Father - Evgeny Markin (49 years old)

Son - Ragnar Markin (9 years old)

Daughter - Helga Markina (10 years old)

Nizhny Novgorod, 2049.

Kids, do you want to know what 2039 was like for me back in 2019? - father.

Your tall tales again? - son.

Wait, what if it's interesting? Let's listen! - daughter.

Oh, stop it, Helga. What could be interesting about the past? - son.

Well, kids, I will tell you what I imagined 2039 to be like back then.

In 2019, I lived in the city of Dzerzhinsk and was a second-year student at the Dobrolyubov State Linguistic University of Nizhny Novgorod, majoring in Romance-Germanic languages with a focus on teaching French and Russian as a foreign language.

Come on, Dad. Are you really going to tell us all this? - son.

Quiet, listen! - father.

Once, I wanted to go to the USA with Anna Gabrielyan. We prepared for a very long time back then; I studied English, and she was nervous, I remember. But we tried hard and passed all our exams early with excellent grades, received permission from the consul to fly to the USA, and arrived there to work. At first, it was very difficult. We had to save a lot and look for a second job. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to earn the necessary amount. It was hard for Anna to get used to the new job. However, by the second week, we felt needed. Our mood improved. We were promoted at work for our great contribution to our companies. At the end of the summer, we went to New York. You know, it wasn't the same then as it is now... But more on that later. Anna really wanted to see everything, but it was impossible. We were at the Metropolitan Museum. Even then, I was successfully selling my paintings, guys. In New York, we were greatly inspired, and upon returning home, we started writing songs and painting. In 2019, life was bustling on the streets of megacities. Back then, the problem of environmental pollution was acute. Scientists believed that oil would last for half a century. They didn't know yet...

Dad, can I make a call? - son.

Sit and listen. - father.

There was a lot of injustice in the world. There were wars back then. You can't even imagine, but there were borders and states!

What? - son.

Exactly, Ragnar. Listen to my story. - father.

No way! - daughter.

In 2019, there were various activists calling for solving current problems in society.

But aren't there any now? - son.

You're right. - father.

Back then, sitting in my small world and having a small circle of friends, classmates, and colleagues, I imagined 2039 with flying cars, new fashion, new medicines for diseases and, consequently, new diseases; I thought that people would not find a solution to global problems. I thought that people would continue to fight for resources, of which very little remained. It seemed to me that a serious crisis would occur in the world and many programs for young people aimed at development, including gaining experience and connections, would soon cease to exist. In short, the world would plunge into chaos. Despite my pessimistic forecasts, as early as 2025, if they told you about this in your primary corps of the inter-civilizational secondary educational institution, people flew to Mars. And in 2030, other intelligent life forms that reached level Y contacted our civilization for the first time.

This boring story again, Dad. - daughter.

Sorry, kids. So, already in 2031, the first peace agreement on mutual cooperation and development was signed between different civilizations of the Universe. It gave us a lot, remember? For example, we received an alternative energy source and can now fly throughout the Universe in 10 dimensions, although on Earth we used to live only in the third dimension. I remember everyone thought then that the fourth dimension would make it possible to control time. How far we were from the truth, friends! It is possible that there are more dimensions! Let's return to the story. I had known about the International Exchange Center since 2015, when my acquaintances went to the USA through the Work and Travel program.

What? Is this center 34 years old? - son.

No, Ragnar. The founding date of the International Exchange Center: 1989. That means it's already 60 years old! - father.

So, back then, in 2019, their office was near my university, on the 7th floor at the address: 26 Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street. Even then, they had pleasant specialists who conducted briefings, told us about the most profitable offers, and helped with a comfortable trip to the USA. Kids, back then, to go abroad, you had to get a passport, sign a bunch of contracts, and get various permits. And I couldn't imagine how everything would change in 2039. In 2032, something incredible happened, kids!

Yes, yes, we already know, Daddy. The world has changed. World powers have signed many treaties. - daughter.

Exactly, Helga. - father.

In 2032, countries agreed to unite into a Single Independent State of planet Earth! In May 2032, the leaders of all countries abolished borders between states, creating one parliament consisting of two chambers, like in Russia in 2019, and appointed one president, who was elected by universal Earth elections every 5 years. This made it possible to travel without restrictions! In 2033, at the Universal Assembly of Inter-civilizational Relations, a special commission arrived on planet Earth, which helped to resolve many global problems. People began to feel happy. They stopped fighting. Everyone began to value each other, put themselves in someone else's place, love and respect everyone and everything that exists in the Universe. However, already in 2034, everything changed. Perhaps human nature cannot be changed. Social problems returned, but began to hit in a different key. I don't want to talk about it. How has the International Exchange Center changed from 2019 to 2039? Do you want to know, kids?

Dad, let me go, please. I want to fly on my quadrigelecyolet to France, to a friend. We agreed to meet at 49 hours minus 12 minutes 9 viscunt. - son.

Ragnar, be patient. The current generation is not what it was 30 years ago. - father.

Okay, we're listening. - son.

Until 2029, the International Exchange Center successfully helped young people gain work experience and travel abroad. Then there was a crisis. The centers began to close. The last Earth war began. In 2030, Earthlings reached the Universal level of development Y and our current friends contacted us. Other life forms really liked the idea of reopening international exchange centers, but at the Universal level. Since then, everyone could get to any time, dimension, galaxy, to any planet, country, zya, kvao, and mao. With the arrival of the New Era, a new energy source also arrived. In one year from 2033 to 2034, people were helped to master new technologies, including travel technologies. In every new inter-civilizational exchange center, there are now terminals for paying for tickets to any point with the NNobmenGALAXY2.0 teleport. Being in my small world of 2019, I couldn't imagine such a thing! I didn't know how to fuel a teleport with dark matter and buy tickets at terminals. In 2037, a training class for learning new Universal languages opened in every center. Now, inter-civilizational exchange centers are staffed by, as they would have said before, aliens. They consult on profitable offers in other parts of the Universe, they teach languages alongside humans, they show everything, starting from the simplest - fueling a teleport with matter, and ending with repairing cruisers in difficult space conditions. In 2039, the Inter-civilizational Exchange Center began preparing to open branches throughout the Universe. At the end of the year, the branches began operating.

Over these 30 years, I managed to travel around the world, create a family, and have two wonderful children like you. It is now 2049, and I am glad that you are who you are now, my little ones. I managed to become the first president of the Single Independent State of planet Earth. Anna now works in the upper house of our parliament, heading the Ministry of Inter-civilizational Relations, although she wanted to become an English teacher at our school. The International Exchange Center has been through a lot. Both ups and downs. Taking its origins from its creation in 1989, it survived the crisis, but soared, becoming the Center for Inter-civilizational Exchange!

Dad, thank you for the wonderful story! - daughter.

It really was interesting. - son.

Then the alarm clock rang and I wrote all this, thank you. December 10, 2019.

Author's notes:

1. Level Y - stages of development of planetary populations. There are: A.B.C.D.E.F.G.H.I.J.K.L.M.N.O.P.Q.R.S.T.U.V.W.X.Y.Z

2. Quadrigelecyolet - a light flying ship powered by a new alternative energy. You can get a license for it from the age of 7.

3. Viscunt - 9999999999.9999999999999 fraction of a second in the 4th dimension.

4. Zya, kvao, and mao - new forms of social organization for 2019. By 2039, there are no states in some parts of the Universe.

5. NNobmenGALAXY2.0 teleport - a teleport named after the International Exchange Center of the city of Nizhny Novgorod, version 2. It runs on dark matter. The principle is simple, like in a printer. The teleport has cartridges. The teleport was developed using extraterrestrial technologies based on the Nizhny Novgorod Inter-civilizational Exchange Center.