Butterfly Effect

Bull looked at Drake, confused, as he placed his Omni-gun on the wall. "Is it not supposed to be July 15, 2028?"

Drake paused, carefully considering his words before replying, "I guess I just lost track of time since I left home…"

Shrugging and eager to get paid, Bull adjusted his pants. "Regardless of how long you've been gone, I'm heading to town to claim my bounty. You're free to tag along if you want," he said, grabbing a cowboy hat off the rack.

Intrigued and wanting to investigate the town without the guise of an invisible cloak, Drake nodded. "I think I will."

---

As they entered town, Drake was once again awestruck by the sights before him.

It was the year 2028, yet he was seeing an old western town with dirt streets, wooden plank sidewalks, and wooden buildings with facades, all dotted with copper pipes, bronze tubing, and spinning cogs and gear wheels.

"Welcome to Paradise City," Bull said, standing next to Drake in the middle of the old west street. "I'm heading over to the sheriff's station to collect my bounty, then heading to the saloon for a celebratory whiskey."

Drake looked unimpressed at this "Paradise City", for it was neither a paradise, nor a city. Instead it was a dusty old western town that spanned maybe a block or two in every direction, serving more as a central hub for the surrounding farms. "Does Paradise City have a town library by any chance?" Drake asked, eyeing the various building facades.

"It's part of the town hall at the end of the street—the one with the large clock tower," Bull said, pointing down the street as he tipped his hat and strode off towards the building with the sheriff's badge facade.

---

Drake opened the creaky wooden door as he entered Paradise City town hall. The interior featured wooden floors and walls, with copper and glass tubes jetting up from behind the clerk's desk to various rooms and offices of the governmental building. Sitting behind the desk, with wide and puzzled eyes, was a clerk in classic Victorian business attire. She looked at the oddly dressed man and asked, "Hi! Can I help you, sir?"

"Hi, I was looking for the library," Drake replied with an earnest smile.

Surprised by the odd request, the clerk responded, "Of course. The library is right around the corner to your left. I'm also the town librarian. Was there any particular book you had in mind?"

"Uh, yeah," Drake said, glancing at the sparse library, which was more like a few bookshelves than a state library. "I'm doing a personal history research project, and anything covering the past couple hundred years would help."

A smirk of surprise crossed the clerk's face as she led Drake to a large volume of encyclopedias. "Here is our collection of historical references and records."

Soon, Drake was engrossed in sifting through one historical volume after another, muttering to himself, "To locate the 'Temporal Branch,' go back until you see what's familiar, and search from there."

In his research, he sifted through American history from its founding in 1776 and the War of Independence, then up to the Civil War in 1861.

That's when he noticed a peculiarity—or lack thereof.

He saw the typical steam and locomotive engines of the era, prime examples of Victorian steam power.

As he kept turning the pages, he noticed slight differences in the temporal timeline well into the 1900s. Flipping back to the 1860s, he searched avidly until he found it.

"There's no mention of the internal combustion engine on record," he muttered to himself, flipping through the pages, trying to remember important technological dates. "In 1860, the internal combustion engine was never invented by Étienne Lenoir…" As Drake flipped through the pages, he noted, "And so no Otto engine…" Turning to the 1900s, he continued, "and thus no petroleum industrial revolution, no Ford's Model T and assembly line…" Reaching 1914, he gasped, "No World War I…" He flipped through more pages. "No World War II, no nuclear power or Cold War…"

By the 1960s, a hundred years after the "Temporal Branch," the world in the pictures was drastically different from the timeline he was used to. He looked out the window of the town hall at the old western town.

A timeline and world stuck in the Victorian steam era for almost two centuries, where the steam engine remained the reigning power source on Earth.

Now having his answer on the Temporal Branch, he went back in time in his research to investigate why he was attacked by a behemoth mechanical robot bovine.

In his research, he discovered that in 1892, an inventor named Elliott Mollain patented the revolutionary "Steam-Valved Bio-Mimetic Heart." He shocked the world with a steam-powered horse, leading to the field of bio-mimetic automatons becoming the primary technological path of development. Dubbed "Ani-matons" soon, the world had mechanical horses, cows, dogs, gorillas, giraffes, and every other moving creature.

Drake looked up from his book, taking in the room and the outside world that he was now a part of. He let out a hefty sigh. "I could really use a drink…"

---

Drake pushed through the double swinging half doors of the old western saloon. His slick, slim futuristic clothing stood in stark contrast to the cowboys and automaton wranglers sitting at the bar.

Their camaraderie paused as they all stared at the man who was clearly out of place until...

"Doctor!" Bull bellowed from the bar counter, raising a stein in toast. "Come! Sit!"

Drake nodded and slowly entered the saloon.

The bartender winked at Bull and softly asked. "This your new boy, Bull?"

"We'll see," he winked back, then turned to Drake, who was slowly sauntering towards the counter, his gaze all around taking in the sights of the classic western saloon.

"So what I'm hearin is," Another cowboy a few seats away piped up, "He ain't yours?"

"Not yet at least." Bull grinned wildly at the scrawny cowboy , then turned to Drake, "Come! Drink up!" Bull cheered, slapping Drake on the back.

"Thank you… something strong, please… I've had a day," Drake groaned, as the bartender slid him a shot of whiskey. Drake took the glass and downed it in a single shot.

"So, Doctor, did you find the library?" Bull asked, puzzled by his new friend.

"I'm all alone and now stuck here, Bull!" Drake cried out loud, his head plummeting to the bar table.

Bull and the bartender stared in surprise at the man who was wasted drunk from a single shot of whiskey.