LLH 6.5 - Snapshot in Time
(Note: these events originally took place in 2005 but shifts to the time steam have moved things up to a time closer to the present day. There are theories that changing the time stream simply creates an alternate universe, but I'm not an expert. - JB)
(* * *)
Sandi Griffin showed up at the designated place. It was four blocks away from Daria Morgendorffer's house, in the opposite direction, far enough away that Quinn couldn't see Sandi's car from her bedroom window.
She's late, thought Sandi. Daria Morgendorffer was late for the morning run. A good fifteen minutes late, and time was wasting. They would have to make it in time for home room, and have time to change clothes as well.
Sandi put the gearshift in drive and pulled away in the Ferrari. About five minutes into the drive, it came to her.
Daria had decided not to show up because of that unfortunate incident at the animal shelter. God, Daria, you just take everything so personally!, thought Sandi.
Daria's feelings were hurt, and now, Daria was giving Sandi the cold shoulder. Sandi, however, had already forgotten about it. After all, didn't Sandi have to support herfriends, too? Didn't Daria know anything about being popular, or making sure that the desires of the other members of the Fashion Club, to a certain extent, were taken into account?
Trust you to throw a little hissy fit because you didn't get your way. If Daria didn't want to be an adult (as Linda Griffin might have said), then fine! If Daria wants to get beaten up by some rapist, then so be it. And see who begs who to help who in a fight!
Sandi removed thoughts of Daria from her mind. Her mind would be blissfully Daria-free until some time later.
(* * *)
Sandi moaned as she completed the last lap of her four laps. She crossed the finish line. A whole mile completed! She looked like a total wreck, but Sandi was able to run an entire mile without resting (although very slowly). Smirking, Sandi told herself, I'll bet Quinn Morgendorffer couldn't run a mile!
She flopped onto the ground, spread eagled. Stings of her long hair were in her face, and the unadorned, non-made up skin under her mane was coated with a fine glaze of sweat. It felt good to be able to run a mile, but at the same time, she despised every step of it.
Sandi, however, was not the only figure at the deserved junior high school running track which doubled as a football field. The field had an observation tower, which was used by the junior high school football coach. Here, the coach could look down upon his charges while on high. The tower was used by the occasional gang as a "hideout" or by the risky couple who wanted to make love up on high.
A figure stood in the tower, amidst the graffiti and used condoms and empty beer cans. It watched Sandi Griffin with some interest.
(* * *)
Sandi held court with Stacy and Tiffany in the lunchroom. There was only the matter of waiting for Quinn to make her way there.
"What do you think's keeping Quinn?" asked Stacy.
It takes longer to swim through a sea of admirers, thought Sandi. Really, Quinn, you shouldn't act like a slut and lead boys on like that.
Sandi and the other Fashion Club girls still held court. There was Robert, and Corey, and Michael, and Thomas and the others who, for the moment, would be allowed to sit at the Fashion Club table. There were only four seats available, one for Quinn and one for each of Jeffy, Joey and Jamie. Everyone else at Lawndale High was smart enough not to request one of those empty places no matter how crowded the lunchroom got.
Evan and one of the track club jocks walked by. Robert and the other football players watched warily. There was some animosity between football and track -- track won more trophies than football, but football got the money and the glory. Both groups usually sat at separate tables.
"Say Sandi," said Evan, smiling, "did you change your mind about the Track Club? Didn't I hear someone say that the Track Club were a bunch of losers?"
"I remember what I said," said Sandi, wondering why Evan was bringing the Track Club junk up again. It was just so yesterday. "Still going out with Abby Drexler? Maybe you should go out with a girl who doesn't need braces." Stacy and Tiffany giggled.
Evan turned red. "Hypocrite," he muttered under his breath as he walked away from the table.
Corey stood up as if he were going to do something, but the Fashion Club paid no attention to him. They knew that Corey was full of hot air, and that he wasn't going to do squat. Not getting the desired response, Corey sat down again.
"Heads up," whispered Tiffany, "attention whores commming this wayyyy!"
The Fashion Club turned their heads as they pretended not to notice the Goth contingent of Andrea, Slave, Francis and Rosetta walking by. Normally, the Goths had very little to do with the Fashion Club and the feeling was mutual.
As Sandi looked out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the Goths looked...slightly different. All of them walked by the Fashion Club table without speaking a word. And all of them had combed their unruly heads of hair in such a way that their hair fell directly over their eyes. They looked very odd, even for Goths.
"What the hell was that about?" muttered Sandi, as the Goths passed not quite out of earshot. "Some dumb Goth thing I guess. Losers."
As Sandi returned to her salad and Stacy and Tiffany chatted with the hangers-on, Quinn almost ran to the Fashion Club table. The Three Js were running behind her.
"Sandi!" yelped Quinn. "You! have! got! to read! the paper!!"
Sandi wondered why Quinn looked so distressed. She examined the paper.
LANDON WINS REPUBLICAN MAYORAL PRIMARY
LAWNDALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT REMAINS MISSING; POLICE BAFFLED
NEW INDICTMENTS EXPECTED BY STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR LAWNDALE POLICEMEN
"Big deal. Jodie's dad wants to be mayor! Like she isn't precious enough already!" As for the missing student -- Upchuck -- that wasn't a mystery to Sandi at all.
"Page five!" said Quinn. "Page five!!"
Sandi flipped to page five. It was just the local interest section. Then...she saw it....
...the photo...!
(A Morning Rest: Local student Sandi Griffin relaxes after completing a few laps at the Lawndale Junior High School Track.)
Sandi looked at the picture. It was her. In her sweaty jogging suit. With her hair over her eyes. With no makeup on. In the spread-eagle posture. Looking...ridiculous!!
"Ohhhhh...myyyyy...Gaw-ddddd...." mumbled Tiffany.
"Sandi," gulped Stacy, not believing her eyes, "that...that photo...!"
Sandi blinked a few times. Then, she slammed the paper down on the table and stormed out of the lunchroom.
"Whatttt was she thinkiiiing?" said Tiffany, still looking at the photo.
"Well," said Quinn, "I guess it's really hard to take a cute picture when you're...uh...running...I mean...I guess running's really not that bad...!"
"I like to run!" said Joey.
"I run all the time!" said Jeffy.
"I can run the forty in four point nine...!!" said Jamie.
(* * *)
Daria and Jane were standing near Jane's locker. Jane was putting away her books and the two of them were getting ready to go to lunch.
Daria's back was to Sandi as Jane saw Sandi storming to Jane's locker, followed by Quinn and a few other hangers on. Jane said to Daria, "don't turn around...but the Deputy Fuehrer is on her way here."
Sandi stopped, a good four feet away from Daria. Daria was going to get it!
Before Sandi could speak, however, Daria turned around. Daria was carrying a camera with a telephoto lens and a flash.
"Smile," said Daria, as she snapped a picture of Sandi, who was in a state of transcendent rage.
The words choked in Sandi's throat, stillborn and dead. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" shouted Sandi as she ran in the other direction. Quinn glared at Daria, briefly, and then ran after Sandi, and the others ran after Quinn.
Jane watched Sandi's forces beat a quick retreat. She looked at Daria's camera. "Hmph. I guess I have to bring my camera to school now....! Can I get a copy of that picture?"
"Of course."
(* * *)
SEVERAL YEARS LATER
"Computer," said the helmeted figure, "I want you to go through the Lawndale Sun Times archives. Pull up any picture of Sandi Griffin."
The computer made the online hookup and hacked into the Sun Times database. The photo recognition patterns pulled up multiple matches, from Alexandra Eleanor Regan Griffin's birth photo, to school photos, to photos of the Fashion Club, to pictures of her in Legion gear with a winged individual, to -- !
"Look for a high school photo," said the helmeted woman, interrupting the data feed. "Something...embarrassing."
The computer dumped out most of its photos, leaving only one photo left, a several-years old picture of Sandi Griffin in a jogging suit that was unrecognizable. The screen printed, in red, "IDENTIFIED BY CAPTION ONLY".
"Date?" asked the woman.
"May 17th, 2005."
"HAH!" shouted the woman. "That's exactly where I want them!" She picked up a book, which was filled with colored bookmarks. Turning to a blue bookmark, she said, "All of them end up at the First Legion Compound that same night. They'll all be in the same place, and all ripe for the taking! Just a bunch of helpless teenage girls!"
William Abbey looked at the two machines. "Well...I've done my part. This machine should allow me to work my magic, even way back in 2005."
"Riiiiight," said another man, Paul Martinez. "But if this machine doesn't work, then your machine isn't going to help any of us. The last two remote modules we sent crashed. God knows where they ended up."
"Couldn't have been anywhere important," said the woman. "We're all still here. The timestream hasn't been affected."
"Do you think it's because of....Chrona?" said Abbey.
The helmeted woman nodded. "She can't block our access to the time stream forever. Sooner or later, one of the probes will slip by her. We're going to send it to Lawndale, First Legion Compound, May 18th, 2005, at about 3:30 am their time. This is a neophyte, teenage Legion and I don't see any problem with them."
"So...if the probe gets through...and that's a very big 'if'...when do we attack?"
"I'd rather eat first," said the helmeted woman. "I want my brain to have enough glucose in it. I want to be at my fullest potential. I have a little bitch that needs to be stamped into a bloody smear, and I have to be at my best to do it." She looked at her partners. "If you'll excuse me...."
Paul and William looked at each other. "I don't think I've ever seen her this crazy," said Paul. "She wants to send a probe under Chrona's nose, which is calling for a big bitch slap from Chrona! And now she wants to retroactively abort the Legion before it gets started!"
"Is that...even possible?" said William. "Wouldn't destroying the Legion...destroy us? I mean, the region the Dark Legion even exists is because of the Legion. Doesn't this whole idea smack of a Marty McFly kind of disaster? I mean...if we go back in time, and alter the timestream, then we don't exist, which means that there won't be anyone to alter the timestream in the -- ."
" -- riiiight." Paul had heard this conversation years earlier when he was on some really great weed. "Paradox. 'Our common sense she gaily mocks!' Frankly, I don't think you can change reality. I told her this was a dumb idea and even having access to this kind of equipment would have Jodie Landon hot on our tails. She then muttered something about 'quantum realities' and 'metarealities'. Frankly Paul...I think it's time to end the partnership."
"Huh?"
"She's crazy. I don't mean crazy in the sense that she's not to be fucked with. I mean she's crazy as in 'psychotic break with reality'."
William nodded. "I tried to get her to take the helmet off, but she said she needed it for 'protection from mind control'. Then she grabbed her gun and told me to get the fuck out of the room."
"Yeah. Of course, once we leave, we'll be on her enemies list." Paul sighed. He had known her for over ten years. "One last time, then."
"One last time." And if Chrona catches us sending that probe, it really will be the last time....!
(* * *)
May 17, 2005
<"So, you're still alive. Your lasagna hasn't been poisoned, has it?">
"No. Not yet. Although I'm sure the thought has crossed Quinn's mind. It was all that Quinn had to talk about at dinner."
<"And what did the 'rents say?">
"Nothing. Remember when we made that video of Quinn? The great "tiny pores" video that I edited because I had mercy on Quinn? Well, I told the parents that mercy extended only to blood kin, and not to Sandi Griffin. After that, I just let Quinn ramble on and prove my point."
<"A pity you didn't have film.">
"Damn. Lawndale has public access. If I had had Dad's camcorder, Sandi running and collapsing would have made great TV."
<"And you're not worried about Sandi?">
"No. I figure that she'll know why I did it. I don't care for betrayal."
<"Yeah...listen. I think it's really cool that you're taking up running. You should keep doing it, if you like it.">
"Actually...I hate it. The only reason I do it is because it's the only way I know how to get into shape."
<"Hmm,"> said Jane over the phone, <"what about martial arts?">
"It's a thought." Daria hated the fact that it was a slow conversation. I really wish she would say, 'Hey Daria, let's get in shape together.' "So, any plans for tonight?"
<"Yeah. I'm going over to the compound. Trent and Jesse have a Mystik Spiral gig, and they plan an intense practice. Which means it will be their only practice. Fresh sleep, surrounded by concrete walls and the howl of the lone coyote.">
"Damn."
<"Why damn?">
"The house is being fumigated. Mom thinks she saw a mouse in the kitchen. Which means that we all have to be out of the house for at least 24 hours. The exterminators are tenting the house. Quinn is going to stay with Sandi and Tiffany at the Legion trailer park. It's going to be a Fashion Club thing. And if I don't find a place to stay, I have to come with Mom and Dad to the hotel."
<"That's why you have cats, Daria! Heck, if they fumigated this place, it would fall apart. So come with. If you're afraid of the compound, I'll let you sleep at the foot of my bed.">
"Ha ha. However, the thought of enforced family togetherness...." Daria could imagine the interrogation she'd undergo at the hotel, as all of the flashbacks from Morgendorffer parenting tugged her memory. "Okay."
<"We can soap Sandi's trailer. Order pizza in her name. Call her phone and ask for Heywood Jablome.">
"No offense -- but I want to be as far away from Sandi Griffin as possible. I'll drive over there after someone picks Quinn up."
(* * *)
Daria gathered her things in a small overnight bag. Nothing more than a change of clothes and underwear. While she waited, she powered up her computer and began to write a diary entry of the day's events. She chuckled. Maybe I can make a book out of this someday.
(* * *)
May 18th, 2005 -- 3:30am
It was quiet in the Legion compound. Everyone was asleep.
There had not been much discussion in the Fashion Club about the day's events. Sandi had tried to pin the blame for Daria's actions entirely on Quinn, and Quinn spent most of the night squirming out from under the blame. Since Sandi couldn't attack Daria directly -- not yet -- she focused her unhappiness on Quinn.
Stacy played peacemaker. Tiffany took the side of whomever seemed to have the upper hand in the argument at any one time. Eventually, Sandi tired out and called it a night. The Fashion Club members had their sleeping bags and all slept together in the same trailer, cashing in at 2:30 am.
Upchuck was glad to be back online. It felt very nice that he no longer had to hide his antennae. Furthermore, his on-line friends didn't know about his problems, and there was no need to tell them, as he only knew them on a surface level. He surfed the net for chatrooms, messageboards, porn, and cool websites, same as he did every night. With no schoolwork to hinder him, he was asleep at 2 am.
Daria and Jane watched Sick Sad World, then watched "Young Frankenstein" and "The Mummy" (modern version) on DVD. They recited the lines of "Young Frankenstein" and ranked on the modern version of "The Mummy", Daria helpfully pointing out plot holes. Jane, without the hindrance of loud music, fell asleep early and Daria followed along at the opposite end of the trailer.
(* * *)
At approximately 3:31:45 am in the grounds of the Legion compound, a Negative Chronon Pulse was triggered remotely from a point several years in the future. If any of the guards had been at Ground Zero, their watches would have sped ahead, wildly. Then the primitive quantum trigger would have told some of the atoms of their bodies to take the shape and configuration of the probe. There would have been a flash of light, and electricity, followed by a brief neutrino pulse, followed by instantaneous death from shock.
As the target area was empty, the probe simply coalesced on its own, completely unnoticed. The guards, looking for external threats and making the occasional discreet internal sweep of the grounds, noticed nothing.
The probe activated, sending a Return Chronal Pulse back to the sending point.
And the gates of time...opened up....!