Acme Time Travel Incorporated - Volume 2

The sun was going down, and there was a chill in the air. Their snuggle in the old beach pavilion seemed to have eased the unrest from the previous night.

Well, Gabriel hoped that it had.

“Fancy some chips?” Gabriel asked.

“You offering to take me out for some fancy dining?” Ginny said.

“I guess we could have mushy peas as well.”

“How could a girl resist?” Ginny said, laughing.

. . . . . . . .

They had bought two bags of chips (smothered in mushy peas) from a chip shop on the sea front. It was called ‘right time, right plaice’. They had taken the bags of chips and sat on a bench near the pier to eat them.

“Do you think that there’s a company somewhere whose sole job is to make up names for chip shops?” Gabriel asked, grinning.

“What, their sole job?” Ginny said, emphasising the fishy name.

“You don’t work for that very company, do you?” Gabriel said.

“I used to have a little plaice where I used to sit, just a rock really, just to come up with fish puns,” Ginny said, “but I’ve stopped now. Moth kept carping on about it.”

“Oh God ... they’re dreadful,” said Gabriel.

“You started it,” Ginny said.

. . . . . . . .

“Did you see John today?” Gabriel said, as he studiously poked a chip into the mound of mushy peas. The peas were just as he liked them: bright luminous green, as if they were vaguely radioactive. He couldn’t imagine that they were good for you, but they certainly tasted nice.

“Yes. I tidied round his flat.”

“Did he seem ok?”

“He seemed a bit distant.”

“How do you mean?” said Gabriel.

“Maybe a bit introspective. He didn’t say much. He didn’t ask how you were getting on.”

“Do you think his health is starting to be impacted?” said Gabriel.

“I don’t know. What do you think, Vicky?”

“Erm ... I asked Vicky to turn off for a bit,” Gabriel said.

“Oh ... ok,” Ginny said.

“Shall we turn her on?” Gabriel said.

“Might be an idea,” Ginny said. “She’d probably know if John is showing signs of getting worse.”

Gabriel tapped his watch.

“Good evening, guys,” Vicky said.

“We were wondering,” said Ginny, “if John’s health is getting worse. Today he seemed very quiet. He didn’t want to talk much, and he didn’t ask how Gabriel and me were getting on. What do you think?”

“It doesn’t sound like John,” said Vicky. “He is normally very polite and ... well ... interested in people. It does sound as though his condition may be deteriorating.”

“We knew it was going to happen, Ginny,” Gabriel said.

“And also,” Vicky interrupted, “John said that he didn’t want any further medical assistance. If you remember, he became very agitated when we ...”

“I remember,” Ginny said. “I just don’t think that I will be able to watch him get worse. I have to see him every day, remember.”

Gabriel looked glumly at Ginny. “So, what are you thinking ... leave your job ... do you mean to leave your care home job?”

“If there was only some way we could try to get to ACME INC,” Ginny said. “So we could try to get him another STU ... or some sort of device that looks after health issues.”

“Would you really want to?” Gabriel asked.

“If there was a way to do it, I think that we should,” she said. “I feel that we owe it to him.”

“I agree,” Gabriel said. “I feel the same way. I hate to think of John deteriorating like that.”

“But,” said Ginny, “I wasn’t thinking of trying to get some sort of device to help him right now.”

“What? How do you ...?”

“I meant to see if we were able to get some sort of device to help him when his wife became ill. A device that could help his wife ... stop her from getting dementia. That was when he needed help. Now it’s ... it’s too late.”

Gabriel nodded in agreement. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he said. “It would make sense ... but, you do know that the chances are that the coordinates database is screwed, don’t you?”

Ginny nodded.

“And you still want to try to go, even though ...?” he said.

Ginny looked thoughtful.

“Vicky?” Ginny said.

“Yes, Ginny?”

“John’s condition. If he seems to be getting worse now, how do you think his condition will progress?”

“I would imagine,” said Vicky, “that his catatonia will envelop him very quickly, probably within the next few days. That will leave him unable to move or communicate, even though his mind will still be active. Then, within a matter of weeks, the dementia which has long been held at bay will overcome him. His memories will dissolve, he will feel very agitated, he will probably become very angry. And all of that will be contained within a body that can’t communicate in any way to the outside world.”

“It sounds like a living hell,” said Gabriel.

“I would agree with your sentiment,” said Vicky.

Ginny shuddered.

“I don’t want to see John go through that,” she said. “I would rather that I took the risk and went to see if I could get another STU or something.”

“Just you ... on your own?” Gabriel asked.

. . . . . . . .

Ginny looked over at Gabriel. He couldn’t make out quite what her expression meant. It worried him. He looked into his chip bag. It was empty. He carefully folded his empty chip bag into a ball, taking care not to let the stray bits fall onto the ground. He took aim and tossed it into a nearby rubbish bin.

It plopped neatly into the bin.

Gabriel grinned.

“Ok, Gabriel. Let’s see if you can do that again,” Ginny said, handing him her chip bag.

Gabriel folded her chip bag into a ball. He threw it. It arced its way into the bin.

Ginny gave a little clap.

Gabriel grinned at her.

“Can I make a suggestion?” Vicky said.

“What? About tossing chip bags?” quipped Ginny. “I think Gabriel’s got it down pretty well, myself.”

Gabriel and Ginny both grinned.

“No,” said Vicky. “I meant with reference to you saying that you wanted to get to see ACME INC.”

“Ah, that,” said Ginny.

“What’s your suggestion, Vicky?” Gabriel said.

“Well,” said Vicky, “we don’t know for certain whether the coordinates database was corrupted or not. We are making an assumption that that was the cause of the problem, but we still don’t know.”

“It is an educated guess, though, isn’t it?” Gabriel said.

“That’s true,” agreed Vicky, “but sadly we have no way of finding out ... unless we try to teleport somewhere.”

“Yep, that seems to be the case,” Gabriel said.

“And if the coordinates database was, and still is, corrupted, then a teleport would most likely result in your deaths,” Vicky said.

“That seems to be the problem,” Ginny said.

“Well ... my suggestion is that we get hold of a starship, one that has CrYO-PODS in it.”

“And then ...?” Gabriel said.

“And then,” continued Vicky, “you get in the PODS and sleep for the next 163 years. Then you wake up just after the date that we believe the data corruption happened. Then we go to ACME INC and see if we were correct. If they have fixed the database corruption, then you could teleport back in time to just before John’s wife became ill.”

“But we would still need to try to get another STU, or something similar,” said Gabriel.

“Yes, that is true,” said Vicky, “and I have already explained that I think that the chances would be low of getting ACME to agree to your request, but if you really want to try, then I would do my best to assist you.”

“But what if ACME weren’t able to fix the database corruption,” said Ginny. “Wouldn’t we be stuck in the future, unable to teleport back?”

“That is true, Ginny, but there’s something else as well,” Vicky said. “It is possible that even if we did get to ACME INC, they might choose to just keep me. I am their property, after all. Even if they have fixed the database corruption, they may not choose to let me continue to assist you.”

Ginny looked over at Gabriel.

“Well ... if that was the case, then we would be stuck there together,” Gabriel said, reaching over to grab her hand.

He pulled Ginny towards him. He clasped both of his arms around her, holding her tightly. She nuzzled her face up against him.

“Would you be alright with that, Gabriel?” she said.

“Just as long as ... just as long as you didn’t tell any more of your fish puns,” he said, grinning.

“So, I think,” interrupted Vicky, “that if you are happy ... well let’s say ‘understand the risk’, and you are happy to proceed, then all you need to do is decide when you want to leave. At that point, I will request a suitably configured starship, then off we go.”

“You make it sound pretty easy,” said Gabriel.

“It is,” said Vicky, ”assuming that ACME INC has one in stock. After all, the other items that I have requested have all been small items. I haven’t requested anything as large as a starship in the last 70 years.”

“Oh,” said Ginny. “Is there no way of knowing?”

“Not without making the request,” said Vicky.

“Hey guys,” said Gabriel. “Before we get too excited, can I suggest that we don’t request a starship right here and now. I am guessing that we need somewhere a bit more discreet. If a starship turns up right here, then somebody is definitely going to see it.”

“Of course, you are right,” Vicky said. “I would suggest somewhere a bit more remote. And maybe a bit later in the evening. When less people are about. But can I ask you both, when is it, precisely, that you were thinking of going?”

“I was thinking of going tonight,” Ginny said.

Gabriel looked shocked.

“I don’t think there is going to be a good time,” she said, “and there might be a lot worse. If we wait, then John will get worse, and I don’t think that I could face seeing that happen.”

Gabriel pondered on Ginny’s words. Sure enough, there didn’t seem to be anything else in his life to which he had any commitment ... well apart from working with Barney on the paper. From what Vicky had explained, he really didn’t think that ACME INC was likely to give Ginny a STU, but he could see why Ginny wouldn’t want to see John decline. Trying to help Ginny get to ACME, although probably a hopeless quest, seemed to be the thing he should do. Maybe something good would come of it.