Time Agency (10 page)

Nanette hopped off the train to follow 07760 down the subway tunnel. She waited until he was practically out of sight, so she could be sure he didn't notice her. She wasn't in the mood for a chase, and the element of surprise was always the best choice. Once she was certain he was out of earshot, she began to sneak after him. She wasn’t watching her step and crushed a bug. The bug died with a crunch. Some writers of the past thought that a bug would make a huge difference in the timeline. In reality, bugs didn’t make that much of a difference.

Science fiction writers of the past used to believe that crushing a butterfly would change history millions of years later. For the most part, history kept moving forward regardless of the butterfly. If she changed history by preventing the bookseller’s murder, the only thing that would change in history would be the date of death of the bookseller. Humans needed to feel important. They need to feel like without certain humans. History would be different. If she kidnapped Stephen Hawking, another physics genius would have unraveled the mysteries of black holes. The fact was that black holes existed in the universe, and anyone with the right equipment could observe their effects. It was only a matter of time before a human figured them out. If she did kidnap Stephen Hawking, another physicist would be in the history books of her time. Thus she would have traveled back on a branch of time and made a change. Then she would have traveled forward on another branch very similar to her own.

A time agent didn’t need to worry about the minutia. The world would continue one bug less. However, time agents refrained from kidnapping Steven Hawking. Harming people, famous or not, was a crime in any timeline, in addition to her oath to preserve the events of time to the best of her ability. She just didn't have to worry about stepping on any butterflies.

An important part of her job involved knowing about her personal timeline. Agents were very well versed in ancestry chains, so they could keep their timeline pure. Nanette knew a distant relative was living in Russia right now if she wanted to see a person on her personal chain. In addition to being versed with ancestry chains, she had some of the best non-lethal weaponry available, as well as memory wiping devices. Agents very rarely had to kill. In fact, they almost never did. 

People in the past used to doubt time travel's existence because they never met a time traveler. When they did meet a person who acted sort of weird, the last thing they suspected was time travel. Time travelers were abundant throughout history, and usually always took the guise of a tourist. If a person living in the past did discover the identity of a time traveler, their memory was usually wiped.

Humanity had a sense of responsibility by the time the invention of time travel became commonly used. Most people refrained from heading to the Middle Ages with a gun so that they could rule the world. The occasional crazy person would always slip through the cracks. She was there to stop them. History recorded some time travelers who were never caught by the agency. Myths like Merlin, gods hurling lightning, prophets healing, and men riding in the sky were errant time travelers. Nanette took most myths completely seriously. Half of her job was sorting through what was just good storytelling and eyewitness accounts of a person with future technology.

Technology always seemed to balance out. If a person did travel to the Middle Ages with a machine gun, the warlords of the time period wouldn't have the ability to manufacture another. Technology always seemed to appear in the world when there was a balance. For example, the same century that created the nuclear bomb also created the Internet. The reason humanity didn't annihilate itself was largely because of the Internet. Before the Internet, nukes were only held by a few countries with massive self-preservation interests. Those countries had the sense not to use them. By the time the nukes proliferated to a point where a common dictator with a death wish could use them, the Internet was in full operation. People were no longer isolated in their own country being warped by insular views created by closed communities and propaganda machines. Ideas spread like wildfire, and governments were unable to control them. The Internet generation grew up personally knowing people from all over the world. It was harder for governments to dehumanize their opponents. People began to view each other as people. It became harder to kill a person when they had a name and a face.

The 1914 Christmas Truce was a good example of peace in action. Two armies from World War I climbed out of the trenches to celebrate Christmas, play soccer, and exchange gifts. Once the enemy was humanized, they couldn't strike each other the next day. They were pulled from the front lines. The Internet began to humanize the world. When people were isolated, they were taught whatever their government or elders wanted them to believe, but when people were connected, they could learn when they were fed lies. Wars became increasingly difficult to fight, at least until the great economic collapse. When people could no longer afford the necessities of life, the bloodiest wars of history ensued.

Human civilizations rose and crumbled when they couldn't sustain themselves. The inhabitants of Easter Island used all the natural resources, and the civilization able to walk giant stone heads across an island became dust. The Mayans left cities abandoned when they used too many resources and were unable to feed the population. The United States of America crumbled when the corporate greed outweighed human need, but humans always rebuilt, and the old axiom of “those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it” eventually gave way to a better future. The world learned slowly, one brutal lesson at a time.

As a time traveler, Nanette had a unique perspective. The lessons of the past were difficult for humanity while they were going through it, but like any teenager in their adolescence, humanity eventually learned another way. For example, the idea of superiority of one human over another because of how they were born was widespread in early human history. Humans used to collect others as slaves and trade them like property. Eventually, slavery became a thing of the past. Racial-based preference became a part of the past. A person could no longer use ethnicity as a form of superiority.

When racial lines dissolved, societies began to declare superiority by dividing people along lines of wealth. Wealth was used to declare superiority. Those with lots of wealth sacrificed the poor people's standard of living to gain more wealth. They would often attempt to excuse their behavior by spinning a fantasy about how their workers’ lives would be worse without their companies. The fact remained that the workers were still only able to afford living worse than pets from wealthy nations. There was an inequity in the wealthy versus the poor system.

Eventually, the system began to crack. Companies deemed too big to fail began to fail. Governments borrowed money to prevent economic collapse. The bailouts were patches on a structural problem. A building with structural integrity problems would eventually crumble no matter how many patches were made. The wealthy priced the poor out of the ability to live. The poor couldn't afford the goods and services that were keeping the rich wealthy.

The poor countries were the first to destabilize. People began to fight for resources. The rich countries relied on the poor countries to manufacture products, so they began to destabilize when there was no more labor for cheap products. All the progress the Internet made keeping people together was lost as the poor could no longer afford the devices to keep themselves connected. People turned backward and became isolated again. The wars that dwindled began to flare again. The system collapsed and humanity devolved into chaos.

Most of the population died from starvation and war. All the major countries crumbled. City-states rose to power. Farming technologies could convert skyscrapers into acres of farmland. Reusable power like solar energy could be harvested with special paint on the buildings and vehicles. A few major cities closed their borders. They left the rest of the population to fight, starve, and die. The city-states created self-contained societies; they were small enough to plant the seeds for Nanette’s society.

She had to find 07760. She had to stop him. 07760 traveled to a city destined to be a city-state. The only part of the equation that didn't make sense was 07760's reasoning behind that specific moment in time. The city-state would not rise for another hundred years.

There was a clank of metal up ahead. She saw her suspect. He was ducking into the sewer system. She waited outside of his hearing range. She didn't want to alert him to her presence. This time, there would be no mistake.

I ran down a large subway tunnel. From inside the train, the tunnel never seemed that long. It would take minutes from one stop to the next. On foot, the tunnel was vast and seemed like I had been running for hours. I didn’t realize the subway trains went so fast. I ran until I saw an entrance into the sewer system. I climbed out of the tunnel and into the sewers.

The sewer was dark and extremely smelly. My vision corrected itself to the dark very quickly. My stomach did not react badly to the smell. I knew it was bad, but I didn’t feel any physical effects. The future had wonderful technology. I wondered why the nanomachines didn’t give me super strength or why I couldn’t fly.

“It’s because we don’t need those upgrades,” a voice said from behind.

I turned to see a beautiful woman, the woman the well-dressed man had warned about. She was wearing a pristine black suit. Her hair was tied back, and she looked ageless. Her physical body looked like she was in her twenties, but the eyes were beyond comparison. She looked like she had the wisdom of hundreds of years. I could not put my finger on it, but I knew her in some way. “How’d you know?” I asked.

She explained. “You were admiring the abilities of your body. It’s easy to deduce the next question. If the nanomachines can give us unlimited endurance, why not strength? But there is a reason we don’t have super strength, agility, and all the martial art skills. In our time, we don’t need it. Humanity has grown beyond petty behavior. There is no conflict, no fights; everyone is content and happy. So increasing strength does nothing when there is no one to fight.”

“If there is no conflict, why are you still employed?”

“I mean at the societal level. Individuals will always have conflicts.”

“What about sports?” I asked, remembering a thing called “UFC” I saw at the hotel room. “Sports require strength and conflict.”

“I know it’s difficult with the memory wipe, so your perception of humanity is built from this less civilized time,” she began, but I cut her short.

“You—”

“I authorized it.”

I lunged toward her, but I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed but retained control of my vocals. “What did you do to me?”

“You’ll notice that I have no weapons. I have full authorization to control the machines in your body. I am an agent.”

“Don’t I get a phone call? A lawyer or something?”

“There is no trial system, only reprogramming.”

The mention of reprogramming formed a lump in my throat. I was pretty sure it was the reason I was here. My instinct told me I had to avoid it at all cost. Since I couldn’t move my only option was to keep her talking while I thought of a better plan. “What about people who are innocent? People can screw up a DNA test.”

“Do you think there are any mistakes? Crime detection technology has jumped by leaps and bounds even beyond DNA. Imagine being able to isolate the quantum signature of every person, access to every security feed in existence, nanomachines, time travel… There is no room for doubt.”

“So why not just stop their hearts with your nanomachines? Why waste time reprogramming?”

“There you go thinking in barbarian terms again. The only deaths in the future are accidents and suicide. The nanomachines in your body can sustain life indefinitely. I’m 248 years old. People only die when they choose to die.”

“So how do you handle overpopulation?” I said.

“Antiquated thinking again. The Earth has a population limit. There is a ratio of humans who can live on the planet without using all the resources. Reproduction is carefully controlled. The nanomachines control pregnancy. There are no accidental births. Suicides are not death. They are a celebration of life.”

“People have to die to bring new people into the world?”

“It’s not as bad as you think. Some suicides opt for their genetic code not to live on so others may birth.”

“That’s not perfection. Not if parents have to kill themselves to have a child.”

“You said that to me before. Before the memory wipe. Doesn’t a community raise better children? Parents are inherently flawed. One human being could not possibly possess all the knowledge necessary for the success of a child. Parents impart bias.”

“What if the community doesn’t care about the well-being of the child? The foster system of this time period…”

“You are comparing outdated social models again. That’s why humans change so slowly; they resist change. But change will happen. You can choose to be a part of it or disappear from the community. Humans are always better off in communities.”

“Humans spook like a herd. Look at those people who jumped on the subway with me. They were in no danger in the train. There is more danger in the tunnel.”

“But communities can modify behavior. Look at the global community called the Internet from this time period. Rumor spreads like wildfire, but people work hard to quell the rumor. Rumors don’t last long because the few with awareness inform the rest. Eventually, more and more people become aware. It’s much harder to spread lies to an aware population. The community is smarter. Now imagine having access to that community in your head. Your nanomachines keep you connected and aware.”

“But what about the individual?”

“Individuals are greedy, selfish, and in the right position can cause much harm in the pursuit of self-interest. Communities modify the behavior of selfish individuals.”

“Strong communal cultures work themselves to death. They spend all of their time working for others and leave nothing for themselves.”

“That’s why we’ve achieved a balance in the future. Everyone chooses his or her own path. If they want to make decisions that affect the population, they must work in a community. If they wish to isolate, then we leave them be. People do what they want so long as there is no harm to others.”

I didn’t trust her concept of perfection. Perhaps it was the pop culture of this era, and the rhetoric being shoveled on the masses to push the agendas of the few. It seemed that every system had those who would benefit, and those who would not. For people to live in a perfect society, there were always those who would be outcast and did not belong. Those who did not belong would sacrifice their freedoms and rights. I had a feeling I was one of those people.

Two time agents appeared next to her. They were both wearing a similar style of suit. They both looked ageless as well, not too young and not too old.

“You captured him,” one of the agents said.

“Clearly. Now if you quit burdening me with obvious and redundant statements, we can figure out a mystery,” she stared them down.

“What?” the other agent said.

“I discovered this on the 07760, and I’m not sure what it does.” She pulled a small spherical glowing object from her pocket.

“That’s a wide array short-term memory wiper,” the agent said.

“You’re right,” she said, and the sphere lit up. I closed my eyes and heard two loud thumps. When I opened them again, the time agents were on the ground. Her nanomachine lock on my body loosened up. I almost fell over as I was used to the paralysis and not engaging my muscles.