The ARC TV special

Disclaimer: None of the characters (except for the reporters) are mine, but belong to Impossible Pictures.

Note: The future world is actually from The Future Is Wild episode "The Vanished Sea".

-5-

"And we're back, with ITV and the Research Center's crew after several exciting episodes of the daily life of the Center! Ms. Lewis, as the public relations' specialist of this outfit, has managed to get her boss to agree to co-op with us in releasing those to the general public, but only through official channels! So all of you sneaky little characters who reckon they can just make pirate copies off the big screen are in for a shock! You know what I mean," Cole grins at the camera. "Anyways, we're here with the big man on the Center, Mr. James Lester!"

James Lester just gave Jenny and others a Look, and then turned to Cole and others. "Good, now where were we? Oh yes, some time ago I and my French counterpart had made a bet that me and mine wouldn't be able to reach him and his all across that time – and space, I think. Anyways, today is the day when I am going to prove him wrong, and I'm inviting you good people along." He turns around and walks away from the camera towards the time anomaly manifestation device (Connor's new version of it, anyways) with Connor already working on it (other people are assisting him with it) already, preparing to turn it on.

"Connor, are we ready?" Lester asks, perhaps a bit testily. "We do not want to open a time anomaly to the bottom of a prehistoric sea, now do we?"

Connor glares slightly at Lester, but then calms down. "No, not so much," he says somewhat quietly. "We've worked on these co-ordinates for quite a while, we`re going to get it right, to be sure." He turns to the camera. "Have you explained to them the technological details, though?"

"You mean how we'll have to turn the cameras and microphones off before going through the time anomaly and turning them back on the other side? Sure, it may sound somewhat weird, but you are the experts," Cole says, not too easily, but agreeably enough. "Incidentally, if according to you some technology seems to suffer when coming in contact with time anomalies, how the French were – or are – able to set up a semi-permanent base-"

"Well, that is what we're going to find out, aren't we?" Lester says flatly. "This may be all fun and games to you, sir, but there is also a very strong element of national...competition as well. Therefore, I implore you all to be at your best behaviour, if we, that is will manage to get there, as opposed to, say, the Triassic time period, or whenever. Connor Temple?"

Connor glares at the older man, but activates his invention anyways – and a time anomaly manifests into being in all of its' chromatically white glory, right in the ARC's backyard.

-6-

The camera turns on, and the view in it is an expense of dazzling white plain, with all other colours being almost absent. The camera zooms in, and the view changes to that of some sort of a rocky mountaintop, or an islet, right in the middle of that white expense. A hand belonging to an unidentified – yet – person carefully shifts the camera's view from the white expanse to the right, where a military-type camp is being in the process of recovery from the ARC crew's visits. Most people there are of a military-type, but several look more like civil servants, and their facial expressions upon seeing Lester and others range from startled to unhappy, but all are definitely surprised. One of them, apparently the leader, approaches Lester and begins to speak with him in a smattering of French and English.

For several moments the camera stays on them – and then rapidly shifts towards Danny Queen, who looks rather unhappy being back in this particular time of the future.

"So, Mr. Queen," Cole starts to say unabashedly, "what can you say about this time and place? From the reports overseas, there was the idea that you were the main specialist about it before the French took over-"

"And they're pretty much welcome to it," Danny says curtly. "This here is Corsica, several million years in the future. The Mediterranean sea has dried up, as you can see, leaving behind all the salt, so frankly, I was very lucky in ending up here, rather than out there, where I would have probably died before the sunset or noon," he shivers. "Anyways, there's one more thing that I want to show you – look down."

The camera zooms downwards and sees that the stony soil of the island is crisscrossed by various cracks. "That's where the giant weasels hide," Danny says helpfully, "and the local lizards lay their eggs as well. You do not watch where you stand – and you can get caught in a very uncomfortable situation, to say the least."

"Spoken from experience, eh?" Cole asks unabashedly. Danny is not amused, but before he can reply, Jenny does.

"To get back to the question about time anomalies and technology, why don't you take a look at your watch, instead? And the audience should remember that that watch was digital!"

"Son-of-a- pardon, Ms. Lewis, but it's broken!" Cole says, half-irritated and half-surprised.

"Yes it is, isn't it? Watches, digital cameras, quite a few of other devices just break down if you go through a time anomaly," Jenny says smoothly. "If they're turned off during the process it's different, but in some cases it is impossible."

"I'm glad to hear the lively interview," Lester startles both Jenny and Cole, "but it's time to leave. I'm afraid our hosts aren't very hospitable, and this is a foreign country – well, a foreign island – after all. We will have to leave."

-7-

"Well, boss, you got to admit – this was awesome, even if didn't see any giant weasels!" Cole's cameraman says some time later, after they have left the ARC building behind them. "I mean, the dinosaur, and the mammoth, and those rat-like lizards with beaks – that was neat!"

"Yes, yes it was," Cole says calmly. "The payoff will be great, as the whole episode with the French was clearly a political episode, but, honestly, under the current circumstances that is quite all right!" He leans back and sighs, dreamily. "God, this has been one of the best interviews ever!"

-8-

"This has been one of the worst days in my life ever, not counting my brother's death," Danny Queen growls as he – alongside other members of the ARC field team – relaxes in the Center's lodge. "Did Lester have to cast me as the resident expert of futuristic Corsica of all things?"

"I reckon it was the media's doing, and besides – you wanted to be in the spotlight, for once."

"No, I didn't. I thought that Helen would hog the spotlight-"

"No, I do not," Helen says calmly, "but just for the record – I understand what you were feeling: if the place had been late Permian, or Triassic, or Eocene, then it would've been me wishing that we were anywhere else but then."

"I thought that you hated the Carboniferous the most?" Jenny cautiously asked, earning some sort of grudging curiosity from Danny, and not-so-grudging one from the others.

"Oh, I sort of got over it, eventually," Helen shrugs, then adds, carefully weighting her words. "Look this isn't some sort of a pleasant conversation story – why don't I explain it during the evening, possibly after Connor has his say about Lester?"

"It's not bloody fair!" Connor erupts almost immediately. "That situation with the Mesozoic sea didn't even happen on his watch! Can't he cut me any slack-"

"Excuse me," a printed copy of some calculations was put onto the table, before Connor. "This should put things into perspective."

"What is it?" Connor asks, confused, as he looks down on it. "Donald Trump's audit?"

"No, France's national bill for sustaining their time anomaly till now," Sarah explains helpfully. "Lester has already seen it, though, and is taking the original and bunch of other papers to the PM to explain it to him and to further drive our home advantage over the French."

"To constantly sustain a time anomaly costs that much?" Connor incredulously asks. "Couldn't they have worked solar power into the equation or something? I mean, the climate in that place – if there is any place to build a good, reliable solar power generator, it's there. After all, what catch can there be?"

"Well, in late Permian there were sandstorms that literally obscured the sky and earth – one of them had almost killed me," Helen says helpfully. "Maybe in this place it's salt-storms or something."

There is a pause as everybody imagines a salt-storm. "Sounds terrible," Jenny shudders. "Almost as bad the K/T extinction."

"So," Sarah abruptly shifts the topic. "How about we all go out to the nice bagel shop down the street and try to wash the taste of salt out of our mouths? Anyone?"

The others exchange looks. "Why don't we walk out and stretch our muscles a bit before a time anomaly alarm or something?" Jenny shrugs.

"It's a deal!" Connor grins as everybody slowly gets up to leave.

The End.