A Timeless Journey (13 page)

We sat in her living space for a while, talking about the possibility of the anomaly opening again, me leaving and if the anomaly would take me back to the same reality, or throw me into a different parallel universe. Luna insisted I would be safer if I stayed with her and she promised to make my life more interesting and happier by being there for me no matter where I was. What Luna was trying to tell me that day, had a far deeper meaning, a meaning that to this day I haven’t fully figured out yet.

All my senses were screaming to be with her and never leave this reality. How could I leave the most amazing place a man can spend the rest of its life? Luna made me feel good and also very lucky by simply being the nicest person I had ever encountered.

Humans in the 26
th
century had very high standards of knowledge and, on the other hand, they were simple and humble, which would make some narrow-minded people from 21
st
century think people in the future were all naïve. They were the nicest people because the lying, the stealing, the snaring, the jealousy and all the other negative attributes of the old world didn’t exist widely in this future society. Although I liked and agreed with the way of life in the future, there was a part of me who opposed some of the future society rules due to the sentimental feelings I had for my old reality. A big role in my resentment of the rules played the fact I was missing my parents and friends.

Looking at Luna’s expression, I realised it was time to stop annoying her with hypothetical theories and enjoy her company. Luna standing in front of me, shouting out loud with her presence what I truly wanted, reminded me our earlier conversation in the New York drinkery.

There was never going to be any regrets to stop me from following my heart and my heart, never trembled as much as it did for Luna. I finally felt ready to embark into a new relationship. At the same time, I felt forced out of the relationship with Sophie thanks to the gap of 560 years. In the world I had landed, Sophie’s existence was nothing but an unknown grave somewhere in Yorkshire, I guess. In fact, everyone I had known in my old life had died centuries ago and I had no choice but to embrace my new life in the future. Above all, thanks to the strong and immense love I felt for Luna and the hope that maybe one day I would see my old world again, such loss felt surreal.

The decision to follow my heart triggered an immense happiness in Luna and I could see her beautiful blue eyes brightening up even more. There was a tender, intimate moment between us before Luna invited me to join her in the private room where the AI systems were unable to register our private thoughts.

She switched on a 3D live feed of the starry sky on the four walls and the ceiling and sat next to me. Then, we kissed. A soft music surrounded us as we lay on the bed. Our first time together was something special, something that I will never forget. That night, I reminisced what we had experienced with the mind scrambler and put it into practice.

It had gone past four in the morning when we finally fell asleep with our bodies entangled together, lost in a virtual space under the millions of stars surrounding us thanks to the live feed from a satellite near the Moon.

Although it had been a long and emotional night, I managed to open my eyes before nine in the morning, just as Link was about to announce its presence through the usual metallic voice. I noticed Luna was already awake and staring at me with a lovely and contented smile.

“Hey Luna, you are awake already?” I said as I stretched my arms and legs.

“I like to watch you sleep, so peaceful, so peaceful.”

I smiled at the way she always spoke to me without hiding any emotions. It was one of the reasons that made my time with her even more special and irreplaceable.

Most people in the 26
th
century chose to speak the truth and expressed their true feelings without the complex of what others thought of their opinion, regardless if their opinion was invasive to the person. This honest approach applied by future society ultimately worked. The society had the freedom to express their views without fear as long as it was an honest opinion. The rational reasoning was the most powerful tool an individual had in the future. Losing the reason and showing signs of anger, was considered not only unsociable, but it was also unthinkable in this advanced society. If an individual showed sing of anger more than once, the main system would recommend the offender for a short educational course in the IEF.

Since there was not enough time to prepare breakfast, we had some breakfast vitamin pills and after sharing a steam room experience together, I left Luna’s house to attend my second day of Emze training. She offered to take me there, but I decided to go on my own and get a feel for the city. After all, I had to learn my way around some day and I needed some time alone to think about what had happened last night and where I was going with this nice but surreal relationship.

We decided to meet at her apartment later that afternoon after my Emze training and spend the evening together. I felt that it was going to be a long day for me without Luna by my side and I was certain that she felt the same way. I stepped onto the second moving lane of the pendy lane, which had a slower speed than the other three lanes to my right. As I held on the rail, I started to reflect about what had happened during my time in the future up to that point.

Life throws us into strange paths sometimes and for me, the strangeness started with a walk on the beach on a sleepless night in the 21
st
century. Thanks to my curiosity to see what was on the other side of the anomaly, I landed in the year 2572, a whole 560 year jump into the future. My life got even stranger during the three months in the IEF while I learned fascinating facts about this new reality. I thought I have had enough strangeness in my life by then, until Luna appeared and life became even more interesting. While I believed to know what being in love meant, Luna came along and changed my perception of love altogether.

To this day, I can’t explain how it is possible to fall in love and desire so much a person that I had only known for two days. Luna had become an important and irreplaceable part of my life so suddenly. While being with her, I managed to forget Sophie, my family, my friends and my old life completely.

The strong feelings I had for Luna had turned the old feelings for Sophie into compassion and I just cannot comprehend how a person’s priorities could change so dramatically, when it came to the matters of the heart. After the amazing night I’d had with Luna, I was sure for one thing, I didn’t feel guilty for being with her and I was certain I had fallen madly in love with the most beautiful creature I had ever met.

17

The last day of the Emze training course arrived. I had to complete a theory and a flight test for the AI system to certify my capability to operate an Emze. Once certified, I was going to be registered in the global flight system to be able to operate the machine.

Luna had spent the night at my apartment and offered to come with me for support. Although I gladly accepted her offer, it wasn’t so much for the morale support. I just wanted to be near her. We had been together for a week by then and, because of my ever-growing strong feelings for her, somehow I felt possessive with an uncontrollable urge to be near her all the time. This kind of strong feelings worried me. I feared if my obsession was to get out of control, the AI system will detect it and send me back in the IEF.

I had a fair idea why I felt more in love with Luna than I used to do with Sophie. Aside the natural chemistry we had, there was the undeniable fact that Luna, being born in a different time, was a lot wiser than me and this was a strong and exciting challenge in itself. She had an open mind to the point that I didn’t feel the need to be on defensive, or the need to impress her. I felt relaxed, safe and happy while being near her. It is a kind of feeling that I find it very hard to describe in words.

Imagine clearing the mind of suspicion, paranoia, uncertainty and any other negative thoughts you may have towards other people and after you have done this, believe you are living in a perfect world. A perfect world, in which everyone around you is trustworthy and is ready to reveal anything to you unconditionally, a world where everyone always looks for ways to make you as happy as it possibly can. It is precisely how I felt the whole time I spent with Luna.

After successfully finished the theory technical test on Holo, I only had one more test to endure which was the actual flight. I was given megacity of Havana in old Cuba as a destination, a time limit for my return journey and a standard Emze from the training centre. Not having any experience in flying this vehicle on my own, I was slightly apprehensive. Despite my fears, I convinced myself that what I had learned during the course would be enough to get me through this task.

Once inside the Emze, I connected with Holo and registered the destination with the global flight system. The Emze flew all by itself to Havana training centre. On arrival, I climbed out of Emze and made my way to the check-in point for the Link to register my arrival time. After getting the all clear from Havana training centre, the Emze flew back to Laguna City without any complications.

Since I passed my test successfully, Luna offered to take me to an eatery for organic lunch as a treat. Although I felt guilty for letting her pay, I really had no choice as I had very little credit left. She tried to reassure me that it was her wish to buy me lunch. Luna made it clear to me that if she didn’t fancy buying, she would let me know. This is how the truth worked in this reality.

Feeling guilty was part of the struggle to adapt to the mentality of the 26
th
century. As much as I welcomed the change, I found it impossible to eradicate entirely my old habits. They were rooted deep in my sub-conscience and surfaced every time I felt imposing on Luna, or even when I thought I was offending her with my lack of knowledge. I guess i felt overprotective due to my strong feelings for her.

On Sunday, we decided to spend a quiet evening in Luna’s apartment since we both had to work the next morning. It was going to be my first day of working in the future and to tell you the truth, I was a little nervous about it. I had no idea who I was going to be working with, or what my purpose was going to be there. I feared my uncivilised mind would somehow mess up my chances in keeping this job.

Trying to keep up with the new 26
th
century mentality, I told Luna how I felt about the new job. Opening up to her and laying all my worries out in the open, proved to be the best decision I made. In that moment I realised how important was to be open with one another. Luna tried to push my worries away and promised to transport me to work. I had no idea where the institute was and most importantly, I had no personal Emze. I was in need of a ride until I had enough credit to buy one.

The cost of an Emze was at 7500 VC which was mostly what it cost to build one. The profit made by manufacturers was around 250 VC per vehicle, which is not as much as you would think, but with billions of people buying them and only three companies licensed to build, there was a huge profit to be made. Given the risks of containing zero point energy, it was decided by a planetary vote that only three safest manufacturers could produce such vehicles. If a new enterprise should be able to introduce a novice and safe method of building an Emze, it had to ask for a global vote before entering the market. This way only the best manufacturers survived.

There had been some fatal incidents in the past due to the mishandling of zero-point energy, when there were more than three manufacturers in the planet. Given the number of fatalities and wide public concern, the main system had triggered the planetary vote after reviewing the safety of the technology used. Only the companies with a safe technology in place survived the vote. Nowadays there were no more accidents with such vehicles and this experience had proved the planetary vote had worked in favour of safety, above the needs of doing business.

Luna helped me prepare for what to expect at my now job tomorrow. She spoke highly about the building where I was going to work. A masterpiece, a brilliant infusion of the modern and old architecture, she called it. Using the Holo display, she pointed out the brilliant infusion of what was left of the old American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan and the new high-tech shiny building if you can call a building the spiked towers that flared up in the sky, anyway.

The old museum had been destroyed during the nuclear attacks of the last world war and what remained of it had been used as the basis to build the new and modern institute of history. The shiny tower shards that spiked out in all directions of what was left of the old building, made it look like an explosion of light shining from the old ruins to show a brighter future. I say shiny because to this day I am not sure if it was made of glass or some other kind of material. Unfortunately, there were a lot of things I failed to learn due to my lack of knowledge about the modern science.

Regardless of this fact, the sight of what now was The Institute of World History was something that would leave everyone breathless, if given the chance to see it. It was truly a remarkable landmark and I felt proud to have such a wonderful and unique building as my workplace.

Waking up in Luna’s bed, the delicious organic breakfast she prepared for me, the steamer experience afterwards and the panoramic view on our way to New York did help me ease my first day nerves. Luna dropped me in front of the institute, which looked even more majestic from up close. Before she made her way to her place of work, which was on the other side of the old and preserved Central Park in a 500 story skyscraper, she promised to meet up on our lunch break.

I walked through the thin screens located on both sides of the main entrance and the Link’s voice in my head informed that my work credit had started to transfer into my PBM. It then directed me through the lobby into a cube, which transported me near the top of one the tower shards. An automated voice asked me to wait in a room that apparently was going to be my new office.

The view from the office was truly amazing and I couldn’t help being distracted by the numerous skyscrapers displaying motion pictures on their outer surfaces and Emzes flying around. Thanks to my distraction, I failed to notice a middle-aged man entering the room. He looked to be in his late fifties or early sixties, judging by 26
th
century standards. The man had short square-cut dark hair, a hint of Chinese and Latino facial features, shiny green eyes, a square jaw bone, slender but muscular built and slightly shorter than me.

“Greetings Scott, Professor Chang here. We are designed to work together and clarify late 20
th
and early 21
st
century period.”

“Nice to meet you Professor, I hope to be of some help to you.”

“Not to me, to the science of history and future generations. This week, you are invited to explore the museum below which is part of the institute, before we start reviewing your time line.”

Professor Chang seemed to take his work very seriously. If someone in the 21
st
century would have spoken to me like professor Chang did, I would have been offended by his dry tone of voice, but by now, I was getting used to the way people spoke in the future. Everyone tried to keep the conversation short and sharp and, in a way, to me it felt as though they were being clever and arrogant at the same time. This is why I had to keep an open mind. It wasn’t personal. They just avoided the unnecessary words and due to advanced thinking. Humour as we know it in the 21
st
century, barely existed.

The professor asked his long term assistant, a woman named Aurora, to show me around the museum and disappeared into his study. Aurora was about the same age as the professor and they had been working together for a very long time. She was tall, thin and unlike most I had seen, she had dark blond hair and piercing grey eyes. She rarely smiled and it seemed her personality suited professor Chang’s taste perfectly.

Starting from the beginning of time in the lower floors, where the prehistoric era was located, we carried on upstairs through time until we arrived to the Roman Empire floor. Aurora kept explaining in detail how to experience the journey in time around the museum. Among the various old relics on show, on each pavilion, there was this white plastic wall, similar to the one in the apartment, where the visitor could insert their face and hands into the space provided to experience a virtual journey around the age they were visiting.

Aurora urged me to try it and I rested my face in the gap provided, putting my hands through the gaps below. Suddenly before my eyes appeared a view which I thought was the ancient Rome, judging from the new look of the Coliseum, or the Flavian Amphitheatre as it was called back then. The view in front of me, with people walking by, the dusty roads and the street noises, seemed so real and I couldn’t tell if this was a real view or simply computer generated.

After I had enough watching the dusty streets of Rome, ‘A’ as everyone called Aurora, explained that each view was taken with a 360 degree hidden camera by the person who was sent to the past and assigned to record random events when time travel was allowed. I was shocked to learn what I experienced was real. Being virtually in a place that had existed thousands of years ago and seeing it all in front of your eyes, was something I never thought possible.

Reliving an era long before my existence and having impossible views in front of my eyes filled me with excitement. For the next few hours, I was lost in this impossible trip into the past. Time flew by very fast as I virtually visited several places in time and I didn’t realise it was already time for a break.

Three hours had passed when Ms. A made me aware that I was entitled to a one hour break and I was free to leave the building and wander outside if I wished. A blue light flashed on my Link device followed by a few vibrations on my wrist. Before I had a chance to answer Luna’s voice sounded in my head asking if I had started my break yet.

I jumped up surprised at how she had managed to be in my head without the mind scrambler. “Wait, how are you doing this? Am I not supposed to accept your coms-in request first?” I asked.

“I have set your Link to answer my coms-in automatically when you were asleep in my apartment.” She replied smiling.

“I see, only you failed to tell me.”

“I apologise for forgetting, I can assure you my intention was all but good.”

I smiled at her honest apology and decided to put her mind at ease.

“I know you had good intentions and I trust you with my life. I only asked so I can witness your innocent reaction. I like the way you explain yourself.”

“How can you think in this twisted way? It is so different and bizarre the way you think and it is not funny to play with someone’s feelings like this.” Her voice had a serious note in it and since I couldn’t see her face, I took her reprimand seriously.

“I do apologise. I admit my selfish desires regarding the way you react, but I can assure you it is all done out of love.”

“Never mind, has your break started yet?”

“Yes, I’ve just been released when you intruded my mind.”

“Intruded your mind? Should I apologise for this?” She asked sarcastically.

“Absolutely not, I like your intrusion.” I smiled.

Luna giggled at my answer before instructing me where to wait for her.

“Since you don’t have any knowledge of the city, it is better if you waited for me outside the main entrance of the institute. I am already on my way there. I should be with you in less than two minutes.”

The connection went dead and I made my way outside. As promised, two minutes later she appeared riding on a moving lane towards me. I felt so happy for seeing her again, as my first day at work, although it had been interesting and I had seen a lot of exciting places in different timelines, it hadn’t been a very pleasant one so far. Professor Chang and Ms. A seemed so serious and dedicated to their jobs which made the atmosphere very tense and not much fun at all.