All Things I've Done To Save You

Beyond and Before

A great mass gathered in front of the great prison, Bastille in Paris. Near the entrance, peasants staged an uprising. Riots erupted, and palaces, cathedrals, and monasteries were plundered and burnt. Bastille Fortress was engulfed in an enormous flame. Great charcoal black clouds of smoke shot up from the rooftops and towers. 

A man stood on top of a stool, making a speech to rouse the rebels. His speech was greeted with shouts of patriotism that filled the sky.

“Vive la nation![1]" A farmer yelled, raising a stick in his right hand. A red, white, and blue French flag was tied on that stick.

“En avant![2]" shouted another, rousing the mass marching behind him to move on towards the prison gate of Bastille. He held a spear. Many of the rioters were armed with firearms.

"The reason for people’s raid on Bastille is that the King has been oppressing the people. The people demand a Revolution to crush the king’s authority and power. The people demand the release of their political leaders being held prisoner here in this fortress, Bastille,” Monsieur Duran explained.

Eleonore, Austin, Eliot, Amanda, and Geoffry listened to Monsieur Duran’s explanation earnestly. However, the five young men and women couldn’t take their eyes off the raiding mob with tension on their faces.

“The people got more enraged when they got the news about the mobilization of twenty thousand royal troopers to disband the National Assembly, an action against the Revolution,” said Duran among the provocative yells. “Even the National Guard reinforcing the prison guard force didn’t intend to spill the people’s blood at first. However, they finally launched repressive actions on the people.” The last two sentences came true and sparked more anger among the mob, and the uproar became unstoppable.

Among the ranks of the National Guard, some royalists tried to covet popular sympathy.

 “Vive, la cocarde noire![3]" Positive cheers reverberated from the royalists’ side.

A woman activist emphasized the king’s standing. "À Versailles! Ramenons le Roi![4]”

Their claims were obviously in contrast with the peasants, who were at the boiling point with the monarch’s tyranny. The angry mob rushed more violently, as one of them brought a wax statue.

“Je vous le prete! Ne le faites pas fonder![5]" shouted a man who dressed like a nobleman. He went out from a wax factory and asked the rebels to keep united in this struggle.

“Just like all the officials in Paris who came to Bastille, this is the place where Monsieur Mirabeau, the nobleman who sided with the people joined them.” Monsieur Duran explained further when he saw many nobles among the mass of peasants.

"Release Necker!” shouted the peasant with the wax statue. That half-body statue was held high by three men, and many people followed them, some were women and even children.

“Vive Necker![6]" The wax statue bringer shouted again, followed by many others.

“Vive la nation![7]" Another peasant group greeted.

The hot wind blew, blowing dust trampled by thousands of feet in front of the fortress-like ants on a cake. Amanda pulled Eliot and Geoffry’s sleeves, fearing that the passing mob might trample them too.

Too late, the angry peasant mob already trampled those who stood in the middle of the road. Strangely, the rebels moved through the two young men’s bodies just like that and nothing happened. Finally, the two remembered where they were.

“Whose statue is that?” asked Geoffry, very curious to know why the peasants wanted the man depicted by the wax statue to be released.

“It’s the statue of Jacques Necker, a Financial Treasurer. The King removed him from his office because he sided with the people,” Monsieur Duran answered.

And then the furious masses burned the Bastille Prison office, as the prison guard force was pushed back by the attackers’ advance.

“Arreêtez ces Harpies![8]” The Warden ordered the National Guards Commander who joined in to secure Bastille and stop the rebels.

“Do you want to see what happens next? We must go closer over there,” Duran proposed. “But stay inside the lighted area behind the yellow line! In that part, we shall see the Warden, Marquis de Launay, and eight of his troops fell victim to the angry mob. The rebels then beheaded de Launay, tied the body on a stake, and paraded him around the city. During this period, about 16,000 to 40,000 French citizens were killed. It was horrifying!” said Monsieur Duran.

“C’est la grande peur![9]” Horrified, Eleonore declined this offer. “We better skip this part!” 

Then, the skipped part occurred without their viewing. Finally, the riot reached its climax.

“We must suppress this chaos!” The National Guard Commander decided.

“Troopers, ready!”

The National Guard troopers who could only watch them from the roadside all this time now started to point their bayonets towards the raiders, but the peasants still boldly pressed forward. 

“Ce serait un massacre![10]” Austin yelled. He hoped a massacre in front of him would be averted. 

The tension gradually dissipated along with a change of view in front of the Bastille Prison. The display was now mixed with the view of a courtyard where the Bastille Fortress-Prison once stood. 

“Sorry! Time’s up,” said Monsieur Duran to the youngsters.

The group was relieved because they didn’t get to see that dismal scene of a massacre and the session was ended. No word was spoken from the four youngsters’ lips. They were still thrilled by the whole Attack on the Bastille Fortress scenery.

The scene of bloodshed in front of the Bastille has disappeared and was replaced with new scenery. They found themselves on a roadway with lots of lamp posts whose lights have been turned off. The glowing yellow lines now became the borderline of the tourist area. The line was made to avoid injuries to the tourists because of bumping into invisible building walls, things on the pavement, or falling into a gutter during the tour.

“Let’s go back to the entrance and let the next in the queue come in,” Monsieur Duran directed.

Kindly yet straightforwardly, Duran asked the five youngsters to follow him, while another group entered the tourist area in their stead.  

Outside the area, the guide asked Austin and his friends to take their wireless earphones off and handed them to the technical crew. At last, Monsieur Duran left them after saying some parting words and then go back to meet the Wahana Time Travel crew.

The five youngsters realized that they were in the real world. And then they talked merrily about the recent experience while strolling along Champs-Élysées, commonly regarded as the “most beautiful avenue in the world”. They blended with another group who had just come out from the same tourist area.

It was almost evening when they took a stroll along the avenue that was once one of the time travel tourist traps managed by Tunnel Educations in association with the Paris Board of Industry and Commerce. The almost two kilometers long and seventy meters wide avenue was crowded with tourists like them.

On weekdays, the tourists can walk casually on the wide pavement of the avenue full of luxury shops. The finish line of the world's annual men’s multiple-stage bicycle race, Tour de France was in this area too.

At the same time, on their back, several TV crews were broadcasting this tour live.

“... in a short time, the world is overrun with the time travel tour fever. Everyone, everywhere talks about the sensation and experience of somebody who tries to go to the past,” said a TV reporter standing in front of the camera to convey an opening statement to the viewers at home.

He then continued with a greeting. “Good evening, world. I, Victor Bazin convey a live view of this year’s Bastille Day. It’s a special day to commemorate the 1789-1799 French Revolution. It was a radical social period of political turmoil in France with a permanent effect on the history of France, and in a broader sense, on Europe as a whole. The absolute monarchy dynasty that ruled France for centuries was toppled into ashes in just three years.

The dispute between the supporters and the opposition of this revolution went on for the next two centuries. The French Revolution, in a political sense, has resulted in the advancement of liberalism, which demands democracy and individual freedom, that gives birth to democratic republic nations, and revolutionary actions against absolute rulers.

Since the scientists from Tunnel Educations Inc. invented the ChronoTours virtual time machines, now we don’t only commemorate, but we can also experience firsthand the social revolution that occurred three centuries ago.”

During the recording, everyone on the avenue can watch Victor Bazin’s live broadcast on outdoor giant OLED TVs.

Just then, one of the five friends was reminded of something. “Err,” said Geoffry, the tallest of the lot, “Where are we going to next?”

They stopped walking towards the bus stop almost abruptly.

“Don’t you want to buy a pin, Amanda?” Geoffry asked.

“Ah, right. You want to buy the tees too, Austin?” Amanda also reminded her other friend. Finally, they took a detour and went to the stalls selling souvenirs.

Amanda was a pretty girl with a sweet smile. Her shoulder-length jet-black hair, her yellowish Asian-like complexion, and her tall posture were a near-perfect combination for an haute couture supermodel material.

Along the Champs-Élysées, there were fancy restaurants like l'Atelier Renault and Ledoyen. There were some nightclubs too. Not only that, the world-class luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, and so on had boutiques here. There were also shops showcasing apparel from the more affordable yet world-class, famous brands like Banana Republic, Abercrombie, Sephora, and many others.

However, the five young men and women were students who obviously wouldn’t try to come into the glamorous places, mainly to avoid being overdressed and underfunded. They contented themselves to just strolling, window shopping, or buying souvenirs.

“Look!” Amanda yelped, pointing at the outdoor monitor.

All five of them were starstruck as they saw themselves in that giant outdoor OLED monitor. Coincidentally, they were standing right behind Bazin. Playfully, they acted silly because they were on TV.

Seeing that, Bazin didn’t get angry. He used that moment instead.

 “Hi, there! This is a live broadcast, the whole world is watching,” Bazin greeted. “Don’t you mind sharing your experience on time travel?”

Of course, they jumped on the offer. Being interviewed on TV was a rare opportunity for them. So they instantly looked around for a currently live, on-air camera.

"It’s freakin’ awesome!” Eliot shouted before he was asked to.

Bazin smiled in amusement over that typical young adult behavior. Finally, he joined in this fresh, cheerful atmosphere. 

"Let’s ask this pretty girl here,” Bazin resorted to Amanda because Eliot was enjoying himself acting in front of the camera.

“Did you enjoy having a blast in the past as you did just now?” Bazin asked, offering a microphone to Amanda. 

“I’ll come here again,” said Amanda with a plain answer. Bazin shook his head on that.

“Manda, why don’t you tell Monsieur Bazin that the inventor of the virtual time machine was your grandfather?” asked Geoffry, noticing Amanda who hid her identity from the media.

 “No way,” answered Amanda. “He’ll ask too much and I don’t want to be under the scrutiny of the media.”

Geoffry shrugged. But now he saw Bazin didn’t give up and turned to him, offering a microphone, saying, “All right, lemme ask you instead. Who knows I can get a more synced answer.”

Seeing Geoffry on camera, his friends cheered to encourage him.

Geoffry smiled to see them teasing him, but he was ready for Bazin’s questions. 

“Did the time travel to the past impress you much?” Bazin asked.

“Oh, it was like watching an IMAX movie as usual,” said Geoffry.

This is an unexpected answer, it made Bazin raise his eyebrow.

“Really?” Bazin inquired. “How come?”

“I think they’ve tricked us! You see, there are no hi-tech gears at all, except maybe some bulky electronic pieces of equipment commonly used in music festivals or sorts.”