《Emporium of Awesome》 Chapter One: Introductions James had been working for his best friend Tommy for just over three years now at his shop. The Emporium of Awesome was a Geeks paradise. Tommy had a knack for not only finding older collectibles of pop culture past, but in the best of conditions and at very reasonable prices. He was so good at it that people would just tell him what they wanted and how much they were willing to pay and he would go on the hunt. The day had ended and James had just finished locking up the front doors of the Emporium. It was a nice place by most standards, especially those of a hobby/game shop. At two stories is was a large structure in and of itself. The fact that it housed a large nerd habitat was a bonus. He turned and walked past the large row of counters and display cases that lined the front of the building, only breaking for the doors and the restrooms in a far corner. He made his way towards the center, where the only separate room stood, aside from rooms on the East side for storage. The retail area looked like chaos but was actually quite organized. Tommy had done a lot of research on retail layout. It was set up based on genre, that meant the old and new things were together. Sci Fi, Fantasy, Video games, whatever it was, it was next to its brethren. Almost 4000 square feet was designated to the array of merchandise, and in some spots almost all twelve feet to the ceiling was full as well. More than once each day a sales associate had to bring the ladder out to accommodate a customer¡¯s desire to get some obscure piece that was high up. Even Andre the Giant would have a hard time getting the authentic WWF Heavyweight Belt that was hanging from the ceiling in a glass case. They had joked on several occasions that they should clear out the area and have an actual ladder match for it. But the price said no, as it was signed by over a dozen greats who had actually held the title. James reached the structure in the middle. It was the small diner Tommy had installed to cater to the mobs that frequented their establishment for events. Hungry geeks could get restless and it was a good revenue stream. The usual prepackaged food was fine, but Tommy wanted to stand apart so he had an actual kitchen put in and hired a real cook. No one along the lines of Gordan Ramsey, but someone who could make damn good burgers and other comfort foods. James entered the diner, which could seat just over twenty in the dining space. He went behind the counter and grabbed a couple of beverages from the cooler. He had a long night ahead of him. It was the end of the month and he had to do the books. His favorite time. The exit at the back of the kitchen led him to the area where all the wargamers played their chosen battles. To his right was a large area for the card gamers to throw down, at its peak it could hold one hundred of them. That was one reason that he brought James on, to do the actual day to day stuff. James had no problem with it. Tommy was good at the hunt and it took a while to do just that, or so James assumed. So he ran the actual store and corresponded with the customers to hand off the request off to his boss so he could go forth and find the treasures in the world. It wasn¡¯t the most glamorous job in the world, but the pay was good and he had benefits, which was unusual for a job at basically an oversized game shop but he wasn¡¯t complaining. There was a lot of stuff going on that James didn¡¯t really understand though. Then again, he came on kind of late in the game. Tommy had started the business about ten years earlier as a seller on ebay, then moved to the internet where he exploded. Then he got a small area to keep his stuff and ship from. He had added the storefront just over five years ago and was doing very well. James¡¯s job was to run the store and ship items out all over the world to people that wanted the nerdy items of yesteryear. They really didn¡¯t deal in newer items, since Tommy didn¡¯t really see them as collectible or worth the effort since all the other shops in the world had access to them as well. With no room to negotiate price he felt it was better to stay with the older stuff as long as he could find it. They were current with a lot of the games though. TSR¡¯s Dungeon¡¯s and Dragon¡¯s was the top RPG and had been running on its 3rd edition from 2001. The Open gaming license idea was brilliant and a whole sub-industry of companies had started around it. Magic the Gathering was still huge as well. The start up Wizards of the Coast had a nice robust program for stores that carried their product. Both of the men were fans of the game and had picked it up shortly after it had come out. James had taken a few years off when he went to college, but Tommy had given him a playset of everything when he came to work for him. It seemed Tommy had done well for himself in the realm of geek. He was also a Nerd though. The two had known each other almost forty years. They had grown up living next to each other and even gone to school for a few years. That all changed one day when Tommy¡¯s parents decided to let him skip a grade. They still hung out all the time after school though. This lasted a couple of years before Tommy ended up going to some magnet school for smart kids. He graduated high school at 16 and went to college. They still kept in touch and hung out a lot when he was home from school, which wasn¡¯t often though since he went all year long. So just his breaks. Tommy went on to graduate school for computer stuff at 19, but then they lost touch. James had lost track of him for a few years after that as he finished school and went to college to get a business degree. He ended up teaching though when his aspirations to take over Wall Street didn¡¯t manifest though. In truth he did have a bit of success, but the high stress level was not his thing. So h had packed it in and moved back home to manage a small branch of a local bank. It wasn¡¯t fancy, but it paid the bills and wasn¡¯t going to give him a heart attack anytime soon. It was around that time that he found Tommy on social media and they began to reconnect. Tommy was out on the West Coast doing freelance work for some of the newer tech companies as a fixer. He would come in when they were stuck on projects and help them work through it. He had been offered a number of nice jobs but said he liked working as a tech gun for hire. It made him feel important. But he was getting sick of it. A couple of years after that he moved back home. It was the same time that he decided he needed a home base to operate his growing online enterprise. From there they hooked back up in real life and that led to James getting hired. It was nice actually. The two of them spent many a night sitting around being nostalgic for the past and playing games way to late over a couple of beers.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The job wasn¡¯t that difficult, but there was a lot going on, not to mention he oversaw a staff of about twelve. That might seem like a lot for a game store/comic store, but they did a lot of business online, so they had 5 people in the warehouse shipping alone. An IT guy to keep up the site, two that listed things in the system and four that worked the actual store. The facility itself was two stories. The store area was almost 10,000 square feet, and half of that was dedicated to display space for all the regular product. Play space made up the rest. Their events were usually large. The daily games had a lot of people too, but they ran about half a dozen events a day. Tommy believed in large payouts so they usually took a loss on the daily events, and especially the big ones. His philosophy was simple though, take a loss on the events and the people will love you and do most of their shopping there. Not to mention they would be in the place for a while and Tommy had added a small caf¨¦ to the place, so all the snacks and drinks more than made up for any losses they incurred. Most of the income came from online though, or the rare occasion that someone came in and picked up one of the high-ticket items. Tommy usually had a few display cases filled with top notch nerd relics. He hunted for the requests that he received, but he also found good deals all the time as well and showcased them in the store for all to gawk over. There had been much debate over the years as to what his own personal collection might look like. It was also usually on James mind, as he had never seen it. The second story of the building was apartments, where Tommy and James both lived, and James knew that there wasn¡¯t a lot of room in any of the units for a huge collection. What he did know was that aside from the additional 10,000 square foot warehouse attached to the place, which Tommy had custom built to his own specs, there was a basement as well. The thing was, no one was allowed down there and the door had more locks than the bank he used to work at. It was either a huge nerd collection, a CIA black site, or Nuclear Silo. But it was where Tommy spent a lot of his time when he was there. In any case the business was thriving and James wasn¡¯t going to complain. It was nice to work there and he was even getting a bit more active socially than he had been before. There had been plenty of girlfriends over the years, but they were mostly in the circles that he traveled, which until he worked here had been in finance. They were nice, but there was always something missing. He grew up a nerd and still loved all the things that he did as a kid, plus so much more. But he wanted that same love of geekdom in anyone he was with. Sure they had some fandom in common with him like a trekkie or a star wars fan, but he wanted them to like them all, just like him. Maybe his standards were too high, or he was just scared to end up like his parents. Amanda had started coming to the shop within the last six months. She was a graduate student at one of the local colleges. She was getting her Masters of Fine Arts there. She wanted to be a writer, to be more exact a Sci-Fi writer. That caught James¡¯s attention as soon as he heard it. Later this night they were supposed to go out on their first date. He was hurrying to get all the paperwork done so that he would have time to get ready. He would even if he took his normal amount of time, but he wanted to make sure he looked his best. He felt this was the one. At least he thought so, or hoped so. In any case he didn¡¯t want to blow it because of something stupid like BO. He was wrapping up the ordering for the week when a knock came at the door. It was Tommy. ¡°What¡¯s up boss?¡± James said. ¡°I told you not to call me that.¡± ¡°I know, but I like to rub ya the wrong way from time to time.¡± ¡°I have some bad news.¡± James paused a moment to assess the look on his friend¡¯s face to make sure he was being serious. He saw nothing to indicate he wasn¡¯t. His stomach started to kick in with butterflies. Tommy was never too serious, he was a jovial guy. A little bigger than he should be, but always in good spirits. When he said something was bad news the only thing James could do was prepare for the worst. ¡°What is it?¡± Tommy walked over to the desk and places an article that had been clipped from the paper on it. James picked it up and looked: SILICON VALLEY PIONEER TODD MATHERSON DEAD AT 74 Inside his mind, James breathed a sigh of relief. Not that he didn¡¯t have a twinge of sadness at the news, but it wasn¡¯t really that bad. ¡°I¡¯m sorry man.¡± ¡°Well he was getting older, it was bound to happen.¡± Todd Matherson had been Tommy¡¯s idol from an early age. The man was a legend in the tech industry. Rumor had it he attended Cal Tech in the late 70s and got his PhD in computers in less than two years. He had been given his BS when, in a gathering of all the computer department, he built a state of the art system (at the time) in front of them and then proceeded to give the University the patent. He just asked them to award a scholarship to 5 up and coming computer majors each year and let him have the chance to hire them first when they graduated. The school agreed and netted over one billion dollars from the tech before the patent expired. There were many more stories about the man through the years as well, he always seemed to be at the right place at the same time. James quickly scanned the rest of the obit before looking back at Tommy. ¡°It says here he had no family. That is kind of sad, a man that accomplished. No picture though, that is weird.¡± ¡°Yeah, there are no known pictures of the man. I was actually wondering if you wanted to join me for the funeral.¡± James looked at him oddly. Had Tommy reached out and befriended the old genius? ¡°I guess, I mean I know he was your idol and all.¡± ¡°He was more than that.¡± ¡°A mentor?¡± ¡°This may sound weird and totally out there, but he was actually me, or more like I was him. I invented Todd back in 1974 and created his legacy.¡± James took another moment to see if Tommy was being serious. No signs that he wasn¡¯t. But he must be. Todd Matherson was born in 1953, Tommy in 1974. There was no way¡­¡­. ¡°Before you even ask, yes I invented a time machine and used it to do what I just said.¡± CHAPTER TWO - PROOF James just sat there with a puzzled look on his face for several moments before he spoke. ¡°Dude, I know losing your idol must be hard, but this is borderline a sick joke.¡± ¡°If it wasn¡¯t true I wouldn¡¯t say anything like this.¡± ¡°I mean even if it is true, I am sure you know what I am going to ask next.¡± ¡°You are going to want me to prove it of course.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like you are a mind reader.¡± ¡°Okay, I guess I could do a little magic.¡± Tommy moved to the back of the room near a window. ¡°I am going to stand here for a few minutes, then I will come through the door and tell you hi.¡± James sat there. And sat. He knew the joke was up. James turned to Tommy. ¡°Well you almost had me there for a ¡­¡­..¡± ¡°Hi.¡± James turned to the door and saw Tommy standing there. Wearing the same clothes. He turned back to the corner and saw Tommy there as well. He kept going back and forth between the two Tommys until he almost had whiplash. After a few minutes the new Tommy looked at the real Tommy and nodded. Then he left the room. ¡°Well I have to go now,¡± Tommy said. ¡°Where?¡± James asked. ¡°Where do you think? I have to go back in time so I can walk into the room and say hi. The Tommy over there will take my place here.¡± ¡°But what about you.¡± ¡°We have started a loop. I¡¯ve only done this once before. He is me, just from the future.¡± ¡°From when?¡± ¡°I would say about 5 minutes from now. That is about how long it will take for me to get back to when he got here.¡± ¡°So he becomes you then?¡± ¡°He is me, try to keep up. We have watched enough time travel shows to have a basic understanding of how this works. But I have to go now.¡± Tommy left the room. After a couple of minutes he came back. ¡°Well he¡¯s off.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Past me. He went back to say hi to you. I am here though. The point is though that I had to prove to you that I actually had a time machine.¡± ¡°And now I believe you. But I can¡¯t stop thinking that this you isn¡¯t my you.¡± ¡°Yeah, it can get confusing. Temporal mechanics and all. Needless to say I invented the damn thing and from time to time it still throws me for a curb.¡± ¡°Well since it is apparent that you have invented a time machine then why¡­¡­.¡± ¡°Just stop there. I will try to get a couple of the disclaimers out of the way. I assume the first is why haven¡¯t I stopped all the big things in the past.¡± James nodded as he said this. ¡°Contrary to popular belief there is only so much that one person can do, even with the knowledge of the past. Second, how do you know I haven¡¯t stopped the worst things? I mean if I had changed anything, you wouldn¡¯t know about it, only I would.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°That is a good point, so did you change anything like that?¡± ¡°Um, no. The first major problem is that I can¡¯t go back farther than I existed. If I did I would cease to exist from that point on. It is weird, I don¡¯t know why, it just is.¡± ¡°How did¡­..¡± ¡°I figure that out? Sure, valid point. I tried various things. Eggs, bugs, even a puppy. I would send them back before they were conceived. All I got was a pile of slop. Sounds kind of vile, in the case of the puppy, but I did what I had to do to make sure I wasn¡¯t gonna end up the same way. So anything prior to 1974 is off limits to me.¡± ¡°There are plenty of things that you might have been able to stop though.¡± ¡°Yes sir, and like I said earlier, this wasn¡¯t my first loop with two of me. I actually did go back and stop an event. When I returned to the current time I found out things were far worse. Then I had to go back and tell myself not to change it. It led to me deciding to stick to my original plans.¡± ¡°Which were?¡± ¡°Keeping a low profile and doing what I had to and then getting out. That isn¡¯t to say that I didn¡¯t do any meddling.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± Tommy pointed to the top of James desk at an item. James grabbed it, a collector¡¯s edition of the Firefly television series on Blue Ray. ¡°What if I told in my original timeline that show only got a 14-episode season and a movie?¡± James looked at his box set, it read The complete series, all 110 episodes from 5 seasons and the Movie Trilogy. ¡°That seems like a real loss man. This show was epic. Most think it is one of the best, I mean what if the SfyFy channel didn¡¯t pick it up after Fox screwed it?¡± ¡°Nope, it died. The point being that was something I could do, and I did.¡± ¡°Well it helped everyone¡¯s careers I hope.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say we didn¡¯t get stuck with eight seasons of Castle.¡± ¡°Of what?¡± ¡°Never mind, we got the better deal in this timeline, the point is that I did some things that wouldn¡¯t alter the timeline too much. Even if they did it wasn¡¯t going to do any damage.¡± ¡°So why tell me all of this now?¡± James asked. ¡°It has been building to this for forty years. Todd Matherson only died when I wanted him too. I feel my position is now where it needs to be to take on the next part of my plan.¡± ¡°What are you? Some evil overlord now? Are you bent on world domination?¡± ¡°Not quite, but let¡¯s just say the things I couldn¡¯t change in the past to make things better I can do something about now.¡± ¡°Well that was as clear as mud.¡± ¡°Do you think I talked to you all those times about the market and the history of it all for my health?¡± ¡°I thought you really wanted to know that stuff.¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Holy shit!!¡± James yelled. ¡°You wanted the historical data so you could go back and get in on the ground floor. And I thought you really gave a shit about my job. That means you have had this damn machine for over 15 years!!¡± ¡°No I haven¡¯t. I was working on it for a while. But the closer I got to finishing it the more a plan developed in my head. Since you were a trader at the time and had access to all the historical data, I figured, why not.¡± ¡°There was google, even 15 years ago.¡± ¡°I know, but you had better access and it gave me a reason to reach out to you. I knew that when the time came that I would need your expertise to help me with my modern day plans. That is why I hired you and am now letting you in on the secret.¡± ¡°Well before we go any further, I want to know it all. The details, the plans, all of it. If you need my help, then I have to be all in.¡± ¡°I get that, and I am willing to tell you it all. There is a lot though, and I might skip over some. I have spent over 20 years in the past.¡± James looked Tommy up and down. Then he did it again. ¡°You certainly are aging well then.¡± ¡°Right? What I found was that during my excursions into the past I didn¡¯t age, at least not like people from that time. I would always have the return device on me. If it was that, or me or whatever, I was outside the time I was visiting, therefore I didn¡¯t age like them. To be honest, I have no idea why I didn¡¯t. This all just sounds good and is just theoretical. The bottom line is I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Good enough for me. So should we order some food and drinks, cause you have some tales to tell.¡± Tommy nodded and James reached for his phone. CHAPTER THREE – AIR FORCE NOVEMBER 1974, Chicago, Il An Air Force recruiter is sitting at his desk doing paper work. There is a knock at his office door. He looks up to see a man in his early to mid-twenties standing there. ¡°May I help you?¡± ¡°I hope so, I was looking to join up.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s what I am here for. Have a seat and let¡¯s see what we can do.¡± Tech Sergeant Allen was glad someone came in, he was falling short of his quota this month. Even though Vietnam was over the fall out with the youth of the country was making it hard to get bodies. Especially in urban areas. Though Chicago wasn¡¯t as bad as the New England area and California, he still had to go out a lot to try and get leads. ¡°I hear you guys are starting to offer more jobs with computers?¡± the potential recruit asked. ¡°Well yes, we¡¯re the more current branch with technology. You might even get one of those jobs. I hope you understand I can¡¯t promise you anything until after we have you take a few tests though.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°So what is your name?¡± ¡°Todd Matherson.¡± ¡°Well okay there Todd, when were you wanting to ship, that is if you pass all of the tests.¡± ¡°I can leave as soon as you can get me to basic.¡± The next week had Todd running around Chicago to the processing center to take tests and getting all kinds of physical tests. Sergeant Allen was impressed with Todd¡¯s results. He scored nearly perfect on all of the batteries they gave him, except mechanical. Within seven days he had all of the paperwork in order and offered Todd a contract with a guaranteed job working with computers.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Todd arrived in Texas for his Air Force basic training in early December. It was hard for him to start, he wasn¡¯t in the best of physical condition. Even though he had been cleared healthy, he barely passed the fitness test to get in. A little extra weight wasn¡¯t even the problem, the fact he had never done any real activity in his life was. Now though he was making up for lost time. That was the hardest part. The rest was cake. Even learning to drill and put on a uniform. He had always loved sci fi and wearing a uniform was part of it in a way. The academics were so easy he soon found himself at the top of his class. His progress in running and pushups was impressed his instructors. Which was understandable given the regiment he was on. The real problem with him being at the top was that it called attention to him. This was the seventies after all, sure it wasn¡¯t the Marines, but it was still hard, especially for a kid who had not even tried in PE. His instructors were not that hard on him for the most part, but when something did go wrong, it could get bad. There were no rules against laying hands on, or if there were no one seemed to care. The eight-week course was the hardest thing he had ever done. But once it was over he earned a promotion for finishing on top. Then he was off to his job training. He landed 51050 Computer Systems Technician. Which is what he wanted from the start. The training was a joke to him. He had a graduate degree in computers that hadn¡¯t even been invented yet. So another promotion was granted to Todd when he graduated from here as well. Because he graduated at the top of both his basic and job schools he was able to choose his duty station. He got as close to Las Vegas as he could. He spent the next two years there, making a sizable amount on the side playing the tables and events at the Casino¡¯s. Eventually his time ended, his two years were up. He had been good at his job, they offered him two promotions to stay in. But he declined. He had gotten what he wanted, the legitimacy of his existence. It was one thing to have a birth certificate and a social security number, but people could always dig deeper. If one had a distinguished military career, even a short one, behind them, then people would usually stop there. Todd Matherson had existed before, then stopped, but now he was among the living once again thanks to Tommy Reynolds. CHAPTER FOUR – ID THEFT ¡°So you went back and did two years in the Air Force?¡± James asked. ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Why was that, I mean I get the appeal, work on the latest tech of 40 years ago, but come on it seems a bit beneath you.¡± ¡°There is more to it than that. So before I went back I did my homework as usual. I looked for someone I could replace.¡± ¡°Replace?¡± ¡°Yeah. I was 30 when I went back, so I needed someone that was born between 1950 and 1955.¡± ¡°You thought you could pass for 20 to 25?¡± ¡°Well sure, I look young for my age. Anyway, they also needed to have died before I was born. I was also looking for it in a rural area with, shall we say poor record keeping. Needless to say I found what I was looking for. I went back to just after my birth and set up my new identity.¡± ¡°And you found someone named Todd Matherson.¡± ¡°Exactly. He was 15 when he and his parents were killed in a car accident. They lived in rural Iowa, well all of Iowa was rural. I got a copy of his birth certificate and social security info. He was born in 1953, died in 1968. Since no records were digital and it was so far away, I just set up shop in Chicago for a couple of months as him and laid some ground work. I also forged a few things and made sure they was where a paper trail if anyone went looking.¡± ¡°How did you manage that?¡± ¡°You would be amazed at what you can do with a modern laptop and printer in the mid nineteen-seventies. I just did what I needed, jumped back to drop off my stuff and went back.¡± ¡°So not to pollute the time line. Why Chicago though? Then again, why not? I assume you can go anywhere.¡± ¡°No, I can only go back in time to the place I am at when I go. This isn¡¯t like the shows that let them go anyplace as well as anytime. I ain¡¯t Doctor Who. No, I procured a place that I used as basically my base for all those years, where I could keep stuff whenever I went back.¡± ¡°Where is that?¡± ¡°You¡¯re sitting in it.¡± ¡°Really? I thought you had this place built like a couple of years ago.¡± ¡°I did, well I rebuilt. The basement is the same though. Before the shop I had a smaller building. I knew this property would be prime real estate someday, so I grabbed it for cheap back in 77 when I got out of the Air Force, well my agent did anyway.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Your Agent?¡± ¡°Yeah, I had a guy. Do you think I sat back and ran all of this myself? Hell no, I had some people working for me.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think the Air Force paid that well back then.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t. In fact, it sucked. I managed to get some bills from that era before I went back then I Back to the Future IIed it. I was able to make a few bets and build from there. Why do you think I wanted to be stationed by Vegas when I was in?¡± ¡°To make the big bucks.¡± ¡°Between regular trips to Vegas and vacations to the Sci Fi and Computer conventions and events in California I was getting to know people that would be the players of the industry. I am sure you know where this goes from here.¡± ¡°I think so. But I have to ask an obvious¡­..¡± ¡°Of course I saw it. I managed to get to know a few of the guys from the effects crew, so I was able to sneak into the premier. I mean it might seem better in digital surround sound. But being with the cast in that theater when Star Wars opened was the balls man.¡± ¡°I am so jealous right now,¡± James said as he pulled out his wallet. ¡°Our food should be here soon.¡± He checked his phone as is gave a notification, the driver was at the front of the shop. The pair of men walked to the door. James unlocked it and let the delivery guy in. He inspected the food and then handed the guy the money and a $20 tip. ¡°Thanks man,¡± the driver said. ¡°No problem, I am having a great night so I thought you should too.¡± The delivery guy nodded and left. James locked the door behind him. The two moved to the play area where customers usually played games. James divvied up the food and they started to eat. ¡°So why did you decide to tell me all of this now?¡± James asked between bites of sweet and sour pork. ¡°Because it is time to move into the next phase of my plan.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°I have no idea. I just know in this day and age, I can¡¯t keep up the Todd Matherson charade much longer, so I decided to end it. I also figured I am in a good place right now, so why not start using this thing to have some fun. Thus I am telling you.¡± ¡°Do you plan on taking me to the days of old to relive the best of times?¡± ¡°Sure. Which until recently I didn¡¯t know if I even could.¡± ¡°As in taking people with you?¡± ¡°Exactly. I always knew I couldn¡¯t take that much with me, a backpack with some stuff in it, a box if I held it. I¡¯ve been tinkering with it for a while now and tested it with a big dog lately. It was a success.¡± ¡°I hate to think what happened to your earlier tests.¡± ¡°Nothing really, I didn¡¯t try it until I was pretty certain that it would work. I have a lot more going on as well. The amount of research I have conducted is insane as well.¡± ¡°I thought you went back to build up your fortune?¡± ¡°Well yeah, but since I don¡¯t age when I go back, I¡¯ve also done things like just go back 10 years and researched for 2 to 5 years a couple of times. Think about it, researching as much as you want while not aging. Then return to the present like nothing happened.¡± ¡°This a basement thing again?¡± ¡°Yes and no, I have another place I tinker at as well. I have to keep a little notebook to track where and when I have been. That whole erase time thing if I touch myself.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t someone think highly of themselves?¡± Tommy pondered a moment, then realized what his previous words sounded like. ¡°You know what I mean smartass. The Time Cop thing. You come into contact with another version of yourself in another time and you cancel each other out. I don¡¯t know if it creates a paradox or wipes time. Not eager to find out either.¡± Chapter Five - My Agent CHAPTER FIVE ¨C MY AGENT May 1976 ¨C New York City, New York A younger man in an Air Force uniform is in the waiting room of Robert Patterson, Esq. Business was slow today, but Robert was making people wait anyway. He wanted them to think he was busy. It was finally time to talk to the sole person in his office, besides himself and his secretary. He figured the man was here for a power of Attorney or a will or something simple. ¡°He will see you now,¡± the secretary said from behind her desk as she hung up the phone. Todd Matherson stood up and grabbed the briefcase that he had brought with him. He smiled at the lady as she directed him to a door to his left. He opened it and entered. Behind the desk in the office sat Mr. Patterson, a middle age mad who was losing a little of the top while gaining a bit in the middle. He stood and offered his hand. Todd shook it then took the seat he was offered. ¡°How can I help you today young man?¡± ¡°How trustworthy are you?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°I am looking for someone who I can trust implicitly and who can follow instructions.¡± ¡°Well if you are worried about anything that we discuss it is covered under privilege.¡± ¡°I am well aware of the law Mr. Patterson. I am asking about the ability to do as one is told and not asking any questions.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like where this is going, I would never partake in anything illegal.¡± ¡°I never said what I wanted was illegal. I will be blunt then. How would you like to do as little as possible and make a ton of money?¡± ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t?¡± ¡°The problem is that most people eventually start to ask questions. Would you have that problem?¡± ¡°I think we are done here.¡± Todd stood up and placed the briefcase on Mr. Patterson¡¯s deck and opened it. The lawyer stared in disbelief. The case easily contained $25,000. ¡°Now that I have your attention, can we get down to business?¡± ¡°Um,¡± Patterson adjusted his tie. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± ¡°I understand you have a practice to run, so I won¡¯t demand too much from you for now. I will keep it simple for now too, so both of us can figure out if we can trust each other. For you, to see that I am serious, for me to see if you can do as you are told.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°What is the money for?¡± ¡°Your retainer. I will offer you work for the next six months. Each transaction after the first will see you paid for it. This will cover the first.¡± ¡°What are these transactions you want me to do?¡± Todd pulls a letter from his pocket and places it on the desk. ¡°In the envelope is a set of days and times that you need to be here. On those days you will receive additional instructions to execute. Being a finance lawyer, you know people and procedures for most of the actions that will be requested. Those that you do not, you will be instructed to learn or outsource to people who can.¡± ¡°Why not just give me the instructions direct?¡± ¡°Plausible deniability for everyone involved. In addition I have documents here for you to sign. I took the liberty of having a third party draft these.¡± Todd took some papers from the back of the brief case and handed them to Robert. He took them and read through them. ¡°These are very detailed.¡± ¡°Yes they are. Even if I already trusted you I would still have these drawn up. I can¡¯t take any chances.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°And since you will not get instructions until they are to be handled, you can claim ignorance if anything does happen. But no one should ever find out as long as you say nothing.¡± ¡°I would like to go over these if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Todd stood up, then took $10,000 from the case and put it on the desk. ¡°I will return tomorrow to see if we have a deal then. I will also say this now, I am aware of inflation and cost of living. So right off the bat don¡¯t get greedy on me.¡± The next day Todd returned. The secretary was not there; Robert was at the front desk waiting for him. ¡°Mr. Matherson, I have been looking forward to your return.¡± ¡°Is everything in order then?¡± ¡°I see no reason that I can¡¯t do what you need me too.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Todd hands Mr. Patterson the briefcase. ¡°In there you will find a bankbook with the funds to execute the first round of directives.¡± Todd reached in his pocket and hands Robert two cards. ¡°What are these?¡± ¡°The first is the card of the accounting firm you are to use. They will be alerted to how much you have been instructed to invest and where. They also receive the bank records. Any deviation will be a breach of contract. The second is a piece of real estate that I suggest you buy.¡± ¡°I am not a real estate guy.¡± ¡°I have it on good authority that it will go for sale on the cheap, within a year you can flip it for ten times the buying price today. If you don¡¯t want it, then I will grab it. Besides I tossed a little extra in here so you could afford it.¡± ¡°Where does an Air Force Sergeant get¡­¡­..¡± Todd looked at him sternly for a moment. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Oh nothing. I am still getting used to keeping my thoughts to myself.¡± ¡°I hope for both our sakes that you learn it fast. Don¡¯t you have something for me?¡± Mr. Patterson hands Todd an envelope with the signed documents. ¡°There you are.¡± ¡°Thank you. Now for starters, you need to keep your eyes on a new Index fund starting and get in on HBO.¡± ¡°That new satellite company? That is a fad.¡± ¡°Trust me it is worth it. You will receive more specific instructions soon.¡± ¡°When can I expect you again?¡± ¡°I am not sure. I will stop in from time to time. Like I said we will see how you do over the next few months and then go from there.¡± Of course Todd already knew that Patterson would check out and do just fine. It was in fact his fifth attorney. After each initial meeting with each lawyer he would jump back to the present and know immediately if they screwed him over. Mr. Patterson would not only keep his mouth shut, but would do far better than Todd could have imagined. Chapter Six - Real Estate CHAPTER SIX ¨C REAL ESTATE ¡°So you had a guy that did all of that for you?¡± ¡°Of course, it¡¯s not I like I was going to stay the whole time and manage finances.¡± ¡°So you got lucky and found the right guy then.¡± ¡°Actually no, it took me five times to get it right. I would leave enough instructions to cover 30 years. Once I made contact I would come back here and see what happened. If the held to the contract I would keep them, if not I would go back and change who I approached.¡± ¡°Seems like a lot of trial and error,¡± James said as he grabbed another roll from spread they had assembled. ¡°Well I had to be sure that it would get done. I wasn¡¯t going to leave something important like this to amateurs.¡± ¡°Fair enough. I can¡¯t imagine that thirty-years¡¯ worth of information remained accurate though.¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t, I had to go back and revise a lot, thus many of our conversations. But I wasn¡¯t going to do that for each schlub I tested. I figured if they followed the information to the letter, then good or bad I would know. The first four tried to make things better when it got bad. I didn¡¯t need thinkers, I needed followers. Nice, blind, obedient, followers.¡± ¡°So once you found the right guy, then you adjusted as you needed.¡± ¡°Correct, which brings me to my next point, and you.¡± ¡°Now we get to the good stuff.¡± ¡°Not really, unless you find lots of numbers and trading transactions fun. I really can¡¯t see how you did this for a living all those years. I took a few classes so I knew the topic and I found that boring. Doing it for a living day in and day out, I would go insane.¡± ¡°I like numbers, what can I say?¡± ¡°That you like working here better.¡± ¡°Oh, I do, I get to deal with numbers and the nerdy shit I adore. Not as much in the number department, but enough to make me happy.¡± ¡°So I think I have something that could make you potentially really happy.¡± ¡°What would that be?¡± ¡°I want you to pitch me a deal that would make a literal fuck ton of money.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not in the market that much anymore. I mean I still browse the journal occasionally, but nothing that I can think of that magnitude.¡± Tommy leaned over as James took a bite of an eggroll and smacked the back of his head. ¡°Why the hell would I want you to pitch me an unknown? I have a damn time machine. Pitch me something from the last twenty years that could do the same. Thing about it as a sure thing. If you have access to capital and resources at any point in time, that we can get too, what would you do to maximize profit?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. James pondered a moment while he rubbed the back of his head. ¡°Maybe take advantage of the housing crash of 2007 and 2008?¡± ¡°I tried that. I got the securities that said it would fail. I made some, but not a lot. The losses were eventually capped, for me at least, at around five billion.¡± James stopped chewing and just stared at him a moment. ¡°Only five?¡± he said as pieces of eggroll dropped from his mouth. ¡°I am serious here dude. The amount is not an obstacle. Take a few to actually think and get as stupid on me as you want. I mean even look at things that didn¡¯t work out that well, and if they can be fixed and profit us then pitch that as well.¡± James thought for a few more minutes as he finished the eggroll that had been plaguing him for too long now. He started off at three six-foot Millennium Falcons that Toys R Us had for displays in the late 90s. They were engaged in a static position from a dogfight they were caught in, it was a thing Tommy had done with them. At a grand a piece, James expected them to be that way for a while. For whatever reason though this sparked a thought. ¡°Countrywide!¡± ¡°Well sure, maybe someday I could franchise out, but that isn¡¯t in my immediate plans.¡± ¡°No, the home loan company that was one of the main culprits of the crappy loans that brought about the housing collapse.¡± ¡°Oh yeah. They really screwed the pooch on that one.¡± ¡°Anyway. Bank of America bought them for like 4.1 billion, actually 2.5 when the deal closed. But they lost a ton of money on the deal over the years as things were worse than they thought along with taking on all of Countrywide¡¯s legal problems.¡± ¡°How big a loss are we talking?¡± ¡°About 40 to 50 billion.¡± Tommy audibly gasped. ¡°I want to make money man.¡± ¡°I get that. They went in thinking they knew what was going to happen. But if we know all of that and how it will play out before hand then we can take it over and potentially turn that into, I don¡¯t know 100 billion?¡± ¡°That is a huge difference.¡± ¡°Yes, it is, but if we have everything in place before we take it over, head the lawsuits off at the pass, and knowing when the markets will recover at what times in what markets we can take all of that property and mortgages and optimize revenue.¡± ¡°Sounds like a lot of leg work.¡± ¡°How far did Kirk have to go to get Spock back?¡± ¡°Fair enough, what are the main things we will need?¡± ¡°Well to even have a shot at it, we would need some kind of heavy financial company to have the credibility to buy them out. The government has to approve the deal, that kind of thing. And I will have to do a lot of homework. I just hope we can have everything in place to make it happen.¡± ¡°Remember the Y2K scare?¡± James looked at him weird for a moment, ¡°Off topic, but yeah.¡± ¡°In 1995 I set up a small computer repair company that had every conceivable variation of fixes for the problem. Every system, network, whatever. You might have heard of it, Safe Systems.¡± ¡°Of course. They are still big in computer repair. Not as big as back then.¡± ¡°Nope. I used it to tackle that problem and make a ton of money. Since we already had the fixes, we could do it faster and get more contracts. Once 2001 came I pretty much stepped back and sold the thing. Now it is just a shell of its former self, but it did what I needed it too. The point is, I found a problem that was huge, figured out how to take it on and profit, and then did it. Computers are my space though, now I am looking to you to figure out yours.¡± ¡°Well give me a week or two to do some research. Then I will come to you and see what we can do to get ready.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan. Now pass that fried rice.¡± Chapter Five - My Agent CHAPTER FIVE ¨C MY AGENT May 1976 ¨C New York City, New York A younger man in an Air Force uniform is in the waiting room of Robert Patterson, Esq. Business was slow today, but Robert was making people wait anyway. He wanted them to think he was busy. It was finally time to talk to the sole person in his office, besides himself and his secretary. He figured the man was here for a power of Attorney or a will or something simple. ¡°He will see you now,¡± the secretary said from behind her desk as she hung up the phone. Todd Matherson stood up and grabbed the briefcase that he had brought with him. He smiled at the lady as she directed him to a door to his left. He opened it and entered. Behind the desk in the office sat Mr. Patterson, a middle age mad who was losing a little of the top while gaining a bit in the middle. He stood and offered his hand. Todd shook it then took the seat he was offered. ¡°How can I help you today young man?¡± ¡°How trustworthy are you?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°I am looking for someone who I can trust implicitly and who can follow instructions.¡± ¡°Well if you are worried about anything that we discuss it is covered under privilege.¡± ¡°I am well aware of the law Mr. Patterson. I am asking about the ability to do as one is told and not asking any questions.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like where this is going, I would never partake in anything illegal.¡± ¡°I never said what I wanted was illegal. I will be blunt then. How would you like to do as little as possible and make a ton of money?¡± ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t?¡± ¡°The problem is that most people eventually start to ask questions. Would you have that problem?¡± ¡°I think we are done here.¡± Todd stood up and placed the briefcase on Mr. Patterson¡¯s deck and opened it. The lawyer stared in disbelief. The case easily contained $25,000. ¡°Now that I have your attention, can we get down to business?¡± ¡°Um,¡± Patterson adjusted his tie. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± ¡°I understand you have a practice to run, so I won¡¯t demand too much from you for now. I will keep it simple for now too, so both of us can figure out if we can trust each other. For you, to see that I am serious, for me to see if you can do as you are told.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°What is the money for?¡± ¡°Your retainer. I will offer you work for the next six months. Each transaction after the first will see you paid for it. This will cover the first.¡± ¡°What are these transactions you want me to do?¡± Todd pulls a letter from his pocket and places it on the desk. ¡°In the envelope is a set of days and times that you need to be here. On those days you will receive additional instructions to execute. Being a finance lawyer, you know people and procedures for most of the actions that will be requested. Those that you do not, you will be instructed to learn or outsource to people who can.¡± ¡°Why not just give me the instructions direct?¡± ¡°Plausible deniability for everyone involved. In addition I have documents here for you to sign. I took the liberty of having a third party draft these.¡± Todd took some papers from the back of the brief case and handed them to Robert. He took them and read through them. ¡°These are very detailed.¡± ¡°Yes they are. Even if I already trusted you I would still have these drawn up. I can¡¯t take any chances.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°And since you will not get instructions until they are to be handled, you can claim ignorance if anything does happen. But no one should ever find out as long as you say nothing.¡± ¡°I would like to go over these if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Todd stood up, then took $10,000 from the case and put it on the desk. ¡°I will return tomorrow to see if we have a deal then. I will also say this now, I am aware of inflation and cost of living. So right off the bat don¡¯t get greedy on me.¡± The next day Todd returned. The secretary was not there; Robert was at the front desk waiting for him. ¡°Mr. Matherson, I have been looking forward to your return.¡± ¡°Is everything in order then?¡± ¡°I see no reason that I can¡¯t do what you need me too.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Todd hands Mr. Patterson the briefcase. ¡°In there you will find a bankbook with the funds to execute the first round of directives.¡± Todd reached in his pocket and hands Robert two cards. ¡°What are these?¡± ¡°The first is the card of the accounting firm you are to use. They will be alerted to how much you have been instructed to invest and where. They also receive the bank records. Any deviation will be a breach of contract. The second is a piece of real estate that I suggest you buy.¡± ¡°I am not a real estate guy.¡± ¡°I have it on good authority that it will go for sale on the cheap, within a year you can flip it for ten times the buying price today. If you don¡¯t want it, then I will grab it. Besides I tossed a little extra in here so you could afford it.¡± ¡°Where does an Air Force Sergeant get¡­¡­..¡± Todd looked at him sternly for a moment. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Oh nothing. I am still getting used to keeping my thoughts to myself.¡± ¡°I hope for both our sakes that you learn it fast. Don¡¯t you have something for me?¡± Mr. Patterson hands Todd an envelope with the signed documents. ¡°There you are.¡± ¡°Thank you. Now for starters, you need to keep your eyes on a new Index fund starting and get in on HBO.¡± ¡°That new satellite company? That is a fad.¡± ¡°Trust me it is worth it. You will receive more specific instructions soon.¡± ¡°When can I expect you again?¡± ¡°I am not sure. I will stop in from time to time. Like I said we will see how you do over the next few months and then go from there.¡± Of course Todd already knew that Patterson would check out and do just fine. It was in fact his fifth attorney. After each initial meeting with each lawyer he would jump back to the present and know immediately if they screwed him over. Mr. Patterson would not only keep his mouth shut, but would do far better than Todd could have imagined. CHAPTER SEVEN – TEMPORAL MECHANICS The day started like most others and James rolled into work about eight, a lot earlier than if he was just dealing with the store, but he had promised Tommy that he would get the information for the potential deal to buy countrywide. Today was the day that he was going to present what he had to him. It was a pain in the ass, but since it had already happened he knew what was coming and how to avoid it. He wasn¡¯t a legal expert, but he had all of the court records, names, times etc so that he could consult with more lawyers to figure out what they could do. The fact was he had talked to several already, but more information was always good. As he unlocked the door to enter though he smelled something weird. The lights were already on as well. James followed the aroma to the diner in the middle. It was ablaze with the logos and lights that it normally did when it was in full use, usually at night during gaming events. He entered through one of the doors and saw Tommy sitting there having an omelet. ¡°Morning sunshine,¡± Tommy said between bites. ¡°Tell the chef what you want and he will make it.¡± James looked back into the kitchen and saw a man working the grill. ¡°What the hell is going on? I don¡¯t remember telling you I was presenting what I found to you today.¡± Tommy stopped a moment and looked at him, ¡°I didn¡¯t know. I thought you said you needed a couple of weeks?¡± ¡°I got done ahead of time.¡± ¡°Well then, that makes today a double event. I am meeting with Todd¡¯s lawyer today in New York. I got a call from him yesterday.¡± ¡°So now it¡¯s all coming together?¡± ¡°Of course, a private will reading. I assume you want to tag along, while we travel you can pitch what you got to me.¡± ¡°That works. When are we leaving?¡± ¡°As soon as you eat and grab what you need to.¡± Soon, after the best breakfast he ever had, James and Tommy were off to a regional airport that wasn¡¯t far from their store. The Sparta regional airport was just one strip and a few hangers. James had never been there before and had no idea that his friend had a plane there, or even knew anyone with a plane. But given the story he had been told and what he had witnessed he was bound to believe almost anything at this point. They arrived at the airport and didn¡¯t stop at the small terminal there, instead the driver kept going to the edge of the field and then towards the hangers through an open gate. When they reached the farthest hanger a small just was sitting on the tarmac with its engines running. The door was open with the stairs down and a very attractive flight attendant. The car stopped and the driver opened the door. They both got out and walked to and into the plane. The attendant followed them on. She pulled the stairs up and closed the door. Then went to the cockpit. Soon the plane was taxing on the runway and prepared for take-off. The usual spiel came over the speakers and they buckled in. Soon they were in the air and flying along at cruising altitude.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The legging blonde attendant came over to them. ¡°Is there anything I can get you gentlemen?¡± ¡°I will just have a beer,¡± Tommy said. He then looked at James, ¡°It is a full-service flight there bud, you can have anything.¡± He winked as he finished the sentence. James thought a minute. ¡°Just a pop.¡± The attendant smiled and turned, winking at Tommy as she went to the front to get their drinks. ¡°What the hell did you do as Todd?¡± ¡°Well its not like I could have a wife and kids, is it? Besides it is consensual. They are paid to do the job they do, everything else is just a bonus.¡± ¡°What do you mean they?¡± As James finished the sentence, A redhead and Burnette attendants came from the back of the plane. ¡°I mean officially they work for the estate of Mr. Matherson. They are just that, attendants, but select persons can partake in extra benefits. Well just me. But I have only flown on here twice before when I had too.¡± ¡°Anyway, back to the business at hand.¡± ¡°Yeah. Once we get to New York and meet with the lawyer, then we will discuss your thing and take action from there.¡± Their drinks arrived and James settled down a little. ¡°I do have a question though, I am sure you knew it was coming eventually.¡± ¡°The future?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Remember how one can¡¯t go back farther than they have existed, but they retain their age?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Well the one time I jumped to the future, it was ten years. As soon as I arrived I felt pain all throughout my body. I saw a doctor. Nothing was wrong with me per say, I just had the body of a regular fifty-year-old.¡± ¡°You aged when you jumped?¡± ¡°Exactly. I figure if I had stayed I would have stayed at that age, but it makes it awkward. I have no idea what the shock would do to me if I jumped farther. I think it is the universes way of keeping a check on time travel.¡± ¡°By the way, aren¡¯t you worried about what the ladies might hear?¡± ¡°No, they are in the back. After take off they go back there unless called. We don¡¯t have to worry.¡± James looked around and realized they weren¡¯t there. The cockpit was closed as well. It was just the two of them in a nice leather interior jet traveling from Michigan to New York. ¡°I guess I can¡¯t knock the travel arrangements.¡± ¡°You better not. As I was saying though. I mean it might be because traveling back is easier since everything is already set. If you go to the future so many unknowns are there, that settling on one makes the process hit the traveler the way it did me.¡± ¡°That goes against everything science fiction has told us. I mean time travel to the future is real according the relatively.¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t time travel that is moving at different speeds through space time. Relative to those moving slower, time passes faster. Just jumping around is different.¡± ¡°So you do know what is going on?¡± ¡°Hell no. I just made the machine, I have no idea how temporal mechanics work. Its like the first boats. Man figured out wood floats and made a raft, but he couldn¡¯t explain the physics around it. He just knew it works. Maybe someday someone will figure all this stuff out and make a time machine that counteracts all the things mine can¡¯t. Like how later ships could be made of steal and all that jazz.¡± ¡°So, you are just a humble boat builder with no idea how it really works?¡± ¡°Nope. I just did some basic quantum math, applied it with engineering and poof, time travel. The finer details are someone else¡¯s problem.¡± ¡°You will have to tell me more about it someday.¡± ¡°Not how to. That is going to die with me. Besides you are a finance guy, once I get past intermediate physics I would lose you.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± CHAPTER EIGHT – NDA’S AND WILLS The plane landed without either of them even noticing, they were that engrossed in the conversation about what James had figured out. The redheaded attendant came out to let them know they had landed. Tommy quickly got up and made his way to the door, which was already down along with the stairs. A car was waiting for them at the bottom already. ¡°One thing your people are is efficient,¡± James commented as he followed Tommy down the stairs to the open door in the dark SUV that a driver was holding open. James got in first. Tommy turned before getting in and looked at the attendants that came down after them. ¡°I will see you three later tonight, right?¡± They all nodded yes at the same time. Then he got in. The door closed and soon they were driving. ¡°I never realized what a dog you were.¡± ¡°Am not. I mean I have needs just like the next guy.¡± They both laughed. Soon the vehicle entered the city. It made its way to Manhattan. It was almost downtown when they approached a smaller building, though it was still over ten stories. James couldn¡¯t get a good look since they were moving. The front had press outside. He figured they were still trying to get a statement about the Matherson estate. It was estimated to be worth a couple of hundred million, and he had no heirs. In the back a garage door opened and the SUV entered. It stopped right by an elevator with two men in suits standing on either side. Tommy got out before the driver could open the door. He approached the door, both men looked at him as he did. He pulled out his wallet, then a card from it and waved it in front of a small black square on the wall. The doors opened. Both men looked forward again. Tommy turned, ¡°Let¡¯s go slow ass.¡± James got out and got in the elevator. There was only one unmarked button on the wall. Tommy pushed it. The doors closed and James could feel the acceleration. It was faster than most elevators he had been in. ¡°Where is this thing going?¡± ¡°To the top. It¡¯s the only stop man.¡± ¡°Oh crap. Are we going to be here a while?¡± ¡°I imagine.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t bring anything with me.¡± ¡°Really dude? We flew on a private jet and have been chauffeured around after a catered breakfast. I think someone can manage to get you a t-shirt and jeans from Walmart if you need them.¡± Tommy reached over and lightly smacked the back of James head. ¡°I guess I deserved that.¡± The elevator stopped and dinged. The doors opened to a lobby. Both of them stepped out. ¡°Which door are we going through?¡± James asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± James turned and saw what he meant, he was looking at the wall with three doors. To his actual left and right the lobby opened into other areas. Then he saw what was most likely the staff. Four people stood at the far end and gave a small bow to Tommy. A well dressed man approached from behind them. ¡°Mr. Patterson, am I on time?¡± ¡°Please sir, anytime you arrive is the correct time,¡± the man said. ¡°Allow me to introduce James, my associate.¡± ¡°It is a pleasure,¡± Patterson said as he extended his had. James reached out and shook it. He looked at Tommy, ¡°Is this the lawyer¡­..¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Tommy interrupted him, ¡°His son. Mr. Robert Patterson has been happily retired to his Caribbean estate about ten years now.¡± ¡°Twelve, sir.¡± The younger Patterson said. ¡°How is the old guy? Still fishing and scuba diving?¡± ¡°Very much. He is doing as well as ever. Not to hurry you sit, but shall we get to the formalities?¡± ¡°Of course. We will meet you in the office in a bit. You may excuse the staff for the night as well.¡± ¡°As you wish sir.¡± Patterson turned and approached the staff. They all turned and went another elevator on the far side of the room beyond the lobby. Then Patterson disappeared as well. ¡°Does he know you are a time traveler? He seemed familiar with you.¡± ¡°He has no idea. All he knows is that I would show up to conduct business as Todd. He learned from his father not to ask questions and just do what was asked.¡± ¡°The curiosity would kill me.¡± ¡°Well, he saw his father work normal hours his whole life. Have plenty of time for his family, as opposed to most lawyers and then retire to basically his own tropical island for his golden years. All his son had to do to end up the same was to do as he was told and keep his mouth shut.¡± ¡°When you put it that way, I guess I would just do as I was told as well.¡± ¡°I watched that guy basically grow up as well. He was around the office a lot as I showed up to do business. Don¡¯t worry you will get used to it.¡± The two of them walked in the direction that Patterson did. As the did James realized they were in a penthouse. The layout was amazing. The furniture looked like it cost more than his car, each. When they reached the kitchen, an entire array of snacks was laid out on the counter. ¡°Snack?¡± Tommy asked. ¡°I am still good from breakfast.¡± ¡°Well if you get hungry there it is.¡± They went down a hall and entered to what Tommy had called the ¡°office¡±. It was in fact a large library. The kind with shelves to the ceiling, but a tall ceiling. With one of the ladders that slid along the edge so you could go up to the top and grab books. In the center was a desk the size of a boat. It looked older than thee written word. Patterson was sitting behind it. ¡°Shall we proceed?¡± ¡°By all means.¡± Tommy sat down on the other side of the desk and motioned for James to sit next to him. He did. Patterson had several documents laid out. ¡°As you know you are the sole beneficiary of Mr. Matherson¡¯s estate. All agreements made by him with others are in perpetuity and transfer to you. By signing these you here by take on all the benefits and burdens of the estate. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Fully.¡± Tommy took a pen that Patterson handed him and started to sign. Patterson then looked at James. ¡°You, as the witness to these proceedings will need to sign as well.¡± He then handed James a pen and pointed to where he had to sign. ¡°For acting in this capacity today you shall receive a small payment for services rendered, after signing this non-disclosure though.¡± Another document was placed in front of James. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± ¡°Just a guarantee, nothing serious.¡± James looked at Tommy, ¡°You don¡¯t trust me?¡± ¡°Trust has nothing to do with it. I just like having everything is covered.¡± ¡°That kind of hurts man.¡± ¡°I know, but if you haven¡¯t grasped the full scope, you will soon and then you will understand.¡± ¡°I would never betray you dude. But I guess it won¡¯t hurt to anyway.¡± James leaned over and signed the document once he was done signing all of the witness spots on the other documents. As soon as he dated it Patterson handed him an envelope. He took it and opened it. His eyes almost popped out of his head. ¡°Twenty-five million?¡± Tommy calmly put his pen down and turned to his friend. ¡°I figured if you wanted out at any point that you should at least have enough to do whatever you wanted.¡± ¡°That is a chunk man. I mean what was Todd worth? Like 200 or 300 million?¡± Tommy looked to Patterson, ¡°What was your father¡¯s worth when he retired?¡± ¡°Just over two billion.¡± ¡°Now James, if Todd¡¯s lawyer was worth that much, guess how much Matherson himself must have had?¡± James just stared at the two men for a bit. They seemed to ignore him as they continued to speak. ¡°Do you have what I asked for?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Patterson put a briefcase on the desk after he had gathered all the papers. He opened it and took out two older model laptops. He handed one to Tommy and placed the other in the top drawer of the desk, then locked it. ¡°Very good. I think that will do it for now.¡± Patterson took the papers, placed them in the briefcase and then departed. After he left Tommy looked at James who still had his mouth open. ¡°I need you to get into something more formal.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have anything.¡± ¡°At the end of the hall we came down is a bedroom, in the closet are some suits. They should all fit. The benefit of having the best tailors in New York able to make a suit based on photos. Put on what you like and grab and extra two or three. We leave in an hour.¡± ¡°To where?¡± ¡°By my math, 2005.¡± CHAPTER NINE - COLLECTOR 15 June 2005 ¨C New York The two men appeared out of nowhere. Moments before they had been in the same spot, but years later. One of them calmly walked over to a table and laid a state of the art laptop on it and powered it up. The other rushed to a nearby trashcan and threw up in it. ¡°The first couple of times can really mess with you, like last jump. It gets better though.¡± Tommy said as the noises from James echoed through the room. James quickly got up and went to the bathroom. It was where it was in his time. He washed up and came back out. ¡°This place looks exactly the same.¡± ¡°I have it kept that way. When you arrive and the setting is the same, it makes it a bit easier. Also because I have no idea what would happen if I arrived and something was in the same space that I was in.¡± ¡°That does seem like is might be a problem. The whole two things occupying the same space kind of thing. Surprised it hadn¡¯t happened to ya.¡± ¡°Before I had places to arrive specifically, I would get on a box or chair.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°I sprained my ankle more than once from it. I usually just drop a foot or two. But yeah. Better a bum leg for a day or two than materializing into something. Anyway, get over here I have something for you.¡± James walked over to the table and looked at the now turned on computer. ¡°What am I looking at?¡± ¡°The best lawyers in the fields that you said you would need to make this thing work. Old Patterson junior did some digging for me. He assembled a lot of legal documents and names of people for us in our endeavor.¡± James sat down and reviewed some of the information. ¡°This is good. On a side note. Since we have this information now and he did all the leg work. What will happen when we use it and you won¡¯t have to ask him to gather it in the future, thus basically making this computer its own paradox?¡± ¡°Really? More with the time stuff? Well I guess he won¡¯t be asked to do it then will he? I mean I still asked him, so we both know it happened. The fact that he will never actually do it is of no consequence. The fact is this. We are outside of time, so is that laptop now. Anything that changes and affects the new timeline will alter everything that is a part of it. Since we don¡¯t belong in it and any changes will happen before we get back, then we will know what happened and that laptop will keep the information on it. Does it create a paradox? I guess, but nothing like you see in the movies. Again, not sure why it all works this way, but it does. So enough with the twenty. Just go with the Doctor Who explanation, People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a nonlinear, non-subjective viewpoint, it''s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey... stuff.¡± James nodded, ¡°As long as it works. I will need a bit of time with this stuff.¡± ¡°Sure. I am gonna call up the chef to let him know there are two for dinner tonight. You want anything in particular?¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± James dug into the screen and started reading. ¡°Oh hey. What was that other laptop he locked in the desk?¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°That had all the current financials on it. There is a copy on that computer too if you wan to take a look later.¡± ¡°So you had him place it in the desk so we could reference it when we got back to see the changes?¡± ¡°Exactly, now you are getting the hang of this.¡± ¡°Not really, but it made sense. This one is the control group, the one back in our time is the test group.¡± ¡°Look at who paid attention in science.¡± James continued to read. After a while the aroma of food came into the room. Shortly after that Tommy came in and told him it was time for dinner. He closed the top of the computer and made his was to the back of the penthouse to a dinning room with a table that could see twelve easily. There were to places set. He took a seat to the left of the head of the table. Tommy was already there. The chef brought out their food. It was the best smelling thing James had ever smelt, even the breakfast from his morning. The pair ate in relative silence, as both men were far hungrier than they thought. When they were done the chef took their plates and brought wine for them. ¡°That will be all Romero you can leave the mess for the maid in morning, and as usual an excellent meal.¡± The chef smiled at him and departed. Tommy popped the cork from the win and poured some in the two glasses that accompanied the bottle. They both took a glass and drank. ¡°You really know how to show a guy a good time,¡± James said as he placed his now empty glass down. ¡°Well, I figured you wouldn¡¯t want to travel through time in coach.¡± ¡°So what other little secrets do you have lurking, you know little things that changed in the timeline.¡± ¡°Well, one of my favorites is that I gave Woz the last piece to make the Apple II.¡± ¡°Really? He didn¡¯t do that himself?¡± ¡°Well he did, I just helped out about 6 months ahead of time. That got me a few shares of stock before Apple¡¯s IPO back in 1980. Then I helped them out in 1997.¡± ¡°With what?¡± ¡°When Jobs came back, they were hurting. Originally it was Microsoft that loaned them the capital to get back on track. But I kind of usurped that, since I had an existing relationship with Jobs from the 70s I played that card again.¡± ¡°Gates helped Jobs?¡± ¡°Yeah, they weren¡¯t the rivals everyone thinks. But anyway, I had sold stock during the IPO in 1980, then bought a ton back in 96 when they were low. After Jobs came back and did his thing, I made a killing when it shot back up, plus a nice return on my infusion.¡± ¡°You just make all the deals, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°When one knows when and how the deals are going down before the people that should actually be making them, of course. Oh hey I want to show you something before you get back to the grind.¡± Tommy stood up and poured them both a fresh glass, then walked down another hall that James hadn¡¯t been down yet. At the end they came to a door, Tommy opened it and entered. Inside were display cabinets from floor to ceiling. Tommy went to one in the center. James approached and saw it. A nice wood grain box, slightly open to reveal a book inside. The cover said Men & Magic. ¡°Is that¡­¡­¡± ¡°A first printing of D&D, oh yeah. I even have a certificate with Gary and Dave¡¯s signature. They are actually amazing guys.¡± ¡°I think I hate you right now. What is all of this?¡± ¡°My personal collection. I also have a lot of, I guess you would call them time relics. You see once something enters a timeline it is not a part of, it just stays. Like how that laptop out there will just keep its information. Over here I have a Sony Playstation 1, 2, 3 and 4.¡± ¡°A what?¡± ¡°In the original timeline, Nintendo and Sony had a dispute so their joint disc-based game system never happened. I made sure it did in this one. Originally, Sony went off on their own and started to compete with Nintendo. So before I saved that deal, I got one of each of their systems to store here.¡± ¡°Jesus man, how much stuff have you altered?¡± ¡°Overall, hardly anything. But in our little world of geek, a fair amount. With potentially unlimited time on my hands I had to find something to do. I also like to take best selling games back and have them released about a year before they originally are.¡± ¡°How many pots do you have your hands in?¡± ¡°You will find out tomorrow.¡± CHAPTER TEN – STRATEGIC INVESTMENT POLICY 16 June 2005 ¨C New York James awoke to the smell of food again. It didn¡¯t seem to be as good as before, he thought for a moment that he might be getting used to it. He got up and got dressed in a fresh suit that he had brought with him. Then he made his way to the dining room again and partook in what looked like a breakfast buffet. But it was just him and Tommy, who was already eating. ¡°I was trying to wait for you, but Romereo¡¯s cooking just begs to be eaten fresh.¡± ¡°No problem on my part. I would have too.¡± As he finished his sentence and took a seat, one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen walked out in what appeared to be Tommy¡¯s dress shirt from the previous day. He stared at her as she brushed a bit of her red bangs from her face as she grabbed a piece of fruit off one of the dishes. ¡°When I am done with a shower I was going to Macy¡¯s to do some shopping, is that okay?¡± The look in her eye as she spoke to Tommy reflected a sort of admiration for him, at least as far as James could tell. ¡°That¡¯s fine baby, just tell Sam downstairs and he will have the car take you and then home. If I am available tonight would you care to visit again?¡± ¡°Anytime.¡± She winked , grabbed a second piece and headed back to the bedrooms. After she left James just looked at tommy for a moment. ¡°I really don¡¯t know you , do I?¡± ¡°Better than anyone else. I have a friend with benefits in more eras. Like I said, I have needs like anyone.¡± ¡°I remember back in school when you couldn¡¯t even get the courage to ask the girls we hung out with on a date.¡± ¡°Well a lot has changed since then. It¡¯s amazing what kind of confidence a guy can get by joining the military and accomplishing a few things.¡± The two had a filling breakfast and then made their way to an elevator that the servants used to come and go. This time the buttons showed all 15 floors. Tommy pushed the one for the fifth floor and the doors closed. Moments later it stopped and dinged. The doors opened to a lobby that was full of people coming and going. Tommy led the way. They went past the receptionist and down the main hall. There were offices along both sides. Then they entered a large open area with dozens of cubicles with people on phones. James thought it resembled a bull pen at a trading firm. Tommy then turned down another hall and went to the end. He opened a door and went it. James followed. Behind a desk sat an older man that had a slight resemblance to Patterson from the future. James figured it must be the elder lawyer before he retired. ¡°Mr. Matherson, I didn¡¯t know you were coming down or I would have had someone escort you here.¡± ¡°You are fine Robert, and please, just Todd is fine. Then again I should just give up. It¡¯s been thirty years and you still insist on formalities.¡± ¡°You are my boss, and I like to keep it professional. Looking as healthy as ever sir.¡± ¡°So how are things?¡± ¡°Very well, as usual. Your guidance as always has made things very good. And who do we have here?¡± ¡°This is James. He is kind of a financial specialist that I have brought it to play a hunch.¡± ¡°Of course I am here to help in anyway that I can.¡± ¡°We need to bring him up to speed.¡± ¡°On?¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°The whole thing.¡± At the mention of this. Robert lost the smile on his face. He then went and closed the door after saying something to his secretary. ¡°Are you giving me clearance to discuss this sir?¡± Tommy nodded. Robert then went to his want and moved a picture of horses running across a field to open a safe. He then opened the safe. He then presented a document to Tommy. James glances at it. It was a release form. Tommy wrote in James name and then signed it. Robert then took a quick Polaroid of James, stapled it to the document and slipped it into a folder so just the signatures were showing. His secretary then came in, signed and notarized it. She left then Robert turned to a filing cabinet that James hadn¡¯t noticed had two combination locks on it. He opened the bottom drawer, placed the document in it and then closed it. There was a knock from a side door in the office. James had assumed it was a bathroom. But then it opened and a familiar faced came in. ¡°They are ready for you Dad.¡± It was Patterson Jr. Robert made his way to the door, Tommy followed him and James him. They went into an adjoining office and into another door that led to a conference room. Two well dressed men and two better dressed women were sitting there waiting for them. Three other people were placing drinks and snacks on the large conference table. When they finished they left the room. Jr went to the door and locked it, all three of the locks. One of the men got up and opened a briefcase that was on the table. He pulled a device from it and began walking around the room. James could only assume he was looking for bugs, he based this on what he had seen in movies. Once the man was done he placed the device back in the case and then sat back down. The eight of them were now alone. Robert pointed to an empty chair for James to sit in. Tommy took the chair at the head of the table. Robert remained standing and took his place behind Tommy. Tommy then turned the chair to face him. ¡°We all know why we are here. The form has been signed and James here is now able to hear about the full operation as Mr. Matherson has requested. We are all cleared.¡± All the others looked satisfied. Tommy turned to James. ¡°According to all of the agreements everyone here has signed, even talking about the scope of things to each other is grounds for them to be sued into oblivion, so on such occasions that I want them to talk I have to sign a document relieving them of that fear. Like I said I had very good lawyers draw up for any contingency.¡± ¡°Where do you want us to start?¡± Robert asked. ¡°How about the purpose and scope of what we are doing here.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± The group went on to explain that the building they were in was a service center that conducted business on behalf of many companies. In fact, it was one of eight such centers that the company operated. They had locations in Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. The secret that only the people in the room knew though was that all of the companies they helped were in fact all owned by Todd Matherson or others that he had stakes in. There were shell companies, subsidiaries and other entities that were by others on his behalf. Through a complex web of paperwork, deals and other ways they al led back to Todd. None of I was illegal though. They had a division of lawyers that made sure everything was above board. Even all of the taxes that were paid and accounts not located in the USA were more than legal. They made sure that taxes were paid. All funds even came back to the USA. When the time came to consolidate there was no way they could be hit with anything. When the time came for James to bring them in on the deal he was working on, the finance experts disagreed saying that housing would never go bad. He had to show them actual proof by making them actually look at some of the assets in the very securities they said were good to make sure they understood the scope of things. Robert was instructed to start assembling the team of lawyers and experts that his son had handed them in the future. He did not know this part though but would do as instructed. They all would. No matter what their advice was, they all knew to go with whatever Todd wanted. They trusted him implicitly. They were all rich because of him, they still felt it was good to advise him regardless of the fact that he already seemed to know everything. When they were all done, they left except for Robert. ¡°I think we can show him the ledger now.¡± Robert nodded and left the room. Soon he returned with an armed guard in tow. The guard placed a case on the table and unlocked it from his wrist. As he finished James noticed two more guards outside holding shotguns. The guard who brought it in left the room. Robert then inserted a key into a lock on it. Tommy then entered the combination code and opened the case. He pulled out an old worn ledger and placed it on the table. ¡°This gets updated everything I visit. I did it this morning before breakfast. It has a summary of all the assets.¡± He opened it to the back and pushed it towards James. James looked down at the page and say huge totals with the written next to them. Below that was a total. The total was over eight hundred billion. His jaw dropped. ¡°That is the net worth of Todd Matherson. If your plan works we might hit the thirteenth digit.¡± CHAPTER ELEVEN – COLLECTABLE KINGDOM Two weeks before James first New York Jump - They had just finished his rice and Tommy was munching on an eggroll when they both heard a banging. It could only be coming from the front doors. They looked at each other and pondered who could be trying to get in at this time. Then James eyes lit up, ¡°Oh shit!¡± He got up and made his way to the front of the building. Tommy sat there a minute or two while he finished his eggroll. Soon James reemerged with Amanda. She was a solid 5¡¯5¡± with shoulder length brown hair. The most striking thing about her were her hazel eyes. A lot of people had that color, but Tommy wasn¡¯t sure if it was there tone or the total of how they presented with her other features. He knew that James had been chatting her up the last few months and had a thing for her. She had moved to the area about a year before and quickly found the Emporium. Most people do that are into the geek culture. Then again being on a prime location along the two major highways in the area didn¡¯t hurt either. Or the half a dozen strategic bill boards that Tommy had bough to advertise his pet project. In any case she was a regular customer and had a thing for rare Funkos. ¡°I hate to tell you ma¡¯am, but we are closed,¡± Tommy said as he grabbed another small package of fried rice. She smiled at him and her and James sat down at the table. He offered her some sweet and sour pork, which she accepted. ¡°Someone was supposed to take me out tonight, but they weren¡¯t outside after work like they said it would be and wouldn¡¯t answer my calls or texts. Tommy looked over at James. ¡°You stood this nice woman up?¡± James looked at him with a disgusted look. ¡°Well you can blame that solely on me my lady. I have kept him here longer than I should have. We are discussing nerd stuff as usual.¡± Amanda wasn¡¯t too sure how to take Tommy¡¯s tone. She had spoken to him a few times over the months, and had found out a lot from James, but a casual interaction had not occurred until now. ¡°Well as long as it doesn¡¯t happen again, I guess I can let it go just this once,¡± she said, hoping it would be the kind of banter that he was okay with. ¡°Sal¡¯right,¡± Tommy replied. ¡°So, anything that I might be interested in?¡± Amanda asked as she grabbed the last eggroll, much to Tommy¡¯s shigrin. ¡°Maybe, what are you into besides pops?¡± Amanda stopped eating a second and looked at him. ¡°I do actually like more than small vinyl figures you know. I only collect the ones that are in the things I do like.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry, it¡¯s not like anyone here talks much about you,¡± Tommy said as he looked at James. Amanda turned and looked at hi too in an accusatory manner. ¡°Hey, we don¡¯t talk about much besides business most of the time. Don¡¯t blame me.¡± They all took a moment to chuckle before Tommy spoke. ¡°Well, I do have a shipment coming in tonight, we could be there when it comes in.¡± James looked at him confused, ¡°There was nothing on the schedule for tonight.¡± ¡°Where do you think everything we get here comes from? I find stuff and keep it in one spot. When we have room or need something here I have it shipped over. A lot of the things I find are part of like estate sales or large personal collections. I swear at times I spend more in shipping that the actual assortment of stuff I get. Most times there is a lot of crap that I have to take just to get what I really want. One time I had to get almost a house full of old and broken furniture just to get a couple of old pinball machines.¡± ¡°You poor thing,¡± Amanda said. ¡°Out of curiosity what is it that you actually do?¡± ¡°Wow, he really hasn¡¯t said anything about me, has he?¡± She paused while giving an evil look at James again. ¡°I teach high school.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°I said I teach high school.¡± ¡°Oh, I heard you, I am giving you my condolences.¡± Now she stared at Tommy with an evil look. ¡°I see why you two get along so well now. Both smart asses. I also run the chess club and the gaming club. It is the only way I can get my geek on. I swear I don¡¯t have a lot of time for real social activity with real people. That is one thing I like about James.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°His winning personality?¡± ¡°Well that too. But that he works late and when he is done with work I am usually done grading papers and planning the next day.¡± James looked at her, ¡°And I thought it was because we got along so well.¡± ¡°You would think that, I can fit you into my schedule, that is the most important thing.¡± It got quiet for a moment before all of them started laughing again. Tommy got up and started to throw some of the trash away. ¡°Well let¡¯s get going then. It is getting late now, and I don¡¯t want to keep the teacher from her students tomorrow.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Saturday man,¡± James said. ¡°Oh yeah, I lose track some days.¡± The three of them went to the back of the store. Tommy unlocked the door and then locked it when everyone was out. His Dodge minivan sat in the back next to James car, which was much nicer. They all got in the van and Tommy started it up. In about half an hour they arrived at a large building on the edge of town. Tommy parked near a door and got out. He proceeded to pull out a key and unlock it. Then he motioned for the others to follow him. They entered the building. A short way a way was a small office with the light on. A man emerged in a uniform and a weapon. ¡°Evening Tommy, here for the shipment arriving?¡± ¡°Of course, Ernest. All quiet?¡± ¡°Same as usual. I swear you just pay me to hang out, not that I am complaining.¡± ¡°Well you make it look professional, so keep that up and you will be fine.¡± The three of them walked past the guard shack and into the larger area. James figured the facility must have been 100,000 square foot at least. A moment passed and the lights started to come on. The guard must have flipped them on once he returned to his post. Once the place was fully lit, James could see that the whole place was not being used. There were several aisles with things in them and a couple of dumpsters on the far end full of trash, he could even see pieces of old furniture sticking out. ¡°How much of this place is yours?¡± ¡°All of it. I don¡¯t use it all. I don¡¯t have that much crap.¡± ¡°I guess Pop figures are doing well for you then,¡± Amanda said as they walked past a large stack of various old board games. ¡°I do alright. This is where the salvageable stuff goes.¡± Tommy said pointing to the aisles farthest from the wall they entered from. They were soon past the rows of stuff and came to some tables. ¡°This is where stuff gets sorted when it comes in, if it needs to be. And thrown out over there.¡± He pointed to the dumpsters that James had eyed earlier. ¡°Then we put the stuff that is good but we don¡¯t want over there at the loading docks. I can usually get rid of it to antique dealers, thrift shops, or charity. Sometimes I might grab something for myself though.¡± The area he pointed too this time was not too cluttered, but there were some furniture pieces, clothes and other various items there. Amanda walked over to take a closer look. James turned to Tommy, ¡°I thought you got a lot of stuff through your travels?¡± ¡°Well yeah. But they are kept other places. I wait for them to build up to make it worth bringing here. And I do actually find old estates and collections as well. I mean I find it kind of fun. But in any case, I have it all brought here to process.¡± ¡°What do you want for this?¡± Amanda yelled. She was standing, then plopped down into an old couch. ¡°I love this. It looks just like one my grandma used to have.¡± ¡°Tell you what, promise to take James out again and you can have it.¡± ¡°I think I can live with that deal, but I don¡¯t have a way to get it home.¡± ¡°I can have it delivered, just tell James where.¡± There was a knock at the back dock before the door went up. A tractor trailer was backed up to the door and the driver was standing there. Ernest had made his way to the back to open the door. It was around the perimeter, since none of the three saw him. He was signing a clipboard the driver handed him. Soon a few people came from the far corner of the warehouse and started to unload the trailer. The driver disappeared, and soon the truck was driving away, leaving the trailer. The workers were bringing the contents over to the sorting area. The trio went over to see what was being unloaded. ¡°You have quiet a staff here Mr. Tommy,¡± Amanda said. ¡°Not really, when we need a shipment unloaded I just hire bodies from the local temp agency. They will get a good payday for a small amount of work.¡± ¡°Are those what I think they are?¡± Amanda squealed as she ran over to a table where some things had just been set down. She picked up an old Nintendo system still in its shrink wrap. ¡°Is this from the New York test market release?¡± ¡°Yes it is, with Robbie and all the goodness. Take one if you want.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t this thing is worth a small fortune.¡± ¡°There should be at least six of them there, so go ahead.¡± James leaned over to Tommy, ¡°Dude you are making me look bad.¡± Tommy laughed. ¡°There should be something here for you as well.¡± He walked over and started digging in a tub that was sitting there. After a few minutes he pulled out a small container and tossed it to James. He opened it and looked. ¡°Really dude?¡¯ He took out a small action figure. It was Bobo Fett. When he pushed the back its little rocket shot out. Tommy caught it as he walked back. ¡°It¡¯s not the sealed one, but I figure you would want to play with it anyway.¡± ¡°Damn skippy!¡± The three of them stood around the rest of the night looking at all of the items that were unloaded. It took the workers about an hour to offload the truck and they were gone shortly after. Soon it was morning and they had gone through a bulk of the items. Tommy looked at his watch. ¡°Well look at the time. Breakfast is on me people.¡± Amanda and James looked at him a moment. ¡°Is this how you get all this stuff sorted? Luring nerds in to do your work for you?¡± James said. ¡°You have me figured out man. Now shut up and let¡¯s go eat.¡± CHAPTER TWELVE - EXPOSED When the trio arrived back at the Emporium after breakfast, Tommy led the way back the warehouse. James and Amanda were carrying their spoils of war from helping earlier. He unlocked the warehouse and let them in. ¡°You can put them over on that shelf for now. I am pretty sure no one will get in here and steal anything.¡± ¡°You do have it pretty locked down,¡± James observed. ¡°One questions though.¡± ¡°Shoot.¡± ¡°What is in the back room in here? That thing has like reinforced walls.¡± ¡°Yes it does. It has the higher end items that I move online sometimes.¡± He motioned for them to follow. He walked along the shelves in the warehouse that adjoined the store. This facility was only about 500 square feet, with about half of it filled with shelves near the breezeway that hooked it to the larger building where the door came out by James¡¯ office. The rest of the building was used as a garage for Tommy and James cars during the winter, but beyond that section was a set of smaller rooms, one of which James had never been in They reached the door and Tommy proceeded to unlock the door and the three padlocks that were attached as well. He opened the door and James saw him go to a keypad where he entered a code. A beep let everyone know that an alarm system had been deactivated. ¡°It this tied into the main system?¡± ¡°Hell no. This thing still has a land line link. I don¡¯t mess around with the stuff in here.: Tommy flipped on a light and all three then saw that the walls were lined with various large safes and steel cages. Amanda immediately ran to one of the cages and James swore she started to drool. ¡°Are those all of them?¡± ¡°Most of them. I think I am missing three from the 1st generation.¡± What Tommy was referring too was the assortment of toys in the cage on shelves. The original run of the Transformer toys from the 1980s. There were multiple copies of each on those shelves. Amanda just stood there starring. Tommy leaned over to James, ¡°I think she is a keeper man.¡± James just looked at him, then elbowed him. ¡°Over here ya nerd,¡± he said to him. The pair when to a safe. Tommy spun the dial and entered the combination. Then he pulled open a drawer. He took out a plastic container and handed it to James. He just stared at it. ¡°Really man?¡± ¡°Oh yeah.¡± James was looking down at an Action Comics #1 in its case after being graded. The label on the top read 9.7. ¡°Where did you get this from?¡± Tommy did not immediately respond. He pulled six more out and stacked them in James hands. ¡°I think you mean THESE,¡± then he started to laugh. Amanda walked over to James and looked at what he held. ¡°You have got to be shitting me.¡± She took one and examined it, then another and another until they were all in her hands. Not one of them was graded below a 9. ¡°Based on that the last one sold for, you have easily ten million here.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Give or take, depends on the auctioneers take. I just have them until I can make a sale.¡± ¡°You have been holding out on me then,¡± James said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to run a business when I don¡¯t know all of the assets.¡± ¡°So, you know someone that could afford one of those?¡± ¡®Well, no.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t whine about it. Now some of this other stuff I am sure you could flip for me. But that aside we do have some work to do.¡± James looked at Tommy and nodded. He then turned to Amanda. Soon she was on her way home and the two men went about their business. Over the course of the next two weeks James spent most of his time at work figuring out what Tommy needed him too. He spent more and more time with Amanda as well. He was tackling both projects with gusto. He really liked her, and she was even more geeky than him. Two of three time a week she would come to the shop and stay past closing just talking with the pair of friends. The relationship progressed faster than either of them had expected. James started to stay at Amanda¡¯s after just week. As a teacher she had to be up early. James also thought that his little apartment above the shop wasn¡¯t the best spot for them to be, as it was kind of small. He would usually see himself out in the morning and head to work to try and get the information together that Tommy needed for the trip. On the morning of James first trip to the past he left before Amanda even got up. When she awoke she saw that he had left his keys to the store there. She knew that is where he went every morning and she decided to take them to him. It was only a few minutes out of her way so she left a little early. James didn¡¯t even realize he had left them there. Even when he arrived he found that Tommy was already there waiting for him. It looked like they were going to get an early start on their adventure. Unbeknownst to them though as they stepped back in time, Amanda had entered the shop. Just as she turned the key and opened the door she saw the glow of the portal and the two of them disappearing. She stood there for a moment, not sure of what she had just seen. She approached to the spot they had been and looked at the nearby table. She saw a lot of papers strewn about. Before she could start to read any of them or really have a chance to think about what was going on another bright light started to form. She stepped back. A similar phenomenon as the one that she just saw happened. This time the pair of men walked out of it. The flashy doorway they passed through then disappeared. James and Tommy were standing there. Not in the clothes she had seen them in when they went through the portal the first time. They were both sharply dressed now. James looked nauseous and ran to a garbage can. Tommy laughed, then turned and saw her standing there. ¡°James I think we might have a problem.¡± James held up his hand while he finished his business with the can. We wiped his mouth and stood up. As he started to turn he spoke, ¡°What do you mean¡­..¡± He saw Amanda standing there, motionless. ¡°How long have you been here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know.¡± ¡°I think what he meant to say is, what did you see?¡± Tommy interjected. ¡°I saw you two disappear then reappear. What they hell is going on here?¡± James walked over to her and placed his arm around her, or at least tried to. She stepped back. ¡°I need some answers, because I am really close to freaking out.¡± ¡°I would love to answer your questions, but let¡¯s start from the top. What are you doing here?¡± James asked. ¡°You left your keys at my place I came by to drop them off.¡± She tossed the key ring that was still in her hand to James, he caught them. ¡°Did you two figure out teleportation or something?¡± ¡°I wish,¡± James said. He turned to look at Tommy. ¡°How far do you want to go with this?¡± ¡°Well, I have to think about it, but I guess we can just tell her the basics, I mean who would believe her even if she did go around shouting it from the rooftops?¡± James looked right at Amanda, ¡°Tommy invented time travel. The time you saw us leave and then come back, we were in the past for three years.¡± CHAPTER THIRTEEN – HIGHER EDUCATION ¡°Three years?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Yeah, someone thought it would be a good idea for me to brush up on my education.¡± James and pointed at Tommy. ¡°I paid for it, what are you complaining about?¡± ¡°I think I need to sit down,¡± Amanda said as she went to the closest table. James sat next to her and set down what looked like a diploma. She opened it. It had James name on it, it was a DBA from Harvard dated two years ago. ¡°You really aren¡¯t kidding me, are you?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°So Tommy invented Time travel to go back and stock up on collectibles?¡± ¡°How little you think of me Amanda,¡± Tommy said with a sad look. ¡°I have done it for a shitload of collectables.¡± Now he was smiling. ¡°There is a lot more going on than that,¡± James said as he shot an evil look back at Tommy. ¡°That is what I was doing, getting more training so I can help him.¡± ¡°And I just happened to stumble into it?¡± ¡°Apparently.¡± ¡°Well, we can just go back to this morning and make sure you don¡¯t forget your keys.¡± ¡°Really dude? Are you going to dismiss her that fast?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be an ass, but I have a plan in place and unknown factors can really mess up things. So, convince me we can use her?¡± ¡°Use me?¡± ¡°He means can you help us in our goals.¡± ¡°Depends on what they are.¡± ¡°Right now, I just know he is amassing a huge fortune. He hasn¡¯t gone into specifics with me on what comes next.¡± ¡°When the time is right I will, but until then I don¡¯t want to get unneeded complications.¡± ¡°Well then the simplest thing to tell you is that she makes me happy and thus a better partner in whatever you need me to do.¡± ¡°Good enough, I will get a hold of Mr. Robertson then to have her sign some forms.¡± ¡°Forms?¡± ¡°Well we are talking time travel here, not like I want that kind of info getting out, though the forms are a bit more generic. Even my lawyer doesn¡¯t know. As of now just us three.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°I think I need time to process this. Kind of thing that a girl doesn¡¯t get hit with everyday.¡± ¡°We have a lot more time than you know too,¡± James added. ¡°I am sure the mechanics behind it is something we could spend some long night s talking about,¡± Amanda said. ¡°Not really, more like a half an hour, then you ask me all the questions I can¡¯t answer for the next three. This isn¡¯t Star Trek.¡± James thought Tommy¡¯s tone was a bit harsh, so he said to Amanda, ¡°I don¡¯t get a lot of it either, but I trust him so far. I mean he said he did a lot of tests and stuff. He isn¡¯t dead or a fly version of Jeff Goldblum so I say we can trust him.¡± Amanda nodded. Then she got up and went to leave. ¡°Where do you think you are going?¡± Tommy asked. ¡°To work. I do have a class to teach.¡± ¡°Not until you sign those forms. I think you need a week off of school.¡± ¡°And just how do you think I can swing that?¡± Tommy was on his phone as she replied. A few minutes passed with him talking to someone. When he was done he looked at the pair of them. ¡°We will wait here for a bit, Mr. Robertson is on his way. Until then, I say we sit and talk.¡± ¡°What about¡­..¡± Amanda was interrupted by her phone. She answered, acknowledged with a couple of yeses and then hung up. ¡°That was my school, they said take as much time as I need. They have a sub already. I asked if they were firing me, they said no. What did you do?¡± ¡°I have a guy that can make things happen, and fast.¡± Tommy replied. ¡°I guess I could use some time to take all of this in.¡± Tommy walked over and sat by the pair. ¡°I am sorry if I have been kind of an ass about this. It is a bit much to realize I messed up. I have been so careful to this point. I¡¯m just hoping that by bringing in James I didn¡¯t start becoming sloppy.¡± ¡°This was on me Tom, my fault.¡± The trio sat for a while and Tommy answered all of Amanda¡¯s questions as best he could. Not a lot more than he was able to tell James. By the time there was a knock on the door the conversation had pretty much played itself out. Tommy got up and opened the door. The familiar lawyer, at least to Tommy and James walked in. He went to the table, placed his briefcase on it and pulled out some documents. He indicated where Amanda should sign and date. When she looked all of her information was already printed down. ¡°You work fast,¡± she said as she read some of the legal wording and signed. ¡°What ever is needed we do.¡± The lawyer calmly replied. Once she was done signing the documents, he picked them up, placed them in his case and left. ¡°He was like a genie, just popping out of nowhere.¡± ¡°Actually he came from New York City. He has a fast jet.¡± ¡°And he just up and leaves like that?¡± ¡°He is well compensated for his time. So he will be fine. So as I was saying, what shall we do now?¡± ¡°I have a whole week off. I might just ask to kidnap James and disappear for a while.¡± James looked at her kind of confused. ¡°We have a time machine. We can go and do anything within the last forty years and you just want to go hide away for a while?¡± ¡°I keep forgetting about that, as far as what we can do. But I would feel bad about using Tommy to go do something using his tech. I don¡¯t want to make him feel like a third wheel.¡± James countered, ¡°Oh believe me, he won¡¯t be the one feeling awkward.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°He knows people through out the ages that provide him with things.¡± She pondered this a minute and then realized what James was saying, ¡°Oh!¡± ¡°I have an idea of what we can do,¡± Tommy said. ¡°You both just sit there while I make a call.¡± The pair sat and Amanda reached for James hands. ¡°I have been meaning to tell you something,¡± she said. ¡°And what would that be?¡± ¡°That I love you.¡± CHAPTER FOURTEEN – WOMAN OF HIS DREAMS James woke up early so he could get down to the shop and meet up with Tommy. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t see his girlfriend again for a while. He was heading out today to go back for the first time and get the education that would make him a better fit for Tommy¡¯s plans. It was going to be weird not to lay eyes on her again for such a long time. Even though they had only been dating a couple of weeks, since their first failed attempt at a date where they ended up sorting collectibles in a warehouse, he had really fallen for her. He could still remember the day she first came into the shop just over a year ago. She was new to the area having just started teaching. She was originally from a small town in Ohio. That is where her path towards geekdom had started, or so she claimed. She had an older brother who was a Star Wars fanatic, that is where she got he fondness for lightsabers and bounty hunters. It was her Dad¡¯s love of Star Trek and video games that really stuck though. The one thing that made James leery of pursuing her the most was the age difference. She was only 25 compared to his 38, but it was like she was born a lot earlier than she actually had been. While her classmates were playing on Xboxes and newer systems, she was rocking an Atari and original Nintendo. Her dad was stuck on them, and she was too. She claimed to be a master of most of the old Atari games. James witnessed this on their second date, or real first one. They had gone to dinner and ended up back at her place. She had the still wrapped Nintendo she got from Tommy on a shelf. She was in love with the Atari she still had and the over 600 cartridges she had with it. There was some kind of rig pieced together to make it work on an LCD, but it still looked old. But when she popped in ET and beat it in a matter of minutes, James knew to be impressed. He thought himself an above average player as well and then challenged her to Combat. After about 20 games and him racking up zero wins, he gave up. She offered him a double of nothing chance, which he took, not even knowing the stakes. He figured it would be another date, or him getting her one of her missing games for her collection. Of course, he lost. She said he would get his punishment later. That is where that date ended. He next week was busy for James as he got ready for his trip, but he made time for Amanda every night. He wasn¡¯t sure why but he loved the way she looked at him. It was usually after he stumped her with some obscure geek trivia. That was actually the best date they had at that point, a trivia night at a local bar where the pair of them cleaned up. They got a free appetizer, not a huge victory, but good enough. They had also gone to a retro arcade and spent almost eight hours there before they knew what time it was. Tonight though he was taking her to a local theater for a late night showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. He knew it wasn¡¯t her favorite, but she had heard about the interaction of the audience and was intrigued by it. So he thought since it was the weekend that he would take her. It was only once a month anyway, so the timing was spot on.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. He wasn¡¯t sure what it was about her that he liked most. She was just like him. Not going to grace the cover of the next GQ magazine, but she carried herself confidently and that was a plus. It might also be the fact she was a teacher, that was something he always had a fantasy about since high school and his tenth grade English teacher. She was just an average woman who had an extensive knowledge of geekdom. After a while he gave up trying to figure it out and just decided it was everything. They go to the theater early and sat up front. When the show started the leaders of the local group got up on the partial stage and started the routine. When they asked for the virgins, Amanda said nothing. Then James outed her. After the show she seemed a little upset at him. ¡°It was your first time, you had to go through it, we all did.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have to single me out though.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were going to be the only one there tonight.¡± ¡°Virgin indeed.¡± They had taken her car since she picked him up from the shop. She was driving a bit more aggressively than usual. Soon they were back at her place. She went inside. James stayed outside not knowing if she was mad at him or not. After about ten minutes she came to the door and asked if he was coming in. He wandered in expecting to be stabbed or hit with something large. Instead the Atari was on with a game in it. ¡°I was waiting for the right time to give you your punishment. You have to beat that game.¡± He looked and saw a bunch of games laying on the floor, all of the unlicensed adult games for the Atari, to include Beat ¡®em and eat ¡®em, Custer¡¯s Revenge and others. In the system was Gigolo. ¡°Why do I need to play that?¡± ¡°Just do it.¡± He sat down and took the controller. He had never played it before but set about to doing his best. The first couple of tries saw him fail. Each time he looked around and saw Amanda had left the room. He kept at it another thirty minutes until he finally got the hang of it. He finally beat it. ¡°About time,¡± he heard from behind. When he looked he saw her standing there in a Gold Star Fleet uniform. Not one of the pajama sets from TNG but one with a short skirt from the original series. ¡°Now that you have served your punishment, you can collect your reward.¡± James wasn¡¯t sure what she meant yet, so he commented, ¡°I get to dress as Kirk?¡± She giggled at the comment then turned around. She bent over to push her bedroom door open all the way. It was at this time James saw that the miniskirt was all she was wearing. That was enough for him. ¡°Well maybe not dress as him,¡± she said, ¡°But you can be my Captain and teach this naughty yeoman how bad she has been.¡± With that she disappeared into her room. He quickly followed. The next morning, he woke up sore. Sorer than he could ever remember. There were parts of him that he didn¡¯t know could be sore. He just lay there for a moment. Soon he realized that he was suffering from the morning wood problem and became embarrassed as Amanda was rousing too. She turned over and looked at him. ¡°So, who is the virgin now?¡± Before he could answer she looked down and saw the bulge under the blankets. Then disappeared under them herself. After about a minute he forget that he was sore at all. CHAPTER FIFTEEN - THESIS UCLA ¨C Early 1977 The faculty of the computer science department was meeting before the start of the term to discuss what they had learned from the last term. The department itself was still new, having been officially formed in 1968, they were still making their way through the new emerging field. Many of the professors were concerned with their ability to keep up with the speed at which the field was moving in the real world. The purpose of this particular meeting was to discuss how to create and implement curriculum faster so they could try to keep up with the industry. They were one of the top schools offering programs in computer science and engineering, but as more and more schools were joining the ranks, it was harder to keep up. If they didn¡¯t try to stay ahead of all the others they would lose ground and standing. The current thoughts were, that since most of the industry was right in their back yard that they could work with them to keep current and offer first crack at their graduates to those same companies. It seemed like a win/win for everyone. Most concurred with this notion, but they also needed to come up with a way to not only get the information into their program but to also make sure that those teaching it were knowledgeable in it. Offering visiting professor titles to industry experts was one way to go. Asking them to teach a couple of nights a week would be good for the university and the person¡¯s credibility. It again seemed like a reasonable solution, but it was just a stop gap. Real solutions were needed. They had assembled in a classroom, more like a small auditorium, to have their discussion. After about an hour there was a knock at one of the doors. The professor at the time leading the talk went and answered it. Chancellor Young was standing there, the head of the University. He stepped inside and looked at the gathering of teachers. ¡°I have something I would like you gentlemen to evaluate for me.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± came the voice of one of those seated, he got up and made his way down to the front. ¡°Professor Estrin, if I remember right,¡± Young said. ¡°Yes sir. So, what can we do for you?¡± ¡°I have a young man here, right out of the service that would like to advance his studies. He claims to already know everything that you all can teach him and is willing to prove it.¡± ¡°Well, if we did that for all the kids, we would never get any work done. Besides out undergraduate program is very intense.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not making this request without cause, shall we say that he has made sure your department and the school has a better position in regards to our endowment.¡± ¡°Are you saying he is bribing his way to an accelerated degree and you want us to partake in this?¡± ¡°He is not good sir,¡± came a voice. Soon a younger man was coming through the door with a large bag. He walked to the center of the front where a table and podium were. ¡°Did I throw some money at your chancellor? Yes, I did. Not to buy anything though but time with you gentlemen. However, whatever you all determine I will go with. If you think me a fraud then we shall leave it at that.¡± Estrin turned and looked at the man. He thought him arrogant right away. ¡°What makes you think you don¡¯t have to go through what everyone else does to get a BS?¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Good question, because I know more than all of you. That is not a boast, just fact. I will stand here and answer any and all questions, take any tests, and so forth. As a side note, I am not seeking a bachelors. I got that already while I was in the service. I want a Masters in engineering and a PhD in Computer Science.¡± All the gathering of professors could do is stare at him. While they did he turned and started to write equations on the board. All of them pertained to the engineering program at the school. He then started to pull components out of the bag and laying them all on the table. ¡°So first off my name is Todd Matherson. What I have here are common components that I have modified slightly using the information on the board behind me. I invite you all to come up and look at them.¡± ¡°To what end is this?¡± Estrin asked. ¡°That they are all legitimate. Once we can agree on that I will assemble a system that I designed and created, then all of you can test it out. All of this while you watch me and ask whatever you want.¡± ¡°Well, I suppose you did donate to the school and we are all here anyway. We can at least do that for the Chancellor.¡± ¡°Good, then I will leave you all too it,¡± Mt. Young said as he smiled and left the room. Of course in reality all of this was child¡¯s play to Todd in his other life as Tommy. He would obtain a PhD in computer engineering from MIT in 25 years. He was fixing computers that were advanced to what existed in 1977 when he was twelve. There was nothing that they could ask him he did not know is spades. The trick was to make sure he didn¡¯t give them too much in the realm of what was to come. The group of men studied the items on the table for over an hour. When they were all satisfied with them they took seats and talked amongst themselves for a few minutes. Finally Professor Estrin spoke, ¡°Fine. Assemble your machine while we talk to you, but you have an hour.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Todd replied as he started to piece the machine together. Then the questions started. They were easy enough at first and he handled them without missing a beat. The stepped up their game as he went on. They thought they were being tricky by tossing in a couple of questions that either had no answer or were wrong based on the way they were presented. After forty-five minutes Todd plugged in the machine and powered it on while answering, up until then, had been their hardest question. It was still easy. What he had assembled was a rough version of an Apple IIe, though no one besides Tommy knew that. They now came over and stared at the little computer with a color screen. Estrin was the first to start messing with it. He had to almost be pried off of it by his colleagues as he was amazed at it. ¡°So what does a guy have to do to get some lunch around here?¡± Todd asked as the teachers stood around watching whoever¡¯s turn it was on the machine. They went through the basic programs and even a couple of games. Estrin looked up and then went to a phone on a wall and made a call. A while later a door opened and an attractive woman entered with some sandwiches. She set them on a table and then came back with some drinks. Todd saw her and winked. The fact she was looking back at him was not a big deal to him, what was, but not yet was the fact that he would see her again and again at other times. After all of the men were done messing with the machines they sat back down. Todd could tell they were all impressed. ¡°So is there anything else you want to ask me?¡± ¡°I think we are all impressed with your skills. But we have been talking. Simply giving you two graduate degrees would seem questionable. So what we propose is that you take all the tests for all the courses we require. Simply take this next semester to allow us to administer these as well as talk and question you more.¡± ¡°I think I can live with that. Concerning a Doctoral Thesis?¡± ¡°We all agree that you just presented it.¡± ¡°That is fabulous. Now if you don¡¯t mind I have to go see Dr. Young again. I told him that if you fine gentlemen found me worthy that I would sign a certain royalty deal that would enable your fine University to add more to your endowment from the technology I have just shown you.¡± The small crowd muttered a moment. ¡°That could add potentially millions to our coffers,¡± Estrin said. ¡°I know.¡± ¡°Do you plan on making and selling these yourself? That seems like a lot to do.¡± ¡°Oh, heavens know, I have other things to do. Later there will be two guys named Steve coming by to sign the deal as well. They are going to make the thing. I am just the idea man.¡± Soon after this day UCLA became one of the only Universities that never had to fundraise. CHAPTER SIXTEEN – DOWN THE ROAD Mid 1978 ¨C Eastern California The trio had taken their time traveling to California from the Midwest. The old route 66 was still around, though chopped up along the old original road, but it was still fun to travel for at least two of the time jumping friends. Amanda had spent the summer after high school going down what was left of the then ancient road, she loved it and was fascinated by the remains of the once vibrant attractions. For all intents and purposes, she shouldn¡¯t be here at all. Ever since she stumbled upon the time travel abilities of her friends, she had begged to be taken back to see some of the bigger moments in geek history. At first Tommy tried to explain to her that she couldn¡¯t go back before she was born, so for her the events she could witness were limited to the 1990s and later. However, James had asked him to at least look into it a bit. He said he would for his old friend. He did make a second slave unit for his machine just so they could go back to various times with her. The first trip was almost her last. She had mentioned she would love to see the Wizard, the movie about the Nintendo World Championships where Mario 3 debuted. Tommy had thought nothing about it, he knew the date well, it was one of his favorite movies. When all of them were ready he punched in the date and they went back. Once they arrived, James realized the date, as he had seen it with his friend. He yelled at Tommy, expecting the worst to happen. To everyone¡¯s surprise, Amanda was fine. There was no regression, no pile of goo. It was as if all his testing had been wrong. It bothered Tommy after that, how could he have been wrong? He knew there was a lot going on with his invention and he understood very little of it, but in the end, he had done his due diligence and it had shown that no one or no living thing could go back before it had existed. Then it occurred to him. Each of the units that James and Amanda used were slave units to his main one. He made so that all three were tethered to each other and the other two went where he went, though they had to be within a certain distance, or if he left they would be stranded in time. What this also meant, as it was also one of the only ways it could works, was that the tethered units also had his time signature. So, a person could go back to before they were born if the main machine was linked to an older user. In any case as long as Amanda didn¡¯t use the main machine, she could go back with James and Tommy to points within their lifetimes. It was a good discovery, but one that had almost given James a heart attack. His girlfriend was almost putty. In any case they used this new information to go on adventures together, well so far one. This being their second outing and all. It was fun now that they knew, but it was a scare nonetheless. So now they were in a convertible running through Eastern California heading for LA. The wind in their hair and no cares in the world. Here they were with Todd Matherson, a tech millionaire and Silicon Valley founder. They could do what they wanted and go where they wanted. Where they were headed today though was unknown, at least to James and Amanda. They didn¡¯t care though, they had just left a nice little caf¨¦ for lunch and were doing 90 plus through the deserts. The carefree attitude and jubilant mood came to a close when they all noticed the lights from the Chip behind them, a California Highway Patrolman on a motorcycle.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Tommy slowed down and pulled over. He looked to his passengers, ¡°I always forget the speed limit it still 55 back now.¡± ¡°That might be true,¡± James said, ¡°even in our time though it isn¡¯t 90.¡± Tommy shrugged as the officer approached to car. ¡°License and registration please.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t even going to ask if I know why I am being pulled over?¡± ¡°I think you know why. It¡¯s hot out here, so let¡¯s just get this over with so we can both get the wind back in out faces. It¡¯s more tolerable that way.¡± ¡°Yes officer.¡± Tommy handed over his documents. The officer went back to his bike to get on the radio. ¡°Oh my god, he didn¡¯t say anything about us not having seatbelts on,¡± Amanda commented. James and Tommy just looked at her a moment, then they started to laugh. ¡°What is so funny you guys? We can get into big trouble for that.¡± They laughed harder. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I forgot you have had to deal with that your whole life. There was a time before those laws were passed in the late 80s and early 90s,¡± James told her. She thought a minute, then giggled once she got it. ¡°You¡¯re right, I forgot hold old you two are.¡± James stopped at this. Realizing she was trying to save face, he just leaned over and kissed her. The officer was heading back at this time. He had a ticket already filled out. ¡°Here you go Mr. Matherson, try to keep it under 80 out here. We are aware of the wide openness of it all but pushing 100 is frowned upon.¡± ¡°Will do officer.¡± He took the ticket and put it in the glove box. ¡°Are you the Matherson that is part of that new fangled computer stuff going on?¡± ¡°Yes I am, why do you ask?¡± ¡°Well, my brother is into all that. In fact he just got himself one of those Atari things. I have messed with it a bit. It¡¯s real fun.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not really in that part of it, ¡°James started to say then Todd looked at him his an annoyed look. He stopped. ¡°My friend is not entirely right, I have a small stake in that company. But most of the day to day stuff is run by others.¡± ¡°Do you think it is all just a fad like a lot of people are saying?¡± ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t, but then again, I am a part of the industry, so I wouldn¡¯t say anything to the contrary. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°I just came into some money, my father passed¡­.¡± ¡°Sorry to hear that.¡± ¡°Thank you, but anyway I was looking to invest. The Atari thing seems fun and like it could do well, do you think it might be worth getting in on that?¡± ¡°I would, but don¡¯t sit too long. This is still a new industry and the first companies in new things don¡¯t have an example to know how to do it right. They are the ones that are most likely to mess up. So if you do invest in them I would say don¡¯t spend more than five years in it. Like if you were to go in today, maybe get out by Christmas of 82.¡± ¡°That is sound advice. Thank you for your time.¡± ¡°No problem, I don¡¯t suppose that advice can get me out of a ticket?¡± ¡°Sorry sir, but I have a job to do.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t blame a guy for trying.¡± Todd waved as the officer got on his bike and took off. ¡°Did you just make that guy a millionaire?¡± James asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, depends on how mush he puts in and if he gets out when I told him too.¡± ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Atari will be insanely successful until 1983, then it will crash and burn, but if one were to get in now and cash out say six months before they are sold for peanuts, they could be rich.¡± ¡°The game crash of 83?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Yup,¡± Todd said as he put on his sunglasses and started the car. Within a few minutes they were back above 90. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – EXTRA CREDIT Hollywood 1978 ¨C The trio finally arrived at the destination Todd had in mind for them. They approached the Paramount lot entrance. Todd pulled up, the little wood barrier was down and a guard stepped out. ¡°May I help you?¡± he asked. Todd reached into his shirt pocket and handed the guard what looked like an ID. The guard looked at a clipboard a moment then handed it back. ¡°Welcome back Mr. Matherson.¡± He stepped back into his booth and opened the gate. The care drove through. ¡°What, you have movie studio access as well?¡± James asked. ¡°Kind of, I have a relationship with a couple of the studios in town. I have been known to help fund projects.¡± ¡°Like?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°You shall see.¡± The car progressed into the lot and stopped in front of what looked like an administrative building. Todd parked and then got out. The others followed. He went around back and up a set of stairs on the outside of the building. At the top he opened the door and entered. When James entered he saw an attractive secretary sitting at a desk. ¡°Welcome, back Mr. Matherson. Are you planning on visiting the set today?¡± ¡°Yes Dolores, did the packages arrive?¡± ¡°Yes sir, they are in your office. Can I get you anything or your friends?¡± Todd looked at the pair a moment. Just three waters for now.¡± Dolores nodded and disappeared out the door they just came in. Todd opened the door on the far wall and entered. The room had a wall of boxes of various sizes. One was sitting on his desk. ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡± James asked. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that part of my deal with the various companies is that I have an office on the lots. I have one at Fox and universal as well.¡± He moved to the desk and opened the box. He smiled then pulled out a small package and tossed it at James, who caught it. James looked down and saw it was a sealed Bobo Fett with a launchable rocket. ¡°Is this the sealed one they showed at PAX?¡± ¡°Oh no, there is only one of those in existence, as far as sealed.¡± Amanda looked confused. James looked at her, ¡°Remember that toy he gave me at the warehouse?¡± She nodded. ¡°They only made a few of those as prototypes. Only one sealed one is known to exist. It sold for over $150,000. Yet he has one here.¡± ¡°I actually have twelve.¡± He held up the box and showed it too them. Similar packages were inside. ¡°I have a deal with Lucas and Mattel.¡± ¡°You are just scamming at all angles, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yup. You know how Star Wars was having bad luck while filming and was running over on time and budget?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Yeah, but he finished.¡± ¡°And also how he got the merchandising rights to all the toys?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°What you don¡¯t know is that the studio wanted to pull the plug on the movie. Well I made a deal with Lucas for 2% of toy revenue. In return I told the studio to cover the budget he needed, if the movie failed I would pay them any losses. I also get free toys before they go to market, I have to pay the production cost, but I get dibs on all the stuff. Thus all these boxes. The Star Wars toy explosion is in full swing right now.¡± ¡°These are all sealed first generation Star Wars toys?¡± James asked. ¡°You, I just need my guys to move them to storage. We can get them when we get back.¡± ¡°But that was a Fox movie, what are we doing here?¡± James asked. It was at this time that James turned to Amanda and saw she was as giddy as a school girl. ¡°I think she has figured out what is going on,¡± Todd commented. ¡°They are filming Star Trek here aren¡¯t they?¡± she asked. Todd nodded, then she squealed. ¡°That is where we are headed soon. The principal filming is on the lot.¡± As he finished Dolores came in with three waters. She set them down and then left. Todd picked up the phone on his desk and made a call. He motioned for them to follow. On the way out, he whispered something in Dolores¡¯s ear, she smiled and then they went down the stairs. At the bottom a well-dressed young man was there with a large golf cart. They all piled in and he started driving. After a few minutes they stopped in front of a large sound stage. They got out and went in a small door on the left. Once inside the light was almost gone. There was some in the distance and they made their way towards it. Once they came out from behind the large curtain that was hanging along the main wall they saw the bridge of the Enterprise, the movie version anyway. Standing around were a bunch of film crew. Amanda spotted him first, a young William Shatner, he was talking with someone, she assumed the director. She started to shake a bit. ¡°Oh my God, it¡¯s Captain Kirk.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Admiral here,¡± Todd corrected her. She looked like she was about to wet herself. ¡°You aren¡¯t going to embarrass me, are you?¡± he asked her. ¡°No,¡± she said as she was still jittering. ¡°Mr. Shatner,¡± Todd called out. He turned his head to see who was calling his name. Then he waved. It took a few moments for him to finish the conversation he was in, but then he made his way to Todd. ¡°Mr. Matherson, nice to see you again.¡± The two men shook hands like they were friends. ¡°Always a pleasure to see you again Bill. I want you to meet someone, she is a huge fan.¡± Shatner looked at Amanda, who was start struck. ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± he reached out to shake her hand. She just stood there for a moment. Then just started talking, ¡°I love you. I have been a Trek fan my whole life. I think you are amazing in all of the movies¡­.¡± Then she caught herself and put her head in her hands. ¡°Well I am sure you are a fan, but your whole life?¡± he asked. She took a moment to compose herself before looking up. ¡°I mean I am a fan of all your work, from the Westerns you started in to even that Esperanto movie you did. And well, it seems like my whole life, I mean trek means that much to me.¡± ¡°You saw Incubus?¡± ¡°Of course. Sure, not your best work, but I blame that more on the writing and other actors.¡± ¡°You are too kind. But I thought most of the copies were lost, I am guilt y of that a bit myself.¡± ¡°I was able to procure one,¡± Todd said. ¡°I was wondering, if shooting doesn¡¯t go too long today if you and the cast would like to join me for dinner.¡± ¡°I am sure we can all meet in the commissary.¡± ¡°No, I mean a real dinner, not that stuff they serve us here, my treat.¡± Shatner seemed to think about it a bit. ¡°I will make copies of Incubus and release them if you don¡¯t¡¯ agree.¡± ¡°You got me then. Sure, I will,¡± he smiled, ¡°I will ask the others as well.¡± There was a shout that shooting would begin soon. Shatner waved and wandered back to the set. The trio stood around the rest of the day and watched a classic film being made. The day ended earlier than usual due to some suggestions by Todd. This allowed all of the primary cast to be treated to a magnificent dinner and for Amanda to have one of the best days of her life reveling in the tales of some of her idols. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – TEMPORAL MECHANICS 201 Hollywood 1978 ¨C The trio retired to a large penthouse in downtown LA after their dinner with the cast of Star Trek. ¡°That was the best thing to happen to me, ever,¡± Amanda said as they all sat down on the various couches that lined the living room of the palatial abode. ¡°I told you I¡¯d take you places,¡± James jested. ¡°Time to charge them up people,¡± Tommy said. The pair pulled out what looked like thick cell phones and handed then to him. He walked over to a cabinet, opened it and hooked them up to an extension cord. Then he pulled out his own device, it was twice as large as theirs but of the same basic design. ¡°One thing that I have been meaning to ask you,¡± James said. ¡°We can travel a lot faster in our time, so why go back and then do it?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t age in the past, remember? So, wasting time traveling here isn¡¯t a big deal, besides we can take side trips and see all the things. I would rather take a leisurely stroll in 1978 than a concord in our time.¡± ¡°Well we are on that topic, I still can¡¯t believe that I am traveling through time, seeing and meeting people that I never thought I would, more than that, having dinner with. I want to know more about how you did it,¡± Amanda said. ¡°I really don¡¯t know how. Do you know the basics of super positioning and the uncertainty principal?¡± ¡°Well, physics is one of my classes.¡± ¡°Basically, in quantum physics, the location and state off a particle can never be known. They think that they blink from place to place randomly to include parallel universes, different times, etc. Though no one knows for sure. So at least I can say for certain now they defiantly go to different times.¡± ¡°So, you have solved for it then?¡± ¡°Hell no, all I did was figure out how to move them around, at the subatomic level. That was part of my graduate studies. What I did from there was figure out how to do that on a macro scale. The math is crazy, but it works. On paper it shouldn¡¯t I just had theories. Then I started to test it in my lab one day and poof, time travel.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t get how whatever we do we aren¡¯t affected by it, as in remembering things that in our timeline never happened.¡± ¡°Think of it like this, an oyster that gets an irritant creates a shell around it. That enables it to continue on doing what it does.¡± ¡°At least they get a pearl,¡± James said.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Right and in our case, time is the oyster. The shell around us enables us to interact with the oyster but a barrier of sorts protects it from us. I mean it adapts and goes on like it should, but we are in that barrier and protected.¡± ¡°So, you are saying that no matter what we do we will be who we are?¡± ¡°Yup, I think if I was to go find my younger version right now and kill him, I would still exist. I wouldn¡¯t create a paradox. The fact that I have this barrier means I could go on as long as I have it.¡± ¡°But if you returned to your actual time?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°I would probably cease to exist, since I disrupted my own timeline.¡± ¡°So, you can do whatever you want and retain the memories even if you return to your time as long as your personal timeline remains at least reasonably consistent?¡± James inquired. ¡°Pretty much. I mean I am not going to test that theory. I like where I am.¡± ¡°Makes me think things like Back to the Future was a bit darker than it was,¡± Amanda said. ¡°How so?¡± James asked. ¡°Well, Marty goes back in time and changes things. When he gets back to his time he has the whole new life that he doesn¡¯t remember. So, what happened to the version of him that lived it?¡± ¡°It changed the timeline sure, but the way they present it he is almost erased from existence. And on tip of that it is taking its sweet time to do it. As far as I can tell, once I make a change it happens. With the way it really works, he would have been fine until he returned to his time, then he would have blinked out because the universe would have put him in the protective barrier,¡± Tommy explained. ¡°Furthermore, the way they did it he killed his alternate self when he returned, he should have remembered both timelines.¡± ¡°How do you mean?¡± James asked. ¡°When he got back he didn¡¯t know what was going on, I mean why not? So the point is where did the Marty that lived those first years of his life go? Memory is a physical thing, if he was going to be erased from the timeline because of his mistake, thus establishing that changes in history would effect the physical attributes of a traveler then they should have been consistent and changed his memories as well, at least making so he remembered both pasts.¡± Amanda seem to dwell on this a moment, ¡°That does make sense. But why are we debating the hypothetical time rules of a movie?¡± ¡°I am just big on rules in any kind of setting, book, movie, or what not making sense. I mean the real world does it, even if we don¡¯t know all the rules. That is how we figure out new ones, by using the ones we do know as the starting point. Take Dark Matter, we know it is there because of how the cosmos acts. It should act a different way based on what we know, but it doesn¡¯t so they know something else is there. Thus, the theory of dark matter.¡± James was looking a little confused at this point. ¡°I have an idea of what you guys are talking about, but a lot of it is escaping me. I have heard of everything you are talking about, but besides that it kind of throws me for a loop.¡± ¡°Well, when we need to know about the markets and economics of things, you can stump and confuse us,¡± Amanda said, ¡°but I am tired as hell. It was such a good day I don¡¯t want it to end, but it has too. So might as well go out with a bang.¡± She gave James a lustful look, Tommy saw it. ¡°The last room on the left down the hall,¡± he said while pointing. Then there came a knock at the door. Tommy went to answer it. It was Dolores. She came in and handed Tommy a stack of papers and mail. He set it on a table in the entryway, then he took her hand and headed down the hall himself. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about keeping me up either. So, you kids have fun.¡± The pair went down to the last door on the right and entered. James grabbed Amanda¡¯s hand, ¡°When in Rome¡­.¡± CHAPTER NINETEEN – GROWTH POTENTIAL Early July 2005 ¨C New York The trip this time was hectic. James had to get everything set up for the coming financial crisis. He was plotting everything out. The initial visit had been the one where it was all supposed to get started, but after advising the top staff in Todd¡¯s financial business of their plans, they started to ask questions. Not in a bad way. They all trusted Todd¡¯s planning, in fact they knew not to question it at all. All of them had become rich off of it. They were all just small time when they were recruited, the key to them working here was the fact that they didn¡¯t ask and just did. But they questioned each other and were expected to ask for information to make their jobs easier. The one thing that Todd wanted was to have people that did as he told them, but also looked for ways to expand the opportunities he brought them. That is one reason why James couldn¡¯t accomplish everything during his first trip. His initial plan was to invest in the larger firms that were going to bottom out in 2008 and then acquire one or two of them to maximize profits from their toxic assets. Also, to assemble a legal team that could shade them from liability, since they would be buying the companies and he felt, not responsible for their screw ups. He had a plan to deal with that as well. The thing was, Todd¡¯s people in 2005 offered some good options to add to the pile as they were told more. After a few days they realized a lot of things could be done. Since James was in charge of this he and Todd returned to the present, where he went back and got more schooling to help him prepare for the future task he was going to do in the past. That was when Amanda discovered them. He didn¡¯t know how long those side trips took. He knew that Todd kept a precise diary of when and where he had gone in the past. He insisted that it was so he knew where he was at all times. He didn¡¯t know what would happen to himselves if he ran into each other in a random fashion, unlike the day he proved time travel to him. The general idea was that they would be fine due to the ¡°barrier¡± he theorized would be around them but couldn¡¯t be totally sure when it came to the same person. So, to be on the safe side he decided never to find out. It didn¡¯t matter now. It was his chance to show that he could do something productive besides taking up space on these excursions and wasting Todd¡¯s time. One of the main differences now was that his people told him, that if he was right about the scope and depth of the financial crisis, that he could gain massive political influence from it. Todd opted not to take an active roll in this himself, but to set up a committee to find the best people to take advantage of it. This included prosecutors, state legislators, and others, but those with a spotless record. He also started to setup funds to help bail out state funds that would be decimated by the crisis. These areas would be key to secure any potential candidates that he backed. The auto industry was also on his radar. He planned to bail them out instead of the government, this plan was easy if he got key people elected to office. His main goal was to invest in electric cars and use the showroom model to sell that Tesla had, but most states were rigged against this. By saving the auto makers, he could get them to oppose these laws and help himself. Not to mention use their infrastructure to make his cars. It was all win for him. The one thing he really wanted to do was to nail the bankers that screwed it all up. His parent¡¯s retirement had been wiped out by it, and now he could get payback. Of course, they didn¡¯t suffer long, but getting his proud father to take money had been a pain. Now though he could rectify the situation.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. He had explained to James the way they were going to get the people that did this. James wasn¡¯t too worried about it and left all that to the lawyers that Todd had lined up. They were there for more than just to prevent lawsuits, they were going to file a ton on their own. The thing they had on their side was having all the evidence and lists of names of people that were going to be affected before even they knew it. As soon as it happened they would pounce before the rest of the world even knew what was going on. It took several months of hard work, but James had everything in place before the end of 2005. It was a lot easier for him to do since Amanda was there with him. They got to see all the sights and once a month took a long weekend to all the places they ever wanted to go courtesy of Todd off course. When an almost trillionaire says you can use his planes and expense account you go big or go home. The trio would be leaving for the present soon though. All of the work that James had been doing for Todd to profit from the crisis got him to thinking. The pair was off to a fancy dinner that night to celebrate, Amanda was off to see some shows on Broadway that she hadn¡¯t gotten to yet, so it would just be Todd and James. He was going to pitch a new idea to Todd. James arrived at the restaurant and a hostess was waiting for him. Todd had booked a private room in the back for dinner. He liked his privacy when talking business. James followed the woman back and saw that Todd was already there having a drink or three. James sat down and the woman left. ¡°So is everything ready for the oncoming storm?¡± ¡°Indeed it is. I see you decided to start without me.¡± ¡°Just a couple of drinks. The main course should be here in a bit.¡± ¡°I have been thinking. Here we are getting ready to make billions off of this crisis.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°What if we did the same thing, but at a different time?¡± Todd sat up straight and leaned forward. ¡°You have my attention.¡± ¡°The energy crisis of the late 70¡¯s. We could go back, using the oil futures and other things, we could make a small fortune.¡± ¡°That was only a couple of years though. I¡¯m not sure how much we could milk out of that. Not to mention the amount of rewriting history I would have to do to get my guy to work that angle.¡± ¡°What if we did it with someone else?¡± ¡°What are you getting at?¡± ¡°Well someday I hope you let me in on your master plan. One thing I did notice though is that you are on the up and up and mostly in the US. What I am proposing is a separate entity. You take the money you make from that energy crisis and use it to do some small stuff. The real thing is that you base it overseas. From there you use it to start investing in the old Soviet Republic when the wall falls.¡± Todd thought a few minutes. ¡°That is actually brilliant. How many million and billionaires are over there now?¡± ¡°More than I can remember, but you can get in on the ground floor. Knowing what industries will be up for sale and when, puts you in a good position.¡± A knock came at the door, and an attractive blonde walked into the room followed by two men. They set down some trays on a nearby table and started to place dishes on the table. Todd took a moment to look at the woman. She looked familiar. It reminded him of someone he had seen before, but he couldn¡¯t place her. He shook it off. When they were done, Todd tipped them all $100 and they left, closing the door behind them. He turned his attention back to James. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to do it though. I have too much riding on the validity of my companies here.¡± ¡°I get that. I mean I always could. I could pretend to be a Russian, and do it,¡± he laughed as he said it. ¡°What if you were though?¡± Todd asked. James stopped laughing, ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°Why not? You do over there what I did here. I mean time isn¡¯t a big deal. You can take as long as you want to learn languages, cultures, etc.¡± James thought for a while. ¡°I¡¯ll have to run it by Amanda, but I am game.¡± Todd smiled, ¡°Excellent.¡± He raised his glass of wine and they toasted to the future and the past. CHAPTER TWENTY – MOVIE EMPIRE It was going to be another late night at the shop. The trio was sitting there just grabbing some food after the last customers had left. James was beginning to admire how Tommy was able to keep everything clear in his mind. The man could go away for years at a time and then return and not miss a beat. He was able to remember client¡¯s names and buying habits as well as what he had to order. It was uncanny that he would retain that information after being gone so long. He chalked it up to being brought back to reality when he returned. James hadn¡¯t experienced that though. He didn¡¯t know if Tommy was just pulling his leg, or if it had something to do with the fact that he was the main unit when they went back and his was only a tethered thing. When James returned he had to make a concerted effort to remember where he left off. He had started his own little notebook now, with the notes of what was going on in his everyday life before he left. So, that when he returned he could at least try to pick p where he left off. He started it when they went back for him to get his degree in finance. He found out it would be three years and he figured that he would have a hard time remembering the day they left, let alone any of the little things that were going on. So he started it then. Tommy had given him a device to track things like he had as well. Though his was for just the sheer volume of dates and places that he had been and not having a conflict. James was just to know what he had for breakfast. He didn¡¯t have to track dates like Tommy because he always went with him. As good a friend as they were he didn¡¯t think that he would ever get to use the device on his own. Nor did he want too. If anything went wrong, he wouldn¡¯t have a clue on what to do. The temporal engineer among them was Tommy. He was nervous enough when they went back, though so far there had not been any problems. Just in case though he would rather have Tommy with him. James was happy just to tag along. Right now though they were enjoying a week or two back before they ventured out again on their adventures. James was working on the plan for the energy crisis and the second leg of their little empire. ¡°I was thinking,¡± Amanda said. ¡°Is that new?¡± Tommy asked. She tossed a paper cup at him as they sat around. ¡°Ha ha, no I was watching Robocop again last night and it hit me, whatever happened to Orion pictures?¡± ¡°They¡¯re still around, kind of,¡± James responded, ¡°At least as of 2013.¡± ¡°But they made a lot of good movies. I read they went bankrupt in 1992. Just expensive movies that didn¡¯t make a ton of money.¡± ¡°Are you suggesting that I go more into the movie business?¡± Tommy inquired. ¡°Why not? It could be a nice lucrative avenue. Think about it, right now you¡¯re dabbling and using it mainly to get access to collectibles.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s my business, why would I want to do it full time?¡± ¡°Not you silly. But you could use it as a platform to pick up lucrative properties along the way and make the movies you know will be hits.¡± Tommy pondered a minute. ¡°Like buying Marvel and Star Wars before Disney, maybe even before they split the movies rights to the other studios.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°That could work, where and when do I get involved with them though?¡± ¡°They started in the late 70¡¯s, try then. I can even give you a list of their movies. The goal would be to get the authority to approve or deny what movies they make. That way you just make winners and stop them from going under. Then you ¡®ll have a record of making good films and when the time comes to acquire the other rights, not only will you have the capital but the credibility.¡± ¡°I think she¡¯s getting the hang of this thing,¡± James said.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°I do like it,¡± Tommy replied. ¡°Seriously, think about it. You get Marvel and how many billion-dollar movies have they made? Not to mention the merchandising. That could help this place as well as add a bit to the kitty.¡± The two men looked at each other and nodded. ¡°How well do you like to teach?¡± Tommy asked. ¡°It¡¯s actually kind of fun. The pay isn¡¯t what I like, but I am making a difference.¡± ¡°Well, then I guess it might be time to reveal what I want to do. My master plan if you will.¡± Amanda and James looked at him. ¡°I thought you were just really greedy,¡± James said. ¡°Really dude?¡± ¡°Well I knew more had to be going on here than just rampant accumulation of wealth. You have enough of that to buy several small countries, and a couple of big ones. From what I know, you¡¯d just be happy to run this place the rest of your life. So yeah I figured there was more going on.¡± ¡°There is. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do, but the actual endgame was elusive. That is until you brought up the financial crash of 08. That was the tipping point. You see nowadays money is what rules the world. So, to be a player in that theater I had to have just that, money.¡± ¡°We know. Money is speech and whoever has the most is the loudest.¡± ¡°But money alone won¡¯t do it. We see that with all of the cronyism going on now. What if though, instead you had people in place that agreed with you? People you didn¡¯t have to buy, thus enabling the money to be used for actual good things.¡± ¡°It would make things a lot easier.¡± ¡°Exactly. So, by getting people in place that agree with me, then using my money and influence to get done what I want done, I win.¡± ¡°What was your original plan?¡± ¡°Basically, trying to force politicians to do what I wanted by threatening the economy.¡± ¡°How do you figure?¡± ¡°Well you say the overall picture. But imagine someone that controlled so much of the private industry in the country that they could throw it all out of whack just by closing it all down?¡± James looked at him a minute. ¡°You would cripple an entire country just to get what you wanted?¡± ¡°Yes, that also depends on what I want. We can¡¯t seem to get anything done now. So, one person doing it seems the way to go.¡± ¡°Why not just run for president or get someone elected that could do it?¡± Tommy started to laugh. ¡°Yeah, right. Like anyone could get that done. It takes more than one rich guy to get anything done, I think you¡¯d have noticed that by now.¡± ¡°I get your point, but I¡¯m talking about a rich guy with actual intelligence.¡± ¡°What if he never got elected though?¡± ¡°I suppose. But I don¡¯t think she¡¯d fair any better, I mean if the Congress stays in the hands of the good ole boys club, it might even be worse.¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t talking her. I mean go back and make sure the primaries turn out different, at least the Dem one.¡± ¡°You mean him?¡± ¡°Yup. If we can get people into office from 2008 forward, we can lay the ground work. I mean reaching out to him before he even starts his run. I think he could¡¯ve done it had he had the name recognition. The problem is him having it before he announces.¡± ¡°I might be able to help with that,¡± Amanda chimed in. ¡°I worked on his campaign.¡± ¡°And this is where I offer you a job. Say ten times what you are making now?¡± She stopped chewing and started at him a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t actually know him, I only saw him a couple of times.¡± ¡°Like that will stop us. Time travel little girl, and yes I will throw in medical and dental.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I can turn down such an offer.¡± ¡°Hey,¡± James said. ¡°I have been doing this longer and my pay still stinks.¡± ¡°Yeah but I tossed you twenty-five mill for a signature.¡± Amanda looked at James, ¡°You¡¯re a millionaire and the only place you have taken me is a lousy chain restaurant for dinner?¡± ¡°We ¡®ve been time traveling a lot. Sorry if I haven¡¯t had a chance to get everything in order back here.¡± They both laughed. ¡°Now I guess we have to get someone from the mid-seventies to help us with funding a movie studio and starting European branch of our time traveling financial empire.¡± CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - DETAILS The next few jumps for the trio was to get a lot of things in place. In total they spent almost six years in the past getting things ready. The largest chunk was getting various identities and people they would need in place. Bothe James and Amanda got alternate personas for the time periods they would be operating in. They were lucky enough to find deceased persons with their names though. To be fair though they looked specifically for those names so they wouldn¡¯t get confused. A lot was going on for the trio, or at least the pair. As James and Amanda worked to get their ideas in place, Tommy was traveling around having all the fun. They all got together at least once a month still though. James and Amanda were both going to school to get the credentials they would need to pull off their various schemes. Todd could have just bought the degrees for them, but Tommy was big on them actually knowing what they were doing. Like he told him, it¡¯s not like time or money is an issue, so just do the work. It was rather easy though compared to their classmates. They had computers to do their work on, where as most of the others didn¡¯t, or they had to get lucky and get into the few computer labs on the campus. UCLA was the school of choice, since Todd had a bit of pull there for some reason. There were no questions asked when they enrolled and they got the exact classes and times they wanted. Tommy did have their transcripts from ¡°prior¡± learning forged though so they didn¡¯t have to bother with the general education classes. But the fact was they had done the classes already, just not yet in the timeline. It was a half-truth, but everyone was fine with it. The world moved on and no one took notice of them as the proceeded towards their goals. Once they graduated they moved on to the next part of their plans. Amanda stayed in California and oversaw the involvement of Orion Pictures. She was excited to be the one that would green light movies like Robocop and Terminator. James made his way to Europe and started to locate people and places to help him with his plan. The energy crisis was in its prime, but Todd had started up a new company to take advantage of it. This was one thing that he foresaw long before bringing in other people. His agents had setup a ¡°slush fund¡± for him to use whenever he wanted. Todd planned for it just incase he ever had to come back to a time he had already visited. In case he needed access to funds. His main goal was not to disrupt his main companies from their tasks. It might confuse them or worse mess up things he had planned in a previous visit. This way he could come back as much as he wanted and still have the means to do anything. It was this kind of planning that impressed both James and Amanda. They were finding that the more they partook in his plan the more they were capable of similar tasks, though not to the extent that Tommy was. It was the kind of thing that one learned when they had too. It was weird in a way. James had always thought he was capable of long term goals and the planning that it took to achieve them. The thing that he lacked though was the motivation. When he lost interest in Wall Street he longed for simpler things. He had made enough money to not have to work as hard the rest of his life. Not the kind of money that would let him jet set all over the world, but the kind that the job at the Emporium made possible to still live comfortably. He had a house and a nice car, so a part time job would have paid the bills. His friend making him the manager was just the thing he was looking for.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. What he found out was that what he really lacked was purpose. The time traveling was fun at first, getting to go back and see all of the things he loved in his youth as an adult was exciting and all. It was the revelation that there was a goal at the end of it all that really turned him into an active participant in the rat race again though. Sure they had massive unfair advantages, but then again they were looking to reshape a part of the world, not just be a part of it. In the end, no matter what happened, he had Amanda and the environment that the Emporium offered. It wasn¡¯t a lot, at least in the perspective of most people, but it was enough for him. Right now though he had to try and ger an in into the eventual market that would be the fall of Communism. He knew that oligarchs would take over and billions were to be made in the rebuilding of the USSRs economy across new countries and old ones alike. The actual creation of the EU, not just the trade alliance was a potential for a windfall. This along with the opening of China¡¯s and other Asian countries was just asking to be invested in and amassed by someone. The ones that currently held it in his future were shady players at best. He could enter the markets with all the knowledge and potentially funds that would make it a fish in a barrel scenario. That was his task now and he felt he was up to it. Amanda on the other had was having the time of her life. He had finished with a degree in political science and business, while James got one in Foreign policy and World languages. She was still in LA meeting and greeting with investors and stars in an effort to get he idea going as well as laying the ground work for political work later as well. It was all convoluted and a long stretch, but then again when you knew what was going to happen in the future, could go back, you could make adjustments if you mis stepped too badly. The only thing you had to know was when and where you were so as not to cross paths with yourself, which was still a concern, though still unknown what would actually happen. None of them wanted to take that risk though, so they tool their time in planning. Occasionally, after major steps were accomplished they would go back to the present and see what happened and if any adjustments were needed. When they did return it was usually just to make sure that things were going as planned, though a time or two they had to make major adjustments, overall though it was just a precaution to make sure that the people they had working for them were doing what they were supposed to do. There were a lot of moving parts, so checking on how it all turned out was a good idea, not to mention that it kept them anchored to their true place. No one wanted to stay in the past, well not out loud to each other anyway, but one could see the allure of the lives they were building in the past. One a movie executive, one a tech billionaire, and the other an international investment banker. It¡¯s not like it was worse than the lives they led in the present as a teacher, a game store owner, and a game store manager. Most people would have chosen to stay in the past. The added bonus of never aging was also a plus, at least in the past. Each of them had their own little offices and computers they took with them everywhere. The files they kept with them from the future wouldn¡¯t change, just like them. Having that information was key since it was also a point of reference when they went back to see how things changed. None of them could memorize all the information they required, and the devil was in the details.