What Might Have Been

By. Tate Icasa

Chapter Two: Maybe Not Forever

"Hello, Lloyd, Barbara, Philip and Pim Diffy," the man at the door said. . . .

Mr. Hackett smiled at the family for a minute before stepping into the house.

"Vice Principle Hackett," Barb said. "What brings you to our normal American home?"

"Yeah," Pim put in, "Phil never gets in trouble at school, and I haven't had problems there for three days."

"Did it hurt?" Phil said, grinning.

"Phil!" Barb said sharply. "Now, Vice Principle Hackett, what does bring you to our home?"

Hackett spun. "I thought it only fair to warn you. I know your secret, Diffy's." They gaped at him. "I trust you recall how our dinner went, the first time?"

"What are you talking about, Mr. Hackett?" Pim asked nervously.

Hackett began pacing, ticking things off on his fingers. "You come from the year 2121. You have a caveman living in your garage. You told your secret to Keely Teslow, who promised not to tell. -"

"That's enough," Pim interrupted. "We believe you."

"But, that was almost a year ago. Why are you only remembering now?" Lloyd began pacing and muttering Techno-Babble about the Time Machine to himself.

"You haven't told anyone, have you?" Phil asked.

"Oh, no no no no no!" Hackett said. "Not yet, anyway."

"What do you want?" Pim asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The words 'not yet' mean you want something," she said flatly, "They're blackmail and bribery words."

Phil sighed. "What she means," he swallowed, "what she means is, what do you want not to tell?"

"Oh, I don't want anything from you." Hackett frowned. "Still, I don't want you to be experimented on. You are human, as far as I can tell." He paused. "How's this: You cut off all contact with people in this century, and leave town by this time Thursday."

"And if we're gone?" Pim asked.

"If you're gone, I don't tell a soul about you. Deal?"

Lloyd stopped pacing. "Deal."

"Thursday," Phil whispered. "That's two days. Two day's without Keely." Louder he said. "I I'm going to go up to my room."

"No telephone!" Lloyd called as Mr. Hackett left the house.

Pim looked up the stairs after her brother and shook her head. If she knew him, he'd find some way to contact Keely. Of all of them, Phil seemed to have found a true friend in this century. She knew he wouldn't leave without telling his friend.

"Good luck, Phil," She said under her breath.

Two hours later

Phil set the cube on his desk.

"This is hopeless!" he hissed in frustration and hit his head on the wall.

"Nothing is hopeless." Pim said, sticking her head in the door. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Phil sighed. "It's just - nothing."

"No, really," Pim urged, "Maybe I can help."

Phil looked at her skeptically. "You? Help? Yeah, right." He slid his chair in front of the door to stop her from entering.

She sighed and slid past him to the desk. She looked at the desk then at Phil. "A Holo-cube? Lemme guess, for Keely right?"

He looked at her and shrugged. "Yeah," he admitted. "But the picture and the voice are way out of sync."

Pim slid one of the sides away. "Phil, Phil, Phil, the audio receptor and the Holographic stabilizer!"

"What? What about them?"

"If they're misaligned by a fraction of a millimeter it can screw up a whole program. You've got them on opposite ends of the cube! Were you even awake when you put this together.

"Of course I was," he said, "I was just. . .preoccupied."

"By what?"

By Keely. He thought. "Nothing." he said.

Pim looked up. "That should fix it."

"Um, thanks, Pim. Are you feeling OK?"

"As well as can be expected in this lame century. Why?"

"Pim, you just helped me."

"You're breaking the rules. Your point being?"

"Nothing. Just go away."

"Nothing doing. To get that to Keely you have to sneak out, and I'm sick of this house. I'm coming.

"But Pim-"

"Oh, Mo-om," Pim said softly.

"Shhhh!" Phil hissed. "OK, you can come, but be quiet."

"Fine." She pulled a can out of her pocket.

"Envies-spray? Where'd you get that, I thought we were out."

"Think again, big brother. I have a whole cabinet in my room." She turned the spray toward him.

"Am I invisible yet?" he asked. She looked at the seemingly empty space in front of her.

"Yep. Now do me." After she was invisible Phil slid the cube into his pocket.

"Come on." He said. "Pim! Where are you!"

"Keep your voice down!" she whispered. "I'm right here!"

"I can't tell that!" he whispered back.

"Well, duh, I'm invisible. Come on, before I change my mind about helping you."

The door to Phil's room slowly closed.

(A/n: I could be really mean and make a cliffie here. But I won't, cause I'm nice. Applause for me. No really, there is no cliffie here.)

The two invisible Diffy children stood under Keely's window.

"That's Keely's room-"

"Are you pointing? 'Cause if you are, since you're invisible, I can't see you point."

"Right above us, Pim!" He hissed is frustration.

"What about her parents, Phil?"

"Her dad doesn't live with her. And her mom isn't home, see, no car in the drive way."

"I can't see you pointing. Which driveway?"

"The one in front of this house."

"Which house would that be?"

"Pim! Stop being irritating and lift me up there!"

"Phil, I can't see you, how can I lift you?" Phil seethed but didn't answer. "Here." She pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to Phil.

"Pim, how did you get these?" Then he interrupted himself. "Never mind. I probably don't want to know." He put on the black gloves and used the laser suction cups to pull himself in front of the window. Keely was sitting at her desk doing homework. Phil released on hand to knock on the window. Keely looked up, shrugged, and went back to her homework. He knocked again. "Keel!" Keely looked towards the window. "Keel, it's me, Phil, let me in."

"Phil?" Keely asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm outside your window. Let me in."

"I don't see you outside my window. Is this some sort of trick?"

"Trick? No! I'm invisible. I'll explain when I'm not hanging from a roof. OK?"

"Oh, right." She opened the window. "Phil, are you inside yet?"

"Yeah," he said, turning her desk chair. She jumped. "Gotcha!" he laughed.

"Phil! Not funny!"

"Sorry."

"Oh, Phil, guess what happened!" she said excitedly.

He sighed. "You remember everything that happened the first time Hackett came for dinner."

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Hackett just left my house."

"Oh!" Then with more understanding. "Ohhh. Did he. . . ?"

"Not yet. He gave us until Thursday to convince him not to tell. But we're not supposed to contact anyone from this century during that time."

"But, then, why are you here?"

"Because, I wanted to give you something, in case we can't convince Hackett." He pulled the cube out of his pocket and set it on the desk. "I can't talk to you for a couple of days OK, so don't call, don't come over. Wait until Friday, then tell the Holo-cube to 'begin'."

"OK, Phil."

"I have to go before I become visible again. Bye, Keel." The window moved as he leaned out. "Pim! If you're out there, get out of the way, I'm gonna jump! Pim?"

"You're clear!" Pim said. He jumped from the window.

"Pim, you're still here?"

"I get nowhere better to be in this century."

"Let's just go home before this stuff wears off or Mom and Dad start looking for us."

"Fine." Pim said and started walking.

Phil looked back at Keely. She still sat at the window, smiling and waving. He waved back.

"She can't see you wave anymore than I can see you point."