Arthur Jones was born in London on the 7th of April 1870. He lived with is mother in a very small house in the impoverished parts of London . His dad died before he was born. Arthur was socially awkward, so he had trouble integrating with the other children.

When he was 13, he developed an odd fixation with death. It started with the ants that crawled by his tiny window. He would squish them on the walls and watch them struggle, moving their antennae until they died.

The fixation soon moved to butterflies. He’d rip off one wing and watch it flutter about before it finally died. It was at this stage that he realised he enjoyed mutilating their body parts.

It soon graduated from insects to animals. Mutilating them became a favourite pastime for him.

When he was 18, he met Mary Ann. She asked him for directions. He had never seen anyone quite like her. She was beautiful. He escorted her to the store without saying a single word. He couldn’t even if he had wanted to. He had become even more socially awkward. They struck up an acquaintance over time and his chest felt warm when he thought about her. This must be the “love” emotion he had heard about.

On August 30th 1888. He met up with Mary Ann and told her how he felt about her. She was surprised. She looked at him, held his hands and said

“Oh Arthur, I don’t feel that way about you.”

Blood rushed to his cheeks. His body became warm with anger, embarrassment and rejection. He scurried away without saying a word back to her. When he got to his room he curled up in the corner of his room. He tried to make sense of the various emotions he was feeling. He knew he was angry but he couldn’t make sense of the others. All he knew was that they were unpleasant he didn’t want to feel that way anymore. He got up, grabbed his leather apron and his 6 inch knife wrapped in an old rag. The knife was stained with the remnants of animal blood that he couldn’t wash of. His favourite pastime should help him get over the anger and other emotions he felt. He walked to a dingy alley where there were a few strays and lured one of the stray dogs with food. He rubbed the dogs head soothingly as it ate. Just as he was about to unwrap the knife from the rag, he was startled by a woman’s shrill voice

“What are you doing?” a middle aged woman asked him

“Nothing, just feeding the dog.” he mumbled in response

“Mary Ann? Mary Ann! where are You?”

“I’m coming Adelia. I’ll catch up with you soon.”

“OK, Adelaide and I are going ahead. “

When Arthur heard the name Mary Ann all the emotions he wanted to forget came rushing to the surface. He unwrapped the knife and lunged at her, slashing her throat twice. She gurgled and choked on her blood. Her body spasmed and fell. The dog barked and ran out of the alley. He got on his knees and slashed open her abdomen as well. He knew he didn’t have time to mutilate her any further like he did to the animals. But it was thrilling. It felt better than hurting animals. He wanted to do it again, but for now he needed to get out of there before anyone got there.

He killed 4 other women in the same manner earning the nickname ‘The Leather Apron’ from eyewitnesses accounts of him. After his 5th victim he disappeared without a trace and was never heard from again.

One minute we weren't.

The next minute we were.

We weren't sure why we were here. At ten pm every night, we try to piece together our history. And over the centuries, we found out there was a time warp that had flung us a thousand years into the future.

We didn't know if there were any other countries here because the boundaries of this world were surrounded by a dark wall of zeros and ones that we couldn't get through. Everyday, we received a video about the old world. We have not successfully traced the origins of the videos or why they come at that specific time.

***

New world - Melog, 3105.

I was seated on the red velvet pillow cushion beside my mothers leg. My grandad was flexing his elbow hinge to check if it needed oiling. The smooth hum from his elbow suggested otherwise. My eyes moved to the digital clock on the wall. It was 9:57 pm.

I reached out, grabbed the USB cord and inserted it into the jack on the back of my hand. I was a 4th generation model –the newest version– so my jack was at a more convenient place. My grandad, who was a 2nd generation model, had his jack on his lower back.

Most of my family were part of the Hua models, a very advanced version of people. My mother was the only exception. She belonged to the Jì models; they were two thirds robot and the most advanced. With the Hua and Jì model combination running generations in our family, we ensured we remained a part of the upper echelon of society.

My mom helped my grandpa insert the USB into his lower back. Then helped my dad with his on his neck before she inserted hers into her fingertip. I glanced at the time again. It was 9: 59pm.

Every night at ten o'clock the lights go out and everyone on in this new world shuts down immediately. And then the video from the old world is played. I heard our antique grandfather clock from the old world chime once before everything went black momentarily. After a minute, a video about the old world faded into my vision.

The year was 2045, the scenery from the old world looked so different from Melog. The president was in the middle of a national speech. It was televised live on a boxed up screen. Very similar to the screens we use.

The people of the old world looked very different from us. They were completely human. Ew.

The president was dressed in a suit that seemed a bit too hot for the weather. His grey hair was twisted on top of his head. The sides, completely shaved. He licked his lips and adjusted the microphone.

" ... and the only thing that is constant is change. With that knowledge in mind, I'd like you all to keep an open mind about my next statement."

There was a pregnant pause.

“We promised you a transparent government, and to make good on our promise to give you that, I'm informing you that we're transferring the power of the government of Garna to the Chaiknees."

He loosened the blue tie around his neck.

"We signed an agreement for them to help us reduce our cost of living and in exchange, we provide them with a space for their robotics test run.”

There was a very heavy stillness that followed as everyone took in what their president said.

It seemed like we had finally found an important piece in our history's puzzle.