On the Other Earth

When Earth sent out their most advanced spacecraft out into the ever expanding universe, they expected to see sights unlike any that had ever been seen on their home. New solar systems, unfamiliar planets, perhaps even another advanced civilization, whom they could learn from and teach Earth customs in return. 

What they didn’t expect was to find an identical spacecraft, made of the exact same materials, fueled by the exact same energy source, and piloted by the exact same astronauts. The two ships had not even reached their final destinations, instead meeting at the exact middle points of their respective journeys. 

This sent the scientific community on both planets into a frenzy. They had started their programs in order to find new worlds, and found identical copies of their own instead. To each planet, the other seemed like a mirror, but that was not an accurate comparison. The other earth was not merely some flat, reflected image of an existing object in 3D space. They were both very real, and considered the other to be the other earth. 

Weeks passed with near constant communication between both earths, which was far easier than either expected. After all, they were all speaking the same languages, and using the same technology. Even more than that, every diplomat or representative who spoke with someone from the other earth was met with what seemed to be an exact copy of themselves. But neither was a copy. And neither was the original. For in the vastness of the universe, every possibility is true. Every scenario is out there, including one where two planets, lightyears upon lightyears apart, could both end up twins of each other. 

Jemm Smith boarded the Gemini station at exactly 17:45 astral time, a system the earth scientists set up in order to make communication with other species across the stars easier. Of course, they didn’t think that the first intelligent life they would share this system with would have the exact same method of measuring and keeping track of time, or that the other civilization would have come up with the same idea. 

The Gemini station had been set up at the exact middle point between the two earths. It was the only solution anyone could come up with since, as happens often when personalities too similar try to solve a problem, arguments arose over which earth should be closer to this crucial piece of galactic infrastructure. Luckily, both planets only had to contribute half of the resources they set aside for building a station this size, so construction went extremely smoothly. 

Mr. Smith made sure to arrive at the station right on time, as he had always been very punctual. Although, he realized that, if he had been late for any reason, the other diplomat he was meeting would also be just as late. It had only been a few weeks since the two had been having these meetings, and yet they already knew just about everything about the other. Of course they did! They were both Jemm Smith. The same man, born on the same day, in the same hospital in Ohio, lightyears apart.  

The two men entered the meeting room at precisely the same time and shook hands. This was their second time meeting, though it felt just as awkward for both of them to essentially be staring himself in the face. They both took their seats on opposite sides of the meeting table and opened up their identical briefcases. 

“So, shall we get starte-” 

Bothe men stopped mid sentences as they realized they were saying the same sentence at the same time. 

“Ok, how about I go first?” They said in perfect unison again. 

The two sat in an awkward silence for a few seconds, both tapping on the table in the same rhythm. 

“Let’s flip a coin…” the two had to stop mid sentence. 

The two pulled identical coins from their pockets, though one of them put his back upon seeing the other. 

“Ok” one man said, finally not in sync with the other. 

Heads I’ll speak first. 

Jemm flipped his coin, as his double watched, seemingly trying actively not to do and say the same things at the same time. The coin danced in the air before Jemm could catch it in his other hand. He read the results. 

“Heads. I’ll go first then” he said. 

“Ok, good. I hate it when it gets like that” the other Jemm replied. 

“Me too…but I suppose you already knew that” said the Jemm who flipped the coin. 

The two exchanged a small chuckle, indistinguishable from each other, leading into another awkward silence. 

“Right then,” Jemm said “To make things easier on both of us, in this context and my notes. I will be referring to the planet I come from, as well as everything on it including myself as Earth Alpha. And the planet you are from will be Earth Omega. I suggest you do the same for your notes. 

“Sounds perfect!” Jemm Omega replied, “honestly I was thinking the same thing”

“I know…” Jemm Alpha said. 

The two men began their discussion on the histories of their respective planets, starting with the beginning. With the meeting room in the space station only booked for 6 hours, they couldn’t dwell on most of the small details of the prehistoric times, so they proceeded quickly to record human histories. Humans first emerging in western Africa: same. Man discovers fire: same. Civilization in the middle east and mesoAmerica: same. Greece, Rome, The American Revolution, two world wars, moon landing, the discovery of high speed space travel: same, same, and same. Every detail was identical, down to the threads of each world leaders’ clothes. Both worlds had a Mozart, a Washington, and a Miyamoto. 

Three hours in, both men were bored and exhausted, and still had half of their time left. It was amazing how quickly you could recap all of human history in less than six hours, and how it could still feel so long. 

Eventually, the two Jemms reached into their briefcases and pulled out their lunches. Two of the exact same sandwiches, of course. The first few minutes were about as awkward as you can expect a work lunch between two identical men can be. Eventually, however, Jemm Alpha began an attempt to make small talk. 

“So…I take it you just got back from vacation too?” he said. 

“Hmm?” Jemm Omega looked up from his sandwich, “Oh yeah! Me and the family went to…” 

“Wonder World!” they both said in unison. 

“Well” Omega remarked, “Guess I should have figured that you knew” 

“I take it the Cannonball Swirl knocked the hell out of you too then?” Alpha asked. 

Jemm Omega simply stared in confused silence. 

“The…what?” he asked. 

Not expecting any confusion, Jemm Alpha answered. 

“You know, the Cannonball Swirl! That crazy new water slide they have in the water park area” 

Jemm Omega nearly dropped his sandwich in surprise. 

“The…water…what?” 

“The…water slide…” Jemm Alpha replied as he slowly began to realize the situation. 

“What’s a water slide?” Omega asked. 

The two men simply stared at each other for a few seconds before suddenly standing up and shouting, once again in unison; 

“Is that a difference?!” 

In a frenzy, they both put their lunches away and returned to all their notes. 

“How could we have missed something like this for weeks!? I guess water slides don’t typically come up in galactic conversations like this” Alpha remarked as he flipped frantically through his notes. 

“Hold on, hold on” Omega interrupted, “before we go any further…can you explain to me what a water slide is?” 

“Right, right, my mistake. Got ahead of myself” Jemm Alpha collected his thoughts and began to think of ways to explain water slides.” 

“So…do you have slides? Like at playgrounds and stuff?” Alpha asked. 

“Yes! They're all over” Omega responded. 

“Ok, and you know…water?” 

Omega nodded, “I’m familiar” he said as he took a sip from his water bottle. 

“Alright so,” Alpha began to explain, “so it’s like a slide…with water running down”

“...Like…does someone at the bottom collect it with a bucket and bring it back up?” Omega inquired. 

“No, it usually leads into a pool and the pipes take it back up. Wait…do you not have water parks either?” 

“Yes, we do” 

Alpha grew more confused. 

“But you don’t have water slides in them?” 

“Nope,” Omega responded. 

“Then what are in your water parks?” Alpla asked. 

“Regular pools, wave pools, lazy rivers, and um…” Omega thought for a moment, “Those surfing simulator things where they run water under a board”. 

“You figured out surfing simulators but not water slides?” Jemm Alpha inquired. 

“Yeah…is that weird?” 

“Well kind of,” Alpha Explained, “It just seems like those things would come after water slides” 

“Ok, back up a bit” Omega interrupted, “Why is it so surprising that we have water parks but no water slides?” 

“Well, water slides here are sorta the main attraction at any water park. They’re like roller coasters at a regular theme park” Alpha answered. 

“Oh…” Omega though for a minute. 

“Wait…do you not have roller coasters either?” 

“Oh, we have roller coasters. I just don’t see how a slide with some water on it could compare to a coaster. 

“It’s more than that! They twist and turn and they’re usually a lot bigger than regular slides. Some even have you going down on a tube or a raft. I wish I could show you a picture but…I didn’t prepare one. I didn’t think this would come up” 

“Ok, I think I’m getting it. So water slides are like the aquatic equivalent of roller coasters” Omega attempted to clarify. 

“Pretty much” Alpha confirmed. 

“So they have twists and turns and all that stuff?” 

“Exactly!” 

“And the water makes you go faster down them?” 

“Yep!” 

“I see!...do they ever loop like a coaster?” Jemm Omega asked. 

“No” Jemm Alpha replied, “Well…once in New Jersey”. 

“And how did that go?” 

“...not well…” 

“Oh…” Jemm Omega responded, still curious but not enough to ask further. 

The two seemingly indistinguishable men sat back down into their seemingly indistinguishable chairs, and let out seemingly indistinguishable sighs. 

“Wow…” Jemm Alpha, breaking the silence, “Out of everything in the whole universe, everything so alike on both of our worlds…and the only difference is something so small like water slides” 

“I wouldn’t say it’s small,” Jemm Omega responded. 

Jemm Alpha raised an eyebrow at his other Earth counterpart. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“It might seem completely random, but this small thing, or rather the absence of this small thing, left an empty space on my world. One that you can’t think of yours without. Even if it took the best minds on both our worlds months to find it, this small thing…it makes it pretty big. It’s kinda beautiful in a weird way” 

Jemm Alpha looked at his counterpart in contemplation. 

“Are you sure we’re the same person? I don’t think I could come up with that” he remarked. 

They both laughed. 

“Water slides,” Jemm Omega said in a dream-like tone, “Seems like such an obvious idea now that I think about it. Like peanut butter cups or star beds”. 

Jemm Alpha’s expression dropped. Jemm Omega quickly noticed. 

“What is it?” Omega asked. 

“Star what now?”