Chronicles From The Future: The amazing story of Paul Amadeus Dienach

I turned and clearly saw a very wide strip of water even from this far away. Had these shrewd people then changed the entire continental map? No river of this size had ever existed in these latitudes in my time! But Stefan told me that the Silea did not only belong to southern Europe and that it ended here after a long meandering, starting from the Mont Blanc in Savoy.

One of the oldest symbols of technological and economic consortium and political cooperation in Europe, the Silea passes through a number of countries and its waterfalls, dams and artificial bends—since it is an artificial river to begin with—had once given the peoples of Europe great prosperity thanks to the immense production of hydropower that supplied the entire continent for more than a century.

Later the discovery of new, significant energy sources undermined the importance of the Silea, at least as a source of energy. Nevertheless, in the hearts of the Europeans, the moral and political significance of its construction, its smooth operation for about a 130 years as well as its overall contribution stands as a reminder of the cooperation and solidarity that replaced the strife between nations, a symbol of the survival of the spirit of Altekirchen and of the importance of its articles of association, with the Charter of Nations being the emblem of the first, original, federal union of the Europeans.

And so the Silea remains intact, with its ports, its bridges and its stations of the Paneuropean Hydroelectric Energy Consortium—now of historical importance only—still located on the outskirts of the cities that the super-river runs through.

Wonderful colourful balconies decorated with all sorts of flowers continue to impress you for hundreds of kilometres, hanging above the bronze statues of the pioneers of the original federation: Milstone, Grueberg, Rickenmat, Vergina, and the hero and martyr Gustav Siovogia, who didn’t get to see his vision realised since he succumbed to the pressure too early and, one autumn night, tore his chest open with his own hands and died betrayed, persecuted and isolated.

We crossed the inconceivably long and wide Silea bridges once or twice. Thousands of people were gathered on the incredibly wide pavements of the bridges, either sitting on benches and talking or leaning on the railings and gazing at the water beneath them.

From the Albielle bridge, while staring far into the distance, along with the crowds of linsens

that were ahead, for the first time I saw quite a few ancient small, hovering boats meant for private use- which looked like they had been plucked from very old garages or museums—flying velos and amphibian tricycles, wingless nano-helicopters, incredible vigiozas with old style turbines and all sorts of other comic flying vehicles that were trying hard to keep up with the newer and quicker linsens.

No matter how many times Stefan has reassured me that the transparency of the Forening—a kind of consortium or partnership—is solidly established and that the cooperative associations of the partners are guarantors of the safety of its products, I have unintentionally come to believe that even these perfect times may have some weaknesses. Those

Cives—and they are many—who travel in such vehicles must either be capricious or unfairly treated, temporarily at least, by the Forening distributions, having to wait patiently for quite a while in order to get the vehicles that they deserve, vehicles that the rest of the Cives already possess.

The night had already fallen when the Silea, after an absence of half an hour, reappeared in front of us, illuminated, at the turn of the road. Only the night-time hours do justice to the true beauty of this river. “At this time of day, the Silea gains the sanctity of the Ganges in our eyes; we see it as the sacred river of Europe,” said Stefan.

Apulia, Erika, Terranova, Rodope, Great Poplar, Emerita, Fata Azzura, Teskera, Nydelfia, Egeria, Villafranca, Filiatura: dreamy outskirts of the Valley filled with Mindre Skoles (their primary schools), Vilenthens (their secondary schools), historical and ethnological museums, planetariums, conservatories and institutes, “serenity centres”, lecture venues, libraries and study rooms, temples, complexes of hermitages and huge amphitheatres. The greater surroundings of the Valley create an incredible spiritual atmosphere.

Stefan was striving to inform me about the history of each of these wonders and explain their deeper meaning to me as well as he could. He never left my side and didn’t stop answering my questions—even questions that I hadn’t asked yet. I noticed that he never once spoke to our friends. But they weren’t talking to each other either; they were both focused on their thoughts.