The words on the wall slowly disappeared.
FIND ME BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.
“I think she needs help,” Mila said quietly.
“Or she’s getting us into trouble,” Emil murmured.
The bell turned the next corner.
The children followed it. This time faster.
The young Bruno suddenly ran alongside them.
“I’m coming along!” he said determinedly.
“That might not be a good idea,” said the older Bruno.
“Why not?” asked his younger self.
The older Bruno hesitated. “Because… it’s complicated.”
“I like complicated,” said young Bruno.
“That’s unfortunately true,” the older one murmured.
The bell stopped in front of an old door.
On it was written:
ENGINE ROOM
“I’ve never been in here,” said Bruno.
“Me neither,” said his younger self.
“That doesn’t reassure me,” said Emil.
The door opened by itself.
Slowly. Creaking.
The room behind was huge.
Gears everywhere. Pipes. Cables.
And in the middle of the room…
…stood an even bigger machine than before.
Old. Dusty. But active.
“That’s the main control,” whispered Bruno.
The little bell floated toward it.
And settled on a small pedestal.
Ding.
The big machine awoke.
All the gears began to turn.
“Oh oh,” said Leo.
Text appeared on an old screen:
SYSTEM ERROR TIME SEQUENCE DAMAGED BREAK LOG INCOMPLETE
“What does that mean?” asked Mila.
XR-3000 would be very helpful now, thought Emil.
Bruno stepped closer.
“The bell… belongs to the school’s time control.”
“What?!” shouted Leo.
“In the past, everything here was controlled mechanically,” explained Bruno.
“Lessons, breaks… everything ran through this machine.”
“And now it’s broken?” asked Mila.
The little bell made a soft sound.
Ding…
Almost sad.
“I think… it has lost something,” said Emil.
“What?” asked Leo.
The screen flickered again.
And showed a new word:
MEMORY
The children looked at each other.
“How do you lose a memory?” asked Mila.
Suddenly the machine began running faster again.
KRRR… KRRR… DING!
The walls flickered.
And young Bruno disappeared for a moment…
…and reappeared.
“I think we don’t have much time left,” he said.