{"id":2748,"date":"2025-01-25T07:43:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T14:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2748"},"modified":"2025-01-25T07:43:31","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T14:43:31","slug":"lets-get-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/25\/lets-get-started\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Get Started"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write a story about someone who must fit their entire life in a single suitcase.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time shuddered to a stop, slipped back a few seconds, then started back up. At first, there was a woman in the center of the room clutching a suitcase against her chest, then two of her, interposed on top of and within each other, then none. She left only a hole in the air behind, that filled with a bang and the rustle of papers swept up by the air that rushed to fill the sudden vacuum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her arrival was quieter, a soft whoosh as the pressure in the room where she materialized increased a bit. Her heavy, orange, cable-knit sweater and cap, blue jeans, boots, and heavily used suitcase clashed with the sterile environment in which she found herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A light breeze from the air handlers nudged the light brown curls of hair that stuck out from beneath the knit cap. Awareness returned to amber eyes edged with crow\u2019s feet in a face the color of dark honey. She relaxed her grip on the suitcase, setting it down as color returned to knuckles that had gone white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWelcome home, Christa.\u201d The tenor voice that came through the speaker near the door was mellifluous, though lacking any emotive quality. \u201cWe are ensuring that no dangerous pathogens have come with you. You may notice a slight astringent smell. That is an antiseptic, completely harmless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUh, ok.\u201d Christa looked for a camera near the speaker but didn\u2019t see one. \u201cHi?\u201d The smell of the antiseptic was so faint as to be unnoticed, had it not been mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The voice came back over the speaker. \u201cAll clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The door opened and a woman in a loose-fitting jumpsuit walked in. Deep brown eyes shone above a bright smile in a pale face with cool undertones. \u201cAre you feeling altogether well?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a little weird at first, but I think I\u2019m okay now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFantastic! I\u2019m Adria, and the voice you heard earlier was Clyde.\u201d Adria stepped closer to Christa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs Clyde an AI?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adria laughed. \u201cNo, he\u2019s just\u2026different<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christa nodded. \u201cAh. Neurodivergent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adria pursed her lips. \u201cUm, that\u2019s possible. Not sure, though. Can I grab your bag?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got it.\u201d Christa picked up the suitcase, careful to not hold the whole weight with the handle. \u201cIt\u2019s falling apart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can get you a new one. If you prefer, however, I\u2019m sure Clyde could help you repair that one. Some things are precious. I understand.\u201d Adria gestured to the door. \u201cShall we? I\u2019ll show you to your room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The room was furnished the same as the room she\u2019d just left. The desk looked like wood, but didn\u2019t have the same warmth, the mattress on the bed was firmer than the lumpy one she\u2019d left behind, the blankets softer and lighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the closet hung more than half a dozen jumpsuits like the one Adria wore. Christa removed her boots and found the carpet to be softer and more inviting than what she\u2019d left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe tried to recreate your room to the best of our abilities. If you want to change anything, feel free. If you need anything just let us know.\u201d Adria gestured toward a door on the opposite side of the room. \u201cThere\u2019s a washroom and shower through there. Get some rest, and when you feel up to it, put on a uniform and join us in the galley. Just follow the signs in the hallway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christa showered, discovered underclothes in the drawers of the desk, the same place she\u2019d kept them in her original room, and put on one of the soft jumpsuits. She felt a wave of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu in the fit of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman in the mirror was familiar, if older than she felt. Besides the crow\u2019s feet around her eyes, the absence of the knit cap left the grey around her temples visible, and the beginnings of permanent wrinkles on her forehead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sighed and turned to leave when a knock came at her door. \u201cIt\u2019s open, come in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small man with deep brown skin, close-cropped, curly, black hair, and striking green eyes entered. \u201cHello, Christa,\u201d he said in the dulcet, but emotionless tenor she\u2019d heard earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a second look, she noticed that part of his head was covered with a metal plate that had some sort of port in the middle. \u201cOh, hi. You must be Clyde?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, I am Clyde,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is pleasant to make your acquaintance. I have heard much about you, with the larger proportion being positive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s uh, good? I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a positive position for us to be in,\u201d Clyde said. \u201cThis would normally be Adria\u2019s duty, but she is busy with other things. Can you show me what you brought with you and tell me about your life before your other memories cloud the details?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther memories?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI should not have mentioned that,\u201d he said. \u201cPlease show me what you brought with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christa opened the suitcase then paused. She pointed at the cable-knit sweater and matching cap. \u201cThose are the last things my mother knitted before she passed.\u201d She chuckled even as tears filled her eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hated orange, but she always wanted me to wear it. \u2018It looks so good on you,\u2019 she\u2019d say. Anyway, I wore them every time I visited her in the hospital. Now, I wear it to remember her smile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clyde nodded. \u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She lifted out a dog-eared paperback. \u201cMy favorite book. I\u2019ve read it thirty or more times.\u201d She carefully unwrapped a padding of pillow-filling, in which rested a porcelain figurine which she set in place of pride on the desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was a gift from my grandmother on my tenth birthday. She\u2019d gotten it new when she was ten.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that came a photo album with a worn spine. \u201c130 years of photos of my family in there.\u201d Beneath that was a charger and a tablet. \u201cIt\u2019s probably not going to last the rest of my life, but there are three hundred books and four thousand songs in here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unpacking continued, a collar from a long-gone, furry friend, a stuffed toy from infancy, a knitted scarf in alpaca, a favorite sleep shirt, her diplomas, and dozens of trinkets from fifty-eight years of life, condensed into a single suitcase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she finished emptying the suitcase and putting everything in its place, she said, \u201cIt all seems so trivial. Even this suitcase, which my mother used when she first moved out of my grandmother\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing is trivial when it comes to your pre-agency life.\u201d Clyde\u2019s eyes closed for a moment then opened wide. \u201cAdria is waiting for us in the galley. It is time for your induction into the Temporal Anomaly Agency, which will be your physical re-vitalization, memory unlocking, and agency training memory upload.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christa took a deep breath and blew it out. \u201cOkay, let\u2019s do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they walked to the galley, Clyde asked, \u201cWhy did you accept the invitation to join the agency?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christa shrugged. \u201cI\u2019m the last of my family and was unable to have kids. I\u2019ve got a doctorate in Physics that got me jobs from flipping burgers to doing data analysis for a Wall Street firm to make rich people richer, with no hope for retirement. My life never went anywhere important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is a logical assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stopped and looked at Clyde. \u201cWait. What was it you were talking about \u2018other memories\u2019 earlier?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou were first approached about joining the agency one year after earning your doctorate and agreed then. That meeting, and the subsequent meetings and check-ups were blocked from your memory in order to not impact the rest of your life. We find that most who agree once when they are young, are still accepting decades later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd if I hadn\u2019t agreed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clyde looked at her. \u201cThat is unknown. All we know is that you were listed as missing two days after you were transported to this time and never found. Perhaps you would have gone on to live under an alias somewhere else, or perhaps you would have been abducted and killed and your body never found.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a little dark, Clyde.\u201d Christa chuckled in spite of it and resumed walking to the galley with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is simply a logical conclusion for a person who went missing in in the vicinity of three known serial killers who were active at that same time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKnown serial killers?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne was suspected at the time you left, one was not known until months later, and the third only came to light six years later.\u201d Despite the subject, his voice maintained the same fluid tone and flat affect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWere you always like this?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo\u2026unemotional.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am unaware of whether I was or not,\u201d he said, \u201cbut since my injury on an assignment in 1543, I have lost the urge to sing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, that sounds awful.\u201d Christa patted his shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just as well,\u201d Adria said as they entered the galley. \u201cI got tired of hearing the same songs over and over.\u201d She handed Christa a drink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh? How many songs do you know? Three? Five?\u201d Christa asked before drinking the cool, sweet beverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c972,\u201d Clyde answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s\u2026.\u201d Christa shook her head. \u201cHow long have you two been doing this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c711 years, our relative time,\u201d Clyde answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re over 700 years old?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is just the time we have worked together. Prior to that, I was with another team for 309 relative years,\u201d Clyde said. \u201cI am unsure of my actual age, but I have rejuvenated fifty-one times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeventy-four for me,\u201d Adria said. \u201cI stopped counting years around the twentieth rejuve. If you\u2019re curious, that drink is your rejuvenation dose. Over the next few hours, it\u2019ll feel like a fever, then you\u2019re in for a couple rough days. After that, you\u2019ll look and feel like you\u2019re in your early twenties again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cHow far in the future are we?\u201d Christa asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, we\u2019re not. We\u2019re in the current, the now. The point where at which we are unable to travel forward any faster than just waiting for tomorrow.\u201d Adria grinned. \u201cBut if you\u2019re wondering what the year would be in your calendar, it\u2019s 4319, if I remember correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s some physics I might be missing,\u201d Christa said. \u201cIs that part of the agent training that gets uploaded to my brain?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe figured out a couple hundred years ago that complex topics like that don\u2019t work well for neural uploading,\u201d Adria said, \u201cbut if you want to learn it, you\u2019ll have time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe learned that 184 years ago, in 2213 Post Singularity,\u201d Clyde said, \u201cin the Jiang and Carter study.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPost Singularity? As in uploading our consciousness to computers?\u201d Christa asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat, and a lot more.\u201d Adria pointed at the glass. \u201cFinish that up and we\u2019ll get you caught up as much as we can before your rejuvenation kicks in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to see it all,\u201d Christa said, downing the rest of the drink. \u201cLet\u2019s get started.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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