So, I read this blog post on Turn to a Historian (no really, you should Google the blog...) about some of the historical inaccuracies in season two of Turn-namely the spy gadgets that have been used. You know, like how the messages on the eggs thing wasn't really used and how Sackett couldn't have pulled out a lie detector because it wasn't actually invented until the 1920s...and there was apparently a comment on twitter about how, if Sackett hadn't died, they would totally have had tanks by the end of the revolution. And it made me rethink that episode where Ben and Caleb see the room with all of Sackett's gadgets and how Sackett really likes to slap Ben's hand away from things...and I was like, you know, what does he have in there? So this is how I've imagined the scene, with a total disregard for historical accuracy. Please review, especially if you're a fan of the police box (but no flames, I haven't done this in a while...)...
In Which Ben Tallmadge Loses the War
By kitty in a cornfield
"What is this?" Ben Tallmadge had barely been able to ask the question before his hand was slapped away by Mr. Sackett.
"That is a polygraph, used for copying letters." Sackett replied, glaring at him sternly. "Don't touch it."
"Can it be used to copy signatures, as well?" Ben asked, ignoring Sackett's warning as an idea began to form. If he could use this to forge a letter, he could prove that General Lee— "What's that?" Distracted, Ben immediately ran to investigate his new discovery, only to be slapped away, once again, by Mr. Sackett.
"Do you have to touch everything you see?" Sackett grumbled in vain, for Ben had already moved on to another gadget in the spy room. "Don't touch that!"
"Look at this, it plays music!" Ben declared. "And this one can heat food with the mere push of a button! And this one—" Ben paused at the item in front of him as he considered what the large blue box could be, reaching out to open the door.
"Don't open that!" Sackett growled, jumping in Ben's way before he could see inside. "Do you have any self control at all?"
"But what's a 'police box'? And who is bad wolf?" Ben asked urgently. Seeing that he had no other choice but to distract Ben with yet another gadget, he reached out for the most harmless object he could find and thrust it into Ben's hands. Luckily for Sackett, the trick worked and Ben now stared down at the strange black ball with the number eight drawn on it.
"What is this?" Ben asked in wonder, turning it in his hands.
"That," Sackett began with a sigh of relief at Ben's new fascination, "is a magic eight ball."
"Magic?" Ben scoffed. "How does it work?"
"You simply ask a question," Sackett explained, gently leading Ben away from the police box to where he couldn't cause any damage. "Shake it up, and it will tell you the answer."
Ben stared down at the ball skeptically. A simple ball? Capable of answering questions? Magic? "What a load of horse shite."
"Don't believe me?" Sackett asked with a chuckle. "Ask it a question."
"What kind of question?"
"The important kind." Sackett told him with a leer.
Still in doubt, Ben closed his eyes and began to think hard about what question to ask. "Will we defeat the British and gain independence?" Curiously, he gave the ball a quick shake before holding get it up to the light to look in the little glass window. As the ball began to settle, an answer became visible in the strange liquid fog in the ball…. Don't bet on it. Eyes wide, he looked toward Mr. Sackett, holding the ball out for him to see the answer. Mr. Sackett adjusted his glasses to read the answer and sighed, looking at Ben with a very grim expression.
"Congratulations, Ben. You just lost us the revolution."