End of the Future, Part 22

Face to the Future

Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it).

Hill Valley, California, USA
McFly House
1986

"Home, Sweet Home!" Lorraine McFly exclaimed as the group entered the family home, putting her suitcase on the floor, just next to the entry door. "Marty, show Shinji to Dave's room, Rei, Asuka, come with me, I'll show you to your rooms. Once everybody is installed, we should get something to eat. Honey, please check the phones for some take-out."

Meanwhile, Doc was on his way to drop Jennifer and her aunt Marsha at her parents house, and then to his own place. The scientist had some plans for the weekend, and needed to check on Einy, who surely would be bored at the veterinary's kennel. Doctors Spengler and Stantz would manage the rest; basically, the storage of the computers and gel containers in Brown Enterprises Warehouse.

"Hey, Marty!" Dave stood up from his bed. "How was the trip to Japan?"

"Dave!" Marty slapped his big brother's shoulder. "It was great! Dad's story will be a movie in about two or three years."

Shinji stood back, outside the room. He actually felt a bit envious at the easy camaraderie of the McFly brothers.

"Ah! This must be Shinji!" Dave shook the former pilot's hand. "David McFly, nice to meet you. Everybody calls me Dave. Dad told me you'll be staying here for a while. I just came to get my stuff, I just got my own place. Feel free to change things to your liking." Quickly, he glanced at his watch, "oh, sorry, I have to go. Pleased to meet you! If you need any bank service, give me a call." He put a card in Shinji's hand, and bolted out before the Japanese kid could say a word. "Mom! Dad!" He exclaimed as he went out the door.

Marty looked at his surprised friend, who held Dave's card reverently in his hands. "That's my brother, buddy. He must be in a really good mood, he usually is not that effusive." (1) He put Shinji's luggage on the floor. A modest valise and the cello case soon occupied the empty closet.

His new life begins with some clothes, shoes, and new documents. The old SDAT tape recorded had been left in the dead future, in a drawer. He hadn't touched it since Third Impact. The only thing he brought from 2016 was her cello.

Nothing else.

He took the instrument out, checked it was in working order, and slowly, he began to tune it back.

He had a lot of missing practice to get back.

While Dave and George talked in the living room, Lorraine guided the girls to their new rooms. "Rei, you take Linda's room (2), put your things in the closet, dear." The McFly matriarch guided the blue-haired girl into a beautifully furnished corner bedroom, with a big window in two of its sides. Slowly, Rei put her valise on the bed, and looked at the trees outside and bowed. "Thank you, Lorraine."

"You're welcome, dear. Feel at home." She bowed back to Rei, a bit lower than required by etiquette, due to her inexperience; it didn't matter much to the blue-haired girl.

The former pilot of Unit-00 opened her valise, and carefully put her new clothes in the closet. Her new life began with several sets of colorful clothes, shoes, and even a small set of make-up, which she needed to learn to apply. Plus her new documents. It was so much more than she used to have.

She sat primly on the bed, looking out the window. She watched the trees for a long time.

The wind moved the branches and leaves, soothing her.

"And you, Asuka, to the guest room." Before the redhead girl could say anything, Lorraine gently pushed her to the stairs and the upper floor, "You'll be right above Rei. Just give me a couple of minutes to get the bedsheets and blankets."

"Uh, thank you?" She put her two suitcases in the closet. A far cry from the mountain of boxes she had at Misato's. Even right before Third Impact, there were many unopened boxes in storage. (3) Things she had once wanted, demanded, wished for.

Hoarded. Useless stuff if she was honest with herself. And in the end, discarded.

And now, two suitcases contained all her stuff, clothes, a small make-up set, two pairs of shoes, and her documents. Her life distilled to its basic components.

"You're welcome." Not knowing Asuka's thoughts, Lorraine smiled warmly at her, "if you need something, just let me, or George know." She opened a small closet, and pulled the promised blankets, sheets, and a fluffy pillow. "Help me set the bed, will'ya?"

Asuka nodded automatically, her mind miles and years away. She shook the melancholy away with a sharp movement of her head. She had traveled far in time and space, to claim a new life for her and her companions.

And whomever got in her way, better be prepared to visit Hell itself. For she would not lose a second time.

Silently, she swore to herself that SEELE would pay for their sins. All of them. And the price she would extract would be all of their dreams and hopes.

But for now, she had a room to claim, a new life to start, and plans to make.

Once again, she put on the happy mask.

Hill Valley, California, USA
Brown Enterprises Warehouse

"Over there, Jack." Egon Spengler pointed at the docking bay, where a transport platform waited.

"Sure, Doc." Jack Burton leaned out the window of his truck, measured distances by eye, and proceeded to back up perfectly into the designated space.

He jumped down from the truck cabin. Dusted off his hands, and walked to the two former Ghostbusters. "Right in schedule, guys! We had easy driving from Frisco and nothing to complain about." He put on an old pair of work gloves and opened the back door of the container. "I'll give you guys a hand with whatever you got from Japan."

Ray peeked into the container. "The computers I understand, but what are those things?" He pointed at the containers full of orange gel.

Dr. Spengler walked into the trailer box, and as he got close to the gel containers, a beep was heard coming from his lab coat pocket. Ray looked at him quizzically. "That sounded like the PKE meter."

The scientist pushed his glasses up his nose, a sheepish look on his face.

"Egon! What did you do?"

"Um… I wanted to see if there was any residual PKE activity in the Brundle stuff, the readings are still the same, completely inert. I was about to store the PKE Meter when Jack arrived, so I put it in my pocket." He pulled out the device and waved it around. The lateral antennae extended with a beep, and a sequence of lights slowly ran the length of the antennae. "Interesting." He said to himself.

Burton looked worried, "Uh, guys? Are those things haunted or what?" He took off his jacket and threw it back into the cabin.

Twisting a knob on the PKE Meter handle and waving the device again, Egon checked the readings. "There's very little activity. If the material is actually haunted, it's the most passive haunting I have ever seen. It ranks even lower than the Brooklyn Ghost Kitten (4). Still, the PK energy stored is significant. Potentially it is enough to full body manifestation." He switched the meter to recording. "Ray, bring a couple of sets of rubber gloves, will you?"

While Ray hurried to get the gloves, Egon signaled Burton to back a bit, "The readings show residues of ghostly activity. There's not enough for an active ghost at the moment, but I'd like to investigate this without further contamination." Seeing Jack's uncomprehending expression, he added, "It's like they are big dogs sleeping deeply. Unless they get agitated, they are harmless."

"That's a relief, for sure. As your friend Jack Burton always says, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie. If you don't mind, while you guys get those things out of my trailer and somewhere else, I'll get the rest out, where do you want it?"

Egon looked around, "Over there, please." He pointed at the platform. Jack rolled his shoulders before getting to work moving the computer props.

Ray returned with the gloves, and in a couple of minutes, all the gel containers were safely stored in the lab. "Egon, I think we should put them in the Cage."

"I agree, it's not a full-fledged Containment Unit, but with the low level activity, it will be enough." The two put the containers inside a Faraday Cage (5), and switched it on. A blueish glow ran down the structure before the device settled down with a discreet humming noise.

"Done." Egon pronounced.

They returned to the loading area, where Burton had put several of the computer props on a wheeled platform. "Everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, that slime is more like ectoplasmic residue than haunted jello." Ray said. "Kinda disgusting, but harmless."

Egon nodded, "I'll add a little bonus to your fee, Mr. Burton. For the inconvenience."

The trucker waved a hand, "Would be nice, but it's not a big trouble."

"I insist."

"You won't twist my arm much, Doc." Burton smiled. Working with the former Ghostbusters was nice. They didn't cause much trouble, respected his work, and added nice bonus for jobs well done. And little problems like this were not automatically Jack's fault. More than one former employer had caused problems due to lack of communication, and tried to blame him for that. "Uh, guys, what did you mean about the Brooklyn Ghost Kitten?"

Ray beamed. "Not much, just a kitten ghost possessing a toy, a tiger plushie. Quite benign, in fact. It meowed when separated from the owner of the toy. We studied it in situ, and turns out, the toy meowed a lot one night, woke up everybody."

"And..?"

"There was a fire. The kitten warned about it, Egon and Peter put the fire out, and evacuated the house while the fire brigade checked the whole place. It was a short circuit in the washing machine. A couple days later, the building was certified as safe, and things went back to normal. The tiger plushie even purred when held."

"Not with me, Ray." Egon seemed miffed.

"I told you, you held it wrong. It was a kitten, not a puppy."

Egon shrugged, "You know I wasn't allowed any pets as a child." (6)

"Yeah, I know." Ray patted Egon's shoulder. "Let's she what we can do about that, later."

"Sure."

The phone rang at that moment. Ray picked it up.

"Hello?"

Neither man noticed the computer's screen saver changed, showing a small figure in a corner, watching the events intently.

Author's Notes:

(1) Dave is a bit laconic at the end of BTTF, for this story, he was in "Professional Bank Employee" mode in that scene. Here and now, he is in a very good mood, as he is finishing his move to his own apartment.

(2) Lorraine is putting Rei and Shinji in rooms close to each other. Asuka is in the room farthest from Shinji's.

(3) One of NGE's most enduring mysteries. Just what was in that mountain of boxes? The best answer I've found in NGE fics is in "Costumes & Games", by Panther2g. It's an epilogue loosely connected to his story "Advice and Trust" (very highly recommended!). Turns out Asuka is a massive nerd for wargames (Warhammer 40,000 in particular) and cosplay. In turn, the story itself references "Shinji and Warhammer 40k", another great story, sadly unfinished.

(4) I made up this event. I think it fits with the short period of time the GBs operated in New York, as part of the montage between the Sedgwick Hotel Event and Gozer's appearance.

(5) An enclosure that shields the interior from electromagnetic forces. They are used to reduce or eliminate interference. In this case, the gel containers won't be tuning any radio stations. The blue glow is artistic license.

(6) Egon had a very unusual childhood…