Looking into the future

March 5th, 2022, 9:32 am

Location: Stalls International

“We can’t physically travel through time because it takes too much energy, more than we can create. So instead of physically going through time, my device lets the user view any date, past, or future. Not only that but the person using the machine can give a highly suggestive subliminal message to people. These messages can be focused on one person or multiple people in the vicinity.” Doctor Laura Stalls explains her machine to the President of the United States and generals from each branch of the military, also the Directors of the FBI, CIA, and the NSA, in a huge hanger at Stalls International which is over 8 square miles, 400 feet deep hidden underground installation in Death Vally.

“Does this put the person into a hypnotic state?” President Simms asked

“No, they’re awake and alert when the message is given. The message is even more powerful than a hypnotic suggestion because it basically burns it into the person's mind like a memory unless the person is told to forget it.

Doctor Stalls sits down at the machine and presses some buttons.

"Now why don't we kill Hitler? I'm going to type on the machine April 20th, 1898, he was born in the Brunau am Inn in Austria-Hungry. Now we find his mother Maria Ann Schickgruber and there's her room. Let's go forward a little to see when she's going to give birth. Ok, there she is in labor, lets go forward to when he was born. There, the umbilical cord has been cut.. now while the nurse has the scissors let's have her kill him."

The nurse takes the scissors and slits Hitler's jugular vein. Baby Hitler's blood spews all over the place. His mother screams and the nurse is tackled and taken away. Hitler is dead.

"Now let's see how things change, he was the dictator of Germany in 1933, it looks like the Nazi party never got started. We just stopped one of the most horrific wars ever. The problem is, this is a fixed point in time, we can see what will happen, but in a couple of minutes, everything will go back to the way it was. There is no way to stop Hitler from really becoming the dictator of Germany, even though we would love to."

A couple of minutes everything switches back to the way it was. Hitler is the dictator of Germany, and nothing changed.

Everyone looked at each other in sadness. If they were able to really change this date the world may have been a really different place.

To break the depression Director Michael Porter of the FBI said “It would be nice to have my younger self to not meet my 2nd wife.” Everyone gave a little laugh.

“We’re not done yet there’s more if you’d take your seats ladies and gentlemen. Now, changing time can be detrimental to the future. Say, we go back in time, and I tell your younger self not to meet your ex, Director Porter. Will things have gone better for you or worse? Well let's find out, shall we? When and where did you meet your 2nd ex?”

“I met Samantha on May 4th, 2015, at the Annual Executive Training Conference, it was held at the Renaissance Austin Hotel. Veronica and I met in the bar, she accidentally ran into me, and her drink went all over my shirt. We started talking and hit it off. After the conference, we decided to go on a real date and got married 3 months later and divorced 3 years after that.” Director Porter explained.

“Ok, let's put in the date. Do you remember the time or approximate time?”

“It was after the first training sessions, and I had already eaten dinner, so say about 8-8:30 pm.”

“I’ll put 7:45 pm in case it was a little earlier, I can scrub through it to find the actual time. Now put the venue and let’s see what happens. As you can see time is standing still because it’s in the bubble and we can move forward in increments without having to leave it. Now let's go to the bar.”

“There I am, and there's Veronica at the other end of the bar.” Director Porter said looking at the screen.

“It’s 7:52, now let's give you a suggestion to find a table in the back.” Doctor Stalls homes in on the director and says, “You want to go sit in the back.”

Director Porter found a seat at an empty table at the rear of the bar and sat down.

“Now it’s 8:03 and she’s getting up and leaving the bar. Congratulations you never met.”

Director Porter laughs. “This is great.”

“Well now let's go forward 1 year.”

“Hey, look I’m with another woman...who is she?”

“Now another 2 years.”

“I’m still with her, things must be ok. We look happy enough.”

“Let’s see how things are at the present time.”

“I’m with another girl. That one must not have worked out.”

“You’re heading her money, she’s an escort. Looks like you live alone and sad.”

“I don’t meet Alicia. Can we see what would happen if you tell past me to not be such a crybaby and go to James’ New Year's Eve party on December 31st, 2019? That’s when Alecia and I met.”

“Ok, crying isn’t good, go to James’ New Year's Eve Party, get your mind off of...still don’t know her damn name.”

“Now let's forward to the party, how did you two meet?”

“There’s Alicia. I asked James who she was, and he introduced us.”

“You may need a little push this time around.” Doctor Stalls tells the Director to ask James about that beautiful woman.”

James introduces them and they start talking. “Ok good we met; things should be on track? If so let's just leave it here.”

“Now do you want to see your future?”

“Sure, just to see if Alicia and I are still together.”

Doctor Stalls goes forward 40 years.

“Wow, how old I look. It looks like We’re still together, and happy. Can we keep it at this time?”

“Don’t you want to see what happened to Veronica?”

“I suppose, if something bad happened to her that would be a dick move on my end. At that time, she lived at 202 Broadway, apartment 5, on March 8th, 2023, at 8 pm.” Which was the present day.

Doctor Stalls typed in the address and apartment number. The image changes to Veronica sitting cuddling on the sofa with a guy watching a movie. They’re eating popcorn and drinking wine.

“She looks happy, that’s like the way we were when we first met.”

“If you want, we can keep it at this timeline, if it’s ok with everyone else?”

The rest of the people were ok with it, there wasn’t any damage done.

“Now I can make it so you retain the memory of you and Veronica, or you can forget you two even met.”

“We had some good times, but the divorce was a mess. Maybe my remembering the mistakes I made with Veronica made me a better person for Alicia? I worked so hard, I was just an agent, but because of her now as Director, I make more time for Alicia. I think I want to keep the memories.”

She typed on the keyboard “Ok, done.”

“Thanks, Doc, you saved me a ton of money on the divorce.” The Director laughed, patting her on the shoulder.

“No problem, but we have to be careful how we use this machine, in the wrong hand's bad things can happen.”

March 5th, 2022, 7:23 pm

Location: Stalls residence

That night Doctor Stalls was at her house eating dinner with her husband Phil and children (Garry 14 and Diane 16) the doorbell rang.

Phil looked at his phone. “I don’t recognize this person. Are you expecting anyone, Hun?”

“No, I’m not” as Laura Stalls looked at her phone. “Who are you, how did you get past the gate?”

“My name is Martain Peele, and I have to talk to you, it’s important.”

“So, talk, Again, how did you get past the gate?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me, and I can’t tell you through the intercom, someone may be listening.”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“You just have to trust me; this is life or death.”

“Kids, go into the panic room with Daddy. Phil watched the monitor and if anything feels wrong call the cops.”

“Are you sure?”

“If he’s telling the truth, I must listen. Just be ready.”

Phil and the kids went into the basement where Phil shows his eye to the retina scanner and his thumb to the fingerprint reader. The door opened to a big room with beds, a refrigerator, a pantry full of canned food, and a huge screen on the wall. Phil picked up a mini keyboard and typed something into it and the monitor turned on showing all the cameras in the house. He clicked on the image of the front door which took up a quarter of the lower left of the screen, the other cameras in the house still showing on the rest of the monitor.

“OK, we’re ready.”

Laura opened the door and a Japanese man in his 40s stood there. She stood aside so he could walk in.

“Let's go to the study.”

The two of them walked to the study which had wall-to-wall books, a desk, and a sofa. It had a nice Persian rug on the floor, and the desk had a couple of opened books, some papers, and a laptop on it, but it was still tidy. She sat down in her chair and told him to sit on the couch. Mr. Peele did what she said.

“Is this a secure room?”

Doctor Stalls typed something on the computer.

“Ok, now unless you have a device that can transmit through 3 inches of steel and a faraday cage, only the people in the panic room can hear us, but there is a hard line in there so my husband can still call the police if he doesn’t like what he sees.”

“Fair enough.” Mr. Peele took a deep breath. “I’m from 18 years in the future from the year 2040 and you have a leak...well 2. One we found, your then assistant Elliot, the second we haven’t found yet.”

“But time travel is impossible, what about the power it takes?”

“Well, 13 years from now on February 10, 2035, we sent a high-speed mining probe into space to find other elements. Electricity was becoming too expensive and with the surge of population at 15 billion, 2 billion of those in the US alone, the grid couldn’t take it much longer. 6 months later the probe found Bolreum, it was what we were looking for, 20 pounds of it could power California for over 9 years. It took two and a half years for the army core of engineers and other engineering firms around the country to retrofit every power station in the US they worked 24/7 in shifts, it was pretty amazing. After some testing to make sure it couldn’t be used as a weapon, we gave it to the rest of the world. Scientists expect Bolreum to last over 100 years and break down with no harmful effects to people or the planet. We have mined enough for over 11,000 years of power so far. We put it in our cars, ships, electronics, we have automated drones looking for other planets with life on them and mining vessels looking for other elements we can use. Bolreum is powerful enough to make physical time travel a reality. With your daughter and son's help, 3 years later they were able to finish the machine. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“My babies, built this? I’m a proud mother but also scared, are they ok?

“Yes, they weren’t there when the lab was broken into, they did it after hours. On March 10th, 2035, your children's time travel device was used by a neo-Nazi organization called White Angel, they started World War Three, and they won, killing off billions of ethnicities and enslaving people.”

“What happened to me and Phil?”

“Two weeks prior on April 24th at 6:34 AM, you were on the company jet coming back from Paris when you were shot down by a missile.”

Shocked at what she had just heard, she wanted to cry, but she took a deep breath to hold back the tears. “Ok, what can we do to fix this?”

“This is the second time we’ve tried this. The first time you didn’t hire your assistant Elliot, but they somehow got in anyway. You must have a second mole, but we don’t know who it is.”

“So, you want me to find out who it is?”

“I didn’t want to say this in an open room, but I’m with a secret government agency that was put together by President Gerrard Folk. Right now, he’s in your secret lab, because it’s the safest place to be. The Whitehouse has been taken over, your machine was dismantled years ago, I don’t even think this group knows about it which gives us an advantage. You can view and change the timeline, so the White Angels are taken care of before the damage is done.”

“How do you want to take care of them?”

“Well...that’s up to you. Now we pretty much know a lot of the players, but we may not know all, except for the second mole and some muscle.”

“If things are as bad as you say they are, I don’t know. My conscience says take them in but the rest of me might agree to take them out before the damage is done. Or I could go back in time before the leader and the higher ranks were born and make sure they never existed. Maybe their parents never meet? Then I can see what happens in the future.”

“There are two heads of the group. Biff MacDonald, and his second Max Tanoffsky, but they have a couple of psychopaths that may need to be taken care of too. Here is everything I have on them.”

Martain Peele handed over a tablet to Doctor Stalls, she looked at the tablet for a bit, then put it down.

“These are bad people. Ok, let me go to my lab and take a look at the timeline myself, then I’ll make up my mind about what I want to do. I don’t fully trust you yet to bring you with me, this room doubles as a cell, enjoy reading my books, and if I see you’re telling me the truth I’ll have my husband let you go.”

Doctor Stalls left the room and Mister Peele heard the magnetic lock engage. He looked at the books on the walls, picked one, sat on the sofa, and started reading. Phil watched him on the monitor while the kids played a board game against each other.

Doctor Laura Stalls walked to some shelves in the basement and said, “Only science can tell us the truth” and a panel opened, there was an iris scanner and a handprint reader which read her handprint and a door opened. She walked down a corridor and at the end was a subway car. She entered it, sat down, and put on a three-point seatbelt and moments later the car took off at a high speed. She looked at the speedometer and it read 360 MPH. The hardline phone rang, Laura answered.

“That’s some story babe.”

“What do you think about him?”

“He’s sitting there reading, if he’s got bad intentions, he’s sure keeping his cool. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Well, we shall see. I’ll be at the office in 5 minutes.”

March 5th, 2022, 8:43 pm

Location: Stalls International

A few minutes later the car slowed down and stopped, she got out and walked to another door where she said, “If science is wrong, we’re all doomed” and another iris scanner and handprint reader appeared. The door opens and she walks down another corridor and another handprint scanner, elevator doors opened, and Doctor Stalls walked in and pressed the button to sublevel 340. The elevator started moving and after about 30 seconds the doors opened to another door with an iris scanner, she looked at it and it opened into her office at Stalls International. She walked to the hangar where the time viewing machine was. There was a quick body scan, one door opened, she walked in, and UV lights lit up the room, there was a beep and the doors opened.

Doctor Stalls sat down at the machine and typed in April 10th, 2035, and then the address 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC then she looked at the monitor in horror. People in uniforms with swastikas on them walked down the corridors of the white house.

She then put in the date of when their plane was shot down and scrubbed back until she saw her, and her husband entered the plane. She said to her past self, her husband, and the pilot “put that plane on autopilot to be a decoy and take another plane.” The pilot set the plane to take off toward the landing strip near Stalls International, then they paid for a private get to take them to General William J. Fox Airfield. When they landed, they had a car pick them up and bring them home.

April 24th, 2035, 5:10 pm

Location: Stalls residence

At home, Phil turned on the TV, then opened the ABC app on the Fire Stick and put on the news. There was a story about a man who saved a child from a burning building, the image showed the man carrying the little girl out then walking across the street where they sat on the stairs of a building waiting for the fire department and paramedics to come. People were looking out their windows and some were walking out to see what happened...at the top left of the screen it said, “recorded earlier.”

A reporter started talking “The fire department arson unit is still trying to figure out what started the fire, but there were no injuries. The man who saved the child Brad Carson and the girl Trish masters are in the hospital being checked out. We’ll give you more information as it comes to us. This is Tammy Ryan from ABC news, now to you Conner.”

“Thank you, Tammy. In breaking news, there was a plane that exploded over the Atlantic Ocean this evening. The plane is said to be owned by Stalls International and may have been carrying CEO Laura Stalls and her family. We’ll give you more information as it comes in.”

Looked at Laura with fear on his face “this is bad! Why would someone do this? How did we know to switch planes?” he said when she answered

Future Laura highlighted Laura and Phil to talk to them.

“I have an idea h...” Laura started to say

“Don’t say anything. Your thoughts are right Laura, it is someone from the past talking to you...I’m future you. Now your company has a mole, we don’t think it’s the pilot, but don’t say anything to him until he’s ruled out. Pretend like everything is normal, if you want to talk to me go into your private room, I should be able to talk to you still.”

“We have to figure out what’s going on, I’ll be in the study. “Brian make yourself at home, we’ll be back.” Laura said

“Yes, ma’am.” Brian answered

They walked to the study and put it in privacy mode. Laura turned on the laptop and brought up the camera feed in the living room. Brian Cardiff walked into the kitchen and got a drink of water, then went and sat down on the sofa and continued watching the news.

“I’m guessing you heard that too? Me from the future talking to us?”

“You both heard me, yes and you do have another mole, we’re looking for them. It’s important that you two act normal and stay in the house.”

“Why...how? Laura Stalls asked her future self

“I can’t go into it now, just trust me...you. I’ll just tell you things will get bad if we don’t work fast. The people who tried to kill you think you’re dead, now we just have to find the second mole and the assassins and stop them.”

“Assassins? What the hell is going on?” Phil said in a louder voice.

“We know the head of security is clear, we gave him a suggestion to find the mole and to be quiet about it. Right now, he’s doing a deep background check on everyone in the company and working with the police to figure out what happened. I had him start with Brian to clear him. I just got the confirmation it looks like he’s not the mole.”

“Ok, note to self, in the future we’re doing deeper background checks on every new hire. Should I loop Brian in?”

“Sure, he has the right to know.” present Laura said “I’ll talk to you later.”

They walked back into the living room where Brian was still watching the news.

“What did you learn?” Brian asked

“We have a mole. One was found, the other not yet. Damion is doing background checks on everyone.”

“Ok, good. I’m guessing he started with me since you’re looping me in?”

“Yes, Sorry Brian, we had to check everyone.”

“It’s ok, I understand.”

A few hours later Laura heard the phone ring. She picked it up.

“What did you find out?”

“Well, the second mole is Tanya Bishop. We went to her house, and she wasn’t there but there looked like there was a struggle. I don’t think she did this of her own free will, but then again, the struggle could have been staged to make us think that. I called the police and they put an APB on her, if she’s still in LA she’ll be found. We also found her laptop broken.”

“Thanks, Damion. She is meticulous about putting things on the cloud, maybe the criminals don’t know that. She gave me an encrypted share folder, let me check it.

Doctor Stalls logged into the company's cloud and typed in the encryption key, there were 2 video files on it from the day before.

“Doctor Stalls, if you’re seeing this, I’m happy to guess you didn’t die in the plane crash. whatever you may think is not true. I started dating a man named Richard Fold and this last night he video-conferenced me that he has my son Stephanie. He said If I didn’t do this, he’d kill him. He just used me to get close to someone who worked at Stalls. I sent you a copy of the video, hopefully, it helps.”

“So, this man Richard Fold must be the alias of Biff McDonald the leader?”

“I'll have my contact at the police station look into Biff McDonald aka Richard fold.” Damian said

Laura then clicked on the second file.

“Miss Bishop, as you see we have your daughter. We know your company has been working on a time travel device, get us in to use it or we’ll kill your daughter, tell anyone and we’ll kill your daughter, you have 3 hours to do so.” Biff McDonald/Richard Fold said.

Past Laura looked at the clock on the wall and it said 7:42 PM.

“It looks like she was just trying to save her daughter. Unless we find out this was all staged I won’t press charges against her.”

“Now that we know who the leader is and the time, I know what to do to stop them. I have to use one of your security officers Damion.”

Laura sent security officer Bill Prescott to Stalls International in 2022.

March 5th, 2022, at 5:15 pm

Location: Stalls International

After listening to what Bill Prescott told her, Laura went back to the Time Viewer and sat down. She looked up at the clock and it said 6:12 PM. She then typed in the date, the address of Stalls International, and the time 7:30 PM. She looked around the building to see where the bad guys would be coming from. She saw them with Tanya Bishop, she used the biometric scans to let them in.

“There they are."

At a terminal, Laura hacked into the hall of records and founds Biff McDonald's birth certificate.

“His parents are Jeff and Lisa McDonald, and he was born at Ceder-Sinai hospital at 3:24 AM on April 9th, 1984. She moves forward to July 1st, 1983, His address is 1482 Cardiff Bl. When did Jeff and Lisa get married? I guess I’m going to be doing some scrubbing to find out.”

She went back year after year and found that Jeff was born in this house. She went back day by day, minute by minute until she found the date she was looking for, August 10th, 1981 was when they met. Jeff had just finished a jog and was looking at the water, Laura was next to him. They said hi, talked, and in time fell in love.

She then went forward to January 20th, 1983, and suggested they wait a year to have children. Laura brought it up to Jeff and he agreed. Then she typed in April 10th, 2035, and then the address of Stalls International.

“How is everything, did I fix the timeline?” Past Laura asked

“Everything looks fine. Let me just go forward a bit more to make sure.”

She forwards time to 2123 and put the address of a bar she hoped would still be there.

“Good, it’s still here, but wow has it changed.”

It was still a bar, but the screens on the wall looked thinner than paper, customers would say what they want, and it would appear in front of them, it also looked like they didn’t use money. People seemed happy.

Doctor Laura Stalls smiled at Tonya who was sitting next to her and her future self. “Everything is good, everyone is safe.”