October 26th, 2010.
7:15 AM.
Upstairs in the 2010 McFly home, 13 year-old Marlene crept into an upstairs bedroom, belonging to her brother, Marty Junior. She had on some old skater clothes from the early 90's that she thought were retro and cool. She also carried a large, self-zipping backpack in hand, as she approached her 12 year-old sibling.
"Marty! Get up, we gotta go to school, you lazy ziphead! Stop lying in bed, you're gonna make us late!" she demanded, lightly kicking him with her foot.
"Ahhh! Go away, 'Lene! You're worse than mom!" the barely preteen snapped in a whiny voice.
"No I am not! Besides, you're always doing this. Why do I have to wake you up like you're still 5 years old or something?" she said, as she looked down and quickly yanked the covers off his bed, as he grumbled loudly.
Much like his father, he had the habit of falling asleep fully dressed, he now had a red jacket on which was at least a size too big for him, as well as faded dark blue Calvin Klein jeans with the pockets turned inside out. That was a brand new trend he was trying out for the first time. His hair was standing straight up, too. Basically he was a messier and unconfident version of Marty 30 years earlier. He took after his grandfather, George, in traits, too.
"See, I knew you were just doing that on purpose, bojo! Now let's go before the bus gets here," she said forcefully. Even though they were just a year apart, as far as maturity went, they might as well have been 10. The old adage about girls maturing faster would definitely fit here! He grabbed a few things by his nightstand as he followed his sister downstairs.
"Oh, hey there, Doc! Nice to see ya again," Marlene called out as she gave the inventor a little hug, which he soon accepted.
I must not only be close with Marty, but his entire family. That's very nice he thought sincerely.
"Oh, yeah Doc, I, umm, hey," called MJ as he hurried down the stairs, nearly tripping on the stairs before grabbing the rail for support.
"Morning, you two! Hey, Junior, you got lunch money, right?" his father asked, assuming he knew the answer already.
"Yeah, but I'm gonna have to hide it really good so Griff and his dumb friends don't jump me and take it," MJ said in a tone much like that of George. He was more wimpy in a trying-too-hard-to-be-cool sense, as opposed to a nerdy wimp, but cowardly nonetheless.
Older Marty's usually jovial, cool and joking nature turned a bit serious as he looked at his son. "Hey, listen Marty, don't let him control what you do. I'm telling you, if he messes with you, take a swing at him. Don't go looking for a fight or throw the first punch, but you can't let that little jerk push you around!"
Junior laughed meekly as his big sister chimed in.
"Yeah, he's always tryin' to get with me and stuff, it's really gross! Plus, he's not even close to being a hottie. If he thinks I'm gonna go do some dumb Halloween pranks with him this weekend, he's dreamin'! Besides, my party is gonna be the bomb! I can't miss it."
As Doc looked puzzled again by more futuristic slang, Marty Sr. reminded her of a few things. "Yeah, well, you know what to do. Mom's warned ya about how boys like him can be. Look, I swear, I think the Tannen family is cursed or something. You know how Aunt Linda always got bugged by Griff's mom, Stephanie? And, of course, his grandpa Biff ain't any better than any of them. I hated him, especially when I was a kid and he hung around our house all d*mn day!"
Marlene agreed with her dad. "Hey, don't worry. If that creep touches me, he's gonna get it."
"That's my girl," he said. "Now, you guys oughta get out there, today's gonna be your first ride in the hover-converted school bus! Man, I wish those were around in 1980 when I was your guys' age, that would've rocked."
"Yeah, see ya this afternoon, dad! B-bye, see you soon, Doc. Sorry I couldn't spend a little more time talking with you."
Coming out of his short silent spell (which he spent merely listening to how the younger generation talked), the scientist had his first word with Marty's children. "That's certainly alright, Marlene. Go if you have to, I'm positive I'll see you at a later date."
"Front door. Open Sesame!" called MJ to the front door, as he rapidly walked forward and face first into the frame.
"Oh, geez! Hey, hey! I said 'Open'!" he yelled in as close to anger as he would ever show.
"Martin, you're such a goober! Voice commands don't work with the door yet! You gotta push in the plate like old times!" reminded his sister, as she followed close behind, quickly walking out of the house and down the driveway to their waiting bus.
Once the two old friends were alone in the house, they were both visibly relieved.
"The kids are great, but they sure are loud sometimes. Jennifer owns a beauty salon in town now, so she'll be out for awhile, too. We can talk about time travel without worrying about it. Do you want anything to drink, Doc?"
Still at the foot of the stairs, the time traveler moved toward the couch in the living room, one that looked to have a self-cleaning cushion. "Well, actually, if it doesn't trouble you any, I suppose I could use something."
Marty went to a still manual refrigerator – yet a large, more economical looking one – and soon headed back to the living room to join Emmett. "Hey, I always remember how you liked Perrier. I got a few cases of them at Safeway, think they might go out of circulation soon because people still hate French products ever since early this decade, the Iraq-" he immediately cut himself off midsentence. "No, sorry! Holy s**t, I didn't mean to say that, it's still in your future."
"Quite alright, Marty. I, myself, am barely getting accustomed to traveling to a different point in time," Doc said as he took a sip of the sparkling mineral water. Meanwhile, Marty sat on the couch and asked probably the simplest question on his mind.
"Speaking of time travel, what have you done here since you left '85?"
"When I departed near the mall, the area was built up. I traveled back through town and ultimately decided to stop at your former home in Lyon Estates. I presumed your family would still live there, Besides, I didn't know how this technology works, and I didn't want to venture into town and ask townsfolk unless absolutely necessary. I wasn't aware of my future self, if I would even still be alive."
"That makes sense, so is that when you called me?" asked Marty.
"Yes, and after I left your mother's residence, I hadn't had food in an extended period of time, so I decided to stop at a place called The Café 80's. I figured you'd get a laugh out of that – the you from 1985. After which, upon leaving I happened to see your father and Biff Tannen, but I slipped away in the DeLorean before Tannen could say anything much of the situation."
Listening intently, the younger man had to say his piece. "Biff was bugging him again? That figures. I feel so sad that dad just doesn't have any confidence and can't tell him to back off and live his own life. Ever since mom left him, I guess he's sort of got nothing else to do anyway."
"That's true. I must admit, when your mother gave me the information on her subsequent divorce from your father, I was more than a little surprised. She was almost a completely different person than I can recall. I spoke with her for awhile and she says you two get along much better now."
Lightening up, Marty reaffirmed this. "Yeah, it's crazy, huh? I know mom loves dad, but it's as if a weight was lifted off her when she broke it off with him. I tell you, I've found out more about her in the few months after dad moved out of my old place, than I ever did in that prior 26 years of my life. I never would've dreamed me and mom would finally have a good relationship, but I thank God we do. Dad and me get along better too, but I still tell him he should make something out of what's left of his life, but he says he's too old for it to matter anymore, so why bother?"
"Indeed a family portrait much better and worse at once," said the scientist, while changing the subject. "Now, I realize it's not wise to uncover too much about your own future. Heck, I've discovered much more in the last two hours than I may have wanted to. However, I must ask, for both of our safety once I get back, what became of the Libyan terrorists pursuing me?"
Marty's eyes widened in sudden confusion as he flinched. "Jesus Christ, that's right! Listen Doc, I don't know if I can tell you this clearly or not, but I really don't remember what happened, but it must've turned out okay if I'm here, and so are you. I mean 2010 you."
"You mean you have no recollection of the Libyans trying to shoot me as I fled in the DeLorean? You, looking for cover, ran and must've gone the opposite direction as I last could see. Surely you remember an event that notable," Doc wondered.
"Nah, I swear Doc, that part is a total blank in my memory. I just remember you showing me the time machine, and than going home the next day. You came back but I have no idea what you told me. I know how far fetched that's gonna sound, but maybe you understand time travel better than me. At least you from this year does," he said with a chuckle.
Doc jolted out of his sitting position and stood up with a shocked look on his face. "Great Scott! I believe I know why. Are you prepared to hear this? It might just shock you 10 times that extent."
"Yeah, I don't know how much more in the world can shock me," said Marty.
The best example I can relay this to would be Einstein. In fact, if you remember that, I don't believe my point will be nearly as confusing."
Marty curled his right hand into a fist and lightly hit himself on the head, as if trying hard as he could. "Err, kind of, I know you sent him a minute ahead, right. And he disappeared for that stretch, technically he lived one minute longer than he was gonna live otherwise."
"That's correct, Marty. He skipped over that minute and therefore didn't see his future self because the world went on without him for that minute."
"Yeah, that's not too hard to fathom, but, logically, shouldn't that have been the same in your case?"
"I'm not experienced enough in the matter yet to say anything concrete, but I believe it may lie in the probability of his returning. You see, why waste extra plutonium to return him merely a minute into the past? Now, if I sent him a year into the future, chances are my one year older self would've sent him back at that instant, so Einy would've in fact seen himself older."
Marty was trying to absorb all this. "OK, that makes some sense."
"I have a much more solid theory as for your memory lapse. If you travel into the future, yes, the world should theoretically go on without you. By this logic, I should've arrived in a version of 2010 where I'd been gone for 25 years and didn't have a 90 year-old Emmett Brown here."
After pausing for breath, he continued, deadly serious, and he had Marty's full attention "The reason your memory is unclear is because that part of the future is in flux at this moment. In other words, I'm here visiting you now, so I have yet to return to 1985 to tell your younger self about the details of my visit. So, therefore, how could you remember me telling you about it 25 years ago if the trip isn't even complete yet?"
"Man, this is interesting, but so weird, Doc. You're saying this last 25 years isn't even the real future? I bet this storyline could make a best-selling movie. So, anyway, what happens when you leave here, am I gonna get a different set of memories?"
"If my theory is correct, yes. However, I don't think you'll feel your memory changing, because you'll be replaced with the you who always remembered it, you'll become your other self, but to you it will have always been that way. Only someone out of their own time could witness any changes. When I leave, this should be the same future, just replaced with clear memories of telling you about my visit in 1985."
"I think I get it all, but before you lose me, we might wanna call it a day. Just be sure to tell me from 1985 that he'll turn out okay, but encourage him to do music as a career and not get s*cked into some boring office job at Cusco," he said as he got up and straightened up the coffee table a bit. He looked up at the flat screen TV mounted on the wall, laughing to himself.
"Simpson. Homer Simpson. He's the greatest guy in history. From the town of Springfield, he's about to hit a chestnut tree. Waugh!"
"Geez, Homer is great. The Simpsons was one of the longest running shows on TV before the series finale this May. You remember that show, don't you, Doc?"
The scientist looked somewhat amused, but more off guard. "What show, I've never seen animation quite like this before, although it seems like something you would like."
"It was on for 21 years, so I-" he paused "Jesus! It started in '89. That was when I went to the community college, that's still a little in your future! Sorry about that. I guess I still haven't gotten used to talking to talking to a time traveler from the past."
"I already found out quite a bit about 2010. Nothing to worry too much about, although I must admit, a part of me is curiosu about the future, even though I believe it can be dangerous to know too much. I do, however, admit to feeling a bit uneasy yet elated to find out I'll be married," he said with some concern. "If I know have knowledge of such an important event, maybe I won't quite react the same when it naturally comes around."
Marty had to agree. "Yeah, Jen obviously didn't know who you really were. Do you want to know the important stuff, just to insure you'll know who she is and where to be and all that?"
"I suppose it's literally too late to turn back now," Doc said with a teeny bit of humor.
"Alright. I guess I'll start at the beginning. Do you remember that teacher who died in the ravine in the late 19th century, the one me and my friends at school always used to joke about with teachers we didn't like? Apparently some of her relatives moved out here, and her sister's great-great-something granddaughter was one of my professors at school. Well, one day in the Spring of '88, my car broke down, so you drove me to one of my classes – the one with her, Miss Clayton."
"Clayton, as in Clayton Ravine? Unbelievable," pondered the older man.
"I know, huh? So anyway, I guess you weren't doing anything else that day, and I was having some trouble with my homework, so you came into class with me, sitting in the back. You guys kept looking at each other the whole time, too. After class, I introduced you two. The three of us talked for a bit, but I guess you both hit it off. Talk about love at first sight. I was a little jealous at first, but deep down I was happy for you. Needless to say, I passed that class with straight A's!"
"So this occurs in 1988. Do you remember the exact date?"
"Not really. I never was great with that, but I'm pretty sure it was March, maybe early in April. But, I knew her for three semesters, so if you forget it a couple years, I'm sure you guys will still meet if you take the younger me to school or something close to then."
"I suppose that's a wise decision. I certainly will have to not mention this to you from 1985. If your younger self discovers I'll meet a woman and get married before the incident is to take place, it could spark some unwanted consequences, at worse case a paradox from giving you information that now will never happen. But if it never happens, how could I tell you to stop it from happening? That points to a possible earth shattering paradox!"
Marty reflected on this. "Hey, I remember from when I was him. I think I'd just be glad you're alive, but, yeah, you know more about paradoxes, so your advice has gotta be right. Just also remember, you guys get married in the summer of 1990. You even let me and the band play our own version of 'Do You Believe in Love' as your theme song!"
"I must be the oldest man in history to find love at that age. I've had relationships in the past, but none that lasted more than a few months," he said, a bit saddened at his younger years.
"Don't feel bad. If those other ladies didn't like you for you, and didn't want to understand you, hey, that's their problem."
"You're right, Marty. Not everything can have a happy ending. Now, I probably should travel back to 1985 soon. Is is safe to immediately return? DO you remember anything about the aftermath of the Libyans pursuing me?"
"Not on that date, not until you go back or whatnot. But, afterwards, I remember they crashed. Their van toppled over into a ditch, it was all over the news. I don't normally wish that kind of thing on anyone, but it stood those b*st*rds right! They weren't killed, but were badly hurt. They got arrested for, well, I think they're still in jail, thankfully."
"Yes, I got a fairly large scare from that. I'll just have to return the next morning," he said, walking back toward the front door. "I truly should leave, but it was definitely a pleasure to meet you as well as your future family. A bit of an icebreaker as far as time travel is concerned."
"I'll confirm that! Well, I better get ready for work myself. Good luck in the future, Doc. Or should I say the past?"
"What an amazing coincidence, that's exactly what I would've said! Within 10 minutes, your memory should update. Let's hope I remember this date again clearly as it rolls around," the scientist said in reminisce, as he pushed the plate by the front door and it automatically opened.
"Goodbye Doc, and thank you for looking me up," Marty Sr. said, going into the living room area. He hoped for the best, and was certainly glad for this visit. Now a day at the paper printing plant would be really boring in comparison!
