Hooman Saga Book One - Mind Timing Chapter 8

SO FAR: Mari is now ready to start her adventure. She has the skillsets, Peter has the knowledge and time-jumping talent. The past they changed enabled a new, better future. But the News had to die...

AFTER THE PLAN TOOK hold, Peter returned me to my own time. Things were changed. The war between the sexes of my time never took hold. While the Club still existed, it was now devoted to the more feminine studies in addition to fitness and self-defense classes. Family were welcome to visit, and both Men's and Women's Clubs supported Family Centers where pregnancy and support functions were held, as well as chaperoned meeting areas for teenagers where they could enjoy dances and interaction.

Sabbath and religious holy days replaced 'holidays' on the calendars. Sex returned to a normalized relationship between consenting adults according to ancient texts (which sometimes gave additional advice to enhance that interaction.) The most popular degree in the private colleges that survived was "Comparative Religions". This replaced the failed MBA programs, as cross-studies of such scriptures were found to hold the key to outrageously prosperous businesses.

How did we do it?

It was mostly all found in the New Testament. Once we could point the proselytizing churches into providing unemployment counseling for fired news people, those reporters and execs learned how to use their content-creation and marketing skills to expose their former employers as anti-religion, anti-gun, and anti-sex. That led to boycotts and hastened the dissolution of most non-bi-coastal and non-metropolitan areas.

I did get used to the high heels and modest dresses for interviewing the church officials. Peter returned to three piece suits. Fortunately, it was only for a few months as we quickly recruited a large organization of replacements that fanned out across Flyover Country.

As those churches expanded their memberships, they shared these Scripture-based teachings with other churches and soon their private schools and colleges replaced the existing government-funded ones, who lost funds as they lost enrollments.

Cities, more isolated and failing than ever, soon "seceded" from the Federal government and built walls around themselves to stop the "contagion" of ideas from outlying areas. The rest of the state could no longer be taxed by them and quickly formed replacement governments to capture that revenue base.

The agreement was mutual, as neither really wanted the "contagions" of the other. While the cities attempted several times to form their own national union, these were unsuccessful, as there was little agreement between them. Being composed of numerous extreme minorities, they found it difficult to agree consistently to form a majority consensus. Also, their transportation had to start and end within those cities themselves, without connecting flights anywhere in Flyover Country.

Contagion avoidance, again.

The Flyover economies adjusted and boomed. Health quality improved remarkably, once the traditional scriptures were mined for diet tips. Local-oriented agriculture, manufacturing, and shipping helped life expectancies improve, as well as median income, so that while the population decreased naturally, so did the needs for lifestyle excesses. Humility and minimalism became more popular than decadent consumption.

And since hunting resumed as a national sport, all violent crime dropped with the nullification of gun laws. Guns were widely carried in the backs of truck windows, as well as on the hips of local citizens. Good guys with guns, as well as family counseling based on religious principles tended to discover and resolve personal problems before they created new ones for others. Prisoners were counseled with classic religious texts and recidivism dropped. (Yes, offenders who escaped from cities were returned to those cities with no exceptions, if they recovered from any defensive shooting.)

And healthy genetic material was preserved for rebuilding the human race.

We are now its proof.

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PETER AND I ARE EXPECTING our next child and enjoy each other's company more than ever. He's also taught me the advanced mathematics of retrospective analysis, so I can appear to "read minds" with the best of them.

Actually, he's teaching this class tonight. Yes, it makes sex incredible. No reason to blush. Just sign here. We'll see you at the matinée, then. Sure, you can bring your lover. Yes, you're right. Thank you and here's your receipt. Pick up your text at the door...

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A new serial follows this series

Book One of the Hooman Saga is an anthology compiled from earlier short stories which tell how their dystopiac world started before, well, everything in Hooman Saga Book Two.

An alternate future-history. This first story starts in about 2018 in this Earth’s time-line. Our next story is about an uncurable viral contagion loosed on this planet - but finds its greatest opponent is the very people who carry it, for they don’t want to kill with their touch - they just want human interaction.

Delivered here as a new series of serials. Continuing from this point forward. For nearly 350 print pages.

For now, set your calendar to keep track of these new adventures. Every Saturday.

Table of Contents

The Hooman Saga: Book One - Table of Contents

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