[Countryhuman] In the rubble of love

[Arc one: L'Indochine] L'Indochine is an accidence of hers

Pic by François de Marliave

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"We barely have an hour to explore. And please keep in mind, remain composed and call for assistance if you get lost. Do not engage in any interaction with inhabitants of that realm, especially the leaders".

Marena was tired as she heard the instructor of her global history course harshly repeats the tour guidelines for the third time. The "gate of space-time," a massive device that was positioned in the heart of the history museum allowing visitors to go to the realm of countryhumans, was visible through the lengthy queue of people in front of her as she attempted to raise herself up. The machine is not as stunning as in the press photographs; maybe the image was too manipulated. Nevertheless, that didn't lessen Marena's anticipation for the journey she had been waiting for years.

"Do you believe that countrypeople look like fictional characters with their globular heads and flags on their faces?"

Marena's college mate teasingly questioned as she became weary of waiting.

"Maybe". - Marena responded in the same lighthearted manner. - "Or none of the visitors would return to this world in such a brief period, despite the fact that their trip cost them an arm and a leg".

They shared the same chuckle. Marena's classmates hadn't actually gotten together until this day, after getting their admission letters by mail and being forced to remain at home due to the Covid pandemic for a whole year. The history department at their institution planned this trip to unite the students. For each student's 30-minute countryhuman globe tour, the school's financial department had to fork up at least $2,000,000. They used advanced technology from a space-time portal that was made public earlier this year and allowed users to transfer to alternative planets with related histories but distinct timeframes.

Marena walked up to the front entrance of the teleportation gate and was greeted with a kind question from a handsome-looking man inspector.

"Where would you want to go, miss Wertheimer?"

The surrounding students turned to stare in wonder as her last name was announced; they were also from the top class and were familiar with some of the richest families in the world. The Wertheimer family was affluent since her mother's grandpa had previously invested in fashion firms; they went on to attain tremendous success throughout time, and her mother was top on the inheritance list.

Marena emanated the atmosphere of a princess while wearing a silk blouse and pants that were not from a high-end fashion label.

"French Indochina, thank you".

Marena happily answered. As she stood in front of the spacetime portal, she was more aware of her heart beating faster than the inquisitive looks from everyone around her. Her mother had refused to let her participate since the transport service to the parallel world has just recently been put into operation. She had to beg for months before she finally agreed.