Through the Wormhole

A total of four days had passed since seventeen year old Daniel Matton and the 17,019 starship, PPMC (Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic Project), passed through a black hole, wormhole, and white hole deep in the Milky Way Galaxy. The insane journey through these three celestial objects caused them both to shut down into unconsciousness for four days, and Dan never got his waffles. By the morning of the fifth day though, PPMC, who was now back in her usual starship form, landed on solid ground, still shut down. Her autopilot, which had turned on right after she escaped the white hole, pulled a sunshade over all her windows to prevent Dan from being fried by the sun’s ultraviolent rays. PPMC’s time machine screen showed the geologic time scale, and on the scale, Precambrian Time was highlighted. PPMC was the first one to wake up. After a bit, the rest of her systems turned back on, and she lifted her robotic hand from the floor, asking, “Huh?” in a robotic voice. Her autopilot shut down, now that she was awake, and confused, PPMC’s next question was, “Whoa, what happened? Where are we? Hm?” She noticed the sunshade and the Precambrian Time that was now highlighted on the time machine. “Hold on a minute!” PPMC said, “Did we do it? Are we here?” There was only one way to find out! She had to sneak a peek outside! PPMC’s hand cautiously went over to the sunshade, and she gulped. Then, very slowly, she slightly pulled the shade aside and glanced outside. Gasping, she closed the shade, and her hand turned in the direction of Daniel Matton, “Dan!” Dan was a handsome teenager who had long brown hair that had tufts in it, big brown eyes, a smaller forehead, an attractively pointy chin, and a muscular body. Compared to the modern 2019 human, he looked a little bit different since he was from the year 17,019, not 2019, 15,000 years in the future. He was dressed in a very futuristic and adventurous uniform. It consisted of: a gold-trimmed, long sleeved, red overcoat that has maroon colored shoulder pads on his shoulders. His sleeves went past his wrists and formed a slight upward V-shape. He wore the coat over a navy blue sleeveless shirt. His pants were white, and they had gray pinstriped patches on his hips that were outlined in black. The bottoms of his pants were neatly tucked into black boots, and they were supported by a white and black belt with a square belt buckle. He also wore suspender-like straps on his waist with gold buckles. Over his hands, he wore black, fingerless gloves, and in his hair, a pair of dark blue goggles. He wore a helmet over his head, and on his left forearm, the PPMC Gauntlet. Excited, PPMC took his helmet off and tossed it on the ground. Then she grabbed Dan’s shoulders, shook them, and announced, “Dan! Dan, wake up! We’re here! We’re in the Precambrian Time! Wake up! Please!”

“Ugh.” Dan groggily said, “Man that was way up there on the freaky scale.” He lifted his hand and rubbed his warm forehead, adding with, “I remember pressing the Precambrian button, but after that it’s a complete blank.”

“You did amazing, Dan!” PPMC said, “Thanks to you for pressing the Go button sooner than later, I was able to activate my emergency booster engine and get us out of there!” Dan continued to rub his forehead. He said,

“Uh, I’m so hot.” Chuckling flirtingly, PPMC said,

“Yes you are.” Dan opened his eyes and asked her,

“May I please have a bottle of water, PPMC?”

“Yes you are.” PPMC said. Dan stared. Then, PPMC gasped.

“Can!” she shouted, “I mean, yes you can! Let me first get you unstrapped, Dan the Man.”

“Thank you, PPMC.” Dan said. PPMC unstrapped him, and once finished, she pulled her hand away from him and said,

“There you go, Daniel. You’re free.” Dan thanked her one last time and struggled to a sitting position. When he finally managed to sit, he gripped each arm of the chair and attempted to stand on his shaky legs. He managed to, but his knees were knocking together, and almost immediately, he fell forward, and PPMC had to catch him. “Dan the Man!” she yelled, “Are you all right?!”

“Yeah.” Dan said. He stood up straight, “I’m just a little wobbly, that’s all. What happened?” He staggered backwards but caught himself on the chair, “How long have we been out?” PPMC said,

“We’ve been out for about four days, Dan the Man. We were devoured by a black hole deep in the Milky Way Galaxy, we passed through a wormhole and were spit out of a white hole. Then we landed here. Wherever here is.” Dan finally remembered the black hole, wormhole, and white hole, and he gasped. “Hold on a second!” he shouted, “I’m alive?!” He rubbed his arms and legs and found that they were still attached to his body. Chuckling, PPMC said, “Yes you are, Dan. Congratulations!”

“WHOOPEE!” Dan shouted, “I’m alive! I lived through a black hole!” Suddenly, he narrowed his eyebrows to an angry position and yelled, “AMATEUR HUH?!” at PPMC.

“I must admit, Daniel,” PPMC said, “the way you held on until after the white hole was pretty amazing.”

“Ha ha.” Dan chuckled. He scratched his nose, “Thank you, PPMC. What’s next?” He adjusted the bag Professor Julian Krebs Lexington gave him in 17,019 and waited for PPMC’s answer. Finally she said, “Why don’t you go outside and search for a source of water?”

“Water, eh?” Dan asked, and he turned on his heel, “Very well then.” He stumbled towards a door in the cockpit and reached for the knob of it, but PPMC slapped his hand away and said, “Hold your high horses, Dan the Man, you can’t go out there without your sunsuit!”

“Sunsuit?” Dan asked. He had forgotten all about it, “What’s a sunsuit?”

“If you don’t recall, Dan the Man,” PPMC said, “We’re in the Precambrian Time, Cryogenian Period, 760 million years ago, and without a sunsuit, you’ll be turned into barbecue. Here, I’ll prove it.” Her hands scurried over to a closet in the back of the cockpit, and from the closet, she pulled out a red umbrella. Returning to Dan, she held it up to his face and asked, “See the umbrella, Dan? See how it has the appearance of any other umbrella?”

“Um, PPMC,” Dan said, “This isn’t proving anything.”

“Ah-ha!” PPMC laughed, “Not yet it isn’t! Take a step back, Daniel Matton and watch how the pros do it.”

“Pros do what?” Dan asked as he backed up to his seat.

“You’ll see,” said PPMC, “Watch and learn. I’ll show you why you need a sunsuit.” She held the umbrella in her left hand, and with her right one, she slightly pulled the sunshade aside. The rays of the sun hit her protective walls but not Dan since he was out of the sunlight. Chuckling, PPMC held the umbrella up to the rays, and immediately, the umbrella’s fabric started sizzling and was fried right off of the accessory. The only thing that was left behind were its ribs. Eyes widening, Dan shouted, “Oh shoot man!” and fell onto the back of his seat. PPMC asked,

“Who’s up for barbeque?” and closed the sunshade, adding with, “Aw, poor umbrella. It gets a twelve degrees sunburn just before yearbook pictures.” She held the umbrella’s remains up to Dan’s face, “Now do you see why you need a sunsuit, Dan the Man? Huh? Huh?” Gulping, Dan took the umbrella and examined it saying, “I think I do, PPMC. I most certainly don’t want this to happen to me.” Peering at PPMC’s hovering hands, he waved his own and added with, “Don’t just hover there, PPMC, close the freaking sunshade!” The sun’s rays were creeping towards him, and gasping, Dan backed away from them. The screen of his gauntlet started to flash red, and the machine announced, “Danger! Danger!” PPMC laughed. She loved seeing Dan scared. His back hit her dashboard, and he gasped. He had nowhere else to run! Yelling, he shouted, “PPMC!” and started to climb up on her dashboard. Still laughing, PPMC said,

“Okay! Can’t you take a little joke, Dan the Man?” She closed the sunshade, and Dan sunk to the ground, saying,

“Well don’t do that! I seriously thought you were going to let the rays fry me like the umbrella! You’re sick, PPMC! Take your stupid umbrella back and just get me into my sunsuit!” He hurled the umbrella into PPMC’s hands and knocked them back.

“Gee!” she said, “Don’t get your space pants in a bunch, Dan! I was just trying to add a little humor into the journey! Whatever. Follow me.” She gestured at the exit, “I’ll get you into your stupid sunsuit. Here.” She handed Dan a cold water bottle, and he thanked her. Then he followed her hands to the cockpit’s exit and found himself standing in the familiar window-filled hallway that was now covered in an enormous sunshade. PPMC led him to her stern where a special compartment sat. In the dark compartment, Dan found his luggage and hoverscooter. Hoverscooting was a popular sport in 17,019. Hoverscooters were hoverboards that also had the ability to change into scooters. They could be run by both electricity and solar energy from the sun. Dan loved hoverscooting. It was his favorite sport. At the sight of his red hoverscooter, unharmed by the black hole, he grinned and scooped it up from the floor. PPMC searched for his sunsuit, and as she did, Dan cheered and shouted, “My hoverscooter’s all right! It’s all right! It’s all right! Yahoo!” He held his hoverscooter up to the ceiling and jumped up and down in excitement over and over again singing, “It’s all righty, it’s all righty! Everythingy’s goody! Up, up and away!” PPMC, who had found his sunsuit, approached him and asked, “Is it really all right, Danny boy?”

“It is!” Dan shouted. He turned to her, “Take a look!” and held his hoverscooter up to her hands.

“Remarkable!” PPMC said, “I would think that after a trip like that, it’d be in pieces but no! Wow, this is one amazing compartment.” Dan continued to jump up and down. As he did so, he said, “Yes, yes, yes, yes!” and twirled like a danseur. PPMC called to him.

“Daniel,” she said, “Calm down for just a moment, please! Here,” She held up to Dan, a futuristic, red, astronaut-like suit and a futuristic, black, astronaut-like helmet, adding with, “put on you sunsuit, and then you can dance to your heart’s content.” Dan stopped dancing. He stared at the sunsuit and said, “Hold on a second, PPMC! That’s my sunsuit?!”

“Um,” PPMC said, “yes.”

“That’s my sunsuit?!” Dan repeated in a much louder voice.

“Uh-huh,” said PPMC.

“Are you kidding me?!” Dan asked, “I have to wear that thing?! I’m gonna look like a freaking sumo wrestler!”

“Suit yourself.” PPMC said. She pulled the suit away from Dan, “If you want to fry, I have no qualms about that. Although, it would be a little strange if I went to 17,019 and told Professor Chenoa that you were turned into liver kebabs and served on Rodinia’s rocks. Whatever, this is your trip.” Dan’s eyes widened.

“Hold on second!” he said, “Did you say Rodinia?!”

“I believe I did.” PPMC said. She chuckled. Dan scratched his chin.

“Wait a minute!” he said, “PPMC, does this mean you’re on Rodinia right now?!”

“Uh, I guess so.” PPMC said.

“No way!” said Dan. He grinned and put his hoverscooter and water bottle on the ground. Once standing upright again, he peered down on the screen of the PPMC Gauntlet and punched in the red button at its head. As he was waiting for the gauntlet to turn on, he said, “PPMC, do you not even realize how far back Rodinia dates back to? It was the first supercontinent! It lasted from 1.1 billion years ago to 750 million years ago, and it was surrounded by a superocean, or in this case, the Mirovia Ocean! Ah, here we go.” The gauntlet turned on, and on its screen, the geologic time scale appeared. Shortly after turning on, a robotic voice came from the machine. It announced, “Welcome, Daniel Matton. You are currently in the Precambrian Time, Neoproterozoic Era, Cryogenian Period, 760 million years ago.”

“I knew it!” said Dan. He turned off the gauntlet, “PPMC, it’s inconceivable! Even after that insane journey through the wormhole, we still managed to get here with no problems! Hand me that sunsuit!” He snatched the sunsuit out of PPMC’s hands and finished with, “I’m going out! I’ve always wanted to see Rodinia!” With that said, he scooped up his hoverscooter and sprinted towards the exit. As he was exiting the compartment, PPMC called to him. “Dan,” she said, “don’t put the helmet on yet. I’m gonna fix you something to eat.”

“Eat?” Dan asked. He stopped himself from exiting, “Oh no, PPMC, I don’t have time to eat anything. Right now, Rodinia is more important than food.”

“Bu-but, Dan!” PPMC said, “You haven’t eaten in four days! I’m sure you’re probably starving.”

“Starving?” young Dan asked, “Who’s starving? Not me.” Suddenly, his stomach rumbled, and blushing, Dan reached for it. Chuckling, PPMC said, “I think you are, Dan. Now tish tosh, put everything except the helmet on, and I’ll fix you some breakfast. Afterwards, you can go outside and study as many Rodinia rocks as you can muster. Just don’t get incinerated by a volcano, all right?”

“Volcano?” Dan asked, “Oh yeah.” He slapped his forehead, “We’re in the Precambrian Time.” Sighing, he exited the compartment and disappeared down the hallway, leaving PPMC’s hands behind. When she was sure that he was gone, she said, “Sigh, I feel bad about losing all the waffle ingredients while going through the wormhole. I’m gonna make it up to him. Tonight, I’m gonna make him loin tips.” She knew Dan liked loin tips. Ben, his father, told her. With breakfast and dinner in mind, PPMC turned on her wrists, picked up Dan’s suitcase and water bottle, and exited the compartment as well.

Twenty minutes later, Dan joined her in the kitchen which was right across from his room, and he was dressed in his sunsuit, minus the helmet. With it on, he looked like a cross between a robot and astronaut. For the most part, the full body suit, including the boots, was red. However, its knee pads and elbow pads were black. The gloves, which weren’t fingerless and went to his wrists, were also black. Dan felt ridiculous. He could barely walk, and whenever he did, he walked like C3PO in Star Wars. At the sight of him, PPMC snorted and burst out laughing. Between laughs, she said, “That is quite a unique attire you got there, Dan the Man. Are you planning on camping out on the sun?” She laughed some more. Glaring, Dan said, “Ha, ha, very funny, PPMC.” He held his arms out to his sides, “I look ridiculous! Oh, I don’t like this!” He shuffled uncomfortably, “My foot’s asleep, and I have an itch I can’t scratch!”

“Well, Dan,” PPMC said between laughs, “If you don’t want to fry you have to wear that.”

“Ooohhh,” said Dan, “This is even worse than the spacesuit! I don’t think I can even sit down and eat!” PPMC put his breakfast, which consisted of: two pancakes, three sausages, and one biscuit, down on the kitchen table and told him, “Well, try, Dan. You need to get some food in that little tummy of yours. You need a lot of energy to travel a Mars-like landscape filled with volcanoes. I promise you, it will get easier the more you walk in it.”

“Ooohhh.” Dan said. He walked like C3PO over to the table and tried to pull out his chair, but he slipped and fell onto his front. PPMC had to grab him by the arm and help him into his seat. While he was eating, she got him all ready for his adventure through the Precambrian Time. She slipped his backpack’s strap over his neck and reattached the PPMC Gauntlet to his left forearm. Then she got a comb and combed out his hair. While she was working, she hummed. Dan constantly said, “Ow, ow, ow, ow,” as she combed. When eventually he finished eating and PPMC finished combing out his hair, she had to turn him around and help him put on his helmet. To do this, she had to remove his goggles and slip them into his backpack. Once she did that, she plopped the helmet over the teen’s head, and immediately, it attached itself to his suit. PPMC adjusted the helmet so that it was comfortable on Dan’s head, and after a few minutes, her hands floated backwards, and she announced, “Walla! I call PPMC Couture!” Dan stood up from the table and extended his arms. PPMC laughed. She had done a good job. Officially, Daniel Matton was all ready to explore the Precambrian Time! You could hear him breathing within the helmet. For the next hour and half, PPMC helped him practice walking around in the sunsuit, and just like she said, it got easier the more Dan did it. Two hours later, he was no longer walking like C3PO but like a normal human being! Dan grew to like the sunsuit. By the time he had gotten in control of his walking and running, he jogged all over the place and cheered. PPMC stopped him and asked, “Well, Dan the Man, are you all ready to step outside and explore Rodinia?”

“Are you kidding, PPMC?” Dan asked, “Yes!” He hurried towards the kitchen’s exit, “I’ve got to hurry too! Days only last eighteen hours!” He threw open the door and peered outside to the window-filled hallway, adding with, “Um, PPMC, where exactly do you want me to exit from?” PPMC sighed. Slipping by him, she said, “Come on,” and led him down the hallway. Dan apprehensively followed her. He had to admit, even though he was excited to see Rodinia in person, he was also a wee bit nervous. PPMC saw that he was nervous, and stopping, she told him, “Don’t worry, Dan, you’ll be okay. Have faith in your instincts, and hey,” She patted his shoulder, “if by any chance you find yourself in trouble, you can always call me from the gauntlet, and I’ll come rescue you.”

“Promise?” Dan asked. He wanted to make sure PPMC wasn’t making things up. Chuckling, she said,

“I promise,” and the young man nervously nodded. PPMC led him back into the cockpit, and once they entered it, she said, “Here we are,” and took him over to her hatch that she had when she was a space shuttle front in 17,019 and still had now, 760 million years ago. Pointing at it, she said, “Dan, I want you to exit from the hatch. Get psyched!” Her hands shook in excitement, and Dan nodded.

“Right,” he said, “get psyched.” Looking up at the ceiling, he banged on his chest and yelped like Tarzan. Apparently, this was his battle cry. Clenching her fists, PPMC said, “That’s it, Dan! Get psyched, get psyched, get psyched!”

“All right, PPMC,” Dan announced, “I’m psyched! I’m ready for you to open the hatch!”

“Are you sure, young man?” asked PPMC. Nodding, Dan said,

“I am,” and he took a step closer to the hatch.

“Very well.” PPMC said. She started to unlock the hatch. As she did so, she added with, “Now, Dan, don’t go too far now. The thing is, if you get lost on Rodinia, you stay lost. Also keep in mind that days are only eighteen hours long. I want you back here by sundown. Got it?” Rolling his eyes, Dan said, “Yes, Mother,” and he crossed his arms. PPMC pulled open the hatch, and sunlight flooded her cockpit. Since Dan was now wearing the sunsuit, he was protected. Gasping, he stared at the sunlight and seemed to fall under a trance. He headed for the exit, and behind, PPMC asked, “Oh, and, Dan?” and Dan said,

“Yes, PPMC?” Hands nodding, PPMC said,

“Be careful.” Nodding, Dan said,

“I will, PPMC. I promise.” Closing his eyes, he repeated the words of Becca, his mother, to himself. “’Faith is God’s heart,” and took another step forward. However, this time when he put his foot down, he didn’t feel PPMC’s floor! He felt thin air! Gasping, Dan said, “Oh bollix!” and he fell out of the starship and landed on rocky ground below. Once he hit it, he shouted, “OWWW!!” and PPMC laughed. After a few seconds, Dan finished the statement with, “My face!” PPMC continued to laugh.

Dan remained on the ground for a very long time. When eventually, he recovered, he lifted his head, opened his eyes, and stared at the ground. He gasped. The clay-like ground under him was covered in rocks, and dust surrounded the young man. He gasped again. He was almost afraid to look up and check his surroundings. From the cockpit, PPMC said, “Don’t be shy, Dan, look around. You’re in for quite a surprise.” For a few more seconds, Dan rejected looking up. Then, he manned up. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and struggled to his feet. Once standing, he opened his eyes, peered forward, and gasped, shouting, “Holy cripes!” He was standing on a red, Mars-like, rocky landscape. Surrounding him were rocks, rock towers, rocks, and more rocks. In front of him, Dan could even see the shallow Mirovia Ocean! He couldn’t believe what he was looking at! Placing his hands on his hips, he said, “Hello, Rodinia,” and checked his surroundings. Other than rocks, there was nothing else on the supercontinent. There were no trees, flowers, meadows, dinosaurs, animals, buildings, etc. Dan was basically standing on an empty Planet Earth, but even as empty, Earth was incredible! Stepping forward, Dan said, “Man, PPMC, I feel like I’m on Mars! Check out all these Precambrian rocks! My wish came true! Yoo-hoo!” Sprinting ahead, he shouted, “See ya later, PPMC!” and behind, PPMC asked,

“Where’re you going, Dan the Man? Sigh, teenagers. I’ll leave him be.” With that said, she shut the hatch and left seventeen year old Daniel Matton alone on Rodinia.