Dawn of the Epoch

Chapter XCIII - Dinner and Discussion

Hunter and Tiyana were holed up in their room using their computers to perform research. Hunter’s research wandered to Lyon. Lyon’s history. Lyon’s culture, Lyon’s nightlife, Lyon’s restaurants...

“The internet says that we are in the gastronomic capital of the world.” Hunter said.

“The world or France?” Tiyana replied.

“The world, at least according to one travel blogger.”

“Hunter, we have so much work to do.” Tiyana pleaded.

“Do we? Have you been doing anything other than staring at that article for the last three hours?”

Tiyana began to protest, then thought better of it, “I’ve read it three times already.”

“And you’re still staring at it because…”

She replied, “I might have missed something.”

“You have to take your mind off it. Think about something completely different. Let your subconscious go to work. Your conscious thought processes only use a little part of your brain. Your subconscious uses your full computing power and it processes while you do other things. Just let it work for a while and presto! You’ll have an epiphany, or I’ll have one. You don’t have to have all of them, you know.”

She smiled, “Hunter, that’s all quite speculative.”

“Doesn’t matter, I know it intuitively. What does matter is that you are getting nothing done right now and you have to eat.”

“I am hungry.”

“C’mon, get dressed. We’re going to try a bouchon. It’s the thing to do here.”

“Really, well, I’m glad someone’s research was fruitful today.”

Hunter laughed.

• • •

Later that evening, Hunter and Tiyana talked while dining on duck pâté and roast pork. While the war ravaged on, commerce did not stop. The restaurant’s attendance had dropped dramatically over the last couple of weeks.

Hunter was saying, “So, I see this woman and she’s sharing a couple cots with three kids. One of them has a fever, sweat is streaming down his face, he’s pallid, and she’s trying to feed a baby.”

“Was no one helping her?” Tiyana asked.

“It was pandemonium. You saw the lobby.”

“What about relief efforts? A medical tent, somewhere?”

“Maybe there was one, maybe there wasn’t. The hotel guy didn’t know. I didn’t know. She didn’t know.”

“I’m assuming you rode in on your white stallion and saved the day.”

Hunter sighed, “I wish I could have. What I did was not so poetic.”

“Ok, but you did something, right?”

“I got antibiotics, opened a line of credit at the local grocer, and called my dad. What else did I have time for?”

“Hunter, how is your father? Is he worried?”

“Probably, but he won’t let on. He’s reserved. Not like my mother.”

“Your family.” She said, shaking her head. “They’re like a secret society.”

Hunter laughed. “I suppose so.”

“What is your dad going to do?”

“Oh, he’ll take care of it. One of the foundations is making this a pet project. He’ll give it his personal attention. I just wonder.”