Interferences

"Do you really think it´s a good idea to push that guy?" Marty asked after the sound of the groaning motorcycle was gone. "He has got a real big punch."

"He is here to protect me, isn´t he?" Doc answered and turned around to the DeLorean.

"Good point." Marty admitted.

"Well then." Doc started looking at the car. "I suggest we should start with a short lesson."

"Okay. No problem. Tell me." Marty said excited.

"You misunderstood." Doc said. "You have to tell me, first."

"What?" Marty swallowed. He could believe what he just heard. "Are you serious? I´m supposed to tell you? But that is your invention."

"Marty, I haven´t invented it yet." Doc explained. "You must tell me what you know about it, to give me an idea where to start."

"I don´t know how it works."

"But you must know something. Didn´t I tell you how it works?"

"Yeah but … Wait!" Marty shouted. "Of course, the tape. I recorded everything, when you explained it. Wait a minute, I´ve got the camera … right here." He reached into the car and picked up the videocamera. "Now all we need is a TV." he said.

"Well, then let´s have a look through the house." Doc suggested and headed for the door.

"Yeah. Okay." Marty agreed and followed him.

They entered a corridor. The air was stuffy and when they switched on the light it looked very gray all around. Thick dust lay on the floor and webs hung in the corners.

"Sure that this house is only empty for a month?" Marty whispered. "This looks like a haunted house."

Doc cowered and reached for the floor, taking a little bit of the dust and sniffed. Then he gently tipped his tongue with it and gave his finger a derogative glance.

"That is no dust, Marty." he said. "I assume the owners left not just their house."

"Wow. This is pretty heavy." Marty said. "We´re hiding at a crime scene."

"It doesn´t help." Doc said and stood up. "We have to carry on. Come on. I look around down here. You´ll go upstairs."

"Okay." Marty replied and turned to the left, while Doc took the right direction to enter the kitchen. He found it empty but clean. Interesting, he thought. It was not what he had expected after the look of the corridor.

But reconstructing the circumstances of the crime was not his agenda.

He turned around and went out to check the living room. It was a little disordered but untouched like the kitchen. Though there was no TV. Perhaps this were poor people that couldn´t afford a television? But then Doc realized how stupid this thought was. These were criminals. Selling these drugs would have brought them enough money for two TV´s. The more suspicious was it, that there was none in here. One last thoughtful look at the shelves and he turned around to join Marty upstairs.

...

Marty had just finished checking a bedroom and a bathroom. Entering a second bedroom, he switched the light on and send a prayer to heaven. It worked. Right in front of him, there was a tube on a little cupboard. He jumped in and investigated the old device. The plug lay on the floor next to the socket. Marty picked it up and froze. On the floor behind the door, there was a contour of a body.

What the hell happened in this house?

He heard footsteps on the stairs and flinched. Jesus, what a fucking day was that? But then his mind caught up with things and he remembered that this person out there was not a stalking serial killer. Of course that was the Doc.

The Doc!

Holy shit, Marty jumped, frantically looking around. In the corner he found a little carpet, rolled up and dirty. As fast as he could, he unrolled it and arranged it over the contour. Right when he managed it to make it look casually enough, the door swung open.

"Marty?" Doc asked, frowning when he jumped up like caught in the act. "Did you find something?"

"Yes. Come in. I found the television. I … I was about to call you right now." God he felt like an accessory of whatever crime had happened in here.

"Curious, they kept their television up here." Doc mentioned.

"Well, I don´t think that is our problem now. Is it, Doc?" Marty knew his chuckle had to sound faked, but thanks God the Doc didn´t ask.

"No, of course." was all he said. "You´r right. Okay then show me, what you have in that little box."

"That´s a camera, Doc." Marty explained and switched on the TV. After a few calibrations he finally brought a picture to the screen. Doc watched him very closely the whole time, fascinated by the technology he didn´t know. When he saw himself on the tape he got even more excited.

It was a real treat watching him watch himself. He had some trouble with the details but as it seemed he understood what his image on the screen was saying. Marty felt his hope rise, until the Doc on the TV talked about some energy matter and the Doc before the TV suddenly jumped up, shouting and running out.

Marty had no idea what just happened.

He found him downstairs, sitting in a chair in the living room, mumbling to himself.

"How could I have been so careless?" he heard him say. "1.21 gigawatts. How am I going to generate that kind of power? It can´t be done, can it?"

"Doc, look. All we need is a little plutonium." Marty explained to him. "That´s how you did it in …"

But Doc just laughed. "I´m sure that in 1985 plutonium is available in every corner drugstore but 1955, it´s a little hard to come by. Marty, I´m sorry, but I´m afraid you´re stuck here." He drop back into the chair, an exhausted desperate look on his face.

"What? Doc, wait." Marty said. "Stuck here? I can´t be stuck here. I mean … what about this Terminator thing out there?"

Doc just shook his head. "I know, believe me I know but … the only power source capable of generating 1.21 gigawatts of electricity would be a bolt if lightening."

Marty halted for a second. Did he hear right? "What did you say?"

"A bolt of lightening." Doc repeated. "Unfortunately you never know when or where it´s ever going to strike."

Marty just couldn´t believe it. That was the answer. He was had it. His hand went to his back pocket, searching for a moment, until he found it. The flyer this annoying lady had put into his hand. The one Jennifer had used to write her number down for him. That was the answer.

"We do know." he showed Doc the flyer. And sure enough one glance was more than it needed for Doc to understand. Again Marty had the honor to watch him go off in flames – figuratively – about the plan that formed inside his head, right now in front of him. Damn, this was great.

"Next Saturday night." Doc announced, so convinced. "We´re sending you back to the future!"

Marty jumped up. "Okay. All right. Saturday´s good. Saturday´s good. I can spend a week in 1955. I can hang out, you can show me around …"

Doc suddenly grabbed Marty´s shoulders. "That is completely out of the question, Marty." he said. "You must not leave this house."

"Oh, yeah, damn I forgot." Marty agreed. "This robot …"

Doc blinked. "No. I mean yes. That´s another point. But what I wanted to say is, that

anything you do can have serious repercussions on future events. Even just a little talk could change the whole curse of the future. Do you understand?"

Marty just stared at him, completely taken aback by what he just heard. Suddenly he felt his courage drop down to the bottom.

"Yeah." he said unsettled. "Sure. Okay."

Doc only looked at him, scrutinizing. God, this day was never gonna end, would it. Was that a curse that lay on him? Something that just made him do the wrong things? How else could he explain that things had gone down the drain so quickly? Interacting with his parents, maybe causing him and his siblings to be erased from history? What the hell?

Outside they heard a yelling motor. Marty pointed to the garage with a motion of his head.

"I think our friend´s back." he said and led the way only so he wouldn´t have to look into Doc´s face anymore. For some reason, he couldn´t stand it right now.

T just turned off the motor and dismounted from the seat when they entered the garage. He was carrying a huge bag in one hand and a little dog in the crook of his arm. Doc hurried to him and took the dog away from him.

"Copernicus, my poor little fella." he talked to the dog. "Is everything all right? Yes yes, good boy. The big man didn´t hurt you, did he?"

Marty watched the scene kind of relieved himself. He´d almost expected T to catch the dog with his rifle to bring him here. He didn´t want to know how the relationship between Doc and T would have been in that case.

"Uhm, Doc, about the thing with my parents …" he started after a while.

"There is no alternative, Marty." Doc said before he could finish his question. "We have to repair the damage you caused."

"Yeah." Marty said admitting his fault in silence. "But how?"

"First of all we have to get you some clothes. Something more appropriate for this time. You can´t go on run around with that live preserver. And then we we´ll visit school. I´ll have a look on the circumstances myself."

"Negative." T objected. "Visiting popular places is too dangerous. The T-1000 would have a better chance to find you."

"And what do you suggest we should do instead?" Doc asked with his fists on his hips.

"We must leave this town as soon as possible. When you change your name and go into hiding, constantly moving around, you have a chance to survive."

Doc threw his head into his neck and his hands into the air.

"Wow, wait a minute." Marty said and stepped over to him. "We can´t leave town. If you take the Doc away from here I will never meet him. Right?" He looked at the Doc for confirmation, and got a nod for his statement. He turned back to T. "You said that I would playing a part in that time travel invention story." he reminded him.

"That is correct."

"So … Then we are buddies?" he asked and got an indefinable look.

"That doesn´t change anything about my mission." T said. "I have to protect Doktor Brown and I can´t do that when we stay here."

"I´m willing to take that chance." Doc said stubborn.

T turned to him. "I believe, you don´t understand what the T-1000 will to do to you." he said.

"Well, he will try to kill me, right?" Doc said. "I think I understand that quite well. But you are the one who doesn´t understand that we´re dealing with a first class interference of the space time continuum, and we have to repair that. If we don´t do anything, this kid, will never be born and since you said that he´s important for what you are trying to protect, I don´t think that you would want this to happen."

T didn´t respond. He just looked at them in silence. When he didn´t say anything, Marty couldn´t stand it any longer.

"So what do you say?"

T gave him and Doc a look. "Your conditional probabilities of survival were reduced to thirty-seven percent." he said. Then he walked away taking the bag with him into the house.

Marty and Doc remained at their places. Finally Marty nodded at the statement. "Thirty-seven percent." he repeated. "Sounds encouraging."

...

It was a strange thing to see his school. It was so clean. And for the first time he entered it, knowing that he would skip all the classes, and not get in trouble for it.

T followed them in silence the whole time. It was like having a shadow, Marty thought. A big, straight tree trunk shadow with a gun. Fortunately the corridors were empty when they came in. But soon enough they got filled with students, and Marty did not take long to make out his parents among them.

The first try to introduce them went not well. Marty had no idea what went wrong, but one thing was for sure. It had not the effect he had hoped for. Dammit, what was the matter. His mother had always told them how she´d fallen in love with her father at first sight. Where was this first sight now that he needed it?

"We should go now." T said, considering that the hallways quickly emptied after the bell had rung. They were much better to spot this way. Way too much.

Marty couldn´t bring himself to care. "Doc, she didn´t even look at him." he cried, huffing out his frustration.

"This is more serious than I thought." Doc responded and started to walk up and down the corridor, laying down a bat-shit crazy theory of his mother having the hots for him instead his father. Was he serious?

"The only way we´re going to get those two to successfully mate is if they´re alone together." he went on. "So you´ve got to get your father and mother to interact … in some … sort of social …"

He was lack of words and took a frustrated breath.

In the end it was pretty sure what he meant though. At least to Marty. Even though he still had some trouble wrapping his mind around this whole … situation. Dear god, really?

"All right, kid." Doc forced him to focus on their spontaneous plan. "You stick to your father like glue and make sure, he takes her to that dance."

"All right." Marty nodded. "Okay, Doc." And from one moment to the next he suddenly got ants in his pants. He would have to wait until lunch break. Almost an eternity.

Doc looked at his watch. "I´ve got to go." he said. "There´s still a lot work to do on that car."

"We must not separate." T chipped in. "I can´t protect both of you, this way."

"Hey, that´s all right, T." Marty assured. "Keep watching the Doc. I can handle myself."

"Negative."

"We have to do a lot of work." Doc argued. "We won´t be able to do so if we don´t split. Besides, when you linger around Marty, he will never be able to immerse, like he has to to accomplish the mission." The last words he hissed at T, to make his point clear. T didn´t react at his ironic voice.

Doc decided not to argue anymore. He gave Marty a last look for good bye and turned around. T was unsure for a moment until Marty showed him with a gaze to follow Doc.

"First of all." Doc said when T reached him. "We will go to my mansion. I want to pick up my car."

"Negative." T responded.

"Do you never get tired saying that? Think about it, if that is what you do with your electrical brain. To have more than just one vehicle would be much more appropriate for the tasks we have to accomplish. Don´t you think?"

T was silent for a moment. Then he turned around to his motorcycle and said: "We have to hurry when we´re there. We must not stay there longer than necessary."

Satisfied Doc followed him and mounted to the seat of the bike behind him, hoping it would be the last time, he had to ride on that awful machine.

...

T circled the house two times to make sure the T-1000 wouldn´t be there, before he finally stopped in front of the garage. Doc almost jumped off the bike impatiently. He never was that glad to see his yellow car than in this moment. Now all that was left to do, was to pick up some more stuff, especially his lifting jack, and leave the place at the wheel of his own vehicle.

He started to look around and took an old bag to put his tools inside. When he started to do so he suddenly heard a noise in the back of his garage. Somebody just knocked against a tin or something. Doc frowned and T was at his side immediately, his gun at a ready. He gave Doc a signal not to move and headed for the source of that sound.

Another knock was audible. T hesitated.

Doc guessed something a second before he was proven right and jumped when T aimed at the little girl, hiding behind the shelf.

"No." he shouted. "Don´t do this. It´s all right. I know her."

The little girl jumped at Doc and he caught her in the motion. The kid hugged him closely.

"She´s the kid of Mr. Jordan, one of my neighbors." Doc explained, lifting up the little one. T put away his gun.

"What are you doing here, Jessie?" Doc asked the girl concerned. "You shouldn´t be here on your own. Didn´t I tell you over and over again?"

"I just wanted to visit you." the five year old said, still hugging him.

"Honey, you know I like you, but you should release me now, ´cause I can´t breathe anymore." Doc said firmly. The girl obeyed with a wide grin.

"Where have you been?" she asked him.

"Away." Doc answered. "I was working."

"The police was here, this weekend." she told him.

"What? When?"

"Saturday evening. I saw a police car driving to your house."

"Oh, that uhm." Doc hesitated. "Never mind. They just wanted to ask me something."

"Your door is broken." the girl informed him.

"Yes, I know. I was about to fix it." Doc said. "Listen. You shouldn´t come here again these next … few days."

"Why?" she asked disappointed.

"Because I have to go away for a while." Doc explained.

"Why do you go away?"

"I have to work on something. Out of town."

"You always work on something. Why can´t you do it here?"

"Because it´s not possible. Don´t worry. I´ll be back."

"When?"

Doc looked at T. "I don´t know yet." he said. "But it won´t be for long."

"Shall I look after your house till you´re back?" the girl offered kindly.

"No!" Doc answered too fast and too loud. "No, that is really not necessary." he said more calm. "Look. I will look you up as soon as I´m back, okay?"

"Will you tell me some more about science then?" she asked excited.

"Of course I will." Doc promised. "But now I have to go. Come on. I´ll take you home and then …"

"Negative." T interrupted.

"Now that´s enough." Doc argued. "I will be allowed to give her a ride home. It´s not far away."

He took the hand of the little girl and led her to his car without waiting for T to respond.