The ELI Event B007R5LTNS

as our presence here indicates—we have produced a working technology, but its use is highly restricted. A small group of scientists, of which Aurora and I are a part, has defied the government’s ban on upstream travel, but with a very specific purpose in mind.”
    “We believe,” Aurora picked up, “that we can alter the timeline of our world for the better by changing past events. Specifically, one critical event that seems to have put our past timeline on its repressive path to our present—the destruction of Los Angeles in 2015.”
    “Okay, hold it right there, then,” Arty interrupted, holding up his hands. “If this is true—and I’m not saying it is—you’ve undershot your mark. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is 2034. L.A. was fried by a computer-controlled weapon nearly twenty years ago. It’s called the Eli Event.”
    Denes nodded. “Yes, we know, and actually we haven’t missed our mark at all. We have arrived exactly where, and when, we intended.”
    “I suppose those are your time machines,” Arty said, indicating their arm units.
    “They are our callback units, yes,” Aurora explained. “They allow us to return to our point of origin, provided that the temporal relocator, the machine that sent us here, is operational.”
    “Okay, go on. Why now, why 2034, then?” Arty pointed at his chest. “Oh, and don’t forget ‘Why me?’ while you’re at it.”
    “The ‘why now’ part is simple,” Denes replied. “If we went back to 2015 and asked for help before the target event, no one would believe us, because it hasn’t happened yet. The very people we need to contact, in particular, would not believe us. However, in this time, as you just said, you are well aware of the event as historical fact. You know it happened. We know it happened. We want to prevent it.”
    “The ‘why you’ part, I’m afraid, is a bit more complicated,” Aurora said with a trace of hesitation. “Denes is correct; we do need help. We are unfamiliar with your time, and with your time of twenty years ago. Moreover, we are known to the Vice Governor in our time—a hated, hateful man called Lokus who is aware of our activities and who wants to stop us.
    “Whatever other horrible things he is, he is also smart and resourceful. We fear that Lokus himself will travel upstream to the event date and try to prevent us from changing it. If we stay in that time for long, he will almost certainly find and capture us—or worse. But he will not know anyone else, and thus he will not know whose aid we might have enlisted. Our best hope for success, then, is outside help.” She lowered her eyes. “Your help.”
    Denes continued. “Los Angeles was heavily populated when it was destroyed in 2015. Anyone can see the benefit in saving millions of lives. Surely the merit of such an undertaking is indisputable. But the reason we need your help—and yours alone—is that you have, shall we say, a vested interest in our success.”
    “And what might that be?”
    “If we are able to generate an improved long-term timeline,” Aurora said, “the short-term timeline must almost certainly benefit as well.”
    Arty scratched his stubble. “You’re saying that you want to stop L.A. from being destroyed twenty years ago.”
    “Yes.”
    “And that if you succeed, that’ll end up creating a much better world in your time, hundreds of years down the road.”
    “That is our expectation. And our hope.”
    “And my incentive for helping you is that your intermediate world, my current one, will be… what? A little better? Somewhat better? Moderately better?”
    “That would be the logical conclusion, yes,” Denes agreed.
    “Better how? In what way?”
    “That,” Aurora admitted, “we have no way of knowing. Of course, better is a subjective term. Our meaning is… more democratic, more equitable, with more intelligent technology used for the benefit of all.”
    “Well, you’ve struck a nerve there,” Arty said thoughtfully. “After the L.A. thing, computer research practically ground to a halt. Eli, the computer that caused the disaster, was dismantled, of course. Artificial intelligence labs were shut down, AI researchers were persecuted—and prosecuted. The effects were pretty widespread; there aren’t any intelligent machines around now.” He nodded toward the corner. “You can’t even get a Hoover that memorizes its route these days.”
    “Then you believe us?”
    “Not necessarily.