Rewritten

Chapter 12

Patsy gathers her things and heads out the door. She walks to the centre of town. Discretely, she walks behind a building and sneaks in. She walks, snug against the wall, down the hall. She sees men sprawled around the room, arm wrestles, furious debates, a ruff crowd. She knows they are criminals but she needs them.

"Bill, you member' me?" Patsy smiles to a man with a scruff beard, worn out clothing and greasy black hair.

"Yeah, future lady? I member' you bein' a bit insane. You told me you had something worth my time. Bruised ya pretty good when you turned up empty-handed." He stands up and walks towards Patsy. She can't help but be a bit uneasy. After all, his past was full of thefts, murders and even an occasional break out.

"I have something for you this time. I have it with me." She takes something from her coat.

"This, this is a holographic plate from the year 2452."

"That's a good 500 years from now!"

"See, I did live up to my claim."

"It's a fake."

"Why would you say that?"

"It outta be."

"Well, it's not."

"Time travel is science fiction. Not real." He grabs the gadget from her palm and turns it over and over. "How do you turn it on?" He asks frustrated.

"Slide the ring around the outside to the right." She laughs. He does as she says and a light blue, three-dimensional picture, a walrus head, lights up.

"That's just the logo of the company that it belongs to." The man is in awe. The walrus fades into a menu.

"You can do almost anything on it. Ask anything you want to it. It knows everything, or it did. Nothing after the present, but it will adapt to the changes over the years by itself."

"Really?"

"Yes really, it's from the future."

"What am I supposed to do with it?"

"Claim it as yours. Figure out how it works and say you invented it. You'll be famous."

"What do you want for it?"

"Nothing, don't mention it. Really, don't mention me to anyone whatever you do."

"Ok, thanks!" He stuffs it in his pocket, harshly pats Patsy on her back, startling her and walks into another room.

She smiles. Everything is working as she hoped.