The Night the World Changed
by Matthew Gregory
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Table of Contents parts 1, 2, 3 |
conclusion
“You are on Earth,” said one of them suddenly.
Jason brought his eyes rapidly back to the group of aliens in front of him, a stunned look etched into his face. “What?!”
“You are on the planet Earth,” answered the alien again. “In fact, you have never left the planet at all.”
“That can’t be. I got into your ship there. It took off. I saw it all.”
“That’s not a ship,” said another alien. “That’s a time machine. And I assure you, you are still on Earth.”
Jason shook his head in denial. “This must be some sort of trick. I’ve heard of this. The mind tricks that aliens can play on humans. That’s what this is. It’s a mind trick!”
“It’s not a trick,” said the first alien. “I don’t know how else to explain it to you, but this is Earth. There is no other way to convince you, because nothing looks the same as what you are used to seeing. You just have to trust us.”
Jason looked back at the “ship” and then returned his gaze to the aliens again, his mind processing what they had just told him. “If that’s a time machine and this is Earth, then I guess the question is when am I instead of where am I?”
The aliens looked at each other again and after a few moments, one of them answered, “You are about eight million years beyond the year that you came from.”
Jason’s stomach dropped to his feet. “Eight million years?”
“I know it’s hard to comprehend, but the human race has evolved so much,” said one of the aliens. “Many of the things you were used to, even in your fantasy stories, are obsolete. Our technology has grown beyond your comprehension, I know, but time can change many things.”
“What do you mean the human race? I seem to be the only human here.”
The aliens looked at each other again. They couldn’t imagine the confusion, the complete attack on the mind and the senses that the poor soul in front of them was having to endure.
“We are all humans,” said one of them suddenly. “We may not look like you, but we are human beings nevertheless.”
“How can that be? You look nothing like a human being.”
“You are looking at the product of eight million years of human evolution,” said another “alien.” “Because of our history, because of the changes in the environment around us, our bodies have evolved through time, just as yours has evolved from your ancestors that lived eight million years before you.”
Jason could do nothing but stare. He wanted to reject everything outright, but something deep down in the back of his mind told him that it was all true. It certainly sounded plausible, but despite that, it contradicted everything he thought he knew. And that was enough to send his mind into a spiraling sea of chaos.
“I know how difficult this must be for you,” said one of the people in front of him. “But if you come with me, I will show and explain everything to you.”
Jason hesitated at first, but then his mind finally relented and the adventurous side of his character again revealed itself. “Okay,” he said slowly, his eyes twinkling with delight.
He no sooner uttered his response and the two of them disappeared. In the blink of an eye, they reappeared on a ledge, which overlooked a great valley that stretched out before them. But where there was sky before, now there was nothing but earth, and it was immediately apparent that they had somehow been transported underground.
“What you are looking at is the turning point in our evolution,” said the man beside him as he stretched his thin arm outward. “When the sun began to emit ultra-high levels of radiation several million years ago, the human race was forced to live underground. Life on the surface was no longer possible.”
“But we just came from the surface,” argued Jason, more confusion entering the mush in his head.
“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” replied the man. “Remember, we’re talking about an extraordinary amount of time here.”
Jason shook his head in acceptance, realizing that he had spoken before he had a chance to think.
The man paid him no mind as he went on. “This was our new home and, even though it sustained us, it slowly began to change our bodies. Because we lived so long without natural sunlight, our skin eventually changed colors, ultimately fading to the gray that you see now. Even other races, other colors followed this pattern, until eventually, we all looked alike.
“Also, in response to the lack of natural light, our eyes slowly began to change. They adapted to the artificial light and the dim environment we were forced to live with. Through time, they grew larger as our pupils increased several times in size.
“Our diets were another thing that was affected by this change. No longer could we harvest the foods that we were used to eating, for even a few hours on the surface was deadly for both animals as well as plants. As a result, we had to synthesize everything for human consumption. This inevitably caused our entire digestive systems to change, ultimately becoming the frail, thin bodies that you see before you.”
Jason studied the man in front of him as his mind attempted to register the abundance of information. “How long did you live like this?”
“Human beings called this place home for five million years.”
“So what changed everything?”
“As I said before, time brings about many changes, not only in evolution, but also in technology. Our people eventually discovered a way to harness the radiation of the sun by inventing devices that would shield the surface of the Earth, first in small areas and then, eventually, through time, the entire planet. This allowed our people, for the first time in five million years, to leave the ground and once again walk upon the face of the Earth.”
Suddenly, the two disappeared once again only to reappear a split second later on another ledge, this time back outside. In front of them was a vast ocean, its waves slamming into a rocky seashore just below a set of rolling foothills. All along the ground far below them was an odd assortment of creatures that crawled and walked about. And in the air above were more animals that looked like birds, but unlike any bird Jason had ever seen before.
The man stretched his arm outward again and said, “This is what you used to call Nevada and beyond this, across the water, California. Time changes even the Earth around us. Particular places, specific landmarks, the way the land looked on your maps, none of that exists anymore. Where there was once land, now there is water. Where there were great mountain ranges, now there are wide, grassy plains.
“Even the creatures that move on the ground below and through the sky above are different from what you know. Old animals have passed into extinction while new ones have sprung into existence. Time changes everything.”
Jason gazed at his surroundings, realizing that Earth could be every bit as astonishing as any alien planet. It was wonderful. But then, he noticed a change in the man’s demeanor. Suddenly, his face had become melancholy and, at that moment, there was a great sadness about him.
“I sense that you find this to be quite spectacular,” said the man as he looked upon Jason.
“I do,” he replied. “It’s utterly amazing.”
The man shook his head slowly. “Yes, I guess it would appear to be so, wouldn’t it? But, you must understand that even though that may be the case, happiness is something that eludes us. At least happiness in the form by which you know it.”
Jason cocked his head in doubt. “Why is that?”
“We are a very dependent people. Our lives have come to depend on the technology around us and, while that may be convenient in your terms, we have become slaves to it. In fact, as you can see around you, our very survival depends on it. Machines do everything for us, from the largest utility robots to the smallest teleportation devices, which move us around as we have been doing.
“In addition to the change in our digestive systems, our muscles have also wasted away. We no longer need them. And because of that, we need our machines.”
The two disappeared once again and then reappeared back where they started from, in front of the time machine they had arrived in.
The man concentrated on Jason and then stared at the machine behind him as he said, “That is why we have developed time travel. We dream of a simpler time, of a time when our people were different, when we were happy. Traveling through the ages has become somewhat of a hobby for us.”
Jason nodded slightly. “That explains all the alien sightings then. But what about some of the odd things like crop circles or the anal probing? Surely that can’t be something you dream of.”
The man smiled knowingly as he reached out and patted Jason gently on the shoulder. “Some of our people have overactive imaginations, don’t they? Both in the future as well as the past.”
Jason squinted his eyes at the man’s response, unsure how he should take it. He shook his head, conceding the fact that there was obviously so much more to learn. After all, he had breezed through eight million years of human history in only a few moments. There was undoubtedly a few things that were left out.
“And to think,” said Jason with a sigh, “I thought the future of Earth would be nothing but apes or Eloi and Morlocks.”
The man tilted his head in confusion. “What?”
Jason’s face grew serious as he granted the man a polite smile. “I think I understand what you’re telling me, and I appreciate it. I certainly hope that I can see and learn more.”
The man shook his head as he responded, “I’m afraid that you can’t. We can’t risk polluting the time line. We have very strict rules about time travel.”
“So what does that do for me? I have already seen so much.”
“You will not remember any of this,” replied the man. “In fact, when you leave here, you will not be aware of the world around you until you wake up in your bed.”
The man paused briefly. “Before you go, however, I will grant you one piece of advice. Enjoy what you have and take nothing for granted. The future holds many things, my friend, but don’t forget to live in the present.”
Jason stared at the man wide-eyed, for he was in awe over what he had just heard. Then, the man reached forward and placed a small metallic device against his head, causing the world around him to flash and then go black.
* * *
Jason woke up in his bed and as he rolled over, his clock displayed the time of six a.m. He rose into the air, an immense fog filling his head. He wiped at his eyes and arched his back, trying desperately to stretch the fatigue away. It felt as though he had traveled all night.
Lucille was still asleep beside him, but he did not wake her. Instead, he leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek.
He stood up and readied himself for work, going through the daily routine that he followed each and every day of the week. Then, as he made his way from the house, he stopped briefly at the room of his two children and gazed at them lovingly. They were his pride and joy. Suddenly, he knew he was the luckiest person on Earth.
Jason smiled both inwardly and outwardly and, as he made his way from the house, he stopped at the rear of his car. For a reason he couldn’t understand, he tore away the bumper sticker that had been there for years. In its place, he fastened another sticker he had picked up some time ago in a little gift shop. He gazed at the new label and nodded his head. For some reason, it just seemed appropriate. Stretching across the sticker was a slogan that read, “Boldly Going Nowhere.”
Copyright © 2025 by Matthew Gregory
