Team Future ch. 29

Cornelius Robinson had been on his way to the ballroom, when the electricity suddenly went down. At that moment, everything had become very hectic! Flying vehicles crashed to the ground, elevators stopped, people were trapped in the transport tubes, and every tool, machine and robot in the city suddenly stopped working.

And Carl had collapsed in the middle of the ballroom, apparently “unconscious”.

And as if Cornelius wasn’t already stressed out already, everyone was coming to him in fear and confusion, hoping that he would have the solution. But Cornelius had absolutely no idea what was going on ...

All he knew was that the magnetic power plants were no longer working... and that was impossible! Magnetism didn’t just stop like that! But somehow it was happening!

And that still didn’t explain why all the machines not directly connected to the power plants, such as the robots or the flying cars, were no longer working either.

Cornelius had no explanation for it. The whole city’s entire energy supply simply disappeared!

“That's ridiculous, Cornelius,” He said to himself, “You know very well that energy can’t disappear! Just think about the law of energy conservation! Simple physics!”

It was true. Energy couldn’t disappear, but it could change by transforming into different forms.
But how could the energy of an entire city and two magnetic power plants be transformed so fast? And what was it transformed into?

Cornelius made his way back to his office. He wanted to check the blueprints of the power plants. Maybe that could help him figure out what had happened... hopefully.

When he arrived in his office, it was already dusk. Red and purple lights flooded through the large windows. It looked beautiful in the gold and orange room, but Cornelius had no time to enjoy the sight now.

He went immediately to his desk and rummaged around in the numerous drawers. During his search, he came across a flashlight. Out of curiosity, he flicked it on ...

Nothing. Cornelius frowned and continued searching.

He was worried ... more than worried. He was alarmed. He couldn’t think of a natural phenomenon that could cause this effect ...

With this thought, he got a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. If someone was intentionally causing this, they were up to no good. Whatever was going on here - Cornelius knew that he had to do something about it!
In the last corner of the last drawer, he finally found the blueprints. Cornelius cleared the clutter off one of the tables, causing all his sketches, plans, documents and notes to fall to the floor. Then he unfolded the blueprints and stared confusedly at the white lines.

Cornelius just couldn’t make any sense out of it. The magnetic power plants worked almost like a perpetual motion machine - there was no way they could just stop on their own.

“Unless something needs more energy than the power plants produce.” Cornelius mumbled to himself. Was there anything that could simply ‘swallow’ such a huge amount of energy?

Cornelius rubbed his aching forehead. He suddenly realized that he hadn’t eaten anything the whole day - he was so stressed that he completely forgot about food - and now his brain cried for carbohydrates.

“So much about energy.” He thought with a cynical smile, trying to focus on the blueprints again. If something was absorbing all the energy of the city ... what could this “something” be?

Suddenly, there was a deafening crash above him! The windows exploded and thousands of small shards of glass shot through the air!

The force of the explosion threw Cornelius violently away from the window. He didn’t know how it happened, but when he opened his eyes, he was laying on the other side of the desk. Totally perplexed, he struggled to his knees, adjusted his glasses, and peered carefully across the table.

The window was completely destroyed, and a huge, spherical robot was climbing the walls of the company building, and its huge, round torso barricaded the window.

Cornelius immediately crouched behind the table. He threw a hurried glance to the door ... but this thing wouldn’t let him escape. He had to find another way out!

“No reason to hide, Cornelius!” An ominous, yet strangely familiar voice boomed. It was almost as if Cornelius had heard that voice many times before. “Oh please! Is that how you welcome a guest?” The voice added with a evil chuckle.

Yes. He knew that voice! Cornelius swallowed hard. He rose slowly and fixed his eyes on the robot.

“Tenner.” He said with a dark glance. Why hadn’t he thought of that immediately? Gigantic robots, unexpected and dramatic entrances... that was quite Tenner’s style.

“Yes, that was my name - for the last few years.” The voice echoed from the loudspeaker on the robot, and Cornelius started to doubt that Tenner was here in person. “But soon names will no longer be an issue. At least, your name definitely won’t!”

Cornelius frowned. He had never particularly liked this guy. In the past, he had noticed that Tenner was only concerned for himself and had no consideration for others.
“What do you want?” Cornelius demanded. “Too much of a coward to appear yourself?” He continued. It was dangerous to provoke him, but if Tenner wanted to kill him, then he would have done so already. Cornelius realized that he had to have another reason for being here. Tenner wanted something from him, and it seemed to be very urgent - otherwise he wouldn’t have planned this performance.

Just then, a lower section of the robot opened up, revealing a video screen. Tenner, neatly dressed as always, sat in a comfortable red armchair, with a cigar in one hand and a small silver remote control in the other.

“Oh, what’s the matter? Can’t a man have a little chat with his old colleague?” Tenner took a puff from the cigar, “How is the ball going, by the way? I probably won’t have time to come.” He added casually.

“Well, because of you, I’m afraid the ball is going to be a disaster.”

“Because of me? Why should I have something to do with that?” Tenner said, pretending to be clueless.

Cornelius frowned. He wasn’t in the mood for this ridiculous game. “So, if you don’t want anything from me, then please excuse me! I have a real crisis to deal with. Some wannabe has absorbed all of the city’s energy!” He snatched up the blueprints and walked slowly towards the door.

“Wait just a second!” Tenner called out.

All of a sudden, another section of the robot opened up. A huge mass of greenish cold water splashed onto the floor, flooding the floor of the office with ankle-deep water. Papers and documents began to float on the surface. And the middle of the office laid a red object, about the size of a small car, covered with seaweed.

“Does this seem familiar to you?” Tenner chuckled maliciously.

Cornelius gulped, and his eyes widened in horror. The Time Machine! He was so shocked that he dropped the blueprints into the water.

“Amazing technology! You’ve once again outdone yourself, Robinson!” Tenner bubbled excitedly, almost jealous. “However,” he continued, “you should have made it a submarine! After its little dive in the lake, it is ...” He took a deep puff of the cigar before he continued, “no longer fully functional.”

So, that was the snag. Tenner really believed that Cornelius would help him fix the time machine. Cornelius had to laugh.

“What?” Tenner said, suddenly dangerously irritated.

“This is so ridiculous!” Cornelius laughed. “I would have expected something much better, even from you. Come on! I mean, do you really expect me to literally hand you the key to world domination? Think about it! Did you really think this would work?”

Tenner’s gave him an ominous gaze.

“Oh please!” Cornelius continued, “Right now, I can think of dozens of better ways for you to achieve your goal. This one isn’t even on the list!”

“You'll do it.” Tenner said calmly, taking another puff from his cigar. Nevertheless, it was obvious that he was angry.

“Forget it! I’d rather be shot than help you carry out your evil plan.”

“You'll do it.” Tenner repeated coolly. Then, he pressed a button on the small remote control. Something moved in the background. Cornelius suddenly heard a anxious child's voice and he almost had a heart attack!

“Daddy?” Wilma was tied up, sitting on an uncomfortable metal stool. She looked around fearfully.

Cornelius felt as if someone had pulled the ground out from under his feet. He couldn’t breathe! The most important thing in his life was his family. He would die for them! And now this maniac had his defenseless little daughter, and there was nothing he could do to help her ...

Now he was forced to do everything that Tenner demanded. And he would do anything, even if that meant putting the entire time stream in jeopardy.

Cornelius’s muscles tensed, and he trembled in anger, clenching his fists.

“You damn, dirty - ” He growled.

“Careful, Cornelius! Not in front of this cute little girl!” Tenner laughed maliciously, walking across the room to Wilma. Cornelius almost went crazy! If this bastard dared to touch his daughter ...!

“Well, go say hello to your Daddy,” Tenner said slimily. Wilma hesitated and fidgeted uneasily.

“Hi, Daddy.” She said finally.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Everything’s okay. Daddy’ll take care of this.” Cornelius was surprised how calm his voice sounded, though his heart was nearly pounding out of his chest. He simply followed his paternal instinct to calm his child.

“Okay.” Wilma replied confidently. Her courage almost brought tears to his eyes. He wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Tenner’s mean laughter.

Tenner was amused that Cornelius would do anything to save his daughter, although it would be useless in the end. Nothing would be the same after the time machine was in Tenner’s hands.

“I will turn the little one over to you once the time machine is fixed. An exchange, if you will. See now, I’m not a monster!” Tenner said, exaggeratedly sympathetic. “My friend Alpha will observe you. And don’t try to trick me. Alpha’s a medium and he’s able to read minds. If you only think about fooling me, he will give me the signal, and then .... au revoir, little Wilma!”

The screen flickered briefly before turning off. The hatch in front of the screen closed again, but at the same time, a circular hatch opened with a hiss at the top of the robot. A young man in a blue and black suit emerged. That had to be Alpha...

Cornelius immediately realized a big similarity to Tenner. “This maniac has cloned himself!” Cornelius thought disgustedly.

Suddenly, a hard blow seemed to hit him! Cornelius was knocked down, and needed a few seconds to recover. As he looked up, Alpha was still standing in the same place like before. Did he just punch him with his mental powers?

“You should start working!” Cornelius suddenly heard a sharp voice, although Alpha wasn’t moving his lips.

“Telepathy.” Cornelius thought, almost amazed. Another punch hit him.

From now on, Cornelius realized that he would take care of his thoughts. He struggled up, clenched his fists and stared sternly at the clone.

Cornelius wouldn’t give up! He never did! But Wilma’s life was at stake, so he would do whatever Tenner wanted him to do. He would fix the time machine! But he would have to fix it so that it wouldn’t be under Tenner’s control - and he would have to do it with this nasty clone watching him.

Because without knowing it, Tenner had gave him the deciding hint. After all, Cornelius Robinson was still the greatest genius of his time - and it was not a good idea to tell him that Alpha was a medium. Cornelius knew all about the human consciousness and medially talented people, and his brilliant mind had formed a plan within a few seconds.

People thought on several levels - they could verbalize their thoughts into words or think with images or emotions. In that way, they could think several things at once, without being aware of doing so. Most mediums, however, were only capable of reading one of these levels. Cornelius had to hide his true intention that way somehow.

A spotlight on the robot turned on and drenched the time machine with a white beam of light.
While he worked, (Tenner had supplied him with working tools) Alpha constantly stood close to him and observed him strictly.

Cornelius could feel this guy trying to gain access into his thought patterns. With all his power, he focused on saving Wilma and fixing the time machine ...

“Fix it, fix it, fix it!” He thought again and again and again. This thought was so strong that Alpha hopefully wouldn’t discover his true intentions. Sweat formed on his forehead from the mental effort.

It wasn’t so difficult to fix the time machine. Most of the damage was caused by the water and could be easily repaired.

It was almost as if his hands had a will of their own. They soldered countless cables and electronic contacts, making sure that the connection between the dashboard and the flux capacitor (which made time travel possible) were connected in a very special way.

Finally, Cornelius stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was wet because he had crawled around on the flooded ground, and a piece of seaweed was hanging over his shoulder. It was already dark outside.

“Fine. It’s done. Now, I want my daughter!” He demanded.

Suddenly, the time machine was captured by a blue beam of light and floated back into the cargo hold of the robot. Cornelius panicked. Tenner had the time machine ... and Wilma was still his prisoner!

“Where is my daughter?!” Cornelius cried, his voice trembling.

“Oh, you’ll get her when the time is right.” Tenner’s spiteful voice boomed from the speaker. “Right now, I want to make sure you aren’t trying to fool me!” A wicked laugh followed. A laugh that made Cornelius’ blood run cold.

Alpha, however, kept a straight face. He climbed back into the robot, without looking at Cornelius one last time. Shortly afterwards, the gigantic, four-legged machine stomped down the edge of the building and disappeared.

Cornelius stared after the giant robot in shock. How could he be so gullible, so naive? How could he seriously believe that a villain like Tenner would keep their word?

His knees gave in, and he collapsed into the ankle-deep water. He couldn’t believe it! What had he done?!

But ...But there was still hope! After all, he had manipulated the time machine! It was fully functional, and it would be able to fly - but Tenner wouldn’t be able to control what time he would land in. Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice it too soon .... or Wilma would be in danger!
Cornelius stood up and ran to the ballroom. He ran as fast as he could - for Wilma’s sake! Arriving in the ballroom, he pushed through the crowds of people, looking for the chief of police, which was quite difficult in the darkened room.

Candles had been arranged everywhere, and Franny’s frog orchestra played music in order to calm the people, but nevertheless, the atmosphere was restless and tense. The people were whispering, nobody dared to speak loudly. Finally, Cornelius found the police chief of Todayland.

“Chief?”

“Mr. Robinson, there you are! Do you know what’s going on?” The chief asked. He was a man in his forties, who had as much muscles as fat. Even before he finished his sentence, he realized how disastrous Cornelius looked. “What the heck happened to you?” He asked, shocked.

“We need a task force in -” Cornelius looked hastily at his watch “-18 minutes and 47 seconds out front!”

“What? Why?!”

“There’s no time for long explanations! Try to round your men up! They need to be in position immediately!” Cornelius cried excitedly, waving his hands around wildly. Many people turned to them.

The chief looked at him for a moment. He couldn’t say it for sure in the dim twilight, but he thought he saw panic in Robinson’s eyes. But one thing was clear: this man was serious.
Immediately, the chief began to yell orders to one of his subordinates and then stormed out of the ballroom.

Franny noticed the slight commotion. Confused, she anxiously watched her husband speaking with the chief. She motioned the frog orchestra to stop playing. The room became quiet. Now, the tension was even bigger than before. The people fell silent and moved uneasily.

Franny came up to her husband from behind. When the police chief left the ballroom, she gently laid a hand Cornelius’ shoulder.

“What happened?” She asked quietly, aware that all people in the ballroom were listening to what Cornelius would say next.

When she touched his back, Cornelius jerked. He didn’t turn around immediately. How could he possibly explain this to his wife - the mother of his two children?

Franny knew her husband very well, and although he hesitated only for a very short, barely noticeable moment, she felt that something terrible must have happened, and she got scared. When Cornelius turned round, he wasn’t able to look into her eyes. He was pale and looked terrible.
“What is it?” She repeated, shocked about how anxious and quiet her voice sounded.

Finally, he lifted his gaze. He looked at her firmly and took a deep breath. “Wilma ...” But he couldn’t continue.

Franny gasped. She grabbed his soaked suit, her eyes widened in fear.

“What about her?” She cried. Suddenly, she had forgotten about the hundreds of people around them. What had happened to her little daughter?!

“She ... she was kidnaped.” It was obvious how difficult those words were for Cornelius. His eyes became wet.

“What? That can’t be true!” Franny exclaimed. Why did she let her daughter go at all? That would have never happened if she had taken care of her like a good mother should.

In shock, Franny took a step back, but Cornelius pulled her into his arms. She returned the embrace, letting her husband hold her. Her body trembled as she began to hyperventilate.

“No! No! Not our baby!” She whispered over and over again, while tears ran down her cheeks. Cornelius held her tight, stroking her hair slowly.

“It’s okay, honey! Everything will be okay again! You'll see...” He whispered, close to tears, but that only made Franny even more upset. She had never heard Cornelius say something that he was so unsure of.

Franny’s eyes suddenly widened in horror. “Wilbur!” She whispered breathlessly.

“What about him?” Cornelius asked concernedly, while he gently pulled away from his wife to see her face. She was as pale as a sheet and stared at him with wide eyes.

“He ... he was supposed to -” Her eyes filled with tears.

“What, honey? What about him?”

“He was supposed to take care of Wilma!” Franny had barely spoken the words, when she burst into bitter tears. Cornelius embraced her again, fighting with his own tears.

What had he done? Perhaps he had saved the world, but in doing so, he had put the lives of his two children at stake!