surface. It was like light on a rippling pond, but there was
no light source and the sparkles came from every color of the rainbow.
Tim couldn’t see where the glittering lights could come from, but perhaps that
was why nothing like this was available at the mall in Tim’s time.
“Our next step,”
said Hopkins, “is to leave the room. As soon as one of us approaches the
door, it will open. I will go first and confirm that the way out is
clear. If it is not, I can trick one of the cleaning machines into
starting, to justify the door opening.”
Hopkins moved
toward the door, peered around the edge as it slid open, then beckoned for them
to walk with him.
They entered a
bare, functional, metallic hallway that curved very slightly, as if the hallway
was tracing a giant circle, of which they could see just one small part.
As far as they could see, there were doors like the one they had just come out
of, but no people.
“This is the
maintenance floor, and even though we look like we’re from this time, we do not
look like we do maintenance, so it would be best to get off this floor before
we run into anyone wanting to ask questions.” The four teens matched
Hopkins’ brisk pace as he walked down the hallway. They reached a large
rectangular door with a touch-screen beside it. Hopkins keyed in the
number 207. “I’ll take you to one of the residential floors,” he said,
“since they have the best views.”
“So, this is
like… a skyscraper?” asked Rose as they stepped into the elevator a
moment later.
“I suppose that
is one name for it, yes,” said Hopkins. “But the locals call it Jefferson
Delta.”
The display above
the door shot from thirty-three quickly up through the thirties before stopping
at the forty-second floor. Two men and one woman stepped into the
elevator. Julie, Tim, Billy, and Rose huddled in the corner.
Hopkins, on the
other hand, smiled. “These kids are here from J Q Adams. They are
considering attending University here.” The two men shrugged, but the
woman smiled back at them.
They relaxed a
little as the elevator climbed upward, picking up a few passengers as it
rose. When they got off at the 207th floor, Rose gasped at the
view. They walked toward the window to the outside world, following
Hopkins.
Opposite the
elevator was a full-length window. Once there, they could see that their
building was bordered by about a thousand yards of fields, then a beach, and
then the ocean. To their right, there was another building, just as tall
as the one they were in. By looking toward the ground, they realized that
their building was round, made of widening concentric circles, like a huge
wedding cake.
They were not
the only ones looking out the windows, but most of the others were talking on
sleek headsets or tapping away on computer tablets that were just about paper
thin.
No one else
seemed to be paying attention as Hopkins began to explain to them, in a low
tone, what they were looking at. “I told you that this building is called
Jefferson Delta. That is because this is the fourth building of six in
the Jefferson cluster. Jefferson is named for the president Thomas Jefferson.
Every metropolis in the world is named after a different American
president. There are fifty metropoles, named for presidents two through
fifty-one, since Washington is still the name of Washington DC, which has been
kept as a historical landmark. All the other cities in existence prior to
2300 have been demolished.”
Julie, Rose, and
Billy raised their eyebrows at this, but Tim’s jaw dropped. “They just
bull-dozed them? Berlin, Paris, Rio De Janeiro? So much
history… the architecture, the museums… That’s horrible.”
Julie seemed to
get more concerned as Tim spoke, and when Tim finished, she said, “But that’s
just in this timeline, right? The ones the Emperors of Time
changed? If we fix everything, this won’t
no light source and the sparkles came from every color of the rainbow.
Tim couldn’t see where the glittering lights could come from, but perhaps that
was why nothing like this was available at the mall in Tim’s time.
“Our next step,”
said Hopkins, “is to leave the room. As soon as one of us approaches the
door, it will open. I will go first and confirm that the way out is
clear. If it is not, I can trick one of the cleaning machines into
starting, to justify the door opening.”
Hopkins moved
toward the door, peered around the edge as it slid open, then beckoned for them
to walk with him.
They entered a
bare, functional, metallic hallway that curved very slightly, as if the hallway
was tracing a giant circle, of which they could see just one small part.
As far as they could see, there were doors like the one they had just come out
of, but no people.
“This is the
maintenance floor, and even though we look like we’re from this time, we do not
look like we do maintenance, so it would be best to get off this floor before
we run into anyone wanting to ask questions.” The four teens matched
Hopkins’ brisk pace as he walked down the hallway. They reached a large
rectangular door with a touch-screen beside it. Hopkins keyed in the
number 207. “I’ll take you to one of the residential floors,” he said,
“since they have the best views.”
“So, this is
like… a skyscraper?” asked Rose as they stepped into the elevator a
moment later.
“I suppose that
is one name for it, yes,” said Hopkins. “But the locals call it Jefferson
Delta.”
The display above
the door shot from thirty-three quickly up through the thirties before stopping
at the forty-second floor. Two men and one woman stepped into the
elevator. Julie, Tim, Billy, and Rose huddled in the corner.
Hopkins, on the
other hand, smiled. “These kids are here from J Q Adams. They are
considering attending University here.” The two men shrugged, but the
woman smiled back at them.
They relaxed a
little as the elevator climbed upward, picking up a few passengers as it
rose. When they got off at the 207th floor, Rose gasped at the
view. They walked toward the window to the outside world, following
Hopkins.
Opposite the
elevator was a full-length window. Once there, they could see that their
building was bordered by about a thousand yards of fields, then a beach, and
then the ocean. To their right, there was another building, just as tall
as the one they were in. By looking toward the ground, they realized that
their building was round, made of widening concentric circles, like a huge
wedding cake.
They were not
the only ones looking out the windows, but most of the others were talking on
sleek headsets or tapping away on computer tablets that were just about paper
thin.
No one else
seemed to be paying attention as Hopkins began to explain to them, in a low
tone, what they were looking at. “I told you that this building is called
Jefferson Delta. That is because this is the fourth building of six in
the Jefferson cluster. Jefferson is named for the president Thomas Jefferson.
Every metropolis in the world is named after a different American
president. There are fifty metropoles, named for presidents two through
fifty-one, since Washington is still the name of Washington DC, which has been
kept as a historical landmark. All the other cities in existence prior to
2300 have been demolished.”
Julie, Rose, and
Billy raised their eyebrows at this, but Tim’s jaw dropped. “They just
bull-dozed them? Berlin, Paris, Rio De Janeiro? So much
history… the architecture, the museums… That’s horrible.”
Julie seemed to
get more concerned as Tim spoke, and when Tim finished, she said, “But that’s
just in this timeline, right? The ones the Emperors of Time
changed? If we fix everything, this won’t
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