You start down the hill and into the forest. The trees here look like pine trees and a few other kinds, but you don’t really know much about trees. You pull a leftover apple from your backpack and eat it as you walk. After a few minutes the trees thin out a bit and the going gets easier. With the sun starting to set in front of you, it’s hard to see what’s ahead. You come out into a clearing, and as your eyes start to adjust, you can’t believe what you’re seeing. There’s a set of four enormous tree-sized legs a few yards in front of you. As you follow the legs up, you see an even more enormous body, and a neck that keeps going up to an impossibly high height. At the top of the neck is a head, and it’s looking right at you—it’s a long-necked dinosaur! You take a few hurried steps back into the cover of the trees and pound down on the button on your ETC.
YOU
Dr. Owen, you better be listening, and you’re not going to believe what I see…
DR. OWEN
That’s strange—[static]—my screen showed you moving on the museum map; it says you’re not by the main entrance anymore.
YOU
Dr. Owen, listen to me! I’m standing in front of a real actual real-life dinosaur! It’s a long-neck dinosaur… It’s a—ummm—a brontosaurus!
DR. OWEN
[Long pause.] Now listen, kid, that’s just ridiculous. I can’t believe I called the police; you’re just hiding somewhere in the museum right?
As Dr. Owen is speaking, a dinosaur further back in the clearing looks at the dinosaur closest to you and starts bellowing.
YOU
Do you hear that, Dr. Owen? That’s the sound of a real dinosaur! I really am standing in front of a real dinosaur! There aren’t any sounds like that in the museum.
DR. OWEN
(confused)
This just doesn’t make any sense. I’m looking at my display here that shows where you are in the museum. It says you’re in the brachiosaurus exhibit. But I just looked again at the date indicator, which is just to make sure the clock on your ETC is synced to the main office clock for closing time… It says the date on your ETC is… 153 million years B.C.E.
YOU
I told you so! I’m standing in front of a brontosaurus!
DR. OWEN
This is unbelievable. I don’t know how it’s possible, but it is. You’re in the time of the dinosaurs. What I wouldn’t give to be where you are right now! Now, my display here says you’re in the brachiosaurus exhibit, and you say you’re standing in front of a long-neck dinosaur… Could it be true?
YOU
What?
DR. OWEN
Well, the museum was modeled after a real dinosaur quarry just outside the city. The main entrance is where the hill would be, then to the left is the brachiosaurus exhibit, which is right where you are now. Extraordinary! Somehow, it’s telling me exactly where you are, based on the exhibits in the museum!
You look up at the brachiosaurus and have an idea...
YOU
I’m going to try to ride it.
DR. OWEN
What?! No you’re not! Stay as far away as you can!
YOU
Well, just think: If I can ride it, I’ll get to where that blue light is in no time. The sun is really setting now, and I have a strange feeling that the blue light has something to do with me getting back home!
DR. OWEN
Don’t be ridiculous! Brachiosaurus is a herbivore and a gentle one from what we can tell, but it could still knock you over or step on you without even noticing. Don’t even think about going near that thing!
Do you approach the brachiosaurus, or keep your distance?