| LuckyClover 17:34:12 | so what do I need to pack to come and stay at your parents’ house next week? |
| Ella-is-swell 17:36:37 | clothes? programming textbooks? sexy lingerie? |
| LuckyClover 17:37:48 | Well … apart from that: what am I dressing for? hot/cold/frozen in a never-ending winter? |
| Ella-is-swell 17:38:02 | all of the above |
| LuckyClover 17:38:14 | useful. thanks. |
| Ella-is-swell 17:38:27 | I miss you |
| LuckyClover 17:38:33 | I miss you too. |
| Ella-is-swell 17:38:57 | What in particular? |
| LuckyClover 17:39:02 | Do I miss? |
| Ella-is-swell 17:39:11 | Yeah |
| LuckyClover 17:39:24 | Hmmm. I’m drawing a blank |
| Ella-is-swell 17:40:03 | Rude |
| LuckyClover 17:40:56 | I like it when you’re trying to tell me a story, but you can’t stop laughing long enough to get the words out. |
| LuckyClover 17:41:35 | I like how much of a snob you are about food and coffee and how annoyed you get when I eat crisps or cheese on toast for dinner. |
| LuckyClover 17:42:01 | I like how easily you fall asleep anywhere, especially when it’s on my shoulder when you’re forcing me to watch a regency cyborg romance marathon with you and Spart. |
| Ella-is-swell 17:42:45 | That was lovely. Now I miss you even more, thanks a LOT |
| Ella-is-swell 17:42:50 | but for the record…………………. |
| Ella-is-swell 17:43:05 | it’s not cheese on toast I have a problem with, it’s your blasé recipe. No beer? At ALL? Then why even call it a welsh rarebit?! |
| LuckyClover 17:43:07 | Well … I’m going to go and pack now…. |
| Ella-is-swell 17:43:11 | and another thing! |
| Ella-is-swell 17:43:13 | oh, you’re gone. |
File note: Chat log, dated 29 October 2058
ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND, 2056
It was easy enough for Clove to declare that she was going to travel back in time, but actually doing it was a lot harder. Firstly, she made a list of things she absolutely had to take with her. In the end, it was six-pages long. Secondly, she had to get the password for the time machine. She could get into the physics building using her work experience key card, but she couldn’t get the time machine working without the password. She’d figure something out − she had to. She was doing this tonight, before her temporary key card stopped working. It was ten p.m., so she only had two hours before midnight.
“Spart, maybe this is all a mistake. There’s no way I’m just going to be able to guess the password for the time machine.”
> I believe that I may be able to bypass the password altogether. If you can help me hack into the computer, I can control the time machine manually.
Clove wasn’t convinced by Spart’s confidence. She’d seen the program – it was very complicated. “Are you sure?”
> There is a 60% possibility this plan will be successful. However, it is more probable that you will be able to predict the password based on your personal knowledge.
“That … doesn’t sound like great odds.”
> If you prefer, we can wake JENNIFER and ask her for the password.
“No!” Clove said hurriedly. “That’s OK. We should definitely keep this between us. We’ll try your way. I guess it’s worth a shot.”
Clove transferred Spart’s software over to a memory card, so that she could plug it into the back of the time machine’s computer and let him control it.
While the software was transferring, she started packing a rucksack with everything on her list, including toiletries and a first-aid kit from the bathroom. She even managed to find a DNA testing kit in Jen’s office. Jen never threw anything out, and she’d picked up lots of random things at conferences over the years. Clove was always borrowing things to experiment with.
She needed a few more things, like clothes, but luckily their 3D printer was better than any shopping centre. She could make clothes to blend into any period of history without leaving the house.
Clothes printed in 3D were a bit plastic-y, but it was worth it for the latest fashion trends. Plus, if you pirated the template, you only had to pay for the materials, which was what a lot of people did. Buying them was really expensive.
Clove started looking online for a template of a dress from 1745, and found a cosplay of a video game character that she thought might work. She torrented it, then set the dress printing in Jen’s office, hoping the loud noise of plastic being woven into fabric wouldn’t wake Tom and Jen.
When it was finished, she tried it on. Once she’d clipped her hair back under a cap, she barely recognized herself. She looked like someone from a black-and-white film.
Clove did one final check that she had everything. At the last minute she threw her knitting in too. Even if she didn’t have anyone to give the scarf to any more, now that Meg wasn’t talking to her, knitting helped her to stay calm. She couldn’t imagine a time when she’d need to stay calm more than on a trip to 1745.
She was ready.