Laptops

"Alright! We just need to screw in the last bolt and the time machine will be finished!" Jack's words echoed inside the tiny room, "Ollie dear, pass me the bolt!"
"As you wish," Olivia said, strutting across the room and retrieving a bolt and screwdriver, "I can't believe it's done! We test it and then get a patent, then sell it for millions!"
"Billions!" Jack interjected, "Now come on! Stop dilly dallying over there and give me that bolt!"
As Jack screwed the final bolt in, Olivia's face flushed with pride. This will be a great invention! Greater than the Underwear Hang-Glider itself! They had guaranteed in the making of this time-machine, no underwear or knickers have been harmed. And it was complete. Jack wiped beads of sweat off his face and walked over to Olivia.
It was glorious. A big and metallic time-travelling machine! They could explore ancient civilizations, unravel eternity-old mysteries, and best of all, start a great, great business! This will make sure they have enough money to buy all their games and consoles they need! And they won't have to worry about Mom's feeble weekly pocket money! Instead of receiving just around $10 a week, they can spend $100 a week!
"There!" Jack said proudly, looking at their invention with pride, "The time machine is complete! We'll test it and without fail will get a patent, sell it to the world and what do you get?"
"Glorious money," Olivia said, her eyes lighting up at the thought of endless money, "And a Nobel prize for engineering"
"Right! Let's get started!" Jack said, producing a control from his lab coat. The control was simple with just one, lone button with the words "ON/OFF" scrawled untidily in black marker across the button along with a few finger smudges, "Now press this button and the glory will start!"
"Yeah! Take your laptop with you in case we get bored over there," Olivia suggested, pulling her goggles over her lot of untidy hair, blackened with ash from some explosion in the making of the machine, "Where do you think we should time-travel back to?"
"I'm interested in going back to Ancient Greece, but I do want to go see Marie Antoinette's ages 'cause I'm doing an essay about her"
"In that case, think about it for a moment. I do find the idea of travelling back to Ancient Greece rather interesting, Olivia said, removing bits of ash from her ears, "But if you have your homework, let's go back to Marie Antoinette's age"
"Right, let's go back to the French Revolution. But please, when you visit, stay close to me and stay as invisible as possible," Jack said, "You shouldn't make changes to history!"
"No prob, Jack" Olivia giggled, "I'm reliable"
Jack took his backpack and stuffed his laptop in there. Olivia stuffed both of their phones into his backpack ("How do you think there will be Wi-Fi there?! So phones are handy in mobile hotspot!" Olivia screamed). Jack brought some pen and paper to jot down notes in case his laptop went berserk or no Wi-Fi connection. Not long later, the duo was prepared and they were now standing in front of the machine, ready and excited to go.
"Right! Are you ready?" Jack said, holding the control
"Ready as ever," Olivia said, having some trouble brushing her hair into a bun, "I'm ready to risk my life for you to complete your homework"
"That sounds dark," Jack sighed when Olivia finally managed to sweep it all into a bun
"Right, ready to go! Let's press that button and off we go!"
Jack smiled and pressed the button. Moments later, a big, purple portal began to form, taking shape and taking color. Soon enough, the portal was complete, ready to bring them back to the old times.
"Let's hold hands, Jack. I'm scared," Olivia said, her hand grasping his sleeve.
"Don't worry," Jack cooed, "It's gonna be cool"
But just before Olivia could reply, the door creaked open. They looked at the door to see Coriander, walking elegantly, and seeing their invention. Upon seeing Olivia and Jack, Coriander darted happily over to them, barking happily.
"Coriander, please get out!" Olivia cried as Coriander ran towards them, "We'll see you later and now, get off!"
But Coriander ignored that and leapt into Olivia. Olivia stretched her arms out and Coriander aimed into it but the force of the leap was so strong, it toppled Olivia backwards into the portal!
"ARGHHHHH!" Olivia cried as she fell. Jack managed to hold Coriander back but it growled loudly.
"Alright! Be a good boy! Be a good boy! You'll see Ollie dear later!" Jack cooed to try to cool Coriander's anger, "You'll see Olivia very soon and- uh oh"
Coriander's anger only got stronger with Jack's words and by the time Jack realized it, Coriander was already showing his teeth, covered in the gritty bread Mother fed him earlier. Jack knew it was danger and said, "Oh, is Coriander too angry?" Jack tried to calm Coriander, "What about a milky boney? It should help cool my little Cory down!"
But it did NOT calm Coriander down and he started to edge towards Jack. He gulped and said, "Oh please do not make Daddy fall into the portal!"
But Coriander did not listen and kept on pacing towards Jack. Jack knew it was doom. The swirling portal was waiting behind him and he had to act now.
Coriander growled as he eyed Jack's worried face. But then, Coriander took a leap and Jack fell backwards into the portal!
"ARGHHHHHHH!" Jack screamed as he fell into the portal. At the top of the portal, he still saw Coriander's dog face, looking very confused.
"HELP YOU BRAINLESS MUTT!" Jack cried, but it was too late. The portal closed and so did Coriander's face upon it. Jack fell and fell, falling to his doom. Or is it?
[...]
"Jack? Are you okay? Jackie Jack? Wake up!"
A familiar voice echoed in his brain. His eyes flickered open and he saw a girl's face looming right above him.
"Jack? Are you awake? Wake up!"
"Grr! I'm already awake!" Jack groaned as his eyes flickered open completely, "Where are we?"
"I was hoping you'd know," Olivia said plainly.
Jack's body shot up and cried, "Where are we? Marie Antoinette doesn't live in a desert!"
"Yeah, I think this is Egypt or Dubai or whatever it is" Olivia observed, "And there's people over there!"
"Aw yeah! We're saved! That's God!" Jack said triumphantly, "C'mon! I bet they could let us have a ride on their whatever animal is that"
"I reckon they're camels. C'mon!"
The duo ran frantically over to the people marching on the sand with camels. As they edged closer, little did they knew where they were.
As Olivia and Jack edged closer, their eyes weren't quite prepared for what they were about to see! Men in funny white tunics or even loincloths. Some were wearing these funny brown sandals and some were barefoot on the sand.
The men spotted them and cried out some type of funny language. Olivia was flustered as she reckons she heard them shouting something near a "Ya hilay!"
Jack, flustered by the weird language and clothes they wore, looked at them, "Hi, dudes. May I confirm you are the beings of this land?"
The men looked confused, "My God! What did he just say?!?". The men looked at each other. Jack gulped. Was he teleported to some alien land?
"Okay, okay. Ignore that. I'll say it clearer," Jack said, "Hello. May I confirm, may I know if you are the living beings in this land?"
Once again, the men looked very confused and looked at each other, "My god! Are they some kind of extraterrestrial life??!"
"Oh, Jack! Give up! I think they are speaking in Arabic or something. Olivia stepped in, "No wonder they don't understand us and we don't understand them"
The men contorted their face into confusing walnuts, "Should we bring these foreigners to the king?" a man said
"Yeah, these two are suspicious"
The men then looked at the both. Jack's eyes looked at the men to try and read their minds. Finally, Jack's face contorted with horror.
Oh no. Are they going to get him and Olivia?
"Oh, what are they doing now?" Olivia asked
Then, the men took out ropes.
"Uh-oh. It's doom," Olivia said, looking at the ropes they held.
[...]
"Ah, this is the first time I go on a camel while my arms are bound behind me"
The men had got Olivia and Jack and had bound their hands with ropes. Then they tied both of their bodies onto the humps of a two humped camel. Now, they were on camels, walking through the desert.
"Olivia, as much as you try, you can't exactly lighten up any bad situation" Jack called out from the second hump of the camel, "I think they are taking us to the king or something"
"Really?" Olivia said, "Well then, it is a great opportunity to write an essay and get his autobiography"
[...]
"Ahh! What a long day! Tea time, at last! Bring in the stew! Molokhia if you please!"
King Tut was sitting on his throne, stroking his wooden beard as he called his slaves for a bowl of stew for tea time. Moments later, as he was spooning a bit of stew into his mouth, the doors of his castle opened and his men came flooding in.
"Sire, we had captured two extraterrestrial lives we found in the desert. Decide if these two could be executed"
"Nah, bring them in first" Tut said mindlessly, scooping more stew into his mouth.
Moments later, the men dragged poor Olivia and Jack up to the king. They set them down roughly like prisoners and walked away out of the castle doors.
Olivia squirmed nervously in the ropes that bounded her as the king looked at the pair suspiciously.
"Who are you, alien youngster, doing here?" the king began, looking at Jack
Jack turned to Olivia, "What did he mean by that?!"
"How am I supposed to know?!" Olivia cried, "Well, take your phone out and translate it"
"How do you think Google Translate can translate voices?!" Jack said
"Oh you're such a low key, it can!" Olivia said
Struggling through ropes, Olivia stood up and using her bound hands, she fished her phone out of his backpack. She tried to unlock her phone with her hands bound behind her back.
"Alright. Here's Google Translate. Press the mic and start to speak"
Olivia placed her phone right in front of Jack. With struggle, Jack used his lips to press the mic and started to speak.
"Oh, er, Good afternoon, Tut. We aren't aliens and we came here by accident. You see, our time travel machine went bananas and we ended up here. So mind it"
The king walked over to Jack and looked at the phone. He understood.
He then picked Olivia's phone up and fiddled with the screen.
"Argh! This thing here isn't working!" he cursed
"No, no!" Olivia cried, quite understanding his need, "Press this!"
She indicated the button. The king pressed it and began to speak, "Hmm, I see. Your time machine. You came from the past or the future?". His words were translated smoothly and perfectly.
Olivia retrieved her phone, "Of course we're from the future and we mean no harm to you"
The king studied their faces upon getting their message. He took Olivia's phone and said, "What's this funny contraption, this is?"
Olivia was getting nervous, "A phone" she pronounced into her phone
"Phoo, phon? Phoe-ne- What?!" the king struggled, "Phoe-ne- ne? Phoo-?"
"No, no! It's PHONE!" Jack said, "PHONE"
"Phon?" the King pronounced, "Okay! So phon it is!"
"Er..." Olivia said, not sure if she needs to tell the king his pronunciation is like poo.
"But whatever it is" the king spoke into the translator, "Do you have any other of these types of phon?"
"Yes..." Jack replied in Olivia's phone, "If you untie us"
The king's face crumbled into a walnut, "Why should I? What if you attack me? History would be changed forever!". Spit seemed to be darting quickly out of his mouth and was soon covering Olivia's sorry-looking phone screen.
"Oh, no!" Jack said, "Just untie us and you'll see! We pretty much look like harmless hamsters!"
The king studied their faces for a moment, "Oh, alright! Guards! Untie them! If they attack me, have their throats sliced off to see what happens to criminals that dare to attack me!"
The guards loosened the rope and soon, their arms and legs were free. Olivia smiled, satisfied with the king's grace.
"Alright. Get whatever of these phon you have out right now!" the king scoffed, spit now raining down on Olivia's phone.
The poor duo were now opening Jack's backpack and taking whatever e-devices they got. Jack's phone and laptop went out and onto the castle floor. The king studied it.
"Another phon it is, and... What's that thing there?" the king spat through Olivia's poor phone, "A Mega Phon?"
"No, no, Tut!" Jack said, "It's a computer. Com-Pu-Ter. Get it, Tutti?" Jack said through Olivia's spit-covered phone
"Ooh, interesting words you have" the king sighed, "Com-poo-tier?"
"No" Olivia sighed through her phone, "Com-Pu-Ter!"
"Com-poo-tier?" the king repeated, "Ahh, never mind! I'll stick with Compootier! Right! What does this thing you beings call Compootier do?"
"It's nearly like a phone," Jack explained, looking at his sorry laptop
"Ooh, like a Mega Phon!" the king said excitedly, "Very well then"
"So, what are you going to do with us, then?" Olivia asked politely through her phone
The king thought about it for a moment. Then, moments later, his guards bound them up once again, binding tight cords over their wrists and arms ("What did we do?!" Jack screamed). Olivia, looking baffled said, "What did we do?"
The king looked at them, "I'm very impressed about your inventions like the Compootier and Phon" he smiled, "I could only untie you and bring you back to your time if you can give a sacrifice to me"
The pair looked at each other.
"Eh? A sacrifice?!" Olivia and Jack couldn't believe their ears, "A camel or what?"
The king looked at them with a look of greed, "No, no dears! You need to sacrifice either the phon or the Compootier!"
[...]
"Grr! That funny king! Messing around with our devices"
Jack and Olivia, finally choosing to sacrifice the laptop, were now sitting and fuming in their beds. Olivia's face reddened with anger.
"That king! It's better to sacrifice something else! But why your laptop! He is such a technical freak!"
"Well, no choice" Jack sighed, "We have to sacrifice it for the sake of our lives"