Counterpoint.

The Traveller settled his head back on his couch. He gazed out of the observation window into the deep black void, sprinkled with pinpricks of light which stretched all the way home, then on to infinity. His replacement would arrive soon, ending his solitary tour of duty. All he wanted now was to go home and get some R and R.

He smiled at his use of Earth jargon. It amused him to think that it gave him an edge over his robot which, in tribute to his unwitting earthly hosts, he had called Passepar 2. They were leaving for a final tour of the globe, coincidental with the last day of the Christian second millennium.

Passepar 2 took the lead, monitoring and recording everything for the Traveller as it went. It became clear that present conditions were running parallel to their records of human behaviour at the end of the previous millennium. He pondered why man's sensitivity had not matched his creativity.

Across Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Africa, tribal customs and spiritual doctrines still segregated the teeming millions. Stark contrasts remained between slums and palaces. Only a privileged few in cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Delhi and Durban celebrated, emulating their far west cousins. For the vast majority, the day was as unremarkable and unremitting as any other. Despite being "of the faith", most Australasians were not to be deflected from their worship of the outdoors and of their insides. The event extended their celebrations.

Although the majority of South Americans were poor, a simple faith seemed to help them cope, and as now, submerge social differences in joyful carnival. If North Americans couldn't claim to have created the event, they gave the impression of having bought the rights to it. Razzamattaz, garish galas and stirring rhetoric were accompanied by the turning-of-bucks. Finally, the Traveller turned to Europe and its eccentric mixture of sense and insensibility whose citizens believed themselves to be descendants of the founders of civilization. The night of January 1,2000 was cold as Passepar 2 hovered over a quiet alley in Rome, near the Trevi Fountain. In the moonlight, the cardboard shelters of the homeless glistened white with frost. The Traveller was drawn to one, in whose darkness he saw a man and woman dozing fitfully The woman snuggled her week-old babe in a shawl.

The child was wide awake and gazed, unblinking into his eyes. The Traveller, being normally invisible to man, moved slightly to be sure it really could see him. The child's eyes followed his movement. Then, it gently reached out a hand towards him, and smiled. In its eyes shone the innocence of trust, and the wisdom of time.