of understand my fate, but I was also filled with this sense of dread that this is where I was to be for eternity.
"So... We are the many versions of... each other? Are you me? Or am I you? Who was first?" I fired off questions without waiting for the answers.
"Well," Carlos reservedly started, "Nobody is exactly sure. We are the many versions of something greater. We each had our own universe in our past lives. It's really cool to hear about the different ones. Nobody is sure who was first either. Nobody ages here, and there are so many now that we all lost track."
A yawn. I turn around. There is another me waking up right now. I stare and wonder. "Why don't you take this one," Carlos suggests.
So, I talk to me for a while. This me is really crazy. Or maybe his universe is just on average crazy. Still, he has some really cool ideas and perspectives. He is talking about perspective now... wait... no I'm talking about perspective now... wait... what? I can see myself as well as him... as well as everyone. We're all now talking about perspective. Communication has become so seamless and smooth. I'm starting to see everything from all of my perspectives. Suddenly our environment is shifting. We see a tunnel and a light. We head straight for it.
"Here they come. Oh wow this one is a biggin'," We hear screamed as we burst into this ethereal haze.
"Wow." I manage to mumble. I look around, the faces are heavily varied and they are all multifaceted. It seems like we all have all of our past faces. The mindmeld left me in a daze. I was trying to process all the experiences I've ever had in any timeline when I was told by the many minds of one observer that I should rest. The birthing process is never easy.
"