SWNOVELS Chapter 9: Taking Off to Jerusalem.
A few weeks later, I had graduated high school, passing my final exams with an HSC mark of 99.95%: the highest score possible. It had been an easy task for me, as I was born with unique abilities granted by the True Maker. I was blessed with heightened intelligence, telepathy, and foresight. I would have scored 100.00%, if the computer system that generates gradings in Australia had been set up to do so. While I didn’t particularly care about the result myself, I was happy that my results gave pride and joy for my humble parents.
I arrived at the airport where my mum, dad, Eric, and his girlfriend Lindsey came by to wish me safe travels to Jerusalem. In a way, it felt silly that they all came to wish me safe travels, as I only planned to stay away for a couple of weeks. But I knew the reason: they all feared that I wouldn’t come back. I couldn’t blame them for this, going to Jerusalem was dangerous, but I was glad that they kept up a happy façade. I had experienced enough emotional talk from Mum and Dad, over the last few weeks, being a naïve and sappy 18-year old girl.
Another thing that made me happy, was that Eric and Lindsey had found each other, after the incident at Joshua’s party. This was important for me, as that meant that the terrible things that happened at the party weren’t for nothing. At least something good had come out of it. Eric looked happy with Lindsey, and I predicted that they will share a long and happy life together. I couldn’t be certain. as there were too many variables in life. They said that the only certainty in life was death, but even that rule could be bent. I had died fighting Rangda, and yet here I was, in another era, with different people around me, who love me for who I am.
As I walked towards the passport control, my mum came after me, and hugged me with tears in her eyes. “I wish that I could come with you,” Ellen said.
“You can’t go with me now. But let’s go together next year, when the balance of the universe is restored, and peace reigns in the Holy City.” I said,
Hearing this, John looked dumbfounded and spoke, “But what can change in one year? Aren’t you going there for study and school projects?”
“Everything!” I replied and smiled.
After that, I hugged everyone and walked past the line indicating that I was in the international terminal. There were no passport controls anymore, as everyone on Earth was linked to a global database by 2037. Airports had facial recognition cameras and biometric data collectors to determine everyone’s identity. It was safer than the previous passport controls, as passports were easier to forge than the global travel database was to hack.
I walked to my gate, and I felt a bit of shame. I had spent the last few weeks trading and I had made a lot of money, over $200,000. I had initially set out to travel with $20,000, but now I had over $200,000 in my account. Despite having more than I needed, I felt the urge to open my trading account and do some more trades. I decided to test myself. I intentionally bought the wrong stocks and lost one thousand dollars. What did I feel about this? I didn’t feel much at all. The lack of attachment to money was a relief to me, and it meant that greed hadn’t taken a firm grip on me yet.
Suddenly, I was gripped by an unnerving thought: What if things went wrong in Jerusalem and I needed a way out? I realised that I was better off dividing my money into several accounts in case of an emergency. The best way to ensure that I had money available for an emergency, was to open an emergency account. I stashed some of my money into a universal cryptocurrency account. I decided that SplitCoin was my best option, and I deposited half of my money into an encrypted SplitCoin account.
I turned off my phone and walked on Orbit Flight 55222 to Tel Aviv. Orbit Flight were aeroplanes that resembled spacecraft. They flew at a higher altitude than regular planes. Cruising at 30,000 metres, they faced minimal air resistance, and they could reach a top speed of Mach 5. This reduced the maximum travel time to anywhere on Earth to under 6 hours. The tickets were costly compared to regular flight tickets, but with my newfound talents in trading, I could afford them. When I got on the flight, I was offered a glass of champagne, and I accepted it. I finished the drink and fell asleep in the comfortable leather armchair.