Departure(89)

“Amazing,” I say. This is the perfect segue. “It’s great news. And hopefully it’ll soften the blow when he hears I’ve said no to the biography.”

Nick begins unpacking the takeout. “So you’ve decided.”

“I have. Alice Carter. I’m going to pursue her. My dream.”

I pace behind the table, my hands shaking. I stuff them into my pajama pant pockets to hide them—or am I subliminally trying to remove any targets for expensive metallic devices that hold precious gemstones? I imagine I look like a mental patient with my arms strapped to my waist. Despite that, I try to make my voice normal. “I’ve been doing some figuring all day. Meetings and such. Trying to get my affairs in order.”

He looks up from the bags. “Really? Me too.”

Oh no.

“Also,” he says, unwrapping a side of mashed potatoes that I can’t smell, I’m so nervous. “I talked to Yul. He’s remembered a little more. I told him I wanted to get the four of us together. I’ll see him when I go back to San Francisco to pack my things for the movers.”

Pack my things for the movers.

“I’m moving too,” I blurt out, an act of desperation. I nod. “My mum owns the flat. She’ll have to let it to someone else—someone who can actually pay the rent.” I manage a weak smile. “I’ll be pretty strapped while I finish the first Alice novel. Will take some time. I’m in such a transition period. Lot of moving pieces. Will be hectic for a bit. So many decisions. Can’t imagine making one more, not a single one. My mind’s about to explode as it is.”

I wait.

Seconds tick by. All the food’s out now. Mashed potatoes, carrots, and chicken.

“Do you want to wait?”

“Waiting is good, I think.” The words come out harsh, defensive. I try to soften my tone, appear casual. “For some things. Gotta wait until the time is right. Doesn’t mean you’re saying no.”

“I hope not.”

“I’m not.”

“Right.” He glances around. “Well, I could put it in the oven.”

Is he crazy? “Why would you do that?”

“To keep it warm.”

I stare at him.

He shrugs. “I can’t eat cold chicken.”

“Oh.” Dinner. He’s talking about waiting on dinner. I take my hands out of my pants, freeing myself, trying to look less like the mental patient I seem to be at the moment. “Well . . . we can eat now. Certainly no problem with that.”

We sit, and he digs in. He must not have eaten all day. I pick at the chicken and roll a few carrots around my plate, unable to eat.

He motions to the living room. “Seems like you’ve got a good start on Alice. How long do you think for the first novel?”

“Hard to say. Inspiration keeps its own schedule. Maybe a year. Maybe more.”

“Your mom owns the flat?”

“Yep. I saw an estate agent today, wanted to get her some options. He says the flat will fetch a good sum. That will last her a while, maybe to her retirement. Letting it is also a good option, but she’ll have to pay a management fee, and there’s a bit of uncertainty there. The London market’s a madhouse. Flat next door just sold—unsolicited, in fact. Bloody foreigners. They’re buying up every square inch of London. Heard Norway bought a big chunk of Mayfair the other day, Savile Row included. Pretty soon there won’t be any Londoners left in London.”

“Everybody’s looking for alternative investments. That’s been the topic of my day, in fact. I’ve been thinking about what to do. About the Titan Foundation. In particular, I’ve asked myself what I can learn from what I saw in 2147.”

That sounds like it could be working up to—

“Human nature.”

I put my fork down. “Human nature?”

“That’s what they missed, the Titans. Nicholas said it to me a few times. It might have been the most honest thing he said to me. All the Titan Marvels, all their technology, they just sped up the world. But they didn’t solve our real problem: human nature. They didn’t make humanity kinder or more understanding. They didn’t make us more accepting. Didn’t inherently change what’s inside us. That’s the great challenge. That’s what they should have been working on. Not technology, or innovation, or construction projects. I think the great work left to do is about changing how we treat each other. That’s what’s been missing in my life, that kind of challenge. That’s why I was so unhappy.” He looks right in my eyes. “Well, half of it. That’s what I realized in 2147. Anyway, changing human nature. That’s what I want to work on.”

“How?”

“I haven’t quite figured that out yet. Been thinking about it all day.”

My nerves have settled a bit, and I can’t resist having a bit of fun with him.

“I actually know of a technology that addresses human nature, nurtures understanding, enhances compassion—some of those very issues you cited, Mr. Stone.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s an ancient technology.”

“Ancient?”

“And incredibly powerful. It has the ability to instantly transport people—en masse, by the millions and billions at a time—to other worlds, where they learn from people strangely like them. They make revelations they carry back to their own lives. Learn skills. Gain inspiration to make change on a global scale.”