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The Universe was coming to an end as the contraction entered its final moments with billions upon billions of stars and planets swept up in the great circular wave that was returning from whence it came.Time and space were shrinking as the small fleet of ships blinked into what was left of reality and floated in the void waiting for the point of no return when everything around them ceased to exist. Waiting for the end of this Universe to escape into the possibility of the next.That life would somehow find a way to go on in another place after the Great Collapse.***The blue moon Phobius rose silently in the Northern sky as the sun Sirius A sank slowly in the South bathing the world of Sirius A Three in a vibrant orange and red glow at the end of the day. My first day and the beginning of my new life. It had been quite the experience. All thirty-seven hours of it.The red pod vibrated slightly as it crossed an intersection on its way to the Northern sector of the metropolis to where Kira lived. I stared out of the transparent canopy watching,*as the world of 4047 sped by around us.Kira sat across from me concentrating on the device in her lap which looked like a small screen of some sort which she used by tapping and swiping her finger across it. The pod was large enough to hold ten people and I was sat in a front seat taking in the sights and sounds of Sirius Prime as crowds of people went about their daily business at ground level.Everyday life was lit by multi-coloured neon with flickering images and holographs everywhere and the whole feel and look of the place reminded me of old school China Town back in the day but with everything dialled out to the max."Let me show you this time, Harry," Kira had said as we left the building after being introduced to various people who were part of the facility where I had been brought back to life, "The world in which we both now live."I glanced over at the girl as the pod passed under a huge video display of a waterfall that must have been nearly twenty stories tall with rainbow colours strobing and streaming inside the driverless vehicle. She was still dressed in her yellow outfit and my eyes wandered over her as she sat there with her legs crossed humming to herself.*What a remarkable woman. Remarkable not because she was a time traveller. Remarkable because of just the way she was. Calm. Self-assured. Confident in the way she dealt with things for someone who looked all of nineteen years old, give or take. I glanced out of the canopy again and wondered how time worked in a place like this. I already understood that each day was thirty-six hours long.But how were those days measured?* Were they grouped into weeks, then months leading to years? How many days in a single month and how many months in a single Sirius year? I rested my head back against the padded seat and sighed. Alright. Enough. Those were questions for another day. It felt like I was in kindergarten starting out again.My attention turned back to the girl. That was another thing. I had to stop thinking of her as a girl even though she still looked like a late spring teenager. The girl was very much a young woman who was definitely easy on the eye. Everything about her seemed to be just right. From the way she looked, to the way she talked in that slightly formal manner which was so damned cute it hurt,*to the confident way she carried herself.And that body.I shifted slightly in my seat as I continued to admire her as she sat there oblivious to the way my basic instinct had ticked over as I rediscovered my inner sexuality beginning to stir. Two thousand years plus was a long ass time to be going without. I smiled to myself wondering what Lucy was thinking right now as my hormones notched up a gear.The woman was truly stunning though to look at. As I stared at her, I wondered how much she already knew about us as it appeared our fates were somehow bound together no matter what. Did she already know what was going to happen to us in the future? But how was that possible? Hadn't she already told me that one of the rules of time travel is that it is impossible to be in a timeline where you already exist or have been? I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Enjoy the moment, Watts. Make the most of whatever time you have with this woman and let the rest take care of itself.Kira was still busy so I eased back in my seat and let my mind wander as the pod continued on its way. That time, long, long ago, when I had listened to that lecture by the Astronomer in residence suddenly came back to me. The things he had said. The theories and possibilities he had talked about had all come true. Time travel was not only possible it was a proven reality to me. Time travellers were indeed walking amongst us as we went about living our daily lives.I lifted my hands and looked at them. They escort izmit were as good as new and I took a deep breath feeling the clean air filling my lungs as I slowly exhaled. The wonders of Forty-first-century medicine. We can rebuild him. We have the technology. It was one thing being as good as new but I would always be a man out of time. That would never change and I didn't want it to. I had been born in the Twentieth century and was only living the rest of my life in the Forty-first. Remembering who I was in my first life was something I never wanted to forget or take for granted.The pod came to a stop at a junction as it waited for a zippy sleek silver centipede-like monorail to pass. It hummed softly as it floated about three feet off the ground as I turned my head to see a crowd of people standing next to what looked like a stall selling food.A small figure suddenly stepped forward peering through the canopy of the pod and I found myself looking at what appeared to be a young female child who was staring at me with curiosity. She was tiny and I gave her a smile and brief wave as she glanced up surprised at the woman I presumed was her Mother standing next to her. Then she looked at me again and waved shyly back pulling down her red hat over her bald dark grey head with her huge black eyes shining in the late evening sunshine.Look at you. Aren't you the most amazing thing on a day that had been full of amazing things. I winked at her and her darkish brown beak opened wide into what I imagined was a smile as the pod continued on its journey.****We were back inside the same building where I awoke and Kira had introduced me to an older man with thick, swept-back grey hair called Dako San who was head of the team that looked after her time machine. There were a number of others in the room in what I presumed was a debriefing and I found myself the centre of attention. This Dako San shook my hand enthusiastically and gave me a hug before he stepped back to look me up and down. At least handshakes were still a thing."Pash an tow, Kira!", he grinned as they both looked at me, "Pash an tow!"The girl kissed him on his weathered cheek and ruffled his hair. "Nee dey seeah," she whispered back, "Tuvok poe Einglish tow."Dako San slapped his forehead and reached behind his right ear. "Nee yoh tey forgetting!" he said, looking embarrassed, "Wait. Is this the correct version linguistically?" he asked Kira who nodded, "There have been so many changes to the base language over the centuries. Hello, Harry Watts. Can you be understanding me now?""Sure, yes," I nodded as he indicated the three of us should sit down.He turned to Kira who was sat on one end of the black sofa with me in the middle. "Any adverse reactions?" he asked her, "Temporal lapses, motor function problems or memory issues?"Kira shook her head. "No, nothing that I can see. Though he has only been awake for less than three standard hours."The man nodded and looked me up and down like I was a prize poodle. "Have you started basic induction yet?""No, not yet. Not properly," said Kira, "I took him out onto the platform for his first exo and we went for a," She hesitated as she glanced at me, "Little walk so he could get used to the low-gee atmospherics and let him see the Metropolis for himself."I smiled as I felt Kira slip her hand in mine. I glanced at her and our eyes met for a moment before she looked down shyly and blushed. Those words she had said to me as we danced together on the wind meant everything. That she felt the same for me as I had always felt for her filled me with so many emotions that I could hardly speak as we had stepped back onto the platform.Dako San nodded. "The times you are in are so very different now. The technological, scientific and social advances are the most obvious things you will have to learn as you come to terms with life in this millennia. Kira and your guide will help with that I'm sure. I can only imagine how all this must seem to you, Harry. Over two thousand years is quite the trip."Kira turned her head suddenly as if something had distracted her. "Please excuse me," she said, getting to her feet, "Kul Dak has arrived and is waiting in the ready room," She nodded to both of us and made her way to the door that appeared in the far wall as everyone in the room turned to her and bowed their heads as she passed them which seemed slightly odd."Kira," said the old man as she was about to leave, "Have you told him about the others?"She shook her head. "No, Dako San," she smiled, "Not yet."He turned back to look at me. "Ohhhhh," he grinned, "Now this should be quite the experience for you, Harry. You are about to have answered one of your centuries greatest questions."Really?*And what the hell question was that?***So this Kul Dak turned out to be over seven feet tall.The izmit escort fact that he looked like a giant turtle without a shell and was wearing a dark red sleeveless Arab like Thobe, black ribbed pants with matching boots was probably reason enough for me to stand there like an idiot staring, as this thing walked into the room with Kira.There was a murmur,*as the other people around us turned to watch as Kira brought the creature over so we could be introduced. They had probably realized what a momentous event it was for me and were curious to see how I would react."Kul Dak," she began, "This is the Holocene extraction. Original Earth. Early Twentieth Century homo sapien. Designated Harry Watts," She turned to me with raised eyebrows and I could see how much she was enjoying the look on my face, "Harry Watts, this is Kul Dak of the Seventh Vizor Era and one of the leading experts in temporal research at this facility."The giant turtle leaned forward so that I could see my reflection in his round expressionless eyes. There were two slots where his nose should be and his mouth was a fierce looking dark brown hooked beak that grunted when he looked at me for the first time.Alright. Stay calm. This is the new normal. Giant fucking turtles. What do I do now? Shake his claw? It felt like the first day at ET 101 class. So we really weren't alone after all in the grand scheme of things. And if there was one there must be countless others out there amongst the stars.* I wondered when our first real close encounter of the third kind had finally happened. That must have been quite the moment in human history."Uh," I said as I slowly lifted my right hand. But there was no need for the creature reached across his broad chest with his right arm and thumped his three-fingered claw on his left breastplate as he bowed his huge head. I glanced at the old man who nodded. Mimicking his greeting, I did the same and stepped back slightly as the turtle straightened up.*The Vizorian looked down at me and I could hear the rumble in his chest as he began to speak. "The light is all mine, Harry Watts," he said with his voice sounding faintly bombastic and deep, "That you are here with us and safe is an unlimited pleasure. We have time enough to speak of the things between us."Giant talking turtles. Now, this was going to take some getting used to. God help me if an extraterrestrial walked into the room looking like something out of the Muppets or a Looney Tunes cartoon. I was beginning to feel like I was in an episode of the Jetsons.*It was then a tall angular looking man with prominent cheekbones, a hooked nose, and dark purplish hair shaven at the sides came into the room. "Please," he said out loud, "We are ready to conduct the initial debrief for this operation. If you would follow me."The assembled group of what I imagined to be support staff and technicians got to their feet and began to leave the room. Kira waited until everyone was gone as she hugged my shoulder and whispered in my ear. "Everything is fine," she promised, "This is more a technical session than anything else. Lucy will be the one who does the personal debrief once she is able to provide a range of data. Once this is over, we can go home.""Home?"She nodded. "Hmm huh," she smiled, "To the place where I live.""I'm not to stay here?" I asked her sounding surprised. Wasn't I going to be put in some sort of quarantine just in case I was full of bugs or something?*Kira seemed puzzled. "Why would you stay here when you can stay with me?"I shrugged. "I just imagined that would be the sort of thing that would happen. You know, rules and regulation stuff."The girl took my hand as she came closer to look up at me. "Where I go you go," she whispered as she kissed me on the lips, "And where you go I go. Always remember that."****The deep purple velvet over Sirius Alpha Three shimmered and sparkled with trillions of stars as we stood outside her home looking up at the night sky."Come closer," she told me as she turned to the East and pointed to a specific point in space above us. I put my face close to hers and looked along the line of her arm to where her finger was pointing, "The third star in that group. The faintest at upper right," she whispered, "Sol Prime. And original Earth."The bright yellow light around which my pale blue dot circled. If ever anyone needed a hitchhikers guide to the galaxy right now it was yours truly. The history of everything so far was going to be one helluva bedtime read. I glanced at Kira who was looking at me with a smile on her pretty face."What?" I smiled back.She shook her head. "It's nothing really," she said as she took my hand and we walked back towards her home, "When I was a young girl, I always wondered what it would be like to finally meet you. All I had were vague izmit kendi evi olan escort impressions of what you were like growing up. Then I found a photo of you. You must have been about fourteen or so. I found it in a huge data stream collated from that year and I came across it by accident during my research. I think it was taken from your school yearbook. I*must have been about ten back then. I guess that moment was when I realized what I had been told what was going to happen to me was true."Her home was a white oyster on top of a lush reddish green hill with no doors or windows and a view that took the breath away over a short promenade looking out across the bluest sea green sea.Kira let go of my hand and turned to me as we walked through the outside wall into what looked like the main room of the house. Warm scarlet colours of different shades moved across all four walls with the reddish glow cast on familiar furniture arranged sparsely around the room. A large white sofa, two smaller chairs, a centre table with various objects on top and facing what appeared to be a large off-white screen of some sort where colours of every type slowly rotated like a psychedelic old-time screen saver."Please," she said, indicating a seat.I sat down and looked around the room. There was this strange sense of complete calm with the moving colours adding to the easy mood and I could hear the soft sounds of waves washing upon the shore with the wind blowing through the trees around us. I could feel myself relaxing and the intensity of what I had gone through finally beginning to fade away."Alright?" she asked as she sat on the sofa beside me, "Today was a very special day for all of us, Harry. No matter where and when we came from."I nodded. So this was home sweet home from now on. I wondered what the kitchen and bathroom would be like as Kira shrugged off her dull black coat to leave her sitting there in her pale yellow outfit."Hungry?" she asked brightly.I suddenly realized that I hadn't eaten a thing since I came back. And yet I didn't feel all that hungry at all. I put my hand on my stomach and looked at the woman.She could see what was on my mind. "Ah," she said, "That was Lucy. She would make sure that your system was supplied with the correct amount of supplements and properly hydrated when you were in your coma and regulate your initial intake once you began to awaken. You should be able to accept solid food by now. Just tell Kiwo what you want.""Kiwo?" Who the heck was Kiwo?"Hello, Kiwo," said Kira, "Home again. Home again. Jiggidy Jig."In the far corner of the room, a light came on. A moment later, something began to flicker under the light and take shape until it looked like a small girl who was about four foot tall. Except it wasn't really a girl. It was some sort of life-like doll that looked like a girl with wavy shoulder-length dark hair who was wearing an all blue outfit with a round necked top, loose skirt, blue-stockinged legs, and matching shoes. I glanced at Kira who sat forward on the sofa."Harry," she said by way of introduction, "This is Kiwo. She is to me what Lucy is to you. Kiwo is my personal sim who takes care of everything for me when I am not home. Come here Kiwo and say hello to our new guest."I watched as the sim stepped out from under the light and walked over to where we were sitting. It was the strangest thing to look at. As she came closer, I realized she wasn't real, in a physical sense but more like a hologram created to look like a person as she stood in front of me where she gave me a smile."Hello, Kiwo," I said.The sim turned to Kira. "Is this the mission?" she asked.Kira glanced at me and blushed. "All in good time, Kiwo. He will be living with us from now on so you need to update your permissions as I want him to have the same access rights as I have with you. Download his current status bio from Comtec central and encrypt the data with user-only access."The tiny figure nodded and turned to me. "Hello, Harry," it said, "We shall be the best of friends in no time. I see you've had a very interesting life. I shall have a chat with Lucy about you when appropriate. Do you wish to eat?""I guess," I said hesitantly as Kira looked on, "Is there a menu?"The woman who came across time to save me started to laugh and even the robot girl thing looked amused as I sat there feeling very much like a man out of time.***So my first proper meal in the Forty-first century was a large double cheeseburger and fries with a coke to wash it all down with. At least it looked like it was. Kira had the same and sat licking her fingers clean as I watched Kiwo humming to herself in the far corner of the room."It's a secret," said Kira before I could ask her about our meal and how it looked and tasted exactly like I remembered. A meal that the sim had conjured up out of thin air, "Some things just never change no matter what. Soup is still soup. Bread is still bread," she explained, "And a double cheeseburger and fries with coke will always be double cheeseburger and fries with coke. They're just cooked* a little differently these days."