An overwhelming woman

As I followed Selena and Irina around, my eyes and mind were overloaded. While some of the stuff I was seeing was pulled straight out of movie interpretation on what the future was like, actually experiencing it first-hand was something else.

What was really making me gawk though were the people walking around. The fashion sense was surprisingly similar to that of my time, though there was certainly an abundance of styles I had never seen. Heck, there were people with animated hairstyles. Like, the hair was literally restyling on the fly, changing color, and doing all sorts of crazy things you'd need to see to believe.

As if she could read my mind, Irina revealed that the particular style I had my eye on was known as a holostyle. I didn't understand all the technical jargon, but it seems like the secret is that mini-holographic projectors are embedded in the head, allowing them to project whatever style the wearer wants.

"But how exactly do they control it?"

As if she waiting for me to ask that, Selena stopped and smiled. "It's thanks to our evolution. I guess to sum it up for someone from your time, think of it as humans now being born with a constant internet connection, or perhaps more accurately, born as smartphones."

"Huh!?"

"Smartphones are capable of lots of things, notably web browsing and photography. Humans have now evolved to the point where our eyes now truly function like cameras, so we can capture all that we see and remember all thanks to orbital storage. Ah, before I continue, you're aware of cloud storage yes?"

Well naturally. I am a vlogger after all. After affirming that I did, Selena revealed that orbital storage was essentially the evolution of cloud storage. Basically, everything was stored in the entirety of Earth's gravitational orbit, and that was just for Earth and the moon. Apparently, there was even storage as large as the entire Milky way, which was claimed to serve the entire Milky way.

On the topic of memory, humans are supposedly capable of not only storing more in their base memories, but memory loss diseases like dementia are truly a thing of the past. However, there was a caveat that it was simply for those that had naturally evolved up to this time.

Folks like me that came from different eras were still unknown. But experiments were being conducted. That statement made me a bit uncomfortable. I don't want to become a lab rat.

Selena assured me though that it would be entirely voluntary, so if I didn't want to participate, I didn't have to. Good. I don't want to spend my days cooped up in some lab. Heck, I just spent the last 500 years in one. I need to see the outside world. The outside world... Just how much has it changed?

As we rounded a bend, I took notice of a large mural being painted on a large brick wall. Now this was a nostalgic sight. Even though the devices being used to paint it were futuristic, the fact that it was being painted on what I assume is a genuine brick wall, heartens me. I always enjoyed seeing the various street art on my journey.

What stood out to me though was a lone girl, seemingly painted by hand with a brush and paint bucket. A sudden urge to speak with that girl and compliment her for her efforts overtook me, and before I knew it, I was heading towards her.

"Ah, don't-"

"Relax. Let her meet her," Irina grinned.

I didn't even bother turning to see what those two were arguing about. But in retrospect, I think I'd get it; they were arguing over how much the woman I was about to meet would overwhelm me.

"Excuse me, are you the artist of this mural?" I called out.

As the girl turned, my eyes widened with shock. Her ears were long and pointy like an elf's! The girl blinked for a bit and even parted her long pink hair with her paint-stained hand to get a better look at me.

Then before I knew it...

"IT'S A HUMAN!"

Seems I startled her, no, the look in her eyes is not that of fear, but rather... excitement.

Before I knew it, she suddenly grasped my hands and began sniffing me.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

"You're from the past, yes? Oh, what year? Tell me, tell me!"

"2024."

"That's... That's the oldest year on record! OH! and your clothes, they haven't been updated! Please, you must give them to me for preservation's sake!"

Wait, WHAT!?

"Ugh, I was afraid this would happen," Selena sighed as she approached us.

"Huh? Selena, you revived a girl from 2024 and didn't tell me!?"

"We literally just revived her a few minutes ago and were on our way to update her clothing-"

"NO!"

"Lyn-"

"You never let me get the clothes of those from the past! By the time I get them, they're already updated, and you can't just uninstall the updates! Please, I beg of you! I'll subject myself to a life of experimentation... Actually no since I want to study her clothes, but any free time after that you can experiment on me!"

I had no idea who this elf girl was, or why she was spouting all this. But... I can get the feeling of wanting an older version of something. So many times, a new update would just mess everything up, and made me question why it was even necessary. There were times I got it, like a fighting game updating with patches, but even then, each version had its unique attributes exclusive to it.

I did have some attachment to my outfit, but I felt but was at least worth hearing this girl out first.

"So what's the deal with my clothes exactly?"

The elf girl was clearly not one in the ways of persuasion as I was hit by passionate lecture spoken at a rapid pace that I could barely make sense or comprehension of.

"And that is why we make an effort to avoid you when acquainting amberstasies with the world," Selena huffed as she grabbed my wrist.

"NO! This is my only chance!" the elf girl cried as she latched onto me with her entire body.

"You mad elflen. Unhand her!"

As the two fought over me, Irina summoned what appeared to be a beanbag and lounged on it with some popcorn in hand. It's now clear what her personality type is. Though perhaps instead of focusing on that, I should be trying to get out of this predicament.

"Selena! Is it OK if we just humor this girl's request?"

Selena eased up and even let me go. "If that's your will, than very well."

"Wait, you'll really give me your clothes!?" the elf girl cried as she released herself from me.

"Maybe. I am a bit attached to these since well, they're the only clothes I've got from my time."

"Would a copy of your clothes be alright?"

"Copy?"

A glint appeared in the elf girl's eyes as she grasped my hands. "Just follow me to my workshop."

...

I let out a sigh as I watched Lyn drag Hana away. She was a girl that hailed from the elflen race originally from the planet Elfaria in Westerhout 43 of the Milky Way. I imagine Hana was attune to the possibility of encountering alien races here in this time, and while there are many that dwell here on Earth, there are hardly any in this city, mainly due to the presence of Jantar.

We at Jantar believe our clients should gradually be accustomed to the new world, which is why we tend to save contact with other races until after some of the more heavy revelations. Not that it's a bad thing to be aware of alien races before those things per say, but it's the actual contact with them where things can get dicey. We don't want someone just minding their business to suddenly be jumped by an ecstatic human from the past fascinated by them or vice-versa. In our case, the vice-versa was exactly what we had to be wary of thanks to Lyn.

Lyn was a fanatic obsessed with human history, and had an overwhelming personality to boot. I get her enthusiasm and desperation, but the girl needs to learn the concepts of personal space and reading the room. But if one of our clients wishes to humor her, we are in no position to object. Our job was simply to ferry them from one era to the next, not to control their lives. I will continue to shadow Hana though, as while she did agree to go with Lyn out of her own free will, it would be best if a party she's familiar with is present as Lyn is a very overwhelming woman.