Whack to the Future
A "My Life as a Teenage Robot" Fanfic
Chapter Nine – Running Against the Clock
With less than two minutes remaining, the crowd cheered on the survivors in the championship match. The Mogg Masher had already taken out Sidney's ScoopBot – and more surprisingly, it had taken out Jenny, who still lay upside-down in the corner of the arena. The Masher now sought to complete its strategy of domination by disabling its only remaining competition – Nora's robot, XJ-Zero. The tank's motors screamed as it plotted a course towards XJ-Zero's midsection. It extended its metal baton, and started rotating its gun turret, looking to pummel the little blue-and-white robot into oblivion …
But XJ-Zero saw it coming, stopped abruptly, and reversed course. The Masher sped past it like a charging bull. XJ-Zero wheeled backwards and made a sharp turn, frustrating the Masher with its quickness and dexterity. Nora's fingers clenched tightly onto the arena fencing, surprised by how fearful she was for her little creation. Vinnie pounded his fists, urging his robot to complete its carnage. The elder Phinneas Mogg, watching from the stands, ground his teeth together with intensity, as if his willpower could urge his younger self to victory. And as Jenny struggled to get her internal systems back online, she could only watch helplessly as her little sister ran for her life.
XJ-Zero weaved back and forth in random circles to deny the Masher a clean shot. But the Masher wasn't simply focused on hunting her down. It deployed the ball-gathering device in its belly, and started scooping up yellow sponge balls as it chased XJ-Zero around the arena. Jenny and Nora nervously realized that the Mogg Masher was storing them in an internal compartment – and it was storing a lot of them.
The game clock showed only thirty seconds remaining. XJ-Zero was still ahead, twelve to nothing, and it was still evading the Masher's attacks. But suddenly, the black-and-red tank stopped its pursuit. It spun in place, and rolled calmly back towards its goal. A slot opened in the turret, and its stash of yellow sponge balls started to roll out. Both Vinnies grinned as the Masher's basket quickly filled up. Nora and Jenny gasped in despair, as a scorer announced that Mogg's basket now held an amazing twenty-two sponge balls. Just like that, Vinnie had a ten point lead. And there were only seventeen seconds left.
Jenny reached for a lone yellow ball next to her head. Maybe if she could toss it in Nora's basket … but one ball wouldn't make any difference now. Waaah! I'm gonna be a maid for the rest of my life! I'm gonna vaccum carpets and clean sinks and …
She was as surprised as anyone when XJ-Zero whizzed up behind the Mogg Masher, and gave it a nasty bump. The tank was larger, heavier, and superior in combat … what in the world was XJ-Zero doing? It was almost as if she was picking a fight. The black tank turret spun around one-hundred-eighty degrees, and locked onto XJ-Zero once more. There was only twelve seconds left in the match, but Vinnie had programmed the tank to be very aggressive – and it was eager to crush its sole remaining opponent.
XJ-Zero sped back into the middle of the arena. The Mogg Masher squealed its treads, and went after her. The crowd started chanting in unison, counting down the clock from ten seconds. Vinnie and his older self beamed with the glow of impending victory. The Masher whizzed past XJ-Zero, barely missing her. Its sensors tracked her as she twisted and U-turned towards the side of the arena. Eight seconds left.
Then XJ-Zero came to an abrupt halt, almost as if it had suffered some kind of malfunction. The Masher rotated and began another high-speed charge, hungry for the kill. Jenny closed her eyes – this was going to be painful to watch. Five seconds left.
The black-and-red tank seemed to growl with sadistic delight as it bore down on the little square robot. Three seconds left.
Suddenly XJ-Zero's wheels spun back up to full power, and it backed out of the way, allowing the Mogg Masher to rush past it at full speed – and collide right into its own goal basket. Two seconds left.
The crowd watched in amazement as the black-and-red tank-bot ricocheted off the side of its metal basket with impressive force. The basket seemed to rock in slow motion, to the left, then back to the right – then its momentum carried it over, and it tipped on its side, spilling all of its sponge balls back into the arena, just as the closing buzzer blared. Final score: XJ-Zero 12, Mogg Masher 0.
Enthusiastic applause roared through the gym, and Nora jumped into the air, squealing with joy. One of her last-minute software additions had actually worked; XJ-Zero had suckered the Mogg Masher into knocking over its own goal. Vinnie was shaking, and looked like he was about to have a brain seizure. Sherman sighed with relief. As a small crowd of judges and officials crowded around Nora to give congratulations, Sherman sprinted into the arena to celebrate with Jenny.
Grunting from the effort, Sherman managed to flip Jenny onto her belly. "Jenny, she did it! Nora did it! Everything's back the way it's supposed to be …"
But to his surprise, Jenny simply looked up at him with a vapid, Barbie-doll smile. "Good evening, sir! Your Jenny-robot is on-line! Before I begin my cleaning duties, may I offer you a refreshing cup of coffee?" A faucet deployed from her palm, making a gurgling, brewing sound.
Sherman was baffled. "Oh, no – I don't understand it! You're still a maid! Why hasn't the future been repaired yet? Did we forget something …"
Flashbulbs and television lights blared in Nora's eyes. Her parents, teachers, and both Silicon Valley businessmen crowded around her to offer congratulations. A visiting college professor suggested that if Nora were to pursue a degree in robotics, she would be assured of an excellent scholarship. A local television reporter praised her as a role model for young girls interested in science. The mayor, always eager for a good photo opportunity, stood next to her in front of the tournament board, which was emblazoned with the logo "Centerville – the Technology Town!" He raised his arm and smiled into the cameras. "Tonight we honor Centerville's most valuable asset, the minds of our young people! And as our little town grows and prepares for the future, we can all be assured that it will be a bright and promising future indeed, with students like …"
His speech was cut off as the floor started to vibrate beneath his feet. A low rumble resonated through the gym, and the crowd buzzed with nervousness as they realized that yet another earthquake was under way. The bleachers shook back and forth, and the tournament board swayed from side to side. A few people gasped as one of the gym's windows shattered, raining a shower of shards onto the hardwood floor. This was the strongest quake yet.
Sherman turned his attention from Jenny – motion from the rafters had caught his eye. He looked up to see that the large overhead lights were swinging like pendulums. Then one of the heavy light fixtures jerked suddenly, and its cable snapped. It hung on by a few steel threads for a second, then those gave way, and it plummeted towards the floor.
Directly towards Nora's head.
Sherman tried to leap to his feet, but he tripped over Jenny's metal body.
Nora glanced up just in time to see the light rushing towards her. She didn't even have time to raise her arms to shield herself …
When she was catapulted sideways, out of harm's way. The fixture crashed to the floor with a terrifying noise, startling everyone. But there were no injuries, and as the screams of alarm died down, the shaking in the floor subsided.
Nora blinked to take in her fuzzy surroundings, somewhat in a state of shock. Her glasses had been knocked off of her face, and with her bad eyesight, she couldn't recognize anything around her. She groped blindly for a few seconds, until she realized that somebody was sitting directly in front of her. "Umm … here, it might be a little easier if you wear these," said the mystery person.
Nora replaced her glasses, and brushed some dust off of her sweater. "Phew, thank you very much. You probably just saved my life … ulp!"
Sidney Wakeman was crouched in front of her, with his chocolate brown hair hanging down into his eyes, grinning awkwardly. "Well … heh-heh … I was just coming over to congratulate you when things started to shake up. Your 'bright and promising future' almost lasted about three seconds."
Nora stared back at him, too flustered to come up with anything more clever than "Umm … thanks."
"Your robot project is amazing, Nora," he continued. "You really deserved to win. You must have worked really hard on it. Looks like … you didn't need my help after all."
"Thanks, I … " She did a double-take. "Wait a minute! How did you know …"
Now it was Sidney who fumbled for words. "Well, I … I mean … well, I heard that you were thinking of asking me to help you with your project this week. I was …" – he gulped, loudly – " … sort of looking forward to it. But I guess you -"
She could barely believe what she was hearing. "Whoa, whoa, whoa … hold the phone. You wanted to work together?" Her mouth grew dry, and she felt a dozen different types of confusion. "I don't understand, Sidney. I thought you wanted to work with Brooke Krust."
"Brooke." Sidney snorted her name, like it was the punch line to a joke. "Brooke couldn't turn on a light bulb without written instructions. Yeah, it took me a couple of days, but I finally figured out that Brooke was just using me like a roll of paper towels. Besides, I only agreed to team up with her because … well … because you've been avoiding me for the past few weeks."
Nora's glasses almost shot right off of her face. "Avoiding you? I haven't been …"
Sidney looked down, sheepishly. "Every time I've seen you in the hall, or the cafeteria, or the library, you run off. I just figured that you were avoiding me."
And they continued their awkward exchange for a few moments, oblivious to the noisy commotion about them. Sherman got to his feet, wincing in pain from his clumsiness. The last thing he remembered was Nora about to get hit by the falling light fixture. Panic gripped hold of him, and he feared the worst. He didn't see her standing in front of the tournament board … she was sitting on the floor, next to – Sidney! And to his amazement, they were laughing!
Then Sherman's attention was caught by a gurgling, warbling sound – and a series of clanks and snaps that came from the floor.
Jenny was lying in the middle of the arena floor, flat on her back, looking dazed and confused – and looking like her old self again. Sherman dropped to his knees, with a huge grin on his face. "Jenny! Jenny, how do you feel? Say something! Are you back to normal?"
She raised a metallic arm to her forehead, but a tired smile broke out on her face. "Let's put it this way – if you think I'm going to clean up this mess, you're sadly mistaken. What happened? Did XJ-Zero win? Is my mom going to be okay?"
Then she saw the same thing Sherman did. Sidney got to his feet, dusted off his blue jeans, and extended his hand towards Nora, chuckling. She grasped it, and immediately her face turned to the color of a tomato. Jenny grinned a huge grin at a most improbable sight. My mother is in love. I have now officially seen everything. She felt a swell of warmth inside, as Sidney and Nora smiled and talked with each other.
It was Sherman that snapped her back to reality – that she was a robot from the future stuck in the middle of a packed school gym, and they were very lucky that nobody was paying attention just now. With her phenomenal abilities restored, Jenny zipped to hide behind the tournament board. She removed her "disguise" from her storage compartment, and as she struggled back into her green turtleneck, she saw the future copy of Time magazine. A quick flip to page fifty-three brought a huge wave of relief. There she was, in full battle mode, saving the space station and the astronauts. There was no story anywhere about Mogg Industries. There was definitely no advertisement for the 'Jenny' domestic robot.
A few seconds later, Jenny emerged from behind the board, fully clad in her second-hand sweater, bell-bottoms, gloves and wig. Sherman was already talking to Nora and Sidney when she walked up to join them, innocently offering congratulations to Nora on her victory.
"Jenny!" beamed Nora. "I didn't see you anywhere tonight! I was afraid that you weren't going to show up. Did you get to see any of the final match?"
"Oh don't worry," she chuckled. "I caught the whole thing."
"Umm … Jenny, Sherman, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor." Nora blushed again, and tugged at the collar of her sweater. "Do you guys have another way to get home? See, umm … Sidney and I are going to go grab a cup of coffee, once this place clears out a little. I hope you don't mind …"
"No!" shouted Jenny, a little too quickly. "That is … of course not, Nora. I think I shouldn't have any problem coming up with another way home. You two go enjoy your … coffee." She giggled, and gave her mother a playful wink. Sidney shuffled his feet nervously behind her, his face beet-red from ear to ear. Jenny gave him a polite wave, regretting that she wouldn't be able to get to know him. But now wasn't the time to press her luck. History was back to the way it was supposed to be, and she was eager to get home to the mom she remembered.
Nora laughed, and then grew serious one more time. "Jenny, I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me this week. I really, really appreciate it. Will I see you in school on Monday?"
Jenny couldn't help but feel a little sad. "I don't think so, Nora. I was only in town this week … to visit family." Then her eyes twinkled mischievously. "But I'm pretty sure I'll see you again someday."
They said their goodbyes, and then Jenny marched off with a sudden look of fierce determination, making a bee-line for a very nervous old man sitting in the bleachers. Sherman chased after her, just as she grabbed the collar of the old man's coat and lifted him off of his feet. Nora couldn't understand why she was so furious with the man who had identified himself as Vinnie Mogg's great-uncle. She quickly brushed the thought from her mind, though – she had more pleasant things to worry about. Sidney had mentioned that he'd already bought tickets to tomorrow night's Spring Formal, and since he obviously wasn't going with Brooke, it would be a shame to let the tickets go to waste …
The only people left standing in front of the Robot Roundup tournament board were the mayor and a pair of television reporters. The mayor dabbed at his large, balding forehead with a folded handkerchief. Ever the politician, he was always concerned about bad press. "Dan, Lilian … I hope we can keep the story positive tonight, hmmm? Tonight is all about the kids and the robots. There's no need to mention the little episode with the earthquake, now, is there?"
"Are you kidding?" laughed a reporter. "Another one of these mystery earthquakes strikes, and you think we shouldn't report it? Gimme a break, mayor."
"But this robot competition was the kick-off event for our 'Technology Town' media blitz," the mayor pleaded. "It's part of the promotion for the big incorporation ceremonies next month, when all the surrounding towns join Centerville and become a new, larger city. The new city's motto is going to be 'The Technology Town', to attract new businesses."
"If there's still any town left for them to build in next month," sneered the other reporter. "We might have to hold the ceremonies in the center of the earth, at this rate."
"Yeah, the whole thing is turning into a joke. Did you hear the latest one on the radio this morning?" The reporter gave the mayor a sarcastic smirk. "They say that the new city's motto shouldn't be the Technology Town. It should be the 'Tremor Town'."
"Yeah, that's how they're opening their morning show now. 'Welcome to Tremor Town'."
The reporters exchanged a laugh, while the mayor scurried away with his entourage, heading for his limousine. One of the reporters stopped long enough to grab a drink of water from a hallway fountain. "Hmmm. Tremor Town. Tremorton. You know, that actually has kind of a ring to it."
The evening was pitch black, the moon and stars obscured by a layer of overcast. As they hurtled towards the new suburb, the only lights in the sky were the blue-white flames from Jenny's booster jets. Sherman hung onto to Jenny's back, clinging to her deployed wings – enjoying the ride of his life. Phinneas Mogg, on the other hand, was twisting in the wind like a sack of laundry, as Jenny carried him by the scruff of his collar. They plunged towards the unpaved road at high speed. Jenny deployed a pair of floodlights from her pigtails, and pulled out of her dive in her usual graceful fashion. While Sherman punched the air with gusto, Mogg stumbled a few steps, as Jenny shoved him towards the woods.
"Blast it, robot!" he shouted. "Would you be careful! You could have broken the repair circuit I've created, and then we'd be stuck here for good!"
But Jenny wasn't in the mood for backtalk. "Oh yeah? Well, if you hadn't wrecked the time machine in the first place, then we wouldn't have to worry about fixing it, would we?" Her neck telescoped outward, bringing her face to within inches of Mogg's stubby nose. "When we get back home, you are going to be in sooo much trouble. First you steal my mom's time machine. Then you deliberately change the past and turn me into a maid-bot. And then you endanger the whole town with earthquakes! Ooooh, I'm tempted to just leave you here …"
Mogg backed a few steps away from her. "Now, now, let's not do anything rash. I want to go home as much as you do. I'm sure that once we're all safe and sound back in your mother's lab, and we've had a chance to talk things over, we'll all have a big laugh about the whole thing. I would never intentionally harm anyone. Sherman will vouch for me. Won't you, Sherman?"
Young Sherman Lee tapped his chin, thinking it over. "Umm, I don't know, Vinnie … I mean, Dr. Mogg. You're kind of a jerk. I mean … at least in high school, you are."
Jenny folded her arms and shot a nasty glare at Mogg. "He's kind of a jerk in the future, too."
But their conversation was interrupted by high-pitched shrieks, as a large flock of birds took to the evening skies. Then another earthquake struck, the strongest one yet. The ground vibrated and began to soften under their feet. Trees swayed back and forth, and the forest filled with the crackling sound of branches crashing to the ground. Jenny, Sherman, and Mogg braced themselves against a large tree, and after another thirty seconds, the shaking dwindled away, and calm returned to the wilderness.
Sherman gasped for breath. "Wow – up to now, the quakes have all been relatively minor. But that one was pretty strong!"
"I don't understand it," said Mogg. "The earthquakes are getting stronger, and they're happening closer together. But that's not possible … my calculations showed that any gravity disturbances from the time machine would be minimal at most …"
Jenny grabbed Mogg by the shoulders. "Well, guess what?!? You must have forgotten to carry the two, or something. Your calculations were wrong! You've got to fix the time machine, NOW!"
They rushed a few yards into the woods, to where the Continuum Vortex Generator lay buried in the Earth. Using her tremendous strength, Jenny lifted the barrel-shaped device out of the soft dirt, and carried it a few yards away to a pile of smooth boulders which could support its weight. She illuminated the side of the Generator with her floodlights, and Mogg pried off a side panel to examine the insides. He tapped a few keys to run a diagnostic. When the results came back, his face grew pale.
"Oh my," he gulped. "That's why the earthquakes are getting stronger. The extra-dimensional bottle that contains the artificial black hole is beginning to deteriorate. I must have underestimated the damage that would be caused by removing the sensors … heh-heh … for Vinnie's robot tank." He looked over a few more gauges and indicators. "The damage is irreversible. We can repair the circuits and perform another time jump. But we can't repair the bottle. In five minutes, the bottle is going to fail completely, and the black hole is going to be released into the open."
Jenny nibbled a few metal filings from her fingernails. "Let me guess. That would be bad."
Mogg grabbed his repair circuit and got to work. "The black hole would sink into the ground and keep falling until it reached the center of the Earth. Then it would gradually devour the Earth's core, then the mantle, then the entire planet itself!"
"Wow … I wind up inventing something that destroys the Earth," gulped Sherman. "Heh-heh. Sorry."
As Mogg worked frantically to repair the circuits of the Vortex Generator, Jenny stepped away to calm herself. Sherman followed, and sat down on a fallen log. In that brief moment of quiet, they had an opportunity to reflect upon the amazing few days they had just gone through, and the amazing adventure they had shared. Jenny shook her head at the wonder of it all.
"I really wish I had more time to say good-bye, Sherman," she smiled. "You've been so sweet, with me and my mom – if it weren't for you, well … I'd probably be cleaning a bathtub right now. Thank you.'
Sherman chuckled at that. "I should be thanking you, Jenny. I've gotten a chance to see what the future is going to be like … all the amazing advances that science is going to make. And I also know that I'll actually get a girlfriend someday. Heh-heh. Make sure and say hello to my grandson Sheldon for me when you get home, will you?"
"Say hello to him yourself," she replied. "You're still alive in 2074. In fact, I saw you just before I left."
"You know what the worst thing about this whole week is?" Sherman asked rhetorically. "I won't be able to tell anyone about it for seventy years."
Jenny grinned, laid a hand on Sherman's shoulder – then she leaned down and gave him a big hug. His face blushed beet-red, and for a split second, he was the spitting image of his grandson.
"All set to go," shouted Mogg, as he wiped a bead of perspiration from his brow. "But this is going to be close. The black hole bottle is continuing to deteriorate – it'll fail completely in three minutes. The repair circuits are barely holding. Robot, we have to leave … now. When we arrive in the future, you'll need to dispose of the time machine in a hurry!"
Jenny said good-bye to Sherman one last time, then walked over to take her place next to the silver steel barrel. Mogg took note of the last time they had left, and set their target as the exact same instant – 5:25 PM, Saturday, March 17, 2074. Then he activated the repair circuit, and pressed the large red button on the side of the machine.
The capacitors in the Vortex Generator were no longer operating at peak efficiency, and it was taking longer for the coils to build up the necessary power to create a warp in the space-time continuum. Once again, the familiar high-pitched whine began to build from the inside of the machine, and its steel skin started to glow with the multicolored hue of an energy aura. Mogg and Jenny held on tight to the fixed handrails – this was bound to be a bumpier ride than the one that brought them here. Indeed, the body of the Generator was vibrating now, and Jenny didn't remember it doing that the last time –
Then the ground gave way beneath their feet.
A sharp, short earthquake punched through the forest with amazing force. Jenny gaped at the amazing sight of brown dirt rolling up and down like the surface of the ocean. Trees shook violently, their quivering branches filling the night air with a deafening hiss. Small sinkholes formed at random spots through the woods, where the soil was moist. This was the worst one by far, and it was sure to be noticed on Richter scales across the state –
Sherman was thrown backwards, and fell over a rotting log. A small sinkhole formed a few feet to his right. The log shifted, and it rolled a quarter-turn – pinning Sherman's legs to the ground. He struggled to pull free, but he was held fast by the log's weight.
The same sinkhole weakened the ground underneath a nearby oak tree. The soil literally fell away from its roots; robbed of a solid foundation, the hundred-foot tree began to topple under its own weight.
Directly towards Sherman's chest.
Jenny gasped in terror before Sherman could even shout. Instinctively, fire roared from her pigtail-jets, and she blasted into action. The massive oak tree pivoted towards the ground, picking up speed, seconds away from crushing Sherman into messy paste. With only inches to spare, Jenny slammed into the falling tree, her arms wrapped around its trunk, and stopped its momentum. She grunted with all of the strength that she could muster, and heaved it off to the side, where it crashed harmlessly into the dirt.
She was suddenly aware of a blazing white glow behind her. She turned her head just in time to see a donut of white light shoot out of the top of the Continuum Vortex Generator. Then it rushed to the ground, filling the forest with a dancing shadows, a spectral light, and a horrific screeching noise accompanied by a clap of thunder.
Then with a final, blinding flash, the time machine vanished into nothingness.
A crisp breeze blew through the trees, as Jenny and Sherman watched a handful of fluttering leaves settle back to earth. Then everything was perfectly still.
Concluded in Chapter Ten