It felt good to be taking a country stroll with clothes on this time.  He followed a creek that led out to an inlet.  In the distance he could see the ocean waves.  Below the paved trail he was on, he looked at the familiar jagged rocks.  His eyes were seeing them a little different, though.  The hidden area just below and around a large boulder suddenly looked like an area of refuge.  Even though he didn’t need to scramble for the shadows, Max felt compelled at least to climb down the rocks and see what could be seen, since he’d never even thought of going off the path here before.  Having shoes this time helped his willingness to travel on the rocks.

Max found just what he’d expected behind that boulder, a nice shallow shady spot.  Just to confirm the depth, he patted the rocky wall.  His hand slipped through.  He felt around and could feel the spot the illusion hid from view.  It was big enough to crawl into.  Max’s sense of adventure immediately conjured up the image of Felix on the table and soured his want to explore this cave, at least for the moment.

Max returned early from his stroll.  At his cubicle he pulled up some history files.  The JFK things he’d remembered still had happened the way he’d remembered from class years ago.  The next logical step would be to check the records of it on his next trip, to see if he kept going into the same time stream.

When Max checked on Dr. Floyd’s progress, it was no surprise to see Flex outfitted with new shiny alloy parts that grew his back end significantly.  From the little Max had seen of Dr. Floyd’s cybernetic talents, he must’ve been a terror to all who dared oppose his corporate sponsors in the wars.

Dr. Floyd glanced up at Max and flipped a power switch leading to Felix.  Immediately several diodes went dark.  “You’re back a bit early.  Hope you like colder weather.”

Max followed Dr. Floyd’s rapid stride into the main lab.  Max took his seat in the chair.  Dr. Floyd immediately flipped the switch.  The soapy slide was instant.

When Max’s feet landed, he was suddenly sliding down a Mountain of snow.