REAL WORLD: PART THREE Homeward Bound ... - Whoa is (Not)

“You found this on the breakfast table” he asked.
“Nah, I found it in the dumpster behind the hotel,” Verne said, smiling. “I’ve liked to forage in dumpsters
since I was four. I do it whenever we go to the future. Dad told me to stop that disgusting habit, but I always
thought it was fun, ‘cause you never know what you’ll find in a dumpster. I found this bread yesterday, and I
thought it looked interesting, so I kept it.”
“Okay, dude.”
Neo appeared to have fallen asleep again. Ted stuck the toast in front of his nose.
Neo sniffed it and mumbled something about an Aunt Beatrice.
Ted stifled a giggle as he slowly dipped a mouldy corner into Neo’s partly-open mouth.
Neo mumbled something. He began chewing on the bread, and Verne gave an explosive snort of laughter. 9
Then the taste of the rotting toast travelled from Neo’s taste buds to his brain, and he woke up with a startled
shout, causing Ted to drop the toast onto the unfortunate pillows on the ground.
“What the **** was that” Neo demanded. He caught sight of the partly-chewed mouldy toast, looked about
to puke, then jumped out of bed and dashed over to the bathroom to wash out his mouth.
Ted and Verne grinned at each other. Verne rescued the toast from the pillows and carried it out to the next
room just as Neo re-emerged from the bathroom, water dripping from his face. He went through the
interconnecting door, where everyone was having breakfast.
Neo glared at Verne. The boy just smiled back innocently and helped himself to more eggs.
“Are you hungry, dude” Ted asked.
Neo glared at him. “How did you get up so early” he asked.
“I don’t know, dude. Maybe ‘cause I spent most of yesterday sleeping in the hospital.”
Neo grudgingly decided that Ted had a point there.
**
9 th November 2030, Monday
9:24 am
Time train
Hill Valley, California
“Why can’t you send him back to the exact time he was taken from” Marty asked Doc, watching as he set
the time circuits on the train.
“It’s too risky, Marty. As you know, the device that allowed me in 1895 to communicate with you in 1985 set
the two computers in sync with each other, such that when one day passed for me in 1895, one day passed
for you in 1985.”
“Yeah, I know that, Doc, but why…”
“I’m not finished, Marty! So you see, when you were e-mailing me from Kenselton Hotel, time was passing
for me, and therefore time was also passing in 1985. If I were to send you or Ted back to the time you were
taken, and if you were to access your e-mail account, there is the risk that you might be doing so at the
same time that your counterpart of two days ago was accessing it to send me that message regarding your
predicament. If our exchange gets accidentally interfered with in any way, the consequences could be
disastrous!”
9 This whole section from after “Ngh” to ‘explosive snort’ was written by my brother, with some edits by me.