CHAPTER III: A Whole New World

The canoe gliding through the water was as smooth as a bird's flight through midair. The paddles gently swashing along was almost a melody.

The canyon's river was deep, but near the shoreline it was clear, revealing the hiding places of the brown sand and the countless stone pebbles where tiny fish made their home.

In the midst of the waters, one could see alert movements of glowing blue - the tiny fish from the Morlock Caverns. After the destruction of the Sphinx, they must have been forced to find a home elsewhere, hiding within rocks and only peering out at nightfall. Going by the Professor's assumptions, they were nocturnal due to their obvious evolvement in the dim caves.

He rowed along, often catching small glimpses of the tiny blue swimmers and wondering to himself if they too, like him, would be able to adapt and adjust to this new environment.

The day was nearing it's end and the sun's rays were only partially peering over the mountains now, saying a final goodbye until tomorrow's return.

The Professor was alone, beside himself. He was venturing out to the Stone Gallery, albeit late as it was, to speak with his good friend, Vox the Photonic.

He recalled what news Kalen had brought him after a long day of listening to another one of Vox's lessons;

"Alexander, Vox said he wanted to show you something at the Stone Gallery."

"And what would that be?"

"He would not tell me. He only said for me to tell you to go there as soon as possible…it is in-important." the boy stuttered slightly in his English. "But he wants you to go alone."

Alexander was indeed overtaken by curiosity, wondering what it could be that Vox wanted to see him about. He hoped it would not be of anything grim.

In the passing of minutes, Alex found himself wandering away from the canoe and to the Gallery, easing his way through the jungle with only the company of one of the Eloi lanterns. The glowing light bugs fluttering about within it's paper cover were both a convenience and a comfort.

He wandered through the woods, remembering the trail that he had memorized well. The leaves of the trees gently whipped against his face as he pushed aside low hanging branches and carried on over stumps and stones. Trailing through these woods had strangely rekindled a distant childhood memory.

He recalled once, when he was a boy, of how he and some friends had found adventure in Central Park, amusing themselves in an imaginative world of pirates that only a child could see. Then the game got out of control when one of his friends began using stones for canon balls and one of them had bounced off the back of a policeman's head…The rest was history, or as a parent would put it; no playing for a week.

He came to a stone hill. Slipping his shoes within the crevasses of the rock, he began to climb his way over with the lantern dangling heavily in his mouth. He winced as he bared his teeth onto the handle, struggling to keep the lantern in his oral grip and keep his stability on the sloping rocky wall all the while. His steps were awkward, but easier than the first venture to this place when Mara had offered to give him a tour, showing him where her parents and all before had learnt the Stone Language...Living with a native tribe in such a time and place had been a chance for him to learn better use of his strong limbs at least, he reminded himself.

Alexander pulled himself up, now standing on a small pathway that trailed along the small cliff from which he had climbed, weaving gently down into the clearing where the Stone Gallery awaited.

Pacing downward, he took an ounce of time to glance the sky and it's almost purple haze. He could see the gathering of dim stars that would eventually grow brighter in the hours of night and in the bare distance over the mountains, the Professor could see that shattered moon, faded as it was now, making it's way to the highest peek in the atmospheric view.

Now standing in the clearing where stones of ancient New York gathered around him, he stepped closer to the glass frame of Vox's screen, moving under the bamboo shelter that had been built around it.

"…Vox?" he cleared his throat, stepping over some of the blankets left behind by the children. "Vox?"

The screen made a faint buzzing sound and a well dressed figure came into motion and sight, expressing an insightful smile.

"There you are," Alex grinned.

"Greetings." the Photonic grinned, raising his hand in a steadied 'wave' position.

"Kalen told me you wanted to see me about something."

"Indeed I do."

Alex found comfort on a red blanket laid out before the Photonic. He sat, laying the lantern beside him and allowing one arm to dangle over his one raised knee.

"How's it coming along…the lessons?"

"Not as bad as I thought. Right now they seem more intrigued by fairytales and folklore than anything else, which can be annoying since we still haven't yet moved on to a good history lesson. I have managed to take over the teachings of English and they've caught on to that quite fast. I assume what Mara has managed to cram into them has indeed made it easier for me." The Photonic chuckled lightly, folding his hands together.

"I'm glad they have you. I don't think I could possibly teach them everything there is to know by myself, and I only know so much as far as history is concerned." Alex commented, a small chuckle ringing in his own vocals.

"I agree to that. As clever as you scientists were back then, you don't have the capacity of remembrance that I have." Vox said, pointing toward his noggin.

"I suppose I'll have to agree to that gesture. Only a Photonic could remember a kid asking him about dinosaurs in a library eons ago, not to mention surviving long enough to tell the tale."

"True. So, have you taken to this humid climate better than I have? I often wonder how anything could evolve in such a place and manage to exist."

Alexander eased back, almost closing his eyes as if searching for some ounce of comfort.

"The thick humid jungles, living on the edge of a canyon wall…" the Professor sighed. "I think I'm starting to get use to it. Though I do miss my old life, more than you can ever imagine."

With a Photonic like Vox, it was not difficult to suddenly forget he wasn't flesh and blood and refer to him as one would any human being. Even with the enjoyable company of Mara and Kalen, Vox was really the only intelligent life form who knew enough to understand Alexander's point of view.

"Yes…I too miss the comfort of the New York Public Library." Vox sighed, his eyes rolling over the un-delightful bamboo shelter that hung over them. "I miss school children inquiring about history and needing my help for a school report. I miss having to locate a certain book or pull up information on shortcuts to Brooklyn Bridge. I miss the company of the janitors, and even the senile old lady who kept asking me where the lady's room was. But I am thankful to be of use again. I've been stiff in that 'cave' for too long, and I won't deny that these people have grown on me - even if they are still convinced that I am in fact a ghost."

A momentary silence cut between them as they rekindled memories of a world lost to them. The joy of a past life was an overwhelming sensation of both happiness and longing sadness, even for a Photonic.

"Well, I suppose you would like for me to explain why I called you here." Vox spoke at length.

"Yes, yes I would." his words had shook Alexander from the dark thoughts that were slowly boiling in his mind just in time's sake.

"I thought I'd share with you some interesting information concerning the moon and some images I have that date back to 2037." Now there was an excitement in Vox's tone. "Would you like to view them?"

"Of course." Alex stood to his feet, now admiring the images that Vox displayed on the screen.

"This one here was taken by a few tourists during a vacation."

"A vacation…" Alex mused. "I never would've thought that man would take a trip to the moon. They're amazing."

"They did more than take mere vacations. People were living there. Golf courses, fishing, nightclubs… Lunar Leisure Living," Vox sneered. "The future is now…ridiculous in a way."

The Photonic flashed another photo onto the screen.

"What's this?" the Professor inquired.

"The Lunar Greenhouse. Scientists were successfully growing vegetation in this dome."

"Why on earth, or the moon, would they want to? Couldn't they…have it transported; food I mean?"

"The moon was colonized. People were living there." Vox explained. "Man wanted to make the moon as livable as possible, Alexander. Here's a picture of the military base."

Alexander stood back, relieving his arched back as well as his mind from the excitement the photographs had brought.

"Remarkable…even if it did end humanity, it is by far one of the most remarkable things I've ever come to know of." he spoke in awe. "I'd like to know more about this, Vox."

"I actually had something else I wanted to show you tonight. I think you'll be even more amazed by this. Prepare to be filled with wonder, my friend…Last night when I was lingering in the Library Ruins, I picked up what appeared to be a satellite signal from space."

"A satellite signal?" Alex furrowed his brows.

"It was an old civilian satellite. It surprised me because I had no clue that anything of the sort was still floating out there, much less be in good enough condition for me to record data from it. It must have passed over the ruins from space which would explain my detection of it."

"What sort of data did you collect?"

"Well, I cleverly used it to transport recent images of earth for me to store in my files. It took me all night, but it was well worth it. I'm just glad the thing was still in working condition enough for me to be successful." the Photonic expressed himself a bit immodestly, something he had a habit of doing; but who wouldn't feel so boastful of them self when they held all human knowledge?

"Let's see them." Alex was as anxious as a blind man who was about to see the world around him for the first time in ages.

"Now processing." Vox read. "Upload complete." He finished in the time of five minutes.

With the raising of one Photonic hand, an image dashed onto the screen like magic before the Professor's eyes. Alexander nearly gasped in his astonishment, a pleasured smile slowly painting it's way onto his face.

"The continents have changed even more than I had assumed." he uttered, fixated on the global image on the glass screen as it spun slowly. It's motion gave the aura of actually being there in space, seeing all that there was to this 'new earth'.

"Well, why not zoom in to have a closer look?" Vox suggested.

"Absolutely! Let us see New York, or what's become of it."

The Photonic paused the motioned image, and as the professor watched, it zoomed into the distant view of a lush jungle on a piece of land breaking off like an island where a river cut through. This was Alexander's New York.

"So this is it? This is where we live…" he spoke, talking more to himself than anything. "Can you get closer?"

"That's as close as it will get to a jungle." Voxexplained. "And without any live humans around to customize this feature, you can't expect any better quality than that."

"It's a shame that we can't have a closer look at the village." the Professor mused, slipping his hands into the boundaries of his pants pockets.

"Would you like to see something else, say, the Grand Canyon?" Vox asked.

"I would."

The image began to rotate and slide, flying over to the opposite side of the country.

"As you can see, the Grand Canyon is now thirteen times the size it was in your time."

Alex knelt over to eye the image closer, gripping his knees absentmindedly as he viewed it. The Photonic slid the global image to another sight.

"Mount Everest, located in the Himalayas, is now around fifty eight thousand feet tall. In the early twenty first century it was approximately eight thousand, eight hundred and forty eight meters or twenty nine thousand and twenty eight feet above sea level, just to give you an ideal of how much it's changed."

Alexander was brought to another view of the earth.

"There are now ten craters in New Mexico. They're two hundred feet in diameter."

"My God." Alex let out. "I wonder how and when they were made."

"Who knows? I couldn't gather that sort of information from the satellite. But judging by their size, I'd say they could've been made around 600,000 A.D., but I'm only guessing." Vox suggested, somewhat unsure of himself.

"Brilliant, despite your limits. Too bad you can't tell how many people are still in existence." Alexander rose up, now studying the Photonic's face.

"Are you finished looking?"

"For now I guess. I'd like to see more tomorrow, when there's better lighting of course."

"I wish I could have called you out sooner but I had to wait for the appearance of the Eloi before I could send the message."

"I understand." Alex smiled.

"I'm sure we're not the only ones here. Or so I've always liked to tell myself." the Photonic said, referring to Alexander's comment on other human life.

The images of earth had astonished Alexander, engaged his curiosity even further; but what if they were alone? The question still plagued him and the longing feeling of missing a life once lived had crossed him yet again. It felt like they were in one little world on the walls of a canyon that swept down from the mountains and fell into a river leading into an ocean unknown.

"A whole new world..." he uttered.

"I'm sorry?" Vox had not quite caught onto the words.

"Oh nothing. Just thinking out loud. Did you gather any further information concerning the planet's geography?"

"Yes, as a matter-of-fact, I did. The continents are somewhat smaller now with mountains standing taller and with a greater abundance of water. The earth has pretty much redeveloped itself since the Lunar catastrophe in 2037. But I've discovered that, sadly, the Great Pyramids of Egypt have been buried beneath sand and where the Roman Coliseum once was, well, let's just say that it's more than likely to be no more than ruins in the ocean now."

"I see. You didn't catch a glimpse of any possible cities that may still be inhabited?"

"Not from what I could tell. If there areany cities, they're in ruins. I doubt you'll find anything more civilized than this colony right here." the Photonic added grimly.

He took a moment to dwell on the last words the Photonic had spoken. It was indeed more than likely to be fact that the Eloi, as they called themselves, were as advanced as man had grown for the time being. Apparently, Alexander and Vox were their only hope to rebuild humanity, to teach them and learn them and to build. And building was something they had started. It was progressing slowly, and, often in crablike fashion. At least that was how it seemed. There were still so many things that needed to be done. The Library Ruins still needed revamping, and the Stone Gallery still needed work itself. The bamboo shelter was only temporary. In a way, it was overwhelming; maybe more so than the creation of the Time Machine had been. After all, Alexander was an inventor, not a contractor.

"I suppose I should head back." the Professor said at last. "I don't want Mara and Kalen to worry too much over my absence."

"Didn't you tell them you were leaving?"

"Oh yes, but I've found that they rather dislike any long length of distance between us."

"If you come back tomorrow, I'll show you where an old military base was."

"Then I shall come back. I'd like to ask you a few things about some people from my past as well. It would be nice to know what happened to some of my old friends…Philby, maybe my family, and perhaps even Einstein."

"Einstein?" the Photonic furrowed his brows. "The only Einstein I would have data on would be the most famed genius mind of all time...besides myself."

"Genius? He and I use to exchange letters, sharing theories and…"

The Photonic revealed an image of an old man.

"Would this be the Einstein you knew?" Vox asked with skepticism.

As Alexander read the brief biography, his eyes widened with sudden astonishment and a smile crept onto his face.

"I'll be damned. That's him. He was a German patent clerk when I knew him; of course we never met in person only, through our letters."

"How on earth did you become aware of him?"

"Oh, it's quite a story, Vox. Perhaps tomorrow we can talk about it."

"I'll be sure to remind you."

"Fair enough. I'd like to read more about him." the Professor smiled. "I shall see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight…and, live long and prosper."

"I'll try."

Walking home in the dark of night with his lantern still at hand, Alexander thought to himself of just how time really had changed the past. Who would've known that Albert would become a renowned genius? And who would've known that Alexander would build a machine and travel through time only to find that his own destiny would be to save mankind from extinction? Well, only one man would ever know that; and that was he himself and maybe God. Then his mind began to dwell on the moment during his time traveling, when he was first alerted of the destruction of the moon.

~TTT~

He had left the New York Public Library, deciding that he would venture forward to find the answer as to why one could not change the past; but the machine suddenly vibrated, jerked, and the scene before him had brought the Time Traveler to stop the machine briefly in hopes of deciphering this grim sight before him.

There were sirens in the distance, echoing through the dark streets. The gravel was broken and there was the coming sound of a woman on a radio. And then came the bright lights of the vehicles that brought him to shield his eyes; then moving figures began to close in on him in a haste, talking loudly as they crowded him.

"Sir, where is your designated evacuation center?" demanded a soldier.

"Sir, you are subject to arrest under martial law." said the other.

"Please put your hands out, palms together. You will be held in detention until your evacuation center clears you for transport." said the first.

"Wait! Wait!" Alexander attempted, but the soldiers cuffed him despite his effort.

"Just take it easy." the first soldier went on as the sirens continued to ring in the distance.

Suddenly the ground vibrated in an earth quake fashion and the towering buildings continued to crumble.

"Hey, we got to get out of here!" the second soldier was unnerved.

"Wait!" Alexander revolted. "How did this happen?"

"The moon." the first replied. "Come on, move it."

"That's impossible." Alex argued. "What happened?"

"What?" the first questioned sarcastically. "You been living under a rock?"

"Yes!" Alex jerked away from their clutch. "I've been living under a rock! Now, tell me."

"The demolitions for the Lunar Colonies screwed up the orbit, okay? The moon's breaking up, alright? Come on." the first replied.

But Alexander did not allow the soldiers to take him away, and the following explosion was his chance for escape...barely.

~TTT~

A sudden rustling in the bushes had paused the Professor and he slowly raised the lantern, glancing around and hoping that the movements would be nothing more than a harmless beast, but the creature who stepped out before him was no beast and thankfully not a rogue Morlock. He was glad to say at least that he had not gone out without keeping a small knife at hand carved from a stone.

"Mara, what are you doing out here?"

"I - I wanted to go with you." she said lamely.

"Go with me? You knew where I was going and that Vox wanted to see me alone. But if you wanted to come along that badly, why didn't you just... come along?" his voice had a sharpness to it that she was not use to hearing and it frightened her.

"Forgive me. I only wanted to know what he wanted to see you about."

"Mara," his tone was calmed now. "I would've told you on my return. I have no secrets to hide."

"Would you?" she seemed to doubt him.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because," she swallowed. "I am only a - I am not like you or the Photonic."

"What do you mean?"

"I do not know so many things about the world." she replied.

"Mara," he began to speak warmly, placing his palm over her shoulder. He could feel her tremble at his touch. "You're very intelligent. You're one of the most brilliant young women I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Besides, if it weren't for you, the Eloi wouldn't know the Stone Language half as well as they do."

She smiled, allowing herself to move closer to his side. Male compliments were a rarity to her ears.

"Come on, let's go home." he said.

In the moonlight they rowed back, their canoes side by side in the darkness. Every now and then he found his eyes wandering towards her, thinking and taking her in all at once. She was beautiful; her long ebony hair, chocolate eyes and dark bronzed skin that proved her existence in a tropical climate. She was something new to him, something rare. She had an innocence about her like that of a child; the way she giggled, the way she smiled, but at the same time, she was a woman.

Mara could feel his stare upon her. She wondered if he noticed how she trembled at his touch, how she found it difficult to tear her eyes away from him, how she loved to fold his clothes, serve him food and in general be close to him. There was nothing wild in his mild blue eyes, those eyes that captivated her. He was unlike anything she had ever seen. Ever since the day she had found him he had fascinated her and pressed her curiosity, and there were still so many things about this man that she did not know.

For one thing, she didn't know that he had went into a solitary world of his own, locking himself within the walls of his laboratory, obsessing over the completion of a machine for four miserable years. He had driven everyone away; his family, his friends. But now, to her, he seemed so full of life and passion. Though she was however, well aware of the despair he had brought along with him. She wondered what he thought, what might be going through his mind when he gazed at the stars. She wondered, or perhaps hoped, that maybe somehow he was thinking of her.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: My apology for the slow updates. Special thanks to my brother for the idea of Vox's findings.