SMS

[rbshinichi]

THE PLOT


It was the summer of 2048, Kurt Johnson and his mom had to move to a town far enough to be unknown. They have been living under WITSEC for 5 years now, and moving to places have been part of their lives, in a huge way.


They are now to live in an old house in an old village which is just outside the country. Kurt tries hard to cope up with his not -so-ordinary situation and live his life one day at a time. A socially detached high school boy, an introvert not by choice, Kurt finds it hard to deal with lots of people trying to avoid real connections and attachment. He spend most of his time online, playing VR games and all the technological stuff.


His not oh-so-plain life took a huge turn when he found an old cellphone buried under their new house's basement. The mobile phone gave him a new perspective in life, why not? Everyone will change if your cellphone can send messages to the past.

 

[rbshinichi]

"Kurt! Kurt! Kurt! Get the last box from the truck!" a woman in her late 30's was shouting on the top of her lungs from the porch of a newly renovated house. She was carrying two boxes of stuff from picture frames to kitchen utensils. She seemed to be calling to the boy who was sitting at the side of the road scrolling down on the holographic screen of his mobile phone. He was lost within the text of an ebook he was reading. "Kurt Johnson!!!" the lady tried again, this time with a much louder voice. The boy then turned to her with an indifferent look on his face.


'Kurt Johnson... Oh yeah, that's my new name. Just as when I was getting used to James Cavanaugh. What was my name before that? Johnny Baker? Or was it Jimmy? I can't even recall.' he whispered to himself and let out a tired sigh. "Yeah I'm coming mum! You don't have to shout, we just got here you don't want to get yelled at by the neighbors." he clicked his tongue as he made way to the door with the box on his hands.


"Just put it right there son, and you can go upstairs and rest first. I'll prepare for dinner as soon as I tidy things here. " Sara said as she pointed to a side table just below the staircase.


"Okay, I'm beat." he took three steps on the stairs and he stopped, "which room is mine again?"


"It's...well it's your turn to choose now son."


"Okay, I'm taking whatever is bigger." he replied then jolted to the second floor.


He walked to the hallway and passed through what appears to be a wash room, he continued walking and he reached the second door to the right this time. It was opened and revealed a Queen sized bed with it's head just below the window. The room is painted in white with light green pinstripe, it was empty save the lamp beside the bed over a side table and a study table and a chair. "It's pretty simple and plain."


He turned to the door at the end of the hallway and opened it when he got there. The knob wasn't in a good shape anymore so he had to forced it open. It was a spacious room. Just a small window with just amount of sunlight coming in. The bed was a king sized and the thing he liked about the room is something he can't pinpoint. There's the melancholy of the light blue painted walls, the emptiness of white ceiling with chocolate brown lining. In just seconds he was attached to it. He switched off the light and let the curtains down and the ceiling revealed a small universe made of luminous stick ups. "Wow."

 

[Soma]

"I'm home!" Percy shouted, taking off her shoes at the doorstep.


She had to do it here, since weather was cloudy and it had been raining all day and she would definitely leave muddy trail. And mopping the floor wasn't exactly her favourite task. She frowned, when she got no reply. She moved to the kitchen, noticing small post-it leaf on the counter and quickly read it. "I went shopping. lunch is in the fridge. warm it up and eat with your brother. love, mom." her mother was writing and she sighed with resignation. This woman was only good with buying new things. Their house was looking more like storage room with each day, but her father couldn't really do anything about it.


She threw note to the rubbish bin and went upstairs to peek in his younger brother's room.


"I'm home. Call me if you want something." She told him.


Of course, kid was sitting in front of computer, playing another game. He replied something, but she didn't really catch it, so she went to her own room. It wasn't like he wasn't old enough to manage on his own. He was only 3 years younger than her and their parents treated him like a complete child.


Percy threw her backpack near the desk and jumped on the bed, putting her phone out of her sweatshirt. Her friend wrote to her with question about their meeting at the weekend and she quickly replied to her, not wanting her friend to wait too much. Then she spent a while looking through her contact list, thinking who would be eager to go with them. She found no-one, so she sighed and rolled on her stomach, glaring outside the window. She probably should do homework, but it was so boring. She wasn't hungry either. In the end she jumped off the bed and grabbed one of the books from the shelf. She have read it a few times already, but it was a fantasy book and it would be always interesting for her. She sat in armchair comfortably and began to read, frowning once in a while, when she heard a bang from her brothers room. Stupid kid.

 

[rbshinichi]

Kurt sat on the edge of the bed to feel the ambience. He laid his back against the soft bed as he plugged in his earpod on his ears. "Play grandpa's playlist. " he commanded and music started playing from the little devices on his ears. It was a song from way back by Ed Sheeran called Thinking out loud. He has a thing for the old stuff because he believed that it was better back then than to date.


He was just getting in the mood to sleep when his mom came banging on his door. "Hey Kurt i need help to put some things away to the basement. "


"Okay, I'm coming. "


It was dim, dusty and messed up in the basement. Cobwebs all over. Kurt coughed as he placed some boxes over a table which was sitting dead quiet on the corner of the room. He noticed that the desk has a drawer on the side, he opened it and saw a box. "Hey son, we're here to put some things away not to take things away. What is that anyway? " his mom toom the box and brought it with them to tje kitchen.


"Wow this brings back memories. " she exclaimed.


"What is that mum? " he asked in all curiosity.


"This is a phone son, well what phones used to be. This is a touch screen model, you physically touch the screen to navigate functions and menu items, unlike today that you scroll and make gestures on thin air like any idiot there is. "


"That's technology mum, it advances. " he protested.


"Whatever, here take this, you like old things right? I think you can make it work, it doesn't seem to be physically damaged. "


He took it upstairs, plugged in the cord which came with it and in a few moments it started up.


He was taken to the home screen and there's a photo of a girl on the background. "She's pretty. " he admired the wallpaper.


He browsed through the menus and found some messages. By reading through some of them he deduced that the owner's name was Percy and it appears to be the girl on the background.


"it's pretty much the same, though they have a poor graphics then. " Kurt observed.


He wondered if it can still work properly and he tried to send a message, he tried every entry on the phonebook but it always fails except for one entry, the number was named "Myself". Tje message was sent and he thought that the message he sent which read Hi!will just come back to tje phonem but it did not.


"Maybe i got the wrong number" je said to himself.

 

[Soma]

Percy was a bookworm, everyone kept telling her that. She haven't minded that name, though, because it was the thruth. She was always distrustful towards e-books and prefered real books over them. Once she started reading, there were only few things that could bring her back.


Her idiot brother was one of these things.


"I'm hungry!" He whined, after bursting into her room. Of course, without knocking. She ignored big urge to throw her book at him (the book would feel offended, so he didn't do it) and went to the kitchen. She warmed the dinner for both herself and her brother and they ate, watching some cartoons on TV. She liked that kind of stuff. Comics also were her kind of thing, and she really like the "Avengers" cartoon. Especially agent Barton, also known as Hawkeye. After that, she ordered her brother to wash the dishes and spent a little time keeping an eye on him, cause if she wouldn't to that, he probably would go to his room and returned to his game or whatever he was doing.


"Do you need any help with homework?" She asked after he finished, rising her eyebrow.


"Nope." He answered and ran back to his "cave", as she like to call his room. She perfectly knew that he could do his homework by his own, but her father wanted her to be a good sister and such. Being the oldest kid in family was a pain in the ass, but at least Jamie wasn't that troublesome.


When she went back to her room, she noticed that her phone's screen was alight. That meant somebody sent her a message or was calling. She resisted urge to go back to reading and reached for her phone. She unlocked it and frowned.


"Don't tell me that stupid thing is broken." She huffed with irritation, checking the settings and everything she could. Apparently she send herself a message. "Hi", she read and her frown deepened.


Well, maybe someone was messing with her phone and changes someone's name in her contacts, whatever.


"hi. who are you?" She replied, really curious now. The book was completely forgotten now and she sat on the bed, watching the device impatiently.

 

[rbshinichi]

Kurt pulled out his Portable Virtual Assitant from his left jacket pocket and placed it atop the bed side table. It was connected to the device on his ear via wireless connection. He spoke some command keywords and a projected holographic screen popped up from the PVA. He played a movie, and as soon as it started the phone beeped and he reached for it from his side. hi. Who are you? a messaged was written on a prompt box on the screen. It was from the number he texted.


He was more curious and amazed that the phone still works. He wondered who was at the other end of the line. He noticed that the date written on the message was 2010, he just shrugged it off and thought it was just because of the settings of the phone.


With his curiosity at its peak he replied to the message with Hello, my name is Kurt. Do you know anyone named Percy? I think this is her phone. Maybe this is her old house. I found it on the basement. It's an old android phone but it still works.


You're beautiful, every little piece love. Stay beautiful.

 

[Soma]

Percy continued to glare at the phone, as if it could make the message come faster. When the stranger wasn't responding, she moved to take her packpack and wanted to start doing her maths homework, but her phone eventually beeped, signaling a new message. She read it with curiosity.


"Hello, my name is Kurt. Do you know anyone named Percy? I think this is her phone. Maybe this is her old house. I found it on the basement. It's an old android phone but it still works."


"The hell?" She muttered, really confused now. Her phone wasn't that old, it was only year old. Maybe that person was just some rich kid, used to having only newest gadget and stuff? But maybe it was about other Percy, even though there weren't many girls named Percy, but it could be possible, right?


"I am Percy." She wrote with slight hesitation about giving the stranger her personal informations. "But I have my phone in my hand, so it probably belongs to someone else, idk. where did you get my number?"

 

[rbshinichi]

He was staring at the ceiling of the bedroom. Trying to count the little glow in the dark stars which were stuck up there when another message arrived on the phone. He reached for it from the bed side table and read the message. Confused and a little weary he replied. "You are Percy? Wow, you really are still alive. How old are you now? Maybe it belongs to someone else, but it sure has a lot of photos of you and your number is saved here as 'Myself' so i just assumed it's yours." He sent the message and realized it sounded a little rude asking her age and stuff. He was picturing her of a little over 50 now.


He commanded his PVA to do some search regarding the phone he's holding. SDK's and accessories came up. He researched a bit more to find a store where they sell old stuff like that. It took him a good 30 minutes just to find to stores. He placed an order for a cable for the phone so he could connect it to his system to try and find a bit more information about it.


"Hey Kurt! Dinner's ready. Let's eat." and again his mother's screaming voice crawled through his ears. "Yes! be right there!" he got up and took the phone with him.

 

[Soma]

She felt like in a some old, low-budget, science-fiction movie right now. Was that boy making fun of her or something? Probably yes, that's why she exhaled a few times deeply, closing her eyes, because, well. She was getting too excited. Her life was really normal, nothing extraordinary happened, before now, so you couldn't blame her.


Her eyes fluttered open, when another message came. She read it attentively, frowning.


"eh, what do you mean by "you really are still alive"? I'm 18, I have years before me! hey, coud you send me one of that photos? maybe it's other Percy, not me."


She really wanted to wait for the message doing nothing, but when she was halfway through texting the message, her mother came back from shop and wanted her help. So she went to the kitchen, murming something about her lazy brother. Of course, she took the phone with her, putting it to the back pocket of her jeans.


When unpackind the groceries, she was still thinking about that messages. It must've been visible on her face, because her mother asked what's wrong. She made up some excuse about fight with one of her classmates, because her mom would surely laugh at her, if she would tell her the truth.

 

[rbshinichi]

It was pasta and meatballs that his mother served which was gone from his plate within 10 minutes. He was anxious about the messages, more importantly he was excited to receive them. A part of him tells him that somehow the messages were special, or because maybe he felt same talking to her.


Kurt never really had any real connections with people his age, he's got to constantly hide and run away from invitations and social interaction. Even his online presence needed to be limited.


He read the message and was confused, "She's 18? " he asked himself. He looked at the phone and browsed through the phone's gallery. It has folders with photos and videos in it organized by events and years. He opened one folder which says "My 21st year. " he found a picture of this Percy girl holding a cake with the number 21 designed on top. He selected it and sent it to her. "I'm pretty sure you're not 18." his message said.


He went back up to his room and switched off the lights. His thoughts were lost with the million little stars lighting beautifully on his ceiling.

 

[Soma]

After unpacking the groceries, Percy went back to her room, and meanwhile the message from Kurt came. She sat herself on the bed again, this time taking a book with her, becuase she couldn't just sit in one place and do nothing for long, between messages especially.


She looked at the picture and scowled, tugging at her hair while thinking. It was definitely a picture of her, but she was holding a cake with a "21" on it. She also didn't remember the time when it could be taken. God damn it, this situation was more weird if every minute.


"i am 18, geez. i know my own age, aight? i was born in 1993 and its 2011 now so i'm pretty sure i'm 18. but i really don't know what's going on, cuz it's me on that picture. and i dont remember it."





(SORRY SORRY SORRY it took so long!


the notification didn't pop up ;_

 

[rbshinichi]

Kurt was lost with the number "2011". His eyes went wide and his spine shivered with an electric current zapped into his brain. He laughed it off, or he wished he could. But a strange feeling of confusion took over while he typed : "Nice try, it's 2048 alright! Quit playing. Do you want your phone back or not? If you would just mess around like that I'm just gonna keep it."


He pressed send. He scratched his head in annoyance. He gets that it's a joke but something peculiar stirs up inside his mind. What if it's for real? That wouldn't be such a bad idea. Plus, they're experimenting time travel now more than ever. Could it be...could it really be?? He shook his head trying to shake the thoughts that are within. Deep inside him, he is unconsciously hoping for it to be true.

 

[Soma]

Meanwhile Kurt was responding, Percy started reading her book, hoping that it would make her busy. But unfortunately, she could concentrate, every few moments glancing at the damn phone, waiting for the boy's reponse that wasn't coming. When it finally came, she was almost startled by the phone's signal, but quickly gathered herself and read the message.


"2048...?" She murmured to herself, her eyes widening. Was that guy messing with her or something?!


"You're the one playing, so stop it! It's not funny!" She sent the message, but decided that was not enough, so wrote another.


"Besides I have my phone in my hand, so it's not like I need it back."

 

[rbshinichi]

"Status." Kurt commaned and the tiny blue light on his PVA blinked twice. The device responded in a woman's robotic voice [september 8 2048 20:00: Running at 89%. You have no new messages and no missed calls. You have no new emails.]


It was nothing new for Kurt. There's no one to exchange messages with, no one to call him, as a matter of fact no one else knows his number save from his mom and the agent who takes care of them.


He closed his eyes thinking about the girl who went out with him a few times. For her it was a good time, but for him it was the best time of his life, maybe the only times he felt alive. He would've asked her for another date, he would've asked her to be his girlfriend if only he didn't see what he saw one night. An image of her kissing and making out with another guy at school still lingers through Kurt's mind most of the time.


The phone lit up signaling a new message has arrived. Kurt shrugged the message off along with the tears from his eyes but the phone lit up yet again. "2 messages in a row?"


Kurt read the messages and couldn't even make sense of them. He's tired and suffocating and he was too preoccupied to pay any more attention to the prankster on the other end of the line. He typed a message as if playing with tbe sender or taking up a challenge to prove himself, he replied Whatever you say, and hey. If you really don't believe me, i don't care but whatever you do stay away from the world trade center tomorrow. There's gonna be chaos.


Kurt rolled into his side closing his eyes. Only to see the girl of his dreams locking lips with another guy.

 

[Soma]

Percy felt a strong urge to make a phone call. She wanted to hear to that guy's voice - she was almost sure that it was some kid making fun of her. He was probably around 12, because kids that age were thinking about these kind of pranks as funny. She was staring at the phone intensively, waiting for the message to come. When it finally did, she quickly read it, and scowled. The word trade center? She wasn't even living close, so she would stay away from it anyway...


"What is going to happen?" She replied, after a while of thinking and biting her fingers. God, was she supposed to be so nervous?


She threw the phone on the mattress and lied down, waiting for the reply. She was waiting for what seemed like forever, and when the reply didn't come, she fell asleep.


* * *


"u wre rgiht. with taat wtc thing i mean. it atcually hpnd 2day." She wrote to Kurt next day, with a shaking fingers, after watching news in the TV. She was so shocked that she could even waste time on proper grammar.


"and dn't u dare & ignore me now" She sent another one, in case he would try to not text her back.

 

[rbshinichi]

A faint beam of light coming through the little window pane of Kurt's new room woke him up. He placed his arm over his eyes to try to sleep some more but his consciousness is as awake as the morning sky. He stretched as opened his eyes.


"Status" he called out to his PVA and with the robotic lady voice it responded with the date, time and the resounding silence of his mailboxes.


He turned to his other side and saw the phone blinking. He grabbed it and saw 3 new messages all from Percy.


The texts came to him with sense of panic. For a moment he starts to believe it. "What? Is this person serious? Or is she trying to make a joke out of that situation. " he said to himself.


He sat on the side of the bed looking outside through the little window. He can see the road where artificial trees are erected. Kids on their hoverboards racing through the side streets.


He finally decided to reply. "Is this real? Can you send me a photo of your tv showing the time and the news of the scene. I bet all channels are on that story now. And it's around 9, so there's another plane crashing through it. and sent.

 

[Soma]

After she sent the message, she sacrificed a while so she could gather herself. She still didn't understand that situation and was sure that that Kurt guy was making a fool out of her, but still... A small part of her was believing his words and hoping that all of this could be real. You could explain this situation - that boy could have parents working with news or something and that way he could know everything earlier.


But still, she wanted it to be real, to be honest. Something like this would make a great experience. Of course if it was real and all. Which probably wasn't. But still. She quickly read the new message and ran downstairs, turning on the TV. Then she made a short movie, showing her skipping the channels, so it would show that it's record played on TV and recorded a bit of news.


Then she sent it to Kurt with a short message. "if u won't believe me now, ur a bastard." Not the prettiest words to come out of girl's mouth (or fingers) but she was far too nervous and excited at the same time to care.

 

[rbshinichi]

He got up and went downstairs to see his mom still unpacking a couple of boxes on the living area. "Hey mom. You're still on them huh? Hmmm i smell bacon."


"Yeah i woke up a little early, so i already cooked. I'm just gonna tidy things up here then we'll go to get some groceries. And son, you have a package already? This box came in today. " she tossed a small box to him. He opened it up and those were tje accessories he ordered for the phone.


He sat down the table and started for breakfast, he received a message and opened it up quickly. A video is attached on the message. He played it and he almost choke on the piece of bread he was chewing. He couldn't believe it at first but was excited the next for it was the very thing he was hoping for. For it to be real. He can now somehow hold onto the reality of the moment when he saw a tv like that. It wasn't like the transparent glass panes mounted on walls today, it was a real tangible screen projecting images and sound from within. Kurt didn't even have the time to think about it. He composed a message saying "Holy shit. This is for real? This is like so cool! I don't mean the news btw, you really are from 2011. I don't even know what to say! Anyway, just be safe."


He couldn't wait for the reply so he sent another one saying, "You're Percy right? And you live at this house at this moment right?"

 

[Soma]

"Percy, what are you doing?" She heard a voice beside her and turned - it was her brother.


"Nothing, just watching the news." She shrugged, putting her phone to the jeans' pocket. She wasn't really eager to tell her brother about it - he would probably just laugh at her, that insolent brat. He just shrugged and went back to his room. She waited a bit and read the message that came meanwhile they were talking.


"safe from what?" She texted, frowning. Was there a war coming or something, that he told her something like this?


"I gave u the proof. now it's your turn to convince me that u r from the future."


It's not like she needed it, but... Just to be 100% sure. She would be really foolish if she believed him now. Right now, she was like 99% sure that he was telling the truth. But there's always that 1% that he could be kidding.


"I told you that I am." She left the house part without reply, because she wasn't really feeling like giving him her adress, at least by now.

 

[rbshinichi]

"You'll be attending the next school term at the highschool downtown. Would you like to go visit it later?" His mother asked while he continue eating but staring at the box of accessories he just received.


"Nah, i think I'm good. It's just the old same thing, just different places different faces." A melancholic smile crept in his lips, maybe it's from the truth in that fact or it's how lame he sounded.


"I'll be in my room mom."he bid her goodbye taking up the box he was so eager to use.


"I'll be gone for a few hours okay?"she said without receiving any response.


He opened his suitcase and assembled from the scattered units a personal computer. In the next couple of minutes it's up and running. He downloaded some files to make the phone readable by the system, took him a while for the phone is so old that it's hard to find the right things.


After a good half hour of coding and debugging, he was successful with his attempt of cloning the phone's system and installing it into his PVA. He made it so that any transmission the phone receives it reroutes everything on his PVA.


As soon as he turned on the phone which is plugged to his system, he received the message from Percy. And for the first time in a while he heard a different statement from his robotic companion. [You have a new message from Percy. Would you like me to read it?] He changed the entry in the phonebook from Myself to Percy. He replied YES. He smiled at her yet another challenge.


Challenge accepted.


He looked outside his window. "Eyecam activate. Video mode. Capture start. " the tiny lens like devices on his eyes were connected to his PVA via wireless connection, it enables him to record anything the eyes see, exactly as they are seen.


"Capture stop." He rewatched the video and felt good about it. The holographic sign outside reading Irving St. Was the focus of his video. He attached the video to the message he was writing. "Well this is the view outside your window 39 years after. "

 

[Soma]

When there was a long break between messages from Kurt, Percy got up from bed and went to her computer, determined to find some information about time-travel on the Internet. Maybe there was some breaking news about that, but she haven't noticed that? It had to be! How would it be possible if it wasn't? Her phone was just ordinary device, her dad got it for her almost a year ago and somehow it was possible to be still working after what... 30 years? And send the messages from the future? What the actual hell?


Apparently there wasn't any new invention that would make time-travel possible. She huffed with irritation, scrolling the website. She recalled that it was a good source of information with no fakes, so she could probably believe it. And could she believe that Kurt guy? He was saying that he was from 2048, but maybe he wanted to do prank of the year or something...


She jumped nervously when her phone jingled, the signal definitely too loud for her liking. She got up from the chair and opened the message, frowning, when she noticed that it's a video with a short text.


"Well this is the view outside your window 39 years after." She muttered to herself and played the short movie. Her eyes widened, when she saw the weird sign with the name of the street and quickly texted back.


"ok, i believe u now." She sat on the bed, clearly in shock. But... How was it all even possible?! Should she tell about it someone? Probably not, they will took the phone away from her, thinking that she's insane or something. Maybe later.

 

[rbshinichi]

Somehow the reassurance that she sent via text made him satisfied and glad.


He browsed through the music collection he downloaded from Percy's phone. "COMMAND ON. Play the most played song from the new addition. " music started playing, it was calm and soothing. A good melody and a slow tempo.


"This must be your favorite song. I like it. " he texted.


He started wondering what Percy is doing at the very moment, which is 39 years ago. With the pictures she had on her phone, she seems to be a social person with a lot of friends. Unlike Kurt who has lots of games which he treats as friends.

 

[Soma]

She frowned at his message.


"it sounded like u r some sort of stalker or smth haha" She texted. But after a while of thinkng, she sent a second message.


"what kind of music ppl listen to in 2048?"


"Probably something electronic." She muttered to herself. She wanted to ask him so many questions! She was restraining herself though, so she wouldn't scare him or something.

 

[rbshinichi]

He smiled at her message. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be creepy" he replied.


He just got dressed when the second message arrived. He put his hoodie on and read through the message. He laughed at it more than he should. "you must have watched so many films. We have that but music is still music. Nothing can replace instruments raw voices and real talent. Believe it or not.. People still sings today. You play any instrument? " he messaged back.


Sent from my Hypothalamus v3.03

 

[Soma]

Two messages came after a while of waiting - one after another. Percy decided to reply in one text, since it would be much easier to communicate.


"don't worry, i was jking. but probably instruments r different, right? like, electrical cello or smth. nah, i am anti-talent when it comes to music. believe me or not, but i can't even sing well. u?"





Well, it started getting interesting now. Percy found some blank note-book and wrote a big headline "2048". She wanted to write down some interesting things, so she wouldn't forget them later.