Richter stepped back slightly and pointed vaguely at the people seated in front of screens. "Who are all the people here?"
"Actors. The programs can only go so far with human behavior. When the main character interacts with someone closely, one of these people steps in." Terran smiled. "The cool thing is the longer we run a script, the less we need the actors to get involved."
"Script? You mean my tribe, my world has been used over and over? How many times? How old is my... our... script?" He pressed his hands against the new and unfamiliar clothing that hung loosely from his frame.
"Your life Richter. My life, too. It was a script, yes. We were the same person." Terran shrugged. "It's not just the world that gets re-used. That would be too complex. They run people through the same story."
"You were me?" Richter laughed in disbelief.
"I was Richter, yes. It's one of our best scripts." Terran smiled slightly. "It's a bit odd finding out that you've got an identical twin, isn't it? A twin who lived your same life but also is 30 years older than you and has another life in his memory. It got me too."
"Another Richter? Is that who met you when you showed up here?" Richter's nervous laughter subsided.
"Of course. Another Richter in a long line of Richters." Terran nodded in amusement.
"So why'd you change your name?"
"I knew you'd be coming."
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