Somewhere in Eastern France

“Who orders you to save us?”

“You would soon find out.”

“Is it Her Highness Princess Charlotte?”

“You would soon find out.”

Somewhere in Eastern France, Gregorio and John Campbell are guarded and protected by a group of elite French agents with unknown affiliations. The safehouse they are staying in is located at the top of one of the small hills in the countryside where you can everything around you. The French agents are armed with rifles and pistols and are prepared for any attacks and threats that would harm the two. Everywhere around the safehouse is just plain grass so the guards can see any people approaching the house in a distance.

Both Gregorio and John Campbell have suspicions that these French agents are following the orders of Princess Charlotte. The treatment they received are fine and human but they are both kept here like a prisoner because they can’t leave the premises of the safehouse. They can’t even personally contact their relatives and acquaintances back home. Both feel agitated and uncomfortable due to being stuck here for days and their families would be worried sick about their unknown condition.

“John… what would we do now? We are stuck here for days. I need to contact my colleagues that I’m still alive.”

“Yeah… me too but they would not let us out on the premises. There are dozens of them here guarding our actions. We can’t escape in this situation.”

“But I need to contact my colleagues in other places here in Europe that our team in Paris is compromised. I need to warn them, especially those who are in Germany and Spain.”

“I had just talked with the guards. They said that we could write letters and they would mail it personally but only in Europe.”

“Really… but how about you? Your family is in Canada and they said that only in Europe.”

“I know. I’m just going to send the mail to our branch office in Great Britain. They can just forward it to my family. By the way, what excuse would you say to your colleagues?”

“I think I will just write that I’m currently hiding in France and when the coast is clear I’ll return back to the Philippines. How about you? Maybe you can’t even celebrate Christmas with your family and daughters.”

“Yeah… it’s really sad and painful to celebrate Christmas away from our loved ones. Ever since I had this second chance at life, this would be the first Christmas that I didn’t celebrate with my family.”

“Ohhh… really? I’m sorry that you have been involved in my troubles and now you are far from your family.”

“It’s no problem. How about you? How’s your family in this world?”

“Uhhh… my family…”

Gregorio had a hard time deciding and seems uncertain to share with John his life story. When John sense that Gregorio is not ready to talk about this, tries to talk about something else.

“Gregorio, can you still remember your past life.”

“Uhhmm… Yes.”

“How about Christmas? Where do you celebrate Christmas, in above cities or underground?”

“We celebrate in the above cities every Christmas. It is the only time in the year we leave the underground and splurge the extra income that year.”

“Me too… You know… I work as a space shuttle engineer at Kramp Corporation. I had even traveled to the orbit six times.”

**NOTE: The Space shuttle engineer here is the one who engineered space ships and shuttles in the 22^nd century. The Human race had reached the level where people can freely travel to space but it is expensive though. Also, the world is in ruin due to global warming and pollution**

Gregorio is shocked when he heard that John Campbell was a space shuttle engineer in their previous life. He knew that the Kramp Corporation is the largest and the best company in producing space shuttles and fleets, just being an ordinary worker means that the person earns above average salary and can live in the above cities. He was just a normal pod technician and lives mostly in the underground cities of all his life. He even needs to save money all year so that he can travel and relax on a holiday trip in the above cities.

**NOTE: The pod I mean here is those pods in sci-fi and futuristic setting. Like an egg-shaped chamber where a person can stay**

But Gregorio sees that John Campbell’s expression is not happy but somewhat bitter.

“You may think that I’m successful because I work and live in the above cities, but it is not all rainbows and sunshine. Because of being busy and overworking, I barely had time to enjoy my spare time and enjoyments. I can still clearly remember when I become old that I was just alone, with no wife and no family that had taken care of me. It was a somewhat bitter end for me. That’s why after having this chance, I pursue a peaceful and simple life, started a family, and made a business.”

“John…”

“You don’t need to pity my past self. In this life, I was living a fulfilling life. How about you?”

“I’m just a regular pod technician in the underground cities in Brazil. I’m also a bachelor like you… hahaha…”

“I heard that the underground cities in Brazil have the best pod technicians in the world.”

“Yeah… that’s what the people said. But I think the Japanese had the best creations in all fields, their combat suits are even better than the German ones.”

They both reminisce about their experiences and learnings in past lives. Contemplating whether they had made amends of their regrets before.

“Gregorio, do you think that what happened in our past life would also be the future of this world?”

“I hope not. This is the first time I had seen a lot of trees and nature. The creatures like elephants and alligators that I had only seen on the Global Web are plenty in this world. I was really amazed the first time I see the forests in my hometown in the Philippines. We don’t even need to buy oxygen pods so that we can breathe fresh air. We can also eat natural and fresh fruit instead of the artificial ones we had.”

“Yes, I know. I was very thankful to whoever sent us here and give us a second life, to make us experience this kind of world. So at least to do my part in preserving this world, I started the initiative in my company to pioneer the creation of solar panels.”

“Really? That’s good news… If ever I would also succeed in making the Philippines an independent nation then I would also implement laws that would protect our environment.”

The two continue talking until the sun is starting to set. They both look towards the setting sun and are thankful that they experience such a beautiful view in their lives. In moments like this, both men feel that everything that they had done in life, past and now, is worth it.