The man sitting in 14D hadn't shut up the whole flight. Had he been dropped on his head as a baby? Normally a light sleeper, Steven Dunmore had booked the overnight flight with high hopes. On his last Tokyo trip to confirm his numbers with the home office, the jetlag had hit him like a freight train. The other passengers slept until the overhead lights had come on. But not Steve, he'd been forced to listen to the balding man in the golf shirt all night. Why hadn't he remembered headphones like the woman in 14E?

The man leaned back to secure the seatbelt under his sizeable stomach. "Did you make it over to Mt. Fuji?"

Steve shook his head. "No. I was stuck in meetings all week."

"Me too, but I was able to sneak away yesterday afternoon."

Steve didn't respond, a tactic that hadn't stopped this one-sided conversation yet.

The man leaned in close. "Don't tell my boss."

Hoping to never see him again, Steve winked. "Mum's the word."

The man laughed. "Mt. Fuji was totally worth it. Of course, I could only make it halfway up, but the view was incredible."

"I bet."

A stewardess stopped in front of them with a plastic bag. "We're preparing for landing, so please put away your tray. I can take any trash you have."

"Thank you," The man said as he elbowed Steve in the side handing over his soft drink can.

The woman in 14E opened her eyes, sat up, and stretched. She straightened her short blonde hair with her fingers, keeping the headphones in. The morning sun peeked above the horizon when she raised the shutter on the small oval window. She whispered something about the skyline looking different, but Steve couldn't see anything from his vantage point.

Steve endured more inane chatter until the Boeing 777 touched down. Doing his best to tune the man out, he thought about his wife and son. Billy would turn five years old next week. He'd bought him a floating DeLorean toy that worked off magnets. One of the hottest toys, he'd paid top yen, but it would be worth it to see the look in his eyes. Steve had shown him all the classics, but Billy had latched on to that movie with its bright shiny vision of the future.

Not that he could count on his wife, Melissa to arrange the birthday party while he was gone. No, that responsibility would fall to Steve. Missy loved Billy and tried her best to be a good mother, despite the fact she hadn't wanted kids. In fact, she detested them, calling all babies little anchors until she became pregnant herself.

But when the time came to make a decision on their unexpected surprise, she'd succumbed to his pleas. And, he loved her for it. That and her drop dead gorgeous looks and her crazy antics. Having a mate with a free spirit was the perfect corollary to his strict religious upbringing. Their life had balance. Sometimes her wild adventures didn't completely line up with motherhood, but he knew with some coaching on his part, they could work through it.

The screech of the plane's brakes jarred him out of his reverie.

"So, can I get your number?"

Steve turned to his seatmate. "Excuse me?"

"I said can I get your phone number? I'm always looking for new golf partners."

Steve didn't wonder why that was an issue for the man. Once free of aviation guidelines, he'd gladly bludgeon the man with a five iron. Giving him a series of random numbers, the man committed it to memory.

His mouth twisted. "I think you left out a number."

Steve added one more.

As the plane taxied to the airport, the man powered up his phone to enter it in his contacts. Steve pulled his out as well, needing to text Missy that he'd landed safely. After the usual beeps and buzzes, the phone's screen pixelated and froze.

"Is yours acting weird too?" the man asked.

Nodding, he restarted it in hopes of fixing the problem. Around him, others bemoaned issues with their devices as well. As they neared the airport, an elderly man unbuckled and stood up to retrieve a bag from an overhead bin. Out the window, Steve saw an ultramodern section of the airport he didn't recall seeing before. He hoped their gate wasn't a long walk to the baggage claim.

The matronly head stewardess addressed the passengers over the speaker. "Can I have your attention? There seems to be some confusion with traffic control, but I'm sure it'll be sorted out in a minute. So for your safety, please retake your seats until the plane has reached the gate. Your patience is appreciated."

The passengers groaned simultaneously. Steve settled back in his chair to stomach another of the man's tales. His phone still wouldn't function. He thought about his own bed and catching a nap before Billy got home from school. Eventually, the plane taxied to a gate, but it wasn't soon enough for Steve.

The staff appeared agitated and confused as the passengers jockeyed for position to exit first. After what seemed like a long time, the telescoping gateway met up with the door of the plane. Steve gathered his laptop bag and joined the ranks of shuffling passengers. At the front of the plane, the matronly stewardess sat slumped in a jump seat, sweating and mumbling to herself. A young steward did a poor job of comforting her. Steve thanked the lord that he'd chosen the chicken instead of the fish for his in-flight meal. Though a strange uneasiness took a hold of him as he made his way to the terminal.

The feeling grew as he passed a gape-jawed flight technician in the gateway. He stared at the passengers like they were aliens from another planet, but he was the odd one with his numerous face tattoos and crazy haircut. His jumpsuit appeared to shift in color from red to purple to blue. Steve blinked, and it was red again. 

In his peripheral, he saw his seatmate closing the gap between them. Shifting the bag to his other shoulder, he quickened his pace and spilled out into the terminal.

The air-conditioning slapped him in the face, waking him up. Otherwise, he would have run over his fellow passenger from ANA Flight 008 all huddled together, staring in every direction. He followed their gaze. The terminal looked the same but different. The people were dressed in color shifting clothes like the flight technician. Their seats were ergonomic and unimaginable thin, as was the computer tablet in the hands of a man waiting to board. It was thin as a piece of paper with holographic images dancing above its surface. A woman walked by with a suitcase hovering six inches off the ground.

The mummers from their growing group turned to shouts.

"Where are we?"

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Why won't my phone work? I need to call my husband."

"Are we part of some prank?"

An official looking woman approached them. Her hands up in a calming gesture.

"I know you must be confused. Believe me, we are as well. But don't worry, we are consulting the AI's as we speak. They'll have an answer for us soon. So, if you'll just follow me to the VIP lounge, we'll get everyone breakfast while the event is sorted out."

More shouts from the passengers.

"Event? What the heck are you talking about?"

"Who is AI?"

A man in a suit from first class stepped forward. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me exactly where we are?"

The official looking woman nodded slowly. "Like you would expect you're in San Francisco International Airport. But, the date is June 28th, 2037."

Steve fainted, his head bouncing on the marble floor.

Sounds sneaked into Steve's consciousness like a snake in the grass. The sounds of the ocean and birds soothed him, while a repetitive ping made his skull ache. Where was he now? He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

When he couldn't handle the suspense any longer, he blinked his eyes open. He was in a sparkling clean room backlight in a subdued blue hue. An image of a beach with gently rolling waves, sea gulls, and setting sun played on the ceiling like a movie. A medical device was clipped to his finger.

He ripped it off, and the pinging stopped.

Without lifting his head off the pillow, he looked around the room. A man in his twenties sat at the end of the bed. He smiled a familiar toothy grin.

"Hi Dad."

"Dad?"

"It's me, Bill."

Steve sat up. "It can't be."

His son moved around to the side of the bed. "Lay back down. The doctors put you in a medically induced coma to give your brain time to heal and adjust."

"Don't tell me I lost another twenty years. It better not be 2057."

Bill laughed. "No. It's still 2037. This whole thing is incredible. I feel like I'm in a dream."

"You're telling me."

"We were told you were dead, but they could never find the plane. It was like a repeat of that Malaysian flight."

Steve looked to the open door. "Where's mom?"

Bill reached over and tapped a button on the side of the bed. "I'll call the nurse. They wanted to know when you woke up."

"Tell me where your mother is."

A nurse glided into the room like she was on wheels. Bill retreated to the corner of the room, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. The flawless young woman waved a hand in front of a screen embedded in the wall. A holographic keyboard appeared at waist level, and her fingers danced over the non-existent keys. The menus scrolled too fast for Steve to read. She waved her hand again, and the keyboard disappeared with a flash of light.

Finding the loose device, she asked, "Did you take this off?"

Steve nodded sheepishly.

She frowned and proceeded to stick an index finger in his ear as if it was a medical instrument. Steve looked to his son for a sign that this a normal occurrence in 2037, but Bill was studying his shoes with great intensity. Next, she pried open an eyelid, followed by his mouth. A different finger depressed his tongue and then pushed it to the side.

Leaving the room, she said to Bill, "All his readings are within the proper ranges. You can proceed with the debriefing."

A chill ran up his spine, and Steve pulled the sheets up to his chin. "Debriefing? And, what was she doing with her fingers?"

Bill grinned. "The synthetics need a little more refining before they can pass for a human, but they get better with every new model. You should have seen the first ones."

"So, she's some kind of cyborg?"

"They don't like to be called that."

Steve played with the soft edging on his blanket. "They have feelings and emotions?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I don't think I can explain it clear enough. I'll have to play you an AI lecture off the net."

"Everyone keeps on talking about AI. Is that like Artificial Intelligence?"

Bill strode to the back wall. "You must be thirsty. Let me get you a glass of water."

A square glass door was set in the wall. He placed a fingertip on it and a menu appeared. He tapped on an icon and opened the door. Inside stood a beading glass of ice water with a bendable straw. He handed it to Steve who suddenly realized he was extremely thirsty. He sucked until there was nothing left in the glass.

"Do you want more?"

Steve shook his head. "Tell me what happened to your mother."

Bill retook his seat and leaned on the bed rail with both elbows. "Mom passed twelve years ago."

He squeezed the glass tighter. "How?"

"She was free climbing El Captain and fell."

Sitting up, he shouted. "What?"

"It's mountain climbing without a rope."

"I know what it is. Why was she doing something so dangerous?"

"You know Mom."

"Yes, but she was the only parent left. She should have been thinking of you first."

"It was a freak accident. She and Duncan had been training for a long time. She was almost the first woman to make the ascent unassisted."

"Who's Duncan?"

Bill looked away.

"Tell me."

"Duncan was her second husband. He's a professional climber with a bunch of world records."

The glass fell from his hand onto the sheet. Drops of water spotted the sheet. "Ohh."

"And, he used to be the drummer in that metal cover band, Blind Cheetah."

"Wonderful, so Duncan raised you?"

Bill shook his head. "No. he split after the funeral. Grandma and Grandpa took me in."

"My parents?"

"No, mom's."

"Thank the Lord, mine would have screwed you up."

Bill grasped his Dad's arm. "They're gone too."

His head fell back on his pillow. "How long?"

"Grandma Dunmore died of lung cancer eight years ago. Grandpa Dunmore went a month later."

"I don't care about them. I meant how long until your Mother remarried?"

"Three years. The government had declared you dead. We got a death certificate. We were paid us on your life insurance policy. Thank you, by the way, it paid for my master's degree."

Steve was surprised that she'd made it that long. Missy craved affection. She must have really loved him. "What did you study?"

"Electrical engineering."

"Good boy, so you can explain all the crazy things in this new world I'm in because there seems like I've missed a lot."

"You have."

"Our big innovations were the internet, smart phones, and hybrid cars. That's nothing like what I'm seeing now with cyborgs and color changing clothes?"

"They're called synthetics!"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'm an old man."

"I think you're younger than me."

"Fine, but how did it change so much?"

"It's because of the AI's that we made the big leaps in technology. You were right, AI stands for Artificial Intelligence but it is much more than that. Now that I think about it, it's kind of a stupid name but it's what we call them."

Steve motioned for him to continue.

"Anyway, scientists were able to virtually recreate the greatest minds that ever lived; Einstein, Newton, Tesla, Da Vinci, Goethe, and others. These virtual minds invented the synthetics, smart materials, renewable energy, magnetic propulsion, assimilated reality, and a ton of other stuff."

"The cyborgs aren't part of the AI?"

Bill laughed. "No, the synthetics are no smarter than you or I. They're like the drones while the AI's are like the queen bees."

Steve's head was reeling with all this information. What kind of world had he stepped into? "You're not worried that the robots will try and overthrow mankind like in the movies."

Bill grimaced. "In the beginning, people worried, but it's not like that. They want to improve things for us. There is an AI lecture on that too."

"If you say, so where do the AI's exist?"

"No one knows. Well, I guess the council knows. But, it's a well-guarded secret. Only a few countries have them; the US, China, Japan, India, and England. The US created them first, so it allowed us to stay on top of the world economy. Each country has their own geniuses, but we know we can't keep them separate forever. They'll connect and then the world economy will globalize."

"The President can't allow that. Wait, who is the president?"

"We don't have a president or congress anymore, but we still have a Supreme Court. Paper money is gone too."

Steve's eyes bulged out.

Bill patted his arm. "We should stop for today. You're getting hit with a lot. The AI's said you should take the integration slowly. You need time to process the news about mom."

He wiped away a tear. "I'll deal with that later. I'm so numb with all the changes I think it's best to keep going."

"A lot of your fellow passengers have not fared that well. Some have been institutionalized until a better protocol can be developed. There was this one guy who kept booking flights to Tokyo and back in hopes of going back through the space-time wrinkle."

He sat up. "I'm stronger than those people. Tell me, how does the country run without a real government?"

Bill held up his arm. For the first time, Steve noticed a brushed metal ring with an embedded screen on his wrist.

"We vote through our biometric device. Everyone is involved. With so many hours in the day freed up the synthetics and autonomous travel, we have the time to comprehend and be our own government. A council oversees the process."

"Who elects the council?"

"No one. They're just the college professors from various fields of study. They're selected randomly."

"I bet it's random."

Bill laughed. "I forgot that people from your generation are hung up on conspiracies."

Steve shook his head. "What do people do with the rest of their time besides govern themselves?"

"We create art, music, literature, and theatre. We have athletics and meditation. We ponder the questions of the universe."

"The AI's can't do that stuff better?"

"Surprisingly, they can't even though they've come from some of the best artistic minds the world has ever known. No one can explain it, not even them. All the better for us. It's that stuff that gives us the most happiness."

"Sounds like utopia."

"I guess it is."

"This world you're describing scares me. I'm not sure I can face it without your Mother. She was the adventurous one, I like the mundane and the routine. I enjoyed putting numbers into a spreadsheet."

"What's a spreadsheet?"

Steve snorted. "I thought so. Not sure there's a place for me in this world."

"Don't worry. You'll adjust. I can help you."

"I think I am feeling tired. Do you mind?"

Bill stood up. "Of course not. I'll be back tomorrow."

He left, and Steve stared at the ceiling. The tears slid down his cheeks, wetting his pillow. The wonderful world he'd stepped into wasn't for him. Missy was gone. Billy had said goodbye to him a long time ago. He'd only be an anchor. And, he had no interest in figuring out life's biggest mysteries. He already knew where he went when he died.

Several weeks later, a driverless car pulled up in front of the assimilation center. The rear doors slid open, and the men exited the vehicle. Once they were clear, the small gray car sped away silently on its battery driven motor. Wide-eyed Steve watched it go, then his gaze traveled to the building. The upper floors of the center rotated slowly like a fancy revolving restaurant. He pointed up. "Really?"

"That's nothing. You should see some of the latest architecture, gigantic buildings that look like a transforming robot."

Shifting the brightly wrapped package to his other arm, Steve said, "I'll pass."

Bill nodded reluctantly. "You sure I can't talk you out of this?"

"Sorry, my mind is made up. You said I can't travel back to my time, right?"

"No. The AI's have computed that a space-time wrinkle only allows you to jump forward. By their calculations, that squadron from the Bermuda Triangle should appear back in Florida in two years."

Steve shook his head. "I feel sorry for them. Well, let's get this over with."

They entered the shiny building and a young man in a shifting color uniform greeted them. He scanned Steve's newly integrated biometric device and led them to a private consolation room where he described the procedure and the risks in agonizing detail. Bill looked disgusted but remained silent next to his father.

Steve had elected to be assimilated. He would be put into a state of suspended animation. His body would age normally, and his brain would become part of the neural network to assist the AI's in their calculations. A guided team of actual brains were more accurate and faster than an artificial system. This sacrifice was a very noble thing, the social liaison informed him. Steve didn't see it that way. Being assimilated was an escape. While he was under, his mind could exist in a world of his own creation.

The only downside was the potential for his brain to reject the network. In that case, his brain and therefore his body would die. However, it occurred in less than three percent of the subjects. The risk was worth the reward to Steve. He signed the appropriate electronic documents with a thumb print, and they were whisked away to a suspension room.

Bill waited outside while Steve undressed and climbed into the pod. When he had covered himself Bill and a picture-perfect female nurse entered the room. She proceeded to attach monitors and probes to him. Bill shifted nervously from foot to foot and watched. Gathering a large IV bag, she connected tubing and a large needle.

Steve eyed her nervously. "I swear you cyborgs are such beautiful creatures. If I was allowed to marry you, maybe I'd stay."

The young blonde beautiful nurse frowned. "I'm not a cyborg."

"Sorry, synthetic."

She jabbed the needle into his arm. "I'm not one of those either."

"Sorry, my mistake. How long will I have until I go to sleep?"

Placing medical tape over the tubing, she tersely answered, "Soon."

Bill chuckled as she stormed out of the room. "They don't allow synthetics to be part of the assimilation process. It'd look like they were trying to enslave us."

"Since we don't have much time, you better open your present."

"I was wondering what that was."

Bill grabbed the present from the podside table and unwrapped it. Opening the box, he held up the edgy toy sports car with the motor and tubing protruding from the trunk, all four wheels rotated to be parallel with the ground. "Wow. Thanks. This was my favorite movie as a kid. Where did you find this?"

"I had it with me on the plane. It was going to be your birthday present. I wish I could have been there to give it to you."

Bill began to cry. "I love you Dad. I'll miss you."

"I'll see you soon." He mumbled as his eyelids fell shut.

Steve opened his eyes to find Missy staring at him. Her hair tussled from a night of sleep. She leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips. "Good morning."

He pulled her into an embrace, nuzzling her on the neck. "Good morning, yourself."

Laughing, she pushed him away. "Stop, there'll be plenty of time for that tonight. I need to get up and start cleaning. I want the house to look perfect after all the time I spent planning Billy's party."

"Do you need any help?"

"I've got it covered, and I was thinking tomorrow we could all hike up the backside of El Captain. I hear the view is incredible."

"Isn't that hike kind of long and dangerous for a five year-old?"

She climbed out of bed and slipped into a robe. "You're right. Maybe we can go to the zoo instead."

He smiled. "Did I die and go to heaven?"

Cocking her head to the side, she gave him a mischievous smile. "Does it matter where you are?"

"No, it doesn't'."