Jul 24, 2021

Time Traveler: Episode 92 - Reality Check


"Let's face it, Rob, this isn't Oasis Landing but Aurora Skies, the Past, as you call it. Here you are married, and any relationship out of that marriage will be frowned upon. I don't blame you if you don't get it. All in all, Oasis Landing is another world, with an order of things so different to what we have here."


"An order you know I dislike and in which I don't believe".
"And what difference does it make? It's the order you were born and raised in, and to which you belong".
"Yeah, not so proud of it".


"You are right, 2054 is a whole new world, but you're wrong when you say that I belong in it. There are lots of things there that I don't agree with. It's such a cold, impersonal place. Most of the time I feel like a stranger there, whereas in Aurora Skies I feel right at home".


"That's what I settled down here, because I'm tired of the robotised, hardly-human society of 2054. When you met me I was just that, a robot without real feelings. I never knew what a family was. Crane, my RoboNanny, was the closest thing to a father that I had. And Emit, of course, but he's just my mentor. Out of them two, I don't have anyone".
"You have your wife and your daughter. They're your family now".
"So are you and Rowan".


"But you can't have both. That's what I'm talking about, Robin. You can't have two wives here. At some point you'll have to choose".
"Are you talking about - divorce?"
"Don't tell me you don't have that in the Future".
"No, 'cause it isn't necessary. Marriage is a temporary contract, you choose how many years it should last, and when it's over you can either extend it or not".
"How convenient. Nothing as old-fashioned as what we have here".
"Well, you know I respect your laws and traditions, in fact I like those more than the ones in my time".
"That's obvious, or you wouldn't stay married to... what's her name?"
"Ann".
Juliette went quiet.  Robin gave her an apologetic look.


"I'd get a divorce, I swear, and I would marry you right away,  but I can't. My daughter, Jessie, she's barely two years old, she still needs me. And that isn't all."
"Don't tell me, you love your wife", Juliette remarked bitterly.
"Not as I love you. But that's not the point", Robin answered. "The point is - we're expecting another baby".
"Oh, I see", Juliette exhaled a sigh. "So those were the serious problems Dust told me about".
"No, he referred to another kind of problems, which I don't know if I'll be able to resolve. But I'm not here to talk about me or my issues, but about us and Rowan".

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