Chapter 44: Eddie's Lair
The next morning, Adam and Henry made their way across the city in Henry's beat-up Volkswagen Rabbit. The car rattled and groaned with every bump in the road, the muffler making a noise like an angry blender.
"Is this thing gonna make it?" Adam asked, gripping the door handle as the car lurched over another pothole.
"Relax," Henry said, patting the dashboard. "Old Betsy's got character. She's never let me down."
"That's not comforting," Adam muttered, glancing nervously at the traffic around them.
The neighborhood they were driving into was one Adam hadn't seen much of since his return to the '90s. Rows of aging apartment buildings, graffiti-tagged walls, and the occasional boarded-up storefront lined the streets. It was the kind of place where every alley seemed to have its own secrets.
Henry turned onto a side street and parked in front of a narrow building sandwiched between a laundromat and a pawn shop. The faded sign above the door read Eddie's Tech Emporium.
"This is it?" Adam asked, stepping out of the car.
Henry grinned. "Don't let the outside fool you. Eddie's a wizard when it comes to tech. Just… try to keep an open mind."
Inside, the shop was a chaotic mess of wires, circuit boards, old TVs, and mismatched computer monitors stacked precariously on every surface. The air smelled faintly of solder and burnt plastic.
A man in his late thirties popped up from behind a counter, his wild curly hair sticking out in every direction. He wore thick glasses that magnified his eyes to cartoonish proportions.
"Henry! You owe me twenty bucks," the man said, pointing a soldering iron at him.
"Good to see you too, Eddie," Henry replied. "We're here on business."
Eddie squinted at Adam. "Who's the new guy? Another one of your 'get-rich-quick' schemes?"
"Something like that," Adam said, stepping forward. He placed the mysterious device on the counter. "We need your expertise."
Eddie's eyes widened as he examined the device. He leaned in closer, his fingers hovering over it like it was a holy relic.
"Where did you get this?" Eddie asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Found it," Adam said quickly. "Can you figure out what it does?"
Eddie's eyes flicked up to Adam, then back to the device. "This isn't normal tech. Some of these components—hell, I don't even think they're from this decade. Maybe not even this planet."
Adam cleared his throat. "Can you analyze it without… breaking it?"
Eddie scoffed. "Please. You're talking to Eddie 'The Brain' Martinez. I can reverse-engineer anything."
He grabbed the device and disappeared into the back room, leaving Adam and Henry standing awkwardly by the counter.
"Is he always like this?" Adam asked.
"Pretty much," Henry said. "But he's the best. Trust me."
The minutes stretched into an hour as they waited. Adam browsed the shelves, marveling at the eclectic collection of tech Eddie had accumulated. Old floppy disks, rotary phones, and even a dusty Atari console sat among piles of newer, more mysterious gadgets.
Finally, Eddie emerged, holding the device like it was a newborn baby.
"This thing is… incredible," he said, his voice trembling with excitement. "It's not just advanced—it's light-years ahead of anything we've got now. I couldn't crack all of its functions, but I did find something interesting."
"What is it?" Adam asked, stepping closer.
Eddie placed the device on the counter and tapped a small button on its side. A holographic display sprang to life, projecting a series of symbols and numbers into the air.
"Whatever this thing is, it's transmitting data," Eddie said. "But the signal isn't going to any satellite I've ever seen. It's bouncing… somewhere else. Somewhere I can't track."
Adam's stomach tightened. "Could it be… another time?"
Eddie blinked at him. "You're joking, right?"
Adam sighed. "Not joking."
Eddie stared at him for a long moment, then shook his head. "You're either insane, or you've stumbled onto something that's gonna get us all killed. Either way, I'm in."
"In?" Adam echoed.
"Hell yeah," Eddie said with a grin. "You think I'm gonna pass up the chance to tinker with future tech? Count me in."
As they left the shop, Adam felt a mix of relief and unease. Eddie was brilliant, no doubt about that, but bringing him into this mess only added another layer of complexity.
"See? Told you he was good," Henry said, patting Adam on the back.
"Yeah, but now we've got one more person who knows about this," Adam said. "That's a liability."
Henry shrugged. "It's also an asset. You can't do this alone, man."
Adam glanced down at the device in his hand. The holographic display had vanished, leaving only the cold, unassuming surface.
"Let's hope he's worth the risk," Adam muttered.
As they drove off, Adam couldn't shake the feeling that their small team was about to be thrust into something far bigger than they could handle. The device wasn't just a piece of advanced tech—it was a key to a puzzle that spanned time, space, and whatever lay beyond.
And Adam was determined to unlock it.
End of Chapter 44