3:00 PM PDT
Family Ties Universe
Within the next five days, the Keatons have all become very fond of Marty. Even Mallory had warmed up to Marty, and she had apologized for her Canadian bashing statements - much to the delight of Marty and Alex alike. Mallory had bought a couple of cassettes for Marty. He was amazed by how much he had Mallory had the same musical tastes. He thought Mallory could be a bit flaky at times, though.
Alex's friends have all come to love Marty, too. Marty realized that one of the many things he and Alex had in common, was that they had a tendency to befriend the outcasts and misfits at school - and to stand up for them when being teased. If Alex had attended Hill Valley High School in 1955, he most likely would have befriended George McFly. Marty had to admit that he might not have befriend George to quite the same extent as he did, if he hadn't had to make George and Lorraine fall in love with each other. He still would have been nice to George, though.
As much as Marty himself had become quite fond of the Keaton family, though - he was starting to miss his friends and family at home. He and Alex were taking a look inside the DeLorean, to see if they could figure out where the time circuits had malfunctioned.
"Hey, Marty," called out Alex, "I found something. Wow! I have to say that all this computer technology must be highly advanced."
"What did you find, Alex?" asked Marty. "Anyway, yeah, Doc purchased all this stuff from the year 2030."
"Okay, well, look at this, Marty," Alex said, pointing to the destination locator. "This says that you were last in Hill Valley Park before you travelled here, right?"
Marty looked real closely at the screen, and he said, "Yeah, it is. I'm not sure how I got here, though - when I was trying to head over to Roanoke Island."
"Okay, well, look at this screen, Marty," said Alex. "It shows that you had input the destination location for Roanoke Island, but you had then cancelled the location."
"Cancel it?" Marty asked, confused. "I never cancelled it."
"You might have accidentally bumped a button or something," Alex suggested. "Here's something else I found. Look very closely at the bottom left of the screen."
Marty then looked to where Alex had pointed, and he saw that some small print have read "Dimension #EJ57".
"What the hell is this?" Marty muttered, softly.
"Apparently, it's the ID of the dimension you arrived here from," Alex suggested. "I found a backlog of destinations here. I guess Doc was testing this machine out, to see if it worked. This screen shows the location of Hill Valley Park when this car had departed at 4:17 PM on July 24 in Dimension #EJ57, and..." Alex pressed a button to make another screen come up, "... this screen shows the location of Hill Valley Park when this car had arrived at 5:17 PM on July 24 in Dimension #EJ57."
"Oh, okay," replied Marty. "That sounds about right."
"Now this screen shows where you were, when you last departed Hill Valley at 6:45 PM on July 24 in Dimension #EJ57," continued Alex, as he continued to flip through the backlog. "This screen shows that you landed in Chestnut Ridge Metro Park at 7:00 PM on July 24 in Dimension #AH48 - which, I guess, is this dimension."
"Okay, thanks for pointing this out, Alex," Marty said, gratefully. "I'm still confused about one thing, though. I'm still now sure how I could have landed here. I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed getting to meet you, your family, and your friends. It's just that I never dreamed that I would land in a sitcom. Well, a sitcom where our world is concerned."
"You might have pushed the Random button," Alex explained, gently. "This screen, though, gives you an option to disable the Random button. You might want to say 'yes' to that option. That way, you're not bouncing around from dimension to dimension. Before you go home, though, I think my family might want to say good bye to you. Oh, Marty, I really will miss you."
"I'll miss you, too," replied Marty, as he blinked back tears.
oooooooooo
"Will I ever see you again, Marty?" Jennifer asked, tearfully, as she hugged Marty.
"I'll be sure to come back and visit," Marty said, softly. "Don't worry."
Mallory then threw her arms around Marty, and wept. "Oh, Marty, I will really miss you! I'm sorry about the way I treated you, when you first arrived."
"Please don't sweat it, Mal," Marty said, as he forced a little smile. "You were just having a rough time. I understand."
"Thanks, Marty," whispered Mallory, as she wiped her eyes.
"I think Andy wants to say good bye to you, too," Alex said, holding up baby Andy. Then, to Andy, he cooed, "Can you say 'good bye, Marty'? I sure will miss him."
"Good bye, Andy," Marty said to Andy. "I hope you grow up to be a strong fine man."
"Oh, I'll see to it that he does," Alex said, smiling.
"Good bye, honey," said Mrs. Keaton, as she embraced. "I must say, it's been such a joy to have you in the house. We really will miss you. Well, have a safe trip back to California."
"Thanks, Mrs. Keaton," whispered Marty.
oooooooooo
A few hours later, Alex had decided to walk Marty back to the park. Marty felt that it would be nice if he could come back and see Alex again. He wasn't sure what Doc might about routine inter-dimensional travelling, though. Marty and Alex then looked at each other, as they were about to hug for one last. Alex then began to cry.
"Oh, Marty, I will really miss you," Alex sobbed. "You've been such a good friend to me. Please say that you'll return someday."
"I'll see if I can," Marty said, quietly, as he also began to cry. "Oh, Alex, sometimes it really hurts to say good-bye. I have become so fond of you. I, uh, I..."
Marty and Alex then embraced each other, as they wept on each other's shoulders. After about five minutes, both Marty and Alex wiped their eyes and said one last farewell.
"Have a safe trip, Marty," Alex whispered.
"I will, Alex," Marty whispered back. "Take care of yourself."
After inputting the time, location, and dimension, Marty then accelerated the DeLorean up to 88 miles per hour, until he had broken the time barrier. He once again saw a little ripple outside of the windshield, and Marty figured he must have broken the dimensional barrier, as well.