3/30/81

Note: this story takes place in a timeline where the assassination attempt on Ronald Regean was successful.

September 5th, 2039

Ronald Reagan has always been a fascination of mine. After spending so much of my time studying him, I believe he would have gone on to be a very successful president. If he wasn’t shot in 1981, things would be different now, and things would be better.

I have believed this for a long time, but obviously there isn't really much way for me to find out. I wasn’t there, and I can’t change the past.

Or so I thought.

One day in my studies of Ronald Reagan, I was digging through some government archives. They are like a gold mine for historians; so much can be learned just from dusty old archives. I came across some files for an old government project in the late 70s. Project Chronos. It was an experimental theoretical time displacement project—basically, in short, the government's attempt at time travel.

It was very quickly abandoned after a test of the project ended in a few “minor” casualties. Most of it was covered up, and the building where most of it took place was slated for demolition. However, that never happened. And today, I am going to see what’s left of it.

Why? Because I think I finally see how this world would be if that bullet missed.

---

EXT. Government Laboratory

As I suspected, the building looked untouched for decades. It was covered in moss and cobwebs and just overall looked old. I thought this building would be guarded, but it wasn’t. Most likely just because after the failed experiment, nobody really believed it had potential and believed what they had made just had no way of working.

Or maybe it was simply just government cuts.

I walked up to the door of the old building. I tried to open it, but of course it was locked. Nobody was really around; the building was in a very small town (as most government experiments were). Knowing this, I kicked the door in.

---

INT. Government Laboratory

The room smelled of dust and moss. A time capsule that hasn't been opened since the late 70s. It smelled like that because that’s what it was.

Not much was really intact. There were papers, random machinery, pens, and strange devices scattered all around the room. It looked like it used to be really functional, but now it was just a strange mess.

The particular device I was looking for was a timepiece. The intended usage was for you to put in any date, location, and time, and it would take you there. I believe that the device was much closer to completion than expected. I also believe the scientists working on the project also knew, but they had to stop after the incident.

After a bit of searching through various bins, tables, and cupboards, I found the device. It wasn’t very new and for sure looked like an old piece of tech from the 70s. Many different dials, information pads, and just buttons.

Also, the watch was more of a sleeve. The main part was a watch for sure, but when I put it on, it went up to my left shoulder.

After a few hours of reading, screwing bolts, rearranging wires, and programming, the watch was finally done. I believed it could theoretically take me back in time. I wasn't sure, but I was 99%, and that was good enough for me.

I punched the date, time, and location into the watch.

“March 30th, 1981, 2:25 P.M., Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C.”

I rolled up my sleeve to cover the time device. Here goes nothing.

---

EXT. Washington Hilton – President’s Walk

It worked.

I was in 1981. Weird clothing, boomboxes, and the past. I saw the hotel in all its beauty, it wasn't really the same in my timeline, more of a horror because of what happened there.

I didn't see Ronald Reagan quite yet, but I knew he would walk out soon. I looked around to try to see the spot where his motorcade would pull in and also to scan the crowd for Hinckley, the assassin.

I looked out into the road and saw the presidential motorcade pulling into the drive. I knew this meant my time was running out; soon Reagan would be shot, and all this would be for nothing.

I looked nervously around for the assassin. I knew roughly where he would be, but I wasn't really sure. I never thought I would have to go to the past to find him.

The motorcade had come to a stop. I was really running out of time. Roughly three minutes is all I really had. That's when I spotted him: John Hinckley Jr., the man who assassinated Ronald Reagan. His brown hair and criminal face. Truly scarier in person.

Nobody else even noticed him at all; nobody knew what he was about to do. Except me. I knew. And I was going to stop it.

I wanted to tackle him right there. He was about to try to assassinate the President of the United States, one of my heroes in history, the man who might go on to change U.S. history for the better.

But I couldn't. That would change the history too much and possibly get me arrested, because to the cops I just assaulted a random man.

So I came up with a plan. I would walk over to Hinckley and wait until I saw him reach into his pocket. Then I would tackle him, saving Ronald Reagan from assassination.

---

Finally, Ronald Reagan stepped out of his motorcade.

It was hard to see him at first due to the number of Secret Service members surrounding him. But after a while I finally saw him. Ronald Reagan, my hero who died way too soon.

I never thought I would ever get to see him, but I also never thought I would ever time travel.

He was slowly walking down the path, answering reporter questions, shaking hands, and saying hello to his fellow citizens. He was truly amazing and as powerful as I thought he would be. I wish I was alive during his presidency.

He eventually got down to where I was standing. I knew that Hinckley was about to grab his gun, so I was watching him carefully.

I wanted to shake Reagan's hand, but I was afraid it would give Hinckley too good of a chance to fire. Saving Ronald Reagan's life was much better than shaking his hand.

I walked closer to Hinckley, but not close enough that he would be suspicious. I knew Reagan was about to answer one last question before the assassination, so I had a little time left.

I was standing now just a few feet away from Hinckley. I watched him very carefully, waiting for the moment.

“Mr. President!” called out a reporter.

That was the reporter right before Reagan was shot. I saw Hinckley reach into his pocket, and I quickly ran over to him and tackled him. He was able to shoot one bullet, but it missed all civilians and went into the wall of the hotel.

I held Hinckley down and kicked his gun to the side.

The Secret Service quickly ran over to me and told me they would take it from here, but I should stay for questioning.

Everyone around me was running and screaming in chaos. Quite frankly I would have been too if I didn't know what events were about to happen.

I knew I had to join them in running; if I stayed for questioning, they would realize I don't exist yet. People don’t and can’t know that I am a time traveler.

I began to join the crowd and start mindlessly running. Secret Service officers called out for me to stop, and some began to run after me, but I didn't listen and just kept running. I had to blend in and lose them if I wanted to get back home.

I began to run in a diagonal to attempt to stop them from tracking me. There were many of them, so it would be quite difficult. But with so many people, I was convinced I had already lost them all.

I didn't do anything, so they wouldn't hunt me down that much.

I knew that, so nobody would get suspicious, I had to go hide somewhere to use the device. Maybe a building, an abandoned house, or an alley. An alley would work well.

I ran into the city nearby and down the sidewalk, turned into a small alley, and rolled down my sleeve. I punched in the date:

“September 5th, 2039, Nebraska.”

---

I arrived back. However, I wasn't where I left. I was standing in a coffee shop in a bustling city.

This was a good sign; the main reason for Project Chronos was because of the bad state of the world at the time. This must mean that what I did helped.

I looked outside the windows to see a futuristic city. Society really had flourished, which meant I was right. I knew that society would be better off if Reagan survived.

I grabbed a newspaper from a nearby table. I was shocked when I read the headlines.

“Los Angeles destroyed by nuclear bomb.”

“Texas claimed by Germany.”

The entire world was at war. Every single country had nukes, and not small ones, but large ones just like the U.S.

It made no sense. I saved Reagan, and the world should be better, not worse.

I checked on my phone. It was an attempt, and it was a failed attempt. Reagan survived. But after I dug deeper, I found out what happened.

Reagan survived the bullet, and as Reagan does, it made him feel very untouchable. He was more ruthless in the Cold War, so it ended much earlier.

Where in my timeline, Reagan's VP was nervous and scared and dragged out the Cold War for decades and decades.

This led to the Soviet Union collapsing sooner, and all their nukes spreading all across the world. More nukes, more war, more chaos.

This isn't a better future. This is a far worse one.

I have to change it. I have to let Reagan die.

---

EXT. Washington Hilton

It hurt me to put that date in the time device.

It hurt me to see Reagan walking down the path, knowing what was happening but knowing I couldn't stop it.

“Mr. President!”

Gunshot.

I had to let my hero die. For the sake of the world.