Traveler

Dr. Adrian Marks

He walked into the convention with pride. He had a certain bounce in his step that could only be accomplished by someone who had done something big. The night before, Adrian Marks had finally completed the invention that he had spent the last five years perfecting. The invention that drove his family broke. He walked into the Harrisburg science convention with a time machine. This was the very day Adrian had been looking forward to his entire life. It was such an important occasion that he decided to bring his whole immediate family with him to see him as he tests it out for the first time.

His family started with his widowed mother. His father had died of a stroke a few years back, and as devastating as it is that he couldn't be there to witness his son's great success, his mother decided to come along anyway. It proved to be difficult to get her out of her house, which she hadn't left since her husbands death, but Adrian managed to convince her that this was worth putting her mourning on hold for.

Also attending the event was his wife, Laura Shade. You're probably wondering why she kept her maiden name even after she married. You see, she was an aspiring artist. She felt that her maiden name was better suited for her art career than Laura Marks, which I must admit doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely. As much as Adrian would've liked her to change her last name to show commitment and exclusivity, he loved her none the less.

The last people that walked through the door with them were Adrian's children, Destiny, age fourteen, and Chase, age nine. Destiny was tall, confident, and popular among her fellow eighth graders. She was a soccer all-star and basically had her whole life planned out. She was sure that she would grow up to be a professional women's soccer player, make tons of money, and live in the Hamptons with all her celebrity friends. Her brother, Chase was at the other end of the spectrum. He was shy and contained. He had no idea what he wanted to do with his one and only incredibly short life. No matter how hard his family tried, he refused to make friends and come out of his shell. The two may be polar opposites, but they tended to get along fine.

They all walked in the glass double doors of the convention center triumphantly, while wheeling in their new machine. It was already extremely crowded, even though the convention hadn't started yet. After a few minutes of dodging through the crowd, they found a space in the back of the hall. Seeing as nobody had taken interest in their feat, they decided to do a little people watching. Surely a crowd would accumulate soon enough, Adrian assured himself. Being a science convention, most of the population consisted of nerdy men with glasses and knee socks. However, on occasion, you would see a rare female specimen. Most of the women in attendance were spouses of the nerds, and they tended to just kind of space off, clearly not feeling involved or interested. The other end were the nerd girls that actually showed a genuine interest in the displays. The first person to visit Adrian was one of these.

"Does it really work?" She asked curiously, getting straight to the point.

They would've loved to say 'of course it does!' But the truth is, they honestly didn't know. They didn't want to test it until a larger crowd was there to see it in action, but she insisted that she be there to see it when they did decide to put it to the test. She lingered near the machine. Naturally, men swarmed her like flies, being fairly attractive and seemingly nice. Within minutes, there was a good crowd around the machine. Adrian made his best efforts to silence them, but they continued their murmuring anyway. With the help of his family and the woman, they were able to cease the majority of their endless babbling. It was time to test the machine.

Marks decided that such a monumental moment in his life was deserving of a good speech to go along with it, so he began to introduce his invention in the most honorary way possible. "Welcome, friends, science lovers, admirers of invention. You see, this, for me anyway, is the moment my whole career has been leading up to, the day I test the very machine that I have devoted so much of my time and energy into." The audience cheered. "Thank you," he acknowledged. "Now, let us take a vote. Who here thinks this machine will fail?" Several people raised their hands. "Now, as much as I would like to deny it, you may be right. There is a high risk here. It may be a failure, but I'm willing to put everything on the line, for science!"

More cheers erupted as he stepped into the machine. His machine honestly looked like a big pile of wires. It was crude and unfinished, but as long as everything went as planned, Adrian would have plenty of time to increase its aesthetic appeal later on. He closed the door, which was designed to keep him from getting electrocuted while the machine did its thing. Hands shaking, he reached for the lever that would either be his great success or the death of him. He was scared for what would happen if he were to die in all of this. His family would be devastated. That's for sure. His children would cry, his wife would mourn, his mother would weep. He needed to live, for he knew his family would never survive without him. His wife was unemployed, aside from her art of course. They would be kicked out of their house, living off fumes until they died an ungratifying death.

He closed his eyes and pulled the lever.