A/N: Sorry I didn't get this to you all last night, I fell asleep reading fanfiction. I already got yelled at by my gecko so he took care of that for you. You can have this chapter now and I'll try to get you your new chapter tonight. I love you! Don't hate me. :(
Chapter 11
Alli couldn't believe how much the time machine had inside. There were unending corridors with doors leading to practically different worlds. She already came across four gardens, what looked like a tennis court, an art gallery, two astronomy rooms with a glass ceiling to show stars from other galaxies, a wardrobe that spiraled up to interminable levels, and even a room that had no gravity. She found that out the fun way by trying to float back to the door.
She had been going through the halls for hours it felt like. Her stomach growled and almost instantly the kitchen appeared around the corner. After rummaging through the possible snacks, she had a big meal of some strange jello-like food with amazing juice that she had never tasted before that her new friend was kind enough to make for her.
The amount of energy that she got from the sugary snack allowed her to climb one of the mountain simulators that swayed in the breeze, and dance to a couple songs in the music room.
She eventually made her way to find a library, and also a pool.
"Why is there a pool in the library?" She giggled at the sentient box. Then something drew her near a large screen.
It looked simple in nature, and had a few panels with a handprint, a triangle, a couple other strange shapes, or just a blank surface on them, and it itself was just the shape of a box. She looked at the monitor to find the words 'Book Downloads' and multiple versions of literature flash by, from educational textbooks to Shakespeare to Monty Python's Big Red Book.
"Does it shoot out books it downloaded then? Or put it on a kindle pad?" She asked, only to receive the same drone she didn't understand. She pressed her face up to the front of the cube and slid her tongue up the side.
"Just taste like regular metal, except a bit more citrus-y. Not very helpful." There wasn't much else to behold to the box as she looked it over. "No buttons, aside from the panels, so it might be voice activated."
She shrugged as she spoke to the screen, "Um, hello?" and heard the calming voice from the machine say, "Please select the book or books you wish to download." She figured it would be pointless to constantly come back and forth to get more books and said "Download all."
"Do you accept all the warnings and Terms of Agreement for your species and purpose for-"
"Yeah yeah yeah, let me read!" She interrupted impatiently, rushing the process. She hated those warnings that popped up for Terms of Agreement and just wanted the actual thing.
"Place your hand, tentacle or other forms of appendages on the panels best suited for you."
"Oooooh… Now I get what all those were for. It must be for fingerprint access for the kindle pad. Always wanted one." She said in understanding. She was about to place her small hands in the panel for her hand shape when she heard a warning throb vibrate in her head.
"What's the matter? I'm just getting a couple books." She retorted to the box as she placed her hand into the imprinted panel. Her hands barely fitted the palms of the carving, but it still carried out the task.
A small squeal escaped from her mouth when she felt a sharp tingle radiating from her hand to the rest of her body, silencing her before any more noise could come out.
Any attempt she made to move was ignored by her brain, forcing her to listen to the cold voice speak "Larger downloads require no movement, you have been temporarily paralyzed to ensure full transfer of information. Please remain calm as download commences, you may feel some pain."
She watched as a compartment of the machine open, revealing a contracted arm with a lit up helmet moving it's way closer to her head. She could only watch, as her incapacitated body was urging to run, until the large helmet hovering over her scalp contracted to completely fit her small head.
She could almost hear the energy whine as it began to start. Her eyes were dashing back and forth to find a way out, but with no ability to move or speak, she was stuck.
"Beginning download." The cube chillfully spoke. Her heart momentarily stopped for a second just before the pain hit her in the skull like a sledgehammer.
She would be writhing in pain on the floor if she wasn't frozen standing up. Tears welled in her eyes as she could see the books filter past the screen, feeling it fill up in her head with knowledge brimming and practically overflowing.
Something was wrong, she couldn't hold it all in her head without burning up. She thought she was about to burn, until her mind snapped.
It was an odd feeling, like being split in half and still glued together by her body. She barely heard the distorted garble of the machine stating the download was complete as she stumbled onto the floor in a heap.
Her breathing was a jagged pattern and sweat formed on her brow. She inhaled deep and burst into a fit of giggles while rolling onto her back and clutching her stomach. Don't know how I even survived that she thought while clutching the stitch in her side from laughing so much. She couldn't seem to calm down until she heard a voice pierce through the laughter, effectively filling the library with silence.
"What's so funny?" said an impossibly familiar voice.
A/N: This is going to be so fun to write when we come back to this! We're going back to the school for now and I have to go. Thank you all so much for reading! Until next time my little companions. ^-^