A Case of Time-Travelling Shorts

The Ninety-Six Theory - II

"Not here," Toa frowned sympathetically. His dark tattoos emphasised the lines of his face. "This town's architecture dates back to the 1950's, if that means anything to you. My people counted in seasons, not numbers, and I've been here long enough to learn this tongue. There is a slither of my time on the outer edge of the Wastelands. I can show you, if you like."

Yuri cradled his face in his hands. "Some other time. I need to sleep."

"You can rest in the cot at the infirmary, I'll send Elaine to check on you later."

Green faded into distant memory. Like the rice terraces: they were green before the Cybernetic Realisation plunged the world back into its grave. Acidic water seeped under the Dome, irreversibly damaging the irrigation stream. Crops drooped in limp shades of yellow and brown. His sister aged, her cheekbones tight against hollowed cheeks. Hope sparked in her eyes when he'd told her about the aerial islands that the satellites had picked up in the South. Their salvation.

A lady with fat cheeks opened the door, interrupting Yuri's dream. Long brown hair cascaded down her back, and a blue dress cradled her pregnant belly.

"I'm Elaine," she said, a strange accent twanging her speech. "Toa sent me to clean you up a bit. Are you well enough to shower?"

She clucked, noticing his confused expression. "Come now, you look as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."

"What's a cat?" Yuri asked.

"I'll introduce you to Olaf later," she replied. "But let's get you showered up first. Everyone will be finished with dinner now, but I'll bet there a few leftovers to be had. You must be starving."

The infirmary was on upper level of the 'Titties and Beer' building, which Elaine referred to as the Homestead. They passed multiple doors on the way to the blue-doored bathroom. She left him with a warm towel and change of clothes. Yuri peeled off his body-armour, gasping at the red marks that had imprinted into his skin while he'd slept. Dark bruises marked his chest and shoulders, a carbon copy of the Beetle's harness.

The water felt luxuriously wasteful on his naked skin. Steam curled off of it. Initially, this had terrified him, but it was soothing to breathe rather than searingly acidic. He washed his hair one-handed, careful to keep his injured shoulder out of the water's flow.

The pants Elaine had left for him were a perfect fit, but trouble struck when he realised he couldn't lift his injured arm into the shirt. He walked back to the infirmary, the towel wrapped self-consciously around his chest.

Elaine gasped when she saw the wound. "Toa said you'd hit my lemon tree. You really rooted it, didn't you? Ah well, at least it didn't get you an inch further in; that would've shattered all the bones in your shoulder."

She pulled out a strangely familiar medical kit.

Yuri gasped. "That's mine!"

"This old thing?" she asked, surprised. "The salvage crew found it nearly three years ago now, out in the wastelands. It's probably just a similar one."

He stared at the navy metal box, wincing when Elaine coaxed splinters from his shoulder. It was an amazing coincidence, that the box had a similar red scratch from where he'd scraped his kit along the side of the Beetle's red paintwork. The loss of his car consumed him. Surely there were some parts that could be salvaged, some way of returning home.

He noticed an unusual addition to the box. An old gun was nestled amongst the supply of bandages. An ancient one that still used gun powder. Guns had been used when paper was still in print. Much before the Cybernetic Realisation, or even the Time-Bombings of the 2500s.