Johnny over the limit

Being inside the teahouse when it was in motion was a somewhat odd experience. Everything within the teahouse remained normal and unchanged, besides the steady movement of the fuel gauge, while the outside world seemed to completely disappear. For the 3 minutes it took for the Test's time machine to move from point A to point B the view from the window looked out onto a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, often randomly changing speed and direction without warning. After the first moment of awe, most travelers found it wise to simply ignore the lights outside in order to avoid disorientation.

"I always find this time strangely peaceful," Mary said pleasantly as if trying to strike up some mindless chitchat, "Don't you think so?"

"I guess. It's kind of creepy to me. I don't like looking outside and not seeing anything real." Johnny replied, taking a seat at the little pretend table and tea set.

"I'm actually not sure what causes the visual effect. At first Susan and I assumed we were breaking into a layer of void space, but the colors seem to indicate that something is out there despite all of our equipment reading zeros."

"So there's something out there and nothing out there? That doesn't make any sense."

"I know." Mary replied and then after a few seconds of quiet switched topics, "You know, if we were to kiss during the next few minutes our little romantic moment would literally be timeless."

Johnny began to think of a reply to his sister's come-on when a sizeable metal ball appeared out of nowhere and flew into the teahouse through the open window.

"What the heck is that?" Jonny shouted, falling backwards in his chair as the object breezed past Mary's head and landing directly in the middle of the table.

"What the h-eck is that?" Mary stuttered, not knowing what Johnny was referring to until it was right in front of her.

Before Mary could even move to investigate, the ball flattened itself out and sprouted out 10 slim metal legs.

"Oh god, it's a timespider! That's like a million times freakier then a normal spider!" Johnny exclaimed as he slid himself backwards on the floor.

"It's not a spider; spiders only have 8 legs." Mary replied.

"System integration begun. Please stand by." A cold but eerily familiar voice stated.

"Did that not-spider just talk?" Johnny asked rhetorically.

"I think so…"

"Phase one of system takeover complete. Realigning temporal coordinates." The same voice announced.

"That can't be good!" Mary winced.

"I don't like it when you say that!" Johnny replied.

"Prepare for temporal reintegration."

"It's stuck on the table," Mary said with a grunt as she tried desperately to remove the intruder, "I can't get it off."

"Please do not tamper with this device… Mary Test. Deintegration at this point would result in an uncertain outcome with 98% probability of catastrophic failure." The voice stated in its emotionless tone.

"It knows who you are?" Johnny asked, "How does it know who you are?"

"I have no idea and its freaking me out but it might be right. If the teahouse falls out of control I have no idea what will happen." Mary said timidly.

"Well, let's leave it alone then because I am WAY too young to be exploded out here in nowhere land."

"Reintegration will be complete in 45 seconds."

"Does that mean that in 45 seconds we'll be somewhere and we can get off this crazy thing?" Johnny asked.

"30 seconds to reintegration."

"I can't say for certain but that's what it sounds like."

"15 seconds to reintegration."

"Johnny, will you hold me just in case this…?" Mary asked meekly

Without answering Johnny rushed to his sister's side and wrapped an arm around her, feeling an incredible surge of macho energy as Mary fearfully snuggled up to him.

"I love you Johnny." Mary whispered as she closed her eyes.

"I love you too Mary." Johnny whispered in return.

"Reintegration complete. It is now safe to exit the vehicle."

Glancing out the teahouse window and seeing what appeared to be a regular looking day and outdoor locale Johnny muttered "Well that was anticlimactic."

Cautiously opening her eyes, Mary looked outside as well.

"Well, I'd rather have it be anticlimactic then a big boom any day." Mary said sweetly.

Peeling himself free from Mary's embrace, Johnny walked over to the window to get a better look. While he did that Mary returned her attention to the teahouse's co-opted controls.

"It looks like we're in our own backyard." Johnny stated, "Or maybe not…"

"Wait, what do you mean 'or maybe not'?" Mary asked, "We either are or we aren't."

"Well, it sure looks like our house but there's an extra area tacked onto it. Plus, it seems we have a really nice swimming pool now."

"Really?" Mary replied with surprise, "I didn't think we'd have anywhere near enough space for both of those items. Our yard is nice but no where near that big."

"Yeah, it's a lot bigger now that Sissy's house is gone. Hey, maybe that spider thing sent us to a parallel universe where mom and dad are super rich."

"Well, based on the calendar in the teahouse I think we're simply in the future, just not the exact time we had set it for."

"Ok, when are we then?"

"Well, I was aiming for only a few years in the future, like maybe when we'd be in our early twenties. Instead we've arrived a few years later then that."

"How many is a few? Are we super old now?"

"No, probably more like mom and dad's age."

"Well, why don't we just reset the teahouse, go where we intended to go, and then go home before anything weird happens again."

"I can't, the teahouse controls are frozen."

"Temporal vehicle upgrade in progress." The spider's voice announced as Mary attempted to use the controls, "Completion in 7 days 6 hours 3 minutes and 24 seconds…."