Pilgrims
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“Do you always look upset like that?” John who suddenly came asked me curiously, breaking my daydream.

“Since I met you I kept feeling upset,” timpalku.

“Kekanak-kanak once,” John grunts. “I deliberately looked for you here, there is an important thing I want to talk about. Quickly go back to Rio's room, I'll explain there!” his orders then leave.

I walked slowly behind him while trying to get rid of all my frustration that half of it was because of my meeting with him. Half my frustration with myself. It was hard to immediately switch my negative emotions to positive ones. I need a hand.

And that help came quickly. Leon was standing in front of Rio's room when John and I got there. He put his jacket in my hand. “Wear! With that bandage on your head and that blood on your shirt, other people will keep looking at you. It may also have a hand in terms of aggravating your frustration,” he said.

It was not her words that made me instantly relax, but rather her scent. It smells like a therapeutic scent to me. Makes my nervous tension disappear and my blood flow smooth.

***

Everyone is gathered now. All eyes were on John.

“Alright, I'll start. I wanted to make everything clear first. I'm sure there's at least one of you who keeps wondering why I didn't just leave and ignore you, what's the point of financing you all while here for me? ” he paused for a moment to look at me with the tip of his eye.

“The answer is because even though I am still a child who is not even good at my country's law, I am a millionaire. The cost of living of dozens of people like you can also bear if I want to.

I developed computer software since I was fourteen, and became rich from it. Although I am not a biological or physical scientist, but like scientists in general I have a high curiosity in things that cannot be explained logically.”

Here Rio cut his talk. “You mean, you will make Maya the object of research and plan to commercialize the results?”

“Of course I wouldn't do that low. It's purely to satisfy my curiosity. I'm just curious about the phenomenon that happened to Maya. I'll make sure I don't sell any information to outsiders. Even you will benefit. Since I might be able to help you answer the questions in your mind that have been unanswered all this time,” John explains.

“What kind of information for example?” manya curious.

“Like how this all works,gg” answers “I'm sure that you've realized that you're not just moving places, but also time. I want to ask, what year are you from?”

“2020,” reply. I saw the other gazes exuding the same curiosity as me. "Another one from 2005."

“Already expected,” said John.

“What do you mean?” I'm not asking.

“I don't know why it all started yet, but you're back again. It is now 1997. And I suspect this is still not over,” he replied.

“So you mean, all this will continue?” it's not like I'm surprised by that. I had thought it would be like that, but never intentionally thought about it.

“Most likely, after all this is done, I will return to where I came from, right?” I try to be optimistic. Besides, I don't want to think too much about it, if to live tomorrow I'm not sure.

“Can be. But do not rule out the possibility, after that you say dead. Or worse, you may lose dimension and be swayed in nothingness,” he replied casually.

“So you believe that you have a solution for me?” I asked John. My voice is a little choked. I don't care what happens to me, but what about the others?

“Maybe. As long as you work together. We'll discuss it again later, after Rio's out of the hospital,” John spoke as he passed. He came out of the patient room.

Maybe he let us think and talk. Maybe he's not as thick as I thought he was. But still his haughty speaking style pisses me off.

I looked at them one tattoo. Guilt pricks my heart.

“I'm sorry,” I said sincerely.

“For what?” ask Fox flat.

“Because it took you to an undue place. Take your time,” I replied.

“You're not considering living here? At least here it will be safer than coming with me to uncertainty, ”.

“You mean, you will dump us?” ask Gabriel.

“Not so. I just don't want you guys to woe.”

“Already, already. Our decision is unanimous. We're already here. And believe it or not, no one misses us too much.” Fox cut me.

“Alright,” I replied steady.

***

It was a very bright day on the day Rio got out of the hospital. The heat made us all squint with glare as we got out of John's car in front of his house.

Rio was discharged from the hospital after a full four days. It looks fresh.

John's house is big, no wonder. When I first entered it through the front door, I couldn't believe I was in the '90s.

The equipment, decorations, and the many electronic devices operating in his house made me feel like I was in my day. He is a true tech maniac.

What is possible because living alone in this big house only accompanied by servants he ordered, making him not know how to get along well with his age.

I suspect he has no friends. Maybe that's why he took us all to live with him. After all, he was just a teenager.

I dropped myself on the nearby sofa, followed by the others. John called his servants. Three elderly Caucasian women wear identical clothing, a white shirt top and a black pair of loose trousers.

He introduced us to the three maids and told them to provide for all our needs. On John's instructions one of the servants drove us one by one to the rooms that had been provided.

I got the last room on the 2nd floor. I lay myself on a big bed. I used to feel like my room was big, but it was nothing compared to this room. It was in stark contrast, I was on a continent with many poor and hungry people but I lived in a very magnificent house.

It may sound like I'm not grateful, but I don't like extravagance. Unfortunately I have agreed to follow John's wishes while here.

John visited me for a while to tell me that I could wear the clothes he had prepared in the closet. After changing my clothes with the shirt and pants I had chosen from the closet John pointed at, I prepared to get off.

It's getting dark. We gathered in the middle room. I sat down on the empty spot beside Gabriel. John's servants served us coffee and snacks for the six of us. John, the good host, let us drink first before he spoke.

“Before I told you that I would help you all I could to get through this. From what I heard from your chat, it seems like you guys are quite able to defend yourself, so we don't need to discuss that. The obstacles that you will find later are differences in language, culture and increasingly the absence of technology at certain times. First I want to know besides English and Portuguese, what languages are you familiar with?” tanyakanya.

“China,” Gabriel replied as John stared at him as he sat at the very end.

“My neighbors are of Chinese descent, he taught me Mandarin.”

John's gaze turned to me. “Indonesia and a little German and Japanese. I learned those two foreign languages at school.”

“Spain,” says Fox briefly.

“ I can only speak English and Portuguese,” replied Rio.

“How about you?” ask John to Leon.

“There are some. Arabic, French, Spanish, Dutch, Korean, Malay, Afrikaans, Indian, and Italian,” Leon replied. “I often travel and settle a little long somewhere until the language can be kualamasai,” he explained.

I was a little surprised and amazed. Leon is the type who likes to travel, but that much language mastery is beyond my expectations.

***