"Again, I'm very sorry to have startled you. Unfortunately I had no choice. Please, allow me to explain over breakfast?"
Roy looked over his shoulder at Nora.
She nodded. "I guess we don't have much choice. And I do want to know what's going on."
Thirty minutes later, the couple sat in a room enclosed by a clear material on three sides. Outside, the sun shone in a brilliant blue sky. Sleek vehicles flew past strange looking yet beautiful buildings, each one unique. Parks dotted the landscape, and walking trails replaced roads and highways.
"Is this our dining room? I love it," said Nora, looking at the futuristic yet completely aesthetically pleasing setting.
The humanoid being smiled. "Thank you, I designed it especially for you and your husband. It will be yours for as long as you are on Earth. I will have anything that you don't like about the apartment changed."
Nora smiled. "I haven't seen much of the apartment yet, but so far I wouldn't change a thing. I think we'll be happy here."
The humanoid nodded solemnly. "Forgive me, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Harold Murdock. But please, call me Harry."
The couple almost choked on the sweet yet tangy melon they were enjoying.
"Aren't you from another planet? Uh, I mean the name. It was fairly common back in our time," sputtered Roy, wiping his mouth.
Harry's green skin briefly flushed red. "No, but the human race has undergone many changes while you were trapped. Many of those changes are in large part thanks to you. You are known as the founders of MQT, or Modern Quantum Technology."
It was Roy and Nora's turn to flush red. "Did we really contribute that much?" asked Nora, her eyes wide.
Harry handed her a small device, almost like a smartphone yet infinitely more intuitive. On it was a short video.
At the end, the couple stared at the strange world, speechless.
Harry smiled. "Every schoolchild knows your names and faces. It's thanks to you that we no longer age, and have the ability to produce as much food as we need in a very limited amount of space. You see, your aging research can also work the other way. Food can be grown in hours instead of weeks or months."
Roy finished cleaning his plate. "What about overpopulation? You said there are children here, won't we eventually run out of room?"
Harry shook his head. "Even if we didn't inhabit other planets, that wouldn't be a risk. Not everyone wants children, plus the changes that occur after one stops aging prevents further reproduction. And unfortunately we still aren't indestructible."
Nora nodded. "So people want to have kids while they're still in their prime, in order to stay at the perfect age. That means they probably won't have many children."
Harry nodded. "Yes, and we still remember the population booms of the early days too. There aren't any laws regarding reproduction, but the majority of the population are of the opinion that they don't want to risk repeating past disasters. That and raising even a few kids is hard, no matter when you are from!"
Roy laughed. "You said it! We were both the oldest children in large families. After babysitting until we left for the university, neither of us have ever been very interested in having kids."
Nora looked around. "I'm really grateful that you pulled us out of the time loop so we could see this, but why? In theory wouldn't leaving us there give your time the best use of our research?"
Harry put his head in his hands. "Yes, it was like that until recently. We had many debates about whether or not we were being selfish by leaving you there, trapped in the past."
Nora shook her head. "Oh no, it wasn't like that. We were happy. Some years we just traveled, or visited friends and family. Other years we made amazing discoveries, as you know. We never felt trapped."
Harry looked up and smiled. "I'm glad. Thank you for your contributions."
Roy grinned. "You're welcome. You said until recently. So what's changed?"
Harry looked outside at the thriving community. In one of the parks, a child tossed a frisbee, which was caught by a dog. Harry's eyes began to fill with tears.
"In approximately fifty years, the sun is expected to have a major event. The Earth as we know it won't survive. As far as we know, this shouldn't have affected you as long as you were in your time loop, but we weren't completely sure. And there was the matter of your future research. By keeping your area somewhat like it was in your time, and maintaining ancient technology to read a flah drive, we've been able to benefit from your discoveries."
Nora nodded. "No Earth, no more affecting things outside of our time loop - and no chance of us getting out either."
Harry stood. "Exactly. We are going to make sure every human and domestic animal is moved to New Earth well before the disaster. All wild flora and fauna have already been relocated, and over a thousand years ago, we populated an uninhabited planet with every existing species. And another with what we could recover from the DNA of extinct species."
Nora leaped up, almost like a child, then blushed and sat down. "I can't wait to see a wooly mammoth..."
Roy looked at his empty plate. "Back to the food situation. Do we still have junk food? How about meat and cheese and eggs and fish?"
Nora gently slapped his arm. "You and your food obsession! This fruit we just had was delicious, I for one could get used to it."
Harry shook his head. "We do have a lot of tasty food, but nothing unhealthy. Our bodies are like yours in that they don't age, but unfortunately we couldn't replicate the yearly reset effect you were experiencing. If we eat too much, we will remain overweight until we do something about it. If we eat the wrong things, there are consequences. I'm not sure, but I suspect the same could be said for you, now that you are out of the time loop."
Roy roared in laughter, looking at Nora. "Shall we make our New Year's resolutions early?"
Cover image made in Canva Pro using their gallery