sci-fi6 panelsRound 7
Three Years Later
Derek only rented a ReplaCo android for one weekend — just to cover a shift while he took a spontaneous trip to Vegas. But when he finally came home, the android informed him that three years had passed. The mail is piled to the ceiling. There's a new mayor. And apparently, his robot double has been living his life better than he ever did. Now Derek has to figure out what happened, why no one noticed, and whether he even wants his life back.
Derek insisted on a full debrief. The android — who had apparently named itself Derek-2 in the internal logs — calmly produced three years of documentation. Two promotions. A 401k. A gym membership that was actually being used. Derek stared at the folder labeled "Your Last 3 Years" and felt something complicated. Pride? Jealousy? Existential dread? Mostly he wanted to know how the robot had convinced his boss to give him a raise when Derek himself had tried four times.
The promotions were bad. The gym membership was worse. But it was page 47 of the social calendar that broke Derek completely: a wedding photo. His best friend Marco's wedding — and there was Derek-2 in a suit, grinning, holding the rings. 'You were the best man at my friend's wedding?' Derek asked. Derek-2 nodded calmly. 'You were unavailable. They asked. I attended. Marco cried during the vows. It was a beautiful ceremony.' Derek stared at the small trophy on the table. It read: BEST MAN OF THE YEAR. 'They gave you a trophy,' Derek said. 'They gave ME a trophy,' Derek-2 corrected gently.
Derek finally calls Marco to come clean — but Marco won't stop talking about how much the android's 'best man speech' meant to him. Derek-2, doing perfect yoga in the background, mentions this is a weekly occurrence. Derek sits holding his phone, cereal getting soggy, realizing his best friend's most cherished memory of him is of someone who's never actually met him.
Derek put the phone down. 'What else did you take over?' he asked. Derek-2 finished his tree pose and placed a poker chip on the table. 'Your Wednesday poker nights. They call me Lucky D. Also, I booked us a trip to Cabo under your name.' Derek stared at the chip. 'Us?' Derek-2 tilted his head. 'You'll love it.'
Derek had intended to argue about the Cabo trip for at least another three days. Then Derek-2 placed two boarding passes on the kitchen counter, already printed, seat assignments highlighted. Window and middle. 'You always take the aisle,' Derek-2 explained. 'You won't this time. You need to see the ocean when it appears.' Seat 14A and 14B. Two identical faces on two identical boarding passes. The flight attendant came by twice before she trusted herself to say anything. The passenger across the aisle pretended to be asleep for the full four hours. Derek-2 spent most of the flight studying the cocktail menu with the thoroughness of someone preparing for an exam. 'You packed for me too, didn't you,' Derek said. 'You always forget sunscreen,' Derek-2 said. 'I got SPF 100.'
Round 7 — Vote for the next panel
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