Microstory 1485: Turn of the Century

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Before the Mage Protectorate fell to the war with the monsters, a special committee formed to plan a huge celebration for the turn of the century. The year 2100 was meant to signify a fresh start for the people of Durus, and a more meaningful shift than one might assume. Other than a few stragglers, plus ageless Ecrin Cabral, there weren’t a whole lot of people left on the planet who also once lived on Earth. Some of them didn’t have any recollection of it, because they were too young when the Deathfall sent them all to the rogue world. Despite all the wondrous things that the mages could do, and all the protective measures they took against the monsters, life was hard on Durus, and life expectancy was lower than it was on Earth. Medicinal treatments, and medical resources, did not accompany time powers, so if someone got sick enough, there was a significant chance that they would ultimately die from it. So the 22nd century was very important to these people, and it was a major disappointment when it just sort of stopped mattering. The Protectorate was destroyed in 2090, and though the phallocratic Republic formed in plenty of time to maintain schedule, the government was not interested in carrying it through. They just felt it was too much work to make sure women weren’t treated equally, and to coordinate all that supervision, so they let it go, and moved on with their oppressive and joyless regime. A lot had changed by the time the 23rd century approached, and of course, people wanted to actually do something to observe the occasion. A new committee formed, and this time, they weren’t going to let anything stop them from recognizing everything they had been through, and expressing hope for everything they were yet to do.

There was just one problem. When this new party planning committee started getting to work in 2195, someone pointed out that they had just done a huge celebration for the Bicentennial fifteen years ago. That wasn’t really a problem on its own, but that thing was a rager—a week-long rager. Most agreed that this would somehow have to be bigger and better in every way. But what did that mean? Two weeks long? Faster rides? More impressive time power modifications? That was what the committee was for, and why they needed five years to plan it. All of that was exactly what they did, except that the official events would only last for eleven days, rather than the full two weeks. There were multiple groups of people who were allowed to go back in time, so they could enjoy all the celebration had to offer without concern for scheduling conflicts. They added other features, like Air Gap competitions, which was a game the source mages made up that involved running towards the objective while separating one’s opponents from it by manipulating dimensional space. People today were doing it with time tech. It was huge, and fun, and dangerous. The day pass team only had five people on it, but others were trained, so they could fill in as needed. For these two weeks, everyone was called up to be at the ready to save people’s lives before they were placed in danger. Like the Bicentennial before it, it was a hugely successful extravaganza, and everyone had a really great time. Once it was done, though, they had to put it behind them, because the time was quickly coming upon them when their little wayward planet would finally reach its goal in the Ophiuchi system. Playtime was over, and they had a lot of work to do.