Clockwork, Steam, and Flux Capacitors

Ironically, Marty's here, just cruising the Nexus on a break. He hears some very familiar swearing and goes to investigate. "Hey, Doc? Something the matter?"

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Doc looks up and over, surprised. "Oh, hi Marty," he says. He looks down at his PINpoint again. "I've run into a rather serious problem, I'm afraid."

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Uh-oh. Coming from Doc, that probably means worse than usual. "Shit, Doc, what happened?" Marty says, instantly turning serious.

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Doc sighs. "My PINpoint has either broken, or something's happened to disturb my personal 'signature' as regards to the dimension I come from," he explains. "Not only is it not letting me go home -- it's also not letting me go back to my adopted home, either. And I haven't used a naturally occurring portal back to Chicago in months, so I have no idea how to track down one of those."

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. . . That's definitely worse than usual. "Holy shit," Marty hisses out, grimacing. "You've tried -- look who I'm talking to, of course you've tried everything. Anything weird happen to you lately, then? You get LOLed?"

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Doc cracks a brief smile at the "of course you've tried everything" remark, but quickly turns serious again. "Yes, I was under the effects of an invisibility LOL for a while," he admits. "But that shouldn't make a difference. It wore off a couple of days ago, and I've gotten back to Chicago after being LOLed before!" He glares at his PINpoint. "I've fiddled with the diagnostics, but everything says it's working fine! I don't understand it!" He waves a hand. "I have friends back there! Not to mention my model flux capacitor!"

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"Maybe the invisibility LOL worked different?" Marty says, though he knows it's probably a reach. "Damn, Doc, I wish I could help more. . . ."

Then an idea hits him. "Hey! Can you try contacting Victor over that thing? Maybe he can help you out."

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Doc frowns. "Victor might be able to help, but I don't know if he can be contacted over this -- he doesn't have a Nexus e-mail, as far as I know," he says. He looks thoughtful. "I've seen Nexus-wide alerts go out, however. . . ." He fiddles with his PINpoint. "Aha! I think I can send a message to all the Victor Van Dorts in a given area. It might confuse a few potential alternates, but I've personally only ever seen him, so. . . ." Doc nods decisively, then sends out this message to all Victor Van Dorts:

Victor: I urgently need your assistance. Marty and I are waiting over -- about twenty yards from the mystery Christmas tree. Please come as quickly as possible. (If you have no idea who I am, you're not the Victor this message was intended for -- feel free to ignore.)
Doc

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There may be a few (as yet unseen by this mun) Victor Van Dorts looking in confusion at PINpoints now, but the correct one does get the message and manages to locate the wayward pair. "Dr. Brown! Marty! Hello!" he calls, waving as he approaches them. "What seems to be the trouble?"

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"Hello Victor," Doc says, privately very glad to see the young Victorian again. He'd been getting very worried when no sign of him turned up during or after the plagues hit. Marty waves. "My PINpoint appears to be malfunctioning -- it won't let me return to Chicago. Can you try to return the both of us with yours? Or do you know of any natural portals from that universe to the Nexus?"

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Victor frowns. "Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that." Then he smiles, relieved to be able to help. "But I do know of a portal back to Chicago! It's what I usually use to move to and fro. It's right over here." He points out a nearby door, left ajar. "It leads to my room, I hope that's all right."

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Doc cheers right up. "That's fantastic, Victor! Great Scott, I didn't think it would be this easy!" He happily goes over to the door. "I can probably visit another friend in the Gauche while I'm over here -- unless he's moved, I'm not sure anymore." He shakes his head. "We'll sort it out later." He waves a goodbye to Marty. "I'll see you shortly, all right?"

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"Yeah, see you soon," Marty nods. "Remember, we gotta get together sometime on the 9th and celebrate my birthday."

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"Er, begging your pardon, but I thought we did that already?" Victor asks, confused. "Since you and I share a birth date?"

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"Sort of -- for some reason, the year runs different in my home dimension," Marty explains. "It's summer there, now -- early June. So I'm actually turning 18 now, instead of back then." It's confusing, he knows.

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"Oh, I see," Victor says. Then, he laughs a little, quietly. "Goodness, not a year ago and I would have been completely baffled by all this talk of different worlds. Now I can handle it with barely a bat of the eyes."

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"Amazing, isn't it?" Doc agrees with a soft chuckle of his own. "All right, then -- I'll see you in the future, Marty." He steps through the door into Victor's room. It's the typical sort of room at the Gauche -- little screened area for a bedroom, kitchenette, TV going. Doc glances at the channel. "Cartoon Network?"

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Victor blushes. "Er -- I've discovered I rather like the Looney Tunes," he admits, sounding a bit embarrassed. "I don't watch much TV other than that, these days. Most of the other programs are -- forgive me for saying this--"

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"Crap?" Doc finishes for him. "Trust me, I don't blame you. I was never one for excessive watching myself." He finds the remote and flips the channel to a news station. "Though there is--"

Whatever Doc was about to say is abruptly cut off as he sees the date in the corner of the news program. He stares at it for a long moment. "August?" he finally says quietly. "AUGUST 1st?!"

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Victor blushes. "Well -- I wouldn't p-put it quite like t-that," he says.

Victor's jaw drops. "What -- how -- isn't it December?" he demands, baffled. "You said your birthday was October 22nd when I paid my respects in the Nexus, and I know it's been at least a month!"

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"It is! I know!" Doc says, staring at the screen like it's going to change and everything will be all right. It doesn't. "It can't be August! It makes absolutely no sense for it to be August! I'd suspect a time loop, except that you're obviously aware of the passage of--"

Doc stops short again as he remembers something. "Great Scott," he whispers as the pieces start to come together in his head. He turns to face Victor. "Victor, has anything unusual happened lately for you here? Anything you can think of?"

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Victor doesn't like the look on Doc's face. He starts fiddling with his tie, suddenly very worried. "W-well, not really," he stammers. "E-except perhaps it's b-been unusually quiet a-around here. I h-haven't seen anyone in a-ages. Of course, I d-don't go out much a-anyway, and I've been s-spending more time than usual in the N-Nexus. . . ."

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"Quiet?" Those suspicions are getting stronger. "You haven't seen any sign of any -- Biblical plagues? No fleas, no boils, no firstborns mysteriously disappearing for a day?"

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Any what?! "No!" Victor gasps, stunned. "There hasn't been -- the Biblical PLAGUES?? I haven't seen any sign of that! And I especially would have noticed the last, I'm an only child!"
He sits down heavily on the bed, beginning to tremble. "Doc, w-what's happening?"

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