All Things I've Done To Save You

The Revealing Science Of God

The natural stone stairway became the way to reach the high terraces. Herman became more awestruck on seeing the Sphinx up close, sitting flat on a stone altar three meters high.

This time Herman smelled the fragrances from burnt incenses and flowers placed all over the place, emanating a religious, somewhat sacred aura. He only had a chance to take a glance at everything because the train-towing hoverbike kept on moving.

He went into a warehouse next to the main building and stopped to unload the cargo. After the work was finished, he then read the next job schedule on the holographic monitor at the warehouse office. Luckily he got an unlimited off-time until the next job schedule was up.

"I'll go to get some fresh air," said Herman to the warehouse supervisor who supervised the cargo unloading. And then he walked briskly along the pedestrian way corridor to the spot where they would meet Amanda.

This time Herman stood right below the front foot of the gigantic Sphinx statue. The Sphinx he once saw at Giza in his own time was merely a stone statue of a gigantic lion with a human head.

The Sphinx's face in the world of the Osirians showed the characteristics of a tan or black-skinned man showed in detail through its large nostrils, thick lips, and the ornaments of its big crown and braided hair [1]. The head and body of the statue were painted with dark golden base color and very detailed, very colorful ornaments.

In Herman's time, those features were gone by erosion so it was no longer shown. But those features could be destroyed for racism purposes, as shown by the big dents on the missing nose and lips of the Sphinx.

However, what Herman saw right now made him wonder, who was the model of the tan-skinned man on the head of the Sphinx statue. One thing for sure, now he was not surprised that the majority of people and leaders in this Age of Osiris and the Old Gods is the tan-skinned race. It was under the fact that the Sphinx and the Giza-like pyramids were located in the future continent of Africa, just like in Herman's time.

Adding to the painted decoration, Sphinx's body was also decorated with beautiful, colorful fabrics with fringes woven with golden threads. What made it most bizarre was the whole details and decorations made the gigantic statue look somewhat… alive.

Suddenly, the young man heard a shout, "Herman!"

Herman was instantly ecstatic on hearing the voice he longed and searched for. At the end of the corridor, he saw Amanda Suranto-Reign running toward him. Herman also ran towards the pretty girl.

"Amanda!" Herman responded loud and clear too, plus the surprise in his tone. Maybe he still couldn't believe that he could find his girlfriend in this far away, extremely strange place and time.

Amanda was wearing a t-shirt with a matching cardigan and a knee-high skirt. A pair of long, stylish boots covered her feet and a part of her long legs.

At last, the two lovers embraced each other in a big, warm hug, expressing their longing and love for each other.

"You sloppy girl!" Herman scolded playfully.

"And you risked your neck coming here!" Amanda also protested emotionally, yet without a hint of anger on her face.

And then they hugged again, releasing all anxiety from their hearts.

"You look like a mess!" Amanda was touched to see Herman's condition. And then she combed her boyfriend's messy hair with her soft, warm fingers.

Herman was relieved that Amanda was all right and there was nothing to worry about. He then kissed the girl's face a few times with all his heart. And then Amanda rewarded her lover with a kiss on the lips. After their longing had been satiated, the lovers could talk casually.

"How come you came to this Atut Baton Complex?" asked Herman.

"Well, it was like the way you came here. The only difference was I joined the festival committee volunteer group," answered Amanda. "When I browsed the information about if anyone possesses a time machine through the Thoth internet, unexpectedly there was one. I contacted the owner, Alaksolan, and he found me on the time machine site, the same way he found his time machine.

I guess that was the first successful time machine built in InterTime. But the inventors – minus my grandfather – realized that it was dangerous and sent it right on this time without passengers and the time setter remote control, the Tempus Fugit, so no one can use it.

Alaksolan is on the festival committee too. He asked me to be a volunteer from Lainatupia City and I readily consented to it. So he arranged my flight with a group of committed volunteers to Medensidor. Look at this. I'm a committee volunteer member too." She showed the electronic identification pin on her cardigan. She then handed Herman another pin, with his original name and identification in a new status as a committee volunteer, just like Amanda. Herman readily attached the new ID pin to his jacket.

"C'mon, follow me," invited Amanda. "I have told Alaksolan that you have the time setter. But now I can't meet you up with him yet. Right now he has a meeting with the other members of the committee. So, while we wait, let's go to my apartment," Amanda invited.

Herman went wherever Amanda invited him to. He didn't return to the warehouse and he threw the worker ID bracelet away.

When they arrived at a shelter halt, Amanda stood waiting for a vehicle to come. "Every hour, a hover bus stops here especially to pick up committee personnel. It's also used by the committee to deliver festival supplies bought from the local market district. So, to go back to the apartment, we'll go by that bus," said Amanda, pointing at a bus that had just come from afar.

The committee hover bus stopped, and then Amanda invited Herman aboard. On that bus, there were other committee volunteers. Amanda greeted them and got the same response. Not long afterward, the bus hovered out from the Atut Baton area and continued on its route. However, when it arrived at the first block of residential towers they saw, Amanda got Herman and herself out of the bus at the halt. And then the hover bus hovered away.

It turned out the apartment tower where Amanda lived was in sight. After walking half a block or so, they arrived at the front of Amanda's apartment tower and they went inside.

As a member of the committee volunteers, Amanda received meal rations, allowances, and an apartment unit for her use during her stay in Itong Ahuan.

Until midnight, the lovers spent their time pouring their love and longing into each other, chatting merrily. Although quite exhausted from the long journey, Herman then made love to Amanda at midnight. After that, finally, both of them fell asleep.

==oOo==

When Herman woke up the next morning, he didn't see Amanda next to him on the bed. Amanda woke up first and then went to bathe. After Amanda got out of the bathroom, it was Herman's turn to bathe.

Amanda still wore a towel around her body and she took something first before doing anything else. "Wait a minute," said Amanda, getting a set of clothes on the table that she has prepared beforehand. "Here, these are your change clothes." Herman took the clothes and went into the bathroom.

Done bathing and putting on fresh clothes, Herman saw that food and drink for breakfast were served on the table. He readily took his seat across Amanda, who was scooping rice into her mouth with a spoon.

Now Herman has put on a new set of clothes. He wore a T-shirt and a leather jacket with pockets to keep his precious notebook and Tempus Fugit safe. He also wore blue jeans for trousers. Amanda herself put on a casual shirt combined with a woven mantle and blue jeans trousers like her boyfriend.

They ate together and had a chat. "This breakfast we're eating is a ration from what you've delivered to be distributed with all committee members – especially from the south," Amanda explained.

"Now I like sambal!" (*)  said Herman, eating rice with the shrimp sambal on his plate. Both of them laughed, remembering that it was the shrimp sambal that reunited them.

Just then, the sun was up and the sky began to be brighter. The windows on Amanda's apartment unit were directly faced towards Atut Baton, so they could see the magnificent site quite clearly.

"The Sphinx in our time is the incarnation of their leader as Anubis, the Ancient Egyptian god of death and the underworld," Amanda explained during her meal. "The Osirians regard Anubis as one of the sons of Amun Ra, the sun god. That's why his face always faces east, towards the rising sun."

Herman looked out from the window to see the sun was getting higher and it was not so dazzling yet. Amanda was right. From this place, Herman could see the Sphinx had his face facing the sunrise.

"But why in our time his face is facing southwest?" Amanda asked, she was confused about that matter.

"Many science journals stated that the earth's axis tilted because the earth's orbit itself is not precise. But Professor Marwan Batubara disagreed because the orbits of the earth and the planets in the solar system against the sun are precise and permanent," Herman responded. "Professor Marwan was sure that the tilt on the earth axis phenomenon was related with the collective memories on every ancient civilization that were passed for generations in history."

"The collective memory of what?" Amanda's curiosity was incited.

"I don't know," answered Herman. "Because Mr. Marwan didn't know for sure either. He just assumed that it was a collective memory about a dragon flying in the sky, that's all he said."

"So what's the relationship between the extinction of Osirian people with the dragon from the sky?" Amanda frowned.

"The coming of a dragon from the sky caused a catastrophe, no, an apocalypse that wiped out all people and the entire Osirian civilization," Herman explained. "But the actual version of this myth can't be explained precisely in a scientific sense."

Amanda seemed unsatisfied with this remark, but she patiently listened to every word Herman said because he was not finished yet.

"From my talk with Professor Marwan, I know that the Sphinx, the pyramids of Giza, and all the pyramids scattered all over the world were originally from this Pliocene Age," said Herman.

"Where did Professor Marwan claim it all from? Did he do field research or something?" asked Amanda, admiring her boyfriend's mentor's knowledge too. Just then, Herman took his notebook out of his jacket pocket.

"Wow, you still like to make notes in this book," said Amanda, who couldn't help but be amused by her boyfriend's old school habit. "Now what notes did you write?"

"You won't expect that I know all this from Professor Marwan directly and I have written it all down here."

"Really? Lemme see it!"

Herman handed his pocket notebook to Amanda, and then Amanda read the notes in that book. However, after turning some pages, she returned that pocketbook to Herman. "I can't understand it. You explain it to me."

"Haha, look at you!" Herman laughed at his girlfriend.

Again, Herman opened the notebook and read the note about the topic they were discussing.

"Mr. Marwan in one of his science journals stated that the Sphinx and the Pyramids here were built and existed since the Pliocene Era."

"Wow!" Amanda licked her lips in awe towards Herman, who absorbed Professor Marwan's knowledge in great detail. "Then, then?"

"The society in this age that is in majority are black-skinned is called the Israelites by Marwan, as mentioned in the religions of the heaven. Because the term nation in sociologic and anthropologic meaning, in this case, is referred to a period dominated by human civilization. Israel as a person's name and as a nation is a proper name and can't be replaced by any other name, so as we know now, the 'People of God' in this age, as they call themselves are the Osirians."

(*) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambal