The Advancement of Mateo Matic: November 9, 2398

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It’s just Mateo and Alyssa now. Winona came back down to the surface of Earth as well, but she has her own life with SD6, so she’s more of an honorary member of the team. Mateo used his temporary teleporting powers to jump them down to Kansas City, where the two true team members stayed in The Bridgette. It was a little weird for them, but fine. They made it work. This morning, Vearden called from space to ask them for a favor. He and Arcadia were approved for the house in the suburbs that they want to buy. The only thing pending that can’t be done over the phone is the home inspection. They want someone there to observe the process in person, so that’s where they are now.

“This is a beautiful vehicle ya got there,” the inspector says when they meet in the driveway. He immediately seems salty and talkative, and he clearly has an aversion to personal hygiene. Perhaps he’s a Suilien, like those people in the hospital who were being purified by their rivals. Or he’s given up on life, and he’s faking it through forced cheerfulness. Or maybe he was just in a hurry this morning.

“Oh, yeah, it’s a company car,” Mateo explains. It’s not entirely a lie.

“Car is a bit of a weak word, don’t you think?” The inspector caresses the outer hull with his grubby little hand. My car can’t fly.”

“Oh, if it did, you couldn’t ever drive anything else again,” Mateo muses, trying to play the part of the friendly suburbanite. “It would get you to your jobs faster.”

The inspector looks at his watch, and frowns. “I’m not late,” he insists.

Awkward. “No, I—I’m not saying that you were, I was just...”

“Ah, I got you! You’re too easy, my friend. What’s your name, brother?”

“Mateo. Mateo Gelen.” He was about to say his real last name, but then he thought that it would be best not to go around declaring any possible connection to the infamous Leona Matic. It’s still not yet safe.

Alyssa shakes the man’s hand next. “Alyssa...” she begins, and they can both see her struggling to think of a fake name too. “...Gelen.”

Okay, that’s okay. Mateo can work with that. He smiles, reaches behind her back to her opposite shoulder, and pulls her closer.

He smirks creepily. “See, I knew you and I had a lot in common. I like ‘em young too. You ol’ dog.” Then he howls. The man actually howls out loud. In front of people.

Mateo just clears his throat uncomfortably.

“Ha-ha, anyway, I’m Guthrie. Guthrie The Dog. Nah, they don’t call me that, but I’m tryin’ it out. Wadya think?”

“I think it...suits you.”

He takes it as a compliment. “Anyway, I better get to work, shouldn’t I? It’s like you said, I can’t fly to my other jobs.”

The rest of the day is just as inappropriate and uncomfortable. They’re happy to help, but this guy is a lot to deal with. They would rather be in charge of moving all of Arcadia and Vearden’s belongings, which they probably will have to do later. That is, if it’s ever safe enough for them to return to Earth. They have sure all been doing a lot of moving recently. It’s good, though, it makes them feel kind of normal. Packing and carrying boxes is the kind of thing that regular people do everyday without thinking about bombs, tactical teams, and spaceships. They just worry about men like Guthrie.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: June 10, 2398

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Today’s the day. Half of the current team roster is going off on a long-term mission across Europe while the other half stays home to take care of things here. Ramses is in the driver’s seat of The Olimpia, while Heath’s regular car follows them down the road. Cars aren’t fully automated, but they can be programmed to stay on the exact same route as the vehicle ahead of them. It’s really just a fancy way of hitching it to the back. Flying cars such as this one are not commonplace, but they still need laws and regulations to operate safely. A driver can take it on any standard road, and float it in any publicly-accessible body of water, but flying is a lot more difficult. They’ll have to launch from an unpopulated area, and fly at a certain altitude, though very specific routes called market corridors. The more rural the area is under the vessel, the wider the corridor. Early versions had to take off from airstrips, but the more advanced ones are built with vertical take-off engines. So that wouldn’t be a problem, they mainly need to get far enough away from the city.

“Don’t we need to play rock, paper scissors?” Marie asks.

Heath stops midway up the steps. “Uh...no.”

“Ramses says he wants to sleep in the control area,” Mateo says, “and I can just use one of these little cubbies. You take the real bed, this isn’t a negotiation.”

“I don’t really like it up there,” Marie claims.

Heath just keeps carrying her bags up to the loft as Mateo chuckles. “Yeah, right.” He approaches her when he sees her frowning at him. “It’s okay for people to take care of you. I know that that was your job in the afterlife simulation, but surely you had your own counselor when you first died.”

“Yes, we did,” Angela confirms. “His name was Þorgeir.”

“I know that name,” Leona says, perking up. “Thor Thompson was named after him.”

“He’s in good company,” Angela decides. She returns her attention to her alternate self. “Take the loft. You know how much we hate to argue.”

Heath is already hanging her expandable shelf bag on the hook against the outside of the shower room wall. “Thank you,” she says to the group.

“We’re here!” Ramses shouts all the way from the front. They’re in the middle of nowhere outside Independence, facing the Missouri River. “It’s a beautiful day, and this is a beautiful area! Let’s all say our goodbyes before we lose the daylight!” He comes to a stop, turns the hazards on, and comes to the back.

“How long is the first leg?” Mateo asks him.

“That depends on exactly where we’re going,” Ramses answers.

Leona projects a map of their itinerary onto the lav door. The first stop on their fake vacation is Foggy Londontown. It occurs to Mateo that he still doesn’t really understand how the U.S. works in this reality, but he really doesn't know how other countries work. What might be waiting for them when they land? The entire island of the United Kingdom does not exist, for reasons they still don’t yet know. They’ll be investigating that in the coming few days. What they discovered is that a few small islands do indeed exist in the area where Great Britain should be, and they may hold answers. “Okay, the coordinate system is a little different here, which means it took some doing to draw from my own memory of main sequence geography, but I believe I’ve found the approximate location of Stonehenge, or rather the analog. Perhaps fittingly, if the mysterious rock formation existed here, it would be found at awaited.passively.landings. That’s my best guess.”

“Await-a-what?” Angela asks.

“The traditional numerical coordinate system was abandoned centuries ago, in favor of a lexical geocoding algorithm.”

“A-lexa-what?” Angela presses.

“A unique series of three random words are designated for a given square on the map, which can be shared and pinpointed using proprietary mapping software,” she says, which is just about as confusing. “For instance, where the Olimpia happens to be parked right now, we’re located at clashing.thrill.ultra.”

Ramses shows a nonchalant sort of pouty face. “I did that on purpose,” he jokes.

Leona rolls her eyes “Well, each square is three meters wide, and the vehicle is sixteen meters long, so where you were sitting up there is closer to yawned.nephew.custard.”

“Yeah,” Ramses insists, “I love custard.”

“Where am I?” Mateo asks, stepping towards the seats.

“You’re at telegrams.patch.card.”

“Where’s that tree?” Angela offers, pointing out the window.

“Uh, I believe culprit.triads.enrolling.”

“Where is I.love.you?” Mateo asks, trying to be cute.

Leona tries it. She even substitutes the word eye for I. “Doesn’t exist; not all word permutations do.”

“Oh,” Mateo is sad. “Well, what about—”

“You heard Ramses,” Heath interrupts. “You three better get going so you’re not flying too late at night. No more time for games.”

“Well,” Leona goes on, “based on this system, my calculations, and your most fuel-efficient cruising speed, you should arrive in about eleven hours.”

“Are we landing on an island?” Marie asks her.

“Well, awaited.passively.landings is in the middle of the water, but that’s probably for the best, and there’s a resort not too far from there, where Heath has two rooms booked for you. In fact, it will be past sunset by the time you get there, so you might just wanna check in, and head for the coordinates in the morning. It’s only a few hours away in boat mode. I believe that the island is where the city of Bristol should be.”

“Did the island sink?” Heath guesses. “Is your Bristol at a particularly high elevation?”

“Not that I can remember,” Angela answers. “The higher elevations were in Scotland. They called them the highlands.”

“Why do we need a resort if we have this?” Ramses asks, indicating the whole of the Olimpia.

“You’re on vacation,” Heath reminds him. “Try not to stand out. Do normal things, like hiking, and museuming. I didn’t make reservations for you, but there’s also a bike tour that goes all around that island, if you’re interested.”

They discuss a few more details, but it really is time for them to leave, so they make their farewells, and break in half. The away team uses the road as a runway, instead of doing a true VTO, to save on fuel, and disappears into the horizon.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: May 7, 2398

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Mateo is startled awake. He’s nervous at first, because he assumes the person who’s shaking him by the shoulders in the pitch black is a friendly, but he doesn’t know that for sure. “Who is that?” he asks.

“Shh. It’s Heath,” he says in a whisper.

Leona turns over in her sleep.

Mateo drops down into a whisper too. “What is happening?”

“I wanna show you something.”

“Can it wait until morning?”

“It is morning. Come on.” He gets his hands further along Mateo’s shoulder blades, and pulls him out of the bed.

“Can I put on pants first?”

“Probably should.”

Mateo hastily pulls on some clothes, and follows Heath out of the room. He slips his shoes on too, and they leave the condo. They walk down the hallway, down the elevator, and down the hill. He rubs the sand out of his eyes as they continue walking for another couple of kilometers. He complains a little, but feels he needs to respect his host’s decisions, as bizarre as they seem right now. Finally they make it to a parking garage. There’s something different about it, but Mateo can’t place his finger on it, because he’s still so sleepy. As they walk through it, though, he realizes that the ceilings are very high. Some garages can’t even accommodate a heavy duty pickup truck, but this could handle semi-truck trailers. He yawns. “What are we doing here?”

“I got the notification that my present arrived, and just couldn’t wait.”

“Present for me?” Mateo asks.

Heath stops at a...plane? He extends his arms to present it. “Present for us.”

“Is that an airplane?”

“It’s a flying carboat.”

“What?”

Heath runs his hand along the curve of what looks like a turned up wing. “It can float in the sea, drive on the roads, and fly through the sky.”

“What, couldn’t spring for the one that’s also a spaceship?” Mateo jokes.

“No,” he answers genuinely. He continues to admire the vehicle.

“Where are the wings?” Mateo questions.

“It’s a lifting body, it doesn’t need wings.” He points to the vertical wing thing. “Or that’s what those things are. I don’t know. All I know is it works, and it cost me a fortune.”

“Do we need all of this? Could we not just take regular commercial jets where we need to go, and then rent cars?”

“Well, sure, if you wanna be basic.”

“Far be it.”

“Isn’t it beautiful? Come on, let’s check out the inside.”

It has to be really narrow, so it can fit in the standard road lane—and those weird wings do stick out a little—but it’s pretty long, and sufficiently tall. That’s why it needs this high ceiling parking garage, but it should be able to fit under any bridge just fine. The controls are in the cockpit, where you would expect, for a pilot and co-pilot. Behind it are four little cubbies; two on each side, separated by seats. By the door is a little kitchenette, then a lav, a toilet, and steps up to a loft. It feels like too much. It feels like too much. It all feels too extravagant.

“These cubby seats recline into flat beds, while these two are just for sitting .” He pulls down one of the three jumpseats along the wall by the door. “You could technically fit eleven people, though these three of them wouldn’t have anywhere to sleep.” He continues the tour, pointing around as necessary. Cargo is stored behind the shower, to leave space underneath for mechanical. Retractable floats allow water takeoff and landing. Of course, the wheels retract as well. Back there is a powerful boat motor, but you could opt out of that in favor of just using the jet engines. Distributed propulsion, obviously more fuel efficient. Solar panels mostly provide power for internal systems and land travel operation, but they can support flight in a pinch. Well, they can support an emergency landing.”

“This is...” Mateo doesn’t want to repeat himself. Heath knows it’s a lot. He knows what he bought. “When did you have time to buy this? Was it on your wishlist before we got here?”

He laughs, “no. I ordered it as soon as we first started talking about the mission five days ago.”

“Quick delivery time,” Mateo notes.

“Was it?” It must be pretty typical in this reality.

“I really appreciate everything you’ve done, including this, but not excluding everything else. You’ve been a great help to us, and I thank you for helping Marie when she had no one.”

“You speak as if you’re about to leave alone.”

“I know this thing is yours, and I’m not saying you should give it to me—I would find another way—but I assume it runs itself, because no one has mentioned you having a pilot’s license. I’m just reminding you that I’m fine doing this by myself. You don’t have to spend time away from your wife. I know you two are going through something profound.”

“Yeah, we’ve been talking about that,” Heath says, nodding his head. “You need to add another destination to your list, which we’ll be going to first. Marie needs a real abortion.”

“Where is it?”

“Croatia.”

Microstory 999: The Unknown...

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As a budding amateur futurologist, it’s my job to understand what’s going to happen in the future. For many people in the field, they’re responsible for predicting market trends before they even happen, or understanding when the current trends will end. They know how technology is advancing, and how that will impact their employer’s business. Or maybe they’re a journalist who has to know what stories to tell, and when, in order to remain topical. Political pundits have to recognize the consequences or our leader’s decisions. I am not quite like these people. I look more at the big picture so I can tell reasonably believable stories. Just watch the Back to the Future franchise, where they grossly overestimated how advanced we would be in the future. Now of course that’s okay, no one is imprisoning Robert Zemeckis because he didn’t employ a futurologist, who might have warned him we won’t have flying cars in 2015. Part of it is that I want my stories to be as prescient as possible, but I also just really like reading predictions, and making some myself. At the same time, what’s really fascinating about the future, and many things in the present, is the mysterious unknown. The majority of the sea is unexplored, as is almost all of outer space. We still don’t know if the quantum universe is ruled by subatomic particles, or just vibrating strings. And how exactly the hell does the brain even do literally anything it does? How little we know about life, the universe, and everything is a frightening thought. Count yourself lucky if you don’t suffer from OCD, because I regularly find myself questioning my very existence, and feeling a profoundly deep fear for the possibility that I may die, and what comes after is—not even darkness—but completely nothing. Yet there is comfort in our ignorance; the same kind religious people get by believing in some higher power that’s responsible for all the good and bad. There’s a relief in the hope that things can get better, because there’s no real proof that it won’t. How difficult would it be to persist if we knew with certainty that King Dumpster would be on his throne of lies for six more years, instead of only two? The Unknown can be bad, which is why we fear the darkness, and why many people are bigoted and intolerant. If you don’t know what it is, it could be dangerous. People get hurt all the time because they stick their noses where they don’t belong. Think noodling, but in a grander capacity. One of my favorite proverbs comes from one of my least favorite countries, and was famously repeated by one of my least favorite presidents, Ronald Reagan. Doveryai, no proveryai is Russian for trust, but verify. Exercise caution, but don’t be afraid to explore, and try new things. Things could end poorly, like they did for Viola Woods in my next series, but it could also be the greatest thing ever.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: April 10, 2034

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When Mateo awoke, he found himself being carried by The Doctor and his father, Mario. They were whispering to each other, but he was too weak to speak up. “We have to hurry,” Mario said. “It’s almost midnight. We’re about to lose him.”

“I shouldn’t be doing this. I’m the doctor. I’m not supposed to be on any other kind of missions.”

“The powers that be are obviously all right with it,” Mario snapped. “Otherwise, they would have already snatched you up. Besides, it’s your job to get your patients out of danger. If we leave him in this basement, Reaver will know exactly where he is again and be able to exploit that. He’ll have an entire year to prepare for his arrival.”

“What happened?” Mateo managed to eke out.

“You blew up a house, son. I’m impressed. We’re trying to get you as far from it as possible.”

“Where is my family?”

“They’re probably not allowed past the barrier. Reaver Enterprises stepped in and took control of the situation. The two of us timeslipped in at the same time to get you out.” His watch began to beep urgently. “Damn it!”

“It’s too late. We have to break proximity,” the doctor said, gently laying Mateo’s shoulders on the ground. Mario was forced to do the same with his legs.

“Where am I going to end up next year?” He struggled to his feet. It still hurt a little, but he could also feel his wounds healing due to the doctor’s works.

“We have no idea,” Mario shook his head. “But it can’t be good. We didn’t get you far enough away.”

Mateo left them behind and made the jump to 2034. The scene changed dramatically, reminding him of the time he wound up centuries in the future. He was standing in a brightly lit hallway. He could see several doors down the hall, each a dull shade of green. He cautiously began to walk in one direction but quickly slipped through one of the doors after spotting a guard. He turned on the light to find that he was lucky enough to have stumbled upon a storage room. There were plenty of extra guard uniforms from which to choose. While he was changing out of his torn and wet clothes, he could hear footsteps from the hall. It was a ruckus. They must have detected his arrival. The uniform indicated that it belonged to Reaver Enterprise’s security division, which meant that the electronic security measures were likely sensitive to time travelers.

He heard some of the footsteps stop cold, and then a voice. “There’s a light on in here. What is this?”

“It’s just a storage room. No reason for anyone to be in there right now,” another voice replied. They sounded familiar.

Mateo closed his eyes from fatigue and pulled his hat on. When the door opened, he did his best to play a part. “I was just checking this room. Everything appears to be fine, though. We can go now.”

“It’s you,” one of the men said. Mateo reluctantly looked up. It was the two guards who had sent him to the police station after he jumped into the Reaver warehouse. That was six years ago, yet they still recognized him.

“My God, it is.” The other guard came in the room and closed the door. “You must be the one we’re all running around looking for.”

Mateo looked around at the shelves for anything that he could use as a weapon, or better yet, a distraction.

Guard Number One turned to his partner. “This kid is what he wants. This is personal. He’s obsessed, and obviously unwell.”

“Well, what do we do?” Guard Number Two asked of him.

“I think it’s time we finally quit; like we’ve been saying.”

“We’ll have to change our names.”

“Everyone knows that Reaver is one sick puppy. If he wants to capture a guy like this, we have no choice but to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

A voice boomed from the ceiling. “Mateo?” He began to stretch out his words for effect. “Mateeeeeeeeo. I know you’re iiiiin heeere. You were supposed to wake up in the basement. The entire bottom floor of this facility is a jail cell. What are you doing out of your cage, MONKEY!”

“See what I mean?” Guard Number One asked rhetorically.

His partner nodded his head overdramatically. “Yeah. We gotta get the hell out of here. The man’s nuts.”

Mateo thought it was best to keep his head down and mouth shut. He had no idea what other security equipment Reaver would have, so blending was the word of the day. They walked down the halls together, careful to look like they were doing exactly what they were supposed to. The lower floors had too many people, so they could only head towards the roof, even without a plan. They encountered another team on the stairwell, and Mateo was paranoid that they were suspicious of him, but they soon moved on to their own assignments.

Reaver’s voice returned. “That’s it! I’m calling in the cavalry. Boys, this is who we’re looking for!” Mateo’s face appeared on the wall. The three of them looked around. His face could be seen over and over again on the screens along the entire wall, a continuous pattern that was putting him in danger. “Bring him to me and I will literally write you a blank check!”

Mateo turned to his two new friends. “We’re not turning you in,” Number Two insisted.

“But now we run,” his partner said.

They ran through the maze of hallways, as far from the sounds of the team they had just passed as they could get. One of them tried to go one way, but the other pulled them in the opposite direction. “This way.”

Mateo pulled out his magic cell phone and called Leona with it. “Leona, are you safe? Did he get to you?”

I’m all right, she answered. They thought you were dead, but I knew you would survive. Where are you?

“I never made it out of the mansion.”

Mateo! That’s a Reaver building now.

“You’ll notice I’m out of breath from running!”

We were getting ready to do a bird’s eye survey of the surrounding area to find you, so we’re not too terribly far.

“South side of the southwest corner!” Number Two exclaimed.

“What!” Mateo yelled back.

“That’s where we’ll be.” He directed them into a room that turned out to be an armory.

“We’re not going to hurt anyone,” Number One argued.

“No, we’re not,” Number Two agreed. He went straight for a large weapon that looked like a cannon. “We’re breaking out. He grabbed the cannon and ran out. They followed him as Mateo relayed the rendezvous point to Leona.

A security team came out of nowhere and blocked their path. Number Two held the cannon up threateningly. “I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“What are you doing?” the team leader asked. “Why is Reaver so interested in him?”

“Stop us and you’ll never find out,” Number One answered.

The team leader crooked his head. “That sounds like the opposite of the truth.”

Before the argument could continue, Vearden appeared from one door while Saga came out of the door on the other side. They each pushed one of the enemy security guards forward and ushered them through the opposite door, like they had rehearsed it. The doors closed and no one tried to get back out of them.

“What the hell was that?” The leader opened the doors angrily and looked around for them, proving that Saga and Vearden had taken his team somewhere through time. He raised his weapon again and pointed it at Mateo’s leg.

“Excuse me?” came the voice of a man who only the leader could see. “Have you ever been to Stonehenge?”

The leader instinctively rerouted his attention towards the new threat. He disappeared around down the hallway. By the time Mateo looked around the corner, the portal was fading. He could see The Delegator resting his hand on the leader’s shoulder and smiling comfortingly.

“I don’t know what’s happening here,” Number One said, “but we have to go.”

“This way,” Number Two urged them.

They continued to follow him. Once he reached his destination, he lifted the cannon and blew a hole in the surprisingly thick wall. They could hear footsteps headed for them once more. A flying vehicle of some kind was heading for them.

“We have to jump!” Number Two yelled.

“They’re not here yet!”

Number Two looked back towards the sound of the oncoming horde of enemies. “I know. It’ll be tight, but I can estimate the timing.”

“Did you hear that?” Mateo called into the phone.

The horde was upon them, guns pointed to their backs. Reaver’s voice came on, “it’s over. Mateo. I have you. I finally found my loophole.”

“Would you shut up already!” Mateo yelled to the ceiling.

“Now!” Number Two yelled. They complied without hesitation. Mateo and Number One jumped out of the hole at the same time, but Number Two wasn’t so lucky. One of the enemies had gotten off one shot that hit him in the leg, causing him to lose his balance and miss his timing. After Mateo landed on the hood of the aircraft, he looked back up to see Number Two clinging to the edge. Leona flipped around quickly and began flying back to the hole, but Number Two lost his grip and started falling towards the ground.

“No!” Mateo cried.

While they were still too far away, the figure of Daria appeared long enough to grab him before he hit the ground and jump him away.

“Hold on!” he could hear Leona yell from inside what he could only describe as a flying car. He exchanged a look of both fear and relief with Number One as they rose up into the air and increased speed.

They stopped briefly on the ground a few miles from the building. Leona and Aura were using the front row, so the two stowaways scrunched in next to Samsonite. They took off after a moment and made the short trip back to Lebanon. Danica, Theo, and a young woman he did not bother to introduce himself to greeted them at the bottom of the elevator. They spent the rest of Mateo and Leona’s year in the safety of The Constant, doing as little as possible.

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