Horton (2016)
Operation Earlier: Learn From the Future
During my day off, I decided to explore an abandoned hallway. The hallway was uncannily long; it messed with my spatial senses. At the end of the hallway was a room with no door. Upon entering the room, there was a circular platform on the floor and a desk with a document and laptop on it. Naturally, I approached the table, gently opened the document, and read the first page.
"Operation Earlier"
"Learn From the Future"
It was certainly an odd title for a document. Out of curiosity, I skimmed through its content.
"Family lost amidst the finale of WW2, such unfairness I cannot endure. My resolve forged into steel, I dedicate my life to changing history for the better. Years of research, my body turned fragile, and my end is approaching. Passing on the mission is my last resort. Heed my selfish request, a timeline where I unite with my family."
Those were the words left behind by a scientist named Dr. Parivartana. Unfortunately, she had passed away due to old age, leaving the operation hanging. Acknowledging her eventual fate, the document was prepared prior. By studying the document, I picked up on two main focus of the operation.
Firstly, it is crucial to bring along the laptop and charger. The charger was designed to fit a 1911 3-pin earthed plug. The laptop was loaded with 8TB of data storage, filled with the following information:
- History of both World War
- Modern-day Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology
- Modern-day Medicines
- Computing Technology and Software Engineering
Secondly, the circular platform, which was a time machine can only operate once, and 3 hours is the time limit for attempting to spread the information to the past. Due to the time constraint, Dr. Parivartana suggested to allocate time towards teaching the past on laptop operation.
"To witness the mistake of the future, the past shall learn the ugly truth of war. May the wisdom of the future be a guiding beacon for the past to build a better future."
After reviewing the document, I understood what I must do. Once I grabbed the laptop and charger, I stood atop the circular platform. In the blink of an eye, I was staring blankly at a calendar and map inside a stall. Surprisingly, the time travel was seamless and I found myself in 1913, Kuala Lumpur.
Walking out of the stall, I was greeted by a busy street filled with civilians. Being a polyglot, I managed to get directions from various people to meet a British governor. As I followed the directions, I sensed many confused eyes staring at me, perplexed by my modern-day attire.
After what felt like 30 minutes of walking, I encountered a British governor. He was bewildered by what I was wearing and by what seemed to be a black slab in my hand. He was even more amazed when English came out of my mouth fluently.
"I am from the future, I am here to change the future. Please hear me out."
I tried my best to convince the British governor that I was from the future, and I was trying to spread important information to the world that would bring peace. Judging from his demeanour, I could tell that he wasn't absolutely convinced, but he decided to entertain my request.
Given the golden opportunity, I demanded that the instructions I gave be recorded for future reference. I then proceeded to spend whatever time I had left to teach the governor in operating the laptop. Once I blinked again, I found myself back in the room. 3 hours had passed, and I was suddenly hit with a wave of dread.
"Had I done it? Had I managed to change our civilisation?"
As I muttered to myself on the floor, worrying about the status quo, a dark silhouette of shadow was cast upon my body.
"Welcome back, brave one."
There it was, an old lady by the entrance of the room. Dr. Parivartana is in the flesh, still well and alive thanks to the incredible advancement of Medicine facilitated by the laptop. At that very moment, tears of relief rolled down my cheeks. I had completed Operation Earlier and changed civilisation for the better. She filled me in on the current state of the timeline.
"It was a shame that there wasn't enough time to stop WW1, but the laptop had convinced the world to refrain from war. Today, WW2 is a fiction taught to students globally, highlighting the importance of peace."
Since the completion of Operation Earlier, the laptop facilitated the rapid development of scientific and mathematical breakthroughs throughout the 19th century. Moreover, the computing knowledge provided by the laptop had greatly increased the efficiency in worldwide communication and information sharing. Today, the world has progressed further than ever before. Most importantly, Dr. Parivartana had the chance to spend her life with her beloved family.
"The last war ended in 1919, and there was never another. The world had united under the guidance of the laptop. Military budget, conflicting politics, and country borders are fantasies in this timeline."
Through time travel, I realised, had the world never learned from mistakes, be it a mistake of the past or the future, civilisation would be doomed to face certain failures. Even if its a mistake of the future, the us now should still learn earlier from it, and not repeat the future.
https://www.sequoitmedia.com/war-and-peace/
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