author's note: I greatly appreciate the reviews that I've been recieving. However, constructive critisim is still greatly appreciated. If you like something, tell me why. If you don't like something, tell me why. I know I'm being really picky, but that's just the way I am. Sorry.

Disclaimer: this has been established before. I don't own Phil of the Future. Someone else with more money and power than me owns it. Do not sue me, becuase you'll have to sue everyone else on this website and then you will be hated. Besides, I got no money.

TO: my faithful readers

FROM: Isis

SUBJECT: Meeting the Butterfly

CHAPTER TWO

Mom and Dad had come home. They came back yelling and screaming at something. There was a distinct feeling of fear in the room. I sat up from the TV. Mom and Dad were oblivious to my presence.

"What about the kids?" Mom said. "What are we going to do about them?"

"I don't know, Barb! I don't know!"

"Lloyd, we have to do something! They'll be here any minute!" I cleared my throat, and my parents looked at me.

"What's going on?" I asked. My voice betrayed me by cracking, exposing my fear.

"Pim, don't ask questions now. You can ask them later. Just go into your room and start packing." My fear dissolved away, and excitement overlapped it.

"Are we going somewhere?" Dad's normally fun and goofy eyes were hard with command and charge.

"Yes, Pim. We are. You might not be going with us though." Mom hit Dad's chest to shut him up. My fear returned in screaming force. "Hurry though. Please, Pamela." Oh crap. They only call me by my full name when I'm in real trouble, or when something terribly wrong is going to happen.

"What about Phil?"

"Don't worry about him, Pim. Just do as your father says." There are tears in her eyes. I want to give Mom a hug, tell her that whatever is wrong will eventually be all right. But I can't. I dart back to my room and start pulling random things out. I put them into my duffle bag that hasn't even been unpacked yet. I put the photo album back in the bag. I'm done in less than thirty minutes.

Outside, Dad, Mom and Phil argue about something. They've used the Voice Scrambler to make sure that I don't here what they're saying.

"Mom?" I ask. My voice cracked again and tears brimmed at my eyes. "Mom, Dad, what's going on?" They turn to me and say don't worry about it. Tears pummel down my cheeks. "I have a right to know what's going on!" I screamed through my tears. They wouldn't tell me anything. The three people whom I had put all of my trust in had now betrayed me.

The door opened. In walked the InterPol, the International Police. Their raven black uniform and silver trimmings contrasted greatly with the white interior of our house. Their tinted sunglasses covered their eyes, and made them look more malicious and sadistic. I almost screamed.

"It's ok, ma'am," one said to me, "we're going to take you away from these criminals." He pointed at my three remaining family members.

"What are you talking about?" One of his henchmen was putting my family in Electro-Cuffs. "Mom, what's going on?" Mom didn't say anything. Dad didn't either. Phil was just as confused as I was. "Guys!"

"Ma'am, you're going to have to calm down," said a masked policeman.

"How do you expect me to calm down! Tell me what the hell is going on!" I screamed.

"It's obvious that these criminals have had a severe persuasion of your mind. Come on. You're going to be coming with us." He grabbed my arm and started to pull me away.

"What have you done to my family?" I asked.

"Don't worry about them. They will be tried in court, loose, and will go to jail."

"What did they do?"

"They TimeHopped. It's strictly forbidden. Has been since 2119, you should know that." I wanted to stop, to scream, to hit him, but nothing came from my tough shell. I was defenseless. If they had known about the Law, they could have avoided this.

I was practically dragged from the house and thrown inside a white shiny plastic pod. I noticed the streets for the first time. There was nothing. No sound. No one moving. There was no familiar hum of hovering devices. Lights. All gone. It was completely dark except for the light from the pod. I saw steel rods extend through the horizon and back. The pod itself was on a steel rod. I almost screamed. Something was terribly wrong. The cop shoved me into the pod, and I fell on the carpeted floor.

"Now, we're going to drop you off at your aunt's house, ok?" What? I didn't have any aunts. Mom and Dad were only children.

"Sir, I don't have any aunts."

"I was told to take a Pamela Diffy to a Serena Nickerson." I could hardly see outside the pod. "The Pod is programmed. It will take you to her level. You will stay there until you are 18. Then you will leave and pursue a career. Do you understand?" I nodded. "I have to take care of the criminals inside." He waved goodbye and jogged upstairs. He was gone. I stood up to run out of the strange thing when a door came out of nowhere and closed.

"Welcome to the Pod. My name is Carmen, and I will be escorting you to Serena Nickerson's Apartment Level Four in the Old San Francisco," said a metallic voice from an invisible set of speakers. I felt a click under me, and the pod began to move smoothly and rapidly down the steel rod. I backed up, trying to soak in the last four hours. I could only imagine what the police were doing to Mom, Dad, and Phil. And to think, I was getting ready to watch a marathon of "Behind the Music" on VH2.

When I backed up, something shot from the floor. I turned. It was a little chair, molded from the very wall. I ran my hand down it. "What is this stuff?" I wondered aloud. Without thinking, I sat down on the chair. It morphed under me to my thoughts! I was soon sitting in a light purple gelatin filled bag. It was so comfortable that I almost forgot my predicament.

The pod jolted to a stop. The invisible door opened, and the robotic voice told me to have a wonderful day and to watch my step. I looked down and shivered. I was up five stories. The pod had stopped at a flat wall with a dark door. It was impossible to see. A board with lights on it appeared from the underneath the door. I stepped back, and let it connect with the pod's base. Tentatively, I stepped out and walked to the door. It was immediately opened by a robot.

"Welcome, Pamela Diffy. My name is X24, but you can call me X. I will be escorting you to Mrs. Nickerson's flat. Will you join me?" The robot had two light bulbs for eyes and a slight slit for a mouth. The body was chrome and it looked like an old Mars Rover. It spoke with a high voice that made it somewhat cute. "Follow me!" It said. X rolled down the dark hallway. Its eyes lighted the path.

We stopped a door with the number 12 on it.

"Please state who you are and your business here," said a voice. I jumped.

"Don't be scared, Pamela. That's just the door." It turned to the door and said its name and business. "X24. Business: Pamela Diffy." The door hissed open, accepting X's response. X rolled into the room and called for my aunt. I followed it in. There were no lights on at all. It was freaky. Fear pulsed through my veins. Not only was I meeting a non-existent relative, I was in an alternate universe.

"X is that you?" said a small voice from the deep corners of the house.

"Yes Mrs. Nickerson! I am here with your niece, Pamela!" It squeaked to her. Then, my aunt walked out. I was face to face with my Aunt Serena, and it was a scary sight.

"Pamela! Is that you?" asked a woman about 25 years old. She had long brunette hair and blue eyes. I could only see this thanks to X's expandable legs, which made the light, go much further. "Pammy, you've grown so much since I've last seen you." 'Play along!' my mind thought.

"Yeah. I hit a growth spurt," I said. She laughed. It was a rich laugh…a real laugh. I felt like I had known her my whole life. She pulled me into a tight hug, and I hugged back.

"Why on Earth did your parents and brother go to 2004? Don't they know the Law?"

"What?" I asked. Before we had left, going back in time was perfectly all right. In fact, it was as common as a high school senior's road trip.

"The Law! The Law! Pamela. The TimeHopping Law. You can't go back in time!"

"Why not?" I asked. Serena was becoming angrier by the second.

"Are you stupid? Because the Government said so, that's why."

"Is that any…?"

"Yes, that's a good reason! What's wrong with you Pim? Don't you know what they can do to your family? Why didn't you tell them to stop? You were normally the good child."

"But…but?" I asked, my lower lip quivering with the pressing tears behind my eyes.

"But what, Pim? But what?" I was defeated. I wanted to collapse on the couch, but I couldn't see it, therefore, I didn't. "Go to your room. X will show you were it is." She sounded exhausted. What was wrong with the time period I lived in? Where was I?