[ WP ] You and your team of scientists have invented a handheld device that allows people to time travel . On another note , it 's Bring Your Child to Work Day , and you ca n't seem to find out where your kid ran off to .

The lab was filled with the chatter of over-caffeinated interns and the grumbles of under-caffeinated senior devs. Beakers clinked in earsplitting unison as janitors dropped tubfuls of them onto tabletops. Here and there, sparks fizzled and popped; on occasion, they snapped, causing surprised researchers to walk backwards into their chairs. They clanged on the metal floor, momentarily deafening unfortunate bystanders and passersby. 
 
 It was quiet. Too quiet. 
 
 Sophie looked up from her research manual. Harry was n't tugging at her coat. He was n't tying her shoelaces together. He was n't jumping up and down next to her, asking if he could use the welding torch or drink the time potion or play BirdVille on her phone. She patted both her pockets and felt nothing. The realization punctured her in the gut, sending cold, prickling dread seeping through her entire body. 
 
 Sophie slid her goggles to rest on her forehead. Foregoing eye protection in the lab was against regulations, but so was losing your kid at work. She strode around the room's perimeter, her eyes leaping back and forth between crannies and shadows in search of Harry. Her ears perked up, awaiting a crash or a smash or any other discordant noise. But no sign of Harry presented itself: the lab continued to run in its perpetual state of peaceful business, and anxiety continued to brew within Sophie's stomach. 
 
 After three fruitless circles, she took to asking her coworkers, starting with the cleaning staff and the interns lest her superiors reprimand her or her peers judge her. `` Have you seen Harry?'' she asked. Each person shrugged or shook their head until she got to Gerald. 
 
 `` Yeah, I saw him.'' The old janitor smacked his gum and pointed to the doorway. `` Went out there. Had a phone or something in his hand.'' Gerald shook his head and grinned. `` Bet he's found a nook to hide out in. Kids always trying to squeeze into the tightest spaces. I reckon they just wan na get back in the womb...'' 
 
 Sophie forced a smile and patted his shoulder before bustling towards the doorway, her ponytail swinging excitedly. Momentum carried her down the hallway, past the offices and the other lab, all the way to the supply closet. Sophie unlocked it and fished in the dark, inside the crate two over from the right wall, for a TimePhone. Upon retrieving one, she input the time for one hour in the past. She was n't going to alter the past. All she would do was observe. Keep track of Harry this time. Redeem herself as a mother. Every good parent deserved at least one do-over, she thought. 
 
 One hour earlier, Sophie cracked the broom closet door open and peered down the hallway, waiting for Harry to emerge. Within ten minutes, she saw him exit the lab and toddle down the hall, his eyes glued to her red TimePhone. He glanced up every few seconds to check the doors lining each side of the hallway before finally coming across an unlocked supply closet. Harry slid inside and clicked the door shut. 
 
 With her newfound knowledge, Sophie reversed to the present and burst out of her own closet. With any luck, Harry had n't figured out how to configure the TimePhone yet. Her heart thumped with anticipation as she rushed down the hall, her mind split between formulating a lecture and an emergency time rescue plan. Her hand closed around the knob of the supply closet, and she wrenched it open. 
 
 Harry shoved the TimePhone between his knees and attempted his best expression of innocence. He looked anything but, though, perched on a mop cart with a guilty smile wrapping around his face. Sophie allowed herself an internal sigh of relief, but at the same time hardened her face, attempting to compensate for her lapse in authority. `` You're in big trouble, young man.'' She yanked the phone from between his legs. `` Time travel is dangerous. Under no circumstances are you allowed to touch this phone.'' Sophie waggled it to emphasize her point, daring Harry to challenge her. 
 
 Protest marked Harry's face for a fleeting moment, but he seemed to think better of it. He shut his mouth and hung his head, though Sophie doubted he was truly contrite. She motioned him towards the elevator, swiping her thumb across the bottom of her phone as they walked. She expected to see the Time Travel app, but to her surprise, the display was instead the title screen of BirdVille. Sophie frowned: something seemed off about it. As the elevator descended, she stared at the birds flying perpetually in the background. 
 
 Normally, an ad would have popped up after a few seconds. 
 
 Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry peeking at the phone, turning away when he noticed her glance. Sophie navigated to her phone's purchase history and checked the most recent figure. It was in the triple digits. 
 
 She jabbed the icon of the Time Travel app.
