The Times! They are A'Changing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends.
I had this little idea in my head for some time. I mean, what would steam engines think of modern technology? With the (awful) CGI episodes taking place in modern-day, they were bound to be exposed to it at one point or another (even though Sodor is as technologically advanced as the stone age.)
First Thomas fic! Please review!
Thomas was stopped at Edward's station. Edward whistled to Thomas as he pulled in alongside him.
"Hello, Thomas," the larger blue engine smiled. Thomas barely paid him any mind at all. He gave Edward a quick glance and mumbled a "hello," but was otherwise too busy studying a young couple sitting together on a bench on the station platform.
"It's impolite to stare, you know," corrected Edward gently.
"I'm trying not to," replied Thomas snippishly. "Besides, I'm not staring at them. Look," he began, seeming to indicate the strange object in the young man's lap. Whatever the device was, it was flat, silver, and seemed to made of two separate pieces that attached to each other at one edge. The horizontal half rested levelly on his legs, while the vertical half raised above it.
"Do you know what that is?" asked a very confused Thomas. Edward was baffled.
"I haven't a clue."
They listened as a soft, rhythmic clickety-clack came from the machine while the boy and girl stared at it.
"Do you suppose it's broken, that thing? It sounds as though something in it's rattling," Thomas wondered.
"Maybe it's supposed to make that noise," speculated Edward, "and if it is broken, I don't see that they're doing anything to fix it."
"Neither do I. But what are they doing with it, then? I mean, what is it for?" pondered Thomas. Edward watched them keenly, but the young couple didn't seem to be doing much with it at all. He hadn't seen them take their eyes off it yet, but from what he could tell, they weren't even touching it.
Then, all of a sudden, it beeped. Thomas and Edward jumped.
"What was that?" whispered Thomas. "I don't know," replied Edward.
A look of mild annoyance passed the young man's face as he tapped something on the bottom half of the machine with one finger.
"Perhaps you're right. Maybe it is broken," Edward guessed. Although now he was more confused than ever, he set his mind to trying to solve the problem.
"Hmm...Well, what do people have that beeps, for starters?" he asked, thinking. Thomas thought, as well, but could only recall one thing.
"Metal detectors beep," he supplied hopefully. "I see people with them at the beach sometimes when I ride by, and they beep!"
If Edward could have, he would have shaken his head. As it was, he only smiled in amusement and tried not to be too rude about pointing out the obvious flaws with Thomas's idea.
"Thomas," he began, "what are the rails made of? What are we made of, for that matter?"
The little blue engine went silent and scrunched his brows for a moment, then grew red with embarrassment as he realized his mistake.
"Oh," he chuckled, "that would be rather impractical, wouldn't it? Just forget I said that."
"Now, what would I want to do that for?" asked Edward, and the two friends sniggered together for a little bit until the mysterious machine made yet another noise. This time, it was a brief, almost musical chime.
"That one was different," said Thomas immediately. "For all the strange sounds it's making, perhaps that thing is a musical instrument."
"It's not very musical, though," disagreed Edward. He hoped it wasn't a musical instrument, for it didn't sound particularly good.
"What did he say?" asked the girl. Thomas and Edward exchanged nervous glances. Had they heard them?
The machine made a few more clicks, and then, suddenly, the young couple burst out laughing!
"Well, I think we can safely say that it's some sort of communications device, since apparently somebody just contacted them through it," said Edward rationally.
"How, though? It's not a telephone, that's for sure. You should have seen them when they first got here!" exclaimed Thomas, suddenly remembering. "It was all flat and folded shut before they sat down, but then they opened it up like a book!"
"Opened it up like a book?" Edward repeated, then sighed.
"Forget about it. I'm not going to ponder over this all day. Let them have their talking, beeping book, then," declared the larger blue engine, amused at how fascinated the couple seemed to be with their odd machine.
Presently, Thomas's driver had finished speaking to the stationmaster and was just ready to climb back into the cabin when Thomas saw his opportunity.
"I'm not happy," he announced suddenly. His driver paused.
"Why aren't you happy, Thomas?"
"I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what that silver rectangle is!" he growled, frustrated. His driver looked at the young couple and started to laugh.
"What, that?" he began, still smiling. "Why, that's a computer, Thomas!"
Thomas's round eyes bulged.
"That's a computer!" he asked much too loudly in his surprise. His driver and Edward shushed him in unison, but it was too late. The young couple was now looking at him curiously. Thomas blushed once again.
"I'm sorry," he said sheepishly, "it's just that I didn't know they were so small!"
Much to his relief and delight, the young couple got up and brought the computer over to show him. The young man turned it around for him.
"This is what's called a laptop computer. It runs on a battery, so you can take it anywhere with you," said the girl. Thomas was amazed.
"It's just like a typewriter!" he exclaimed. Or like somebody had combined a typewriter and a television into one, he thought. Indeed, much of the space on the bottom half of the computer was taken up by a keyboard with letters, numbers, and many other buttons he didn't recognize. On the screen was a digital likeness of a piece of paper filled with even rows of perfect, neat black letters.
"Oh, it does much more than writing documents. It holds games, music, movies, pictures—" explained the boy, but Thomas was excited and interrupted him.
"And you can talk to other people on it, too?" he asked.
"Yes," answered the girl. "You can write letters to people, for example, and send them to another computer instantly."
"Oh," frowned Thomas, "Percy won't be happy to hear that."
"Not to worry, Thomas," comforted his driver, "It'll be a long, long time before technology upsets the order of things on Sodor. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the few, if not the only, modern computers on the whole island."
"Well, thank goodness for that," muttered Thomas. Thomas, Edward, and the driver thanked the young couple for kindly explaining about their computer before heading off once again. After he had finished his work that evening, Edward watched Thomas, who was obviously eager to tell all the other engines about the marvelous "laptop" computer, patiently in the sheds.
The Fat Controller had just finished assigning some of their jobs for the next day and was the first (well, second) one to notice Thomas grinning cheekily.
"What is it, Thomas?" he asked.
"You won't believe it, sir!" he nearly cried. "I saw a computer today the size of a library book!"
"A library book!" butt in Gordon before Sir Topham Hatt could answer. "Computers are big, boxy things, you silly little engine. I remember seeing one when I had to deliver it to the mayor's office a few years ago," he continued pompously.
The Fat Controller was about to say something, but Thomas cut him off once again.
"Not this one! He called it a 'laptop computer,' meaning it's small enough to fit in his lap! It opens and closes like a book, too!"
"That's dumb!" pitched in James. "Why would anyone need to carry a computer around with them all the time?"
"Why not? It has a keyboard like a typewriter, so you can write papers on it. You can put music and pictures on it, too. It even sends mail!" continued Thomas excitedly.
"Bosh! How would a computer send mail?" asked Percy, who seemed to be a little defensive, if not disbelieving.
"Simple. You just write a letter, and then the computer sends it to another computer in no time! It doesn't require postage or transit time, either!"
"Oh, no!" wailed Percy in despair. "I should have known it was only a matter of time before somebody invented paperless mail! What will become of my post train now? I'm sure to be a goner!"
"Percy is right! We're obsolete!" burst Henry, who had always been prone to worrying, suddenly. "Scrap metal on wheels, the lot of us! What's next? Computerized engines? Engines that run on water? High spirit, we're all going to—"
"ENOUGH!" boomed the Fat Controller indignantly. Once he was assured that his engines would stay silent, he continued.
"Well, Thomas, congratulations on your first experience with modern technology," he said kindly but with a hint of sarcasm, groaning inwardly. "He is right, though, Gordon. Seems that just within these past few years, every electronic device available on the market has become smaller, cheaper, and more innovative than models that came just months before it. Times are changing. Computers aren't practically the size of television sets like they were less than ten years ago. However," he stated pointedly, straightening up to his full height of a whopping five feet, "none of you need worry about being pushed aside by such technological advances on my railway. The Island of Sodor will always run on steam. End of story."
A collective sigh of relief rippled forth from the engines, and little Percy even whistled with gladness. Thomas seemed to be the only one who seemed a little deflated, knowing that he would probably never get another chance to see the shiny, strange computer again.
"Do you suppose you'll ever get one, sir?" he asked, curious. The Fat Controller didn't even have to think about his reply.
"Bah!" he spat scornfully. "It'll be a cold day in...That is to say, I wouldn't keep one if Bill Gates came down here and gave it to me personally."
"Who's Bill Gates?" inquired Henry.
"He owns one of the largest computer companies in the world," explained the Fat Controller.
"Did he invent paperless mail, too?" Percy asked innocently. Sir Topham Hatt sighed and nodded. He didn't feel like giving a huge explanation right now.
"Yes, Percy, he invented paperless mail," he humored the little engine, trying not to smile.
"Well, there! We needn't worry one bit about him and his computers! After all, who'd want to read and write all their mail on one of those things? I'm sure it'll be gone in no time!" grinned cheeky Percy, feeling quite satisfied.
Sir Topham Hatt didn't have the heart to tell him that the whole island of Sodor probably wasn't even a big enough space to fit all the computers in the world.
END
A/N: Am I the only one who always sees some loser walking around with a metal detector at the beach? Or perhaps you are some loser who walks around the beach with a metal detector? Please share.