Fast Forward

Chapter 3

And, of course, I didn’t believe her. How could I? I was 50 years old and when you get to 50 you realize that there are many things that simply are not going to change no matter what. Accidental time-travel doesn’t happen. So that means that everything that I’ve seen up to that point simply does not exist.

So, where was I? My eyes told me that I was sitting at a table speaking to a pretty young woman about things that were impossible. Not too long ago I was dying in my car. That made more sense even though I didn’t like the thought that I was dying. But it did make more sense. I was in my car with only seconds to live. My mind must have created all this so that I wouldn’t have to witness my own death. I’ve always marveled at the powers of the human mind and this simply was off the charts in what I thought was possible. I sniffed the air around me trying to pick up the scent of burning flesh, gasoline or smoke. But I smelled nothing. I layed my hands out on the table, palms down, trying to feel the leather and plastic in my car, but I only felt the wood texture in the table on my finger tips. I closed my eyes and tried to listen for the sounds of a fire, traffic, police or even my own screaming. I only heard my heartbeat and my breathing. I tried to see myself in my car no matter how horrible the scene might be. I opened my eyes. She was still there.

“What is your name?”, I asked.

“Aun Swan”, she said.

“Nice to meet you Ms. Swan”, I said. “I’m Calvin James and I have no idea how I got here”.

“From what I can tell, you are telling the truth”, Aun said. “And I have no idea how you got here either.”

She got up and unchained me and walked me out the door.

“Where are we going?”, I asked.

“We have an open border policy in the United States”, Aun said. “You’ll be free to go after we process you downstairs. The only reason you were brought were was because we thought you were a terrorist”.

“You mean a Conservative terrorist?”, I asked.

She shook her head, “Yes, Conservatives were destructive in your time and in ours. We mean them no harm and yet…”. She shrugged.

“I understand”, I said remembering the days when they shut down the government and when they refused stricter gun laws.

“Look…”, I said realizing something, “I was married…I had children”.

“You’ll be processed downstairs. I’ll make a few checks to see if we can find any family that would be interested in meeting you and we’ll set you up with your own home”.

“I’m going to get a house?”, I asked.

“Housing is free in the United States”, she said smiling. “You’ll find that food is free, housing is free, transportation is free, college education is free and you are free to do what you want.”

I was shocked. Free housing? Free food and free transportation? “We did it”, I said to no one in particular.

She took me downstairs and there was countless forms to fill out. Most of them didn’t make any sense but the people there guided me through each one.

“Wait a second”, I asked the young man helping me. “If this is 2115, where are the computers? I would think that we should be able to just talk into a computer at this point instead of having to write everything down.”

“We still have computers”, he said. “Just not here”.

“Why not?”, I asked.

“Do you want me to explain the last 100 years or do you want to finish all this paperwork?”, he asked.

I sighed and continued. Hours later I was finally finished. I was led outside and I saw Aun.

“Aun!”, I waved at her smiling.

She waved back and walked over to me. “This is all yours, Mr. James”, she handed me a briefcase and some keys. “You don’t have an implant yet, so you’ll find a cell phone in the briefcase. The keys are to your new home and your new car”, she said pointing to a small black bubble on the side of the road.

“Hmmm…do I know how to drive a car from 2115?”, I asked.

“No one drives cars anymore, Mr. James”, she said.

“Ah”, I said understanding.

“Just go home, rest, get some sleep and I’ll stop by tomorrow”, she said.

“What about my family?”, I asked.

“Yes”, she said looking at the briefcase, “You’ll find the information you are looking for in there.”

“Ah”, I said again.

“See you tomorrow”, she said walking away.

“Okay”, I said.

And then I was finally alone. I wasn’t in my car in 2015 dying. I was standing on the outside of a hospital in 2115 about to get into my bubble car. I looked up and saw the sun was sitting. I noticed that there weren’t many lights and I was downtown. I looked up and down the street and noticed that I didn’t see any flashy ads or billboards. Did they still have marketing in the future, I wondered. Did capitalism survive? Or is there a shortage of electricity? I wasn’t sure, but I was ready to head to my new home.

I walked over to my car and suddenly the front of it unfolded allowing me to walk into it and sit down. The front then folded back over my head.

“Mr. James”, a gentle voice rang out in the car, “I am your car and I’ll take you home.”

“How do you know my name and how do you know where I live”, I said. I didn’t even know where I lived.

“I’m your car”, it said. “Why wouldn’t I know who you are or where you live?”. It then pulled out into the road and swiftly carried me away from the hospital.

I suppose it was a silly question.