A Visitor to the Future - 51 - Past and Present
It took Robin about ten minutes to have his fill of 'quaint 21st century architecture', and a further five for him to marvel over the wheelie bins, once I explained to him what they were and how they worked. Afterwards he added '21st century waste disposal' to his notebook, intent on learning more about the subject. At that he declared that he had best be going - he had a lecture to prepare for in the morning. We thanked him for showing us around (and he thanked us for the very interesting conversation), said our goodbyes, and made our way out of the skyscraper back to the bustle of the street level.
We spent another hour or so walking around the mass of skyscrapers, trying to find places or features that I'd once known. It was an interesting challenge given that there were now buildings right in the middle of where once were streets, and also given that the IJmuiden of 2046 depicted in the virtual reality simulation was a little different to the one of my own time. Tungsten had a fantastic sense of direction - he put on the headset the least of all three of us, and managed to pick out how best to travel through the skyscrapers with no problems at all.
Our actions drew a little attention - we were approached by about five or six people who were all interested in exactly what we were up to. I explained to those who spoke English and Sarkona and Tungsten took turns with the rest, showing off the headset to anyone who wanted to use it. They all seemed to smile when they realised that I was a former resident.
Eventually Sarkona asked me what I thought about the new IJmuiden, and whether I might want to stay here. I looked out at the skyscrapers, taking off the headset and then placing it back on to see the sharp contrast of the last millennium right before my eyes.
"I think it is amazing here," I said, "But it isn't home for me any longer. The people and things that made this place home for me are gone, and I think I need to accept that. I'll come back and visit, I think - I'd love to learn more about what happened here. I don't think I'll stay, though."
Sarkona looked a little relieved at my statement, which I thought was an odd reaction. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked.
"No," said Tungsten, "In my opinion you said something right - Sarkona's too, I would wager."
"Yes," agreed Sarkona, "There have been some cases of former cryocontained not adjusting too well to the Consortium at first. How can I say this? Ah - with access to all the resources that they need, instead of using their time and freedom to familiarise themselves with the new world they find themselves in, they used those resources to re-create what they've been missing, and try to keep living in the past. I was a little on the fence about my gift today because of that, but given how well you've been adjusting, I thought you'd be alright."
"What happened to them?" I asked, curious.
Sarkona explained carefully, "A few retreated from the world at large to their recreations. Most eventually re-join society when they feel comfortable enough and adjust to what is happening. Some need, and eventually request, help in acclimatising beyond a single person being assigned to the adjustment period - like I wanted to do for you. Finally, there are a small few that mostly keep to themselves, and I suppose that they're happy enough in their own way. I think I have to stress though that most are absolutely fine with the adjustment period - by nature, a lot of former cryocontained knew what they were signing up for when they committed to cryocontainment."
The statement caused me to reflect - had I actually known that I was going to awake in the future when I'd signed Dr Grant's papers? For me it had been a choice between certain death to my condition in a few weeks, or a tiny chance of things continuing. Honestly, the money that they had promised my family (a smaller sum than that promised to me, immediately available) for my participation in the experiment had been my biggest motivator. I had wanted to make sure that my family were taken care of after I was gone.
I shook myself out of that grim mindset, and tried to look forward. "Back to Anchor, then?" I asked, "I might have to look up some other former cryocontained at some point. Maybe they have some wisdom for me."
"A very good idea!" said Tungsten, as we began to walk back to the docks, "You know, I only thought we'd be on a visit today, but I did enjoy the puzzle of navigating two different places at once. Granted, we could have unmapped the headset from our current location, but that would have ruined the fun of it - I feel like we've done something of a time-travelling treasure hunt today."
"No actual treasure, though," said Sarkona, with a joking tone of disappointment in their voice. "Might have been fun to find some buried gold - ooh, maybe there were some sea pirates based in IJmuiden? It was a historical port city, right?" The playful tone of Sarkona's voice suggested they weren't being remotely serious.
"Maybe," I said jokingly, "If I did happen to know of the location of some buried treasure - why, I'd be the only person left alive today to claim it. It'd be all mine!"
We laughed and made fun of the situation as we boarded another drone-craft, leaving behind the ocean-and-islands former nation of the Netherlands, heading to Anchor for the evening.