Cause and Effect: A Fool's Journey Through Time

By Christopher Broschell

Jonas Wilkins is a low-level administrator in the future, but is sent back in time to gently nudge world events to make a better future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher Broschell
• Release date: Jan 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9780994839688

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copyright ©2018 by Christopher Broschell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced of transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-9948396-8-8

1

My name is Jonas Wilkins and I work as an analyst at the Ministry of Temporal Affairs. What exactly does that mean? I comb through time trying to make sense of the past. This may sound like a very interesting job but it's not. All I do, day in and day out, is analyze historical data. For the last seven months I have been looking at every single minute of the Crimean War.

Let me tell you what my day looks like. Every single day I wake up every single morning at 6:20. I go through a hygienic sonic cleaning so I do not offend my coworkers. For breakfast every single morning I ingest a protein bar which I am told tastes like apples and wash it down with a caffeine infusion which I am told tastes like grapes. I wouldn't know since grapes have been extinct since the mid-22nd century and apples since the late 24th. I put on my gray jumpsuit which I understand is as soft as cotton though I wouldn't know since cotton has been extinct since the early 23rd century.

We do not have individual houses anymore, so I leave my room in the dormitory and join my coworkers walking to work. In the eight years I have worked at the Ministry of Temporal Affairs, I don't believe I've ever seen anyone talk. Or smile. Or show any emotion. We walk the short distance to the ministry building along the gray sidewalk next to the gray concrete buildings in our gray jumpsuits. This is all matched by the gray countryside and the gray sky. We enter the ministry building single file and proceed to our cubicles. There we begin looking through historical files which we access holographically.

As I said, the last seven months I have been analyzing the Crimean War, which you might think could be exciting, but I have only looked at the way coffee beans were shipped to the troops. Over these seven months I have often wondered what coffee beans tasted like. Were they put into a stew with meat as I understand some beans were or was it some other tasty food? I wouldn't know since I have never eaten tasty food.

At nine in the morning we take our first break. We have three minutes to eat another protein bar – which I am told tastes like potatoes – and to ingest our caffeine infusion. Some days the infusion tastes like grapes, sometimes peas and sometimes eggs or at least that's what we're told. After the three-minute break, we continue our work, and this happens in two-hour intervals over the next 14 hours. After this, it’s time to go back to our room in the dormitory.

I have lived my entire life in the dormitory, in seclusion from almost all human contact. There are no hellos, goodbyes, nods, winks or staring. My education started in the dormitory, but I could not tell you how young I was, and I doubt anyone else could either. I think my education took 15 years, though I am only guessing since there is no such thing as a calendar for me to understand concepts such as days, weeks, months and years.

Through my historical research, I have learned the existence of many things including an interesting concept called parents. I understand many years ago, beings like myself had parents who would nurture and take care of their young. I had none of this, since I have lived in the same room doing the same thing for what seems like eternity.

The Crimean War seems like an interesting time in history, or I should say more interesting then the present. Yes, there was bloodshed, destruction and death, but at least people were alive then. I can't say the same thing for the present. I have often wondered if the others around me are studying points in time that are as interesting. I would ask them, but social interaction is strictly forbidden under penalty of death.

2

My name is Jonas Wilkins and I work at the glorious Ministry of Temporal Affairs! This is one of the greatest jobs in the world! I am excited, everyday analyzing historical data and for the last seven months I have been lucky enough to look at every moment in the Crimean War!

My day happily starts at 6:20 in the morning! I hygienically clean myself then I have a tasty protein bar which I take with a succulent grape-flavored caffeine infusion! It is truly an honor to be working here doing the tasks the Glorious Leadership has requested! I put on my very comfortable grey jumpsuit and happily stroll from my spacious dormitory room and join my happy coworkers walking to work! We walk the short distance to the ministry building, enjoying the view of the sidewalk, the concrete and the architecturally impressive ministry buildings! The sky is cloudy but that's good because bright sunshine would make us squint and not enjoy our beautiful surroundings!

For seven joyous months I have sat in my cubicle analyzing the Crimean War which was a terrible time in our planet’s history. I am looking at how the belligerent nations shipped coffee beans to their glorious troops! I am forced to stop working after four hours so we may replenish our nutrients with another decadently flavored protein bar and caffeine infusion! It is great our Glorious Leadership takes such good care of us, but I wish to continue working so I may make them proud! We work like this for 20 hours a day though I understand there is 24 hours in a day. I am very happy, because our Glorious Leadership will not allow us to work those other four hours, and they make sure we are well taken care of! I am deeply saddened by the bloodshed and death which happened during the Crimean War but as our Glorious Leadership has told us, if it were not for this death and destruction we would not today understand the greatness of our society! I hope to continue working on this glorious assignment for many years and I have asked my supervisor if I may continue to work instead of sleeping! My supervisor has applauded my initiative but has sadly informed me that would not be possible! My request was warmly received by the Glorious Leadership and I have received one extra protein bar every 20 cycles as a reward for my initiative! All hail the Glorious Leader and the Glorious Leadership!

3

My name is Jonas Wilkins and I have worked at the Ministry of Temporal Affairs studying historical data for 13 years. For the last seven months, I have been analyzing coffee beans during the Crimean War. While this might sound dull, it is very important to the future of our planet. For over 500 years humanity has destroyed, defoliated and made extinct 80% of the species on the planet. It is the Ministry's hope by analyzing how humans used and abused our natural resources we may be able to fix our mistakes.

About myself: I was harvested at the main rejuvenation center in Geneva about 34 years ago by my best estimate. Sexual reproduction is not possible now – we managed to destroy that about a hundred years ago. So, we are grown from harvested embryonic cells, which are then genetically cleaned. From there, I was bred as a temporal analyst starting when I was two years old. For the next 32 years of my life, I lived, breathed and slept the analysis of time.

My day starts at 6:20 in the morning. I wake up and jump in the sonic shower. I get dressed, have my protein bar and wash it down with my grape-flavored caffeine infusion. Unfortunately, grape-flavored is the best we can do right now since grapes have been extinct since the mid-22nd century.

The Temporal Ministries offices are at the center of the old Hadron Collider near the French-Swiss border. Most of the countryside is drab, gray and devoid of any plant life. Any signs of nature are ensconced under transparent domes meant to limit the amount of uv radiation it is exposed to. It is a sad state of affairs to see the world right now, but I am hopeful our work will help reverse some of the damage done. I usually spend two hours at my station holographically analyzing the data from that time, then take a ten-minute break, ingest another protein bar and caffeine infusion and repeat this throughout the day. This has been my life for the last 13 years.

Once a month I am visited by Supervisor Schenley to announce its time for me to have a cranial scan. This is to make sure there are no ill effects from the increased uv radiation. As always, today he stopped at my station to inform me, at which point I headed to the testing room. The test continued as it always did, with a slight buzzing in my ear for about a minute, then I was finished. What was out of the ordinary was Supervisor Schenley waiting for me at my work station. He looked more nervous than normal, which was quite a feat since he always looked extremely nervous.

Over Supervisor Geertsma requires you to go to room A-16, he said, perspiration forming on his forehead. I nodded and turned around, heading back down the hall. I felt no nervousness – I had no reason to be nervous – though I was curious about the reason.

The door to room A-16 opened in front of me. I walked in, standing just in the doorway waiting for direction. The room was white, except for a large wooden table and chairs in the middle. I never had reason to be in this room before, so this was the first time in my life I had seen anything made of wood.

Sit down, technician Wilkins, a voice said. There was nobody else in the room. I sat in the chair closest to the door. The wood creaked as I sat on it. How do you feel today?

I feel fine.

Good. The room felt like it warped for a second and then I wasn't there anymore. I was in a different room – a slightly smaller one. I was looking through a glass panel, which I think was a window, though it was grey outside of it. Looking back into the room, there were metal cabinets along one wall, and metal desks throughout the room. At most of the desks sat young women and they were tapping some kind of code, I think. Each one sat behind a machine which made an infernal tap-tap-tap-ding sound, then a piece of paper was ejected. It looked like nothing I knew and the way they dressed, and their hair, was unlike anything I had seen in my life. Above the tapping and dinging I heard a humming sound outside past the glass panel. I looked through it again and squinting I could see what looked like a shorter building across a large chasm from me. It was an ancient building from what I could see, some glass and a lot more brick or stone or concrete. The humming grew louder and louder and I could hear nothing else.

I only had perhaps a second to think about it since whatever it was must have hit the building and the explosion headed towards me. An acrid smell, which burned my lungs, and fire leapt towards me. I felt nothing after that for what seemed like hours, but I found out later it was only a few seconds. My next feeling was sitting at the large wooden table again.

How do you feel? the voice asked me again.

Fine. The room seemed to warp again and again, I was in a different room. This time I was at a large wooden desk and I was sitting in an upholstered overstuffed chair which creaked as I sat back. Looking around I noticed one wall full of what I believe were books. The floor was wooden and it also creaked as I got up from the chair. I walked over to the books and pulled one out, glancing at the words on the page. I put the book back and looked for the door. I walked up to it, but it would not open for me. I pushed the large metal button on it but it still would not open.

Open please, I said. The door would not comply. I looked around the room and saw a window, which I walked towards. I moved the pieces of fabric which were in front of it aside and looked out – this time, I was at street level, looking out into a foggy night. A man and woman walked by the window in clothing which was foreign to me, but obviously arcane. I knocked on the window and smiled. They looked back, then turned around and hurried away.

I heard banging sounds in the distance, which seemed to be getting louder and closer. I looked at the couple – they were now running down the street. My eye caught a light off to the left and I looked over. The lights accompanied the bangs, which said to me they were explosions of some sort. Also, there was a buzzing sound, which also grew louder. There was nobody else on the street and no lights were on in any of the windows in the buildings opposite me. The explosions became deafening and a flash of light was immediately followed by one. I looked over to the left again and a building towards the end of the street was engulfed in flames. I looked up and saw flying objects of some sort, moving slowly and there were possibly a hundred of them. Another explosion happened to my right and the room I was in shuddered and dust and bits of the ceiling came down. I heard some crying somewhere in the building I was in, but I could not get to it without figuring out how to operate the door.

More explosions, more dust and ceiling, more crying. Finally, one of the explosions seemed to hit the building I was in and the wall of books headed towards me in a blast of light. The next thing I remember was falling into the chair in room A-16 again.

How do you feel?

Fine. The room warped once again, and this time it began much more disturbing to me. I was in a ditch or trench of some sort. My feet were wet and cold. Then I realized my clothes were wet. Then there was the smell – the smell was rotten. I gagged and vomited over myself.

There there Johnny, the food wasn’t that bad. I looked over at a young, smiling man. He wore a uniform of some kind, with a large brimmed metal hat. I didn’t recognize where or when I was but nodded at the man. Looking around, there was almost half a metre of water in this ditch, with planks of wood on the bottom – which did nothing to make matters better. It was night, but the sky was lit up with explosions of light and sound. Over top of our heads, there was a sound of something zipping past at high speed. Jerry’s sure making us pay tonight, said the young man. I wonder if the old man will send us out to settle the score.

I didn’t know who Jerry or the old man was, but they seemed like awful people. Then I heard another sound I didn’t recognize, but it sounded a little like music. There it is Johnny, let’s get ready to go over the top. The young man gathered up his weapon – I think it was a weapon – as did all the other men around us. The explosions seemed to be farther away, and they all started up the ladders on the sides of the ditches. The first few were hit by something, because they jerked and fell back into the ditch. Some more made it up and over the top, some more were hit by what I found out later were bullets, which I understand are quite fatal when you receive one in your skull. The metal hats seemed to do very little to protect the men, so I wondered why they bothered wearing them. The young man pushed me from behind. Let’s go Johnny, Jerry’s not going to wait forever. I have to say I didn’t appreciate getting pushed and whoever this Jerry person was, he seemed well armed. I started up the ladder when I felt a tap on my back. You won’t do much without this. The young man handed me a weapon. He didn’t know I wasn’t going to do much with it anyway, since I had no idea how it operated.

I reached the top of the ditch and had to push the next man out of my way. Or at least what was left of the next man – his head seemed to be missing. This made me vomit again. Come on Johnny, we have to get through that. Keep it in your mouth until you get over there. I started to run with the other men, who were headed towards a wire fence of some sort. Many of them fell near me, and some fast-moving insects kept buzzing past my ears. An explosion went off to my right, which knocked me off my feet. Mud and rocks rained down on me, then an arm, a metal hat and some other indeterminate bodily parts. I quickly brushed off what I could, then got back on my feet and started running. I did this until I reached the fence, which was very sharp, and I gingerly made my way through it, though it seems Jerry did not want me to, since he had things exploding around me and men kept dying around me. I did notice there were no women running with us, which I found odd. I finally reached the other side of the fence with a small group of men, who continued to run for what looked like another ditch. I ran with them, then jumped down into the ditch, not realizing they had stopped at the top and had started using their weapons. I looked around and above me was a man with a pointed metal hat, brandishing what looked like my weapon, but with a long point on the end. He yelled something, then shoved it into my chest. I was in room A-16 again.

This continued for the rest of the day. I would be in some sort of scenario – usually a locked room. Sometimes it would have a tiny oval window, and there would be many people sitting near me, yelling and screaming. Those rooms seemed long and cylindrical, and there would be rows and rows of people in seats. Those windows seemed to be looking into the sky, and below me I could see clouds. But always, the same thing: I would look out a window and something bad would happen to me. I would have been depressed if I thought this was at all real – or a punishment of some sort. But, I just chalked this up to more tests by the supervisory committee. Finally, after 18 of these scenarios, a woman walked into room A-16 and stood in front of me. Technician Wilkins, you are dismissed for the day. Please go to your domicile.

I nodded and exited the room, heading back down the hallway towards my cubicle. Walking past it, I noticed Supervisor Schenley look over at me with a terrified look on his face. This did not bother me, as Supervisor Schenley had a terrified look when I would ask him for a urinary break.

Ironically, there were no time measuring devices in the Temporal Ministry – we would leave when the shift alarm would sound – so I had no idea how long I was in room A-16. I did know I was leaving before the end of the shift, as all the cubicles were still full and there was nobody else leaving the facility. I looked back. The woman who dismissed me was right behind me. Yes, technician Wilkins, you may leave for the day. I was puzzled she knew what I was thinking.

On the walk back to my room I found myself looking around more than normal. It wasn’t nerves – it was curiosity. I noticed how smooth the outside of the Temporal Ministry building was. I noticed how dull and gray the landscape was, and I noticed how dull and gray the sky was. My domicile room was also very dull and gray. One thing I noticed during my visions – I didn’t know what else to call them – was the color. Instead of the boring gray and beige and fleshy tones of everyone and everything, there were colors which I didn’t even know existed, let alone what to call them. There were textures and sounds and smells I didn’t recognize either – some pleasant, many not. The texture of the book and the paper in my hands was something I had never experienced. The terrible smell I now know is burning and all it entails – whether books, wood or flesh – was also new to me. The feel of an overstuffed chair or of the bright morning sun on my face, all things which don’t exist today.

Before I continue, I will