[ WP ] Speculative future : peace in the Holy Land

`` It's all still there, mostly,'' she told me, hesitating. And then she smiled. `` And it's not even underwater, like the town I heard you're from.'' 
 
 `` Well, I was never from Delaware — I just worked there after I graduated.'' I could see she did n't care. Suddenly aware of the dry laboratory, I licked my lips, and hoped she would n't notice. But even though her face was pointed towards mine, her eyes were unfocused, lost. I tried to think of something else to say. 
 
 `` Maybe we could go there?'' I asked, feigning interest from sheer nerves. According to her, Oona was n't any more or less attractive than any other woman in the twenty-second century, but I was used to the women of the twenty-first, who lacked the ability to tinker with their genetic codes. `` You know, it's not like I've been outside this lab in a hundred years. Get some fresh air?'' They had installed an analog clock on the wall to make me feel more at home, and I could hear its second hand making its paces from across the room. Tick. Tick. Tick. 
 
 I swallowed through my tightening throat. My clothes must look ridiculous to her. 
 
 She snapped back into focus. `` Sure,'' she said, with something I could n't tell was a smile or a sneer. `` I'll take you myself after your next sleep cycle.'' She pushed a button on her bracelet, and the machine behind me hissed and I lost consciousness. 
 
 I woke up to the sound of rushing wind, and a leaden heat that seemed to bear down on my head and shoulders. I could n't see anything. I tried to move my hands, but they felt like they'd been glued to some metal surface. 
 
 `` Dr. Oona?'' I yelled, the wind snatching the words from my mouth. 
 
 `` Almost there,'' I heard her say in my ear. Assertive. Slightly peeved. `` You have a comlink on; there's no reason to be yelling.'' I'm sure my face would have flushed, had I not been so hot already. I realized that I'd been placed on the back of some sort of motorcycle, and that we were travelling very quickly in some very hot climate. Perhaps she's already taken me to the Negev, I thought. Maybe you should drop that term on her, as if any knowledge would be impressive in a world with neural implants, I thought. Maybe you should shut up and enjoy the ride, I thought. 
 
 The noise of the wind started to lessen, and then it stopped. A high-pitched whine that I had n't even been aware of ceased as well. 
 
 `` Careful,'' Oona said, gently gripping me by the arm. I felt my hands be released from the metal of the motorcycle. `` Step down, just like you would from a horse.'' Very few even had a horse, I thought, as I swung my leg over and down. The ground was a lot closer than I had expected. Am I going to get sand in my shoes? 
 
 `` Can I take off this blindfold?'' I asked. 
 
 `` Go ahead.'' 
 
 I took off what I realized was a sleeping mask, and blinding light flooded into my eyes. Even squinting as hard as I could, I felt like I had stepped onto the world's brightest stage. Slowly, the world resolved into focus. To my left stood Oona, her long black hair positively glinting in the sun. She must use one hell of a conditioner. Or do they even have conditioner here in the future? And to my right was the motorcycle, although I could n't pick out which part was the engine, and it certainly did n't have any wheels. And the rest of the space? 
 
 Flat. Empty. Like looking over the ocean, except it was an ocean of glass. 
 
 `` Where am I?'' I croaked. I wanted to collapse into a heap: I already knew the answer. 
 
 `` Your bio said you were religious? A Christian?'' she asked, not expecting an answer. `` Then let me quote you from Isaiah, a Jewish prophet whose work was included in your Bible.'Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth.''' She gave the same unintelligible smile. Or was it a sneer? `` You are what was once an ancient city, on a former hill that was once called Tel Megiddo.'' 
 
 My stomach was tying itself in knots. The hot air seemed to pulse around me. Choking, I managed to speak. 
 
 `` What? What the fuck? You said it was still here? You Israel was still here!'' 
 
 `` I thought someone as religious as yourself would pay better attention to the words spoken,'' she said, her voice hard, her face blank. `` I said it was all still *mostly* here. And I was n't lying: very few of the molecules of these two nations were transformed directly into energy. The rest is all still here.''
