Master of Thieves
Chapter 7: A Lesson in Time
Back in present time, Terry, Bentley, Murray and Carmelita were still surprised from the transmission from Sly's Binocu-com, yet there was relief that he was, indeed, stuck in time. After replaying the transmission a few more times, Bentley came to the conclusion that Sly ended up in Ancient Egypt, but something bad happened when he indirectly arrived. As Bentley wheeled into the Cooper Vault, Terry turned his head to Murray and Carmelita and asked "What is Bentley getting in the Cooper Vault, exactly? An Ankh pendant or probably a form of currency in the time of about 3000-1000 B.C.?" Murray just shrugged as Carmelita made an unsure sigh, before Bentley came back with a piece of a sickle, noting "I KNEW this would help eventually."
Murray then asked as Bentley placed the weathered Sickle piece on the workbench "What's that, Bentley?" As Bentley opened his mouth to answer, Terry replied, wearing an awed expression "A weathered piece of a Sickle blade, wielded by Jackal warriors in the time of Ancient Egypt who served the god Anubis. Judging by the piece, it's possible that it was more likely on a Jackal Statue prior to being broken." Terry then slowly looked at the other's astonished faces, before he made a resigned sigh and added "I paid heavy attention to History lessons in school, due to my interest in my family heritage going back to Thaddeus' Cooper's time." Carmelita adjusted her left wrist-cuff as Murray let out an awkward whistle, before Bentley said, still wearing an astonished expression and his mouth still gaping in amazement "I was going to say a Sickle Piece that's around since 3000 B.C., but you were more definitive in the assessment." Terry made a shrug, before replying "Sorry if I sounded like a smart-mouth." Bentley brushed it off, before he checked over the odd, yet intriguing handheld device on the workbench.
Understandably, Carmelita, Murray and Terry are curious on the device, when Bentley turned it on, which it hummed to life silently. Bentley then exclaimed "Eureka! It's finally ready!" Carmelita, Murray and Terry asked in unison "What?" Bentley then showed them the handheld device in his hands and replied in excitement "It's a hand-held time travel device I've been working on, in case the Time Machine in the van is unavailable." Terry shook his head neutrally with his lips pursed, as he was wondering what that machine was when he came inside the Hideout.
Murray then asked "How does it work, Bentley?" Bentley re-adjusted his glasses, before explaining "First off, in order to travel through time, you need to scan an item that originated from a specific date; in this case, a piece of a Sickle from the time of Ancient Egypt." Both Murray and Carmelita raised their brows in puzzlement, though Terry smiled broadly in interest; Bentley then continued to demonstrate "To scan an item, hold up the device with the circular scanner facing outward and press this button." Bentley tapped his finger on a blue button on the curved edge of the device, which Terry nodded in focus as Murray and Carmelita nodded, albeit less unsure.
Bentley then continued "Now depending on the item you scanned, it will range from either a few seconds to 5 minutes on the dot. Once it's been scanned, the date from when the item will originate will be registered in the device." Terry then said in sudden realisation "The Time Warp." Murray, Carmelita and Bentley looked at Terry in confusion and replied questionably "What?" Terry then explained "Well, considering it's a hand-held Time Travel Device for an individual person, the user will be warped from one specific date to the next. Hence the term, Time Warp." Bentley, Murray and Carmelita pursed their lips and pondered on Terry's logical explanation, before they agreed on the conclusion.
Terry then went back to the topic on hand by asking Bentley "So, how do you travel to the registered date, anyway?" Bentley then replied, albeit enlightened from Terry's surprising intelligence "You turn on the Holo-Screen with a rotatable switch on the right edge of the Time Warp Device, then scroll down until you spot the specific date you have registered into." Terry nodded with his eyes closed, which prompts Bentley to think "He's got a flexible mind… With him on our side, we'll get Sly back in no time at all." Bentley then added "Now, in addition to registering the new date in the Time Warp Device, it has an additional function that will return you to the present day."
Bentley then breathed through his nostrils, before he adds "However, there is a trade-off: Due to the size, it can only warp one person in time. Also, this is the only prototype that I've managed to build, so one of us needs to travel to Ancient Egypt and find out what danger Sly has discovered." It took only a second before Carmelita answered "I vote that Terry goes…" Bentley looked at Carmelita questionably, before she added "Look, he's more than willing to go ahead through time to help Sly. Besides, the Time Machine still needs to be repaired after the Van accidentally backed up into the Eiffel Tower." Murray crossed his arms and retorted "Remind me, who was behind the wheel at that time?" Carmelita looked guilty and thought back 2 week prior…
(2 Weeks Ago)
Carmelita came into the Hideout in the afternoon and saw Bentley calmly reading through a Novel and Murray working on his weights. Carmelita cleared her throat and asked "Hey guys, can I ask you something?" Bentley replied without averting his gaze from the novel "Sure, go ahead." Carmelita made a hard gulp, before she asked "Can… Can I use the Van for a case?" Murray stopped using his weights and turned his head to Carmelita, before asking "You want to use the Cooper Van for a case?" Carmelita nodded at Murray, painfully aware that he cares deeply about the Van. Murray took a deep thought about it, before he made a resigned sigh and said "Alright… Just please be careful when you back it up. The Time Machine is still in there." Carmelita nodded in agreement, before she went in the back and entered the Cooper Van.
Normally, she'd use her Roadster to arrive at the case, but this time, her roadster is currently having repairs due to a rookie patrol officer unintentionally backing into it… while she was leaving her reserved parking space. Even though he apologised sincerely for the damages, it still didn't change the fact that it needs to be attended in the repair shop. As she buckled up and turned on the ignition, she realised something problematic… she never drove a stick-shift before. Her roadster's gear system is linear, so driving in a stick-shift is new to her; she then carefully shifted the gear into reverse and slowly backed out onto the road. When she pressed the accelerator after shifting into 1st gear, she was jerked forward so suddenly, before she said to herself "Wow, this Van's acceleration is highly responsive." She then drove the van to the crime scene at the Eiffel Tower, often checking in the rear-view mirror to see if the Time Machine hadn't suffered a dent.
When she arrived at the crime scene, she saw Detective Barkley at the scene as well, much to her stress. Seeing that most of the parking spaces had been filled, Carmelita decided to just park underneath the Parisian Landmark; as she pulled the stick-shift into reverse, she heard Barkley shouting "Inspector Fox!" In an impulse, Carmelita accidentally reversed into the tower, which Barkley gritted his teeth in concern. The good news is that Carmelita didn't sustain damage to her OR the Eiffel Tower; the bad news is when she looked in the rear-view mirror and widened her eyes with a high-pitched *Urk!* noise: She not only damaged the back doors of the van, but also the Time Machine as well. She then blankly looked out the windshield, before resting her head on the horn, her irritated groaning drowned out by the van's horn.
An hour later, Carmelita remorsely drove the Van back to the hideout; as she turned off the ignition and unbuckled the seatbelt, she heard a voice that rang "Did you take care of my baby?" Murray entered the back and saw Carmelita's devastated expression, which tends to indicate the opposite scenario. Murray then heaved a sigh and crossed his arms, before he inquired seriously "How bad's the damage?" Carmelita looked at Murray's serious expression, before she sighed remorsely and gestured her thumb to the back; Murray then walked to the back as Bentley wheeled into the back. Bentley then asked "How did the drive go?" As Carmelita was about to answer, Murray bellowed "You GOT to be kidding me!" Bentley then wheeled to the back of the van and clenched his teeth on his fist as he saw the damage on the rear doors. Bentley then asked finally "Is the damage to the doors serious, Murray?" Murray then turned to Bentley and replied "Not really, but that's not the main concern… look at the Time Machine!"
Bentley raised his brow and wheeled until he saw the Time Machine was damaged; what raised his concerns most of all was the Quantum Modem and saw it had a sharp dent in it. It doesn't seem crucial to Carmelita, but to Bentley, it was the most vital piece to the machine; he then turned to Carmelita and said "Do you know… how long… it took… to make this modem alone?" Carmelita pursed her lips and admits "I'm not really fluent in the field of science…" Bentley then heaved a heavy sigh, before he continued "4 months… 4 mind-wracking months it took just to made this one component. It may seem trivial to you… in fact, I understand how you think that it IS trivial, but this very component keeps the Quantum energy needed for Time Travel stable." Carmelita looked down guiltily, before Bentley shook his head and wheeled back into the recreation room with Murray behind him; Carmelita then shed a tear and thought "I'm sorry guys… I'm sorry Sly…"
(Present Day)
Carmelita then said "Fact still is, Terry is the most likely to go." Bentley then shook his head and remarked "Even still, there's still a chance that the Time Warp might run out of power in just ONE use. I'm still working on the power efficiency—" Carmelita then argued with Bentley as Terry, heaving an annoyed sigh, sidled to the Time Warp and scanned the Sickle piece. Murray noticed that Terry is already heading out to Ancient Egypt, so instead of breaking up the argument, he handed Terry his knapsack with the Canteen, Scarf, Binocu-com and pair of Moccassins inside.
As Terry slung his knapsack over his shoulder, Murray asked him a question that's been nagging in his head "Out of curiosity, how determined are you to find and help Sly?" Terry replied as he scrolled to the date 3000 B.C. "To the point that I'll risk my life to save his… our families may be distant, but we are still family at any rate." Murray nodded with his lips pursed, before he bids Terry good luck. Terry then made a smirk and replied "Considering the situation Sly's in, it's more likely that HE'LL need the luck." Murray clapped Terry on his back, before the latter gripped on the Time Warp and was shrouded in a bright light, finally grabbing the attention of Bentley and Carmelita. Before they can do anything, Terry disappeared, with a few white dots fading into nothingness.