"WOW, cool!" shouted Aaron.
"Dawg, this is awesome!" said Sheldon.
"It's like a giant video game!" Dacota said excitedly.
"Don't touch anything guys, I haven't had time to test it out," the Professor said nervously.
Everyone looked in amazement over all the flashing lights and colorful buttons. They just couldn't believe what they were seeing. The inside of the time machine was set up in a circular pattern with buttons, lights and small compartments everywhere. There were two tall chairs, each with a steering column, facing an instrumentation panel and a large glass window. There were three more chairs behind them. Above the chairs was a large glass dome for overhead viewing, just right for four kids and the Professor.
Mike immediately sat down in one of the chairs in front and started looking over all the buttons.
"This is just what I need!" Mike said. "I can go back to this morning and not be late for class, and I can change what happened at lunch. I can also do all my homework and then go back and have time to play every day. Man, I can definitely put this thing to use! How does it work Professor?"
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"Well, let me see."
Aaron and Dacota were leaning over the front seats watching Mike and the Professor as the Professor sat down to try and explain it to them.
"Hey, does this thing have a GameCube in it?" Sheldon asked as he walked around looking the rest of the machine over. "My dad has a GameCube that we can play in the car."
Dacota turned around to look at Sheldon.
"It doesn't have no GameCube, Sheldon. There's no room for it. The Professor has all his time machine stuff in here," Dacota said as if he knew what he was talking about.
Dacota turned back around as he heard the Professor starting to talk.
"OK, let's see," said the Professor. "The idea is very simple. Let me show you the monitor first."
The Professor pushed a button on the panel marked time screen. A monitor, about the size of a typical computer screen, began to rise up out of the panel.
"All right, this monitor is the time-viewing screen. It shows you a picture of the place and time that you enter into the time calculator."
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The Professor reached under the panel and pulled out a keyboard that slid on a track.
"Now, this is the time calculator where you enter how far back, or how far forward, you want to travel. Once you have that entered, you hit return and it feeds it into the main computer. The computer takes that info and does some calculations and then sends it to the magnetic field separator, which generates the power to create the time window. That's where this monitor comes in. It will show you a live picture of that moment in time."
"Can you, like, show us a place in time without actually going anywhere?" Mike asked the Professor with a very curious tone in his voice.
"Well, I guess I could. As long as I don't activate the power to the engines," the Professor replied, not really sure if that was the case. "Now, everyone look out the front window."
The Professor pushed a button on the panel marked magnetic coupling rods. Two rods about four feet long, each with a large steel ball on the end, slowly emerged from the front of the machine.
"Those two rods create the actual window in time," stated the Professor as he pointed out the front at the two emerging rods. "The magnetic field separator creates a very powerful magnetic force, which can actually pull apart or separate the walls of time. All the magnetic energy is sent through those rods and into the balls, which with just the right amount of negative and positive energy creates the window. The computer does the rest by plotting the structure of time and helps to open the window at the date selected. Now, I created this machine with the idea of being able to go back and study live dinosaurs. You guys know how much I love dinosaurs."
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"Can we see some real dinosaurs Professor?" Dacota asked.
"Well, let's see," the Professor replied curiously as he typed in a date and hit return.
He then pushed a few more buttons and flipped some more switches. The lights went dim and a large humming sound erupted from the machine. Everyone covered their ears and waited to see what was going to happen. The area between the two rods began to blur and then warp. Then there was a large flash of light and suddenly a picture appeared. The same picture appeared on the monitor inside the machine.
"Wow, it looks like the jungle or something. Is that back in the dinosaurs time Professor?" asked Mike.
"Well, it's supposed to be, but I'm not sure. I haven't really tested it enough to know," the Professor answered.
The picture revealed a large jungle-like forest with very dense and large plant life. Other than the plants, it didn't seem like much was happening. Then there was a loud noise.
"Rrrrooaar!"
"What was that?" shouted Mike as he grabbed hold of the Professor.
Aaron and Dacota both screamed and then hid down behind the seats. Sheldon screamed, then turned and started running to Mike.
"Aahh, Mikey!" Sheldon screamed.
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Sheldon slipped trying to jump into Mike's lap and fell on the instrument panel, accidentally pushing some buttons. One of them was the power to the engines, which roared to life. The whole machine began to shake. All four boys screamed. The Professor tried to shut off the engines, but it was too late. The two magnetic coupling rods began to extend outward, widening the time window. The Scorpium suddenly jumped up off the floor and shot through the opening. Now the Professor began to scream as they all headed somewhere in time. Everyone clung to their seats and screamed as the Scorpium sped, seemingly out of control, through the time tunnel. And then, as quickly as it started, the Scorpium came to a halt.
The trip only lasted for about fifteen seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The engines conked out and the machine came to rest in the exact spot that had been seen in the window and on the monitor.
"Wow, what a ride," Mike said in relief.
"Is everyone OK?" the Professor asked.
Aaron and Dacota peeked up from their seats and both nodded. Sheldon got up off the floor and climbed up into Mike's lap.
"I'm scared Mike," Sheldon said as his eyes slowly began to tear up.
"It's OK buddy. The Professor knows what he's doing. He will get us back home all safe and sound," Mike assured him. "In the meantime we can look for some dinosaurs."
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"Are you crazy Mike!" Aaron shouted. "You saw Jurassic Park, even the little dinosaurs are mean."
"Aaron's right Mike," the Professor replied as he looked over the control panel for some answers. "Right now, I need to find out exactly where in time we are and how to get back home."
"Beep, beep, beep." A red light started to flash on the panel.
"What's that?" Dacota asked as he pointed to the flashing red light.
"It's working!" the Professor said excitedly. "That's the DinoLock. It locates and then locks onto dinosaurs in the area."
"I don't see anything," said Mike.
"Here, look here," said the Professor pointing to a circular screen on the panel. "This is like a radar screen. It will show us where they are and how many are out there."
They all gathered around the radar and saw one red blip on the screen.
"It looks like just one dinosaur and it should be coming in front of the time machine in just a few seconds."
"Well at least there's only one," Aaron said in relief.
Boom, boom, boom. The time machine started to shake. Everyone grabbed onto their seats. Sheldon threw his arms around Mike's neck and held on tight.
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"What's happening?" shouted Dacota.
"It's the dinosaur, a very big dinosaur," answered the Professor.
"LOOK!" shouted Mike as he pointed out the window.
Sheldon lifted up Mike's shirt and buried his head inside.
"It's a Tyrannosaurus Rex!" the Professor shouted in amazement.
"Aaaagghhh!" Everyone screamed in terror.
The T-rex stopped in front of the time machine, bent over and stuck its head right up to the window. The window fogged where the T-rex's breath met the glass. It nudged the window with its head and then let out another loud roar. Everyone screamed again. The T-rex heard them scream, and its eyes widened. It lifted his head as if ready to ram the time machine.
"Do something Professor!" shouted Mike.
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