The Cyber Age

Epilogue: The Plan

It was an all night's walk back to DC, and once they got there, an ambulance came and took them. They didn't realize how beat up they actually were.
They didn't do much talking on the ambulance. They refused a stretcher, so they just sat on the seats in the back.
Braden was in shock, still.
It was exactly 1:37 AM last night when the mothership hit the ground somewhere in Baltimore. Now it was 7:03 AM the next day. It didn't take long to make it to the hospital.
When they got there, they were forced onto a stretcher. This time, Braden didn't mind.
When he got to his room, they put him on the bed and placed some weird device that looked like a metal sponge onto a large cut he didn't even know he had. "And, clear!" Said a doctor, as another one pressed a button on the device. When they pressed the button, Braden felt and odd feeling. Almost as if it had pulled the skin together and stitched it.
When they removed the device from his skin, Braden only saw a small scar where a giant gash was only seconds before. "Did you just stitch me with that thing?!" Braden asked. "Stitches? They haven't used those since 2089 kid!" Said a doctor as he burst out laughing. "That's a rather new device called krotix sealer. It instantly heals large cuts. Pretty cool, right?" Said the doctor. "Yeah." Braden replied.
It didn't take long for Jared to come up with a big excuse for everything, and sign some papers.
They all left the hospital not long after, and Jared called what seemed like a taxi, except it was a silver car with no wheels.
"Alright, guys. Get in." Said Jared as the taxi arrived.
The four of them got in.
"Where we heading?" Asked the driver.
"The DCPD. That's in Beltsville." Said Jared. The driver nodded, and put the car in drive. The drive to Beltsville was very long; Braden and Tristan would occasionally talk, and Jared would not stop talking, but Kendall didn't say a word. She must be still in shock.
Braden didn't blame her, due to everything they had gone through.
"So, how did you explain it?" Braden asked Jared. "Explain what?" Jared said in reply. "Well, everything." Said Braden.
"Well, it wasn't that hard. They asked what happened. I told them that I was taking my niece and nephews to my house for their Christmas break at college. I told them that you guys go to Baltimore University. . . If that's even a real university." Said Jared. Braden laughed. "I said there was a gas leak and that it must have been ignited. They'll so  asked about your cyber hands. That wasn't hard, I mean, we live in the Cyber Age. Practically everyone you meet is radioactive." Said Jared. Braden nodded. That was true. Braden was just glad that everything could maybe be okay now.
"I remember you saying that you have a plan, y'know, back in Baltimore?" Said Tristan. "Oh, yes. I did say that." Said Jared. "So, I figured, Timothy was your old mission supervisor. Maybe I can be your new one." Said Jared. Kendall gave a scoff. "Look, Kendall, if you want a background check, I'd be more than happy to--"
"No. What makes you think after that, that I would want anything to do with a mission ever again?" Said Kendall. That was the first thing she's said in two hours.
Everything was silent for about two minutes. Then Jared said, "Kendall, I completely respect your decisions. I do. It was just an idea. I just thought that if I had a reason for wanting so desperately to help people, you certainly would now." Said Jared.
Kendall twisted her head over at Jared. "What's your reason?!" She said accusingly. "In 2399, my wife and kid were shot down by a serial killer while I was at work. When I got home, he was gone. And so were they." Said Jared.
"That's when I went back to college to be a detective. Hoping I could catch the other serial killers and burglars, and maybe, the one who killed my family." Said Jared. Kendall's face registered a look of remorse. "I'm sorry, Jared." Said Kendall. "It's ok. You were just through a traumatic experience. I get it." Said Jared.
Braden felt bad, listening to their conversation. He never bothered to ask about Jared. "Well, I'm in." Said Braden. "Me too." Said Tristan.
The three of them looked at Kendall, who's face twisted into a small smile. "Me too."

When they got back to Beltsville, the four of them got out of the car. "Thanks, man! Here's a tip." Said Jared to the cab driver. The man thanked him and drove off.
Jared walked toward the Police Department. "Come on, guys!" Said Jared. The three of them followed him.
Once they got inside, Jared led them to his office. "Sit down a second. I have to find something." Said Jared, as he rummaged through his file drawers. "Ah! Here it is!" Said Jared, as he held a piece of paper up. "Follow me." Said Jared, once again.
Jared led them into a secret room beneath the Police Department. The room he led them into was a silver hallway with a large, silver door at the end. On the door was a little camera-like device. Jared walked in front of it. "Please state your name." Said a machine. "Jared Hawking." Said Jared. When he said his name, the camera-device thing projected a holographic keypad. Jared looked down at the paper he'd retrieved from his office. "Let's see . . . 6 R 9 0 . . 5 G b 1 7 j K m." Said Jared under his breath.
Braden figured he was saying the password.
Jared keyed it in, and the large door opened. Inside, were capsules that looked like the time capsules from the training grounds. All three of them were utterly mystified by it all, but Tristan was really the only one to actually speak up. "What are those?" Said Tristan. "I'll tell you when you come in here." Said Jared. Tristan looked at Braden; they exchanged a look. They were a bit unsure, no, very unsure about this. Braden could tell by Kendall's demeanor that she wasn't one hundred percent comfortable either, but he reluctantly decided he would follow Jared inside. After all, Jared was a high ranking detective. Whatever happened now was government business. At least now they were safe. And that was something they hadn't been in a long time.
The four of them walked inside, and Jared pressed a button that closed the door. Tristan was now getting impatient and much more nervous. "Ok. Tell me. What the heck is this machine." Said Tristan. Jared smiled, as if he was anticipating all of their reactions. "We are going to the place where our first mission takes place." Said Jared. The trio was confused. "These are molecularly modified quantum engines. It's extremely difficult to explain to you since you are all from the twenty-first century; we have come a long way since then. And when I say long, I mean light years. Basically, the quantum engines have been built from the very molecules up. The actual engine is in the ground beneath us, and when it gets switched on, the energy conversion rate is so massively fast that we managed to loop the energy through, well, through itself. Time and time again until it overpowers and teleports us to any point chosen in time and space. And today, they're going to take us to the year 2134. If you understood the science behind that, I applaud you." Said Jared.
(He was talking to you guys too. If you understood, Jared and I are clapping for you.👏🏻👏🏻)
The three of them went mentally blank.
Tristan registered a face of utter over-excitement as his eyes glazed over.
"It's a time machine." Said Tristan.
Jared smiled. "It's a time machine." Jared confirmed.
A time machine.
Braden then became suspicious as to where they were really going. Well, why they were actually going. He thought he had it figured out, but he just had to ask.
"Are we going to where I think we're going?" Said Braden.
Jared rubbed his forehead. "Due to this recent turn of events, well, I might as well tell you. I've done detective work for many different associations and operations along the years. In fact, the FBI assigned me to find the kids who fought in WWIII and WWIV who claimed to have traveled back to the year 2134 from this year, 2416. In the millions and millions of history books that were published in the world wars, four names are most mentioned. Tristan Vyne, Kendall Brooks, Liam Curtzmen, and Braden Vyne."
Braden was surprised by Jared's bluntness.
Braden supposed that he made a bit of a face, because Jared laughed. "Go on. Get in." Said Jared, as the four of them got into their time-machine capsules.
None of them suspected a thing, probably because they hadn't caught up on history, but they were getting into something huge.
Something sinister.
Something that could cause a war.
And whenever time traveling was used by the NYPD in past experiments, it was utter mayhem.
Quantum Mayhem.