Chapter Nineteen: All This Time

"Gus, tell Benedict that the Water Treatment and the Power Cells are all running." Rachel reported as she walked towards the Cafeteria.

"I will. And Ingaret wanted to let you know that the harvest from the Arcology is at 120% of expected volume." Augustus said brightly. "Which is six months ahead of what projections suggested."

Rachel let out an excited little trill and put her Screen away, turning to her new team. "Everyone, if I may have your attention?" She called. "Most of you know that I was part of The Conference in Year One. And the truth is, I made a complete pain of myself."

Everyone chuckled.

"I know, that seems like a joke, but I mean it." Rachel smiled warmly. "I was so desperate to keep something I wanted that I almost missed the point of it. A good friend told me not to worry; because we're in Paradise now. And part of that means you have people around you who want the things you want. We're a big world with plenty of people, and it's no sin that everyone wants something different. But Augustus tells me that as of right now, a full week before our Dedication, The World's Fair Expo is entirely self sufficient. Which means we're now open for business!" She actually wiped a tear away. "We did it, Gang! We actually did it!"

The half dozen geniuses that had been recruited specifically to help her design a whole new community applauded, thrilled to find that they had achieved a dream they'd all shared.

~~/*\~~

Rachel was not in charge of the Expo, but she set the protocol and design for their mandate, and that made her a key manager in construction and set up. The Expo was geared towards teaching as many people as possible about the range of lifestyles that had happened in the world all along the timeline. The Bronze Age and the Futurists worked together now; in an area larger than most of the new cities.

Ingaret had stayed on, taking part in many lessons. Rachel had been correct in her estimation of Ingaret's intelligence. The Returned kitchen drudge was fast becoming one of the most educated people in the Expo; but she wasn't as focused on Innovation as Rachel was. Before the Expo, Ingaret had taken to teaching, explaining the Dark Ages to people who were welcoming back residents of that age; and she had set up several sections of the Expo that exhibited those centuries and their lifestyle.

Ingaret's former employer had been Resurrected. An Aristocrat that had seen everything he owned stripped away from him for his hunger for Bible Truth, Ingaret was having trouble getting across to him that she was no longer his servant; even as he took to the New World quickly.

Construction was the biggest industry on the planet. The financial system was very relaxed now, with basic living needs guaranteed. It was understood that people worked willingly on things they were passionate about, and everyone alive was discovering both new and familiar passions to follow.

Some really enjoyed design and construction, making things that they imagined. In fact, there were more of them than anyone had expected

Some had raised concern that some of the work would always be distasteful, or at least laborious, and those that agreed to take these jobs were paid well for their time. No small number of people being Returned had experience with hard labor. While those that Welcomed them were reluctant to put them back to the same work; the workers were more thrilled than they let on.

~~/*\~~

"It shouldn't be such a surprise, really." Rachel had remarked when she'd seen how many people were volunteering for Construction Tours. "I mean, I grew up with Lego too."

"I get that building something is enjoyable to people." Ingaret nodded. "People of my century were in awe of the big construction projects. Thought that people who designed them were blessed. But it was still people from my level that had to climb the scaffolds and fall off the belltowers." She lowered her voice. "How are the new people working out? The ones I sent you last week?"

"They work harder than anyone I've ever met." Rachel acknowledged. "Digging trenches and laying sewers is far from the most glamorous part of building a new community, but they seem happier to do it than anyone from the modern era."

"Of course they are; that's why I suggested it to them." Ingaret nodded. "Rachel, these people have done this sort of work all their lives for a pittance. Oftentimes, just for food. Being told they'll earn a full wage… In fact, a wage that your ‘learned people' don't approach, is an incredible idea to them. They were paid a few coins for agonizing work; and spent it all on food and lodging, without ever having enough money to even stop being hungry. If they never want to dig ditches again, they will still never go hungry. The ‘learned people' follow what they love." Ingaret actually laughed a bit. "It's the first time when people get paid more for the hard, ugly tasks."

"They couldn't figure it out when I told them about the way money worked now." Rachel said quietly. "I tried to tell them that they wouldn't have anything lavish if they decided not to take the job. I tried telling them that whatever they had, it would be enough that they'd have food and water and shelter, but if they wanted more than that..." She looked up at her friend, eyes red. "They looked at me like I was talking gibberish. 'More than that' had never existed for them. The life they led was hard labor until their bodies gave out, and then a retirement of begging on the street until death in a pauper's grave. Telling them that they'd have power tools to do the work, at no charge to them… Telling them that they never had to fear their bones breaking or their teeth rotting, or… Ingaret, I never really appreciated it, but for billions of people? Their view of heaven was the lowest standard of living in the world today."

"And over in my Blue Letters, I've got a man who can't stand having to share a bathroom with his own wife. No more Aristocrats. No more poverty. Maybe not ever again." Ingaret said, philosophical.

"I met a man who was in Rome. Grew up a slave."

Ingaret nodded.

"Every civilisation ever built, all the way up to the 1880's... They were built with slave labor. In my era, toward the End, cheap labor came from hungry, poverty stricken areas. Anyone you could pay five cents on the dollar, and then easily cast off once they had done the work and been used up." She bit her lip. "I grew up in a place where I never had to dread hunger, sister. You know how many people were dying from dirty drinking water, even before Tribulation?"

"Millions." Ingaret agreed.

"Hundreds of millions, all through the timeline of the world." Rachel sighed. "I knew the miracles were real. I sang praises just like everyone else, but... When that Miracle Feast was laid out for us on the Day After, the brothers in Africa were weeping because the plain water tasted so fresh and clean. Can you believe that? We were arguing over whether or not we're still allowed to make hamburgers, and meanwhile our brothers were praising God for providing plain water, lightly chilled." She shook her head. "Two centuries in and I have no idea what a miracle is. Not really."

"We'll get there." Ingaret promised her. "My life is beyond everything I ever dreamed was possible. My life now is better than Royalty of my time. I spent most of my life without a bed. I shared with my mother, and when she died the bed went to other servants and I slept on the floor until I shared a single cot with another cleaning drudge. Up before dawn every morning to scrub out the ovens. Now I have my own house, and a big double bed. I can sleep in if I want; take a day off as I like." She rose. "Remember, I had no idea what ‘real life' was like either. Nobody did. Even Tribulation Witnesses had no real clue what it would look like. They just clung to the hope that it would be better than the lives they had."

"True." Rachel stood too. "We have peace right now. Harmony is something a little different. But we'll get there."

"You better remember that." Ingaret smiled.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised you've heard already?"

~~/*\~~

A few hours later, Kevin Bagley came down the gangplank of an airship, dropping off passengers. He was smiling and waving at the people who were always there to greet newcomers.

When he saw Rachel, his smiled froze for a moment, before he softened and wandered over to her. "Hi."

Rachel nodded back the way he'd come. "The Airship fleet seems to be working out for you."

"Built over a hundred of them. They're hard to get in the air; but once they are, they never come down." He gestured. "Looking forward to the Dedication?"

"We all are." Rachel agreed, and led him on a quick walk through the middle of ‘town'.

The World's Fair Expo was the size of a small city; and it shone. The buildings were all artistic and futuristic. "Never seen those designs styles before." He commented.

"Back in their day, architects had to design for form as much as function. What's the point of paradise if something isn't beautiful as well as practical?" Rachel nodded. "Besides, odds are we'll rebuild this section at some point. We don't know what experiments and innovations are going to be made, and they'll need testing somewhere. The Expo isn't Disneyworld. It's a beta test for the whole earth."

There were unfinished and unformed sections. Trees and orchards were planted alongside the buildings. Kevin realized that once they were grown, the natural elements would give the impression that the buildings had emerged naturally from the trees and the fields of grass. Every level of the towers seemed to be open to the sun. He could see living things in neat gardens along every tower. "Eco cities?"

"Oh good, I was wondering if you'd notice." Rachel said with a smile. "All the modern sections are designed for carbon capture. The towers will generate power naturally and clean the air as much as a small forest. It's the first generation of New Cities. Beautiful Cities." She shrugged. "We've got billions of people on the way. If we need a metropolis again, we'd better do it right."

"Any ideas on transit systems?"

"We're designing monorails right now." Rachel nodded.

Pointing to the distance where he could see old Windmills and paddocks with animals, Kevin nodded. "Good, because if this place is as advertised, there's going to be a huge tourism aspect to this."

"Yeah, we're preparing two dormitories." Rachel agreed. "One for residents, and a much bigger one for visitors. Anyone who needs to brush up on life in a different century can come here for a day. Ingaret was teaching a class on making pulp paper and binding a book yesterday. There's a man who claims he was the original designer of the Giza Pyramids."

Kevin shook his head slowly. "You did it, Rachel. You really pulled it off."

"Not me. I'm just Tech." Rachel demurred. "Making this place work was a much bigger job than setting up an R&D lab. Ingaret handled the recruitment. Henry handled the program and land selection. Robert convinced the Judges to give us the supplies, and Augustus handles personnel and administration. When this place starts producing new innovations, that's when you can give me some of the credit."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "You haven't changed a bit. Still thinking two centuries ahead of where you are."

~~/*\~~

Rachel had to admit, it was good to see him again. The easy rhythm they'd had in the lab was coming back, bouncing ideas off each other. She'd always known he'd want to work here for a while, if not for life. In a lot of ways, she was glad for that.

But finally, she had to ask the question.

"So." She said, casually. "How's Elizabeth?"

Kevin let out an epic breath, like he'd been holding it since he landed. "Well… Hard to say. We haven't spoken in a while."

Rachel almost swallowed her tongue. "What?"

Kevin laughed at himself, a little bit sick. "You were right, when you said I would be the only thing in the world she recognized." He rubbed his eyes. "But when she found out the kids weren't here… I don't blame her. They looked like me. Every time she looked at me, I saw her heart break for the boys all over again."

Rachel shut her eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry, KB. I really am."

Long silence. She was waiting for him to say it, but knew he never would. Leaving her for Elizabeth meant they couldn't just pretend it hadn't happened. Time had passed and she had moved on. He knew it too. Time moved everything on, even when it wasn't immediately visible.

"Don't give up hope." She advised him. "You two have a lot of history. She'll figure out how to get past pain and remember the good things sooner or later."

Kevin smiled a bit. "I hope so."

Rachel changed the subject, letting it fade. "Oh, heard the latest? Apparently Da Vinci came back."

"Really?" Kevin laughed. "Huh. Wonder what he'd make of this place?"

"I wonder that too. So I sent him an Invite."

~~/*\~~

They had gone to the Cafeteria. Instead of a row of picnic tables, there were round tables for four or five people. This was by design, as more than a few people prefered to work through meal times with their project teams.

But there was always something being served at the Buffet Tables, and Kevin went to sample what The World's Fair had on offer.

As she picked a table for them, Rachel found she had company. "Benedict? I didn't know you were in town."

"Passing through. On my way to New Jericho." Benedict smiled. "I just wanted to say congratulations on getting this place running ahead of schedule."

"Like the Coal Test, right?" Rachel teased. "If it happens so much faster than expected, it's because the project is Blessed."

"I'd like to think so." Benedict nodded. "But it was a long haul, and I know for a fact that you were pulling more double shifts than anyone else. Now that the setup is done, you planning on taking a vacation before you start the full schedule?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? We just got it started!"

Benedict wore the same long-suffering smile that he always wore when she got like this. "Rachel, this has been running for months, it just hasn't been declared yet. You've been working like a freight train for over a decade! Take some time off, have some fun."

"This is what I do for fun!" Rachel insisted. "There's still so much to do, and-"

"And you have eternity to do it in." Benedict chided her. "Perhaps you heard? We're not exactly running out of time any more. We made a point of sending you that memo, as I recall. Everyone else is celebrating. You're the only one who hasn't taken any time off. Why not take a few months? A week? A coffee break?"

Rachel caught his tone getting stronger and hesitated. She knew that everyone had a ‘two-on-one-off' stance towards work. For every month they worked, they had one to do other projects. And there were no shortage of other projects.

The last Convention's call to ‘keep the love you had' resulted in people taking some of their time to explore the opportunities to explore their long held wishes. Rachel hadn't been a Witness long enough to develop a long list of thing things that she'd do ‘in the new world'. So many Witnesses had put off casual dreams until having eternity to do it in. As in OS, there was enough to do that the casual dreams had never had priority, even in this world, but as the early days of Paradise faded and the Tribulation Survivors began dealing with eternal youth in earnest, they started giving attention to things they had always wanted to do.

But Rachel had no such list of secret dreams. The World's Fair was that dream, and she had achieved it. So what was she meant to do next? Obviously, the Expo would be her day job, but there wasn't a single person she knew that didn't have three wildly different life goals. Except herself.

The thought wiped the smile off her face.

"Are you alright?" Benedict asked, seeing her face suddenly change.

"I'm… I'm fine." Rachel waved him off. "Benedict? What would you do, if you weren't one of the Governors? I mean, what's on your ‘one day' list?"

Benedict smiled. "I always wanted to know how to play saxophone. Professionally, I mean. I started the lessons last month."

"Took two hundred years?"

"We've been busy." Benedict excused. "Also thought about learning how to sail; like in an actual sailboat. I had this idea about sailing around the world solo. It's something people rarely did in OS, but we know it's safe now..."

Rachel nodded. "Three totally different life goals in three totally different directions. It's strange, but it suddenly occurred to me that I don't know what my next horizon is."

"You will find one." He promised. "There are plenty that we haven't looked at yet."

Rachel rubbed her eyes as though she had a headache. "Maybe-"

"Benedict?"

Kevin had rejoined them, and Benedict shook his hand, made his goodbyes, and left them alone, as Kevin put a plate down in front of Rachel.

"Kevin?" Rachel asked suddenly. "What's on your ‘one day' list?"

"Me? I always wanted to hike the Appalachians." He admitted. "And I always wanted to know how to paint. Maybe write a book one day."

Rachel looked down.

"You look sad now. Something wrong?"

"Maybe some time off wouldn't be so bad…" Rachel murmured, though he didn't hear it.

~~/*\~~

"Amelia." Rachel said warmly when she answered the phone. "Stands Scotland where it did?"

Amelia laughed. "Rachel! It's been too long!"

"My fault. But as it happens, I'll be in your neck of the woods next week. I'll be in Scotland running some routine checks on the Solar Towers we set up, and I was wondering if you wanted to meet for lunch, or something? Any day next week?"

"Of course! And forget lunch! If you're staying a week, we'd love to have you stay with us!" Amelia enthused. "We'll make up the guest room for you."

"Don't go to any trouble." Rachel insisted. "The Dorms are fine."

"It's no trouble. For honored guests, only the best."

Max looked up as his wife disconnected the call. "Rachel on another quest to upgrade the world?"

"Max, I think it's a lot more basic than that." Amelia said gamely. "She's upset about something. She didn't say it, but… I think she wants someone to look after her for a while." Amelia licked her lips. "Who do you turn to when you need help from loved ones? You go home. I think our Rachel has finally looked up and discovered that her mother is never going to be here."

"So she's coming to you?" Max guessed.

"To us." Amelia reminded him. "You know, I never told you this, but after you… died? Rachel drove me home from the hospital that night, helped out around the apartment a bit." Amelia smiled softly. "She called me ‘mom'. Didn't even register that she'd done it at first."

Maxwell smiled softly. He liked the thought.

"That girl is our daughter, Max. Blood is blood, but you weren't there for the last part of it, so take my word for it: In all the ways that matter…" Amelia was dead serious about it. "We brought half a dozen people into the Truth, Love. Five of them made it to this world. Rachel is one of them; and it cost her everyone she knew back then to do the right thing. If she ever needs a mother, she has me."

Maxwell nodded. "I agree." He told his wife seriously. "Rachel still lives like a college kid." He smiled playfully. "Changes in Maturity was something we never considered. I never realized how many people only grew up because they grew older. Or how much people looked to older ones in the Congregation for advice. I never appreciated how many until there were no ‘older ones'."

"We were the older ones, Max." His wife smiled. "It's a job I've never felt qualified to have, but in Rachel's case, I think we've got a chance."

~~/*\~~

Rachel had never been to Scotland in person. She had regular conversations with Max and Amelia, and had met them at Conventions, but had never seen their ‘new' home. Amelia gave her adoptive daughter the full tour, introduced her around the congregation… And grew more concerned.

Amelia bit her tongue on the matter for almost a week as Rachel went about her business at the Solar Tower. One night, after almost a week in their guestroom; Rachel was curled up on the couch by the fireplace, and actually laid her head on Amelia's shoulder. It was a very maternal position for Amelia, and she was finally game to ask. "Is everything alright, sweetheart?"

Rachel smiled a bit. "Feels strange, hearing you call me that now. I never minded it when you had grey hair. We could be twins, now. It's something in the eyes, really. I can still see your age in your eyes. You don't have crow's feet around your eyes; your skin is so healthy it's almost glowing. Just like me. What makes you think something's wrong?"

"You don't talk about your work." Amelia observed quietly. "There was a time it was all you would talk about. You talk to the newcomers in the congregation, but you specifically avoid Tribulation Witnesses. Rachel, it's clear there's a huge raw nerve you're trying to avoid…"

Rachel sighed and sat up. "It's a long story." She said quietly, and began to tell it. Maxwell came in about halfway through the story and went to the kitchen to fetch them all hot chocolate and sugar cookies.

"I don't know why I didn't say anything." Rachel admitted, wrapping the story up. "He told me, point blank, that the reunion didn't go the way he wanted it to." She didn't want to finish that sentence. She didn't have to.

"You don't like the idea of being the ‘default' option?"

"I don't mind being the second choice. Being the last choice just means there's nobody that comes after you, which is rather the point of a happily ever after, but I just couldn't say it. We held off on ‘the right time' for so long that it passed us by ten years before Elizabeth came into the picture." Rachel threw her hands up. "So I don't know why I'm reacting like this."

"Maybe because this isn't about Kevin?" Maxwell probed. "Maybe you were hedging because you remember the last time you had to decide whether to follow your brain, or your heart. I'm speaking as someone who was there at the time."

Rachel said nothing.

"Someone who was there when Jaques made you choose." Amelia added helpfully.

"I understood the reference." Rachel waved that down. "Max, is love a feeling, or a choice?"

"What do you mean?"

"Back in college, I had three close friends. They all got married a year or two after Graduation. Five years later, they were all divorced."

"It happens... happened, a lot." Maxwell offered. "People grow... grew apart from each other."

"Yeah, but those divorces don't worry me. The ones that do? It's when the reasons didn't change. The first one? She married him because she loved how he didn't take his life too seriously. She divorced him because he 'never took anything seriously'."

Maxwell scoffed.

"Same with the other one. She married him because he was 'less flash, more substance, steady as a rock'. She split with him because 'he had no flash, and was as spontaneous as a rock'. They used all the same words." She sighed. "This was when I was with Jacques. We were talking about getting married, decided right then that we didn't want to. I think we both thought that love was always going to be temporary."

Maxwell looked over, curious. "You still think that way, with eternal life ahead?"

She was silent for a long while. "Forever is such a long time, Maxwell."

"Forever is a long time to be alone, too."

"I know." She looked out the window at their neat little garden. "The rules are different now." She admitted. "Back in OS, I had three boyfriends before I became a JW. The first two lasted three or four months apiece. They were just... fun. I was with them because we had fun, but when one of them was sick, or when I was out of a job, or... They weren't the ones you turn to when you need help, y'know?"

"Sure."

"And Jacques... He stuck around for the bad things, but he couldn't handle it when I changed. I thought he would. I really thought he'd stick with me when I became a JW. But he couldn't take it. I changed, he couldn't change with me. Or enough to accept me. He wanted the way things were when we started."

"Ask you a question?" Maxwell asked. "Are you worried because you don't know how to tell a good relationship from a doomed one, or because the thing that broke up your love story is the only thing that you still have to worry about?"

"What?" Rachel was stunned.

"He couldn't handle the change you went through. But we're still changing. I'm not what I was a hundred years ago. Neither are you. Perspective, passions, hobbies, career, long-term goals, short-term interests... They'll all keep evolving as years pass into centuries. Are you worried that it'll happen again?"

~~/*\~~

Rachel hadn't given Maxwell an answer to that. She had let out a yawn and begged off, turning in for the night. She had risen early and gone for a walk the next day.

On some level, she was always at the World's Fair. Walking around Scotland, she was making notes on the weather, wondering about the climate shifts. She hadn't seen a thunderstorm in a while. The mist was heavier here than anywhere else she'd been. Part of her brain kept processing, calculating how the solar towers would compare to wind power in a cloudier climate...

Dear God… She prayed. I didn't answer Max, but he's right. I'm worried that it will happen again. That I'll fall hard for someone who decides they won't go where I'm going. But in this world, I might not know that for centuries. So I'm nervous. No, that's a lie. I'm terrified. Back when Jacques and I had 'the talk', he asked me where I saw 'us' in five years. I had no idea what five years later would bring. At the time, five years was longer than I expected human existence to last. Now I'm supposed to plan for five hundred? Five thousand? Five million?! It's the same with my career, hobbies, ‘one day' lists… How am I supposed to comprehend what I want? I don't have a ruler to lay along this world...

"You dropped this."

Rachel jumped, jarred from her thoughts. There was a young boy about ten feet away, perching on a stone wall. He had a familiar notebook in his hand. Rachel put a hand to her pocket and found it missing. "Oh. Thanks."

She came over and held a hand out, but the boy didn't hand it over. He was flipping through a few pages, curious. "Traffic patterns? Is there traffic now? Most people seem to be thrilled at the fact that you can walk from one end of the map to the other without your shoes wearing out. Is there a traffic problem?"

"Not heavy traffic, but there will be. The world is filling up fast. Someone has to figure out public transit systems." She wiggled her fingers, asking for the book back without speaking.

The boy flicked to the next page. "Food quotas in ten year increments. Most of the newly Returned Ones have been marvelling over the amazing taste of the food given to them for free. Is there a food shortage building?"

"Well no, but we don't know if the farms will continue to put out a miraculous amount of…" She suddenly realized she was trying to explain food production quotas to a boy she didn't know. "Who are you?"

The Boy ignored the question as he handed her the notebook back. "You seem concerned with things that we have already been promised. And you're concerning yourself with them centuries in advance."

"Benefits of eternal life." Rachel defended. "You have to think long term."

"Think ahead, certainly. Not stress yourself in advance. Isn't that the whole point?" The boy returned. "Jesus said ‘never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties'. Did you ever wonder if maybe that applies to joy, too? If you get so hung up on what you need to get done, or what will make you happy in a future so distant you can't tell what it will look like, how can you enjoy what's in front of you?"

Rachel said nothing. He wasn't talking like a pre-teen boy, and she'd heard enough stories to wonder if that meant something.

He spread his arms wide. "We're living in paradise, Rachel. And you seem to be more frustrated about the things you don't know yet, instead of looking at all the reasons you can be happy to be here."

Rachel just stared at him, not surprised that he knew her name. "You're right." She said softly.

"Put your pad and pen away, Rachel. The answers will come. You have all the time you need to find them. There will always be something new to discover. The God who can provide food and shelter to everyone in perpetuity can provide happiness and satisfaction too." He poked her side. "And love. The Source of All Love and the Originator of Marriage wouldn't let any of his people end up lonely, or trapped in a miserable marriage for eternity, would he?"

"Guess not." Rachel admitted, glancing away awkwardly as she flushed. "My thing is this: I had that feeling with Kevin, and it was a disaster, twice. How do I know if I'm making-"

The Boy had vanished.

"-another mistake?" Rachel let out a breath like she'd been holding it for a month, and put her notebook away. "I guess you'd find a way to warn me, wouldn't you?" She said, sending a glance upward a moment.

She looked further down the path and saw Maxwell there. He'd been able to see everything, but he wasn't close enough to overhear.

Rachel wandered over. "It's funny, but now that I think of it, the only thing I've tried to do in this world was get back the world I had in the Old Days."

"How do you figure that?" Maxwell asked.

"My happiest days were with my team, brainstorming. The first people I spend time with in this world are Alec and Beckah. Beckah lost everyone in A-Day, just like me; but I never let myself dwell on that for long. The first person I met who was like my old team was Kevin, and I latched onto him fast; even knowing that it was likely a temporary arrangement. I asked, persuaded, and begged for the rest of The Conference to stay on with me, even when I knew it was over…" She started counting on her fingers. "A doomed temporary love story that couldn't handle a major twist. A team of brainstormers that drifted off into their own lives; a well-avoided family issue, and barely concealed hatred for sexist professors who wouldn't accept the facts…" Rachel almost laughed. "I spent two centuries building a New System version of the life I left when I became a JW." She shook her head. "I'm not nearly as cut out for this world as I thought I was."

Max held his arms open, and she didn't hesitate to let him give her a hug. It lasted for a while, and Rachel was surprised to feel a shudder go through her. Beckah was a hugger, but this was a world where people respected personal space. Rachel hadn't been held for longer than a few moments in decades.

"Maybe it's simpler than that." Max said quietly. "You never talked about it, but… I know for a fact that you felt guilty, after A-Day. About being here, when most everyone you knew was not."

Rachel winced. "I don't like to think about it."

"No, but as you say, you put two hundred years of effort into getting back an improved version of all the people you lost, and all the things they wanted."

She had no answer to that.

"Give yourself some credit, Rachel Bridger." Maxwell advised her. "People who deal with Survivor's Guilt after surviving a natural disaster, or a warzone-"

-or a car wreck. Rachel put in mentally, thinking of Beckah.

"-they try to find reasons why. In your case, it's not luck, or random chance. You made a choice. You looked at the world, you listened when we spoke to you, and you made a decision. You were new at this, and at the worst possible time to be finding your feet. But when The Moment came, you made it through. The Dream you chased for two centuries built something that will greatly influence the world in a positive way for centuries to come. I wouldn't be quite so down on myself, if I were you."

"Deep down, I know that. But… It's like that verse about putting on the new personality? I'm not entirely sure how well I did that."

"Well, just between us; neither am I. I was a JW for decades, and I was still struggling." He smiled a bit. "Remember, you were there for A-Day. I wasn't. I slept through it. But in another eight hundred years, I'll be tested in a way that you have, and I haven't."

Rachel let out a bark of laughter. "Dang. Never thought of it this way, but mine is the only generation that has to do this twice."

"Yes, in eight hundred years." He reminded her.

"I know." Rachel nodded, eyes clearing. "Time I focused more on more… local needs."

~~/*\~~

The ‘Where Were You' Campaign began as the 200th Anniversary Convention drew closer. Rachel reflected that the Instruction had been a wise one. Every face had a story behind it, of how they had come to Jehovah. The whole world, for once, was living without fear. There hadn't been a crime committed in almost two centuries. Not a hand raised in anger successfully.

Not everyone was receptive, and there were rumors that the Undecided were gathering here and there; but these were a minority.

"Most people accept the reality they are given." Rachel told Beckah. "It's not the first time people have had to make a fundamental change at how they look at the world. Things happen to change the rules all the time. My dad told me about a time when the Cold War ended, and everyone was having trouble with the idea of not knowing who ‘the enemy' was."

"Put that way, I guess making one more change isn't the hardest thing to ask of people." Beckah agreed. "When are you coming in?"

"The boat docks in another day. I'll meet you in New Paris?"

~~/*\~~

The Restoration Work continued without pause. Around the world, there was always someone cleaning up, collecting and sorting refuse, planting trees or recycling refuse.

Alec had been an Elder for many years, but the manpower shortage was currently paused. The world still had a majority of Faithful ones, now trained up and ready to take the position of Elders themselves as the Greater Returning began to accelerate. For the first time in a while, Alec looked around and saw that most of the faces around him were ones he didn't recognize.

"We wondered what to do with plastic waste." Alec told his wife that day, as she met his Restoration Team over lunch. "Turns out we needn't have worried so much. It takes 450 years to break down fully. We're halfway there."

"Time solves most things." Beckah smiled, holding up her Device. "I got an answer, by the way. I'm on the Organizing Committee for the Centennial."

Alec hugged her tightly. "Congratulations!"

Beckah hugged him back gratefully. "I must admit, I'm nervous. I've never done anything on this scale before."

"None of us have. Look around. Notice anything?"

Beckah did so. "Lot of new faces." She looked again. "Lots of really new faces, in fact."

"The Returning is accelerating faster than The Conference thought. We're at twenty thousand new ones per day." Alec nodded. "The Restoration is a good place to let them see first. They get a look at where the cities used to be; they see us replacing broken things with living things… Lets them get to know the people here, without having to live in our towns."

Beckah looked out over the view. New Paris was visible from the rise where they were planting trees. It was a city now. A small one, but definitely a population centre. "Y'know, I haven't really… I forget, sometimes. Everything in the world is being remade except for us. Our faces are the only features of the landscape that don't change… But I saw the way OS ended. Riots, smoke over everything, buildings on fire and everyone fleeing for their lives with nowhere to go. I forget sometimes just how far we've come."

"It's beautiful." Alec agreed. "And we're only just getting started, but… We're making a beautiful world, Beckah."

She leaned into her husband, feeling oddly content. "We are."

"Brother Alec?" A voice interrupted. "This is for you."

Alec looked. It was one of the Congregation kids, holding out a Blue Letter. He took it, and the child scampered off. "The kids ever tell you where they get these letters from?"

Beckah chuckled. "Who's our next contestant?"

Alec read the letter. "Don't recognize the name, obviously. But he arrives tomorrow morning, down by the water."

"Tomorrow." Beckah hummed a bit. "Rachel will be here early. Part of the Upgrades to the local comm system."

"I'm a little surprised she requested to handle the upgrades herself." Alec commented. "She's R&D. Isn't this sort of thing… menial?"

"Apparently, Rachel is on vacation." Beckah chuckled. "Decided to travel for a while."

"Rachel? Vacation?" Alec deadpanned. "Wow. This is an Age of Miracles."

~~/*\~~

The next day, all three of them gathered in New Paris, a little way from the Restoration Teams. They had a good view, and some distance for privacy. Alec produced the wine, and Rachel the cheese, as Beckah laid out a blanket for them and assembled the glasses. A tradition that had lasted for two centuries and would hold for centuries to come.

Rachel also produced a loaf of sourdough bread and cut it into rough slices for them to eat with thick butter, sweet jam, and the aged cheese. "You're going to love this." She promised them. "There's a sister in Amelia's congregation in Scotland? She makes her Sourdough with a starter that her mother taught her to make. She carried the jar with her all through A-Day; because she knew she'd see her mom again one day. You feed the starter, and scoop out some to make bread. It works like a natural yeast culture. I'm told, though I'm not an expert, that the starter can effectively live for centuries, and the longer it lasts, the better the flavor. This bread? Was made from a starter that has been going for two hundred and fifty years. In OS, that would be a gourmet sensation. In this world, everyone can have it if they want to put the time in."

"Hundred year aged cheese, hundred year old wine, and home baked bread from a two hundred year old family recipe." Alec summed up. "I know I say this every time we meet, but you know what this little picnic would have cost us back then?"

"My peasant taste buds wouldn't have been able to tell the difference back then anyway." Beckah took a bite of the bread. "Oh, wow. You're not kidding!" She turned to her husband. "Here, babe; you gotta try this." She all but pushed it into his mouth.

Rachel was smiling at their blatantly domestic display. "I remember when we all first took our first roadtrip. It was almost two hundred years ago now, but… I remember thinking that I was watching you guys start your life together."

"Well, you could have said something." Beckah drawled. "I waited years for this one to get a clue."

"Be nice." Alec chided his wife. "I got there in the end, and the beauty of eternal life is that you don't have to dwell too much on wasted time."

Rachel let out a noise, though it was hard to define. "You spent so much time stressing about whether or not Beckah was into younger men, and nobody cared once we all hit the look of twenty five. What was your excuse for the decade or so after that?"

"He was testing my patience." Beckah laughed. "After all, if I was going to marry him, I'd need that."

"Of course, I'm hardly one to talk about overthinking things for too long." Rachel raised her glass and sipped. "How could you stand me?"

"Are you kidding? It was fascinating. We never knew what was going on in that mousetrap mind of yours, but we knew it was something good; even if it took us a hundred years to be sure what you meant." Beckah teased. "That said…"

"You're glad to hear that I'm planning to slow down a bit?"

"Oh, you'll never slow down. You'll always have a dozen projects on the go. It's what you do. But if you can live in the moment from time to time, you'll enjoy them a lot more."

Rachel seemed a little unsure. "I hope so. I've been thinking two centuries ahead for so long… It's hard to stop when everyone else is making plans for eternity too."

"Everyone else?" Alec rolled his eyes. "Rachel, the Larger Returning is just getting started, in the grand scheme of things. Twenty thousand a day. Your projections say it could take another six hundred years to bring everyone back. We know that this time it's not chronological or by family… Somewhere out there is the last guy to get Resurrected. Imagine if you get the Blue Letter for that one? When he comes back... You'll be a woman with the looks of a physically perfect fashion model, the brain of an eight hundred year old scholar, the body of a twenty five year old athlete, and the exotic life experience of an immortal that has travelled the world at least twice... The people who are coming back don't stand a chance if we think of them as puppies."

"I guess that's true."

~~/*\~~

When their little picnic was done, Rachel led the way back to the rest of the Work Group. "So, to work?"

"Afraid not. I have to get back to the Hall. There's a conference call for the International that they want me to sit in on. And Alec has an appointment of his own." Beckah said with a smile, folding the blanket up. "He got a blue letter this morning."

Alec pulled it out. "Someone named Hugh Alman." He chuckled. "In fact, I better go if I plan to get there in time." He plucked a few apples from one of the community gardens and put them in his satchel. "I'll bring him back this way for lunch. Like I said, The Restoration is a good spot for people to get a look at the New World." He checked his watch. "In fact, I should be going." He came over and gave Rachel a tight hug. "I'll be back in an hour or two."

"See you then. I'll have them put out the good mess trays." Rachel promised with a smile.

The three friends said their goodbyes and made their way in different directions.

Rachel then turned and went after Beckah. "Hey, Becks?" She called. "I'm grateful to you, for taking me in on a moment's notice. You're right. I've been working to the exclusion of pretty much everything else."

"You're a very 'task oriented' person, Rachel. It's who you are. I understand being obsessed with getting things done, when there's so much to do." Beckah said kindly. "Thing is, I don't think that will change."

"I don't either." Rachel admitted. "And if I'm honest, that's what I love most. There was a time, when I worried that we'd lose the interest in doing things, with eternal life and all our needs met. But the more I learn, the more I realize I have a lot to learn. What I said, about how people change? I'm including myself in that. I'll always be... learning, reaching... If there's someone out there who wants to go the same direction I'm going..."

"It's a big world, Rachel. Could be your soulmate, or your work colleagues, or your closest friends just aren't here yet." Beckah smirked. "Present company excepted, of course. But, it could be they were Knights in middle ages England, or a Persian merchants or an 18th Century circus daredevil." Her old friend joshed her. "But whoever it is, they'll all be here eventually. Because God sees what we could be, given the chance; not what we were then, or even what we are now. The New World is still young, and there's a forever road ahead."

"And for the first time, it's possible." Rachel smiled. "It's possible to master every trade, every skill, every science, every instrument, every... everything. It's possible to do all these things and then invent something more, or find a new horizon. Another seven hundred years, we'll even have perfect memories, can pick and choose an interest, leave it for a century, get back to it without losing your place... It's wonderful, Beckah."

"It is." Beckah agreed, and pulled a small parcel, wrapped in brown paper. "By the way, before I go; Ren Quaid heard you were back in France and sent this to me express post, for you." She handed over the package and air-kissed Rachel's cheek. "See you around, sister."

Beckah headed back the way she came, heading off to take her call. Rachel glanced back the other way, just in time to see Alec vanish around the hillside, out of sight. With a little space between herself and everyone working, Rachel tore open the package. It was a fold-up picture frame, with four pictures in it.

Rachel sniffed a bit as she saw the images. The first was of her, posing between Amelia and Maxwell, the night that they had welcomed Max back. The second was a candid shot of her, Alec, and Beckah; as they loaded the car up on their first trip, the day she had left for The Conference. There was a picture of her with Beckah, the day her son was born. The fourth was a picture that she hadn't even realized someone had taken. It was a picture of her tightly hugging Ingaret, the day she had been Baptized.

She looked at the photos together; and it suddenly struck her that she had seen them before. It was impossible to look at the first one, and not see a hundred family snaps of her with her late parents. The second invoked powerful memories of a picture her father had taken on the day she left for college with her friends. The third was of her and Beckah cradling the baby; an event she'd never had with any of her relatives. The picture with Ingaret was the biggest moment in her adoptive sister's life; and Rachel was the first one to congratulate her; as she had done in OS at weddings of people she had considered…

"Family." Rachel whispered the word. "I always had my family around me. All this time…"

Jehovah God, Rachel prayed to herself. Thank you for my friends. It's funny, but when this photo was taken, Beckah and I were barely acquaintances; and now we live in a world where you can drop everything and travel the world to brighten the day of a friend you haven't seen in years. She smiled to herself. My heart's a little dinged, but I know that Kevin will be where he needs to be. And this... this is where I'm meant to be. To actually do everything? To be an expert at anything? To understand not only how the universe works, but why? This is what Paradise means to me.

Amen