Chapter 11: Shopping
Renet's POV
I rush to the first clothing store I see. I've got to get out of this smelly uniform! At least, I think this is a clothing store. There are clothes on display in the window. I pause outside the door, waiting for it to open.
A woman behind me gives me a very odd look, then steps past me, grabs the door handle and pulls the door open before going inside the shop. Oh right. Manual door. I grab the door after the woman and step inside.
Yes! Definitely a clothing store. There's racks of clothes all over the place. I love traveling to time periods where there are actual shops. It's so much fun to pick things out for yourself. Now what to buy? I just need something basic. I glance around at the other shoppers, trying to get an idea of what other women are wearing. I don't want to get the wrong thing and end up looking ridiculous. The point here is to blend in.
I quickly select a shirt from a nearby rack. It's blue and a little ruffly and looks quite pretty. All eyes in the store seem to be on me, and I am awkwardly aware of the stares. I hope they're staring at me because of the way I'm dressed (or the way I smell), and not because of the clothes I'm picking.
I look around and see some women nearby browsing through a rack of pants. Wait! I know what those pants are! Those are jeans! Those were definitely popular in the twenty-first century. I'm sure of it.
Anxious to get out of this uniform, I hurry with my two items toward a counter where I can see other shoppers purchasing clothes.
"Hi!" I say cheerfully to the lady behind the counter, whose long fingernails are painted red. She has a rather sharp face, and her dark hair is pulled back into a tight knot behind her head.
She looks at me with a curious expression – I seem to be getting a lot of those – and then sniffs and wrinkles her nose in disgust.
"Oh, sorry! I fell into a dumpster."
The woman raises an eyebrow and looks even more disgusted.
"Um, you don't know anywhere where I could get a bath, do you? I'm, uh, not from around here."
Sniffing again through her pointed nose, she says, a little coldly, "You might try a hotel. Now, do you wish to purchase those items?" She points to the shirt and pants in my arms.
"Oh yes!" I place them on the counter.
As the woman scans the clothes, I pull my small pack of supplies off my back. I'm fairly certain I have the right kind of money in here, though I probably should have checked before I came into the store. I quickly rummage through my bag.
Oh! Here's some money. I pull out a rather large sack of coins, but no, they're eighteenth century Francs. I would have been so prepared if I'd landed in the right time period!
I notice the woman staring at the pouch of French coins. "Sorry," I say again. "Hang on, I have the right money in here somewhere."
I shift things around in my bag once more. Food supplies. . . French translator bracelet. . . peasant dress. . . more food supplies. . . aha! There it is! My emergency money supply kit. This satchel is even bigger than the sack of French coins and as I pull it out of my pack the woman behind the counter stares even harder, her eyes widening as she looks from my tiny pack to the two large bags I've just pulled out of it.
"How did you fit those in there?" she asks, shocked, pointing to my pack.
Of course. I forgot that interior enlargement technology hasn't been invented yet. I'm pretty sure that telling her it's bigger on the inside won't make any sense to her. "Um, it's stretchy?"
She just shakes her head in a disbelieving sort of way, then says, rather impatiently, "That'll be forty-two dollars and sixty-nine cents."
Money. Right. Um. . . I quickly open my emergency money supply kit and glance through it. Roman coins. Definitely no use. What's this? Drachmas? Nope. I need something less ancient. Here we go! I open up a wallet full of little plastic cards and several chips of various sizes. I pull out a micro chip and offer it to the woman. "Do you take these?"
She's just gaping at me like I'm from another planet or something. Well, okay, fair enough. I guess another time period is just as weird. I smile awkwardly at her and put the micro chip back in my wallet. I was sure they used those in the twenty-first century, but maybe it's still too early. I look at the plastic cards instead, and selecting one that says Bank of America on it, I hold it up.
"What about this?"
Looking warily at me, she gingerly plucks the card from my hand and glances at it. "This is your name on the card?"
Checking the card quickly, just to make sure it is, I say, "Yep! I'm Renet."
"One moment please." Wait, where is she going?
After several minutes she comes back with a middle-aged man dressed sharply in a black suit and they go through some ridiculously long process of trying to make sure my card works and processes correctly, or something. All the while I'm standing here in my smelly uniform having everyone in the shop stare at me as they walk past, and all I want is to have a bath, get some clean clothes on, and find the Time Scepter! These people don't realize that the French Revolution is in jeopardy! History could be changing, and they're worried about whether my money is real!
Finally, after several agonizing minutes I'm back out in the sunshine with my bag of new clothes in my hand. Okay, now to find a bath. I take up the suggestion of the woman in the shop and start looking for a hotel.
As I walk a couple of blocks, all the frustration I gathered in that store starts to disappear. There's just so much to see, walking down a street four hundred years in the past! I marvel at the vehicles driving by. There are so many different varieties. Oh look! Yellow taxis! I have a hard time not squealing in glee. This is seriously my favorite time period! I love the clothes people are wearing, the technology they're using. . . Look at all their little handheld communication devices! And there's so much food everywhere! I gasp suddenly. Is that a pizza shop? Pizza was the favorite food of the Turtle Warriors! I've always wondered what it tasted like! Now I can – No! Focus, Renet. Fate of the world, remember?
I walk rather slowly past the restaurant, though, taking in the deliciously unusual smell of the pizza. If I have a chance, I will come back.
Oh look! There's a hotel. I quicken my pace and rush to the towering building. Ready this time, I have my Bank of America card in my hand as I approach the front desk.
"Good afternoon," the man behind the desk greets me. He glances once at my strange clothes, but doesn't mention them.
"Hi! Do you have a cleansing room I could use?" At the look of confusion on his face, I add, "Or a washroom? A water closet?" I honestly can't remember which term they used in twenty-first century America. Sighing, I clarify. "I need a bath."
The man quickly gets over his confusion and says, "If you wish to use the bathrooms, you will have to rent a room."
Bathroom! I'll have to remember that. "Okay, sure. I'll rent a room then."
I hand him my plastic money card and a few minutes later, he hands it back, along with another plastic card, saying, "Your room is number 914. The elevator is around the corner to the left."
"Thank you," I say, flipping the new card over in my hand. "Um, what's this?"
"That is your key."
"Oh, of course! Thanks!"
I dart around the corner to the left and spot what I'm pretty sure is the elevator. Another man is getting into it, and I join him, though I feel sorry that he has to be stuck in such a small space with me. The smell is getting really bad.
As the sliding doors close on their own, the man presses a button on the wall beside them. The button, with a number 6 on it, instantly lights up and the elevator begins to move upward. Oh! This must be how you tell the elevator which floor to move to!
I look at all the buttons, labeled 1 – 20, and I realize I don't know what floor my room is on. I look over at the tall man next to me who has been stealing sidelong glances at me. (I'm getting used to that by now.)
"Uh, excuse me, but do you know which floor room 914 would be on?"
"That would be the ninth floor," he replies. "The first number is the floor number."
"Oh. Thanks!" I flash him a smile as the doors open again and he exits the elevator. I glance over at the buttons and push the number 9. It's so cute the way the buttons light up when you push them, like they have actual little light bulbs behind them!
It doesn't take me long to find the door to my room. It has a handle, so it's a manual door, and it has a slot above the handle for the key. Simple enough. I slide the key card into the slot and a little green light blinks, letting me know the door's unlocked, I guess.
I frown at my card as I push the door open. This doesn't feel very secure. It's just a swipe scanner. Anyone could use a scan decoder to unlock the door and get in. Unless that hasn't been invented yet. Yeah, now that I think about it, I doubt it has.
The door clicks behind me and I glance around at the room. Looks comfortable enough. A bed, a lamp, a table – oooooh! I'm drawn instantly to the window. My room is overlooking the river, all glowing in the sunset, and aah! I give a little squeal of delight. That's the Brooklyn Bridge! Real and still intact and looking like something straight out of a history video. Oh, these moments are exactly why I love time travel so much!
Of course, I will never be allowed to time travel again if I don't get that Time Scepter back and fix this huge mistake I made. First thing's first. I turn toward the bathroom. Time to get clean!
Sometime later, finally refreshed and clean, and dressed in my period appropriate clothes, I plop down on the bed. Despite the desperate situation, I can't help giggling a little. I am so keeping this outfit as a souvenir when this is all over! I mean, if I had to get stuck anywhere, twenty-first century New York is – Focus, Renet! No time for obsessive fangirling! I've got a Scepter to find.
Pulling my little pack of supplies into my lap, I start searching through it, trying to find anything useful. I actually have no idea where to start. I've never lost the Time Scepter before. I've never even heard of anyone losing it before. Man, I must be the worst Time Master in all of history!
I shake my head. Think, Renet, think! What could I use to find the Scepter? Suddenly my fingers brush against a smooth, round object. Curious, I pull it out. Oh! It's the SpaceTime Disturbance detector! The shiny, oval shaped device fits perfectly in the palm of my hand, its screen blinking to life as it detects my presence.
This could work! I was supposed to use this to help me locate the time hoppers in France, since it finds rifts and disturbances in the SpaceTime Continuum, but I bet I can use it to find out if the Scepter has been used anywhere near here recently. Of course, that's assuming that it has been used. Most likely, whoever found it has no idea what it actually is or how to use it. It's a long shot, but it's the only idea I have right now.
Switching the device on, I place it on the bedside table, where I can easily keep an eye on it. As the scanner begins to blip at an agonizingly slow pace, I groan. Oh grock, I accidentally grabbed the old one when I was packing. Just my luck. This ancient machine could take hours to find a disturbance.
With a groan, I flop back onto the comfortable pillows, staring out at the glow of twilight through the window and listening to the slow beep beep of the device beside the bed. My eyelids grow heavy and I close them, thinking about my mission, my huge mistake, and the Legendary Turtle Warriors.
