End of the Future, Part 14
Whats up, Doc?

Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it).

Same Building the Katsuragi-Ikari-Soryu Apartment was located
Basement, Level 1
Two days after contact.

"Okay, Doc," Marty spoke in the walk-in-talkie, "we are ready, all computers are connected according to the instructions. Once we have electricity, we will try to use to connect to the MAGI, if they are still working. Turn it on!"

Down at the basement, Doc and Asuka pulled the starter cords of the first two portable generators they had installed. One, two, three times, the devices groaned and sputtered, but eventually, they did start.

"We have energy, Marty! Test the lights!" Doc said, while Asuka clapped her hands clean and adjusted the beam of her miner's lamp. There was no need to turn it off yet, they had batteries to spare, and the daylight that entered through the cars' entrance was enough to guide them if they needed to get out.

"Haha! Yes! We have energy, Doc!" Marty's enthusiastic voice informed the results of their work.

"Fantastic news! Let's see if there's any problem. Give it five minutes and then try the connection!"

"Sure, Doc! Over and out!" The walkie-talkie crackled as Marty cut the active signal. Doc and Asuka sat on a couple of crates, left in the basement after Misato moved in. It had to have been her, as she was the only occupant of the whole building.

"Okay, let's these things run the five minutes, Dr. Brown." Asuka said. "After that, this model will keep on working until the fuel is spent."

"Very well, Miss Soryu." He said, looking at his right wristwatch.

She sat on another box, studying the old scientist. "I have a question."

Doc nodded, "Go ahead."

"Why in the name of everything that's holy do you wear two wristwatches and carry three pocket watches?" (1)

Doc stared at her, "Fear, Miss Soryu."

"Fear of what? Missing the White Rabbit?" She snorted.

Doc smiled sadly, "Fear of losing somebody important." He said, his brown eyes shone wet for a moment, but didn't elaborate. "I know, it's absurd. But… well… maybe one day I'll tell you the story."

She nodded. "There's no need. I can tell it hurts. And you'll forgive me, I hope, for hurting you."

"You are forgiven, there was no malice in your question, and I understand asking questions and not being prepared for the answers. Now," he sighed, "let's start the next two generators, okay?"

"Very well, but later on, I wanna check the libraries in the mall. There are a few subjects we will need. Starting with programming manuals and lots of software. And I want to see if there's a Klingon primer. Even better if there's a computer course to learn it."

"Why would you need that?"

"Two reasons, Doctor Brown. One, there are things I'd like to say in a really, really angry language, when even stereotypical German is not enough. And two, the language wasn't really codified until after Second Impact, if we all are passably fluent in an invented language, no one could eavesdrop on us."

"Great Scott! You are absolutely right!"

"Of course, I am a certified genius, though I admit I have let my emotions get the better of me." She shrugged. "I'm… I'm working on that." She looked around, rubbing her wrists; but there was no one else there. It seemed "Misato" had been right, she needed a good night of sleep.

"With all that happened to this world, that's perfectly understandable. I'm not qualified as a mental health specialist, but maybe there is a way to get you professional help." He paused, "If you want to. I won't force you or your fellow pilots, but I ask you to consider it, please."

"I'm not commi… I'm not compromising to anything."

"Well… that's fine. But personally, I will ask for myself." He sighed, "When I decided to travel to the future, I hoped to see a wonderful world of scientific wonders! Holograms! Flying cars and jet-packs! Self-ironing clothes! Maybe some rejuvenating treatment…" He shook his head, "You know something? I would be over a century old in this timeline, I was born in 1914! I have seen a lot of history, not all of it good, not all of it bad. But I'm sure of one thing, no one can be an island for long. I tried, because I had terrible regrets, but sooner or later, one needs to go back to the tribe."

Asuka raised an eyebrow. "What's the deal with you and your, um, companions. Are they family or what?"

Doc smiled. "Oh, no. But in a way, Marty is like a son to me."

"Really?" She felt a pang of envy, but squashed it.

"Or a very close nephew, at a minimum." He smirked. "You see, my biggest regret is having been a part of the Manhattan Project. Back then I was a fool who focused in making the thing work, instead of wondering if I should help to make it work. After I realized how our… my work had been used, Here in Japan, I decided to simply go away. I crafted a façade. I turned myself into a crank, working on ridiculous projects. Actually, I did research in unusual subjects. Partly out of curiosity and partly to make myself unpalatable for the government."

She nodded, "I know a thing or two about façades, Dr. Brown. Go on."

"Well, in 1955, I was happily working on a… um… laugh if you want, I was working on a telepathic helmet, trying to connect with my dog's thoughts," Doc smiled at seeing her bewildered face, "when a stranger knocked at my door. It was Marty."

"But, isn't he..?"

"From the 1980s? He is, yes. He came to me with a wild story about time travel, how he was my aide in the future, and that I had invented a working Time Machine. Out of a car!"

She scoffed, "I bet you believed him immediately!"

"Of course not! It took a while for me to even start to believe him. But he had proof. In the form of technology decades ahead of what existed in 1955. Namely, a portable camera and a video tape recording the moments before he came 30 years back! But more importantly, he knew something I had told him in the future. Something that had just happened in 1955 and I hadn't told to anybody. The basis of the Time Machine. Very impressive proof. But in coming back, he had messed up his own story, accidentally interfering with his parents first meeting. It was a lot of problems to get them back on track."

She tilted her head, studying Doc. "And then?"

"Obviously, we managed to send him back to 1985, car and everything. And I didn't see him again until… let me think… 1982. That's a long time to wait for a friend; in the meanwhile, I went on with my life, working on that Time Machine I had already seen work. That saved me from quite a few dead ends, but to preserve the timeline, I had to prepare everything according to what I had already seen and wait. I didn't to cause another paradox and erase the chance to meet Marty. When the time came, I hired him as my assistant, and helped him with some school projects. It was so… strange to see him younger the next time we met. I had to keep secret everything I already knew about him, and about the future."

Asuka kept silent.

"He's a good kid. Bright, energetic, has a good heart, and he didn't mind I was thought of as a nutcase. Do you have any idea, Miss Soryu, how powerful that combination is?"

She hesitated.

"As I said, Marty is like a son to me, and I will do my best to make sure he has a bright future." He deflated, "When I traveled to this time, back in our town, I mean; I wanted to see what had become of him. Imagine my surprise at finding a dead world. I went back to 1985 in complete shock. And with help from Marty, and his girlfriend Jennifer, we investigated the cause of the Event, and tracked it to its origin. And here we are. We didn't expect to find survivors, though. Our town was completely empty, no sign of human life all around."

"I bet that complicates things for you. Having to deal with us pilots." She sounded sad and defiant at the same time.

"Miss Soryu, this is a complex situation, yes. Not because of you, you are innocent victims," she almost scoffed, "but because of what will happen to you if this whole Impact stuff can be corrected. Once we go back to 1986, I'll do my best to give you three the life you actually deserve."

Asuka looked at him for a long time.

"For how long?"

"I don't know," he admitted, "I could take you to any time you'd want, and leave you there. But that would be taking the easy way out. No. We will get you there and make sure you get a good life. But once we cancel the Apocalypses, you'll cease to exist, retroactively. I don't want that, I have enough in my conscience." He muttered, sadly. "I don't know if there's a way to preserve your existences, but I swear I'll try my darnedest to find it!"

She stared at him for a long time, neither spoke. Suddenly, the walkie-talkie crackled, and Marty's voice broke the silence. He barely started to talk, when they heard a crash, and somebody yelling.

It sounded like English, no less. But the words were garbled, as if the speaker could barely articulate a thought, much less words.

"Uh, Doc… we, ah, we have a situation here. You're not gonna believe it, but, uh… there's another survivor and she's pissed!"

Author Notes:

(1) Doc really does carry two wristwatches and a pocket watch in the movie, just watch him on the scene just before Marty arrives to the Watchtower! The rest is simply Because I thought it would be fun to have him with even more watches.