Time Traveller

      “Why thank you, Scintilly. But if I were you, I’d be careful waving that Tchea Juice around. You wouldn’t want to spill it on the delicate equipment in here, would you? Besides, I don’t believe I designed you to be able to drink juice in the first place.”

      “This juice is for you, of course. You’re making so much progress in your lifelong project. I still can’t believe you convinced the top honchos at Brightvale’s Institute of Science to provide you with the funding you needed.”

     “Trust me, it wasn’t as hard as you think. Some may say my ideas are out there, but the folks at Brightvale have always been forward-looking. Plus, I’ve gotten a bit of recognition around Neopia these past few years, so I’m sure they also see this project as publicity for them. Not that I mind.”

     “And your big idea this time is time travel.”

     “Well, that is definitely the end goal, my good friend,” said the doctor, taking a sip of the Tchea Juice his trusty assistant had brought to him. “But let’s not celebrate just yet. To be honest with you, I feel like I’ve hit a wall, and I don’t expect to see results for a while. We’ll probably have to wait a few more months before my time machine even –”

     The lights of Landelbrot’s laboratory started flickering, sparks of electricity began to dance across the room, and a strange sound rang in Landelbrot and Scintilly’s ears. The power went out for a few seconds, then came back on, and there, in the middle of the room, coming out of a cloud of smoke, was a young, Yellow Moehog dressed in futuristic clothing.

     “Um… Dr. Landelbrot? What just happened?”

     “I’m as confused as you are, Scintilly.”

     The doctor and Scintilly were frozen in astonishment. It took a few seconds before Landelbrot approached the mysterious figure.

     “My name is Landelbrot. Doctor Landelbrot,” he said as he tried to hide his nervousness. “And who might you be?”

     “I come from the future,” said the Moehog. “My name’s Robert. I work as a janitor at Brightvale’s Time Factory, hundreds of years into the future! You did it, Doc! Or more like, you will do it! Time travel will be a big hit, and it’ll all be thanks to you! I just wanted to come back to the past, back to where it all began, to give you the good news.”

     “That’s… that’s amazing!” said the doctor, eyes wide open in shock. “A time traveller right before my eyes! What year do you come from?”

     “I’m from the year 525,” said Robert. “I’m afraid I can only stay here for a couple of minutes, but before I return to my time, I wanted to show you a sneak peek of some inventions to come.”

     “The year 525, you say? Incredible! That’s 500 years from now,” replied the doctor. “But how did I manage to make my time machine work? What was it that put me on the right path? Why is it that – "

     But before he could finish speaking, the doctor was shoved aside by Scintilly who, very much like her creator, possessed an insatiable thirst for knowledge.

     “Anyway, Mr Robert,” she said with confidence in her voice. “Welcome to the year 25. I apologize for being so abrupt, but what can you tell us about the future? What happens to Neopia? Do we find a way to solve global warming? How about the energy crisis? Oh! Who will be the future leaders of our lands?”

     Robert simply shook his head.

     “Uh, sorry, buddy, I don’t really know anything about science, or history, or politics. I don’t know any exact dates or names either. I flunked out of Neoschool, you see.”

     Scintilly looked confused by the time traveller’s reply, but decided to press on.

     “Okay, well, you wanted to show us some inventions. I’m sure the future is filled with thrilling and innovative technology. Would you mind showing us now?"

     Robert smiled from ear to ear. He couldn’t contain his excitement. “But of course! Here, look, I brought my All Maker.”

     He rolled up his sleeve and revealed a device similar to a bracelet strapped to his forearm. From afar, it looked like a piece of Altadorian armour, but when they got closer to inspect it, Landelbrot and Scintilly noticed that it was made out of a strange material that resembled glass. There was a single flickering green light near the wrist, but other than that, its surface was pretty much featureless.

     “That’s certainly interesting,” said Landelbrot. “So, what exactly does it do?”

     “It can create anything,” said Robert. “Look, I’ll make a hamburger for you right here.” He slid his finger along the right side of the All Maker, and the green light turned blue, then it slowly began to increase in intensity. After a few seconds, the blue light turned green and started flickering again.

      “Oh, right,” said Robert. “What’s your Wi-Fi password?”

     “Come again?” said the doctor.

     “Your Wi-Fi password. Don’t you have Wi-Fi here? I need to log in so I can use my All Maker.”

     “It must be some sort of network,” said the doctor, “an advanced form of a wireless network. I’m sorry, Mr Robert, but we don’t have Wi-Fi here.”

     “Well, that sucks. But it’s okay. Look here, I also have my trusty GoPen. You’ll love it.” He drew an object that resembled a pen from his left pocket. “Oh, it looks like it’s run out of power. You guys got fusion yet? All it needs is five seconds of charging and it’ll be ready to go.”

     “I apologize, Mr Robert. I’m afraid fusion power hasn’t been developed in this age yet.”

     “Oh, that’s sad. Everybody has fusion in the year 525.”

     “But that’s not the case here,” said the doctor. “Still, I’m sure there’s something else you can show us. Or you could just tell us. That’d be fine too. Anything?”

     “Sorry, Doc,” said Robert. “But stay right there. I might vanish any moment now, but before I go, I want to record a video so I can show it to my friends.”

     Robert tapped his right temple twice, and his iris quickly changed in appearance to the point that it resembled a camera lens.

     “Say cheese!” Robert told the doctor. And Doctor Landelbrot smiled awkwardly. “Oh, man, my friends are gonna be so jealous. To think I’m meeting Doctor Landelbrot in person!”

     “Please correct me if I’m wrong, but judging by the things you’ve been saying, I’m a rather popular figure in the future. Is that right?” Landelbrot asked the young Moehog.

     “Oh, boy! The word 'popular' doesn’t even begin to describe it. I’m not exaggerating when I say we owe almost all progress to you!”

     “I’m happy to hear that. But if I’m so popular, I’m sure you must know a thing or two about how I finally made my time machine work.”

     “Sorry, Doc. I don’t know any of the specifics. But don’t worry about it, you’ll figure it out eventually.”

     “I suppose you’re right,” the doctor sighed in disappointment.

     “It’s just a shame about the accident.”

     “Wait, what did you – "

      But before he had time to ask any follow-up questions, Robert vanished in a cloud of smoke.

     The End.