Chapter 31: Relationship talks
[March/April 2374 AD – POV Timotheus Sinterguth]
Corinna, one of the youngest girls in my youth group, had suggested that I try to help her oldest sister, Primrose, by providing private tutoring in accounting. The young lady in question was, in my opinion, extremely attractive, and I had fantasized about her a few times already, without being able to be brave enough to actually talk to her, above and beyond the few times we had met, like end of last year during the advent crafting session.
Corinna՚s proposal had provided an opportunity to see Primrose again, and during my first visit at the Seeberger residence in early March the young lady had admitted that she had a crush on me, and she had been feeling very uneasy about it. I had been able to comfort her a little, and despite some reservations on my side – after all, my past experiences with females in my age group had been quite negative – I had decided that this was a good opportunity to find out more about her and meet her more frequently. She was only sixteen years old, which made her almost too young to date for me, but while part of my brain urged me to step back and run away, another part persuaded me to at least find out more about her. However, I had needed to talk to her parents first. Most people in our church community had somewhat conservative views regarding relations between people, and I expected her parents not to be enthusiastic at all about potentially having their teenage daughter getting close to a man nine years senior to her. Understandably, they needed time to think about the issue, and for a couple of weeks I had not heard anything from the Seebergers, except for Corinna reporting after the youth group each week. She told me that her parents indeed were inclined to stop all contact between her oldest daughter and me, but they found her to be extremely involved from an emotional point of view. She told me that they even consulted a psychiatrist, a friend of the family as Corinna knew, and they were getting told that Primrose was likely going to take a very long time getting over her crush. I wondered how Corinna knew about all of that, and when I asked she just smiled. Maybe she was somehow spying on her parents?
Meanwhile, I was preparing for an interesting journey. My professor, a few colleagues and I were going to attend the spring workshop on power generation and storage, organized by and taking place in District Five in Panem. During the Dark Days of Panem, this district had specialized in power generation, using hydro energy, solar energy, and other sources. It was located not far from the Panem Capitol, and this year representatives from companies and universities were going to meet there and discuss progress in power generation and storage for one and a half weeks, in the second half of March; we'd all be able to be back in time for the Easter holidays.
On the travel day, we took the maglev to München, which had the only Central European airport with regular flights to practically all long distance destinations. Smaller airports like Nürnberg and Wien provided connections to closer places, like larger islands, and of course Nürnberg had the Sinterguth company terminal. From München, all major destinations within the BARBÖ were easily and quickly reachable via maglev lines.
At the München airport, we met friends and colleagues from the local university, and I estimated that a third of the plane was occupied by those going to the conference. Airplanes were not quite as large as they had been before the Great War. I had heard reports about giant pre-war planes taking up to 800 passengers, and our transport took about a tenth of that. Of course, there were not so many people living on the planet any longer, and the need was not there. In addition, our airplanes ran on hydrogen rather than kerosene, and this hydrogen was 100% generated from green energy. Although the efficiency of hydrogen generation was not the best, this was still good use of excessive electrical energy from green sources when it was not needed. Above and beyond that, technologies had been developed to improve hydrogen storage concepts.
After a long flight we landed at the Panem Capitol airport, and from there we took a maglev to the main city in District Five. Naturally, I met my twin cousin as well, and he joined us when we got on the maglev.
On the first day of the workshop, we had an introduction session, and everybody mentioned where they were from and what their focus was. We had attendees from all of the large universities in the old and the new world, including a few from South America and Asia, plus people working for some companies working the field of energy generation and storage.
On the second day we got the grand tour, and the district showed off its main attractions, specifically a few huge hydroelectric dams. Hydro power was still a big thing, and once such a plant was built, it could be operated with minimal maintenance, provided that the dam was in good condition. There had been situations, though, where dam building itself had changed the environment in a negative way. A good example for that was the building of the Aswan Dams on the Nile River in Africa in the 20th century. At first they had been used to completely stop the almost yearly flooding, but then people realized that the flooding events were important to enrich the soil along the river banks with nutrients and minerals. Over time the people in Egypt learned to control the floodings, but not stop them entirely.
The Hoover Dam in Panem had gone through a similar development. After it had been built between the states of Nebraska and Arizona in the former USA in the 20th century, the water level regulations had triggered changes in fauna and flora along the river, and over time the operators learned to allow limited artificial flooding every few years. This dam had not survived the Great War, though, but the some remnants could still be seen.
On the third day the work really started. After all, we weren't here for fun, but to exchange knowledge and experience, to work together and take advantage of the overall progress, and, last but not least, to enable areas and countries which did not have the resources to do major research on their own to also benefit from scientific and technological progress. Fortunately, the overall attitude had changed much since the pre-war times. Where companies had fought for being ahead and gaining technical leads to maximize profits and provide the best possible 'shareholder value', the world had understood that one needed to work together more, specifically also supporting the poorer countries. In addition, while the 20th and 21st century had been dominated by technical progress and the want for the latest and greatest gadgets, like smartphones and all kind of 'IoT' devices, our technology had reached a level which already allowed most people to have their lives no longer dictated by having to earn money for a living some way or another. We already had robots and machines doing most work humankind did not want to do, and one could do less work and in a nicer occupation and still easily get along without risking poverty.
Sure, there were still a few companies clouding their own activities in secrecy and sometimes coming up with some odd results, but most of the large companies both in Europe and in Panem had returned to a state some European companies had been mid of the 20th century – seeing themselves as a large family rather than an extremely competitive environment, and also planing for the long run, like years or even decades, rather than just for the next quarterly report and what used to be called 'shareholder value'.
For a couple of days, we all sat together, about three hundred people, in a large auditorium, and we listened to presentations from various technical people, introducing their work; my professor was one of them, and he not only presented his own work, but also his team. We learned about engineers in South America, rebuilding huge hydroelectric plants connected to dams being in place partially from the old times, like the one with the odd name of Itaipu, which they explained meant something like 'the sounding stone'. For a few decades after construction in 1984, it had been the largest hydroelectric plant in the world, and it had been built very sturdily, so that they were able to restore it section by section now and get it back to operation. It was only partially effective nowadays, as the lower side had been raised by the general change of sea levels, but it still/again provided a generous amount of electricity, currently up to 2 GW, compared to the former up to 14 GW at peak time. The political situation in the area was a problem; the former governments of Brasil and Paraguay had collapsed during the Great War and the apocalypse, and a new state had been formed in the area, but excluding most parts of the huge area which used to be the Amazon rain forest, which was mostly under water anyway.
Our colleagues in München mentioned the huge nuclear fusion plant close to their city and its twin close to Wien, which had been completed just a decade or so before the Great War had started. Making nuclear fusion usable and feasible for large scale power generation had been a major effort, but once it had been done, plants like this worked reliably over a very long time with practically zero risk and practically no need for fuel. The München plant, located in Garching, provided a peak sustainable power output of about 10 GW, which was almost ten times the energy an old coal or nuclear fission plant could deliver. The fusion plant had been built with robustness and reliability in mind, with all the diligence and attention to detail German engineering had been able to offer, and it had remained functional during and after the Great War and the apocalypse. During the most critical periods of time, when people had been more busy with saving themselves and taking care of their families, the AI controlling the plant had shut it down to a safe mode, but later on, when order had been restored and the government of the new BARBÖ had been functioning, engineers had been able to use it again, providing electrical power to a large area. Together with a similar plant close to Wien, it was the only large scale nuclear fusion plant in Europe, or at least the only one which was still operational. Several other sites had been built on lower ground and got flooded, and the huge international ITER site in France had been completely destroyed during the Great War. Contrary to ITER, which had pursued the 'tokamak' design, both huge power plants had been built based on earlier 'stellarator' research efforts in Garching and later on Greifswald, going back to the first decades of the 21st century.
Eventually we also heard a report from a person from the Asian continent. Southeastern Asia had been hit very hard by the Great War, but smaller groups of people had survived in remote locations, like some valleys in the Himalaya mountains or Siberia; there had been no valuable targets to bomb. We had two engineers from the area around Lake Baikal, which had been southern Siberia, and it had been very difficult for them to get here. They had heard about the workshop via short wave radio, and they had somehow managed to get to the coast, using some still functional old railroad connections, which originally had been, as they told us, part of the old 'Trans-Siberian Railway', and a ship had brought them over to the North American continent.
"Most of the people in that region nowadays live in almost medieval conditions, with no electricity, but at least they live. There are a few enclaves with power, and we strive to improve the power grid, extend it and make it more stable. We hope to get a few ideas and maybe some help here."
They spoke neither English nor German, but Russian, and an interpreter had to translate that for all of us.
Last but not least we had a few colleagues from Southern Africa here. While the center of Africa had been hit extremely hard by the climatic apocalypse, making many regions there uninhabitable due to lack of rain and excessive temperatures, the most southern part of Africa had suffered less, and the Great War had not affected the area too much either. They had been struck by multiple pandemics, and they also had not fully overcome their internal problems yet, driven by a long time of 'Apartheid'. From a technological point of view they were far behind Europe and Panem, but the citizens of what used to be the 'Republic of South Africa' mostly worked together now, and they had started to investigate the areas north of them, too. They had started, as we learned, to get some aid from the Sinterguth Foundation, and they needed very robust ways to generate electricity. There was a lot of ocean coast around their county, and maybe that was an opportunity to rig some wave or tide power plants. Specifically in the area of what used to be the 'Republic of Namibia', but was nowadays inhabited by very few people only and lacking a central government, the foundation was very active and ran various attempts and installations to see and find out how the dominating desert could be tamed and partially converted to farmland; curiously, some of the few locals in the area spoke some variation of German, even such a long time after the German occupation in the late 19th and early 20th century, when that country had been a German colony for a few decades.
Before I even noticed, the workshop was over. I had learned a lot, I had talked to many colleagues and experts, and as practically all of the conversations had been on very technical topics, that had been all right, even with some of those experts being women. The social shyness both my twin cousin and I had towards the other sex only showed when talking about social topics, but scientific and technical topics were all right. On the way back I got on the maglev to the Panem Capitol together with my twin cousin and my colleagues from Erlangen and München, where we boarded the plane back home, and Timotheus Mellark got to the maglev to his home district.
We were both home a couple of days prior to the Easter holidays, which were very important holidays for both us and our families.
During the Easter holidays, I joined the other community members in celebrating special church services, and although I saw Primrose from a distance a couple of times, there was no opportunity to speak to each other. Besides, I had told her parents that I'd wait for their verdict anyway; as Primrose was still a minor and I was significantly older, it was up to them to either allow us to spend time together or not. Based on my bad experience with a girl a few years ago, the latter option might be better and safer for me anyway; I was not ready to be deceived and disappointed again.
Anyway, the Easter holiday celebrations kept me busy. In addition to the main church service on Easter Sunday in the late morning, we had an open air service at sunrise, starting at 5:30, on the grounds of the old cemetery. I helped our pastor getting the equipment there, and as I was an early riser anyway, the time was just fine for me. We started off with some candles, and when the sun started to peak above the horizon, we read the story about a day more than two thousand years ago when young women visited Jesus' grave and found it empty, guarded by angels instead.
In the week after Easter, during our youth group meeting, Christine and Corinna handed over an invitation from their parents; they wanted to talk to me again. Of course I accepted and arrived at the agreed time. I was politely asked in, and Mr. Seeberger started to talk:
"Mr. Sinterguth, as you may have expected, we were first inclined to dismiss our daughter's crush and stop further contacts. Certainly not because we don't like you, but because we firmly believe that she should first look at boys closer to her own age, at least while she is a teenage girl and a minor, and I am sure that you understand that. However, once we talked to her, we found her feelings to be much deeper than we had expected. What we thought to be just a tiny little teenager crush turns out to be much more than that, and in the last few weeks we have observed her attention level dropping significantly. We have also received a call from the place where she works and learns, and they have told us in very clear words that they will have to stop teaching and training her if her lack of attention goes on for much longer. While we are sure that she would get over it eventually, she might lose her apprenticeship and more during that time, and we decided that maybe we need to be more flexible with our rules, in our daughter's own interest. Also, yourself being a respected member of our church community has some merit."
I like what I heard so far, but decided not to interrupt with questions or comments just yet, so that I just nodded.
Mrs. Seeberger continued:
"We have decided to allow contact between Primrose and you, but of course there are going to be some rules. We are not going to be too strict; she is going to be 18 years old in little more than one year, and young people who are forced to obey rules being too tight have a tendency to do a '180' once they legally can. Before we lay down the rules, may I ask you to suggest how you would like to run this?"
This was my chance, even though I was not sure if I actually wanted it, and I had come prepared for that:
"First of all, thank you for your understanding and the trust you have in me. Believe me, I did not ask for this situation, but being dropped in it, I may not mind too much. You know of course that your oldest daughter is quite pretty, and I kind of fell in love with her eyes. Above and beyond that, I do not know yet how my own feelings are going to grow or change, but I am very much willing to give them a chance to develop."
They both nodded, and I continued:
"I do have a job and my own apartment, and I believe that I should better not invite your daughter to my place alone, but only when somebody else is present as well, like one of her sisters, or maybe not even then."
This resulted in a very strong nodding, and I moved on:
"Except for here in your home, we should meet only in public places, like public transportation, parks and such, and for longer meetings somebody else should be there as well. I could imagine that Corinna may grow to like playing chaperone."
They both laughed and Mrs. Seeberger told me:
"Oh yes, she would – this is actually a good idea."
I was quite sure that Corinna would be very willing and capable to 'spy' on my behavior towards her sister as she had obviously done in finding our what her parents had been doing. I continued to talk:
"I have heard that Primrose usually has a long work day on Tuesdays, and maybe I could pick her up and walk her home from time to time. I would also like to invite her to trips, like to the Botanical Garden here in the city or to the Nürnberg Zoo, which I love. For those trips, maybe Corinna and Christine might want to join us, and they'd be very welcome to do so from my point of view. Above and beyond that, I'd appreciate the opportunity to visit Primrose here at her home occasionally, and when we are in her room, the door will be kept open and one of her sisters will be welcome to be with us."
I was not sure if Primrose agreed with all of those limitations, but she was a minor, and I really wanted to play it safe. Once she turned eighteen in a little more than one year, we would see, but for know I was fully prepared to behave. So far her parents seemed to like my way of thinking.
"Oh yes, I do have a question I need to ask. Obviously, we are going to touch each other from time to time. What kind of touching will you allow? I mean, I do not even know yet what I will want to do, honestly, but there might some hugging and kissing eventually… I have to admit that I am not very experienced in this at all. I mean, sex is clearly not going to happen while she is a minor, of course."
Her parents nodded again, and Mrs. Seeberger told me:
"Good question, Mr. Sinterguth. I guess that both hugging and kissing are all right, if you do it when she is ready. She's never liked a boy before like that, so please be careful. More intimate touching is … not a good idea."
Mr. Seeberger sighed and added:
"I am not sure if we aren't too conservative and cautious with all that. Some girls at the age of 16 or 17 or even younger have clearly gone much further, or so we have learned from other families we know. We do believe in the idea of 'going all the way' only in marriage, but we have come to realize that a lot of other people around us do not. Nevertheless, while she is still a minor, we ask that you accept our rules."
I nodded and replied: "I happen to share your beliefs, by the way, and no, I personally do not think that this is too conservative at all. A lot of people in my extended family believe the same, and of course I will respect and honor the rules you set."
The goal to have sex only once being married was quite common in the Lutheran church in general and in our church community in particular, but less so outside. A lot of young people just did what they wanted and took advantage of very reliable and affordable means of birth control, and a lot of people did not even contemplate getting married, partially because they had no plans to stay with a partner for lifetime. During and after the dark times, though, more people than before had turned back in particular to the Lutheran church in Central Europe. The Roman Catholic church had suffered a lot not only from losing Rome and the entire Vatican city to the big flooding, but also from trying to impose their own very strict rules, and they had also had a significant number of scandals related to abuse of minors, specifically in the late 20th and early 21st century. Consequently, they had lost many members.
We had picked Tuesday, Primrose's long day, and she came home right now. She was asked into the living room to join us, and her father summarized the rules for her. When she finally understood that she was actually allowed to see me, her first reaction was to hug me and hold me tightly, before she realized what she was doing. She blushed heavily, stepped back and said "Sorry".
That had been the first real hug I had received from her, and I liked it a lot. Quickly I responded truthfully:
"Primrose, hugging me is not something you need to apologize for. On the contrary; I may appreciate getting hugs from you more frequently."
Obviously I had said the right thing, as she smiled at me warmly. I was asked if I wanted to join them for supper, and I agreed. Supper was German style and cold, with bread, butter, sausage and cheese, similar to what I usually had for supper at home. After we had eaten, Corinna and Christine were informed by their parents about my permission to get acquainted with their older sister, and Corinna raised her hands and shouted "Yes!".
I dared to ask why she was so enthusiastic about it, and she happily explained:
"That's easy, Tim. I like you a lot, but I have come to realize that I'd have to wait too long before I could marry you. Thus I decided for the next best thing, which is to make you my brother, or more precisely, my brother-in-law, and this goal is now getting much closer."
Okay, that had been her motivation for the matchmaking activities. I could not help myself and burst out laughing, and so did everybody else, including Corinna herself.
[Author's Notes: I have to admit that I do not really know what kind of rules parents usually apply when the kids are seriously dating somebody when still being a minor, specifically a much older person. I can imagine, though, that parents might not be overly happy to find out that the date is nine years older. My own kids have not made me confront a similar situation, and I am not sure how I would react as a father.
About the background in nuclear fusion: At this time (2023), one of the most promising large scale research plantsis indeed located in Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany – the 'Wendelstein 7-X' stellarator; an earlier prototype was built in Garching near Munich. For technical details see the webpages from the 'Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik' (Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics).]