the future is now

LOGAN Moody was too excited to sit down as he checked his email. Instead, he paced around the breakfast nook of his small home, bouncing on the balls of his feet every few steps, waiting for the page to load. It seemed to be slower than usual today.

Today, the day he would find out if he was slated for the next Terra Nova expedition.

He had high hopes. He knew for a fact that, while several doctors and biologists had already been sent, there were no general practitioners. As Logan was a GP, he'd put his name down for consideration when the third trip was announced. He'd been following the project's progress from the very start, and knew that he could help. Besides, going back to the past? Wicked cool.

The computer pinged, and Logan practically leaped forward, crossing half the room in one step. He didn't bother with the chair, pushing it to the side and bending over to squint at the too-bright screen. An email from THE TERRA NOVA GROUP sat at the very top of his inbox, and he clicked on it without even reading the subject line.

Congratulations [MOODY, LOGAN JAMES]! the first line read, You have been selected as a Necessary for Terra Nova Trip A-03, filling the position: [DOCTOR; GENERAL PRACTITIONER/FAMILY DOCTOR]. This has been a difficult decision, and we are pleased that you will be joining us at Terra Nova. Please be advised that you and any accompanying family must be prepared to depart in [SIX] months' time. Remember, Terra Nova has limited Internet and technology capabilities, nor will much of your current wealth be transferable. No matter your current position in life, at Terra Nova, all are equal.

More information followed about further messages and where the trip would depart from, but Logan did not read it. He was too excited—so much so that he shouted in joy. And could you blame him? This was all he'd wanted for the last couple of years—the opportunity to go back and change the past to protect the future.

—

LONDON Pérez stared at the email displayed on the screen. He'd made it full-screen to make sure that he was reading it right, because he couldn't believe his eyes when it first appeared. He still couldn't believe it, not even with the big, black letters staring him right in the face.

It wasn't that London didn't want to go to Terra Nova. He was pretty sure it'd be better than here, and he'd been trying to figure out a way to go, to get away. But this was a surprise.

He glanced over his shoulder, checking to make sure he was alone—a habit brought about by living with Aster for six hellish months—then turned back to his screen. The email was addressed to London; his full name was right there in all capital letters. His last name was even spelled right, with the acute mark above the right 'e'. There was no one else it could be directed to.

He was going to Terra Nova. It said so, right there in black and white: You have been selected via Lottery for Terra Nova Trip A-03. Congratulations! Remember that you cannot bring any family along with you unless they are otherwise securing a position. Please be advised that you must be prepared to depart in [FIVE] months' time. We look forward to you joining us!

No matter how long London stared at it, the words did not change. He was going.

He needed to pack.

—

ADLYN found out on accident. She didn't have a mobile or a TV, and she didn't get the newspaper (who did anymore?). Technically, she shouldn't have found out at all. But she did.

She was heading back to the meeting spot, hoping Erinne would already be there waiting, carrying food for the two of them. She'd stolen it, of course, but what else could she do? She couldn't get a job. So stealing it was.

Adlyn walked past a pair of girls a little older than her who were huddling over the red-haired one's mobile device, talking loudly about the Terra Nova lottery results.

The lottery results were public knowledge, Adlyn knew that. At least, she'd heard about them the last two times, she assumed it would be the same this time. Why wouldn't they announce the results the third time around? It was hearing her own name right after "Noa Kurosawa" that made Adlyn stop mid-step.

She turned around, squinting at the girls, who didn't seem to notice her. The redhead leaned against the brick wall of the building they stood outside, while her hijabi friend leaned over to be able to see the mobile screen. She was the one reading, pronouncing each name perfectly and carefully—that was the only way Adlyn had been able to recognize her name; it was spelled a little weird for most people.

"Hi," she said, causing both girls to look up at her. "Just back up a couple names there—can you say that again?" Normally Adlyn would never be this upfront. But she needed to know this.

They stared at Adlyn for a minute, then the girl in the hijab slowly said, "Christopher Lucas..."

Adlyn shook her head. "No, the one before that."

"Adlyn Lee?" The redhead said, looked at her almost critically. Adlyn shrank back a little bit. She hated it when people looked too closely at her. "Do you know her?"

Adlyn shifted, taking a step back and tugging on her coat. She flipped the collar up, as though she could hide in it. "I'm Adlyn Lee," she mumbled. "That's the Terra Nova lottery list, right?"

The other girl nodded. "Looks like you've got yourself the trip of a lifetime," she said with a smile.

All Adlyn could do was mumble a "yeah, thanks", shoving her hands into her pockets as she turned away. She'd already talked to them for too long.

They didn't try to stop her. Good. Adlyn kept her head down, her gaze on the sidewalk in front of her. She needed to get back to Erinne, who would be wondering about where she was already. And even more than that, she needed to figure out how to take Erinne with her—it was either that or they both stayed put.

Forever.

—

CASPIAN Fletcher wasn't sure he wanted to go to Terra Nova.

It was his father's idea for the family to go—Hugh Fletcher seemed to think that going to Terra Nova would make him remembered by the world as some sort of pioneer or savior. Of course, Caspian's mother agreed with him. She always agreed with him. Sometimes Caspian wondered if she had thoughts of her own, or if it was all Hugh, all the time. He kept that to himself, though.

Caspian's parents insisted they were going to Terra Nova, so Caspian had to go. His thoughts didn't matter, not when his father's decisions were concerned.

So he packed this things—his art supplies, his books, his clothes—as reluctantly as he possibly could. He wasn't overt with it. He knew better than to outwardly disagree with his parents. He flinched in remembered pain every time he thought about doing so. But that didn't mean Caspian had to act chipper and excited. Caspian never acted like that anyway. He learned long ago that too much exuberance was unwanted.

His mother appeared in his doorway, dressed far too nicely for travel, as she always did. He looked up at her, zipping his bag closed. "I'm ready," he said, before Imogen could say anything. He picked up the bag, though his mother shook her head.

"Let the help get it," she said. "Come, we need to be at the plane in thirty." With that, she swept out of the room, expecting Caspian to follow.

Of course, he did.

—

ASTERION Velorum sat on his bed, looking out at the night sky.

When xir father had suggested xey take his ticket to Terra Nova, xey protested. Xey didn't want to leave xir family behind, leave the life he'd always known. Leave behind where Yuri was laid to rest. The thought of leaving all of that behind... it hurt Asterion's heart, more than he would like to admit.

But... xir family had a point. Xey'd promised Yuri to move on, xey know it would be what he wanted. Even if it was hard for Asterion, xey owed him that.

Asterion sighed and lay down, staring at the dark ceiling. His bed still felt strange without Yuri in it. Xey thought it always would feel strange to live and sleep without Yuri beside xem. Xey missed him every day, every single day xey had to live without him.

He closed his eyes. He was going to Terra Nova. He knew it, deep down, the same place xey knew that xey would always love Yuri, the same place xey knew that xir parents wanted the best for xem. He could do this. He could.

Xey had to.

—

EDEN shifted awkwardly, glancing at Ali out of the corner of her eye. She was dressed in a simple white sundress, her hair braided back out of her face. Ali held one of her hands and wore a suit jacket and slacks. They were in a courtroom, his family behind them. They were getting married.

For some reason, Eden was nervous, though she knew that this wasn't a real wedding. Well, it  was a legal one, but they were only getting married so Eden could go with Ali and his family to Terra Nova. The Jhas were farmers, a needed group in Terra Nova, as food was a major concern. The ability to farm the current land as well as Ali's family did meant that they were likely to be selected for Terra Nova. And they didn't want to leave Eden behind.

Of course, Eden was desperate to go herself. She didn't want to stay in 2236, where there was barely any nature. It was depressing to be surrounded by so much decay and rust. Besides, if the Jhas were gone, she only had her parents to rely on, the very same people who had cut her off. Eden wanted, more than almost anything, to go to Terra Nova. And the Jha family wanted to take her.

Hence, she and Ali were getting married.

She glanced at him again, finding him smiling at her, that familiar silly smile of his, from beside her, and Eden almost burst out laughing. This was slightly ridiculous, honestly, but she had a distinct feeling she wouldn't regret it. After all, Ali was her best friend. There wasn't a better person to be fake-married to.

She squeezed Ali's hand as the marriage was made official, bouncing a little on her toes. This was happening.

—

PRIYA Shahidi practically threw her clothes into a bag.

Their parents had called, all the way from New Delhi, talking about the trip to Terra Nova and how they would have loved to go, and Priya just couldn't deal with it. She was doing well with not talking to them, but of course as soon as they found out she was going, they wanted her favor again.

Favor that Priya was never going to give back to them. Their parents made it very clear that the way Priya lived their life was unacceptable to them years ago, and in Priya's eyes, that was that. No taking it back, especially not after this long.

She closed the suitcase filled with clothes sitting on her bed, letting out a long sigh and bowing her head. She leaned her wait on her hands, still holding onto the edges of the bag. They needed to put it out of their mind. She was leaving, leaving all this behind, and she wasn't sure she would regret it.

There had to be a better life for them in Terra Nova, and Priya was determined to find out what it was.

—

CANDE Peck-Wähner bounced eir leg up and down over and over and over, despite eir wife Priska trying to press down on eir knee to make em stop. Ey were anxious, what could ey say?

It wasn't every day you and your wife adopted a three-year-old one month before leaving for the distant past.

They had discussed this a lot, of course. They talked about the possible repercussions of adopting so suddenly and so close to leaving, their reasons for doing this, and what it would be like to raise a child—especially with Priska's brother Charlie around, the menace. And together they decided that this was something they wanted to do. Something they were going to do, together.

Cande hated the idea of how many children were going to be left behind. Ey and Priska could only adopt one, especially on such short notice, but that was enough for Cande. They had met the kid, Eike, already. She was a sweet girl, though a little shy, and Cande loved her so much already.

Maybe that was why ey were nervous. Ey already loved this little girl, and the idea of not being able to bring her home—it was almost painful.

Priska gently squeezed eir knee. "It'll be all right," she said quietly. "Everything's gone well so far. It'll be all right."

Cande glanced over at her. "I really hope so," ey said. "She deserves a chance." Eir leg slowly stopped bouncing. "And I want to take care of her."

"I know," Priska said. Her gaze was pulled away from Cande as their social worker, Clara, stepped through the door. Behind her, clutching her hand, was Eike. The little girl peeked around Clara's legs, her reddish hair falling into her face as she leaned. She peered at Cande and Priska with wide brown eyes, and Cande felt eir heart beat harder at the small smile on her face. Ey waved at her. Giggling, Eike ducked behind Clara's legs.

It would be okay. Eike was coming home.

—

NOA Kurosawa took a deep breath, staring up at the Terra Nova Group Building. It was big, made of concrete with small windows at the front, placed at the top of a hill. A long pale white concrete walkway stretched from the road all the way to the front door, lined with plain metal benches. Noa stood at the bottom of the path, her bags at her feet.

It was the most imposing building she'd ever seen in person.

She took in a breath through her nose. Okay. She could do this. It would be all right. She picked up her bags, checked her mobile again to make sure, for the fiftieth time, that she was actually supposed to be here. And she started up the walkway.

Partway up the path, she passed Soren Mullins and his toddler daughter, April. April was crying quietly, clinging to her dad's legs so he couldn't keep walking towards the building. Soren put down his suitcase, trying to kneel in order to hug her. "Hey, April, sweetie, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, brown braids flying in her face. "Don' wanna," she said, her voice harder to understand with the tears. She scrunched up her face, putting wrinkles in her nose and puckering her lips.

Soren ran a hand over her braid. "Don't want to what, baby?" he asked. He thought it was best not to speak to April in baby talk—for one, she was three years old already, not a baby anymore. For another, talking down kids was never a good idea. April was a smart little girl, and he knew she understood more than most people thought kids did.

April sniffled. "I don' wanna leave Gramma and Gran'pa," she said. As she did, Soren's heart broke a little. He would always be grateful to his parents for helping to raise April, and he hated that he couldn't bring them with to Terra Nova. But he would feel worse if he couldn't bring April.

He picked her up, keeping one hand free to grab the suitcase again on the way up. "It's okay April," he said. "I know you're going to miss them, but it'll be all right, I promise." April buried her face in the crook of his neck, and Soren held her close. He was doing this for her. All of it for her.

Ahead of Soren and April, Adlyn walked up the path, slightly slower than she would normally. She carried a backpack on her back, stuffed with her belongings, and an oversized duffle bag in her hands. She glanced backwards as she approached the open glass doors. This city had never been kind to her. She wouldn't miss it.

She stepped inside, and was greeted by a long table labeled "Check-In". The process was simple: she gave her name to a person dressed in a sharp maroon suit with rectangular glasses. They looked her up, made sure she was actually supposed to be there, then waved her through. There was a security check past the table, and Adlyn felt her heart jump into her throat. She asked the person where the bathroom was.

They pointed her off to one side, and Adlyn thanked them, her mouth suddenly dry, and speed-walked in that direction. There was a curtain near the bathroom, blocking the check-in and security area from the rest of the building. She knelt beside it, placing her duffle bag gently on the ground, and wiggled down the zipper a little bit—just a couple inches. "Okay," she whispered. "Keep quiet, and try not to be seen. I'll find you on board."

Before anyone could notice anything weird, Adlyn stood up, wiping her sweaty hands on her jeans, and stepped back into the path further into the building. Act like nothing's going on, she thought to herself. You'll be fine. She'll be fine.

With this echoing through her head, Adlyn walked away.

A little ahead of her, past the security check, Axel Beck adjusted his backpack on his shoulders. It was loaded down with things he'd decided to bring—books and notes and anything else he could make fit—so it was super heavy. Beside him, a pale gold dog, Shadow, huffed out a breath and nudged him in the leg to keep him moving. Axel looked down at him with a smile, stroking the soft fur on Shadow's head. "Good boy," he said quietly.

He was lucky, today, that Shadow was sticking to his side and not bouncing around to everyone in sight. It was hard enough for Axel to be allowed to bring Shadow in the first place, so the dog needed to be on his best behavior. He'd even had to show special paperwork at check-in.

He put one hand on Shadow's head, taking a deep breath. There was a very large set of doors open in front of him, which he could see led to a large room. He couldn't see much of the room—just a set of metal stairs directly ahead. He gulped, and stepped through.

Mya Huang stood at the bottom of the stairs. They rose for a couple of flights, turning at one point, and ended in a grated metal platform and spread the length of the craft. The craft that would take Mya and everyone with her into the past.

It looked almost like an airplane—long and oval-shaped, with rows of smallish seats inside. Unlike a plane, though, the entire side of the vehicle facing Mya was open, what would become the wall hinged and forming a sort of awning above her head. There were no cockpit or windows, and both ends of the craft were rounded. It was a soft forest green in color. It made Mya smile to look at it.

She climbed the stairs, lifting her bag in both hands, unable to stop gaping at the... ship? Was that the right word? It was the best one she could think of. She wanted to pick it apart, to examine the blueprints and understand how it worked. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to, though. The plans were top-secret, as far as she understood, and Mya was certain that she would never see them.

A smiling woman greeted her at the top of the stairs and helped Mya stow her bag in a compartment above the seats. They were arranged in rows, two on one side of the aisle down the middle, two on the other. Mya's seat was close to the entrance path, a larger aisle that formed a cross with the other. On the other side of this, the seats faced each other. Across from Mya was a guy a few years older than her with messy dark brown hair. He smirked at her. She turned away, crossing her legs and trying to watch the people coming in without looking creepy. It was harder than it looked, but Mya liked people watching. It occupied her mind.

Erinne huddled in a seat at the very back of the craft, next to the wall, clutching her backpack to her chest. Once she got to the stairs after crawling past security, everyone assumed Erinne belonged there, so she was able to follow some grown-ups on. Adlyn said she would be here soon, and that they would sit together in the back. Erinne believed her. She always believed Adlyn.

There was a dog across the aisle. It was pale yellow, and was looking at Erinne with curiosity. She smiled at it, and waved a little. It wagged its tail and she giggled.

Adlyn sat down next to her a moment later, holding her own backpack. "Oh, good," she said quietly, so low that only Erinne could hear her. "You made it."

Erinne nodded, her curls bouncing. "Yep. No one said anything."

Adlyn sighed. "Good. Good." She wrapped an arm around Errine, who snuggled into her.

Logan was the last one on board. There was just enough room for his suitcase with the others, and he sat down next to a very put-together woman with dark skin and hair. She smiled at him, which he returned, though a little slowly. He was just a bit nervous about all this time travel stuff, despite how excited he was.

The open wall of the craft began to lower slowly, and there was a chime from above followed by a feminine voice saying, "Please buckle your seatbelts," in English. The instruction was repeated in several more languages as the passengers did as instructed.

The voice continued, "Travel though time is rather bumpy, so please keep all children and... animals secure." As though on cue, at the back of the craft, a dog barked quietly. Logan laughed a little, as did some of the others. It seemed to lighten the mood and dissipate some of everyone's nerves.

"Our journey today will last for fifteen minutes. When you have arrived, please retrieve your luggage and exit the ship through the open side. You will be greeted by current residents of Terra Nova. Enjoy your trip, and good luck." There was a hiss from the side of the ship as the side locked into place, punctuating the final words from the intercom—because that's what the voice must be.

The travelers exchanged glances. Priska shifted in her seat, wrapping her arms around Eike. The three-year-old insisted on sitting with her, rather than Cande, saying that she was "softer", whatever that meant. Priska wasn't going to deny her, though, and Cande didn't mind. Eike had her skinny arms wrapped around Priska's neck and hid her face in Priska's shoulder.

"It'll be okay," she said, stroking Eike's hair. "We'll be there soon."

Of course, that was when the shaking started.

Ali figured that meant they were on the way. They had been told that it would be bumpy, after all. A little girl in a different row started crying, and Ali glanced at Eden. She was gritting her teeth, he could tell, but when she spotted Ali looking at her she smiled brightly, as usual. He smiled back. He was so glad she got to come too. Even if they had to get fake-married for it to be possible.

London gripped the armrests of his seat with both hands so tightly his knuckles were turning white. The guy next to him, the one with the dog, frowned at him, but didn't say anything. He was too busy stroking one hand over the top of the dog's head, trying to keep him calm. London couldn't blame him for that, and he didn't want to be bothered anyway.

It felt like far longer than fifteen short minutes to Imogen, who quickly began to grow bored of staring at the back of Caspian's head against the seat in front of her and pulled out a fashion magazine. She had only brought the one, but it would last her some time. As it was, the shaking made it rather difficult to actually read the words printed before her, so she simply admired the fashions. They were quite striking this season; Imogen regretted that she would miss them. Though Hugh was incredibly ecstatic about this trip—something about starting the new world as it should be and building the best for society. Imogen didn't quite grasp it all.

Soon enough, though, the shaking stopped. Silence fell over the cabin as even April's sniffles slowed, and Soren wiped her face with the sleeve of his shirt. He heard the light click of a couple of seatbelts being undone, then a mechanical hiss—the same side of the ship that let them in began to rise once more, giving them their first view of the past.

—

4320 words.
WELCOME TO TERRA NOVA!!!!
Apologies for this taking so long, I've had a really long few months! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! I tried to introduce everyone, and even those who weren't referenced directly do show up (except John. We hate John.)
Also yes, you should be worried that Erinne can fit into a duffel bag that Adlyn is able to carry. She's ✨malnourished✨
Do let me know if I'm writing your oc incorrectly! And comment to your heart's content, they make me so happy to see. Love you all!
💛Magnus