Martin and his AI, Artie, are in ancient Carthage, a few centuries after their second escapade. Seems like they're making progress toward their future timeline, but looks can be deceiving.
Perfection, of any kind, was an error.

Variants

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  1. “Whending My Way Back Home” by Bill Johnson, in Analog, January 2017.
  2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Bill Johnson