EPILOGUE - NEW BEGINNINGS

"Good morning, honey." Leonna's words and a kiss to the forehead woke Ed to a beautiful sunny morning.

"Done cooking breakfast. I just woke the kids up. Let's go and eat together?" She added.

This painted a smile on Ed's face as he excitedly got up and carried Leonna to the dinning area. Their two kids laughed as they saw mom and dad cuddled. They shared their breakfast together with smiles on their faces. They're happily married for 7 years now. They had a pet dog named Bruno who got out of the house and onto their front yard.

Bruno loves to run around. He enjoys the scent of the morning breeze, butterflies that occasionally flies by, and the sight of people walking and smiling past him. Their neighbors pats Bruno's head as he stands by the fence and some even play with him.

It's 2031. But unlike the 2031 we know, it's a lot different. People don't use money. Yes, the global monetary system don't work in this world. They trade goods. They trade honestly. Everything's fair even traffic. Drivers take turns and are very careful when driving. The world is in peace. No one's particularly richer than the other because no one wanted to be rich when the world's resources were evenly distributed to every living person. Which in turn provided the best quality of life for everyone. Weapons, armies, police, and wars don't exist in this reality. It's not even a word to begin with. Zero crime rates. No one has any ill intention towards another person. Greed and hate has lost in this reality.

"Hey, Ed. How are the kids?" Ariel bumped into Ed in a grocery store. In this reality, Ed and Ariel became friends. They took the same courses and graduated together. In the present, they both have their own families.

"Yo, It's been a while, they're great. You? How about you? Is this baby number two??" Ed was so happy bumping into her after years of not seeing each other.

"Yes. Hehe. Time flies. I know." Ariel happily responded. She's happily married with Chino for 5 years now. They had a baby and she's pregnant with the second one for about 6 months already.

"Congratulations! Well, nice seeing you, Ariel. Send my regards to Chino, will ya? I gotta go. I've got some errands for Leonna." Ed bid his goodbye.

"Sure. I will. You take care. Send my regards to Leonna too, Ed." Ariel bid hers as well.

As she stroll around the convenience store someone caught her attention.

"Dr. Chan??" Ariel called him.

"Oh dear! How long has it been? Look at you. How's my smartest student?" Dr. Chan asked.

"Five years or so? Nah, I'm just smart because I learned from the greatest. Well, I'm quite following your footsteps, doc. I hope your proud. And I'm a mother now, look. Meet Joseph. Our second baby." Ariel replied with joy.

"How lovely! Congratulations, dear! I'm so happy for you."

"Thaaankss! How's Mrs. Chan, doc?- I miss your wife. She usually braids my hair whenever I visit." Ariel asked.

"She's doing great. She's at home with our grandkids. They sure are so active. We love them so much. Ariel, by the way I'll be celebrating my 67th birthday on Wednesday. Mind if I invite you and your family to it?" Dr. Chan begged.

"Oh! We'd love to be there, doc. Same address?" Ariel double-checked.

"Yes. As always." Dr. Chan confirmed.

"Good old mem'ries, huh?" Ariel said.

"Yes. Good old memories" Dr. Chan smiled.

They bid their goodbyes and off they went.

Humans co-exist with nature perfectly without dominance, abuse, and misuse. With this attitude, life on Earth was far more advanced and healthy. Nature rewarded humans with bountiful of resources. Using these, humans excelled in everything they do. Be it engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, etc. They harnessed renewable power sources. They never relied on fossil fuels to sustain their power needs. Their cars fly and run without the use of gasoline. Unlike the past world where selfishness and greed won, in this reality every illness has a cure, even Cancer. But there were just a few cases of it, since food produced for the people weren't that unhealthy. Cows, goats, chickens, and other meat producing animals weren't injected with chemicals for faster meat production. Same goes for vegetables and farming in general. Humans in this world were very particular with their health that life expectancy even rose up to more than a hundred years old in average. People worked according to what they love doing; their calling or in Japanese terms ikigai. This cultivated excellence in whatever they do. It allowed humans to produce the highest standard products and services for everyone. Unlike the past world, people don't work for money. They work knowing that what they do will help their family, community, and the world in terms of sustainability. They share their own slice of the cake in terms of world building. And they take it seriously.

Dr. Chan's birthday came. Guests were starting to arrive. Not only did they brought gifts but they also brought joy and smiles for everyone. The Chans were very hospitable and known for their kindness. The event was open to all. As expected Dr. Chan's patients, neighbors, friends, and family were there.

"Dr. Chan, Happy birthday!" Dr. Dave and General Simon came.

"Hey! Good to see you. I'm glad you could make it in such short notice." Dr. Chan welcomed his friends with warm hugs.

"We never missed your birthday." General Simon replied and they laughed.

There were a bountiful of food for everyone. The front door was open even for strangers. Theft wasn't an issue in this reality. Houses didn't even have gates and high walls to begin with. Everyone came in and greeted Dr. Chan. He replied with joy as always. People ate, enjoyed, and went out as the day went by.

It was five in the afternoon and the mansion was almost full when the time Ariel and her family came.

"I'm so glad you could make it! This way, Love? Ariel's here." Mrs. Chan led them to where Dr. Chan is.

Dr. Chan finally met Ariel's family. He carried Ariel's daughter, who holding their gift for Dr. Chan, and congratulated Chino. They talked and laughed at past events Ariel and Dr. Chan shared. Everyone's having a great time. Famous singers and classic bands even arrived to perform for the crowd. In the past world, this would cost you a fortune. But in this reality, performers no matter how famous you they are, are traded just enough goods for their family's use. Fame and image doesn't build walls of arrogance and classifies people in this reality. People do what they love and their happy whatever they get out of it. Humility at its finest. Their needs are already covered by the government who ensures the equal distribution of resources. Corruption doesn't exist in this reality as well. As a result, it left so much resources for everyone that every living person was considered rich. No one's living a poor life in this reality. No one's aggravated. No one's been conned. No one's having a bad day. All because everyone is working to build the best world for everyone and for the future generations.

Ed's family also came and greeted Dr. Chan. Ed's son lent their gift for Dr. Chan. Ed's kids joined Dr. Chan's grand children and Ariel's daughter in playing in the backyard.

Moments later...

"Finally, you're here. Everyone, meet my bestfriend, Elsie Madrid and her only daughter, Aika Madrid." Dr. Chan introduced Joe's Mother and sister to the crowd. Unfortunately, Joe's existence was vanquished from the perfect timeline. This was the life Joe saw when he checked the pruned timeline. This was the price he was willing to pay. He knew he and the versions of him was the price to pay in order to achieve a perfect world for everyone. They had to pay a hefty price for the mistake one version of them had made.

"Madrid?" Ariel and Ed asked themselves quietly. Although they never met them before but it was dejavu for them. They couldn't explain the feeling but they both felt an overwhelming happiness and sadness at the same time.

"Hi! Nice to meet you both." It was like their bodies moved all on their own and went to the Madrids for no reason.

The Madrids welcomed them with big smiles.

"𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎."

"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎."

"𝙰 𝚗𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎."

"𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞."

"𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚓𝚘𝚢."

"𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛, 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗'𝚜 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚃𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚝."

"𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚎."

"𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎-𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚜 𝚒𝚝."

"𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎 𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜."

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𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏.

- 𝚒𝚔𝚗0𝚠𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜