"It really is," he gave a short laugh. "I traveled a lot before I wound up here, but even all the things I saw around the world couldn't really prepare me for this time and place." He hadn't meant to shock or surprise Endrance all that much. Maybe it was better not to mention the boy he'd met at breakfast that claimed to be from not just a couple hundred years in the future, but four thousand! He still had trouble wrapping his mind around that one.

"I don't think anyone knows for sure. Since people come from all times and places and even mm... versions of Earth that should be the same, but are different, you know?"