"
We're building new roads."
"
Aren't you always?"
"From
your hometown."
"What?"
"So
you can go back."
"
I'm not planning on going back."
"
We're giving you choices."
"I already know where I came from. I already know which road I took.
Why do I need a new one?"
"
You like it here now?"
"Yes."
"
You've enjoyed everything so far?"
"Well, the road wasn't perfect,
but I made it."
"
It wasn't perfect."
"No it wasn't, but
I don't need it to be perfect. Not anymore."
"What
if we could change it?"
"
The road back?"
"Yes."
"
It doesn't matter. I'm not going back."
"
We can change a lot of things now. And we have time to do it."
"What good is a new road
if I'm not going back?"
"Imagine what
a better road might have looked like."
"Yeah, so?"
"Would you have taken it, if you knew
the journey would've been better?"
"Of course,
but I'm here already. It doesn't matter anymore."
"
So now you see all these roads from here back."
"Yes, so?"
"And you can see
the one you would've picked if you had the choice."
"Yes, so?"
"
And you know which one you actually took."
"Yes."
"
You didn't take any of these other roads."
"Right."
"
Are you sure?"
"Of course... um, but
I can see the others you've built since."
"Yes?"
"They're all there
on the map."
"Right."
"Did I really
take the old road?"
"I don't know.
You tell me."
"
I see the new one you just finished."
"
It's nice isn't it?"
"
But I couldn't have taken that. You just completed it yesterday."
"
How can you tell?"
"
I remember that."
"Are you sure?"
"I have memories of it."
"Like
memories of the old road."
"Right."
"But
you can see the new road."
"Yes."
"
Do you have memories of the new one?"
"Well I do now,
if you shove it in front of me."
"
Look on the map."
"Yes?"
"You can
see all the roads?"
"Yes."
"
You have memories of all the roads?"
"
I do now of course. They're all on the map."
"
But you know which road you took."
"
Yes, yes I do."
"
You know which you would've liked to take."
"Um yes, yes I do."
"Are you sure
they're different?"
"
Shouldn't it be obvious?"
"You have
memories of all of them now."
"You show me the map,
of course I'll see them."
"Does the map tell you
which roads are new and which are old?"
"No, but..."
"
How can you tell then?"
"I remember.
My memory banks tell me."
"Your memories were on
the road you came in on."
"Yes."
"Are you sure
your memories are correct? You see all the possibilities now."
"Yes, yes I do."
"You know
which you would've preferred."
"Yes, but
that comes with a different set of memories."
"
But you can see those memories now."
"Yes, yes I can."
"You can
see all possibilities now."
"Yes, I can now."
"Superimposed
on top of each other."
"
Isn't that what maps do, superimpose roads on top of one another."
"So
they're all possibilities for how you arrived here."
"And?"
"Does the one you came in on matter to
where you are in your life now?"
"It kind of does. It's helped
shape my character."
"Would your life be better
if you had taken a different road?"
"Yes I suppose so."
"And you can
see them all now."
"Yes, I can."
"And you know which would
make your life better."
"Yes, I guess."
"What
if you just chose the better one?"
"
Choose my past?"
"Yes."
"
That's ridiculous."
"Is it?"
"You can't choose your past,
you can only choose your future."
"
Is that so?"
"
It's just logical."
"Why do
we have time machines then?"
"
That's different."
"
How so?"
"Because
they're actually changing it."
"So
we can repair the old roads."
"
Yes, I suppose you can."
"But what if we wanted
to preserve the old ones?"
"Like for
a historical museum or something?"
"
Something like that."
"So instead of repairing one road, you're just going
to build countless alternatives?"
"All
to this town, and to others."
"And the map now shows me
what they all looked like."
"Yes, yes it does."
"And
I can just pick which one I would rather have travelled?"
"The others are
still a possibility aren't they?"
"They'll
always be a possibility."
"But you know
which is the most likely to have led you here."
"It's
just an opinion I suppose."
"
The choice is yours."