The Next Day

Jennifer and Marty arrived to Brown Manor, the ironically named house, and parked the DeLorean in the garage. They found Doc Brown sitting at the kitchen table. Heavy bags under his bloodshot eyes, a bag of ice precariously balanced on his head, wincing at every little noise.

The rest of the six pack of beers had been emptied in the sink, and the cans chucked into the garbage bin. The place reeked of beer and spoiled dog food. Einstein had demonstrated good sense, refusing to eat the mess on the floor, and barked at Marty, hoping the kid would pity him and give him some fresh food. Jennifer wrinkled her nose, but abstained on commenting. After hearing Doc's story, she thought the man didn't need more problems.

Marty petted Einstein, and put a paper bag on the table. "Hey, Doc. Got you these. Take two and rest. I will clean the house while you recover. Okay?" He whispered, putting a pack of Alka-Seltzer on Doc's hands.

Doc nodded wearily, "Thank you, Marty. You're a godsend. My head hurts like the devil."

Jennifer put a bag on the table, "I can make you breakfast, while Marty cleans, Doctor Brown. I don't expect you to be hungry, but believe me, you'll need it."

"I'm keeping well away from alcohol from now on, Miss Parker. I can barely think." His voice was raspier than normal.

"That would be best, and call me Jennifer." She smiled, pulling a pair of earmuffs and a sleep mask out of the bag. "These might help while Marty and I work. You'll feel better with something in your stomach."

Groaning, Doc took both; the ice bag almost fell from his head, but Jennifer caught it. "Lay down on the couch, Doctor. Try to sleep. I'll call you when breakfast if ready."

He nodded, wincing at the movement. "I'll try."

Meanwhile, Marty was busy bagging the dog food that had accumulated on the floor. He opened a new can, and put its contents on a plastic plate. Einstein's bowl would have to be left in soapy water for a while. The hungry dog attacked the food as soon as possible.

Marty switched off Doc's automatic cook, the machine was still trying to cook eggs, toast bread, and make coffee… making a mess of everything.

While he worked, Jennifer was busy in the kitchen. French toast, strawberry jam over corn flakes and some rice. Not a big feast, but one of her cousins used to work at a hotel, and found that those dishes helped the guests after a really wild weekend. Add to that a big jar of orange juice, freshly squeezed, and the Doc would feel much better.

Marty opened all the windows to refresh the air. He worked quickly, and took the chance to order the mess he had done with the sound equipment. He would have to work to pay for the big loud speaker that had blown out…

He shook his head, there were more urgent things to think about.

Once Doc had eaten, rehydrated, and his headache receded, he looked at the teenagers. "We need more information. I brought back all the newspapers from 2015 I could find, they are in the car trunk. There was nothing from 2016, not that I could find."

Marty brought them into the house. It was a bunch of well known periodicals, the Hill Valley Gazette, the New York Times, for example.

"These were in a drugstore, protected from the elements." The most "recent" was dated December the 31st, 2015. Some of the others were weekly publications. "Whatever happened," Doc said, "must have been either that day, or during the early hours of January the 1st. And it was really fast."

"I'd like to know if anything unusual was reported before the Event." Marty and Jennifer heard the capital "E" clearly. "Let's take a paper each, and see what was happening."

They began to read, and aside of normal news, there were some reports about strange creatures attacking Japan. "Hey, Doc, this looks like a Godzilla movie got too real…"

Doc nodded, "Amazing technology… just the weight… and making them able to fight… amazing." he mumbled, "Here, look at this!"

He showed them a picture of a robot like giant. "The paper calls this an Evangelion Unit. Look at the size! It must be…" he ran a quick calculation, comparing the robot to the buildings around it, "…about 300 feet tall!"

"Wow… that's Godzilla size!" Marty admired the robot. "This thing looks really mean and lean!"

"Yes." Doc agreed. "It's visage looks made to intimidate."

Jennifer shuddered, "It looks angry. Like it wants to lash out at any moment, just waiting for an excuse."

Marty agreed, "Purple and green, those are villains colors…"

Doc looked at him strangely.

Marty hurried to explain. "Have you noticed most heroes, like Superman or Captain America, or Wonder Woman, wear bright colors like red, blue, yellow, and white? The villains tend to wear dark colors, like green and purple. This guy here looks like it was designed by Lex Luthor! Purple with green accents." Jennifer and Doc looked at him strangely. Marty continued, "Dave used to loan me his comics, okay?"

Jennifer was not about to push Marty about his hobbies, and dropped the matter, "What's this Third Impact stuff? The paper talks about it like it would be worse than a nuclear war."

"And if they fear a Third Impact..?" Doc mused.

"There had to be a First and a Second Impact!" The teenagers chorused.

"Exactly. Maybe there's a reference to them. They must have happened between now and… maybe 2010, I guess. 2012 at the most, or there would be more explanations about them in the papers. Keep on reading and let's see if there are more clear mentions to the Impact Events."

They kept on reading. Taking ocassionally notes and highlighting the papers.

An hour later, they had several clear facts, a lot of questions, and many conjectures.

Doc put evertything in three columns on the blackboard.

Fact: Catastrophic Event, dated 12/31/2015 or 01/01/2016 (Third Impact?)

Fact: First and Second Impacts (find out more)

Fact: Gigantic Robots fighting Monsters in Japan (Tokyo-3, where is that place?)

Fact: UN sponsors the agency (NERV) that uses the robots.

Fact: The Monsters (Angels) are unique. Available sighting reports detail a different shape and M.O. for each.

Question: What happened during First and Second Impact?

Question: Why are the Monster attacks centered in Tokyo-3?

Question: Why teenaged pilots?

Question: What's that cable/hose behind the Evangelion Units? Fuel? Electricity? Exhaust? Venting system? Cooling system?

Conj.: Was the Event the Third Impact?

Conj.: Energy source for Evangelion Units, Nuclear? Electric? Fusion? Fossil fuels? Hidrogen?

Conj.: Monsters' origin. Alien? Extra dimensional? Man-made?

Doc tapped the board several times, and passed a hand over his wild hair. "We need to know more. Much more. The papers are but the bare bones of what we need to know."

He paced around the room, while Einstein looked at him, whining. "Marty, Jennifer, we need to go back to the future! Gather knowledge, resources. Maybe bring back some future technology that could give us the solution to this predicament!" he stopped himself, and added gravely, "l cannot ask you to come with me." He put his video camera on the table. "Not without you knowing what's there. I documented my visit as best I could, Marty is a much better camera man than me, that's for sure."

He extracted the video tape, and put it in the VCR, rewinding it to the very beginning.

He pushed play, and averted his eyes. His recorded voice sounded happy as he said. "Um, hello, this is Doctor Emmet Brown. After the successful test of the time machine, I'm about to embark on an historical travel." The image shook and wobbled, as Doc had obviously tried to turn the bulky camera around inside the tight confines of the DeLorean. "As you can see, my date of departure is October 26, 1985," a pause, and more shaking, "02:37 A.M." his fingers pressed the buttons for the target date. "And I plan on traveling, exactly 30 years into the future. Arriving in the early hours will reduce the risk of materializing over any other vehicle. Hopefully, there will be no solid obstacles in my path. Along with me comes my faithful companion, Einstein. I will continue this log once I have found an appropriate place to park. This is Dr. Emmet Brown."

A blur of static, and the frantic face of Doc filled the screen. "So-so-something awful has happened in Hill Valley! Instead of finding a technological paradise, I am currently parked in what I can only call… a ghost town. Buildings and other structures show obvious signs of neglect and disrepair. Several buildings show signs of fire, and there are cars crashed on buildings. I can see evidence of several traffic accidents. I have not seen signs of weapon discharges of any kind. Einstein and me are currently in the time machine. I… I think we should remain inside and wait for dawn. Maybe in the morning we will find some answers. I'll stand guard in the meanwhile." The screen went to black.

The screen showed a panning view of the Hill Valley plaza, this time, it was clear to see what Doc had meant during the previous segment. It was as if everybody had disappeared from the face of the Earth.

"I'm Doctor Emmet Brown. I am ashamed to have fallen asleep. I count myself lucky that nothing happened during the night. I feared there could be residual radiation, but the Geiger counter only registers normal background radiation. Einy refuses to come out the car, and I don't blame him in the least.

Whatever happened here, it was fast. Maybe an evacuation? Could there have been an accident that forced the inhabitants to flee? I'll try to enter a building and see if I can find out."

Next, shaky shots inside a house. "I'm in number 34, Main Street. In 1985, this place was a dance studio, now it seems to be a tailor shop. I remember there was an apartment on the top floor. I chose this place due to the large windows, that allow sunlight inside. I have a flashlight, but I want to save the battteries for as long as possible. The glass is intact, only dirty. The door is locked. I'll not speculate if that is related to the Event or not." Sounds of broken glass.

The inside was covered by a fine layer of dust. "The ground floor is neatly organized, the bolts of cloth are orderly piled. Measuring tapes… scissors… needles… everything is stored in its proper place. They had time to put things in order. Not in a hurry." He checked behind the counter. "There's some money here. I'll just leave it where it is."

"The apartment is still here. It was easily accessible. The door was open. It shows obvious signs of occupation. There was food in the fridge, and on the kitchen table, all spoiled. The bedroom is… strange… the bed is…" the screen showed a very normal bed, with sheets and blankets. Strangely, part of a pijama top could be seen under the sheets. "I don't know what to think of this, it looks like somebody tucked a pijama."

"The pillowcase is stained, as if some orange fluid had soaked in it an was left to dry." A hand entered the frame, and pulled the sheets up. They were almost glued to each other, but after a couple of seconds, they separated with a noise like ripping paper. "The stains seems to occupy the place and shape of a person."

Blank screen

"This drugstore wasn't there in 1985; if I remember correctly, this was a video rent store. The door was not closed, as the 24 hour service ad proclaims. Behind the counter I found a crumpled uniform, with crusted orange flakes. Consistent to the ones I found before. This looks like a sick joke. And I pray to God it is. If it's not… I fear to think what could have happened to these people."

Black screen

"This is Doctor Emmet Brown, I have explored this place for as long as I dare. I don't want to spend another night here, I will take with me some physical evidence, mainly newspapers I found, that may have a clue about the days before the Event. I'm going back to 1985."

Doc stopped the video. "The rest, you already know. I will go back to 2016, and try to find more about the Impact events. Maybe camp there, if I can find a defensible place."

"Doc…" Marty licked his lips, "Count me in."

"Wait a minute, you two. This is not a Boy Scout expedition."

"Jennifer! We need to know!" Marty said.

"Yes, we need to know, but think for a moment. Who knows what dangers could be waiting. If we are going into the unknown, I insist we go well prepared. And I'm not letting you two out of my sight. The future will have to wait a bit while we plan."

"Well thought, Jennifer. We need walkie-talkies, camping equipment, food and water, the works!"

"And plutonium." She added.

"And plutonium." Doc agreed, without thinking.

"Wait, where are we going to get more plutonium?"

"The question is not where, Marty." Jennifer answered with a smug grin.

Author Notes:

The details of the EVA program would be secret, like exactly what it is that makes them move (souls), and the reason why only teenagers could pilot them (psychological trauma), but NERV and SEELE wouldn't even try to keep their existence a secret once the Angels arrived.

They know the pilots are teens, because Asuka's role was widely publicized by Germany (its kinda difficult to hide the loading of a giant red robot on a cargo ship, escorted by the Pacific Fleet, crossing the Mediterranean Sea ).

The papers would try to get news about those very expensive toys, and speculate to their hearts content. Some of their theories would prove correct, others not so much.

Arbitrarily, I decided Third Impact happens at roughly 2:00 P.M. local time in Tokyo-3, that would have been around 9:00 P.M. in California.