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“Isn’t this exciting, Dakota?” Cavendish says. “We’re going to see the future!”
“Yeah, I’m not too excited.” Dakota admits. They watch the mechanics doing last minute adjustments. “The last two people who they tried to send forward never came back. I’m pretty sure future travel is bust.”
“That was a few years ago, and time travel has been greatly refined since then!”
“Yeah, and we’re still guinea pigs. Pretty sure we’re just getting sent because we’re not a loss if we don’t come back.” Dakota points out.
“I’m ignoring you.” Cavendish says. “Oh, they’re ready!”
They sit down in the time machine. They turn it on, following their instructions carefully. And with a jolt, their surroundings change. They change to a strange mix of green and purple.
Cavendish and Dakota don’t pay much attention. They have been to the past, plenty of times. But since their coworkers went missing, no one has been to the future. No one until them.
The time machine lands, like it always does. They step out and look around. “Whoa…” Dakota says. The buildings are huge, glowing skyscrapers. The vehicles which whiz past them are sleek, and some don’t even seem to be touching the ground. Above them is what looks like a sleek, futuristic train, except it is flying.
And everywhere they look, the letter V. On buildings, on what seem to be holographic advertisements, on vehicles and clothing. Even the phones are shaped like Vs.
“We made it! We are in the future! See, I told you!” Cavendish exclaims, gazing around in amazement.
“Yeah, you were right. I mean, this is amazing…” Dakota’s eyes are as wide as plates. “Come on, let’s look around!”
“Our mission is-“
“Our mission is to explore, so let’s do that!” Dakota grabs his hand. Cavendish can’t help but smile. They are in the future, after all.
So they get back in the time machine and start driving. Which comes with its own problems. They are so, so much slower than anyone else on the road. People who can speed straight past them, people who can’t honk.
But they are both too enamoured by the future to care. They drive for a while, until they notice a building with a sign that says ‘Danville Tourist Information’. “We could find out more about the area there.” Cavendish suggests.
The car park is filled with more sleek cars. Each have a V on them, some as obvious logos and some more subtle in the shapes of the cars. “I wonder if that’s a company logo. But it’s on everything.” Dakota says.
The door slides open as they step inside. A bright jingle alerts the woman at the desk to their arrival. “Welcome! Are you new in town?”
“Yeah.” Dakota says, a half truth. To Danville? No. To this Danville? Yes.
“You must be in town for the historical fashion convention?” The woman smiles.
“Uh. Yeah.” Cavendish looks down at his jacket, tie and shirt with some embarrassment. “That is why we are dressed like this. Is there anything else notable in town?”
“Well I’m sure you’re aware, but we are lucky enough to have the V-Tech Headquarters situated in Danville.” The woman says, eyes shining with pride.
“V-Tech?” Dakota asks. “What’s that, some company?”
“Some company?” The woman looks baffled. “V-Tech is responsible for everything that makes our lives what they are! V-Tech is the greatest company in the world! You must have heard of V-Tech. What is this, some kind of prank?”
“Maybe we’re time travellers.” Dakota jokes awkwardly.
“Oh, so it is a prank.” She laughs, not looking particularly amused. “Very funny. Do you need anything else or are you heading to the comedy club?”
“We’ll be on our way.” Cavendish says. They hurry out of the building. “We should avoid asking questions. That made us incredibly suspicious.”
“Nah, it’s fine. We just look like idiots or jokesters.” Dakota says.
“Well, at least they will be right about one of us.” Cavendish retorts.
“Very funny. But seriously, who’s gonna suspect that we’re from the past?” Dakota nudges his arm. Then his eyes widen. “Uh, Cav, you seeing what I’m seeing?”
Next to their time machine is a young man, standing stiff and at attention. He is wearing a dark jacket with a blue V on it. But what is more interesting about him is his body. Both arms are metal. One leg is also metal, alongside the rest of that side of his body. His eye on the metal side is blue. His ear looks like a metal V.
“Citizens.” He says, voice professional and neutral. “You are suspected of breaking the Time Travellers Act. Please come with me for questioning.”
The two men exchange a look. “And who are you, exactly?”
“A V-Tech enforcer. Please come with me, sirs.” His eyes are dull and cold. “I am authorised to use lethal force if you refuse to accompany me.”
Cavendish and Dakota exchange another, much more panicked look. “I think this is a mistake. We should go-“
When Cavendish tries to take a step closer to the time machine, the enforcer raises its arm and points it at the time machine. A bolt of light flies from it and hits the bonnet of the car. There is a small explosion. A plume of smoke. And then fluid begins leaking from it. “I repeat, please accompany me immediately.”
They turn to run.
Cavendish lets out a string of curses as they run. “They know about time travelling! And it’s illegal?!”
“More importantly, what was that robot human hybrid?!” Dakota asks. He throws himself to the ground, barely avoiding a blast. “And why is it shooting at us?!”
They run, but soon hit a dead end. They stop and turn, to find the enforcer pointing his arm at them. “Surrender or I shoot.”
Gulping, they raise their arms. Dakota notices that his legs are trembling. “I think I know why Brick and Savannah didn’t come back.”
The enforcer walks closer, reaching for something on his waist. It looks like handcuffs, although somewhat more high tech than they are used to. They stare at each other, frozen in fear and shock.
The enforcer stops suddenly. And then it collapses like a rag doll.
Slowly, Dakota lowers his hands and steps closer. “Did it just turn off?”
“Something like that.” Their heads shoot to look up. Someone is standing on the roof, looking down at them. Three figures. “Stay there, we’re coming down.”
The voice sounds young. But authoritative. They glance at each other and stay put.
The first figure jumps. Dakota gasps, and Cavendish cries out. But he falls slowly, and lands like he is attached to a parachute. “Whoa, Phineas and Ferb are geniuses! Come on down, guys!”
Their rescuer is a young teenager, covered in bruises, scrapes and scars. On his back is what looks like an extremely futuristic, metal brown backpack, with a light on the back that looks like caution tape. In his hand is what looks like a cattle prod. He turns to look at them. “Are you two alright? Hurt?”
“How old are you?” Dakota blurts out. “12?”
“13.” The boy corrects.
Behind him, two more teenagers land. One is a boy with dark hair, wearing yellow. The other is…
“Another one?!” Cavendish jumps backwards, staring in horror at the cyborg. The cyborg with a V shaped ear. Automatically, he raises his arms in surrender, expecting more cold death threats.
“Wha- oh.” The girl looks at both of them, then at the ground. “I’m not with V-Tech. Sirs.”
“She’s with us. We’re the rebels.” The boy with the backpack explains, smiling brightly at them. He reaches out to pat the girl on the shoulder. “I’m Milo, that’s Zack, and that’s Melissa. What did you two do to upset the enforcer?”
“That is a long and possibly unbelievable story.” Dakota says. He rubs his head. He can hardly believe what is going on. “You’re the rebels? So is V-Tech the government?”
“Not technically. There’s a ‘real’ government, but for all intents and purposes V-Tech is in charge.” Zack says. “They control everything. And they can basically do anything they want.”
“Evil corporation then? Fantastic.” Cavendish adjusts his glasses. “Then I imagine time travel is illegal so no one can go back in time to stop him?”
“Time travel? Are you time travellers?” Milo asks, eyes wide. He doesn’t look disbelieving. “We heard rumours, but nothing concrete.”
Cavendish’s eyes bug out. “I mean- of course we aren’t-“
“Oh whatever Cav, we might as well tell them.” Dakota says. “We’re time travellers. They’ve broken our machine, so we’re stuck.”
Zack’s eyes widen. “Milo, if they’re telling the truth, if we can fix the machine…”
“… we could stop Verliezer from ever taking over.” Milo finishes. He glances back at the girl, who has been oddly quiet. She stands stiffly, head bowed. Even ignoring her metal parts, she doesn’t act at all like a normal child. “What do you think, Melissa?”
She looks awkward, uncomfortable at being asked to share her opinion. “Me? I think that…” She seems to steel herself before answering. “That we should look for this time machine.”
“Good call.” Milo smiles encouragingly at her. “Right, where did you leave it?”
———
They take the children back to where they left it. And it is gone. All that is left is a puddle of time juice.
“I swear, there was a time machine here.” Cavendish says, flushing furiously. “Another one of those metal monstrosities, most likely.”
The girl flinches, somehow lowering her head even further. Both boy’s eyes flash furiously. “Shut your mouth.” Zack snaps.
Cavendish’s eyes travel to Melissa, and guilt hits him like a truck. “Ah, I’m sorry, my girl. I’m sure that you are perfectly pleasant.”
“It’s fine, sir. I understand.” She sounds neutral, but almost like she is forcing that neutrality.
“You don’t have to understand.” Milo squeezes her hand. “That was a horrible thing to say and he should feel bad. Right, what do we do now? If you’re trapped here, you must need a place to stay.”
“I’m sure we can figure it out.” Dakota can’t take his eyes off of the girl. Her strange behaviour makes him feel uncomfortable, makes him feel pity.
“You can stay with us. We’re part of a rebel group, we can help you.” Zack says, although he still looks tense and annoyed after Cavendish’s slip. “Besides, maybe Phineas and Ferb can help with the time travel.”
So Cavendish and Dakota follow the three odd children. Stranded out of their time, they have no choice but to rely on the charity of children who they just met.
Trapped. Stranded. Fugitives. How are they going to get home?