"Excuse me?"
The guard turned to look at me again.
" If, just if, I give you the time machine, would you let me out?"I asked. I considered the possibility of him saying yes before I asked. The possibility is more than 50% because anyone would release a girl who's no even a criminal from the jail to get a treasure that would be worth a lot of value. At least, I would. Human greed was pretty predictable.
The guard coughed uncomfortably,"I don't think I should be talking about this here. ...But since you asked, yes." He looked away.
I didn't let the topic drop."Really? Wow that must be worth a lot of money."
Silence...
I took the time machine out of my pocket and went to the entrance of the cell. I waved the machine at him, "Is this what you want?"
His eyes bulged out in surprise. I was scared for a second, I thought the guard didn't have any emotions!
"Where'd you get that?!" The guard half-whispered. I didn't dare tell him that I found this on my bed, just in case he searches my house and then kills my parents or something.
"Er...the....antique shop!" I tried to make it sound as reasonable and plausible as possible.
"Why do you have the time machine? Are you sure this is not a fake replica of it?" the guard got quite excited, "wait, can you give it to me?" The guard tried reaching inside the cell and grabbing the machine from my hands since I was near him. I quickly backed away.
"No.....only if you open the cell and let me go. I'm not guilty in the first place anyway. Think of all the things that you can do with the time machine. It would be way better than just guarding an innocent little girl for nothing. Right?"
The guard's ability to change his personality was impressive. He eagerly nodded,"Of course, of course. Give it to me now."
"Um, not until you open the door," I bargained. "Open now and I will give it to you."
The guard's intense excitement seemed to make him lose his mind. He opened the cell door without hesitation. I was very disgusted at what the guard would to for his own benefit, at how he betrays his leader just to get money and valuable goods. This guard was so stupid. The plan worked better than I thought.
As soon as he opened the door, I tried to activate the time machine. Even though I was tired, I still had my adrenaline to help me. I tried to focus my emotion on how human greed can influence a person's action and therefore affect the society around them. I felt my anger rising at how there is such stupid things like human greed. I hated myself for feeling selfish in the first place. But I guess human nature couldn't be helped. Within seconds, my anger raised to a point where the time machine activated.
"Ah. I see that you have learned the art of controlling and expanding your emotions. Now that you have activated me, you have the same choices as last time. The good news is that you managed to activate me before the guard grabbed you. The bad news is that your energy level is low and therefore you only have about 5 minutes to do whatever you need to do. Spend these 5 minutes wisely. What do you want to do now?"
Without hesitation, I said," I want to make time freeze, right here and right now. Can you keep the time frozen until I have minimal energy left to survive? I want as much time as I can."
"Sure. But beware that there will be consequences after a long period of frozen time, as you've requested."
I couldn't think of any other ways to save myself except for using all my energy and freeze time. "It doesn't matter now. Quickly start!!"
There wasn't any reply anymore. I started working out my plan.
First, I told myself to search the frozen guard for anything valuable, within 1 minute. I looked through his pockets and shirt, not even daring to waste time to prank him. I found an identity card, just like the main police officer's, and also a set of keys on a ring. As soon as I saw that other things were not worth taking, I took off to the exit of the jail.
I tried to ignore the disgusting smell that flew out of those cells along the way. Fortunately, this jailhouse was not one of those that were maze-like. I could even see an exit sign that shines red through the dimness of the hall. I laughed. This was going way too easy. I pushed open the door, and I came to an office. It's a tiny office that had a window on it's wall. Through the window, I could see the streets and the busy pedestrians. Yes! I'm almost free! By the window, there was a door. I grabbed the handle and tried to open it. No luck. I did the only thing possible: trying every single key on that ring of keys. After a few trials and errors, I came to the right key. I felt extremely relieved. I could feel my grin, wide on my face.
The voice popped out again," Last reminder, you have 2 more minutes left. Hurry."
All my grin drained from my face. 2 minutes! I had to be faster. I bolted out of the door and onto the street. I considered my options, either run away from here as far as I can or run home. I canceled out the choice of my house immediately. If the police officer already knew that much data about me, then he must know where I live. It was not a safe place. Plus I don't know how I can get there within 2 minutes. I started running, with no clear destination in mind. I ran and ran, but my legs didn't feel tired, I guess that's the benefit of frozen time. I rushed past all the stores and houses, admiring the beauty of the storefronts in the night.
"19, 18, 17, 16..." A countdown began in my mind. Oh no, I have to arrive somewhere before it ends! I saw a Starbucks just around the corner, I dashed in and picked up a piece of newspaper from the stand along the way, and sat on a chair. I held onto the newspaper, hoping that I would look like a normal customer, not having a flushed face and scared expression.
"4, 3, 2, 1..." the countdown ended. I felt the effect of the long run rush over me. My head started pounding, as if someone is poking it with a needle every second, but even worse.
"Hey, are you okay? You look..." That was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.
A/N: Was this chapter's pace too rushed? I felt like I should have expanded on the details even more. I hope it's okay for you. Like, share, and comment :). I would love your constructive feedback! I wrote this whole chapter without planning nor editing. Basically it's improvised. Ahahaha. ha. ha....
Carrot cake and New York cheesecake,
Jessica ~
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