Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2021 10:26:51 +0800 From: Tallahassee Wilson Subject: A Timeline Away 2 (Young Friends) (Science Fiction) Disclaimer: I forgot to mention this but it obviously contains sci fi elements and if you do not like it, I suggest you stop reading or idk. Also, don't forget to donate to nifty. Donate:http://donate.nifty.org/ ------------------------------ My body alarm was buzzing and immediately woke me up. It was a pleasant Monday morning. I was asleep on a king size bed and realized that my client already paid me 200 dollars. I got up, left and got home. It was 4 am which means I still had time to buy mom's medicine and also pay for the hospital bills. I took a quick shower, got dressed and made breakfast for mom and dad. I got to the hospital and visited Amity. She was feeling better a bit by bit now and it relieves me to see her happily waiting for me. "Stan! What are you doing here? You have school in an hour!" She said as I got a food tray and got her favorite meal. "I know, I know. But, I got paid today! Which means, you don't have to worry about the hospital bills. I already got it covered." I said, smiling warmly at her and hugged her. "Stan, you didn't have to do....things just to make money. I'm fine! Besides, I'm feeling a lot better thanks to you of course." She said as I pat her back since she was coughing uncontrollably. I called the nurses and took care of her. It was just a slight reaction of the medicine. Her lungs were toast after inhaling a lot of carbon monoxide since her oxygen mask was broken. I stayed with her, chatting and playing with her. I made sure I spent a lot of time with her since her days were numbered. I waved goodbye and left. To be frank, I cried about it. Amity is dying and I wanted to spend more time with her. I got to the pneumatic tube, and got to school. I put some earplugs on since kids will call me names like cum-dump, dick hole, any rude names they can come up on. It was never my choice, but maybe they'll understand once they're in my shoes. I got to school and as usual, all the kids avoid me because it was "contagious". They're just a couple of ignorant pricks. Phil and I got to class and we chatted about some gigs and ways to earn more money. Sometimes, if I have no money and we need food, Phil lets me fuck him exchange for a crate of expired corned beef. Life is hard, but you gotta soften it up with a little bit of hard work. Mr. Wilson entered and said that we're going to OXCorp headquarters for a field trip. They supply the whole world with laboratory oxygen. We lined and because I was the tallest, I was at the back. We got to a bus(yes, it still exists here, but they're ion-powered) and sat down. I got out my book about plants and read about it. I felt a bit dizzy so I stopped reading and just imagined if I was living back at the past. Phil kissed me and slept on my lap. Phil loves me but I have no bigger feelings for him and I only see him as a friend. I was okay about him kissing me, hugging me and cuddling with me since I was an expert at ignoring romantic exchanges between clients. He seems okay about the 2 of us staying friends. To be frank, I never felt love actually. I mean, some girls and guys find me attractive since I had wavy auburn hair, deep blue eyes and I was smart but none of them ever got near me. They were disgusted about what I do for a living so I just accepted the fact that I would live alone for the rest of my life and I was okay about it. As we got to the center of the metropolis, everything was magnificent. The buildings, landmarks, and the metropolitan life was really exceptional! We got to OXCorp and the building was massive! I mean, living in a small town I rarely see tall skyscrapers. We were told to go to a single file line and we lined as we entered the humongous building. It had 209 floors and it even has negative floors! Of course, for Phil and I being new to big buildings, our heads were stuck on looking up and getting dizzy as we watched how tall the building was. It was supposed to be big, since this is the birthplace of oxygen we breathe. We continued exploring until we got to the top. Phil and I was amazed as we gaze through the cityscape. You could see everything from up here! "Typical. You 2 are just too ignorant about metropolitan living." Xander mocked us from behind. We hated Xander. He thinks he's the popular guy at school since his Dad owns one-eighth of this company. He had too much pride and I just wanna slap some sense into that prick. We followed the guide and the map, suggesting that we are on the labs. They got hundreds of scientists here, looking for a solution for this cold world and also this oxygen apocalypse. It turned really cold here, since the comet KroVon crash landed on earth, 49 years ago. The impact was so strong, it made the earth go a couple of hundred thousand miles away from the sun. Asia, Europe and a large part of Africa disappeared and the earth had a really large hole. Since we got far away from the sun, Mars almost collided on us and the moon crash landed on Mars. Due to changes in orbit and also distance, Mars was sucked unto Jupiter's atmosphere, never to be seen again. The carbon dioxide, and also the changed distance made the world's temperature drop by 8 degrees Celsius, making winters, forever. My grandpa said that before KroVon, the temperature was scorching hot and the moon was still visible. We continued to wander and learn when I noticed that Phil was missing. I looked for him and saw him rummaging through the trash. What the fuck? "Dude! What are you doing?" I asked "Free food, Stan. They have a half eaten turkey sandwich with a lot of mayo in it. You should try some!" He said as he waves the disgusting half eaten sandwich. I wasn't that desperate in looking for food, so I declined and the class laughed at Phil for eating trash. I feel bad for him. He's orphaned, alone and hated. Clearly, his situation was worse than mine so I took him to the bathroom. "Thanks Stan. I'm sorry....I was just starving and I never had that amazing food before." He said while he wipes his mouth from all that mayo. I kissed him to make him feel better and he kissed me back. "We should probably get back. They're waiting for us." I said as we got out and looked for them. Hmm, pretty sure they were here. We looked for them but I think that we've been forgotten and they continued without us as always. Sometimes, teachers don't care about me and Phil since they thought that we can never achieve anything because we lack money but they're wrong. Phil and I were the best pupils in school but their minds were just dirty and accused us for sleeping with the teachers for good grades. We knew that t wasn't real and we just ignored them. Someday, we'll join a real space crew and get out of this hateful planet. We searched the whole floor and bam. We're lost. There weren't any people here and mostly relies on robots, so asking where the class was is useless. We searched some floors that they may have been explored but they purposely left us. We kept looking for them until we were losing hope. I mean, I can still go home since I have 40 dollars left and maybe offer Phil a ride back to the market. We agreed that they forgot and left us purposely. We were gonna go into the elevator when we saw men, going inside a restricted room. I ignored them but Phil grabbed me and we silently snuck inside the room. "Dude! Stop dragging me! What are we doing here?! It's a restricted area!" I said angrily and quietly. "Okay, these men had seeds! Just like in the book!" He exclaimed. Seeds? But I thought they were only for rich people? These men were just underpaid workers but how did they got seeds? We followed them into this weird chamber filled to the brim with extinct plants. In the center, It had a weird machine that looks like a tube or some sort. They were hiding plants all along when we could've just planted them and get free fresh air?!! They tricked us into thinking that plants were endangered and making us pay for their oxygen!! They scammed us big time! We kept silent and eavesdropped on the scientists. "How's the machine doing?" The scientist that was on the controls said. "Needs more plutonium but I think it's okay. It only has power to connect to the year 2005." The other scientist on the machine said. Wait, 2005? Connect? What the fuck?! They're connecting to 2005? Is this a time machine or so?! This must be the answer why they had these plants! They travelled back in time, collected some plant seeds and got it back here to get oxygen! That's why we had oxygen in the first place! I knew it. Lab grown oxygen was just utterly ridiculous. We kept eavesdropping until they were called to explain and teach our class. They got out, leaving this time machine with us. "Oh my goodness. It's a literal time machine! It's real!" Phil said excitedly as he went and fiddled with the controls. "Dude! Stop! They'll find out about this!" I said as I stopped him from reaching the controls. "You said it yourself, Stan. The past is more intriguing than this future! Maybe, we could just...check it out and explore for a little bit." He said winking at me as he reached for the control switch. It was too late. He activated the machine, making the scientists run towards us including armed men. Holy shit! We took cover and when the portal appeared, Phil jumped into it, leaving me behind until the guards got me. "You're dead meat now, kiddo. Don't worry, your coffin will be spacious!" The guard said as he tries to threaten me with a shock blaster. What do I do? If I stay, he'll either kill me or put me in prison. If I jump into the portal, I can escape my sufferings but my family needs me. They...need me! But, I'll either die or get locked up. I messed up! I have to....make my decision. I jumped into the wormhole until it was closed. It was a sudden reflex which I quickly regretted. Why did I jump?! It's..for the best. Either I keep getting fucked or I could escape. I had no choice. There's no turning back..... --------------- TO BE CONTINUED...