I guess I was surprised.
How often do YOU have a spitting image of yourself open your own door and come walking in as if he - you! - owned the place?
Surprised is a pale hint of the emotion I felt at that time. Shock? Rage? Affront? Upset? Concern? All of those and more.
Its - his - my - eyes locked in on my own, and we both froze. It smiled a little, just at the corners of its eyes and mouth. "Well, hello there."
"Get out of here, whatever you are!" was my witty reply.
"Eventually, I don't doubt I will. However we need to talk, first."
"What? Talk? Talk then, and begone all the faster."
"I am an... option you left behind. A choice where you went left, I went right. And now, we both come back together again. So. Hello, there."
"Is that all you have to say to me? Then GET OUT!"
"Not hardly. It's just so you have some initial context. You see, we need to decide - was turning left correct? Or was turning right?"
Uh oh, what happens when that decision is made? Does it cause another schism and a new choice to be made or does one of the old choices have to go..?
Unification or diversification? Are those the ONLY two options? I rather think you're trying to oversimplify the situation! :D
Soooo many options! How many choices did YOU make, just today? (hint - it's a very very big number....)
No, but those are the two with the most obvious, immediate threat.
While those might be threats, they might also be relief. And all the other options get to be plenty of fun on their own...