Laws of Time Page 8

  “Wow! Times have changed,” remarked Sean.

  “Yes, keep watching. You’ll see that it gets worse. I’ve seen the video that’s been prepared for you.”

  “Really?” said Stacey. “I’m not sure if I want to see it.”

  “It’s something you’ll want to see and understand,” replied the doctor.

  When Sean put the video back into play mode, it continued with a sequence of world events. It highlighted the first female vice president of the United States, the evacuation of the island nation of Tuvalu due to rising sea levels from global warming, and genocide totaling millions of inhumanely slaughtered citizens in countries surrounding the Horn of Africa. Then, Sean and Stacey watched a recap of the event that Dr. Mason had warned them about.

  Five years ago, a dirty bomb was detonated in Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, wiping out nearly a square mile of the city. The initial impact and lingering radiation effect killed over 700,000 Chinese and visiting tourists. Although the terrorist action could not be tied directly to a government, funding sources for the operation were eventually traced back to a handful of multi-national corporations in the U.S. and Europe that financed the horrific act to scare the Chinese into cooperation. Their objective was to revise export and import laws in their favor. Although the U.S. government was proven to have no involvement, and in fact it even assisted in the investigation and turned the alleged conspirators over to the Chinese, relations between the two countries have remained extremely delicate since the bombing.

  The psychiatrist turned off the video and asked, “Are there any questions that I can answer for you?”

  “You had to end the video there?” asked Stacey. “What about ending on a lighter note?”

  “Sorry. I didn’t create the video. But I can help you through your adjustment into the new time period.”

  Sean joked with the doctor, “I’m good. The Chargers won the Superbowl. It’s disappointing that the Padres still haven’t gone anywhere, but if I freeze myself for a few more decades, maybe I can wake up to a World Series ring.”

  They were done. It was time to reenter the real world. Neither of the Harrisons felt that they needed a psychiatrist to help them through the process. Although they were clearly ready to go, it took another agonizingly long hour before the Harrisons were able to leave the rehabilitation center as they awaited their pickup.

  Finally, Alyssa arrived at the hospital to drive her parents to their new home. “Sorry that I’m late,” she said rushing through the door to greet her mother and father. “I was touching up your condo.”

  “We’re ready to get out of here,” said Stacey. “Time to go home.”

  The Harrisons had few belongings to carry with them. They took what little they owned and left the rehabilitation center. As they walked outside into the parking lot, their skin felt the rays of the sun for the first time in twenty-four years.

  Sean remarked, “Cars seem to have improved, but I don’t see a big difference from our day to now.”

  “There are definitely changes,” said Alyssa, correcting her father. “For one, you don’t see as many American cars on the road now. Also, there are lots of electric-powered cars, including my car. I think they make up ‘bout a quarter of the cars here in California.”

  “Interesting,” replied Sean. “So perhaps the fuel, and your dashboard looks like a computer. But, otherwise, it’s the same as my old car. I was hoping that we’d be floating on air by now.”

  Alyssa laughed at her father’s suggestion. There were a lot of things in the world that had changed, but her car was still a variation of the original motorized buggy.

  The Harrisons admired the changes to the landscape and the architecture along I-5 on their drive home. San Diego had gone through many changes in the twenty-four years that they’d missed, but most of the city was still recognizable to them. They continued driving north towards Del Mar where Alyssa had recently furnished a condo with some of the Harrison’s belongings, in storage for a quarter of a century.

  “We’re here!” announced Alyssa.

  Before they were frozen, Sean and Stacey had given up their old home and had allowed it to be sold, which happened immediately after their cryogenic suspension. So they were fine with a simple Del Mar condominium as they adjusted to the present. The condo building was new, very modern and included stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. Stacey remarked that her daughter had chosen the perfect location for their temporary residence.

  Alyssa reported eagerly, “I know you wanted to spend more time with my family, so they’re all waiting upstairs. I hope you like what we’ve done to your place.”

  Sean and Stacey entered their new Mediterranean-styled condo and exchanged greetings with Alyssa’s husband Frederic and two children, Andre and Jacqueline. Stacey was thrilled to spend more time with her grandkids, but out of the corner of her eye, she also got a quick glance at her new apartment. Strangely, it felt like home to her and she was trying to determine why it was so familiar. In the living room, she found her old, white sofa. The sofa faced an out-dated, but recognizable television from their previous home. And as she walked around, she also found that all of the kitchen utensils and flatware were very familiar. They were all from her past.

  Stacey thanked her daughter, “I love what you’ve done to the place. It’s beautiful. Thank you so much for a wonderful homecoming.”

  For Sean, the changes felt very odd – very different than what he was accustomed to. Kris was now managing his company and his home felt more like a retirement community than an executive’s residence. He had only been back a few days, but Sean knew that he needed something to do. It was not retirement for him and he knew that he would not be able to spend all day in a small condo. Nevertheless, he also thanked his daughter, “Terrific job, Aly. We’ll be very happy here.”

  It was late into the evening before Alyssa and her family departed. The families spent hours catching up on events, detailing the lives of their teenage kids. Andre, sixteen years old, was a great tennis player for his high school. Jacqueline, at age thirteen, had her first boyfriend that she talked about joyfully with her grandparents despite disapproval from her parents to have a boyfriend at such a young age.

  As Alyssa and her family left the condo, Stacey said, “It was so wonderful spending time with all of you. I want to make up for all of the lost time and I hope that we can get to know each other much better.”

  “For sure, Grandma,” said Andre. “I have a match in a few days. You should come and watch,” he said, referring to his next tennis tournament.

  “I’d love to, honey,” said Stacey with a twinkle of her eye. “I’ll be there. Good night everyone and drive safe.”

  When Alyssa’s kids were out of view, Stacey turned around and smiled at her husband. “I’m a Grandma.”

  Sean and Stacey were now alone for the first time in their future life. Inside, their home reminded them of their past. Outside, the world had changed dramatically.

  Chapter 14

  It was only the first full day out of rehabilitation but Sean was itching to get back to work. Fortunately, he had a car service at his disposal to take him to the Tace Technologies corporate campus. After finally deciding that he needed something to do for the day, Sean kissed his wife, said goodbye and left to join his son Kris at the aerospace giant.

  After Sean left the condo, Stacey paced around the room, unsure what to do with herself. It reminded her of her pregnancy with Kris. At that time, she was working as a physical therapist when she first learned that she was expecting their first child. Sean had a good job, so after discussions with her husband, Stacey quit her job with three months remaining before Kris was born to prepare the house and the baby’s room. The new condo reminded her of the shock of leaving her full-time job and being home alone the few months preceding Kris’ birth.

  Although it was quite smaller than her old home, the three-thousand-square-foot condo was very spacious and Stacey was generally pleased wi
th the décor – thanks to her daughter. Nevertheless, she was compelled to reorganize the furniture to her liking. She was in the middle of rearranging the sofa when the phone rang.

  It was Alyssa. “Hi Mom. I was considering taking the afternoon off from work. What are you doing today?”

  “Your father went to see Kris this morning,” Stacey replied, happy to hear her daughter’s voice. “I was thinking about going for a walk soon, but I’m flexible. Would you like to do something?”

  After a brief phone conversation, Stacey arranged to meet her daughter for lunch. Then, she went back to the sofa to complete her remodel. Stacey methodically placed the entire living room furniture into forty-five and ninety degree angles. Her obsessive, compulsive personality meant organizing and arranging her living space in a meaningful order. And a meaningful order meant right angles, parallel lines and even spaces between objects in a room. If it did not meet her specification, it would be hard for Stacey to walk into a room and not be distracted – even if it looked seemingly clean and organized to others. Finally, when there was nothing left to do, Stacey went for a short walk while she waited for her daughter to arrive for their lunch appointment.

  She had only been back from her walk for fifteen minutes before the doorbell rang. Her condo was equipped with state of the art technology. Three control panels were strategically placed throughout the unit. Each panel included a monitor to scan the exterior, the condo building entrance, and the common areas, including the pool and gym. Stacey found the closest control panel, and after she confirmed that it was indeed her daughter, she pushed the button and remotely opened the door.

  “It’s beautiful out today,” said Alyssa as she walked in and gave her mother a warm hug.

  “Oh yes, it’s very nice,” replied Stacey. “I took a nice walk in the sun earlier this morning. How was your day?”

  “I had a few things to take care of at work, but they’re done. I wanted to spend more time with you, so I’ve got the entire afternoon. Where would you like to eat?”

  “How about Mexican?”

  “Perfect. There’s a great place only a few blocks from here.”

  It was a quarter past noon when Stacey and her daughter arrived at the restaurant. Restaurant technology was one thing that had not changed in Stacey’s new time period. Food was still food. And Stacey was still very fond of Mexican cuisine. It had been more than two decades since she had eaten a chicken chimichanga.

  The Harrison women were enjoying their lunch when Alyssa suddenly broken down with a confession. “Mom, I missed you. It was hard… it turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be.”

  Although it was a long, twenty-four year absence from her daughter’s perspective, for Stacey, there was literally no time to have missed her daughter. From Stacey’s perspective, she saw Alyssa on her last day when she was frozen and on her first day when she woke up. But she recognized that her daughter was in pain.

  “I missed you too,” Stacey acknowledged with sincerity.

  “I have to admit, when you and Dad made your decision, I thought it was an exciting adventure,” continued Alyssa with a speech that seemed to have been rehearsed for years. “I got caught up in the media hype. It was thrilling to see my parents in the news those first few years after you were frozen. But as time went on, I realized that you were missing out on many opportunities. Like my wedding day...”

  Alyssa had to pause for a moment to clear her throat and collect her thoughts. Then, she continued, “It eventually turned to anger. I knew that I should not have been angry about it, but I couldn’t help it. For a few years, I had to visit a shrink to work through my issues.”

  Tears began to trickle down Stacey’s cheeks. Stacey looked in the opposite direction of the waiter who was approaching, with very inappropriate timing, to clear the plates on the table. She held back her emotions while Alyssa politely dismissed the waiter’s offer for dessert. After the waiter left, Stacey looked into her daughter’s eyes. She did not know how to restart their previous conversation, but eventually told her daughter, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. If I could take back time, I would.”

  Alyssa sniffled and then said softly, “It’s okay.” She grabbed her mother’s hand across the table in comfort. “It was hard for me. But I eventually controlled the anger and hurt. It took a number of years. Probably until the point where my kids were old enough that I felt like a mother myself to fill the void.”

  “Oh… honey…”

  Stacey stopped in the middle of her sentence – choked up with emotion. She first looked around the restaurant to see if there was someone watching her before she apologized again. “I’m sorry. I really am. It’s so hard for me because it seems like I saw you yesterday. And you were just twenty-five. And now, you’re all grown up and I’ll never get that time back.”

  “I felt like it was revenge for my modeling years, to some degree, Mom,” said Alyssa, referring to a time period when she was a successful teenage model that persistently defied her parents and had the financial means to take off on extravagant weekends without telling them. Her modeling career had brought Alyssa fame, fortune and a lot of contacts in the industry, but it also put a serious strain on the parent-child relationship. At sixteen years old, Alyssa had already considered herself an adult and disregarded any instructions from her parents. “I know I wasn’t the best teenager, getting caught up in all the stuff and disobeying you and Dad.”

  “Aly, we worked through that time. Teenage years are never easy and you had considerable pressure those other kids your age didn’t have. Your father and I tried our best to provide a strong foundation during your youth to love and respect people, things and the environment. And you’ve blossomed into a beautiful, respectful and loving daughter. More than we could have ever asked for. Any decision that we made in the past was for ourselves and not because of something that you might have done. It’s not you Aly. I’m so sorry you felt that way.”

  That was all that Alyssa needed to hear. She had felt abandoned many years before, and seeing her mother’s remorse was certainly reassuring. For Alyssa, a few minutes of conversation with her mother turned out to be more helpful than the years of therapy that she had endured. Her anger quickly turned to guilt. She watched as her mother cried uncontrollably in a public restaurant. Soon, teary eyes formed on both sides of the table.

  Alyssa recovered by holding both of her mother’s hands – arms stretched across the table to meet hands. She whispered, “Mom, we can make up for lost time now. The past is the past. I’m just glad that you’re here now.”

  Chapter 15

  Bang! The glass separating Kris Harrison’s office and the hallway shook violently. Two feet away, Sean Harrison clasped his forehead with his right hand. Kris could not stop laughing when he saw his father.

  “Who put this damn glass in the way!” yelled Sean.

  Sean’s old office had changed dramatically. Although it was still in the same location, it had been renovated twice since Sean held the position of CEO. The glass that surrounded the office used to be a solid wood door.

  “Come on in,” Kris said, still laughing hysterically at his father whose head was beginning to bruise. “I’ll have to remember to leave the door open the next time you visit.”

  Sean growled in response.

  “How was your tour this morning?” asked Kris.

  Sean sat down, his hand gently rubbing the bruise forming on his forehead. “The tour was great. It’s amazing how much has been developed and how the offices have changed. Twenty-four years…”

  “C’mon, I’ll fill you in on more details that you may not have covered in your tour. Let’s head down to the lab and I can answer more of your questions.”

  The Tace Technologies campus had tripled in size since the time that Sean ran the business. On the far end of campus was Building Twelve – the home of the special laboratory that produced the first working time machine. Building Twelve was strategically placed and chosen for
the lab experiments because it was further from the corporate management offices. The high-risk experiments were extremely hazardous and so the company limited its potential destruction by keeping it in isolation. The building was also conveniently located near the campus security offices so that the special lab could be closely monitored.

  To travel across the campus, Kris often used the corporate golf cart. Capable of a passenger load of six people, it was more than just a convenient way to travel from building to building. It was a company icon. Kris would often wave to employees as he motored along the sidewalks of the grounds. Simple, friendly gestures helped Kris keep close relations with his co-workers and high approval ratings as their CEO.

  “I got a bit of the company’s history in the debrief at the hospital,” said Sean as he climbed into the golf cart. “Looks like you went through some rough times with the Street.”

  “We’ve had some lows, but we’ve bounced back. And now with the latest announcement, we’re in a great position.”

  “What happened?”

  Kris started the corporate cart and accelerated in the direction of Building Twelve. “We did very well in the first decade thanks to the cryogenic product line. Then Steve retired on schedule, about ten years after you left. We took a little bit of a hit when I took over because the analysts were concerned about my lack of experience.”

  “How big of an impact?”

  A little annoyed that his father was asking for the details of the stock price fourteen years prior, Kris answered, “I don’t remember exactly. Maybe twenty percent in the first year? But that was just the beginning.”

  The golf cart sped past a group of four employees walking the campus lawn. Kris reached his hand out for high fives as he passed alongside, and yelled, “Go Tace!”

  “Okay and then what happened?” Sean asked, wanting further details than what his son had provided.