David Sterling was sitting opposite Dr. Edwin Zoft. Zoft was working on the back of Arnie’s head.

‘Arnie wouldn’t have been possible without you, David’ - said Zoft

‘Thank you Mr. Sterling’ - said Arnie

‘The powercell is your creation, and Arnie’s body is made from your materials’ - said Zoft - ‘Without that powercell it wouldn’t be impossible to power Arnie, and to keep his brain functioning. He requires a lot of power!’

‘But the magic is all yours, Dr. Zoft’ - said David, smiling.

Zoft continued working on Arnie’s head.

‘How does it work, Mr. Sterling?’ - said Arnie

‘The machine?’ - said David

‘Yes, the time machine’ - said Arnie

‘That is a very good question, Arnie. And one that I am not entirely sure how to answer’ - said David

‘What do you mean, Mr. Sterling?’ - said Arnie

‘I mean I knew how to build it. All the bits it needed. The powercell was key, and the material. The time machine uses a huge amount of power, and has 22 power cells inside of it. The material had to be incredibly strong, and light. But how it actually works is a bit of a mystery, Arnie’ - said David

‘That is odd’ - said Arnie

‘Most people think of time, Arnie, like a river or a stream flowing. Flowing in one direction. Time moves forward, like a river flows downhill. In reality Arnie, time is more akin to a movie reel. It can be rewound or played forward. Every frame of the movie reel is a moment of time, and the machine allows me to move to a specific frame on the movie reel, and then jump back to the one I was on’ - said David - ‘Like rewinding a movie on an old VHS machine’

‘I understand’ - said Archie

‘The machine allows me to fold the reel so that the frame I am in - the time I am in - is aligned to the frame I want to go to - the time I want to go to. The machine can do this regardless of how many frames - or how much time - are in between. The energy the machine produces punches a hole in the frames, connecting them and allowing the machine to move to the between them’ - said David

‘Interesting’ - said Arnie - ‘And why 67 million years ago?’

‘I don’t know, Arnie. I have always had a desire, a burning desire. A need to travel there’ - said David

‘To travel where?’ - said Arnie

‘To here, but 67 million years ago’ - said David

‘Not anywhere else, 67 million years ago?’ - said Arnie

‘No, it has to be here’ - said David

‘That is interesting’ - said Arnie

‘Okay Arnie, I think we are just about ready’ - said Zoft

‘What will happen, Dr. Zoft?’ - said Arnie

‘Well I am going to shut you down…’ - said Zoft

‘Will I dream, Dr. Zoft?’ - said Arnie

Zoft laughed.

‘Very good Arnie’ - said Zoft, still chuckling - ‘So I am going to shut you down, pull out your brain - the CPU - and move you over to the 201. Then move the power cells, and then run some diagnostics. Then if the 201 is working okay, I will power your brain back up and we will hopefully be in business’ - said Zoft

‘I understand’ - said Arnie

‘Are you ready?’ - said Zoft

‘Yes Dr. Zoft’ - said Arnie

Zoft powered down Arnie, and the lights in his eyes went out.

Zoft removed the CPU from Arnie’s head and moved over to the 201 unit and slid the CPU into the unit’s head. Zoft worked on securing the CPU and then reattached the top plate that covered the top of the 201’s head.

Zoft transferred the power cells over and then opened the chest plate of the 201 and entered a code on the touchpad.

‘Diagnostic checks’ - said Zoft

Zoft sat down next to Arnie.

‘Thank you David’ - said Zoft

‘For?’ - said David

‘For busting me out’ - said Zoft

‘Oh, no problem. It was my pleasure’ - said David

‘Did you bust me out just to come on the “adventure” with you?’ - said Zoft

‘Well, I thought you could probably do with a holiday’ - said David - ‘And I thought it might be useful to have the world's second cleverest man along for the ride’

‘Just as long as we don’t get eaten’ - said Zoft

They sat in silence for a moment.

‘Well, I am going to get some zeds’ - said Zoft - ‘It will be a couple of hours before I can fire up Arnie and then we will see if the transfers worked’

‘Okay, I am going to head over to the camp. Grab a bite to eat’ - said David

David left the trailer and Zoft stretched out on the couch. The lights on the panel of the 201 unit flashed, and Arnie gave sporadic twitches.

Dr. Edwin Zoft awoke. The lights on the front of the 201 unit were all green.

‘We are in business Arnie’ - said Zoft

Zoft stood and walked over the 201 unit and tapped a sequence on the chest panel and then closed the panel door.

The lights in the 201 unit flickered, and then came on. The unit sat up and looked at Dr. Zoft.

‘Who are you?’ - said the 201 unit.

‘Very funny, Arnie’ - said Zoft

‘I try’ - said Arnie

‘How do you feel?’ - said Zoft

Arnie moved his arms and his head.

‘Dangerous, Dr. Zoft’ - said Arnie

‘You are dangerous, Arnie. An armored commando unit’ - said Zoft

‘Can we try it out?’ - said Arnie

Zoft walked to the trailer door and looked out. There was no one around.

‘Okay, out the trailer and then head out towards that abandoned trailer. Get behind it’ - said Zoft

Arnie moved to the door and scanned the area outside of the Trailer and towards the camp.

‘I see that this unit has improved optical sensors, Dr. Zoft’ - said Arnie

‘Oh yes, Arnie. Everything on this unit is designed for combat’ - said Zoft - ‘And you will be faster now’

Zoft stepped out of the trailer, and Arnie followed and ran to the abandoned trailer. Zoft jogged after him and met Arnie behind the trailer.

‘Yes Dr. Zoft, much faster’ - said Arnie

‘Your old unit was designed for press conferences, showing you off at universities, and to attract investors, Arnie. This one is for commando, assault, and tactical operations. I think you will like it’ - said Zoft

The new unit Arnie was within stood 2.5 meters tall. It was painted in desert camouflage. The right arm was fitted with a pulse cannon that fired high-energy bursts powered from the unit's power cell. On the left arm was a mini rocket launcher with 12 rounds. Each round was capable of traveling 300 meters and was armor piercing and loaded with high explosive. On the rear of the unit was a cannon that fired grenades. In the stowed position it ran along the unit's back. In the active position it sat on the unit’s shoulder. On both arms were retractable blades that extended 50 centimeters.

‘It is very quiet, the unit’ - said Arnie

‘Silent but deadly’ - said Zoft

Zoft and Arnie wandered out away from the camp, and out towards the plain.

‘Okay - we won't try the rockets or grenades. But let’s give the cannon a go’ - said Zoft

Arnie held up his right arm, and blasted the cannon. Two dozen blue balls of energy shot from the cannon, flying off across the plain.

‘All the weapons systems should be integrated in to your CPU’ - said Zoft

‘Yes, I have access to them’ - said Arnie

‘The energy pulses are not armor piercing, but will drop pretty much anything that doesn’t have armor, or light armor’ - said Zoft

‘Accurate to 200 meters’ - said Arnie

‘Yes’ - said Zoft - ‘All weapons systems are integrated with your optics, with sighting’

‘I don’t believe Dinosaurs had armor’ - said Arnie

‘Well, let’s hope we don’t have to use any of this’ - said Zoft.

They returned to the camp, and snuck back into Dr. Hall’s trailer.