Regona City: Tempest (BK3)

The Return

The only sound was Mrs. Kane's muffled voice drifting from the other room. She was still engaged in a conversation on the phone. Sahara was staring at a Mr. Kane who was waiting, an expectant look on his face.

"To Regona?" Sahara finally whispered.

Mr. Kane's head bobbed up and down rapidly.

"You're saying I can go back?" The thought was unreal. Sahara had come to terms with the fact that she couldn't return.

"It's taken me a while, but yes, I've fixed the machine so that you can go back..." Mr. Kane trailed off. "Though there are one or two glitches," he added with a mutter. "So," his eyes sparkled, "What do you say?"

"I..." Sahara paused. A part of her was screaming, asking her what she was waiting for. However, another side of her was hesitating. "How did you fix it?" she asked the question that came to mind.

Mr. Kane shot a glance past her, towards the room from where Mrs. Kane's voice could be heard. "I'll show you."

"I don't..." again Sahara hesitated. What's wrong with you? She asked herself. This is what you've wanted all this time, isn't it? To go back. To see them all again. She looked up and a smile spread across her face. Without a word she stood up.

"That's my girl," Mr. Kane told her as he put his hand on her back and the two hurried towards the door.

Still engaged in her conversation, Mrs. Kane didn't notice. Blue pranced along, his tail wagging the whole way as they headed towards the barn.

"Are you sure it works?" Sahara asked as they walked.

"Yes, yes." Mr. Kane's head bobbed making his glasses bounce. "I just had to change the cellus nuclear battery, change the settings, re-configure a few parts and do some programming on the..." he paused as he seemed to realize that Sahara wouldn't understand any of what he was saying. "You could say I've patched it up."

"Patched it up?" Sahara asked, doubt in her voice as they reached the barn.

Mr. Kane put a hand on the door. "Yes. There seems to be one problem I can't quite overcome..." he paused and turned to Blue who was wagging his tail and waiting expectantly for the door to open. "No dogs," Mr. Kane told him firmly. Blue's tail didn't miss a beat.

Sighing, Sahara turned to Blue. "Sit," she commanded. The dog followed. "Stay," Sahara added

Satisfied, Mr. Kane pushed the door open. Sahara followed him, making sure to close the door so that Blue wouldn't wander in if he had one of his disobedient moments. Turning, Sahara found herself staring at a familiar view of machinery. She wasn't in here much. Mr. Kane preferred being alone while inventing, and she didn't want to intrude.

"So what's the problem?" Sahara asked as she weaved in and out of machinery, trying to catch up to Mr. Kane who was already way ahead.

"It overloads," Mr. Kane replied. He came to a stop in front of a particular machine.

Sahara followed his lead. She stared at the large machine which didn't look familiar in the least. A screen covered in dirt was displayed at the front while button upon buttons were all around it, looking more like decoration that anything.

This could take me back... she reached out a hand but froze before touching it. "Overloading?" she asked.

Mr. Kane nodded. He turned and rummaged around the desk that stood nearby, searching for something. "Sending small objects isn't a problem, however, anything bigger than a small box and the strain is too great. A human breaks its limit. That's why it broke last time." He threw some papers aside, growing more frantic in his search. "It's a problem I haven't been able to fix no matter what I try."