Change is Good

The setting is a large room that looks as if it were military. My meaning is that it is an all bare bones structure; functional and very industrial.

There are about 40 men in the room, some sitting in folding chairs, others standing and chit-chatting with others in small groups.

A door at the far end of the building opens and four people enter the room with very official-looking White Lab-type coats on. One of the four women is strikingly beautiful, and it is she that moves to a small podium and addresses the crowd.

"Greetings, I am Dr. Rachael Stone and I am your information counselor.

As you already know, each of you was recruited for various reasons and has now passed through our time portal to fulfill your employment obligations here in the future.

My assistants have assigned each of you a number and they now will take you through the door to your left for processing. Are there any questions?"

A good-looking young man near the back of the crowd said, "I’m still not sure why we are here, exactly. Is it to provide companionship or to diversify the Gene Pool?

Both were the answer.

Another man in the front row said, "I have two questions! How long do we live with each mate before moving on? And if we don't get along with that woman, can we relocate?"

"To answer your first question: Experience has taught us to house you for no more than three months with each mate. As far as the second question: You will have weekly contact with one of my staff so if there is a problem they will rectify it, and if that is not possible then they will move you to another mate. --- Anything else?

A guy wearing a Hawaiian shirt, short pants, and flip-flops asked, “Are we being given legitimate information? I mean, let’s face it, this is a dream job that any man would jump at, even if it is only for one year.

“Any information that you might want to know is available to you, all you have to do is ask,” was the reply.

Now, are there any other questions? --- No? --- Good.

Please move to the door to your left."

After the processing was finished there was still one young man left in the room, so he wandered over near the doctor and said, "I beg your pardon, Dr. Stone, I think that I've been forgotten."

The doctor replied, "Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Chester, there seems to have been a miscount. Even in this day and age we still have human error factors flying around like nuisance-prone Gnats. But not to worry, you can live with me until we arrange a schedule for you. I mean, if you don't mind?"

Eyeing the gorgeous woman that stood before him, he replied, "Oh, no, I don't mind at all."

"Good, I have just finished up and we can go; just follow me," Dr. Stone stated as she passed through the doors to the left.

Just outside the doorway, there was an area with two electrical-looking, transformer-like, boxes that stood about six feet apart. Next to one of them was a flat-screen panel, no button, no knobs.

The doctor motioned to Mr. Chester to come closer and then told him to stand on one of the four circles that were between the two transformer-like boxes, which he did.

Then Dr. Stone made some choices on the flat-screen, stepped into another circle, and they were gone.

"Welcome to my home, Mr. Chester," Dr. Stone stated as they suddenly appeared in front of a beautiful and very modern building.

"Please just call me Robert."

"Very well, and you can call me Rachael."

You could tell that Rachael was ready to go inside but Robert was looking all around the front of the house and seemed to be enthralled with every little detail.

"You sure have a nice place," Robert stated, "Your gardener must be a genius. I have never seen plants so well cared for and trimmed so perfectly."

Rachael smiled and replied, "I have no gardener and in this day and age we do not waste water on growing plants for decorative purposes. What you are looking at is a hologram, here I'll show you.

SRI, show the actual front yard,” Rachael said in a strong voice.

Every decorative plant in the yard disappeared, there was nothing but weeds and dry patches of ground; oh, and an old Olive tree.

"That is amazing," Robert said. Then he asked, "Can you have any yard that you want to see?"

"Any one of the 12 shown on the screen, I change them when the seasons change, or when the mood strikes me," Rachael replied.

"Well it looks good and works well with the decorative aspects of the house," Robert stated, and then asked, "Wait, --- there really is a house, right?"

Rachael laughed and said, "SRI, show actual house!"

Robert gasped and said, "That looks just like the building we just came from, it is so drab."

"Yes, we don't use precious resources that just end up in landfills. Look at it this way, we save time, money, energy, resources, and you can redecorate your house any time you feel like it. I can change the look of the whole house or just a room, it is up to me and the designs I download," Rachael replied. "It is great, Right?"

Then Robert said, “Sure, anyone would love it! But have to ask, what else is an illusion around here?"

Rachael smiled and asked, “Do you really want to know?”

D. Thurmond / JEFalcon --- 08-02-2017