Portofina Caye, Belize – April 12, 2141AD

John spent the rest of the evening madly checking everything in his house with the goggles. The differences were subtle, in his pantry a box of Froot Loops changed to Fruit Loops and suddenly he was sure it had always been spelled that way! Jiff Peanut butter transformed to Jiffy, but wasn't it always Jiffy? He rifled through his CD collection... Reba McEntire? Barbra Streisand? ...Through the goggles they were McIntyre and Barbara! John grabbed an atlas from the large bookcase in his study and was amazed as the continents themselves seemed to shift as he moved the glasses in front of his eyes. New Zealand completely changed locations! He grabbed the TV remote and raced through the channels, news anchors altered as did actors in sitcoms and movies. An old episode of the Berenstian Bears changed to the Berenstien Bears! Wait! Which one did he remember?

After hours of darting from room to room, object to object he could wait no longer.

"Cindi!"

The smiling you woman's face immediately appeared on the living room screen.

{Yes John, did you need something?}

"What time is it in Geneva?"

{It's 4:30am John.}

"...oh screw it... call William Tate."

{Of course, dialing.} Cindi's face faded from the screen replaced by the spinning NeoWorld Communications long distance icon.

John waited impatiently for the line to connect. After what seemed like an eternity the icon turned green and was replaced by William Tates' face. He was still in bed and struggling to put his glasses on.

"John!" he croaked, "do you know what time it is?"

"To hell with the time William, I've been up for the last 26 hours!"

"What... why?"

"Why!" John waved the goggles at the screen angrily, "You give me these things with almost no explanation and you wonder why?"

"My boy, staying up all night won't help anything. Have you read the journal? Let me get dressed and I'll come to the hotel so we can speak more about it."

"I'm not at the hotel," John spat. "I'm back in Portofina."

"What? No John... I need you here!"

John had never seen William so upset... he looked almost afraid.

"I couldn't stay there Will... it's not safe for me..."

"Jonathan! You bloody coward! There's nothing you can do about the past... but you have to face it! Get back here immediately!

"... I can't..." He looked away from the screen not wanted to see the disappointment on Williams' face.

For a long time William said nothing. John knew him well enough to understand William was waiting for his conscience to get the better of him, but John wasn't a young grad student anymore and he wasn't going to change his mind.

The minutes passed and eventually William sighed sadly.

"You're as stubborn a mule, John. This is not the kind of thing we should discuss on the phone. Is this a secure line at least?"

"...yes."