October 9, 1988
It feels like it's forever
No reason for emptiness
The time just runs away (Time runs away)
No more day by day
You dream again, it seems in vain
When seasons change
(I want you)
I want to feel you by my side
(I need you)
Don't you know I need you, baby?
Ben Song sits down on the bed inside the sorority house for a while, as the song by Expose plays on a Panasonic clock radio. "Is that so?" he asks.
"We were told this once," says Sammy Jo Fuller, "and we were sworn never to tell of it again while we were here. Of course, now I can say that to you. I do remember the investigation. I myself was even questioned by the Academic Dean. Meg kept denying it, of course. Later this month, Meg packed- will pack- her bags and never return."
Seasons change
Feelings change
It's been so long since I've found you
Yet it seems like yesterday
Seasons change
People change
I'll sacrifice tomorrow
Just to have you here today
Keeping an eye on the bedroom door, Ben picks up the telephone in case Meg or another sorority sister walks in. "Obviously, I'm not here to cover it up," says the leaper. "And if she is already habitual cheater in this time, then her fate's practically sealed.
"But if it was an act of desperation due to extreme stress, then all she might need is a helping hand, and I'm in the perfect position to offer it."
"Do your best," says Sammy Jo.
The door squeaks, and both Ben and Sammy Jo see a young woman with light brown hair walk in, wearing a sleeveless blouse and shorts, recognizing here as Mary Ellen Gilday, dba Meg.
"Who're you talking on the phone with?" asks Meg.
"Would you believe me if I told you I was talking to my older self from decades in the future?" asks the leaper.
"You're such a kidder, Sammy Jo."
Ben glances at Sammy Jo, and then at Meg. "How's schoolwork?"
"Everything's fine," she says.
"There're are tests coming up."
"Yeah, I know. The sorority's cut back on social events."
Ben places his hand on the girl's shoulder. "If you need help, I'm here for you."
"Thanks."
"That reminds me," says Sammy Jo. "I remember this. Monday mornings, 9:30, I have a class with Meg on computer science. Professor Gemcity. Smart guy. Not as smart as Gooshie, but he taught me the foundations of information technology!"
Sammy Jo spends her time in the Imaging Chamber, reliving one of her sorority nights. This had been one of the perks of being an observer, ever since subbing for Al Calavicci twice.
She then looks at a television in the living room. It is blinking gray. Attached to the Magnavox Tv is a Nintendo Entertainment System control deck
"Sammy Jo," calls out a girl whom the substitute observer remembers as Casey.
"Uh, what?" asks Ben.
"We were trying to play Contra," says the girl with the blond hair. "I heard you can fix it."
"Let me see," says Ben.
"I know what to do," says Sammy Jo. "Take the cartridge out."
"Take the cartridge out," Ben repeats, and Casey reaches into the control deck and hands Ben a plastic rectanguloid, a bit bigger than a 2020's smart leaper sees the label for the Contra video game, published by Konami and ported to the NES in 1988.
"Blow into the cartridge," says the substitute observer.
"Blow into it?" asks Ben.
"Yeah, I did see one of the girls do that before," says Casey. "How could I forget. I think the cartridge is dirty so you blow the dirt out."
"I actually grew up with the Atari 2600," says Sammy Jo.
Ben looks at the cartridge and blows into it as hard as he can. He blows for maybe a quarter of a minute.
He hands it to Casey, who inserts the cartridge and presses a button on the console. Soon, the title screen for Contra replaces the blinking gray on the TV.
"You can play," says Casey, handing Ben the controller.
Soon, the familiar game music of Contra is broadcast from the Magnavox's speakers. Ben smiles as he starts controlling the character of Lance. Sammy Jo smiles too as they, and then some other girls, play the game.
"I'll see you tomorrow morning, Ben," says Sammy Jo before she leaves the Imaging Chamber. "Just help Meg with her studies."
oooooo
October 10, 1988
Ben is wearing an Alpha Omega T-shirt and shorts, having finished breakfast at the Alpha Omega kitchen. Many of the girls, including Meg, are preparing for class. After eating breakfast, the leaper heads up to Sammy Jo's room.
"You'd better grab some of the textbooks," says Sammy Jo.
Ben takes one of the textbooks. It is a hardcover. It is Advanced Computing Theory, by Hannah Carson.
"I actually met Hannah Carson," says Ben. "Changed her life."
He looks at the younger Sammy Jo in the mirror before heading out of the sorority house and to the Meeks College campus. As Ben walks along the tree-lined streets, he notices most of the other people also walking on the concrete sidewalk are people from their late teens and early twenties, most of them wearing backpacks like the leaper is.
It is not too long before Ben sees brick buildings in the distance.
"There it is," says the substitute observer. "Meeks College."
Ben crosses a street at a crosswalk along with other students and soon reaches the college campus, with concreter walkways and large trees amidst the brick buildings. Sammy Jo looks around, with decades-old memories surfacing.
She is reliving this again.
She guides the leaper along the concrete pathways of the college campus. She savors the scene, wishing she could taste and smell the air.
"Over there," says the substitute observer, pointing towards a door; many Meeks students are entering. Ben enters and sees a lecture hall with chairs set up like an auditorium.
He then takes a seat. He looks to his right and Meg takes the seat next to him.
"Hi," says the girl.
"She had this class with me Monday mornings," says Sammy Jo.
Ben, Meg, and the other students all take seats, waiting for the professor to arrive.
"There he is," says Sammy Jo. "Professor Gemcity."
A man in a tweed jacket steps to the back of the lecture hall, sitting behind a varnished wooden table. He has brown hair and a short-cropped crown beard.
"Good morning, class," says Professor Gemcity. "Happy Monday."
"Uh, happy Monday," says Ben.
And so the computer science professor starts his lecture and Sammy Jo listens carefully as do some of the students in 1988. Old memories surface, of the good times she had as a college student and sorority sister.
Ben takes an interest. While he is not as experienced in computer programming as Sammy Jo is, or Gooshie was, he had known enough to create a program that allowed him to leap through time in the first place.
At 10:15 AM, Professor Gemcity ends the lecture.
"Have I told you how great it is to be a hologram in the past?" asks Sammy Jo.
"I'm sure it Is," replies Ben even as he stands up to leave the lecture hall.
"Well, on Mondays I didn't have another class until 12:30. Tell you what, at 11:45 this time, I'll show you where us girls usually ate for lunch."
Ben smiles before leaving the lecture hall.
Oooooooo
Over an hour later, Ben leaves the library, holding Sammy Jo's purse. He had read a book on quantum physics, written in 1984 by Sam Beckett, the first leaper. He walks along the concrete pathway, passing other students.
"There they are!" exclaims Sammy Jo.
Ben looks and sees an outdoor patio section of a campus restaurant. Umbrellas stick out through holes in the circular plastic tables. Many students are sitting there for their lunch before they go to class. He approaches two tables pulled together where women in their late teens and early twenties sit, many of them sporting the Alpha Omega letters.
"Sammy Jo!" calls out one of them, a young woman with blond hair who clearly lived a privileged life.
Both Ben and Sammy Jo react.
"Lexi," says Sammy Jo. "the sorority president in the fall '88-spring '89 year." She smiles, looking at her sorority sisters as they did in 1988. "Diana! I forgot how young you looked back then!"
"I'm hungry," Ben says to Lexi and Diana and the other girls. He walks towards the door and into the interior of the restaurant. Several people line up behind the counter. As Ben glimpses at the menu hanging on the wall behind the counter, his eyes widen.
"Wow!" he exclaims. "What a low price!"
"These are 1988 prices, Ben," comments Sammy Jo, still smiling at the sight of her old college. "I must wonder what prices here are like today."
Soon, Ben reaches the front. The cashier looks as if she recognizes him- or rather, Sammy Jo Fuller circa 1988. The leaper orders a slice of pepperoni pizza and a Coke. Soon, Ben has his lunch in hand, and he heads out the door and to the tables where the Alpha Omegas are sitting. He sits down and bites into the slice, feeling the gooey mozzarella cheese in his mouth. The other girls either have pizza or sandwiches.
Sammy Jo listens in as the sorority girls- and Ben- have their conversations. Much of it is about the upcoming exams most of their teachers have scheduled.
"Oh, hi there," says Meg, joining the other ladies.
"Hi, Meg," says the dark-haired lady known as Diana.
Ben turns his head and sees Sammy Jo's roommate.
He also sees a young man with short-cropped red hair, standing about six foot two.
"Hi there," he says.
"You're Sammy Jo, isn't it?" asks the young man.
"That's what people these days call me," Ben answers truthfully.
"Yeah, from Louisiana, right?"
"Yeah, that's right," says Sammy Jo.
"Right," Ben repeats.
"I remember him. He was in ROTC, commissioned in the Army after graduation. He was dating Meg when she was expelled."
"You in ROTC?" asks the leaper.
"That's right," replies the college student. "Army ROTC. The name's Billy."
Meg puts down a tray; there is a chicken sandwich and French fries and a Coke in a tall paper cup with a plastic lid on top.
"How are things going?" asks Ben.
"Fine," replies Meg.
"You need any help with schoolwork?"
"Nah, I'm fine."
"I'm here to help if you need it," says the leaper. "there's nothing wrong with asking for help."
"We stick together," says Lexi. "We Alpha Omegas even have a few tricks up our sleeves."
"So you have a class with Sammy Jo?" asks Diana.
"It has to do with computers," answers Meg. "The professor was discussing the rise of the Internet."
"The what?"
"Internet. A network connecting computers all over the country, so you can access files on other computers across the country, send electronic mail, post messages on electronic bulletin boards."
"That makes sense," says the sorority president, having just swallowed a bite of cheese pizza. "I mean, if you're a national or international business, you would want all the computers connected so people can work together easier."
"I think the Army has something like that," says Billy. "Computers from different bases connected to each other."
The leaper sips some Coke, tasting the sweetness. "Imagine home Internet access."
"Why would anyone want that?" asks Lexi. "I mean, you'd have your work follow you home. Who'd want that? Homework's hard enough."
"Well, imagine connecting a Nintendo or Sega to the Internet and playing with someone on the other side of the country?"
"Yeah, but you'd need to make sure you're using the same cartridge," says Diana.
"Too bad you have to wait fifteen years to find out how right Ben is," says Sammy Jo.
"Excuse me," Ben says to Meg and the other ladies sitting at the tables. "I need to make a phone call."
"I wonder if Sammy Jo has a new man in her life," says Diana.
The leaper walks towards the building, where there is a public pay telephone located right by the door. Ben picks up the handset. Sammy Jo knows that a leaper is trying to talk to his hologram without sounding crazy.
"Notice something?" asks the substitute observer.
"What?" asks Ben.
"Look around."
Ben looks around as students walk around, many with plastic trays with lunch from this dining place.
"I see college kids and college buildings. It's not CalTech, but I recognize things for what they are."
"No phones!" exclaims Sammy Jo. "No one has an iPhone or an Android. In my time, I'm so used to half of the people in public looking at their phones that it's like an alien sight, like a train without tracks. Well, anyway, what do you want to tell me?"
"Meg couldn't have cheated without help," answers Ben. "Someone from the sorority must have helped her."