The Holy-Spear Warrior and His Channel

One: Time-Traveling in a Chrome-Colored Egg isn't Fun

I nod, "I know."

And so we walk back to our dorm room, I listen to Kyle as he tells me about his day, which whenever he does so I suspect he exaggerates some (most) times.

"I'm going to go out for a little while; I'll be back at nine." He says once he gets dressed in normal clothes (at TTBS we have to wear uniforms).

I look at him curiously, "Where are you going?" I ask.

He winks, "That's a surprise."

I sigh, "Just make sure that you don't accidentally wander into the red-light district like you had last time you were planning something. I spent hours trying to find you, and that was with the help of the Tracker." A Tracker is a PDA-like device that lets you track someone if you feed it their DNA, like hair or something, or if you have a picture of them.

He waves me off, "You worry too much." He says before leaving.

I stare at the door before sighing and changing out of my school clothes into regular clothes, then go over to the shared computer. I open up X-Act (it's something that like Google, but Google's been dead for a century and a half now) and type in the name "Benedict Arnold" and start reading his bio on different websites. I decide I'll read about his bio on thirty different websites and use the things from my notes and then write an outline, the rough draft tomorrow, and then the final thing on Sunday, so that way it'll be ready for Kendall on time.

As I read I think, What if I could go back and make him be remembered as a hero? Every time I read it's clear that Benedict was a man who was ruthless, radical even, even before his betrayal, but he was brilliant. But I know that he must've had a soft side, or else he never would've betrayed the Colonists. You see, he actually―

"I'm back!" Kyle says cheerily as he walks in, breaking me out of my thoughts, stashing something under his bed. "Sorry, I'm two hours and fifty minutes late."

"We're going to go back in time and see Benedict." I say straightforwardly.

Kyle's jaw drops, obviously not expecting what I'd just said. "Are you crazy? Just how do you propose we do that? That's it! I've just realized, I'm best friends with a loon!" He rants.

I don't blame him for being that way. Time-traveling is expensive, and even once doing it you have to have someone monitoring you, if you do something remotely threatening to reveal the secret that you're from the future or if you get close to messing up history, then they bring you back to our time and you get sent to jail for a while, how long depends on how bad you (almost) messed up.

"And to think I got you a puppy for your birthday! Do you want to be a bad parent? I mean seriously, thinking of going back in time, the only way that's going to happen is if you can use the time-travel machine in the school, without a monitor! And that's illegal!" He keeps on ranting, but I think I might've misheard what he said first.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop right there, what did you just say?" I ask.

He must've realized what he'd said, because he colors redder than a lobster. "'And that's illegal!'" He says.

"Before that," I say.

"'I mean seriously, thinking of going back in time, the only way that's-" He starts.

"No! I mean before that!" I say in annoyance.

"'Do you want to be a bad parent?'"

"Before that, Kyle, you're testing my patience."

"'And to think I got you a puppy for your birthday!'"

I sigh, "That's the one." Then I look at him, "But my birthday's not until tomorrow!"