I had a friend who was the ultimate "low maintenance" guy—always down for whatever, liked all the same obscure bands I did, and agreed with all my specific political takes. It felt like we were totally on the same wavelength. Then one day I walked into a party and saw him with a completely different group of people, and he wasn't just hanging out with them, he *was* them. He had a totally different laugh, he was using slang I’d never heard him speak, and he was loudly arguing the exact opposite political point he’d agreed with me on over dinner the night before. I realized in that moment that he didn't have a personality; he was just a mirror. He was unconsciously terrified of conflict, so he just downloaded the software of whoever he was standing next to. It wasn't malicious, but it was deeply unsettling to realize the person I thought I knew was basically just an empty room that I had been decorating with my own reflection.