She spent half an hour in Alexandria, observing the clothes the people wore, their faces, their hair styles and expressions and ways of moving. Some of the outfits attracted her. Others were positively puritanical—in a slinky sort of way. One of the most popular styles at the time of the record, for women, was an opaque robe—usually in pink or dusty orange—with hood, capped by a small crimson disk of some feathery material. Some women wore hexagonal blue designs on their left shoulder blades—

("?"

(For information on insignia of office and rank, positively and silently vocalize the following code string. . . . )

—and others red ribbons draped over the right shoulder, terminating in gold beads. Men's clothing was no less flamboyant, or somber; the distinctions seemed to point up sexual attitudes quite different from those in her time, her world.

She heard them speaking. It was a peculiar speech, resembling Welsh but occasionally understandable as English or French.

("What language did you—this unit—speak to me, and how did you know?"

(Late twenty-first-century English, the earliest accessible without specific code, selected because of your conversation before access to data.)

While ethnic populations still retained versions of their mother tongues, many of the languages had mutated into a common tongue—though she was informed subliminally that fashions in language were much more variable over shorter periods of time. Rapid changes were possible because learning had been accelerated by tutorial devices such as those in the library. One could learn any new language or variation in a few hours, or mere minutes.

For the written languages she understood, many of the spellings had been simplified or—paradoxically—made more complex. Had there been a time when flowery spelling was in vogue?

(This is the famous Nader Plaza, which won awards for architectural excellence before the Thistledown vessel left Earth behind. . . . )

She listened attentively, completely lost in the experience. Some men wore kilt-like skirts and unyoked sleeves, others wore business suits that would not have been out of place in twenty-first-century Los Angeles. Shoes seemed to have gone completely out of fashion, perhaps because automated sanitation kept everything spotless.

(What about social deviation? Ghettos and tenements?)

The scene shifted dizzily.

(Social unease in Alexandria and the rest of the Stone is not unknown. Certain districts have been kept free of constant city maintenance. The citizens living in these districts have chosen to avoid all modern conveniences, and shirk any equipment invented after the twentieth century. Their wishes are strictly observed; they are often honored citizens, and they are entitled to their belief that technology led to the Death, and that God wishes us to live with no supports not mentioned in the works of the Gentle Nader and his Apostles of the Mountain.)