Dortmund, Germany
August 21, 2057

It was hard to put into gentle words the fate of Evangeline's beloved pet. She awoke that day without the aid of Schneider's warm and wet tongue caressing her cheek. She searched high and low around the house that morning before Eria knelt down and attempted to provide an explanation.

"So, so," Eva said between sobs. "Is he coming back?"

"Who knows?" Eria said with an accompanying shrug. "We might see him again one day. Sometimes, an old dog just wanders about and comes home. They do that, taking journeys around the world in search of new places to see, more faces to lick, more rubber balls to play with. And then when he misses us, fwish! There he comes, running right back. It's called a midlife crisis, methinks."

Still, Eva wept unrelentingly. Eria threw her arms around her and held the weeping girl close. Resting Eva's head on her shoulder, Eria revealed her guilty frown. She was not sure what exactly became of Schneider, or where he may have been taken. For all she knew, he could be much closer than they thought. While half of her bore the remorse of lying, the other half hoped what she said was true.

Then she took notice of the stuffed animal resting on a chair nearby, the same one she had given to Eva on Christmas. She reached and took it gently in her hands, presenting it to Eva.

"Ah, you see. Here he is. It might not be the real Schneider, but keep him with you and you'll always have him right beside you."

As Eva took her toy dog, her grief only let up slightly, her eyes and nostrils still running almost endlessly with tears. Now, at least, she was no longer hyperventilating as she cried. Eria sighed, pondering her next move.

"...Tell you what, get yourself cleaned up fast, and I'll make you those chocolate chip pancakes. You know, your favorite."

Eva's crying slowly ceased, and when the tears stopped coming she sniffled away the messy remnants. She looked up at Eria and nodded, who responded with a smile.

"That's a good girl. After breakfast, whaddya say we go to the park and watch the bunnies? They love to scamper around in the fields right around this time of day."

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Eva sat at the table delightfully devouring a short stack of pancakes with her plush dog occupying the seat next to her. Excusing herself from the kitchen and leaving behind a glass of orange juice and a bowl of sugary cereal and milk, Eria held the phone to her ear cautiously as she wandered into a secluded corner of the house.

"Hey, I finally got the time machine to work."

"Uh-huh. Yeah, it turned itself on for the first time, I mean, but I've still got some bugs to work out."

"Uh-huh. That's right. The vortex opened. Unfortunately our dog got caught up in it. No idea what happened to him in the vortex. The blasted thing was quite stubborn to turn off. Ate up a lot of my blueprints and scrap sheets, too."

"Is it ready? No, no, didn't you hear me? It's dangerous, I still need to fix it. Listen, I'd rather not have anyone know about this, alright? This stays between us, you hear me?"

"Uh-huh, yeah, I'll be going now. Got some breakfast to eat... Yeah, say hi to everyone for me. Bye."