Wheels on the Bus (ToriJ)

[Ayen]

"Not me. My people. It takes thousands of years for a piece of coral to grow into a capsule. I'm nowhere close to being that old."

“How old are you?”

"Transcendental engineering, Ms. Mayweather. We're standing in a dimensionally transcendental object. A key discovery of my people. It allows us to create objects that enters into another dimension. So basically, bigger on the inside."

“That's amazing!”

"It means we'll be seeing a lot of alien life where we're going. Whether we realize it or not."

“What kind of alien are you? You look human. Is that just a disguise?”

"That's the great thing about time travel, Ms. Jacobs. We can travel from the beginning to the end and I can bring you back at exactly the same point as when we left and it would be like you were never gone at all. You won't miss a thing. But you're right, I can't force you to do anything you're not comfortable with so make your choice."

Tori and the rest of the group backed away, getting out of earshot of Alexis and huddled up to talk things out.

“What do you guys think?”

“I don't think it would be a good idea.”

“Imagine that, the Christian doesn't want to time travel. Probably thinks we'll disprove her god. I say we do it.”

“I'm with Lily on this one.”

“It has nothing to do with that! Don't anyone else think it's a little suspicious that an alien wants to travel through time with us?”

“Shinta?”

“It's the opportunity of a lifetime, Tori. I think we should go for it.”

Three against two. Democracy has spoken. The group broke their huddle and walked back over to Alexis.

“We'll come with you.”

[Alex]

“How old are you?”

"313."

“What kind of alien are you? You look human. Is that just a disguise?”

"A Gallifreyan. No disguise. We look human just like you except our physiology is a little different. For instance, I have two hearts."

The group went off to huddle and Alexis waited patiently by the controls as they made their decision. When they came back The Professor looked towards Tori and waited to hear their answer.

“We'll come with you.”

Alexis smiled.

"Fantastic! Ms. Jacobs, you stand right here."

Alexis led Tori over to the helm panel before moving over to Shinta.

"Mr. Greenaway, you take this station."

Alex led Shinta over to the navigation panel.

"Ms. Mayweather, right this way."

The Professor guided Lily over to the mechanical panel before moving over to Mary.

"Ms. Thomas, follow me to the communications panel please."

After leading Mary there she moved to Nex.

"And you come right over here to the diagnostic panel. Now!"

Alexis clapped her hands together and returned over to Tori's panel.

"This is the Eye Piece. If the external scanners aren't working, the eyepiece works as an optical viewfinder, with a much more limited view than the scanners. The steering mechanism is used only when flying manually to correct the flight patterns, and make course corrections. The space, slash, time throttle adjusts the speed of travel through time and space, you can control them simultaneously or separately. And then the time rotor handbrake stops the capsule from traveling in time. Do you follow me?"

[Ayen]

"313."

“313!?”

“You don't look a day over 100.”

"A Gallifreyan. No disguise. We look human just like you except our physiology is a little different. For instance, I have two hearts."

“Two hearts?”

“Does that make her polygamy?”

"Fantastic! Ms. Jacobs, you stand right here."

“All right.”

"Mr. Greenaway, you take this station."

“Fascinating.”

"Ms. Mayweather, right this way."

“So many levers.”

"Ms. Thomas, follow me to the communications panel please."

“A typewriter?”

"This is the Eye Piece. If the external scanners aren't working, the eyepiece works as an optical viewfinder, with a much more limited view than the scanners. The steering mechanism is used only when flying manually to correct the flight patterns, and make course corrections. The space, slash, time throttle adjusts the speed of travel through time and space, you can control them simultaneously or separately. And then the time rotor handbrake stops the capsule from traveling in time. Do you follow me?"

“I think so. Are you sure you trust me with this? Wouldn't you be better of operating this panel?”

[Alex]

“You don't look a day over 100.”

"Thank you!"

“Two hearts?”

"That's right."

“Does that make her polygamy?”

"I don't think it works that way."

“I think so. Are you sure you trust me with this? Wouldn't you be better of operating this panel?”

"Ms. Jacobs, you are a remarkable student. If anyone can fly this capsule it's you. Mr. Greenaway!"

Alexis went back over to Shinta's panel.

"This is the spatial location input. It allows you to pick any place in physical space and time. The time space forward, backward control selects a direction in time to travel for manual controls. The atom accelerator provides energy and and the directional pointer is for - well - turning directions."

Once she was done with Shinta Alexis walked over to Lily's new station.

"Engine release lever."

Alexis placed her hand on the lever.

"To be pulled when the engines are fully powered. Door release and lock mechanism."

She touched the lever next to it.

"Locks and unlocks the door. Gyroscopic stabilizers; stabilizes the TT capsule when the inertial dampers are weak. The locking down mechanism here..."

She pointed to the handbrake.

"Stops the TT capsule from traveling in physical space. The display dials..."

She began turning the dials.

"Display the engine cycles, temperature, time rotor, speed and exterior temperature. Let me know if anything is wrong."

Alexis then went off towards Nex.

"Inertial dampers. These compensate for the speed of travel, and stops us from getting thrown around. Bunsen burner, water dispenser, and cooling systems."

And finally The Professor walked over to where Mary was standing.

"The typewriter right here is to examine and analyze any substance in the vicinity. Analogue radio waves receive and transmit radio waves. Voice recorder. Digital comm, used for communicating with other spacecrafts we come across and the analogue telephone for others who are not on a spaceship to call us."

Alexis retreated to her own panel.

"And I will be operating from the fabrication panel. Now, before we go there is one important thing you must know. We are to be observers only. We cannot and will not interfere in the natural order of time. To do so can and will lead to serious consequences and I warn you now that the role of an observer is much more tasking on the soul than those who interfere. Do you all understand?"

[Ayen]

"Ms. Jacobs, you are a remarkable student. If anyone can fly this capsule it's you."

“Thanks, Professor.”

The others listened to how each of their panel worked before watching Alexis retreat to her own and resume speaking.

"And I will be operating from the fabrication panel. Now, before we go there is one important thing you must know. We are to be observers only. We cannot and will not interfere in the natural order of time. To do so can and will lead to serious consequences and I warn you now that the role of an observer is much more tasking on the soul than those who interfere. Do you all understand?"

The group looked to each other from their controls with uncertainly in some, mainly Mary, Lily and Tori herself. But they all eventually nodded their heads in response to the professor.

“We do.”

[Alex]

"All right, let's get this girl moving. She hasn't seen action in a long, long time! Ms. Mayweather, activate the door lock mechanism. Mr. Greenaway, enter Genesis year 1 GA into the spatial location input and set the time forwards, backwards controls then power up the atom accelerator. Ms. Jacobs, release the time rotor handbrake. Mr. Nex, activate inertial dampers."

After relaying those orders Alexis engaged the harmonic generator herself.

"Ms. Mayweather, pull the engine release lever."

The Professor waited for Lily to do so before activating the materialize/dematerialize function on her TT capsule.

"Ms. Jacobs, I want you to gradually increase the space-time throttle until it's at its full position."

[Ayen]

"All right, let's get this girl moving. She hasn't seen action in a long, long time! Ms. Mayweather, activate the door lock mechanism."

Lily pulled the lever locking the door.

“Done!”

"Mr. Greenaway, enter Genesis year 1 GA into the spatial location input and set the time forwards, backwards controls then power up the atom accelerator."

Shinta set the coordinates followed closely by the time forwards/backwards controls before powering up the atom accelerator, his heart already racing from the excitement of actually going backwards in time to the beginning of Genesis' life as a planet.

"Ms. Jacobs, release the time rotor handbrake."

“Releasing!”

Tori pressed her hand down on the handbrake allowing the TT capsule to travel through time.

"Mr. Nex, activate inertial dampers."

“Aye, Captain!”

Nex activated the inertial dampers before looking back over to the professor.

“Inertial dampers activated!”

This was beginning to feel like an episode of Star Trek to Nex, except with time travel.

"Ms. Mayweather, pull the engine release lever."

Lily pulled the other level by her panel releasing the engines to engage the gears.

"Ms. Jacobs, I want you to gradually increase the space-time throttle until it's at its full position."

“Got it.”

Tori did her best to hide the nervousness that had crept up through her bones, slowly adjusting the time throttle so there would be no complications until it was finally set to full.

“Space-time throttle increased, Professor.”

[Alex]

The TT capsule began to dematerialize as a grinding and whirring sound could be heard coming from the capsule. No longer would the bus exterior be seen by any who came to the school bus parking lot later but instead an empty space remained and the people would be none the wiser to it. They'd just think a bus went out and that's exactly what happened.

"Well done, all of you! That was a smooth take-off."

Alexis began watching the time altimeter at her station, keeping track of the capsule's speed while traveling through time.

"Ms. Mayweather, keep an eye on those display dials. Alert us if the engine temperature gets too high so Ms. Jacobs can decrease the space-time throttle as necessary."

[Ayen]

"Well done, all of you! That was a smooth take-off."

“I can't believe we're doing this.”

“I can. And I cannot wait until we arrive at our designation. To think we'll be the first humans to ever lay eyes on the Golden Age of Genesis.”

“I'd be lying if I said my heart wasn't pounding from the excitement.”

“I'm excited too.”

“What do you think we'll find, Professor?”

"Ms. Mayweather, keep an eye on those display dials. Alert us if the engine temperature gets too high so Ms. Jacobs can decrease the space-time throttle as necessary."

“On it.”

“Excuse me, Professor, but you never did show us how your control panel worked. Isn't it important that we know?”

[Alex]

"This is the fabrication panel. With the focusing device you can transverse the time vortex and teleport. Fabricated dispenser creates devices that can be used but takes up a lot of time and energy to perform so use it sparingly. Harmonic generator creates resonant harmonics where the capsule is about to materialize or dematerialize, so it doesn't cause too much disturbance. Very important! And of course we have the materialize and dematerialize function itself to make the TT capsule appear and disappear. This thing right here that I'm looking at is called a time altimeter. It allows me to keep track of the capsule's speed."

Alexis explained to the class while never taking her eyes off the time altimeter.

"All right, we're just about ready to land. Ms. Jacobs, gradually decrease the space-time throttle, exactly as you did before only in reverse. Mr. Greenaway, put the time backwards control to neutral."

Alexis activated the harmonic generator and then materialize feature as once again that grinding and whirring sound reached everybody's ears and the TT capsule landed on Genesis in the year 1 of the Golden Age. The Era of the Creator.

"Ms. Mayweather, activate the locking down mechanism and put the engine release lever back into lock position. Ms. Jacobs, pull the time rotor handbrake. Mr. Nex, deactivate the inertial dampers. Mr. Greenaway, power down the atom accelerator, we don't want it wasting power. Ms. Mayweather, open the doors."

Alexis walked away from the console and over to the doors which appeared to be more ancient than previously, like doors to an old temple and pushed them open. Outside the rest of the class would see that the TT capsule has taken on the form of an ancient temple to disguise itself with the rest of the landscape. Once outside, Alexis took the capsule's keys and locked the door to make sure no one came wandering inside later before putting it back inside her pockets and looking out to the area in front of them. There was many, many miles of green grass out ahead, trees that reached up to the sky and many different types of stones on the grassy path. Up in the clear blue sky above the trees was a large ball of energy that almost blended in with the sky itself, far enough away not to blind unless looked at directly and acting as a sun in its own right. And it was the Creator.

"Welcome, class. To the Golden Age of civilization! Your civilization. In the beginning the Creator took a much more active role in Genesis affairs being an object of worship for every species that were alive at the time. It hung up there in space like the sun would do 10,000 years later into the era of man. Temples like the one the TT capsule has taken were used to worship and communicate with the entity. Any questions before we move on?"

[Ayen]

"This is the fabrication panel. With the focusing device you can transverse the time vortex and teleport. Fabricated dispenser creates devices that can be used but takes up a lot of time and energy to perform so use it sparingly. Harmonic generator creates resonant harmonics where the capsule is about to materialize or dematerialize, so it doesn't cause too much disturbance. Very important! And of course we have the materialize and dematerialize function itself to make the TT capsule appear and disappear. This thing right here that I'm looking at is called a time altimeter. It allows me to keep track of the capsule's speed."

“Time vortex?”

“Teleport?”

"All right, we're just about ready to land. Ms. Jacobs, gradually decrease the space-time throttle, exactly as you did before only in reverse."

“Right,” replied Tori before gradually decreasing the time throttle.

"Mr. Greenaway, put the time backwards control to neutral."

“Moving to neutral.”

"Ms. Mayweather, activate the locking down mechanism and put the engine release lever back into lock position."

“Locking!” called out Lily as she pushed down on the handbrake and then pulled the engine release lever again.

"Ms. Jacobs, pull the time rotor handbrake."

“Pulling.”

Tori stopped the machine from moving through time.

“Done.”

"Mr. Nex, deactivate the inertial dampers."

“Deactivating.”

Nex deactivated the inertial dampers.

"Mr. Greenaway, power down the atom accelerator, we don't want it wasting power."

“Powering down.”

"Ms. Mayweather, open the doors."

“Gladly.”

Lily opened the door to the capsule before the group left their stations and followed the professor out of the ship, their eyes widened at the sight they saw before them as they knew they were no longer in Moon Valley but ancient times in Genesis. Their eyes going up to see the trees and holding an arm over their eyes to look at The Creator up above in awe before they noticed that the exterior of the TT Capsule was different than it was back at the school. It was now a large and old looking temple instead.

"Welcome, class. To the Golden Age of civilization! Your civilization. In the beginning the Creator took a much more active role in Genesis affairs being an object of worship for every species that were alive at the time. It hung up there in space like the sun would do 10,000 years later into the era of man. Temples like the one the TT capsule has taken were used to worship and communicate with the entity. Any questions before we move on?"

Everyone shot their hands up into the air at once, Tori doing so just a couple of seconds before the others and waiting to be called on before asking her question,

“How can it be the golden age of our civilization when humans won't be around for another ten millennia?”

“Can The Creator see us? Does it know we're here?”

“What do you mean “The Creator?” Do you mean God?”

“There's an actual creator of the universe?”

“Who would win in a fight, The Creator or Allah?”

“Did you seriously just ask that?”

“Inquiring minds want to know.”

[Alex]

“How can it be the golden age of our civilization when humans won't be around for another ten millennia?”

"Excellent question, Ms. Jacobs! You see, many of the species we will see in this time period were fused together ultimately creating what would be known as the first human tribe ushering in the Dawn of Man. The reason for this fusion were due to many of the species going extinct and the Creator ensuring their survival by mixing them all together to create a new species entirely."

“Can The Creator see us? Does it know we're here?”

"Oh, it can see us. There's nothing it can't see."

“What do you mean “The Creator?” Do you mean God?”

"No. God is a creator but he is not the Creator."

“There's an actual creator of the universe?”

"A fascinating abnormity. It isn't a he, isn't a she. It exists outside space and time unchanging. It doesn't require worship nor does it ask for it, it doesn't promise salvation nor does it condemn anyone or thing to damnation for any reason. It just creates and then it let's us go from there."

“Who would win in a fight, The Creator or Allah?”

"Stalemate. The Creator doesn't fight and it can't be harmed or killed. Its existence can't even be described as infinite or finite it's the creator of both and therefore is neither. There is nothing in any universe, any time period, no matter how powerful or clever that could destroy the Creator. Not now. Not ever."

[Ayen]

"Excellent question, Ms. Jacobs! You see, many of the species we will see in this time period were fused together ultimately creating what would be known as the first human tribe ushering in the Dawn of Man. The reason for this fusion were due to many of the species going extinct and the Creator ensuring their survival by mixing them all together to create a new species entirely."

“We're the result of a bunch of other species being merged together?”

“Polymerization!”

“Sure beats Evolution.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“What species would those be, exactly?”

"Oh, it can see us. There's nothing it can't see."

“Does that mean The Creator watches us on the toilet?”

“The age old question finally answered. So a deity has been watching me poop.”

“I don't understand. Why doesn't it step in and stop us? Our being here must be some kind of violation, surely.”

"No. God is a creator but he is not the Creator."

“What?”

"A fascinating abnormity. It isn't a he, isn't a she. It exists outside space and time unchanging. It doesn't require worship nor does it ask for it, it doesn't promise salvation nor does it condemn anyone or thing to damnation for any reason. It just creates and then it let's us go from there."

“But they obviously do worship it. You just said so.”

"Stalemate. The Creator doesn't fight and it can't be harmed or killed. Its existence can't even be described as infinite or finite it's the creator of both and therefore is neither. There is nothing in any universe, any time period, no matter how powerful or clever that could destroy the Creator. Not now. Not ever."

“The immovable object.”

“It created infinity? How does one create infinity?”

“I'm not believing this.”

“Me neither. I only know one god and he isn't a giant ball in the sky!”

“No. He's a man with a beard in the sky.”

Mary gave Nex a dark glare and he quickly shut up as Lily snickered.

“Show us more, Professor.”

[Alex]

“We're the result of a bunch of other species being merged together?”

"Not just you. Every species on your planet by your time is the result of splicing."

“What species would those be, exactly?”

"Why tell you when I can show you?"

“I don't understand. Why doesn't it step in and stop us? Our being here must be some kind of violation, surely.”

"Our being here to observe isn't a threat. If we meddled however the Creator may take action. Not a certainty but definitely a strong possibility. Just one of many, many reasons why my people never interfere in the natural order of time."

“What?”

"Think of gods as mini creators. They come from the Creator but are not responsible for the creation of all existence, just some of it. Your god and every god that your people has ever come to known are mini creators and they were all created just like the rest of us. Through that up there."

She pointed up to where the Creator was in the sky.

“But they obviously do worship it. You just said so.”

"Well, it's like they say, Ms. Mayweather, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink."

“Show us more, Professor.”

"Always ready and willing to feed your mind, that's what I always liked about you, Ms. Jacobs."

The Professor began walking forward out into the open space with the rest of her class. As they walked and examined the area around them the ground began to shake, The Professor stopped moving and smiled as she looked out ahead to the trees where the source of the movement were coming from.

"Oh. Oh, you lot are in for a treat."

The ground continued to shake and out from the trees were an entire heard of a species long extinct.


Dinosaurs.

"Say hello to the Sauropoda, class!"

The herd continued on their path not noticing the class as they walked across the open field as The Professor took out her pen to scan the herd that was in the area.

"According to my readings this particular herd of Sauropoda are the Camarasaurus. Can anyone tell me how big they are?"

[Ayen]

"Not just you. Every species on your planet by your time is the result of splicing."

“Why splice dying species together? Why not just keep them from going extinct?”

"Think of gods as mini creators. They come from the Creator but are not responsible for the creation of all existence, just some of it. Your god and every god that your people has ever come to known are mini creators and they were all created just like the rest of us. Through that up there."

“But the bible said God is the creator of all things and has always existed.”

“Mary, think for a moment about what you just said.”

"Well, it's like they say, Ms. Mayweather, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink."

“Ain't that the truth.”

"Always ready and willing to feed your mind, that's what I always liked about you, Ms. Jacobs."

Tori blushed and folded her arms in front of her chest as she and the others followed the professor through the open field until the earth beneath their feet began to move.

"Oh. Oh, you lot are in for a treat."

“What is it, Professor? What's happening?”

“Guys, look over there!”

"Say hello to the Sauropoda, class!"

The group tilted up their head as far as they could to see the herd of long-necked four-legged dinosaurs that were passing them by, looking on in silent amazement as the impossible has happened. They were here to witness a real live dinosaur.

“This is incredible! I can't believe it! A real life herd of dinosaurs!”

“It's Jurassic Park. Only minus Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum or the fat guy from Seinfeld. I wouldn't have mind Ariana Richards though, she really grew up.”

“I prefer Denise Richards.”

“Dinosaurs. We're looking at dinosaurs and you two are talking about women.”

“Then look at your dinosaurs. We're hardly disturbing you.”

“I prefer J. August Richards.”

“Ooh, nice choice.”

“Thanks.”

Lily rolled her eyes at the pair and Nex touched his bald head while smiling over at Mary.

"According to my readings this particular herd of Sauropoda are the Camarasaurus. Can anyone tell me how big they are?"

“I'd say about 15 feet and over 61,000 pounds.”

“15 feet.”

“10?”

“15.”

“15.”

“I'm going to say 15 too.”

“You already said 10.”

“I'm allowed to change my answer.”

“Shh!”

“Did you just shush me?”

“Yes I did. So shush!”

“Professor! Mary just shushed me!”

“He was stealing our answers.”

“You were all just copying Tori's answer anyways.”

“Are you seriously telling on Mary, Nex?”

“Shut up!”

“What did you just say to me?”

“I believe you heard me.”

“Oh, so now you have balls of steel?”

“I have balls the size of grapefruits!”

“We can't go anywhere with them can we?” asked Shinta to Tori quietly.

“Nope.”