72-Hour Extension

“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” – Some idiot who just screwed up.

Professor Scrate,

Sir, I am requesting another extension for the assignment due tomorrow, Feb 24th in Agricultural History 431. I know you told me that you wouldn’t grant me anymore extensions once football season was over, it isn’t because of sports this time though. I think I’ll need a 72-hour extension due to an error with my Personal Time Skip Device that I loaned out from the library. I also am asking for help, I have hurt my hand and it is making it difficult to type. Could you please contact my academic advisor, Mrs. Devrie, and tell her that I may not make the departure time for my colonization internship so that I can finish my research project? Thank you. If you do not hear from me in 96 hours, please send help. I am in the year 1673 B.C. in Crete.

Respectfully,

Christian Klade

P.S. – Also, I look like a bull now. Half me – half bull.

-\\-

Chris was worried that he had downplayed the seriousness of his situation a little too much in his message to Mr. Scrate. Chris watched the display embedded into his forearm blink out. The internal battery had died, and it would take several days for it to recharge without an external power source. All he had was the backup source, his own body heat.

Chris told his professor that he had hurt his hand, but the truth was that typing out a message on his IC Tool, or Implanted Communication Tool, was almost impossible with his huge bull hands. It had taken him five hours and the rest of the battery life to send just one message.

He actually wasn’t sure if his body heat would still work. His Implanted Communication Tool was a hand-me-down from the school. It was also an older model and had been abused by two decades worth of students. But Chris’s biggest worry was that he didn’t know if his new body composition would support the IC Tool. It wasn’t designed for a Minotaur.

It had all happened so fast. One minute he was taking notes on how cattle had been herded and farmed in Italy during the Roman Empire, and the next he was being chased by an enormous bull. He was at a dead sprint when he was able to get a time skip window open just as the bull was about to give him a second hole in his backside. They fell through together, their DNA mixed, and now Chris was half man and half bull.

In his panic he had accidentally time skipped to ancient Greece. He guessed that he had never closed that page in his browser from his history class last semester. When he fell though the skip window his momentum ran him straight into a wall. When he opened his eyes, a woman was standing over him.

“Hi.” Chris said.

The woman said something in a language he didn’t understand. After a few seconds the translation came through on his IC Tool.

“Are you sent from the Gods?” She said.

“What? Who are you lady?” He asked.

Her face screwed in confusion; it did not seem that she could understand him. Chris stood up and she screamed. He felt something on his head catch on the ceiling. When he reached up, he saw the short brown fur on his arms and he felt two long and thick horns on top of his head.

“Uh oh.” He said as five men burst in to the room. Four of them had swords at their hips, which they pulled out as soon as they looked at Chris.

The fifth man had no weapon but the look on his face worried Chris more than the swords did. His eyes darted around the room wildly, he licked his lips over and over again, and kept pinching himself.

The following conversation is the craziest thing that Chris had ever heard:

“Pasiphaë! What is this beast doing in your chambers?” the man screamed.

“I was sitting at the window when it appeared from nowhere! Thank you for coming to my aid so quickly!” she said.

“You are a liar!” he pointed at her. “You make a fool of me! You have made a fool of King Minos!”

Chris had also never met anyone who spoke in the third person who was completely sane. He didn’t like his odds. The name King Minos was familiar.

“How have I done that?” she said.

“You have laid with a bull! You have hidden it from me, but now that you have conceived the creature you cannot hide it any longer!” He yelled.

“Minos, you saw me at breakfast this morning! That was two hours ago. I was not pregnant!” she exasperated.

“I have noticed your loose clothing. To hide the spawn you carried!” He said.

“Loose clothing? Are you mad? The beast is fully grown! Its horns touch the ceiling. How could I hide this?” she explained.

“I know not how the Gods work.” The King said. “I will have you and Daedalus killed for this.”

“What does Daedalus have to do with this?” she asked.

“It is clear to me that he helped you mate with a bull. He fashioned a female bull so that you could hide inside it.” He said.

“A female bull? Do you mean a cow? Do you know how mad you sound?” she said.

“It is the only possible explanation.” he said.

“I am tired of your ravings. I should have married your brother. Say what you want, I am going to take a bath.” she left the room, shaking her head.

The King turned to one of the guards to continue his insane ranting now that Pasiphaë had left the room.

“It was Poseidon, you know.” He said to the guard, pinching himself on his side.

“Poseidon, Sire?” the guard asked.

“Yes, he did this to get back at my father.” He said.

Pasiphaë called out from the next room. “Zeus is not your father! Stop telling people that. Your father’s name is Hector and he’s fat.”

“Quiet woman!” the King yelled out. He looked back at the guard and narrowed his eyes.

“Uhm, I agree sire, it must have been Poseidon.” The guard stuttered.

The King smiled. “Yes. Of course!” He looked at the other guards, they all nodded to each other. “Well, take this thing and stick him in the Labyrinth. We’ll get some use from him in some fashion or another.”

That was two days ago. Any effort to communicate with the guards didn’t work. Not that he knew what he would tell them. Chris supposed that the King’s insane theory would still sound more logical than the truth to these people.

Chris sat down along side one of the walls of the Labyrinth and rested his head in his hands. He watched his Personal Time Skip Device dangle from his necklace. He tried to turn it on again, but he knew that it was out of power. He would have to wait to charge it from his IC Tool, which was also still out of power.

He racked his brain trying to remember anything ancient Greek mythology. Then he remembered that he paid someone to write his final research paper for him. He laughed at the irony. He did remember a few names though. Daedalus was familiar when the King mentioned him. Theseus came to the front of his mind, there was nothing he remembered about who Theseus is, or was, the name just stuck out for some reason.

Chris felt his stomach growl and his mouth was parched. So, he stood up and continued to wander the halls. He had gotten lost when he left the center of the labyrinth and he was looking for his way back. That’s where the food and water was.

“You really stepped in it this time Chris.” he said to himself. He was still getting used to the sound of his voice. It was deeper.

Chris had a hard time telling how much time had passed in the labyrinth, he guessed it had been a day, but he knew he could easily be wrong. About every ten minutes he tapped at his forearm, hoping to see his imbedded display light up. Nothing.

He heard voices around the next turn and flattened himself against the wall. He tried to peek around the corner quietly when his right horn scrapped against the wall. Chris managed to keep his scream internal, it felt like gritting teeth, except behind his eyeball.

“Hopefully I don’t have to get too used to these things.” he said quietly, rubbing the tip of his horn. He tried to sneak a look again and saw two men. The older one seemed to be scolding the younger, or at least giving him a firm dressing down. Chris couldn’t understand what they were saying, but he recognized a father and son relationship anywhere.

The older man picked up something from the ground and tied it to the younger one’s back. It looked like a giant set of wings. Then Chris realized that’s because it really was a giant set of wings. The father tied the wings off to his son’s arms, then he lifted a pot from a fire next to the wall and poured something out and on to the wings.

The two walked around a far corner, out of sight. Chris followed them, remaining hidden. He reached the fire and hoped to find a bite of food. Instead, he found a pile of candles laying next to the fire. He picked up the pot and looked inside, it was melted wax. His stomach growled, as if in protest.

Chris looked around the next corner and found the two men. The younger one, with the wings secured to his body and arms, was running down the hall and flapping his wings. He actually took off for a dozen feet. Chris was impressed.

He saw a small green light flash on his forearm.

“Yes!” Chris tapped the imbedded display and saw the dim light of the IC Tool powering on. He looked back at the two men before walking back the other way.

“Hope it works out for you guys.” he said quietly. Chris tapped away at his display as he walked the other direction, trying to get through all the start-up menus and antivirus software alert messages. Finally, he was able to open the settings, he placed the IC Tool on low power mode. Then he opened two applications: the Universal Translator and the Time Skip menu.

The translator opened, but the Time Skip menu needed to connect to the device manually. Chris grabbed the Time Skip Device around his neck. He was about to begin charging it when he felt someone tap him on the back. He turned around.

A man stood there, grim faced. He pointed at Chris, made an unintelligible proclamation and then pulled his sword from it’s scabbard.

A few seconds later, Chris heard the translation in his ear. “I am the great warrior Theseus! You are an abomination; I have come for you. The afterlife awaits!” said the voice.

“Crap.” Chris said.