Caitlyn looked at herself in the mirror, pulling at the tight fitting clothing. It was now the morning after her unexpected trip to the future. She spent the night in the Karr guestroom, which was located next to Zenon's bedroom. Zenon let Caitlyn borrow some of her clothes for the day. Caitlyn was invited to go to school with Zenon. Caitlyn decided to take the offer, if she's gonna be stuck in the future, might as well make the most of it. Caitlyn pulled a bright red bandanna out of her bag and tied it over her hair. She looked in the mirror once more, futuristic style with her own flair. It came together nicely. "Caitlyn, hurry up! We are going to miss breakfast!" Caitlyn heard Zenon yell from the upstairs.
Caitlyn hurried up the spiral staircase. Zenon looked at Caitlyn's attire, nodding approvingly. "I'm ready, let's go," Caitlyn told her new friend, taking the spare card key Zenon's parents had supplied her. Entering the hallway, Caitlyn followed the rushing Zenon. She weaved in and out of the large mass of people, almost having to run to keep up with Zenon. Arriving at the mess module, Caitlyn saw that the doors were shut with a 'Kitchen Closed' sign on the door. "Bummer."
"Sweat minor," Zenon said, walking up to a side entrance. She knocked on the door, it opened, and a lady handed her two granola bars. "Thank you SO much, Gemma," Zenon said to the woman before the doors shut. Zenon handed one to Caitlyn and they again were off, this time to Math class. They came through the door just as the bell rang. Zenon quickly slid into her seat, Caitlyn taking the spot next to her. Caitlyn thought the classroom set up was very strange. All it consisted of was a large round table that all the students sat around, each with a computer in front of them. Where does the teacher stand? Caitlyn pondered. Just then, the 3D image of a teacher appeared in the center of the table. Caitlyn's jaw dropped. How does that work? she thought.
"Good morning class," the image spoke.
"Good morning, Mr. Perez," The class replied in unison, minus Caitlyn how was still in shock.
"We have a special guest sitting in class today who staying with Zenon. Please stand up and say hello, Caitlyn," Mr. Perez said. Caitlyn stood up and waved meekly before taking her seat. "So, how do you know Zenon?"
"Um, well..." Caitlyn stuttered, not knowing what to say. She wasn't sure it would be a good plan to blurt out that she had traveled through time.
"She's a friend of the family," Zenon answered for her. Caitlyn gave Zenon a grateful smile. The 3D-teacher image then began to teach class. Caitlyn sat only half paying attention, thinking about how everything is so different then how she thought the future would be.
After sitting through several more of Zenon's classes, it was lunchtime. Caitlyn followed Zenon and her friends to the mess module. They stood it line for their tray of food, and after receiving hers Caitlyn took a seat at a table with Zenon and Zenon's friends Nebula and Lynx. Caitlyn picked up her fork and began nibbling on the food she had- mashed potatoes and gravy, turkey, and corn. She took a bite and was glad that at least the food still tasted the same. "So, what's next for school?" Caitlyn asked Zenon.
"History," Zenon answered between bites of food. History, Caitlyn wasn't to sure about wanting to know what happened in the 50 years she jumped through.
"I think I'll pass on that. I don't really wanna know what happens in the future. Or your past." Nebula and Lynx looked at her curiously, not yet knowing about Caitlyn being a time traveler. "You think they can keep the secret?" Caitlyn asked Zenon.
"Of course we can keep a secret, right Lynx?" Nebula said. She looked over to Lynx, who nodded, eager to know what secret they had.
"Okay, we'll tell you, but you must promise to not tell a soul," Zenon warned them. The two nodded again, wanting to know what the secret was. "Okay, yesterday my parents were doing an experiment in the lab…"
"The one with reversed black holes? I was wondering what came out of that," Lynx said.
"Well, you're looking at it,” Caitlyn supplied the answer. The two looked at her with shock.
"Not only that, but it seemed to have also been a time travel device. Caitlyn actually from the year 2002."
"Cetus Lupedus! That's impressive, major! And we have to keep it a secret?!" Nebula exclaimed. "Can we at least tell Orion?"
"Well..." Zenon thought about her friend's question. Caitlyn had yet to meet Orion, although she had heard about him. "Yeah, Orion can keep a secret." Caitlyn saw a girl approaching that she recognized as Margie. They had met early quite briefly. "Whatever you do, don't tell Margie. She would just spread it like an inky computer virus."
"Well hello,” Margie greeted, seating herself at the round table. Zenon had made her last comment out of Margie's earshot. She turned to address Caitlyn. "Guess what. I talked to daddy, and he was able to get an extra ticket to the Microbe concert. Isn't that fabulo?" Caitlyn opened her mouth to answer, but Margie didn't give her the chance to. "And he got a shuttle set to bring us all down to Earth and back. Now all we need is a place to stay while we're down there."
"Actually, I talked to my Aunt Judy, and she has space for all of us to stay for a few days," Zenon announced to the group. An electronic bell rang through the mess hall. It was time for the students to go to their next class. Caitlyn walked with Zenon up to the entry of the history classroom. "I suppose you can stay with my parents in the lab."
"Yeah, since I know where that is," Caitlyn answered. They said their goodbyes, and Zenon went into the classroom. Caitlyn slowly walked back towards where the science laboratory was held. Caitlyn hoped Zenon's parents would figure out how to send her back to her time. At the same time, she hoped they wouldn't figure it out until after the weekend was over. She wanted to go down to Earth and see Microbe play. Her curiosity about the future's music was just too much. If the music was as nice as the people and things she had seen so far, maybe being stuck 50 years into the future wouldn’t be so horrible.
Caitlyn reached the Karr laboratory. She pulled out the plastic card key from the pocket located on the upper sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. She swiped the card through the slot next to the door. There was a beep, and the door slid open. That brought Caitlyn to the second area of the lab. Zenon had called this area the sterilizing room. It rid the surface of your clothes and skin of any bacteria or substances that could potentially ruin a good experiment. A double beep was heard after Caitlyn stood in it for a few seconds, and the doors to the main part of the lab slid open. She stepped through and the door silently came to a close behind her as she returned the key to the pocket.
Mark and Astrid Karr were busy going through all of the calculations they had made during the entire process of the experiment that had brought Caitlyn to them. “Hello Caitlyn,” Mark greeted the girl while he went from one computer to another across the room. “Having any fun spending time with Zenon at school?”
“Yeah, it’s definitely been… interesting,” Caitlyn answered, sitting down on the same couch she spent her first moments in the future on. “The technology is so different. Especially the strange 3D teacher thing.”
“The holographic teachers were invented in the year 2041,” Astrid informed Caitlyn.
“Zenon’s next class was History, so I decided to sit that one out,” Caitlyn told Zenon’s parents.
“That’s sounds like a good plan, Caitlyn,” Astrid told. “You can spend the time here, although nothing really exciting happens. Besides you coming into our lives.”
“If you wish, you can go to our housing module, maybe watch something on digivision.” Mark suggested to her. Caitlyn had figured out that digivision was the future equivalent to a television. She had watched some sort of show with Zenon the night before. She remembers there was a young child having a recurring nightmare about being stranded on the Jovian Moon. She had no idea what that was, but it was interesting enough for Caitlyn to want to go channel surfing on the set at least once during her stay.
“That sounds like a sweet thing to do,” Caitlyn said. She said goodbye and exited the laboratory. As she walked towards her next destination, Caitlyn saw Commander Plank approaching. “Hello, Commander.” She greeted as they past by.
“Greetings, Caitlyn. I hope your stay has been withstandable so far,” Commander Plank addressed Caitlyn.
“Yes it has, sir,” Caitlyn replied. “It’s been quite an experience so far, ‘though I decided not to stay with Zenon for her History class.”
“That is understandable,” the commander said. “Well, I’m off to check the advances the Karr’s have made so far with getting you back.” Plank was off to where Caitlyn had just left. She then resumed her trek to the Karr’s home, ready to watch some digivision.