Time Slip

Synopsis:   During an anime convention, Stacy Nilsson receives a slip from a 4th Doctor cosplayer with a list of instructions and warnings; ‘Plan accordingly before wearing !’.   This leaves poor Stacy with more questions than answers and our Mr. Tom Baker seems to be an actual time traveler with plenty to hide.  

‘With a bit of a mind flip

You’re into the time slip

And nothing can ever be the same

Then will start a sensation

Like you’re under sedation

Let’s do the time warp again !’--Lyrics from the infamous ‘Time Warp’ from Rocky Horror Picture Show

‘It is the hour to be drunken !

To escape the martyred slaves of time,

To be ceaselessly drunk on wine, on poetry,

On virtue, as you wish.’--Charles Baudelaire

‘Who decrees a great epoch ?  The meridian of Greenwhich.’—from Omeros, by Derek Walcott 

‘Time is a precious element within the fabric of the universe.  It deserves its own unit of measurement !’—General McNamara, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals 

‘Does anybody really know what time it is ? 

Does anybody really care ?

If so, I can’t imagine why

           We’ve all got time enough to cry.’—Lyrics from ‘Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is ?’ as sung by Chicago 

Chapter 1—Little to No Warning

Stacy Nilsson was one’s typical nerd.   She would be what you would call a ‘nerds’ nerd’.    She was a bibliophile and philosopher.   She had her intellectual toes dipped in many different waters and if anyone had a question, particularly on the obscure, she always had an answer.   She was a friend to many but only had a close circle of friends she could call ‘family’.   In fact, her closest family member, Suzuki had beckoned her to go to Icchi-Con with her.   Stacy would be going as a gender bent Giovanni Potage to bring awareness to Epitaph Erased, which she thought was brilliant.   She liked it as much or even more than My Hero Academia, which was something of a wonder, given how much her personality mirrored Momo’s from the show.

Suzuki was a freelancing doujin writer and she often took commission.  She would be cosplaying as Tiramisu from Sorcerer Hunters.   Even if she wasn’t into bdsm, she admitted having the whip at her side made her feel powerful.   

‘I’m going to my table to start greeting my fans.’, Momoe said, sweetly.   She hugged Stacy goodbye and gave her a little squeeze of the hand before she departed.   

Stacy was getting tons of requests to be photographed with totally random people.  Most of them had no idea whom she was portraying.  The other half legitimately liked her wig and how beautiful she was in costume.   She accidentally ran into a man cosplaying as the 4th Doctor from Doctor Who.   Surreptitiously, he handed her a slip.   The lacy undergarment came with a list of instructions.  Before Stacy could inquire of the dweeby patron, he had literally vanished from the Con.

‘So many questions.’, Stacy thought to herself.   No foreseeable answer laid ahead of her either, but her curiosity was about to get the better of her.    If this garment truly could transport her in time, she wanted to know how and why, and according to her there was no better moment than the present to start making discoveries on the mysterious ‘time slip’ itself.

Chapter 2—Golden Greece

When Stacy landed, she recognized where she was immediately.    The slip had transformed into period appropriate attire for the Golden Age of Greece.   She smirked.

‘I’d be the envy of all my mythology buff friends.’, she thought.   Then she knew she’d never be able to tell them because 1) that would be a breach of space/time protocol and 2) they would think she was totally wacko in the noodle.    

Greece, although it was very sophisticated, was very hedonistic and sybaritic.   Stacy didn’t linger but she did tarry to listen to famous philosophers and mathematicians.    She took notes as soon as she was in a safe place away from prying eyes.   She knew a journal would probably draw prying eyes because it wasn’t something common like parchment and a quill.    

She noticed the tag on the slip continue changing and evolving.   The slip seemed to understand what she needed when she needed it.   

‘Say ‘Slip out of here’ and I can do just that.’, the tag read.   She imagined that the slip had a British or French way of speaking but she wasn’t certain as to why.   It was her overactive creativity running away with itself, trying to make voices for inanimate objects.    It was so random, so absurd but absolutely hilarious when she mused on it.    Thinking no more of accents, she told the slip to ‘slip out of here’ and that is exactly what it did.    She thought of 2021, and she found herself back at Icchi Con, back in her typical attire.  

Chapter 3—Where Were You ? 

Momoe had come looking for Stacy and looked quite concerned.  

‘I was searching everywhere, and I couldn’t find you.  Most of the exhibitioners have left the Con.   Come on, I just know you wanna meet Crispin Freeman.’, she said, with a huge smile on her face.    Momoe knew Stacy so well that she was aware Freeman was one of her favorite voice actors of all time.     He was literally the Mel Blanc of the anime world and there wasn’t an otaku alive that wanted to be him.      They were able to get posters signed and talked at length with Crispin.   Soon, they were talking to other celebs and then decided to get a bite at one of the local eateries before going home.  

Chapter 4—The Perfect Escape 

Stacy knew the power that she now held in her hands, in the convenient form of a slip.    She had seen historical events unfold in person and relived them.    As fixed points in history, she couldn’t say anything or risk altering how everything was to pan out.    She didn’t want to be the ‘fragment’ in space and time.   No one ever wished to be the root cause to a problem, so she minded her Ps and Qs.    She was able to travel whenever she wished, and she wondered why the traveler had gifted her with such a massive responsibility.    It wasn’t clear why he had ditched the slip with her to begin with, but pondering it made her head hurt.    It was like the very heady episode of Rick and Morty when Rick was interacting with Bird Person’s memories of Rick as well as Tammy.    Memories are fuzzy, intriguing, and unusual all of themselves, but the episode was nihilistic, fatalistic, and honestly, a bit depressing.   She didn’t want to think that none of what she did had any meaning and she was forced to be a spectator.    Sadly, though, that was her belief.    

‘I am no purveyor of Chronos.’, she thought to herself while lying down to sleep for the evening.   She had spoken to Suzuki and Momoe about the unusual gift she had received, because for so long she had kept it secret and could no longer do so.  

‘Perhaps he couldn’t take the responsibility.   I’m sure the slip itself has had many owners.   At least you can travel whenever and wherever you want for free.’, Suzuki confessed.    It was an interesting thought to be reminded of the responsibility she held squarely in her own hands.   She mused, pondered, and puzzled momentarily. 

‘What if I could travel into the future ?’, she thought aloud.    So many only dared dreaming of the possibility of seeing how everything turns out, whether it was for themselves or others.    She had a conventional, or as some would call it ‘mundane’ life.    Stacy was naturally inquisitive.   There was a fellow at work named Randal that she wanted to ask out on a date but with how insane her schedule was, it almost wasn’t worth the risk.   It was obvious the two liked each other’s company and currently they were the best of friends.    She bit her lip at upsetting that apple cart.    Why tamper with perfection ?  She would sleep on ‘what ifs’ for the moment and allow reveries to overtake her.  

Chapter 5—The Spoiler Owl 

Spurred on by her inquisitive tendencies, Stacy decided to use the slip one more time before giving it to someone else more qualified than herself.    In the future, she could see herself with grandchildren, more than she could shake a stick at.   She was youthful, spry, and nimble, even at 105.   Many things had transformed, while others remained the same.   She was fully happy with the man she had been speaking to merely as a friend at work.  

‘How in the world did we even go out on a date ?   I know that he and I only thought of each other as friends…’, Stacy thought to herself.   Randal asked her to a falafel place the two of them were interested in that had gotten 4-star reviews for many times over.  

Seemed to be that not only was the food sensational, but the two found they had quite a bit in common.  

‘I don’t want to know how my story ends, even though it’s happy.   I’d like to figure all this out by myself.   I was right to give this wretched slip away.’, Stacy thought to herself.    She dismissed anything she had seen out of her memory and luckily, her older self had not seen her younger self, so no breeches in time or space were created.    All was well and any ripple or proliferation was avoided.   

Epilogue

Much like the time traveler had done before her, Stacy entered the last con of the year before returning to the daily grind of the mundane work-a-day world.    She had perused many booths, but she decided to let fate take its course.  

‘I’ll just leave it.   Either the traveler will return for it or someone more worthy of travel and record keeping will receive it.’, she said to her friends.    They agreed whole-heartedly with her.   Some were simply not built for understanding the quantum mechanics of space-time travel and poor Stephanie’s mind was still reeling from what she had experienced.    After some much needed time off at the local spa and hot stones applied to her back, she felt much better.    It was a bit bittersweet to be leaving the realm of the convention for the remainder of the year, but at least she would be traveling once her birthday came around.    At least now she was glad that she had a boring job to look forward to and interesting friends to keep her life spontaneous.    Besides, she knew she had a very brilliant future to look forward to.   She wanted to experience all of it, highs, lows, in-betweens, and surprises, without being spoiled along the way.   

The End