In 2025, Dustin turned 18 and graduated from high school. He planned on starting college in the fall, so he got a summer job in lawn-care to help his parents finance the cost.His first customer was a strange little woman named Francis Huber. Francis's husband, Otto, was a scientist who worked at NASA. In his spare time, he had started a side project in the basement of their home. But he died before it was finished.Francis was wicked smart and socially inept. After the death of her husband, she never left the house. Two years later, she finished her husband's project and never mowed her yard. The lawn project looked overwhelming for her, but Otto's unfinished time machine sang to her. Francis chose brains over brawn. Dustin had his work cut out for him. Francis liked the kid and invited him into her kitchen for tea every day at lunch. Before long, she had Dustin helping her assemble some of the machine's heavier parts. When the machine was finally assembled, Francis turned it on for a test run. With curiosity, Dustin watched closely as it began humming and spinning faster and faster. "What does it do, Francis?" he asked. Before she could answer, a wormhole in time opened up. Dustin, who was standing a bit too close, was sucked through it and ended up on a college campus. It was the college of his choice, but in 1971.
In 2025, Dustin turned 18 and graduated from high school. He planned on starting college in the fall, so he got a summer job in lawn-care to help his parents finance the cost.His first customer was a strange little woman named Francis Huber. Francis's husband, Otto, was a scientist who worked at NASA. In his spare time, he had started a side project in the basement of their home. But he died before it was finished.Francis was wicked smart and socially inept. After the death of her husband, she never left the house. Two years later, she finished her husband's project and never mowed her yard. The lawn project looked overwhelming for her, but Otto's unfinished time machine sang to her. Francis chose brains over brawn. Dustin had his work cut out for him. Francis liked the kid and invited him into her kitchen for tea every day at lunch. Before long, she had Dustin helping her assemble some of the machine's heavier parts. When the machine was finally assembled, Francis turned it on for a test run. With curiosity, Dustin watched closely as it began humming and spinning faster and faster. "What does it do, Francis?" he asked. Before she could answer, a wormhole in time opened up. Dustin, who was standing a bit too close, was sucked through it and ended up on a college campus. It was the college of his choice, but in 1971.
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