Chapter two
Calliope lived on the glamorous side of town, known as the historical district. It was a historical district in a time bubble, with a population solely made up of time travelers. The irony was not lost on Atlas. The structures varied significantly, but Calliope lived in a Roman-style, light-tan villa with white accents and brown-outlined windows. The villa was surrounded by an average wall with immaculate shrubbery and landscaping, white chairs on the tan brick areas, and a pool to the side. The house obscured the pool, and the grandest part was the fountain at the main gate. Several intricate balconies added to the stateliness of this architectural masterpiece, and it was likely that cost hadn't been a significant worry in the ostentatious building process. Although her sister was a different story, Atlas had never quite taken to the home. Atlas's only joy in the vast neighborhood was her friend Ivory, who was three years her junior. Ivory was a preppy girl whose parents were scientists. They had to fill out quite a bit of paperwork with the government of The In Between, but Ivory was granted a visa under the condition that she study and take up a part-time education at the university. Calliope was charged with taking care of Ivory.
The girl bounded out of the opulent home, twirling a bit as she bounded towards the three, her poodle skirt creating nonsensical shapes as she went. Her bright pink sweater and crisp white dickie collar somewhat suited the outfit, lengthy gloves of snow finishing off the ensemble. Her shoes were plain Mary Jane's. She looked straight out of Legally Blonde, with her puffy warm blonde hair and sweet brown eyes sticking out against her unblemished porcelain skin. Appropriately, Ivory May Curtis was appropriately called Poodle by almost everyone who knew her. There were only three children in the In-Between who aged normally, which was them: Athens, Ivory, and Atlas - the inseparable trio. "Attie! Athens! Hey!" Poodle greeted them excitedly. "Miss Santos, I need to borrow Attie!" She said brightly, grabbing the girl's arm.
Atlas's eyes widened as she was whisked through the angelic courtyard, through the estate, and into the doors of the dignified residence. Inside was just as eloquent as the outside. The colors were neutral. Athen's attention had always been drawn to the grandeur circular staircase and the opulent chandelier, but Atlas admired the intimate details. These included the art pieces and the bookshelves, even the molding that seemed to have been hand-done despite the effortless symmetry. Poodle led Atlas up the staircase to where she resided. Poodle's room consisted of white furniture, a large bed with plum bedding, shelving on either side of the bed, and a window meeting the headboard. The walls were a lighter plum. The room was too indulgent for Atlas's taste, especially the miniature matching chandelier. "Can we not go to the library, Poodle?" she asked, disdain creeping into her voice. It wasn't that Atlas hated the color pink - she quite enjoyed it, but it was just something about the formality and details of the room. Her bedroom back at Jeff's had plain walls filled with bookshelves and posters. Atlas's bed was hardly a twin covered in miscellaneous blankets and quilts. She'd even made the quilts and pillowcases herself. She had two pillows that did not match but coordinated nicely. Her room also contained drawers and a wrtechwaresk, but nothing more. Nothing was wrong with a luxurious lifestyle, as Calliope was Atlas's mother and could by all means request more furniture. But hers was good, and that was all that mattered to her. "Why would we do that, Attie?" Poodle asked, falling silent for three breaths. "Show me the books you have, and we can see what we need…are you still working on…?" Atlas shuffled her hand around the bag. Her eyebrows were creased, and her mouth was slack, the combination almost looked stuck in thought. When her hand reached a familiar object, she removed it from her bag. "The old time machine?" she said nonchalantly as she moved the books from her bag to a desk.
Her tool supply was severely lacking. "I've got plenty of books in theory," Atlas had begun to explain, booting up the ancient machine. "But in practice, not so much. You have the biggest private library that is known other than INBUFTTU (In-Between University For Time Travelers United, or INBU for short), and I don't have access." Poodle shook her head. "If you just get a note from Calliope…" Atlas cut her off. "No, I'm not pulling a Calliope card, Poodle." The blonde girl pouted. "But, Attie," she whined. "Poodle," Atlas warned, a grittiness working itself into her speech. "No." Poodle didn't give up. "It would be so easy, and the library is sure to have what you need..!" This was the final straw. Atlas lost her cool, her tone becoming thunderous, her deep contralto betraying her otherwise almost girlish tone. "Ivory, no. I'm not going to use Calliope as an endless credit card for whatever isn't available to me. I refuse. That works fine for you, but not for me." Poodle sighed. "Fine, just…go check the library." She whispered defeatedly. Atlas packed up her things, leaving the property without a word. She knew where to go for her needs. There was a place where Calliope's name did not carry, and that was Caddel Cassidy's Games Historic Inc (+ Rudolph Hank).
It was a bit of a walk, but it was nothing that she couldn't handle. The historical district was between the town and the flora. Hiking trails guided her way, giving her two options. Atlas could take the long way to Cassidy's secluded home by the lake, or she could go to his run-down office. Atlas decided on the latter, figuring he was more likely to be there anyway.
The way there was peaceful – most didn't own cars, so it was a walkable area – and this had always proven to be one of the best ways to calm Atlas down. As the girl approached her destination, the buildings dazzled her. It was an old charm, similar to when she'd gone to the early 20s (2020s) to visit Jim Thorpe. Amid the enchanting architecture and suddenly narrow streets, she saw it. As mentioned before, Cassidy lived near the lake, so she would have been hiking a while if she hadn't known his place of work, a quaint little office that perpetually had a "For Rent" sign out front due to the stagnant nature of his business venture. She opened the door, noting the dim light initially illuminating the lobby. There was an elderly man at the front desk, his cheeks and nose a vibrant red, his salt and pepper beard was majority salt whereas his short hair was bright white. His skin was pale and seemingly gray, though there was some peachy pigment, and his eyes stood out as bright green. The man was so old he appeared to be decrepit, and his name tag read "Hank Rudolph." When Hank saw her, he stopped slouching for a moment, his sky-blue checkered shirt covering his figure. His arms were large and defined, his stomach and chest softly abundant. "Hello," he wheezed. He had a rough southern twang, like one Atlas expected from old westerns. "Hello, Rudolph, old boy," she greeted him casually, patting her immense bag. "I'm here to see Cassidy."
Hank nodded, coughing into his arm. "Go ahead, dear, you know what room he's in," he said, displaying a polite smile. Atlas nodded, smiling back at him. "Yeah, thanks, Rudy…" she said, beginning to walk away. "See ya, Atticus," he replied just loud enough for her to hear, cracking a toothy grin with a broad sigh before leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.
When Atlas entered the room where Cassidy resided, she noted the lack of people in the spacious computer lab, miscellaneous artifacts carefully placed where others should be working. The room was tidy, shelves bursting with books and somehow more artifacts. Cassidy sat in a large gaming chair, hunched over, clacking away at the computer. He was a compact man with unseen qualities. Atlas cleared her throat, prompting Cassidy to look up, fixing his posture when he saw her. "Atlas, hi," he said slowly. He wore similar clothing to Hank Rudolph, bearing a deep blue shirt with a black vest that seemed somewhere between techware and western, his jeans form-fitting with zippers everywhere. His boots were also black with expected spirals; his belt reminded Atlas of the movie franchise Jeff had shown her once, Star Wars. "Hey, Cassidy," she responded, nodding. "I have something for you if you have something for me," Atlas joked, placing her books and parts, and the old machine on a clear desk before handing him her bag. "Mr. Caddel, here's some scrap that would greatly benefit the building of your big boy Bright Lites."
Cassidy laughed at this, shaking his head before inspecting the pieces. "Yeah, these should work…" he looked up, meeting the child's gaze. "You want help with your teleporter, right?" Atlas nodded. "Yeah, I got some books, and I have the parts, so in theory, this should work…but…" He stared at her before moving her supplies around, giving every inch of every object expert care. "You should be able to make a teleporter with this…here, go to the bookshelf on the far left, in the back. Second shelf, three layers in, those are my conversion books…but you probably don't need those, so…go to the front-center bookshelf, floor-level shelf, two layers in, those are the teleportation books."
Atlas gathered the texts before returning to Cassidy. He was fiddling with the scrap materials for his weaponry. Having set aside his project, he looked at the books, flipping idly through the pages of numerous titles at once, occasionally marking a page down for further evaluation. Cassidy wrote down the chapters and specific page numbers, walking away from the table and into the back room. Atlas sighed, taking note of the list until he returned. When he did, he had a sack of supplies, which he gave to Atlas along with the notations. And with that, she walked out after a quick "thank you," prepared to face Poodle.