Ninth Millennium Navigator

24

The cute young woman with exotic eyes intrigued him. 

She was explaining how she been born and raised on a farm. She had left an old Mid West farm with her family to live in Chicago only to return twenty years later to that same run-down farm. She eventually met her handsome husband in her original small town, only to die of old age in her house—in the very room she was born. Matthias found the elements of the story itself to be relatively bland, but the enthusiasm with which she absorbed every moment made her tale compelling. 

Matthias enjoyed the fact that she had fully appreciated it. She embodied everything that the Age of Enlightenment was intended to be.

While one mind studied her eyes, and face, and physical beauty; the other mind inhaled all the aspects of the unfolding story. It also considered how she would appreciate the real world. It eventually concluded that while she would learn to appreciate the real world, she would always have a strong desire a return to the sequences. 

This saddened him. 

He needed this moment because he knew he was unlikely to see her again. Odds were slim, even if she did decide to return from the sequences, that he would meet up with her anytime within the next few decades.

The part of his brain measuring her physical characteristics was the first to take note of her unusual subtle gestures. Her head tilted slightly and her eyes seemed to lose focus. She raised her chin oddly once or twice in increments before Matthias realized that her attention had fallen elsewhere. Something behind him had drawn her attention away from him.

He was about to turn when she asked, not to Matthias, "Did you just come out of a sequence?"

Matthias turned to the object of her question.

Marie answered, "Why yes, I did. " 

Marie turned to Matthias and smiled. She intended for Matthias to understand something from this. He did not know what to say in response, but he realized he held an immense smile. He had been taken unaware and his true colors were obvious even to the young girl.

"Wow," cried the girl with exuberance, "you guys actually know each other?"

"I'm Marie," she said, extending her hand in the formal gesture. "Nice to meet you. "

"My name is Tellisa," returned the girl with obvious joy. "And it is nice to meet you. "

"Listen, Matthias" added Tellisa, "You haven't yet told me about your sequence... and I would love to hear it... but to meet someone you know... Wow... I'm gonna let you guys talk. "

Marie smiled in understanding and assumed approval.

"Gee, I hope to meet either of you again," she added before she bounded away with a slight skip in her step. She turned once to see Marie offer once last smile.

That smile changed as she looked to Matthias. One mind considered the exact elements of the adjustment, but it could not encapsulate the exact physical transformations. Perhaps it was merely the touse that had changed in her.

"Marie," said Matthias, matter-of-factly.

"Matthias, I am sorry we didn't meet as we discussed." Her tone implied doubt regarding who was at fault. One mind considered the implied supposition that Matthias was guilty. 

"If you have time, I am ready at your convenience. I know you are a busy man. "

"Actually, I am scheduled to meet someone here in a little while. "

The statement hung there. Marie did not respond. She simply looked up at him in earnest. She needed not respond. Matthias felt a tugging at him. One mind remained preoccupied with the idea that he had missed some earlier deadline. He had, of course, been highly taxed at the last moment they met. Perhaps she had made some suggestion that he had missed.