Wes wasn't sure why Time Force was crowded around the television… in fact, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Jen looked very alarmed and Trip was muttering something about alternate sources of energy, and there was a ridiculously annoying theme song blaring out from the television. This combination was odd…

"Is that even possible? I mean, why are they being so casual about it? And they have cameras following them..." Lucas asked slowly.

"I thought people couldn't time travel yet…" Katie added.

"Fact fuel? Hmm… well, that would be a very good source of energy, but how did they harness it? And these data boosts… I'm not sure how that's supposed to work…" Trip muttered, scratching his chin.

"Do you think they could take us home?"

"No, I don't think they'd take us, their time pilots look awfully young…"

Wes finally reached the group, tapping Jen on the shoulder. "What are you doing?" He was promptly hushed by the rest of the group. "Well then…"

"Have you ever heard of ACME before?" Katie asked.

"Well, from Bugs Bunny cartoons…"

"No, these guys. They're time police." Trip insisted, pointing at the screen to where three very excited young adults were dancing on the screen. "And they have kids helping them… and their ship runs on fact fuel. I mean, their containment crystals are slightly flawed in their design but-"

Wes blinked as he looked at the screen. A woman in a red trench coat, with a big, matching floppy hat was running across the screen, with a woman in a military looking uniform informed the so called "time pilots" that they only had twenty-eight minutes to complete their mission. "Uh… you realize that isn't real."

"Huh?"

"It looks close." Lucas defended.

"Perhaps a bit animated, but pretty close." Jen added.

"It's a game show…" Wes explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "An old one too, it hasn't been on the air for years, I have a younger cousin who used to be obsessed with it. The "time pilots" are the contestants, and they're all kids… it's a history trivia show."

Immediately their faces fell.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure."

"So we shouldn't report her," Trip gestured to the screen where the woman in red was seen running again. "as an escaped time criminal?"

Wes snorted, picking the remote up and flicking the television off. "If you want to report Carmen Sandiego as an escaped criminal, be my guest, but people are going to laugh at you…"


No, before you ask, I have no idea why my mind demanded I write this...

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