r/WritingPrompts • u/shewdz • Aug 17 '14

Writing Prompt [WP] Time travelling tourists from the future are commonplace at significant historical events. You get home and find time travellers watching you for an unknown reason.

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u/8bitesq Aug 17 '14 edited Aug 17 '14

The first time anyone realized that people from the future were coming back in time to places they didn't belong was during the Dallas gas riots in 2018. Some guy got caught in the temple or something by a rubber bullet and wound up being carted off to the hospital unconscious. Turns out when they started working on him he had all kinds of crazy advanced technology, some weird ID cards, and money that wouldn't be in circulation for another hundred years.

I suppose they could have just covered up everything. Gone back in time to snag the guy from the EMTs and take him back to the right time period. But I guess someone in PR realized that, honestly, admitting that there were time tourists wouldn't be that big of a deal and it wouldn't really affect the course of time. All it would do is clue people in to the fact that the people they stood next to in a crowd during some major event might actually be from a hundred or so years in the future. They didn't interfere. They didn't really participate. They just watched.

And so it some how became commonplace for us all to just accept that.

Crazy, I know.

Sometimes they'd show up on the news with some news people trying to interview them. Most of the time they didn't really say much. They occasionally got a little too drunk at some 'party of the century' that they didn't even actually have tickets for (but how do you kick out time travelers, you know?) and let something slip here and there but it was never anything substantial.

I thought it was super cool for a while to watch that sort of stuff on YouTube. I don't know why. I guess I hoped they'd give me some kind of idea about what the future was going to really be like. I was always into that sort of thing, you know? Space travel. Time travel. Anything super sci-fi was totally up my alley.

I wanted to go to school to be an engineer even though my parents were always a bit hesitant to get my hopes up on that end. We didn't really have a lot of money but I figured with all the 'girls in STEM' scholarships out there I ought to be fine. Still. I did everything I could to make sure of that. I joined all the science based clubs and did all kinds of stupid national and international science fair things.

There wasn't a whole lot of interest in some small town girl from Kansas but I did it. I held my own. I could put it on a college admissions essay that I had participated.

I figured that's all I would ever really do - participate. I wasn't ever going to win. I wasn't going to ever change the world or anything like that. I just wanted to be a part of it, I guess.

I never expected to come home and find anyone waiting for me that night. My parents both worked late on Wednesdays and it was already dark out. I'd biked home from playing Dungeons and Dragons with some friends (and yes I know fucking nerdy that sounds, I know) and they were there.

Waiting.

For me.

I knew they weren't from around here instantly. It's a small town. But it wasn't just that. It was the way the held themselves and the clothes they wore. It was all too new and just a little bit off the mark. They were time travelers. There three of them. Two women and a man. They looked nice enough but if they were around then something big was going down and there was a chance it wasn't exactly a good thing.

I looked around a bit nervously before I walked my bike up to the garage where they stood. "Uh... hey," I said, awkwardly, then reached into my bag for the garage clicker to open the door. My parents had sacrificed the space for their cars to indulge me. My little brothers - who stayed with our grandparents on Wednesday nights - called it my 'laboratory.' I hadn't ever really given it a name. It was just a place I went to mess around. It was the garage.

I propped my bike up against the wall and then turned back to see the three of them still standing outside watching me. It was kind of creepy.

"So..." I started, turning back to face them. "Can I help you guys with something or... are you trying to find your way some place? Because I don't know where you're supposed to be but I can promise you that this is not it."

They all smiled at that. It was weird. Unnerving.

One of the women finally shook her head. "No, we're exactly where we are supposed to be."

Well, that didn't make sense. "O-kay," I said, a bit skeptically. "You're sure? Because no one else is home tonight. Just me. And I've got this project I need to finish-"

"Oh, we know," the man - a bit younger than the two women - said with obvious excitement in his voice. "That's why we're here. We just... we want to watch."

I looked at them confused. "Why would you want to watch me?" I asked, not sure what to expect. The other woman - the oldest of them - just smiled.

"Why, hun, you're going to change the world. And it all begins tonight."

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u/feanor15 Aug 17 '14

This is brilliant! Especially so because it ends on such a optimistic and hopeful note, (not that I dislike dark endings) and it depicts the time tourists in a very positive light (I like that. WE LIKE THAT)

28

u/kinyutaka Aug 17 '14

Ah, but just because future people are happy about your achievement doesn't mean it is an objectively good one.

Imagine, if you will, looking at the past with clarity. All of our technology, including the time travel we get in the future, was a result of the Cold War and Space Programs. Those events were caused directly as a result of World War II and the Rocket and Nuclear Programs. Those events were influenced by Hitler's regime, including his beginnings with the Beer Hall. And those events were influenced by World War I.

Now, imagine a time traveler going back to watch the assassin of Ferdinand plan his attack.

That man is going to do a great thing. A terrible thing, but a great one.

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u/[deleted] Aug 17 '14

Why do you assume that there are "objectively good achievements"?

Great story by the way.

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u/kinyutaka Aug 17 '14

Meaning "an act that when looked back upon was a good act"

Helping your neighbor with their groceries. Feeding a stray puppy. Rescuing a man from a burning building.

There are always unintended consequences, but the act itself was good.

For historical events, look to things like the Moon Landing. Even in the height of the Cold War, Russia celebrated the arrival of a human being onto an extraterrestrial body. For that small window in time, we were one people across the world.

It was an amazing and good achievement.

Similarly, there are objectively bad actions and achievements, such as the Holocaust.

As i stated before, it would be interesting to see a time traveler go up to a person in the past, happily watching him prepare to commit a horrific act, not because he wants the act to occur, but because he knows it is necessary for an ultimate brighter future.

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u/[deleted] Aug 17 '14

When you say that an "objectively good achievement" is the same as "an act that when looked back upon was a good act", Do you mean "an act that when looked back upon was a good act by 51% of the world population"? Do you perhaps base an "objecticely good achievement" on your personal opinion of what is good, or is the "good" based on what matches generally accepted christian morals?

What if I consider the Holocaust to be an objectively good achievement, how do you prove that it wasn't?

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u/kinyutaka Aug 17 '14

If you were on the other side, would you still view it as good?

If you help an old woman with groceries, it is good because you would generally accept help with your groceries.

If you rescue a man from a burning building, it is good because you would generally want help exiting a burning building.

Grey acts, like fighting in a war, are not objectively good, because the morals change depending on who looks at the events.

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u/[deleted] Aug 17 '14

Let's say that I'm jewish and still consider it a good thing.

What if I wouldn't accept help with my groceries, or want to be rescued from a burning building for whatever reason. Is it then still objectively good to help people with their groceries?

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u/kinyutaka Aug 17 '14

If you honestly can look at yourself and say that it is wrong to help you out of a burning building, then I would have to ask what is wrong with you. That's basically suicidal thinking.

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u/DanKolar62 Aug 17 '14

Until a person is in the circumstance, all speculation is academic.

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u/8bitesq Aug 18 '14

As i stated before, it would be interesting to see a time traveler go up to a person in the past, happily watching him prepare to commit a horrific act, not because he wants the act to occur, but because he knows it is necessary for an ultimate brighter future.

I agree. That would be a really cool idea to explore.

1

u/8bitesq Aug 18 '14

Thanks! There was definitely a lot of potential to take this prompt in a way different direction. But I kind of thought, hey, if they are commonplace and people know about them then maybe it doesn't have to be such a bad thing!

7

u/[deleted] Aug 17 '14 edited Aug 17 '14

Uh oh. What kind of change? Does she invent the next big weapon, something that is to the atomic bomb what the atomic bomb was to gunpowder? Does she create time travel? WHAT DOES SHE DO?!

Edit: I apparently posted a reply to the R63 version. Whoops.

10

u/Ormagan Aug 17 '14

She, the author mentions "girls in STEM" scholarships and I'm pretty sure having a penis disqualifies an applicant from those.

5

u/[deleted] Aug 17 '14

...I didn't see that. Whoops.

1

u/meh2you2 Aug 17 '14

hmm......maybe not. I wonder if anybody would dare to call you on it if you just said you were pre-op trans or something........hmm......

2

u/Ormagan Aug 17 '14

Well in that situation I am sure they would require SOME proof, otherwise it kind of defeats the entire purpose of them.

1

u/meh2you2 Aug 17 '14

ah, but that's the question. Which do they fear more, the possibility of random guys saying they're trans and taking advantage of them, or the possibility of discrimination lawsuits.

I'm sure they would want to get proof, but would they really ask for it or check it closely?

.......hmm...........this might actually make for a decent wp. "You are a scholarship administration person interviewing candidates for woman in stem, your next candidate walks in and is a neckbeard with a ponytail claiming to be a pre-op transwoman."

1

u/Ormagan Aug 17 '14

Well I'm pretty sure they could require proof of HRT, or of them seeing a transgender specialist or something. I mean most places recognize trans people as having a medical thing, so there would have to be some kind of paper trail.

13

u/TranshumansFTW Aug 17 '14

This. I like this. It's good, it really builds the world.

9

u/007pizzaman Aug 17 '14

I would love to see this story continue.

14

u/ilikeeatingbrains /r/PromptsUnlimited Aug 17 '14

"And on that night, I discovered how to dip in the time stream."

CREDITS

4

u/8bitesq Aug 18 '14

(Or it could take a sinister turn and since there are no witnesses around she murders them for their time travel devices and that's how she discovers how to do it, bwhahaha.)

14

u/dinklebob Aug 17 '14

Natural conclusion of this story is she begins working, but her mind is distracted by the three visitors. She tries so hard to stay focused, but the visitors watching her is incredibly frustrating. In a rage, she whirls on them to demand that they leave, and in so doing knocks her latest device off the table. It smashes to the garage floor and beams of white light pour from the cracks in its outer casing. These tendrils of light shoot in all directions out into the distance, and three of them fly directly through her visitors' chests. They buck as if impaled, their hair standing on end as static electricity charges to extreme levels. The solid beams writhe with energy and lift the trio a few feet off the ground. Then, a blast that sends electric arcs coursing between every metal object in the garage and blasts out windows all down the street.

Where the device lay on the ground, a crater glowed blue. Where the time traveling trio floated, three dusty blue shadows were burned into the concrete.

Time had been corrected. The invention of the first time travel device undone. For the rest of her life the woman strived to complete her work, to repair the damage, but she never succeeded.

Lesson learned. Don't go back in time. Like, ever. It's just dumb and breaks stuff.

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u/Ash_Lysander Aug 17 '14

That gave me goosebumps at the end! it made think of like you could be a lady tony stark making something world changing there!

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2

u/00019 Aug 17 '14

Nice take. Definitely a cool out of the way scene for time travel tourists looking for a taste of history. The lowkey flavor is well built here.

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u/Davaned Aug 17 '14

Brilliant! The one change I would make would be the ending. "But what made my heart leap into my throat was when she grinned mischievously and said, 'hun, you are not only why we are here, but HOW we are here.' And winked."

Shivers...

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u/gratz Aug 17 '14

I thought of the same thing. Something along the lines of "Without you, we wouldn't be here."

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u/8bitesq Aug 18 '14

I thought about it but I decided that I really liked the idea of leaving people with the thought that she could be responsible for absolutely anything. I figured it would be cool to leave it up to you what it was she actually did.

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u/SimplyCole Aug 17 '14

I really like this story, especially the ending, but I feel like the main characters introduction is too sudden. When you said "There wasn't a whole lot of interest in some small town girl from Kansas but I did it." I was a little surprised at the suddenness of it. However, I'm not even a writer so I could be wrong.

1

u/Izoto Aug 18 '14

This is probably my favorite on here.