In memory of Lynda, my second mom.

THE FUTURE: YEAR 2036

The digital readout on the dashboard of the 1987 Chevrolet S10 Blazer glowed in the dark reddish-orange light the numbers 0.00047. This is exactly what he wanted and, pleased with that reading, he reached over to flip four switches, one at a time. Four lights followed, all next to the digital readout, as a low humming sound buzzed on.

Sitting on the seat next to him, leaning against yellow and black long metal compartment, were two pictures. One of the pictures was of a red-cushioned large chair with a bar in front of the seat, a purple light bulb on the top, some normal bulbs on the side and brass bars lining the outside of it. On the bottom of the photograph was a blank area which read: OWCA CLASSIFIED: DANVILLE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 2010. TIME DISPLACEMENT DEVICE.

Slowly he reached over, pushing the photograph aside so that he could see the other.

The other photograph was of two boys, and in the space under that it read: OWCA CLASSIFIED: PHINEAS FLYNN, FERB FLETCHER.

Then he looked to the picture next to it. A man, red haired, looking somewhat like Phineas, smiling at the camera and standing next to a large computer-like machine with a small screen on it. This picture read: OWCA CLASSIFIED: IBM 5100. COMPUTER SOFTWARE PROGRAMMER, ENGINEER: K. FLYNN.

Once more he looked to the display. The numbers on it did not change. A moment after he flipped the four switches, another digital readout turned on, this one glowing yellow at him. JUL 14 1975, it read.

"John," a deep and raspy voice said over a small speaker under the displays, perhaps where the radio in the truck should have been.

The man pushed a button and said to the speaker, "Here Major. The cesium clocks seem to be in working condition."

"Very good," the voice responded. "The computers are all checked. Magnetic housing units and electron injection manifold devices look good. Looks to be a smooth ride Agent T."

The man chuckled. "The agency must have a dozen Agent T's, sir. Save the Agent calling to the real Agents that deserve that title. John's good for me."

"Alright then John," the voice responded. "All looks good for a smooth trip. The divergence is well bellow 1%. The world line should be exactly like this one."

The man nodded and said, "Reading 0.00047 Major. I will say it's going to be weird to see the Tri-State area again. It's going to be weird seeing the United..."

"Stop that," the voice said, interrupting him. "We can't go on speculating what is and isn't, John. Stay with the mission. Remember, just like the boys when they found out about Agent P when they crossed the worldline divergence into our dimension."

The man leaned back in his seat. "Sorry sir," he said. "I wasn't much older than them at the time, you'll recall. It's strange that we'll be seeing them again. It's also somewhat strange that we're using the same technology that brought them here, to go back."

"Doofenshmirtz's, yes, I can appreciate the irony. John, everything is set. Remember your mission. Get the computer. The boys will know what to do concerning the Y2K38 problem. Just get them that computer."

"And you're sure that... he... is Phineas' uncle?"

"Yup. Don't tell either him or Phineas any more than they absolutely need to know. Phineas and his mom sure as heck don't need to know about Phineas' cousin, Sam. Neither of them need to know about any of it. As far as they know, Linda's brother vanished in the 1980's shortly after his company's breakthrough."

The man sighed, nodding slowly. "Here we go," he whispered to himself without holding down the button on the speaker so who he was talking to wouldn't hear him. Then he said, pushing the button again, "177th first mission is go."

"177 tempus edax rerum," the voice said. "Good luck, John."