Hey. Slow it down!
Thinking of joining the art club?
No. It's a waste of time.
Looks fun to me. You know you have detention today?
Yeah. You don't need to remind me every time.
Actually, I do because I'm detention monitor,
and you're usually late.
Mr. Hodge, I just want to say,
I think it's unfair you gave me detention for arguing over a grade.
You already said that many times,
and I already told you that I think it's appropriate.
Okay, but if you knew how important my grades are to me, you'd understand.
Why don't you put all that passion into studying
for your next test rather than continuing to argue with me.
Tap to sign in by your name, then put your phone in the box.
You will get it back in 60 minutes.
Please put your phone in the box.
Yeah. I've been here before. Thanks.
You have detention?
Thanks for caring.
- Everyone's here. - Thank you, Ben.
So only two students today. That's refreshing.
So, detention doesn't have to be a bad experience.
It's a chance to think about what got you here and how you can improve.
Yasmine, I'm surprised to see you here.
"Arguing with a teacher"?
Mr. Hodge gave me a B when I deserved an A.
Shouldn't I be allowed to protest an unfair grade?
Says here, "Did it loudly, in front of the whole class,
wasting everybody's time."
You must know that's disrespectful.
I was doodling when I was supposed to be writing an English essay.
Madison, I don't get it.
You always have this "why bother" attitude.
You like getting detention?
I can sit here and do nothing for an hour.
Fair enough. But I have a better idea.
You're gonna be spending detention cleaning the trophy cases.
Perhaps seeing the accomplishments of others will inspire you.
That'll take more than an hour.
I'll help her.
Great.
The custodian's room is up ahead. You can get cleaning supplies there.
This basement looks ancient. Smells like it too.
Well, it is the oldest part of the school. Everything above has been rebuilt.
Hey, Ben, since this is my first ever detention,
think I could convince the vice principal to take it off my permanent record?
That's why you volunteered. To get on his good side.
If you didn't want it on your record, you shouldn't have gotten detention.
But this is your first offense,
so you could bring your parents to talk to him and ask.
Why do you care about your eighth-grade record so much?
They don't mean anything.
They do to me.
Detention looks bad, and a B might as well be an F.
Not that you'd understand.
Whatever.
Through here.
After you.
I wonder why the walls are metal.
In the 1950s, this was an emergency shelter.
As detention monitor, part of my job is student safety.
I had to memorize the school layout and exits,
and study the handbook.
What handbook?
The Newton Middle School Code of Conduct and Safety.
I can email you both a copy.
- No, thanks. - I'm good.
Hey! Take that outside.
Lots of junk in here.
Guess they're not expecting any more emergencies.
Okay.
When you're done, come to detention and sign out.
Ben?
What is going on?
It's like everyone's frozen.
In an emergency,
we're supposed to alert the nearest teacher.
- I don't think he's gonna help. - Stop messing around.
Why? This is weird. But cool.
I mean, we have the whole school to ourselves.
We can run in the halls or check out the teachers' lounge.
- That's off-limits to students. - Well, we have to do something.
Why aren't you worried?
Because I'm sure somebody somewhere knows how to fix this,
and they're working on it right now.
You think so?
What if that person who knows how to fix this is frozen too?
Fine.
Okay. See if you can find any clues about what happened in here,
and I'll check outside and in the auditorium.
Wait. We can't split up. We have to use the buddy system.
Yasmine, I'll be your buddy.
Figures you'd be yelling at someone.
Much better.
We should call emergency services.
It's not working.
The phones are frozen too.
Do you think this happened everywhere in town?
Hello?
Anybody?
Come on.
Great. Phone's not working.
3:34 and 59 seconds.
So we know exactly when this happened. Not like that helps.
We went five blocks, and nobody's moved an inch.
That's really weird.
I think we're way past "weird."
- Did you find any clues? - Nothing in here.
- How about the gym and the pool? - I didn't go there.
Did you expect me to look in every corner?
Madison, this is serious.
This isn't just some school project you can blow off.
- Of course, this again. - Wait. What?
Last year, we were assigned a group project,
and Madison didn't do her part.
Yasmine, you can relax, because whatever's going on here,
we're not gonna be graded on it.
Maybe we should all focus on what happened to everyone.
- They're frozen. - Not literally.
They're not cold like an ice cube.
Could everyone be hypnotized?
You can't hypnotize a clock.
The clock, it moved.
Before, it said 3:34 and 59 seconds, and now it says 3:35 and one second.
His eyes are closed. Earlier, they were open.
Wait. So if his eyes are closed
and the clock moved two seconds, that means--
They're not completely still, but they're just moving really slowly.
- Someone's here. - They gotta know what's going on.
Wait. It could be them. The same "them" that made this happen.
Shh. They're coming.
- I don't feel so good. - Ben.
You're okay.
Ben!
Is he okay?
Mr. Hodge?
Cinder block construction with metal insulation.
- Good protection. - From what?
And why were you dressed like that?
It's a lead composite suit for safety, much like this shelter protected you.
Ben's feeling okay now.
I got him some water, and he's gonna rest for a bit longer.
Now, what is going on?
I conducted an experiment in time dilation.
It's a theory I've been working on
since I was a physicist in a lab 12 years ago.
Basically, I believed that the speed that time passes could be altered.
Two locations, or two people, for that matter,
could experience a different time-flow rate.
One hour for one person could be 36 seconds to another.
My colleagues didn't believe I could do it, but…
So, you used everyone as guinea pigs?
Not exactly.
I was running the experiment within these controlled parameters.
You only meant to affect the butterflies.
Yeah, but the time-field generator
requires a considerable amount of electricity,
so I utilized the school's auxiliary power supply.
But there was an unexpected power surge
that delivered an electrical load that was too great,
and that caused a massive temporal wave.
Accidentally shifting everyone into a slower time-flow rate.
You proved your theory.
Now, how do you change things back?
Well, I do have an equation that runs the entire program in reverse,
but the school's auxiliary power reserves have been depleted,
and I don't have an alternative power source.
In other words, you can't fix this?
You can't leave all those people in super snail mode.
- And what about us? - No one is being abandoned.
Your scientist friends told you you couldn't do it,
and you should've listened to them and quit!
- Wait. Look-- - If you can't sync up the time flows,
our lives are ruined.
- Do you get that? - I know.
You should've gotten detention and have it on your permanent record.
I can't believe I fainted. I'm detention monitor.
I'm supposed to help in a crisis, not panic and black out.
Dude, relax. You can't expect to never make mistakes.
- Easy for you to say. Sorry. - Lean forward.
I didn't mean it like that, like you make a lot of mistakes.
It's okay. How did you end up with that job anyway?
My mom and dad work late,
and I needed something to do after school until they could come pick me up.
- You seem to really like it. - I do.
Middle school is hard and confusing,
and I think the rules help you know what to do.
For me anyway.
Yeah, I can see that.
Maybe I need an after-school activity too.
Besides detention.
I found some snacks in my locker.
Thank you. Are you okay?
Are any of us?
I mean, whatever plans we have for the future don't exist.
Ben. Glad to see you're feeling better.
I hope you all are.
Of course you're not.
Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I promise I'll fix this.
Are all those people gonna be okay?
Yeah, they're healthy.
And as far as they know, they're still walking around
or driving their cars as usual.
They have no idea anything's wrong.
- The cars. They're electrical. - Yes?
In science class, we were talking about electricity,
and you told us new cars are built with high-capacity, super-cell batteries.
You actually listened in class.
You said you needed a big power source.
Do you need any more?
Yeah. Just one more from that car over there.
This was a really good idea you had.
I just remembered something the teacher said.
No, I think you're smart. I don't understand why you refuse to try.
- Is this about that group project again? - No.
Partly.
Fine. I'll tell you why I didn't try. It wouldn't have been good enough.
And you, Emily and Maya would've been mad if you didn't get an A.
We did your part for you.
And you got your A. Look, I'm bad at stuff.
Remember when I tried out for the play and I got laughed at?
I study, and I study, and I still get C's. It's a waste of time.
I don't think you should give up on yourself.
I mean, you're the one saving the day here.
Maybe don't put so much pressure on yourself.
Coming from the person who argued over a B?
Look, I'm the first one in my family who has a chance to go to college.
That's cool, but your grades don't have to be perfect.
After today, worrying about a B seems so dumb.
And I'm sorry that when we did that group project,
I made it feel like your best wasn't good enough.
He's got it!
What was this experiment for, Mr. Hodge, if it worked right?
Altering time within parameters has a wide range of applications.
I mean, suppose somebody was ill or injured.
They could be put in a time-flow stasis awaiting critical medical help.
So it could save lives.
Yeah, or imagine if the polar ice caps
could be put into a reduced time-flow rate and slow their melting.
I see why you never gave up.
We put notes on the cars that we borrowed the batteries from.
Is it go time?
If this works, you're all getting A's.
Oh, no.
- It's not working! - What's wrong?
The super-cell batteries must be transferring at a higher ion exchange.
If the thermionic valve bursts, it's over.
We gotta find a way to cool it down.
- Compressed air is cold. - Good thinking. Let's try it.
It's not working.
Page 14. "Each classroom is equipped with a CO2 fire extinguisher."
- It comes out ice-cold. - Of course!
It's working!
Bet you're glad I memorized the handbook now.
All right. Get to the emergency shelter!
If it's anything like the last time, the temporal wave should arrive fast.
Yes.
Good to be back in the same time flow as everyone else.
So, now what?
Well, you still have to finish detention.
Then again, the vice principal never checks in,
so I'll let you go early.
- Ben's breaking a rule. - No.
Bending.
"We had to borrow your battery to save everyone.
PS, please don't give us detention"?
I thought you might need a lift.