16th September 2011
09:21 GMT
So this is Britain.
Amazing how fast things can move when someone in authority wants them to.
Kryptonian technology isn't something that humans can just
make; even now we're centuries behind what they were able to make towards the end. And a lot of the more remote places… I imagine that they're much the same. But here in London, I wouldn't know it was the same country.
Aside from anything else, the trains run on time. And all the union officials got shot.
Overman regards me curiously. Which is probably the most open expression I've seen him use in my presence. I suppose that with just the two of us here he doesn't feel the need to play a role quite so much.
"How does it seem to you?"
The old parliament building was annihilated during Operation Sea Lion, absolutely levelled in a demonstration that there are some situations where you can't just keep calm and carry on. Once Prince Edward was reinstalled as King Edward VII, and… The immediate occupation ended, the country obviously needed a new centre of government.
It's… Not the Mother of Parliaments.
The old building was gothic. And I feel mildly bad for not remembering who designed it, but it came to being after the Great Fire of London destroyed the previous one. And I seem to remember that they celebrated the fire as providing a tremendous opportunity for architecture, so maybe I shouldn't feel quite so bad for forgetting their name. The new thing looks a bit Greek, a bit Roman, and a lot German.
"Did Adolf Hitler have any actual involvement in the design?"
"He looked at it once. By that time, he had begun to use amphetamines and his ability to command fine details was weakened."
"He took more than amphetamines in my timeline."
"By the end, he took more than amphetamines here as well. Conquering the world is easy when you have overwhelming power. Controlling the world was not so easy."
Which is why the Kingdom of Britain exists. It actually kept most of its pre-war territory, though the nature of that rule changed somewhat. And the government…
"Did they actually kill
Baden-Powell?"
"I do not know that name."
"He was the man who invented the Scouts' Association, what Hitler based the Hitler Youth on. There's a funny story about an exchange the two organisations did before the war, actually. In an attempt to promote peace between Britain and Germany, he arranged for a platoon of ten year old boys from the Scout movement in Britain to go to Germany and stay with the families of Hitler Youth boys. They spent a summer learning about German culture, doing outdoors exercises… Normal youth group stuff. Then the next year the Hitler Youth sent a platoon of boys to Britain. Sixteen and seventeen year old boys who spent the summer bicycling around Britain drawing maps!"
He gives me an awkward smile.
"Did that really happen?"
"
I've probably gotten some of the details wrong." I breathe out. "Okay, post war, Britain made a huge effort to attract people from the colonies to come and live in Britain. I'm going to assume that didn't happen here."
"British colonists returned from places awarded to Germany's allies."
"Ah, no. I meant black people from British territories in the Caribbean."
The awkward smile dies.
"No. That did not happen here."
I look down at the streets from our balcony on the up of the parliament building. Yeah, no… Non-white people. That wouldn't be too strange somewhere like Leonard Stanley, but immigrant communities in the post-War period generally went to live in major industrial cities. Even today… 'Today', people who can trace their descent from those immigrants are far more common in cities. This is
weird for London. I mean, I didn't pick up on it immediately when I visited Eastbourne. The lack of Eastern Europeans would be more obvious
there-.
Yes, that… That wouldn't have happened here either.
I
think that the clothing is more conservative, but this is September in Britain. And it's not as if I knew anything about London fashion before I came here. The cars are all electronic, running quietly along well-ordered roads. No… Swastikas or anything like that, but there are a few touches which suggest… I don't know, that there was a bit of an 'Imperium chic' trend a while ago.
"What about..? India? I thought that people from that part of the world were officially okay."
"During the Chinese campaign, Germany was stretched thin due to the manpower required to hold its European territory. The Fuhrer authorised the use of biological weapons. Unfortunately-." He closes his eyes for a moment, takes a deep breath and huffs it out. "No. It was not a matter of fortune. The genetic elements which the organism targeted were shared between the Chinese and the majority of brown-skinned Indians. There are some who were more genetically similar to the people of the Middle East, but a large part of India was depopulated."
"Who lives there now?"
"Some people who survived in remote areas. Colonists from Britain, and other places. It is a… I do not remember the word in Englisch. A political entity which manages its internal affairs but is ruled by the King of Britain."
"
Dominion?"
"If that is the word."
I suppose that with all of the natives dead, there would be more cultural commonality between Britain and India. The same religion, the same customs, and therefore no particular desire to be… Independent, but… That could be said of the United States of America as well, and look what happened there.
"Well, it's more advanced, obviously. The people as a whole are different. I imagine that they're taught German in schools?"
"Yes. Does that not happen in your timeline?"
"Ich kann nicht Deutsch gesprechen."
"That is not correct-. Ah, I see."
"It gets taught, but it's three hours a week from twelve to sixteen. And that's if you don't do French or Spanish instead. Beyond that, I can't really tell you until I've had a chance to experience a little more of modern Britain."
He nods.
"I have spoken with the editor of Die Tägliche Welt. He has agreed to sponsor your writing, though the censors are more strict in Germany than they are here. Also, a gift from me, for your birthday."
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a watch, offering it to me.
"It will never run out of battery power, it will work in extreme environments and it emits a sound that will allow me to find you." I take it from him and wrap it around my left wrist. "It also has an alarm function which will allow you to alert me if your life is threatened, though I will ask you to only use that if there is genuine need. Calls on my time are many."
"Thank you, and I'll try not to end up in peril. You know where I am if you need someone to bounce ideas off."
"Yes. Have a good day."
He looks up, and then shoots up into the sky. I watch him go as he gets smaller and smaller before vanishing from my sight, though I know perfectly well that he could still see me. And hear me, of course.
The official escort who had been hanging back while we spoke begin walking towards me. I get a small flat and a job as a journalist -and apparently as his Jimmy Olsen- and he gets to talk to someone who
gets it. I suppose this is as good a life as I can reasonably expect, given the circumstances.
I shrug, and walk towards the functionaries, singing quietly to myself as I do so.
"
Es gibt ein Haus in Neu-Berlin,
man nennt es Haus Abendrot.
Es war der Ruin vieler guter Jungs,
von mir, mein Gott litt ich Not."
...Wait, is that... "The Daily World"? Oh, don't tell me...
