The Time Travelers Club

I’d travelled through time before with no ill effects, but this was different. My lungs ached as I followed the others to the ‘Time Travelers Club proudly welcomes you. Wait here.’ signpost. All these terminus towns used signs in both languages, but it seemed odd to see the yellow smiley face. Surely they could have come up with something new after two decades.

I set down my luggage and took a long breath. Nothing too unusual so far. Of course I saw no alien lifeforms; it was still humans throughout this solar system give or take a few minor variations.

One of the variations walked past me, turned, stopped and said my name. ‘It’s because of the air,’ he said, following my eyes to his face, ‘You’ll get used to it. We’ll both try not to stare… Here…’ and he arranged my suitcases on a cart. ‘Follow me.’ The self-propelled wagon motored along keeping a regular distance behind us. Before long we arrived at a cafe.

‘So here’s the scoop,’ he said as we pulled out chairs and sat down. ‘There’s a couple of things that you want to know before you sign up and they’re not negotiable… It’s the Matchmaker package you’re interested in, right?’ he said, pushing a laminated sheet across at me.

“Leave the Past Behind,’ the heading read and went on, ‘Find your soulmate from millions in the TTC database. Your TTC Matchmaker will run a custom search throughout the solar system using indicators from your DNA and life experience to identify the ultimate life mate for you. Join the thousands of clients who have found happiness. Success for life is guaranteed.”

‘Look Milward’ I said, reading the name next to his photo on the pamphlet. ‘I suspected that free was a come-on, but if this is what it says it is, I’m not without money, so tell me and I’ll decide….’

‘That’s the thing. It really is free. People come here from all different worlds since they’ve learned how to travel through time. Some places it’s much longer than others and like in your case, even twenty years can make a difference. By the time you arrived here your money was worthless due to inflation. Some societies function on a bartering system...Some still expect us to take animals... But there are costs of course, so payment is requested in kind…’

‘Kind? What kind of kind…?’

‘Well, the usual kind. It depends on the individual. See you’re a fairly attractive woman even given your variation. We’d have no problem attracting the clients… Oh and I have found you such an excellent match. I won’t show you the photo because I don’t want to influence your decision…’

I pushed back my chair. ‘Are you saying you’re going to whore me out to pay for your service? Because if that’s what you expect then you should tell people before they come halfway across the universe…’  

‘No, no, no. Well yes. Please sit down,’ Milward went on, looking around. ‘It is S-E-X. You’re quite right, but not in the way you probably think. There’s nothing physical. You just have to sign over the rights to your simulated body. We build the androids and store their activation in our database. You really don’t have to do anything more than go for a fitting…They’re programmed only to function within a designated area, and shut down otherwise, so you don’t have to worry about coming across yourself.'

I sat. ‘So this body looks like me, talks like me, acts like me?’

‘Yes. In every single way. There would be virtually no difference.’

‘So at any given time there might be hundreds of different men f***ing me?’

‘Well, not necessarily men…’

‘Oh dear God…. and other people do this?

‘No-one has come back to us and said they regretted their decision. Some struggled with the idea of it more than others but once they met their partners nothing else mattered and they could put it out of mind. It’s your decision.’

‘And the relationships last?’

‘Yes. Also without fail. You should see those folks together.’ He clutched his hands and smiled. ‘I’m proud of the work we do. We have testimonials. As I say, it’s entirely up to you.’

‘So that’s one thing. You said a couple of things. What’s the second?’

‘Well, the second might be a little harder to take… When we say for life, that doesn’t necessarily mean what you expect.’

Oh, here we go... ‘What do you mean?’

‘You can only physically exist in this environment for a limited period of time. You felt the difference in the air when you got off, didn’t you? That's why my nose is different than yours. I'm born to breathe it but you're not. Well at least, not permanently. That means you get to be happy for a while but you die if you don’t go back. You have to acknowledge that you understand that..’

‘So how long could I last here?'

‘That depends on things like how old you are to start with, normal genetic and health factors. Minimum a couple of years and maximum, say five… If you go back soon after you start to get sick then you will definitely recover, so you do get a heads up. But it’s pretty much fast downhill after that if you choose to go out here.’

‘And it’s the same for the other person?’

‘Yes, but there’s no double uncertainty in the timing. So much simpatico develops between the couples that it happens at the same time for both of you. Your clocks gel. So there it is. You have to agree to the simulation, and you have to accept dying together or leaving.’

‘The thought of all those men... or whatever... getting it off on me, well, that disgusts me. It gives me the creeps, but if as you say people think it’s worth it, then I might try considering it. It’s the other thing... It seems so cruel to give someone happiness and then take it away from them. I’m not sure I could sign up for that.’

‘That’s how most people react when I tell them. But really… Think about it. You wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t decided on specialized help. We are that help. You can choose to go home and die never knowing what its like to find your soulmate, or you can stay, find your true love and die together, or you can accept that its time limited, but what you can't do is have everything forever.

Milward leaned forward and pushed the photograph face down across the table.