Open
So, two Jacks walk into a bar -- specifically, an open bar lying around somewhere in the Nexus. They're a bit forlorn, and they've been clearly having a long conversation on this fine Nexus morning, one that has caused them both to realize how much they could use a drink. They soon have some. Jack Rogers a la 2000 is saying things along the lines of "Of course, I mean, even when Henry di--" and Jack Rogers a la 1674 is interrupting him along the lines of. "Ahem, please don't finish that sentence, sir. Henry is fine right now and I don't want to hear what happens when in your version of things."
"Oh, good point, terribly sorry."
"Quite all right. So, my good alter ego, aside from our mutual shock, addiction, that other business, and things I don't want to know, there's one other important matter: nomenclature."
"I entirely agree. The Nexus is already complicated enough. So, for these next few weeks, would you prefer to be 'Seventeenth-Century Jack' or just 'Older Jack'"?
"How am I older Jack?"
"Well, you precede me, so you're the older."
"But I am not yet thirty, while you're three hundred and fifty four years old!"
A pause, complete with a wry smile.
"I beg your pardon," 1674 Jack continues. "I don't mean to unpleasantly emphasize your current situation."
"No offense taken."
"It's just that I'm younger. It's nice to be certain of something right now, and I'm certain of that."
And so they continue for a few minutes.
"Oh, good point, terribly sorry."
"Quite all right. So, my good alter ego, aside from our mutual shock, addiction, that other business, and things I don't want to know, there's one other important matter: nomenclature."
"I entirely agree. The Nexus is already complicated enough. So, for these next few weeks, would you prefer to be 'Seventeenth-Century Jack' or just 'Older Jack'"?
"How am I older Jack?"
"Well, you precede me, so you're the older."
"But I am not yet thirty, while you're three hundred and fifty four years old!"
A pause, complete with a wry smile.
"I beg your pardon," 1674 Jack continues. "I don't mean to unpleasantly emphasize your current situation."
"No offense taken."
"It's just that I'm younger. It's nice to be certain of something right now, and I'm certain of that."
And so they continue for a few minutes.