Ben and Maya lay on the rooftop terrace, watching the clouds of Earth 4 drift by above. They’d been best friends for twenty years — since they were kids — and had been waiting for this moment ever since.

“Think they’ll be different on 3?” Maya asked.

”Hm?”

”The clouds. Think they’ll be different? Prettier, maybe?”

He considered. “No. Or, maybe. But I think they’re plenty pretty enough here.”

She took his hand and squeezed it. “Me too.”

It was the evening before judgment. Tomorrow the angels would arrive and deliver certain people to Earth 3, others to Earth 5.

Ben and Maya had spent twenty years preparing for judgment — twenty years of performing good deeds together, trying to buy their ticket to Earth 3. Helping the elderly across roads, feeding the homeless, campaigning for the environment, for animal welfare. Always together.

They lay silent now. Ben wondered if Maya felt a similar unease in her belly. What was causing it? It was as if he could hear the angels singing in the distance, debating their decision about them in an off-key song.

“I hope it was worth it,” said Ben. “We’ve given our lives for this place. If we don’t both make it…”

“Then we’ve improved Earth 4.”

He swallowed back a flash of anger — that hadn’t been what he’d meant. ”Barely. We’ve been constantly sweeping the floor but more dirt is always falling down behind us.”

Maya rolled onto her side and looked at Ben. “You’ve not done it all to escape here. Don’t pretend for a second that’s why you did it.”

“Of course it’s why. It’s why we both wasted our lives here.”

“Wasted.”

”You know what I mean,” said Ben. “We could have done anything else with the years. Stuff for us instead of others, you know?”

She paused a moment then said, ”Did I tell you I saw Leo again the other day?”

”Leo?”

”The junkie you saved with the Naloxone. Except, he’s not a junkie anymore. He had new teeth and showed me a big new smile. He said to pass on his thanks to you.“

”That’s nice,” said Ben, downplaying the emotional gut punch as much as he was able. He’d been certain he’d see Leo’s obituary sooner rather than later.

”He’s working construction now. Does charity work on Saturdays.”

”Huh. Maybe we’ll see him on Earth 3.”

“Ben… I don’t know if I want to go.”

”What?”

”I’ve heard Earth 3 is pretty nice. Calm. Pious.”

“That’s kind of why we’re trying to get there, isn’t it?”

“The bad apples have mostly been left here to rot, and in the realms further down, too. There’s not much wrong on Earth 3 because everyone there wants to make it to Earth 2. Like, they’re actively working on it — being polite and fake and as good as they can be. Here, that’s not the case. Plenty have given up on moving. They’re happy with the grey morality. Some find it more fun, even.“

The unease grew in Ben’s gut. He could hear the angels song better now, louder, and was sure it was the broken melody of rejection — a song he knew well enough, that his own parents had sung when he’d been just a baby.

“This is everything we worked towards, Maya. Please don’t throw it away now.”

”Ben, if we keep going here… If we inspire more people like Leo, then what’s to say this can’t be Earth 3? But better, maybe. Because people want to be here, not just pass through it.”

”And you thought it’d be a good idea to talk about this now? On the evening before judgement?”

She shook her head. “No. I knew it wasn’t a good idea. And I’m sorry I left it so late. But it’s an idea that’d been growing recently. Avalnching even, and now it’s way too big for me to ignore. I hope you can understand that.”

It had been Maya’s idea, back when they’d been kids, to get into Earth 3 together. To help as many people as they could. It was an idea, she’d said, that was too big to ignore. She’d only been nine. They’d been orphans together.

He said, “I’m not going to be able to persuade you to go, am I?”

She shrugged. Her eyes glistened. “I don’t think so.”

“This’ll never be Earth 3,” he said.

”I know… But—“

”Not without us putting in a lifetime of work.“

It took Maya a moment to understand. Up until Ben squeezed her hand.

“You know,” he said, “we’re going to have to rob a bank or something at this point. Or commit a lot of petty crimes.“

Maya laughed. “You can reject the angels, you know.”

”Yeah,” said Ben. “But where’s the fun in that.”

They remained silent, staring at the clouds as the sky reddened. The unease in Ben’s belly was gone — the voices silent. He wondered now what had even been causing the feeling of unease. The thought of leaving, perhaps, rather than the idea of not making it. Either way, it was calm inside him now. As if everything was just how it was meant to be.