by Matthew Atanian
©2014 by Matthew Atanian
©2014 by Matthew Atanian
“Oh hey, they’re boarding our group now,” Mike Quadrozzi said. He rose from his vaguely uncomfortable plastic seat. He, along with Aaron Abdowmassy, Bill Gelinas, and Kenny Pendrell, had been waiting in a terminal at the Bradley International Airport. From there, they would be flying to San Francisco, and after an overnight layover, it would be off to Japan.
“So where is Hughes again?” Gelinas asked.
“You’ve got me,” Aaron replied. “Got a phone call from him late last night, just before I was going to sleep. He said not to wait on him, he’d made other arrangements.”
“And Matt’s meeting us at the layover, right?” Gelinas further questioned.
Kenny nodded to this, as he also handed his ticket to the agent at the door to the airplane. “He left a week after summer camp, remember? He had an anime convention he wanted to attend, and then he was off to the National Order of the Arrow Conference.”
“Yup,” Mike said. “The patch he designed for this year was pretty cool.”
The four of them took their seats. A short time later, they were airborne for the first leg of their journey to the country that would be their home for the next year.
Aaron took out a book. Next to him, Kenny looked out of the window and observed cloud formations and other atmospheric conditions. In the row in front of them, Mike and Gelinas attempted to get a game of Magic going on the fold down tray tables.
In about seven and a half hours, they would be landing on the west coast. Not of note would happen during this first flight. Certainly nothing that could prepare them for what would happen as they were crossing the ocean.
The airport in San Francisco was huge! It made the four friends feel as if the one they had departed from that morning in Hartford was Podunk in comparison. Some sections of it looked more like a fancy shopping mall or food court then they did an airport.
The quartet collected their baggage. Bill Gelinas grumbled that his stomach was rumbling, so they decided to look for a bite to eat before finding their way to the hotel. Most of the fancier things had been inside the security area, which they’d already left, but they found a place called Marina's Cafe where they picked up some tasty sandwiches. Their stomachs now settled, they began to look for the airport shuttles, eager to check into their hotel room.
“So, four unsupervised youth hundreds of miles from home,” Gelinas muttered as he got into the shuttle. “Somehow, this seems like it stretches credulity.”
“Thousands,” Kenny corrected under his breath. “Approximately 3,015.1...”
“I don’t know what you’re on about,” Mike replied. “We’re responsible.”
“Wish you’d waited until I was drinking something to say that,” Gelinas replied. “A comment like that deserves a spit take.”
“Shut up, Bill,” Aaron said.
“Anyway, what should we do after we drop off our luggage?” Gelinas asked, feeling changing the subject might be wise. “I mean, might be nice to do some sightseeing, but by the time we get settled, it’ll be kind of late. It’s already almost 6:00.”
“Bill, local time it’s only coming up on 3:00.”
“I dunno, what would be easier? Trying to stay up later and starting to readjust, or just worrying about it once we get to Japan?”
“Adjustment usually takes an average of one day per hour of difference, so the sooner one starts the sooner one can be finished with it,” Kenny told them all. “Of course, I’ve devised a method of artificially adjusting my circadian clock manually, but if you haven’t received careful prior conditioning for the process, it can be quite lethal.”
The other three boys swallowed nervously. “I suppose we’ll do it the old fashioned way,” Mike suggested. “No need to stay up crazy late until we’re too over tired tonight, but we’ll try to do an extra hour or two above normal, and set a late alarm for the morning.”
“Shouldn’t be too difficult,” Aaron speculated. “Excitement of the trip should help keep us up.”
“Indeed, most scientifically sound,” Kenny concurred.
The shuttle came to a stop in front of the Holiday Inn they would be staying in. They exited the vehicle, went inside, checked in, and found their room.
They did indeed decide to go out for a while. After some debate upon looking at some leaflets from the hotel’s lobby, they decided to make their way to a place called Pier 39. After about half an hour in a taxi, they found themselves dropped off at an impressive shoreline collection of shops, restaurants, and sea lions.
They walked around, taking in the sights and smells around them. The brisk salty air seemed invigorating after having been cooped up in an airplane for a few hours. (They tried for now not to worry too much about the longer flight ahead of them tomorrow.)
“What’s a churro?” Gelinas asked.
“Hmm?” Aaron replied.
Bill Gelinas pointed to one of the eateries they were passing. The sign with the establishment’s name read, “What’s a Churro?”
“It is a Spanish pastry,” Kenny offered.
“Bill, we just had those sandwiches at the airport,” Mike reminded him. “You’re not hungry again already, are you?”
Gelinas shrugged. “Maybe not yet, but if we walk around here for a few hours, we might want to grab dinner before going back to the hotel.”
“Point,” Mike conceded.
They walked around. They took touristy photos of the Golden Gate and Alcatraz off in the distance. They browsed stores. They didn’t buy much, although Mike picked up a few items at a store called Left Hand World, happily swinging the nondescript black plastic shopping bag in his hand as they left. And, of course, they all loaded up at one establishment called Sweet Factory. After shopping in the candy filled establishment they were actually starting to get hungry again, and so they started looking for a place to eat.
“That place?” Aaron asked, pointing to one eatery.
“Nah,” the others said.
“How about that one?” Gelinas inquired, pointing to a place called Sal’s Pizzaria, from which an enticing aroma could be detected.
“Eh, you can get pizza everywhere,” Mike said.
“Yeah, but we are about to go to Japan for a year,” Gelinas reminded him.
“And I’m sure they’ll have pizza,” Mike said. “It’s pizza. Let’s get something uniquely San Francisco.” He stopped and held out his arms to make everyone else stop just behind him. “Like that,” he said, grinning as he pointed.
“Really?” Aaron said. “Looks kind of gimmicky.”
“And that usually means pricy,” Gelinas added.
Mike turned to Kenny for support.
“Well,” Kenny said, “we’re in the Bay area, so seafood would seem a logical choice.”
Mike smiled. “So we should dine upon the fruit of the sea,” he decreed. “And that’s all I have to say about that.”
And so they dined at a restaurant called The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.
After dinner they had some ice cream at Dreyer’s, then found a taxi to return them to their hotel. Upon returning to their room, they discovered it was occupied: Matthew Atanian had arrived. Having come fresh from the National Order of the Arrow Conference he was still in his Boy Scout uniform, although somewhat informally. His neckerchief was off, flung onto the table, and his shirt was unbuttoned revealing a NOAC t-shirt underneath.
“Oh, hey guys,” he said. “How’s it going?”
“Hey, Matt,” they all said.
“How was the conference?” Kenny inquired.
“Pretty good. Nice area around the dorm our lodge was in. There was a great little cafe I ended up going to every morning for breakfast.”
“Don’t they give you meals at the dining commons?” Gelinas asked.
“Yeah, but the dining commons didn’t have these really great, fresh, warm lemon poppy muffins and some excellent Earl Grey.”
“Ah,” the others said.
“Good patch trading?” Mike asked.
“Yup,” Matt said. “The ‘Restaurant at the End of the Universe’ proved to be a popular one to get, so I got some good trades for it.”
Aaron was eying a large collection of swag that Matt had unpacked and spread upon one of the beds, and that Matt had been examining when they had first entered. “I see,” Aaron commented, “that you had a fruitful time at that anime thing you went to, as well.”
“Hmm? Oh,” Matt replied. He glanced back at the bed. It was covered in things, all spread out so that the covers were all visible. A few videos, a few CDs, a plushy, something that looked like a key chain with a figure of a little old guy on it, and more volumes of manga then you could shake a stick at.
“Didn’t you say you were going to take it easy in the dealers room?” Mike asked. “We are just about to go to Japan, after all...”
“I did!” Matt said.
The others all looked at him suspiciously. Gelinas pointed at the covered bed.
“Um,” Matt muttered, “down the street from the cafe there was a really good comic store...”
Mike facepalmed. Aaron sighed. Gelinas shook his head.
“Oh, come on!” Matt said. “It actually makes sense! I mean, okay, maybe not the CDs, but those were from the con, and I did stay within what budget I allowed myself for there.”
“And the rest?” Gelinas asked, picking up one of the many Urusei Yatsura graphic novels.
“Well... I thought it was a shame not to pick something up at the comic store,” Matt explained, “so I picked up the keychain, which with slight modification makes a great neckerchief slide,” he then pointed at one of the volumes of manga, “and the next volume I needed in the series. And then... well, it occurred to me... Well, this store actually had almost every volume I needed for the rest of the series.”
“But,” Gelinas reminded him, “we’re going to Japan. Where this is from.”
“Yes,” Matt said, “but if I’m going to read them, I kind of need them printed in English.”
“Oh,” Gelinas relented. “That’s actually a fair point. Still,” he then muttered, looking at the sheer amount of product covering the bed, “a bit excessive...”
“Shut up Bill,” Matt said.
Gelinas shrugged, placed the book back down, and went to go see what was on the television.
“Oh, Kenny?” Matt asked, picking up the volume Bill had just put down. “Could I ask you to hold onto this for me?”
“Sure, Mr. Atanian. May I ask why?”
“The shop had every volume of Urusei Yatsura I needed, except for the second to last one. And I don’t want to give into temptation and read ahead. So hold onto this until I ask for it, okay?”
Kenny nodded.
“So,” Mike asked him, “how broke are you now?”
“Well,” Matt said, “I spent a bit more then I might have liked, but don’t worry... I still have enough for my master plan!”
Mike smirked. “That Akihabara place won’t know what hit it,” he said.
“That,” Matt informed him, “is the idea.”
The next morning started earlier then they’d have liked, having stayed up a bit late. Even with a slightly late alarm time, they were still quite tired. But it was a long flight, and there’d be time to nap on the plane.
They settled into their seats. Mike, Aaron, Bill, and Kenny were seated comfortably in first class. Since Matt had had to book separately, and had also wanted extra budgeting for his various planned shopping sprees, he had disappeared back into Economy.
The others didn’t envy him his lack of leg room. It was, after all, going to be a long flight.
Mike settled into his window seat. He stuffed a book he had brought and his shopping bag from the previous evening into the pocket in the back of the seat in front of himself. He wanted to watch the takeoff out of the window, but afterword he thought he might work on the Neon Genesis Boy Scouts story he was writing for Matt. He was looking forward to using his new pens.
Aaron settled next to him, pulled out A Crown of Swords, and opened up to where his bookmark was. Kenny and Bill were in the next row forward, with Kenny in the window seat. Soon afterwards, they were airborne, on their way to their destiny in Japan.
Mike woke up. It was quiet. Eerily so.
He glanced quickly at his watch. They must be close now. Man, while he’d managed to do some reading, he never did do any writing. Ah, well. Plenty of time for that later.
Next to him, Aaron was snoring lightly, his book abandoned on his lap. “Hey, wake up,” he said.
Aaron did so. “Huh? What is it?”
“Got’ta use the head,” Mike replied.
“The what?”
“The bathroom.”
“We’re not on a ship,” Aaron retorted.
“Well, we’re over the ocean, aren’t we?”
“I don’t think it counts when you’re 30,000 feet over the ocean,” Aaron muttered as he got up to let Mike out.
“Fine, whatever,” Mike said.
Aaron got out of his way, and so Mike headed towards the bathroom. But his path was soon blocked once more by someone on their way from.
“Oh, excuse me,” he said, scrunching from one side to let her pass.
She didn’t move.
She was still.
Unnaturally so.
What the hell?
He looked around at other passengers in their seats, noticing for the first time that none of them were moving, either. He guessed he’d just assumed in the back of his mind that they’d been sleeping just like he had been not long ago, but nope. Most of them had their eyes open.
And there was all of the noise. Or rather, the lack of it. No talking. No breathing. Nothing.
Mike looked back at the still woman blocking his path. He looked down at her feet. She was mid stride, so that one of her feet was off of the ground and the other was barely touching. The way her weight was distributed, there was no way she should be able to naturally stand still in such a position.
He tentatively reached for her and gave her a nudge on her shoulder, ready to grab on to her and steady her should she topple.
He pushed.
Nothing happened.
“Aaron!” Mike yelled.
“What?” came an annoyed and vaguely conscious response.
“AARON!”
“What?” Aaron repeated with a bit more force.
“Come’ere! Bring Bill and Kenny if they’re alive!”
“Whad’ya mean, alive?” Gelinas asked. “The way you’re shouting, you’d wake the dead.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Mike commented as the others approached.
“Oh my,” Kenny said as he observed their surroundings.
“You see it too, eh?”
Gelinas went up to a seat containing middle aged Japanese man in a smart business suit, and lightly knocked on his forehead. The lack of reaction was most definite.
“What the hell?” was all Aaron could say.
“You guys figure this out,” Mike said. “I really need to...” And with this, he proceeded to climb over chairs (and, with unheard apologies, at least one person) to get past the woman blocking the aisle. He disappeared into the bathroom, only to re-emerge in very short time.
“Damn,” he said, “no good.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, just in case, I tried flushing first. Nothing happened. The sink wouldn’t run, either. It’s not too bad yet, I figured if I can’t flush it I should wait for an emergency.”
“This is strange,” Kenny said. “People are completely frozen. But you were able to open a door, so objects aren’t frozen.” He picked a half full soda cup off of a nearby seatback tray and examined it. “Well, solid objects at least, aren’t frozen in the space they occupy. But try and manipulate something more fluid, and...”
Kenny turned over the cup. The liquid inside did not move, maintaining its position relative to the cup it occupied. He then tried to poke the liquid inside with his finger. It did not give, maintaining complete rigidity.
“This makes no sense,” Aaron said. “We can move solid non-living objects, but not people. And liquids are all frozen in place.”
“Something else is frozen in place,” Kenny observed. “Listen.”
“To what?” Gelinas asked.
“The silence.”
“Well, that makes sense if all of the people are frozen,” Gelinas replied.
“No, I get it,” Mike said. “The bathroom isn’t the only mechanical things not working. There’s no engine noise!” He glanced at his watch, and as he suspected it had the same time on it as when he first woke up. "And my watch has stopped."
“Indeed,” Kenny replied. “Fortunately for us in the short term, just like the liquid doesn’t fall from the cup, the airplane does not fall from the sky.”
“Why short term?” Aaron asked.
“Well, if liquids are not behaving normally,” Kenny pointed out, “we shall have a hard time remaining hydrated.”
“Guess we’re lucky gases seem normal, so we can at least breathe,” Aaron replied.
Kenny nodded. “Indeed.”
“This is damn peculiar,” Mike said. “Some things are affected, others not at all. There’s no logical consistency. And why are we not frozen?”
“Are we the only ones?” Gelinas asked.
At that, everyone started calling out, asking if anyone else was there. No response.
Mike, already on the other side of the woman obstructing the aisle, went further back in the plane. When he returned, the others asked what he found.
“Well, there was a flight attendant with a drink trolley blocking the way to Economy. But I could just see Matt. He looked like he was sleeping. I called to him, and he didn’t respond. So I guess it is just us that aren’t frozen.”
As Mike proceeded to climb his way back over, Aaron turned to Kenny. “Any bright ideas?”
Kenny returned to his seat and retrieved a device he had that looked similar to a Star Trek tricorder. Unfortunately, after a few pokes at it, he resignedly shook his head and replaced to where he had retrieved it from. “I shall have to rely on ordinary observational skills, but thus far they have proved to be of little help. As Mr. Quadrozzi said, there is little logical about this situation. I can only hope that further observation provides some clue.”
“Well, other than the obvious, is there anything unusual?” Gelinas asked. “Anything that is inconsistent within the inconsistencies?”
“Why are we unaffected?” Mike asked. “If whatever this is freezes people, why are we fine?”
“Maybe something to do with the curses?” Aaron asked.
“But then I would be frozen,” Kenny pointed out, “and Mr. Atanian would not be.”
“The curses!” Aaron suddenly shouted. “I can go get help!”
“But liquids...” Kenny started to say.
“My mouth’s still wet,” Gelinas interrupted. “It’s gross, but maybe we can all fill a cup with spit, chill it somehow to make sure it’s cold, and throw it at him. Then he can fly out and get help.”
“That is gross,” Aaron commented.
“And risky,” Kenny added. “We don’t know what sort of range whatever is effecting us has. Is it just the airplane? What if it extends further? What if the whole world is frozen?”
They made their way to the cockpit. Aaron figured out which device was the radio and tried to use it. “Mayday, mayday. Is anybody out there?”
Silence. Not even static.
"Maybe it is the whole world,” Gelinas said.
"Or maybe,” Mike replied, “just like all other mechanical devices, the radio isn’t working.”
Everyone else conceded that was a good point.
“Can anyone see anything outside? Any movement?” Kenny asked.
Everyone peered out of the cockpit’s windshield. They could see land ahead, so they must be close to Japan, but it was still distant enough and they were still high enough to not allow them to see such details as movement. They looked skyward, trying to see other airplanes, or perhaps birds.
“Hold on,” Mike said. “That cloud there.” He pointed to a cloud in the distance. “It seems to be drifting.”
“Looks like it’s just us then,” Aaron said. At first he sounded relieved. Then he remembered the details of their plan. “Aw, man,” he said.
“Hold on,” Kenny said. “We still don’t know what is causing this, or what the effect of crossing the boundary of it may be.”
“What do you suggest?” Mike asked.
Kenny led them to the front door of the aircraft. “Does anyone have any paper?” he asked.
“Hold on,” Mike replied. He returned to his seat and pulled out his shopping bag from the pocket in the back of the seat in front of his. Something else was also pulled out from the pocket, something he didn’t recognize. He picked it up and glanced at it. Curious. It seemed to be a photograph of three teenage girls dressed up in fancy costumes. But he was busy, so he tucked it back in the seatback pocket to ponder later.
For now, he opened his shopping bag and pulled out his new notebook. His precious new spiral notebook with the spiral down the right side, so that he could write comfortably... and no, it isn’t the same just taking a regular notebook and using it upside down or backwards... You know how hard it is to find these things? He sighed as he tore a few pages out and returned to the others.
He was somewhat startled to see Gelinas opening the door! “What are you doing?” he hollered.
But then, nothing catastrophic happened. The door opened, and there was no dramatic loss of cabin pressure, and no howling of wind sucking them all out.
“I suspected as much,” Kenny commented. “Although it was possible I could have been wrong, so I am pleased we are not dead.”
“Great,” Mike said. “Thanks for that.”
“Oh, is that the paper?” Kenny took a piece, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it out of the door.
Everyone leaned out, fighting the vertigo that followed as they realized they were looking down from thousands of feet in the air from within an unmoving and unsupported airplane. Below them, all there was was the vast ocean, and a tiny island below them. They watched the crumpled paper fall away from them. It fell straight down, no wind seeming to affect its course. Finally after it was probably about 200 feet away (or so Kenny judged based on the time it had been descending, and assuming that gravity was hopefully still exerting a constant and standard force upon it) something did happen worth observing!
Then suddenly, with a quick burst of flame, the paper was gone.
“Well," Aaron said, "screw that.”
“It seems that whatever is affecting us does indeed have a barrier, and one that would be difficult to traverse unprotected,” Kenny agreed.
Kenny stepped back, as did the others. Aaron pulled the door closed and did his best to make sure it was sealed. No sense taking chances, as hopefully the world would start working the way it should again at some point.
Gelinas’s sense of reality had been wearing a bit thin as it was, lately. This was almost taking things too far. “What the hell is going on?” he demanded to know.
“That is a question we are trying to determine the answer to,” Mike reminded him.
They returned to their seats; they couldn’t immediately think of what else to do.
“Maybe some government conspiracy?” Mike suggested.
“To what end?” Aaron asked.
“Or aliens?” Mike was stretching a bit.
“Yeah, aliens,” Gelinas said dismissively.
“Oh, come on,” Mike said to Gelinas. “What about what happened to you on that shooting sports camping trip we went on with Troop 180?”
Gelinas scoffed at that. “That was just a bad dream,” he insisted. “That didn’t happen. Heck, I don't even remember how that ended.”
“Right,” Mike said, now his turn to scoff. “Right.”
“Well, there has to be some reason for all of this,” Aaron suggested. “Are any of us carrying anything unusual?”
They all pulled out their various carry-on packages. Kenny, of course, had much that was unusual, but he assured them that nothing he had was in any way dangerous... Well, at least not in a strange freezing-the-airplane kind of way.
Aaron had a few books and some snacks.
Gelinas had some Magic cards, a few comic books, and a candy bar.
Mike had his bag from the Lefty store, a book he was reading, and... hmm...
“What’s that?” Gelinas asked.
“I dunno,” Mike replied. “A photograph. It was stuck in the pocket. Maybe it was left behind on a previous flight?”
"You'd think it would have been cleaned away at some point," Gelinas commented. "I mean, if nothing else, someone should have noticed it when they were changing the in-flight magazines."
The others ignored him.
“Let me see,” Aaron said, taking the photo from Mike. “Huh, looks like Oh My Goddess.”
“Hmm?”
“The costumes,” Aaron said. “It’s a manga series I’ve read a bit of. I think Matt has the anime.” Aaron handed the photograph back.
“Well, I doubt that has anything to do with this,” Gelinas said.
“Well, not the costumes,” said another voice, “but the sentiment attached to the photograph has much to do with things.”
Everyone turned, startled. It was the man Gelinas had knocked on earlier.
“Oh crap!” Gelinas said. “You were awake?”
The man smiled. “Nothing to worry about, young man. I am merely borrowing this man’s form.”
“I knew it!” Mike said. “Aliens!”
The man shook his head. “Nothing so extra terrestrial,” he said. “We’ve been here a long time. We’ve been a part of this world long before you creatures gained any sentience.”
“Do you know what is happening?” Aaron asked. “Why is everything frozen?”
“Oh, of course I know,” the man replied. “I did that.”
“What?” Gelinas asked. “Why?”
“Well, nothing brings me more joy,” the man said, “then fulfilling a wish. And some time ago, I was on my island down below, when I felt a very strong wish. Someone wishing for time to stand still. Someone desperate to not more forward along the path they were on. So I came up to investigate, but by the time I got up here the wish was gone! I guess I really am not used to these metal birds you humans have made. They move so fast!
“So I thought I’d wait around a short time: maybe a few years, a decade at most, and see if the wish returned. And a mere two seasons later, it did!”
“So that person is on this plane today?” Mike asked.
“Oh, no,” the man said. “Seems there was a bit of a fowl-up. This must just be the first time since then that this exact metal bird has followed the same path, and the person seems to have left behind a sympathetic object imbued with the wish.” The man pointed at the photograph. “The owner of that was the one who was going someplace she didn’t want to go. Usually, I need a willing person to effect, but such objects can also allow for my influence." The man sighed. "But it really is not as satisfying in such cases. Ah well, I guess I missed my chance.”
“So," Gelinas inquired, "if everyone else is frozen, why aren’t we?”
The man shrugged. “It is an enigma. Seems you three have something hanging over you already. Something that makes it difficult for what I do to have an effect upon you...” He smiled. “This could use further investigation. It probably wouldn't be impossible, if I could create an effect before you were so shrouded...”
“Ha,” Aaron said. “It is the curses.”
“But what about me, then?” Kenny asked.
The man jumped, as if he was noticing Kenny for the first time. “What,” he asked, “are you?”
“I am Kenneth Pendrell,” Kenny replied.
The man shook his head. “Anyway, as I said, this has all been in error. Rather embarrassing, I fear. The person who made this wish isn’t here, so there is no reason to maintain the effect.”
“So you’ll unfreeze time?” Mike asked.
“Oh, where would be the fun in that?” the man said. “No, I’ll just remove the metal bird from existence. Problem solved.”
“Oh, okay,” Gelinas said. “Wait, what?”
“What about us?” Aaron demanded to know.
“I don’t know,” the man said. “Everyone else here will just cease to exist with it. But since I couldn’t freeze you, who knows? Maybe you'll be removed, too. Or perhaps you’ll just fall from mid-air. It will be amusing to find out which.”
“I do not approve of this plan,” Kenny said.
The man’s smile deepened. “Your approval is not required.”
Mike regarded the photograph. “So,” he asked, “you were able to do all of this because of a sympathetic object?”
“Indeed,” the man said.
Aaron stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So... what exactly would happen if the sympathetic object holding the wish was destroyed?"
"Well," the man said, "with the source removed, my effects will be negated and my presence here will be..." There was a pause. “Wait, no!”
But it was too late. Mike had begun ripping the photograph into small pieces.
The man screamed and collapsed to his knees, his eyes bulged in both discomfort and anger. He looked up at the boys and smiled knowingly. "Well played, young ones. I underestimated you. If we should someday cross paths again, that is a mistake I shall not repeat..." The man then slumped face forward on the floor, whatever the force was that was occupying him was apparently now gone.
Everything else remained as is, though...
“Hey, guys?” a voice called out. “What’s going on?”
It was Matt, his voice carrying from Economy. “Hey Matt, you’re alive?” Mike asked.
“Yeah. I was asleep, and when I woke up a few minutes ago, and everything was all frozen. But I heard your voices. What’s going on?”
“I...” Something was wrong. Weren’t they just talking to someone? He regarded the man collapsed on the floor; there was something about him that Mike couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “I don’t know,” he said. He looked at the others, they seemed similarly confused. “I remember trying to investigate what was going on, scrapping a plan to have Aaron fly for help, and then... something.”
“I feel as if there is a hole in my recollection of events,” Kenny pondered, a disturbed look on his face.
"Come on, Kenny," Aaron reassured him, "this was a trans-Pacific flight, not the Battle of the Line."
Kenny nodded. "Yes, right." He steadied himself.
They all regarded the man on the floor. “Should we get him back to his seat?” Gelinas asked.
“Who?” Matt asked.
“There’s a man on the floor,” Mike shouted back. “I think... he was important, but I can’t remember why.”
“Well, wish I could help,” Matt called. “But I’m stuck behind this damn drinks cart.” There was a pause. “But at least I can help myself to a Sprite.”
“I don’t think so, Mr. Atanian,” Kenny replied. “Liquids seem to be non-fluid at the moment.”
“Could have fooled me,” Matt replied. “This is nice and refreshing!” Drinks offered to those in Economy had not been plentiful.
It took a moment for the ramification of Matt's words to register on everyone. During that moment, Mike noticed something else. “Listen,” he said.
It was very faint, but a noise of jet engines could be heard, almost as if coming from a great distance.
“Things are returning to normal!” Gelinas said, as everything came together in his brain.
“Let’s get that guy back to his seat,” Mike said, “fast.”
They all lifted him as best as they could, plopped him back in his chair, and then returned to their seats.
Well, three of them did. Mike noticed that his watch was moving. It was slower than normal, but seemed to be picking up speed. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said to the others, “I have business to attend to.”
He turned away from the others and retreated down the aisle. Just as he got to the woman blocking the aisle, she started moving once more. “Pardon me,” Mike said as he scrunched to one side of the aisle.
She nodded, and scrunched her way past him.
Everything had returned to normal.
A half an hour later, the airplane had come to a rest at Haneda Airport.
Mike, Aaron, Kenny, and Gelinas waited in their seats as the rest of first class deplaned. They would wait until Matt made his way up from Economy so that they could all go together.
“So seriously,” Gelinas asked, “what the hell just happened?”
“I don’t know,” Kenny replied, “and I feel that whatever it was was not something current science can explain.” He paused. “I am mildly bothered.”
“Well,” Mike said encouragingly, “you said there were some experiments you wanted to do in Japan, so you still have that to look forward to, eh?”
“Yes,” Kenny said. “I suppose that will help keep my mind off things.”
“Well,” Aaron said, “whatever happened, it was pretty weird. I’m looking forward to putting weirdness behind us and just settling down in our new homes. Mezon whatever-it-was.”
“Maison Ikkoku,” Mike corrected him.
“Putting all of the weirdness behind us,” Gelinas repeated. He laughed with a slightly bitter tone.
“Shut up, Bill,” Mike and Aaron replied.
Matt came up to them then, and they all gathered their belongings and headed towards the front of the airplane. "So," Mike said to him, "You really weren't frozen, and just asleep all this time?"
Matt shrugged. "Seems that way," he said.
"But," Mike said as the group approached the door out of the plane, "I shouted for you. Like, as loud as I could. What, did you have earplugs or something?"
Matt shook his head. "No. Guess I was just really tired. Been a long couple of weeks," he said. "Plus, I have to admit, I didn't sleep as much as I should have last night." He yawned, and held up one of his volumes of Urusei Yatsura. "Reading."
Now Mike shook his head. "Only you, Matt. Only you."
The group fell silent as they all walked through the airplane's door and made their way down the jet bridge and towards the airport proper. As they crossed the threshold into the airport, Matt felt the need to say something profound.
He looked behind himself to confirm that the others still followed him. "Here we are," he then said, "on Japanese soil."
“So where is Hughes again?” Gelinas asked.
“You’ve got me,” Aaron replied. “Got a phone call from him late last night, just before I was going to sleep. He said not to wait on him, he’d made other arrangements.”
“And Matt’s meeting us at the layover, right?” Gelinas further questioned.
Kenny nodded to this, as he also handed his ticket to the agent at the door to the airplane. “He left a week after summer camp, remember? He had an anime convention he wanted to attend, and then he was off to the National Order of the Arrow Conference.”
“Yup,” Mike said. “The patch he designed for this year was pretty cool.”
The four of them took their seats. A short time later, they were airborne for the first leg of their journey to the country that would be their home for the next year.
Aaron took out a book. Next to him, Kenny looked out of the window and observed cloud formations and other atmospheric conditions. In the row in front of them, Mike and Gelinas attempted to get a game of Magic going on the fold down tray tables.
In about seven and a half hours, they would be landing on the west coast. Not of note would happen during this first flight. Certainly nothing that could prepare them for what would happen as they were crossing the ocean.
The airport in San Francisco was huge! It made the four friends feel as if the one they had departed from that morning in Hartford was Podunk in comparison. Some sections of it looked more like a fancy shopping mall or food court then they did an airport.
The quartet collected their baggage. Bill Gelinas grumbled that his stomach was rumbling, so they decided to look for a bite to eat before finding their way to the hotel. Most of the fancier things had been inside the security area, which they’d already left, but they found a place called Marina's Cafe where they picked up some tasty sandwiches. Their stomachs now settled, they began to look for the airport shuttles, eager to check into their hotel room.
“So, four unsupervised youth hundreds of miles from home,” Gelinas muttered as he got into the shuttle. “Somehow, this seems like it stretches credulity.”
“Thousands,” Kenny corrected under his breath. “Approximately 3,015.1...”
“I don’t know what you’re on about,” Mike replied. “We’re responsible.”
“Wish you’d waited until I was drinking something to say that,” Gelinas replied. “A comment like that deserves a spit take.”
“Shut up, Bill,” Aaron said.
“Anyway, what should we do after we drop off our luggage?” Gelinas asked, feeling changing the subject might be wise. “I mean, might be nice to do some sightseeing, but by the time we get settled, it’ll be kind of late. It’s already almost 6:00.”
“Bill, local time it’s only coming up on 3:00.”
“I dunno, what would be easier? Trying to stay up later and starting to readjust, or just worrying about it once we get to Japan?”
“Adjustment usually takes an average of one day per hour of difference, so the sooner one starts the sooner one can be finished with it,” Kenny told them all. “Of course, I’ve devised a method of artificially adjusting my circadian clock manually, but if you haven’t received careful prior conditioning for the process, it can be quite lethal.”
The other three boys swallowed nervously. “I suppose we’ll do it the old fashioned way,” Mike suggested. “No need to stay up crazy late until we’re too over tired tonight, but we’ll try to do an extra hour or two above normal, and set a late alarm for the morning.”
“Shouldn’t be too difficult,” Aaron speculated. “Excitement of the trip should help keep us up.”
“Indeed, most scientifically sound,” Kenny concurred.
The shuttle came to a stop in front of the Holiday Inn they would be staying in. They exited the vehicle, went inside, checked in, and found their room.
They did indeed decide to go out for a while. After some debate upon looking at some leaflets from the hotel’s lobby, they decided to make their way to a place called Pier 39. After about half an hour in a taxi, they found themselves dropped off at an impressive shoreline collection of shops, restaurants, and sea lions.
They walked around, taking in the sights and smells around them. The brisk salty air seemed invigorating after having been cooped up in an airplane for a few hours. (They tried for now not to worry too much about the longer flight ahead of them tomorrow.)
“What’s a churro?” Gelinas asked.
“Hmm?” Aaron replied.
Bill Gelinas pointed to one of the eateries they were passing. The sign with the establishment’s name read, “What’s a Churro?”
“It is a Spanish pastry,” Kenny offered.
“Bill, we just had those sandwiches at the airport,” Mike reminded him. “You’re not hungry again already, are you?”
Gelinas shrugged. “Maybe not yet, but if we walk around here for a few hours, we might want to grab dinner before going back to the hotel.”
“Point,” Mike conceded.
They walked around. They took touristy photos of the Golden Gate and Alcatraz off in the distance. They browsed stores. They didn’t buy much, although Mike picked up a few items at a store called Left Hand World, happily swinging the nondescript black plastic shopping bag in his hand as they left. And, of course, they all loaded up at one establishment called Sweet Factory. After shopping in the candy filled establishment they were actually starting to get hungry again, and so they started looking for a place to eat.
“That place?” Aaron asked, pointing to one eatery.
“Nah,” the others said.
“How about that one?” Gelinas inquired, pointing to a place called Sal’s Pizzaria, from which an enticing aroma could be detected.
“Eh, you can get pizza everywhere,” Mike said.
“Yeah, but we are about to go to Japan for a year,” Gelinas reminded him.
“And I’m sure they’ll have pizza,” Mike said. “It’s pizza. Let’s get something uniquely San Francisco.” He stopped and held out his arms to make everyone else stop just behind him. “Like that,” he said, grinning as he pointed.
“Really?” Aaron said. “Looks kind of gimmicky.”
“And that usually means pricy,” Gelinas added.
Mike turned to Kenny for support.
“Well,” Kenny said, “we’re in the Bay area, so seafood would seem a logical choice.”
Mike smiled. “So we should dine upon the fruit of the sea,” he decreed. “And that’s all I have to say about that.”
And so they dined at a restaurant called The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.
After dinner they had some ice cream at Dreyer’s, then found a taxi to return them to their hotel. Upon returning to their room, they discovered it was occupied: Matthew Atanian had arrived. Having come fresh from the National Order of the Arrow Conference he was still in his Boy Scout uniform, although somewhat informally. His neckerchief was off, flung onto the table, and his shirt was unbuttoned revealing a NOAC t-shirt underneath.
“Oh, hey guys,” he said. “How’s it going?”
“Hey, Matt,” they all said.
“How was the conference?” Kenny inquired.
“Pretty good. Nice area around the dorm our lodge was in. There was a great little cafe I ended up going to every morning for breakfast.”
“Don’t they give you meals at the dining commons?” Gelinas asked.
“Yeah, but the dining commons didn’t have these really great, fresh, warm lemon poppy muffins and some excellent Earl Grey.”
“Ah,” the others said.
“Good patch trading?” Mike asked.
“Yup,” Matt said. “The ‘Restaurant at the End of the Universe’ proved to be a popular one to get, so I got some good trades for it.”
Aaron was eying a large collection of swag that Matt had unpacked and spread upon one of the beds, and that Matt had been examining when they had first entered. “I see,” Aaron commented, “that you had a fruitful time at that anime thing you went to, as well.”
“Hmm? Oh,” Matt replied. He glanced back at the bed. It was covered in things, all spread out so that the covers were all visible. A few videos, a few CDs, a plushy, something that looked like a key chain with a figure of a little old guy on it, and more volumes of manga then you could shake a stick at.
“Didn’t you say you were going to take it easy in the dealers room?” Mike asked. “We are just about to go to Japan, after all...”
“I did!” Matt said.
The others all looked at him suspiciously. Gelinas pointed at the covered bed.
“Um,” Matt muttered, “down the street from the cafe there was a really good comic store...”
Mike facepalmed. Aaron sighed. Gelinas shook his head.
“Oh, come on!” Matt said. “It actually makes sense! I mean, okay, maybe not the CDs, but those were from the con, and I did stay within what budget I allowed myself for there.”
“And the rest?” Gelinas asked, picking up one of the many Urusei Yatsura graphic novels.
“Well... I thought it was a shame not to pick something up at the comic store,” Matt explained, “so I picked up the keychain, which with slight modification makes a great neckerchief slide,” he then pointed at one of the volumes of manga, “and the next volume I needed in the series. And then... well, it occurred to me... Well, this store actually had almost every volume I needed for the rest of the series.”
“But,” Gelinas reminded him, “we’re going to Japan. Where this is from.”
“Yes,” Matt said, “but if I’m going to read them, I kind of need them printed in English.”
“Oh,” Gelinas relented. “That’s actually a fair point. Still,” he then muttered, looking at the sheer amount of product covering the bed, “a bit excessive...”
“Shut up Bill,” Matt said.
Gelinas shrugged, placed the book back down, and went to go see what was on the television.
“Oh, Kenny?” Matt asked, picking up the volume Bill had just put down. “Could I ask you to hold onto this for me?”
“Sure, Mr. Atanian. May I ask why?”
“The shop had every volume of Urusei Yatsura I needed, except for the second to last one. And I don’t want to give into temptation and read ahead. So hold onto this until I ask for it, okay?”
Kenny nodded.
“So,” Mike asked him, “how broke are you now?”
“Well,” Matt said, “I spent a bit more then I might have liked, but don’t worry... I still have enough for my master plan!”
Mike smirked. “That Akihabara place won’t know what hit it,” he said.
“That,” Matt informed him, “is the idea.”
The next morning started earlier then they’d have liked, having stayed up a bit late. Even with a slightly late alarm time, they were still quite tired. But it was a long flight, and there’d be time to nap on the plane.
They settled into their seats. Mike, Aaron, Bill, and Kenny were seated comfortably in first class. Since Matt had had to book separately, and had also wanted extra budgeting for his various planned shopping sprees, he had disappeared back into Economy.
The others didn’t envy him his lack of leg room. It was, after all, going to be a long flight.
Mike settled into his window seat. He stuffed a book he had brought and his shopping bag from the previous evening into the pocket in the back of the seat in front of himself. He wanted to watch the takeoff out of the window, but afterword he thought he might work on the Neon Genesis Boy Scouts story he was writing for Matt. He was looking forward to using his new pens.
Aaron settled next to him, pulled out A Crown of Swords, and opened up to where his bookmark was. Kenny and Bill were in the next row forward, with Kenny in the window seat. Soon afterwards, they were airborne, on their way to their destiny in Japan.
Mike woke up. It was quiet. Eerily so.
He glanced quickly at his watch. They must be close now. Man, while he’d managed to do some reading, he never did do any writing. Ah, well. Plenty of time for that later.
Next to him, Aaron was snoring lightly, his book abandoned on his lap. “Hey, wake up,” he said.
Aaron did so. “Huh? What is it?”
“Got’ta use the head,” Mike replied.
“The what?”
“The bathroom.”
“We’re not on a ship,” Aaron retorted.
“Well, we’re over the ocean, aren’t we?”
“I don’t think it counts when you’re 30,000 feet over the ocean,” Aaron muttered as he got up to let Mike out.
“Fine, whatever,” Mike said.
Aaron got out of his way, and so Mike headed towards the bathroom. But his path was soon blocked once more by someone on their way from.
“Oh, excuse me,” he said, scrunching from one side to let her pass.
She didn’t move.
She was still.
Unnaturally so.
What the hell?
He looked around at other passengers in their seats, noticing for the first time that none of them were moving, either. He guessed he’d just assumed in the back of his mind that they’d been sleeping just like he had been not long ago, but nope. Most of them had their eyes open.
And there was all of the noise. Or rather, the lack of it. No talking. No breathing. Nothing.
Mike looked back at the still woman blocking his path. He looked down at her feet. She was mid stride, so that one of her feet was off of the ground and the other was barely touching. The way her weight was distributed, there was no way she should be able to naturally stand still in such a position.
He tentatively reached for her and gave her a nudge on her shoulder, ready to grab on to her and steady her should she topple.
He pushed.
Nothing happened.
“Aaron!” Mike yelled.
“What?” came an annoyed and vaguely conscious response.
“AARON!”
“What?” Aaron repeated with a bit more force.
“Come’ere! Bring Bill and Kenny if they’re alive!”
“Whad’ya mean, alive?” Gelinas asked. “The way you’re shouting, you’d wake the dead.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Mike commented as the others approached.
“Oh my,” Kenny said as he observed their surroundings.
“You see it too, eh?”
Gelinas went up to a seat containing middle aged Japanese man in a smart business suit, and lightly knocked on his forehead. The lack of reaction was most definite.
“What the hell?” was all Aaron could say.
“You guys figure this out,” Mike said. “I really need to...” And with this, he proceeded to climb over chairs (and, with unheard apologies, at least one person) to get past the woman blocking the aisle. He disappeared into the bathroom, only to re-emerge in very short time.
“Damn,” he said, “no good.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, just in case, I tried flushing first. Nothing happened. The sink wouldn’t run, either. It’s not too bad yet, I figured if I can’t flush it I should wait for an emergency.”
“This is strange,” Kenny said. “People are completely frozen. But you were able to open a door, so objects aren’t frozen.” He picked a half full soda cup off of a nearby seatback tray and examined it. “Well, solid objects at least, aren’t frozen in the space they occupy. But try and manipulate something more fluid, and...”
Kenny turned over the cup. The liquid inside did not move, maintaining its position relative to the cup it occupied. He then tried to poke the liquid inside with his finger. It did not give, maintaining complete rigidity.
“This makes no sense,” Aaron said. “We can move solid non-living objects, but not people. And liquids are all frozen in place.”
“Something else is frozen in place,” Kenny observed. “Listen.”
“To what?” Gelinas asked.
“The silence.”
“Well, that makes sense if all of the people are frozen,” Gelinas replied.
“No, I get it,” Mike said. “The bathroom isn’t the only mechanical things not working. There’s no engine noise!” He glanced at his watch, and as he suspected it had the same time on it as when he first woke up. "And my watch has stopped."
“Indeed,” Kenny replied. “Fortunately for us in the short term, just like the liquid doesn’t fall from the cup, the airplane does not fall from the sky.”
“Why short term?” Aaron asked.
“Well, if liquids are not behaving normally,” Kenny pointed out, “we shall have a hard time remaining hydrated.”
“Guess we’re lucky gases seem normal, so we can at least breathe,” Aaron replied.
Kenny nodded. “Indeed.”
“This is damn peculiar,” Mike said. “Some things are affected, others not at all. There’s no logical consistency. And why are we not frozen?”
“Are we the only ones?” Gelinas asked.
At that, everyone started calling out, asking if anyone else was there. No response.
Mike, already on the other side of the woman obstructing the aisle, went further back in the plane. When he returned, the others asked what he found.
“Well, there was a flight attendant with a drink trolley blocking the way to Economy. But I could just see Matt. He looked like he was sleeping. I called to him, and he didn’t respond. So I guess it is just us that aren’t frozen.”
As Mike proceeded to climb his way back over, Aaron turned to Kenny. “Any bright ideas?”
Kenny returned to his seat and retrieved a device he had that looked similar to a Star Trek tricorder. Unfortunately, after a few pokes at it, he resignedly shook his head and replaced to where he had retrieved it from. “I shall have to rely on ordinary observational skills, but thus far they have proved to be of little help. As Mr. Quadrozzi said, there is little logical about this situation. I can only hope that further observation provides some clue.”
“Well, other than the obvious, is there anything unusual?” Gelinas asked. “Anything that is inconsistent within the inconsistencies?”
“Why are we unaffected?” Mike asked. “If whatever this is freezes people, why are we fine?”
“Maybe something to do with the curses?” Aaron asked.
“But then I would be frozen,” Kenny pointed out, “and Mr. Atanian would not be.”
“The curses!” Aaron suddenly shouted. “I can go get help!”
“But liquids...” Kenny started to say.
“My mouth’s still wet,” Gelinas interrupted. “It’s gross, but maybe we can all fill a cup with spit, chill it somehow to make sure it’s cold, and throw it at him. Then he can fly out and get help.”
“That is gross,” Aaron commented.
“And risky,” Kenny added. “We don’t know what sort of range whatever is effecting us has. Is it just the airplane? What if it extends further? What if the whole world is frozen?”
They made their way to the cockpit. Aaron figured out which device was the radio and tried to use it. “Mayday, mayday. Is anybody out there?”
Silence. Not even static.
"Maybe it is the whole world,” Gelinas said.
"Or maybe,” Mike replied, “just like all other mechanical devices, the radio isn’t working.”
Everyone else conceded that was a good point.
“Can anyone see anything outside? Any movement?” Kenny asked.
Everyone peered out of the cockpit’s windshield. They could see land ahead, so they must be close to Japan, but it was still distant enough and they were still high enough to not allow them to see such details as movement. They looked skyward, trying to see other airplanes, or perhaps birds.
“Hold on,” Mike said. “That cloud there.” He pointed to a cloud in the distance. “It seems to be drifting.”
“Looks like it’s just us then,” Aaron said. At first he sounded relieved. Then he remembered the details of their plan. “Aw, man,” he said.
“Hold on,” Kenny said. “We still don’t know what is causing this, or what the effect of crossing the boundary of it may be.”
“What do you suggest?” Mike asked.
Kenny led them to the front door of the aircraft. “Does anyone have any paper?” he asked.
“Hold on,” Mike replied. He returned to his seat and pulled out his shopping bag from the pocket in the back of the seat in front of his. Something else was also pulled out from the pocket, something he didn’t recognize. He picked it up and glanced at it. Curious. It seemed to be a photograph of three teenage girls dressed up in fancy costumes. But he was busy, so he tucked it back in the seatback pocket to ponder later.
For now, he opened his shopping bag and pulled out his new notebook. His precious new spiral notebook with the spiral down the right side, so that he could write comfortably... and no, it isn’t the same just taking a regular notebook and using it upside down or backwards... You know how hard it is to find these things? He sighed as he tore a few pages out and returned to the others.
He was somewhat startled to see Gelinas opening the door! “What are you doing?” he hollered.
But then, nothing catastrophic happened. The door opened, and there was no dramatic loss of cabin pressure, and no howling of wind sucking them all out.
“I suspected as much,” Kenny commented. “Although it was possible I could have been wrong, so I am pleased we are not dead.”
“Great,” Mike said. “Thanks for that.”
“Oh, is that the paper?” Kenny took a piece, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it out of the door.
Everyone leaned out, fighting the vertigo that followed as they realized they were looking down from thousands of feet in the air from within an unmoving and unsupported airplane. Below them, all there was was the vast ocean, and a tiny island below them. They watched the crumpled paper fall away from them. It fell straight down, no wind seeming to affect its course. Finally after it was probably about 200 feet away (or so Kenny judged based on the time it had been descending, and assuming that gravity was hopefully still exerting a constant and standard force upon it) something did happen worth observing!
Then suddenly, with a quick burst of flame, the paper was gone.
“Well," Aaron said, "screw that.”
“It seems that whatever is affecting us does indeed have a barrier, and one that would be difficult to traverse unprotected,” Kenny agreed.
Kenny stepped back, as did the others. Aaron pulled the door closed and did his best to make sure it was sealed. No sense taking chances, as hopefully the world would start working the way it should again at some point.
Gelinas’s sense of reality had been wearing a bit thin as it was, lately. This was almost taking things too far. “What the hell is going on?” he demanded to know.
“That is a question we are trying to determine the answer to,” Mike reminded him.
They returned to their seats; they couldn’t immediately think of what else to do.
“Maybe some government conspiracy?” Mike suggested.
“To what end?” Aaron asked.
“Or aliens?” Mike was stretching a bit.
“Yeah, aliens,” Gelinas said dismissively.
“Oh, come on,” Mike said to Gelinas. “What about what happened to you on that shooting sports camping trip we went on with Troop 180?”
Gelinas scoffed at that. “That was just a bad dream,” he insisted. “That didn’t happen. Heck, I don't even remember how that ended.”
“Right,” Mike said, now his turn to scoff. “Right.”
“Well, there has to be some reason for all of this,” Aaron suggested. “Are any of us carrying anything unusual?”
They all pulled out their various carry-on packages. Kenny, of course, had much that was unusual, but he assured them that nothing he had was in any way dangerous... Well, at least not in a strange freezing-the-airplane kind of way.
Aaron had a few books and some snacks.
Gelinas had some Magic cards, a few comic books, and a candy bar.
Mike had his bag from the Lefty store, a book he was reading, and... hmm...
“What’s that?” Gelinas asked.
“I dunno,” Mike replied. “A photograph. It was stuck in the pocket. Maybe it was left behind on a previous flight?”
"You'd think it would have been cleaned away at some point," Gelinas commented. "I mean, if nothing else, someone should have noticed it when they were changing the in-flight magazines."
The others ignored him.
“Let me see,” Aaron said, taking the photo from Mike. “Huh, looks like Oh My Goddess.”
“Hmm?”
“The costumes,” Aaron said. “It’s a manga series I’ve read a bit of. I think Matt has the anime.” Aaron handed the photograph back.
“Well, I doubt that has anything to do with this,” Gelinas said.
“Well, not the costumes,” said another voice, “but the sentiment attached to the photograph has much to do with things.”
Everyone turned, startled. It was the man Gelinas had knocked on earlier.
“Oh crap!” Gelinas said. “You were awake?”
The man smiled. “Nothing to worry about, young man. I am merely borrowing this man’s form.”
“I knew it!” Mike said. “Aliens!”
The man shook his head. “Nothing so extra terrestrial,” he said. “We’ve been here a long time. We’ve been a part of this world long before you creatures gained any sentience.”
“Do you know what is happening?” Aaron asked. “Why is everything frozen?”
“Oh, of course I know,” the man replied. “I did that.”
“What?” Gelinas asked. “Why?”
“Well, nothing brings me more joy,” the man said, “then fulfilling a wish. And some time ago, I was on my island down below, when I felt a very strong wish. Someone wishing for time to stand still. Someone desperate to not more forward along the path they were on. So I came up to investigate, but by the time I got up here the wish was gone! I guess I really am not used to these metal birds you humans have made. They move so fast!
“So I thought I’d wait around a short time: maybe a few years, a decade at most, and see if the wish returned. And a mere two seasons later, it did!”
“So that person is on this plane today?” Mike asked.
“Oh, no,” the man said. “Seems there was a bit of a fowl-up. This must just be the first time since then that this exact metal bird has followed the same path, and the person seems to have left behind a sympathetic object imbued with the wish.” The man pointed at the photograph. “The owner of that was the one who was going someplace she didn’t want to go. Usually, I need a willing person to effect, but such objects can also allow for my influence." The man sighed. "But it really is not as satisfying in such cases. Ah well, I guess I missed my chance.”
“So," Gelinas inquired, "if everyone else is frozen, why aren’t we?”
The man shrugged. “It is an enigma. Seems you three have something hanging over you already. Something that makes it difficult for what I do to have an effect upon you...” He smiled. “This could use further investigation. It probably wouldn't be impossible, if I could create an effect before you were so shrouded...”
“Ha,” Aaron said. “It is the curses.”
“But what about me, then?” Kenny asked.
The man jumped, as if he was noticing Kenny for the first time. “What,” he asked, “are you?”
“I am Kenneth Pendrell,” Kenny replied.
The man shook his head. “Anyway, as I said, this has all been in error. Rather embarrassing, I fear. The person who made this wish isn’t here, so there is no reason to maintain the effect.”
“So you’ll unfreeze time?” Mike asked.
“Oh, where would be the fun in that?” the man said. “No, I’ll just remove the metal bird from existence. Problem solved.”
“Oh, okay,” Gelinas said. “Wait, what?”
“What about us?” Aaron demanded to know.
“I don’t know,” the man said. “Everyone else here will just cease to exist with it. But since I couldn’t freeze you, who knows? Maybe you'll be removed, too. Or perhaps you’ll just fall from mid-air. It will be amusing to find out which.”
“I do not approve of this plan,” Kenny said.
The man’s smile deepened. “Your approval is not required.”
Mike regarded the photograph. “So,” he asked, “you were able to do all of this because of a sympathetic object?”
“Indeed,” the man said.
Aaron stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So... what exactly would happen if the sympathetic object holding the wish was destroyed?"
"Well," the man said, "with the source removed, my effects will be negated and my presence here will be..." There was a pause. “Wait, no!”
But it was too late. Mike had begun ripping the photograph into small pieces.
The man screamed and collapsed to his knees, his eyes bulged in both discomfort and anger. He looked up at the boys and smiled knowingly. "Well played, young ones. I underestimated you. If we should someday cross paths again, that is a mistake I shall not repeat..." The man then slumped face forward on the floor, whatever the force was that was occupying him was apparently now gone.
Everything else remained as is, though...
“Hey, guys?” a voice called out. “What’s going on?”
It was Matt, his voice carrying from Economy. “Hey Matt, you’re alive?” Mike asked.
“Yeah. I was asleep, and when I woke up a few minutes ago, and everything was all frozen. But I heard your voices. What’s going on?”
“I...” Something was wrong. Weren’t they just talking to someone? He regarded the man collapsed on the floor; there was something about him that Mike couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “I don’t know,” he said. He looked at the others, they seemed similarly confused. “I remember trying to investigate what was going on, scrapping a plan to have Aaron fly for help, and then... something.”
“I feel as if there is a hole in my recollection of events,” Kenny pondered, a disturbed look on his face.
"Come on, Kenny," Aaron reassured him, "this was a trans-Pacific flight, not the Battle of the Line."
Kenny nodded. "Yes, right." He steadied himself.
They all regarded the man on the floor. “Should we get him back to his seat?” Gelinas asked.
“Who?” Matt asked.
“There’s a man on the floor,” Mike shouted back. “I think... he was important, but I can’t remember why.”
“Well, wish I could help,” Matt called. “But I’m stuck behind this damn drinks cart.” There was a pause. “But at least I can help myself to a Sprite.”
“I don’t think so, Mr. Atanian,” Kenny replied. “Liquids seem to be non-fluid at the moment.”
“Could have fooled me,” Matt replied. “This is nice and refreshing!” Drinks offered to those in Economy had not been plentiful.
It took a moment for the ramification of Matt's words to register on everyone. During that moment, Mike noticed something else. “Listen,” he said.
It was very faint, but a noise of jet engines could be heard, almost as if coming from a great distance.
“Things are returning to normal!” Gelinas said, as everything came together in his brain.
“Let’s get that guy back to his seat,” Mike said, “fast.”
They all lifted him as best as they could, plopped him back in his chair, and then returned to their seats.
Well, three of them did. Mike noticed that his watch was moving. It was slower than normal, but seemed to be picking up speed. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said to the others, “I have business to attend to.”
He turned away from the others and retreated down the aisle. Just as he got to the woman blocking the aisle, she started moving once more. “Pardon me,” Mike said as he scrunched to one side of the aisle.
She nodded, and scrunched her way past him.
Everything had returned to normal.
A half an hour later, the airplane had come to a rest at Haneda Airport.
Mike, Aaron, Kenny, and Gelinas waited in their seats as the rest of first class deplaned. They would wait until Matt made his way up from Economy so that they could all go together.
“So seriously,” Gelinas asked, “what the hell just happened?”
“I don’t know,” Kenny replied, “and I feel that whatever it was was not something current science can explain.” He paused. “I am mildly bothered.”
“Well,” Mike said encouragingly, “you said there were some experiments you wanted to do in Japan, so you still have that to look forward to, eh?”
“Yes,” Kenny said. “I suppose that will help keep my mind off things.”
“Well,” Aaron said, “whatever happened, it was pretty weird. I’m looking forward to putting weirdness behind us and just settling down in our new homes. Mezon whatever-it-was.”
“Maison Ikkoku,” Mike corrected him.
“Putting all of the weirdness behind us,” Gelinas repeated. He laughed with a slightly bitter tone.
“Shut up, Bill,” Mike and Aaron replied.
Matt came up to them then, and they all gathered their belongings and headed towards the front of the airplane. "So," Mike said to him, "You really weren't frozen, and just asleep all this time?"
Matt shrugged. "Seems that way," he said.
"But," Mike said as the group approached the door out of the plane, "I shouted for you. Like, as loud as I could. What, did you have earplugs or something?"
Matt shook his head. "No. Guess I was just really tired. Been a long couple of weeks," he said. "Plus, I have to admit, I didn't sleep as much as I should have last night." He yawned, and held up one of his volumes of Urusei Yatsura. "Reading."
Now Mike shook his head. "Only you, Matt. Only you."
The group fell silent as they all walked through the airplane's door and made their way down the jet bridge and towards the airport proper. As they crossed the threshold into the airport, Matt felt the need to say something profound.
He looked behind himself to confirm that the others still followed him. "Here we are," he then said, "on Japanese soil."
Matt's Notes & Disclaimers
This is a story that’s been in the back of my mind for quite a while. In fact, it has probably been there since the beginning of Boy Scouts ½ in Japan. The thought of having a story set on the airplane as our intrepid heroes journeyed from America to Japan. I wasn’t originally thinking of writing it myself, but of course the BS½ writing staff has dwindled a bit over time... So oh well, guess it was up to me!
One thing that wasn’t originally part of my plan was that it is going to be a part of an In Japan prequel trilogy. But as it came time to write it, I thought it would be fun to also have a few stories exploring a few other characters. Hopefully, it will be more successful then the most well known prequel trilogy out there.
This trilogy will be taking an interesting route: this, obviously, is the first one being published, but it will be the last of the three chronologically. And the last one published will be the first one chronologically. I suppose in the end they can be read in either direction, but I thought it would be fun to present them this way: with tantalizing hints at what happened prior to this story, and that will be explored in greater depths in the upcoming other parts.
Although not big parts of this story, it is as usual worth noting that elements from Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku are inspired by the works of Takahashi Rumiko, and are used without permission.
Some elements of my journey are semi-autobiographical, although a few years early. In 2000 I did actually do an anime convention and NOAC in the same summer, and traveled straight from one to another. And there was indeed a café with wonderful muffins and tea, which I discovered for myself and which by the end of NOAC many of the other members of Allogagan Lodge's contingent had felt compelled to try at least once. And there was also a rather nice comic shop with a decent manga selection that I probably spent way too much at. While there, I bought the Lum pin that in-story was a gift Matt got from Sarah, and I also bought the key chain mentioned in this story. In reality, however, it was a large chunk of the Maison Ikkoku manga that I bought at that comic shop, but of course that wouldn’t work in-story for hopefully obvious reasons. (And in reality, since Kenny doesn't exist, I just asked my mother to hide the last volume for me... and damn the local comic shop, it was probably close to a year before they were able to get the second to last volume in for me!) Sadly, I must admit that while I tried, giving it probably a good four or five volumes, I never could get into the Urusei Yatsura manga as much, even though I love the anime adaptation. I guess it was one of those series that just comes alive in the adaptation.
Thank you internet for help with finding a location for the boys to go during their layover, and providing an era-appropriate directory of what existed there in ’98. And thank you to Jason Bertovich for offering feedback and the occasional suggestion during the writing of this story.
Well, that’s all for now, I suppose. Next up will be Jason’s In Japan Origins: Matt. Then after that, it will be back to me for the conclusion of the In Japan Origins saga.
One thing that wasn’t originally part of my plan was that it is going to be a part of an In Japan prequel trilogy. But as it came time to write it, I thought it would be fun to also have a few stories exploring a few other characters. Hopefully, it will be more successful then the most well known prequel trilogy out there.
This trilogy will be taking an interesting route: this, obviously, is the first one being published, but it will be the last of the three chronologically. And the last one published will be the first one chronologically. I suppose in the end they can be read in either direction, but I thought it would be fun to present them this way: with tantalizing hints at what happened prior to this story, and that will be explored in greater depths in the upcoming other parts.
Although not big parts of this story, it is as usual worth noting that elements from Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku are inspired by the works of Takahashi Rumiko, and are used without permission.
Some elements of my journey are semi-autobiographical, although a few years early. In 2000 I did actually do an anime convention and NOAC in the same summer, and traveled straight from one to another. And there was indeed a café with wonderful muffins and tea, which I discovered for myself and which by the end of NOAC many of the other members of Allogagan Lodge's contingent had felt compelled to try at least once. And there was also a rather nice comic shop with a decent manga selection that I probably spent way too much at. While there, I bought the Lum pin that in-story was a gift Matt got from Sarah, and I also bought the key chain mentioned in this story. In reality, however, it was a large chunk of the Maison Ikkoku manga that I bought at that comic shop, but of course that wouldn’t work in-story for hopefully obvious reasons. (And in reality, since Kenny doesn't exist, I just asked my mother to hide the last volume for me... and damn the local comic shop, it was probably close to a year before they were able to get the second to last volume in for me!) Sadly, I must admit that while I tried, giving it probably a good four or five volumes, I never could get into the Urusei Yatsura manga as much, even though I love the anime adaptation. I guess it was one of those series that just comes alive in the adaptation.
Thank you internet for help with finding a location for the boys to go during their layover, and providing an era-appropriate directory of what existed there in ’98. And thank you to Jason Bertovich for offering feedback and the occasional suggestion during the writing of this story.
Well, that’s all for now, I suppose. Next up will be Jason’s In Japan Origins: Matt. Then after that, it will be back to me for the conclusion of the In Japan Origins saga.