Future Rahim looked like he was thinking about it.

  “I want to go,” Kasia said. “This seems like it’s really important. You guys are hiding out in a basement; the first Black president is now a teacher. I mean, he seems like a great teacher, but still. Also, not for nothing, but you guys look scared.”

  Rahim nodded. Kasia was saying everything he was thinking. He was also glad they were on the same page about their future selves looking like his sister when she got caught trying to sneak out. Well, almost everything. He wondered if she thought he couldn’t handle whatever it was he had to do.

  “You think I can’t fix it on my own?” Rahim said.

  “I’m going,” Kasia said. Rahim blew air over his lips. He knew that tone. That was Kasia’s I’m-not-playing tone.

  “She’s going,” he said. Their future selves stared at each other. They didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, Kasia’s future self spoke. “Okay. But that will mean there’s no one left behind to keep track of the mission. The two of us will take care of that. And if you’re going, you should probably leave now. There’s no time to waste.”

  Rahim’s future self looked less sure about it. He even blew air over his lips like Rahim had just done. Finally, he nodded. “Right,” he said. “Guess you’d better get going.”

  6

  Rahim pulled the phone out. He set the destination for Hawaii 1978, Diamond Head State Monument.

  “So you’ll keep track of things here and make sure nothing starts changing? You know, the dodo birds?” Rahim said.

  “Yes,” their future selves said in unison.

  “Okay. Hold your breath,” Rahim said to Kasia, who was holding Iago.

  She crinkled her forehead. “Why do I have to…” Rahim pressed SEND.

  A bright greenish light enveloped them, and then they were gone.

  Their future selves watched them go. A moment later, the green light had faded.

  “I was worried for a minute there,” Future Rahim said.

  “There was no reason to worry,” Future Kasia said.

  “What if she had decided not to go?” Future Rahim said.

  “There was no danger of that,” Future Kasia said. “As soon as we said the thing about one person not being able to fix the time stream, she was sure to volunteer, and to think that the idea was hers.”

  “I guess,” Future Rahim said.

  “Anyway, it’s done,” said Future Kasia.

  “It’s done,” Future Rahim said.

  But they didn’t power down their screens. They kept the link open and stared into Kasia’s room for another moment, and then another, as a blue light began to glow in the space over Kasia’s bed. The light expanded until it filled the entire room.

  * * *

  “They’re almost there,” said Future Kasia.

  The blue light was everywhere, and then it started to recede until it was a column about as wide as a refrigerator. Then it disappeared, and Kasia and Rahim were standing in the middle of Kasia’s room.

  “Hello,” said Future Rahim to Rahim.

  “Hello,” said Future Kasia to Kasia.

  * * *

  Well, that wasn’t exactly right.

  The figures standing in the middle of the room looked like Kasia and Rahim. Exactly like them. They both held cell phones that looked like the one Kasia had made for Rahim. Exactly like it. But they were still as statues, holding their phones up to their ears. “Good to see you both,” Future Kasia said. The two figures nodded.

  “Now begins your part of the mission,” Future Kasia said.

  The Rahim in the room turned toward the screen, but not in a normal way. His head swiveled on top of his shoulders like a turret on top of a tank. Future Rahim didn’t like this. “That didn’t look right,” he said.

  “The mirroring protocols will start to take effect immediately,” Future Kasia said.

  “What?” Future Rahim said.

  “They will observe how other people are doing things and start to imitate them immediately.” She turned toward the Rahim and Kasia standing in the blue afterglow. “Okay, let’s go on with next steps: R-2, you go back to Rahim’s house. K-2, you sit down and wait for your mother to call you down for dinner. Remember, you are androids. You have copies of both our younger selves built into your core matrix. That means you know their basic personalities, their likes and dislikes. Your mission is to make sure neither Rahim’s nor Kasia’s parents realize they are gone. Do you understand?” Future Kasia said.

  “Yes,” K-2 said.

  R-2 said nothing.

  “R-2?” Future Kasia said. She said it again, impatiently.

  “Present and operating,” R-2 said. “But I have processed that last statement and must confess that I cannot fully comprehend it. In travel through time, cannot the subjects set their return for a moment just before they left, and in doing so create the impression that they were never gone?”

  “It’s more complicated than that,” Future Rahim said.

  “I have processed that last statement and do not fully comprehend,” R-2 said.

  Future Rahim turned to look at Future Kasia. R-2 turned to look at that corner of the screen as well. Future Kasia was right. The movement was much more natural this time.

  Future Kasia sighed. “Most times, the answer would be yes.” She laughed to herself at the little joke she had made: most times. “But they will encounter obstacles in the past that will make it difficult for them to do so.”

  “Difficult or impossible?” R-2 asked.

  “Difficult or impossible,” Future Kasia repeated, which wasn’t really an answer to the question.

  “Right,” Future Rahim said. He was relieved that Future Kasia had explained things. “They both went, and there are two of you here to replace them,” he added.

  “Yes,” K-2 said. “I understand the entirety of this circumstance and did before.”

  “Okay,” Future Kasia said. “Let’s move to the next steps, then.”

  “Initiate house,” R-2 said.

  “Initiate wait here in room,” K-2 said.

  “Good,” Future Kasia said. “We will be in touch.”

  The video link went dark.

  * * *

  R-2 walked down the stairs and through Kasia’s living room. It passed Kasia’s dad as he was getting another bowl of soup out of the pot sitting on the stovetop.

  “Hi, Rahim, you sure you don’t want any—”

  R-2 cut him off.

  “No, I do not like that soup. It is very nasty,” it said as it headed for the door.

  Kasia’s father stood motionless with the ladle in his hand.

  “I made this soup, young man!” he said.

  R-2 stopped and looked at Mr. Collins.

  “I know.”

  Then he turned back around and went out the door.

  “What’s that, honey?” Kasia’s mom said from the dining room.

  “Nothing,” Kasia’s dad said. He sniffed the ladle full of soup as he watched R-2 walk out the door.

  * * *

  The first thing Kasia did when they emerged out of a halo of blue-green light near the base of Diamond Head was run to the nearest bush and throw up.

  “Hey, you okay?” Rahim asked.

  “Yeah … just … you know I don’t like roller coasters, right? And that’s ten times worse. Yikes and double yikes,” Kasia said.

  Rahim checked the phone.

  “Well, we made it to the right time. And this is about ten minutes before I met the president. Wow, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say. Anyway, I’m guessing we have to make sure he doesn’t meet me. That’s the only thing I can think to do since they—we, you know what I mean—didn’t tell us what we had to do to fix things. So all we have to do is make sure—”

  He stopped talking when he noticed Kasia was walking toward the steps that led to the top of Diamond Head.

  “Where are you going?” Rahim said as he jogged to catch up with her.

  “I’m going to look at the crater. You know how much I love geology. Well, I like all sciences, but I haven’t done much research on geology,” Kasia said.

  “Are you serious? We have to do as little as possible to affect the time stream. Don’t you remember telling me like a hundred times? You walking up there might make it so that hyenas take over Federal Donuts or my mom ends up marrying Mr. Alves and I’m never even born or something even crazier. We just gotta make sure that Barry gets to play his basketball game without any interruption from me, and then we get back home fast.”

  “Rahim,” Kasia said, “when I tell you that you shouldn’t affect the time stream, I mean that and only that. Time travel has certain rules you shouldn’t break. And if you break them, like you did last year, there are ways to fix things, within reason. This doesn’t break those rules. In fact, us walking up and looking at the crater accomplishes two things at the same time. It keeps you away from President Obama and lets me look at a crater made millions of years ago. It’s a win-win.”

  Rahim didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure the rules worked the way Kasia believed, and he couldn’t stop thinking about how their future selves had been so hot about the rock at first and then had seemingly forgotten all about it. On the other hand, she was right. Going up the crater did keep him away from the president.

  “Okay. Let’s go, then,” Rahim said.

  “You all right?” Kasia asked.

  “Yeah,” Rahim said.

  They started up the stairs built into the side of the crater. Every once in a while, Rahim would glance at the sky. It was as blue as the ocean. The plants that bordered the stairs seemed impossibly green. The air smelled clean and pure. He hadn’t noticed it before, but everything here seemed to be … more alive than things were back home. Hawaii was almost a make-believe place come to life.

  They were halfway to the top of the crater when Rahim saw some kids coming down the stairs toward them.

  “Oh no!” Rahim said.

  “What?” Kasia asked.

  “Just turn around,” Rahim said.

  “Why?” Kasia asked.

  “Because that big guy over there, the one walking with a group of friends, he chased me the last time I was here. He wanted to steal the phone because he thought it was a radio,” Rahim said.

  ‘So? Just keep it in your pocket. They haven’t seen it yet,” Kasia said.

  “What if they remember…” He trailed off. Remember what? This was the first time they had seen him, even though it was the second time for him. “Even so,” he said, “in my experience, it’s better to avoid big kids unless you’re a big kid, too.”

  “I really want to see this crater,” Kasia said.

  Rahim was about to suggest that they could come back another time, as tourists, when Lono and Kimo and the rest of their crew stopped just behind them.

  “You gonna move or what?” Lono said.

  “Yeah, sorry,” Rahim mumbled.

  “Rudeness is often a sign of an immature mind,” Kasia said.

  Rahim felt his mouth open into a wide O.

  “What you say to me?” Lono asked.

  “People are usually rude when they are immature. It’s a sign they don’t know how to interact with others in a more adult way. Is that why you’re so rude? Because we definitely weren’t in your way,” Kasia said.

  Before Lono could respond, Rahim took Kasia’s arm and started going back down the steps.

  “What are you doing?” she said. “I told you I want to see—”

  “I know. You wanna see the crater. I’m trying to keep us from seeing it from the inside,” Rahim said.

  They made their way down the stairway. Rahim heard a voice at their back. “Hey, come back and say that again. Say it to my face.” Rahim took a quick look over his shoulder and saw Lono and his boys hurrying down the stairs behind them. Luckily the stairs were steep so they couldn’t go too fast. But then again neither could Rahim and Kasia. They were essentially in a slow-speed chase down the stairs while other people tried to make their way up the steps. Rahim held on to Kasia’s hand as they moved around other tourists and their families.

  “Rahim, slow down!” Kasia said.

  “Sometimes you say stuff and I really don’t think you think about how it sounds! Those guys are bad news! The second we get to the bottom, we are running. If we are lucky, they might decide we aren’t worth chasing!”

  “Why are you so afraid of those guys?” Kasia said.

  “I’m sort of an expert when it comes to deciding how much to fear bullies,” Rahim said. “Trust me on this.”

  They made it to the bottom of the stairway ten steps ahead of Lono and his boys. Rahim pulled Kasia toward the park exit.

  “You can let go of me now!” Kasia said.

  “I’m sorry,” Rahim said. “I just don’t want you to get hurt, and I don’t wanna get hurt. So let’s get gone.” He turned left and started running for the neighborhood. Kasia followed him, and Lono and his boys followed her. He was almost to the basketball court when he realized he was going to run into the former president again if he wasn’t careful.

  “Turning right here!” he yelled.

  “Right here or right here?” Kasia said.

  “Just follow me,” he said. He headed down the street. On either side of them were small bungalows. A few of them had fenced-in yards. Rahim got to the end of the street and turned right. This led him to an empty lot with a chain-link fence around it.

  “Jump the fence!” Rahim said. He grabbed the top rail and boosted himself over. Kasia was right behind him. When she landed, she tripped and fell into Rahim. This sent both of them sprawling across the grass. Lono and his boys hopped the fence effortlessly and stood over Rahim and Kasia.

  “You ain’t got nothing smart to say now?” Lono asked.

  Rahim didn’t respond. He prayed that Kasia wouldn’t, either. His prayers were not answered.

  “It would be wasted on you,” Kasia said.

  “Oh my God,” Rahim said breathlessly.

  “What?” Lono asked. He seemed genuinely confused.

  Rahim slowly took the phone out of his back pocket.

  “I said anything smart would be wasted on you,” Kasia said, getting to her feet.

  Rahim didn’t think Lono would hit a girl, but he wasn’t so sure that he wouldn’t push one. He was just about to type in his home address and year when he heard a strange electronic sound fill the air. It got everyone’s attention, including Lono’s. It reminded Rahim of the sound Iago made when he walked or flew. The sound of silicone-coated mini-gears and motors engaging. Only this was louder, much louder.

  Rahim looked to his right. There were three figures walking toward them from the corner of the lot. The first thing Rahim noticed was that they were not dressed for the weather. They were wearing black hoodies and jeans and boots, even though it had to be over 80 degrees. The second thing he noticed was how tall they were. His dad was six foot two. These three people looked even taller than his dad. The third thing he noticed was their hoods were pulled down so far he couldn’t see their faces.

  Suddenly they started running.

  Toward him.

  Rahim scrambled to his feet and tried to run, but Lono grabbed him by his shirt.

  “Where you think you going?”

  “Anywhere but here?” Rahim said.

  Lono pulled back his fist.

  That was when one of the three hooded figures grabbed Lono’s wrist.

  “Ow!” Lono howled. The figure pushed Lono in the chest, except that it wasn’t a full touch, just a gentle touch, and Lono went flying into his boys and collapsed in a heap. Before Rahim could say thank you, the hooded figure plucked the phone from his hand.

  “Hey! What are you doing?!” Rahim shouted. The hooded figure started to walk away, when out of nowhere Kasia jumped on its back. She wrapped her arms around its head and started pulling and kicking.

  “Get the phone!” she yelled.

  Rahim ran up and snatched the phone back. The hooded figure reached behind his head, grabbed Kasia by the arm, and tossed her off its back. She went flying through the air, too, landing on Lono and his boys. The second hooded figure came running toward Rahim.

  Rahim made a noise halfway between a scream and a cough and tossed the phone to Kasia.

  Kasia, showing more athletic ability than Rahim had ever seen from her before, jumped off Lono’s back and into the air to catch the phone and take off running. The third hooded figure hurried to block her. Kasia executed a no-look pass back to Rahim.

  Rahim fumbled the phone into the air four or five times before he finally got a grip on it. He took a few steps backward before he started running toward the fence.

  Lono and his boys got up and came at Rahim, but the first hooded figure cut them off as the second chased Rahim. Lono tried to push past the first hooded figure but was stopped with another soft push to the chest. This time Lono rolled with it and got back to his feet as two of his boys jumped on the back of the first figure, while Rahim tossed the phone back to Kasia. He felt like they were playing the most important game of keep-away ever.

  The first figure shook itself like a dog shaking off water from its fur, and both of Lono’s boys fell to the ground. As it did this, its hood slipped backward.

  “What is that?” Lono said in a high-pitched voice.

  “Where’s his face?” Kimo said.

  There was none, only a smooth silver metallic head with no eyes, nose, or mouth. Rahim saw what looked like lightning flowing across the smooth metallic surface, like one of those plasma globes that you can touch without getting shocked. Kasia took this moment to run toward Rahim. Rahim looked over his left shoulder. The unhooded figure was moving on Kasia as Lono and his boys backed up against Rahim. They were now in a semicircle with Kasia behind them and the three figures in front of them.

  The three figures stopped.

  Rahim felt his eyes widen.

  He saw a picture of him and a picture of Kasia appear on the surface of the first figure’s metallic head. The three figures turned to the left, then the right. The one with his hood down took one step forward, then stopped.