Three Months Later – Rural New Zealand
The cottage had no internet connection.
Aria Sarah Chen now had to remind herself of that every morning when she instinctively reached for devices that no longer existed in their lives.
She stood at the kitchen window, watching Marcus Michael tend the small garden behind their rented property. His hands, once used for groundbreaking genetic research, now pulled weeds and planted vegetables.
"Coffee's ready," she called out, her voice still sounding strange with the slight accent they'd adopted. Not quite American, not quite local. Just different enough.
Marcus came inside, dirt under his fingernails, his hair longer than he'd ever worn it before. He looked like a different person.
He was a different person.
"Emma still asleep?" he asked, using
