Hermann closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath before he pressed the button and hurtled himself God knows where. He felt a force pull at him and suddenly he found himself winded and gasping for air on a warm, hard ground. He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the bright light of wherever he had wound up and once he got his breath back he stood up and looked around. His new location was absolutely unmistakable; New York City, more specifically, Times Square. There was something off about it, however, but he couldn't think about it right then as he still had a certain self-proclaimed genius to find. He did a three-sixty and was relieved to see he wouldn't have to do go around an entire city looking for one man at all. Newton was standing, staring around in wonder, only several feet away.

"Newton!" Hermann limped over to him as fast as he could. "What the hell have you done? We need to go back -"
"Do you know where we are?" Newt asked him.
"I - Well, yes, I know where we are!" He thought it was a pretty stupid question and it threw him off slightly. Surely Newt knew where they were. "But we need to get back to Shatterdome."
"I mean, do you know when we are?" His voice possessed both excitement, that airy sound a voice takes on when one is shocked.
"When?" Hermann looked around and that feeling that something was definitely off intensified. It took him several seconds before he saw the date on a scrolling LED sign. It felt like he had been winded all over again when he saw the sign flash August 1 2013. "Fuck."

Newt had never heard Hermann curse before and had he not been incredibly proud of what he had created as well as incredibly worried about what he would do now he would have clapped the man on the back and laughed.

Always the rational one Hermann regained his composure and addressed the situation. "Okay, okay. Newton, we need to get back. Somehow we have to get back. We just have to rebuild the machine and you have to remember whatever screwed up equation you had come up with, and we go back. Sure, we can't do this in one day so we'll need somewhere to stay. Did you bring money?"

Newt turned to shoot him a look. "Yeah, I brought my piggy bank with me on a trip to a chair that was supposed to transport my brain waves."
"Don't be an ass, Newton, not now. We are knee deep in shit and we need to work together to get back." Hermann snapped. "I have a grand total of two-hundred dollars on me and a credit card with a 1,000 dollar limit. Unfortunately that card was not issued to me until 2022 and it probably wont work. So listen, we need to find an incredibly cheap space and build this bloody machine immediately."
"Yeah, fine." Newt replied. He knew Hermann was right. They couldn't stay stuck in the past, they were needed back in the present and that was that. Besides, some of his favorite songs hadn't been written yet so what was the point in staying indefinitely.

While the surprise of being transported not only thousands of miles away from Hong Kong but also being transported years into the past was something to marvel at neither of them thought they would be in for too many other surprises. They knew what happened in 2013 and they had both been to New York so there was nothing that could offer much surprise there, but as they turned a corner and put themselves in theater district they quickly realized there were going to be a lot of things to watch out for.

Several feet down the block Hermann came to a dead stop. Newt, who had been walking leisurely a few paces behind so that he could look around, bumped into him. "What? What's wrong?"
"N-nothing. We have to go." Hermann stuttered and turned on his heal to head in the opposite direction.
"Yeah, we are, but wait!" Newton walked after him. "Wait! Why are you turning around? Where are you going?"
"We just have to go this way." Hermann argued.
"We just came from that way!" Newt countered. "I'm going back that way, I don't know what you're problem is."
"No!" Hermann shouted, but Newt wasn't listening, he'd already turned back around and was briskly walking back in the direction they were originally heading. "Come back!"

Newt found out very quickly what was wrong with Hermann when he got closer to the line waiting outside of one of the many theaters along the block. He looked younger, and he most definitely had a different (and Newt thought a much better) sense of style, but it was unmistakably Hermann, a twelve years younger Hermann Gottlieb. He had to take advantage of the situation.

The younger version of Hermann definitely looked a lot cooler than the present day Hermann. He wore a plain purple cotton shirt but he wore a pair of dark, tight-fitting, skinny jeans and his sneakers were scuffed. Never before had Newt ever even thought Hermann would even own a pair of jeans and sneakers. His hair was styled in a messy fashion and was cut in a way much more flattering than that weird cut he had worn for the duration of the time Newt had known him. He was standing in line to see some musical or other, Newt didn't care which, all that mattered to him was that he was seeing one in the first place. Newt also noticed that Hermann's cane was missing from the picture and his posture was much better.

Newt walked up to the younger Hermann and stopped. "Excuse me. Is your name Hermann?"
The younger Hermann looked confused and a little creeped out. "Who wants to know?"
Newt didn't know what he was expecting but Hermann's accent was stronger than the present day Hermann's. "Confidential." Newt leaned closer and whispered, "Undercover agent, I don't want to make a scene here."
The young Hermann looked nervous now, apparently he had believed the lie. "Yes. It is. What's going on?"
Newt bit back a laugh. "I need you to do something very important."
"Me? What could I - " the past Hermann started.
"Let's just say I have sources, very reliable sources, that told me that your going to end up changing." Newt started.
"Changing?" Young Hermann's absolute faith in what Newt was telling him started turning into skepticism.
"Yes. It's very serious. One day you're dress sense is going to be come very lame." Newt couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face.
The younger Hermann saw through him now. "Listen, I don't know who you are but if you don't get lost I swear I'll kick your ass."
Newt laughed. "Don't worry, I'm going."

He turned and walked back to where he'd last left the Hermann that he knew but as he was walking away he heard the past version of Hermann call him an asshole. It only made him laugh more. He was still laughing when he reached the current version of Hermann who was standing with his back against a brick wall and the look of absolute anger and impatience on his face.

"How dare you!" Hermann stepped forward and got in Newt's face when he had gotten close enough.
"Man, what happened to you?" Newt laughed, "Why did you never tell me you weren't always so dull?"
"Shut up, Newton." Hermann began walking away from the block and his past self knowing that this time Newt had no choice but to follow him.
"What? Man, you seemed so cool back there! I mean, your hair alone! What the hell changed?" Newt began rambling on about the past Hermann's fashion sense and attitude completely unaware of the man walking in front of him's feelings.

Newt finally got the hint when Hermann all but threw it in his face. Hermann stopped again and turned around to face him. Newt realized now that Hermann's eyes had began to water and he was having trouble keeping a straight face to seem like he wasn't about to start crying. Never before had Newt seen Hermann get so upset about something.

"You want to know what happened?" Hermann's voice was dripping with rage and hurt. "This happened."
Suddenly Hermann had thrown his cane at Newt. It didn't really hurt but the surprise of the action made Newt take a step back. "That happened to me and I changed."

Newt stared wide-eyed at him and asked him, in a very hushed voice, "Why didn't I see that in the Drift?"
"Maybe because you only see what you want to see. You were too focused on a Kaiju to remember anything about me." Hermann spat and turned and began limping away from both Newt and the cane he hated having to use.

Newt thought about that. He always did focus more on the monsters than on the people and he knew it was one of his faults. He just didn't think he overlooked people so badly that he would completely miss information that was put directly into his brain through a drift. He bent over to pick up Hermann's cane and jogged over to him.

"I'm sorry, man." Newt said when he caught up. "I know, people and I don't mix all the time. I should have known, and I didn't. I'm sorry."
Hermann didn't answer, he was still preoccupied with keeping his emotions in check.
"Please, man, I'm sorry." Newt looked down at the cane in his hand and back up. "Do you want this back now?"
Hermann didn't stop but he put his hand out for it and took it from Newt.
"Hermann?" Newt asked. Maybe prior to drifting with Hermann he didn't care if the man was pissed off at him or not but post drift he did. Their friendship was rocky, but it was a friendship nonetheless.
"I don't want to talk about it." Hermann replied in a shaky voice and that was that. They continued the rest of the walk in silence.