benign.”
“Or it could be tragic.”
“I gotta tell you, that seems a little dramatic, Barry.” Roger stretched his large frame before going into the kitchen. “Why does everything have to turn to crap just because we make a simple mistake like bumping into our mother?”
“Or accidentally bumping off our own grandfather?” I didn’t want tempers flaring back up.
Barry looked at Roger. “It doesn't. It might be completely benign and safe." He rubbed his chin again. "But, since we can't predict that with any certainty, it makes more sense to proceed with caution and not interact.”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” Roger opened the fridge and pulled out a soda. “The bastard Hitler gets to live.”
“And Barry gets his big date on Friday,” I said. “Everybody’s happy.”
An air of unresolved questions hung in the air. “So, what would you do?” I moved back to the living room and observed my teammates as they stared at the large metal oval.
“What do you mean?” Melissa sat up and tucked a leg under herself.
I shrugged. “Money, right? With a time machine you could go back in time and buy a bunch of stocks and bonds. Ones that you know would do well. You could make millions.”
“I don’t know…” Melissa took a deep breath. “If this thing can do what Barry thinks it can do, it could be really important." She glanced around at the rest of us. "What about doing something significant with it? Something that might be meaningful to the whole world, like witnessing the birth of Christ? The beginning of a religion…”
“That’s not bad.” Roger moved to a chair. “For Christianity, you’d have to go at the end, though, you know? At the crucifixion. To see the religion begin.”
Melissa spoke quietly, apparently taken by what she’d just said. “You could meet Jesus. Ask Him why God let something terrible happen...”
“The main element of Christian religions is the resurrection of Christ a couple of days after the crucifixion.” Barry paced around the room. “The crucifixion is mostly just how they killed him.”
Melissa pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, coming back to the larger conversation. “I don’t think I’d want to see anything so brutal.”
“That’s for sure.” Barry circled the machine. “The Romans, they didn’t mess around. That’s some ugly stuff, the way they treated people. But it might be the only way to know. That, or one of the miracles.”
“Caesar.” Roger took a sip of his soda. He leaned against the counter and eyed the machine. “What about the death of Julius Caesar? That was pretty historically significant.”
“You could go play detective and see who really killed him,” I said.
Roger chuckled. “Although, that was a pretty brutal ending, too.”
“What about the start of time?” Barry squatted in front of the machine and glanced up at us. “Go back to day one, minute one, second one.”
“What would the date of that be?” Roger asked. “Zero, zero, zero?”
“Although, you'd have to be quick." Barry chuckled as he ran his fingers along the bronze frame. "Or kaboom - you'd be a zero zero zero." He grinned, not taking his eyes off the machine. "There’s something to be said for Tomàs’ idea. Figure out the best stocks, buy them, and make some money. But we can’t interact.”
Roger took another gulp of his soda. “Well... you get some money, go back and buy a bunch of cheap stocks that you know become valuable, come back and sell them for a pile of cash, and then go back and do it all over again. It wouldn’t take more than a couple of trips to be rolling in it.”
“Where would you,” Barry peered up at him, “get the money for the original investment?”
Roger shrugged. “Dude, to make millions? I’d sell everything I own.”
“It’s gonna take more than a couple of trips to get rich, then.” Barry chuckled. “If you sell everything you own, you’ll only be going back in time with, like, thirty
“Or it could be tragic.”
“I gotta tell you, that seems a little dramatic, Barry.” Roger stretched his large frame before going into the kitchen. “Why does everything have to turn to crap just because we make a simple mistake like bumping into our mother?”
“Or accidentally bumping off our own grandfather?” I didn’t want tempers flaring back up.
Barry looked at Roger. “It doesn't. It might be completely benign and safe." He rubbed his chin again. "But, since we can't predict that with any certainty, it makes more sense to proceed with caution and not interact.”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” Roger opened the fridge and pulled out a soda. “The bastard Hitler gets to live.”
“And Barry gets his big date on Friday,” I said. “Everybody’s happy.”
An air of unresolved questions hung in the air. “So, what would you do?” I moved back to the living room and observed my teammates as they stared at the large metal oval.
“What do you mean?” Melissa sat up and tucked a leg under herself.
I shrugged. “Money, right? With a time machine you could go back in time and buy a bunch of stocks and bonds. Ones that you know would do well. You could make millions.”
“I don’t know…” Melissa took a deep breath. “If this thing can do what Barry thinks it can do, it could be really important." She glanced around at the rest of us. "What about doing something significant with it? Something that might be meaningful to the whole world, like witnessing the birth of Christ? The beginning of a religion…”
“That’s not bad.” Roger moved to a chair. “For Christianity, you’d have to go at the end, though, you know? At the crucifixion. To see the religion begin.”
Melissa spoke quietly, apparently taken by what she’d just said. “You could meet Jesus. Ask Him why God let something terrible happen...”
“The main element of Christian religions is the resurrection of Christ a couple of days after the crucifixion.” Barry paced around the room. “The crucifixion is mostly just how they killed him.”
Melissa pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, coming back to the larger conversation. “I don’t think I’d want to see anything so brutal.”
“That’s for sure.” Barry circled the machine. “The Romans, they didn’t mess around. That’s some ugly stuff, the way they treated people. But it might be the only way to know. That, or one of the miracles.”
“Caesar.” Roger took a sip of his soda. He leaned against the counter and eyed the machine. “What about the death of Julius Caesar? That was pretty historically significant.”
“You could go play detective and see who really killed him,” I said.
Roger chuckled. “Although, that was a pretty brutal ending, too.”
“What about the start of time?” Barry squatted in front of the machine and glanced up at us. “Go back to day one, minute one, second one.”
“What would the date of that be?” Roger asked. “Zero, zero, zero?”
“Although, you'd have to be quick." Barry chuckled as he ran his fingers along the bronze frame. "Or kaboom - you'd be a zero zero zero." He grinned, not taking his eyes off the machine. "There’s something to be said for Tomàs’ idea. Figure out the best stocks, buy them, and make some money. But we can’t interact.”
Roger took another gulp of his soda. “Well... you get some money, go back and buy a bunch of cheap stocks that you know become valuable, come back and sell them for a pile of cash, and then go back and do it all over again. It wouldn’t take more than a couple of trips to be rolling in it.”
“Where would you,” Barry peered up at him, “get the money for the original investment?”
Roger shrugged. “Dude, to make millions? I’d sell everything I own.”
“It’s gonna take more than a couple of trips to get rich, then.” Barry chuckled. “If you sell everything you own, you’ll only be going back in time with, like, thirty
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