Chapter Six: The World's Fair

Chapter Six: The World's Fair

“I can’t believe how big this place is.” Nick commented. “Just flying over it was impressive!”

The World's Fair was the size of a small city; and it shone. It didn’t look real. The buildings were all artistic and futuristic. Like everywhere else, there were trees and grass in among them, like the city had emerged naturally from the trees and the fields of grass and rolling hills.

In the distance, he could see towers that reached into the sky, with curved lines and sweeping plazas at their base. They weren’t made of steel and chrome like back in New York. These towers were made of something that looked like shining ivory and glass. Every level of the towers seemed to be open to the sun. He could see living things in neat gardens along every tower. There were pathways that went over and above the ground level buildings; and he could see monorails and factories that produced no pollution.

It was as though the city, and the people in it had sprung forth from the natural world. Everything was green and growing and healthy. Things were flying in and out of the towers with rotors and turbines that didn't scream loud mechanical sounds. Looking to the distance he could see old Windmills and paddocks with animals, but in closer to town he could see vehicles rolling up and down streets, alongside the people on foot. Hugh had never seen any place like it before, but it felt like someone had created a Futurist dream of Camelot.

“The World’s Fair has increased dramatically in size over the years.” Kasumi told the brothers. “In fact, my friends tell me that it will soon keep going, all year round, with the Exhibits coming and going. The Expo’s are over there, and the Demo’s are to the southern side.”

“Demo’s?”

“Traditionally, these places are about the future. Advances in technology, architecture, things like that. But nowadays, the Fair also includes just as much about the past. Animal husbandry, bushcraft, home repair… All the skills that the modern world lost.”

“Why would you put something like that in the World’s Fair?” Nick was honestly confused.

“We have to look at the Past too, Nick.” Hugh told him seriously. “It's actually more important than the future for now.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re the past too. Even before A-Day, we were gone for decades, and the world changed more in that last hundred years than in the thousand before it. Even if we never look back, the world’s filling up with people from long before us, and I would like to have some common ground.”

“Fair enough.”

~~/*\~~

Their Tour was to begin the next day, with introductions made later that afternoon. Everyone was allowed to make their own way, and do some exploring on their own.

Like most communities, it had living spaces, worship centers, dining areas…

“Fewer houses.” Hugh observed. “That building over there? It looks like a dormitory.”

“I think it is.” Nick agreed. “It makes sense. People who make a place like this would live in their laboratories more than their homes.” He was looking over at a large marble statue. It was the size of a small building, and was elaborately carved to look like an opened view of Noah’s Ark. It had to be twenty feet long on each side, but unlike the real ark the sides were open, so that you could see inside.

Hugh noticed his brother’s fascination and stepped back with a slight smile. “I’ll… meet you later for lunch?”

Nick nodded his agreement and wandered over. There were several benches, set around the sculpture in an octagon, with a walking path around that. Nick made a slow circle around the statue. The detail was incredible. He could see individual animals and birds inside the ark. The sculpture was twenty feet long, and yet some of the details were the size of a pin’s head.

“You’re new.” A voice observed.

Nick turned, to see a man with a beard and a leather-bound sketchbook reclining on one of the benches. Nick couldn’t really tell how old anyone was any more, but this man seemed like he could be a lot older than he appeared. Nick was one of the youngest adults around, and he looked like a grandfather.

“Not that New, but if you mean I haven’t… declared, then you’re right.” Nick admitted.

“That is obvious from the gray.” The man said without pity or judgment. “But I meant here. You’re new here at the Expo.”

“Does it show?”

“Your expression.” The bearded man nodded. “You seemed positively awestruck by the sculpture.”

“It’s amazing!”

“It is… the product of patience.” The Man crooned. “All precious things are. Even Diamonds are merely the product of time.” He turned to a new page in his sketchbook, and the pen started flying across the page in quick small stokes. “But in time, you will come to see, that there is nothing truly remarkable about this sculpture. The standards of what is wondrous has been raised enough.”

“Time… is difficult for me to accept.” Nick admitted. “I died young.”

“I was old.” The Man grinned. “Do not decry the passage of decades. They are a privilege long denied to many.” His pen was moving like a near blur. “There is an old tale. A King asks a Shepard Boy: How long is eternity? The Shepard Boy says, ‘In the hinterlands of Pommerania, there is a mountain made of the hardest diamond. It's one hour deep into the earth, one hour up toward the sky, one hour long and one hour wide. To this mountain comes a little bird, once every hundred years, to sharpen its beak. And when this bird has worn away the whole mountain, the first second of eternity has passed’."

Nick nodded, to show he was listening.

“When I heard that tale for the first time, I asked myself: What was the bird trying to sculpt?”

Nick laughed, finding that funny. He turned back to the sculpture. Whoever had carved it had also included detail as careful as the paneling of the wood, the mane of the lion, the eyes of every creature. “You carved this, didn’t you?”

“I did.” The Man nodded.

“Why the Ark?”

“The Ark was the first time that Jehovah asked man to build something. He had told them to be fruitful, told them to avoid the tree, or to leave Eden. But he had never given them a blueprint to follow before. The first assignment was something to save all living things.” The Man said. “God hasn’t given us a blueprint to follow now, but the spark is still the same. To build a world to guide the masses into safety. The spark of imagination.”

Nick chuckled. “Never thought of it like that.” He came around the sculpture, but his new friend was gone. On the bench was a sketch of Nick himself, gazing into the detail of the sculpture.

~~/*\~~

The Tour Group assembled that evening after dinner. The room they were in was a small auditorium, just the right size for them. The walls were polished smooth white. It felt a little like a movie theater, but there was no screen.

Then their guide came in, taking in the whole room with a glance.

Nick nudged his brother. “That’s him. The guy with the sketchbook!”

“Good morning. I’m your guide this week.” The man said grandly. “There are fifteen people here with my rank, and we cycle the duties as Tour Guide, in between time on our projects. The Expo is open to the public, but only five groups per year come here with the kind of Access that you will have for the next six days. In the early years of the World’s Fair Reborn, there was some controversy. Some wondered if we would bother with technology at all in the New World. The answer, of course, was that while Technology had sucked up much from the world’s limited resources, it had also raised the standard of living. As with everything in the OS, this was skewed towards profit and personal glory, but no longer. The Society was quick to make use of every form of technology, especially in the fields of translation, communication, transportation, and logistics.”

As he spoke, the room dimmed, and then lit up. The walls were covered in an impressive array of images from all across the timeline. Some paintings, some recordings, some videos, in varying degrees of quality. It was a timelapse of the entire modern world, with a focus on the ways that the Society had made use of emerging trends to reach more people with their message.

“Every age has it’s Marvels. Why not this one?”

There was a light round of applause at that. Hugh noted that Nick was applauding a little louder than everyone.

“The World’s Fair began in France, in the 1800’s.” Their Tour Guide told them, and Hugh started to pick up a trace of a slight accent. “It was originally a way of showcasing national pride, and eventually expanded to include continental Europe, before turning into a Cultural Exchange, of sorts. With the dawn of the Industrial Age, the tone of the programs changed, to demonstrate technological leaps and wonders, as a way of introducing the general public to the latest innovations. In 1889, the Paris World’s Fair introduced the world to the Eiffel Tower. In 1939, the New York’s World’s Fair introduced Broadcast television. After A-Day, the original founders of the major World’s Fair’s were among the first non-Witness brothers to be returned, all within a month of each other. They believed it was for this purpose, to rebuild the Expo. With a permanent base here in California, exhibits come and go, but the Expo is open all year round. It has become a place that crosses the whole spectrum of culture, language, technology and time. At some point, it is our hope that everyone in the world will take this tour, and see it for what we’re trying to make: A condensed version of all human history, past and future.” Their Guide switched off the projection. “So, brothers and sisters, welcome to the World’s Fair.”

The audience applauded.

The Guide smiled. “I can see some of you looking at me awkwardly, so let’s get this out of the way. My name is Leonardo Da Vinci.”

Those that hadn’t recognized him murmured loudly.

He smirked. “To answer the first questions that everyone asks: Yes, I am. No, I’m not mocking you, and I was thrilled to see the world of the future.”

Polite chuckle.

“My… history with the Churches of days long past is both complicated and well known. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to see them brought low, and humbled to learn that history had remembered my work in some way. In OS, a legacy was the prize to be sought for, but in truth it was vanity. Even achieved in full, it could never be enjoyed. Not properly. It’s humbling to know that almost a thousand years had remembered my name, but I would gladly have traded posthumous fame to be a part of the future I could only imagine. And that is the wonder of this Wonderful New World that we find ourselves in. A Living Legacy. Something that no other time in history has ever offered. In my exploration of the modern age, I found tell of men such as me. Men who dreamed a world that was better than the one they lived with. I look forward to meeting them all. The Grace and Generosity of the Lord has gifted us not only with eternal life, but eternal horizons, and for someone who spent his entire life teasing his imagination into producing wonders; this is more than an answer to any prayer.”

There was a firm rumble of agreement.

“So, Brothers and Sisters, I ask you to keep your eyes open, and your imaginations alert. If there is something here that you could make better, then make it. If there is something you wish was here, but you can’t find it, then make it. The man who dreamed of Submarines and Aircraft is telling you so: If you can dream it, you can do it. And if it takes you a thousand years, it’s still just a drop in the bucket Jehovah God has given you.”

Leonardo clapped his hands together, loud enough to make everyone jump. “Tomorrow, we begin. Enjoy your stay!”

~~/*\~~

The Expo included a hotel for the ‘All Access’ guests, which included Hugh, Kasumi and Nick.

From the balcony, it was almost like looking out over a fairground. Tents, stalls, plenty of foot traffic. The fair was laid out in an almost geometric pattern. It was elegant, giving as many people as much access to as many different things as possible. There was a tram system, though Hugh wasn’t quite sure how it was powered. The permanent buildings had the same distinctive mixture of living things and gleaming construction that was all too common in towers now, as though they were trying to make a nature preserve and a skyscraper in one building.

But unlike other places, this one had things he couldn’t quite identify woven into the streets. New ideas were being born here, and they were taking their first steps. It was like a mixture of Camelot and Disneyworld.

Nick was immediately in love with it, and Hugh knew they’d found something that would get through to him, more than a hundred bible studies or a dozen conventions ever could.

“Kas, have I said thank you for this?” Hugh said quietly.

She smirked. “I owed you one, after taking over with Isobel. Besides, we’re trying to get through to your brother. I recall, from experience, how much effort it can take to get through to one of the Alman boys.”

Hugh rolled his eyes. “So. Five days.”

“Five days.” Kasumi agreed. “If we can’t convince him by then, I’m out of ideas.”

~~/*\~~

“We begin our tour with breakfast.” Leonardo explained. “Everything you see here was produced and grown In-House. You will have noticed on your way in that we do have some areas where we showcase Lost Skills, but that’s not where our food production comes from.”

Hugh listened with half an ear as they looked at the buffet. Most of the regular fruits, vegetables and foodstuffs were there, but there were also things he couldn’t hope to identify. There was something that could almost have been a blueberry, except it was the size of a grapefruit. An apple that peeled like a banana. An orange with an edible peel.

“Help yourself, you’ll find all sorts of flavors, both familiar and unique.” Their Guide told them. “Our people here are experimenting with cross-breeding. One team has already developed a fruit tree that can grow four different species of fruit at once. Now, that team is looking into increasing the output, and even creating entirely new species, some of which you have here. Try the Klutan-Fruit. You’re the first people ever to be served Klutan slices. It’s named for the three people who bred it. They couldn’t agree on a name, so they just put their initials together.”

Hugh laughed a little at the story and took a slice of the fruit. It was sweet and juicy and he’d never tasted anything like it before.

“Next course includes bacon.” Leonardo grinned. “I can see the shocked looks on your faces. Don’t worry, we’re all above board here.”

The doors to the kitchens swung open, and sure enough, the people coming out brought trays of new food, including one of what looked almost like actual bacon. Hugh hadn’t eaten meat in a while. There hadn’t been any animals slaughtered for food or hunting in years.

“When OS came to it’s climax, the world’s ecology was in ruins. There was enough food for everyone, but an awful lot of it was being used to fatten up cattle. Meat became the central part of the diet for many people, and as a result, the corn and grains fed to the cattle was taken away from people, and millions starved.” Leonardo picked up a slice of bacon. “So one of our people here had an idea: What if we could ‘grow’ meat, instead of having to raise and slaughter cattle?”

Intrigued, Hugh took a bite of the bacon and promptly put it down again. It had been decades since he had eaten meat, but he knew it wasn’t meant to be so… squishy.

“Obviously, we’re not even close to there yet.” Leonardo said with a smug grin. “But if you look at it under a microscope, it’s meat. What’s left is to make it edible, in the same way the original was. We have centuries of resurrected ones ahead of us, and they’ll be hungry.”

Polite laughter.

~~/*\~~

The Next stop on the tour was a large transparent dome, easily fifteen stories high. And inside it was a garden, full of trees. It was like a park, but they knew it was a working arboretum.

“You tried the fruits this morning. This is where they came from. OS worked on engineering plants, and never quite grasped what they were reaching for. But making hybrid plants is a very old process, thanks to the technique of Grafting. We’ve been able to take that up to the next level here, with a lot of work and some ingenious thinking. Look closer, and you’ll see.”

Hugh did so and laughed. The fruit tree was a chimera. The trunk split off into three main branches that split off into smaller branches as normal, but one side had oranges growing, another had grapefruit. On the same tree.

“Those fruits, by the way, are just like the kind you grow on regular trees. Grafting one fruit tree onto another often gives you something partway between the two. If we can figure out how to turn this into a sapling, you can get all your fruits from a single tree instead of four.” Their guide told them. “Looking around the Expo, you may notice there are actual paper notebooks. Deforestation was a major problem in OS, but we’re working on that too, breeding trees with specialized bark. Imagine trees that grew thin, light bark that makes great paper, and grows it fast enough that we have to harvest the paper off it, the same way we shear sheep for usable wool.”

There was just such a tree being shown over to the side. Bark was peeled off like a banana peel and cut to size. Someone was writing on it within thirty seconds of it being on the tree. But the tree was wilting badly, drooping.

“Obviously, it’s not nearly ready.” Their guide told them. “But it’s not totally necessary yet. Restoration and reforestation is well ahead of schedule. A wiser, more conservative method of logging has ensured that we’ll never make those mistakes again, but what you’ve seen so far today is basically the whole Expo’s philosophy in a nutshell. We use the natural skills and resources, and combine them with innovations of the modern age, and then do the whole thing with a view to eternity and a harmony with the rest of the world that no other time in the industrial age has ever considered. That’s what we do here.”

~~/*\~~

The Tour continued at a relatively sedate pace. It was understood that there was an awful lot to see, and there was no chance that they would see it all in the week that they had a tour guide for. But nevertheless, they walked at a relaxed pace, not even trying to get the whole picture. They’d get the chance to come again, and almost all of what was being worked on would be available to the public if they got it working perfectly.

The Tour split up into smaller groups on various days, though Hugh made sure to keep Nick and Kasumi with him wherever possible. It wasn’t just new, futuristic ideas. They also got a close understanding of how a flour mill worked, or a fence made without wire. Iron Mongering was also part of the tour, upgraded with modern safety rules. The people here may have been protected, but there was no reason to be reckless.

Meals were served in the common areas. The employees and the guests ate the same rations, from the same sources. After seeing the unusual farms and orchards, Hugh had to admit he was curious to see the kitchens.

~~/*\~~

“Here at the Expo, we have the most advanced kitchen in the world.” Their guide told them. “And I’ll tell you this right now: It’s not for the public. Nobody wants to see that part of our world become the norm. Even the people inventing these things doesn’t want to see the human race all have access to this on a day-to-day basis. Can anyone guess why?”

The old answers would have been profit or superiority. But that wasn’t the case any more, and so nobody said anything.

“The reason is longevity.” Leonardo explained simply. “A cast iron pot? It’s still good, and every bit as practical, even a century after being made. It’s big and heavy and not always easy to carry or clean, but for a kitchen that will still be running in a thousand years, it is the single most efficient way of making dinner.” He gestured over at the screen, which lit up with a brief montage of all the sorts of appliances that had been invented over the years. “In the last century before A-Day, everything was disposable. Consider something as simple as carpet. Before that last century, floors were usually stone or hardwood, with a rug or a mat. Then carpets became the style. Warm, soft, comfortable… disposable. Consider the carpet you may have had in your OS homes. Now imagine it a century older. Faded, worn through… ugly. In OS, that wasn’t an issue. Because you often moved to a new house long before it got that bad. The house owner would look around, see what needed to be replaced, and then the new tenant or owner came in with a new carpet. But now we live in homes that we own, and may have to be comfortable with for centuries. So suddenly, carpet becomes a high maintenance design choice.”

Hugh heard Nick snort. He had never seen it that way.

“Now consider keeping your carpet clean. Before carpets became the norm, you polished a wooden floor, or swept it out. When we shifted to carpets, a broom was pointless. And then someone invented a vacuum cleaner. Powerful, adaptable… disposable. A vacuum broke down, and it was cheaper and easier to get a new one than to replace one. As people grew old and died, their garbage still piled up. Imagine living forever, and everyone living forever throwing away every modern appliance they had and replacing it every ten years? How long until the piles of abandoned, disposable convenience grew too heavy?”

There was a rumble of agreement at that.

“So, over the course of a century, let alone a millennium, let alone eternity, a broom and a cast iron pot become far more efficient and useful than any modern toy like a microwave oven or vacuum cleaner ever could be.”

Hugh checked Nick. His brother looked stunned at the realization.

“So here we are, looking for ways to marry new ideas to eternal life in a practical way.” Leonardo finished. “There will be a learning curve. It won’t always be easy; and it’s going to take a lot of completely original thought. But if there was ever a time to break with the old ways of thinking, its these thousand years.” He smiled warmly. “So, brothers and sisters, welcome to the World’s Fair Expo.”

Everyone applauded, thrilled with the new thoughts.

~~/*\~~

“What are you thinking?” Hugh asked Nick as they made their way out.

“I’ve seen samples of literature that the brothers had back in the day. What little of it survived the days leading up to A-Day.” Nick said. “Every one of those artist renditions of this world? They all had limited technology in them. A house, a patio, a big pile of fruit and people smiling with their families… The most advanced technology in those pictures were the instruments they played, and I just realized why. It’s not because technology is bad, or unwanted. It’s because we have to find a whole new way to engineer it.”

Hugh nodded. “When the war started, the Powers That Be said that they were going to build fifty thousand airplanes for the effort. The ended up with a hundred thousand. But now we live in a world where you can’t do that. The Age of the Disposable Anything is over.”

Nick nodded. “I’m oddly okay with that. I remember getting food in the markets and thinking that it’d be so much easier if we could just get a plastic bag, or even a paper one. Buy a cake instead of ingredients. But the days of throwing things in the bin are over.”

Hugh said nothing, but he started to smile, just a little.

“And that was the point of bringing me here, wasn't it?” Nick tried to keep a poker face, but couldn’t help himself. “You know something? I've spoken to a few people here... Biologists couldn't be honest about their work in OS without being picketed against; because people thought they were defying God. Same with every field of study from Astronomy to Physics, to making inoculations. There was always some fanatic who thought that they were spitting on God for trying to create something new, or change something from how it was. They tell me that this is the first time in their lives where they don't feel hated for being smart. Where they don't feel despised for being creative.” He took a breath. “I love it here, Hugh. I really do.”

“Good.” Hugh nodded. Nothing more than that.

Nick turned to go back to the dorms, and turned back. “I owe you an apology.” He said finally. “That bit about you having one foot out the door? That was a terrible thing to say, given the circumstances. I’m sorry.”

“You were half right.” Hugh offered. “I am reluctant to put down roots. In the service, they tell you that the way to survive is to never have anything you can’t walk away from. But I’m not walking away any more. I walking toward.”

“Toward what?”

“I don't really know.” Hugh admitted with a laugh. “But I hope I know it when I see it.”

“Maybe it’s not ‘what’ so much as ‘who’?” Nick needled.

“Meaning?”

“I know you still talk to Isobel.”

“We’re friends.”

“I know you went to see her while you were in Europe.” Nick countered. “And it was pretty obvious she wanted you to follow her when she left years ago. I know you thought about it.”

Hugh was about to say something, changed his mind, started to say something else, changed his mind again. “Humans aren’t meant to be solitary creatures forever, bro.”

“I know.” Nick agreed. “Goodnight.”

~~/*\~~

Hugh looked around and walked out to the gardens, looking for solitude. The Night Sky stretched out above him gloriously, and he closed his eyes.

“Father God…” He said softly. “I’ve never been one of those people who gets superstitious about science defying you. I don’t believe scientists working in laboratories are doing evil things when they push the boundaries. But even so, I admit, I thought the question. We have so many beautiful things, why do we need to make more? Do they think they can improve on you? Does-”

“Why do racehorses get put out to stud?”

Hugh jumped. There was a stranger watching who hadn't been there a moment before; over near the edge of the gardens. “I’m sorry?”

“I don’t mean to interrupt, brother; but if it’s a question that bothers you, there’s an answer.” The man said kindly. “Why do champion racehorses get put out to stud?”

Hugh shrugged. “To breed those… champion qualities into the next generation.”

“Exactly.” The man nodded. “Life is not static. Thousands of species were being wiped out a week back in OS, and breeders created new kinds of everything from puppies, to workhorses, to plants. But even if you can think of something that isn’t in creation already, it’s not a slight against Jehovah. You think He couldn’t come up with a billion more combinations of lifeforms?”

“I’m sure he could.”

“Once upon a time, people bred horses to be big and strong, so that they could work the land, or carry soldiers on battlefields. Is that defiance? It’s not blasphemy to be creative. It’s blasphemous to think that you can create these things from nothing.”

“To make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” Hugh quoted one of Nick’s books.

“Exactly. Just as God created the universe, so too did someone imagine every building, every tool, every story ever told and every artwork ever painted. Creativity made manifest. There are very few species in the world that have an imagination. Even the ones that can plan out a strategy? They don’t feel any need to create more than their own nest. Creation? I am constantly grateful that Jehovah didn’t keep that one all to himself.”

Hugh looked around for a moment, gazing at the things that people had created. “So am I. In fact, now that I think of it… We’re not living in the Old Days any more. If there was something being made that God objected to, it’d be made pretty obvious. So, the answer is to always… Where’dhego?”

The stranger was gone. After a moment, Hugh sent a grateful look upward.

~~/*\~~

Nick made his way back toward the Dormitory, when a hand flashed out of the dark and pulled him off the lit path. The man who collared him was rail thin, dressed in old-style clothes. But Nick noticed none of that. What he noticed was that the man looked to be in the late forties. He lacked the eternal youth that everyone else had. He was just like Nick.

“So, you heard Leonardo’s pitch, huh?” The man commented. “Well, if you feel like hearing the… democratic response, come with me.”

~~/*\~~

Nick got on a boat with the man. He didn’t tell anyone he was going. It would have been foolish once, but the world was different now, even for people like him.

The boat rode the coastline for a while, before swinging out to sea, and heading for an island. The trip had taken a few hours. “I won’t make it back in time for the morning tour, will I?”

The man shook his head. “No, but they won’t worry about you. They keep going on about how safe the world is now. They’ll figure you just went somewhere else. It’s even the truth.” He held out a hand. “And the name is Hans.”

~~/*\~~

The island was unlike any place he had been before. There were plenty of prefabs, but there were more people. They were all dressed in an array of old style garments; another thing that surprised Nick. The majority of people knew about the old cultures, and often had an outfit or two from that life, but most of the time clothing was meant to be practical.

These were people who hadn’t changed. Nick saw that at once. Some of them wore the religious icons of the Old Days, some of them were older… There were several kids running around, wrestling playfully with each other. More pre-teens than he'd ever seen. No violence, no anger, but these people were letting loose, making casual insults between each other as friends did… if anything, Nick felt like he recognized more than he had since he woke up years before.

There was a marketplace, but not trading food or supplies. These market stalls had books, pages, drawings. The artworks were openly salacious, even graphic occasionally. The books were all new, hand bound. “Where did these come from?”

“We wrote them.” Hans explained, pleased to be showing his little community off to someone. “What we couldn’t remember or recite we made up. Some of the original authors are here, even centuries later.”

“You guys aren’t… believers.” Nick observed carefully.

“Oh, we can’t deny what’s going on. But there’s never been just one way to God. And for that matter, how do we know that’s what’s happening here? Columbus himself once played on the superstitions of people who didn’t know the movement of the moon and sun and stars. Who’s to say that what’s happening in the world right now is actually what Those People say it is? Religions are damned good at manipulating the facts to suit themselves.”

Nick snorted. “I admit, the thought occurred. But does anyone have any practical alternative?”

“A few theories here and there. But how much information can we get when people who don’t toe the line can’t get anywhere in the world?” Hans grinned at him, like they were brothers. “The gray hairs say that you know what I’m talking about.”

“Is that why I’m here?” Nick snorted. “Because I’m old?”

“It means you aren’t like them. Look at these books, look at these pictures, talk to these people. All through human history, there has never been a moment when everyone was completely in the right about anything. There has never been a moment when someone knew what was right for everybody. Not without it turning into a dystopian nightmare. Now we’re supposed to believe it’s all good and we can just do as we’re told? A lot of us had lives, back in the old days. Lives that we enjoyed. People that we cared about. People that they don’t want us to care about any more.” He gave Nick a real earnest look. “I know what I’m talking about, man. Back in the day, I was an activist. It’s the same story, over and over. Many people want things to change, but the guys in charge say ‘look down and do as we say’. Then one day, a single person looks them square in the eye and says ‘no’.”

“Is that what this is? You’re planning a revolution?”

“Of course not.” Hans scorned. “For one thing, there’s no need for it. The guys in charge don’t have any guns. At least none that we’ve found. And they don’t care if we have this stuff, or if we don’t play their game. They just give us the silent treatment. All we have to do is keep it alive.”

“Keep what alive?”

“Everything that someone cares enough to say.” Hans said grandly. “That’s what freedom is all about. Everyone gets to make their own choice. And if you respect each other, then you have freedom and peace. It’s a long term goal, and I doubt we’ll see it in our lifetime, but that’s been true of all the efforts to make the world better.”

“My brother says that the world is better.” Nick countered. “And I have to admit he’s not wrong.”

“I won’t argue that.” Hans agreed without rancor. “But the thing is, if I want to eat a damn burger, where would I get one? If I want to relax in my own home with a cigar and a drink, would I be allowed to? If I met a pretty girl on vacation? If I wanted a leopard-skin rug? If I thought my little sister should be allowed to get married to the girl she’d been in love with and committed to for more than thirty years? Who the hell are these people to say that I’m sick in the head for wanting that?”

Nick flushed a little.

Hans smiled. “That last one shook you, huh? I’m told that you were last around in the 1930's or 40's. I imagine that particular topic wasn’t even mentioned back then. Imagine living your whole life having to lie, even to yourself. What if a black man and a white woman fell in love back in your day? Would they be allowed to be together, or would one of them get lynched?” He almost laughed. “And do you know why those people were getting lynched? Because someone in charge said that God disapproved of such things.”

“I never agreed with that.” Nick admitted quietly. “I served with blacks. They volunteered and nobody would let them do anything but peel potatoes. Didn’t seem right, given what was happening to the blacks in Europe at the time.”

“Exactly.” Hans beamed. “This is what I was saying. People don't agree with the way things are, but nothing changes, until someone stands up. Doesn't matter if the people who don’t agree have you outnumbered a million to one. If it’s something you cannot compromise on, then it’s your job to plant yourself where you are and tell the whole world ‘no’.”

Nick could feel himself getting drawn to the man’s certainty. It was a certainty he hadn’t had since waking up and meeting his brother.

“I don’t doubt the world has changed. But for people who want freedom and liberty and justice for all? Nothing has changed. It’s just one more system telling us that we’re wrong to think differently; and that we're unnatural for wanting the things we love.” Hans declared.

Nick chose his answer carefully. “My thing is this: What if they’re just... right?”

Hans shrugged. “So what if they are? Religions in the old days still ran soup kitchens and homeless shelters. They didn’t have the moral authority to tell the whole world how to think, but they still did some good. The guys in charge now? I reckon they’ve got the best intentions, certainly nobody has ever said a word against me. But they aren’t open to any disagreement. If they’re right about God being behind all this, then He’s the one that made us as we are. If He can’t accept us that way, then it’s going to be His problem more than mine.”

“Not if you don’t live forever.” Nick pointed out.

“How is that different from any other day?” Hans countered. “I told you, I’m an activist. You missed the Civil Rights Movement. I was there when the news had images of little kids that had to be escorted into a white school by armed guards while everyday people waved protest signs. Twenty years later, that seemed repellent to every civilized person. When gays got the right to marry, there were people waving signs and yelling abuse at them too. Twenty years later, that would have seemed backward and small-minded too.” He gestured around the market. “When the world turns again and the good times come back, history will vindicate the people who speak the unpopular thought. It always does.”

Nick considered that, and looked around. The people here were… different. All ages, some unshaven, some in skimpy clothing. He could see people flirting, people drinking… Mostly, they were talking, just being around each other and swapping stories. “My brother says that the proof is in the pudding. If people are doing good, then it shows. I haven't found anything… objectionable about their ways.”

“And yet you don't want to be part of it. You found something more important than fitting in.” Hans smiled. “You and I are cut from the same cloth, Nick. Because you’re right: Things are better for a lot of people. But anyone who doesn’t agree… dies. Think about that for a second. They can wrap it up in Angels and Scriptures all they like, but it’s just another place where you either do as you’re told, or die.”

Nick was about to comment, when someone blew a horn.

“Ah!” Hans was pleased. “Time for a Parley.”

“A what?”

“Sort of a group session. We keep the old days alive, tell our stories.” Hans explained. “Come on, you’ll probably enjoy this.”

~~/*\~~

Hugh was scanning around for Nick, but couldn’t find him.

“He’s not in the Arboretum either.” Kasumi reported. “That’s everywhere we went on Tour yesterday.”

Hugh chewed his lip. “I should… He’s not answering his phone. I should go look for him.”

“The Tour is starting soon.” Kasumi offered. “Hugh, he can’t get into too much trouble any more. He loved the Tour yesterday. If he’s found something of interest enough to keep him off it today, then it must be something good. That’s why we brought him here.”

“I guess so.” Hugh shivered anyway, suddenly unsure. Father God, I don't know why I suddenly feel so uneasy, but I trust you to protect my brother… Even if he’ll never ask you to. I don’t even know what to ask for anymore. Not about this. But please, father; please… just please?