Episode 1 - Happy Birthday!
Three Years Earlier: July 8, 2004
“Daniel! Daniel Robert Ziegler!” a female voice called from another area of the house. “Did you take the trash out yet?!” The woman yelled again throughout the house. “Ugh…using the middle name?” Dan said to himself as he turned off the T.V. “Coming Mom!” he yelled back hoping his Mom would hear him. “Making me do chores on my birthday? What has the world come to?” he said to himself again as he walked down the staircase. “Curses…”
Arriving at the bottom, Dan was surprised when the first thing he heard in the room was, “Happy Birthday!” Daniel’s Mom, Dad, sister, and dog were all waiting for him in the family room with a few presents laid out on the carpet. “Hurry up and sit down ‘brudder,’ I want to open up my presents too.” his sister Katie said excitedly. After all, it’s Daniel’s sister’s birthday too since she’s his twin. You’d think after 18 years she would come up for a better kiddy name for her younger brother, but she’s stuck with ‘brudder’ for as long as the both of them can remember. “Alright…alright, I’m sitting down.” Dan said as he sat on the floor with his back to the nearby couch.
As Katie opened her presents one by one, she was pleased with every one of her gifts, whether it was a new t-shirt or that top of the line digital camera she’s been wanting. However, as the pile of gifts diminished Daniel realized that only one present was laid out for him. “Wait a sec…why does she get so many presents while I only get one?” he said in a slightly annoyed tone. “Don’t worry,” his mother explained, “The rest of your presents are at grandpa’s house. You’re going over there today right?”
“Yeah, I’ll be over there later today. He said he needed help moving some stuff around the house.” Dan said as he opened the singular present. After all the wrapping was torn off, he looked at its contents with a bit of disappointment. “A journal…?” Dan asked, “…but I’m no writer. When am I going to use this?” His mother then explained, “Well, you’ll be going to college at the end of the summer and we want you to write everything that happens down in this book so you’ll be able to remember your experiences when you’re older.” Even though Daniel was disappointed with the gift, he still appreciated the thought they put into it and was thankful for it. “Thanks Mom and Dad. I’ll try and put it to good use.” He said as he placed the journal in his pants pocket. Afterwards, Dan went back to his room to get ready to go over to Grandpa Matt’s house.
Putting on his brown jacket in the middle of summer was a bit odd, but strangely enough, it was quite cold today at a crisp 57 degrees. It must have been a freak cold front, but where Dan is from, he’s used to strange weather patterns. Before he left, Dan simply said, “Be back in a little bit.” to his parents as he walked out the door and placed his hands inside the coat pockets. “It’s a good thing gramps’ house isn’t too far…I’m freezing out here.” he said to himself as he walked with a fast pace toward his destination. On his way there however, he noticed a girl across the street retrieving her mail. It was Rachael Fitzgerald, a girl whom he had known since childhood as well as a classmate of his. While crossing in front of her home, Dan waved his hand while saying, “Hi Rachael. How are you today?” She must not have noticed him because when Dan said this it startled her so much, she almost fell over. After regaining her balance, she timidly responded, “Uhh…umm…he-hello Daniel. I’m…umm…doing just fine thank you.” Afterwards, she promptly ran inside without letting him get another word in. Even though the two have been pretty good friends for a long time, Rachael has never grown out of her shy nature, especially when around Daniel. “Heh, she seems more jumpy than usual. Must be because of this cold weather.” Dan said to himself as he continued toward his grandfather’s home.
A few minutes later, Daniel finally arrived at his grandfather’s house. After a few rings of the doorbell, the front door swung open and Daniel was immediately pulled inside. “Who are you!? Who sent you!?” an older voiced asked urgently. Daniel quickly responded, “Grandpa, it’s me. Dan. You know…your grandson?” Then finally noticing the problem, Dan said, “Wait, why don’t you have your glasses on?” Upon a quick inspection of his person, Grandpa found his glasses affixed on his head and immediately pulled them down over his eyes. “Ahh! There you are my boy. Happy Birthday.” He said excitedly. Most people would see this strange change in personality strange, but Daniel knew his grandfather well enough to see that this was nothing out of the ordinary. Ever since he began living near Daniel’s family, he’s been very cautious on who enters his house or even those who come near it. One of the main reasons Daniel helps around his grandfather’s home isn’t because he needs help doing mild chores around the house, but because of all the crazy inventions and projects that he works on within. A retired college professor needs something to occupy his time right?
“Oh, before I forget. Here are your birthday presents.” Grandpa Matt said as he handed Daniel a large wrapped box that he grabbed from a nearby table. “Thanks Grandpa.” Daniel said as he began to tear open the wrapping paper. After removing the contents of the box, Daniel knew that these seemingly ordinary items had a greater purpose. “A brand new watch and new shoes too! Thanks Grandpa.” Daniel said. After a bit of inspection of each of the items, Daniel responded, “Well, the shoes look ordinary enough. They even match my clothes…but this watch…it looks pretty high-tech. You didn’t do anything strange with this thing did you?” he asked curiously. “Of course not, I simply thought you needed a new watch. The one you’re wearing now is seriously outdated.” Grandpa Matt replied. “Just look at it, the band is all torn and the face is all scratched up. Time for an upgrade!” he said excitedly. “Ok, ok, I agree with you. Still…something’s up with this thing.” Daniel said as he stared into the face of the new watch. The band itself was made of metal that had been painted a shiny black. Also, around the face itself were three silver wheels that one could turn along with small golden triangles on each of them. From the looks of it, this was the only means that time could be told. However, the wheels weren’t moving, and the digital screen wasn’t on either. “Hmm, must need batteries or something.” Dan said to himself as he replaced his old watch his new one. However, the moment he latched it onto his right wrist, he felt a slight pinch in his skin but didn’t think much of it. “Huh? Must have just been the metal pinching me.” Grandpa Matt chimed in, “I’m glad you like it. Say, after you try on those new shoes, meet me downstairs. I want to show you what I’ve been working on lately.” After hearing that, Daniel responded, “You got it! Be there in a sec.”
Bounding down the stairs two at a time, Daniel met his grandfather in his lab of machines. “Come here Daniel, I want you to meet my new pen pal.” Grandpa Matt said mysteriously. “Wait, your new project is a pen pal?” Daniel asked, “That doesn’t sound like your style Grandpa.” Grandpa Matt then looked at Daniel with a mischievous smirk, “You didn’t let me tell you where my pen pal is from yet.” Without another word, Grandpa Matt went to work by furiously lifting and lowering levers as well as twisting a few dials affixed on the wall. Finally, he lifted a glass plate that housed a large red button. Before he pressed it though he rhetorically asked, “Ready for the show?” Daniel knew he should have held his tongue when it came to his grandfather, always having a fascination with machines. Daniel simply nodded and without a moment’s notice he had pressed the button. Dan’s attention was then fixed on a large humming noise emanating from a nearby device hanging from the ceiling. Every second that passed, the noise grew more intense until finally a bright blue beam of light shot straight down at the ground and opened what looked to be an ordinary pool of water. Not too long after the light dissipated, a small mechanical arm just popped out of the new pool of blue liquid with an envelope attached, which Grandpa Matt immediately took for himself and opened. As he was reading the note that was contained inside, the pool closed up with a splash of the strange liquid that almost immediately evaporated upon hitting whatever it first touched. “Uhh…Grandpa, what just happened?” Daniel asked while still in a bit of shock.
“Haha!” Grandpa Matt laughed, “This is a message from my pen pal. He says he’s making progress on his new inventions too. We have so much in common.” Still in a bit of confusion, Daniel asked, “Who exactly is your pen pal Grandpa.” Laughing again at his grandson’s question, “Isn’t it obvious my boy? It’s me…”
“Wait…WHAT!?! How is that possible?” Daniel asked. However, still reminiscing about his pen pal, “Aww…it even says here he’s hired a cute female lab assistant. I’m so jealous. All I’ve got is this hysterical kid.” He said as his eyes fixed upon Daniel. Asking questions again not listening to his grandfather’s rambling, “So what was that thing that opened up in the ground? Was it a teleporter…no wait, that wouldn't make sense either.” Finally ready to answer a few questions, Grandpa Matt turned to him and said, “Well it is a portal of sorts, but it’s to another dimen…….” However, Grandpa Matt’s explanation was cut short by the security alarms going off. “What? Intruders?” he said, “Computer! Seal off all entrances to the lab.” Still running around frantically, Daniel asked, “Geez Gramps, what’s going on around here?” he said as he joined him where the security cameras were capturing footage of the intruders. Men in dark red clothing with large red goggles covering their faces, armed with guns, came bursting into the house. With a bit of fright in his eyes, Daniel looked to his grandfather who now looked even more shook up than he was. “Grandpa? Do you know them?” With a single nod of the head he softly responded back, “They finally found me…” Now confused more than ever, Daniel could only say, “Who found you?” Finally, with another soft response of fear, Grandpa Matt replied, “The Omega Corporation…”
To Be Continued...
