quote:

You ask Tobias if he would like to have a slice of pizza.

"Can't I get anything else?" says Tobias. "Not that I have any objection to the pizza. Just one slice of the pizza. Maybe a slice of pepperoni and maybe a slice of sausage. I'm also looking for some dinner rolls, too, but I'm afraid I don't have enough money to buy them."

You go to the receptionist, and give her a $20 bill.

"What are the dates for you two?" she asks.

"Saturday," says Dr. Sheppard. "We're flying to Paris on the 19th, and then we're going to have dinner at the hotel."

"This is excellent," says Tobias. "I'm sure I'll be able to eat a whole pizza in the past in a day or two."

"You'll have a bit more time then, because we are travelling to the past now".

Dr. Sheppard waves his hands and you are transported to the past!

"Okay," you say. "What do we have to do?"

"We've only been gone a few seconds, but already it's an improvement. We should be able to find anything in an hour. Let's go into the alley behind the Burger Joint and see what we can find."

Dr. Sheppard takes you into the alley, and says "There!"

You see a large puddle of something that looks like water, but also like blood.

"It's from a can of whipped cream," says Dr. Sheppard.

"Don't you ever get tired of saying that?" says Tobias. "I mean, the man's a genius, but he sure does say it a lot."

"I'm sorry, I'm just really hungry. There are 3 facts you have to keep in mind when traveling to the past: first , I eat whatever I find in the time machine. Second, I never use cash. Instead, I take notes. That way, if I need to go back to the present, I don't have to worry about money. Third, no one gets to complain about the food."

"Are you sure you don't have any other suggestion?" You ask.


"I don't think so," says Dr. Sheppard.

"Okay," you say. "But if this is an adventure in eating food, I'm not sure that I like it."

"What?" says Dr. Sheppard.

"I'm just kidding," says Tobias. "I don't mind, it's your idea. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much."

"It's just food. We're not in the pizza business."

"I guess you're right," says Dr. Sheppard.

You get inside the Restaurant: it is a weird restaurant, full of unfamiliar food. The food on the shelves is all unfamiliar to you: it looks like either the food you grew up on, or like the food you imagine might be in the future. A waiter takes your order and brings you the food. You start to eat and you find that the food is wonderful, and you eat it all, including the whipped cream. When you look around, you notice that you are not in the restaurant of your past.

"You mean you never eat at this restaurant?" asks Dr. Sheppard. "How are you supposed to solve the mystery?"

"I'll think of something," you say.

"Good, because there's something I have to tell you about yourself."

"I'm a celebrity detective?" asks Tobias.

"No, no, that's not it at all," says Dr. Sheppard. "It's called an anachronemist."

"What is an anachronemist?" asks Tobias.

"Well, I guess it's pretty obvious," says Dr. Sheppard. "That's what we're going to be doing: we're going to figure out what's going to happen."

"Okay," says Tobias. "Let's get to work. Let's go see what's happening in the future."

"Here is an account of the past from a time traveler," said Dr. Sheppard, waving his arms. "This is from one of the most accurate historians in the future, and, trust me, it's right on the money."

Dr. Sheppard walks to the recording booth and shows you a small screen that shows what is going on in the future.

The doctor shows you a few slides representing each of the Missing Items. You decide you want to start your investigation by tracking down:

- Missing Object n.1: Hippodrome, which is a medieval stadium of unusual size that is falling apart. It has more than enough room for the races of all of the world's major nations. There's also a large pit in the middle of the stadium that would be good for luge.

- Missing Object n.2: The Device that Makes It Rain, an Egyptian lightning device; A golden rod that causes it to rain when hit with a thunderbolt. According to the inventor, this has only happened twice in all of recorded history.

- Missing Object n.3: Your Missing Childhood, which is you.

- Missing Object n.4: The Computer That Is Your Grandfather's Dream Computer, which has been stolen from the Space Opera Library in order to fund another movie.

- Missing Object n.5: The First Blender, invented by one Mr. Cain (there are over twenty-five million miles of known petroleum reserves on the planet), but there are many other blenders with the same features, and it is unknown whether all of them are the same design. This blender, in any case, cannot be produced or distributed except by Mr. Cain, and he only has so many computers to build new blenders out of.

- Missing Object n.6: Simon Goughnett, last seen around 1900, the year it is most commonly believed the Grandfather Clock was invented, but there is no real proof of this, and his disappearance has never been explained.

- Missing Object n.7: The Commonwealth of Auzza, a utopian society run entirely by robots.

- Missing Object n.8: The Myth of Necessity, a paradoxical object of some importance in Auzza, which is being kept in a safe place and from which no one can steal.

- Missing Object n.9: The Antling, an imaginary creature that seems to have an almost inborn desire to die. The story goes that any successful attempt to capture it will lead to immediate death.

- Missing Object n.10: The Tickling Plague, which supposedly comes from overreaction to the abduction of a tickling antler. There are no reports of any other cases, either.

"One last thing" says Dr. Sheppard: "Remember that once you have found one of this Missing Items, all of the other objects will turn out to be metaphorical. Remember this, Tobias; it may save you a lot of time."