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Once upon a time -- or was it long, long ago? -- whichever it was, tales that revolved around a certain west coast American town filled with people of higher than usual level of intellect were of a fantastic nature and tended to start that way. To say the population of the little hamlet were unusual would be being kind, but it does give them unique stories to tell. However, this little yarn revolves around on particular resident, a man of short stature and nearsightedness. The young man had a bit of a reputation, a singularly unfair one in his own not so humble opinion, of being incompetent when really it was just bad luck. He was determined to prove it as such the next time a situation arose, something that normally only took a few days, a week or two at most. It would appear however, that Eureka, Oregon was currently suffering from a crisis drought. Each day that passed was increasing the odds that he would once again be the victim not the hero and that just would not do. If something didn't go wrong soon, he might have to stoop to triggering a crisis just to finally get to be a hero. This had been tried before in Eureka, but not with any success.
Sheriff Jack Carter was sitting at his desk at his office, simply enjoying the lull in mishaps at Global Dynamics. 'It's better than a vacation,' he thought as he reviewed the various snacks that currently sat within arms reach. The selection included a variety of cookies and candy, all homemade, all from a church bake sale. It struck him funny that something so normal would actually happen given the town's tendency to over achieve on everything including simple fundraising. It appeared that Reverend Harper had decided to scale back the outrageous suggestions the congregation had put forward and go old fashioned this time around. He was sure that there was some catch attached to the treats he was popping into his mouth, lowering cholesterol or some other innocuous health related assistance, because the fine folks of this town could not leave well enough alone, but hey, they sure tasted good. Well mostly. He tipped the bowl holding some colourful candy to one side, that last batch wasn't on par with what he had eaten earlier.
Deputy Jo Lupo strolled into the Sheriff's Department with two coffees from Cafe Diem when she found her partner still in that very position, staring into the bowl, not moving not blinking, just sitting there. She didn't need the years of experience she had with this twisted little town to know that the drought was over and new misadventure had begun. Placing the coffees down, she waved her hand in front of Carter's face and heaved a heavy sigh when she got no response. "Well this is different," she muttered to herself as she picked up the phone. "Usually he doesn't get victimized until after we start the investigation."
A short phone call later found several of GD's top scientists crowding into the Sheriff's office with various cutting edge technology to assess the situation. Normally it would be very amusing to hear the sheriff either misconstruing the purpose of each and every device being used or mispronouncing or misusing terms when he did understand. However, since as he was the one being swept to find the why of his current predicament that element was sorely missed from the scene. Not surprisingly, the GD team was being led by Doctor Henry Deacon, wasn't just one of their top scientists whowith expertise in a multitude of fields: he was also Carter's best friend. He would insist on being part of the team. He assessed the numerous readings being generated, his face giving away nothing as he determined the meaning behind the data.
Smiling at the very pensive looking Jo, who was leaning against he own desk, nibbling on her thumb nail, he gave her a little nod and stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "He is definitely alive and in great health I might add, though S.A.R.A.H. is correct about his cholesterol levels. He is however a little more statuesque than usual."
"You don't say," Jo snorted. "I thought I'd like to not hear his teasing or trivial chitchat, but him sitting there like that isn't quite what I had in mind. So do you know what's up?"
Henry's eyes widened a little and he breathed a sigh, "No idea. We haven't been able to detect any pathogens that might explain Jack's sudden immobility. Not unexpected as I am inclined to rule out biological causes, but can't really say for sure till we get him back to the GD infirmary."
"So you're thinking a more artificial cause? Some sort of technology at play?" Jo asked, walking over toward her boss as the team rolled in a stretcher to place the man on for transportation. Leaning over to look the man in the eyes, looking for signs of life that Henry was telling her were there, Jo added sarcastically, "I mean that never happens here."
Henry walked around the desk, he gave a little bark of laughter. "You're right. That never..."
Jo looked up as the older scientist stopped mid-sentence. Henry had place a hand on Carter's should while speaking to her and now he was standing as still as the sheriff was sitting. Jo's eye twitched a little as she took in the change in the scenery. "Dammit Henry!" she muttered. "I think you may have ruled out biology a little too soon."
One of the doctors Henry had brought with him gave a little shrug. "I am going to have to call GD to have hazmat suits brought down, because I'm not touching either of them." The others nodded in agreement. However when Fargo arrived with the suits it did not improve the situation, it simply added another two staff members of GD to what was now a growing human sculpture.
"I'm guessing we are going to have to solve this with them sitting there," Fargo stated, his arms folded over his chest. He stared at the creepy composition being built in front of them. "What ever is happening, touching them is out. I'm guessing if we tried to use any device to move them, it would probably freeze as well."
Jo nodded in agreement. "It does seem very likely." Jo snapped out of observer mode and slipped into to her investigative one. She was a little concerned that not only was her boss and his ability to stumble upon the correct answer in his own unique way missing, but so was the man they both favoured going to for the science. Her other primary source, her boyfriend Zane was inconveniently out of town. she turned to take in the man standing beside her. It wasn't like Douglas Fargo was lacking in the knowledge department. In fact he was an excellent source what what might be happening at Global Dynamics. "So, been any snafus up at GD that could be causing this?"
"Very quiet on that front," Fargo said with a shake of his head. "If we were at GD, I'd say maybe some error that was happening under the radar, but it's not likely to reach all the way to here. At least not without there being a few other bumps along the way. I am assuming there haven't been any reports of like situations called in?"
"These guys are the privileged few," Jo replied. "Guess we should figure this out before others join the club."
Fargo scrunched his face a little "Yeah, Doctor Staples is working on a project that might be relevant to the situation. We should probably start there."
"We?" Jo quirked an eyebrow at the statement.
"Yeah we," Fargo retorted defensively. "I am a great source for anything and everything GD related. The investigation will go much faster."
The reply had Jo wondering if the guy could read minds since she had just been thinking something similar. With a slight jerk of her head, Jo indicated Fargo should follow her as she headed to her vehicle. She could always get rid of him if he got too annoying.
On the way to GD, Fargo filled Jo in on what it was Staples research. Douglas knew there was a working version of the weapon that was designed for long term immobilization of the enemy. It was possible, he theorized, that someone had used the device on the Sheriff though neither he or Jo could think of a reason why anyone actually want to that. THey could leave the accusations for when Carter was once again moving and speaking as hopefully the man would know who did this to him. However, once they spoke to the scientist in became obvious that this was not the project at fault. According to Staples, even if there was a way that someone could get the one working prototype out of the lab, it would not allow the person shot to remain either sitting or standing nor would it affect anyone who came in contact with the person hit.
Having ruled out the 'best' project as the one at fault, Fargo whipped out his tablet and starting reviewing other likely candidates. As he and Jo worked their way through the list, which Jo had found disturbing long, they managed to rule out a myriad of causes but found themselves no closer to unfreezing the occupants of the Sheriff's office. Jo never really realized how boring this side of the investigation could be. She knew the scientists had a tendency to run at the mouth when it came to their research but honestly, she was tempted to leave the men where they were and simply request a new office. After all they couldn't actually expect her to work in the same room of living statues.
It was late afternoon, and the two were on the way back to Eureka after several fruitless hours of questioning. Jo groaned as she pulled into he parking space, "Unbelievable. All that research and not one project applied to our situation."
"I know that as an investigator, you are aware of the benefits of negative results," Fargo replied. "After all, the more we rule out, the closer we get to the correct answer."
"And how many research projects are there left at GD for us to consider?" Jo snarled as she slammed the door of her vehicle. "We ran out of ones directly related to our situation, which means now we need to question all the ones that could indirectly apply. We could be at this forever, Fargo."
"We simply need to evaluate the probability of each one and eliminate the highly improbable," Fargo shot back as he jumped out of the jeep and chased the fast moving deputy into the building in front of them. He rammed into her back as she came to an abrupt stop at the door leading to the main office.
"They moved," Jo gasped.
"What?" Fargo asked as he tried to take in the individuals they had left frozen in place earlier that day. He dipped his head around the deputy and took in scene in the room. "They look like they're in the same place to me."
"No," Jo stated. She pointed her finger at the bowl of candy that Carter was tipping to look into. "That bowl, it's at a different angle. And Carter's head is as well."
Fargo shrugged, he didn't see any difference but then again he didn't have as much time in the presence of the statues. Taking Jo at her word, Fargo considered the possibility that they had been chasing the wrong leads. "If they are moving, it's likely we need to be looking for a project that slows, not immobilizes completely. Did Henry mention anything about Sheriff Carter's statistics? Were they erratic or normal? Slower than expected maybe?"
"No, he just said that he was alive and healthy," Jo recalled. "But then we didn't talk in depth about it. I mean he was planning more tests to narrow down possible causes. Maybe that was one of his motivators."
Fargo went to the computer that held much of Henry's data to take another look at what was there. "I am guessing he was thinking against a biological cause because of the normalcy of his vital signs. I mean if the trigger was biological it should be reflected in more erratic vitals, right?"
Jo shot the man a cold glare. "I'm not a medical doctor," she reminded him.
"I'm not either," Fargo retorted. "But it would stand to reason. However, if they were caught in some sort of time dilation, his vitals would read normal simply because they are. Slow, but otherwise as expected. Also, a time dilation explain why the hazmat suits were useless. They only protect a person against physical threats and the dilations are definitely metaphysical."
"So the first question is, how did Carter end up in his own time dilation? And second, how do we get them back into real time if we can't touch them?" Jo demanded.
"Well, unfortunately, to answer the second we really need to know the answer to the first," Fargo stated as he rubbed his hand across his chin. He folded his arms across his chest and pondered the situation. He tried to recall any recent projects that might have this effect and yet be localized to this office if there was a mishap. "The problem is that time dilation is still mostly theoretical, even here in Eureka."
Jo waved at her boss and company. "Well clearly, someone pushed it past theoretical because I'm pretty sure if it was still at that stage then we wouldn't have this living piece of artwork, now would we?"
"There is a project, classified of course, that is simulating changes in velocity and creating dilations but nothing that would be able to bring four fully grown men to a virtual stop," Fargo stated.
"Fargo, you of all people should know that that just because a gizmo or device isn't suppose to be able to do something, doesn't mean it won't actually be able to do just that," Jo smirked.
"Okay," Fargo conceded. "Let's go talk to Doctor Leppard. But remember, classified." Jo just rolled her eyes and dragged Fargo out the door.
"You think that my research has caused the Sheriff to enter a different dilation," Doctor Sheila Leppard asked in shock. "I know strange things happen around here, but I haven't run a simulation in weeks, so unless you are suggesting I left out some roaming cloud of time that managed to not catch up anything in it until it hit the Sheriff's Office, it's just not possible."
"How long have you been in Eureka?" Jo asked sarcastically. "Because you just described a typical day to me."
"Look, these little guys," Sheila explained in a patronizing tone as she held up a small colourful cube, "They are the time dilators. To activate them, I have to press down on the cube. It takes quite a bit of pressure so they don't get turned on by accident, and there is a built in delay to allow me to place them into a containment field where any simulation would be run. And on the remote chance that one is running outside that field, it isn't strong enough to disrupt time for a person in the way you are describing."
Jo stared at the small cubes, sorted and safely stored in small plastic containers. "They are awfully pretty colours. Not something you usually see."
"Got tired of everything being either black or silver," Sheila said with a shrug. "Added a little colour. It has no effect on the functionality."
"They kinda look like candy," Jo murmured as she continued to look the cubes over.
"Yeah," Fargo agreed before asking the scientist, "Would several of them activated at once be able to create that level of dilation?"
"Possibly," Sheila admitted. "But use is very controlled. I have never have more than one activiated at once."
"It's just they look like candy and if I remember correctly, your daughter's contribution to the church bake sale was candy," Fargo explained. "Is it possible that somehow she managed to get one of these containers mixed in with her candy ones? I know you have her in here after school, even though technically it isn't allowed." Fargo smile faintly at the woman. Even in Eureka being a single mom could be a challenge.
"What exactly are you saying?" Sheila tilted her head, giving him a puzzled look.
"Yeah," Jo reinforced Sheila's question her own way while crossing her arms over her chest and glaring sternly at the young scientist.
"Think about it," Fargo said directly to Jo as Sheila hadn't been at the Sheriff's Office. "He was looking at a bowl of candy drops. What if there were some of these cubes mixed in? They are about the same colour and if the Sheriff was to bite down on a couple, it would activate them and he wouldn't necessarily have time, at least from our perspective, to even spit them out."
"Okay, lets say that did happen," Jo started, her hands up by her head as she spoke. "How long do one of these cube things last?"
"About two weeks, give or take a few hours," Sheila stated.
"And how do we drain the battery to shorten that?" There was no way Jo was letting Carter or Henry stay in their current state that long, for her sanity if not theirs.
"You can't." was all Sheila said.
Not the answer Jo wanted to hear from the woman. "Oh great, then you're saying we have a living sculpture at the office for the next two weeks. Not to mention I am going to have to let Zoe know that her father is unavailable due to being in a whole other time."
"Actually, there devices are electronic, so they can be shorted out," Fargo offered as a comfort. "We do that and they back with us in a snap." Fargo then actually snapped his fingers to emphasize his point.
"That could work," Sheila added. "But how do you propose to do that without getting caught in the dilation yourself?"
"Oh, I'm not going to do it," Fargo said with a smile. "Jo has a taser. A quick shot to the Sheriff should do it. It will take a little while once the charge enters the dilation but it will be faster than waiting the battery out. Every person's dream really, getting to zap the boss."
"This," Jo smirked, "could be fun."
Back at the Sheriff's Office, Jo, Fargo and Doctor Leppard stared in amazement as the taser charge hung in the air in front of Carter. They had dragged Sheila back with them to confirm the presence of the cubes mixed in with the candy, if possible. The bowl of candy was now sitting pretty much straight up on the desk, offering further proof that there was in fact movement taking place, making it a little easier for the scientist to look at the contents without accidentally coming into contact with anyone trapped. Jo wanted the confirmation because she didn't want to have to explain to Carter why she zapped him if it turned out the cubes weren't even the cause. The man could be understanding as long as you could justify your action.
Deciding that the last leg of the journey for the bolt was going to take a while and much like that boiling pot would be more likely to happen when they weren't watching, the trio headed over to Cafe Diem for some coffee. It did feel like an insufficient amount of time had passed before one angry looking sheriff stormed in, jabbed his finger in his deputy's direction and shouted, "You shot me with a taser."
"I had to get you out of that damn dilation somehow," Jo snapped in her own defence while Fargo smiled and thought, 'I might not have saved the town, but I did rescue the ones that normally do the saving. That has got to buy me some respect in the future.'