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1.
“Computer-Bob?”
> Yes, Liam?
Liam is never quite sure where to look when he talks to the version of Bob’s AI that is wired to the archway’s computer system. The camera (Did Maddy call it a “webcam”?) on top of one of the screens would make the most sense, since that would be like looking into Bob’s eyes. But it still doesn’t feel right.
> You appear to be distressed.
“No! No, I’m fine,” Liam says quickly. “It’s just… weird, you know? I’m not used to talking to a computer.”
> I do not understand your statement. The version of my AI on this system is an exact copy of the AI on the original Bob unit’s microchip. You had no issue communicating with the organic unit.
“You’re right,” Liam sighs. He hates how he feels slightly uncomfortable talking to Computer-Bob, even though he has been fine with both organic versions of him. “I’m sorry. I still have a lot to learn about the future, I guess.” He smiles sheepishly. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, actually.”
> Is there something that you wish to know?
“Is it true that you have access to everything on the internet?”
> In a broad sense, affirmative. I have immediate access to all open pages and databases and I am able to bypass basic firewalls. More complex firewalls will take more time for me to access but I can do so with Madeleine’s help.
“Okay,” Liam says, nodding as if he understands when he really does not. “Well, I just wanted to know about Ireland. What went on there since I, well, ‘died’.”
> You wish to know about the history of the Republic of Ireland from 1912 to the present day?
Republic? Liam thinks. “Yes please, Bob.”
> I can perform a search on the subject and compile a condensed data packet with relevant information. It will take around twenty minutes.
“That would be great, Bob. Could you do that?”
> Affirmative. Beginning search.
The archway falls silent: Maddy, Becks and Sal have gone into the city for what Maddy had called a “girls’ day”, and Bob is in his growth tube, leaving Liam alone for a rare few hours. He makes himself a cup of tea while Bob compiles the data packet (Tea he can handle. Instant coffee, on the other hand, is something else. He doesn’t understand how Maddy can drink so much of it – although maybe she doesn’t drink it for the taste.) and sits on the couch, wondering what Computer-Bob will find. Would Ireland still be part of Britain? Has it gained independence? Or maybe the whole island has been destroyed by floods or tornadoes or another famine? Liam shudders at that thought.
After a while the computer beeps and Liam crosses the room. “Are you done then, Bob?”
> Affirmative. Displaying data packet now.
A window pops up on one of the other monitors, with what looks like a timeline of events from 1912 to 2001. Liam reads through the first few points. “It’s a rather violent start, eh?”
> Affirmative.
“I think Foster mentioned the First World War. If I hadn’t been on the Titanic, I probably would have fought in it, don’t you think?”
>Information: there were over 100,000 Irish volunteers in the British forces.
Liam wonders if he would have died in the war. Or in the Irish War of Independence that followed. “Hang on, it says here that the country split.”
> Affirmative. The British government granted Ireland independence in its home affairs and foreign policy, but the Ulster region was still opposed to Home Rule and was allowed to remain in the United Kingdom. It later became known as Northern Ireland, just as the rest of the island officially became the Republic of Ireland in 1949 when it left the Commonwealth.
“1949? Jayzus, it only took another world war for us to become fully independent.” He reads some more of the data packet, frowning, until more text pops up in his peripheral vision.
> You appear to be distressed again.
Liam runs a hand through his hair again. “Well, I guess I am. This stuff about the, what was it, the ‘Troubles’? It’s awful. The riots, the bombs, the Disappeared? I understand why it happened, but I don’t understand killing innocent people. Even with how the British have treated us.”
> You are abnormally compassionate, Liam. It is therefore understandable that you feel this way.
Liam snorts. “Compassionate? I just think that everyone should have the exact same rights to life and freedom, so they do.”
> You would be surprised at the number of people who lack that opinion.
Liam frowns at the screen. “That’s a rather human statement to make, Bob. But I guess you’re right.”
2.
“You seem to be really enjoying that.”
Liam looks up from his bowl to see Maddy grinning at him playfully. “It’s good,” Liam says through a mouthful of noodles.
Maddy rolls his eyes at him. “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” she says.
Liam ignores her. “But it’s good! I don’t want to stop eating it to talk to you. Where’s the enjoyment in that?”
Maddy had decided to take Liam on a day trip to acquaint him with twenty-first century culture, and that includes the food. They are sitting in a tiny noodle shop in the middle of Chinatown, a place Sal had discovered a few days ago on one of her walks around the city. Liam can still see Maddy frowning at him in his periphery as he slurps up his noodle soup. “The takeout stuff we get sometimes is good, but I prefer it made fresh like this,” he concludes finally.
Maddy nods in approval. “Same here.”
Although Maddy is smiling, Liam can tell that there’s something she wants to say. “What’s bothering you?”
Maddy meets his eyes for a split second before quickly looking down at her own bowl of noodles. “Um, well… shit, I don’t really know how to start this,” she mutters.
Liam frown at her, concerned. “Is this about Pandora? Or the Holy Grail? Should we wait until we’re with Sal and the others?”
Maddy shakes her head. “Oh, no! No, this is… something completely different. No. Well, you know how this is a trip for me to educate you? About stuff you missed between 1912 and now?”
“Yes?”
“Well… okay.” Maddy shifts in her seat, clearly uncomfortable. “Liam… have you ever heard about the LGBTQ community?”
Liam frowns, trying to remember what he’s read. “I don’t think so… is it some sort of cult?”
Maddy’s eyes go wide. “No! It’s not a cult!” She laughs nervously. “It’s, well… it’s a community for people who aren’t straight and cisgender. It’s an acronym: L stands for lesbian, G for gay, B for bisexual, T for transgender and Q for queer, so people who are still in the community but don’t want to give themselves a more specific label, or it stands for questioning. It’s a little more complicated than that because ‘queer’ is a slur that not everyone has reclaimed, and you shouldn’t use it for people who haven’t reclaimed it, and there are, of course, other identities that are in the community like asexual and nonbinary, but that’s kind of the gist.”
Liam blinks at her. “Could you maybe go a little slower, Mads? Please?”
Maddy smiles apologetically. “Sure. Sorry. So, the LGBTQ community is for people who are either not heterosexual, so they may be attracted to just the same gender as themselves, or more than one gender, or they don’t experience attraction at all, or they’re not cisgender, so they identify as something other than the gender they were assigned at birth. Or they’re both of these.”
Liam nods slowly. “Okay. So you’re talking about homosexuals?”
“Yes, among other things,” Maddy says, “but you should be careful about using that word as well because it was listed as a mental disorder for a while so people don’t tend to like it. You can use ‘gay’ instead.” Liam nods but doesn’t say anything, prompting Maddy to continue. “Okay. So, LGBTQ people have been around for a long time. Like, a really long time. Like, since Ancient Greece and even before that. But they’ve been persecuted based on stuff like religion and culture for most of that time. Even in my time, people being kicked out of their homes, disowned, beaten up or even killed for being LGBTQ was pretty common.”
“I do remember being in church back in Cork,” Liam says. “They never talked explicitly about it, but it was kind of an unspoken fact that being a… being gay was frowned upon by God. There was something in the Bible, I think-”
“A mistranslation,” Maddy interrupts. “Everyone knows it’s a mistranslation now, but a lot of Christians don’t accept that.”
“Right. Oh, and there was Oscar Wilde’s trial. I wasn’t even born when it happened, but it was talked about for years after he died.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t until the 40s that studies started proving that being gay isn’t a choice. The biggest one was the Kinsey scale, which demonstrated that sexuality isn’t a black and white thing where people are either straight or gay, but it’s actually a spectrum where people can also be attracted to multiple genders, and they can have a preference for one above another, or not.”
“Did you say multiple genders?”
“Yeah, gender’s a spectrum too. You can be a guy or a girl, or something in between, or none of the above, or you can switch between them.”
Liam nods, trying to process this information. He can see that this is a sensitive topic for Maddy (Is she part of the community? But he thought there was something going on between her and Adam, so maybe she had friends who were before she was recruited? Or is she just worried that he’ll say the wrong thing to someone one day?) so he doesn’t want to accidentally say something offensive. “Okay. I think I understand. So, the acronym. Could you take me through it again?”
Maddy gives him a small smile, looking slightly more relaxed. Liam has clearly reacted well to this information so far. “Sure. It’s LGBTQ. Some people just call it LGBT, some add a plus onto the end to represent all the other identities, some people call it LGBTQIA+, and a select few list off all the letters so that it’s really long. But I’ll stick with the simple one for now. So the L stands for lesbian. These are women or female-aligned genders who are just attracted to women. Some lesbians are also attracted to other female-aligned genders, but some aren’t. The G stands for gay, which is the same for men and male-aligned genders. Other members of the community who also experience same-sex attraction can also call themselves gay, though. Like lesbians or bisexuals.”
“Bisexuals?”
“That’s what the B stands for. They are attracted to two or more genders. There are more specific terms that fall under bisexual like pansexual and omnisexual, but bisexual is the umbrella term. The T is for transgender people, who identify as something other than the gender they were assigned at birth. And I’ve already told you about queer, but the Q also stands for people who are questioning their sexuality or gender.”
“Okay.”
Maddy raises her eyebrows. “Okay?”
“Yes. Okay.”
“Is that your only response to this whole thing?”
“Well, it’s a lot to take in, so it is.”
“Are you… cool with it?” Maddy asks nervously.
Liam nods. “Of course. You said yourself that it’s not a choice, and so it doesn’t make much sense if God hates someone for something they can’t change about themselves.” Seeing Maddy’s surprise, he adds, “I do know what it’s like to be treated badly because of things out of my control. I’m Irish.”
Maddy sighs in relief. “Oh. Good. I was kinda worried you were gonna start spouting religious bullshit at me when I brought this up. No offense.”
“None taken,” Liam replies. Maddy still looks like she has something on her mind. He’s seen that expression on her face several times before, like when she told him and Sal about Pandora, or when she told them about the message in the Holy Grail – the message that Becks wasn’t allowed to reveal yet. He catches her looking at him with the same expression from time to time, as if she knows something about him that he doesn’t. “Maddy?”
“Yeah?”
Liam follows his intuition. “Are you… part of this community?”
Maddy’s cheeks immediately colour, and Liam is about to backtrack and apologise for asking, when she nods, smiling nervously. “I am. I’m bisexual, actually.”
Liam smiles back in what he hopes is a reassuring manner. “Was this whole conversation a long-winded way of telling me that?”
“Well, it started off as me educating you, but if you took it well, which you did, then yes, I was planning on using this to come out of the closet. If not, then, well, I don’t really know what I would’ve done. A lot of yelling at you, I guess.”
Liam is pretty glad it didn’t come to that. “Come out of the closet?”
“That’s slang for telling people you’re part of the LGBTQ community.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Maddy frowns at him. “You’re taking this, like, really well. Better that I ever expected you to. Like, you don’t even look surprised.”
Liam grins. “Well, I’ve seen the way you look at Becks. I never thought much of it, but now that you mention it, it kind of makes sense.”
Maddy turns bright red at that and starts sputtering denials. Liam just shakes his head and laughs.
3.
Liam watches in morbid fascination at the chaos unfolding on the television screen. Finally, he sighs. “It didn’t happen like that, though.”
“Information: while James Cameron performed extensive research into the sinking of the Titanic while making the film, he chose to change or omit certain details for dramatic effect,” Bob says coolly, gaze still fixed on the screen.
“But them officers shooting passengers? Barricading them below deck? It’s barbaric! I was down there on Deck E myself, making sure everyone was out!” He runs a hand through his hair. “It just seems… wrong.”
“What seems wrong?” Becks asks.
“Well, a lot of people died that night. People I knew. I should have died, and I guess to everyone at the time I was dead. This story between Jack and Rose never happened. They’re both fictional characters. And yet they decided to focus on their made-up romance instead of on the real people who actually deserved to have their stories told? For what? So that people would watch it?”
“Information: Cameron believed that audiences would engage with the tragedy more if they saw it through the eyes of a pair of young lovers. He claimed that Titanic is ‘a love story with a fastidious overlay of real history’,” Becks says.
“See, that’s the problem,” Liam says. “They’ve… they’ve romanticised it. They’ve exploited a very real, very tragic event as a setting for some Romeo and Juliet tale. And people bought it!”
“Affirmative. Many have described Titanic as the greatest love story ever told,” Bob says.
Liam leans back so his head is resting on the back of the couch. “What do you two think about this?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Becks tilt her head in confusion. “Please make your question more specific.”
“Well, do you think this is right? Am I just being… what does Maddy call it… a ‘drama queen’ about this?”
“You are asking for our… opinion?” Bob asks.
“I am. And I know you can form opinions, big fella, both of you can, so get those chips in your heads working!”
Both support units are silent for a long moment. The film is still playing on the television; the two star-crossed lovers are in the water now.
“Information: humans are sentimental,” Bob says finally.
Liam raises an eyebrow. “Is that all you’ve got?”
“Humans often use art to further understand strong emotions such as anger or sadness,” he continues. “Traumatic events are common inspiration for such art.”
“Information: dramatising these events dates back to Ancient Athenian tragedy. The Athenians believed that watching these plays and collectively feeling negative emotions would strengthen their bonds as citizens,” Becks says.
“While a film such as Titanic may appear insensitive to you because you have experienced the event, it is also a display of both the best and the worst of humanity when faced with unavoidable doom,” Bob says.
“However,” they share a look, “we believe that your feelings are valid,” Becks finishes.
Liam blinks in surprise. “Huh,” he says eloquently. “I was not expecting that.”
“Would you like to watch something different, Liam?” Becks asks.
Liam has one last look at the star-crossed lovers. They can clearly both fit on that raft, he thinks. “Yeah. Can we watch that Singing in the Rain film? Bob, you liked that one, did you not?”
Bob frowns. “The music is… pleasing.”
Liam grins. “Too right it is.”
4.
Sal plops herself down on the couch. “Liam, can I ask you something?”
Liam shuts his book, giving Sal his full attention. He can tell by her body language that she wants to have a serious conversation. “Sure. Ask away.”
“Do you actually not know how to use a phone, or are you just pretending to be completely clueless to mess with Maddy?”
Liam laughs. There’s no getting past Sal. “I’m certainly not an expert, but I do know more than I let on.
Sal grins. “I knew it.” She finishes her can of Pepsi and turns to throw it into the trash can on the other side of the room. “Yeet!” The Pepsi can hits the rim before falling in.
Liam frowns. “Is that an Indian word?”
Sal looks confused for a moment before laughing. “No. It’s a meme.”
“A meme? What is that?”
“It’s like internet culture, I guess? Like inside jokes that the entire internet knows about. Memes.”
“Memes,” Liam echoes, still not really understanding.
“The ‘yeet’ meme comes from Vine,” Sal continues.
“Like the plant?”
Sal laughs again, leaving Liam feeling slightly patronised. “No. It was this app people used for making short videos. Some of them became viral and found their way onto YouTube, Tumblr, people started quoting them in real life. Like I just did. Maddy would’ve really liked it, I think. I’ve shown her a few videos. Vine was shut down in 2017, but around that time another app appeared called Musically, which later became TikTok.”
Liam just nods.
“TikTok was fairly similar to Vine except you could make videos up to a minute long, and have music over the top. And it was also a lot more mainstream. Celebrities made accounts, people started becoming professional ‘TikTokers’ because their videos were so popular. It got a lot of media attention when users banded together to reserve seats at a Donald Trump rally but never show up, leaving the stadium almost empty. That was pretty funny. The president didn’t like it, though.”
“The president of the United States?”
“Yep. He was a racist, homophobic, transphobic piece of mal, according to my parents. I remember when Maddy found out he’d got elected; she had a few choice words.” She giggles.
“Could you show me some of these memes?” Liam asks.
Sal grins. “Sure! I’ll start off with the ‘yeet’ video. I think you’ll like it.” She pulls him over to the computers. “Computer-Bob, could you bring up YouTube, circa 2021?”
> Of course, Saleena.
A window of a website pops up on the monitor and Sal immediately searches for a video. It’s a short, low-quality clip of a girl being handed an empty drinks can in the middle of a crowded corridor, before saying “this bitch empty, yeet” and throwing it into the crowd. Liam doesn’t understand it, but Sal seems to find it funny.
When Liam says this thought out loud, Sal shrugs. “I guess it’s pretty different humour to what you’re used to. It’s kinda dumb and random, but that’s what people liked at the time. And it just stuck.”
They spend the rest of the day in front of the computer screen, Sal showing him different videos to see his reaction. Most of them are on a similar vein of humour to the “yeet” video, but Liam does laugh at one with some Irish men in a car with helium balloons that starts to fly. After a while they move on from vines to classic YouTube videos, most of which Liam also doesn’t understand. He draws the line when Sal shows him a particularly disturbing video called “Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared”. It reminds him of a children’s show he’s seen in passing, but far creepier.
“If I’m perfectly honest with you, Sal, this is one bit of twenty-first century culture I could have lived without,” he says.
Sal smiles sheepishly. “It’s very creative, though.”
Liam glares at her. “That’s not funny. I actually think that that video is more terrifying than them dinosaurs.”
“No.”
“I do. And I stand by that.”
“Okay, what about the rest of the videos?”
“I guess the vines weren’t too bad. I quite like the word ‘yeet’, so I do. And I did enjoy the Dog of Wisdom.”
And when Maddy arrives back at the archway, Bob in tow, to find Liam and Sal yelling “YEET” and “HI WELCOME TO CHILI’S” across the room, she just shrugs and heads straight for the coffee machine.
5.
“How does it feel, being in 1888?”
Liam glances up at Rashim from the market stall he’s scanning. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you were ‘programmed’, as it were, to 1912, a time not long after right now. Does this feel at all familiar?”
“Maybe a long time ago it might have done,” Liam replies, before pausing to buy a loaf of bread from a vendor. “I remember going back to 1906 with Maddy after my first mission. We went to San Francisco to pick up some baby Bobs and Beckses, so we did. That felt familiar. This…”
“I understand,” Rashim says. “Now that you know what you know, 1912 no longer feels like home.”
Liam smiles wryly. “I think 1912 stopped being my home well before we found out where we came from. Do you know the phrase ‘home is a person’?”
“I’m familiar with it.”
“Well, I think home for me is my team. Mads, Sal, Bob, Becks, and you, now.” He grins. “And Spongebubba, I guess.”
Rashim’s eyes widen in surprise before he cracks a smile. “Thank you. I am certainly glad to have been welcomed into your team like I have been.”
“So you forgive us for all but abducting you?”
Rashim laughs at that. “I guess so.”
Liam stops to haggle with a vendor over a bag of apples. “You’ve said before that the future is a pretty terrible place. Was there anything good about it?” he asks as soon as they’re on the move again.
Rashim frowns. “Well, there were many scientific advancements. I assume you are familiar with such advancements from 1912 to 2001?”
“Not really,” Liam says, pulling a face. Actually, that’s the one thing about this whole situation that does make him mad: the fact that he’s not even from 1912 and yet he’s still had to deal with a total lack of knowledge compared to Maddy and Sal. Sometimes he felt like he was catching up on schoolwork that the others had easily memorised years ago. There have been several times over the years where he felt stupid just because he had not caught up enough, and now he knows that it’s not because he’s a real person from the early twentieth century but a clone from the future with false memories. He knows that there is no point in dwelling over it, but that doesn’t stop him from feeling bitter. “I know about films and video games and the computer, but that’s about it.”
“The bare necessities, I see. Well, Liam, the greatest improvement was, ironically, in medicine. A lot of cures and treatments for diseases were found, including smallpox, tuberculosis, and some cancers. And as new diseases appeared, methods of keeping infection rates low improved. There was a lot of mechanical innovation, like self-driving cars, but when they were first introduced there were so many accidents that they were always something of a rarity.”
“I guess you don’t want to be riding around in something that could kill you.”
Rashim nods. “Correct.” They are out of the market now and away from the crowds, just a few minutes’ walk from the viaduct. Liam watches a much slower, human-driven automobile roll past and holds his breath for a moment to avoid inhaling the exhaust it emits. “Computers also became faster, and they could hold more memory and processing power in a smaller chip. So they started to be put in everything: cars, eyeglasses, kitchen counters…”
“Support unit brains?” Liam grins.
“Those too,” Rashim laughs. “Cloning complete, functioning organisms became possible – obviously – as did generating and implanting artificial memories – also obviously. And, of course, time travel.”
“Of course.”
“All of this came at a cost, though. More technology meant more fossil fuels had to be used to power said technology. And when the fossil fuels ran out, that’s when we really realised we were in trouble.”
Liam looks over at Rashim, who has an odd expression on his face. Regret? Longing for a time with AI-powered cars? “Do you ever miss it?”
“What?”
“All the science-y stuff you just talked about. Do you miss it?”
Rashim considers the question for a moment. “I don’t think so. We as a species became so reliant on technology that it pretty much became our downfall. I’m quite glad I have the chance to take a large step back from that lifestyle. And look what I get in return! Blue skies, clean air, fresh food…” he looks hungrily at the bread Liam is carrying, “…and good friends to share it with. What more could I ask for?”
Liam grins before pulling a face as he walks right into the exhaust cloud of another automobile. “I appreciate the sentiment, but you might want to rethink the ‘clean air’.”
+1.
“What the fuck, Liam?”
“Language,” Maddy mutters absentmindedly at Sal, focused on the race.
“Like we don’t all swear like sailors,” Liam says. “In fact, I think you’re the worst of us.”
“Bullshit.” Liam takes advantage of the distraction to hit Maddy with a green shell and slip past her into first place. She gasps. “I am going to kill you!”
“You’ll have to catch me first,” Liam says. “I think I just lapped you again, Rashim.”
Rashim sighs. “You did. I definitely need more practice. I keep falling off the road.”
“How did you manage to smuggle the Nintendo into the trailer, anyway?” Maddy asks. “I told you we didn’t have enough space.”
“There’s nothing I won’t do for my high scores,” Liam replies. “I looked it up a little while ago and I actually have a world record time on some of the courses. For 2001, at least.” As he talks, he hits the drift button at just the right moment and jumps over a large gap, cutting a corner.
Maddy’s jaw drops. “How the hell did you do that?”
“Practice,” Liam says, smirking. “And a YouTube tutorial. You just drift at the right second.”
Rashim drives at the wall where Liam had jumped but mistimes the jump and falls off the road again. “Drat.”
“Don’t worry, it took me a long time to get it.” He uses a mushroom to escape a blue shell that Sal had sent. “Nice try.”
“Are you kidding me? How did you do that?”
“Another thing I learned on the Internet. See, I do know how to use some technology.”
“And yet you struggle using a phone,” Maddy deadpans.
Liam jumps across several parts of the road, cutting a solid ten seconds off his lap time and getting indignant gasps from the others. “Ah, but them smartphones are just so complicated, with their touch screens. I always find myself pressing the wrong button,” Liam says overdramatically. He hears Sal giggle.
The others groan as he crosses the finish line in first place. “Okay, that’s it. I give up,” Sal says.
“What I wouldn’t give to see you attempt a virtual reality game from my time,” Rashim says, following suit.
“I used to play this so much when I was a kid,” Maddy sighs. “How come you’re so much better at it than me?”
Liam shrugs. “Hate to tell you this, Mads, but…”
“Oh. Right.” She smiles sadly. “I guess that would be why.”
“Hey, we’re not doing sadness today. How about another race? Bob, Becks, come play with us.” The support units sit down awkwardly, picking up the discarded controllers.
“I guess I should put in some actual practice,” Maddy says. “And I want to see the two of them take on Rainbow Road.” She tilts her head towards Bob and Becks.
Liam laughs. “I’ll be surprised if they don’t end up beating my high scores after a few tries.”
“All right, teach me how to do that hopping thing that gets you those world records.”
“I know a magician should never reveal his secrets, but since you’ve saved my life once or twice, I’ll make an exception for you,” Liam replies, giving Maddy a conspiratorial wink.