"Aww, Rye." Vance murmured, dressed in ridiculous garb that these people considered average. He forced Eristlew to get him some black hair dye, though; he refused to walk around with his hair dyed crazy colors and makeup on his face. "I'm sorry."
"Do you think Tylenol still exists?"
"I dunno... Maybe. I'll go find Eristlew and ask." As if on cue, he burst into the guest room, his eyes wild.
"You!" He said, pointing at me."You said that your name was Ryelynn. Ryelynn Janes?"
"Yeah." I weakly said.
"I've been researching your histories in the illifs- there these places where we keep these digital collections of pages, you can search data bases or find anything you need on them-"
"Electronic books? We have Kindles and iPads and libraries in our time." Vance replied.
"What's a book? Or an iPad or Kindle? Or a library?" Vance tried explaining what they are, were, with some success, as I moaned out; I felt like I was going to be sick for the fifth time in three hours.
"Do you have any medication? Please, she's ill."
"What's ill?" He asked, glancing at me.
"You know, feeling bad, physically bad."
"People don't do that now. See, after the nuclear warfare, scientists were able to genetically modify our DNA so we could survive in areas with high radiation concentrates, however side effects mean we never do this ill thing you talk about and our hair and skin colors aren't like humans from eons ago."
"Nuclear warfare?" I croaked. "When?"
"Around two thousand three hundred. See, you're why time travel is illegal."
"Me?" I'd dreamed of time travel for a large portion of my life; he had to be mistaken."
"Why yes, see. I researched both your family trees and apparently Lalistarr Janes, your great-granddaughter, becomes a peace advocate who is monumental in the restoration of human kind."
"Our great-granddaughter helps restore the human kind!" Vance explained. "Rye, that's... That's amazing..."
"Our?" Eristlew asked, chuckling. "Our? Mister sir, your great-granddaughter attempts to stop the nuclear ban, the one Lalistarr is trying to enforce, since she's a nuclear physicist and the ban would cease her research."
"Your?" I looked at him. We were together; we couldn't have separate, different great-granddaughters, they had to be the same, I hadn't thought about our future together too much, however I didn't think that this was just a short term thing, I was hoping our relationship would last.
"Ryelynn, I'm sure he's mistaken, I mean we're together. Eristlew, we're together; if it's my great-granddaughter, it'd be her's as well, right?"
"No, don't be foolish. You two aren't supposed to have children together, it's why time travel is banned."
"What... What, no, I mean, you're, we can't be why time travel's banned."
"Yes you are, see, according to the government, two people end up time traveling and they find out that they break up because one of them refuses to move away from their work, so then they go back in time and fix their relationship and end up together, preventing the great-granddaughter who heals society from being born. It's like you two haven't picked up a history book in three centuries."
"We haven't. We're time travelers." Vance, aggravated, spat, holding my hand.
"I think I'm going to be sick..." I clutched my stomach.
"Again with this sick thing, w-"
"Oh gods, oh-" I leaned over, the nausea taking over, as my last meal reappeared on the floor. "I'm so sorry, I just, I my stomach must not be adjusting to the food well."
"Did you get a job as an incubator?" He asked, as Vance's face crumpled up into a look of confusion.
"What did you ask my girlfriend?!"
"Incubator. To bring fourth life? Human pregnancy is too strenuous, so we take the female eeds and then they are impregnated artificially with the mother and father's-"
"She's not an incubator; why would you even say that she's one? How can you tell?"
"The lights."
"Pardon?" I croaked, glancing around. It was true that the lighting was peculiar, but I'd just presumed it was in fashion.
"The bed must sense that you're incubating, so they trigger the lights that are supposed to sooth your illness. As an infant, did you have a raaa?"
"Eristlew," Vance began, "I, Ryelynn and I, we, are from the past; we don't know these future words. Any of them."
"Raaa, a censor put in your skin that responds to the light and beams of speed, they quicken the pregnancy so the fetus grows at nine times the rate of the ancient... That didn't exist in your past, did it?" Both of us shook our head. "Ah, well, what are you going to do? You two cannot have children together."
"I... Vance?" I looked at him, as Eristlew left the room.
"Honey, I think we've altered time."
"Our great-granddaughter helps restore the human kind!" Vance explained. "Rye, that's... That's amazing..."
"Our?" Eristlew asked, chuckling. "Our? Mister sir, your great-granddaughter attempts to stop the nuclear ban, the one Lalistarr is trying to enforce, since she's a nuclear physicist and the ban would cease her research."
"Your?" I looked at him. We were together; we couldn't have separate, different great-granddaughters, they had to be the same, I hadn't thought about our future together too much, however I didn't think that this was just a short term thing, I was hoping our relationship would last.
"Ryelynn, I'm sure he's mistaken, I mean we're together. Eristlew, we're together; if it's my great-granddaughter, it'd be her's as well, right?"
"No, don't be foolish. You two aren't supposed to have children together, it's why time travel is banned."
"What... What, no, I mean, you're, we can't be why time travel's banned."
"Yes you are, see, according to the government, two people end up time traveling and they find out that they break up because one of them refuses to move away from their work, so then they go back in time and fix their relationship and end up together, preventing the great-granddaughter who heals society from being born. It's like you two haven't picked up a history book in three centuries."
"We haven't. We're time travelers." Vance, aggravated, spat, holding my hand.
"I think I'm going to be sick..." I clutched my stomach.
"Again with this sick thing, w-"
"Oh gods, oh-" I leaned over, the nausea taking over, as my last meal reappeared on the floor. "I'm so sorry, I just, I my stomach must not be adjusting to the food well."
"Did you get a job as an incubator?" He asked, as Vance's face crumpled up into a look of confusion.
"What did you ask my girlfriend?!"
"Incubator. To bring fourth life? Human pregnancy is too strenuous, so we take the female eeds and then they are impregnated artificially with the mother and father's-"
"She's not an incubator; why would you even say that she's one? How can you tell?"
"The lights."
"Pardon?" I croaked, glancing around. It was true that the lighting was peculiar, but I'd just presumed it was in fashion.
"The bed must sense that you're incubating, so they trigger the lights that are supposed to sooth your illness. As an infant, did you have a raaa?"
"Eristlew," Vance began, "I, Ryelynn and I, we, are from the past; we don't know these future words. Any of them."
"Raaa, a censor put in your skin that responds to the light and beams of speed, they quicken the pregnancy so the fetus grows at nine times the rate of the ancient... That didn't exist in your past, did it?" Both of us shook our head. "Ah, well, what are you going to do? You two cannot have children together."
"I... Vance?" I looked at him, as Eristlew left the room.
"Honey, I think we've altered time."
Oh dear, altering time is never a good thing... o.O The culture shock between the past and the present is really large, not that I thought it wouldn't be, but reading about your take on it puts it in perspective. I am a little surprised they got rid of libraries in the future, since I would have thought they would embrace knowledge, but I guess it's possible there's just another word for library in the future.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, it isn't; its best to leave things the way they are or risk suffering from great woe...
DeleteWhen I first conjured up the idea of Ryelynn going to the future, I intended for it to be fairly similar to the present and have her be embraced as a hero, for venturing into the future. The more I wrote, the more zany everything became and after her father passed on from old age, I decided to bring Vance back, therefore I scraped my original idea.
It is shocking, however it is possible that there's another word. ;)