It had been a very long few months. Actually, it had been a very long couple of years, but the past months specifically had been above and beyond the usual level of insanity. Dealing with the entire time travel situation and everything that had sprung from that was an enormous undertaking. The fallout from that, emotional, physical, and otherwise, would take quite some time to get through. And no small amount of effort on all of their parts.


    But what it came down to, right now, was that Flick, Shiori, and Avalon needed a vacation. They had all been through so much, had given so much, that it was time for a break. They needed this chance to unwind, relax, and get their heads on straight.


    To that end, the three of them were staying in an old house on the outskirts of a small town in southern Nevada. They weren''t planning on visiting any great amusement parks, or visiting any museums, or even going out to movies. There was far too great of a chance that they would trip over something dramatic and dangerous requiring their attention. No, they were very certain that the only chance they had to actually get this break they needed was to be in the middle of nowhere and simply enjoy one another''s company. Well, to be fair, they weren''t exactly roughing it. The ordinary-looking house actually belonged to Apollo, and possessed far more rooms than it should have. Including a theater room that somehow had access to every possible movie including the ones still in theaters. Between that and all the snacks available, the plethora of video game systems, and so much more, they were set up quite well.


    At the moment, however, they weren''t watching any movies or playing any games. Instead, the three girls were coming back from a long run out through the countryside. Avalon may have very slightly relaxed her training demands in the spirit of vacation, but she wasn''t going to let them off the hook entirely. That was how they would end up getting killed. So, she had insisted that they take a long run that morning. And, in Avalon''s case, taking a simple run included a trip through her obstacle course of randomized traps of both the magical and technological variety. All three girls were coming back with bruises and singe marks. So, an effective training course, in Avalon''s estimation.


    Shiori was a bit ahead of the others, talking excitedly, as she bounded up the front steps of the house, about a new game she was going to convince them to play with her. Just as she went to reach for the handle, however, Avalon snapped her hand out. Her gauntlet produced a larger energy hand to grab hold of the other girl and pull her away. “Wait, something broke the warning rune I put up. Someone else was on the porch.”


    In so many other situations, the people who were with someone saying that sort of thing probably would have told her she was being paranoid. They would have brought up the idea that it was simply a solicitor, or the postman. But Flick and Shiori knew better than to assume something like that. They had all been through entirely too much to ever make such an assumption. Both of them began to look around quickly, the three girls forming a back-to-back-to-back arrangement in order to watch for threats in every direction. Flick was already summoning an assortment of ghosts to do a fly-around in order to search the entire area very quickly. Having an army at her beck and call was quite useful for that sort of thing. Shiori, meanwhile, had taken out her phone to make a quick call for backup. All while they scanned the area around them, alert for absolutely anything out of place.


    They were given exactly what they were looking for a second later, but not in a way any of them had expected. First, the phone in Shiori’s hand went flipping away from her before landing on the hood of a jeep that had been parked in the driveway the entire time they had been there. It was simply one of several vehicles Apollo had scattered around his property. They had used it the day before to pick up some supplies in town.


    Now that the girls were staring that way, the doors of the jeep opened, and an assortment of other devices flew out. There was another phone, a trio of old laptops, a dozen power tools of various descriptions, a few long metal chains, a couple microwaves, and other small bits and pieces. From the distant garage, a revving sound could be heard before two motorcycles came roaring out to take positions on either side of the jeep, while all those other things flew in a circle around the three vehicles.


    “Uh,” Flick started slowly, “is anyone else kind of confused right now? Because we sure are.” She was speaking, of course, for herself and the rest of the so-called Flique. Over all this time, she had become more accustomed to using plural terms casually.


    Shiori was shaking her head, though she didn''t let her guard down. Her disc weapons were held in both hands, ready for an actual threat to present itself. “If this is some sort of attack, it''s a really weird one. But they did take my phone before I could call anybody, so…”


    Suddenly pivoting, Avalon snapped a warning about someone approaching from behind while they had been looking at the strange vehicles and hovering equipment. Her hand snapped up, the gauntlet there forming a crossbow with a loaded arrow. An arrow which she almost fired before catching herself at the last second. Because the figure standing on the porch, who had just come out the front door of the house they were staying in, was a child. Or at least, he seemed to be.


    “Um, sorry.” With that soft apology and a visible wince, the boy came down the steps gingerly. He clearly had some Asian ancestry, though he wasn''t full-blooded. His dirty-blond hair was messy and stuck out in every direction, but he wore a very pristine suit and tie, both light blue with a pink shirt underneath. He looked to be around nine years old, and carried a leatherbound journal in one hand that he was clutching quite tightly.


    Avalon kept her crossbow pointed that way, though not directly at the child. Still, it was ready to snap back into position in an instant. Her voice was low. “If you''re the one doing that with the jeep, stop now. Tell us who you are and what you want.” She wasn''t about to take it for granted that the boy wasn''t a threat. Not after everything that it happened and everything they had seen. They had no evidence that this was even actually a child.


    The boy opened his mouth to say something, but the actual response didn''t come from him. Instead, an electronic-sounding voice piped up from the laptops that were spinning around the jeep. All three spoke in unison. “Hey, be nice! He''s not doing it, I am. And I just needed a minute to push myself into your ancient tech. It''s soooo ticking old! I bet you guys haven''t even properly incorporated the Elohim net--”


    “Megan!” The boy called out a clear warning. “That''s not what we came to talk about! You can''t tell them about technology. Not even the little stuff.”


    The electronic voice from the three laptops, which had stopped spinning at that point and were simply perched on top of the jeep hood, adopted the tone of someone who was rolling their eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. Hang on!”


    With that, a dramatic transformation took place. The jeep rose up onto its back end and parts of it began to shift around. The motorcycles rose up underneath it, latching on somehow before several of the larger power tools linked themselves onto the end of motorcycles that were still on the ground. More tools linked onto the upper part of the jeep on either side, where the wheels were. The front windshield, facing the sky, popped open before the driver''s seat was pushed up into view and rotated around to take up one side of the top bumper. The passenger seats soon joined it and arranged themselves into a rectangular shape. That was followed by the three laptops arranging themselves along the lower part of the sideways seats, while the two phones planted themselves towards the top of the upper seats.


    Then it was done. The three girls found themselves staring at what appeared to be a makeshift humanoid Transformer robot. Its main body was made up of the jeep, with the motorcycles serving as its legs. Several power tools were the toes of those legs, and most of its arms were a mix of bicycle pumps, furniture dollies, and more tools. The leather seats were its head, with the three computers forming a mouth, and the two phones were the eyes. Or perhaps the pupils.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    The robot lifted its hand and waved at them cheerfully. “Hiya! Oh my Deep, you''re so tiny!” Taking a quick step forward before dropping to its makeshift knees (the motorcycles bending in a way they absolutely were not meant to), it stared intently at all three of them before focusing on Avalon. As it spoke, the laptops moved around to simulate the movement of a mouth, even as the sound came from all three. “I know you guys said you were little at one point, but seeing it is just so weird. Look! Look at you! Tiny!” That was followed by the distinctive sound of giggling.


    While the three girls stared in blank confusion, still not entirely certain that this wasn''t a very strange sort of ambush, the boy spoke up. “I think what my sister is trying to say is hi.”


    “Sister?” Flick looked back and forth between them before letting out a low breath. “Okay, I think we all need to take a breath and actually get some sort of explanation about what''s going on. Because unless I''m really, totally mistaken, you two aren''t supposed to be here, are you? Maybe it''s just because I have time travel on the brain, but I''m pretty sure you''re from the future.”


    Shiori’s head bobbed up and down quickly. “Uh huh, that''s definitely what it sounded like to me! But before we say anything else, can I just point out how super freaking cool that was?” She was pointing at the jumbled-together robot. “You just took a whole bunch of parts and turned it into a Transformer. Do you know Galahad? Wait, no, don''t answer that. But seriously, if you do, that''s amazing. I hope he taught you how to be a Transformer. Wait, are you an Artificial Intelligence, or did you have your spirit put in technology like he did? Wait, no, don''t answer that.”


    Avalon cleared her throat pointedly. She had finally lowered the weapon, and was squinting back and forth between them. “Yes, I think it''s pretty clear they’re from the future and shouldn''t be here. But who are they? And why are they here?”


    The boy straightened up to his full, very unimpressive height. “I''m Shigeru. And like I said, she''s my sister, Megan. You''re right, we came from the future, and we''re not supposed to be here. But we had to come. It was our last chance, the last chance to stop… um. The last chance to stop something really bad. And if we don''t stop it, then there won''t really be a future to go back to anyway.” The way he spoke wasn''t like any normal child his age. He spoke like someone twice his age, or someone who had been through as much as someone twice his age. His voice was calm and measured, but held just enough fear and uncertainty deep within it to show that he truly was a young boy and not an adult trapped in the body of one. He was a very intelligent child who had matured beyond his years. Seeing that in his eyes, the way he was trying so visibly to present himself as calm and collected, made Shiori give a soft gasp of understanding. She had been through the foster system for so long, had been bounced from family to family, always trying not to say or do anything that would make her prospective parents send her back. All to no avail, until she had finally landed with the Porters. They were the best thing that ever happened to her up until she met Flick and her own biological sister and mother. But even now, the Porters meant the world in so many ways.


    Seeing that look in his eyes, realizing what he was doing in trying so hard not to be rejected for being too emotional or overwhelming, she knew what was going on. Especially when she factored in other things that had been said. And the moment she made that realization, she knew the idea had to be presented as carefully and delicately as possible.


    “Oh my God,” the girl abruptly gasped in audible shock, “are you my son?!”


    That, of course, made Avalon and Flick snap their gazes that way, twin sounds of disbelief escaping them. Followed belatedly by Flick making a weak noise of understanding as everything lined up for her as well. Avalon, who could have been the first to put it together but was having a bit of a stubborn moment, finally grimaced and looked expectantly at the boy.


    Shigeru offered them a weak, gap-toothed smile. “Um, yes? You''re one of my moms. Or you will be in--uh--a certain number of years that we shouldn''t spoil too much. More than one and less than a thousand.”


    Shiori was staring in fascination at the boy. She took a step forward and then went down to one knee. Her hand moved to brush a bit of his wild blond hair as she examined his face and whispered, “Wait, one of…”


    On the other side of them, the makeshift Transformer robot, Megan, waved an arm toward Flick. “Yeah well our other parent sort of identifies as both a mom and a dad. Or, you know, a whole bunch of moms and dads. Which is kind of a negative when they all want to punish you, but a good thing when you''re asking for permission for something, because you can always find one of them that''s cool with it. Oh, and it can be good for presents too.”


    Flick sat down. There was nowhere to sit, and she was too distracted to summon anything. So she just went right down into the dirt, staring at the boy and then the robot girl. “Uhhhhhhhhh…”


    Shiori’s voice was an almost painfully high-pitched squeak. “You''re both our kids?! I have-- we have a robot kid?!”


    Megan straightened up to the full height that her combined motorcycle legs and jeep body could manage. Her voice became far more robotic. “Negative, I was designed in a lab for the express purpose of causing destruction and eliminating priority designated targets. Deadly force authorized in cases of extreme timeline variance. Primary--”


    “Megan!” Shigeru chided with a squint that managed to be quite stern despite coming from a very small and innocent-looking child. “We have to explain!”


    Somehow, the robotic figure looked abashed before focusing on Shiori. “Sorry, you''re more like my aunt. My other mom is right there.” The hand rose to point at Avalon.


    A thump heralded that girl joining Flick in sitting down. They both stared up and up at the tall figure, neither able to find their voice.


    Shiori, on the other hand, had already managed to pull Shigeru into an embrace. It was one that the boy seemed to resist only slightly before giving in. His small arms clutched the young version of his mother tightly.


    Flick made it to her feet once more, stepping over to put her hand against the boy’s cheek while he was hugging Shiori. For a moment, she just stood there, looking back and forth between the two new arrivals. “I… I don''t understand.”


    The robotic figure gave a wide shrug as Megan replied, “I mean, it''s not that complicated. You have a male form, right? When you guys eventually decide to be parents, you make both of us. You''re our dad, she’s my mom, and Aunt Shiori is his mom. Boom presto. That''s a phrase right now, right?”


    Avalon slowly rows back to her feet. Her voice was shaky. “But… but you''re a…”


    “Oh, I''m not like an actual robot!” Megan informed them quickly. “I''m a human girl! I mean, I was. I was trying to do some Necromancy after you told me I wasn''t old enough, and-- uh, it turns out you were right. Or you will be. I sort of turned my body into an incorpal--”


    “Incorporeal.” Shigeru corrected.


    “Ghost-form,” Megan settled on. “I''m invisible and intangible and no one can hear me. Except Necromancers who know how. But I am really good at controlling technology and manipulating machines and stuff. See?” She made the assembled robot thing pose a few times. “I just have to make myself seen and heard through this.”


    Flick brushed the boy’s face absently a couple times before stepping that way. She and Avalon moved together to touch the motorcycle legs while staring up at the computer and cell phone face.


    “Why… why are you here?” Valley’s voice caught a bit. “You shouldn''t be here. You should be in the future, in your present. Why would you come back here? What happened? What''s going to happen? Why are you changing the future? You could erase yourselves.”


    Shigeru and Megan exchanged looks, before the former spoke. “Well, ummm… we’re hoping we can get Aunt Nessa’s mom to erase everyone’s memories when this is over. She''s supposed to be really good at that. Then we''ll have what we need when we go back to the future and the timeline will stay the same.”


    Flick, sounding like she was afraid of the answer, hesitantly asked, “I don''t understand, what do you need that you could actually take back to the future with you?”


    “An answer,” Megan informed them simply. “We need to find out something really important. Something we can find out now, in this time, and use in our time to help you guys fix everything. The older yous, I mean.”


    “We had to come back to now,” Shigeru explained, “because in our time, the information was already erased from your minds.”


    “What… what information?” Avalon managed.


    Megan assured them, “It''s easy, you know how the pocket universe where the old Crossroads school exists is inside of a painting? Like, the painting exists in this world and everything in the Crossroads pocket reality is inside that painting. We just need to know where you guys are keeping that painting. Then we can fix everything that goes wrong in our time.”


    All three girls stared at them in silence for a moment. Then Flick made a noise in her throat. “I think you might have taken a wrong turn in the timeline. Can you jump forward a little bit?”


    Shigeru blinked. “What? No, this was the only trip we could make. Why?”


    Avalon’s voice was flat. “Because we don''t have the painting.


    “And we don''t have a single clue where it is.”