My eyes drifted open when I heard typing.

I lifted my head, confused. Had dad turned on the lights?

"Rick, I got the comp. Now get up and be thankful to me for letting you sleep for long," I opened my eyes and saw Jake on the floor, chewing something like gum and scrolling the contents on his screen. A computer?

  "Wait, where am I?" I shot up in bed and saw the room-the beds and the TV in another room, visible through the door. "Jesus!" I said.

Jake stared back at me.

"We're in San Francisco 2042. It's not a dream, Eric Hunter," He said firmly. I narrowed my eyes. "Right," I murmured. Yes. The events of the past few days all came whizzing back to me, and I groaned, then buried my head in the covers. "I bought it at a nearby store. This is 7 years old, but works like brand new," Jake said-was he ignoring me?

I got up finally, and washed my face. I stared at myself in the mirror, and tried not to be appalled like yesterday. I didn't, but still felt strange.

"Is there something like Starbucks here?" I asked. I used to go to the cafe often to do my homework, and I wanted to keep it up and relax. Jake didn't look up. "I didn't see one, but I'll search," He said, then typed in quickly. I was reminded that Jake was very good at computers, even though he wasted a lot of his time after school doodling with the books and staying at others' houses. I had gotten to know that when he invited me to his house for homework for the first time, and we played Robotop and made a few slides for the project. It had ended very quick.

"Ah, there's one just down this block," He said. "Great. I'm gonna go there and-"I wrecked my brain for a thing to do. "Read e-books," I said. "Then I'm going, too. I'm gonna research about the Shack," He closed the laptop swiftly, ruffled his hair, then opened the front door.

We stepped out into the light. It was cool and breeze blew through my hair, making me feel refreshed. People again roamed the streets, most of them adults. Cars breezed past and today, I could even see birds on several roofs. So this was busy city life, huh?

We pushed our way to Starbucks, and I was relived to see its sign. There were few people inside, though, unlike the Starbucks I knew-maybe because it was morning.

We went in.

I right away got in the line, then looked around, taking in the deep, rich scent of coffee all around. One table with tall walls around it was empty, and I was glad that Jake went over to it and put down his laptop and start researching. I also looked at the others. A burly man was reading a thick book , eyes squinted as morning sunlight streamed onto the pages. In a corner, I saw a group of people talking with books all over the table, only leaving out small spaces for their beverages to be placed on-students. They seemed as if they were from uni-and I suddenly wondered which uni I was out of. Maybe I hadn't even gotten in one...

Another table had a small family. The dad was taking pictures of his son, while the mom was scrolling through something with entertained eyes on her phone. On the last table occupied, I saw a woman in her early 20s, just like me and Jake. She was writing with a pencil and thick patch of yellow paper under her palm. Why didn't she use a laptop? I kind of started to examine her especially. She didn't seem to be in uni-maybe she had graduated. With brown and wavy hair reaching her back, she seemed to be awfully concentrated. Maybe a writer?

"What would you like, sir?" A man looking about in his 40s asked from behind the counter. I had been too preoccupied. "Errm, an espresso," I said quickly-the only coffee then that had come to mind. I payed with the money Jake had given me last night, and the man gave me a buzzer. I went over to Jake. He seemed to be concentrating hard, so I didn't bother him. I just sat at the table, and just stared at he floor.

"Hey, Eric. Did you also see the codes while you were flying through the space?" Suddenly, Jake asked, looking up from his screen. His brows were squinted together. "Hell, yeah," I said, the memories of the white letters in the space below me feeling me. I had been trying to read them. "Don't you find it a bit strange? Codes?" "Maybe just an illusion?" I said just as the buzzer rang in my hands. I got up and walked over to the counter. The man behind the counter took the buzzer from me, and I slid the tray of coffee from the counter.

Jake was typing madly when I returned.

"You ain't gonna drink something?" I asked. But I knew that Jake never replied back when he was preoccupied, so just waited for him to get done, seeping the espresso. I looked around the cafe, eyes darting to find the girl(I couldn't' stick to words like woman or man-it would take some type to adapt...).  I found her at her table, hand now moving diagonally on the paper, the pen shaking-she was writing.

"I have a plethora of hypothesis," I turned back to our table to find him scrolling through some stuff. "Huh?" "About the Shack, stupid. It might be some illusion as you had suggested, or some prank. But it's impossible to know how we ended up here, though," He shot a look at my cup with narrow eyes, and the next second, he was up and standing at the line to order.

I reached out for his computer and turned its screen towards me. I looked around at the others. They weren't looking, but for safety, I inched into the corner of the stall and put my hands on the keys. 

Wooden Shack, I typed in, though there was a big possibility that Jake had already researched it. The results popped up in a few seconds, and I saw a few images of wooden shacks. Below the images, a site of a press unheard by me stated the most recent policy on abolishing very old and wooden structures.

And that was all.

Jake returned just in time with a drink that was brown, like a choco-latte in his hands already. He sipped it gratefully, then leaned over to look at the words I had searched. "I saw it already. It's useless." He took the laptop, then took another deep sip. "Maybe there is a file on such a thing-maybe it's only blocked or something. I should try to hack," "Hack? You know how to?" I asked, a bit surprised at he extent of Jake's advanced knowledge in the field. "Yup, of course I do. I learnt it myself," I rubbed my chin. I was lucky to have Jake, I realized once more.

I waited for Jake to come up with good results on how to get home, but he didn't even look up at me once. But his face was frustrated. Gee. Low prospects.

Finally, giving up, I tuned to my music and group of e-books. I tried to find a fun story to read, but somehow ended up choosing Demian by Herman Hesse-the English teacher had suggested we read it, and I just wanted to think of school and life before this shit.

Well, Demian was much more fun than Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, and I was on the second chapter when I saw the girl getting up in the corner of my eye and put her stuff neatly in a bag I hadn't noticed before. As she returned her glass to the counter, she flashed a grin at the receptionist. I suddenly felt a bit strange-she had just smiled to the 40s man. Maybe she came here often.  Maybe. I found myself frowning, and tried to make myself be at rest.

The girl swiftly pushed out of Starbucks. I could still see her through the window-she seemed to be occupied with her phone, unmoving.

"Rick, I'm gonna kick around this place for a job," Jake suddenly stood up and closed the computer shut, averting my attention. I also got up. "Apparently, nothing good. I guess we're stuck here for some time," He murmured, frustrated. "Just don't get lost," Jake almost left with an angry air, and I stared dumbly at him. Why was he so angry? Had I done something wrong?

I picked up the empty glasses including Jake's, then strode to the counter. The man took them without a stare, only glancing at the cups. Very different treatment from the girl.

As I walked to the door, I saw the girl suddenly wave to a taxi. When I got out of Starbucks, she was already in and off.

Stupid, I thought to myself, then slowly made my way back to our room.
#
I turned on the TV absent-mindedly, then lied down on the couch. CNN came on right away, and I just watched, tired.

The reporter from yesterday was back.

"The establishment of the new sector as the government had announced yesterday have been confirmed, and it decided to take on the name suggested by officials of yesterday, the Sector for Special Cases, or the SSC. The government also warned the people to be unafraid and report their problems to officers in the SSC. The sect will reportedly handle specific cases, while living the rest to the police. The government stressed on the great need of the sect once more, and announced that the sector will be in force and effectively helping people from today. Plus, it added that the SSC agents would be easily identifiable with black suits," This gov. seemed to be a fast-decider, I thought. Also, the news always addressed it as a big entity-maybe the ruling system had changed over the years...

Then a thought came to me. Maybe, the SSC would take care of me and Jake's problems, though it would seem silly to tell an officer of time traveling and space traveling at the same time. But I didn't move a bit-the thing needed to be discussed with Jake, and the SSC might not be reliable, like the police in movies-like, ignoring and trying to sooth children even if their stories of strange occurrings were true.

The news turned to the increase of  shouts for equality of women on social media. With less attention, I watched. In my mind, I wanted to see my house, car, and dad again, and be allowed to sleep in the house just one more time. Why did I always have bad luck? Why did I have to be here? Being curious isn't a crime, huh?

As I was starting to worry of Jake and even consider getting a temporary job like him, Jake came in with a brighter mood. He grinned at me. "I got a night-shift at diner. It pays ok, I think. Well, you really aren't gonna try?" His grin made me feel home. Without thinking, I just said the words. "Maybe, I'll try,"

Jesus, how to deal with that later?

Jake forced me to give him a high five, then slid into his bed. "I start work from today, at 9 to 4. And I'm gonna rest for now," With that, he almost slipped off right away. I turned the TV off, and got up. Blood pounded in my ears. I wasn't used to doing nothing-I liked being active-yup, going to school, watching You Tube, and just wandering around on my car. Right now, I was itching to walk around town. I sent Jake a message that I'd be just walking around outside, and heard the satisfactory sound of it arriving on his phone. Then, I opened the door and walked out.

The receptionists didn't give me even a glance this time, since they finally had customers to deal with-a young family of five stood in front of the counter, height varying from person to person. I saw sunlight arching lazily through the glass doors-yeah, it was already sunset-and had to give myself a smile. I always loved sunsets-the time just before night when it got lousy and loud all over like lunchtime, and a great landscape provider. I passed the sliding automatic doors, and looked up at the sky. I saw the city skyline, though the buildings were low here. It looked fabulous and worthy of getting appointed as art-I could even see the silhouettes of the pigeons sitting on the tops.

I walked along the street with no clear destination. Bathed in red sunlight, the streets were suddenly deserted, only filled with small groups of people once awhile. I wanted to enjoy this feeling. With the sunlight, i felt as if nothing had changed, and tried to think that I was back home, strolling back from some walk.

My minds wandered back to dad, and the thought that he was still alive and walking in this world, and I took a deep breathe. I was going to find him soon, no matter what the method was.

Then once more, an idea occurred to me.

I pulled out my phone quickly and brought up GPS. Then I typed in 'nearest library' into the box. The results showed the route to a library, and I quickly jogged, following the route.

I finally arrived at the library, out of breathe. with high, wooden colums and marble statues, it looked welcome enough. I took the stairs 3 at a time(the long legs helped me) and pushed a set of loose, steel doors open. A few people looked up and glared at me for opening the door so carelessly. But I didn't care. I right away looked for the newspaper sector. Since the place was so quiet, I have to admit, I shut my mouth and tried to breathe through my nose mainly. Stepping quickly and quietly, I jogged after finding the location of the papers.

I reached a sector full of TIME additions aligned according to the date they were published, and also a few others, like the Washington Post. I knelt down in front of the TIME sector and started to check the date, finger sliding from spine to spine.

It seemed impossibly long and impossible for the library itself to have an addition of 7 years ago, but still, I somehow found it. This library had more content than I'd thought.

The cover was of the U.S president of 7 years ago. I quickly flipped through, fingers getting clammy. Eyes searching for my last name, Hunter.

There it was.

I took a deep breathe before reading the short story on the side of the page.

New York Boys Disappear Without Trace

Mr. Hunter called the local police and reported his problem the next day of the day his son had disappeared without trace. He said that his son, Eric, had texted him to be home by 9 in the night after hanging out with his friend, but hat hadn't apparently happened. The police also got a call from the parents of the student Eric Hunter had gone out with that day that their son, Jake Liasson was also missing. The case wasn't able to be solved by the police after intensive investigations and research, and is still a mystery. "We have done our best in every way possible, but this case just seems outright illogical," The chief said.

The last quote was what my dad should have said.

I suddenly felt tears at my eyes, and the lump rising. I hadn't cried since I had lost my pet goldfish when I was 8. But I still remembered how to not cry-I blinked as rapidly than possible, and the tears seemed to go back in-for now. I suddenly felt depressed. Why was I here to read my dad's tragedy? Why had I come here in the first place? The paper crinkled under my hands, but I didn't care. Dad had been a great dad to me, especially when I had little memories of my mom. And he was fair and always good to me. So because of my reckless action with Jake and the Shack, I'd left him behind, the 'have a good day' his last words...

I felt the tears again and knew that I wouldn't be able to keep the assault back, so quickly put the wrinkled TIMES back in place-I didn't car of where I put it in. Just as I was getting up, ready to bolt for the doors, a voice introduced itself into my episode.