Hank's brows were furrowed. He said slowly, "Well, it's this way, honey—" Then he stopped as he realized that his identical twin was saying the identical words in the same quiet voice. The two Hanks stared at each other for a second, then the other Hank nodded. "Go ahead," he said. "Mebbe you c'n explain it better'n me."
The Hank sitting beside me acknowledged the nod with its exact duplicate.
"Awright," he said. "Well, near's I c'n figger out, it's this way:
"Helen done went an' turned on the key while we was sittin' in the machine. Which set it into operation. Like I told you, this machine travels in time. An' that's jest whut it done!"
"But—but you said it wasn't working yet, Hank!" I moaned.
"No, Jim. I said it wasn't completed yet. There's a difference."
It still didn't make sense. I gestured towards the three "usses" standing beside us.
"But a time-machine ought to go into the future or the past. These people—"
Hank shook his head. "Jim, I showed you them dials on the dashboard. They control the future-past Time element. And—and they're the gadgets which wasn't completed yet!"
I pawed my hair feverishly.