Devil's Paradise

23: Arrival: Paradise

As he opened the door, Merlin said, "Do you remember asking if the world could be made into a paradise?"

I was expecting to see the third-floor hallway of my apartment building. Instead, I blinked in bright sunlight as we walked forward a half dozen paces.

We were in a large space made of stone, perhaps the length of a football field, with maybe a hundred people scattered across it. Solid stone buildings surrounded it, with an ancient feel to them. Across the square was a huge structure with a crenelated top and a tower far above it. It looked as though the square continued behind the castle—or whatever that was.

The sky overhead was a clear blue with no clouds. A light breeze touched my cheek, and I smelled a tang of salt, with a reassuring scent of people. We were in a city, somewhere, but where?

I turned around and looked back. My apartment door was not visible; a square stone pillar stood where it had been. "Merlin," I said, "What happened to my door?"

"It's still there," he chuckled. "Walk toward it."

I did, and when I got a few feet away, the pillar turned into a solid walnut slab, beautifully carved. No knob or knocker, just that beautiful wood. Before I could touch it, the door swung open smoothly and silently, showing me the interior we had just left.

I walked back to Merlin. "What if I forget where it is?"

"Say, 'Central, show me the way to go home.'"

"Okay. Central, show me the way to go home."

I was facing Merlin, away from my door, but a large green dot appeared on the stone slab a few feet in front of me, with an arrow pointing to the right and back beside me. I turned right, and the dot moved to remain in front of me, the arrow now pointing back to the stone pillar hiding the door behind me.

"Wherever you are," he said, "the direction arrow will guide you where you want to go."

I looked around. No one else seemed to be following arrows.

"No one can see your guide arrow but you."

"What? How is that even possible?"

He laughed again. "One thing at a time. Say 'Central, Arrow off' to make it disappear. Look around you."

Many of the people were standing in small groups, talking. There seemed to be a few musicians performing, here and there, and I could see a juggler, out in the middle where there was an ornate fountain. The place looked familiar, somehow.

"Merlin, where are we?"

"This, my friend, is the Piazza della Signoria of Florence, Italy, much as it was in the fourteenth century. Cleaned up and with a few anachronisms from later centuries. It is idealized rather than reproduced with perfect historical accuracy. You can see the perfect restoration from any time period just by asking."

He gestured out into the square. "Walk forward a few more paces, and you will recognize the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, through the buildings on your left."

I took a few steps, looking around me, overwhelmed at the realism. Was this all real, or was this some kind of illusion?

Fifty feet to my right, a young woman stood at an easel, painting. She had a look of concentration, her eyebrows furrowed, as she worked on whatever she was painting. Her body was streaked with paint of different colors, and it looked as if she had gotten paint in her hair, which cascaded in spirals down past her breasts. She was also naked. I looked around, and no one was staring, although there were a man and woman standing a few feet back, watching her painting. They wore loose, comfortable clothes that didn't seem to fit any historical period, and their interest seemed to be focused on the canvas, not the painter.