Timeshare (FP short story)

Timeshare was the eleventh story in The Book of the Enemy. It was told in first person perspective by an anonymous female narrator.

Summary
The Narrator, drunk in a hotel lobby, sees that a presentation and wanders over. She heads in and feels like she has a weird PowerPoint presentation inside her head, advertising a timeshare, for any time you want. Looking around she sees strange people, thinks she must be more drunk than she realizes, but comes around to the idea, that even on her salary, getting a vacation home and not having to spend money on hotels, just the upkeep fee, might be a good deal. So she decides to sign up.

Two weeks later, the Narrator gets their credit card bill and can't remember buying the timeshare. She can't find contact details for them online. She finds the contract in her apartment, to 1300-1350 Playa Tenochtitlan, Mexico. She finds language in the contract she just doesn't understand.


 * "The purchaser of the timeshare property [the owner] shall be at liberty to undertake any and all commercial development of the timeshare [the property], without let or hindrance save that which may transpire by virtue of the nature of the property itself. [...] Historic Opportunities Inc. [the vendor] is not liable for any or all consequences of said development, including, but not limited to, industrial action, tribal unrest, environmental disaster, war, famine, or historical anomaly’."

Eventually she finds a location for an office, a town not too far away. She drives there, and complains that she made the decision while drunk, and shouldn't be held to the contract as such. The Sales Rep asks if before she makes up her mind if she wants to see the property first. Thinking that she has nothing to lose, she agrees, walks with him through a door in the back of the office and emerges on a beach near a jungle and village.

As she walks around, exploring, before finding some natives, as someone is sacrificed on an altar and their heart is ripped out of their chest. She vomits at this, which alerts the natives to her presence. She's chased, and almost caught, before a member of the Great Houses intervenes. He says that she doesn't belong here and attempts to send her back, but the sales rep intervenes, saying that she bought a share of time. This era is protected by the Accord, so she doesn't have to worry about the war between the sales rep and the other person.

The homeworlder criticizes him for acting, for wantonly intervening without considering the consequences. But this is shrugged off as better than doing nothing. The Narrator, while this bickering is continuing, considers the option of returning the rights to the sales rep, but when asked about the refund, he says that there wouldn't be one, even if she returned the property to their agency. Naturally, she declines.

Two years later, she's set up a house in her timeshare, with internet access, and has the locals working for her at competitive rates, making furniture, jewelry and clothing, which she then sells in the modern day.

Characters

 * Narrator (Timeshare)
 * Sales Rep (Timeshare)

Continuity
to be added