Desperate Times

The world was ending, but humanity did not want to die.  

It was the year 2072, and a group of twelve scientists were huddled together in a lab in Boston, debating. They’d run the calculations many times and had figured out how to save the world. They needed to send a team back to the year 2020 and save a carload full of teenagers. They could only save one, or else the changes to the timeline would be unprecedented. Their primary issue -and the topic of their current debate- was which one to save. Computers in the year 2072 were good. Very good. However, they were not good enough to tell the team which person they were supposed to save. In typical high-school-stereotype form, there was Sean the jock, Riley the artist, Maddy the future neuroscientist, Jeb the computer whiz, and Amie, who wasn’t much of anything. She was a solid 'B' average student, worked at a local fast food venue, dabbled in a few extracurriculars.  

Only Dr. Firkle knew that she was the one they needed to save. She was the only one who could save the planet from the destruction that was bound to happen in only a few short years. In 2027, the multiverse transporter had been created and sold among a few of the world’s incredibly wealthy elite. They amused themselves quietly, for some time, travelling inconspicuously across the multiverse, gambling away fortunes, and meeting their doppelgangers. That all came to an abrupt halt in 2033 when Jordan Harbinger sold his transporter to a group of terrorists who proceeded to travel through it and blow up half a dozen Earth’s before they were stopped. From then on, a transporter ban was issued. No one on this Earth could have, let alone use, a multiverse transporter again. They were all destroyed promptly, but Dr. Firkle didn’t become one of the world’s leading scientists by being stupid. He memorized the design and software involved in the transporter and built one of his own 20 years later. Though he tried not to use it often, this was an emergency. He’d visited enough Earth’s to realize that the only way to prevent the destruction of it was for Amie, and only Amie to live. 

The team had already ruled out Sean, and the favorites were Jeb and Maddy, due to their intelligence and calculated likelihood to have successful careers. What they didn’t know was that Maddy would go on to be the cause of the Zombie apocalypse and Jeb would go on to create a tech-based nuclear weapon that would cause the destruction of half of the planet. 

“What about Amie?” Dr. Firkle asked, abruptly changing the flow of the conversation. The scientists stopped their argument over whether Jeb or Maddy was more likely to save the world and stared at him. 

“What about her?” Kristina Polyentha, one of Russia’s leading scientists, spoke up. “Her abilities are trivial at best, and will be of little use.” 

It was only then that he let himself feel afraid. The weight of the situation came crashing down on him and for the first time, he voiced his deepest fear. “You mean that she may not be chosen?” 

“Exactly. In fact, let’s take a vote right now. Who’s in favor of eliminating Amie from the running?” Most of the hands in the room were raised. He raged silently to himself. 

By the end of that day, the team had decided that Maddy would be the one to live. Dr. Firkle had reached a decision as well. That night, he snuck into the lab and stole the time machine. He’d never been in a time machine before, but it was all set for the rescue mission that was going to take place the next day. It was a straightforward process to punch in the date and head off. As the time machine began to take off for the year 2020, Dr. Firkle saw Dr. Glynth, another of the scientists from the team, run into the room. He yelled frantically and waved his arms, but it was no use. There would be no stopping him now. Though Dr. Firkle was sure that the law enforcement agents would try. 

One could say that it took no time at all for Dr. Firkle to arrive in 2020, and that was true in every sense of the word. 

He landed on top of Central Park Tower in New York at 11:53 pm. One of the many conveniences of a time machine was that it folded to about the size of a briefcase when not in use. Dr. Firkle would not have to worry about being stranded here if he carried the machine with him. He eventually found his way down to the heart of New York City, and gazed around in awe. Things had changed so much since he had last been here. It was like being in a memory. Which he supposed it was. This version of New York City had not existed for a long time.  

After hailing a taxi, he began to make his way to the airport, to catch the 2:34 am flight to Missouri, where Amie lived. It was less than 24 hours now, until they were scheduled to crash.  

Passing through the baggage screening area would not be an issue - metal detection dampeners had been invented and installed on the time machine years ago. After that, nothing exciting happened until he reached Amie's house, in Montgomery City. Dr. Firkle realized that he should have planned things out a little better. What was he going to do, approach Amie as she was heading to school and tell her that she was going to die? 

That is exactly what he ended up doing, and, predictably, it didn’t end well. 

“I have no idea who you are,” she said, backing away. “Why should I trust you?” 

“Because I’m from the future. I know it happens. And I’m telling you honestly, the fate of the world depends on this.” He pleaded, staring at her urgently. 

“Right,” She scoffed, getting into her car. “I’m going to be late for school.” Then she was gone. 

He threw his hands up in exasperation and started walking down the street towards the police station.  

Four hours later, he had stolen a police uniform and badge, and was standing in front of the principle of Amie's school, explaining why he needed to speak to one of her students. “Um, because, uh, you see, we think she may have been involved in some criminal activity and would like to, uh, take her in for some questioning…” He stuttered, wishing he were better at playacting. It worked well enough because they called Amie to the office. Her eyes widened when she saw him. 

“What are you doing here?” She asked. 

“Amie, do you know this man?” The principal looked concerned, and Dr. Firkle realized that he hadn’t been that convincing after all. 

“Yes,” She turned to the principal. “He showed up at my house this morning and told me I was going to die.” 

“Well, when you put it like that-” Dr. Firkle started, hoping for a chance to defend himself. 

“That’s it.” The principal cut him off. “I’m calling the cops. And if you’re one of them, you should have no problem explaining this charade to them. We do not condone strange men loitering around our student's homes and coming here in the middle of the day to see them outside of class.” 

“Ok, I’m going to leave now,” Dr. Firkle began backing out of the room, searching desperately for some way to save this situation. “But ma’am, I encourage you not to engage in any more questionable activities.” He said, addressing Amie. 

She gave him a dirty look and crossed her arms. He left, but it was a tactical retreat. He would be back. He couldn’t let her get in that car, and was prepared to do whatever it took to make sure she survived tonight. 

Eight hours later, Dr. Firkle was at Amie's house again. She was supposed to leave with her friends to go to a party in 8 hours and 13 minutes. 11 minutes later, the car would crash. She emerged from her house 4.5 minutes early, and Dr. Firkle was ready to intercept her. 

“Please.” He begged. 

“You again?!” She exclaimed, exasperated and angry. “When are you going to leave me alone??” 

“When you don’t get in that car.” He looked at her, pleadingly. “Please. It would be the biggest-and last- mistake you ever make.” 

“Why do you care so much?” She demanded. 

“It’s the same as I told you this morning. Honestly, I am a scientist from the year 2072. Our world is about to end. I’ve run the calculations and I’m not at liberty to give any more details about how I know this… but the fate of the world depends on you surviving tonight.” 

“Go away.” She said, coldly. “Go back to wherever, or whenever, you came from.” 

“Wait!” He cried. “Before I go…” He slipped something into her hand. She took it, but made no move to see what it was. 

Nonetheless, Dr. Firkle noted with relief, she went back inside instead of continuing to wait by the curb. The car arrived shortly after, waited for a minute, and drove away without Amie in it. Dr. Firkle sagged with relief. 

Just then, five figures in all black appeared, heading towards Amie's driveway, where Dr. Firkle was still standing. Agents. 

“Jeffrey Firkle,” the leading agent said. “You are under arrest for stealing government property and interfering with the timeline. Please do not resist.”  

One of them headed towards him with handcuffs, while the other 3 continued towards Amie's house. “Wait!” He cried. “You can’t kill her!” 

“We’ll do what we have to in order to preserve the timeline.” The head agent said. 

“You’re not preserving anything!!! You are changing into what you think it should be, but men should not play God. You’re making the wrong choice and I’ve seen it!” 

The agents ignored him. After a minute, they re-emerged from the house. 

“The girl isn’t there.” 

“Wait here.” The agent who had cuffed Dr. Firkle commanded. They talked among themselves for a moment before turning back to him. “Where did she go? What happened to her?” 

Unintimidated, Dr. Firkle didn’t respond. They approached him. “This is bigger than you, you fool!” 

“It’s bigger than us all.” He replied, quietly. 

“Tell us where she is, and we’ll let you go.”  

“I do not wish to be released.” 

“What?!?” 

“I’ll tell you where she went, but only by my free will, and to prevent further damage to the timeline.” He paused. “She went to the future.” 

“What do you mean, ‘she went to the future’?” The agents sputtered, uncomprehending. 

“I gave her the time machine and sent her to the future. However, I didn’t specify a time, so she’ll never arrive. As hence, you won't be able to send anyone to kill her. She’s set to come back to the current time at a time that… well, you really don’t need to know.” 

Their eyes bulged as they began to comprehend what he had just done, and what this meant. They couldn’t kill her, so they couldn’t save anyone else, either. “You’re still under arrest.” The head agent said, coldly. 

“I was counting on it.” Dr. Firkle grinned. 

 Immediately after the agents and Dr. Firkle had gone, Amie returned to the year 2020. She wandered into the living room of her home and turned on the news.  

“... car crash that claimed the lives of four young people this evening. Investigators are still trying to pinpoint the cause of this accident, but it appears that the driver lost control of the vehicle and drove off the side of the I-75 bridge, just outside of Lakewood...” 

She switched off the television, no longer wanting to see footage of the car that she should have been in tonight. Wandering out of the living room in a daze, Amie wondered where she was supposed to go from here. Where life would take her, and how she was supposed to go about saving the world.