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    Chapter 5

    tab "Wake up." A muffled noise resonates above me. It takes me a second to realize my eyes are closed, but even when I open them to see where the voice is coming from, I see...nothing.
    tab Well, that's not completely accurate. I see trees, blue sky, houses, a long street. But as far as what the voice was coming from...I don't quite have a lead.
    tab "You're awake," booms the voice. Yeah, thanks. The voice is familiar, but I can't quite put a finger on who...
    tab Wait. What happened in the past hour? I remember running on the track field, and then being knocked aside...being knocked aside by Mr. Jacobs. And then...
    tab That's right. I had time traveled to the past. Supposedly. And that voice...
    tab "You ok? You look dazed." It was Mr. Jacobs. Invisible. As hard as it is to believe.
    tab "Yeah..." I position my butt to a more comfortable position on my wheel chair, and then ask, "What happened?"
    tab "Well, you fainted," his voice replies. "Then I rolled you out of the time machine once we got into this time period, and brought you over here." I look around. The side of the road. How clever.
    tab "After checking if anyone was watching, I used the cloaking device. I'm sorry if I gave you a fright. I should've got you up first, and then used the cloaking device. But I was very...discombobulated. I couldn't think straight." A floating pair of orange glasses with red tinted glass waves in the air, and then dropped on my lap.
    tab "Here. Put those on first." I do, and nearly fall off my wheelchair. Slowly appearing as I put my glasses on, is Mr. Jacobs. He smiles at me, and outstretches his hands to me, a cloaking device cupped in it.
    tab "These glasses..." I say as I take the cloaking device from his hand.
    tab "We call them 'IME'", he replies, putting on a pair of glasses, or "IME", himself as I press the red button. "'Invisible Material Eyes. We can see eachother, we can see everybody else, but nodbody can see us." I want to ask more questions, but the rumbling of my belly reminds me of something else.
    tab "I'm hungry," I say, rubbing my belly to prove my point.
    tab "As am I," is Mr. Jacob's response. "Why don't we go to Burger King and fetch something? We want to make as little contact with the past as possible, but catching a bite to eat won't hurt."
    tab "Where are we anyway?" I can't help but ask. "And when?" He bites his lip a little, a slight sign of nerves, but quickly recovers and says,
    tab "Blossom Street. Just a couple miles from where we were...in your present day. It's 2006, March 17th."
    tab "So, the time machine not only lets us time travel, but allows teleportation."
    tab "Yes. That is correct."
    tab "And you say you're from 2024, correct?" Mr. Jacobs nods.
    tab "Correct again."
    tab "That's...difficult to grasp." Mr. Jacobs sighs, and replies,
    tab "I already told you. Technology is progressing every year at a higher and higher rate."
    tab "It's still quite unbelievable. I mean--" He cuts me off, and interrupts,
    tab "Let's eat. No more questions."
    tab "How? We don't have a--" Again, I am interrupted,
    tab "I said 'no more questions.' Now, be patient." He takes out his holophone, and presses the bottom left button.
    tab "Who would you like to contact?" a female, robotic voice asks in choppy words. Unsettling.
    tab "Commander Keith Davids."
    tab "Contacting 'Commander Keith Davids'," the voice cranks out, a recording of Mr. Jacobs voice coming in when restating the name. "Please wait." A pleasent orchestrated music starts playing as we both watch the holophone anxiously. Soothing, like the kind of music you listen to when advertisers want to keep you hooked. Abruptly, the music stops. The familiar bald face pops up from the holophone. From my distance, I'm close enough to hear and see the full conversation.
    tab "What?!" the guy's head, or Keith Davids head, bouncing up and down like he was angry. Was this guy always like that?
    tab "It's me, Keith." Mr. Jacobs said, trying to sound soothing to calm him down. It doesn't work.
    tab "I know it's you, Tom. Who else would call me at this hour?!" Mr. Jacobs glances at his watch. Regardless of all this crazy new technology, that watch seems pretty normal to me. Silver plated band, digital, I assume. Guess watches can't really be improved.
    tab "It's 8:32 pm where you are, Keith. Not that--"
    tab "I know it's 8:32! Every hour hour is busy hour for me! Busy, busy, busy." He pauses, and then finishes his rant with, "And it's Commander, not Keith." I can scent a hint of annoyance on Mr. Jacobs face as he demands,
    tab "Ke-Commander. Please. W-I need you to send me a car. Send it to the time of March 17th, 2006. Blossom's Street."
    tab "What the heck are you doing there?! And why'd you start your 'I' with 'w'?" That's one paranoid guy, and I can tell Mr. Jacobs is becoming more aggrevated by the second, as he replies with gritted teeth,
    tab "Slight change of plans. Just a small detour. Don't worry, I'll be back on schedule by next mission. And as for the 'I' and 'w' thing..." He glances at me, and says, "It was my mistake. I'm just used to having a partner."
    tab "You mean you don't anymore?" Mr. Jacobs shakes his head, and replies grimly,
    tab "No, I don't. I lost him in an...incident back a couple missions ago."
    tab "What incident?! What are you talking about?! I wasn't informed of this! I swear, Tom, sometimes..."
    tab "Don't get too worked up, Commander. I just--I just need a car." Keith's head groans, and he says, shaking his head,
    tab "I swear, I do everything around here. I should really get a raise."
    tab "Yeah, Keith. We're all happy you're around." Keith looks up, his sagged eyes squinting at Mr. Jacobs with rage.
    tab "It's Commander! Gah, just a little respect! That's all I wish for! Is that too much to ask?!" Keith looks down, a concentrated look on his face. Probably inputting something in a computer. After about a minute, he looks back up at Mr. Jacobs, and says,
    tab "There! Look behind you! I sent you a nice, red Corvette. Happy now?!" Mr. Jacobs and I turn around, and there's the Corvette, the keys in the ignition. We turn back, and Mr. Jacobs replies with a smile,
    tab "Yes. Quite content." Keith shakes his head and grumbles,
    tab "I really do need a raise." And then his head just disappears. I look up at Mr. Jacobs, and ask,
    tab "What was that all about? Partner? Why didn't you just--"
    tab "Questions after we eat. Now get in the car." I do, after the aggrevating cycle of first putting my wheelchair in the trunk, and then laying down on two seats. Much more comfortable than the rusty black car.
    tab "One more question," I say, looking up to the roof of the car. "Won't people get curious seeing the car moving by itself, if we're both invisible?"
    tab "Take off your IME." I do, and the roof disappears. I look down. It seems as though I'm floating in mid air, but I know I'm not.
    tab The car is invisible as well.
    tab "Ok," I say, putting my IME back on. "But that offers another question. How will we--"
    tab "Always with the questions," Mr. Jacobs interrupts with a sigh. "Why don't I just show you?" And we're off. Quite fast. Very fast. Recklessly fast.
    tab For better or for worse.