Acme Time Travel Incorporated - Volume 1

The STU had been musing over fragments from a poem written in 1922 by T.S. Eliot. The poem was called The Wasteland.

April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

Winter kept us warm, covering

Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers

The STU was grateful that its designers had thought fit to give it the capacity to enjoy the beautiful symmetries to be found in poetical works. It couldn’t think why they had.

Maybe they had done it as a joke, but nonetheless ...

And then John’s mother had opened the cupboard drawer in which it had been placed. She had picked it up and taken it downstairs to the living room. It had had to overcome an initial urge to link with John’s mother, to re-charge its batteries. It feared, however, that the small initial jolt that would occur as it began charging would startle her, whereas John would have subdued reactions in his present state.

It waited as it was passed to Mary, and then until Mary had strapped it onto John’s wrist, but as soon as Mary had strapped it onto John, it initiated charging. This could have been a mistake, because Mary had kept hold of John’s hand, and she herself had felt the small electrical jolt. Nonetheless, she had seemed so intent on relaxing John that she kept holding onto John’s hand, ignoring the slight electrical prickling sensation.

The STU pondered on when the best time would be to request and administer the medication to John. If the request protocols were still operational, then the medication would be received instantaneously. Administering it would cause a very slight prickling sensation, lasting maybe a second. The STU understood that significant improvements would be observable within about twelve hours, and that by the time that twenty-four hours had elapsed, all possible improvements would have been affected. The current Earth Time was 4 pm, which suggested that by the time John woke tomorrow morning he should be significantly improved. By mid-afternoon tomorrow, he was going to be as good as he was going to get. He would need time to practice his speech, but he should have almost immediate mobility.

The STU resolved to delay no further. There was always the possibility that it would be un-strapped from John’s wrist at any moment, and that would be the opportunity lost.

The STU issued its request for the medication. It was received immediately. It instantly administered the dose. John flinched slightly, and Mary, sensing it, clasped his hand tighter.

The STU knew that after administering the medication, John was going to need periodic checks on his health to maintain his improved situation. He would need re-medicating intermittently. The only way this was going to happen was for the STU to be attached to John on a regular or permanent basis. It really hoped that it would not be un-strapped and then forgotten. If John improved, but then relapsed because the STU had not been able to keep in contact with him, it could imagine that the extra sadness this would cause to Margaret and Mary would be incalculable.