1:00 PM CDT
Real World Universe
"I haven't seen any flying cars around," Marty said, stunned. "The waitress also gave us this strange look, when we asked if they took cash. I mean, I can distinctly remember that the Office Max in 2006 only took thumb credit, when you sent us to 2006 a few months ago to pick up some supplies for you."
"We don't have the, uh, the thumb system in this world," explained Amanda. "There are also no flying cars. Just how common were flying cars in 2006, in your reality? I'm pretty curious about that."
"I believe it was about half and half," explained Marty. "When Doc and I visited 2015, it appeared that about ninety percent of the population appeared to own hover-cars. It also appeared that very few houses had door knobs, as most of the houses used the thumb-activated plates."
"When we were in 2006," added Calvin, "it appeared that over half of the homes had thumb-activated plates. I wonder why the future of our reality is considerably different from yours."
"If I was to hazard a guess," Amanda said, quietly, "it might have something to do with the fact that the future of your world was portrayed in the second movie of the trilogy. Nobody can really predict the future, and it's also my understanding that the Bobs' portrayal of 2015 was meant as a joke. It never was intended to be viewed as a serious prediction of the future. They were basically poking fun at the pop culture of the 1980s."
"Well, I guess it makes sense," Doc said, sighing, "in the strange sort of way. It's still very hard trying to wrap my mind around the idea that we're just figments of someone's imagination in this world."
"I have another theory," Calvin suggested, as he spoke up. "Can it be possible that maybe you were also responsible for the futuristic inventions? That could be another explanation for why the 2006 in this world is vastly different from the 2006 in our world. This just might be something for you to consider."
"Why does it have to be me, though?" Doc asked, after a brief pause. "I would guess that there are maybe quite a few people from our reality, that don't exist in this reality. Perhaps, there are also people from this world who don't exist in ours. So there are a number of possibilities to consider."
"Do you think it's possible that I might not even have a counterpart in your world?" Amanda asked. "I didn't really think too much about that, until I actually did land in your world. There were certainly times when I really wanted to believe that Back to the Future was reality in another dimension, but I never expected that I would ever get the opportunity to visit this reality. Sometimes I still have to pinch myself, to make sure I'm not dreaming."
"Don't forget about how we must feel," Calvin pointed out, laughing. "I mean, I also thought of the idea that a few of the fictional stories that we read about or watch might be reality in another universe - but I am rather shocked to find out that we are actually the subject of a movie trilogy in this world."
"All right," Doc said, as he stood up, "why don't all of you just stay here, and I'll call information and find out where Amanda's mother lives. How well do you know your state geography, Amanda?"
"Well, I have a basic idea of where the major cities are," Amanda explained. "We could always look on a map, should there be any uncertainly. I really appreciate everything you're doing for me, Doc."
"It's my pleasure, Amanda," Doc replied, as he left the table.
"So you went to 2006 a few months ago?" Amanda asked, with curiosity. "Was it more like 1985 or 2015?"
"I would have to say it's a little closer to 2015," Marty replied. "We have seen a few pay-videophones, and we have also noticed that most of the houses had thumb-activated plates on them. It was very surreal to see that there were flying cars on the skyways above the land cars on the ground highways. We stopped at a grocery store, and there was a huge section that had hydrated food. At any rate, 2006 is only nine years before 2015."
"I have to say that 2006 in your world doesn't seem too different from 1986," Calvin added. "I mean, the car models are considerably different - but they are still land cars. What would you say the major changes were?"
"Well, I wasn't even born until November of 1988," Amanda pointed out, "but I think the major changes was mostly in things like fashion and computer technology. We have the internet, now - and things like cellphones, iPods, and MP3 players are common. We also have DVD players, and CDs no longer only play music. We have discs called CD-ROMs, that have computer programs and games on them. The CD-Recordables and CD-Rewritables have also taken the place of floppy disks, as they are capable of storing a lot more memory. DVDs look exactly like CDs, and they hold even more memory than CDs do. In fact, many computers today have hard drives that hold 80 gigabytes or more of memory."
"Gigabyte?" Marty asked, impressed. "Don't you mean jigabyte? I mean, that's how you pronounce jigawatt."
"Well, I never really heard it pronounced jigabyte," Amanda replied, "but I suppose some may pronounce it that way. As far as the word jigawatt goes, I think gigawatt if the more commonly accepted form of pronunciation."
"Oh, boy," Calvin said, smiling, "wait until Doc hears about this. So it looks like the futuristic advances in this world are mostly computer-related, eh?"
"Do you know if the internet existed in 2006 in your world?" Amanda asked. "I know that the boxes that Jennifer was laid on contained numerous discs, so some of them could have been CD-ROMS or DVDs."
"Actually, yeah, I think it does," Marty said, smiling. "In fact, Doc owns a computer with the Windows XP operating system - and he has a hard drive with 180 jigabytes of memory. Doc always pronounced it jigabyte."
"The music of this era also isn't as good," Amanda added. "Gangsta rap is a popular music form - and, well, when it comes to music, I began to wish that this was the 1980s. One show from the 1980s that I loved watching on reruns is a show called Family Ties. Alex P Keaton is also played by Michael J Fox - and I greatly admire Alex, even if I may not agree with his political views. He really cares about his family, a lot. You know, I haven't watched all of the episodes yet - and I'm really going into withdrawal. I would love to watch the episodes with Tracy Pollan in it."
"Your foster parents don't let you watch Family Ties?" Marty asked, shocked. "But it's such a clean family show! It would even be rated G! There's no violence or sex in it, or even swearing."
"Well, they don't have cable," Amanda replied. "I'm not sure if they'd be that crazy to not even allow Family Ties. I really miss having the freedom that I was allowed to have at my foster home prior to the last one."
"What's so special about Tracy Pollan?" Calvin asked, with curiosity. "Is she your favourite actress?"
"She actually becomes the real life wife of Michael J Fox," Amanda explained. "They will reunite in two years, when Michael will star in a movie called Bright Lights Big City. They end up marrying later that year."
"Whoa, this is heavy," breathed Marty. "I just realized that you shouldn't be telling us too much about the future. It sounds to me that the future of this world might share some similarities with the future of our world."
"Yeah, Marty is right," added Calvin. "We maybe should stop discussing the future. Doc should be back here soon. So are you feeling excited about the whole thing, Amanda?"
"Well, I'm excited and nervous at the same time," Amanda replied. "I'm quite worried that I might get yelled at for running away, and that I might be forced to go back to that foster home."
"Everything will be all right, Amanda," Calvin assured Amanda, as he gently squeezed her shoulder. "So don't worry! I see Doc coming back, now. I wonder what he found out."
"Okay, your mother lives in Hartford in this state," Doc explained. "Do you know where Hartford is?"
"Yeah, I do," replied Amanda. "It's in Washington County, to the northwest of Milwaukee."
"I called up your mother," Doc added, "and I explained to her that I would be trying to reunite the two of you. She was very thrilled to hear the news, and I told her we should be there in about two hours."
"Hey, this is so awesome!" Amanda exclaimed. "I can hardly wait to see her, again. Did you explain who you were?"
"I told her that I was a friend of yours," Doc explained, "and that you weren't happy at your foster home. Granted, she was a little concerned that she might get into trouble - but I told her that I would appeal to the court, and I explained that I was firmly on your side. She then sounded happy."
Amanda felt elated with the news, as she could hardly believe what was happening.