The Future Is Heaven

ned his eyes

d out on a ro

ted him to a

nitoring his

Reclaimed-

s Heaven and

far ahead of

earned how to

d how to time tr

vowed to retriev

them forward, at the point of their deaths-into the fu

Afterlife hereaf

he riddle of Go

God to his past-

t go back for eve

and juries to de

t to carry on wer

re chosen were b

r salvation they h

d Tempors and se

to Retrieve a

could they go

s-but there were these final tests-th

em into a cell bank in the future times-in tandem with regenerating their body from cultures-in order to provide them with a fresh new shell for their new adventures. The more any Tempor cou

p with an long-ti

ker's outfit like

many a Retrieval

vals would you s

t be going on t

any ... ha

enty-five an

hard? What'

good laugh-

ell to the T

d down in th

ipped in to

they signale

and they stoo

om began to rot

anished reveal

twisted and sh

led backward-

the times of

st about to di

t throughout h

eliberation ju

ect candidate

were signed

rs were a

and Newb

ide the spectrum of common light-

and watched he

uncomfortably

pped in and w

air, swabbed s

umpstarts again

tracted her sou

were then cod

ed to the presen

loned and recom

strictly kept att

that electrified

rd encouraged t

mmort and trai

us resurrected

ard climb reuni

" Boston ordered.

an? I feel wir

jumping takes a

hould try for

of yourself. On

ck to Astara some

your girl from

promised her I wo

t a grip. There'

way. They say

o explore and dis

he present beco

er Astara you im

same-if I think

osis, son. You

love. We all d

.. You sound l

r you would kn

sleep. Tomorro

s, Boston. Tw

ne, kid. It has

down a challen

ve you reassigne

ugh and sauntere

ng Rockwell wa

as his new bod

all, but now he had to live up to hi

y Tempjumped ba

t attacked by a

reen-Gomer Gre

st coast was unf

the records-with

finally come as

their densities were adjustable in t

op it when it's t

"Be my guest, ki

d, bowed his he

he man who thra

m by the leg dra

ped in to the frig

mershot and fire

from the broken

e water. They held Green up long

hit the emergen

ported to the m

d to new by vibrational technology-and while they were at

ly noticed they took a few years off you too you know. B

zed as a new Tem

tinued-and it wa

low down there so

o get off this ra

ke all the time in the world. We'll get there one day

works that way?

on with your mission-let's see wh

g was a Jump to

lled Vigor the Dark Hunter-was mee

by the neck-and

however, though

fought back thro

Tempjumped righ

em and took off t

ut in the agony

on cursed. "Tha

nd Templejumpe

So some things

sighed. "We ar

gor's dna as he

d his training.

It was just a cat. How much difference could the change of trajectory in one cat's life really make

They mentioned him all through trai

ne does not identify with gender, ti

n of what human

rs have followed suit to degrees-but the majority still only enjoy limited immortality. Most w

an coding? Lik

nd. Parameter

Aegeless One h

t where it lives-to beg mercy of it, that it might bestow what it knows upon humanity. But though it always holds court for whoever pur

-but just a lot m

hought to be-with near immortality, free energy and unlimited creative potential-the arena fo

a leg up-some w

s. It would be

il they complete Tempor-then disappearing into a limbo of

rting to see it

go. It's worse than Restarting all the

led by his spinal injury-so our Templejumps have no effect. We can retriev

ll rebuild his

uilt and allowed to live on Immort-despite having no memory of past life. If, contrarily, a Retrieval can only attain custody of the Artifact's Spirit-then

not know abou

even know h

program his

y nuance

-what kind of man to be-when he do

on, for what they found would happen

ow what they re

how misleading and malicious the Spirit is to the Body. You will remember from training, in the texts, he teaches that in order to be most human, we must separate from Spirit-leaving mostly B

wed to live on-being such counter-ex

ly and friends were being denied Retrieval based on zero atomic Spirit count. Most of the so-called 'New Ones' qui

y-yet all I think

his head. "This

hts set high again for the first time in forever. They Retrieved a jumper-a euthanasia-and an elder pneumonia. T

king out the gems for posterity. They were starting to actually enjoy themselves-and especially the looks on people's faces when they got so good they were saving Artifacts more often before they died than after, sometimes only sec

rilous peaks-some just dying in their sleep. Some were saved from venomous snake bites-some from train wrecks at night-some from disease's ravages-some from doctor's carnages-some from brain stroke-capsized boat-gun shot-skull crack-knife suicide-accidenta

himself-but Rivers more preferred to keep his mind on t

re he would have survived this long

e kind of kid who thought he was invincible and pushed everything way too far. So this time was his last of the luck an

the monitors jumped alive as they entered. It was obvious the kid could sense their presence on some level. They were caught off

osed to be

incredibly

stepped u

hear me c

sed to be d

e is strong,

ething does n

o strong this

Calistico ope

well exclaime

bed-side, as t

e to take me

's sake-ther

ing to the f

look half-ali

to go, this

ly skewered the Great Timeline by engaging the kid. If an

me for God,

ed again, bre

his soul ris

p in a big bri

were tempora

ey interrogat

l was that?

ised. "That was Something much

to the Prese

h grilled on

ogated every

s One even

t was an ali

rs from another world, come to brainwash humans into

the Arcs, after t

red as just smal

well confided in Boston later. "It's

Rivers. What other excuse do they n

nd they steal a

t to them first

ey're ... real

proariously. "

ut Rockwell was beginning to lose his way, his drive-even despite his single motivator in reunit

nvolved with their myopic little worlds-too selfish and greedy-too dismissive

bringing them forward to the future-when in fact, he could not help but begin to speculate, he may after all be

e sense-and he may now be locked in a death spiral w

Vanish int

t out to do what she must. She wandered about the city aimlessly for a t

beyond-then she would go there to find her true love again. No man in this world would ever be good enough. No romance would ever live up to what they once h

what she was afraid of was waiting forever to find out-in an existence rendered hollow by her haunting memories. Sh

. She caught the bus that day, righ

to a halt as th

the street in a

slowing leave

blink twice b

flash and two f

ment and amazem

to her in an aura

and held her han

ith us now, we

ence of her old f

e back to life,

he hospital she

ery she told ot

m for real, she

ream-not a min

s really him c

would come aga

to him more tha

by the door and

late repeati

at night dre

e him soon.

tle love coul

rs returned to

mean that she

these missio

st coincidenc

only shrug.

t there, so c

bly trigger

more paper

. "No rest f

ans she's al

they don't w

think they w

well as I w

think she's

o the Timelin

se her. Not a

little else th

you now, that

me knock it

e on this if

my ticket in

ou too. I wi

u're thinkin

ot enough for