Sunset in 1950 (America x Germany)

Merely a Follower

 (Germany's POV)

 Delight filled my senses before I got up from my seat, and ran out the doors with excitement.

 Outside, I let the sunlight shine on my pale skin, feeling the warmth and life from this perspective. Sunlight wasn't nearly as enjoyable from inside the Domes.

 Here, it was as if the very ground I walked on was alive. Really alive, organic material growing on its own, without hydroponic systems and closed metallic habitats. Here, everything was open, everything was right at my fingertips.

 I ran across the pavement to a patch of dry grass, falling to my knees. The beauty of Earth could not be compared to any planet I have ever visited.

 Why would we not be allowed here? It's beautiful...

They told us Earth was destroyed by debris from a faraway collision of two planets. The rubble finally charted through space and collided with Earth, effectively destroying the planet forever.

 I had a hard time believing that story.

 Historically, Jupiter had been Earth's protector, since its gravitational mass was far greater than the Earth, it would pull in asteroids and debris before it even got close.

 I always wondered if that happened, how did the human race survive at all? They couldn't have had time to leave on a ship, and what about the plant life that was supposedly saved from Earth? Every time I asked the question, I would be told to sit back down and be a more effective student.

 Even if by then, humans had colonies on other planets, why wasn't that taught in any of our History Classes?

 Our society values information. It's how we survive. How we expand and evolve. So why did it feel like there was a veil of secrets? I figured I happened to pull on a thread every time I asked that question when I was young.

 My fingers tugged at the grass. Somehow, the indescribable feeling of knowing you are real and what you are is true came upon me. So common was the feeling of derealization among Jumpers, that everyone learned to treasure these moments. If you didn't, you'd be lost in the thought of endless time periods, endless worlds, and versions of the same galaxy, when we hadn't even begun exploring half of our own.

 Being a Jumper in my experience was the hardest job I've ever done. And it sure as hell wasn't by choice. Getting sent to some unknown destination, not knowing what you'll find, not knowing if you'll ever see your friends and family again. We were disposable, and they knew that. 

 My task every month was to get sent to some hell hole, take data, return, report and repeat.

 Every month, some new timeline, some new planet I had to document and traverse. Constantly being ill-equipped, not being allowed to contact resources until my time was up. 

 It was harsh and inhumane. But it was service, and that had to mean something, right?

 We were soldiers fighting an invisible enemy. Nothing could have prepared me for realizing the enemy was really the suits back home.

 Everyone was expected to do their job, do it well, and go home safely.

 Except Jumpers like me don't always get to the last step.

The thing that was most distasteful about all of my experiences, was that I enjoyed this job. It wasn't simple or glorifying, but it put to use my skills, and there was always something waiting around the corner. Although any day it could be Death around the corner.

 I looked up from my grassy patch, out into the deep blue horizon. The light swayed on the water, glinting gently. No one I knew back home had ever seen an ocean, let alone a tree.