The Advancement of Mateo Matic: May 18, 2072

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Following the jump to the future, Mateo lovingly pulled back from Leona’s embrace. He pretended to be perturbed and said, “wow, I asked you to marry me a year ago, and you still haven’t given me an answer. I think that’s a record.”

She laughed. “Oh, were you being serious about that?” She was cracking her own joke, but at the same time, she needed to confirm that he did really mean it.

“I most certainly am serious.”

“We’ve only known each other—and I mean, really, mutually—for less than two months.”

“People get engaged in less time.”

“Yeah, and there’s a stigma about it, and we could look up the success rates on those marriages.”

“We could,” Mateo agreed, but somewhat condescendingly.

She stepped back a couple of paces to get a better look at him. “You only ask because I’m the only person in the universe who you could possibly be married to. I’m basically the last woman on Earth.”

“That’s not why I asked,” he argued. “Saga and Vearden were partners, and there’s not a single romantic feeling between them. They found spouses outside of the relationship. I’m not saying it’s the same thing—because you’re right—I don’t know anyone else, but I also don’t want anyone else. I had twenty-eight years to find “the one” which I think is plenty of time. You turned out to be her; what’s weird about that?”

“Well, that’s one way to look at it.”

“We could literally be the last two people on Earth. That doesn’t mean we wouldn’t belong together, or that we couldn’t be compatible. The question of whether a relationship works out isn’t dependent on hypothetical relationships with other people. Do I love you, and do you love me, and do we both want this? Those are the only questions that matter.”

“But hypotheticals are important. If we were to fall out with each other down the line, it’s not like one of us could move out. We’re stuck with each other. Right now, that’s great, but I don’t know the future. I can’t promise I’ll always want that.”

“First of all, no one can know that. Well...the powers that be apparently can, but that’s irrelevant. The fact is that we could have a falling out even if we don’t get married, and that would still be awkward.”

“So you’re saying that marriage isn’t a big deal?”

“I’m saying that I don’t live my life worried about what might happen. Not anymore. We don’t have that luxury. Now, that doesn’t mean nothing matters, or that I throw a dart at a choice board. It just means all I go on is what I feel right now. And right now, I want to get engaged with the woman I love.”

“Okay,” she said quietly, still not convinced she should accept the proposal.

“I’m not asking you to marry me tomorrow. I’m asking for an engagement, a promise that you’re interested, and that you don’t want to lose me. Marriage is not a piece of paper. It’s not even for you to convince your partner of your dedication. It’s a promise to yourself.”

“I do love you, Mateo. I’m not saying no. I’m just not sure I’m ready.” She was becoming pretty stressed out. “It’s not that I’m not ready; that’s a weird way to say it. I don’t want anyone else but you. I guess I really am just hung up on the time. I waited for you for so long, and it just feels like someone else made the decision to put us together. I know that I chose you, but...how do I know that you chose me?”

“I suppose...” Mateo tried to figure out his words. “I suppose, even ignoring my actions for the last few weeks, it comes down to trust. You have to trust that when I kissed you for the first time, it’s because I wanted to. You have to trust that the only good thing that’s come out of being a salmon is getting to know you, and that I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else. And you have to trust that when I asked you to marry me, it wasn’t just because someone else paired us up. Yes, it’s true that you’re only not too young for me because I’m a time traveler. That tells us how we met, and hell, it might even be why. But that doesn’t mean it was necessarily going to work. That’s something we did. We both have to choose to stay together, and my proposal is an extension of that choice.”

“What if I decline? What is that an extension of? Does it mean I’ve ultimately not chosen you?”

“I can’t answer that. Only you can.”

She turned away to stare into space, like a character in a soap opera. “Yeah, I know. I don’t know why I asked that.”

He placed his fingers on her shoulder. “I’ll still be here even if you say no, and also if you just never give me an answer at all. Take as much time as you need, or ask that I never bring it up again, or just keep putting it off. It won’t bother me. Just don’t leave. The powers that be are, well, powerful. But they’re not God. If you want to leave, I’m sure you could find a way. But please don’t. I would rather we never discuss marriage again than risk losing you.”

Leona remained facing away from him, so he couldn’t know how she was reacting, but he continued to feel her warmth. “I don’t know how much time I’ll need, but I can promise to give you an answer. You won’t be left hanging forever. And you won’t just be left alone.” She finally turned back around. “I don’t wanna lose you either. This much I know.”

“Okay,” Mateo said particularly calmly. “We’ll wait. I need time to figure out how to buy rings in this time period anyway.”

Leona took in a deep breath, but slowly let it out. “Right now, we should go look for our family.”

“Oh, I forgot about them. I was so wrapped up in us.”

“I hope Makarion didn’t do anything to them.”

Just then, as if called, Aura and Theo walked into the warehouse. “We fell asleep, and didn’t realize you were back,” Theo admitted.

“We get so used to you not being around, off on your tribulations, that we forget to look for you,” Aura continued. “We’re sorry.”

“No, we’re sorry,” Mateo apologized. “We should have been more concerned when you disappeared yesterday.”

“Makarion just dropped us off at home,” she explained. “We didn’t even see him.”

Theo shook his head, confused by his own perspective. “There’s something very comforting about the man. He sure makes it seem like he’s not a bad guy.”

“Yeah, very different than Reaver,” Leona agreed.

“We just don’t know him very well.”

“Very true,” Makarion said. His sudden appearance was not surprising, even though they were confident the Cleanser was telling the truth when he claimed Makarion wasn’t capable of spying on them from another dimension.

“I’m feeling very repetitive,” Mateo said, “always asking whether we did something wrong. You keep changing things.”

“You’re referring to the fact that I never asked you to perform for me last year?”

“Yes,” Leona confirmed.

Makarion smiled knowingly. “That was never the deal. I’m not a weirdo who likes to watch. I just wanted you two to get over your fight.”

Mateo was worried about speaking up, but did it anyway, “not exactly that I’m complaining, but you promised not to change the rules.”

“I didn’t. I told you why I was having you dance. I just let you think there was more to it. I said I wanted you to perform for me, not necessarily in front of me. Just stop questioning it and let it be.” He began to talk with his hands. “I will tell you that I’m trying to keep you two together for my own reasons. The tribulations are going to get more dangerous. I don’t expect you to believe me, but I’ve really been holding back.”

“Can’t you just keep holding back?” Aura was defensive of her son.

Makarion was really struggling with how much he was willing to reveal. “It...it’s just.” He sighed. “It’s just—out of my hands.”

Now Theo was defensive. “What are you talking about? You can stop this anytime you want.”

“No, I can’t.”

“Of course you can! You told us you were free from the powers that be!”

“I still answer to someone!” This they did not know, and he clearly wished he hadn’t told them now.

“Who?”

“I can’t tell you that.” Makarion was noticeably scared.

“Oh, yes you can,” Theo argued. Wow, he was angry.

Makarion had had enough. “Do you want them to have the next DVD or not?”

Mateo finally stepped back into the conversation. “We want the DVD. It’s fine, you don’t have to tell us.”

Makarion handed them Transporter 3 and then disappeared.

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Second Stage of Something Started: Treasure (Part II)

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“Makarion,” Vearden repeated, but not sarcastically.

“Interesting name,” Saga said. “Common in the future?”

“It has its place,” Makarion replied. He snapped his fingers. The scene changed, and they found themselves on a beach. It was unclear whether it was an island, or what. Besides the forest before them, and the ocean behind, there was only a single landmark of note. It was a giant metallic ring, with a ramp leading up to it.

“What is this? Where are we?”

“Not really important where we are. This is your home for the next few days.”

“Where’s the rest of the crew?”

Makarion looked at them funny. “Why would there be anyone else? You’re it.”

“You expect us to build a scale replica of the Colosseum?” Vearden scoffed. It’ll take us years.”

“Decades, at best,” Saga corrected.

Makarion was unfazed. “Is that a problem?”

“Well...”

“I’m joking!” Makarion yelled. “This is the 2070s. Construction will only take a few days. I just need someone moving supplies and monitoring progress for me. I would have robots do it, but since you showed up, I figured it was destiny.”

“What invention would allow such rapid development?” Saga asked with some rare genuine interest in technology.

“Nanofabricators,” Vearden answered instead.

“That’s right. You’re smart. Tiny machines programmed to do nothing but build, and to do so until they’re done.”

“And the ring?” Saga pressed.

“It’s a stargate,” Vearden answered again. “Looks like all that time I spent watching science fiction has paid off.”

“Evidently,” Makarion confirmed. “In the story, stargates are the only thing capable of sending passengers and cargo across space instantaneously. Of course in the real world, we have far more sophisticated ways of doing this. This ring here is just what I’m using to open portals so you can funnel the materials you’ll need. The nanotech will build the structure, but you need to give them stuff to work with.”

“You can apport people and open portals manually. Are you one of the powers that be?” Vearden asked.

Makarion seemed almost angered by this, but was able to keep his cool. “Do not lump me with those benchwarmers. I’m like you, except I choose how to use my power. Nobody controls me.”

“I didn’t know that was possible,” Saga began. “We’ve been looking for a way to step out of our own pattern. Can anyone do what you do? Could you teach us?”

Makarion started to walk up the ramp. As he did so, a portal opened to a second location, one that didn’t utilize the infamous unstable wormhole vortex found in the show. “I’ll think about it. I like games, by the way. The instructions for your work are hidden somewhere on the island. Before you can get to work, you have to find them, savvy?” He stepped through the portal and let it close behind him.

“He is apparently not concerned with time,” Saga pointed out, “if he wants us to spend some only finding instructions.”

“This guy sounds insane. Should we be helping him?”

“Bad things happen when you disobey the powers. All we can do is what we’re told. If they wanted us to stop him from recreating the Colosseum, I feel like that would be obvious to us.”

Vearden sighed out of both fatigue and concession. “Where do we start?”

“Look for a clue, I guess.”

They separated and searched for anything out of the ordinary, besides a giant magical teleporting ring. Vearden thought he saw something shiny peeking out from the ground, so he got down on his knees and pushed the sand away. Upon finding out what it was, he reeled and fell to his back.

“What is it?”

“I think it’s a dead body.”

“That can’t be good.” Saga walked over calmly and looked down to where Vearden was staring. It appeared to be an eye. An eye with a fork stuck in it. There were no other remains. She reached down.

“Don’t touch it!”

“Hold up,” she said, picking it up and examining it. “It’s made of wood. It’s not real.”

“Why is there a forked wooden eye on the beach? Is that our first clue?”

“Does this seem familiar to you?”

“Again, a forked wooden eye. On a beach. No, no it doesn’t. Should it?”

Saga sifted through her memory archives. The last time she watched something on film or television was decades ago, but she was finally able to recall the movie. “Pirates.”

“Pirates did this?”

“As in...of the Caribbean?”

Vearden recognized the name, but it too was a long time for him. They would have seen the movie as children. That was another life. “Okay...”

“Makarion did say he likes games.”

“Movies are not games.”

“I’ve heard it both ways.”

“Okay, well that tells us we’re in a movie, and also which movie. But that doesn’t tell us where the instructions are, unless they’re etched on the eye.”

“They’re not,” Saga replied. “But the handle of the fork was pointing inland, so we should head that way.”

“That’s a bit of a stretch.”

“The reason there’s a fork in it is because it was shot out of a cannon.” She pointed, “the fork came from that way. We should go look for its hypothetical origin.”

Vearden shook his head as another concession. “Very well.”

It was not long before they found their target; an actual cannon. It was dirty and rusting with cobwebs covering up the barrel. Saga agreed to be the one to reach inside since Vearden was afraid of spiders. Her hand returned with the next clue; a leather pouch. She unraveled it to find a rather large and ornate gold coin; triangles and swirls, symbols, and a skull. It was beautiful, and reminiscent of their past in the past when such trinkets held incredible value. In today’s world, it was probably worth almost nothing.

Another clue was written on the inside of the pouch. Blood of the battle, water of womb. // Go to a place where flowers don’t bloom. // Scary and dark, rocky and wet. // You will not need Tears, you will not need Sweat. // The one who jumps forward, but always looks back // is kin to the one who will put you on track.

“We’re obviously looking for a cave,” Vearden said.

“Obviously.”

The cave took a considerably longer time to find than the cannon, especially since there were multiple rocky structures that a film-obsessed psychopath might consider sufficiently cave-enough. “He’s not necessarily a psychopath.”

“He probably is.” Looking back, the cave they finally found had to be it anyway, because it was deep enough to be scary, dark, and wet. After some further searching, they finally discovered a chest. A small slit, about the size of the coin was cut on the top of the lid. A knife was ominously resting in the slit. “What happens in this part of the movie?”

Saga shrugged. “I don’t remember.”

“You’re the one who figured out this was all a movie recreation.”

“That doesn’t mean I have hyperthymesia.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Let’s just read the clue again,” Saga suggested.

They looked it over together. “Why are Tears and Sweat capitalized?” Vearden wondered.

“Because they’re names.”

“But we don’t need them.”

“Which means that we need...”

And then they simultaneously realized what the answer was. “Blood.”

“Whose blood?”

“Do we think it matters?”

“The last part suggests it does,” Saga noted.

“Couldn’t we just try one, and then the other if it doesn’t work?”

“How would we get the coin back?”

“Good point.

“So who is the one who jumps forward, but always looks back?”

And then they simultaneously realized what the answer was. “Mateo.”

“You’re Mateo’s grandfather.”

“Sort of,” Vearden clarified.

Saga nodded. “Sort of.”

“But our blood doesn’t match. L wasn’t my daughter until after she had her son...and then died and came back to life. Mateo and I are not related.”

“The chest is fastened with your genetic code. The reference to Mateo was just a way to let us know that, and was probably the easiest rhyme this Makarion guy could come up with.”

“I guess we’ve confirmed that he’s insane.”

Saga took the knife from the chest and waited for Vearden to be ready enough to present his hand, knowing that he would not want to have to cut himself. Ever since he lost the super-healing power he had at one time been imbued with from the Gondilak fight on Orolak, he was squeamish about his own blood. Makarion probably knew that about him. He turned away while she drew a healthy dose of his blood and wrapped his fingers around the coin. After she dropped it down the slit, they could hear it roll back and forth down switchbacks. A series of other mechanisms clinked and clanged, along with a clearly erroneous release of gas, just for effect. The chest opened on its own, at last revealing their packet of instructions.

“And so it begins...”

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Microstory 305: Food for Survival

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Potable Water

There’s a huge movement in this country for the implementation of healthier eating. That’s a great thing, and I applaud anyone for making improvements in their dietary habits, but I want to make sure it doesn’t take away from another global issue: hunger. There are people in this world who are not able to find food in the first place. You probably, at one point, said that you were starving, but you probably don’t understand the full extent of what that means. That’s okay; I’m not the semantics police, and I’m not here to tell you that your so-called “first world problems” will never be relevant until massive world problems are solved. Just always be aware of what’s going on in the world around you, and don’t take your life or your resources for granted. For some people, it doesn’t matter what they eat. They don’t care about carbohydrates, or sugars. They’re not counting points or buying organic. They’re just eating what they can. Like water, food is a vital component of survival. Food gives us the nutrition we need to maintain homeostasis, generate energy, and perpetuate organ function. But there is something to the act of eating itself that keeps us going. And I don’t mean psychologically. As you eat, your stomach stretches out, and tells your brain that that’s enough. This is why we can’t so easily pack all our daily requirements into oral supplements or intravenous solutions. If you ever find yourself lost in the wilderness, with no food, you might have to find some. Do research now on how to conduct an edibility test, so that you never know what it’s like to experience true hunger. It takes awhile, but you can never be too careful. If you don't have time for an edibility test, you don't have time to live.

Clothing for Protection

Microstory 304: Potable Water

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Rain

There isn’t really anything to water, except for the water itself. If you ever drink plain water that has something else in it, it’s probably not supposed to be there. In certain parts of the developed world, the water you drink is treated with chemicals to kill off microorganisms that could harm your body. Many places also add fluorine compounds to clean your teeth. But other than that, it’s just water. So what’s the point of it? Why do we need it? Well, all living organisms evolve to utilize water in some way that promotes the survival of individuals, and the species as a whole. First and foremost, water is a distributor. It passes nutrients between cells so they can thrive, divide, and replicate. A great deal of blood is composed of water, which moves oxygen-carrying iron throughout the body. This oxygen generates energy, which allows the body to keep going. Water is a lubricant that keeps joints, the brain, and other organs from desiccating and dying. Water is used for temperature regulation, allowing heat to be released from the body via evaporation on the skin. Just like a computer, if you overheat, you’ll die, because your body functions won’t be able to keep up with themselves. Lastly, water creates fluids that allow waste products to leave the system. Organs like the kidneys and liver, process waste and toxins, but that’s useless if there’s no way for them to get rid of unwanted substances. Much of the developing world lacks potable water. If it exists, some have to walk for miles before finding it, and even then drinkable is a relative term. If you have access to clean and healthy water, and have the means, please research ways you can help a fellow living organism find water. It’s literally the most important thing ever.

Food for Survival

Microstory 303: Rain

Click here for a list of every step.
Ground

Rain is one of the greatest things this planet has to offer. I’m not going to sit here and tell you why rain is scientifically and biologically important, because you all know. This is how we get our fresh water, which is vital to life on Earth. Without the water cycle, we would all be sea creatures, and do you really want that? People have different perspectives for rain, depending on their circumstances. Those who live in colder climates aren’t going to like it as much, because rain makes it even colder than it was. People who live in hot, arid locations, however, are going to be thrilled when it rains. My sister used to work as an elementary music teacher in Egypt. She said that it would rain very rarely, but when it did, it was kind of a double-edged sword. The children absolutely loved it, due to its rarity, but the city was never prepared for it, because they did not design the streets with rain in mind. After all, why would you? When I was in middle school, we all went off to our local amusement park. I managed to ride only one attraction before a deluge began to fall. The other kids were bummed until they realized how much fun they could have splashing around. I considered it a godsend from the get-go, because I’m afraid of roller coasters, and didn’t want to be there anyway. Some of my best days have been during torrential rainstorms, including that one. Rain is a cleansing experience. People tend to try to get through storms as fast as possible, but if you ever get the opportunity, take the time to stand and admire a good downpour from right inside it. If you regret it, you don’t deserve a life of happiness anyway.

Potable Water

Microstory 302: Ground

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Atmosphere

Like the atmosphere, you obviously know that the ground is an important thing to have if you’re going to live a fulfilling life. But unlike the atmosphere, it’s easy to take for granted, because it’s extremely abundant in the universe. Or so it would seem. The truth is that the cosmos is composed of three things: dark energy at about 68%, dark matter at about 27%, and regular matter (i.e. the stuff you can see and feel) at less than 5%. Despite your world being seemingly nothing but atoms, it’s one of the rarest things around. Most importantly to you, however, is what the ground can do. Rocks and minerals can be manipulated and transformed into various shapes. They can be used for obvious things like tools, machines, and dwellings. But they’re also found in soap, energy production, and even foods. Soil as a whole is even more vital survival, as it’s what holds and feeds the planet’s plant life. These plants are able spread and propagate from the nutrients generated in minerals in the earth. Plants are eaten by other forms of life, which are often eaten by other living things, and so goes the circle of life. For when something dies, its body will decompose in the ground, irreversibly altering the composition of the soil, and creating further nutrients to keep the cycle moving. It’s very easy to appreciate plants and other living creatures for our sustenance, but they would not be able to survive without a ground to stand on, to feed off of, to hold water. All soil is new, and constantly changing as we interact with it. The next time you find yourself in nature, shove your hand in the dirt and let it filter through your fingers. It’s not dirty or gross. It’s a beautiful thing.

Rain

Microstory 301: Atmosphere

Click here for a list of every step.

There is no lack of planets in this universe. Why, in this galaxy alone, there are hundreds of billions of stars, with an average of between one and two planets each. Ten billion of these are supposed to be terrestrial, rather than gaseous like Jupiter. Out of these, not all would be composed of an atmosphere comparable to Earth’s. There are probably only about 500 million of those. But that doesn’t mean there should be 500 million kinds of aliens spinning around out there. Even though these planets are capable of sustaining life, they’re not necessarily capable of sustaining evolutionary life. You wouldn’t believe just how many things had to go right on this planet in order to make you a thing that exists. Humans have yet to quantify the unlikely circumstances. Temperature, gravity, pressure, gaseous composition, distance from the sun, solar size, and many more things had to line up perfectly to create life intelligent enough to write a list like that. There’s this argument called the Fermi Paradox which wonders why we’ve not encountered aliens, because there should be a lot of them. But that’s not a paradox. It’s a question. Just because you don’t know the answer to something, doesn’t mean there isn’t one. There are any number of explanations for why we feel so alone. And it all starts with our atmosphere. It has the perfect amount of oxygen to keep us breathing, and to stop insects from being terrifyingly gigantic. The way the wind moves determined the shape of this rock, and regulates our climate. The gaseous composition is vital to our survival. Change the ratios even by a little, and it spells disaster, which is actually what we’re going through right now. Next time you go outside, thank the atmosphere for keeping everything in place.

Ground