Temporal Exploring 101 - Deep Future

IV.48 A moment in time

I almost did not recognize her.

It was a warm late summer afternoon. Natty and I were strolling through the Arlesten town center when I noticed her standing by the fountain, watching us approach.

She looked different from when we had last seen her, in a way that was hard to define. More relaxed, perhaps.

"Brianna?" I asked. "Brianna Vercours?"

The woman smiled. "Catherine, and Natalie. It is good to see you again."

"It is good to see you, Brianna," Natty replied. She squinted. "You look different," she added, putting into words my first impression.

"Three years have passed since we met," Brianna told us. "For me, that is."

"And a mere five days for us," I retorted. "But tell us, what brings you here? Did everything turn out as you hoped it would?"

"I would like to show the two of you something," the woman explained. "Not here, though. I would invite you to visit me and perhaps stay for a day or two." She smiled. "I promise you will return in time to catch the bus back to your school."

"Sure, we are game," Natty said, speaking for both of us.

Taking care to be out of sight of the tourists and other late afternoon promenaders, the three of us stepped behind a small delivery van. Brianna tapped a button on what could have been mistaken for a wristwatch but on closer inspection appeared to be a miniaturized ansible. A faint blue light engulfed us.

The next instant, we found ourselves on a large bridge with a nice view of the Eiffel tower.

I heard Natty whisper, "Oh my."

Larissa Montreve was standing next to us.

"Natalie, Catherine," she greeted us. "We thought you might like to see Paris again."

"Larissa. It's good to see you again." I looked around in wonder. "Is this your New Paris then, or perhaps Paris-reborn?"

"We don't call it that," she replied. "For us, it is Paris. Just Paris, the City of Light."

"Did you rebuild all your Cities in less than three years time, then?" Natty inquired.

Brianna laughed. "Not completely, yet. But as you can see, we made a good start."

"So your migration to the deep future succeeded." I grinned happily. "But what happened with the autarchy? Did they cooperate with you?"

"Not exactly." Larissa smiled grimly. "The autarchy ... well, suffice it to say that it collapsed."

"Good," Natty remarked. "That means that I am safe from them, at least."

"We have reserved a table in that little restaurant, over there." Brianna pointed. "There are quite a few people who are looking forward to talk to you. Let's slowly walk there, shall we?"

The restaurant in question turned out to be a fancy place. We found Celia Graham and Xavier Torc seated at table large enough to accommodate twelve or fifteen people. As we approached they rose to greet us.

"Victor would have liked to be here too, but he had other obligations,"  Larissa told us. "He will try to catch up with you tomorrow."

Natty smirked. "Yeah, I am sure he will."

"Please don't be too harsh on him, Natalie," Brianna said. "I'll admit he behaved rudely when you met him. But he was two years younger than you at that time, and also a bit jealous of you."