Part One (633 KB) - Whoa is (Not)

“Wait… what’s The Matrix” Marty asked, pointing.
Verne grinned. “Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is,” he quoted. “You have to see it
for yourself. Wanna watch it I taped it off the TV. It was on one of those weird extra channels… I got
the sequels from the Internet yesterday and watched both in one go. Don’t tell Dad I’ve seen ‘em
though. I think the sequels were rated R or something. There were naked people.” Verne grinned
again.
Marty needed answers. He hadn’t thought that coming to 1895 to baby-sit Doc’s sons could have given
him any of those answers, but he guessed that it was as good a place to start as any.
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “I want to watch it.”
“What is real” Morpheus asked onscreen a while later.
That’s a good question, Marty found himself feverishly thinking. That’s a very good question.
Jules and Verne slipped out about halfway through the show to feed the toilet or use Einie or something;
Marty hadn’t quite caught it, too engrossed in the film. About a minute later, Neo and Trinity were using
a whole lot of guns to shoot up a whole lot of security guards on the screen. The sound was deafening.
When Marty heard what sounded a bit like three loud gunshots that seemingly came from outside, he
marvelled at the excellent quality of Doc’s speaker system and dreamt of owning one that good in future.
**
They had taken the DeLorean. The reason was a simple logistics one: the last time departed for the
DeLorean was in 1985, while that of the train was 1841 – not exactly a good place to get batteries.
Neither Jules nor Verne wished to make two trips to ensure that the last time departed remained at the
same date and didn’t arouse their parents suspicions, so they decided to set the destination time one
hour earlier than that currently displayed on the DeLorean’s time circuits, which would take them to
around five in the afternoon on a day in December 1985. That should give them plenty of time to get
batteries, and perhaps even hang around a while.
It therefore came to pass that while Marty was watching The Matrix in their house, the two boys he was
supposed to be looking after were hovering several metres above their home in a time travelling
DeLorean bound for the year 1985.
What Jules had told Verne had been true: he could fly the DeLorean, only not so well. He had been
watching his father closely each time he flew the vehicle, and knew fairly enough… just not enough to
give them a smooth ride.
Verne yelped as the car bucked violently to the right.
“Sorry,” Jules said with a grimace of concentration, yanking the controls left, whereupon Verne grabbed
hold of the door handle to prevent himself from landing on his brother. He was beginning to feel the first
signs of major motion sickness, and was more than grateful when Jules finally got the car flying
relatively straight and the familiar burst of electricity surrounded the car as they hit eighty-eight.
Arriving in the future, Jules inexpertly set the time vehicle down with a bump in the most abandonedlooking
alley they could see in the area. The two boys got out shakily to their feet, Verne looking as
though he were going to throw up at any moment.
“I don’t think we should just leave the DeLorean here,” Jules said, looking at the car.
“The store’s just across the road. You could stay here while I go get the batteries. I won’t take long.”
“Okay.” Jules took out some late 20 th century money from his pocket and passed it to his brother.
“Hurry up,” he said, leaning against the car to wait.
He didn’t have to wait long before Verne came rushing back, breathless. “The store’s closed! The
owners are on vacation!”
“What You mean we came all this way for nothing”
Verne gave him an apologetic look. “Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t know it would be closed.”