No Need for Alternate Earths. Chapter Five: Strangers in Paradise. The Jumper's motion came to a halt and Tenchi seemed to tense up. He peeked from behind his hands and noticed everybody was finally modest. "Well?" asked Mihoshi, now in a clean white halter top and matching skirt. Washu checked a few instruments and frowned. Kiyone pulled her oversized green sweater down, tugging at it. It felt itchy to her, but than she was not use to wool. The clean jeans Mihoshi had loaned her were more comfortable. "Well," said Washu, "I don't know." "What do you mean?" asked Tenchi as he tried to look at the displays, which were showing graphs, pie charts and other pieces of data which made no sense to him. "I mean," stated Washu as she started to unbuckle herself from her chair, "that everything looks good and there are humans outside, but I don't know if it is safe. The sensors are detecting fusion reactors only about a mile away, plus thousands of human life forms, antigravity devices, radio waves all over and NONE of it in Japanese." "Did somebody invade Japan?" asked Tenchi, his eyes becoming wide. "No signs of damage or even ruins," answered Washu. "Open the door," remarked Mihoshi as she bounced in her seat. "Go on," commented Kiyone, "the answers are all out there!" "All right," snickered Washu, "but don't say I didn't warn you." "But you didn't!" gibbered Tenchi as the oval door vanished. "THIS is amazing!" shrilled Mihoshi as she stared about. The valley was no more. There were no trees or any type of wildlife. The four stood next to a huge glass and steel building. It was only one, one out of many towers and spires, most of them linked by walkways and board bridges. Floating in the sky were more buildings, anchored to the ground with huge metal tubes, which flashed warning lights. The ground was a white metal that seemed to be soft and warm at the same time. Craft flew about, silently slicing between the structures, like giant birds at play. The only sound they made was the humming of the control fans, as the ships defied gravity. It was so unnatural to Tenchi that he couldn't help but compare it to seeing naughty fish playing volley ball on a dry beach. There people were everywhere. They moved about, with willing smiles and cheerful eyes. They wore everything from togas, cloaks, furs and even a few went in nothing at all. They carried shopping bags, chatted with their children and laughed out loud at jokes. The laughter was loud and free, not kept inside or forced to stay in the throat. The happy people did not seem upset or peeved at the interruption of their private thoughts by the bubbles of joy from complete strangers. "They're nude!" commented Mihoshi as she blushed. "What is that they are speaking?" demanded Tenchi, trying to change the subject. "It's not Japanese or Galactic Standard," replied Kiyone as she looked about. "I think it is Tagalog," said Washu as she tilted her head, "a language that belongs to the Western Austronesian family." "What?" asked Mihoshi as she turned in circles, trying to see all the lovely miniskirts. Kiyone suddenly seemed to tense up herself, turning to carefully examine a few people. "Can we have that in plain Japanese please?" stated Tenchi, trying not to look at some of the naked people. "Language of the Philippines," remarked Washu, "but this version also has a mixture of Malay, Chinese and even a touch of Greek I think." "Ooh, guys," whispered Kiyone as she backed up into the other three. "Greek?" snapped Tenchi, causing a few people to look his way in worry. He gave them a smile, as he hissed at Washu, "What the hell is going on here?" "I don't know," confessed Washu with a smile, "isn't it great? The demographics alone should be amazing to study." "Great?" said Tenchi, as Mihoshi stared at all the pretty fashions. "Sure," said Washu as she rubbed her hands together, grinning like a true mad scientist. "I have no idea what the heck happened here. I'm really looking forward to finding out! A REAL problem to solve, not like all the easy no-brainers we've been dealing with before! Hahahahahaha!" "Oh no," sighed Tenchi. "Oh no," agreed Mihoshi. "Oh shit," mumbled Kiyone, "did anybody else besides me notice that half the people here are ARMED?" Tenchi poked the white substance on his plate. "What IS it?" "Grits," stated Washu as she focused on her laptop, typing in with one hand, as she ate some of her country style breakfast of buttermilk pancakes, sausage patties and honey covered biscuits. Mihoshi was happily pouring more syrup onto her pancakes. And onto her grits. And onto her eggs. Onto everything, to be honest. Kiyone sipped some of her coffee and said, "I don't know why you are freaking out Tenchi, it seems like a nice place." "This WOULD be a great place," pointed out Tenchi as he stabbed at the grits, "if this was the deep south in the US, but this is in Japan and this restaurant is run by family from Peru!" He gestured at his steaming grits. "And if Washu translated the menu right, on this Earth, THIS is the traditional side-dish of New Zealand!" "Now, now," said Washu, "don't have a fit. Remember, I am still accessing the local library networks. I am sure once I have a rough history of the planet, I can figure out what went so right with the world." "So right?" said Tenchi as he leaned back in the huge leather chair. "How can it be right? This family from Peru is speaking Latin and the waitresses are wearing outfits that look like something out of a Robin Hood film." "They do show off their legs nicely," commented Mihoshi. "Calm down," demanded Kiyone, "I mean it IS nice. Just look at the menu. No prices. Have you noticed anybody paying for the food?" "For all we know," said Tenchi as he picked up his large glass of orange juice, "there might be a system where you pay for the food before hand or afterwards via some credit card system. This place is so weird. Look! See this large glass! Juice should be served in tiny glasses. Orange juice is NOT a beverage, it is a SIDE-DISH!" Washu rolled her eyes and continued to type while enjoying her food. Mihoshi looked up from her pancakes, saying, "mmmmppph?" "What?" said Kiyone as she added more sugar to her coffee. "I said," repeated Mihoshi, "can we go shopping?" "Well," replied Kiyone, "sure, why not. If we don't need money, all we have to worry about is how to get everything into the ship. Not sure we can call it shopping without money." "How about all the guns then, hmm?" stated Tenchi. "Not just guns," observed Kiyone. "I saw a few long swords, fighting knives and, if I am not mistaken, lots of hidden stuff too. I bet everybody around here has something or another up their sleeves or in their boots. One or two necklaces had throwing stars and darts. I think even the kids had small knives." "Bizarre," murmured Tenchi to himself as he looked over his shoulder at the smiling waitress in her tight green colored uniform, with the red feather in the cap. Strapped to her right leg was a pistol big enough to take down a city bus driven by an enraged elephant. "Well," said Mihoshi with a bright smile, "nobody is going to kidnap anybody around here." "Not without blowing up half the block," mumbled Tenchi. The waitress spoke Latin to Washu, who smiled and nodded. As the girl walked away Washu turned to the others and said, "She is going to bring us each a plate of fried bananas topped off with whipped cream for dessert." "Dessert," commented Tenchi, "at breakfast? See, I told you, mad, this people are MAD!" "Shut UP," said all three girls as they tried to enjoy their late breakfast. The picnic was doing quite well. Sasami had made tofu steaks, sukiyaki (with a portable cooker for it was cooked in front of the others) and yakitori chicken. Lady Misaki seemed to be really enjoying herself with her daughters. Princess Ayeka helped Sasami serve, praising her sister's delicious dishes. Both Katsuhito and Nobuyuki told funny jokes and old ghost stories about the nearby hills. Even Ryo-Ohki danced and sang in her toddler form, much to the enjoyment of all. Even Ryoko had decided to come and, when she was not chewing on chicken and taking long swallows from her bottle of wine, she was telling dirty jokes. Fun was being had by all. So it was not surprising when Becca suddenly let off a beam of light. "She talked!" shouted Sasami, missing the cup she was pouring into and splashing the hot tea into the Nobuyuki's lap. His eyes became as wide as grade A eggs and he screamed. "AAAAAHHHHH!!!" "Sorry," said Sasami, as the others stood up and stared at the lake, watching Becca drop another line of color. Funaho replied, filling the air with rays of light. "She is opening up," stated Princess Ayeka, clasping her hands together happily, her eyes wet, just on the border of crying. "Funaho can take over from here," commented Katsuhito, after he slurped tea from his favorite cup. "Medic!" yelped Nobuyuki as Ryoko tried to help cool him down by pouring her wine into his steaming lap. "I want to help too," stated Princess Sasami. "Meow!" "Well," smiled Lady Misaki as she looked down at her tiny daughter, "I don't see any harm in it. You helped her to come out of her shell. You should continue to help with her." "Ouch, ouch, ouchie!" yelped Tenchi's father as he ran about the clearing. Ryoko sighed and held up the empty bottle, adding, "What a waste." "How would such a society form?" demanded Tenchi as he sat under the tree. The park, on top of one of the larger buildings, was styled after an Asian rain forest. The walls and overhead netting kept the birds and smaller animals in, while keeping much of the noise out. "Japan or the whole world?" asked Washu. "Focus on Japan for now," replied Tenchi as he leaned back, preparing for the long explanation. Mihoshi and Kiyone were too busy comparing skirts and shoes on a nearby stone bench. "Well," said Washu, "it is hard to say. The problem is, the point where this timeline branched off ours is around the time civilizations were just forming. In our timeline kings and priests came to power, to help protect their farms and make deals with the Gods. Here, war leaders were elected and so were priests. In our timeline, bartering came about to exchange goods, and later coins were invented to make it easier. Here, goods were given to people who needed or wanted them and people did the jobs they wanted to, because they enjoyed it." "You mean, if a guy likes farming, he got land and farmed on it, giving away the food?" "Yes, Tenchi," stated Washu, tapping her wooden pointer against her left palm. "A person who likes growing plants here can grow flowers and corn and anything they wish. And they give it away to help others or make other people happy." "For free?" Tenchi frowned and wonder, 'Where did she get the pointer?" "Yes," repeated Washu, "for free. Money never developed for much of the cultures within this timeline. Somebody got the idea that leaders were elected, not born. Here, most governments never centralized into nations bigger than five to fifteen thousand people. Armies were few and far between, because there was few things to fight about. Nations gave nations help, exchanged resources freely and the greatest idea seemed to be that the most valued item in the world was the happiness of mankind. "Modern Japan is made up of over two hundred tiny city-states, independent towns and some villages who have nothing but a mayor. It has been colonized by wave after wave of people from the South Seas, Asia, some Greek traders and lots of other people." "You mean, this city is a nation?" questioned Mihoshi, as she posed in an evening gown. "Yes," answered Washu, "with a parliamentary system. People vote for the person they think will best represent them within the local city government." "They can vote for ANYBODY?" joked Tenchi, smiling. "Yes," remarked Washu, becoming very serious. "Anybody can be a representative, even if they only have five votes, including their own. The only rule is they have to be IN the parliamentary building to vote. There are no real parties, as people change sides and view points almost every day." "Must be interesting power struggles," pointed out Kiyone, as she tried on another pair of spiked heels. "Nope," said Washu, "they rarely get together. There are very few laws. The people here have this idea that people should take responsibility for their own actions and government is just there to help people during emergencies. In fact, the newspapers don't even have a section for government news." "SO, no gun control, no drug control, no control of anything?" babbled Tenchi, which he seemed to do a lot lately. "Yes," said Washu, "there is control. It is called ethical behavior. The people here believe in codes and ideas and follow them." "But without laws-" Washu placed a hand on Tenchi's mouth and shook her head. "Culture is not based on laws. Laws DON'T keep people from being killed or robbed or abusing their wives. It just allows the State to punish them after the fact. If people respect the laws or the ideas behind them, they follow them. If they don't, well, no amount of laws or lawyers can keep people walking across that line, from good to evil." "But surely not all people are happy with this?" said Kiyone, having a hard time believing in a world without laws or police. "Oh yes," commented Washu, "there are always trouble makers. People who want to rule the world, make laws about everything and kill other people they don't like. Most of them are ignored and the few who try to use aggressive methods end up either dead or being forced to flee to the Americans." "The New World?" "Yes, Tenchi," Washu said with a grin, "the New World HERE has a few nationalist kingdoms who happily print money, collect taxes and force their subjects to go about unarmed. But that's OK, because they have HUGE police forces and lots of courts to protect them. Some of these Kingdoms even allow slavery. "And your Native Americans are doing OK. It seems some people from China or Korea got there first, with lots of ideas and guns for the natives. Much of the Americans, but for the Kingdoms in the area we know as New England, are city-states and vacation spots. Seems that even in this timeline, those damn puritans still colonized the New World. "Luckily, much of the world, but for the few backwards nations and their complex governments, are happy. People have control over their lives, are well fed and have free cable." "I still don't see how this could work," said Tenchi, rubbing the back of his neck. "That is because," said Washu sadly, "you are not from here and just don't have the same trust with the ways that they practice here. But trust me Tenchi, it works for most of these people." "I guess," said Tenchi, showing a small smile. "Mihoshi and Kiyone sure like it. I'm amazed. Waitresses and tailors working for free. Bus drivers, street cleaners and...er" "Hookers?" piped up Mihoshi as she tried on a pair of knee high boots. "Some people are just people persons," said Washu, "they want to get out and help people and chat with people. When you're not worried about money or tips, how could they be anything else but HAPPY?" "Buildings built for people to live in for free, designed to make people happy, not just to make money," said Kiyone, looking about, "with parks and inside pools and safety devices." Washu sat down next to Tenchi and smiled over at Kiyone, "Here safety features don't cost a dime to add. If you can make an aircraft or a house and don't have to worry about cost, helped by men and women who like their job, why not do the best you can?" "Work is play," called out Mihoshi, with a grin. "Well," joked Washu, "maybe it is easier to say, work AS play." "And what of religion?" asked Tenchi. "Lots of that too," replied Washu, "mostly centered about good will and peace and lots of drinking. A big one in Europe seems to be Mithras, who is an ancient God of truth and light. He is linked to the sun and to the midwinter solstice. Also known as the 'birthday of the sun'. December 25." "Christmas?" commented Tenchi. Washu chuckled and said, "In our timeline, it was converted to a Christian festival and shopping season. Here, in Europe anyway, they put up lamps of many colors and feast on roast bulls and have plays about the Gods of light defeating the Lords of darkness." "Kind of a twisted mirror from a fun house," mumbled Kiyone, "but it's twisted into something prettier." "Not prettier," lectured Washu, "just different. In this world, people started out with the idea of freedom and rights for each and every person. They've had to protect them, every day of their lives. In our timeline, these ideas were developed and supported and fought over for thousands of years, but we're just starting to get it right." "So," said Tenchi, "this is the ideal goal we should go for?" "Maybe not the best answer for our Earth," remarked Washu, "but as long as you remember the spirit behind the laws, remember the reasons behind the words, your planet will do OK. Just remember, there is no end, it is an uphill fight ALL the way." "Imagine Nobuyuki running about nude?" giggled Mihoshi. "Don't say stuff like that!" growled Kiyone, as she shook her head. "Now I'M going to be sick," joked Washu. "You are looking so much better," stated Sasami as she walked about Becca, careful not to step on any roots. The tree didn't look any different from when it was first planted, but there was still something about it. A glow, a sense of life, the way the branches reached upwards as if worshipping the sun. It was talking more too, as it exchanged memory and feelings with Funaho. Even Ryo-Ohki seemed to be able to chat with the young tree as she, in cabbit form, played among the smaller roots. Ryo-Ohki was talking up a storm, filling the air with happy sounds of delight and pleasure, as she ran about the rain of light beams both trees were making. Sasami giggled and chased the cabbit about. The four stood about the Jumper, which was not sitting in a parking space. It had drawn no notice, as it looked nothing more than another type of the millions of hover cars that filled the airways above their heads. "Shame to leave this place," said Tenchi, as he looked about. "We could have stayed longer here." "No," declared Washu as she stepped into the Jumper, "don't wish to stay too long. We could do damage to this timeline if we stay too long. Well, YOU might, anyway." Tenchi blushed and followed Washu into the Jumper. "Damn," he said as he knocked a package off his chair, "how much stuff did you two girls get?" "Well," said Mihoshi, "I got ten pairs of shoes, nine nighties, eight bras-" "Time to go," remarked Washu as she flipped a few switches. The oval door appeared and the engines started to whine. "seven lace undies, six skirts, five silk blouses-" "Should the engines be whining like THAT?" called out Kiyone. "four SPIKED heels, three leather belts, two party hats-" "My head hurts!" shouted Tenchi as the engines started to scream and the Jumper started to shudder. "Something's messing with the engines!" screamed Washu as her hands became a blur, trying to find out what was happening to the ship's equipment. "Some kind of power source is twisting the space and time lens!" "And a fusion powered handheld mirror," finished Mihoshi. "You bubblehead!" shouted three different voices, as the Jumper dove into the time streams, out of control. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------- Tenchi Muyo! is owned by AIC and Pioneer. I did the rest. Silly, aren't I?