Going To Be Famous

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     Tom hated reporters in his lab. He especially hated college reporters in his lab, and this particular reporter was a jerk. Once he made the decision to allow Bob into his lab he immediately regretted it. Bob, being the typical college reporter, had no brain to speak of. His only motive for arranging the interview was to ridicule the science that he, Tom, had spent his last five years researching.

     Tom had hoped that the interview would give him exposure to bigger things. Too late for those regrets now though, Bob was being escorted through the doors into the clean area.

     "Hello Tommy"

     "Tom. Hello Bob. How are things at the paper?"

     "Dull. So, where's this wonder machine you were talking about?"

     "It's not a wonder machine, Bob, it's a time machine. Follow me."

     Tom exited the room, not caring if Bob was following him or not. He already knew what was going on in Bob's little mind. That "kill your grandfather" thing that all of the amateurs play with. That or the "there won't be a planet in that physical space when you return to the past" argument. Idiots.

     After walking through a few doors Tom stopped in front of the crypto-lock to enter his code. Bob stood and watched attentively.

     "What, are you nuts? Turn around Bob."

     "What a jerk" Tom muttered under his breath. He entered the room and turned the lights on. As soon as the room was illuminated, Bob dashed immediately for the machine sitting quietly against the back wall.

     "So, this is it - the wonder machine!"

     "Time machine, Bob, time machine. Don't touch anything."

     "How does it work?"

     "Scientifically Bob. Surely you don't expect to be able to understand how it works if I explain it? Let me set it up and I'll give you a demonstration. You can write about that."

     Right next to the control panel there was a two-foot by two-foot pad on the floor. Taking a stopwatch from his pocket, Tom turned the watch so that Bob could see that he was turning it on.

     "I'm going to place this stop watch on the pad and push the button to active the machine. If you watch it closely, you will see the hand actually move backwards in time. Okay, it's ready, watch the hands."

     Moving slightly to the left of the pad so that he could push the activation button, Tom watched with pride as the hand moved every so slightly backwards.

     "There! Did you see it?"

     Bob saw it. He also saw opportunity; he could be the first man on earth to travel back in time. Visions of grandeur exploded in his head as he imagined himself being interviewed by the press, by the scientific community. He would be the envy of every scientist and reporter on the planet. He needed a plan, though.

     "No, Tommy, I didn't see anything. I think the hands are too small on the stopwatch. Do you have something bigger you could use for the demonstration?"

     Tom thought for a moment and then his eyes caught the large wall clock positioned above his desk.

     "That's Tom, and yeah, I think I do. Hold on a second and I'll get that wall clock. I'm pretty sure that will work."

     As Tom turned his back to get the clock, Bob immediately stepped on top of the pad that the stopwatch had occupied and pushed the button to activate the machine. Tommy continued talking.

     "There is one thing about my machine that I haven't been able to work out. It's the amount of time that I can move an object back. It seems that this machine has a limit of about two seconds. It's hard to see with the clocks because of their mechanical limits and sloppy tolerances - but I'm sure it's there."

     Noting the silence from a normally abnormal chatterbox, Tom turned around from where he stood on his desk, holding the clock in his hands.

     "Bob?"

* * * * *                                        * * * * *

     Tom barely noticed the knock on the door. He very nearly panicked when he felt the tap on his shoulder.

     "Tom? Where's Bob?"

     Tom just pointed to the machine. Bob would appear just long enough to utter the last whispered words of a sentence, ".... going to be famous.", as he reached over and pushed the button to activate the machine. Then he would appear again, about two seconds later.

     "... going to be famous."

     "... going to be famous."

     "... going to be famous."

Comments (4)

Posted by celtic1888 03-18-2008 13:55,   Got what he deserved. Good story, what would happen if Tom turns off the power? Maybe best to just leave him there for a while as a lesson. Well done.   » Report this comment to administrator » Reply to this comment... » See all 1 replie(s)   Posted by thirteen 03-18-2008 14:33,   ... I aggree, serves him right.You know what they say "curiousity killed the cat".Any way cool story, David.Again I read this before and its still enjoyable even though I knew the ending.GREAT.   » Report this comment to administrator » Reply to this comment...   Posted by The_Gimp 03-18-2008 14:36,   ... That's what happens when you mess up with unknown factors hehe, quick and easy read. :)   » Report this comment to administrator » Reply to this comment...   Posted by Zombie Punk 05-03-2008 08:25,   ... ha ha good story he should throw a orange at him everytime he appears that'll teach the wanker   » Report this comment to administrator » Reply to this comment...

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