Double Time

1985

5:30pm

            What a mess, thought Riley as he cleaned up his latest invention. But, he thought, at least this one worked.  Not that it mattered to Kids Incorporated, anyway. They’d never see the benefits of an actual working time machine.

            He’d actually enjoyed visiting the 50’s and 60’s, but the Kids had wanted no part of it. Of course, he hadn’t actually asked them. But there’d been no harm done. He’d brought them back to 1985, safe and sound, and promised them that’s where they’d stay. Too bad, though. He’d really wanted to go into the future as well. He left the time machine and went to tend the counter during the Kids’ number.

            “Boy, it’s nice to be back in our own time.” said The Kid once they’d finished.

            “Yeah, I’ll say one thing about all this time traveling.” Ryan added. “It really made us appreciate the way we’re living now.

            “I still think it’s funny that the audience didn’t even notice.” said Stacy.

            “What would we tell them if they had?” Renee stared at her. “The truth?”

            “I don’t think they’d believe us.” Gloria reasoned. “I don’t even believe it, and I was there.”

            “You mean you weren’t there.” said Ryan. “None of us were. Our parents were barely there.”

            Gloria laughed and rolled her eyes. “Ok, Mr. Logical,” she teased, “explain it all away.”

            Riley thought about breaching the subject of going to the future again, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

            “Now you’ve got me wondering what would have happened if we’d gone to the future in Riley’s time machine.” Ryan said. He began thinking out loud. “We would exist in the future, so…or would we end up being our future selves? Yeah! It’s impossible for two versions of the same person to exist at the same time...or is it?” He started wandering away from the group, lost in thought.

            “Now look what you’ve done, Gloria!” Renee scolded. “He’ll be babbling on like this for hours!”

            “Ryan may have a point, though.” Riley said. “The time machine might work differently in the future.”

            “Oh, now, don’t you start too, Riley.” warned Gloria. “We already said no.”

            “Maybe we should try it!” The Kid said. “I’ve always wanted a flying car, and robots to do my homework.”

            “You’ve seen too many movies.”

            “But then we could find out what happened to us so we’d know what to expect.” said Renee.

            “But what if it was bad?” Gloria said to her.

             She backed down. “Good point.”

            “Stacy, what are you doing?” The Kid suddenly asked Stacy.

            She was watching Ryan still theorizing over in the corner. “1 think he’s talking to himself” she said, puzzled.

            “Well, now we’ve got another reason to go to the future.” said Renee. “To find out if Ryan ever stops talking!”

            “C’mon, Gloria!” begged The Kid.

            “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Kid!” Gloria said. “I mean, what if Ryan’s right, and there are two of us? What happens if we meet ourselves?” They looked over at Ryan.

            “I’m not gonna ask him!” Kid said.

            “Somebody should.” said Stacy.

            “Why don’t you ask him?” Renee challenged, her tone indicating that she figured Stacy wouldn’t.

            Of course, Stacy couldn’t stand by and let that happen. “All right, I will!” And she marched right over to where Ryan was standing.

            “That’ll keep her out of my hair for a while.” smirked Renee.

            “Oh, Renee, that wasn’t nice. I wouldn’t wish Ryan’s theories on my worst enemy’s dog.” said Gloria.

            “You’ve obviously never had a little sister.” Renee said. Then she had an idea. “Hey, maybe you do in the future!"

            Gloria sighed. “We’re not…going…to the future.” she said slowly. “You’ll be there soon enough.”

            “HELP!”

            Ryan still seemed to be going on and on, and Stacy didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with him. “I can’t get him to stop talking!” she complained.

            “...I mean, they say time is relative, but is it really? And if you’re time traveling and you cross the International Date Line, are you in the future or the past?...”

            “Doesn’t he have to breathe?” wondered The Kid.

            “I don’t think he even knew I was standing here.” said Stacy.

            “You see?” Gloria said. “This is what happens when you have too much information. The future will wait. If you mess with it, you’ll only confuse yourselves. Now, I think it’s time we headed home.” The four of them left, dragging Ryan behind them while he pondered Einstein’s theory.

6:30pm

            It was a while before Riley got back to his invention. He couldn’t help but feel sad that it was over. Still, his logical side reasoned that a device like his shouldn’t be used frivolously. A time machine was certainly not a toy. But so far, he hadn’t noticed any residual effects on himself or the Kids, except for an insatiable desire to see the future. He had just made up his mind to shelve the whole thing when the younger Kids came crashing in.

            “Riley, you’re not putting away your time machine, are you?” asked Stacy.

            “Yeah. You know, you kids are right. We should just live in the present and enjoy it.”

            “But we don’t wanna stay in the present!” said Kid.

            “I’m sorry, what?”

            “Well,” Ryan began saying, “We’ve talked it over, and despite the possible ramifications, we’re willing to see if altering the space-time continuum will...”

            “We’ve changed our minds.” Renee cut him off. “We wanna see the future.”

            “Yeah, plus Gloria’s not here, so she can’t lecture us.” added The Kid.

            “You do still want to take us, don’t you?” Stacy asked him.

            He stalled. “Are you sure? It’s gonna be pretty tricky getting this thing to work. We don’t want to get stuck again.”

            “Aw, but we got back okay.” Ryan pointed out. “C’mon, Riley, this is your chance to prove to everyone that you are a great inventor! No one in history has ever made a real working time machine!”

            “Yeah!” the others chorused.

            He had to admit to himself that he’d been itching to try it. “What the heck! Let’s go for it!”

            Together, they put the machine back in one piece and got it working. “We’ll set the coordinates for...10 years into the fixture, 1995. How’s that?”

            “Great! We’ll all be grownups by then.” said Stacy.

            “Flying cars, here we come!” The Kid said, and they all laughed.

            The room began to wiggle, like they were in a washing machine. Then it began to zoom forward. Everything in the room became blurry.

            “Did it do this the last time?” asked Renee nervously.

            “I decided to add a little bonus feature to it.” Riley explained. “Kind of like an afterburner.”

             “Was that really wise?” Ryan worried.

            “Don’t worry, it’ll work perfectly - unless it overloads.”

            Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, and the zooming began slowing down. “I think it did!” said Ryan.

            “How are we supposed to know where we are?” said Stacy.

            “You mean when we are!” Renee corrected.

            The zooming stopped, and the Kids saw that they were - still in the storeroom. “I don’t believe it.” Kid said sadly. “We didn’t go anywhere!”

            “What a ripoff!” Stacy griped.

            “No, no, wait, there’s gotta be some explanation.” Riley fumbled for words. He checked the machine.

            “You guys,” Ryan suddenly realized. “I don’t think we are in ‘85 anymore. Think about it. In the 60’s, this room was just a storeroom, but in the 50’s, this same room was the owner’s office, remember? It’s always the same room, just a little different.”

            “What are you getting at?” Renee asked him.

            “Ten years into the future, the P*lace is still here!”

            “But it looks exactly the same!” argued Renee. “Well, maybe not exactly the same. I mean, that wasn’t here…” She began to scour the room looking for differences.

            “That’s because we’re not 10 years into the future.” Riley said, looking a little queasy, like the zooming had finally caught up with him.

            “I knew it.” The Kid said disappointedly. “Where are we, next week?”

“We came two years into the future.” said Riley. “Guys, welcome to 1987.”

1987

5:30pm

            “Outstanding, guys, just like always.” said Riley as Kids Incorporated stepped off the stage.

            “Thanks, Riley.” Ryan said.

            The Kid sighed. “I just keep getting better and better.” he bragged.

            “I knew it was too much to hope you’d grow out of your ego.” said Renee, rolling her eyes.

            “At least he stopped teasing you.” Stacy said to her.

            “That's funny,” Renee cocked her head to one side. “the way I remember it, he had a little help.” She raised an eyebrow at her sister.

            “Ha ha, Stace.” laughed The Kid. Stacy went after him.

            “I think,” Ryan tried to redirect the conversation, “we’ve all done a lot of maturing over the past few years.”

            “Except you.” Renee turned to him. “You’ve been going on 30 for years now.”

            “Some of us didn't have as far to go as others.” Ryan said smugly. Now everyone turned on him.  “Aah! Okay, okay, I was immature, too!...Cut it out!...This does not show maturity, guys!...Watch the hair!...”

            Giggles from the other end of the room indicated the arrival of the two youngest Kids.
            “They don’t look so mature to me.” said Richie.

            “And they say we act childish.” Connie added.

            “Hey! Don’t just stand there! Help!” Ryan called to them.

            “Yeah, get over here, guys!” said Stacy.

            “Okay!” the little Kids laughed. They joined the attack.

            “No, I meant me! Help me! Aah, no!” wailed Ryan.

6:30pm

            After the fun (for everyone but Ryan!) had ended, Riley had closed down the P*lace, and the Kids decided to stick around and use the quiet to do their homework. Age proved to be a disadvantage, though, as both Connie and Richie finished theirs and headed home.

            A strange noise came from the storeroom. “Did anyone else just hear that?” asked Riley.

            Ryan dismissed it. “Probably just the building settling.”

            Everything looked normal. Maybe Ryan had been right. But then Riley thought he heard voices coming from the storeroom. Figuring it might be burglars, and thinking he’d get the jump on them, he crept over to the storeroom and flung the door open. “What the...”

6:35 pm

            “All this homework is making me thirsty.” Kid declared. “Where’d Riley go?”

            “I think he went to investigate that little noise about. ..five minutes ago.” Renee looked at her watch.

            Suddenly Riley reappeared, dazed. “There you are!” said The Kid. “I could use something to drink.” Riley jumped, then stared at The Kid as if he didn’t recognize him. “You okay?” The Kid asked him.

            “Uhh...yeah!” said Riley. “Yeah, I’m fine...Kid. Sure, sure, I’ll get you a drink!” He slid behind the counter, but acted as if he was having trouble finding things.

            They watched him. “Did you change your shirt?” asked Stacy.

            “What?”

            “I could swear that wasn’t the same shirt you had on a while ago.”

            Riley put down the glass he was holding all of a sudden and said, “Do you kids remember when I built that time machine?”

            “Yeah.” they said.

            “And we went back in time, and got stuck in some vacuum before we got back home?”

            “That was 2 years ago, Riley.” said Renee. “What made you think of that?”

            “But do you remember after that, we talked about going to the future?”

            “Yeah, we turned you down flat.” said Ryan.

            “No, don’t you remember? You changed your minds.”

            “No.” they said.

            “Yeah! You came back later, and...”

            “Riley, I think your apron’s on too tight.” Renee joked.

            He was still looking at them funny, so Ryan asked, “So what made the noise in the storeroom?”

            “Right! The storeroom!” he cried. “Could...could you guys come with me for just a minute? I’ll show you what made the noise.”

            “As long as we don’t come back acting like you.” said Stacy. but they followed him anyway.

            “You honestly don’t remember going into the future?” Riley kept asking them along the way.

            “No, because we never did!” Ryan insisted. “You’re never gonna convince us otherwise.”

            “Oh, I wouldn’t say that just yet.” smiled Riley as he opened the door and let the Kids see...themselves.

6:37pm

            They stared, gaping. It was like looking into a mirror, except the reflection wasn’t identical, but a different version of themselves.

            “I see you found them.” said Riley - their Riley. “Uncanny, isn’t it?”

            “You can say that again!” The Kid quipped.

            “I think I need to sit down.” Renee said weakly.

            “That makes two of us.” added Stacy. They scuffled to the table.

            “That makes two of all of us!” said Ryan. “Wait. How come we don’t remember this?”

            “I think I can answer that.” came a familiar voice. Young Ryan slowly approached the future Kids. “This may not have happened in your reality, but have you ever considered the possibility that there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of alternate realities, where something different happens in every one?”

            The older Ryan laughed. “Couldn’t have said it better myself." He paused. "Shouldn't be hearing it from myself, either. How are there could be two of us in the same place at the same time?”

            “That’s exactly what I was wondering!” exclaimed his younger self. “My theory is, we’ve gone through, like, a wormhole or something...”

            “Aw, not the wormhole theory! That’s so outdated! Nowadays, researchers have...”

            Ryan’s acceptance seemed to break the spell over everyone else, and the little Kids slowly crept over to their counterparts.

            “This is unbelievably creepy.” the Stacy of the future said to her sister.

            “Maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t remember.” Renee said back. “I mean, I’ve heard of your past coming back to haunt you, but I don’t think this is what they meant!”

            Meanwhile, the little Kids were similarly creeped out. “What’re we gonna say?” said Renee.

            “They’re staring at us!” Stacy clung to her sister’s arm.

            “What if they’re not really us?” Kid was clinging to Stacy’s arm. “What if they’re aliens pretending to be us?”

            “Ohhh!” Stacy shivered.

            “Cut it out, Kid! You’re scaring her!” said Renee. Then she shivered. “And me, too.”

            “All right, I guess they’re not aliens.” Kid reasoned. “They would have blasted us by now if they were.” He reached the future Kid.

            “Nice hat.” they both said, and laughed.

            “Now that,” said the older Renee, “is creepy.”

            The two little girls were rooted to the spot where they’d stopped.

            “You go first.”

            “Uh-uh! You’re older, you go first!”

            “I always have to go first! You do it!”

            “No!”

            “You’re such a baby!”

            “I am not!” To prove it, Little Stacy tossed her head back and made her way to the table. The two Stacys stared at each other until the little one reached out and pinched her older self.

            “Ow!” yelled Future Stacy. Everyone, young and old, came running.

            “Well, that blows your theory right out of the water.” Older Ryan said to his younger counterpart.

            “It was just a theory!” said Younger Ryan. “I had no more idea than you had about what would happen if the two versions came into contact with one another. We’re in your time, so technically, your presence would be stronger than ours here. But there was a small possibility that, seeing as how both people were essentially the same, that the two would just cancel each other out, and...”

            For the first time, Little Renee looked at her older self and asked, “Does he ever stop talking?”

            “No, mostly he just changes direction.” the older Renee said. Then she slapped a hand over her mouth and giggled. “I can’t believe I’m actually talking to myself! Oh, there’s so much to tell you!”

            The Ryans overheard. “Wait a minute!” said Future Ryan. “Don’t go telling her things she shouldn’t know.” He looked at everyone. “Remember that movie we saw? If you change the past, you’ll change the future.”

            “It won’t make any difference what you tell them.” the Riley of the past said. “Something’s wrong with the machine, and it’s gonna take some time to fix. We’re stuck!”

7:00pm

            It was definitely different having a clone of yourself around. The little ones were curious about everything, and the older ones had trouble resisting temptation to change things by giving them information. They left the Rileys to the task of fixing the time machine and got to know themselves (so to speak!) better.

            Big Kid and Little Kid came back into the storeroom. “Wow. I just had ice cream named after me.” said Little Kid, awestruck.

            “Why would anyone name ice cream?” wondered Little Stacy.

            “And why would they name it after you?” Little Renee added sarcastically.

            “Oh, they had some named after you, too.” he said. ‘Dopey Delight!’  He and Stacy cracked up laughing.

            “Yeah, I’ll have a scoop of ‘Nerd’, please!” Stacy joked.

            It pained the older Renee to relive this kind of scenario. “Don’t let them get to you.” She said to her younger self “They’ll stop once you take all the fun out of it.”

            Little Renee looked at her Stacy and The Kid, and then at their older versions. “They’re not over here teasing you.” she observed. Then she grinned. “What’d you do to them?”

            “Nothing, actually.” said Future Renee. “I just waited until they grew up.”

            “That’s it? That’ll take forever!” her past life protested, hands on hips.

            Future Renee assumed a similar pose. “Don’t argue with me... us!” To herself, she muttered, “I forgot how stubborn I was at that age.” She sighed. “Look, it’s gonna get worse before it gets better - a lot worse -  but it will get better. Don’t pay any attention to them.”

            “Now you’re starting to sound like Gloria.” Little Renee grumbled. “Hey, where is Gloria?”

            The older Renee took a deep breath. “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt to tell you, since Ryan’s not listening, and...Ryan’s not listening.” At the moment, they were both fooling around with a guitar out of earshot. She continued. “Gloria left earlier this year.  We’re on our own now.” She looked a little sad as she added, “So give her a hug for me when you get back, okay?”

            Future Stacy reached over and grabbed her younger self. “Hey, don’t tease your sister” she scolded. Then she realized what she’d just said. She shook her head and continued. “You’re gonna need her someday.”

            Little Stacy pouted. “The Kid was doing it, too! And besides, that’s what little sisters are for!”

            “You won’t feel that way once you become a big sister…oops!” Older Stacy realized too late that she’d given something away.

            “ME? A big sister? Really?” In her excitement, Little Stacy forgot all about teasing Renee. She pulled on her sister’s arm. “Renee, Renee, did you hear that?”

            “Stacy! Not now! I’m busy!” Little Renee was quick to dismiss her - until the older Renee made her turn back around. “That’s...nice, Stacy. I’m...happy for you.” she forced herself to say. Then she whispered, “And don’t let me get so bossy when I grow up!”

          The two Kids watched with amusement. “Those two are never gonna change.” laughed Little Kid          
          “Makes you jealous sometimes.” his future self said.

            “How did you know?”

            “I am you, remember?” Big Kid laughed. “You can’t hide anything from me.”

            “Do they know?” Little Kid asked, indicating the older kids.

            “Yeah. They know everything now. And they’re okay with it. We had nothing to worry about.”

            “If we stay here long enough, they’ll find out, anyway.” Little Kid pointed out. “Let’s hope two Rileys are better than one.”

            All of them had known enough to stay away from Riley’s past and future selves while they were working on the time machine. Neither of them had been in the best of moods. Most of all, no one wanted to think about what would happen if the past Kids Inc. didn’t get back to the past.

            “That’s it!” one of the Rileys - it was hard to tell since they were both covered in grease spots - suddenly exclaimed.

            “Did you fix it?” said Past Ryan.

            “We think so.” said the other Riley. “The problem was that the machine was mostly built to go back into the past, so when it was used to travel into the future, it had to work backwards.”

            “So we just reversed the mechanisms.” Riley #2 continued. “Ready to go back?”

            They didn’t know what to say. The little ones belonged in the past, but there was still so much for them to learn, so many chances to prevent future heartbreaks. But they knew it was the right thing to do, and they all agreed that yes, it was “time” to go home. The past said one last goodbye to their future selves and assumed their positions.

7:30 pm

            “Okay, now I’ve gone ahead and set the coordinates for ‘85." Future Riley informed them “Everything should go according to plan.” He met the other Riley’s gaze for a moment, and then shook his hand. “Good luck.”

            “Thanks. All right, brace yourselves, kids. Here we go again!”

            The gyrating began again, and then the room zoomed out of view, only to be replaced by...

1985

6:32pm

            Ryan picked his head up and looked around the storeroom. We’re here, he thought. But...of course we’re here. Why would I think we’d be somewhere else? Try as he might, the answer kept eluding him.

            The others seemed to be waking up, too. “Hey,” The Kid said, confused. “What’re we doing here?”

            “Don’t you remember anything?” Ryan asked him.

            “I thought so, but...no. I guess I was just dreaming.”

            “Wait, when did we all fall asleep here?” said Renee. No one seemed to have the answer. “We were all talking to Riley, and then...”

            They all jumped when Riley walked in. “Oh, good, you’re all finally awake! You know, if you kids slept better at night, some good old-fashioned hard work wouldn’t tire you out like that.”

            “What work are you talking about, Riley?” Stacy asked.

            “You know! You guys felt bad about leaving me here to take the time machine apart all by myself, so you came back here to help.”

            “And now you can help me” said Gloria as she came in. “I realized when I got home that I must have left one of my books here, and...oh, here it is.”

            As Gloria walked by, Renee leapt up and threw her arms around Gloria’s neck. “What’s that for?” laughed Gloria.

            “I don’t know.” Renee said. “It just seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

            “Well, I hope you guys are all over this time traveling stuff.” said Gloria.

            “You were right about confusing ourselves.” said Stacy. “Now I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”

            “I think we’re all going – home.” Ryan said. “Is it me, or does this feel like the longest day of your entire life?”

            “I’m never gonna look at my watch the same way again!” The Kid said as they headed out the door.

            Riley watched them leave knowing that very soon, their minds would be focused on the next crisis of the moment. At least his time machine had not died in vain. They’d gained a new lease on life and a renewed sense of value. His future self was right. They were better off not knowing...

The End