Chapter 3 Planet Earth

"Sam, you alright?" Aaron asked as Sam got up. Aaron reached over and grabbed his computer chair. "Here Sam, sit down and rest." Aaron said. Sam sat down in the chair. Aaron and Sam were having a hard time remembering certain things. Aaron still remembered who he was and minor things like that, but he had a feeling like something had changed.

"What happened? It was working just fine until that weird electrical storm! Would static electricity mess up the transmission system?" Sam asked. As they sat in Aaron's garage trying to remember exactly what had happened, the lights overhead flickered and came close to going out.

"Aaron, what's with the power?" Sam asked.

"That happens all the time. Nothing to worry about." Aaron replied. A humming filled the air as the back up generator kicked in.

"Come here, I want to show you something I've been working on for a while." Aaron said as he led Sam over to a part of the floor that was darker than the rest. In the back of both their minds, it was almost as if they had already done this. "Sam, stand next to me. And, don't tell anyone how to get to this part my lab." Aaron typed in a code on his computer and hit enter, then walked to the secret platform. It slowly lowered to a garage below a garage.

"This has been here ever since the original garage was built. Guarded by a sophisticated security system, I have been putting the finishing touches on my 'Stretch Lamborghini'. The car is designed so that it will not use any gas." Aaron explained.

"Then, what will it run on?" Sam asked, for the first time that Aaron could remember, showing some knowledge about the inner workings of cars.

"I found these green crystals in here when I discovered this workshop. If my calculations are correct, these will allow the car to reach the necessary speed to jump dimensions and possibly travel through time." Aaron replied. "Do you still have your laptop? I could use it to drive the car without having anyone in it." Aaron remembered how the laptop that Sam still had was the same one that had suddenly appeared a year and a half ago in her bedroom.

"Yes, I have it right here. Do you hear that?" Sam asked, as the air filled with what sounded like a thousand bees humming. Suddenly, there was an explosion above ground.

"I'll go above ground and see what it was." Aaron said as he got back on the platform and went up. Once there, he saw that half of the block he lived on was destroyed. He then went back down. "Half the block is gone! I can have the car meet us at school and pick us up. You can spend the night here… your house was one that was destroyed by that explosion! I'll be in before too long." Aaron said as Sam went upstairs to the guest room that Aaron was letting her use. Aaron then went back to work on the car. Once finished with the car, he went to bed. In the morning after a brief breakfast, they took the bus to school. Once on the bus, both Sam and Aaron noticed it was quieter than usual. At school, he noticed that no one save for him and Sam were eating lunch. There were none of the ordinary fights of any sort, no running in the halls, no bullies beating up on kids; almost as if the school had been taken over by androids. At study lab, they discussed what they had noticed.

"Nothing is the same as it should be." Aaron said, "I think we should get away from here! This is too weird!"

"Well, school's almost out. But, do you think we should use the car? What if we never get there?" Sam asked, not really expecting a response and not too surprised when he did not get one.

"If what I think is wrong is wrong, then we have more to worry about that we thought! Let's get going right now! We'll call the car from your computer. Let's hope none of the remaining people see the car coming here!" Aaron started her computer up.

"How are you gonna call that car with my laptop?"

"I can use the Internet to access my lab and link up with the car." Aaron connected up with his lab and activated the car. The screen showed the status of the systems as it started up. Aaron let the coolant work its way through the engine. Aaron's fingers flew over the keyboard and the separate windows piled up, then the screen showed the word 'coming…' in big red letters.

"Okay! We have ride out of here. The car is on its way! It'll be here momentarily." Sam and Aaron walked out of the school and noticed that there was a large factory outside that was not there the other day.

(End of Chapter 3)