Through the Hooded Bridge - 3. Part 3: The Arcology

Part III: The Arcology

The drive was uneventful, Adam spotted rows of houses and other stores with a variety of wares from fine glass to what appeared to be sports equipment. Towards the horizon, Adam did notice a peculiar anomaly, most likely their destination, but a clear view was obstructed by the hillside. Despite what he was taking in with his eyes, he could not shake the earlier conversation with Brandon. Then he recalled the earlier conversation over breakfast with the man sitting across from him. He said, the world will “burn to ash”. Brandon noted that this place was like Noah’s Ark, a lifeboat for survivors of a worldwide disaster. Adam knew now there was something behind this community, a common link that allowed them to be united that even the LGBT community he knew were unable to achieve; impending doom.

Eventually, they reached their destination, two massive triangular structures in a single joint complex approximately the length of two football stadiums each, but there were trees and plant life growing inside, visible from the translucent glass covering the structures. Several spheres of colorful lights resembling the sun and moon rotated around the two triangular structures. There were also balconies and lighted spaces inside that appeared to be apartments. One of the structures seemed to only be partially finished as there was an exposed side facing the hillside. Brandon parked the car and directed Adam to the main doorway of the finished structure.

As Brandon opened the door, he enthusiastically echoed, “Welcome to Arcology.”

Adam was struck by how massive the interior of the structure was. It was a miniature city bustling within a quiet town. He had done some quick math as he was passing homes and trying to spot the border of the town limits, but none of the individual houses could account for the population size that was stated. Nor could several small shops be able to supply such a population, no matter how good Carl or his mentor were at making clothing with 3D printers.

An Arcology is a building design Adam had heard about once before, a long time ago from Jordan, who enjoyed engineering and design. As Adam recalled, the idea was to create a single habitat with all the necessary urban amenities and even rural facilities, while saving square feet and reducing environmental footprint. Jordan had told Adam it was the highest ambition of many engineers and architects to create a fully functioning Arcology. Adam could not shake the feeling Jordan would have loved to see this and again his guilt began to take hold as they passed through several corridors. There was an impressive irrigation systems within the Arcology, allowing the rows of fields to be watered seamlessly at th same time without waste.

Brandon noticed Adam’s silence and saw the guilt in his face, “Your partner told you about such structures before?”

“Yes, he is studying structural engineering and design. He wants to be an Architect. He told me this was his ultimate dream to build a world inside a building like this one. A peaceful world, where everyone can live together, interact with the farmers who grow crops and livestock, just as easily as the bakers and butchers who offer bread and meat. All the functions of civilization in one space, without conflict or arguments about territory or resources, because nothing is separating people.”

“Sounds like your partner had similar ideas to us.”

“You should ask him to join, he is a million times better than me.”

“Adam you are not a bad guy, nor is Jordan. What you did is understandable to us. Though, Jordan’s views may be an issue despite his high ideal on this particular concept.”

“Why?”

“You noticed we don’t treat each other as proprietary objects in our relationships. We prefer to share our love, or if we do have a primary partner, make sure our partner’s well-being and interest are mutually satisfied. Bottom line, to us, if you love someone, you should try your best to make each other happy and fulfilled.”

“He didn’t do anything wrong, I cheated on him.”

“You said you told him you would be experimenting with other guys.”

“Yes, but I never told him I would be fucking them. That was something we shared exclusively with each other.”

“Is that what makes you love him, the anal penetration?”

“No, we do a lot more than just fuck around. We talk about our classes, we argue about movies, we joke which male celebrities we like, we go on road trips, we sing songs together over skype and facetime, we embarrass each other with weird catcalls, we…. we’re a couple.”

Brandon smiled at Adam’s answers thinking of his current primary partner, Caleb’s endearing sexuality and his honest love, “He’s your primary partner. He loves you and what he saw scared him, you have been with him for years and the idea of losing you to another boy is what made him angry.”

A relief washed over Adam’s body, “He did all that because he was angry he could lose me. I felt guilty because I thought he wanted to dump me for cheating. I’ve got to find him.”

Brandon apologetically bowed his head as they reached a door, “That might be a bit more difficult.”

Before Adam could probe further, they entered a small conference room with several couches. There were three people waiting for them, the Triumvirs, which Adam quickly began to gauge. A woman of African descent in her 50’s sat on the left-hand side, a Caucasian man in his 60’s sat in the middle, and a Latino trans-person in his 40’s with a difference in disposition to Brandon sat on the right. They wore modern clothing likely outfits designed by Carl, it was both casually matched and befitting older individuals. While Adam was expecting to find he would be intimidated by these people, who led this community, he felt at ease.

The older man in the middle greeted Adam warmly, “It’s nice to finally meet you Adam. You were quite a buzz in this community, when you showed up last night. You can call me Edwin, I the 1^st Triumvir and the founder of this community.”

Adam felt humbled by the old man’s greetings, “Thanks, sir….1st Triumvir, I hope I am not taking away your precious time. I am amazed at everything you guys have been able to achieve in isolation like this.”

The trans-man on the right smiled at Adam’s humility and responded with excitement and hand clapping, “Nonsense, we appreciate people like us coming here of their own ability, too. You are a rare gem Adam, I heard from my fellow geneticists you possess the highest confluence of traits we have on record. You are really special.”

The woman to the left with a gentle and kind face, almost motherly in a way, added her praise, “Adam, I hope you don’t mind Andy, he is showing his enthusiasm as a scientist. You are like a lost sheep we never knew we were missing. We hope you will find this place to be a good home for you as well as us. If you need anything, ask for 2^nd Triumvir Kayla.”

“Why do you call yourselves Triumvirs?”

Edwin answered confidently, “Well, we’re not dictators and this place is not being run like a democracy either. We organize people to achieve common goals, like the original Triumvirate in Rome during the end of the Roman Republic. We make sure there’s running water, enough energy from solar panels, food, clothing options if needed as you have noticed,” Adam Blushed, at the mention, “we also have lodgings and smaller shops. Those old buildings outside of this Arcology were our earliest structures. When we complete the second Arcology we will have enough space for 25,000 people. To get back to your initial question, we call ourselves the Triumvirs, because we are basically leading the organization charge of this community.”

“A three-person city council that represents gay, lesbian, and transgendered people in the community.”

Kayla nodded, “Correct Adam, but we also have more diversity than those labels can describe among our sexual orientations or genders.”

Andy raised his hand, “Guilty as charged. I am technically a bisexual trans-male, but also I was born intersex and maintain both my uterus and penis.”

A thought occurred to Adam, “What about the queer population? How are they represented?”

The three Triumvirs faces turned several different shades as if they had this debate many times before, Edwin answered, “Queer identity is something we have discussed expanding our council to include, but a Triumvirate maintains a balance vote based on 3 primary sexual and gender categories.”

Andy nods, “We can’t include every sub-gender permutation or even the entire sexual spectrum into a simple council. Also, while Queer identity exists, it is on the lower end of preferred genetic traits like the patterns for asexuality.”

Adam realized now the words from the current conversation and before, “You are exclusively looking for same or dual sex oriented individuals based on genetic traits, including transgendered people. While Queer identity may share similarities, they are closed to relations between both partners. Doesn’t that make them second class people?”

Kayla frowned, “No they’re not second class people. They’re equal to us even if they cannot fully embrace what we have yet, many of them actually share our genetics, but they have psychological damage that prevents them from expressing it. That’s why we are trying to improve our therapy techniques.”

Adam realized he hit a nerve, “Sorry, I jumped to judgment.”

Edwin shook his head, “It’s not you Adam, the question of Queer identity and asexuality representation is one I have been debating internally for a long time. They should have a place here. Unlike your world, they represent 10% of our population or approximately 1,500 people. To you our actions may seem callous, but we’re not discriminating against them. We just want to leave the old world and old systems behind us in order to create a better world here.”

Adam knew he had to ask the question now, “I’ve been hearing from others here something will happen to the rest of the world and this community is a modern-day Ark. Can you tell me what will happen?”

Edwin’s brow furrowed and he nodded, “We’ve been observing you as well Adam. I think you will be a good addition to this community, if the other Triumvirs agree, I want to show you something.”

Andy smiled, “Yes, he’s a good candidate and I think his genetic mix will be extremely good for the general population. Maybe after joining, you will consider being one of my apprentices with your background in biochemistry.”

Kayla nods as well, “He demonstrates empathy, compassion, and understanding of the plights in others, I think he will be a good addition as well. Perhaps, he can be trained under Brandon as an Acolyte and help gather people from the outside world.”

Edwin shook his head at his companions, “Sorry, Adam, but as you can see you are a hot commodity.”

Adam displayed a slight bit of embarrassment, “Thank you for praising me and I am grateful for the invitation, but before I accept any job training offers, I need to know more.”

Edwin’s smile faded as he began recalling the past, “To tell you where the world is heading, I must review where we’ve been. Do you know what happened on June 28^th 1969?”

The date sounded familiar to Adam and it came to him, “The Stonewall riots in New York, it marked the beginnings of the modern gay rights movement.”

“It was more than that to those of us who were there. I was born in a time, when LGBT people were taught we were “wrong” for society and we should be “shamed” into the shadows. Many of us were kicked out by our parents, because no one wanted a fairy, a sissy, or a butch tomboy as a kid. Stonewall was where we went to relax after odd jobs or tricks to survive another day. We never chose to be who we are, but society chose to stomp us nonetheless. The cops came and raided us like normal, but the cops began fondling lesbian girls and undressing effeminate boys for sport. While many of us had to resort to prostitution to make money, we are still human beings, not sex toys. Being hated and shamed was not enough. We were getting violated on a deeper physical level, just because we were not heterosexual. We had nothing to lose at that point and someone threw a punch, then bottles. We did more than start a movement. We reclaimed our humanity that night.”

Adam had heard the stories about the raid, the altercation, and the events that followed from his studies, but hearing Edwin’s old raw memories was different, “I think a lot of people would thank you for what you did. Your generation helped make the world better for all of us today.”

Edwin frowned, “No, we did not. We failed in many ways afterwards. The fight for equality was not meant to be a fight to “conform” non-heterosexuals into society. Your generation outside of this community doesn’t even know what they have given up.”

Adam tried to recall gay rights’ achievements post-Stonewall, “We’re not as open about sex as you are, but we still have plenty of gay bars, plus LGBT resorts, cruise ships, and even a few LGBT movie stars. We have members of the community openly serve in military service without issue. We recently got gay marriage in the United States across the entire country and many couples now either have kids through in-vitro or adoption. I think we are pretty well off.”

“Then let me ask you, why do you need to have gay friendly places? Why do you need the world to acknowledge you are in a relationship on a piece of paper? Why do you need to ask for permission when what you are is right in front of them? That is what you’ve lost Adam. In the pursuit for justice, the movement I helped create has become a new chain of social bondage. LGBT people are not “wrong” or “shamed” as much, but you are no better than pets. They make you fight for bones and scraps from the table like marriage in order to do tricks like vote for certain candidates in elections. When you do get your bone, do you think you are now equal to the one giving it? No, because they can pull it away at any time or better yet deprive you of it to enforce your loyalty. You will never be their equal, just their pet when a job needs to be done. Is that well off?”

Adam never thought of his life in those terms. He had always counted himself as a progressive person and grateful gay rights had achieved what it has in the past few decades. Still, it was true that, despite the gains of recent Supreme Court decisions, LGBT rights are interpretational and not legislative in the United States. There are few real laws protecting LGBT people’s rights to marry, to have sex, or even to exist without being declared a mental illness. Edwin was onto a point, the modern LGBT movement while promoting rights and seemingly gaining much, it was all a loan that hinges on another’s good favor.

Adam solemnly hung his head, “It is not perfect, but what choice is there for any of us.”

Kayla chimed in forcefully and earnestly, “It is not the choices that are offered which define us, but the choices we make for ourselves and with one another. In that regard, our community is building a world where no one will seek to abuse you as one of the chief lessons of Stonewall.”

Edwin with renewed energy from Kayla continued recalling the events, “Kayla’s spirit was the same spirit that we had entering the 1970’s. There many organizations that sprang up from “conformity” homophile groups who sought to make us more heterosexual, to Liberation groups that sought to defend us with any means necessary. I joined the Liberation group in New York and saw the rise of Bath houses, gay bars, and many other places around New York City, creating true LGBT neighborhoods for the first time. Then, the 1980’s started and everything changed.”

There was a profound silence in the room, a mourning silence Adam understood. The 1970’s gay rights’ movement was radically different than what people knew today; it was a pioneering movement filled with excessive flamboyancy and excessive sexuality that matched the era of Disco. The tragedy was the excess of the 1970’s lead to the rise of HIV/AIDS in the 1980’s, when the sexual freedom of the early gay rights’ movement fed into a false fear that homosexuals were spreading the disease through contact. Some have argued it was the 1970’s gay rights movement’s sexual practices that allowed the disease to spread so quickly in the mid 1980’s, creating an argument against LGBT on the ground of promiscuity and enhancing moral authority by religious leaders. That debate is still argued even today as Adam remembered his mock debates in class.

The moment passed, Edwin regained his composure, “When the gay plague broke out, I was scared like many other young gay men. Then, when the heterosexuals began to take notice and fear the spread of potential infections; we became a target again. The neighborhoods we created in the 1970’s began to close down; they closed our local bath houses with the reason of “public health” hazard. This time, no one stood up to the cops as they escorted us away to be tested like rabid dogs. I watched as friends died and my life crumbled beneath me. A condom was all you need to stop the spread of this disease, many of us wore protection as soon as it was known. The populace did not care for scientific reality or our self-preserving actions. They just wanted a scapegoat, something easy to point to, blame their troubles on. At that point, we were too stricken by grief and disease to fight back, too poor in resources to find medications which could stem the decline in our lovers. That’s when your modern gay rights’ movement was born, when we had no choice but to beg for survival and accept our place beneath heterosexuals. In 1982, I left New York City and wandered for a long time until I found the Hooded Bridge as I was driving on a small stretch of dirt road.”

Adam recognized the landmark, “I was driving last night and entered one, what is it?”

Edwin looked over to Andy for an answer, and he obliged. “I am not a specialist in Physics like my partners Percy or Lauren, but you can consider the area around the Hooded Bridge to be an unstable wormhole. We’re still on Earth, but there is no trace of human civilization. We are guessing based on available evidence that we’re in the past, prior to the last ice age more than 50,000 years ago.”

While Adam had assumed this possibility, he did not realize the scope, “50,000 years! I can’t believe that. Are you sure? Early homo sapiens should be around along with some other hominids if I remember my high school natural history.”

Andy was in his element now, “Not on the American continent, based on the earliest data of human habitation and genetic drift, “native” populations arrived around 15,000 years from your point of departure or 35,000 years from now. The Bering land bridge has not fully formed yet, so we have this place to ourselves without any issues of interfering with humanity’s development.”

Adam still held disbelief. “How could you have known or even bothered to find all of this out?”

Edwin smirked at Adam’s skepticism, “It was easy, the bridge disappeared on me for 6 hours and 36 minutes. It just happened that I had arrived right in time before the doors closed. For those six hours, I wandered and found the hillside where massive chunks of raw gold ore could be picked up. I grabbed as much as I could fit in my car. When the Bridge re-appeared, I drove back to civilization remembering the location. I made a lot of money from my first trip, which went back to hospitals and the people suffering. It was a drop in the bucket and despite this mound of wealth beneath our feet I was still attending funerals of friends. During this time, I met Kayla, who was studying urban planning at NYU and was an active community organizer. She noticed my donations and I shared my secret with her. You have to understand, at the time we were scared the entire LGBT community would be wiped out within our lifetimes. When we chose to bring people here as residents, we were thinking this may be our last refuge.”

Adam understood the context they were facing when setting up this community. In the early 1980’s, there was limited AIDS/HIV research funding as most saw the disease merely as a moral stain on its victims, a punishment by God for homosexual activity. Even when Heterosexual populations started getting infected, it was merely the poor and disenfranchised, and who had drug addiction issues. Only in the late 1980’s, did people like Ryan White, who were more sympathetic victims of the disease due to tainted blood supplies begin the process of actual research and development. What Kayla and Edwin had done in setting up this community in this strange world from the past was the best choice in a world without options.

Adam reflected on the facts, “I believe you, but it does not explain the references people in this community have made.”

Brandon offered Edwin a cup of tea, interjected on his mentor’s behalf, “It actually is tied into how the unstable wormhole works. That “Bridge” is a physical manifestation, ironically, of a fixed point in space, which can jump between two points in time. Percy taught the acolytes, who travel through the bridge to find others like us to be careful of magnetic shifts before we traverse the bridge. In 1991, Edwin was heading out again, when he accidentally entered a future point in history, where the world was engulfed in an orange haze of dust and radiation.”

Edwin gave Brandon his thanks, then continued from where his young acolyte left off, “I barely made it back alive and the car’s residual radiation was proof of what I encountered. Eventually, the wormhole returned to normal, when Kayla returned after a month with a group of homeless teens including Andy over here. They had an even stranger adventure.”

Andy laughed, “I’ll say! Meeting myself from 35 years ahead was scary. He introduced himself and told us about what we encountered and the phenomenon. Then he told us what we will learn from Edwin, he said that by that point in the future, humanity had wiped itself out on earth. He didn’t give us any details, but did tell us to continue what we were doing. He also gave us information to study, like a complete human genome and some stem cell research. They kept us in separate housings from the rest of the population in the completed Arcology complex. We were sent back through the Bridge and returned to 1991 Earth, and came back here like we originally planned.”

“So the world will end between now and 2026. How do you know it’s not one of many timelines that could exist? Maybe, by seeing it and hearing it from your future self, you can change the direction of the world.”

All three Triumvirs shook their heads, Edwin knowingly explained, “That was just our first encounter with the future, Lauren had hypothesized the time jump occurred due to an 11-years magnetic cycle brought on by the sun’s magnetic pole shifts, which coincide with the date of the issues. In 2002, we tested the theory and began exploring both the future and past. The dust clouds had settled into an orange atmosphere. The land and the atmosphere was a vile mix of radioactive particles. We have videos of what we found in 2002 and drone reconnaissance drone video in 2013 for 2037 and 2048, which Brandon can show you later. Our other team of explorers found our future descendants awaiting them with advice and ideas, including technical ideas on material, genetic engineering enhancements, and power production improvements. They were careful with what they gave us, so we still had to do leg work to make it work.”

“That explains a lot of what I’ve seen in your advances, being slightly ahead of their time, but not unreasonably advanced based on what we already have. So, the entire series of events are predestination.”

Edwin shook his head, “I would rather call it shaping our future by our own choices. The outside world had their chances to make the world a better place, they could have made improvements in their societies, and even open their societies up so peaceful bonds could permeate without stigmas. Instead, they destroyed themselves, while we survived.”

Adam recognized the subtle line, but had to confirm “Will you deny all heterosexuals from coming here as a last refuge for the coming crisis?”

All three Triumvirs nodded without hesitation, Edwin delivered the words he knew Adam would not want to hear, but the young man needed to know, “You may consider this petty or hypocritical, but if we open this place to all, the world’s prejudices will follow. This is our paradise Adam; it is a community we built outside of the heterosexual rules and obligations. To allow them in, we must accept their rules again and return to being pets.”

Kayla added, “Adam, remember despite our best efforts, including Brandon’s gathering of our people, we won’t be able to save even the smaller population of millions LGBT. Would you sacrifice one of our people for the life of a person who we share no ties with?”

Adam couldn’t hold back his dismay, “How about my parents? How about my friends? How about all those people, who made sacrifices to help the LGBT community? I know you guys come from broken families and grew up in uglier times in our history. I know the current world is not fair and we are being manipulated into a submissive position. Yet, some people are trying to be advocates and do care for us.”

Edwin took out a tablet and handed it to Adam, “Your friends are not as friendly as they seem. Your so-called “supporters” and “advocates” will run and hide, when they deem it is safer to avoid you. Their view of self-interest is another reason why we cannot accept them into this community.”

Adam watched as the Tablet replayed a recorded scene, where Alan, Dan, and Chad were seated in what looks like a police interrogation room based off “the Closer”. A black suited middle aged man with pen and notepad entered the room and sat opposite of the 3 young men.

The man, who resembled a caricature of a FBI agent, began addressing them, “Based on your college ID’s, you are Chad Akron, Allan Sparks, and Dan Truong. We found a note belonging to a 4^th member of your group, who has not been found. We also found in your possession 8 grams of high grade marijuana. Do you have anything else to say?”

Allan began to sob, “Please don’t arrest us, it’s not our fault. We didn’t know that was weed.”

Dan added, “Yeah, we were told it was Tobacco.”

The investiator pressed on, “Who told you? Was it the last member of your group?”

Chad answered without hesitation or thought, “Yes, Adam rolled the joints and he wanted us to get rid of the evidence, it’s in his note. He’s a huge dealer on campus.”

Adam was shocked to hear his roommate and friends implicate him in a crime he didn’t commit. He did not even touch the marijuana being passed around the car, which was given to Dan at the party.

The investigator continued asking his questions, “Why would he have given you marijuana, then drive you into a little stretch of woods outside of major roads?”

Allan chimed, “I think he wanted to rape us, we had been at a party and were intoxicated. He persuaded us to get in the car since we live in the same dorm building.”

Chad added, “Yes, he was making unwanted advances on me since the first day we began rooming together.”

The investigator frowned, “I have heard enough, end recording.”

Adam’s face went blank as he contemplated the charges these guys had levelled against him. Chad had been his roommate for the last 2 years, but he had never once been homophobic openly towards Adam. Allan on the other hand had displayed some signs of homophobia, being a bit resistant to Adam’s attempt at friendship and making several homophobic jokes to his roommate Dan. Adam did remember the three guys had been put on academic probation when school first started this year after they threw some beer bottles and broke half the windows in the freshman girls’ dorm building. They would be expelled for any other violations. However, the part about raping them had chilled Adam to the bone, he had sex in his dorm, it was known, but so did all of them, why was he being judged with a different standard.

Adam looked down at the pink floor, “I don’t know what to say, but those guys are no longer my friends. Still, my parents were welcoming to Jordan, when his parents cast him out. Also, of all the deserving gay guys I know, Jordan should be welcomed here.”

Edwin demeanor shifted slightly, “Your parents are rare and tragically represent a minority within the heterosexual world view. Their love for you exceeded any prejudices or preconceived notions that might have been developed by your society, but even then, their rationalization is based on an alien value system. They are still stuck on the same limited spectrum of social standards on which to judge others; if Jordan were not your boyfriend would they have been as accepting? As for your boyfriend, he is a more complex issue. I wish we could accept him as well as many other of our own, but beyond sexuality, we need people not corrupted by a destructive social value system. His reaction to your sexual exploration would not be compatible with the ideals in this community.”

Brandon came to Adam’s defense on the last point, “Edwin as you have monitored all the conversations Adam had since his arrival here, I would like to offer that Jordan, Adam’s boyfriend, and I would also call him his primary partner, may not be jealous or envious. Jordan could potentially be fearful of losing his partner to another boy based on the length and depth of their relationship.”

Kayla agreed with Brandon, “I believe Brandon is correct, Edwin. We’ve seen and heard enough of young lovers with similar problems over the last 4 decades.”

Andy shook in disagreement, “Brandon, I understand what happened to you, but not everyone will follow that same path. Jealousy and envy are born out of fear. Jordan may be too far gone to risk bringing him here.”

Adam could not hold back his anger, “What gives you guys the right to judge others? How can you pass judgment on who lives and dies based on a set of rules? Isn’t that the heart of hypocrisy itself? The society you despise is doing the same things, building prejudices with words and walls, and holding lines in the sand. Why are you going down that path?”

Edwin shook vehemently at Adam’s words, “We are not them. We are doing this because we know as a certainty they will destroy the world with their actions. We are merely preserving ourselves and making a better society that will not have the same problems down the line. Even from today’s view, we know how the history reached its ultimate ends, their world fights for empty reasons of religious views, ethnic divides, skin tones, gender differences, and something as arbitrary as political concepts, which are artificial lines drawn by geography or even non-existent concepts represented by a donkey or an elephant. No matter which side of the issue is right or wrong in their views, both fed into the factors that will destroy their world. Is that kind of society, what we want to import to a pristine world that has no knowledge of want or bigotry?”

Adam had to concede the point, but he could not concede Jordan, “Maybe, you are right. Humanity made our own hell by dividing ourselves into separate camps. Your world is more integrated, there are fewer separations in relationships, and resources are not valued based on money. Instead you built a world that values needs and desires. I don’t know if everyone can accept a world like this; I don’t even know if my own parents can value everyone in the same way they value me. I can’t argue with your points, but I must still hold firm. The world is an imperfect place, but maybe the future is not set in stone yet and we can do something about what will happen even if it is destined to die. Even if the future is set in stone, I can’t give up on Jordan. I know that now, if he can’t be here, I can’t be here either.”

Edwin appraised Adam for the level of commitment to the ultimatum, “As I noted, Jordan is a complex issue, we will assess it in the future. As for right now, I think you should see the visual records we have compiled over the last 2 decades during the time jumps. Hearing about hell is one thing, but actually seeing the ruins of the world may change your views.”

Adam was expecting another tablet video, but instead Brandon pointed him to leave the room. As Adam stood up, he took one last glance at the three leaders of this community. Kayla showed the most compassion for Adam’s plight, Andy reviewed Adam’s needs analytically, and Edwin was the worldly sage trying to persuade Adam and maintain a standard that Adam could not fault. Adam’s meeting with these three had answered many of his questions, but it raised many more problems than it solved. Yet, Adam neglected to reconcile one important fact from his journey and what he had discovered about this community. It would prove to be his most damning negligence.