The hole in the time space continuum was causing all sorts of trouble, including the relocation of major landmarks. For example, Ben Nevis had shifted 250 miles south to Manchester city centre, bringing with it a microclimate of streaked wispy black cloud, occasional brilliant sunny spells, and circular rainbows. At dawn each day keen photographers raced to the summit of Britain’s highest mountain to capture the best shots of the crags and the city through the mist and coloured arcs, just as the sun was rising. They were joined by brave snowboarders who launched themselves into the air from the highest peaks for an exhilarating ride back down to town, surfing the atmospheric thermals.
On this particular morning I glanced skywards and considered photographing the silhouettes of the photographers at Ben Nevis’ summit, or those of the snowboarders tumbling through the air back into town. However, I was due at the London offices of the British Council and needed to get going, especially since I had been warned that my journey was likely to be delayed by crowds of long-sighted pensioners attending a massive conference in a neighbouring building. So I left the marvellous scenes in Manchester city centre and headed south to the capital.
I arrived at my destination bang on time, at 09:00, but where was everyone else? As far as I could tell only Greg (a British Council employee) was there for our meeting. All the other people milling around reception were Chinese and signed up for an event about the future of Singapore. I followed Greg up the stairs and he pointed out our (empty) meeting room.
The board room next door, however, was full of familiar faces. AM invited me in, assuming that I was a member of the judging panel for the Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Award. Just as I was saying how sorry I was that my duties lay elsewhere, I finally spotted the other members of my own committee. They were all carrying big blue folders of instructions for the day. When I asked where I would find a copy for myself, one of them replied snootily that I should have turned up on time and collected one at the 09:00 meeting, just like everyone else. It was only then that we discovered that the hole in the time space continuum had been causing havoc with my wristwatch. When my watch displayed 09:00, I thought it said 07:00, but in reality it was 10:15! So I wasn’t late, but a victim of chronology change.
Meanwhile TPR was experimenting with other aspects of this new world. Using high spec computers it was possible to project images of faraway locations onto existing landscapes and then enter them. TPR set up the system for me to test. For a while I played in the snow in semi-rural London from the sixteenth century, and straight afterwards I sunned myself on a beach in Thailand. This new world had its advantages after all.
