Jace remembered his uncle's words as they entered the Egyptian-themed interior, full of morning gamblers and tourists; something about the world going on around them while they were stuck in Royal Valley. He never imagined he'd see such a place, especially as a young time traveler. And it was all here, waiting for them, busy and incredible as they had gone about their relatively normal halcyon days back home.
As they approached the check-in area, he looked up and around at the miniature city. Lights from hundreds of hotel rooms ran upward on the four sides of the pyramid's dark interior. Down below, it felt like he had been transported to Egypt itself. All of the fake statues and structures were a sandy tan color, and there were pharaohs, pillars, and even an illuminated obelisk. Elsewhere, especially where people had gathered, the place looked like an Egyptian market square, like the kind Indiana Jones once visited for an extended action sequence. Under all of these façades, however, were pretty standard stores and gambling areas, the sound of rolling slot machines punctuating the air.
And he reminded himself that he really didn't get, or like gambling. Sure, he had never really done it—unless schoolyard bets counted—but he could never visualize himself wasting the time or money as an adult. Even when a slot machine minigame or casino appeared in one of his video games, he tended to ignore it.
After stepping out of the elevator, he got a better look at the floor below from the walkway, lit in a soft yellow glow. All the chatter and sounds of college funds being gambled away turned into a muffled, echoey updraft of air that had a hint of alcohol.
Wes opened their door to reveal a fairly typical room, with a large window that let the bright noonish sunlight flood in—there was a desert outside and inside.
"There it is…" Wes put his small suitcase and portable, dented metal safe on one of the beds and went up to the window to look out at the Strip. "It just… doesn't look the same as the Vegas I know. I mean, this is the first time I've been here, but still, there are just so many old casinos out there that have disappeared without a trace."
Jace joined him and looked across the sun-drenched landscape. "Isn't there… supposed to be an Eiffel Tower casino somewhere?"
"Hm, guess that one isn't around yet. Ah, hold on. Let's see what we do have." Wes went to his case, took out his iPad, and brought it back to the window where he began scrolling through it. "I downloaded a PDF full of Vegas's historical casinos."
"You must've done that before we left 2020, so… you always had this planned."
"Only in the most 'well, sorta' sense. I figured if we ever did end up on a road trip, this would be a stop. Let's see… That's the Hacienda, with the giant lit-up cowboy on a horse. And… Vegas World is over there. Its interior is supposedly space-themed. It looks like it's already closed, though. The building might not be long for this world."
"What's so special about them? Aren't all casinos the same?"
"Kind of? They probably have different ways of beating up cheaters in their back rooms. I'm not going on a lose-all-my-money tour here—I just want to find the places that don't exist in our time. City tends to not keep their old buildings around, so there's little historical preservation. Every few decades, Vegas basically gets a new skyline. Most other cities, you can still identify them from pictures thirty years apart. Here? Maybe not so much. But Vegas will always be recognizable. The city's spirit is always there."
"You sound like you're talking about Royal Valley again, making it sound all poetic and like a magical place to grow up or whatever."
Wes shrugged. "Hey, I like the idea of a proud, aged community. Anyway, that big white building over there must be the Stardust Resort… Ah, I guess this small, very red Silver City Casino must be down there somewhere. Oh, and here we go. The Sands Hotel and Casino—that was a famous one. Vintage Vegas look, and it closes in… about six months. It was the cool place to be, and the Rat Pack played there a lot."
"And… this pack of rats is, like, a band or something?"
"Never heard of Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin… Frank Ol' Blue Eyes Sinatra?"
Jace shrugged. "Who?"
"… Yeah, anyway, there's the Sahara, and its marquee camels." He pointed at another classic casino. "The big one with the blue glass and tall green sign is the New Frontier, that one over there with the fake rollercoaster is the Boardwalk… Reminds me of King Arcade. Oh, and way out there with the sign shaped like an artist palette—that's the Desert Inn. Howard Hughes, a really rich guy, locked himself up there and went a little crazy during his last years. Kind of like what will probably happen to me, honestly."
"Okay, enough with the casinos. Where are we going to have fun in this city? It's not like I think gambling is fun, and I'm too young to do it, so we can't go card counting together or something. And then I'll also tell Mom you took me to Vegas."
"Oh, so you don't know anything about famous lounge singers, but you've heard of card counting. Did you and your friends run some blackjack games back at school?"
"No! I think gambling is really dumb."
"It's a thrill for some people, kid. That's all. They like to feel like winners."
"Yeah, well… My old friend Austin tried to set up a poker game under the big fort in the playground in fourth grade, but he was the only guy that knew how to play it. And then the monitor busted him anyway. He couldn't come to school for a week."
"Whoa—a nine-year-old can get suspended from school? For gambling? Now, see, that's the first time you've told me one of your contemporary's school legends."
"It wasn't a legend," Jace sighed. "It's just a thing that happened. This whole 'kid lore magical imagination kingdom' thing you think exists kind of isn't real."
"Well, it might if kids your age actually told stories and cared about anything that wasn't on your phone screen," Wes grumbled back. "… Ah, anyway, I already told you that there's plenty to do here. I was thinking we'd go to the mall, see how it compares."
"What is it with you and malls? You don't even buy anything in them."
"They're the heartbeat of a generation's teen youth, Rice Krispie Treat. I want to see what the Vegas kids are up to, what they wear, talk about, listen to. I must know."
"Sounds like a good way to get mall security called on you. And stop coming up with weird nick names for me. You're not good at it."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll never impress you." Wes went up to the room safe and stuck his iPad in. "Now put your future-phone in the safe. Wouldn't want to lose it here of all places. Could end up in some mogul's hands, or as 'alien tech' in Area 51."
• •
Las Vegas's Meadows Mall dwarfed Royal Valley's; its footprint might have only been a little larger, but it also had an entire second floor of stores.
"I didn't know malls could even have two floors," was the first thing Jace said as they entered the grand atrium, near the Sears anchor store. "I almost want to actually look around. Some of these places look familiar…"
"Yep, lots of soon-to-be extinct signage here, too." Wes looked around, saw that a number of teens and young adults actually kept their sunglasses equipped inside, and promptly re-adorned his pair. "Man, if we had a mall like this back home when I was in my prime mall-going age, I'd… Eh, actually my life probably would've been the same."
"I'm going to ask again… Did you actually buy much at malls when you were all ten?" Jace said, taking in the sight of all the hip, denim-covered Gen X'rs. "I mean, you were into a lot of things as a kid, but it's hard to see you as a mall rat."
"Truthfully… I just mostly hung out at the arcade, or at the food court with buds. Despite that, I always saw malls—at least starting as an adult—as timeless… time capsules. Not sure where I'm going with this, but they excite me—my distaste for mass, thoughtless consumerism aside. They're great snapshots of a time and place, you know? Stores come and go, and you can see and hear about the latest trends inside; they're just a good representation of everything current. They feel on the razor's edge of time. At least until they're dying. Maybe. I think that's the point I'm making. Sometimes they fall into neglect and disrepair and just become a remnant of the 80s and 90s, sure, but…"
"So… they're another snapshot to you, like this city right now."
"Yeah. Kinda. And also, I just like seeing the Christmas setups every year."
Jace turned about to look at all the hanging reefs, fake snow, and the giant plastic tree in the middle of the atrium, where Vegas Santa was taking requests from kids in shorts and sandals. He had only sat on a Santa lap once, when he was five.
"Bet that mall Claus either hits the slots or kneecaps after work…" Wes noted.
They began walking, and Jace followed his uncle up the escalator and onto the second floor, where they could see more stores at once and take in what the large building had to offer. It was far busier than Jace had ever seen at the Valley Mall in his home time. Wes had talked to him before about the places, and so he knew that "peak mall time" was back in the 80s, but today's numbers weren't far down the mountain.
"Are you sure you don't just base all these thoughts about malls after, like, movie scenes with them or something? They always look like… funner places in movies."
Wes stopped to look through the window of a Journeys shoe store—one of the few older mall brands that still existed in 2020. "I love a good mall scene. Bill & Ted, and Back to the Future, of course… Both time-traveling movies. Opening of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Clueless. The giant allegory that is Dawn of the Dead. Mallrats, obviously—and it's from this year. Not that you've seen them all, since a few are R-rated. These are just era-specific examples; films that captured a mall environment around this time."
They both stopped and turned to gaze at the nearby TCBY, looked at each other silently, and went in and came back out with some frozen yogurt.
"Okay, malls are cool, fine, but you still haven't told me if you're actually going to gamble or not," Jace said and scooped up some frozen chocolate cow juice.
Wes stared at him for a moment, sighed, and slowly got out, "Yeeeah… But at night. If I did it during the day, I'd just give the impression that I've been gambling since the morning and woke up with a mojito for breakfast."
"Why? You're going to waste all your savings! That's what gambling does!"
"Hey, calm down. I'm just gonna crank a few levers, maybe play a game or two, just to say I did. If I wanted more money, I'd just invest in a whole bunch of sure things. But that'd attract unwanted attention. I'm not after money here, just experiences."
They sat on a bench together, and after a gaggle of teen girls went by, Jace asked, "But… why not make some extra money to take back home? I would as the adult here."
"Yeah, because you're young and think having a bunch of money will fix any problem. But what am I going to do with a million dollars? Who would I share it with?"
Jace swallowed a chunk of his treat and looked at Wes like he was nuts. "If you don't want it, give it to me and my mom and make our lives amazing."
"Oh, sure, like Luce would just accept a bunch of money from me that came out of nowhere, especially after I couldn't explain how I got it. Jace, I already make money at my job. It's not great, but I do put most of it away, because I don't know what to do with it. I got a cheap apartment, I get all the movies and games I want to own, and that's all I need. I know that this is a bizarre viewpoint to you, but I don't need a ton of cash, and the responsibility and expectations on how to use it that come with it."
"But you could do anything with enough money, dude! Research time travel and make a time machine with it, and then you can see other 90s years, too!"
"Eh, I'm pretty okay with the one we got," Wes said and finished his yogurt.
"Buy… Buy a giant boat and live on the ocean!"
"No. I'm not a big fan of all those waves, knocking a boat around."
"Then… then use it to impress some lady and get a girlfriend!"
Jace, now imagining what it would be like to be rich, thought he was getting somewhere with that suggestion, since Wes responded by staring at him for a second.
"Is that… something you and your mom talk about?"
Jace looked down at the mall's floor tiles and murmured back, "Well, uh…"
"Oh, God—did she sign me up on another dating website?"
"I dunno," Jace replied with a shrug.
"She's done that before. Guess she doesn't know how weird it is, and I don't know why she cares so much about hooking me up with someone."
"Mom… talks about you sometimes. She thinks you're lonely, and—"
"I'm not lonely. My life is just what it's supposed to be." Wes stopped, and waited for a mall elf to go by and chat up a nearby family before adding, "Besides, there was only one girl I actually kind of liked, in that way, and she's long gone in our time."
"Really? You had a crush on someone? Is it someone I've met?"
"You sound like a nosy gossip right now, man."
"Come on, it'll just be between us. Was it whoever was in your prom photo?"
Wes looked around, took a breath, and considered whether or not it was really time already to give into inevitability, and dive into the regret portion of the vacation. He knew that once he opened up that shoebox of treasure, his nephew would never get off his case. On the other hand, maybe the kid would be the perfect listener; they had bonded some, after all, and he might be willing to handle some unloaded baggage.
"Kiddo… there's a lot you still don't know about me, and I still don't know how to open up to you, or anyone else. That happy, top-of-the-world version of me you've become friends with isn't…" Wes stopped when his eyes suddenly caught something.
"Isn't what? Come on, I thought I was actually gonna learn stuff about you."
"Son of a…" Wes grumbled, and then got up and stomped towards the EB Games display window that was directly across from them. Shocking Jace with some bizarre behavior that came from nowhere, he actually banged on the glass with both hands and shouted, "Hey! I see you in there! You following me, you little bastard? All the way across a desert? Really? I'm not even doing anything! We left town, jackass!"
"Wes!" Jace jolted up, ran to his uncle's side, and tried to pull him away. "What the heck are you doing?! You're going to get us kicked out! Stop freaking out!"
Wes seemingly came to his senses, and saw the frightened parent and her young son on the other side of the glass, the boy holding the red and blue Virtual Boy box in his arms as he stood there, terrified of what appeared to be a drunk and scary man.
"Ah…" Wes breathed out and looked at Jace. "You… you didn't see it?"
"See what? All I saw was you going crazy."
"No, it was right there, looking at us… I didn't think I'd see it… way out…"
Seeing that a mall security officer was approaching from about fifty feet away, Jace pulled at Wes' hand and guided him down an escalator and away from the scene.
"Are you seeing things?" Jace asked once they hit the bottom.
"Hey… you have your time ninja, and I have… my own thing. I guess they're both following us, and the other guy can't see it, and we're not going to believe each other anyway, so… Let's just forget it. Come on… mall walk with me."
"You're the one who didn't believe me. Maybe if you told me what you saw, I'd actually believe you. Maybe I've even seen it, too."
"Oh, yeah? Like a floating eye coming out of a time portal? Seen those around?"
Jace took a moment to think. "Well, no, but…"
"Maybe I really am just seeing things. It was… just a reflection. Yeah, it wouldn't find us this far from home. Let's move on. Let's talk about stuff, like what to see next."
"Uh, okay, if that'll stop you from spazzing again. So… I was kind of hoping we could see more after driving a few hundred miles than just another mall."
"Yeah, well, I don't think we're going to be hanging around here much longer."
"So, could we go out and see the Hoover Dam? I know that's nearby."
"It's still at least an hour away. And it's not like there's a '1995 version' of it."
"What the heck do you mean by that?"
Wes still looked paranoid, and looked around a little before answering, "It's an unchanging mass of concrete. I'll take you when we're back in our own time, okay? Your mom will just think I was taking you to Vegas, so I'd have to lie about that, but whatever. I want to prioritize our time, see stuff that's different in the future."
"You are pretty good at lying," Jace groaned. "Can we at least get Felicity a gift?"
"Felicity? What, you want to give her a Christmas present? Um, maybe there's something scary or weird for her in Spencer's, if this mall has one."
"No, not Spencer's junk. It needs to be special. I'm trying to make her happy."
"Oh. I see. You want to go around trying to make everyone happy, do ya?"
"Isn't it selfish if we're only trying to improve your life?"
"Wait. Is it that, or… Aw, do you have a crush on her? Do you like weird girls?"
"I do not! I don't think we could even be good friends. That doesn't mean I don't want to be nice because she's feeling sad and alone. Besides, it's Ash I—"
Jace caught himself and stopped. He couldn't understand why he had just admitted a guarded secret so easily. But it was too late; Wes was now more interested in him than any weird "time eyes" that might've been hanging around.
"Ooooh? Ha… Hehe, so you got a little thing for Ash, huh? Does she know yet? What do you like about her? Is this the first time a girl's caught your eye? Aw, Jace, buddy… You're growing up. That's cute." Wes saw that he had had embarrassed him enough and stopped. Then he became a little solemn. "Just curious, what about Sadie?"
"Sadie? I mean, she's cool, but Ash is just… smart and funny… You must think I'm weird, but I can't help the way I feel. I know it can't happen, but I just wish there was someone like her in our time, in my class. I can't… I can't even talk to 2020 girls."
Wes smiled and patted Jace's shoulder reassuringly. "Childhood romances don't last anyway, lovebird. If you want to see if she feels the same way… go ahead, ask. It might help you in the future. Just remember, we're 'moving away' after you graduate."
Jace bit his lower lip, and felt some tension leave him. "O-okay… Maybe I will."
"Come on, let's get out of this mall, and hit the town and see the sights. Maybe we'll find some presents for all the ladies in your life."
As expected, Wes would joke, but Jace suddenly felt a little older and a little less constricted on his uncle's long vacation. Now he just had to work up some courage.
• •
They hit The Strip first, rocking a matching pair of sunglasses. Luckily for them, they weren't total dorks, as their shorts were in two distinct colors. Wes had purchased three disposable cameras, and already burnt through one after a few city blocks. He took pictures of every building, and many fellow tourists, too. Once printed, they would join the universe's countless similar snapshots. But they would belong to a time traveler.
"And that has to be special, right?" Wes asked as he took his first selfie of the day with Jace, the complete but not yet opened Stratosphere observation tower behind them. The strange act got some looks from nearby people—after all, if they wanted a picture together, why not just ask someone to hold the camera?
"Where are you going to keep all of these photos when we go home?" Jace asked as Wes took a shot of just the tower. "They'll be really dangerous, right?"
Wes shrugged. "If someone finds them, I'll tell them it's some big Photoshop project, that I like to insert our modern green screened selves into old stock photos. I mean, people already know I'm nostalgic. Actually…" He rubbed his chin. "That's an interesting idea for an art series. Too bad I wouldn't be able to think of its message."
"Art doesn't need to have messages anymore. Aren't you on Instagram?"
"Puh-ha… You can be pretty funny sometimes, kid," Wes said, as the two stopped in front of a high-end souvenir store. "Hey, why don't we get the whole gang presents? You know—the kids that are your actual friends. My friends."
Jace shook his head. "They don't need them, and I'm not trying to 'climb the ranks' of the gang anyway. They'll probably get stuff they like. Felicity won't. This isn't about getting closer to your buddies. I never got any of my former friends Christmas presents. I guess that isn't something regular friends usually do. But Felicity…"
"You know, there are other kids in my class that could use some advice or a nice gesture, too. She's not the only one with issues."
"Maybe, but she's the one that needs something good right now. If she comes back from winter break after the rat incident… with no good gifts because her family doesn't understand her or maybe doesn't even like her, it might be too late. And anyway, I want to use my allowance to buy the present. Even though you don't give me much."
"Well, yeah, because I mostly provide all the entertainment you need already. But that's pretty grownup of you. We'll find her something. But, let's see the town first."
• •
Las Vegas was no Disney World for kids, but even in 1995, before some big names in entertainment moved in and expanded the family selections, it did have a few places to please the children dragged across the desert by parents looking to make it big.
Wes was more interested in the Mob Museum than Jace, but only because he had actually seen a few mafia movies. Some of the items and weapons from the 1930s to the 50s were kind of interesting, and there were cars formerly owned by gangsters that Jace kind of liked, but for the most part it felt to him like a big exploitation of violence and violent people, and it made him feel kind of icky. Although, a part of him enjoyed seeing his uncle get his picture taken as he sat grinning in the museum's electric chair.
Indoor skydiving was next on the agenda, a concept that frightened a kid who was reluctant when it came to doing any real-world extreme sport and sports-like activities. But once he saw Wes getting a thrill of a lifetime as he was suspended in the air above a net and vertical wind tunnel in a flight suit, he had to join in. His uncle beckoned him over, and they forgot their worries and actually felt like they were on a real vacation as they high-fived, which got an eye-roll from the operator.
Late in the afternoon, they attended a Siegfried and Roy show at the New Frontier and watched their white tigers do tricks, as the guys showed off their own matching and fabulous futuristic showman alabaster outfits. They had to sit way in the back of the crowded theater and could really only see little more than two kitties jumping around, but at least it was nice to see live entertainment some place other than King Arcade with its costumed mascots doing little more than dancing and telling jokes.
The sun was going down by the time they had left, and the Luxor's bright sci-fi beam of light was piercing into the heavens. On the walk back to their hotel, the two passed by a classic miniature Vegas wedding chapel, where newlyweds were just heading out to a waiting taxi, after in all likelihood only meeting the previous night.
Jace thought they would keep going right past the scene, and was a little surprised when Wes actually stopped and looked at the little white building with a fake picket fence out front somewhat… longingly. And then he let out the smallest sigh.
He then turned to Jace and forced a smile. "Come on, let's get back."
"Are you regretting things in your head again?"
"… Nah. Just thinking about stuff. We had some fun today, right?"
Before Jace could say "sure," Wes' phone rang, and he quickly answered. He talked as they continued north up The Strip, where the nighttime crowds were just starting to come out. Jace knew it was that Eddie guy his uncle was talking to, and this time he had no place to go and hide and have the conversation in private.
"Hey, my man, how are you doin' on this fine winter evening?"
"Eddie," Wes replied, and tried to muffle the receiver as they passed by a raucous crowd gathered in front of a hotel, maybe waiting for an arriving celebrity.
"I was going over this week's gains for us before the next one started, and—hey, what's all that noise, kid? You out and about? Wait a minute. I recognize that banter, and that sound of distant… slot machines? What are you doing in Vegas, kid?"
"Um, wow, I'm kind of impressed. And I'm just visiting."
"Hope you're not blowing your fortune at some crooked tables! Heh. Not that I'd know about any new tricks the houses pull. I haven't been to Nevada since '78."
"Is there a warrant out or something?"
"So, anyway—and I'm in no way losing faith in you here… but there have been a few, ah, less than stellar investments recently. You almost lost money last week. Hate to ask, what with Christmas coming up, but I was wondering if maybe that formula of yours could use a few tweaks for the new year? We should keep your math up to date, yeah?"
"Oh, did that Beuford Midwest Automobiles company's IPO not take off?"
"Ah, no. Not exactly. I think we need to ditch these penny stocks, kid."
"Darn," Wes forced a sigh. "I guess everyone makes mistakes. Welp, call me after the holidays, and maybe I'll have some new investment ideas."
"Wait, we should talk about your form—" he stopped, because Wes hung up.
*Sure,* he thought. *I made a few mistakes recently. I can't afford to be perfect.*
Wes looked around at The Strip, the dirty core of Sin City. Over the years, so many cheaters thought they could get away with it. And maybe a few could have, if they hadn't been so ambitious. He was cheating, too, but the difference was, he wasn't going to be stupid enough to get caught. The best way to do that was to go bust every now and then. Just as long as there were chips left to keep living a work-free nostalgia trip.
They stopped near a casino, where Wes looked at Jace and grinned. Nights in Vegas belonged to adults, and he was ready to partake in some of maturity's privileges.
• •
This particular casino was lavish, decorated in red and golds, with pearlescent slot machine cranks. Its card tables were of a unique purple, and the roulette table, the centerpiece of most any casino, was covered in a velvety royal blue. If Royal Valley had legal gambling, this particular casino would fit right in, given the city's moniker.
Jace wasn't given much time to soak in the sight and sound, as he was promptly whisked away by Wes and brought to the childcare area to the right of the entrance.
"Sorry, card guppy. Kids aren't really even allowed on the floor, so I'm going to have to dump you for a bit. Now, don't worry. I'm sure they have some entertainment."
"Oh, come on," Jace protested. "I'm too old for these baby places. And when you come to get me—if you even remember to… you'll probably be dirt poor."
"I'm not blowing all our money here, seriously. I'm just here for the experience."
The stopped in front of two glass doors, both guarded by a small old lady with frizzy white hair and a clipboard. She reminded Jace of his elementary school principal.
"Off to have some fun?" she asked Wes. "Rates are twenty dollars an hour per child… Hello there, young man. I'm sorry you can't join your dad just yet."
"Yeah, real shame…" Jace muttered to himself.
He went up to the doors and looked at the one on the right first. On the other side, little kids played on top of big colorful soft furniture in "fun" shapes, or watched a small television playing some obscure 80s animated movie. Rainbows were painted on the walls, and the room was overall way too bright and colorful. But the other door…
The room marked as "Teen Zone" was far superior. The lighting was nice and dark, and the five teenagers inside were having fun playing a two-player Sega game, dancing to the hip-hop music coming from a boom box, and chilling out on a big leather couch. All the kids in there were older than him, but he could get past that.
"Can I stay in there?" Jace asked hopefully.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait a few years to have fun in that room."
"Kid hasn't hit his growth spurt yet, but he's not a tyke," Wes said, trying to help.
"I see. Still, the Teen Zone is for those twelve and over."
Wes looked at Jace and shrugged. "Sorry, bud. You're not there quite yet. But look at the bright side—you might be the king in the other room."
You're the adult here! Jace thought, as the lady grinned at him. Just lie about my age!
He was still trying to figure out what he must have done that day to anger Wes, as the casino nanny closed the glass door behind him and his uncle disappeared into the kingdom of money disposal units. The six other children in the room, ranging from five or so to maybe his age, turned and greeted him with wide, sugar-addled stares.
"New kid!" screamed the youngest, a kindergartener in overalls and a Santa hat.
Shocked and terrified, Jace watched as the boy ran around the room, pretending to be an airplane. The other kids—three girls, two boys, all of them quite younger than Jace except maybe for an older boy—weren't nearly as excitable, but they still seemed a little… off, and far more interested in the newbie than they should have been.
"Yo," the leader of the pack said and walked up between the others, which he towered over. He bit into the lollipop he had been sucking on, crunched the remains for too many awkward seconds, and then took out the stick and flicked it away before taking out, unwrapping, and shoving in another one. "What's your name, kid?"
"Um. Jason," he answered instinctively.
The boy would give the cool kids at The Dump a run for their money. He was Jace's age, but already had a pair of faded jeans and a black leather jacket, that went pretty well with spikey dirty blond haircut. They had just met, but he exuded so much of that suave youthful confidence, that Jace thought there was a non-zero chance that he might have actually been Charlie Pippin himself, now living out in Vegas.
"Coo. I'm Tino. And that little skeez running around is my bro, Olly. Me and the rest of these kids are regulars here. Don't see many new guys."
Jace had to think and try to remember if Tino was actually a real name or not.
"Your parents out there gambling?" a big-eyed curly-haired girl asked.
"Uh, yeah. My… dad. But he promised he won't take long."
Tino laughed. "Yeah, they always say that. Kai over there?" He eyed the Korean boy over by the TV, spread eagle on the floor and staring at the ceiling. "Been here for thirteen hours so far. His folks are out there somewhere, and we're stuck in here, with the same three videotapes, no cable, and a tiny bathroom. And Olly, uh… misses a lot."
"Holy crap, this place sounds horrible. And your parents need to call one of the hotlines on those gambling addiction billboards. Do they at least feed you?"
"Juice boxes and animal crackers…" an eight-year-old girl muttered.
"Capri Sun sometimes, if we're lucky," Tino added. "And we get to stay in this prison with a view of the Teen Zone where things are so much better. The casino guys even bring them a new pizza once an hour, and soda. Can you believe that?"
Jace crossed his arms and felt a little anger well up in him. "Just because we're a little younger, we get treated as some joke. Like, just because I'm eleven, I have to be in here? I already graduated elementary school! I've seen some sh—crap, you know?"
"I hear ya, man. I'm eleven and a half, already in middle school! You're telling me I gotta suffer through that nightmare, and then I get dumped in here? Cripes."
Suddenly realizing that this group was far removed from the caution and planning that was needed in interacting with Royal Valley kids, Jace loosened up a little. He could talk to his fellow prisoners in a different, freer way; maybe even be himself.
"So where are you guys from?" he asked.
"All over. Kai's from San Fran, this is his second winter here. I think… was it three summers, my man?" he called out, but didn't get an answer. "Alice and her sister Nell…" He turned to the curly haired girl and the slightly smaller one that looked close to being her twin. "Their parents have come up here every other weekend for years. And Brianna…" He looked at the oldest girl in the room, with big glasses and long red hair. "Her parents travel the world without her, so her grandma brings her up from Reno once a month or so. Dunno why. They got plenty of casinos already. And me and my brother—we're natives, and come here most every Saturday. Our dad doesn't trust babysitters. We know a bunch of other kids, too, but this is it for tonight. The gang."
"I hope we don't spend Christmas here again, like last year…" Alice muttered.
"If I had to come here this much, I'd go insane. Don't you have Game Boys?"
"Sure, we bring them. But batteries don't last forever. And there's only so many times you can play through Link's Awakening. But, see, we got a plan that we've been working on. We're going to bust out of here. We just needed a seventh kid first."
Jace looked at the air vent near the ceiling, in the corner of the room.
"Please tell me we're not trying to make a seven-stack to climb into that thing."
"Heck no, I'm not crawling through an air duct. I'm not that desperate to get out of here. I don't even know what we're going to do if we do get out."
"Then why bother?"
"I want our dad to be like 'maybe we should stop coming here if they can't even keep our kids locked up!' Then maybe we'd at least get a change of scenery, you know?"
"Yeah, okay. I got nothing to lose. But how are we doing this?"
"You ever seen that Rugrats episode where Tommy breaks out of daycare?"
"Sure, only he didn't get out. He had a key made of Play-Doh that wasn't gonna work, and then his mom came and got him before he even had the chance to try."
"Okay, yeah, but he made it pretty darn close by working with all the other babies. We got a similar thing going on here. If you're in, let's huddle and go through it. We still gotta wait until they bring in snacks again, anyway. Kai, Olly—get over here."
All the kids gathered up and got close to listen to Tino's brilliant plan.
"Here's how it goes. 'Tino's Great Escape', version eight. Surefire this time."
"Sure," Kai said. "We've never even gotten to phase two on any of your plans."
"This time is different. I got a good feeling about this Jason kid. So, here's what happens. When the snacks come, Alice will pretend to be allergic to whatever it is."
"Come on," she muttered. "This again? I only have one real food allergy."
"Peanuts, strawberries…" Nell counted on her fingers. "Wheat, frosting, chocolate… She's pretended to be allergic to everything for your dumb plans."
"Yeah, we might only have one chance left. Guessing we're down to rice cakes. When she brings them in, Alice takes a bite, freaks out and pretends to choke, and then while the old lady is panicking, Olly grabs all the snacks like he's stealing them and runs into the bathroom. At this point, Alice will be all like 'it's okay, I'm actually not allergic to rice, it just went down the wrong way', so the old lady can stop worrying about that.
"She has to take care of the thief, so she goes to the bathroom door and tries to open it since it's not like it has a lock. Only, while she tried to save Alice's life, me, Kai, and Jason ran in there first and keep the door shut by pulling on it. I think with all four of us, we'll be strong enough to do it. She'll be like, 'oh, no, did they add a lock?' and will look for something to poke into the little doorknob hole to unlock it. Nell, this is when you come in. You tell her that there really isn't a lock, because the door just gets stuck. You know the secret way to open it, and you show her but it's tough so you have to keep trying. Meanwhile! Alice sneaks up and take her key ring. That's our ticket out."
"And, uh… then what?" Kai asked.
"What do you mean 'then what?' I know it's a long plan, but all we gotta do after that is wait for her to leave, and then use the keys, and… Uh, wait."
"Yeah, genius," Alice grumbled. "She locks the door behind her when she comes in. She'll just be stuck in here with us until we give her the keys back."
"And that is the most convoluted plan I've ever heard," Brianna said. "Relies too much on everything working just right. Too many steps."
"Okay, okay! It just needs some tweaking. We got time until she leaves to get the snacks. I'll think of something—an even better plan. Yeah."
Kai rolled his eyes and headed back to the TV. "Good luck with that."
"Keep trying, bro!" Olly said and took off again. "You'll think up a good one!"
The others separated, leaving Jace with Tino for the moment. He still thought he was a pretty cool kid, even if he wasn't the best plan-maker. He had thought of a good question to ask him, as he seemed to be the sort that was in the know around school.
"So, Tino… What elementary school did you go to?"
He snapped out of his deep thoughts. "Huh? Oh. Um… Estes McDoniel. It's in the southeast. I was a king down there, man. Made a lot of awesome memories."
"Did you have stuff that happened that became… 'legendary?' Like, stories you think will be passed down to future classes? Lore, unspoken rules, a secret recess club?"
"You kidding? We had all of that, and we did hundreds of legendary things they'll be talking about for years. Even had a corner we just called 'The Place', where we could hide from the playground monitor and talk about all these new legends we were making. I had this crew, there were six of us, and we… Ah, never mind. It's not like we really hang out in middle school now. Sorry, man, I'd tell you more, but I'm thinking here."
Jace felt like he had just gotten some further insight into Wes' mindset about this period in time, and saw how a fragment of his "kingdom of kids" mythology had survived up to 2020. *Maybe things really were a little different back now,* he thought. It really put the size of the world in perspective, too. Was every school out there another castle?
As he thought, he meandered over to the glass door and watched the teenagers in the other room having fun, past the elderly caretaker. They must've had their own legends, too.
He then leaned ever so slightly against the door and came to another realization.
"Tino!" he called out to him in the softest of shouts. "I have a great idea."
• •
Wes walked by three slot machines, nonchalantly pulled the levers on each of them just to say he did, and didn't bat an eye when their rolls all turned out to be duds, one right after the other. It was fine; he was just using some spare play money, after all.
"I could really use a little bit of Dougie Jones' super-power here," he said to himself, referencing the Twin Peaks reboot-continuation from 2017.
He walked past card tables, watched a few games, noticed how many "cowboys" were about, passed on a beverage offer from a roving server with a tray of champagne, and approached the casino's flagship roulette table. Just like the movies, it was packed with cheering spectators. He squeezed between two Hawaiian-tee-wearing tourists and watched as a high roller furiously chewing his gum went bust. The operator collected his chips with a brass rake, and the gambler looked eager to have another go at it.
"Never really understood this game," Wes said to the portly fifty-something guy next to him. "How do you decide what number to just randomly put all your chips on?"
"Gut feelin'," the man replied and wiped his mustache. "But more than that, it's about diversifying, ya know? Kinda like the stock market? You do any of that?"
"I've dabbled."
"It's groupings, colors, evens and odds—whatever you think might come up next in your favor. You put enough chips down in enough places to hopefully turn a profit, and then you keep going until you get this feeling and put it all onto a single number."
"Okay, but you can't change fate. Just because it landed on a number the last roll, doesn't check that number off for next time. There's no whittling down and changing odds. It's always just one big coin flip. Sure, the high payouts are exciting, but…"
"Nineteen!" the operator announced after another spin. "We have some winners for the reds and odds. Too bad no one picked the number. Let's try and fill the board. Ya can't win unless you take a chance… You, sir, surely it's your lucky night," he said, looking at Wes. "Go on, put a chip or two on the table. What do you have to lose?"
Wes shrugged and took a few chips from his small stack. He hadn't really been sure what he was going to do with them, since he was lousy at card games. He thought maybe a black number would be next, so he dropped some chips for a black color bet. The little ball eventually settled on 17, which was good for him. He won a couple chips.
"Hey, not bad," his new tourist friend said. "First time, right?"
Vegas-cynical Wes felt the bug bite, and was suddenly engrossed in the game. He started making more bets, risking more chips. He won some spins, lost on others, and felt the rush that came with gambling. He accepted a few drinks and got even more into it, and a bit tipsy as well—something he knew the house liked to see in its patrons. Then he thought it was the right time to drop half his remaining chips on a single number.
"What number, man? What number for the big one?" he asked his tourist pal.
"I dunno, just pick one that means something to you," his mustache replied.
"I know, I know… I'll put it all on 35. That's how old I am, you know. That's… no, wait…" Wes felt a sudden, sharp realization hit him. "I'm not 35 anymore."
The guy laughed. "That's okay. I stopped remembering my age years ago."
"I'm still aging. Just because I'm here and now… doesn't mean… I'm 36. Maybe even 37. Oh, well, yeah, so that's depressing. Crap. I'm old."
"The numbers stop at 36. Guess you should go with that either way, huh?"
Wes grabbed another passing drink, and planted a chip tower on 36, red. He took a few swigs and had to steady himself against the table as the ball danced about.
"And it lands on 10. The winner is 10," the operator announced. "Sorry, fella."
"Tha's… poetic or somethin'… Yeah, 10 beating 36? Nah, you wouldn't get it." Wes picked a bunch of random numbers and got rid of the rest of his chips. "Hey, any of you folks see Casino yet? Is still in theaters. Got Nobert Raniro in it. And swearing."
"Our casino is nothing like the ones depicted in that film," the operator assured with a smile, and then spun the wheel. The other dozen or so gamblers cheered it on again, but it didn't land on any of Wes' numbers. "Sorry, friend. Looks like you're out."
"Too bad," the tourist sighed. "You should probably call it a night, bud."
"I'll be back," Wes promised the operator with a wry smile of his own. "I know all the numbers, for next time. I'm a… I'm old, and I'm a time traveler. I'll be back."
"Oh, a time traveler, sir? We get those all the time. I look forward to seeing you again a half-hour ago. Place your bets, everyone. Next spin coming up."
It took Wes ten seconds to realize what he had said. After an initial shock, he remembered that he sounded like just another intoxicated gambler with no credibility.
"That's an awesome power you have," Tourist Guy said. "Can you teach me?"
Trying to focus his way out of a stupor, Wes replied, "Ah, no. Family secret."
Not used to being drunk, Wes backed out of the crowds and tried to keep from stumbling away. He leaned against one of the building's mirror-lined pillars and took a few deep breaths to try and regain some composure. Then he saw a familiar kid, apparently sneaking between rows of slot machines with a new pal of his own.
Wes got a little closer, and then spotted the couple of security guards looking for them. Nearby and elsewhere, another security guy was chasing a small boy pretending to be an airplane, and there was a young girl who had just surprised herself by hitting the jackpot on a slot machine, and wasn't sure what to do with all the coins spilling out.
He bumbled up to Jace and his little modern greaser friend, who were laughing at a joke or something, and asked his nephew, "Hey, um… what are you doing here?"
Jace shrugged. "We broke out. Oh, Tino, this is my dad. He's pretty cool, too."
"You got a really awesome kid, mister," Tino complimented. "He came up with the best escape-from-a-kid-care-place plan I've ever seen put to action."
"Yeah. It worked like this: the old lady forgot to lock the door, so we left when she went to go get the snacks. And now the casino police are all over us."
"Sounds like it just came down to luck," Wes said.
"Then he really is lucky," Tino replied. "She never leaves the door unlocked."
"Well, I guess it gets me out of paying either way, if we leave like, right now."
Wes began to walk away, expecting Jace to follow. Before he disappeared from Tino's life after their little casino adventure together, he turned to him and waved.
"You're a real cool kid, Jason. But there's something about you I can't explain."
"Yeah. Um…" Jace made sure Wes was far enough away. "Maybe that's because I'm a time traveler, from the future."
It felt so good to finally tell that someone else, just to get it out there. If nothing else, he wanted to see the reaction. Tino stared at him for a second, and then laughed.
"Yeah, me too. I'm from the year 3000 myself. See you around, man."
Tino took off into the casino, dodging a few guards along the way. Jace sighed happily, glad that he had experienced something kind of exciting again.
"By the way… what was the name of that casino, anyway?" Jace asked after the two had snuck out and were already a few city blocks from the Luxor.
"It was… Um. Hm…" Wes scratched his nose and belched. "I don't remember."
• •
Later, Wes thought about home as he looked out of their room's window at the millions of dancing lights of the night, and listened to distant police sirens. He had been worried about their apartment ever since leaving town, and couldn't shake the feeling that someone, or something could snoop around and find something from a different time period. But beyond that, he was a little concerned with something else now too.
Jace was falling asleep in his bed as his tired eyes sort of watched Honey I Blew Up the Kid on TV, which coincidentally had a skyscraper-sized toddler showdown in Las Vegas as its climax. He looked at his thinking uncle, with an important question in mind.
"Where are we going next?" he asked—and then had to a second time, louder.
Wes snapped out of it and turned around. "Oh, uh. We're staying here one more full day, but just to chill out. You know, maybe see a movie, swim, whatever. And after that… It's Los Angeles, for three days. Got a few places to show ya out there."
"Mom took me there once, for Disney Land. We also saw… the boardwalk."
"Yeah, Santa Monica. We'll go there, too. And we can probably find something for Felicity at the Ripley's Believe it or Not! store. Hey, Jace… Do you think I'm old?"
"Uhm…" he muttered sleepily, his eyes closed now. "Most kids always say their parents are old, but to me, grandparents are old. You need gray hair first."
"Y-yeah, guess I'm lucky there. I'm not balding yet, either. But, you know, we haven't really talked about this yet… We're both still aging. Cells are dividing. We're losing time of our own even as travelers. If I were to go back to our time, right now, I'd be a year and a half older than when I left. I wonder if anyone could tell." Wes paused to look at Jace, and couldn't tell if he was asleep or not. "Wonder if Lucy could tell with you… I think you've gotten a little taller since we arrived, bud."
Jace eventually murmured back, "Maybe we should just go home after the trip."
"Not yet… We're getting close to an important date, the one I've been planning everything around. And then… everything will be okay. I'll… fix things."
"You get weird at night sometimes. It's like you're a different person."
He then turned around in bed, signaling that he was ready to sleep and the time for talk was over. But he was right. Wes knew he could get pensive and self-reflective during the day's last hours. It used to be a time for late night movies, video games, and posting on internet forums. Now he mostly used the time to think back on those days.
• •
It became another sleepless night, so he went down to the floor where the casino was still serving night owls and relaxed on a fountain's faux Egyptian stone barrier. He stared at the lights above, which looked like a hyperspace star field as they came together at the pyramidal top. The trickling water was calming, and his thoughts soon settled.
Until he heard a tiny splash. He turned his head to look over. Staring at him from a plate-sized portal just above the water was another time eye, glowing dully in the dark. In this instance, it had taken him off guard enough that his heart leapt and he jolted up.
"Go away…" Wes muttered towards the thing. "Just, seriously, disappear, okay?"
The tentacle came a little closer so that its eye could investigate Wes, before it sunk back into its tear and disappeared. The small black circle hovering over the water remained, unmoving. A little surprised that it had obeyed and left its tear open, Wes tried to see what was on the other side. He leaned closer, being careful not to fall in.
As he stared into that temporal abyss, trying to see something on the other side, he let his guard down. One after the next, four ferrofluid tentacles sprung out and wrapped themselves tightly around his arms. They felt cold to the touch, and moved like liquid despite having a solid surface—and they were trying to pull him in.
"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE" appeared for a moment among a swarm of eyes in the portal, before disappearing again as Wes was brought closer. He grabbed onto the fountain barrier and struggled to stay in his timespace, but the tentacles were too strong. Instead of drowning, his head entered the portal, where everything became dark. He felt his arms on the other side give way, and he was brought in deeper. In all that darkness, something appeared: a glowing red eye in the distance, with an aperture-like outer edge.
But he only saw it for a split second, as some other force suddenly pulled him back into the casino. Confused, he looked at the tourist couple that had just saved him.
"H-hey, you okay?" another Hawaiian-tee-man asked him, as concerned as his similarly dressed wife. "It doesn't matter how much money you lost. Drowning yourself in a fountain isn't going to fix it. Do you need some help? You had us scared there."
Wes looked around, back and forth, before collecting himself enough to stand and tell them, "No, I was just, uh… Looking for coins. Uh. But thanks…"
He didn't hear their response; right after his excuse, he was already running back and up towards his room, hoping that more terrifying time-eyes weren't waiting for him.
• •
By the time noon rolled around the next day, Jace began to feel like something really messed up happened to Wes last night while he was asleep. He seemed pretty paranoid, and was already on his third coffee in as many hours. He also didn't want to get any closer to the nice, big pool they had visited, much less get in. That was a shame, as it was a warm, clear desert winter day, perfect for swimming. There was even a dad with six kids, wearing a Santa hat as he chased his kin in the large azure artificial lake.
Jace paddled up to the side of the pool and gave his slightly oversized new swimming suit a tug—this was actually the first time he had swam since their time travel trip began—and looked at Wes, a little worried about his sanity. This being Vegas, he figured that there could only be one real reason his uncle was acting this way—and that possible reason worried him, as well. He had to know, so he asked.
"Wes… I really hope you didn't lose all of our money last night when I was sleeping. How would we even get back to the time portal if we're broke…?"
Zoned out on a lounge chair where he sipped a 16-ounce coffee, his eyes locked onto Jace some several seconds after the question was asked and he blurted out, "Huh?"
"Money! You didn't lose all of it, right?"
"Oh. Um, no, kiddo. N-no. Not at all. I just had a really bad, realistic nightmare. Like the kind I had sometimes when I was your age. I, uh… I hope Wessy hasn't woken you guys all up during one of your sleepovers yet…"
"No… He sleeps pretty quietly. When he does actually sleep. Are you sure you're okay? If you get in the pool, it might calm you down a little."
Wes stared at the water, and imagined a huge time portal appearing down there somewhere, with tentacles coming out and grabbing and sucking both of them into some kind of dark, cold, temporal abyss that they would never escape from.
"No. No… I'm good, really."
"But you bought a swim suit… Maybe you're just embarrassed of your body."
"Yeah, let's go with that. Now go out there and float on a pool noodle."
Jace rolled his eyes and pushed off. Wes went back to looking around at the city's towers, and listening to the urban noise. Las Vegas was loud, busy, and bright. After his experience, all of that movement and life combined into some needed therapy.
It was much better than the nothing those tentacles had tried to pulled him into.