Underground City

After being disappointed about the future, Celine's eyes widened as she entered one of the one-floor buildings. Chad brought her to the mall and explained to her that the buildings now are inverted. The reason behind it is the rise of flying cars and giant mushrooms.

Now that they are taking the tube elevator to go down to the restaurant area, she can't believe that she's seeing the futuristic look of this building. It's underground and you can see a preview of every floor. They were able to take off their gas masks since it's already safe.

She realized that they are wearing some dorky gas masks compared to other people around. It's embarrassing but she just comforts herself about the fact that no one will recognize her anyway. She was stuck from home for a long time trying to be a good academic writer.

"We're here! Let's go eat!" Chad informed her and sounds excited.

It's obvious that he loves food so much but doesn't have so much time to eat out. For sure, he's always stuck inside the lab and eats through food delivery. That may be their one thing in common. She hardly goes out of her place unless Derek forces her to have a date somewhere else.

Celine feels sad in an instant just by remembering Derek. If she didn't travel through time, nine years would have passed by now. But she doesn't consider it that way because she was just in 2021 yesterday. Maybe the future will help her forget the pain she's feeling right now. She will be assisting Drake to build a time travel gadget anyway.

The restaurant they are now in looks futuristic. It looks like Chad prepared for this time traveler's tour for her. They sit face to face in the chairs without a table in the middle. It's very odd as well as interesting enough to be a good conversation piece. But she didn't feel like talking. It will take more than a missing table for her to start a conversation.

An android robot approaches them and Chad faces it and taps on its screen. It shows how to order from the robot and also the menu. Everything looks great and instagramable. That's why everyone around in this restaurant is taking pictures of their food first before eating. It's similar to the year she came from and nothing new about it.

"What do you want to eat? I'll order for you!" Chad asked.

"Just get me whatever you're having." She answered lazily.

"That's no fun! I'm choosing a different dish so we can take a selfie with the food." He decided to choose the food on the screen.

When Chad is done ordering, the Android robot rolls away from them to prepare their food. Celine realized that there are no human employees around. The only people in this place are the customers. Everyone is also busy looking at their smartphones as they eat. Looks like screen addiction got worse in the future.

"How did the robots cook the food around here? I don't see any human employees." She finally asked a question that made Chad smile.

"They don't exactly need to cook the food for their customers. The food here is printed using a 3D food printing machine." He explained.

"So you mean, we have to eat fake food?" She exclaimed.

"Of course not! It's still real food but like instant food." Chad explained.

Before Celine could say anything, a bigger robot rolled towards them. It then projected the table and served the dishes Chad ordered a minute ago. It's just pasta carbonara, pizza, and chicken wings with a modern twist. The robot told them to enjoy the food and thank them. After that, the robot rolls away leaving them to enjoy their meal. 

"Wow, that's crazy! I'm impressed!" Celine commented.

"See, we made progress after all! Now, take out your phone and take a picture first before we eat." Chad instructed.

"I hate doing that!" She frowned at him.

"You have to do what others are doing or they will suspect that you're a time traveler. It's illegal around here." He insisted.

"Fine!" She took out her smartphone and started taking pictures.

Amazingly, the food tastes wonderful just like real food. It's a great invention to fill up people's stomachs quickly. This is the definition of a fast-food restaurant in 2030. Although Chad told her that there are still traditional restaurants around. But people around this year don't have much time to waste. 

After eating, Chad brought her to an A.I. store to pick their avatars. Dr. Cole sponsored it for them so that they can use them when going out. It's the latest technology around this time due to the bad supply of oxygen. The shop assistants are already A.I. avatars as well. It will keep them safe from the toxic air outside.

"I'll see you later after the fitting!" Chad informed him.

"Okay." She replied.

Each of them has an A.I. avatar to assist them with the fitting. They need to get into one of the cubicles around the store. The fitting means that the avatars will be customized for them. It will have their face and they are the only ones who can control it. That's another cool technology nine years later. But Celine is already experiencing them right now.

After only five minutes, they were informed that it's done. The store assistant informed them that the avatars will be sent to them within the day. That's pretty quick for a complicated process. But people during this time are all living in a fast lane. They have an option to also use their avatar as they proxy for events and important occasions.

"Where do you want to go next?" Chad asked her.

"Let's get back to the lab now. I'm already overwhelmed with everything." She honestly replied.

"Okay. We can just use our avatars next time. Mask on!" Chad reminded her.

Celine realized why they didn't need a pretty gas mask. She's excited to use her avatar but nobody is more excited about it than Chad.