Chapter 21: Connection
Even though they flew for two days, they landed in Japan three days later.
Tina never thought she'd miss land so much. Road trips were long and boring, but at least she could doze away or lose herself in sketches to pass time; but now has been her turn to keep her eyes on the road, check directions and weather, and try to keep this old boat of a Condor moving straight. For hours on end without break, rising and falling with the sun, feeling her eyes and attention give way at every possible occasion.
At least, she's got to learn a lot about this big beast. One does not pilot a vehicle for so long without getting more acquainted with it. Learning from what Esteban said could get her so far, but there was so much she could only gain through hands-on experience; she's always been a practical learner. Active experience, combined with her now heightened sense of touch, managed to reveal so much about the Condor that helped make this journey a little easier: how to maintain good speed, how to turn easily, how to lock directions were such subtleties. It felt jarring, but not in a bad way, and she was starting to like it. If anything, it made this long, boring journey, a little less long.
Anything but Leon's pointless road trip games. She'd take anything at this point.
“So. Here we are.”, she claimed, stepping out of the Condor after hours of flying. “Japan.”
“It's Saturday afternoon.”, Leon noted after looking it up. “The forecast calls for nice weather this weekend.”
She stretched her arms, taking a good view of the bay. They've landed next to a small city, where every inch of ground was covered in buildings and towers of sorts. Of course, they could see the silhouette of a volcano in the distance, but luckily no ash clouds were coming out. It barely felt like they were in another country, much less another continent, but she knew it'd hit different the moment they stepped into the streets.
“So, what's our plan for now?”, she asked after a time of contemplation. “Because I'm not flying out for another half-day.”
“I'd love to update our map, but I've got no Wi-Fi. Unless you can figure out a nearby router's password.”
“Doesn't work that way.”, she repeated with the passive sing-songy tune of someone who's explained their gift over and over to a curious kid with no other distraction than asking annoying questions. “What about 3G?”
“Doubt they have Verizon here. Do they?”
“Well, we're fucked. Esteban, what's our plan?”
She turned around to face the Condor. Esteban hadn't said a word, nor had he moved out of his vessel for a good moment now. Tina tapped on the beak, and Esteban's light ghost popped out with surprise.
“Sorry, I was...I was lost in thought.”
“You're good, man?”
“Yes. I was contemplating.”
His eyes turned to the bay below them, and Tina's followed.
“It's so different. When I last came here, there were nothing but a few wooden houses along the harbor. It was small, and...and ancient.”
“Yeah...must be a shock for you, isn't it?”
He nodded. During the time of their travels, they've tried to catch him up on what happened in the world during these five hundred years: they've talked of manifest destiny, of the birth of Latin America and Hispanic identity, of the emergence of English as the
lingua franca of the modern world, of the two World Wars and indeed, of Japan's rebirth as a technological hub. But for the two of them, all of these were things they've heard about, have been made to study in history and didn't really care about beyond a good grade or general knowledge. What did it feel like for Esteban, who's seen the world as it was before, who's known civilizations that were now extinct and met people whose names have been lost to history? How did it feel to see that everything he's known, everything he's believed in was now gone, replaced, changed, evolved beyond recognition?
It must be horrible, Tina thought. To be stuck in the same place, while everything moves on around you. To witness the passage of time only after it has come and gone.
“Well...if we want to keep going, we will need a map. I have guided us so far with ease, but this territory is tricky.”
“We can't access maps. No Wi-Fi.”, Leon complained.
“Back in my day, we didn't need a wife-high. Surely paper maps still exist today, do they?”
“I mean...yeah. But where do you want us to find one? Barge into a random souvenir shop and go hola pendejos, tienes un mapa de China, por favor y gracias?”
“There is always a way.”
She sighed, and sat down on the Condor's foot.
“Well, tell us when you find it. I don't even know how to ask for the way in Japanese.”
“Actually, a lot of people speak decent English. If we try, we might get somewhere.”
“We don't even know what we're looking for. Honestly, I'm too tired to even care, right now: I've flown for hours and I need a break.”
“It's the middle of the day, how can you be tired?”
“It's called jetlag, you douche!”
She tossed a dirty shirt from her bag at him, but he caught it and tossed it back.
“Well, Japan
is several hours ahead of us. It's Friday evening back home.”
He gasped.
[…]

Read the rest at
https://archiveofourown.org/works/23790 ... s/58967704 