“It should work..”, Jay muttered, turning the spanner a half-turn to lock down the final bolt.
He heaved a sigh of contentment as he let the spanner fall clattering from his hand. The work was complete and he was glad that it was. Between the myriad interruptions by Tomo, Tomo and more Tomo, it had required far more time than Jay had originally allotted to finish this project. Even so, he stepped back to observe his work, hoping that he had reassembled all the parts correctly after Tomo unexpectedly tackled him through the machine, scattering the bits astray.

“Perfect~”, he lauded. “Now to try it out!”

He turned and traced the power-cord, picking up the plug and making his way toward the outlet. As he turned toward the door, he spotted the form of someone who had apparently made their way into the basement without him hearing.
He smiled upon noticing who it was.

“Why, hello there Kaida-chan!”, he exclaimed, waving his free hand to the little girl.

“Hi.”, she muttered.

She nervously clutched her orange tiger plush close to her body, nuzzling it softly with her cheek for comfort. Jay only barely managed to keep his heart beating normally when he noticed she was wearing the tiger print pyjamas she had received for her birthday that very day.

“What are you doing down here?”, he asked. “Couldn’t you sleep?”

She shook her head, the ears of her Dad cap flopping about, making her look even more adorable if that were humanly possible.

“Do your parents know you’re here?”, Jay asked, plugging in the machine as he did so.

She shook her head again, a blush creeping to her face as she recognised the issue of disobeying her parents.

“I think you should hop off to bed then….I’m about to test a new machine of mine.”, Jay suggested, motioning to the capsule-like mechanism.

“What is it?”, Kaida asked, plodding forward in her small slippers to stare curiously into the machine.

“It’s an Alternate-Life Explorer!”, Jay boasted. “It allows the user to see how different their life will be if certain choices are made!”

Kaida stared into the silvery monstrosity for a few more moments before turning to Jay and gazing up at him with a sallow look, her deep eyes seeming to drink his soul with their placid nature.

“Can I see?”, she asked, blushing and averting her gaze.

“Uh..umm…”, Jay halted, having been paralysed by the possibility of something going awry. “It might be dangerous..and a bit scary too…so..umm..”

Kaida shook her head again, causing her entire torso to turn in a rather amorous way.

“I wanna go.”, she repeated.

“Are you sure?”, Jay questioned, his voice cracked and strained due to the ravishing anxiety. “I mean…..I will take all necessary precautions…”

Kaida nodded swiftly, the ears of her hat bobbing in turn.

“Well…okay then.”, Jay flicked on the power switch and the machine clattered to life, the roaring intake of air soon replaced by the calming hum of the antimatter engine.

He leaned over to the little girl.

“May I pick you up?”, he asked politely.

She nodded and Jay hefted her into his arms. It would be easier to keep track of her in this manner.

‘At least she weighs less than Koharu…’, he mused silently.

“Let’s do this, shall we?”, Jay grinned broadly as he stepped into the machine with Kaida in his arms.

“Yay!”, she responded, the slightest hint of a smile gracing her usually-placid face.

“Ok…let’s set it fifteen years in the future..on the Epsilon time wave…with Pro-Hermetic Aerial Distortion set to +3…”, Jay muttered as he fiddled with the dials and levers. Kaida looked on curiously as he did so, her little mind spinning with thoughts of what the future may hold for her.

“Here we go!”, Jay announced as he downed the lever that shut the heavy metal door with a reverberation that shuddered the machine.

Kaida, startled by the movement, kneaded her plush in fear. Yet, the shuddering continued as Jay turned from the door to face the screen above the control panel; it was a bit larger than the average computer monitor.

The monitor lit up as the shuddering became calmer, like a lake returning to its natural tranquil state after ripples have disturbed the surface. Upon the monitor was shown first the skyline of a blasted city, ruined skyscrapers and fallen hunks of baseless concrete scattered along the streets and alleyways. It was a scene of primal destruction on a scale never seen before.

“W-what…”, Jay stuttered in abject horror.

Kaida clung to his lab coat with the utmost ferocity. She was horrified, but could not bring herself to look away; this was one of her possible futures after all.

The screen panned downward toward the flat top of a tall building. Two tiny figures could be seen scampering across the detritus that was scattered about the location. As the screen moved in closer, what was an amorphous blob from above soon resolved itself into a hovering helicopter. Approaching closer, the two figures resolved themselves into Kaida at the forefront, still wearing her blue Dad-cap and a busty red-haired girl who had tumbled over a broken concrete pillar.

“Kaida!”, the red-head wailed, falling to her knees. “I..I can’t go on!”

“Don’t say such stoooopid things!”, Kaida hollered, her voice seemingly distorted by a ridiculous accent. “GET IN THA CHOPPA!”

“But Kaida….I…I…”, the red-head repeated, tears flowing from her clenched eyes.

“OPEN YOUR EYES!”, Kaida screamed back, grabbing the girl by the collar and lifting her effortlessly. “NOW GET IN THA CHOPPA!”
---
Jay and the child Kaida were taken aback by the situation that was unfolding before them. They simply blinked in confusion. Kaida was not scared, per se. She was more concerned about where she had obtained that absurd accent…and why she was speaking English.
---
“DON’T MAKE ME GIVE YOU THA FEEEEEST!”, older Kaida spat, jostling the girl by her collar.

“K-KAIDA!! WHY!?”, the busty girl wailed, her red hair fluttering behind her.

Kaida grimaced and tossed the girl aside, her body striking the ground with a thud.

“AH’LL BE BAKK!”, Kaida muttered, sprinting her way to the waiting helicopter and latching on to a hanging rope.

As the helicopter moved away fro, the building, she seemed to pull an automatic weapon from the Abyss and began to fire away randomly at the ground below her for no apparent reason.

The screen then cut back to the other girl lying on the dusty roof, panting heavily.
“Kaida…I loved you…why…”, she mumbled through her copious tears.
---
When Jay and Kaida were finally able to pick their jaws off the floor, they decided that it would be prudent to try a different timeline; hopefully one less…grim.

“You okay there, Kaida-chan?”, Jay asked as he dialled in a different set of celestial coordinates.

Kaida nodded, squeezing tightly on her tiger plush.

“Ok…here we go….Hope for a good one…”, Jay muttered as the machine once more began to rumble.

Just as before, the shuddering calmed quickly and the screen began to lighten.
---
“Give her back!”, Kaida screamed, her voice echoing around the ominously Gothic interior of the castle pinnacle.

  Light that filtered through the stained-glass windows was all that illuminated her baby-blue tunic and cap; the seeping cap adorned with the eyes and ears of her normal Dad-cap.

She swung her sword threateningly as she gazed at the floating figure in the centre of the room.

“NEVER!”, he cackled, his glasses fogging up from the steam of his gaping maw.
---
“Kimura!? You have got to be kidding me…”, Jay blurted out, catching Kaida’s attention.

“Who?”, she asked innocently.

“You don’t wanna know…”, he answered as their gazes were drawn back to the screen.
---
“You’’ never succeed!”, Kaida grit her teeth in anger.

“Haha! You dare face me!?”, Kimura gloated, his billowing cape flowing about his dastardly form. “I will take your precious princess as my bride….then I will be unstoppable!”

“Not if I can stop you first!”, Kaida launched herself aggressively at Kimura, who had drawn his own blasphemous blade.

The swords clashed and sparks flew, filling the room with an even dimmer light. They continued to exchange blows until Kimura gained the upper-hand, batting Kaida back to the wall.

“I have you now!”, Kimura let out a rather lecherous giggle that cost him precious time.

“You cannot win!”, Kaida cried, drawing her bow with an arrow that shined brightly with a holy, cleansing light. An instant later, she released her bolt, sending the arrow sailing into Kimura’s wide-open mouth.

He did not even have time to cry out before the light engulfed everything, dissolving him away in tiny motes of energy.

Without wasting a second, Kaida sprinted over to the far wall where a large, indigo gem had dissipated, sending the red-haired girl within slumping to the floor.

“Princess? PRINCESS!?”, Kaida questioned, her anxiety taking hold.

The princess moaned in her arms and she smiled.

“Kaida..my hero….”
---
Jay and Kaida were once again flabbergasted by what they had just witnessed. It all seemed far too unreal to be the true future of this calm, collected little girl.

“Damn thing must be broken….”, Jay muttered under his breath.

Kaida wiggled in his arms, catching his attention.

“One more?”, she asked.

“E-ermm…I guess…”, Jay spoke, setting down another set of coordinates into the machine.
---
The screen lightened to show a beautiful, serene park in springtime. Flowers and trees were in full-bloom and the place was a bustle of sunshine and happy individuals. Families strolled down the pathways, children clutching the hands of their parents. Mothers smiled brightly and giggled as fathers played tag with their offspring. Couples walked hand-in-hand along the gleaming sapphire waters of the central lake. A teenage girl pointed as a flock of ducks took to the air, eliciting a kind smile from her boyfriend.

The screen scanned across these sights which brought a smile to the lips of Jay and Kaida to bring into focus a certain, now familiar, couple. They walked together, holding hands, down by the gorgeous fountain which seemed to have been deposited on Earth from the heavens themselves. The red-haired girl cheerfully pulled Kaida toward the fountain and stood looking up into the plumes of water that painted the sky.

“Do you remember this fountain?”, the red-haired girl asked, never taking her gaze from the leaping water.

Kaida blushed a deep crimson. Her former stiff posture left at that instant, returning her to a more womanly state.

“W-well..yes….”, she mumbled, her lips halted by her nerves, “T-this is where we.umm..first kissed.”
---
Jay gasped. Kaida stayed silent in his arms and simply watched the events unfold.
---
“That’s right.”, the other girl said with a bright smile, turning to Kaida and reaching into her pocket to withdraw a small object.

“Huh?”, Kaida grunted, blinking in confusion at the situation.

Kaida’s beautiful, busty companion dropped to one knee and held up a sparkling golden ring. The circle was unbroken and atop it gleamed a bright faceted diamond.

“Kaida Sakaki-Kagura….will you marry me?”
---
“GAAWHHHHAAA!?”, Jay gasped with shock. Even Kaida let out a short intake of breath to show her own surprise.

“This thing HAS to be broken….”, Jay mumbled.

As if to answer his curse, the screen went dark and the machine began to shake viciously. Jay clutched Kaida to his chest for dear life and sat at the bottom of the cubicle in a brace position.

Kaida squealed slightly as the rumbles grew in intensity before sputtering off to nothing.

Slowly, Jay got to his feet and checked the controls. There was no more power flowing to the engine. He then turned to the door and only had to reach out and touch it; it seemed to open of its own accord.

To his relief, the room it opened upon was his own laboratory, and standing with the plug in her hands was none other than Kagura.

“So THAT’S where you went!”, she gasped, grabbing Kaida from Jay’s arms and holding her close. “Don’t ever do something so dangerous ever again!”

“I’m sorry Mama…”, Kaida muttered in apology.

As if she had never noticed him, Kagura continued to reprimand her child softly as she made her way upstairs, the door closing after her.

“…Okay then…”, Jay shrugged, turning to check the central circuitry of the machine.
He loosened a few bolts and popped off the cover to the main drive circuit board.

The problem caught his eye right away.

The main time continuum switch was set from “Reality’ to ‘Pipe Dream’.

His roar was unstoppable.

“GODS DAMMIT, TOMO!”