Somewhere in Time

"Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end" - Homer, The Odyssey

Ulyssa paced around the hallways when the first bell rang, she had exactly five minutes to race and find her friends before the class began. Her two best friends in Faith Josephine High School were Keya and Rosa, and the three seniors shared the same displeasure with their conservative private school.

After finding her friends, Ulyssa had convinced them to ditch with her. She had admitted to cursing out Sister Abigail during a heated argument in front of class. This was not surprising to the group as Ulyssa seemed to usually have a problem with her short-fused temper. She had often promised after graduating she would finally escape the blandness of life in the quiet town, away from the pressures of her parent's high expectations.

Faith Josephine H.S. was a very prestigious place amongst the wealthy and influential families in the area, and housed some of the brightest kids in the country. Among those attendants were an 11 year-old boy named Ted Weinberg, a theoretical physicist who was given the freedom to experiment on his most daring projects, fully funded by the school.

Ulyssa and the group found themselves evading one of the Sisters that had spotted them walking outside of class. The three of them quickly ran around a building with a locked gate, they shimmied through a gap and entered into the darkness of the warehouse barely illuminated by sunlight.   

"I thought this was a gym" Ulyssa whispered.

This room had been locked away from the public, possibly a project Ted Weinberg would work on concerning an experimental machine involving a wormhole portal theory. All they had was rumors to try and understand the relevance of the amount of computers inside. After all, many of Ted Weinberg's technological prowess were loosely mentioned to the public.

"Shhh, guys. Seriously, Rosa? Could you breathe any louder? You sound like a dying horse" whispered Ulyssa.

"I'm sorry I can't help it, I breathe harder when I'm nervous".

"Oh, this is so much fun! I can't believe I'm actually ditching class. My parents would so kill me if they found out", said Keya in a jovial tone. Ulyssa held her index finger to her lips.

"I said shh!"

Ulyssa then tripped over and fell onto a control board, pressing a bunch of buttons and switches which caused them to emanate a strange sound that triggered a calibration.

"No. No. No. Where are we?" whined Ulyssa.

Rosa pointed at the red emergency lights illuminating in the room divulging a trefoil symbol and other various hazard warning signs including a no-trespassing sign. 

"Guys? I don't think we're supposed to be in here..."

"Oh I've heard of this place before. It's where that smart kid hangs out at all day with those scientist and guys in black suits. I heard he was inventing a new energy source out of potatoes or something" said Keya.

Ulyssa continued to press buttons on the control board desperately.

"Just give me a moment to figure out how to turn this off, I can't have the school sue my parents over this". Ulyssa said worriedly.   

Some abstract spinning parts began to vibrate loudly and violently. Ulyssa seemed to make it worse, the three of them screamed from hearing a high frequency pitch followed by a bright flash that illuminated the room.

*****

Unbeknownst to the trio, there was a short explosion that occurred, Ulyssa, Keya and Rosa would perish from this space in time. In the fraction that existed in their minds, the school was abandoned and relocated. There were generations of children that were born and then died of old age. Reconstruction of the city took place, it was then re-populated with a booming economy. There was war and a few more plagues and a period of peace and harmony that lead to new advancements with technology and pop culture trends. The small town was now a metropolis where a thick luscious forest once grew several centuries ago. Ted Weinberg would never learn his worm-hole theory ever worked.

A thunderstorm at this particular time heated the atoms in the air and brought the three girls into their new future present. They stood inside a new warehouse in the darkness still bickering amongst each other.

"Ok, guys stay quiet, Sister Abigail would be gone by now and I think I finally got the machine to stop acting up. So we should be okay..." said Ulyssa.

"That light was so scary" said Rosa.

"Ew, Dude, who farted?" barked Keya holding her nose shut.

"Um.. don't look at me"

"Then who did, admit it."

Meanwhile, Ulyssa caressed the walls in search for a light switch. She eventually found a way to turn on the lights. There were carcasses of dead fish in temperature sensitive pools, conveyer belts and silver counters tops.

"It looks different from a moment ago..." said Rosa.

Ulyssa grabbed both of her friends by the arm and pushed open the door. "I'm tripping out a bit guys. Come, let's get out of here".  

The three perplexed girls finally entered a world where their large private campus in the woods ceased to exist, but a new densely populated urban sprawl found in its place. There were now large residential buildings and a completely new infrastructure set up to accompany the new city. Where they could once hear the gentle rumbling of branches in that area, there were now sounds of vehicles whizzing by in the distance and people walking on puddles of water from the light showers.

Rosa had walked under the shade of a bus stop and fell back onto the bench.

"I think I'm going to be sick..." she said.

Ulyssa turned to Keya who was still speechless observing the illuminated billboards on the buildings, and the overwhelming glimmering light pollution in the otherwise darkness of the skies. There were giant QR codes hovering around, and drones that seem to pass swiftly creating a stream of blurry lights.

Ulyssa sat down with Rosa. "Guys, this is so weird, are we in the future? How did we even get here? I'm so confused."

"You! You pressed all those buttons Uly. What the hell. You did this!" Keya jabbed her finger to Ulyssa's chest.

"Keya, do not blame her for being clumsy... I am sometimes the same way. Even though you doomed us Ulyssa, we are in this together", Rosa patted Ulyssa on the shoulder.

"Guys, I'm so sorry. We must have stumbled upon Ted's stupid machine. I have no idea what happened, but we might be in another dimension or something. I can't explain it, it's all so overwhelming!".

Rosa started to cry, "So my parents are probably dead?"

Keya joined the two sitting and embraced Rosa who seemed increasingly more flustered.

Ulyssa watched as a homeless man with a very distinguishable white bracelet gadget stopped and stared at them. He looked down at Ulyssa's uniform then back to Keya and Rosa who were hugging and sobbing. The three girls wore their long plaid skirts, navy blue sweaters with their school insignia and white collared shirts. All three had their backpacks still on and they were decorated with pins from their favorite K-Pop artist and Anime shows.

The homeless man reached into his dirty battered bag and pulled out a sealed can with a colorful polka dot cover. Ulyssa hesitantly grabbed it from his hands.

"Why, thank you..." Ulyssa watched him walk away in through a tunnel.

She handed the tin can to Keya whose arms were still wrapped around Rosa.

"Maybe snacks will calm you two down" she said.

Keya grabbed the can and inspects it. Rosa takes notice of it too.  

"Oh god even the food is weird", cried Rosa.

The can appeared to have pebbles of green, red and purple gelatinous beans inside.

Keya pulled the strip to open it and took a chug of it.

"Oh...my...sweet lord.... " Keya's eyes widened. She smiled and shoved it to Rosa's face. Rosa grabbed it and took a sip. 

"This is better than my Abuelita's baking..."

"Ok guys, we have to move and find out what's going on. Ulyssa snatched it before the two could finish it, leaving Rosa's mouth wide open. She drank what remained.

"It's... ", she rolled her eyes back.

"It taste like they organically grew fruit roll-ups..."

****

After the three regain their composure, they set out through the long dark tunnel with the sidewalks that lit up to guide the pedestrian traffic. Their initial wariness turned into inquisitive curiosity as Rosa stopped crying, and along her, Keya and Ulyssa made their way over towards the city center.

It was a particularly quiet night however as they walked down through what appeared to be a commercial district of the city with empty shops.

"You three aren't from around here" said an older Asian man with long white hair and a headband wrapped around where his eyes should be. He had what appeared to be a hearing device with cables that attached onto the side of his forehead.

Ulyssa and the two others stopped in their tracks to stare at the old man and his shop. He had a collection of computer parts and different gadgets for sale, his store seemed bright and inviting with a robot in the center moving it's mechanical limbs in a waving action and his eyes articulating blinking. 

"Uhm, we are a little lost" admitted Ulyssa.

"That's what I thought. He started to laugh.

Then violently coughed from the cigarette smoke fuming from his throat to the creases of his lips.

"Y'all smell very earthy too" he said. His lack of vision seemed to have made his other senses more sensitive.

"We should go..." Rosa whispered standing besides Keya in the background.

"Yeah I'm getting the creeps" whispered Keya.

"Well... yeah there aren't a lot of trees around here anymore. We use to live by the wilderness..." Ulyssa said.

"Ulyssa... Come on" Keya and Rosa had already decided to keep walking.

"Not so fast, girl!" the old man exclaimed.

Rosa jumped tugging onto Keya's shirt.

"Won't you let a blind old man do your reading before you leave?" he said. He gestured down to her hand. Despite the tremble in his knees, he seemed to move almost as effectively as a person with functioning sight.

Ulyssa looked at the device in his ear and wondered what sort of information it was feeding it. She stepped in closer and volunteered her palm out.

"Ulyssa...you really need that voice behind your head..." Keya said.

"It's fine I want to know what he says". 

The old man grabbed Ulyssa's palm and ran his fingers slowly through the lines of her hands.

"Oh my. You are temperamental. And you'll need to pay for that. Ha. You'll be confronted by dangerous tribulations. Ahaha "

"Ulyssa...?" Keya and Rosa whispered.

"... Beware the beast you seek is still out there... You must take his head to get back home... Before it's too late...Hahaha".

"Uh Thank...you... " Ulyssa pulled her hand away.

The old man smiled and stammered back into his store.

The trio continued onto their path of scarcely populated streets and stumbled into a bright food district where all the restaurants were fully occupied by cashiers, same for the food trucks lined up, but no clientele. One particular truck was painted a bright pink into the shape of a giant fat pig, along with it's propped curly tail in the back. One heavy-set man with a pig-hat had watched the girls walking closer as he wiped his counter top.

"Ladies! We have a special tonight, for just fifteen credits. You get a pig brisket sandwich with pork rind chips and a large fruity bean soda!" he yelled..

Rosas eyes widened. 

"Did you say fruity bean soda?"

"All of that sounds good to me!" said Keya.

"Guys, come on we need to get away from here and find out what that old man meant". 

At that moment it seemed Ulyssa's stomach decided to counter her sentiment when it began to growl loudly. Keya and Rosa took notice and smiled. Ulyssa looked at her friends giving her puppy eyes and reached into to her pockets for some cash.

She hands 20$ to the cashier. He takes a look at her money and shakes his head.

"Real funny kid. The pawn shop is around the block".

"Wait. What's wrong with my money?"

"Yeah, you can't refuse legal tender"

"That's illegal!" 

The man sighed and continued wiping down his counter top.

"Last time I'm coming to these pop concerts..." he said. "You girls better clear this area, in a matter of minutes when that concerts over with those Korean singers, this entire block is going to be pure pandemonium. Now scram!"

The three girls disappointedly rush away towards another table in a quieter area besides a closed-off private building.

"Damn, I really wanted that bean shake... " Rosa sighed. 

"Ok chill guys. We seriously need to stop and brainstorm for a few minutes."

"OK, Ulyssa I was with you at first, but I seriously kind of want to keep exploring this place now. I can't believe we're outside of a K-pop concert!" Keya smiled.

Suddenly the sounds of chatters is heard from the rooftop of the building nearby and several foot steps walking down from the stairway on the side of the building.

Ulyssa tapped her friends as three younger men came down chatting with each other. The three girls stared mesmerized with their mouths agape. Keya and Rosa looked towards each other and smiled. They noticed the three idols had unusually smooth and pore-less skin while their eyes were slightly larger proportioned. Their hair was thick and messy but almost on purpose which accentuated their handsome appearance. The three men were sharply dressed in preppy bright colors with their bare muscled chest revealing through their lazily placed buttoned shirts.

They turned over to the girls sitting in the benches.

One of the men greeted them in his accented smooth voice and his vibrant smile. 

"Sorry girls, didn't mean to interrupt your conversation" he said. Ulyssa stared at him without blinking, she liked the way his hair parted in the middle and the way his hair cut was buzzed shorter on the sides. Though there was something unquestionably strange about their attractive appearance. They were like filtered images of a magazine cover, flawless, beautiful and almost inhuman.

"I.. I like your hair" Ulyssa mumbled. 

"Why thank you, that's very sweet of you to notice it. Hm, I should repay the compliment. I think you three have delightful outfits". He smiled. "It's very-"

"Britney Spears!" said another of the idols, his chin was sharper and his jaw-line more defined than the other two. 

"Yeah, haha!"

"Today is your lucky day, girls" said the third idol. "You get a private song from the greatest K-pop band in the Bay Area". 

His voice came out smoother than butter with a sultry delivery. He sang an acoustic version of possibly one of his hits. The three girls were delighted to hear. 

Rosa had blushed the whole time. "Oh my god... wow".

"So are you g-guys like actually famous?" stuttered Keya. 

"Ha, I mean I think we're doing okay considering we sold out the coliseum the third time this week. We literally had to escape through a private taxi drone." he laughed.

"Wow..."

Ulyssa's stomach growled again.

One of the third idols of the singing group almost shyly whispered over.

"This might seem a little forward, but our limo is just around the corner if you girls wanted to get a nice view of the city and maybe something to eat". 

"Yes!" screamed Ulyssa.

The six of them drove over towards their studio passing by a billboards with the groups faces planted on them, it was true they were famous musicians but they seemed to be down to earth given their popularity.

From the balcony area, the three girls marveled at the cities skyline. A place reminiscent of NYC but the buildings seemed more unique and sleeker.

Rosa left the group to walk over to the kitchen and help one of the idols prepare something for them to eat.

"Ok but, don't go too far", said Ulyssa. 

Rosa and the idol with the sharp jaw-line walked over to the kitchen.

"Yeah this apartment belongs to us. We have houses in most of the major cities in the U.S. along with Korea" he said as he walked with Rosa.

"No way. So what's like the coolest thing you own here" she said.

"Ha, uh, well I have this really old Weinberg grandfather clock. You know with the hovering hands. It's like a hundred years old".

"Wait, what did you say?"

"It's a grandfather clock, it's really sweet".

"Weinberg? like Ted Weinberg?"

"Yeah, haha. Of course. You're a fan too? I mean he revolutionized the tech industry with all of those inventions. He's one of the greatest minds from the computer age. He still invents things you know? I mean not physically but his ancestors keep his head in a jar to communicate. Can you believe with his age, he's still making contributions to mankind. I think his buildings still visible from the lower-levels by the food district. It's got the big "W" symbol with the eye. Anyways, do you want to see some music awards?".

Rosa ran as fast as she could down towards the elevator.

"Wait, what's even your name!?"

"Rosa!" she yelled. "Gotta go see something, I'll B-R-B"

"No way! That's my pets name!"

Keya walked into the kitchen to check on Rosa and found instead the idol puckering his lips and kissing his little pet toad that balanced on his hand.

"Rosa, aren't you the cutest girl" he whispered. 

Keya started to scream. "What have you done to my friend!?".