What is Not Quite Normal?

Alright so a scientist, two robots, a history class, a 17th century woman, an evil genius, and a mutated cockatoo walk into a bar * ...

Not Quite Normal is the name of the story that I've had ever since I could draw. It's had other titles from time to time and the storylines have changed immensely and are still changing. But right now it is essentially this:

What if you could travel anywhere? To any time in history? Where would you go? Would you use it for leisure? For financial gain? Power? Learning? THAT ONE. Learning is what Finch chose. A chance to see a world bigger than his own, to see things in a new light, under a different sun... He didn't see it as anything other than to expand his comprehension of the Earth he knew. As a seeker of knowledge and a teacher of history (no really, he teaches a high school history class), Finch and his robot Shady became time travelers.

Sometimes there are field trips to ancient Rome or detours on pirate ships. Victorian England? Check. There's never a dull moment in this history class!

_{* 'Ouch,' they say.}

The Space-Time Continuum

Finch's watch acts as a containment and controller unit for a wormhole. When activated, the energy needs to find a present surface to latch onto, then creates negative energy that opens into a hole in time and space. Inside the hole is not simply a tunnel from one time to another, it's an endless space of bright blue with no force of gravity or vacuum. The watch creates an oxygen field that enables the user to survive.

The wormhole is a doorway to everything. Every place, every time, anywhere, anywhen. Inside the wormhole is all of this, in four dimensions. So once inside, the user of the TSW (Time-Space Watch) must input the coordinates of their destination and everything will move around them, faster than the speed of light. Upon exiting, they will have arrived safely wherever or whenever they chose.

As for the theory that time travel has the potential to destroy the universe by means of a paradox or ruining the future of civilization by stepping on a bug, I'd like to refer you to this explanation here. It explains it a lot better than I could.

The Robots

Shady and Bling are robots.

"Whaaat? They don't look like robots..."

That's right, they don't. Which is precisely the point! Let me explain how these robots work.

Shady and Bling learn as they live. This means that when Shady was first completed being built, she was basically a cat-shaped computer. She could make calculations and store information but she wasn't even a "she", Shady was just... There. But Finch kept her around and talked to her, knowing that eventually her voice reception and responding programs would allow her to talk back. He didn't expect her to understand though, robots don't understand. They just make calculations. Right?

But as time went on, and as Shady started talking and moving around and helping Finch out with other projects, her brain started to make connections. She started to think about those connections and what they mean. Finch started noticing her expression changing when she talked and how her voice seemed more and more natural. That understanding of her thoughts led to confusion, her first emotion. Which... Is still one that she feels a lot.

Now after years of watching TV and hanging around people, Shady has one of the biggest personalities you will ever meet. She decided that in order to be more lovable, she made herself a fluffy fur coat. She doesn't like her naked metal body. She made one for Bling later on. So that's why they don't look like robots, they don't want you to know they're robots.

The History Class

The School Board is doing a study. Would students learn better with the same teacher for a certain class for all five years than students that change teachers throughout their high school lives? This is just for one subject per school and for this one, it's History class!

Lucky Finch, this way he only has to teach one class of students the laws of time travel.

The Evil Genius and Mutated Cockatoo

There is only one time machine in existence. Therefore, when you're an evil genius that wants to not only take over the world, but the entire space-time continuum, this can prove difficult. For Rodney, it makes it more annoying that it's his brother that has the time machine. He can only follow Finch and the class through time wherever they go.

Rodney and his Palm Cockatoo Siboban are seen trying to imprint themselves all throughout history. Their plans never seem to come to fruition but maybe one of these days Finch, Shady, and the history class won't be able to stop them from weaving their way into Time...