Safe World: Charlie, Jill, Louie and Company

[kabukiman]

-Smoking is bad for the health? Are you sure? I don't smoke because I have an alergy, but everyone I know smokes. What else is bad to health?

[Mr. Handy]

"Oh, yes, I'm quite certain of it," says Lionel. "It's a good thing you don't smoke. There are many other things that we've discovered are harmful to one's health. Too much of the wrong kind of cholesterol can harden your arteries and cause them to become clogged, though there's also a good kind of cholesterol that helps. Fatty foods aren't good for you either. Too much alcohol can cause cirrhosis of the liver, though that's possibly known these days as well. There are studies that suggest that small amounts of alcohol may actually be beneficial. Oh, and asbestos! When it flakes off, the dust can get in your lungs and cause cancer too - and if you also smoke, it's a hundred times worse than either smoking or asbestos alone. That's just a few examples. I could go on for hours."

[kabukiman]

-I'm sorry, I'm not a true nurse, so I don't know most of those things; maybe our scientist already know that. Tell me about movies. Are they very different from now? We have already sound, so it cannot have improved much.

[Mr. Handy]

"It's possible that this day's boffins do suspect the dangers of smoking," says Lionel as he escorts Agnes to the exit, "though the dangers of asbestos won't be known for at least another few decades. As for movies, you'd be surprised how much they've improved in terms of technical quality, but saddened by the decline in artistic and moral quality. All movies have colour, except when a director deliberately chooses to make it black and white for aesthetic reasons - and both picture and sound quality are absolutely fantastic. 3-D movies will be invented in the 1950s. The audience wears special glasses with thin plastic lenses of different colours that give the picture the illusion of depth. It never became truly popular, though, and most movies didn't use it. They don't make movies like that any more in my day. Movies will also be shown on television, and can be purchased or rented from shops - or even borrowed from the library. In the late 1970s they'll be on tape casettes that you insert into a machine that can play them on a television - or record programmes as they're being broadcast. Laserdiscs are a brief fad in the 1980s, but optical disc technology really takes off in the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century. They have all sorts of extra features included with the movies on these small discs the size of a coaster. Eventually television won't be merely broadcast; it will be brought into one's home through cables or satellite dishes, and there will be hundreds of channels, many of which specialize in movies. Not only that, but you can also get video on demand. You can watch a programme or movie whenever you want in your own home, and you can pause, rewind, or fast forward as you wish. The most modern televisions have incredible resolution, and it's just like being there. These days they're almost all flat screens, and some of them can be quite large, though not anywhere near the size of the screen at the cinema.

"Unfortunately, movies will degrade in other ways. Over time, foul language and adult content will creep in. Many films have gotten quite atrocious by my day. There are still some wholesome movies, but you have to be careful what you let your children see. Movies also won't be as good as they are in these days, though you can still find a few diamonds in the rough. The 1930s through the 1950s are truly the golden age of cinema, and this is a great time to be alive in spite of all the hardships."

[kabukiman]

OOC: By the way, the nazis where the first who were worried with the problems of tobacco, and make special laws against that.

-But why don't the goverment forbid those movies? And the studios? Or even the people? If tyhose movies are bad for moral, why people continue to see them?

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, that's the flip side of having freedom," says Lionel. "The government doesn't ban movies. There is a ratings system in place, but it's far from perfect. The studios keep making those sorts of movies because they know people will pay to see them. And there are plenty of people who gladly will. That's part of the decline in morality I mentioned. Most of the population has grown to accept it over time, and the change was so gradual that many didn't even notice. Things that are unthinkable these days will be commonplace in the future. So many have lost their way and turned their backs on God. I don't think the cataclysm to come is any sort of divine judgment, though. You saw what happened to the children, and they hadn't done anything wrong."

[kabukiman]

-But if it's not God judgement, what is it then? You told that some being was looking for something; how can exist such a creature? It seems more alike to the superstitions of the colored people. Does that mean they are right? Or is just the devil trying to deceive people?

[Mr. Handy]

"I don't know how this is possible," admits Lionel. "Until a couple of days ago, I had no inkling of any of this. Though it seems like an unreal situation, all of this feels like it's really happening. This being, whatever it is, is not God, it is simply very powerful. I've told you of some of the technological wonders that mankind will come up with in the next several decades, and you've even seen one of them in action. Imagine what could be accomplished in centuries. Whatever this being is, it seems to have mastery over time itself, at least to a limited extent. Maybe it's from even further in the future. If so, at least that means there is a future. It did speak to me through someone in this time. If it were the devil trying to trick me, I think it would have given me instructions that weren't completely vague."

[kabukiman]

-Or he maybe he doesn't have anything to do with what happened, but using your ignorance to think he is all powerful. Or maybe he is related. Your right, there is't much we can do beside obeying and wining some time.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, those are very good points," says Lionel. "We just need more information about what exactly we're supposed to do, and we need to find Daniel and Annie."

[Laraqua]

The road is the only clear landing zone near the library.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,I think you meant to post that in the Chapter Two thread.

[Laraqua]

As the group rush out onto the front yard, they can hear the whump-whump-whump of rotor blades but can see no source of it. Perhaps a helicopter is passing overhead, behind the building... Its hard to be sure, the sound is distorted, its difficult to pinpoint its direction.

[kabukiman]

OOC: Poor Agnes doesn't know a helicopter


-What is this noise? Some car in the other side?

[Mr. Handy]

"On the other side, to be sure," says Lionel, looking around, "but it's no car. That, my dear, is a helicopter - a rotary-winged aircraft a bit more advanced than an autogyro. It was invented in the 1930's by Igor Sikorski. There aren't too many of them around these days, but I'm pretty certain the RAF doesn't have any yet, and this one sounds decidedly modern. I wonder...Sarah mentioned that she was in a helicopter when she called me. Could it be?" His heart leaps with hope.

[kabukiman]

-Is there anywhay to contact them? Ask to the persons in the other side.

[Mr. Handy]

"Maybe if we had a radio," says Lionel. "Or a mobile phone, but Annie has both mine and Jennifer's." His eyes light up, and he looks at Jill, Charlie, and Louie. "Of course, that's it! One of you must have a mobile. You can call Sarah on her mobile, and if she's on board she'll answer." He tells them the number. He peers into the sky for any sign of the helicopter, waving to where he thinks it is.

[kabukiman]

-But can they see us? I thought we could only speak and hear them. It's not a very good idea to atract other's attention here.

[Mr. Handy]

"I don't know if they can see us," says Lionel, "but we can hear them, and we can see and hear Jill and the men. Mobile phones are another modern marvel, though sometimes they can be a nuisance. It's a telephone you can carry with you in your pocket, completely wireless. And it's more than just a telephone. You can use it to play music, watch videos, play games, all sorts of things."

[kabukiman]

Agnes look incredulous.