s2.e6

Park Day

            Warren, now the tallest in the room, and the closest person the house had to an adult, stared at Wes, who was sitting on the floral-patterned couch next to Jace. He had shown up in regular, era-appropriate clothing, marking the first time the two had seen him out of his ninja outfit. The undersized, ragged black hoodie remained around his neck, but otherwise, he fit right in as a 90s teen with his blue jeans and baggy shirt.

            He shifted in the recliner seat, and after glaring at Wes thoughtfully for another minute, finally got out what was on his mind, “As I said… unbelievable.”

            “Like you didn’t know in advance what I’d end up doing,” Wes grumbled.

            “Actually, you’re right. That’s the thing about you, though.” Warren stood up and began to pace around the living room a bit. “If I just gave you the quartz and told you to be careful with it, it took you two days to start poking at it. If I told you not to use it unless it was an emergency, you’d do it sooner, and if I really emphasized it, you did it right away. And that was… what I wanted you to do.”

            “See?” Wes threw his arms up and turned to Jace. “It was his plan all along. It’s how he works. He wanted me to turn into a kid and experience what I did, for ‘reasons.’”

            “You do like to rebel and do the opposite of what people ask sometimes, Unk.”

            “Well… so what? What lesson was I supposed to learn from this whole thing?”

            “It was an experiment,” Warren said. “Something I wanted to prove was possible. With just the right settings on an old quartz, close to breaking, when used by a time traveler that arrived without using one, and whose younger self is around…”

            “That’s a lot of things that have to be just right. Can’t say I like being a guinea pig. What the heck was the point of it, though? Did I need to learn another lesson?”

            “I’m sure there was a lesson for you somewhere, but on my end, I spent months of my time on this project and getting it to work. You aren’t the only one with a secret lab.” After Jace eyeballed Wes, Warren added, “Think of it as… something I needed to prove to myself was possible. And this was the right day to do it, so you could avoid that shady money guy. Nothing good came from you two meeting in class today; I saw it.”

            “Okay, fine, whatever,” Wes moaned. “You got to run your little experiment on me. Let’s move on and get to the part where you fix this.”

            “I’m pretty sure I can. This is the first time we’ve had this conversation, so if there’s a second time, hopefully I could say I know I can.”

            “Great. What if you don’t get a second chance? You could screw me up so bad that even your time hopping won’t undo it. Learn how to fake confidence. At least tell me your fix-it attempt is all set up already. I got adult stuff to do.”

            Warren took out the worn quartz he had given Wes before and tapped the holographic interface projected against its outermost layer.

            “We should be good. I programmed a reset fix before I gave it to you. I wasn’t going to risk messing with a fresh quartz for this little experiment, but now I’m thinking maybe… it only works on one that’s close to breaking—that might be ‘leaking.’”

            “Wait, those things can be programmed? And you know how to do that?”

            Warren looked away. “… Yeah. I mean… the things hold their computers and software inside. Any outside instruments would be affected by time changes.”

            “Fine, cool. How do we get this over with?”

            “We go somewhere else. You’ll probably reappear where you used it, meaning you’d suddenly be in this house with the young you. And… we don’t want to let out any more time bursts where you sleep, and give those cops a way to track you down.”

            “Good point. So, a public place. How about we take a bus down to the mall?”

            Warren groaned. “Urrgh…”

            “What?”

            “I really f… freaking hate malls.”

            Jace realized it really was a good idea, and replied, “It’s public, full of people, has a ton of bus times, and if that’s where Wessy comes back, he’ll be in a familiar place.”

            Warren groaned a second time, but relented with an agitated, “… Fffiiiiine…”

            They stepped off the bus and onto the mall dropoff area, which was a pretty busy place today. Warren looked up at the marquee disdainfully, but nonetheless went inside with the others. They didn’t stick around in the packed food court, instead heading down the main thoroughfare towards the shops in the back. They passed by a Magic: The Gathering card tournament on the way, where players of all ages took up over a dozen of the tables, all of them looking pretty intense. Warren grunted again.

            “You really don’t like the mall, do you?” Wes asked him.

            “I told you I didn’t. And that old lady on the bus telling me I was a ‘good big brother’ for watching over you two just made my mood worse.”

            “I dunno, that was pretty funny,” Wes said, just to tick him off further.

            “What’s an empty place we can go to, to try fixing you?” Jace asked.

            “There’s a store that sells organs—you know, the big pianos, way off in a back corner. I’ve never seen anyone in there. Warren, you said you wanted to chat?”

            “I don’t ‘chat.’ But, yeah. Jace, mind falling a little behind and not listening in?” Once Jace shrugged and did as he asked without a complaint, Warren looked at Wes and made himself sound more ominous than usual. “You can keep the quartz, and I’ll set it to a new fail-safe time, but I wasn’t lying about being careful with it.”

            “After all this, I really will be. But I’m worried what you programmed into it.”

            “This isn’t about that. When the things start wearing out, they’re easier to break. And I have some idea of what happens if they crack. I read about a ‘chronistic implosion.’ Something big, bad, and that affects every possible timeline; it can’t be reversed. So if it goes off and you’re in the blast radius, I might not be able to save you.”

            “That sounds just wonderful. Can you tell me where you read that?”

            “Nope. One more thing. We both know how the laser game really ends, and it’s not the losing or winning that matters. What does is who’s on the team, and getting that right was a mutual thing between us. But. You and me will have different ideas on what else needs ‘fixing,’ and what ‘fixing’ means in the first place for some things. I know it’ll be hard, but when we disagree, just trust me and let me do it my way. Got that?”

            Wes processed what he had just been told and took on a scowl. “You haven’t even shaved yet. What worldly knowledge do you even have? Plus, I’m fixing my life.”

            Warren reflexively felt his chin for any hairs and then scowled right back.

            “It’s not just about you. Do you think all your changes only affect your insecure self? Nah, of course you don’t. You plan ahead. You just don’t care.”

            “Not true at all, dude. I looked up my class before going back again, and me and Jace try our hardest at not ruining their lives. We even helped a few of them.”

            “Suuure. But what about everyone else? You ever stop and think that you’re knocking down dominoes and messing with people you haven’t even met?”

            “So now I’m some bull in a china shop. I like you better when you’re broody and dressed in your PJs. I’m careful and stay out of the way as much as possible. And don’t give me that ‘you don’t care about anyone’ crap. I just saved Ash back on Sunday.”

            Warren stared at him. “… Arthur’s sister? What do you mean you… saved her?”

            “Wait, you don’t know about that? Don’t make me talk about it, man…”

            “Hm…” Warren thought for a moment as they arrived at the organ store. “I’ll be just around in the corner in case anything goes wrong. Jace,” he turned to him, “when he activates the quartz, he’ll probably need a second to ‘wake up.’ Make sure to grab it from him, and get him home. His big dumb adult self should just re-appear at the house.”

            Wes grumbled. “I’ll call you if it worked. But don’t be surprised if it doesn’t.”

            They confirmed the plan, and once Warren was hiding near the mall’s rarely-used rear exit, Wes stood by the store’s window to make sure no one else was around. The one elderly employee inside the place was still busy reading her murder mystery novel.

            “Here goes nothing,” Wes said. “Wessy… you better come back.”

            With a deep breath, he squeezed the quartz tightly. It let out a little electrical whine and a burst of pinkish light… And that was it. Wes’ eyes grew still and lifeless for a second, and his palms opened. Jace caught the quartz before it hit the floor and pocketed it, and after a few physical tics, Wessy came to, in a heavy daze.

            He murmured, “Wha… Jace… son? Jason? Mm… Mall…?” He circled around and looked into the store. “Where is everyone? Why are we at the weird piano place?”

            “H-hey, Wes. You’ve been acting weird the last couple days. You feeling okay?”

            “Geez… It’s all a blur. Feel funky… What time is it? Ah, man! I gotta get home.”

            Jace heard his phone ring, but ignored it for now to tend to the kid version of the caller. Wessy still looked out of it on the bus ride back, and even ended up falling asleep in his seat. As annoying as his young uncle could be, Jace hoped he’d be all right.

            Adult Wes wasn’t much better off. After dinner, he collapsed on the sofa and fell into a deep slumber, leaving Jace to PC game until midnight. Wes was still asleep the next morning, but Jace figured that he’d want him to keep an eye on Wessy at school.

            Recess was calmer, and a little more normal that Tuesday. Under a gray sky and with temps in the 70s, most of the gang chose to laze about on the playground fort and talk every now and then about strategy. Wessy, who Jace stuck close to, was sleepy and didn’t say much. Down below and throughout the playground, kids were busy fixing friendships or at the very least, just chilling and avoiding instigating any more conflicts.

            “Hey, guys—look at that,” Zach suddenly spoke up and pointed something out after pushing his shades down. “Never thought I’d see Wright back to his old ways.”

            Wright was down by the trees, entertaining a group of fifth-graders by shoving Pop Rocks in his mouth and following up by spraying in a can of Easy Cheese. The other kids looked disgusted, except for one who handed over a dollar bill.

            “Oh, gross,” Sadie grumbled. “I thought he gave that up.”

            “He always liked a good dare,” Jared said. “But I never expected him to go back to that kinda kiddy stuff. Hey, Arty—is your dad still letting us into the park Saturday?”

            “Yeah, we’re good,” he replied. “Just as long as we’re there to plan. No rides.”

            Park, the kid, came over with his opened backpack after scoring a sale nearby. Whatever he was hawking today was drawing a crowd, and paper bills were being scrounged for by kids from all classes and exchanged for gray cartridges.

            “Looks like Park is selling some real merch for a change,” Colin observed.

            “Nintendo games!” Park called out. “I’m talking NES, classics from the golden age of gaming. Five to fifteen a pop. I got River City Ransom, Bad Dudes, Super Mario 2. Come over and check ‘em out. Play them with your older siblings, they’ll love it.”

            Zach stood up and shouted down. “Hey, Park! Where’d you get the carts?”

            “Got a good deal on someone else’s collection! They didn’t know how much they were worth. I’m going dirt cheap on some of them and still making a profit!”

            Colin opened up his Velcro wallet, peeked inside, and took the slide down to get a look at Park’s wares. The others remained a little dubious.

            “Ah, I dunno,” Arthur said as more kids gathered to look in Park’s pack. “Yeah, they’re classics, but I’m not sure if I could go back to the 8-bit days.”

            After Brian walked away a satisfied customer with three games, Colin took his turn, pulling out classics one at a time and checking out the condition of their cover art.

            “Screw it, I’m gonna go take a look,” Zach said and got ready to jump off the side. “Might not be a bunch of bootlegs. You want in on this, Wes?”

            He shook his head. “I’m really tired. Dad says that’s a bad time to spend money.”

            Zach shrugged and headed over, at which point Ash made her way up to the fort to hang out near Sadie. She still seemed pensive and mildly disturbed, just as she had been the rest of the school day. After a few seconds, she let out an angry sigh.

            “Seriously, last chance,” she told the others. “Who put that freaky note in my backpack, trying to scare me? I know it was one of you—you did it back when you all met to make your plans or whatever. Don’t think I can’t get Millie to compare your hand writing. ‘Don’t drive on April 7^th 2003 no matter what’? That isn’t funny.”

            “We told you, none of us did that,” Jared argued back.

            “Was it you, Wes?” she accused him. “The handwriting did sorta look like yours.”

            He moaned. “I barely remember Sunday. But ask Sadie—I wouldn’t do that.”

            “Yeah, not his type of prank,” Sadie told her.

            “It better not’ve been you, Jason,” Ash said, making him blush uncomfortably. “You gave a good speech yesterday, but it wouldn’t make up for this kind of joke.”

            “I don’t think he’s into that, either.” Sadie turned to him and looked devious. “Nah, Jason likes to call up arachnophobes and joke about spider infestations.”

            Worried that Sadie really would get him back some day, Jace shrunk into a defensive ball—while still paying close attention to the ongoing conversation.

            “What’s the big deal?” Jared asked. “Your dad probably did it. Just don’t drive then… if you even have a car.” He laughed, and she frowned at him. “Problem solved.”

            “You guys can be real jerks sometimes,” she groaned and left the fort.

            Colin, who had been scared earlier by Ash’s ongoing angry search, waited until she was gone before he rejoined them upstairs—with a copy of Punch-Out! in his hands.

            “Look, guys! I think it’s legit!” He exclaimed. “I kinda grew up with this game! Played it with my dad all the time… But we only ever got to rent it. Ten bucks! Crazy!”

            Jared replied, “I got a five on me… Maybe I’ll take a look…”

            “Yeah, Park’s back in the zone. But, hm… I wonder who had this collection?”

            Spice’s mom was gorgeous and looked like Selma Hayek, but her youthful looks weren’t enough to hold the boys’ attention once she started talking about her career.

            “It may not be my dream job, becoming a true fashionista, but the Desert Sun is Royal Valley’s signature theater, and it’s up to me to design the actors’ costumes. What would a play be without the proper clothing to put the audience in a time and place?”

            “Mama, we’re five minutes over,” Spice said once she was able to get a word in.

            “Oh? Sorry, I do sometimes ramble on, don’t I? But, oh, all those stories of my travels across Europe with your father when we were younger… That reminds me…”

            Ms. Porter interrupted, “Mrs. Estero, you’ve been a great guest, but we do have to move onto another parent. Thank you for coming in.”

            “Yes, yes. I’ll just end it by saying, all of you look very up to date on your own fashion choices! It’s a good thing to wear your personalities on the outside. Although, you, niña,” she looked at Delilah, “I may have a few tips to liven up your wardrobe.”

            Indignant that she had now been singled out by Spice’s mother, Delilah threw her hands in the air in frustration and glared at Spice, who nervously grinned back.

            “All right, let’s see…” Ms. Porter looked around the room. “Oh, Jason. I hope your dad is feeling better. Is he here today?”

            He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go get him.”

            Jace left his seat and went out into the hall, where Wes was waiting against the wall, arms crossed and eyes closed as he tried to stay awake. He was wearing sunglasses, which only added to the hung-over look he was sporting.

            “Wes, you’re up,” Jace told him. “Are you going to make it?”

            He yawned. “Yeah, I guess so. How’s my younger self?”

            “Sleepy all day, too. I don’t think he’s going to see you and think you’re his older self, visiting the class or something, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

            “Before I forget—was today the day Park sold a bunch of old video games?”

            “Y-yeah… That totally did happen. He sold a ton. He’s probably rich now.”

            “Thought so. He might forget or not want to if he’s messed up, but he’s supposed to go to Vanni’s after school. Give him a push if you need to, and go with him.”

            “Hm, okay. Got it. I remember you telling me the Vanni visits are important.”

            “They are. You’ll see.” He pushed himself off the wall. “Let’s get this over with.”

            Following Jace, Wes went waltzing into the classroom like he owned it, shades still on his face. Had he not just visited the day before, he would’ve no doubt looked at it and the students more nostalgically, but today he really did just want to get through it and take a nap. But he didn’t let that take away his swagger, bolstered by his ‘disguise.’

            “Hey, little dudes, what’s up?” he asked, pointing to random kids as he walked up to the front. “You all having a good day? As good as you can at school? Keepin’ it real?”

            “Um, Ms. Porter?” Wright spoke up. “Why does he get to wear his suns inside? Does that mean I can wear mine, or… is that just an adult thing?”

            “No—no, don’t let him get away with that,” Wes said to the teacher before she could answer. “I just had an eye doctor appointment. My pupils are all big. The lights will be too bright for me. Wright, don’t wear shades in class.”

            Wright looked a little surprised, and a little weirded out. “You know my name?”

            “Oh, I know all of your names. Jason talks all about you guys.”

            Wes grinned and looked over towards Millie, who winced and gave him a “maybe dial it down a bit” hand gesture. Wes grabbed a kid-sized chair at the front, flipped it around, and sunk into it. Leaning over the back, he suddenly felt tired again and with a groan, slumped over it for a moment before forcing himself back awake.

            “He’s kinda like… a grown-up version of Zach,” Jared commented to his group.

            “So, ah, Mr. Deckard,” Ms. Porter said a little bit nervously. “What do you do?”

            “Mm… Oh!” Wes shook himself to further wake up. “I do IT work. You know, solve computer problems. Other people’s… computer problems.”

            With this revelation, Colin, December, and Robby all perked up a little.

            “Dressed like that?” December asked him. “And you act so… ‘cool.’ Sort of.”

            “Yeah,” Robby added. “Normally you’d just get called a computer nerd with a job like that. Everyone just wants to go into sports, or be a spy or something.”

            “Hey, don’t let others try to get you down with ‘geek’ and ‘nerd’ talk. I don’t consider myself one, but there’s nothing wrong with actually being one, either. There’s good money in it, and you get paid for doing simple things others think are hard.”

            “And what do you do when you’re not working?” Ms. Porter wondered.

            “Well, I plan for the future. And play video games.”

            “W-what k-kind of video g-games?” Brian asked excitedly.

            “All of ‘em. I keep up to date on all the biggest hits. Brian, right? Hey, I think you’ll like Kirby Superstar and Super Mario RPG. They come out this year.”

            “W-what a cool adult…” Brian murmured.

            To Wes’ surprise, his younger self raised his hand and asked, “What made you decide to do computer stuff? That’s not the kind of job kids think about doing…”

            The adult Wes took a good ten seconds to think carefully about how to respond, what with this being his first actual interaction with himself. “Um, well… What do you want to do right now? What do you see yourself doing?”

            Wessy shrugged. “Making video games would be pretty cool.”

            “Oh, yeah? What part of making them? Like, the art, or the coding, or the story?”

            “I dunno. I was thinking, maybe I’d make a game where you just have a team of your friends and you go around a neighborhood playing, like, with water guns or something. Brian over there is pretty good at the art stuff… I just have the ideas.”

            Felicity tried to bring him down, “No one would want to play a game like that.”

            “Now, hold on,” Wes said defensively. “I happen to believe you can make any concept or story into an interesting film or game, if you put your heart into it. Wes, my guy, don’t give up on your dreams. Find a way. Even if… you have to work with people who have different ideas,” he finished, knowing he might be in risky paradox territory.

            “Wow. T-thanks… My dad just laughs when I tell him what I wanna do…”

            “And, Jason, what do you two do when you aren’t gaming?” Ms. Porter asked.

            “We like to… explore the city,” Jason replied. “You know, see the sights… And we watch a lot of TV and go to movies and King Arcade, of course.”

            “Well! It sounds like you both have a lot of fun and keep busy. I know finding a free day for that quality time can be a challenge when… Oh, maybe I shouldn’t…”

            “It’s all right,” Wes said, and pushed his glasses down some so she could see his eyes.  “Nah, you make a good point. Being a single parent can be tough.”

            She smiled back. “Ah, yes, it must be. I can only imagine, of course.”

            Jace looked back and forth between the two of them as they smiled stupidly at each another, which the other students didn’t seem to pick up on. Once they had done it for one second longer than they should have, he felt a pit in his stomach.

            Oh, no… he thought to himself and grimaced. Oh, crap.

            “You don’t have to come with me, you know,” Wessy told Jace after they had gotten off the bus and separated from the others. “It’s a walk, and I don’t even know if I’m gonna buy anything. I only just got my allowance… I like to keep it for a while.”

            “Maybe I want to see what she has for sale, too.”

            “Vanni isn’t, like… my girlfriend or something. I still don’t really like teenagers.”

            “Didn’t say she was. And I won’t tell anyone you’re hanging out with her.”

            “I’m not hanging out! I just… ran into her at the arcade the other day, and she told me she was selling off a bunch of old games. Park was unloading some today, but I’m really only after Super Nintendo carts right now. A lot of kids are getting rid of them so they can afford the Nintendo 64 or Playstation games. But I still like ‘em.”

            “Well, yeah… They’re not all suddenly bad or something. I bet people will still be playing them thirty years from now. Just, uh, maybe in ‘retro’ ways on new consoles.”

            Wessy stared at him for a moment as they walked. “You have some funny ideas sometimes, Jace. Bet you get it from your dad. He seems pretty cool.”

            “That’s what he’s always telling me.”

            When they arrived at the place, Wessy looked relieved to see the garage door already open and Vanni playing her drums again, as it meant he wouldn’t have to feel awkward knocking on the front door. Instead, he just walked right up and waved.

            “Yo,” she called out and stopped her beats. “You came after all. Sorry, but you’re too late. A bunch of your friends came over and cleaned me out.”

            “I’m… pretty sure you’re joking.”

            “Yeah. Get in here, I’ll show you what I got.”

            “I don’t think I’d ever sell my video games,” Wessy said as he and Jace followed her into the house just like before, hitting the kitchen first where she grabbed a Sprite for herself—and offered the boys one as well, which they declined. “I like my collection too much. All those characters are like old friends of mine.”

            “Okay, sure, I get that. But I’m selling stuff I haven’t played in over a year. See, to me, the memories I got playin’ them, and the times I shared with my friends who watched me play, or whose ass I kicked in two-player, or heard about all the fake cheat codes and secrets that got spread around… Those are the things that’ll stick around.”

            “I have those memories, too… But I still want to keep my games.”

            “I’m not ragging on ya. You gotta do you,” Vanni said as they went into the living room, still packed with shelves full of games and movies. “Just saying, don’t be afraid to get rid of material possessions. The memories are more valuable than the plastic and circuit boards. Anyway. If we don’t touch a game for more than a year, we put ‘em in these drawers,” she explained and knelt down to open one of them.

            The sets of drawers were lined up below the shelves, and inside each was enough room to cram together a hundred Super Nintendo cartridges. They were stored upright and had no identifying writing, so Wes pried a few out with his fingers to get a sample of what was up for sale. His allowance suddenly started burning a hole in his pocket.

            “Hm… Zoop… Lufia… Rocko’s Modern Life, the game… Equinox… Man, you got some offbeat stuff in here. I used to rent a lot of these. What else you got?”

            Vanni scooted over to the drawer on the left and replied, “If you’re into the older stuff, there are NES ones in here. More of the classics.”

            She opened it just a little before stopping, upon hearing the sound of cartridges rattling around; they weren’t tightly packed like the other cabinet. She then tore it open and revealed a sizeable gap in the collection, which took her by surprise.

            “Son of a bitch…” she grumbled angrily.

            “What’s wrong?” Wes asked.

            She closed the drawer and stood up. “Sorry, you guys. I’ll still sell to you, but you’re going to have to wait until I figure this out. Maybe come back tomorrow.”

            “W-what happened? Did you get robbed? Did someone steal a bunch of games?”

            She crossed her arms and shook her head. “Something like that.”

            “Jason, you don’t think, like…” Wes didn’t want to say it as they left the house and headed down the street. “Park isn’t a thief, right? Not our Park…”

            “I don’t think he broke into the house or something.” Jace thought. “But maybe there’s… just a little bit of a chance he resold stolen games he bought for cheap?”

            “What should we do? He could get sent away for that! Like Ol’ Charlie.”

            “I wouldn’t go around starting rumors, or accuse him of something. Tomorrow, we should just ask him, straight up, where he got them. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

            “He wouldn’t sell stolen stuff. Park didn’t… go bad,” Wes tried to assure himself.

            The next morning, Jace and Wessy had a chance to confront Park as soon as they got to school. His backpack still bulging from the NES carts packed inside, the school merchant was chatting with customers from other classes outside the big double doors.

            “Park!” Wessy called out to him as they approached. “Hey, real talk for a sec?”

            The walking video game store looked over, finished his conversation, and waved off his other buddies. Once they were inside, Park turned to the two of them.

            “Hey, Wes. Sorry, no refunds if that’s what you’re after. Or… if you want to buy games, you gotta wait until recess. You know how it goes.”

            “N-no. We need to tell you something—you gotta stop selling those right away.”

            “Huh? Why? Are they all bootlegs? Zach sounded worried about that…”

            “No, worse. I won’t tell anyone else, but you gotta be honest with me. I can help you out of this. Or Jason can… He’s good at helping.”

            “What are you talking about, man?”

            “Wes, hold on,” Jace stopped him. “Park, there’s no way you broke into a house and stole those—I know that’s what he’s about to ask you, but still…”

            Park looked at Wessy incredulously. “Seriously? Why would I do that? We aren’t all going to end up like Charlie. I bought them from some shady-looking teenager.”

            Wessy replied, “I figured it was something like that instead. But they are stolen.”

            “Are you joking?” Park waited for their serious expressions to change, and once he knew they wouldn’t, he began to freak out—in a subtle way, without attracting the attention of all the nearby students. “Ah… Oh, man… I’m selling hot merch? I swear, I’ve never done that before. I just… blew all my earnings I had saved up on those games, thinking I could double the year’s revenue. I knew the deal was too good to be true…”

            “Shady-looking teen…” Wessy muttered to Jace. “Think it was that Terror kid?”

            “H-hey, I’ll try to think of a way to fix this before it ruins my rep. Just don’t tell anyone else. If my dad finds out, I’ll be grounded for, like, at least a month.”

            Wessy raised his hand and swore, “We haven’t told anyone, and we won’t.”

            Park groaned. “This is just like when Doug buys one of those comics that dude stole from the mall’s comic book store. I never liked that episode. Too real.”

            “Welp, if he could fix his mistake, so can you. You got this, man!”

            Not one to share in Wessy’s enthusiasm, Park just grumbled as he headed in.

            “Park’s a fence?” Wes replied to Jace’s inquiry after their TV dinner on the couch that night. “Now that you mention it, I do kinda remember that about the games, yeah.”

            “So, what ends up happening to him?”

            “Let me think. My mind’s been stuck on the laser tag game for a while… Um, all right, I think his dad gets suspicious and busts him, and he stops selling stuff for the rest of the year. But then in middle school, he starts selling test answers instead.”

            “Then he really does ‘go bad’ because of this whole thing. He doesn’t deserve that. Maybe I can fix this, like how I helped Felicity.”

            “If you want to take a stab at it and maybe do some detective work. But we never really thought that he didn’t do it. Seemed pretty open and shut to us. In this case, it’d be like trying to help Felicity after she already burned down an orphanage.” After an old episode of Home Improvement switched over to a commercial, Wes muted the TV and changed the subject to one more important. “I’ve been meaning to tell you one last thing about the laser tag game. Play hard and last as long as you can to make everyone as happy as possible, but you should know… It probably won’t have a winner.”

            Jace poked at his still-hot Kid Cuisine brownie and asked, “What do you mean?”

            Wes swapped his empty dinner tray for his iPad, which had been charging at the couch’s side table. He unlocked it, dug through his archives, and pulled up some images from a private picture folder. He leaned over to Jace and flipped through a few of them.

            One showed downtown Royal Valley and several of its towers at dusk. It took Jace a second to realize that none of the buildings’ lights were on. Another shot, taken with a flash in a dark dining room at Wessy’s house, had him eating macaroni and cheese by candlelight. The final of the three images was a scan of a Royal Valley Herald headline. Above a photo of police officers directing traffic at an intersection were the words “BLACKOUT CRIPPLES ROYAL VALLEY”.  

            “A blackout…” Jace mumbled. “Wait, you and Mom used to tell me stories about this. But I had no idea, or maybe forgot… when it happened exactly.”

            Wes returned the iPad to the table. “If you want to get exact, this city will lose power at 6:21 PM on Valentine’s Day. I could never forget that. We were out of the game by that point, but it happened nine minutes before it ended. That’s why the first laser tag tourney has no official victors. Have to wait for 1997’s match for that.”

            “Is that why you told me that it didn’t matter if we win or not? How long does this blackout last? And, uh, what causes it?”

            “It’s never found out for sure. Some will think that a fault in King Arcade’s grid fried the rest of the city for about five days, aside from a few places with generators. We can’t really prevent it, or should try to. History just needs to play out for this one.”

            “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

            “No need to? Better to just focus on the game and getting the team together up to this point. At the same time, I didn’t want to send you into the tourney blind so you get surprised by what happens. You can still play for about fifty minutes, if you last that long, so… try to have fun and do your best. And this goes without saying, but don’t act weird or anxious and make the others wonder what you’re thinking. Just let it happen.”

            “Hey, where will you be during the game? What if I need to call you?”

            “You can’t bring your cell to the tourney, but if anything bad goes down, call me on a park payphone. I’ll come to the rescue if I really need to, but… I have plans.”

            “You have… plans. On Valentine’s Day.” Jace blinked as his uncle stared at him. “Wes, you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t. You didn’t do something that stupid. Right?”

            “… She asked me. What was I supposed to say?”

            “That is wrong on so many levels. You’re having a date with my… your… our teacher. Ugh! Gross. Gross! What are you going to do next? Pull a Back to the Future III on me? You’re gonna… send me home, then come back with your time machine train and married to the teacher… Holy crap, Unk. What happened to being careful?”

            “I know!” Wes exclaimed, surprising Jace by seemingly admitting a mistake. “It just happened, and it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date at all, and she always seemed lonely, like her students were all she had, and… Yes. It’s screwed up. But for all I know, maybe she originally had a Valentine’s date anyway and it turned out badly.”

            “So now you’re saying… it’s time to ‘help’ Ms. Porter.”

            “Maybe you could think of it that way. Hey, look, we’re meeting for dinner. I’m sure we’ll split the check, chat a bit, and then go our separate ways. I have no idea what she sees in me. But I’m sure she wouldn’t mind sharing time with a fellow adult.”

            Jace grabbed the remote and turned the TV volume back up. “Whatever, weirdo.” But, upon seeing that Wes was pensive, he added, “… Be nice to her.”

            On Saturday, after many other parental visits at school, the gang gathered at the staff entrance for King Arcade—a place very few kids would ever get to see. Zach, who had come to fancy himself as something of the team’s captain despite not actually participating, brought with him a park map and a pencil to scribble down notes and strategy with. Right at the scheduled time of noon, Arthur’s dad opened the door.

            “Hey, kids! Come on in. But don’t touch anything. And wear these,” he said and handed out special blue visitor passes to hang around their necks. “And no rides. You aren’t the only ones here making tournament plans, but the others all still paid.”

            “Thanks, pops,” Arthur replied and grabbed his pass. “How’s work today?”

            “Busy. They got me calibrating dozens of laser sets. I feel overqualified.”

            Unlike Disney World, King Arcade couldn’t afford all the underground tunnels and other magical methods to turn the park into a seamless fantasy realm of mascots coming and going without the guests knowing. Instead, the staff had to rely on what was little more than a back alley of garages, repair shops, basic employee break areas, and costume storage buildings. Guided by Mr. Teller, the kids passed through a shanty town built around a gravel road. A Tude the Squirrel mascot came in and removed his head to reveal his actual, sweaty human one. A college student working his day job then set out to take his place. Metal workers grinded away on machine parts, painters and carpenters created new props or replaced broken ones, and an Insectus mascot puffed a cigarette.

            “So this is how you keep a theme park running…” Celeste commented.

            “It’s kinda… making the park feel less amazing somehow,” Colin added.

            “Nah, I like seeing the human element,” Zach replied. “You like magic tricks, right, C? It’s one thing to see ‘em, but I’m more interested in how they pull them off.”

            “It’s not magic,” Mr. Teller told them. “Just… a lot of man hours. And contract negotiations, and ordering replacement parts, and overtime. We’re… understaffed.”

            “I could work here,” Jared offered.

            “Maybe when you’re older,” Mr. Teller said with a laugh. He stopped at the exit near his personal workshop, its garage door open so they could see his workbench and the photo of the twins on the corkboard above it. “Your friends have one hour, Art.”

            “Or you send the park police after us?”

            “… Yes,” he said flatly and pushed opened the door for them. “Now shoo.”

            They came out near the Ghosts and Freaks haunted castle, and Arthur set his watch to go off in fifty minutes. The park was at its typical capacity and fairly busy, but it wasn’t so crowded that the group couldn’t get a good idea of what the space would look like when it was much emptier during the match. Knowing that hiding places and ambush points would be paramount, Zach and Colin worked together to mark points of interest on the map and jot down possible bottlenecks and strongholds.

            “Hey, Zach, how many games did you buy again? From Park?” Jared asked.

            “Uh, three, dude. Just some stuff I haven’t played, that had cool cover art.”

            They hit the mini-town next, where workers were putting up shiny space-themed decorations for the upcoming game. As they walked, they spotted Wright and Robby across the street, next to some of the for-show storefronts. They were with three kids from their part of the neighborhood. The teams waved at each other and kept going.

            “Looks like they had the same idea,” Arthur surmised. “You guys remember how this works, right? Did you read the rules? They eliminate parts of the park from the arena with a one-minute warning. If you’re still in that section when it ‘collapses,’ you’re instantly eliminated. This fantasy town place in the park’s center is gonna be the last arena. If we last that long. Bet things will get crazy once the game field is that small…”

            Jace couldn’t help but feel that such a concept was somehow familiar to him.

            “Yeah, yeah, we all read all about it,” Jared said, and then went back to what he had brought up. “I’m trying to say, I got a close look at what Park was selling, and I gotta wonder where he got all those games and why he has them. He’s a Sega kid.”

            “He said he bought someone’s collection, remember?” Sadie replied.

            “C’mon, do you really buy that? He could’a spent over three hundred bucks on all those, even if he did get them ‘for cheap.’ What kind of kid saves up that much?”

            “Bet Wes could, with the allowance his dad gives him,” Zach said.

            “Hey… It’s not that much…” Wessy weakly argued back. “Why are we talking about this stuff? We should be focusing on the park, not Park.”

            “He stole ‘em,” Celeste suddenly said. Once everyone had stopped and turned to her, she elaborated, “Yeah. I’ve seen this before, at Sherman. A girl came to school and sold her dad’s movie collection, all in one day, for a buck each. Said he wanted to get rid of it. But she was actually just mad that he grounded her. That made it stealing.”

            Once the screams from the Red Demon riders hitting a loop faded, Jared said with wide eyes, “Whoa. Park’s hardcore. I think he one-upped Charlie by doing that.”

            “But if he’s in a Sega family, then he probably didn’t take them from his dad,” Colin added. “You think he broke into someone’s house and made out like a bandit?”

            “He would be a bandit,” Zach said. “Maybe his dad’s shop has break-in tools.”

            “Better not piss him off.” Jared laughed. “He might break into our houses next.”

            At this point, Jace was about to step in, but Wessy beat him to it. “You guys! Park isn’t going to break into our homes. Don’t tell anyone that at school. He just… made a mistake. He bought those games from someone else that did all the stealing.”

            “… Ooo-ooh,” Colin said. “Like in that one Doug episode.”

            “Hmph,” Celeste sighed. “That isn’t very dramatic.”

            They resumed their journey, and Colin and Zach got back to their notes, their scribbling the only sound among the group for a few minutes. The two seemed glad that the whole Park-the-thief conversation was over and that they could focus on the task at hand, but then they were taken a bit by surprise when they saw that the Flower Power spinning teacups had been replaced with a big whack-a-mole game for little kids.

            “The heck is this?” Sadie wondered as they watched a few younger, bored children step on moles as they popped out of a holey platform. “'Vermin!!!’… With three exclamation points. When did they replace the cups with something even lamer?”

            “This opened up about a week ago,” Arthur replied. “Dad isn’t sure why, either.”

            “Hey!” a familiar voice called out. “You kiddies gonna squish some dirt rats?”

            They turned to see Gavin walking past Mascot Meetup, where Niegh the Knight was entertaining some tykes. In his company were Stu, Dierdre, Janice, and The Terror, who was trying his hardest to look overly friendly again.

            “Figured you’d be here, too,” Wessy greeted him. “This your team?”

            The seventh-graders came over to them, looking confident with their crossed arms, their gum-chewing, and their expensive shoes.

            “You know it,” Gavin replied. “We can’t miss the chance to be in the tourney.”

            “Yeah, because you guys must be at the age cut-off of this thing,” Sadie replied. “You trying to make yourselves feel superior by beating a bunch of little kids?”

            “No,” Janice scoffed. “We just want to show them how it’s done.”

            The two teams stared each other down for nearly half a minute—but Jace only looked at Wessy, waiting for him to ask a simple, obvious question. To his disbelief, he never even brought it up, when this was the perfect chance to actually investigate on behalf of a reliable school chum that he had known for years.

            “Well, we gotta get back to making the ultimate strategy,” Wessy finally said once he felt satisfied by the stare-down. “We got in for free, by the way. Connections.”

            “Yeah, whatever. We’ll get our money back with that $500 cash prize. Later.”

            Gavin and Wessy pointed finger guns at each other, and the two teams began to walk away. But Jace wasn’t about to squander the opportunity.  

            “H-hey, Gavin!” Jace called out to him. “Did you really get robbed?”

            “Huh?” He turned back around. “What are you… Oh.” He laughed and snorted. “Were you trying to buy some old games? Is that what Vanni told you? Ah… Um, no. I got rid of some of my old games. She thinks there’s like, a system, or something? But the carts are just mixed together. I have a list of what games are mine. She was all freaked.”

            “So… She just assumed… No, we assumed that they were stolen.”

            “What? No, man. I sold them all to some Korean kid. Little dude was loaded.”

            “He’s half Korean, actually,” Colin replied and nudged his glasses. “Wes, you really thought Park bought stolen games? I hope you didn’t make him think that.”

            “I mean, I didn’t think about actually… asking Gavin,” Wessy admitted.

            “We need to tell him, Wes,” Jace said. “As soon as we’re done here, we fix this.”

            “Ah…” he sighed after Gavin’s team left. “I hate admitting I’m… Ugh. Wrong.”

            “Hey, it happens,” Colin replied. “He’s usually at his dad’s shop on Saturdays.”

            “And I thought he went hardcore,” Jared told Zach. “Would’a been cool, huh?”

            Zach grumbled, “What would be cool… is if we could get back to planning.”

            Park’s family’s shop, Royal Valley Printing, resided in an old brick building on the corner of the older, quieter part of downtown, at the end of Main Street. Jace was pretty sure that by 2020, it had become a vape shop. For now, it was a place packed full of all manner of media equipment, including three big printers, transfer material, and frames.

            And he still felt ashamed that it was as if he were dragging young Wes out here to do something he should have done in the original timeline.

            “It’s really not a big deal,” Wessy said as Jace pushed on the door and the store bell rattled. “I can just tell him at school Monday, first thing—”

            “No,” Jace said emphatically. “You’ll ruin the rest of his weekend if you wait. You owe him. We go in, explain everything, and then get on the next bus home.”

            After a groan, Wessy agreed and followed Jace in. Mr. Myong was in the back, near shelves full of ink cartridges, watching a red and yellow banner print out. It looked like it was for Video Klub, and he clearly shook his head as the ‘K’ began to emerge.

            “Min!” he called out. “Customer!”

            Park’s eldest sister, a nineteen-year-old local college student who looked bored out of her mind, exhaled sharply, closed her homework book, and got up from her chair behind the counter as Wes and Jace approached. She eyed the two rather coldly.

            “You kids looking for some cool t-shirts or something else no one picked up?”

            “No…” Wessy replied. “Wait, that happens? Do you got any shirts with sharks?”

            Jace jumped in, “We’re looking for Park. Is he here?”

            “Oh. You know he doesn’t do refunds, or sell off the playground, right?” She mumbled, “All his little school buddies, always coming here looking for him…”

            “We just need a quick talk,” Wessy assured her.

            “Uh-huh. He’s kinda pissy today. But he’s in the back,” she said and pointed to one of the store’s corners. “The old supply closet. Sort of his hangout here.”

            Wessy and Jace proceeded to the rear of the store, past more shelves of print supplies and unclaimed merchandise. Tucked away was the closet, its door nowhere to be seen. Inside of the little windowless room was Park, sitting cross-legged and slumped over on a beanbag chair, his hoodie up and pulled in more tightly than usual. His space cramped, he was surrounded by Sega posters and two shelves full of odds and ends as he played his favorite game console and drowned out the rest of the world.

            Once they were closer, they saw that Park was playing the sci-fi RPG, Phantasy Star IV, and that the shelves were a veritable museum of their years spent at Desert Tree Elementary. Goods were organized by year and item, and many had several duplicates: Power Rangers toys from 1994; a few Talkboys from 1993; Troll dolls from 1992; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures from 1991 and 1990. Along with all sorts of commonplace essentials like pencils and notebooks in uncommon colors, slap bracelets, and stickers.

            They couldn’t tell whether the stuff was surplus merch that he couldn’t sell or was waiting to come back in vogue by nostalgic students, or things he just wanted to keep for sentimental reasons. Even Wessy seemed a bit surprised by the inventory.

            “I never knew he took this so seriously,” he whispered to Jace. “He’s a real businessman, huh? I remember buying some of these things from him over the years.”

            “Was a businessman,” Park corrected, without turning around. “I’m done with all that. I’ll be announcing my retirement from mercantilism at school on Monday. Thank you for all your patronage.” He muttered, “And I never sold hot goods until last week…”

            “Mercan… til… What?” Wessy said with a sigh. “C’mon, don’t be so dramatic.”

            Park finished a battle in his game and looked back without leaving his big bean bag. “All the stuff I’ve sold to so many kids over the years, and this is what takes me down.” He pointed to the stack of his remaining NES carts. “I don’t even know what to do with the rest of them. I’ll never try to get my money back, that’s for sure.”

            “You have something of a… what was it?” Jace thought aloud. “A moral code?”

            “Yeah, well, my dad drilled that into me. So, why are you both here? You want to squeeze in and do some two-player? Who knows when I’ll get to game again once my dad finds out. I… I better just tell him already… I can’t take this pressure.”

            “Hey, um…” Wessy took a deep breath. “I… screwed up. You didn’t actually do anything wrong. That shady teenager was Gavin. He might’ve sold a bunch of his sister’s games without asking or something, but we know him—we can help you sell them back if you really want to. S-sorry… It was all just, ya know, a misunderstanding.”

            Park took a moment to process this, perked up some, and got to his feet.

            “Thanks… for telling me that.” He breathed out in relief. “Ah… I was seriously so disappointed in myself. I get my stock from all kinds of sources—and I was always proud that I kept my business clean and made it all work… you know?”

            “It can’t be easy running a business as a kid, when adults would never take you seriously,” Jace replied, and looked at all the items again. “But you’ve done it for years.”

            “I guess I never really thought about it like that,” Wessy said. “But you should thank Jason for figuring this out. I never would’ve… asked the right questions.”

            Park smiled, pulled down his hoodie, and replied, “Problem-solving is kinda what he’s getting known for. So… you wanna hang out for a bit? I don’t get many visitors.”

            “I’m sorry if I made it sound like I was robbed,” Vanni told the boys shortly after they made a stop at her house on the way home. “But Gavin here, bonehead that he is sometimes, didn’t even tell me he was selling any of… apparently, his games.”

            “I can do what I want with my stuff,” he argued, passing on by to his room with a soda in one hand. “Geez. I didn’t even think you’d notice.”

            “It’s okay,” Jace replied. “We got it worked out with our friend.”

            “Well. Let’s get back to it,” Vanni said and opened up the Super Nintendo drawer with her foot. “I’m not mass-selling these for cheap like he did. Just ask me what you’re looking for and I’ll give you a price. I need money for a new snare.”

            “I’ll just take a look at what you got, if that’s okay…” Wessy asked.

            “Go for it,” Vanni replied and grabbed a note Jace had held up. “What’s this?”

            “A list of games my dad was wondering about,” he answered, keeping out the fact that they would be rare, valuable titles by 2020. “Do you have any of these?”

            “Hm. Some of these are really popular or highly rated. And Demon’s Crest… Pocky & Rocky 2… You got limited run, obscure stuff here, too. Your dad must be a collector. All right. I’ll see what I got on this list, but it’ll cost you. How much you got?”

            Without letting Wessy, who was on the floor digging through carts, see, Jace took out a wad of five $20 bills and showed it to Vanni. She seemed a little surprised.

            “Big spender,” she remarked, and noticed that Wessy needed some time. “Yeah, my dad—he married Gav’s mom—he’s been buying up games since the Atari 2600-Intellivision days. He basically raised me on the NES, during Nintendo’s golden age. The accessories, the hype, Captain N, the 80s culture that was wrapped around it… All culminating in that Wizard movie. I collect and resell more than I play now. He’s away so much that we barely ever sit down and get a freshly blown-in cart going anymore.”

            She sounded like Big Wes, so Jace asked, “Do you want to go back to that?”

            “What? With like a time machine? Nah. I got the memories and those’re enough. No point dwelling on the past, at least to the point where it messes with the now.”

            Jace knew that Vanni turned out to be an important influence on Wes’ life, what with the experiences and lessons that she passed on. But apparently, a few didn’t stick.

            “Brian’s always telling me how good this is,” Wessy said and held up his find: a copy of last year’s modern-day RPG, Earthbound. “I can give you forty. Um. Or less…”

            “Here,” Jace said once he walked through the door. He tossed to Wes, sitting on the couch, the three games he could afford. “I’m sure you just want to sell them.”

            After scooping up the cartridges from the cushions, Wes looked at their cover art and replied, “I don’t know what I’ll do with them yet. Nice finds… Something wrong?”

            Jace did his agitated sighing and crossed arms routine, answering, “What’s wrong is that I just fixed Park’s middle school years… by asking one, simple question. You met Gavin at King Arcade today, and you didn’t. Even. Ask. About getting ‘robbed.’ So that turned out to be, like, a missed connection type thing. Then you bought Earthbound.”

            “Um.” Wes shrugged. “Sorry? Hey, I can’t remember all my mistakes. But you’re doing a good job, fixing things I can’t, or forgot about… So, is that why you’re late?”

            “We ended up hanging out with Park, and played some games. He’s more than just the ‘kid who sells stuff,’ you know. Anyway, I need to get back to… planning.”

            “Okay,” Wes said and turned up the TV. “Let me know when you want to eat.”

            Jace made sure Wes was glued to his show, then instead of going in his room, he approached the locked door that Wes sometimes disappeared through in his late-night hours—Jace having stumbled on its key during a recent sick day, after too much Nick Jr. made him restless. Ever since Warren mentioned a ‘lab,’ he had wanted to see it.

            Quietly, he snuck in and looked around the tiny room, with one small rectangular window near the ceiling. It was expectedly messy, but otherwise not all that spectacular. There was the contemporary laptop that Wes almost never took out of the room, a few books about time travel, a desk with some food crumbs, and a corkboard full of layers of sticky notes that constituted some sort of ever-evolving grand plan. But after some digging, it occurred to Jace that nothing in the room was a big mystery being kept from him, or suggested that his uncle was still holding back any important details.

            Disappointed but determined to keep an eye on the place, he turned to leave… and then noticed a pair of note-covered calendars on the wall; one for 1995, the other for 1996. Combined, they displayed all twenty-four months in a grid, and for the first time, Jace could see how many days they would cover. Noticing a symmetry, he got in close and counted. From their arrival on July 18^th, to the big game, 212 days would pass. And smack dab in between those key dates was Halloween; the night of the time storm.

            Perplexed, he asked himself out loud, “But, wait… What does that mean?”