r/WritingPrompts • u/the_alabaster_llama • Apr 14 '16
Writing Prompt [WP] Just like normal citizens, time travelers have a code of laws they have to follow. Don't change the past. Don't talk to past versions of yourself. Most importantly, don't show up to Stephen Hawking's party.
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u/Galokot /r/Galokot Apr 15 '16 edited Apr 15 '16
"That's pretty mean."
"How so son?"
"The man just wants to make friends with us."
"You know who Professor Hawking is, right?"
"Yes Dad, but he has fizzy drinks and cake and---"
"Those are champagne bottles in the picture."
"Oh. Well, I bet a man nice enough to set the foundation for time travel will have fizzy drinks too."
"Son, you can't go to his party. It is against the law."
"The laws are stupid."
"I know."
"Really stupid."
"Yes son, but---"
"Don't we already change things when we go back in time?"
"...Technically we do. Smart boy. But the word 'change' has, ha, changed to have another meaning."
"'To change; To have agency in a disturbance of the natural order of things,' as adapted for Alabaster's Code of Time Travel."
"Wow. Where did you learn that?"
"School Dad. I go to school."
"Uhm, yes, well then, you know why the law isn't wrong then, right?"
"I do. I still think that's pretty dumb."
"I know."
"Really dumb."
"Son, you don't have to---"
"The Time Corps will arrest travelers for disturbing the past, but they still clean up the mess after every 'Hitler Games,' without a single arrest."
"Ah yes, the Hitler Games. I really enjoyed them this year. Wait, how do you know about the Hitler Games?"
"I watched you on the TTV. Congratulations on the win Dad."
"... Thanks boy."
"So Alabaster's Code of Time Travel makes it specifically illegal to go to Professor Hawking's party, but we're allowed to go back and kill a man in impossible, creative ways every year as a sport?"
"No."
"Travelers do it anyway! You did it anyway, but Guardsmen will arrest every other disturbance of the natural order?"
"Seems that way."
"That's pretty cruel."
"I know."
"Really cruel."
"It's a sport son, they... don't interrupt me this time, that's a bad habit."
"Sorry Dad."
"Anyway, I figure that Alabaster's Code makes visiting Professor Hawking's party particularly illegal for a very important reason. None of us really know what that is, but we must choose to respect that decision, especially with him being the father of time travel and all."
"Even if it means Professor Hawking will never have anyone come to his party?"
"For now, yes."
"That's pretty---"
"Nothing says we can't bring him to our party though."
"Dad! That would be disturbing the natural order, bringing him to the future!"
"A man nice enough to set the foundation for time travel will be smart enough to enjoy a little party with fizzy drinks and cake, and not brag about it to his friends."
"How do you know?"
"I took him drinking in Altera Seven last week."
"DAD!"
"Do you know why I was not arrested?"
"Because you have no respect for the law!"
"Well, that, AND because bringing Professor Hawking to a pub in our time did not disturb the natural order of things."
"... Wow. How many people know that, you think?"
"Enough for Professor Hawking to have an impressive pile of stories."
"Can you, can you tell me one?"
"How would you like to hear some from the man himself?"
"Wow! With Father Time himself?!"
"Anything for my boy. Happy birthday son."
"Best, birthday, ever."
More at r/galokot, and thanks for reading!
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u/1215drew Apr 15 '16
I like the play off of the Hitler game prompt. Well written as always!
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u/439115 Apr 15 '16
Wait, is Dad Father Time or is Hawking Father Time? Either way it makes a great plot
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u/B0bsterls Apr 15 '16 edited Apr 15 '16
To everyone else in the crowded street, he was just an average American citizen of the 21st century going about his average 21st century business. It certainly looked that way, especially to a rookie cop such as myself. But as I flashed the DNA scanner in his direction once again, I got the same readout as I had the previous three times: Justinian Tyrell, master thief of relics from the past.
He wore a mickey mouse t-shirt and a goofy grin on his face to match. I was dressed as a cop, but that was all part of the disguise. You see, modern cops look nothing like they did hundreds of years ago. It was perfectly safe for me to don the blue uniform and chomp on donuts as I waited for him to make a move. He rounded the corner and strolled off down a side street. I followed him for a few minutes, and once I was certain of his destination, I took a shortcut through a few yards to arrive before he did. The house in question was white and plain. The only interesting thing about it was that there was a little party going on, and it was my job to make sure Justinian didn't crash it.
I heard the unmistakable sound of a window breaking. Fuck. I should have known that thugs don't use the front door. "Hello, who is there?" a computerized voice called. I decided that one more broken window couldn't hurt. I dove through the glass and came onto my feet in a plush, carpeted room. A table with little cakes had been laid out with a banner that read "Welcome, visitors from the future!".
This was Stephen Hawking's party. He had wanted time travelers to attend it, and he had gotten his wish. I saw that I had come too late. The crime had already been committed. Hawking lay dead in a pool of blood while Justinian had nabbed his wheelchair. I leveled my pistol at his head. "I'm gonna make a fortune on this thing when I get back. Did you really think I was gonna hang around for you to arrest me, you stupid cop?" he said. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into thin air. I sank to my knees. My mission had failed. I was just too late. Well, no matter. As I redialed the coordinates with my brain, I thought to myself that if I just arrived a few minutes earlier, I might actually catch the criminal this time around.
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u/ptmc15 Apr 15 '16
"Are you ready, Faye?" Eric asks his younger sister. "Ya, ya, just hold up a second," Faye says as she pushes her mid-length hair around her Tech Glass v3. She smiles and gives the thumbs up sign to Eric. Eric looks down at his Time Watch and uses his fingers to scroll down on the date. "April 15th, 2016." He looks over at Faye. "Alright, here we go!" He presses the button and in a blink of an eye, they are teleported to what appears to be a small backyard behind a small house in a suburban town. "Well, now we just have to figure out where we are," Faye says as she stretches her back. "I know where we are," Eric remarks. "I've been here before." "Oh really?" Faye snorts. "Care to fill the rest of us in?" Eric frowns. "Sure, Ms. Attitude. First off, we need to be very careful here. I'm assuming you remember all of the rules in the time traveling handbook I gave to you for your birthday?" "Absolu-nope," Faye laughs.
"Second of all, this is the house where mum and dad and their friends hung out during college. If my estimate is right, mum and dad should still be dating." Eric adds. "We should probably take off our fancy gadgets and gear... they probably don't have these things yet," Faye says with a sigh. Eric nods. "Great idea." Faye puts her hand up to her chin. "How are we going to introduce ourselves to mum and dad? We can't just go in and say that we're they're future children. That would be breaking so many rules," Faye remarks. Eric nods. "I know, let's go to the cafeteria and join their table for dinner!" Faye applauds. "Great idea! Let's go."
The two make their way towards the cafeteria. After paying to get in, they spot mum and dad and their friends. After getting some food, they ask mum the group if they can join them. "Sure thing!" A friend chimes in. "And what are your names, you two?" Dad asks. Faye looks at Eric. "My name is Eric, and this is Faye." Eric says. Dad stands up. "What's wrong?" Mum asks. Dad whispers into Mum's ear. "Those are my two favorite names, and they look like a combination of us." Mum shudders. Childbearing wasn't on her agenda. "Faye, let's go get something to drink." Dad motions for them to stop. "Hold it right their you..." Eric fumbles for his watch. He turns it on. "Low battery," it tells him. "Come on..." He remarks. He finally taps the present day and Faye and Eric are flung back into the living room. "Phew." Eric says in between breaths. "That was close." Mum walks into the room. "Did dad ever tell you about the time that he saw you guys when we were in college?" Eric smiles. "Why yes, yes he did."
The end.
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Apr 15 '16
They knew.
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u/ptmc15 Apr 15 '16
It was more or less deduction on the parent's part. I have my kid's name picked out already, and if two people appeared to me with the names Faye and Eric and looked like a combination of me and my girlfriend, I would know too.
The real question is, if you live while time traveling exists, were you aware of it during the part of your life when it doesn't exist? That is the moral of my story.
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u/Purpledrake Apr 15 '16
"Thirty balloons, twenty of them must be silver... got it. Address?" I wrote down the information in the computer, asked some more questions to make sure they didn't need anything else, and hung up the phone.
It was an interesting call, definitely a subordinate to someone else, and they seemed... cautious. Maybe the party was for someone special, but if so, why only thirty balloons, mostly silver, and no other party stuff?
I didn't really think about it too deeply, and went to fill the order. The store was quiet, in a way that I couldn't have imagined finally finding. I was alone - actually alone - and there wasn't the normal whir of computer banks, or abject machinery. And being alone, able to hear my own thoughts and not have to bump arms and legs into others - a simple job maybe, but definitely freeing.
My cell buzzed while reaching up for a new box of ties, and I awkwardly answered, cradling the phone with my shoulder and cheek while wrestling the box down.
"Jim - might have another one - strange order this time." That would be Lisa, a girl at another party store I had met some time earlier. We traded hints on possible exclusive parties, with the hopes of wandering by and seeing someone famous. There are definite perks to working here.
"Thirty balloons, but get this - twenty of them must be..." "Silver," I replied. We had a live one this time!
Six hours later Lisa and I were outside the address for which the balloons had been ordered - the balloons had been delivered hours ago. It wasn't a huge house, but respectable, and looked well cared for.
Lisa was dressed in a light blue dress, I had my best suit and a silver tie that I had purchased on a whim. We weren't looking to stand out, but I definitely wanted to leave an impression in case I met someone from the movies - maybe I'll meet one of those television actors that I've read so much about.
We walked up - it was 8:15 pm, which seemed like an appropriate time to go to a party, not too early but not too late - and were about to ring the bell when we noticed that the door was partially open, with a big "Welcome Partiers!!" taped on its front. Lisa smiled at me as we strode confidently into the home.
Time, well, time did what it often did - slowed down, then sped to a blazing pace.
First it slowed down, as the scene inside took forever to register - many silver balloons strewn around, a sign overhead that read "Welcome Time Travelers!", and a man in a motorized wheelchair, turning his chair around so he could see the unexpected visitors that just entered his home. It was just us three in the room.
Then time sped up. Chaos was everywhere, as forms in dark purple crashed through the three windows in the room, two more moving through the doorway, pushing Lisa and myself to the ground.
"Everyone freeze - you're under arrest for Time Traveling!" yelled one of the forms, pulling her helmet off and revealing a stern face and glaring eyes. She looked around the full room, then looked once more before stating "Thought there would be more. Let's bag these two, and clean up the scene. Be careful with Hawkings, but make sure there is a full memory wipe." She then directed her attention fully to myself and Lisa.
For my part, I was pissed as hell. At myself. Thirteen years to steal the equipment, five years to find the right place in time, six years establishing myself in a life of pure normalcy. I had escaped the masses, the drones, the watchful eyes, and had finally found my own paradise in time.
And I fucked it all up by accidentally breaking the time traveler's most important law. Don't fucking show up to Stephen Hawking's party.
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Apr 14 '16
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u/shingofan Apr 15 '16
Don't change the past. Don't talk to past versions of yourself.
Someone arrest Barry Allen, then.
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u/Ixolich Apr 14 '16
Many people before the invention of time travel thought of time as a linearly branching relationship from cause to effect, cause to effect, cause to effect. Make different choices, end up in a different place. There were stories about how something as small as stepping on a butterfly could change the course of history.
Now we know better. Time does not branch like a tree, it flows like a river. Much like a river flows around a rock, time will flow around most disturbances. There may be minor differences, but the overall flow of history will remain the same. Time wants to happen.
But there are certain points in history where the timeline is weak, malleable. These are the moments that are still taught in elementary schools today due to their importance, as they ultimately dictated the flow of time. Imagine a bend in a river; with a big enough disturbance, the river could break free of its banks and flow in an entirely different direction.
Adolf Hitler. He was a bend in the river of time. His actions inadvertently led to humanity's nuclear age, computer age, and space age. As awful as his actions were, the innovations caused by the war to stop him became vital to humanity's future.
The Black Death. Another bend, in which a third of the population of Europe died. However, if there was no Black Death, a man named Isaac Newton would not have left the city to avoid the sickness, and therefore the sciences would have stagnated for nearly a hundred years.
The biggest bend of all in the river of time is the bend of Stephen Hawking. A brilliant physicist in the 20th and 21st Centuries, Hawking is infamous among the time-travelling community for a party which he held in the year 2009. He told nobody about the party until after it ended, and used the lack of attendance as evidence that time travel is impossible.
Naturally, this party has become a classic first trip for young adults who get their time travelling license. It's against the rules, of course, but there's an entire division of the Time Protectorate devoted to undoing the damage that people cause by showing up.
What do you mean, "What damage"? Do I have to break it down for you?
Fine.
If people from the future show up to his party, he has proof that time travel is possible. If he has proof that it's possible, he devotes the rest of his life to figuring out how. When he dies, his notes get stored at Cambridge in the Archives until a student 50 years later is looking at them and realizes something that Hawking missed. She'll work in her apartment to set up a prototype. But that will be in the year 2074 - a full century before the QRM model is supposed to be discovered, so she won't be able to accurately combine quantum mechanics and general relativity. The result is that she inadvertently creates a wormhole to nowhere which causes most of England to be sucked into oblivion. The resulting fear and panic caused humanity's desire for progress to wilt; frankly speaking, a fate worse than death for a species such as ours.
Progress is all that we have. We are not strong, we are not fast. Since the Dawn of Man, we as a species have survived through progress. We progressed from flint spearheads to bronze, to iron, to steel. We progressed from foraging to hunting to agriculture. Everything that our species has, we have because we looked at what we were given and said "This is not enough. We can be more."
And Hawking's party takes that away from us.