2001, New York

Half an hour later the four of them were sitting in a window booth, perched on tallstools around a table and tucking into double cheeseburgers and fries.

Liam’s initial reaction to the plate of food had been one of bemusement. The frieslooked like no potatoes he’d ever encountered before and the burger bun — waxy andbrown — reminded him, oddly, of varnished wood. The savoury smell wafting up, however,soon overcame him and, warily watching the others hungrily tucking in, he followed suit.

As he clumsily manhandled the well-stacked cheeseburger into his mouth, his eyes were on theintersection outside: the pulsing lights of a billboard, the busy throng of pedestrians, carsthat looked as sleek as dew drops, the neon glow from lamp posts and a sky, barely visibleabove the tower blocks, filled with the winking red and green lights of planes criss-crossingthe night sky.

‘It looks so different now,’ said Sal. ‘Justlike Mumbai. My dad brought me here on a business trip once — it was depressing. Theroads empty, and so many buildings, like, dark and empty.’

Foster nodded. ‘The year you come from, Sal — 2026 — New York was already adying city. People moved out, whole neighbourhoods were left deserted and began falling intodecay.’

Maddy finished a mouthful of burger. ‘It doesn’t look that different to me,though.’

‘That’s because right now we’re in 2001, only a few yearsbefore your time, 2010,’ Foster replied. ‘The global economic crash had onlyreally just started.’