We're already two minutes late

-Are you kidding me?! One star review? Do you know what that does to my rating?! After everything I did to get you here on time?

Sam stopped looking through the review mirror and turned to the back seat. She was literally with her mouth open, staring and waiting for a response. Sweat was dripping from her forehead, and she was still waiting for her jeans to dry off. Silence.

He stared back, shocked as if she was behaving unreasonably.  

• Well, it was a very turbulent ride. Let's recap, shall we? You sped through two red lights, got soaked because forgot to close your windows while driving like a maniac through the puddle, drove over the speed limit most of the time, nearly ran over that poor woman back there, and my ice cream still has no yellow sprinkles. 

Sam was in awe. Okay yes, she had nearly killed someone in the process BUT didn't, and yes, there were two red lights that she kind of disregarded, but he said to do everything in her power to get there by 8:00 p.m. He said it was an emergency! It was only 8:02. He seemed so calm for him rushing to an emergency, Sam thought. 

• Regardless, you didn't get me here on time, Sam. We're only 58 minutes early. 

He said that while exiting the car with his briefcase and ice cream at hand. The door closed, and Sam remained staring back at the empty seat, stunned. It took her a second. Suddenly, she came back into herself and almost cut off her circulation from tugging at the seatbelt, trying to get it off. She jumped out of the car while and walked over to him. He looked at her while walking to the entrance.

• WHAT did you just say? How do you mean 56 minutes EARLY? You can't be early for an emergency!
• No, YOU can't be early for an emergency. Great, now it's 8:08 p.m. Now we're really going to be late.  
• WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Nobody can be early for an emergency, let alone late for it! What are you, a psychic? 

He kept walking over to the cristal doors with his briefcase, and the last bit of his ice cream. Sam ran after him. Who was this weirdo trying to get early to an emergency? No, he was making this up to justify his one-star review with no tip! 

Sam sprinted, trying to catch up to him, and cut him off at the glass door entrance of the station. 

• Okay, listen, this got out of hand. How about you just bump up my review, I'll give you a 5% discount for your next ride, and we leave it at that? It's a fair trade. 
• Sam, you really need to step aside. I couldn't care less about your review, and trust me, I won't be needing that discount. Now, move. 

His tone had changed. He sounded preoccupied, and he kept looking at the ceiling as if it could break over us at any given moment. He literally pushed me aside and walked through the glass doors. Sam followed him cautiously because she was now curious to see what he would do. Where was the "emergency"? 

People were rushing past, some were hugging goodbye at the train platforms, other tried to find the right platform. All seemed perfectly normal. We walked through the first floor, and he kept looking at the ceiling, now that he had finished his ice-cream he no longer looked like a tourist waiting for his train. He looked a bit odd now that she came to think about it. He had this all-black fit, his shoes had platforms, his trenchcoat was a bit big on the shoulders, he was wearing glasses, and he was surprisingly tall. 

Sam stood behind him,and it felt like she was standing behind a wall. She couldn't see past the shine of his trench at the level of his stomach. Despite his height and deep voice, somehow he looked like a child that had borrowed his dad's clothes. He turned around and nearly tripped over her. 

• Sam, what are you doing? Are you following me? 
• Well, I'm just verifying this whole emergency thing; you know, just in case you need assistance calling the police or something. Weird how everything seems perfectly fine, and it's already 8:20. 
• Sam, you really need to get out of here. I don't want you here if something goes wrong. 
• What could go wrong? What are you talking about? 

He turned, and Sam realized, he was holding a beeping device. As he walked, he kept pointing it in all directions. It looked like one of those old radios grandpa had in his basement, just with a lot more buttons. He walked over to the platforms and paced them, then the food area, and finally the staircase. They were now on the ground floor. The hustle of people getting off and on the trains made it hard to hear the device, and he was waiting for something to happen. Sam waited for something to happen too. 

• Now what? You're just going to keep this up until I get tired and leave? I've got nowhere to be, I could be here all night long. 
• If we don't hurry, nobody will be here by midnight. You really need to get out of my way. 
• Oh, come on! If there is going to be an emergency, maybe I can help. I bet I can do a lot better than your old radio thing. I've been here a thousand times, what are you looking for? 
• Okay fine. Sam, I am looking for an... explosive device, and we...
• A WHAT? 
• SHHH, Can you calm down? No need to panick anyone here , we just need to find it. Allegedly, it's been placed on one of the platforms. This old radio, as you call it, it's supposed to pick it up. It hasn't, which means we're not close to it. Are there any other platforms we haven't been near to? 

Sam took a deep breath, she had to make a quick evaluation. IF he was lying, he was absolutely nailing it. His facial expression was dead serious, he didn't hesitate once, and he genuinely seemed worried. Worst case scenario, he was a runaway patient from a mental institution, and she would waste half an hour following along his delusion. On the other hand, if he wasn't lying... this was huge. She could help save a bunch of people, and actually be part of something exciting in life. 

• Well? You said you could help. Help me, Sam. Where could it be?
• Okay, okay, hold on! Let me think a second! .... Two more platforms are on the South entrance, it's the old part of the station where they load the cargo trains. However, those trains are not running all the time, they run every other day I believe.
• I bet you today is one of those days. Well, come on then, lead the way. We must hurry, it's already 8:35 p.m.

Sam started walking towards the back of the station, she knew a shortcut from her days sneaking pretending she was a ticket checker. As they walked, he kept looking at the ceiling as if he expected someone to fall through the ceiling any moment.

After a few minutes of running and turning corners, they approached the South platforms. Four trains were being loaded with various items, boxes and cradles. 

• I told you, today IS one of those days. Of course. Okay it's 8.42.p.m. We must hurry! 
• What should I do? 
• Take this. - he handed over the radio device - I'll go up and down this way, you go the other way and if you see a reflective light shooting towards one of the trains, yell. If you hear me yell, ran as fast as you can out of the station, understood?
• I am not leaving you here with an explosie device with who knows what inside! I have to let the people know and get them out too!
• Sam, we have no time for this, is I yell you get out of here; If you do I'll be by your side in the blink of an eye. Now, go!
• Okay, okay, I'm going!

Sam started running to the back of the train with the radio device in front, leading the path. What exactly was this thing? It looked like taken out of a cartoon. She finished running back and forth the first train, so she moved on to the next one. As she started getting past the last trian car the radio started beeping. 

She got excited, she started running, looked at her watch, 8:50pm. The radio started beeping faster when she approached the train cabin, and a purple light appeared that highlighted a path to one of the cars. 

• I GOT IT! I HAVE IT! COME... - what was his name? She never asked - I'M AT THE BEGGINING OF THE...
• Okay where is it? 
• Whoah! How did you get here so fast I was just....
• Sam, the light, where was it pointing to?
• Oh right, the front of the train, right behind the cabin. 
• Okay, give it to me, now get out of the station. 
• No way!
• Sam, GET THE HELL OUT OF THE STATION RIGHT NOW! GO! 
• But...
• NOW! 

8:52pm

Sam started running towards the exit as he ran in the opposite direction. She stopped right before the door and looked back, she couldn't see him anymore, just a faint purple light at the end of the platform. Sam pushed pass some unaware workers, and stepped into the street. She walked back from the station, was this thing really going to go off? Who was this guy? Who would put an explosive device on a cargo train? 

• Okay maybe I just had too many coffees today... oh I know... his profile must be on the app when he asked for the ride. 

His profile was gone, actually the ride was deleted, no record of it on the app. Had she cancelled it by mistake while running through the station? She looked at the time. 8:59pm

• Damn, one minute to go. This happened so fast.
• Oh yes dear, this summer days pass on quite in the blink of an eye. 

Sam turned to her right and there he was, with his briefcase, no radio device, and no explosive either. 

• Wait what happened? How are you here? I've been waiting for you and didn't see you come out. 
• I have no idea what you mean Sam, you must've blinked when I came out. 
• But I.... and what about... 
• Agent One Star, I understand you have secured the device and the humans have not been compromised, correct? 

A tall, a very tall man talked from behind them. Sam turned around slowly, he had the same outfit and look as the other guy. He was holding a chest, an empty metal chest, opened in front of him, waiting for something to fill it. 

• Indeed Agent Four Stars, the device has been secured. The humans haven't been compromised. 

He placed the briefcase inside the chest, which closed immediately. 

• And what about .... this one - the very tall man, Agent 4 Stars, nodge his head towards Sam. 
• Sam has proven to be a valuable asset in location recognition. The mission wouldn't have been a success without her assistance. I request an order of cease and ignore for this human. 
• And, she won't put in danger the corporation? 
• No.... - he looked over at Sam - right?
• Oh, no, not at all, I was just happy to help. 
• Okay. One hour to put your affairs in order before returning to head quarters Agent One Star. 

Sam turned for a moment to him, to Agent One Star, and when she looked back, Agent Four Stars was no longer there. 

• Agent One Star? Who was that? What about the explosive device? What operation? 
• Sam, you need to calm down
• No, I need answers.... you ride dissapear from the app, now I'm not even going to get paid, and the guy, why was he sooo tall?
• Okay, Sam, you're spirling, I'll give you some answers but not here, follow me. 
• Again? This whole night has been about me following you.
• Well, you did wanted the adventure, now do you want answers or not? 
• Okay, fine. 
• Good, lets get some ice-cream. 
• Ice-cream? At 9:00pm?
• Just trust me, will you?

He started walking away from the station and turned left at the intersection. Sam hurried after him, it was so easy to loose sight of him in that whole black outfit. Sam finally catched up to him and tugged at his coat. 

• Hey, wait up, there's no ice-cream place down this road. Let alone one open at 9:30pm on a Wednesday. 
• Oh you humans have no eye for the important things. Keep up we're almost there, right around that next corner. 
• You humans? Now what's that supposed to mean?
• See, we're here, come on now, get it. 

Sam turned to her left and a giant ice-cream cone shaped door was before her. It was lit up by neon lights, and a smiling woman was waving at her from behind the counter. She stepped inside hurried by Agent One Star, who looked back and sideways before stepping in. The moment he closed the door, the whole sound of the streets and traffic vanished. Inside the pastel yellow walls gave the room a cozy and lighthearted feel. 

The woman, a tall and red cheeked woman, stood behind a counter facing the street. The glass of the counter showed mountains of ice-cream balls of all the colors and to the right, a cone mounted on the wall was full of colorful sprinkles. There were exactly two stools in front of a very slim table top mounted at the left side wall, and that was it. You could take three steps in any direction and you would have paced the whole place. It was tiny, but it felt so comforting, not cramped. 

• Wow, what is this place? Never in my life had I seen this. 
• Oh hi dear, welcome to Ice-Cream for the Stars. Oh Agent One Star, so nice to see you as always. 
• Good evening Vannesa, always lovely to see you. I had the worst experience today, got some chocolate ice-cream but they had NO sprinkles. Can you believe it?
• Oh of course I can, that's what you get for going anywhere else for ice-cream. Good thing I have exactly what you want, already at the table in front of your stool. And for you dear? What flavor do you want?
• I... well, I don't know which ones you have?
• Oh, we have all the flavors, just ask for it. 
• Oh in that case, may I have a bubblegum please? I haven't have one since I was a child. 
• Of course! You can pull the lever at the cone to get your sprinkles. 

As Vanessa handed over an ice-cream bowl, Sam walked over and pulled the lever, sparkling purple sprinkles came rushing on top of her blue bubblegum ice-cream. She walked to the empty stool, took a spoonful and her whole childhood came rushing to her. 

• Oh this is amazing! Like summerdays at the park, it tastes like... like being happy when you're a kid. 
• So glad you like it dear, I'll be in the back if you need anything else. 

Vannessa smiled and dissappeared behind, the wall? It was really hard to see where had she gone to. 

• I told you, sprinkles make all the difference - Agent One Star was enjoying his chocolate ice-cream bowl with yellow sprinkles on top. For the first time all night, he smiled. 
• Well, you have your ice-cream, can I get some answers now?
• Oh right, that. Sorry, this ice-cream is just so good. We don't have ice-cream at headquarters. Okay... where should I start? Easiest way for me to explain it, I'm an alien, basically. I'm a different "human" species if you will. I'm from a planet in a paralel dimension where I work as an Agent for the kingdom. My job is to ensure safety for both our dimension and yours. Today a prisoner escaped the kingdom and wanted to retaliet on your Earth Planet. The device we encountered would have destroyed everything. However, this prisoner who has been captured, didn't know that I was born with the ability of premonition. I can look for up to five hours into the future. That's why I knew what was going to happen. In my division, we handle this type of events, and other glitches as we call them when they can affect your Earth. Your help was extremly valuable today. 
• Well that... that makes no sense at all. Are you messing with me?
• You tell me, what does your intuiton tells you? Close your eyes for a minute, take a deep breath, am I lying?
• .... No. You're not. 
• Exactly. Always trust your instincts. And now, I must go. 

They stepped into the street, and the lights at the ice-cream shop went dark. 

• Hey my car! How's it here.
• I figured it would be best for you not walk all the way back to it so I had it brought here. Now, I should go. Thank you Sam for everything, you're a good friend. Take care now okay.

He placed his hand on her shoulder. At that moment, a woman pushed passed her and tripped her over a bit. Sam turned back.

• No, don't.... worry about it. 

He was already gone. 

---

• Okay, here we are, Natural History Museum. I hope you enjoy your day! Don't forget to rate me please, it really helps....what do you mean one star review?! What was wrong?
• Well, for starters Sam, my ice-cream has no sprinkles, and we're two minutes late.  

Sam smiled into the review mirror. 

• Let's go!